D&D 5E Best D&D 5e alternate ruleset?

Most of the games appearing in this thread are alternate D&Ds, but not alternate 5es.

A game that mimics AD&D isn't necessarily going to appeal to those people who like 5e.

I'm intrigued by Nimble, because a lighter 5e experience feels necessary. I enjoy A5e because it's a heavier 5e.
 

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I'm intrigued by Nimble, because a lighter 5e experience feels necessary.
I am not sure Nimble 5e even is 5e compatible, I know the KS says so, but the details in the description to me read like a resounding ‘no’. It does not read like being any closer to 5e than Shadowdark is.

I would like a slightly lighter game, ideally less superheroic as well, that truly is 5e compatible, but so far I have not seen one

I’d consider these the 5e adjacent games

Tales of the Valiant
Level Up: Advanced 5th. Edition
Cubicle 7 D20 (C7D20)

Pathfinder 2e
13th. Age 2e
Shadow of the Weird Wizard
DC20

with the first group being compatible and the second one not, but close relatives of 5e
 
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I feel like Kelsey Dione reached into Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition and fished out the very heart of the game. I'm playing and running it a bit of late but I'm still trying to get the feel of it. I use monsters and and items from Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition as well as from Level Up. I've been reducing DCs by 3 to convert them easily.
 

I feel like Kelsey Dione reached into Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition and fished out the very heart of the game. I'm playing and running it a bit of late but I'm still trying to get the feel of it. I use monsters and and items from Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition as well as from Level Up. I've been reducing DCs by 3 to convert them easily.
The brilliance of Shadowdark's design isn't "it makes 5E easier" it is "I want to do old school style adventuring with a focus on dungeons crawls and I want it to feel familiar to 5E players" and they absolutely nailed it.

Shadowdark is a 5E inspired game, but it is a distilled one, oriented toward a particular purpose. That's a great design lesson: i.e. focus your design.
 


How does that work?
Pulp Mode:
No max luck tokens
Start every session with1d4 luck tokens
Use luck token to turn hit into critical hit
Use luck to gain extra action
Use luck to force GM to reroll

Momentum Mode:
Advantage on checks to repeat an action you just failed
Damage dice explode

There are also modes to make the game deadlier, like dying at 0 hp, reducing the torch timer, successful resting only gives you 1 hp and casters regain 1d4 spells instead of all, to give some of the examples.

And of course you can easily mix and match all these optional rules and styles. We like to start with max hp just to give characters a boost in survivability.
 

I feel like Kelsey Dione reached into Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition and fished out the very heart of the game.
The brilliance of Shadowdark's design isn't "it makes 5E easier" it is "I want to do old school style adventuring with a focus on dungeons crawls and I want it to feel familiar to 5E players" and they absolutely nailed it.
I'm confused ... are we saying old school adventuring and dungeon crawls are the "very heart" of 5E? Because it seems like the biggest complaints about 5E over the years have come from people who want old school adventuring.
 

I'm confused ... are we saying old school adventuring and dungeon crawls are the "very heart" of 5E? Because it seems like the biggest complaints about 5E over the years have come from people who want old school adventuring.
I'm not sure why you paired those two statements, since they were by different people.

For my part, I don't think "old school adventuring and dungeon crawling" is particularly well served by 5E, and that's what makes Shadowdark so special and successful.
 

I'm not sure why you paired those two statements, since they were by different people.
Because your comment was a response to @Lakesidefantasy 's post, which sounded to me like you were agreeing with and building on the earlier statement--i.e. "This is the absolute heart of D&D 5E, and it's all about old-school adventuring!"
 

We've been doing a lot of outdoor stuff with Shadowdark. Works great. There is also a pulp mode if you want more epic heroes.
Can I ask where's this pulp mode? I love Shadowdark but I'm not really interested in running a dungeon crawler (apart from some Dungeon Meshi)
 

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