Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Is there a need for a simplified D&D?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="MoogleEmpMog" data-source="post: 1756115" data-attributes="member: 22882"><p>I love the complexity and options of 3.5 D&D and wouldn't trade them for the world, sooo... I'm basically on the far, far side of the spectrum here. With that said, I can think of a few (relatively) simple ways to streamline the game.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Simplified Attacks of Opportunity</p><p>1. Eliminate AoOs for movement. This was stated before, but it bears repeating. It bogs down combat more than almost any factor other than spells.</p><p>2. Eliminate AoOs for basic combat actions other than spellcasting. Laying down and taking a nap provokes an AoO; turning your back to an enemy to rummage through a saddlebag provokes an AoO; getting up from prone, drawing a weapon, firing a bow, sundering a weapon or grabbing and drinking a potion do not provoke AoOs.</p><p>3. Eliminate the Combat Reflexes feat.</p><p>3. Keep AoOs for spellcasting.</p><p></p><p>Simplified Classes</p><p>1. Replace the 11 core classes with the three generic classes from <em>Unearthed Arcana</em>, or the six base classes from <em>d20 Modern</em>/<em>Grim Tales</em>.</p><p>(Warrior, Expert & Spellcaster) or (Strong, Fast, Tough, Smart, Dedicated & Charismatic), but not both.</p><p></p><p>Simplified Skills</p><p>1. Combine Move Silently/Hide into Sneak (ala <em>Arcana Unearthed</em>), Spot and Listen (and Search?) into Alertness, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Sense Motive and Bluff into Conversation, Balance, Jump and Tumble into Acrobatics, and so on.</p><p>2. Eliminate cross-class skills.</p><p>3. Use the 'max ranks' variant from <em>Unearthed Arcana</em>.</p><p></p><p>Simplified Feats</p><p>1. Eliminate the Improved series of feats (Disarm, Unarmed Strike, Sunder, Trip) and, if those actions are allowed, incorporate them into the basic abilities of all combatants.</p><p>2. Eliminate all Metamagic feats (see below).</p><p></p><p>Simplified Spells</p><p>This is the number one thing players (and DMs) spend time looking up, in my experience.</p><p>1. Use only Sorcerer spellcasting with a very limited spell list (perhaps based off the Lineage Sorcerer here on ENWorld), make spellcasting the province of advanced classes like <em>d20 Modern's</em> Acolyte and Mage, base spellcasting off the Psion, or use a feats/skills or limited spell system like <em>Conan d20</em> or <em>Grim Tales</em>.</p><p>2. Eliminate the arcane/divine divide, which is largely counterintuitive.</p><p>3. Dramatically reduce the number of spells, but increase their versatility. I'm thinking that they should be changed to reflect 3.5 Psionics, with augmentation replacing higher-level spells.</p><p>4. Eliminate metamagic. With augmentation, a 'basic' system doesn't need it.</p><p>5. Eliminate spell components.</p><p></p><p>Simplified Alignment</p><p>1. Eliminate alignment.</p><p>2. Eliminate the <em>Book of Exalted Deeds</em> and the <em>Book of Vile Darkness</em>. With extreme prejudice.</p><p></p><p>Personally, I would use the <em>d20 Modern</em> base classes and create a Spellcaster advanced class, designed like the 3.5 Psion. I'd keep PrCs and AdCs, multiclassing and most feats. By simplifying spells, skills and combat actions while leaving the players with lots of character creation options, I think you'd find the game runs smoother and faster but still appeals to 3.x players.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MoogleEmpMog, post: 1756115, member: 22882"] I love the complexity and options of 3.5 D&D and wouldn't trade them for the world, sooo... I'm basically on the far, far side of the spectrum here. With that said, I can think of a few (relatively) simple ways to streamline the game. Simplified Attacks of Opportunity 1. Eliminate AoOs for movement. This was stated before, but it bears repeating. It bogs down combat more than almost any factor other than spells. 2. Eliminate AoOs for basic combat actions other than spellcasting. Laying down and taking a nap provokes an AoO; turning your back to an enemy to rummage through a saddlebag provokes an AoO; getting up from prone, drawing a weapon, firing a bow, sundering a weapon or grabbing and drinking a potion do not provoke AoOs. 3. Eliminate the Combat Reflexes feat. 3. Keep AoOs for spellcasting. Simplified Classes 1. Replace the 11 core classes with the three generic classes from [I]Unearthed Arcana[/I], or the six base classes from [I]d20 Modern[/I]/[I]Grim Tales[/I]. (Warrior, Expert & Spellcaster) or (Strong, Fast, Tough, Smart, Dedicated & Charismatic), but not both. Simplified Skills 1. Combine Move Silently/Hide into Sneak (ala [I]Arcana Unearthed[/I]), Spot and Listen (and Search?) into Alertness, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Sense Motive and Bluff into Conversation, Balance, Jump and Tumble into Acrobatics, and so on. 2. Eliminate cross-class skills. 3. Use the 'max ranks' variant from [I]Unearthed Arcana[/I]. Simplified Feats 1. Eliminate the Improved series of feats (Disarm, Unarmed Strike, Sunder, Trip) and, if those actions are allowed, incorporate them into the basic abilities of all combatants. 2. Eliminate all Metamagic feats (see below). Simplified Spells This is the number one thing players (and DMs) spend time looking up, in my experience. 1. Use only Sorcerer spellcasting with a very limited spell list (perhaps based off the Lineage Sorcerer here on ENWorld), make spellcasting the province of advanced classes like [I]d20 Modern's[/I] Acolyte and Mage, base spellcasting off the Psion, or use a feats/skills or limited spell system like [I]Conan d20[/I] or [I]Grim Tales[/I]. 2. Eliminate the arcane/divine divide, which is largely counterintuitive. 3. Dramatically reduce the number of spells, but increase their versatility. I'm thinking that they should be changed to reflect 3.5 Psionics, with augmentation replacing higher-level spells. 4. Eliminate metamagic. With augmentation, a 'basic' system doesn't need it. 5. Eliminate spell components. Simplified Alignment 1. Eliminate alignment. 2. Eliminate the [I]Book of Exalted Deeds[/I] and the [I]Book of Vile Darkness[/I]. With extreme prejudice. Personally, I would use the [I]d20 Modern[/I] base classes and create a Spellcaster advanced class, designed like the 3.5 Psion. I'd keep PrCs and AdCs, multiclassing and most feats. By simplifying spells, skills and combat actions while leaving the players with lots of character creation options, I think you'd find the game runs smoother and faster but still appeals to 3.x players. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Is there a need for a simplified D&D?
Top