5ing my own E...who's with me?!

[steeldragons]

Mage
No armor or shields.
Weapons*: Staff, Club/Cudgel, Dagger/Knife. *See Class Abilities, below.
Prime Ability: Intelligence. Apply any Intelligence Bonus to all Saves/Defenses against Magic and all Skill/Ability Checks using Int. as their determiner. Add any Intelligence bonus (or subtract any penalty) from your total number of spells able to be cast per day.

A Word About Cantrips (0 level spells): Any Mage knows, has and can cast any of the 0 level Cantrips. These are the simple tricks and minor magics that mages study and master for years before venturing into more serious energies. A mage may spontaneously cast as many cantrips per day as the mage has levels.

Mage.......Hit........Spell Levels per Day........Weapon..........Class
Level.....Points..........1....2....3...............Proficiencies.......Ability
1..............4..............1..................................1............Detect Magic
2......+2 or d4...........2..................................1..........Choose Study
3......+2 or d4...........2....1............................1........Spontaneous Spell
4......+2 or d4...........3....2............................1..........Choose Study
5......+2 or d4...........4....2....1......................1............Mystic Recall

CLASS ABILITIES
Detect Magic: The Mage is able to sense the presence of arcane energies once per day per mage level within 10' per level of the mage.

Magical Studies: The Mage begins play with ONE of the following Magical Studies and may choose to increase the bonuses of their existing Studies or adopt/train in a new one as they increase in level. The Studies are:

"Arcane Adept": the mage receives an additional spell (of their allowed circle) per day. This added spell is cast at its fullest effects (duration, damage, area of effect, etc.)

"Specialist": the mage selects a particular field/school of magic and receives +1 spell allotment per mage level in that particular school. The mage also applies +1 to their Intelligence bonus for Skills/Ability rolls when dealing with their chosen school of study. i.e. a 3rd level Mage who has taken the "Specialist Study: Necromancy" will receive 3 added spells per day that are Necromantic in origin.

"Channeler": the mage is able to summon more than the usual amount of energy to apply to 1 spell per day per 3 levels (2 per day at 3rd, 3 per day at 6th, etc.). This(these) "channeled" spell(s), whether memorized or cast spontaneously, is cast with double the maximum effects of the spell (damage, duration, area of effect, etc. are all x2).

"Wizened Mind": the mage adds +1 to all Wisdom Skill/Ability rolls.

"Area of Interest": the mage gains a +1 to their Intelligence bonus on rolls regarding a chosen Area of Interest. This bonus increase +1 per slot the mage puts into it. i.e. A 4th level mage who took an Interest in Spellcraft at level 2 and again at level 4 would receive +2 to their Int. bonus on rolls regarding Spellcraft. The Area of Interest may include the use/training in a weapon that is not on the Weapons listed above. In this case, the +1 is assigned to the mage's "To Hit/Attack" roll (and increases as the mage puts more slots into this Area of Interest).

Spontaneous Spell: The Mage is able to Spontaneously cast (no memorization necessary) any spell in the spellbook (within the mage's normal allotment of spells. Doing so requires a spell slot so either such a slot may be "left open" by the mage or a memorized spell "ignored/released" to make room for the spontaneous casting. The number of spells able to be cast spontaneously per day increases +1 per mage level above 3rd. i.e. a 5th level mage would able to cast 3 spells spontaneously per day.

Immediate Recall: The Mage is able to immediately recall the last spell they cas and re-cast it the following round. If the spell is not used in the following round, it is lost from the mage's mind as normal (though might still be re-cast as a Spontaneous Spell if slots to do so remain).

CLASS THEMES
At Character Creation, the player may select one of these Class specific backgrounds for their theme (or may opt, instead, to choose from the General Theme or Racial Theme lists).

