Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Should 5e use optional rules like 2e did?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Ratskinner" data-source="post: 5851313" data-attributes="member: 6688937"><p>Only in 4e, IME. I've handily done it (or similar enough) with little fanfare in previous editions. 3e is a bit more involved than the early editions, but even that's not too hard. You make a few changes to the way magic or spells work across the board (like...a Spellcraft Check.) Throw out or modify some feats and the magic item creation rules. You still have to forbid some/many races, but you can fold some of that into "backgrounds" like Green Ronin's <u>Black Company</u> campaign setting did. I think the modifications fit on two pages when I did it last for 3e. The DM has to take the lack of magical umph into account when designing encounters, but that's not surprising.</p><p></p><p>You're dead right for 4e, though. I tried working it out and just found myself putting red lines through soo much that it wasn't worth it in the end (I didn't feel.) Which, I thought, was a shame because I really liked some aspects of 4e. I liked 4e for what it was, but so much seemed "baked in" that it was very hard to bend it too far out of its native playstyle. YMMV, of course, but I'm not alone in feeling this way:</p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px">"With fourth edition, there was a huge focus on mechanics. The story was still there, but a lot of our customers were having trouble getting to it. In some ways, it was like we told people, ‘The right way to play guitar is to play thrash metal,’ But there’s other ways to play guitar.” - <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidewalt/2012/01/09/wizards-announce-new-dungeons-and-dragons-an-inside-look-at-the-game/2/" target="_blank">Mike Mearls</a>. </p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ratskinner, post: 5851313, member: 6688937"] Only in 4e, IME. I've handily done it (or similar enough) with little fanfare in previous editions. 3e is a bit more involved than the early editions, but even that's not too hard. You make a few changes to the way magic or spells work across the board (like...a Spellcraft Check.) Throw out or modify some feats and the magic item creation rules. You still have to forbid some/many races, but you can fold some of that into "backgrounds" like Green Ronin's [U]Black Company[/U] campaign setting did. I think the modifications fit on two pages when I did it last for 3e. The DM has to take the lack of magical umph into account when designing encounters, but that's not surprising. You're dead right for 4e, though. I tried working it out and just found myself putting red lines through soo much that it wasn't worth it in the end (I didn't feel.) Which, I thought, was a shame because I really liked some aspects of 4e. I liked 4e for what it was, but so much seemed "baked in" that it was very hard to bend it too far out of its native playstyle. YMMV, of course, but I'm not alone in feeling this way: [INDENT]"With fourth edition, there was a huge focus on mechanics. The story was still there, but a lot of our customers were having trouble getting to it. In some ways, it was like we told people, ‘The right way to play guitar is to play thrash metal,’ But there’s other ways to play guitar.” - [URL="http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidewalt/2012/01/09/wizards-announce-new-dungeons-and-dragons-an-inside-look-at-the-game/2/"]Mike Mearls[/URL]. [/INDENT] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Should 5e use optional rules like 2e did?
Top