D&D 5E How Close do you stick with the Game As Written?

[Remathilis]

An interesting thought popped in my head the other day... How many people play D&D as written?

By that, I mean the following: uses all the default rules (no house rules), has all the default classes, races, and monsters "in world", keeps mostly to the D&D flavor text, etc. Additionally, if you use a setting, you keep it as close to cannon as possible (adding details, but not making major changes) Basically, a combination of Rules As Written and Setting as Described, with no major deviance from the core.

Anyone run a game like that?

 

[BigVanVader]

I don't. The whole point of the game, for me, is to take what I like, throw out what I don't, and make a world that's fun for me to 'run' for people. Otherwise, I'm just running a book for people, so why not run one of those Interactive Goosebumps books? Those ones at least have Spooky Slime(tm) and an obnoxious younger sibling.

Ever notice that? How every Goosebumps book had two kids, an older one and a younger brother/sister? Every single one.

 

[Remathilis]

I don't. The whole point of the game, for me, is to take what I like, throw out what I don't, and make a world that's fun for me to 'run' for people. Otherwise, I'm just running a book for people, so why not run one of those Interactive Goosebumps books? Those ones at least have Spooky Slime(tm) and an obnoxious younger sibling.

Ever notice that? How every Goosebumps book had two kids, an older one and a younger brother/sister? Every single one.

Not necessarily; even keeping to the options presented in just the core rulebooks, you can make hundreds of thousands of stories. I'm mostly looking to see how close people get to "Whats in the rule book is how I do it" when it comes to both rules and flavor.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

I don't even know what that would mean, in terms of 5E - do the uncommon races count as default?

 

[steeldragons]

Nope. Not a chance.

Rulings not rules. When it comes to "hard rules" [mechanics -like HP and AC- needed to make the game function] it's Rules as Intended. And Common Sense always wins out over "but the book says...".

Flavor/world details to taste. Monsters exist as needed. Races as befits the world. Races that do "exist in world" [moreso than classes, but sometimes classes as well] could be vetoed as PCs.

So, I suppose "major" changes does fit.

 

[BigVanVader]

Not necessarily; even keeping to the options presented in just the core rulebooks, you can make hundreds of thousands of stories. I'm mostly looking to see how close people get to "Whats in the rule book is how I do it" when it comes to both rules and flavor.

And since those hundreds of thousands of stories tend to bore me, I change things up and do what I want to do.

 

[Hussar]

Whoops, should have read the OP before I voted. Do I stick pretty close to RAW? Yup, we're pretty close to RAW players. Not a whole lot of house rules and whatnot - we're there to play D&D, so why not play D&D.

However, the second part, do I stick to D&D canon? Not even remotely. I almost always home-brew my own worlds, which means that virtually anything is up for grabs. For example, I'm working on a home-brew world right now, where there are two kinds of halfligns. One is the fairly standard D&D halfling (at least so far, that might change) and the other is a nomadic tribe of wild halflings that bound their souls to wolves and have now transformed themselves into small Lupins (from the Mystara setting). Sort of size small wolf people. Not exactly standard.

 

[was]

We stick to about 60%-70% of the RAW and houserule the rest.

 

[Remathilis]

I don't even know what that would mean, in terms of 5E - do the uncommon races count as default?

For this exercise, if its in the PHB, it's available. All monsters in the MM exist somewhere. The default assumptions (planes, magic, backstory) are used.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

This is a very difficult question to answer, as to whether my changes are major or not.

A basic principle I follow is to make the minimum amount of house rules I feel are necessary to create the D&D experience I want.

I have no interest in turning D&D into a different RPG, and if I want to play in a different setting than a published one I make that setting rather than extensively revising the published material.

I kinda want to actually use what I'm paying for.

What I'm not sure of is how minor or major others would consider my house rules to be. I'm hoping I won't need more than a page of house rules after all the DMG options are in and I can select which ones I want to use. In the meantime, I made about a page of temporary house rules to adjust things I can't stomach (brain dead animal companions and toothless familiars, limited knowable cantrips, healing, quarterstaves, small characters one-handing normal-sized weapons), and added a couple things that allow flavor I want (dueling fighting style gives a +1 AC if your off hand doesn't have a shield, created a melee defensive cantrip to make mace and shield clerics worthwhile without high strength).

From my initial glance through of the MM (haven't read much of it yet), about the only things I need to change are giving gold, silver, and bronze dragons change shape at the young age category, and finding a way to fix the new Yugoloth backstory fiasco with a minimum amount of disruption.