D&D 5E Indifying 5e

[SirAntoine]

The game is published under the OGL, whereby the owner of that IP (to the extent that it is owned) licences its use for free (as part of the 3E SRD).

Thank you.

 

[Jester David]

Compelling personality traits is another idea.
Preemptively offer your players Inspiration to act according to their traits. Trigger their flaws and the like. If they bite they roleplay, but they can always refuse.

The plot point mechanic in the DMG is another idea.

 

[Mallus]

I like 13th Age, but I don't see it as especially "indie". "Indie D&D" says Dungeon World to me.

 

[chaochou]

I'm looking for some way to have character aspects have a bigger effect on the mechanics of the game than they do with just Background effect. I guess similar to 13th age or maybe even Cortex Plus, with concepts of character having not necessarily baked in mechanical effects, but the ability to give them weight

A couple of ideas from an old thread on a similar topic:

a) Instead of XP for defeating monsters, disarming traps, looting treasure, try getting players to write three goals - one short term (can be done this session) one medium term (can be done in 3 or 4 sessions) and one long-term (can be done in 10 sessions). Award xp solely for work towards or completing goals.

b) Change the pass/fail mechanic. Player states intent and how they are going to attempt to achieve their intent. GM calls for a roll. Any roll that beats the target by, say, more than 2 and the player gets what they wanted. Any roll +/-2 and the player gets some of what they wanted but the GM can introduce a complication, dilemma or hard choice. Miss by more than 2 and you fail outright, into a new situation.

 

[pemerton]

I like 13th Age, but I don't see it as especially "indie". "Indie D&D" says Dungeon World to me.

For me, Burning Wheel is indie D&D also.

 

[JeffB]

Yup. Dungeon World.

13th Age has some cool bits but I found it reads much better than it plays at the table. YMMV. IMO. IME. Etc etc.

 

[Blue]

13th Age has some cool bits but I found it reads much better than it plays at the table. YMMV. IMO. IME. Etc etc.

My mileage does vary, 13th Age been working happily for my current group. But yeah, that can easily be table variation. I'm still looking at getting into a game of DW (or AW) that isn't a one-shot.

 

[GMMichael]

I'm looking for some way to have character aspects have a bigger effect on the mechanics of the game than they do with just Background effect...with concepts of character having not necessarily baked in mechanical effects, but the ability to give them weight beyond just (here's inspiration)...breaking the already fragile game math...

Maybe you're looking at it wrong. The FAITH system is a direct response to 3e characters being mostly bonuses, and 4e characters being mostly a collection of powers. When character creation requires spelling out five different non-mechanics aspects of your character, that's your opportunity to do some roleplaying, not roll playing.

Or maybe you're just confused, like I am: you want a "bigger effect on the mechanics" but not necessarily "baked in mechanical effects."

So maybe...you're looking for narrative rules? When a character roleplays X he gets story benefit Y and Z? Two words (already mentioned?) come to mind: Dungeon World. I also happen to know that a certain rules module will have that sort of thing...but it's top secret right now.

 

[Sunseeker]

No offense but there is nothing "indie" about 13th age. It's a 3.5 clone with a few tweaks. Not to mention it's designed by head devs for both 3rd and 4th. Calling 13th Age indie is like saying if Exxon spun off a new oil company it'd be indie!

 

[The Crimson Binome]

No offense but there is nothing "indie" about 13th age. It's a 3.5 clone with a few tweaks. Not to mention it's designed by head devs for both 3rd and 4th. Calling 13th Age indie is like saying if Exxon spun off a new oil company it'd be indie!

Some of the design decisions can be considered quite radical. It would be like if Exxon spun off some gas stations into musical theater venues.