Sorcerer's Apprentice: You've one your time as the wizard's assistant and learn several tricks of the trade along the way. Receive +1 to Intelligence Skill/Ability Rolls when dealing with Spellcraft and Ancient History. +1 to Dexterity to "Sleight of Hand" tricks (which might include picking pockets or palming small items) and +1 to any "To Hit/Attack" rolls with spells that require such. The Apprentice is able to cast "Cantrip" spells equal to their Intelligence bonus +1 per level per day.

Scholar: You've spent years with your nose in old tomes, ancient scrolls, and dusty libraries. Study and research are second nature to you and you are able to impress others with your thoughtful nature and apparent knowledge. Receive +1 to Intelligence Skill/Ability rolls for knowledge regarding general Arcana topics, Ancient History and Religions. The Scholar receives +1 starting language of their choice. +1 to Charisma Skill/Ability rolls for interactions with other scholars/academic types, including mages and clerics of your level or lower.

Alchemist/Herbalist: You spent your youth learning the in's and out's of infusions, potions, poisons and other alchemical concoctions, along with the various and strange materials needed to create such. +1 to Intelligence Skill/Ability rolls regarding identification and general information of minerals, plants, potions and poison. +1 to Constitution Skill/Ability rolls for poisons and other ingested or breathed toxins (including such things as ghoul or troglodyte odors). Given the appropriate time and materials, the Alchemist and/or Herbalist is able to create the following: in one day a "batch" of non-magical "potion" that provides 4 doses that heal d4; in one day a non-magical "antitoxin" that provides 4 doses that will Neutralize any non-magical poison; in 3 days, a single dose of "poison potion" that will put the imbiber into a coma; with one week, they can create a flask of "alchemist's fire" (d6 fire damage) or a vial of caustic acid (d4 acid damage).

SPELLS
Cleric
1st Level...............................2nd Level
Bless........................................Aid
Command...............................Augury
Cure Light Wounds...............Consecrate
Detect Evil/Good..............Darkness 20' radius
Detect Undead.............Detect Lies (Zone of Truth)
Light..................................Hold Person
Protection from Evil.............Shield Other
Remove Fear..........................Silence
Resist Fire/Cold...................Slow Poison
Sanctuary.......................Spiritual Weapon

Mage
1st Level................................2nd Level...........................3rd Level
Burning Hands (Evo)..............Arcane Lock (Abj)............Animate Dead (Nec)
Charm Person (Enc)...........Command Undead (Nec).........Dispel Magic (Abj)
Chill Touch (Nec)...................Darkness (Evo)...............Explosive Runes (Abj)
Color Spray (Ill)..................Detect Thoughts (Div)............Fireball (Evo)
Comprehend Languages (Div) Detect Invisible (Div)................Fly (Tra)
Featherfall (Tra)....................Flaming Sphere (Evo)...........Illusory Script (Ill)
Floating Disc (Con)...............Invisibility (Ill).....................Lightning Bolt (Evo)
Mage Armor (Con)................Knock (Tra).........................Misdirection (Abj)
Magic Missile (Evo)...............Levitate (Tra).....................Stinking Cloud (Con)
Protection from Evil (Abj)......Mirror Image (Ill)...................Suggestion (Enc)
Shield (Abj).........................Phantasm (Ill)........................Tongues (Div)
Sleep (Enc)..........................Web (Con)......................Water Breathing (Tra)

Cantrips
[Mage characters begin with 4 cantrips +Int. Bonus in their spellbook.]
Arcane Mark
Dancing Lights
Daze
Detect Magic
Detect Poison
Light
Mage Hand
Mending
Open/Close
Prestidigitation
Produce Flame
Silent Image

 

[Tallifer]

This is an intellectual exercise which I can enjoy, especially because everyone can post here without argument since they are writing up their own dreams not preaching what everyone should play.

My Fifth Edition would be simple in conception but a great deal of drudgery to write. I would go through every single feat, theme, background, item and power in the Fourth Edition and adjust them for balance or eliminate them as useless.

I would also flatten the math but not too much. Other than that it would be 4.5.

I would also make the features and powers of Essentials blend more easily with the other classes' stuff.

