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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MoogleEmpMog" data-source="post: 1969894" data-attributes="member: 22882">Adjusting the magic system would be first on my list, but it's probably the number one sacred cow of D&D.  Instead, I'll settle for a few tweaks to make it balanced with:Unified Action StructureNo standard, move or full-round actions.  Just actions.  You get two of them each turn, and can do whatever you like with them.  You can use them both to attack, use them both to sling spells, use them both to move, or any combination of the above.  You can even hold one or both to use as a reaction, a system which replaces attacks of opportunity.The problem with this is that spellcasters, as presently written, break it.  Badly.  For that matter, the disparity between two-weapon (or sword-and-board) fighting and two-handed fighting could be said to break it, too.A unified action structure needs spells that either "cost" more (that is, fewer are available, they have a drawback, or they have higher point costs in a spell point system), are weaker, or require both actions to cast.  The latter is intriguing; essentially, it makes all spells cast like summons.  Making shields more important and two-weapon fighting add an extra attack per action would solve the melee issues.Why it's elegant: It's a single system where once there were 2-4, depending on the number of supplementary action types.  It smoothes AoOs while leaving them potentially even more effective, and should speed combat in general.Ability Modifiers No 3-18 ability scores.  Just an ability modifier, which in point-buy starts at -1 and scales between -4 and +4 for humans (somewhat akin to the SilCore setup).  I'm not sure how to handle the roll xd6, drop lowest stat generation method using this system, though.3e went leagues in the direction of design elegance by standardizing the bonuses from all ability scores, making them an integral part of the system, providing a mechanism for improving them, and balancing them against each other (better than they themselves believed).  Removing the irrelevant scores in favor of meaningful modifiers would complete the process.Why it's elegant: Ability scores are counterintuitive and add to the calculations needed in character creation.  Ability modifiers are all the game ever references, so the scores are simply a needless complication.Those are the two that leap to my mind.</blockquote>

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