D&D 5E Hardcore 5E World Ideas

[jgsugden]

If I were to go with this idea, I'd just use the normal rules, but convey the feel of the setting you're creating by altering the world around the PCs.

I'd have there be no other clerics beyond the PCs. As with Dragonlance, the PCs would be the first clerics seen in a long time. I'd include those magic dead and wild magic zones, but make sure that the PCs do not need to spend too much time in them. I'd have the PCs have no access to raising the dead outside their own resources and their own spellcasting. When word surfaces that these heroes can raise the dead, and nobody else can, heroes and villains alike will seek them out.

This is easier to implement as you do not need to worry about how your rule changes interact with other rules, and you get to create that gloomy world with your heroes feeling like heroes.

 

[Blue]

If I were to go with this idea, I'd just use the normal rules, but convey the feel of the setting you're creating by altering the world around the PCs.
...
This is easier to implement as you do not need to worry about how your rule changes interact with other rules, and you get to create that gloomy world with your heroes feeling like heroes.

To present an alternative, I'd make the rule changes even more extreme, but with the idea that some of them may be campaign goals to fix. I really like when the rules not just allow, but actively support the feel I'm going for. It looks like for this setting you want a very specific feel and I support that - it should feel different and the rule changes, even with the cascading effects, will really bring that home to the players.

I understand the concept of not messing with rules - for example just suggested reskinning armors as lighter and with local materials for a tropical island game, but this case it's the defining parts of the campaign.

 

[Elderbrain]

Spell points (an optional rule in the DMG) are a possibility. You could make it hard to aquire them and limit it to certain special sites, and/or limit the number of spell points they get.