Why bother with this and not just play the Fourth Edition? I think the amount and detail of revision required merits 4.5.

 

[Szatany]

I've been working on my own edition of D&D for quite some time now. It's a blend of 3e, 4e, pathfinder, and my own ideas, as well as ideas from other games. Let me show you beginning of the Character Codex.
(Game is split into three books: character codex has everything for players. Rules Handbook has all the rules. Challenge Manual has all the adversaries, as well as obstructions, diseases, traps, etc.)

Not everything is set in stone. For example, I'm not fully commited to the idea of 7th attribute which governs magic.


This material is Open Game Content, and is licensed for public use under the terms of the Open Game License v1.0a.


CHAPTER 1 – CHARACTER BASICS
Simple versus advanced
Attributes
Secondary statistics

CHAPTER 2 – RACES
Common ground
Choosing your race

CHAPTER 3 – BACKGROUNDS

CHAPTER 4 – CLASSES
Levels
Classes
Brawler
Cleric
Fighter
Priest
Ranger
Rogue
Wizard
Mastery paths

CHAPTER 5 – TALENTS
Overview
Talent descriptions
Talent list
Talent descriptions

CHAPTER 6 – SPELLS
Overview
Spell descriptions
Spell list
Spell Descriptions

CHAPTER 7 – FEATS
Overview
Feat list
Feat descriptions

CHAPTER 8 – EQUIPMENT
Wealth and money
Weapons
Armor
Miscellaneous combat gear
Goods
Services
Transportation
Equipment packages


CHAPTER 1 – CHARACTER BASICS

FROM SIMPLE TO COMPLEX

The game is built in a way that allows players to learn it as they play. A character created at level 1 is very basic and has limited options when compared to characters of high level.

CHARCTER’S CREATION
Beginner characters compose of the following:
• Attributes and secondary statistics. There are seven attributes like Strength or Charisma, and a number of additional statistics like speed or health.
• Race. Race modifies character’s attributes and grants a host of unique abilities.
• Background (each character starts with one background that provides one or more feats and sometimes other benefits).
• Character details such as name, gender, history, looks, family, etc.
• Equipment. Characters don’t begin the game naked. Each character gains some silver coins to “purchase” everything he owns at the start of the game.

As characters take on adventures and gain experience points, they gain class levels and more abilities and powers.
• Levels in a class grant feats, improve various attributes and secondary statistics, and grant a host of special abilities. Once you take all ten levels in a class, you can move onto another class or enter a mastery path.
• Levels in a mastery path are like class levels, but benefits they grant are even more extraordinary.

ATTRIBUTES

VALUES
Each character has seven attributes. Each attribute partially describes your character and affects some of his or her actions. When an attribute’s value changes, all effects dependant on that attribute change accordingly.
To determine attribute values of a character, you spend points on them with costs detailed in the table below. Each player has 70 points to spend on her seven attributes. Later their values will be altered by the choice of character’s race and upon gaining experience levels.
The attribute value is the number you apply to the die roll when your character tries to do something related to that attribute.

Table: Attribute value costs

Table: Attribute value costs
Value-Cost-Modifier
6 0 0
7 1 0
8 2 0
9 4 0
10 6 0
11 9 +1
12 12 +1
13 16 +1
14 20 +2
15 25 +2
16 30 +2
17 35 +3
18 -- +3
19 -- +3
20 -- +4

For a wider range of values, see Rules Handbook.

MODIFIERS
Each attribute has a value, but also a modifier that is derived from that value. Modifiers are used for more potent abilities than mere skills. For example, characters have resistance to physical damage equal to their Constitution modifier.


ATTRIBUTE DESCRIPTIONS

STRENGTH (STR)
Strength measures your character’s muscle and physical power.
• Apply your character’s Strength value to climb, drive, might, and parry checks, and to most close weapon attack rolls.
• Apply your character’s Strength modifier to your carrying capacity.

CONSTITUTION (CON)
Constitution represents your character’s health and stamina.
• Apply your character’s Constitution value to endurance, run, and swim checks, as well as to your Health.
• Apply your character’s Constitution modifier to your damage resistance (physical).

