Zardnaar
Legend
In late 3.5 (after 4E landed, before we switched to Pathfinder) circa 2009 I had a page of house rules in order to fix 3.5. It was mostly a banned list of various feats, PrCs, etc and adding some things back in from 2E namely magic item creation rules. It didn't do much to fix the mathmatics of the game but we still had some fun.
After playing 4E, 5E, and Star Wars Saga plus OSR games/clones I have some fairly good ideas. Basically if you liked 3.X (at the time) I thought I would identify some key aspects of it.
1. Player options
2. Prestige classes
3. Weapons and armor having a bit more variety
4. Microfeats
5. Slower rates of non magical healing and some ye olde AD&Disms (LG Paladins etc).
Bad things about 3.5
1. Amount of skills between classes (fighter 2, Rogue 8 WTF)
2. The math.
3. Complexity.
4. Balance at higher levels (level 7+ generally).
5. Way Saving Throws scaled
5E fixed a lot of things but also created new things such as balance variance between feats, dex to damage, over night healing and some ye olde D&Disms which some people may not prefer (rapid healing, no mechanical alignment things).
So anyway I want to preserve the character build options and things like prestige classes, but they will need to be toned down along with the math overhauled. Anyway some thoughts.
1. Some form of bounded accuracy. 5E had a great idea here but you can probably stretch it a bit more. A fixed 3.X could use the 4E half level to everything, or use the old cleric BAB instead so by level 20 you have +15 proficiency. Higher than 5E stretche, but you can also stretch out ACs a bit more. A Dragon for example could have AC 30.THis would included capping ability scores, probably at 20 and no higher than 25 (a'la AD&D). All the various modifiers (natural armor, deflection etc) are gone.
2. Removing outright broken stuff from the game that can't be fixed. Natural spell for example, toning Druid Wildshape down, the 5E moon druid would be a good example here. Broken spels can go back to the AD&D version (assuming its not broken) and a few can be trimmed. Individual buff spells like divine favor and power can go bye bye, group buffs can stay. A few individual spells can be grandfathered in like Strength/bulls strength.
3. Rewrting a few things that can be fixed. Time stop isn't broken if you can't cast spells wile timestopped (maybe spells with range 0 or healing). A lot of feats can be buffed, consolidated, or removed. Overhaul the classes as well. Saving throws will also go back to AD&D at least conceptually (they will scale faster than saves. You will need to debuff or resort to damage dealing/buff as save or sucks etc will be a lot more unreliable. Damage dealing spells will scale for free but cap out at 2E/3E levels. Probably 90% of spells are fine.
4. Buffing non combat options. I would make the feats you get at level 1,3,6 (or 1,3,5,7 etc) be limited to a preselected list. Probably non combat feats. THis means each player get a certain amount of non combat utility built in, but its up to them what they pick up (combined with what they get via class). In a way this modernises the 2E WP/NWP system and even 5E struggles here (actor vs sharpshooter hmmn).
5. Classes get more feats. The fighter retains their feat advantage, but the more martial a class is the more feats they get. These feats can be spent on things like Dragonmarks or the 5E Magic Initiate to pick up a few spells here and there. Wizards and other primary casters won't get that many feats. These feats can be spent on anything you like (unless its pick from a few options). Some classes will also have a variety of optins to pick form a'la some 3E classes and 5E classes.
6. Prestige classes will have requirements and you are limited to 1 perhaps. They will also be explicitly optional (DM can say no) and they can be optional on a case by case basisis (this PrC is fine, this one is not).
7. Fiddly +1 skills/attack/damage type options are gone. A feat making you better with say longswords will give you +2 to hit. +1 weapons would remain but they also give you +1 to damage as well. A few things like Prayer, Bless and Faerie Fire can be buffed to a +2 modifier.
8. Add the advantage/disadvantage mechanic.
9. Wands of CLW either don't exist, or you can no longer easily and cheaply manufacture magic items (AD&DSpells and magic level of item creation).
10. Spell/Magic resistance will become a static number again. This will be based of the old 3.5 minis game and to beat it you have to roll a d20. SR 11 for example requires an 11 or higher to beat it. This will be uneffected by caster level. The spell penetration feat gives +2 on the roll. There are no other ways of buffing this. AD&D MR will be converted to a d20 number, MR 90% for example (a mind flayer) can be SR 19.
