Aaron L
Hero
None of the above:
I keep Concentration, but I allow multiple Concentration spells at once. Maintaining Concentration on a 2nd spell adds +2 penalty to the DC, and every additional spell beyond the 2nd doubles the penalty. Maintaining Concentration on 2 spells simultaneously is DC 12, 3 spells is DC 14, 4 spells is DC 18, 5 spells is DC 26, 6 spells is DC 42, and so on up to a number of spells equal to the spellcaster's Intelligence modifier. When maintaining Concentration on more than 3 spells (when the DC becomes higher than 15) the spellcaster starts taking Psychic damage every round equal to the total number of spell levels being maintained, with blood pouring from the spellcaster's nose and ears from the strain (the Psychic Nosebleed trope) and it requires an automatic Concentration check each round (with standard DCs based of 10+ half damage taken that round plus the modifiers.)
I like the Concentration mechanic in principle, but a lot of the spells they gave Concentration requirements to seem ridiculous to me, such as Haste. I can see illusions requiring Concentration as the caster could need to controls the movements of the image, but a lot of the others don't make any sense to me except as a game mechanical limitation; It just feels way too gamist to me. D&D has always had spells that are independent magical effects that are activated by the spellcaster and then run their course once begun, but 5th Edition changed that to a Wheel of Time Channeller-style magic system, where the spellcaster has to actively maintain the Flows providing continued power to the magical effect.
I like my system because it's open-ended and allows just about any spellcaster who is basically competent at Concentration to maintain 2 or maybe 3 spells a once, but more than that will require some dedicated training to handle, like taking the Resilient: Concentration and Warcaster Feats (or being a Sorcerer, who are the best natural Concentration spellcasters by having proficiency in Constitution saving throws) and with dedicated training and high enough level spellcaster could pull of some extraordinary Concentration tricks.
But I also increased the spell progression tables to be closer to the 1st Edition Magic-User tables, increasing the max spells of any level to 4 instead of 3 (and 5 at 15th level and higher.) I compensate non-spellcaster by giving them bonus Feats at 5th and 15th level (the tales to change from the PHB until 5th level.) I absolutely love 5th Edition, but I also use several house rules to make things feel more like 1st Edition. I also increased the number of Attuned magic items allowed to 6+Charisma modifier, as I feel that limiting it to only 3 magic items is utterly ridiculous. And for spells that have an ongoing effect and allow continued saving throws every round to break out of the effect (such as Hold Person) the later saves are made with Disadvantage.
I keep Concentration, but I allow multiple Concentration spells at once. Maintaining Concentration on a 2nd spell adds +2 penalty to the DC, and every additional spell beyond the 2nd doubles the penalty. Maintaining Concentration on 2 spells simultaneously is DC 12, 3 spells is DC 14, 4 spells is DC 18, 5 spells is DC 26, 6 spells is DC 42, and so on up to a number of spells equal to the spellcaster's Intelligence modifier. When maintaining Concentration on more than 3 spells (when the DC becomes higher than 15) the spellcaster starts taking Psychic damage every round equal to the total number of spell levels being maintained, with blood pouring from the spellcaster's nose and ears from the strain (the Psychic Nosebleed trope) and it requires an automatic Concentration check each round (with standard DCs based of 10+ half damage taken that round plus the modifiers.)
I like the Concentration mechanic in principle, but a lot of the spells they gave Concentration requirements to seem ridiculous to me, such as Haste. I can see illusions requiring Concentration as the caster could need to controls the movements of the image, but a lot of the others don't make any sense to me except as a game mechanical limitation; It just feels way too gamist to me. D&D has always had spells that are independent magical effects that are activated by the spellcaster and then run their course once begun, but 5th Edition changed that to a Wheel of Time Channeller-style magic system, where the spellcaster has to actively maintain the Flows providing continued power to the magical effect.
I like my system because it's open-ended and allows just about any spellcaster who is basically competent at Concentration to maintain 2 or maybe 3 spells a once, but more than that will require some dedicated training to handle, like taking the Resilient: Concentration and Warcaster Feats (or being a Sorcerer, who are the best natural Concentration spellcasters by having proficiency in Constitution saving throws) and with dedicated training and high enough level spellcaster could pull of some extraordinary Concentration tricks.
But I also increased the spell progression tables to be closer to the 1st Edition Magic-User tables, increasing the max spells of any level to 4 instead of 3 (and 5 at 15th level and higher.) I compensate non-spellcaster by giving them bonus Feats at 5th and 15th level (the tales to change from the PHB until 5th level.) I absolutely love 5th Edition, but I also use several house rules to make things feel more like 1st Edition. I also increased the number of Attuned magic items allowed to 6+Charisma modifier, as I feel that limiting it to only 3 magic items is utterly ridiculous. And for spells that have an ongoing effect and allow continued saving throws every round to break out of the effect (such as Hold Person) the later saves are made with Disadvantage.