AGILITY (AGI)
Agility measures flexibility, reflexes, and balance.
• Apply your character’s Agility value to acrobatics, dodge, hide, and ride checks, and to close spell attack rolls and some close weapon attack rolls.
• Apply your character’s Agility modifier to the number of minor actions you have each turn.

PRECISION (PRE)
Precision measures hand-eye coordination, sharpness of senses and manual dexterity.
• Apply your character’s Precision value to alchemy, dexterity, mechanics, perception, and smithing checks, and to ranged weapon attack rolls and ranged spell attack rolls.
• Apply your character’s Precision modifier to your Prowess.

INTELLECT (INT)
Intellect determines how well your character learns and reasons.
• Apply your character’s Intellect value to courtesy, education, govern, linguistics, medicine, survival, and tame checks.
• Apply your character’s Intellect modifier to your Prowess.

CHARISMA (CHA)
Charisma measures a character’s force of personality, persuasiveness, will power, and ability to lead. This ability represents actual strength of personality, not merely how one is perceived by others.
• Apply your character’s Charisma value to bluff, haggle, presence, question, and willpower checks.
• Apply your character’s Charisma modifier to your damage resistance (mental).

MAGICKA (MAG)
Magicka determines your character’s connection to the otherworldly and magic.
• Apply your character’s Magicka value to control magic and sixth sense checks and to Mana.


SECONDARY STATISTICS

Character’s description is not contained to attributes only. There are also few other characteristics important during the game that must be generated.

ARMOR CLASS
Armor class protects character in a passive manner, providing the Difficulty Class that an opponent needs to achieve to affect the character with a physical strike.
Your Armor class is 10 + bonus from the armor you wear.

SPEED AND SIZE
Your race determines your size and speed. Medium sized races range from 120 to 240 cm (4 to 8 ft.) and have average walk speed of 5. More exotic races can be bigger, smaller, provide different walk speed, or other speed types.

HEALTH AND HEALTH POINTS
Your Health measures how hard you are to defeat or kill. Your starting Health is equal to your CON value.
Your current level of Health is called Health Points (HP). While Health changes only when you gain levels or learn abilities that raise it, your HP will change every time you take damage or are healed.

PROWESS AND PROWESS POINTS
Prowess measures character’s tactical awareness and her ability to use various combat techniques and tricks in battle. Your Prowess is equal to your Precision modifier plus your Intellect modifier.
Your current level of Prowess is called Prowess Points (PP). While Prowess changes only when you increase your attributes or learn abilities that raise it, your PP will change every time you execute a talent.

MANA AND MANA POINTS
Your Mana measures your pool of magical energy that you can access to power magical abilities. Your Mana is equal to your Magicka value.
Your current level of Mana is called Mana Points (MP). While Mana changes only when you increase your Magicka or learn abilities that raise it, your MP will change every time you cast a spell.

CARRYING CAPACITY
Carrying capacity measures how many heavy items a character can carry.


CHAPTER 2 – RACES

COMMON GROUD

A race is a term for a single species inhabiting a fantasy world. Race affects your attributes and grants you a few abilities, but most importantly it sets your character firmly in the gaming world, providing a basis upon which you build your character’s back story.
All races that can be chosen here (“player races”) have some characteristics in common. Because they are the same for all the races, they are omitted from their respective entries.

Common racial traits:
• Creature Type: Humanoid. All races are humanoids, have two arms, two legs they walk on, one head and so on.
• Size: Medium. As Medium creatures, you have no special bonuses or penalties due to the size.
• Languages: regional and trade. All members of every race know how to speak their regional language. In addition, most non-player characters (NPCs) and all player characters (PCs) know trade language. Trade is a simple language developed long time ago by traders and is spoken almost everywhere in the world, or at least by those who allow visitors into their lands.

