Elegant Rules (Forked From: Inconsistant/Arbitrary rules...)

[jdrakeh]

3e: A central task resolution mechanic of rolling 1d20, adding modifiers to the result, and comparing against a target number to resolve 99% of all action in the game. It was something that earlier editions sorely needed.

I mean, not that dozens of "Roll X, Y, or Z and subtract, add, or multiply A, B, or C from,to, or by D, E, or F to determine where you need to look on random chart K or table G in order to produce outcome J!" variants versus " it. Just roll low on a d20 or d100 and I'll make some up." weren't great.

 

[CapnZapp]

1e - turning undead. It's been done many times since, but never as neatly and simply as the roll-d20-vs.-a-table system in 1e.

Sorry, no rolling-on-a-table system can ever be called "elegant" in my book. Tables are a crutch. Tables should be used for low-occurrence high-complexity task resolutions (critical hits and chaos manifestations from WFRP both strike me as appropriate uses) but Turn Undead is neither.

Familiars. Still not my favourite things, but 3e handled them way better than any other edition.

You haven't played 4E yet, so you're excused, but 4E really handles familiars much better than before.

 

[jaerdaph]

1e- hardcovers!
2e - THAC0 replacing combat tables which sped up play
3e - reversing the direction of AC so that higher numbers were now better - AC 0 was now low/bad. Other changes where high = good/low = bad for consistency within the rules. The d20 mechanic in general. Also the OGL - it opened up a golden age renaissance of gaming, at least for awhile.
d20 Modern - the Wealth system - I've always felt that was extremely elegant. Also, action points.
4e - I don't know, giving me more money to spend elsewhere...

 

[jdrakeh]

2e - THAC0 replacing combat tables which sped up play

Good call! I did finally grow weary of it, but I recall switching to THAC0 from ther combat tables and, at the time, it was a real step up (even if it was only laying bare the simple equation used to build the tables).

 

[ExploderWizard]

3e: A central task resolution mechanic of rolling 1d20, adding modifiers to the result, and comparing against a target number to resolve 99% of all action in the game. It was something that earlier editions sorely needed.

I mean, not that dozens of "Roll X, Y, or Z and subtract, add, or multiply A, B, or C from,to, or by D, E, or F to determine where you need to look on random chart K or table G in order to produce outcome J!" variants versus " it. Just roll low on a d20 or d100 and I'll make some up." weren't great.

Unified mechanics can be elegant but sometimes fail to accurately model a good resolution for certain tasks. Some subsystems work fine for a single die success roll and others feel shoehorned into the mechanic. D20 is certainly simple, but not quite satisfying in certain areas. The GURPS success roll mechanic is also simple and more universally appealing for all the things it needs to do IMHO.

 

[roguerouge]

Everyone has the same XP table, regardless of class or race. Finally.

 

[Goumindong]

3e - 1d20+modifier = vs everything

3.5 - Simplification of Action transference[set actions/round, easy conversion between each]

4e - Modifier always equals 1/2 lvl + Stat mod + other Bonuses.

4e - Everything is an attack.

4e - Further simplification of action transference and the removal of full round actions

These are elegant rules, you don't have to remember anything but what level you are and if you have any specific bonuses to an area. My only complaint is that the skill challenge math is all off, but that is a technical side and not an elegance side.

An example of a good technical rule that leads to elegant resolution would be

4e- 1 OA/Turn, no OA's on own turn. Its not elegant, but it works really well.

 

[Ariosto]

I have what seem some unusual preferences.

Once upon a time in the 1980s, I was theoretically anti-matrix and big on formulas. In practice, though, I found that working visually and not having to do arithmetic with each roll was more convenient for me. The 1E rules for pummeling, grappling and overbearing -- with their long lists of factors to add and subtract -- perhaps epitomize the kind of approach I tend to find cumbersome. It can depend on circumstances, though.

However one arrives at them, if there are some chances used repeatedly then it may be "a stitch in time" to jot down a matrix of them before the action is played out. To Hit vs. Foe #1: A, B = 15+; C, D = 13+.

Rather than add BAB to the roll, I would find it more elegant to add it to a base "number or less" figure calculated once. Eventually, that may exceed 20 and call for an add to the roll, but up to that point you're free of the business. So, if you've got a base of 13 or less against a difficulty of 5, then a roll of 6-13 is a success.

Spell memorization, complete with the 1E time requirements, is something I appreciate as part of the challenge and "flavor" of playing a magician. It's also part of how their power is "balanced" against that of other types. Something like the 3E sorcerer might "feel right" to me for clerics.

If were to undertake a radical overhaul of clerics, though, I might go instead for a probabilistic system. Sometimes, the answer to a prayer is, "No." The combination of flexibility (perhaps not so strictly limiting potential effects by character level) with uncertainty as to how often one can produce miracles could be very interesting.

 

[Crazy Jerome]

Maybe my appreciation for elegance is unfairly strict, but I cannot think of a single rule in any version of D&D that would qualifiy. There is often some emergent, system-wide elegance in operation, for example:

Basic: Generating characters.
1st ed.: Lots of magic without it dominating play until high levels.
3rd ed.: Skill coverage.
4th ed.: GM prep.

But the actual rules underlying that are all "very functional", at best. As another example, there is nothing elegant about printing out a bunch of powers to use with 4E or limiting the action economy. There is something elegant about each player grokking the spirit of this, and zipping around the table during a round.

I'm not even sure that D&D is well served by going after elegance, too much. Hit points and Armor as hit avoidance are the poster children for inelegant things with highly functional results.

 

[jaerdaph]

4th ed.: GM prep.

That's a big one worth noting. It's also kind of an important, needed step *back*, IMHO, because prior to 3e/3.5e, GM prep wasn't as time consuming as it sometimes could be with Third Edition/d20 Modern games. For me personally, True20 gave me back ease of GM prep.