D&D 5E Question for this community about blending OSR, modern fantasy RPG's (5e)

[Yaarel]

An example of this would be that there are now only 4 classes in my game, with a total of 10 subclasses within those classes. Ranger and Paladin go back to being subclasses of Fighter, Druids are back to a subclass of Cleric, Bard is now a subclass of Rogue. Each magic using subclass is pared way back in magical abilities. As for races/species/whatever you want to call them, there are maybe 6, and are a subset of what is found in AD&D. I want to play/run a game where PC's can and will die, if the players do dumb things, or even if the dice gods frown on them enough. Things like "Oh, you were bit by a Giant Spider, and failed the save vs Poison. You have 1-4 rounds to find a way to neutralize the poison or your PC is "dead dead". Or scrapping the skill experience improvement mechanic in 5e for something much closer to the one used in Call of Cthulhu.

This seems more like a setting preference than a game engine preference. Possibly continue 5e 2024 and focus on what you want your setting to look like. Ban whichever species and classes dont suit the theme of the setting.

The setting only has four classes:
• Wizard
• Cleric
• Rogue
• Fighter

The Fighter has an Eldritch Knight caster subclass.
• Eldritch Knight + Wizard spell list = Eldritch Knight
• Eldritch Knight + Cleric spell list = "Paladin"
• Eldritch Knight + Druid spell list = "Ranger"

The Rogue has an Arcane Trickster class.
• Arcane Trickster + Wizard spell list = Arcane Trickster
• Arcane Trickster + Enchantment, Illusion, Abjuration, Conjuration from any spell list = "Bard"

Cleric with Nature Domain plus Wild Shape channel divinity = "Druid"



But I recommend, your setting only has two classes, Fighter and Rogue.

If your goal is pare back casters, then ban all full casters. Let the Fighter and Rogue subclasses be the only casters in the game.

The setting only has Fighters and Rogues. The Trickster Rogue is the "Wizard" of the setting. The choice of subclass matters.



Species that inhabit the setting are something like:
• Human
• Elf
• Dwarf
And maybe:
• Orc
• Gnome
• Halfling



And the game rules are more lethal.
• Banning full casters will reduce access to healing magic.
• Personally, I only allow two long rests PER LEVEL. Everything else is short rest. You can make it ONCE per level, for more lethality.



Make sure your players are happy. At the same time, I see no problem with a setting like this. Have everyone understand what you have in mind during Session Zero.

 

[Distracted DM]

Do you have a reason for shutting down tieflings (or any other arbitrary choice) or is this based purely on personal preference? because if the latter, you can expect to have people look at your game and say, "Naw."

It's pretty common for settings to only have the ancestries and classes etc. appropriate to said setting; not everything has to be a kitchen sink. But yes, you're definitely going to be turning off players that only want to play a certain thing that you're not including.

I don't think it's a widespread turnoff though?

 

[Reynard]

It's pretty common for settings to only have the ancestries and classes etc. appropriate to said setting; not everything has to be a kitchen sink. But yes, you're definitely going to be turning off players that only want to play a certain thing that you're not including.

I don't think it's a widespread turnoff though?

I think that is less common these days than previously. And honestly if we think about different TSR era settings, most of them did not hard limit available options (really only Dragonlance) but did change the core book options to some degree (DarkSun being the most obvious example). In general, most D&D settings have allowed and embraced the core book available races and then some.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yes! I very much want to play such a game. I like Fifth Edition a lot, but I don't like the direction it has gone. I want a game with modern advancements and old school sensibilities. Or, better yet, I want a game that is modular and can be modified to each tables' tastes. If you like lots of rules add lots of modules. If you want high fantasy, there's a module for that; low magic, there's a module; tieflings, module.

Agreed. Sounds like a fun game to me.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I think that is less common these days than previously. And honestly if we think about different TSR era settings, most of them did not hard limit available options (really only Dragonlance) but did change the core book options to some degree (DarkSun being the most obvious example). In general, most D&D settings have allowed and embraced the core book available races and then some.

Most have allowed it, but several settings have added cultural limitations that don't exist in the core, resulting in a kind of "soft limit". Ravenloft, with its heavy human emphasis, is a good example. And settings that predate the introduction or popularity of a more modern race may not have a place for such, and adding them in can seem forced and artificial (4e's Realms comes to mind).

 

[mamba]

If your goal is pare back casters, then ban all full casters. Let the Fighter and Rogue subclasses be the only casters in the game.

I’d go a different direction, no fighter or rogue casts anything (nor does a ranger or barbarian, but those got rolled into fighter and rogue).

Wizard and Cleric survive as half-casters (Warlock-like and Paladin-like respectively)

 

[mamba]

So, to my question that I originally referenced. Is there a percentage of the RPG community, and more specifically within the D&D community, that WANT to play such a game?

I’d much prefer that over 5e. I am kinda looking for the halfway point between Shadowdark and 5e, but 5e compatible

 

[Minigiant]

So, to my question that I originally referenced. Is there a percentage of the RPG community, and more specifically within the D&D community, that WANT to play such a game? How big a percentage?

RPG community, yes. Good percentage
D&D community, eh. Meh percentage
5e community, noooooo. Low percentage.

 

[Distracted DM]

I’d much prefer that over 5e. I am kinda looking for the halfway point between Shadowdark and 5e, but 5e compatible

Unfortunately I imagine that anything that's 5e compatible won't fit the bill... well, it depends on HOW compatible. The only thing that I could think of is something "5e compatible" like Nimble v1, which I only recently heard of- it changes a lot of things to try speed up combat and make it more tactically interesting. Ditches to-hit, changes some weapon damage dice, adds some more action options, switches to 3 action points per round, etc.

What about Five Torches Deep? I don't know how 5e compatible it is but .. maybe?

I considered some kind of OSR 5e homebrew to reduce the effects of stats- remove stats to HP and damage, or something ... but I didn't get too far into that.

I'd love to just switch my tables over to DCC, that seems to be the sweet spot for me, but 5e's pull is too strong for most.

 

[Distracted DM]

I think Into the Borderland by O5R games is moslty what you're looking for: 5e mechanics, procedural dungeon crawl system, only 4 classes with the other classes being subclasses. I cant remember if they use race-as-class though...

Anyways, its a best seller on Drivethru so yes, I think there is a major interest for OSRish 5e games.

I myself play using mostly the basic rules of 5e with 4 classes, no feats, no ASI. All the fancy feature found in the other archetypes? I still use them as magic items/reward/boon etc. So you cant be a Barbarian, but a Berserking Weapon +1 can give you the Rage feature 2 times a day.
Working for a fiend might give you one feature from the Fiend-lock. Metamagic Tomes can be found by Wizards, etc.

So I assume you meant Into the Unknown, which I didn't recall hearing of so I looked it up ... apparently I have a lot of it on DTRPG already but with all the random bundles etc I pick up it shouldn't surprise me.

Do you have experience with Into the Unknown? I'm gonna crack open the PDFs and check it out now.