D&D 5E (2024) Preferences in a New Official 5.5e Specific Setting

[Maxperson]

Gate implies a very high level spell.

Elric mostly does lower level stuff whose summoned creatures are less able or less willing,
like a "cat god" (Fiend Tabaxi), thus he knows different specific rituals (and preferred bribes) to get different specific creatures to assist. It is a lamp-shaded demonology. Summon and conjure spells represent the concept well enough.

To reflavor a High Elf for the royal family works well enough. Alternatively, use one of the Human two background feats to grant magical education.

Elric calls on literal gods who can affect entire universes with his knowledge and bargains his kin made. He calls on far more than any D&D spell can represent, even Gate.

 

[Minigiant]

Class restrictions and wizards who fight with staffs" sounds much more like a desire for 1st edition AD&D than S&S

It's more about limiting magical power that pulls PCs outside of the personal local stakes.

Class restrictions aren't needed. But you have to dampen the power of PC magic users to keep the PCs dealing with the local realm.

5e was written in such that humanoid noncaster "monsters" are

1. Low Level (few Humaniod noncasters are above CR 5)
2. Tactically Simple (they do the same thing every turn)
3. Strategically Boring (what they do is not interesting)

So everything beyond the boss fight with the sorcerer in S&S is a snoozefest of generic spearmen, swordsmen, and archers.

Reading Conan is fun.
Watching Conan is fun.
Playing 4 Conans gets boring fast without an excellent DM.

So you'll either need to spice up martial combat or allow frequent but muted spellcasting on both sides of the DM screen.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

It's more about limiting magical power that pulls PCs outside of the personal local stakes.

What stakes? Conan is invincible.

Class restrictions aren't needed. But you have to dampen the power of PC magic users to keep the PCs dealing with the local realm.

No you don’t, because they are not dealing with the local realm in combat situations, they are dealing with powerful sorcerers and hideous monsters.

5e was written in such that humanoid noncaster "monsters" are

1. Low Level (few Humaniod noncasters are above CR 5)
2. Tactically Simple (they do the same thing every turn)
3. Strategically Boring (what they do is not interesting)

So everything beyond the boss fight with the sorcerer in S&S is a snoozefest of generic spearmen, swordsmen, and archers.

Reading Conan is fun.
Watching Conan is fun.
Playing 4 Conans gets boring fast without an excellent DM.

Playing 4 Conans is your players have zero imagination. Even if you ignore every other S&S protagonist, I can think of four or five different ways to build a Conan inspired character off the top of my head.

Bottom line: if you want a low magic game call it a low magic game, S&S is not a synonym for low magic game.

 

[Minigiant]

No you don’t, because they are not dealing with the local realm in combat situations, they are dealing with powerful sorcerers and hideous monsters

The point is 5e is built around 6-8 encounters per long rest.

You aren't fighting sorcerers and hideous monsters every fight in Sword and Sorcery.

That's the problem.
Frequency.

Mythic Fantasy has the same problem. The defining iconic monster, demigod caster, or super unique divine threat is only 1 of your 6 fights.

5e doesn't provide the tools or monster for the other 85% of the encounters

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The point is 5e is built around 6-8 encounters per long rest.

The point is, irrespective of how it was built, no one plays it that way.

You aren't fighting sorcerers and hideous monsters every fight in Sword and Sorcery.

There are very few that are anything other, and Conan barely breaks a sweat defeating a couple of dozen city watch. Trash mobs are trash.

 

[Minigiant]

The point is, irrespective of how it was built, no one plays it that way.

Point is the game is built that way. So you have to adjust.

BUT

There are not enough strong or interesting humaniod monsters in the books to make 1-4 encounter days interesting.

Not are there variant rules for it.

There are very few that are anything other, and Conan barely breaks a sweat defeating a couple of dozen city watch. Trash mobs are trash

That's the point.

It's Trash mobs.

Trash mobs are boring in 5e long term without serious variant rules

It's boring.

 

[Hussar]

The point is, irrespective of how it was built, no one plays it that way.

There are very few that are anything other, and Conan barely breaks a sweat defeating a couple of dozen city watch. Trash mobs are trash.

Umm... correction. You may not play it that way, but, I at least try to. And, to be fair, when you don't have long rest classes, it does get a LOT easier to play 6-8 encounters.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Point is the game is built that way. So you have to adjust.

People get along just fine ignoring the way the game was built.

There are not enough strong or interesting humaniod monsters in the books to make 1-4 encounter days interesting

You can always create more monsters.

But as a tactical combat boardgame 5e (and most other editions) is a steaming pile of manure. Fortunately for WotC, that’s not why most people play. For people who do like tactical combat games, there are much better options available than trying to hammer D&D into a round hole.

It's Trash mobs.

Trash mobs are boring in 5e long term without serious variant rules

It's boring.

All 5e combat gets boring, no amount of tinkering with the rules will change that. That’s why D&D has three pillars. If you are going to ignore everything apart from combat D&D is a f boring game.

 

[tetrasodium]

It's wasn't real DM Empowerment. DM Empowerment for all DMs.

It was DM Empowerment for a certain subset of DMs who didn't want the toolbox visible so they couldn't be compared to.

It wasn't empowerment for any gms. Empowerment would have been guidance and advice on how those gms you reference in the bolded bit could learn to use those tools. The 5e design didn't just hide them so they were not "visible", it straight up designed against their use at a foundational math level. Claiming it was some form of dm empowerment is the same sort of abusive emotional manipulation as "I'm only doing $thing because I love you" and nothing good comes from treating it like a reasonable claim.

 

[Yaarel]

Elric calls on literal gods who can affect entire universes with his knowledge and bargains his kin made. He calls on far more than any D&D spell can represent, even Gate.

Elric can interact with the beings of Law and Chaos directly. (Both seem to have Evil tendencies.) But they themselves are limited in how they can interact with mortal affairs and depend on Elric to do their bidding. All of this translates into D&D as low slot spells and Warlock patrons.