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Message: <blockquote data-quote="GMMichael" data-source="post: 9100945" data-attributes="member: 6685730">Another DMing adventure is on my horizon, so I'm wondering several things.  Which 5e rules are optional?  Is D&D 5e any lighter in rules than 3e (as advertised)?  What rules should be memorized, and which are an acceptable look-up?  But ultimately...How many rules does D&D actually have?Since the game has been (more or less) given to the Commons, I'm interested to see what we've actually received.  403 pages of System Reference Document grants significantly more material than the Basic Rules did, but it's not all rules: it's also lists.  In particular, it's lists of magic spells and NPCs.  (These aren't rules because they are better described as named instances of the usage of rules.)  So, for this post's purpose, the majority of D&D's rules are probably (we might find out!) in the Basic Rules anyway.I'll skip over some RPG standard/inherent rules to analyze what is probably the most recognizable: the Core Mechanic, referred to in the SRD as the "basic rule."In this basic "rule," I see four discrete rules surfacing:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Ability Score.  Characters have six ability scores that measure their various intrinsic capabilities.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Ability Modifier.  Each ability score gets an ability modifier, which is a bonus or penalty tied to uses of that ability score. (Insert table here.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Target Number.  The total that a given roll result must meet or exceed to be considered a Success or Hit.  These can be predetermined or DM-selected.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Basic Rule.  When the DM wants a success or failure determination, a d20 roll, plus ability modifier of an ability score, plus or minus any other DM-selected modifiers, indicates success if the total meets or exceeds the Target Number.</li> </ul>The SRD dives into races first, but not really rules... Ability Score Increase isn't a rule so much as a usage of the Ability Score rule.  Unless...a rule sets out the conditions for modifying ability scores?  Age isn't really a rule either since it affects only character description - what I call the "fluff."  Languages is starting to look like an actual rule, dictating what a character can and cannot do.  Looking further in, Stonecunning looks like one of the earliest/earlier rules of the SRD, giving dwarves permission to do something that relates to other rules.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Character languages.  A character's race determines which languages that character can speak, read, and write.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Stonecunning.  A character feature that allows proficiency and 2x proficiency bonus when rolling an Intelligence check related to the origin of stonework.</li> </ul>Anyway, post here if you want to pick at the bones of D&D, or help put an end to the discussion of just how rules-heavy D&D (5e) is.  If you don't comb through every post (I wouldn't), please do a quick This Thread search to see if someone has already posted your discovered-rule.</blockquote>

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