FormerlyHemlock
Hero
Semi-idle thought experiment: if you were playing AD&D as a player (not a DM), what would you miss about 5E? What bits would you think worth keeping or importing?
For me, I like the 5E fighter and the number of combat options he has. Some of the 5E fighter actions like Disarm have analogues in AD&D (Complete Fighter's Handbook), but some of them don't. In particular, the way that grappling/shoving works in 5E is pretty beautiful for fighters--a 6th level fighter can turn a fight with an Earth Elemental from a deadly struggle into something approaching simplicity just by leveraging his Athletics training. I would want the game to have Prone as a disadvantageous condition, and a way for a fighter to reliably or semi-reliably exploit it, although I don't necessarily need it to be as trivially easy as it is in 5E. (E.g. Prone gives a -4 to hit and +4 to be hit, and attack rolls/saving throws take place on a 2d10 bell curve instead of d20. Ability contests are run by comparing margins of success on a 3d6 roll; for grappling it's a Strength contest, and weapon proficiency in wrestling gives you a +2 on wrestling contests. That replicates basically the same dynamics as 5E when it comes to tanky fighters wrestling enemies into submission.)
I would also miss the a beauty of Sharpshooter and fighters who do tons of damage with arrows; but I'm willing to give that up in the name of a more classic, harder game. D&D as GURPS (complete with lots of Rapid Shots and Vital Shots) is just too easy.
I would miss reaction spells like Shield and Absorb Elements; but not enough to want to import them. The AD&D wizard paradigm is "think ahead" (Stoneskin/Ironskin/Contingency), not "react on the fly" (Shield/Absorb Elements). I would sort of miss Counterspell though--it's a nice bit of fiction. I'm not sure how to accomodate Counterspell in the AD&D paradigm.
I might miss the saving throw system. I've always been kind of fuzzy on the reasons why rods/staves/wands get treated differently from spells, in the fiction. On the other hand, I'm often also fuzzy on why e.g. getting out of a Forcecage involves a Charisma save, or why exactly a Dexterity saving throw to protect you from Fireball does not cost movement or a reaction or leave you prone (i.e. apparently you're not doing any of the things you'd think you were doing to protect yourself from the Fireball). Both systems have their warts from a logical perspective so it might be a wash.
That's all I can really think of that I'd miss. There are things I like about 5E, but aside from fighters, Counterspell, and maybe ability-centric saving throws, I can't think of anything else that I like better in 5E than in AD&D. (I'm fine with THAC0, for example. In some ways it's easier to deal with than ascending AC, especially in large combats.)
If you were me, what would YOU be missing?
For me, I like the 5E fighter and the number of combat options he has. Some of the 5E fighter actions like Disarm have analogues in AD&D (Complete Fighter's Handbook), but some of them don't. In particular, the way that grappling/shoving works in 5E is pretty beautiful for fighters--a 6th level fighter can turn a fight with an Earth Elemental from a deadly struggle into something approaching simplicity just by leveraging his Athletics training. I would want the game to have Prone as a disadvantageous condition, and a way for a fighter to reliably or semi-reliably exploit it, although I don't necessarily need it to be as trivially easy as it is in 5E. (E.g. Prone gives a -4 to hit and +4 to be hit, and attack rolls/saving throws take place on a 2d10 bell curve instead of d20. Ability contests are run by comparing margins of success on a 3d6 roll; for grappling it's a Strength contest, and weapon proficiency in wrestling gives you a +2 on wrestling contests. That replicates basically the same dynamics as 5E when it comes to tanky fighters wrestling enemies into submission.)
I would also miss the a beauty of Sharpshooter and fighters who do tons of damage with arrows; but I'm willing to give that up in the name of a more classic, harder game. D&D as GURPS (complete with lots of Rapid Shots and Vital Shots) is just too easy.
I would miss reaction spells like Shield and Absorb Elements; but not enough to want to import them. The AD&D wizard paradigm is "think ahead" (Stoneskin/Ironskin/Contingency), not "react on the fly" (Shield/Absorb Elements). I would sort of miss Counterspell though--it's a nice bit of fiction. I'm not sure how to accomodate Counterspell in the AD&D paradigm.
I might miss the saving throw system. I've always been kind of fuzzy on the reasons why rods/staves/wands get treated differently from spells, in the fiction. On the other hand, I'm often also fuzzy on why e.g. getting out of a Forcecage involves a Charisma save, or why exactly a Dexterity saving throw to protect you from Fireball does not cost movement or a reaction or leave you prone (i.e. apparently you're not doing any of the things you'd think you were doing to protect yourself from the Fireball). Both systems have their warts from a logical perspective so it might be a wash.
That's all I can really think of that I'd miss. There are things I like about 5E, but aside from fighters, Counterspell, and maybe ability-centric saving throws, I can't think of anything else that I like better in 5E than in AD&D. (I'm fine with THAC0, for example. In some ways it's easier to deal with than ascending AC, especially in large combats.)
If you were me, what would YOU be missing?