CHOOSING YOUR RACE

Choosing your character’s race is one of the more important decisions you’ll need to make. As your character grows more powerful, you’ll be able to diversify his or her abilities by selecting different classes, skills, and feats, but you only get to pick your race once. Of course, each race is best suited to a specific type of role—dwarves make better fighters than sorcerers for example.

a sample race
CYCLOPES
• Family: Giant.
• A +2 to STR and CON, and a –2 to PRE.
• Walk speed 5.
• +2 to medicine, might, and run checks.
• Healthy: Whenever a medicine check is made to help a cyclops, the healer gains a +2 bonus to the check.
• Future Sight: Once per day a cyclops may roll 1d20 before he makes a check. After rolling, he can decide to either undertake this action and use the result of the roll, or do something else entirely and discard the result.


CHAPTER 4 – CLASSES

LEVELS

Once you have accumulated 100 experience points, you can gain your first level in any class of your choice. There are several classes presented in this chapter but you can only have levels in one of them.
Mastery Paths: Once you finish a class, you can either start another one or choose a mastery. Masteries work much like classes, but are even more powerful.

CLASS DETAILS
Each class is broken down into ten distinct levels of power.
XP: How much experience points a character must earn to advance to the next level. This is a total value of experience points required.
Health: How much health grows at each level.
Mana and/or Prowess: How much your prowess or mana grows at each level. Some classes grant bonuses to both.
Features: Abilities that a class grants at each level.

a sample class
BRAWLER
Brawlers possess incredible inner strength. For some brawlers, this is a flame that burns hot in their hearts. For others, it’s the absolute clarity and tranquility of their minds. Brawlers consider their bodies their greatest weapons.

Level-XP-Health-Prowess-Features
1st 100 +3 +1 Brawler feats, brawler skills
2nd 300 +3 +0 Talents, bonus feat
3rd 600 +3 +1 Inner fire
4th 1000 +3 +0 Speed, bonus feat
5th 1500 +3 +1 Improvement (STR and CON)
6th 2100 +3 +0 brawler skills (+4), bonus feat
7th 2800 +3 +1 Vigor surge
8th 3600 +3 +0 Uncanny reaction, bonus feat
9th 4500 +3 +1 inner fire (+4)
10th 5500 +3 +0 Vengeful, bonus feat

FEATURES
All of the following are class features of the brawler.
Brawler Feats: A 1st level brawler gains the following feats: Dodge Focus or Parry Focus, Lone Blade Style, and Unarmed Style
Brawler Skills: A 1st level brawler gains a +2 bonus to the following checks: climb, endurance, might, run, survival, swim, and tame. This bonus increases to +4 at 6th level.
Talents: Beginning with 2nd level, a brawler gains access to all brawler talents he meets the level prerequisites of.
Bonus Feat: At every even level, a brawler gains a feat. This can be any feat he meets the prerequisites of.
Inner Fire: A 3rd level brawler can his inner energy to become more formidable in combat. Doing so requires a minor action and one Prowess Point. While powered with inner energy, the brawler:
• Gains a +2 bonus to Strength and Agility.
• Gains a +2 bonus to endurance and willpower checks.
At the beginning of his each turn, a brawler must spend a prowess point or the ability ends. Inner fire can be used only once per encounter.
At 9th level, bonuses to attributes and checks improve to +4.
Improvement: At 5th level, a brawler gains a +1 permanent increase to both his Strength and Constitution.
Speed: At 4th level, a brawler can move much faster. His walk speed improves by 2.
Vigor Surge: At 7th level, a brawler can muster all his energies to continue fighting. Whenever hurt and in combat, a brawler can make a Constitution check as a standard action against DC 30. If successful, he regains a number of HP equal to 2 + his Constitution modifier.
Uncanny Reaction: At 8th level, a brawler acts normally (and is not surprised) on the surprise round.
Vengeful: Whenever a brawler or 10th or higher level takes any damage other than inner damage, he gains a +1 bonus to damage with close weapon attacks until the end of his next turn.

