D&D General Mechanics you DO want to see return

[Sacrosanct]

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.

when someone says to keep something at a minimum, that’s a phrase that is a polite way of saying to avoid it. And yet you couldn’t help yourself. And now here you are doubling down on your passive aggressive accusations of badwrong fun with a heavy dose of hyperbole. Thanks for showing why we can’t have nice things. Are you physically incapable of just ignoring something you dont agree with and must point out to others how they are simply crazy for having a certain preference?

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I feel like you're more the problem here than I am, but okay. I literally deleted a two paragraph post about the problems inherent to save-or-die, and you want to complain at me repeatedly. Maybe drop it? I have.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Your multi paragraph complaint sure didn’t seem like you dropped it. I had asked you politely to stop accusing others of badwrong fun and you doubled down. If you can’t help yourself but to keep telling people how their preferences are wrong, take it to another thread. It’s noted how you insult me and tell me not to respond. How convenient for you. Here’s hoping you do, in fact, drop it.

 

[Son of the Serpent]

Forgot a big one:

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

I dm 3 and 3.5 and have a house variant of negative hit points that i use.

Level + con mod (only once) + (1 times n where n is the number on a number line starting at 1 that your smallest hd size would be associated with if hd sizes were placed on a number line starting at 1)

So to give an example, a human druid 1/barbar 5 with con of 16 would die automatically at:

-6 -3 -3 = -12

Negative con mods do apply for the record

 

[Uller]

Mechanics that make it difficult or impossible for low level parties to damage certain monsters. Real resistances that require special items or spells to get around. A werewolf is just not that frightening if it can be damaged with a mundane weapon. A vampire spawn is just not too scary if Sacred Flame can shut down its regeneration.

 

[Azzy]

Damage on a miss.

 

[cbwjm]

Oh man, I forgot varied resistances like in 3e and 4e. Perhaps something like 5 points per tier. I'd like to see some creatures just take no damage from a weak effect but still have to worry a bit about more powerful effects.

 

[teitan]

I'd like to see leveling up slow down as a default. I get that I can control that as a DM but the default style is very rapidly through 1-3 level then its a creep. I would like to see it leveled out a bit more similar to Pathfinder and 3.5. The trend has been to faster leveling with each edition after 2e and I understand why. That was something I appreciated in PF1 was the variant leveling rate rules. Some players don't like milestone leveling and really enjoy watching their experience points climb and milestones take that away. Leveling out the XP charts would also help to eliminate that "cheap" or "easy" feeling of low levels.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

4e style encounter and monster building.

Defenses in place of saves, even just as an optional variant.

Multiclassing feats.

Separate feat and ASI progression, with ASI unbound from class.

Themes. Could probably be done as feats, in an optional module that clearly states that Theme feats are exclusive (you can only take 1), and are more powerful than the standard feats but also work differently, giving you small features over the course of several levels.

Epic play as a layer you add over the existing game (another 4e thing, because that is really what epic destinies are).

Expanded Alchemy, crafting, magic items, and rituals.

Knowledge skills doing useful things explicitly, like Arcana allowing you to mess around with a portal or shut down a magical trap.

Spell interruption. Hell, I'd even take a fighting style that lets you spend a bonus action to threaten a spell caster, so you get to smack them if they cast, and they have to save in order to keep the spell. Word it so that any time you attack a spellcaster as a reaction while they are casting a spell, it interrupts their spellcasting rather than occurring after the spell is cast. This way it stacks with Mage Slayer.

Bard Songs. Could be brought back as spells, or as a subclass, or a variant of Bard Inspiration, but I want bards to be able to sing an aura into existence that buffs their allies and/or debuffs enemies, or enchants a group of people, or whatever. 4e has a few really good bard powers that do this sort of thing, but it's just absent from 5e and that really sucks.

 

[Lanefan]

I'd like to see leveling up slow down as a default. I get that I can control that as a DM but the default style is very rapidly through 1-3 level then its a creep. I would like to see it leveled out a bit more similar to Pathfinder and 3.5. The trend has been to faster leveling with each edition after 2e and I understand why. That was something I appreciated in PF1 was the variant leveling rate rules. Some players don't like milestone leveling and really enjoy watching their experience points climb and milestones take that away. Leveling out the XP charts would also help to eliminate that "cheap" or "easy" feeling of low levels.

It can make the campaign last longer too: slow advancement leaves more time and headroom before hitting the "level cap" after which the game design (in all editions) gets a bit wiggy.