D&D 5E Parts of 5th Edition That Are Worth Stealing

[CleverNickName]

I'm starting to get more and more excited about 5E. Mostly, I'm looking forward to picking it apart, and stealing the bits that I like. I like to houserule...I like tinkering with rules mechanics and campaign settings and paladins until everything "feels right" to me and my players. We don't plan to switch editions, but I might pick up the core books just to cherry-pick the good bits.

So my question to the forum: if you are like me--running a stable campaign, not looking to change platforms, but always looking for house rules--what parts of the 5E game are you planning on stealing? Or do you abhor the whole idea of houseruling and homebrewing?

 

[CleverNickName]

Of course, I won't be able to say for certain until I've seen the actual things in print. But from what I have seen so far in the playtest, I think I will try to steal the advantage/disadvantage mechanic. It has a much more "retro" feel to it than the current stacking bonuses thing we are doing.

I like what they have done with paladin alignments, but I'd need to read a little more about them before I can say for sure that I would like to use them in my game. I've always allowed NG and LG paladins (only); having CN or LE paladins might push it a bit too far. If one of my players expresses an interest in it, I'll chase it down and make a decision.

And the tiefling flavor text and backstory was pretty interesting as well. I might have to find a way to integrate the 5E flavor of tiefling with the Pathfinder mechanics. (Or not. My players aren't terribly interested in tieflings...they tend to stick to the four main races.) But it made me very interested to read the rest of the classes, particularly the elves and dwarves.

 

[Tony Vargas]

if you are like me--running a stable campaign, not looking to change platforms, but always looking for house rules--what parts of the 5E game are you planning on stealing?

I've prettymuch already stolen Adv/Dis. Not as a replacement for modifiers across the board, but as an alternate way of modeling a factor that makes a much bigger difference in close calls than in foregone conclusions. It's a handy tool to have.

So far, nothing else appeals. Backgrounds are good, but already present in 4e, so there's no need to steal 'em.

 

[CleverNickName]

I've prettymuch already stolen Adv/Dis. Not as a replacement for modifiers across the board, but as an alternate way of modeling a factor that makes a much bigger difference in close calls than in foregone conclusions. It's a handy tool to have.

I'd be interested in seeing your notes, actually. Eventually I'd like to replace all stacking bonuses with Adv/Dis, but I'm looking for a low-impact way to test it out first.

 

[Xodis]

I'm going to do a full switch to 5e initially and then patch from there or just go back to older systems if it doesn't fit.

I like the 'Vantage system, it works and makes thing simple and fast. I can see myself adding different tiers of 'vantage to let well thought out set ups and planning not get erased to simple counter maneuvers.

The low power tier works for me. Im a big fan of E6 (or the variant E7 I liked for pathfinder), and like how high level adventurers can still get brought down by mass low level encounters.

The spell system seems to work well, want to play with it some more and see how well the "Hybrid" spell casting classes work with it before making judgement overall.

 

[Bawylie]

In the end, using adv/dis is substantially less mental load and much quicker.

It ends "oh, I forgot my +1 from..." and just let's me lump an all-encompassing benefit or penalty.

That, to me, is worth the theft.

 

[Kinak]

I really liked advantage/disadvantage as a mechanic and imported it into Pathfinder... and almost immediately removed it.

Basically, it works really well if you're rolling one thing at a time. So it was fine for skill checks and low-level attacks, but as soon as players got multiple attacks, it fell apart.

The same thing happened in the playtest with multiple attack enemies or large quantities of enemies, so I should have seen it coming. Back when swarming dire rats gained advantage... the die rolls were thick on the floor that day.

That said, it might work okay in an E6 campaign or any low-level campaign... but I don't think I'd even use it there. I'm definitely an anti-convert.

Cheers!
Kinak

 

[Tony Vargas]

I'd be interested in seeing your notes, actually. Eventually I'd like to replace all stacking bonuses with Adv/Dis, but I'm looking for a low-impact way to test it out first.

I don't have any notes. I do have a table I cooked up showing how Adv/Dis impacts checks:

http://community.wizards.com/sites/mtgcommunity/files/pictures/011466cd8df8a16e31874ab0c0e99ab9.gif

 

[Blackbrrd]

I stole bounded accuracy for my 4e game.

 

[fba827]

Codifying traits, ideals, bonds, flaws,

Easily already existed, just nice to have it coded down for help in figuring out motivations ( both for pcs and select npcs)