11.. Gnome Paladins. These will be buffed to be the best class and race combination. If you're a Gnome Paladin any weapon you wield is treated as a holy avenger.
After playing 4E, 5E, and Star Wars Saga plus OSR games/clones I have some fairly good ideas. Basically if you liked 3.X (at the time) I thought I would identify some key aspects of it.
1. Player options
2. Prestige classes
3. Weapons and armor having a bit more variety
4. Microfeats
5. Slower rates of non magical healing and some ye olde AD&Disms (LG Paladins etc).
Bad things about 3.5
1. Amount of skills between classes (fighter 2, Rogue 8 WTF)
2. The math.
3. Complexity.
4. Balance at higher levels (level 7+ generally).
5. Way Saving Throws scaled
5E fixed a lot of things but also created new things such as balance variance between feats, dex to damage, over night healing and some ye olde D&Disms which some people may not prefer (rapid healing, no mechanical alignment things).
So anyway I want to preserve the character build options and things like prestige classes, but they will need to be toned down along with the math overhauled. Anyway some thoughts.
1. Some form of bounded accuracy. 5E had a great idea here but you can probably stretch it a bit more. A fixed 3.X could use the 4E half level to everything, or use the old cleric BAB instead so by level 20 you have +15 proficiency. Higher than 5E stretche, but you can also stretch out ACs a bit more. A Dragon for example could have AC 30.THis would included capping ability scores, probably at 20 and no higher than 25 (a'la AD&D). All the various modifiers (natural armor, deflection etc) are gone.
2. Removing outright broken stuff from the game that can't be fixed. Natural spell for example, toning Druid Wildshape down, the 5E moon druid would be a good example here. Broken spels can go back to the AD&D version (assuming its not broken) and a few can be trimmed. Individual buff spells like divine favor and power can go bye bye, group buffs can stay. A few individual spells can be grandfathered in like Strength/bulls strength.
3. Rewrting a few things that can be fixed. Time stop isn't broken if you can't cast spells wile timestopped (maybe spells with range 0 or healing). A lot of feats can be buffed, consolidated, or removed. Overhaul the classes as well. Saving throws will also go back to AD&D at least conceptually (they will scale faster than saves. You will need to debuff or resort to damage dealing/buff as save or sucks etc will be a lot more unreliable. Damage dealing spells will scale for free but cap out at 2E/3E levels. Probably 90% of spells are fine.
4. Buffing non combat options. I would make the feats you get at level 1,3,6 (or 1,3,5,7 etc) be limited to a preselected list. Probably non combat feats. THis means each player get a certain amount of non combat utility built in, but its up to them what they pick up (combined with what they get via class). In a way this modernises the 2E WP/NWP system and even 5E struggles here (actor vs sharpshooter hmmn).
5. Classes get more feats. The fighter retains their feat advantage, but the more martial a class is the more feats they get. These feats can be spent on things like Dragonmarks or the 5E Magic Initiate to pick up a few spells here and there. Wizards and other primary casters won't get that many feats. These feats can be spent on anything you like (unless its pick from a few options). Some classes will also have a variety of optins to pick form a'la some 3E classes and 5E classes.
6. Prestige classes will have requirements and you are limited to 1 perhaps. They will also be explicitly optional (DM can say no) and they can be optional on a case by case basisis (this PrC is fine, this one is not).
7. Fiddly +1 skills/attack/damage type options are gone. A feat making you better with say longswords will give you +2 to hit. +1 weapons would remain but they also give you +1 to damage as well. A few things like Prayer, Bless and Faerie Fire can be buffed to a +2 modifier.
8. Add the advantage/disadvantage mechanic.
9. Wands of CLW either don't exist, or you can no longer easily and cheaply manufacture magic items (AD&DSpells and magic level of item creation).
10. Spell/Magic resistance will become a static number again. This will be based of the old 3.5 minis game and to beat it you have to roll a d20. SR 11 for example requires an 11 or higher to beat it. This will be uneffected by caster level. The spell penetration feat gives +2 on the roll. There are no other ways of buffing this. AD&D MR will be converted to a d20 number, MR 90% for example (a mind flayer) can be SR 19.
11.. Gnome Paladins. These will be buffed to be the best class and race combination. If you're a Gnome Paladin any weapon you wield is treated as a holy avenger.
