D&D 5E Things from other games that are unlikely to be put into NEXT that you will port over

[Gundark]

I am really a fan of Fantasycraft (FC). For me this is a Brilliant set of rules that got largely ignored as it's release got drowned out by two other games (4e and Pathfinder). There are some criticisms of the game which are really not fair (rules for the sake of rules which seems to be made mostly by those who have not taken the time to read the game) but really a great game.

Anyhow, there are some mechanics which are really quite brilliant which are most likely not going to find their way into D&D NEXT. I am going to try and take the time to see how well these rules translate over especially now that D&D(N) has adopted some concepts that you see in FC, that combined with the basic core rules that DnDN is purported to have. I have to say that the gearhead in me is wanting to tinker...which is unusual for me.

I really like the upkeep costs for characters and holdings rules from FC, not to mention how items in FC have meaning, even mundane items have use aside from just taking up space on a character sheet. I also love how picking armour and weapons is a meaningful choice (aside from higher damage or AC), definitely something that is going to find it's way into my DnDN games.

How about you, what are planning to port over from other games? Assuming that DnDN doesn't already have it in the main rules.

 

[SteveC]

I agree that FantasyCraft is a very good ruleset, and wish it had gotten more attention.

I'd nominate the Aspects system from FATE, including invoking, compelling and declarations, but I expect it would make a lot of folks' heads explode with how different it is from the standard player/gm dynamics.

 

[DonAdam]

Thinking of adapting the alignment rules from The Secret Fire. Every character has a good, neutral, and evil personality trait and you slide along the scale as one dominates your actions.

 

[bss]

D&D fourth edition.

 

[Grazzt]

Thinking of adapting the alignment rules from The Secret Fire. Every character has a good, neutral, and evil personality trait and you slide along the scale as one dominates your actions.

Always thought it'd be cool to convert alignment to something akin to Traits from Pendragon. (Law/Chaos is one axis; Good/Evil is the other. Each set always totals 20. If Law goes up, Chaos goes down, and you are more lawful than chaotic. Somewhere near the middle means you're neutral.)

 

[Ratskinner]

I agree that FantasyCraft is a very good ruleset, and wish it had gotten more attention.

I'd nominate the Aspects system from FATE, including invoking, compelling and declarations, but I expect it would make a lot of folks' heads explode with how different it is from the standard player/gm dynamics.

I love the idea of Aspects, but from my experiments, they don't mesh well with D&D. Maybe they would for other groups, because the problems seemed to all be mental with my groups. Also, you kinda need to trim back the FATE idea of declarations. That works fine for FATE where whipping up an NPC is a minute task, but DnD is (generally) harder for the DM to react quickly.

 

[Ratskinner]

I nominate Awesome Points from Old School Hack. They encourage cinematic thinking in a low-rule environment, and take the place of XP without being as tedious.

 

[keterys]

That works fine for FATE where whipping up an NPC is a minute task, but DnD is (generally) harder for the DM to react quickly.

Eh, sounds like it just means D&D should include "make an NPC in under a minute" as a requirement.

I'm on board with that.

 

[Thalionalfirin]

Earthdawn's magic item rules.

 

[Khaalis]

I too am a huge Fantasy Craft fan. I would look at porting a lot of systems over including - Reputation, Prizes, Alignment, Vitality/Wounds/Cheating Death, Species Feats, Spellcasting Skill - just to name a few.

 

[Walker N. Waistz]

The Lorefinder book for Pathfinder takes the superior investigation/knowledge system from Gumshow and bolts it on to Pathfinder in a way that I haven't tried yet but looks really exciting. It'd be great to have a D&D game where the adventure doesn't stop because no one makes a Perception roll, and where the PCs are like the heroes of fantasy literature, with a certain amount of knowledge of their world and environment, and not so dependent on sage NPCs.

 

[Walker N. Waistz]

Always thought it'd be cool to convert alignment to something akin to Traits from Pendragon. (Law/Chaos is one axis; Good/Evil is the other. Each set always totals 20. If Law goes up, Chaos goes down, and you are more lawful than chaotic. Somewhere near the middle means you're neutral.)

This OGL product was an attempt to make 3.x alignment a lot more like Pendragon, with alignment ratings. It is another cool system idea I never got to actually try at the gaming table (it came out right before 4E): Fantasy Folio: Allegiances - Big Finger Games | RPGNow.com

 

[marleykat]

If the magic system is vanilla Vancian as usual I will either hack in Arcana Evolved or Fantasy Craft's magic system. I will definitely do Fantasy Craft's divine magic system or die trying.

Also the reputation and upkeep rules are in by hook or crook.

 

[Khaalis]

Oh yeah and most definitely FC's Action Points!

 

[DonAdam]

Always thought it'd be cool to convert alignment to something akin to Traits from Pendragon. (Law/Chaos is one axis; Good/Evil is the other. Each set always totals 20. If Law goes up, Chaos goes down, and you are more lawful than chaotic. Somewhere near the middle means you're neutral.)

It's like that but each character has specific personality traits tied to each of good, evil, neutral, etc.

So you might be generous (good), ambitious (neutral), and vengeful (evil). Each PC has different high points and different temptations.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

I'd nominate the Aspects system from FATE, including invoking, compelling and declarations, but I expect it would make a lot of folks' heads explode with how different it is from the standard player/gm dynamics.

Absolutely! I think just about any RPG would be improved with the inclusion of an Aspect-like system. (Although to keep things simple I would only use character aspects and not worry about scene aspects and temporary aspects.)

I love the idea of Aspects, but from my experiments, they don't mesh well with D&D. Maybe they would for other groups, because the problems seemed to all be mental with my groups.

It's a big shift in how to play the game so it probably is a mental issue. My group had a rocky time of it in our first Dresden Files campaign (which embraces aspects) so I imagine it would be a bigger hurdle in a system that shoehorned the inclusion of aspects.

Also, you kinda need to trim back the FATE idea of declarations. That works fine for FATE where whipping up an NPC is a minute task, but DnD is (generally) harder for the DM to react quickly.

When I played Fate, declarations seemed like pretty simple judgement calls on the part of the GM. Do you have a scenario in mind that would make them more difficult to implement in D&D?

 

[Ratskinner]

It's a big shift in how to play the game so it probably is a mental issue. My group had a rocky time of it in our first Dresden Files campaign (which embraces aspects) so I imagine it would be a bigger hurdle in a system that shoehorned the inclusion of aspects.

It's a really big hurdle. Most of the guys I play with are pretty hard-core old-school. They had a lot of trouble with the concept, both in practice and in just understanding the benefit they could add to the game. A couple of them are really into the D&D racial stereotype stuff, and the idea of flexibility seems too foreign for them to grasp.

When I played Fate, declarations seemed like pretty simple judgement calls on the part of the GM. Do you have a scenario in mind that would make them more difficult to implement in D&D?

The depth of declarations seems to vary a lot between groups and FATE implementations. The Legends of Anglerre examples seemed awfully extreme to implement in D&D. OTOH, I couldn't get my players to pay attention to that aspect of Aspects...so maybe it isn't an issue at all.

I'd certainly like to see Aspects presented as an alternative to alignment.

 

[Blacky the Blackball]

There's a greater than zero chance that at some point I'll try to make it work with the Rolemaster combat tables.

 

[3catcircus]

Twilight:2013's lifepath character generation, basic dice mechanic, and combat system (especially its hit point and damage system).

 

[Mokona]

what are planning to port over from other games?

D20 Wheel of Time spellcasting (aka channeling).