 

[steeldragons]

General Themes
Barkeep...............Farmer...............Merchant...............Pubcrawler
Blacksmith...........Hunter/Trapper...Miner.....................Sailor/Mariner
Circus folk............Knight................Musician/Minstrel....Scribe/Writer
Chef/Cook...........Majordomo.........Noble....................Snitch
Deacon................Mercenary...........Outlaw..................Stablehand

Racial Themes
Dwarf Goblin Slayer...Elf Craftsman...Halfling Gardener.....Half-Elf Archer
Dwarf Mason............Elf Enchanter....Halfling Slinger.........Half-Elf Diplomat
Dwarf Mountaineer...Elf Orc Hunter...Gnome Gemcutter..Half-Orc Brigand
Dwarf Smith.............Elf Tracker........Gnome Trickster.....Half-Orc Spy

 

[Minigiant]

My core 5E would look like 4E EXCEPT

1) Hit points would be about halved. Hit points would be 1/2 Constitution Score (rounded up) + class hp/level. Class HP bonus would go from 2 hp/level for wizards to 6 HP/level for barbarians. Monster HP would be halved.

2) Healing surges would disappear. Instead any time when a character would have spent a healing surge would sicken (then fatigue then exhausted) the user.

3) Skill training would go from Untrained (+0), Trained (+3), Focused (+5), and Expert (+8). Which skills are trained are chosen mostly by Theme

4) Characters would not be bound by a rigid AEDU system. Instead characters would gain abilities categorized by type. Each type would have their own time based usage.

• Strikes: These are martial at-wills attack. (The at-wills and nerfed 1st level encounter powers of all 4 martial classes)
• Tricks: These are martial skill "powers" (All non combat martial powers adjusted for at-will use)
• Spells: These are Vancian arcane magic spells. (fixed 3.5 wiz/sor spells)
• Prayers: These are Vancian divine magic spells. (fixed 3.5 cleric/druid spells)
• Invocations: These are Warlock powers. (All the warlock's at-wills and utility powers)
• Songs: These are magical bard songs (3.5 bard spells cast as encounters. "Can't keep playing the same song")

All classes get ~6 "powers" on their sheet. A fighter might know 6 strikes. A rogue might know 3 strikes and 3 tricks. A paladin might know only 1 strike but can cast 3 spells a day. A wizard can prepare 8 spells a day.



5) Feats are be categorized by type: Combat, Class, Exploration, Social, Racial, Theme, Proficiency, Skill, and Magic. Core uses only Racial, Skill, and Racial feats.

 

[Lwaxy]

Hey, my modding of 3.5 has gotten to the point where it's basically a new edition anyway.

Same here. Mix of all editions, focused on 3.5 and PF hehe.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I've got the ultimate 5E ... supports all types of players.

You sit around a table, imagine your character, and tell the DM what you want to do. The DM reacts and tells you what happens. If the DM isn't sure if you can do what you claim, you roll dice -- if you beat the DM, you do your action; if you don't the action fails.

Nothing required but a few dice: No rules, no stats, no character sheets, no minis, no grids (unless you want any of them to expand your experience). Use any dice in any combination, as long as what you roll and the DM rolls are the same.

D&D exists in the spirit of the gaming group and in the adventures, not in the rules of the game.

 

[TarionzCousin]

5ing my own E.

This sounds like a euphemism for something that's not Grandma-friendly.

But seriously, I hope someone at WotC reads this thread. It's a good collection of ideas.

 

[Li Shenron]

I'm not going to read the proposals in their entirety, but I just want to say one thing...

If you design your own system, start from the resolution mechanics such as:

- how do attacks vs defenses work
- how does movement in combat works
- how do spells work (casting rules, resolution rules e.g. saving throw)
- how do other combat actions and initiative/order work
- how do out-of-combat skills work

From there, move to character core mechanics such as:

- class structure: what should differentiate different classes, how should classes advance in level
- ability scores: what do they affect, what hard limits and progression of bonuses

Only then you should start designing actual classes, races and custom features (spells, skills, feats...).

