D&D 5E How Far Could D&D Change--And STILL Be D&D?

[Micah Sweet]

How much of Dungeon Crawl Classics could I jam into D&D before people complained???

They're both swords and socery based N appendix inspired TTRPGs!

I would love to see the chaotic and dangerous magic of DCC in 5e.

 

[GuyBoy]

So was Pathfinder, which utilised the catchphrase “ 3E lives”, still D&D? Certainly, when my group moved to it during the 4E era we still referred to “are we playing D&D this weekend?”

Is Level Up still D&D?

Just asking because neither are WOTC

 

[James Gasik]

I think so. @Umbran 's suggestion that we're really asking about "sacred cows" is on point.

You can tweak how the rules work, but since the beginning, a character sheet for D&D has THE 6 ability scores, your race & class, AC, hit points, and saving throws. No matter how the rules have been tweaked since (e.g THAC0 vs. d20 plus), it's always come down to a core appearance that hasn't changed.

Well except for that hot minute when we had 7 ability scores...

 

[Oofta]

Well except for that hot minute when we had 7 ability scores...

For a bit we technically had a 12 when they split each of the 6 attributes into 2 subcategories.

 

[Mannahnin]

And before that, in 1E some people used Perception as a 7th ability score (see Dragon issue #133), or Comeliness per UA.

 

[Mannahnin]

How much of Dungeon Crawl Classics could I jam into D&D before people complained???

So was Pathfinder, which utilised the catchphrase “ 3E lives”, still D&D? Certainly, when my group moved to it during the 4E era we still referred to “are we playing D&D this weekend?”

Is Level Up still D&D?

All of these are D&D variants. There's less difference between them and 5E than there is between OD&D and 5E.

 

[Oofta]

All of these are D&D variants. There's less difference between them and 5E than there is between OD&D and 5E.

I (vaguely) remember switching from OD&D and thinking how big an upgrade it was that my dwarf could be something other than a fighter. So I really stretched and wrote up his nephew that was a fighter/thief.

 

[toucanbuzz]

Well except for that hot minute when we had 7 ability scores...

Thankfully always was an optional rule for how ugly you looked (Unearthed Arcana 1985).

 

[Smythe the Bard]

In comparison to other systems I've played, IMHO DnD is at its core defined by a class based leveling system as opposed to a more gradual or open system like Shadow Run and Vampire (at least the older versions I've played). Even when I've played Starwars, Pathfinder and even Spy Craft they felt very grounded in a DnDish reality.

 

[Smythe the Bard]

Four basic roles with scaling abilities (warrior, arcane, divine, skill monkey).

you could just make it three: warrior, skill & magic using. Mechanically magic is magic, the source is fluff.