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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 9524203" data-attributes="member: 1210">I'm sure many of us have spent time working on our own perfect version of D&D- perfect, in this case, being perfect for the person doing the thinking. I know that I have done so for, well, decades now, with my design evolving alongside the published versions of the game and my own sensibilities. So this thread is for me to post about MY perfect D&D. I've long called this "D&D Jazz", since, like jazz, it synthesizes a bunch of existing styles and elements while riffing on them and exploring a lot of things that aren't necessarily from any specific version. Anyhow, let me start with this disclaimer: D&D Jazz discards many of modern D&D's innovations, and does away with many traditional elements of the game. To give a couple of examples- there are no bonuses derived from your ability scores, per se. Your Strength of 18 doesn't give you a +4 bonus- it doesn't give you any bonus at all, except in bespoke cases.Also, there is no unified "Roll 1d20, higher is better" mechanic.There are also things that modern D&D handwaves that D&D Jazz emphasizes- for instance:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Cantrip Use. Cantrips are limited; you need to expend a cantrip slot to use one. Most cantrips don't heal or deal damage, and those that do heal or deal only a minor amount. Spellcasters can run out of magic fairly easily.     </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Food and Drink. There is no easy way to bypass the need for food and drink. The cost for magically creating food and drink is high; the third level cleric spell Create Food and Water will feed two creatures for one day.         </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Light. Very few pcs can see in the dark, and creating magical light requires using a spell slot.     </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Recovering Hit Points. Your hit points don't bottom out at 0, and recovering them through rest can take significant time.</li> </ul></blockquote>

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