D&D General Unique Class Mechanics you would love to see in a D&D "goes wild" Edition [+]

Lanefan · Tuesday at 10:59 PM

@fuindordm - for Sorcerer, what do you mean by "improvise spells?" Letting them invent new spells on the spot, if that's what it means, would be awful for any DM to have to try to rule on and-or balance on the fly.

Also, if concentration were to mostly go away (which I'd like to see) then what else could make the Wizard unique?

Another area this discussion has thus far mostly ignored is multi-classing, which is antithetical to making classes unique as multi-classing just mushes them together..

Merlecory · Wednesday at 3:40 AM

Here is somewhere between a unique mechanic and feature of spells, tell me if it's what your interested in. The idea is that these spells can carry on when after concentration is dropped. I like the idea of Druids harnessing the forces of nature, but one slip up means that the spell is out of control.

Conjure Tornado (3rd)
Druid
Casting time: 1 Action
Range: 50 Feet
Target: 5 Foot Radius, 50 ft high cylinder centered on a point in range
Duration: 1 Minute, Concentration*
Component: V,S

A pillar of swirling wind appears centered on the point that you choose. Each creature in the tornado's space must make a Strength saving throw. On a failure, a target takes 2d8 bludgeoning damage and is flung up 20 feet away from the elemental in a random direction and knocked prone. If a thrown target strikes an object, such as a wall or pillar, the target takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage for every 10 feet it was thrown. If the target is thrown at another creature, that creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take the same damage and be knocked prone. If the saving throw is successful, the target takes half the bludgeoning damage and isn't flung away or knocked prone.

On each of your turns after you cast this spell, you may, as an action, move the tornado up to 50 feet to a new point within the spell’s range. The tornado must not double back on itself in a turn. Creatures that the tornado moves through must make saves, and suffer the spell’s effects as normal.

You may spend a bonus action to dispel the spell while you are still concentrating on it. If you lose concentration on this spell during this duration for any reason (fail a save, cast a new concentration spell, choose to stop concentrating) the tornado rages on. When that happens, the tornado joins initiative right after the caster's turn. The tornado moves 50 feet along the ground in a random direction, or direction of the DM's digression, on its turn.

ZeshinX · Wednesday at 12:02 PM

Ditch the Ranger as a class and present multiple subclasses.

Barbarian (Ranger) - No spellcasting, concept is survivalist, nomadic, adaptable (unique fighting style available only to them, terrain-specific combat abilities....or alters Rage benefits to align with terrain/local fauna).

Druid (Ranger) - Spellcasting, concept is more defender/protector of woodlands, subclass abilities lean more to the martial (offers fighting styles, available in wild shape as level progresses). Perhaps viewed as the more "historically traditional" representation of the former Ranger class.

Rogue (Ranger) - No spellcasting, concept is more scout/skirmisher/guerilla tactics warrior (no multiple attacks, hit once, but hit hard).

This is brainstormed and surface idea. It is not developed or thought through beyond that lol.

ZeshinX · Wednesday at 12:08 PM

Lanefan said:
Bards - go to a bespoke magic sub-system almost completely based on sound; yes this means Silence can temporarily ruin their day but to compensate, most of their abilities are at-will rather than gated by slots.

"We go up to 11."

Bardlocks, Pact of the <intrument name>

"Invocations?! Ah, I believe I see your confusion, good sir. True, it is more than sheer talent. Chords and notes, a merging of thought and sound. Allow me to demonstrate, for your ears only. I call this one, The Brown Note...."

J-H · Wednesday at 12:51 PM

Someone trying a well-balanced points-based spellcasting system.

Your character knows Fire. This is a touch-range spell dealing 1d6 damage by default.
1 point upgrades the range from touch to 30' and then another 2 points get it to 120'.
1 point upgrade it from a single-target spell to 10' radius, then another 2 points to 20' radius. (5' radius spells are rare)
1+2+4 points upgrade it from 1d6 damage to 2d6 then 4d6 then 8d6.
Now for 10 spell points you're casting a 120' range, 20' radius, 8d6 fire spell... Fireball.
Add another 8 spell points and it's a 30' or 40' radius 12d6 Greater Fireball.

