D&D 5E How freely can a setting mess with core D&D mechanics?

[robus]

I think 5e, itself, sums up the essence of D&D, quite early on:

Well that seems like the essence of Fantasy RPGs of which D&D is, of course, the granddaddy...

Anyway, just noting that your original post was too far for me at least

 

[Yaarel]

The Eberron setting book just came out, which has a few new character options, including dragonmarked subraces, and a variety of new gear.

But the setting doesn't change the core mechanics of D&D.

The original Dragonlance mostly forbid divine spellcasting, and tied wizard magic to moon phases. Dark Sun had defiling that caused magic to suck the life out of living things, creating vast swaths of desert.

Check out the optional rules in the DMG when it comes to planar travel. If you based a campaign entirely on another plane, that world's planar traits would alter some underlying assumptions of the game. An all-shadowfell game might have you dealing with 'shadowfell despair' every day. If the whole campaign is in Arcadia, then the 'psychic dissonance' optional rule would basically force everyone to be LG or LN, and the 'planar vitality' optional rule would make people immune to fear and poison.

Ysgard has an optional rule where anyone who dies there resurrects the next morning. That would upend a lot of assumptions about how to play the game.

Have you ever played in a setting where the rules of reality weren't quite the same as the default of D&D (or of whatever ruleset you were playing)?

In the ZEITGEIST adventure path, one of the minor traits of the world is that gold rings block teleportation. If a person is wearing a gold ring, they can't teleport. If you surround a jail cell with a gold ring, someone can't teleport out of it.

Two other traits of the world restrict the duration of magical flight to five minutes, and prevent summoned creatures from sticking around for more than five minutes. All of these have reasons behind them that matter to the plot of the adventure path, and they're fairly minor.

But how far can you step away from default rules before you get uncomfortable?

Would you accept an Ysgard-style game where it's impossible to bleed to death, but death is still possible if someone decapitates you (aka, Highlander)? What about one inspired by the video game Myst, where divination magic doesn't work on islands? If you've watched the TV show Supernatural, salt actually drives off ghosts, and other mundane tricks can protect you from monsters, which might be a fun way to give low-level adventurers tricks in a setting with lots of horror tropes. In a game inspired by His Dark Materials, would you be cool with each PC having a bonded familiar? What if the GM handed each player a copy of their 50 page setting bible, said, "You're all proficient in History as a bonus skill, so you have to read this"?

I've been playing D&D for 23 years. I like trying new things. But how far is too far?

The original post is really just an other way of asking, What is the essence of D&D?

For me, the essence of D&D is creating worlds of your own imagination. In this sense, any degree of alteration is possible.



On the other hand, if one asks, How much can you change Forgotten Realms before it stops becoming Forgotten Realms? A specific setting can have clearer limitations.

 

[B1okHead]

The only thing that would be too far for me would be actually using the D&D 5e rules for my fantasy adventure game as I am not a fan of that system for a number of reasons.

 

[Yaarel]

"Too far" is when you leave your players behind. The more changes you make, the more there is for players to keep track of, and the more comfort zones you step out of. And ultimately, by making a setting that's customised to your own sensibilities, you may have trouble selling the concept to everyone else in the group.

That is a good criterion.

The DM and the players need to be speaking the same language. As long as the players are on board with the modifications, it is still D&D.

 

[Gradine]

Is that still a core principle of Eberron? I haven't seen anything to the contrary, but they don't seem to be hyping it as much this go-round.

I won't get my 5e Eberron book for another week or so; can anyone who has it confirm whether the "everything has a place" statement is still there?

"Seven Things to Know:
#7: D&D With a Twist
Every race, monster, spell, and magic item in the Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual has a place somewhere in Eberron, but it might not be the place you expect."

The original Eberron Campaign Setting upended some sacred cows, maybe not essential or core, particularly regarding divine magic and alignment. And sure, both have been de-emphasized in 5e core, but they still exist, and were certainly a much bigger mechanical deal in 3.5. That said, I think most of the innovations in Eberron didn't change or reverse core D&D principals, it only added to them (magical economy, dragonmarks, races, artificers, etc.)

 

[Ath-kethin]

"Seven Things to Know:
#7: D&D With a Twist
Every race, monster, spell, and magic item in the Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual has a place somewhere in Eberron, but it might not be the place you expect."

The original Eberron Campaign Setting upended some sacred cows, maybe not essential or core, particularly regarding divine magic and alignment. And sure, both have been de-emphasized in 5e core, but they still exist, and were certainly a much bigger mechanical deal in 3.5. That said, I think most of the innovations in Eberron didn't change or reverse core D&D principals, it only added to them (magical economy, dragonmarks, races, artificers, etc.)

Thank you!

Yeah, Eberron did a great job of changing PERCEPTIONS about a lot of stuff - most notably alignment in my recollection - more than actually changing things mechanically. Part of the genius to the setting was how it was intentionally designed so it could be used to tell any kind of stories you wanted, from old school sword & sorcery tales to high magic/steampunk/techno to subtle intrigue. And it did every piece of that using fluff as much or more so than crunch.

Thank you again! I can't wait to get my copy.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

That would be fine if there was a decent in game explaination.

If that guildhouse had the method of creating clones for example.

Not really my cup of tea but could work.

Just a powerful type of magic item that binds the soul of a willing creature to it, and casts a variant of Raise Dead when the bound person dies. Involve a few different Dragonmarked houses, make binding to it appropriate for the resurrection, and I could easily see this a new thing that is just debuting at newly formed Enclaves of The Twelve, which provide some amount of services from all the houses.

And the BBEG has paid his dues, of course.

 

[Zardnaar]

Just a powerful type of magic item that binds the soul of a willing creature to it, and casts a variant of Raise Dead when the bound person dies. Involve a few different Dragonmarked houses, make binding to it appropriate for the resurrection, and I could easily see this a new thing that is just debuting at newly formed Enclaves of The Twelve, which provide some amount of services from all the houses.

And the BBEG has paid his dues, of course.

Not my cup of tea but sure why not.

The whole point of settings IMHO is getting away from the core rules/assumptions.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Not my cup of tea but sure why not.

The whole point of settings IMHO is getting away from the core rules/assumptions.

Sure.

Also, just for fun, it makes the setting even more cyberpunk, which has always been a primary influence.

“What is life if you can pay to be immortal?” Is a quintessential question of cyberpunk.

 

[Zardnaar]

Sure.

Also, just for fun, it makes the setting even more cyberpunk, which has always been a primary influence.

“What is life if you can pay to be immortal?” Is a quintessential question of cyberpunk.

If I was an official developer I wouldn't put that in an official Eberron release. But it's not a bad idea for a new setting.

For home games I don't care to much. There's various ways to do that my mid just thought if clones.

Eberrons a bit more open and gonzo than the other settings.