D&D General 6E But A + Thread

[Scribe]

-some sort of martial system to rival the effectiveness of spells.

The general flexibility of casters needs to go down, not the other way. This is part of why mastery is an issue, its bloated out the game.

not every class needs to be fully combat capable.

I think the core D&D experience is too tied to combat, any class that just sucks, and 5e had a few, for combat games is dismissed too quick.

Anyway, just some thoughts.

 

[Laurefindel]

What do you think? What would your preferred hypothetical 6E look like?

And, again, this is a + thread. Please try and keep it positive about 6E (as a hypothetical).

Hum, that’s harder than I thought it would be. I’ve been at this for over an hour and wrote and erased the whole thing three times! Looks like I have several conflicting hypothetical 6e designs in mind, but i will stick to the « most traditional D&D » of them.

- things stay mostly the same in terms of core mechanics but with more modularity; variant rules are baked in the core rules the same way subclass abilities are baked in classes. The current set of rules is but one of several « sub-ruleset ». Perhaps the PHB offers only the default sub-ruleset, which ties in with their alpha setting, but variant ruleset exists and planned for when designing spells and rule-affecting abilities.

- through these sub-rules is given mechanical support to different play styles and genres, from low-magic/humans only to high-magic/high-fantasy. Sub-rulesets are primarily determined by setting.

- Social and Exploration pillars are expanded upon, and variant sub-ruleset allows for more or less emphasis on each of them.

- Classes and subclasses are kept to a low-ish number common to all settings. Setting books expand upon that.

PHB insist more on core rules. Fluff goes more into settings. PHB uses alpha setting as an example but explicitly states that it can be different. PHB is sold alongside this alpha setting but DMG expands into different settings with different sub-rules.

Anyway, you get the gists. I don’t want 6e to be that much different, but I want it to offer the potential of being very different in a thoughtful and planned way. That’s as + thread I can go.

 

[Necropolitan]

The books will self-destruct the moment they're brought within 5 feet of a photocopier or other scanning machine and send an alert directly to the Pinkertons.

Wait, are we talking about what we want for 6E or what we think will happen with 6E?

(I'm joking, I don't think it'll be that bad)

 

[Lanefan]

The books will self-destruct the moment they're brought within 5 feet of a photocopier or other scanning machine and send an alert directly to the Pinkertons.

In other words, a new enhanced version of the Exploding Runes spell.

 

[CreamCloud0]

The general flexibility of casters needs to go down, not the other way. This is part of why mastery is an issue, its bloated out the game.

i agree casters need to go down but the two concepts can meet in the middle.

I think the core D&D experience is too tied to combat, any class that just sucks, and 5e had a few, for combat games is dismissed too quick.

Anyway, just some thoughts.

if it's a new edition you can build it up from the ground to be less tied to combat.

 

[dave2008]

Similar ideas to others, but here is what I would want.

• Same basic mathematic foundation as 5e (use 5e adventures with little conversion)
• Reduce classes to 3 or 4.
  • Arcane
  • Divine
  • Martial
  • Expert (maybe - I feel this could possible be part of martial)
• Talent / feat trees replace subclasses and multiclassing (so a lot more of them)
• no ASI (unless it is part of a feat/talent)
• Distinct tiers with unique mechanics
  • -1-0 = Common
  • 1-10 = Heroic
  • 11-20 = Legendary
  • 21-30 = Mythic
  • 31+ = Immortal
• vitality and health system (HP and BHP)
  • death at 0 health
• more uses for HD
• Modules with recommended variant and optional rules for different styles of play / genres of play
• DM advice on how to handle groups of atypical size
• DM advice on how to handle over or under powered groups compared to the encounter building baseline.
• Detailed monster building guide with spreadsheet or online tools if needed
• armor with / as DR option.

 

[Laurefindel]

In other words, a new enhanced version of the Exploding Runes spell.

Explosive Rules

 

[J-H]

I would take a page from 2e and cap hit point growth at level 10. At level 11+, classes gain 3, 2, or 1 hit points (warrior, cleric/rogue/bard/druid/etc., wizard/sorc/warlock) upon levelup.

I have done this in my BG2 5e game and it has helped prevent the massive HP bloat that I have previously experienced at high levels. A single Meteor Storm is still a threat, as is a pair of Chain Lightnings. Finger of Death has a chance of actually being a problem, instead of taking away 50/180hp.

