D&D 5E What rules would you like to see come back in 5E?

[Mishihari Lord]

Crits and fumbles can be a lot of fun, if done well. The add drama, tension, and sometimes humor to play.

Done poorly, though, they can be a real problem. My very first game of Rolemaster, in the very first encounter a PC was hit by a critical from a portcullis trap: he looked up and one of the bars skewered him right through the eye, killing him instantly. Even if it comes up only rarely, that type of mechanic can play hob with an RPG in many playstyles.

 

[delericho]

Done poorly, though, they can be a real problem. My very first game of Rolemaster, in the very first encounter a PC was hit by a critical from a portcullis trap: he looked up and one of the bars skewered him right through the eye, killing him instantly. Even if it comes up only rarely, that type of mechanic can play hob with an RPG in many playstyles.

Heh. I ran a "Black Crusade" one-shot last year, in which the Sorcerer, as his first action in the first combat of the game, used one of his powers on "push", which guaranteed a side-effect, rolled on the big table of effects.

At this point, there was a lot of laughing and joking about the possibility of him rolling a 100 on that d% (thus triggering a reroll on the next table up), followed by 98+ - a result that would kill the character instantly.

It turned out that that was exactly what happened.

Funnily enough, that proved to be the highlight, and the most memorable event, of that game. We let the result stand (and the player brought in a backup character). However, had it been a 'regular' campaign session, I expect we would probably have rerolled, because it sucks to lose a long-held, and story-significant, character to a 3-in-10,000 chance like that.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I would not like to see random re-rolling for initiative each round but I would like to see a system based on weapon speed or something like that.
Perhaps something like martial classes can make a bluff check that if it succeeds they can increase their initiative count by a die roll based on weapon. Perhaps something like a d4 weapon can shift initiative by d12 and a d12 weapon by d4, that sort of thing.

I would like action points back in and from 4e the ability that the daily power provided to really nova in a fight. Not sure how that could be made work in 4e though. Give un hit die for extra weapon die in one attack?

 

[Mistwell]

Just a very good reason NEXT needs to move forward and keep most of these things in it's history.

Almost all of these things didn't make it into 3rd edition, then stayed gone with 4th for very good reason, there are people who like them but they have their version of D&D already. NEXT is trying to move to the future while keeping the "feel" of the past, not the headache associated with a myriad of different subsystems and overly complex things like weapon speed and casting times.

This thread to me is "What rules would I like to never see come back in any edition of D&D"

I agree they want to reduce the fiddly bits, but I disagree that everything in this thread qualifies as such. I think some things were dropped for 3e for mechanical reasons which don't exist in 5e. Like for example the requirement in 3e that monsters function by the same mechanics as PCs.

Some also was in 3e, just done poorly. For example, spell interruption was there, but a concentration check was so trivially easy that it became meaningless. Followers and retainers were there, but it was so regimented by a feat that it became an on/off thing for just niche character concepts due to the dominance of feats in 3e. Morale was there, but it was buried in the intimidation rules and never really worked great.

I think 5e should reconsider some of the things dropped, or done poorly in 3e and 4e, and see if it can make them work again.

 

[Blackwarder]

Not to mention that cyclic initiative completely changed the nature of fights in D&D, so it doesn't realy matter if there is a concentration roll or not since 90% of the times it doesn't come into play.

I realy wish they add rules for per round initiative, and for moral checks.

Warder

 

[Ahnehnois]

moral checks.

Well, that could be interesting.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

Crits and fumbles can be a lot of fun, if done well. The add drama, tension, and sometimes humor to play.

Done poorly, though, they can be a real problem. My very first game of Rolemaster, in the very first encounter a PC was hit by a critical from a portcullis trap: he looked up and one of the bars skewered him right through the eye, killing him instantly. Even if it comes up only rarely, that type of mechanic can play hob with an RPG in many playstyles.

That doesn't sound like one done poorly to me. I would absolutely have loved that. While I never like losing a character, that tale would be told around the table for 40 years.

 

[billd91]

Not to mention that cyclic initiative completely changed the nature of fights in D&D, so it doesn't realy matter if there is a concentration roll or not since 90% of the times it doesn't come into play.

I realy wish they add rules for per round initiative, and for moral checks.

Warder

This really is an interesting quandary. The 2e initiative system really did present some interesting tactical choices, particularly regarding spell interruption. But the cyclical initiative introduced in 3e is a lot more streamlined and game-friendly. It also manages durations well and fairly. So, both systems have some distinct benefits to them.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

With cyclic initiative, it is very hard to pursue anyone. If two characters have the same movement rate, one can never catch the other until they start failing con checks - barring outside interference, of course.

 

[billd91]

With cyclic initiative, it is very hard to pursue anyone. If two characters have the same movement rate, one can never catch the other until they start failing con checks - barring outside interference, of course.

Ideally, I don't think you'd want to use initiative to significantly inform that anyway, particularly once both parties are running.