D&D General Favorite things about your favorite edition: MECHANICS/RULES ONLY

Oofta · Jun 17, 2019

Trying to think of anything unique that hasn't already been mentioned.

OE/1E: distilling complexity into a relatively simple set of the rules that let me play a fantasy character. Multiclassing even if it was a bit flaky. Probably more but my books are unavailable at the moment and I'm too old to remember back that far.
2E: Specialization and clerical spheres were mentioned so I'll go with Skills and Powers. I know, a lot of people probably hated it but I really liked the flexibility. That and I had a blast playing my barbarian that was compulsively honest so that I could get a few more points. I even liked the min/maxing you could do with split ability scores even if it was easy to abuse.
3.x: Feats and minor actions. They got carried away with the action types after a while, but I still prefer minor actions to bonus actions along with always being able to "trade down".
4E: Umm ... something, something ... gee look at that! Time to move on.
5E: The simplicity, and stripping away some of the detritus that had attached itself to previous editions (I'm looking at you, umpteem billion bonuses and penalties I have to track all the time) along with bounded accuracy. Special mention to advantage/disadvantage.

Sacrosanct · Jun 17, 2019

Oofta said:
2E: Specialization and clerical spheres were mentioned so I'll go with Skills and Powers. I know, a lot of people probably hated it but I really liked the flexibility. That and I had a blast playing my barbarian that was compulsively honest so that I could get a few more points. I even liked the min/maxing you could do with split ability scores even if it was easy to abuse.
.

I actually liked skills and powers as well. One of my favorite characters was a paladin (sorry lowkey) of Ilmatr, who couldn't wear armor of any type. But he did have d12 for hit points and early cleric spells. His ethos was that pain brings purity, and those options really supported it. I.e., lower AC and insisting on being a front line fighter meant taking more damage, but higher HP and earlier access to healing meant equal staying power. I get how some people used the book to min/max, but I used the options to support the role playing aspect of what I wanted, and was a huge addition to the 2e toolset.

HJFudge · Jun 17, 2019

4E: Interesting choices that mattered in character creation/leveling up, Balance amongst classes, Combat was interesting and engaging, less trap choices than previous editions, better structure for skills, Mechanics leading to more engaging Roleplay in general (I.e. the rules didn't get in the way of the roleplay)

Edited cause I listed something twice

aco175 · Jun 17, 2019

I liked 4e monster creation. There seemed to be a shift from making a stronger monster by giving it more HP and a magic weapon. 3e made making monsters tougher by giving class levels and 4e seemed to be easy when you could give them powers. 5e seemed to start off by not having scaling monsters, but w see some popping up in supplements.

3e I liked the d20 mechanic where it made things so much easier than THAC0. Not that it was hard once you got used to it, but you did not need so many charts. I also like 3e multiclassing and wish 5e had something better than it has now.

Tony Vargas · Jun 18, 2019

Sacrosanct said:
Similar to the other thread, but the opposite. This thread is meant for talking about mechanics/rules only. No fluff, no business practices, only actual mechanical rules. Of your favorite editions, what are the rules you liked best about them?

Wait? Edition/s/? plural! Cool.

1e: Weapon v Armor type adjustments! Subdual damage. Attack & Save Matrixes (they were complex, but not complicated, and the save matrixes gave good results that preserved higher level characters, the 'heroes' of the story, in a world of SoDs). The Druid class. The Fighter's 1 attack/level vs less-than-1-HD monsters mechanic. Monsters using different rules & stat blocks from PCs. Spells listed by class, then level, only then alphabetically.

3e: Multiclassing. Prestige Classes. NPC Classes. The Fighter. The Sorcerer. Feats. Esp: Great Cleave, Spring Attack, WWA, and Combat Expertise. Combat Maneuvers. AoOs. Threat range/crit-x. BAB. Unified exp progression. Wealth/level guidelines. Swarms. 'Re-skinning' the appearance of the PC & his gear explicitly in the hands of the player.