 

[Lanefan]

What I'd like (and probably won't get, but whatever) in 6e:

--- species mechanics strengthened and expanded: more baked-in benefits and penalties for different species, along with...
--- ...way fewer PC-playable species in core; an optional splatbook can cover all the oddball species
--- greatly downplay (ideally to the point of near-eliminate) the "character build" side of the game; make char-gen fast and easy and let the character develop from there through what it does in play
--- along with this, make characters easier to play - e.g. fewer feats-abilities-bonuses-etc. to remember - such that playing more than one at a time becomes a viable option
--- more niche protection for all classes; if this requires reducing the number of classes to avoid overlap, that's fine too
--- a flat power curve such that low-level PCs and monsters can be and remain at least a minor threat to their higher-level counterparts over a greater range of levels; this also allows mixed-level parties to function
--- drop the 'tier' concept and have each level's power increase be (on average) roughly the same throughout
--- it's a zero-to-hero game, focus on that journey rather than the destination
--- ignore cries for more power with every level; either make some levels "dead" (no new feats, powers, or abilities) or reduce the number of levels overall, such that high level characters still fit in with the setting and aren't demigods
--- design to 20th level open-ended but make it abundantly clear with great big letters that the usefully-playable range is only intended to go to about 12th and after that you're on your own
--- release an optional splatbook later that takes care of beyond-high-level play
--- greatly slow down level advancement; focus on the day-to-day play and emerging story rather than on "moar numberz"
--- no appreciable power gap at the very low end: commoner, regular militia, and 1st-level character should be on a smooth -1st, 0th, 1st power progression that fits in with subsequent levels
--- design the core game to be very harsh and unforgiving on its characters then include easy-to-implement DM-side options to make the game a bit kinder
--- more randomness in character generation: rolled stats, rolled hit points, etc.; along with an underlying philosophy of "play what the dice give you" rather than players coming in with preconceived character ideas
--- a more easy-come easy-go design and "sense" in terms of wealth, items, maybe even levels, maybe even characters
--- make downtime the fourth pillar and lean into it; forcing downtime is easy via making training a requirement to level up, and downtime is when the PCs get to engage with the non-adventuring parts of the setting
--- starting right at core release and continuing for years thereafter, a long run of single standalone adventure modules of all levels that showcase the system and yet are also good adventures on their own. No more hardcover campaign-in-a-book APs.

 

[THEMNGMNT]

5E is great. My favorite edition of the game. But it still has a lot of stuff that annoys the hell out of me. My wish list is basically 5E but with some changes along the following lines...

• Move more of the power budget away from classes into subclasses. That will make subclasses choice have a bigger impact on the way a class plays, which I believe would open up more design space.
• Drop ability scores and just use ability modifiers.
• Move ability scores out of backgrounds (or race) and just have ability score generation be a fully self contained step in character creation.
• Have cultural heritage be a step in character creation as done in A5E (and I think ToV?).
• Give some narrative weight to background. For example, if you're a noble, why does that just give you some skills and tools? I mean, maybe I have a mistaken impression of the rich and powerful, but I don't think the biggest benefit to being born into money is "dressage +5".
• Find a way to change attrition and pacing. It would be cooler if players had a reason to save their most powerful abilities until the end of the fight (or even the end of the adventure!) rather than the beginning.
• Make high level spell casting weaker. And stronger. 7th - 9th level spells aren't necessarily campaign breaking, to me, but they are immersion breaking. When you can raise a dead person every day for the rest of your life...and this is apparently fairly common...and doesn't fundamentally change the nature of the world...I don't know what to do with that. Ditto with plane shift, meteor swarm, etc.
• On the flip side, I find it curious that high level spellcasters can't do things like...cause a forest to grow in the middle of a desert, create a flying castle, or curse an entire kingdom.
• Replace feet or squares with abstract distances.
• A clear structure for skill challenges. This shouldn't be that hard. Last night I improved a skill challenge in 13th Age that played great. A bit of structure and guidance in the DMG would go a long way.

There are other changes I'd like to see, such as spells being grouped by theme like Shadow of the Demon Lord and Weird Wizard, but that's probably outside the scope of an edition change.