D&D 5E Name a technique or design choice that your group enjoys, but that is generally unpopular.

[Lanefan]

And it's shaped like a triangle, rather than a bell.

I stand corrected.

 

[Musing Mage]

We use the rules for encumbrance, we track our ammunition and spell components, and we roll 4d6 for our stats.

You monster! How DARE you make your players do... resource management?!?


On the note of Monstrous DMing... I make my 5e players:

• Roll 3d6 for stats.
• Roll straight up HP, no taking the average.
• Only apply CON bonuses at level 1, not per level.
• Limit Cantrip castings.
• Slow down natural healing.
• Make Arcane Casters roll to learn spells they want, or they don't get to have them.
• Make Divine Casters pass a faith test each time they cast lest the spell fail.
• Increase the DC of any skill check for which a character is non-proficient by 5.
• Oh, and of course - Resource Management.

And they love it, my little group of masochists...

 

[iserith]

Inspiration.

 

[Mort]

Inspiration.

I've found it's not so much unpopular as people just forget about it.

I stole your method of doing inspiration, and my group likes it a lot.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Nitpick: 2d10 (or 2d-anything, for that matter) is bell-curved. In the case of 2d10 that curve is centered around a peak of 10.5, meaning 10 and 11 share the highest odds of occurring.

Obviously, the bell-curve is flatter than for, say, 2d6; but it's still there.

Nitpick: 2d10 has a peak at 11, not 10.5.

2dX is not a bell-curve, although this is commonly assumed to be because it meets some important criteria for bell-curves: a) a central peak, b) symmetry around the peak, and c) continuously decreasing distribution from the peak in both directions. It is often mistakenly given as an example of a bell-curve, but is really sometimes called a pyramid distribution.

Bell-curves have two points of inflection, located one standard deviation above and below the mean, where the concavity of the curve changes. See below for examples:

d20 has 0 points of inflection because the distribution "line" never curves.

2d10 distribution has one critical point where the slope reverses at the peak, but this is not a point of inflection.

3d6 distribution has two points of inflection and thus is a bell-curve (but it should be noted is FAR from a normal distribution!!!):

 

[DND_Reborn]

@AnotherGuy

I should also mention another concept I REALLY like but we haven't adopted yet when it comes to rolling d20s is this (again, except for Initiative):

You roll 3d20 and take the MIDDLE roll! It has an excellent central cluster for typical results (ORANGE curve). For advantage (GRAY curve), you use the highest of the three dice, and for disadvantage (BLUE curve) you use the lowest. I added the linear d20 (YELLOW dotted line) for reference:

The benefit to this is also the following:

• d20 average is 10.5
• 3d10 take middle average is also 10.5
• 3d10 take highest (advantage) average is 15.4875 (almost 15.5!), which is 5 points above the "normal" take middle result. This works perfectly with things like passive perception, where advantage adds a +5 bonus. Likewise, disadvantage (take lowest) averages 5.5125 (almost 5.5) which is about 5 points lower-as expected.

Now, this REALLY rewards advantage and penalizes disadvantage, which is the only reason we haven't adopted it yet. Someday I probably will because it is just such an elegant system IMO and appeals to the math geek in me so much LOL!

 

[Musing Mage]

View attachment 153601

Your 3d6 chart is looking at me funny...

 

[DND_Reborn]

Your 3d6 chart is looking at me funny...

Whatever you do, DO NOT STARE AT IT! It doesn't like that...

 

[R_J_K75]

• Make Arcane Casters roll to learn spells they want, or they don't get to have them.

Ive thought about doing this, what method do you use?

Make Divine Casters pass a faith test each time they cast lest the spell fail.

Interesting, please explain. Even a cleric, paladin or druid in good standing with their deity need to pass this check?

 

[Musing Mage]

Ive thought about doing this, what method do you use?

The idea is basically a port over from 1st edition - a wizard (and other arcane casters who study magic) must make a check to know. (Where in 1e it's a % based on intellect). For 5e I make the DC 12 + spell level. (Cantrips count as level 0)

They add intellect modifier plus proficiency bonus. If the roll fails, the spell is put on a block list and they can't attempt it again until their proficiency modifier increases. Once they are level 2, they may make their checks for new spells within their field at advantage.

I don't apply this rule to Sorcerers or Warlocks, who may simply select their spells. This becomes a bit of a bonus feature. Wizards have versatility and can potentially learn anything, but it's not guaranteed.

For Faith Rolls, It's a DC 8 plus spell level to cast. This assumes they are already in good faith. Though I came up with an addendum - if a character uses their inspiration for a faith roll and it succeeds, then they keep the inspiration.

These are admittedly experimental, but the purpose of my 5e game is in large part to test out some house rules, and the players knew this coming in.