D&D 4E 4e Mechanics That Ought to Exist (But Don't Yet!)

[Rel]

My solution to the lack of Craft & Perform type stuff was one of the first things I changed in 4e. My solution was to have the players answer two questions at the outset of the game:

What did your character do to earn a living before becoming an adventurer?

What does your character enjoy doing when not adventuring?

The answer to these became "background skills", kept entirely separate from the regular skills. We'd assign whatever stat seemed appropriate to the skill in question. Every 4 levels the player gets a new "background skill advance". This can be a new background skill, Skill Focus in an existing background skill, or a new language.

This added the types of skills that I was missing from 3e, used the same architecture as 4e without competing with the same skill resources AND it solved the issue that bothered me with regards to languages only being learned 3 at a time.

 

[The Human Target]

Every once in a while an idea crosses my mind for a mechanic that I'd love to see implemented in 4th Edition D&D. The Companion Character rules from the DMG2 are good examples of what I'm talking about - new small rules systems that expand what can be done with the game itself.

So what mechanics have you brainstormed up that you think would be awesome in 4e, but haven't seen any exposure yet? This is your chance to get some feedback on them and get them out there.

A couple of my own: first, powers attached to particularly significant monsters (solos, for instance) that can be used by the PCs. These would usually take the form of special attacks that can be made against the monster itself (think: weak points). Mechanically, they would operate very similarly to terrain powers; pass a skill check and you can make the associated attack. Because these powers are attached to the monster itself, their effects can be tailored to what the monster can do. Slash the magical focusing stone from the back of the necrotic behemoth, for instance, and suddenly its aura is gone! This could create some awesome God of War-style cinematic moments mid-fight.

Now that I really like.

Yoink.

 

[Cwheeler]

Ah yes. I guess I would have listed this too, but one of the first things I did for 4E was build a trait/talent system (equivalent to feats/skills for noncombat), and it has been working decently so far.

Congrats, This is possibly the ONLY good noncombat system I've seen for 4e. And just for the record, I don't find it narrow or overly focused.

Do you have any plans to expand on the material?

 

[Starfox]

Congrats, This is possibly the ONLY good noncombat system I've seen for 4e. And just for the record, I don't find it narrow or overly focused.

Do you have any plans to expand on the material?

Thank you.

I maintain it; that is when a PC in my game wants do do something it does not, I add that. But this only happened right at the start and just now; we're having a debate about the usefulness of the Writer talent right now.

If someone outside my immediate gaming group were to use it, I'd take suggestions on things they want to include. I find it pretty easy to expand rules on demand - the hard part is writing a rules framework and to balance things - which is not really necessary here.

I could see a thread here on EN World dedicated to suggestions and rule requests on it if there is demand, but we should not threadnap this one.

 

[Sporemine]

This may just concern my pyromaniac group, but rules for what will burn, and how fires will spread. I had one for 3.5 but I can't find it.

Kudos

-Sporemine