D&D 5E Playing without Subclasses

[Brix]

I want to use 5E to emulate 2E/proto 3E as close as possbile.
Are there any builts for this?
Are there rules to skip the subclasses?
Thank you guys!

 

[ccs]

That'll be pretty hard to accomplish for most classes & virtually impossible for a few.

No, there are no rules for this. Likewise with builds - because you get builds via subclasses/feats/multi-classing.

If you want to play 2e? Then just play 2e. It'll be alot easier than trying to re-invent 5e.....

 

[The Crimson Binome]

That's what the Basic Rules document is meant to support. You still have sub-classes, but instead of choosing them from a list, you just get the most iconic sub-class: every fighter is a champion, every cleric has the life domain, every rogue is a thief, and every wizard is an evoker.

 

[Bacon Bits]

The 5e SRD also presents a single "iconic" version of each class with only one subclass for each class. It does the same for races.

Barbarian - Berserker
Bard - Lore
Cleric - Life
Druid - Land
Fighter - Champion
Monk - Open Hand
Paladin - Devotion
Ranger - Hunter
Rogue - Thief
Sorcerer - Draconic
Warlock - Fiend
Wizard - Evocation

You can't remove subclasses entirely. Certain classes completely fall apart (Ranger, Warlock) and most would lose major mechanics.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Bacon Bits has it right.

5E isn't intended to be played without subclasses, and the amount of each class which is "in" the subclass varies wildly, so removing them outright ruins some classes and is okay for others.

This the correct approach is to "remove" them by merely making it so you have no choice, you just get the default subclass. This is as restrictive as 2E without Kits, and actually more restrictive for Priests/Clerics than 2E was.

 

[NotAYakk]

Most importantly, different classes use their subclasses to different degrees.

Removing a subclass from class X is different from removing it from Y.

Simply using a fixed subclass will get you most of what you want.

 

[DND_Reborn]

I want to use 5E to emulate 2E/proto 3E as close as possbile.
Are there any builts for this?
Are there rules to skip the subclasses?
Thank you guys!

Yes, you can remove them but either have to use default subclasses to fill in the gaps as @Bacon Bits suggests or homebrew your own. Here is a first draft I wrote months ago to accomplish just this.

Now, this IS a draft and some features are OP, lol, but maybe you can use it as a starting point?

Good luck!

EDIT: Sorry I had to zip it, for whatever reason they won't let you attach a word doc file. (Lame... )

 

[aco175]

I would even think of getting rid of some of the classes that do not work. Maybe you only need 7 classes like another thread was talking about, or you want magic to work a certain way. I recall 2e having limits that caused kits to come out and was a bit of a precursor before 3e.

Like what others said about just taking the basic type of each class and making the champion fighter, just the fighter class. Do away with feats as well since they can affect large-scale things with certain feats. I would even get away with ASIs and have weaker overall PCs. Not sure if you would need to compensate with the monsters, but the characters should be able to compete.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

would even get away with ASIs and have weaker overall PCs. Not sure if you would need to compensate with the monsters, but the characters should be able to compete.

Getting rid of ASIs will have progressively more impact as levels go up, as the scaling of monster stats, saving throws, skill values and so on expects PC main stats to steadily increase and likely hit 20 by 12 or so. Skill DCs likewise reflect this. It will obviously have no impact at 1-3 but at 8+ I think it will be noticeable. Monsters will save more often than expected, get hit less and for less, hit light and medium armour wearers (and especially Monks and Barbarians) more and while each change is small, they will necessarily add up to making PCs significantly weaker. Especially with all the stat mod number of uses per day abilities, which will top out at 3 instead of 5 (unless rolled stats). On the upside it will mess with most classes equally!

It's definitely viable but you'll definitely need to use less challenging monsters at higher levels.

 

[Salthorae]

It's definitely viable but you'll definitely need to use less challenging monsters at higher levels.

Agreed. ASI's are pretty integral to 5e encounter design, though not 100%. Just makes things more challenging when you hit 10% less often and deal 10% less damage, etc.