D&D General Going back to Basic(s). A thought experiment.

[DarkCrisis]

Just for funsies, let's say WotC is going to put out a 2nd line of D&D that trims things to the bone. A simpler streamlined version of D&D with hopes that players will one day ADVANCE to the full game.

My question/the fun:

The book will have 5 races/species/whatever and 5 classes. And before anyone says anything yes I am aware that in old Basic there as just classes as Elf was a class and Dwarf was a class etc, but just go with me on this.

Out of the whole of 5E D&D what would you like to see as the Basic Core Races and Classes?

Let's also apply ONE subclass to represent the whole class. So not just Ranger but Beast Master Ranger as the one and only Ranger in Basic (and possibly filling the only frontline melee slot).

So, 5 classes with 1 attached subclass each and 4 races as we can assume Human is a default choice.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

A few issues. First, you have the Holmes Basic as the picture, but it seems clear that you're actually thinking about Moldvay (B/X) and Mentzer (BECMI) Basic lines.

That said, if I was designing a "real" Basic for 5e, I would streamline it by getting rid of "subclasses" and just make the classes the entirety.

I would have the Core 4-
Fighter
Cleric
Wizard
Rogue

That's it. Not 5. Four.

I would further simplify by having "race-as-class," but that's neither here nor there. So if I had to pick a few races, they would be:
Human
Dwarf
Elf

I know that the traditional fourth one would be halfling, but ... eh. This is supposed to be basic.

 

[ichabod]

Fighter
Cleric
Wizard
Rogue
Paladin

Human
Dwarf
Elf
Orc
Goblin

 

[DEFCON 1]

We already have this. The Basic Rules. This was released at almost the same time the three hardcover books were published. I see no reason to change anything.

 

[Spectral Anomaly]

I'd probably make something like this.

 

[deganawida]

A few issues. First, you have the Holmes Basic as the picture, but it seems clear that you're actually thinking about Moldvay (B/X) and Mentzer (BECMI) Basic lines.

That said, if I was designing a "real" Basic for 5e, I would streamline it by getting rid of "subclasses" and just make the classes the entirety.

I would have the Core 4-
Fighter
Cleric
Wizard
Rogue

That's it. Not 5. Four.

I would further simplify by having "race-as-class," but that's neither here nor there. So if I had to pick a few races, they would be:
Human
Dwarf
Elf

I know that the traditional fourth one would be halfling, but ... eh. This is supposed to be basic.

I will second Snarf here. Getting rid of subclasses is something I’ve done some looking at, but it would require a good deal of work to get right.

I’d probably also reduce combat options for all classes in an effort to keep it streamlined and easy to learn. I’d suggest removing extra attacks from the fighter, to have everyone with one attack action in combat, but the fighter would need some sort of escalated damage measure to keep balance (possibly allowing hits to do 2[W] after a certain level.

Finally, I would move more emphasis to an equivalent of skill challenges and give good examples of them. Part of the fun of basic is exploring and interacting outside of combat. Need some simple but robust tools to reinforce that.

 

[Stormonu]

My choices would probably be:

CLASSES
Champion Fighter
Light Domain Cleric
Thief Rogue (that sounds just weird)
Illusionist Wizard
Eldritch Knight Fighter

RACES
High Elf
Hill Dwarf
Metallic Dragonborn
Jungle Tabaxi

 

[DarkCrisis]

A few issues. First, you have the Holmes Basic as the picture, but it seems clear that you're actually thinking about Moldvay (B/X) and Mentzer (BECMI) Basic lines.

That said, if I was designing a "real" Basic for 5e, I would streamline it by getting rid of "subclasses" and just make the classes the entirety.

I would have the Core 4-
Fighter
Cleric
Wizard
Rogue

That's it. Not 5. Four.

I would further simplify by having "race-as-class," but that's neither here nor there. So if I had to pick a few races, they would be:
Human
Dwarf
Elf

I know that the traditional fourth one would be halfling, but ... eh. This is supposed to be basic.

It was just the first pic to pop up on google but yes you are right.

5E is so wrapped up in subclasses (and designed for them) I thought it better to give the "one class" a bit of that flavor.

 

[DarkCrisis]

I'd probably make something like this.

We already have this. The Basic Rules. This was released at almost the same time the three hardcover books were published. I see no reason to change anything.

You guys are thinking to much about what boils down to a "pick your top 5 races and classes" list.

 

[jmartkdr2]

MY top 5? Dragonborn, elf, tiefling, genasi, human.

Classes would be bard, paladin, sorcerer and warlock, though I guess we can have barbarians too.