Obscure elements of D&D you would love to rescue

[Jon_Dahl]

Bring back para-elemental and quasi-elemental planes.

I want to see an official 5e adventure set in the quasi-plane of ooze, then I will be happy. The four elements just aren't enough.

There are never enough planes.

 

[fuindordm]

Anti-magical dwarves, with massive bonuses to save vs magic and a chance of magic item malfunction.

Maybe not for all PCs, but it would be a fun option.

 

[MortalPlague]

These have already been mentioned, but I'll add my voice to the chorus.

Keep the forced movement from 4E's combat. Having combatants flung around the battlefield made for some of the most interesting combats, I'd love to see that stick around.

The disease track from 4E was a great mechanic. I'd love to see that stick around.

And of course, wandering prostitute tables.

 

[Steely_Dan]

Effects of alcohol and insanity.

 

[Zaukrie]

Wild mages for sure
Potion mixing
2e factions of the outer planes

 

[TerraDave]

*henchmen/retainers/cohorts
*grenade-like weapons
*several "named" demons and devils in the first few books
*"real world" weapon properties (trip with a pole-arm, not a spiked chain)
*ships, castles, and siege weapons with more then a line of description each but still in the first few books
*risky scroll use
*rules for MASS combat (maybe not in the first few books)
*Castle Amber

 

[Baron Von Mandrick]

I'd like to see the level titles come back like the ones mentioned here.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/genera...2-help-me-compile-class-race-level-names.html

 

[Walker N. Waistz]

The entirety of GAZ3: The Principalities of Glantri for basic D&D, including:
- Schools of magic as actual schools/secret societies, with initiations and ranks
- Rival noble houses of magic-users, secretly infiltrated by families of werewolves, vampires, traitorous elves, and at least one radioactive lich(!)
- Settings built to generate crazy numbers of adventures, like a school of magic filled with intrigue and peril (detailed when JK Rowling was still a starving college student) or a capital city built over the power-source of an ancient craft, which has become a path to godhood for wizards powerful enough to master it
- Crazy magic items like a tiny alchemical laboratory in a battle, from which you remove your homunculous with a pair of tweezers to enlarge the magic potions he's made for you
- Princedoms of magic-user supremacists who kill clerics on sight - one of which is ruled by magical colonists from Clark Ashton Smith's Averoigne setting (aka the medieval French wizard family from the classic module Castle Amber)
- Glorious Stephen Fabian artwork - it is crazy to me that the guy who created the look of Ravenloft no longer draws for D&D

None of that is system stuff, but it is all part of a design philosophy where anything was possible and nothing was too outlandish to fit within the rules.

Thread necromancy to note that this product I was raving about is now FINALLY available as a PDF: http://www.dndclassics.com/product/16975/GAZ3-The-Principalities-of-Glantri-(Basic)?it=1

 

[Dwimmerlied]

I haven't read past the first post (yet), but I love the little things like the fact that two abjurations in close proximity to one another give of slight shimmers of arcane energy that can be detected by exceptionally perceptive characters. I'm not sure from which edition this originated, or if it found it's way into 4th, but it was in 3rd edition, at least, and the not-knowing, for me, simply added to the mystery and flavour of D&D.

But mystery is over-rated, so if anyone knows from where this stems, please share!

Edit: I'd love to see more of this kind of thing returned/pioneered, but I guess it kind of needs to happen organically. Often new things of this stuff looks forced (and I'm NOT a grognard!)

 

[Dwimmerlied]

The weird, crazy and absurd in the game acknowledged and encouraged by the designers and not swept under the rug. I'm talking flumph, flail snail, sheep in wolfs clothing, wild surge, wizards with names like Bargle and Bigby and so much other stuff like that.

Yes, it's silly. It's also a nice breather break from grim and dramatic gameplay stretches, reminds Players, GMs and Designers not to take everything super serious and makes the gameworld feel more magical to me.

Years I read on the wotc site that they don't think humor belongs in the gamebooks, which to me is a very sad statement.

I guess I maybe take it all too seriously, but the silly names and such really kind of hampered my suspension of disbelief. I actually loved parts of Greyhawk, but I had to put it away because I couldn't get past the silly names. And the thing is, I think that because so many people were passionate about the setting, new concepts and history was always being added, but I get the feeling all the contributors after EGG kid of felt the same as I do, and sort of worked around or ignored the goofy stuff, and that's obvious to me reading many years later, and not really knowing it's dev history.

But I guess Mr Gygax pretty much felt the same way as you do.

On the other hand, of course there should be room for funniness in the rulebooks!


And to add to what I would absolutely love to see returned;

Beguilers! Possibly my favourite class ever. They filled an interesting niche but, IMO were still broad enough to tailor some. Their absence in PF was the primary reason I held out on touching that game for a very long time.

Fochlucan Lyrist!; (or the first edition bard it rode in on!). Very versatile, very fun!

I also strongly agree with the suggestions to return morale.