Your character knows Force. This is a touch-range spell dealing 1d4+1 force damage.
1 point upgrades it to a 30' range.
1 point doubles it to 2 Force darts.
1 point changes it from an attack roll to "always hits", a capability unique to Force.
3 points gets you short-ranged Magic Missile.
2 more points makes it 4 missiles, or increases range to 120'.
Cast it with 11 points and you get 8 missiles for 1d4+1 each at 120' range that always hit.

There'd have to be a point-spending cap, probably level+casting mod.
Each elemental seed would have a few fixed characteristics; Fire always goes to Dex save, Cold always goes to Con save, Force can be converted to "always hits," etc.

I think this would be a better mechanic for sorcerers than "is a wizard but different."

Steampunkette · Wednesday at 2:08 PM

Ranger gets a Bonus Action economy. Movement and defensive options. Plus a single weapon attack as an option.

Want it to be less isolating for Dual-Wielders? Yank their attribute bonus from the bonus action attack until level 5. And give them attribute bonus on attack with Dual Wielding at level 1. Then at level 5, give them a second off-hand attack with the bonus action which doesn't get the attribute bonus.

There. Ranger throughput is fixed.

Vael · Wednesday at 4:16 PM

I keep thinking half-caster is overly restrictive on the Artificer, so an Artificer that unifies spellcasting with Replicate Magic Item into a general Infusion progression like in 3.5 would be interesting. But probably breakable.

But in general, I'd like to see non-spell slot based magic systems (Incarnum was cool), and a Martial Maneuvers system that isn't too spell-like.

Lanefan · Wednesday at 7:35 PM

Steampunkette said:
Ranger gets a Bonus Action economy. Movement and defensive options. Plus a single weapon attack as an option.

Want it to be less isolating for Dual-Wielders? Yank their attribute bonus from the bonus action attack until level 5. And give them attribute bonus on attack with Dual Wielding at level 1. Then at level 5, give them a second off-hand attack with the bonus action which doesn't get the attribute bonus.

There. Ranger throughput is fixed.

Or, take dual-wielding away from Rangers* and make it a Rogue thing?

Rangers' combat abilities should be flexible enough to go heavy-armour tank sword-and-board (but without the special abilities of Fighters) or light-armour swashbuckle sword-and-board (but without the special abilities of Rogues), with their real niche being woodscraft, tracking, and herb lore. Mechanically this means they could use any armour, any shield, one-handed melee weapons, and any bow.

* - which they only ever got because of Drizz't back in the day anyway, as part of the ruination of the Ranger class.

Steampunkette · Wednesday at 8:06 PM

Lanefan said:
Or, take dual-wielding away from Rangers* and make it a Rogue thing?

Rangers' combat abilities should be flexible enough to go heavy-armour tank sword-and-board (but without the special abilities of Fighters) or light-armour swashbuckle sword-and-board (but without the special abilities of Rogues), with their real niche being woodscraft, tracking, and herb lore. Mechanically this means they could use any armour, any shield, one-handed melee weapons, and any bow.

* - which they only ever got because of Drizz't back in the day anyway, as part of the ruination of the Ranger class.

You misunderstand: Give them a bonus action attack independent of weapon type.

Archer? Bonus action longbow shot.
Pikeman? Use that reach with a bonus action to stab someone.
Bastard Sword? 1d10 to that guy's dome as a bonus action.

And then also allow them to dual-wield with dual-wielding specific functions to keep it on par with the other options.

Vael · Wednesday at 8:13 PM

Another thought... I'd like to see charge up mechanics in DnD. DnD is built on the assumption that you have full access to all your abilities after a long rest, but what if mages had to gather power to cast their powerful spells? Warriors had "finishing moves" that they couldn't use immediately after initiative was rolled?