If you start from classes, you'll inevitable shoehorn your design into pre-existing mechanics, and you may end up with nothing but the 1000th house ruled variant of 3ed or 4ed. You need your design to grow more organically, bottom-up, to end up more solid and better fulfill your original requirements.

 

[steeldragons]

I'm not going to read the proposals in their entirety, but I just want to say one thing...

If you design your own system, start from the resolution mechanics such as:

- how do attacks vs defenses work
- how does movement in combat works
- how do spells work (casting rules, resolution rules e.g. saving throw)
- how do other combat actions and initiative/order work
- how do out-of-combat skills work

From there, move to character core mechanics such as:

- class structure: what should differentiate different classes, how should classes advance in level
- ability scores: what do they affect, what hard limits and progression of bonuses

Only then you should start designing actual classes, races and custom features (spells, skills, feats...).

If you start from classes, you'll inevitable shoehorn your design into pre-existing mechanics, and you may end up with nothing but the 1000th house ruled variant of 3ed or 4ed. You need your design to grow more organically, bottom-up, to end up more solid and better fulfill your original requirements.

Good points, Li. But I guess, for me, the fluff is more important than the crunch...or fluffy crunchy bits together...but not crunchy fluffy bits. They aren't the "fun" of the game for me.

Now whether this makes it "top-down" design or "side-to-side" I don't really know. But, the important part, to my mind, is the characters...and what they can do/get, how they can develop as characters and options thereof. Flavor. Fluff. Options. Character generation is #1 for me. You don't get to combat or movement or anything else without them. So, starting with mechanics and moving from there really hold no interest to me.

Getting "shoehorned" into existing mechanics isn't really an issue for me. There are tonnnns of systems out there, most all the same except for which die you throw and when. If it's what we already know, then great, less to learn and more time to create/imagine!

Whether intiative is this way or that, rolling to hit on d32s or d17s, adding this but not that bonus, moving X feet in a round because you say so or because you have a "move action" but wait there's "difficult terrain" so your movement is halved or what have you...really doesn't matter....or, well, ok it matters, but doesn't interest me as much as what/how the player's can generate with their characters.

That's just me, of course. But you make a good point that actually creating a full publishable system (which I don't expect this ever would be) needs to take the crunch into consideration...and probaly should start at the ground level and work up.

For me, and the purpose of my entries here, I guess it's that I think the characters are (or should be) the ground floor..."In a 5e mode of thinking, that we want to incorporate a bunch of stuff from a whole bunch of editions to make [most] everyone happy, what can I take from where and how do they fit together in a way that's going to do that?"

We know/have been told that the PCs will be generated with "Race, Class and Theme" as primary building blocks. The "Combat/Exploration/Interaction" will be the 3 columns of adventure. So gotta make that work.

We've been told that most "Skill" use is going to be reincorporating/based off the "Ability Check" method of older editions (so giving bumps/boons to various Ability rolls seems like a pretty good way to give some flavorful bits a mechanical benefit).

We know there will be Vancian and Spontaneous (probably others too) magic in place.

And, while at times it just seems like A/E/D "powers" and, I believe, Feats are going to the way of the dinosaur (thankfully, to my mind), it's really just getting a name-change. Basically every class is still going to get things they can do with varying frequency...If there are "at-wills" and other things that might have a more limited use, then how exactly is A/E/D gone? Not very important, to me, either way. Keeping some vestige of the "powers" system in place will, hopefully, interest or at least placate some people's preferences.

So, with all of that in mind...that's kinda what I'm going for here....while still giving each class some roughly equivalent but flavorful options and bonuses and innate skills (without pages and pages and pages of choices) to keep the "Balance-lawyers" [mostly] at bay and/while engage those that prefer "character creation" to "character building". Figure out how the mechanics all work after you have a solid idea of what everyone will be trying to do/capable of doing.

Again, just me, my take. To each their own and "Play/Houserule as you like", as they say.
Happy Friday all!
--Steel Dragons