D&D General From Another Edition

[John Quixote]

What are some old edition things you brought into your game (or for that matter, for those playing older editions, what are some new edition things you brought into your older edition game)? How did it go?

My edition of choice is BECMI/Cyclopedia, but with a few major house rules pulled from earlier editions (or their retro clones) and two important bits that are at least partially borrowed from later editions (2nd and 3rd).

From various LBB/Oe clones like Swords & Wizardry and White Box FMAG, I borrow the ability score modifier table that only goes up to ±1 (rather than the BXcetera standard that goes to ±3). Because I prefer to cut down on the power creep.

From 1st Edition, I borrow a scaled-down version of the all-important rules for training to level up, which are very necessary to an old-school campaign if you want players developing whole stables of player characters over time. This, in conjunction with the 1:1 time rules outlined in both Oe and 1e.

From 2nd Edition, I take the idea behind my version of the monk class, which is a divine caster. Monks were fully a sub-class of clerics in Oe, but they're always this weird thiefy martial artist weird power-user class in their every incarnation (Oe Blackmoor, 1e PHB and OA and Dragon Magazine, 2e Scarlet Brotherhood, everything 3e and later except for 4e where they're kinda psionic) — except for the 2e priest kit and the priest-type monk from Players Option Spells & Magic. I like that priestly spellcaster monk vibe, so I use it.

From 3rd Edition (or rather, 3e-based games like Pulp Heroes and d20 Past), I get the mechanics for my tinker/engineer class.

 

[Xenolith234]

I do wonder what all I can port from previous editions into 5e - monster abilities, rules, etc. I think the internet commenters would rebel, but I feel it’s not entirely unlikely that people are already doing such things and just don’t post/debate about them online.

 

[cbwjm]

One thing I pulled into 5e was things triggering when someone is bloodied, technically already in 5e, high level champions regenerated when bloodied, I think life cleric's domain abilities could heal up people who were bloodied and restore them to no more than half health.

I also brought in the idea of elites from 4e, I'm not sure if it fully followed the elites of 4e but it made them more of a threat by giving them advantage on certain saves so that they couldn't as easily be taken out and also granted additional bonuses depending on their tier. I wonder if I still have my notes...