4e: AEDU. Source & Role. Martial Powers. Arcane Powers. Powers listed by class, then level, and only then alphabetically. Re-skinning said powers explicitly in the hands of the player. Racial Powers. The Warlord, Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, Artificer, Shaman, and even Ardent classes, and the Skald, Berserker, and Elemental Sorcerer sub-classes - OK, and the Witch sub-class. Monsters using different rules & stat blocks from PCs. Monster Roles & Secondary roles (yes, that includes minions). Encounter guidelines. MM3 on a business card. Swarms. Companion characters. Skills. Skill Challenges, Esp XP for Skill Challenges equivalent to combat encounters. Group Checks. Unified exp progression. The 1/2 bonus. Wealth/level guidelines. Healing Surges. Bloodied & keywords, in general. Combat Advantage. OAs. Mark mechanics. Max + dice crits. Weapon qualities. FORT/REF/WILL as defenses. Saves and Sustain actions as duration mechanisms. Themes. Epic Destinies. Healing Surges. Milestones. Action Points. Item Daily Uses...

Dannyalcatraz · Jun 18, 2019

3.X: Feats opening up PC design flexibility, liberalized multiclassing, largely decoupling stats from class, the more intuitive AC system, meaningful skills, the unified D20 mechanic

4Ed: the Warlock

gyor · Jun 18, 2019

4e epic destinies, 2e rules for Speciality Priests, Binder Feats from 3.5e.

Monayuris · Jun 18, 2019

From my favorite editions...

B/X:
Race as Class: simple clear choices at character creation. Minimizes decision points.
Treasure Types: Different monsters tend to collect different types of treasure.
Morale / Reactions: makes encounters dynamic and unique
Saving throws: I find the old style saving throw categories to be so much more evocative. A save vs death ray is WAY cooler than a constitution or Fortitude save (boring!)

5E:
Advantage/disadvantage: eliminates fishing for incremental minor bonuses.
Bounded Accuracy: keeps bonuses and target numbers reasonable. Systems without tend to just inflate the numbers. No more +36 to attack against AC 44 nonsense.
Concentration: reins in spell casters and removes over the top stacking of buffs.
Attunement: avoids Christmas tree. I especially like Items that have interesting things that need to be done to attune. For example the moonblade.

Manbearcat · Jun 18, 2019

B/X

- The tight, holistic focus of design around its play paradigm.
- The Exploration Turn/Rest > Wandering Monster Clock > Resource Attrition/Risk Reward Cycle Loop.
- Monster Reactions/Morale.
- Gold for xp.

4e

- (Again) The tight, holistic focus of design around its play paradigm.
- Scene based resolution with solid mechanics/means to support it (both combat and noncombat and all the interacting in-betweens and Fail Forward, Change the Situation, Stakes in Skill Challenges).
- All the Magic the Gathering tech and feel (action economy interactions, keyword tech, build/deck/unit synergies)
- Related to above, the dynamic, meaningful-choice-and-theme-laden combat (and the ease of GMing interesting, diverse combats with a variety of goals); Forced Movement, Terrain, Interesting Monsters and Syngergies, Great Balance and Encounter Budget Design.
- Depth and diversity of theme in cosmology, in protagonists, in antagonists.

reelo · Jun 18, 2019

JonnyP71 said:
1E - strictly defined race/class themes and limitations - something I much prefer to the 'anything goes' style of later editions.

1E - uneven class progression - giving each class a chance to shine at different levels, there were no stressing over keeping the party levels relatively even either. (also true for 2E)

Manbearcat said:
B/X

- The tight, holistic focus of design around its play paradigm.
- The Exploration Turn/Rest > Wandering Monster Clock > Resource Attrition/Risk Reward Cycle Loop.
- Monster Reactions/Morale.
- Gold for xp.

Same for me. BX seems less about collaboratively storytelling and more about collaborative problem-solving and ressource management. That's not to say storytelling isn't possible or encouraged, but "player smarts" are as vital, if not more so, than character/class abilities.