D&D (2024) What stuff from 3.5e/3e/2e/1e/od&d should go into 5.5e?

[UngeheuerLich]

All weapons do 1d6 damage.

Actually I'd rather have all weapons do the same damage, but get something extra.
2e, 3e and 4e had nice differentiations between different weapons.
Bigger crit range, better to hit bonus, extra damage on crits. Better initiative, extra damage vs large creatures.
Hybrid thrown weapon or versatile.

Martial weapons could have two abilites combined.

 

[Steampunkette]

HD for PCs stopping at 10.

Get rid of the sack'o hit point bloat!

I've -really- been coming around to this way of thinking... But also having a different value for creatures by type.

So Humanoids would stop at 10, Dragons at 20, Aberrations at 12, Giants at 10, Beasts at 5... Different stopping points by creature type.

Bonus points: It also means short rests in high level games are both more potent (Fewer HP to restore) but also less available (Less HD to spend).

... actually... you know what could be really cool? Gaining Hit Dice at Even numbered levels and just +Con bonus at Odd numbered levels.

That would really preserve some squishiness for Risk/Reward and avoid the feeling of a level 10 "Plateau". Would also keep enemies dangerous at practically all levels, when combined with bounded accuracy...

 

[Jack Daniel]

HD for PCs stopping at 10.

Get rid of the sack'o hit point bloat!

I've -really- been coming around to this way of thinking... But also having a different value for creatures by type.

So Humanoids would stop at 10, Dragons at 20, Aberrations at 12, Giants at 10, Beasts at 5... Different stopping points by creature type.

Bonus points: It also means short rests in high level games are both more potent (Fewer HP to restore) but also less available (Less HD to spend).

... actually... you know what could be really cool? Gaining Hit Dice at Even numbered levels and just +Con bonus at Odd numbered levels.

That would really preserve some squishiness for Risk/Reward and avoid the feeling of a level 10 "Plateau". Would also keep enemies dangerous at practically all levels, when combined with bounded accuracy...

The problem with either of these ideas is multiclassing. A fighter10/wizard10 should probably always have about the same total number of hps regardless of the order in which the levels were taken, but if you cut hit dice off at 10, the player who takes all fighter levels first is at a big advantage over the player who takes all wizard levels first; and if you go for Steampunkette's idea, then suddenly there's a massive difference between an even multi that goes fighter–wizard–fighter–wizard… and wizard–fighter–wizard–fighter… for no good reason.

Maybe just… reduce the hit die sizes back down to the original d4, d6, d8? Or cut hit dice in half — instead of d4, d6, d8, d10, and d12, determine classes' hit points with fixed values that simulate d2, d3, d4, d5, and d6? (Really, it'd be 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, or 3.5 – plus ½ Con mod – hps gained per level above the 1st. Something like that.)

 

[overgeeked]

The stuff that is already in 5E.

1. Paladins have to be lawful good
2. Druids have to be true neutral
3. Barbians are not allowed to use magic items or associate with Wizards or Clerics until they reach high levels and are still limited.
4. Halfling women have a maximum strength of 14.
5. Paldins are only allowed 10 magic items consisting of 1 armor, 1 shield, 4 weapons and 4 other magic items.
6. Monks have d4 hit dice, do +1/2 damage per level with weapons and get free proficiencies in athletics, stealth and thieves tools.
7. Racial class restrictions (Dwarf wizards I am looking at you!)
8. If a Wizard's familiar dies he permanently loses hps equal to the familiar's hit points.
9. Half Orcs can advance beyond level 20 and to unlimited levels if they take the Assassin subclass.
10. If an Assassin suprises someone he has a chance to outright kill him, regardless of hps, based on the assassin level and creature level. He rolls percentile dice and if it below the number the enemy dies.

I was in until you got to the racist and sexist stuff.

 

[Voadam]

3.5 Gestalt as an official option for upping player capabilities.

3.5 Soulknife class.

3.5 Recharge magic.

3.5/3,0 more official options for decoupling clerics from deities in flavor.

2e Spelljammer, Planescape, Jakandor, Birthright, Mystara, Dark Sun.

2e Ravenloft as a connected setting.

2e In depth god descriptions.

2e Distinctive specialty priest options.

1e Oriental Adventures style martial arts.

1e-3e non-fiend extraplanar lords.

 

[DemoMonkey]

"% in Liar"

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

The martial adept classes (Tome of Battle: Book of nine Swords) and the monster/transitional/template classes, specially the dragons (let's say the PCs were the runts in the nest).

After Loki TV-Show and the troubles with the TVA I think the AD&D chronomancer could offer an interesting potential for new stories.

 

[Lanefan]

1) Multiclassing where each class advances independently, rather than additive multiclassing.

Example: a Fighter-4/Cleric-4 is a 4th-level character in two classes (using the best attack matrix, save matrix, etc. of each class) but is in no way an 8th-level character!

1a) Classes advancing at different rates, and by extension a greater design-level acceptance of variable levels within a party

1b) Mechanisms for sudden level loss (e.g. undead) or level gain (one-shot magic item effects)

2) Death at -10, unconsciousness rules from 0 to -9, no more 5e-style "death saves".

3) Slower natural hit point recovery (though not as slow as RAW 1e!).

4) ... I could go on for ages ...

 

[Lanefan]

"% in Liar"

That's from the politician stat block.

For monsters I think you want "% in Lair".

 

[billd91]

That's from the politician stat block.

For monsters I think you want "% in Lair".

There was a typo in early materials so that instead of % in Lair, it ready something more like % Liar. I believe the Murphy's Rules comic strip focused on it in one issue of Space Gamer.