D&D General Mechanics you DO want to see return

[Sacrosanct]

Disclaimer: this is personal preference folks. Let’s try to keep the “what!? You want that godawful rule back? What’s wrong with you!?” Responses to a minimum please. Accusing others of bad wrong fun never ends well.

Everything else is gone for a reason and won't be back outside optional rules. Plus 5E does have racial penalties, they're just rarer. And the idea that a Halfling with 18 STR is dumb but 16 STR is fine is hilariously bananas.

Well...that didn't take long. If you don't agree with someone's preferences, just ignore it and move on with what you want. No need to take a dig at them or their preferences.

 

[Son of the Serpent]

A spin off of the other thread about mechanics you don’t ever want to see again, but the opposite. This is about mechanics that went away in the current edition that you’d like to see return.
Disclaimer: this is personal preference folks. Let’s try to keep the “what!? You want that godawful rule back? What’s wrong with you!?” Responses to a minimum please. Accusing others of bad wrong fun never ends well.

For me, as an old school player, I’d like to see the following come back:

• racial ability penalties. If you want an 18 str PC that is 3 feet tall and weighs as much as my toddler, that’s what magic items are for. Demihumans get other benefits that offset that
• level drain. Make players afraid of undead again
• save or die (or really, really suck). No one bothers with neutralize poison spells or scrolls anymore, and deadly poison as been the staple of adventure exploration stories for over 100 years.
• spell interruption. Everyone complains about how casters are too OP. Well, if they take damage before they get their spell off, it should have a good chance of fizzling. Not just for concentration.
• stronghold and follower rules
• morale rules
• how oozes and slimes and molds used to be

Agreed
AGREED
Agreed
Agreed (but I'd like to modify this)
Agreed
Agreed
Agreed (make juiblex great again)

 

[Yardiff]

"And the idea that a Halfling with 18 STR is dumb but 16 STR is fine is hilariously bananas."

I'm pretty sure that those talking about str cap 16 for smaller races are thinking 1e/2e str not 3e and beyond.
16 str is only a +1 damage in 1e/2e not the +3 to hit and damage it is in 3e and beyond.

Could be wrong though.

 

[Lanefan]

Old mechanics that need to come back:

Echoing others:

--- 1e save categories (breath wpn., poison-paralyze-death, spell, etc.)
--- magic item destruction: on a failed save vs AoE damage ALL items carried must save
--- strongholds and followers at name level (along with the concept of name level!)
--- racial stat penalties as well as bonuses, with Humans - the baseline - getting neither
--- spell casting times and, thus, spell interruption
--- specific-to-weapon proficiencies, instead of just basic-martial-exotic
--- level drain
--- non-linear bonuses, similar to what 0e had (8-13 = +0, then a gentle J-curve each way from there)

Things I've not yet seen mentioned:

--- resurrection survival % roll (to make death more of a threat)
--- system shock % roll (this immediately curtails most abuses around polymorph other)
--- bend-bars/lift-gates % roll (far more granular than a d20 strength check)
--- cleric-vs.-undead matrix from 1e (and expand it a bit, there's lots of room there for more categories)
--- side-along multiclassing (as opposed to 3-4-5e additive) where each class advances independently
--- hard limits on multiclassing, both by number of classes allowed and by what can multi with what
--- roll-under-stat mechanics
--- take the caps off damage spells

Howzat?

 

[Lanefan]

Forgot a big one:

--- negative hit points, with unconsciousness at 0 and death at -10

 

[Salthorae]

I'm with you on some of these:

• level drain. Make players afraid of undead again
• save or die (or really, really suck). No one bothers with neutralize poison spells or scrolls anymore, and deadly poison as been the staple of adventure exploration stories for over 100 years.=
• stronghold and follower rules
• morale rules

Mostly I'd be interested in bringing back the feel of deadliness that the base editions used to have with some of these things.

I like the Matt Colville Stronghold & Followers rules for 5e so if that is something you're interested in you should absolutely check that out.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Well...that didn't take long. If you don't agree with someone's preferences, just ignore it and move on with what you want. No need to take a dig at them or their preferences.

You said keep it at a minimum, so don't come here expressing horror that someone took "at a minimum" as "at a minimum", not "BE SILENT ROGUES, LEST I TAKE YOUR TONGUES!", which I guess is what you meant?

In any other thread I'd have done a multi-paragraph takedown of every one of those systems and why they're gone, but you asked me not to, and so I didn't, and you're still complaining? Astonishing. Next time ban what mean to be banned, or don't complain.

Plus the Halfling thing is so ridiculous it deserves to be ridiculed. The whole position of "16 STR = fine, 18 = STR = TOTAL MADNESS!" is just beyond belief. It's not Bad Wrong Fun. It's just bizarre. Level drain, now that's Bad Wrong Fun but I didn't go into that and won't.

 

[Lanefan]

Plus the Halfling thing is so ridiculous it deserves to be ridiculed. The whole position of "16 STR = fine, 18 = STR = TOTAL MADNESS!" is just beyond belief. It's not Bad Wrong Fun. It's just bizarre.

It's simply a matter of trying to numeretically represent the normally-possible strongest Hobbit (here, 16) in comparison to the normally-possible strongest Human (here and always, 18).

It's more than fair that 16 might not work for you for that comparitive figure. You're the DM, and thus are free to choose another comparitive that makes more sense to you.

Level drain, now that's Bad Wrong Fun but I didn't go into that and won't.

Levels, treasure, characters, items...they're all easy come easy go in the end.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

Plus the Halfling thing is so ridiculous it deserves to be ridiculed. The whole position of "16 STR = fine, 18 = STR = TOTAL MADNESS!" is just beyond belief. It's not Bad Wrong Fun. It's just bizarre.

I kind of agree, honestly. Giving halflings a -2 penalty to Strength is a half-baked solution to the problem, and if there's one area where 5E excels as a game, it's in half-baking its ideas.

I was thinking that 13 makes a reasonable cap for halfling Strength, dwarven Dexterity, and elven Constitution. Given the exponential curve, I could buy that the world's strongest halfling is stronger than the average human.

 

[cbwjm]

I'd like to see the old 2e style multiclassing, perhaps with some adjustments to it such as those done in Castles & Crusades.

I wouldn't mind racial ability score penalties to be more prevalent.

Going with the above, a smaller spread of ability score adjustments so that an 18 or 20 aren't as impactful as they are now on attack rolls or skill checks. Perhaps something similar to the the BECMI spread where it goes to a +3 at 18 since I'm not sure we could bring back 2e style ability score adjustments. This might need an adjustment of the proficiency bonus.