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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 5034874" data-attributes="member: 4937">I believe 1e is still a system worth playing today.  There are still things it does better than modern systems.  But, I did get frustrated with it back in the day.While some changes would be unique to neo-first edition, many of my changes would hybridize 3e with later editions.  Some of these I'd already done back in the day in my efforts to try to fix 1e.Flip AC around, as per 3e.Critical hits, as per 3e, replacing the more swingy critical hit table generally used in 1e.New fumble system hybridized with 3e.  Drop most of Unearthed Arcana with its strictly superior martial classes, broken spells, no brainer weapon specialization, and so forth.  In retrospect, most of UA is badly thought out.  A revised UA is possible to retain the flavor of classes like the Cavelier and Barbarian.Use NWP as expanded in 2e.  Increase access to NWP, and greatly increase it for theives.  Generally was doing in this 1e already.Grant Humans some small bonus as 3e did (extra proficiencies perhaps, maybe 5% bonus to earned XP).  Greatly open up level caps on demihumans (in many cases doubling them).Drop the assassin class.Unified initiative system as 3e.  Was about half-way here in late 1e anyway.Remove exceptional strength table and normalize strength in a more unified approach.  Fighters (and only fighters) now gain bonus strength as a function of level.  Thieves now gain bonus dexterity as a function of level.  (Multiclassed fighters or theives gain either half as fast.)All classes gain multiple attacks per round at higher levels, corresponding to the point where there THAC0 reached that of a corresponding fighter.Thieves now use same attack progression tables as clerics.  Wizards now use same attack progression as theives.  This is actually 3e in disguise.Clerics can spontaneously cast cure spells as 3e.  Clerical orisons become standard in a manner similar to 3e.Monsters gain explicit attributes as 3e.  Many monsters already have implicit attributes (range of intelligence scores, bonuses to hit and damage, etc.) this would just make it implicit.  I was beginning to do this in late 1e anyway.Bonus spells/level for M-Us as 3e.  Increased access to spells at low levels as 3e.  3e cantrips and system replace 1e cantrips system.Max hitpoints at 1st level as per 3e.  I knew some DMs doing this already back in the day.Drop illusionists as a subclass, and use specialist M-Us like 2e.Hybridize 3e domain powers with 2e speciality clerics to create a unified system appropriate for 1e.Replace Bard with the 2e Bard.  Commonly done after 2e was introduced.Replace Dragons with 2e Dragons.  Commonly done after 2e was introduced.And the Scent subsystem from 3e, replacing the awkward or missing subsystems from 1e.Replace 'backstab' with system similar to 'sneak attack'.Balance the XP earned system to better reflect challenge.  Balance the XP required to level to better reflect actual power of class.  Several Dragon magazine articles provide a very good start to this.Create unified base 'Perception' and 'Alertness' subsystems to replace the myriad of subsystems for finding secret doors and determining surpise.  This could be as simple as turning them in to percentage scores and turning all modifiers into percentages (similar to 'bend bars' checks.).   Modifiers to find secret doors or avoiding/achieving suprise become bonuses/penalities to this subsystem.  Wisdom and dexterity provide/modifiy base success chances.Drop multiple missile attacks per segment on suprise.Drop attacks = level if HD less than 1.Drop weapon speed factors.  Explicitly define the difference between armor class and a bonus to armor class so as to clarify how the weapon vs. AC modifiers work.Add lines for claw, talon, bite, fang/tusk/horn to weapon vs. AC modifiers.  Needed 'to hit' vs. AC 0-10 (remember, we reversed) becomes standard line in monster entires along side attribute scores.  This slightly increases size of entries (from 2 lines to 4) but speeds play.Poison/diseave damage generally as per 3e, except as per 'venom' type systems where damage reoccures until saves are made.Use simplified version of 3e combat manuever system.  Fighters can trade WP's or perhaps simply just get simplified combat manuevers, similar to feats.Fix swords of sharpness/vorpal swords so that they merely make it more likely to have critical hits.  Was already doing this in my 1e games.Use a version of the 3e coup de grace mechanic.  This is just a slightly fair version of 'no save, your dead' used in 1e.Port in most of the AoO from 3e (with the exception of most movment based AoO).  I actually had got most of way here by late 1e.Port in a variation on the size class system from 3e, explicitly having sizes classes larger than large.  Rather than modifying AC/to hit etc., grant bonus hitpoints and DR/- to larger creatures.   I was doing this in late 1e anyway.Use the DR/regeneration/fast healing system from 3.0 to replace 1e's absolute immunities.Make psionic combat slower (same speed as normal combat) and somewhat more random (so that its not so predictable of a win for the side with the most points) and tied more explicitly to level/HD.  Also, make it have a more 'rock/paper/scissors' aspect so that certain defenses successfully counter certain attacks but are vulnerable to others.</blockquote>

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