D&D 5E making 5E more "old school" (updated)

[MichaelSomething]

How about cutting exp from monsters to 25 percent and let PCs buy exp for 1go per point?

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[rabindranath72]

In my experience of giving modern versions of D&D (from 3e onward) an "old-school" feel, an essential aspect is limiting the race/class combinations, at least when playing in "classic" settings like Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance and Greyhawk. Also, no monster races as PCs, except of the "half-" variety.
I was pleasantly surprised to read back then in the 3.0 DMG that actually limiting race/class combinations is a good way to give a setting flavour (apparently to the contrary of what most 3e tables were experiencing); the rules may dictate what is mechanically possible, but that should not impact what makes "sense" for a given DM's campaign.

The other big issue I have with 5e, which cannot be solved without drastic alterations, is the nerfing of spells, together with a wider availability of spellcasting.

 

[Tony Vargas]

The other big issue I have with 5e, which cannot be solved without drastic alterations, is the nerfing of spells, together with a wider availability of spellcasting.

The two go hand-in-hand, you can't give magic to every class without giving up a little of that 'having magic lets you dominate play' feel. But, nerfing is really overstating it. If D&D magic were, metaphorically, explosives, the classic game would have been (to sound even older than I am) A-bombs, 3.x/PF H-bombs, 4e hand grenades & shaped demolition charges, and 5e would have only dialed 'em back up to nominally-conventional fuel-air explosives & MOABs...

 

[rabindranath72]

The two go hand-in-hand, you can't give magic to every class without giving up a little of that 'having magic lets you dominate play' feel. But, nerfing is really overstating it. If D&D magic were, metaphorically, explosives, the classic game would have been (to sound even older than I am) A-bombs, 3.x/PF H-bombs, 4e hand grenades & shaped demolition charges, and 5e would have only dialed 'em back up to nominally-conventional fuel-air explosives & MOABs...

I know; still, the issue is there. I have run a Birthright campaign with 5e, and trying to adapt the spells for use in mass battles, I compared the effects of 2e spells with 5e spells. Out of all the spells that in 2e are considered "valid" in mass battles, only one or two made the cut in their 5e incarnations: either they didn't last long enough, or didn't inflict enough damage, or didn't have large enough areas of effect, or not enough affected targets. It was very disappointing.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I know; still, the issue is there. I have run a Birthright campaign with 5e

I can't say I've ever glanced Birthright... the mass combat system I tried was the 1e-nominally-compatible Battlesystem. It sucked pretty hard (my players, in particular, hated it) and I never took a serious look at a D&D mass combat system again....

, and trying to adapt the spells for use in mass battles, I compared the effects of 2e spells with 5e spells. Out of all the spells that in 2e are considered "valid" in mass battles, only one or two made the cut in their 5e incarnations: either they didn't last long enough, or didn't inflict enough damage, or didn't have large enough areas of effect, or not enough affected targets. It was very disappointing.

So what's the Birthright criterion for a battlefield-usable spell? Would it be hard to adapt 5e with some sort of battlefield-casting variant?
Back in the day, I considered most D&D spells short of the kind of earth-shaking magic villains in genre sometimes pulled out, so I had a vague hand-wavy suggestion of a variant that allowed longer-casting-time/good-guy-unacceptable-components (human sacrifice &c) versions of spells with tremendous range & area as a background for how the earth got shaken by BBEGs now and then...

...even then, though, the resulting uber-spells only affected lower-HD targets or were save:neg, so they'd tend to wash over PCs and important NPCs...

 

[Charlaquin]

If you really want to make it feel old school, you could always re-implement Thac0.

That's actually pretty easy to do. Just replace attack/check/saving throw bonus with Sadc0 (Succeed at DC 0). Your base Sadc0 is 20 if you do not have proficiency, or a number determined by your level if you do have proficiency.


Level: Proficient Sadc0
1st–4th: 18
5th–8th: 17
9th–12th: 16
13th–16th: 15
17th–20th: 14

Ability modifiers, magic bonuses, and any other miscellanious modifiers that would give you a bonus to an attack, check, or save instead reduces your Sadc0 by the same amount. Anything that would give you a penalty to an attack, check, or save instead increases your Sadc0 by the same amount. Then you just have to adjust DC and armor tables accordingly.

Task Difficulty: Difficulty Class (DC)
Very Easy: 15
Easy: 10
Medium: 5
Hard: 0
Very Hard: -5
Nearly Impossible: -10

Armor Armor Class (AC)
Unarmored: 10 - Dex modifier
Unarmored Defense (Monk): 10 - Dex modifier - Wis modifier
Unarmored Defense (Barbarian): 10 - Dex modifier - Con modifier
Padded: 9 - Dex modifier
Leather: 9 - Dex modifier
Studded leather: 8 - Dex modifier
Hide: 8 - Dex modifier (max 2)
Chain Shirt: 7 - Dex modifier (max 2)
Scale Mail: 6 - Dex modifier (max 2)
Breastplate: 6 - Dex modifier (max 2)
Half Plate: 5 - Dex modifier (max 2)
Ring Mail: 6
Chain Mail: 4
Splint: 3
Plate: 2
Shield: -2
Mage armor: 7 - Dex modifier
Barkskin: Maximum of 4