D&D 5E (2014) I am thinking of eliminating reactions.

[Wiseblood]

We are right now between campaigns so I fugured now is the time to figure out what we are doing and how.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Thanks for the additional info!

When I say I want to keep counterspell I have been misunderstood. I want to keep the ability to prevent a spell. I do not want it to be a reaction. I want it to be an action. As for the other abilities like uncanny dodge I would be looking for suitable replacements sans interruption.

Tracking initiative is a problem. I have tried many different methods. Some work better than others. I still feel that this mechanic exacerbates the problem without actually adding something of value. Instead it adds dice rolls and extra decision points. These tend to most penalize players without system mastery by increasing delay between turns.

Some things are non issues. Like legendary resistance (or even shield) It doesn't require a new roll or a target at best it just changes the outcome of one dice-roll that has already been made.

Let's address Counterspell first then. How would you resolve this? As an action, a player states "I am countering their next spell."? Do they know what the spell is? Are they allowed to do it as an action on their next turn or must it be preemptive? Would the target of the counterspell know it was cast against them? How you answer those questions determines how you want it to work.

For Initiative, are you rolling once for the entire encounter or do you roll each round? If you are rolling each round, thinking the variability it offers is good, I can tell you from my own experience it isn't needed. We changed to rolling once a while ago and have had no issues with it.

Our DM runs our games from his laptop, linked via HDMI to a 50" wall-mounted TV which he displays maps on and stuff. One thing he displays is the Initiative order so anyone can look up and see when their turn is coming.

A less-tech option would be once the order is determined, hand out cards to each player with the name of the person before they go. This way, when that player or DM is acting, they know they are up next. We've done this before and it worked well for us. After the encounter, the cards are returned to the DM until the next one.

When a reaction is used, that character/creature acts, and then it resumes to the current person's turn.

 

[Undrave]

When I say I want to keep counterspell I have been misunderstood. I want to keep the ability to prevent a spell. I do not want it to be a reaction. I want it to be an action. As for the other abilities like uncanny dodge I would be looking for suitable replacements sans interruption.

Tracking initiative is a problem. I have tried many different methods. Some work better than others. I still feel that this mechanic exacerbates the problem without actually adding something of value. Instead it adds dice rolls and extra decision points. These tend to most penalize players without system mastery by increasing delay between turns.

Some things are non issues. Like legendary resistance (or even shield) It doesn't require a new roll or a target at best it just changes the outcome of one dice-roll that has already been made.

Then change initiative entirely. Make ALL the players go together in the order they choose each round and then all the monsters in the order you choose. Just check which side has the character with highest initiative bonus to decide who goes first. After the first round it'll barely change anything.

And just cut readied actions. The rest is gonna be easy to track. Especially if you use some sort of token to track who used their reaction and who didn't. Like a card you flip over.

 

[Arnwolf666]

I actually think this is a good exercise for a new DM or even an experience DM. Get rid of reactions. See how it changes play. See what other rules you need to invent and changes you need to make. It really is a good way to learn why the rules are the way they are. And how to create new rules. Some of the best innovation happens this way. So I vote give it a try and see if your players enjoy the rules changes.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Here are two versions of Counterspell that might work for you:

When you cast this spell, you select a target you can see within 60 feet. Until the end of the target's next turn, it must make a spellcasting check with a DC equal to 8 + your spellcasting modifier or have its spell countered.

This offers the benefit of possible stopping multiple spells, but since it requires an action on the player's part that is offset. If you don't want the roll to slow things down, how about this:

When you cast this spell, you select a target you can see within 60 feet. Until the end of the target's next turn, any spell it casts which requires an attack roll has disadvantage on that roll. If the target casts a spell that allows a saving throw, targets of that spell have advantage on their saves.

 

[RSIxidor]

If you make it an action where they prepare to counter something, I'd consider letting them keep their spell slot if the opposing spellcaster doesn't cast anything or giving some other benefit if they don't actually counter anything. I hate the idea of it doing nothing and still costing a resource.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Reactions/AoO’s and readied actions all seem to contribute to interrupting the flow of a round. This interruption is creating confusion about who’s turn is next. This sometimes means people miss a turn even when paying attention. I haven’t liked AoO’s since third edition because they are cumbersome and insipid. I feel like countering spells is a worthwhile endeavor.

The point of AoOs & reactions is to re-inject some common sense back into turn-based action resolution. So that you don't have creatures 'paralyzed between their turns' as someone does something uninterrupted.

Countering and interrupting spells is something 5e could make a little more practical & reasonable. The former is bizarrely available even in the midst of casting your own spell, the latter pretty impractical as it stands.

How would you handle countering?

If you want to avoid reactions and readies and keep all the action& rolls on the current creature's turn, you could handle countering & spell interruption on the countering/interrupting creature's turn. They declare the intent to counter or interrupt, and make the check or attack. If they succeed their target can't cast on his turn.

A bit abstract, but keeps turns discreet.

 

[Fenris-77]

Personally, I think you're mucking up the action economy for no real gain, but every table is different. You need to do a lot of maintenance on the rules set to get rid of reactions and keep class abilities balanced, and that maintenance is probably more work than just using the existing initiative system, even if you needed to layer on a system to keep things organized. Whatever props your tent though.

 

[clearstream]

When I say I want to keep counterspell I have been misunderstood. I want to keep the ability to prevent a spell. I do not want it to be a reaction. I want it to be an action. As for the other abilities like uncanny dodge I would be looking for suitable replacements sans interruption.

Given I don't want A's acts to interrupt B's, I must resolve A's acts only in A's turn. Therefore counterspell likely needs to be preemptive. One of the simplest ways might be that it targets a creature and debuffs its spell save DC until the start of A's next turn.

 

[Undrave]

Given I don't want A's acts to interrupt B's, I must resolve A's acts only in A's turn. Therefore counterspell likely needs to be preemptive. One of the simplest ways might be that it targets a creature and debuffs its spell save DC until the start of A's next turn.

It's weird that this isn't already an actual spell.