What game mechanics do you like?

[Bagpuss]

I really like the Psionics rules from Conspiracy X.... erm oh sorry were talking about 3E.

In that case....

Sneak Attacks.
Cleric swapping out healing spells.
Streamlined Saving Throws.
Rolling high is always good.

I really miss

Specialist Clerics, ie: not all priest having to be warrior priests.

Still Conspiracy X's Psionics rules are the best game mechanic I've seen.

 

[RangerWickett]

Yay! I know at least mmadsen will like my Christmas gift I intend to write. And if you want to see Hero-like powers in D20, you can just grab a copy of Four-Color to Fantasy at www.rpgnow.com for only $7.

 

[Piratecat]

What game mechanics do you just love?

Cletus. Sure, he might not be the brightest bulb in the box, but he gets my game running smoother than a truck bed of pig juice. He knows how to scrounge parts, do repairs on the fly, and get me great gas mileage on my dice.

No sirree. Can't go wrong with a good game mechanic.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

The sacred cows. The archetypes.

You know:

Classes
Races
AC
HP
Vancian magic


Skills, feats, and Attack of Opportunity make for some fun 3E flavor, but the items above are what make D&D great.

 

[Jondor_Battlehammer]

Most of the above, but especially Spycraft's 1/2 round actions. It's so much simpler than #E and does essentially the same thing. It would be nice to see a conversion for 3E, but that would be an undertaking.

 

[pogre]

What game mechanics do you just love?

I like how initiative works. Nice, simple, and straight forward - the way the rest of the rules should be!

I'm thinking about adding the CoC critical hit damage rule into my 3E game. I miss being able to potentially kill PCs with every encounter. I also am contemplating how to add insanity into my game, I may use CoC in some way or just tack the WFRP rules on.

 

[bloodymage]

I like the skill system, though I think it should use %iles. I know, then it wouldn't be d20.

Hate feats. I think they should have just expanded the skills list. This is supposed to be likes, though. OK.

I like the save system, but don't like DCs. Give me a table.

I like positive AC numbers, though it's not an important issue for me.

I like the ability bonuses.

I like the idea of humanoid (only) classes, but hate exotic PC races and PrCs.

I miss surprise rolls.

I miss detailed multiclass restrictions.

I miss the "lack" of rules for magic item creation.

I miss the the xp and level progressions.

I miss the charts and tables.

I miss the old race descriptions.

I miss the modularity. Look at the title under my name. It's harder to do in 3e.

I miss %iles as the "DM's friend."

I miss the more powerful spell descriptionsI miss the.

I miss the old pantheons.

I miss the OAD&D DMG.

I miss the "mystery" as a player.

I miss the backstab.

I miss the d10 every round initiative I'm used to playing.

I miss the simplicity (as in not a lot of factors to consider) of combat.

I miss the more intuitive division of segments, rounds and turns. Much easier to wrap my mind around six seconds than "full-round action."

I'll be porting some 3e stuff to my 1e game, but I'll stick with OAD&D, thank you.

 

[Zaruthustran]

What game mechanics do you just love?

The core class + race system.
Levels.
Feats. Both the mechanic of how they work, and the freedom of how they are chosen.
Prestige classes.
High value = good.
AC = DC for Attack roll.
No class/race restirctions (can have Dwarf Wizards, etc.)
Three basic saving throws.
5' step, Reach, Disarm, Trip, and Sunder--makes the game more tactical, combat more interesting.

Are there any mechanics from earlier editions that you miss?

I like the simplicity of Basic D&D's three alignments: Lawful, Neutral, Chaotic. But I'd rename it Good, Neutral, and Evil. I'd wipe out the game effects of the law/chaos axis. But I'd keep the distinction as an optional roleplaying aid.

I also like 2nd Ed's "Background" table. Characters shouldn't have to spend their precious CLASS-GIVEN skill points on Profession: Farmer. They should just be given a set amount of skill points, and allowed to pick a couple Crafts or Professions to reflect the skills they picked up before becoming a Fighter, Wizard, or whatever.

What mechanics from other games do you really like?
Damage reduction for armor.
HP regeneration. Either through a wound/vitality system, or by keeping just plain HP but everyone heals (level+Con bonus)HP/hour.

Can you retrofit them into D&D?
Sure.

What would I most like to change?
Make Paladin, Ranger, Monk, Druid, Bard, and Wizard Prestige classes. Keep Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, and Sorceror as core classes.

-z

 

[Broken Fang]

Likes:

1. Skills and Feats (ala GURPS)
2. Sneak Attacks (though I don't like the ability to get your full range of attacks as sneak attacks)
3. Cleric spontanious casting
4. Cleric Domains (nice system to make the gods different)
5. Ease of multi-classing


Dislikes:

1. Prefer to have some skills learnable by all (w/o having to pay twice the points...why can't Fighters learn to Spot?)
2. Bow and Arrow both add bonus to hit in combat (the doubling up effect)
3. Magic system...would prefer more variety (ala RuneQuest Sorcery)

 

[rounser]

In fact, I wish all the classes used Bonus Feats rather than set lists of Special Abilities. (There's no reason Bonus Feats have to be combat Feats, after all.)

While attractive in theory, each special ability that turns into a feat makes NPC statting more and more of a nightmare. What gets summed up in the words "9th level Monk" gets less and less the more you turn pre-chosen special abilities into feat selections. Likewise, "9th level monk" acts as a sort of code for players to summarise very quickly what a character is capable of. More question marks appear the more you go down the "less pre-chosen special abilities, more chosen feats" road. (This is a subtle feature of D&D that shouldn't be underrated, IMO.)

Of course, there's probably ways to get around this problem....such as having a default array of selections for NPCs, and let PCs choose from the smorgasbord. If the default NPC stats material in the DMG were expanded significantly, and perhaps presented as templates, your suggestion would become a lot more viable, IMO.

Prefer to have some skills learnable by all....why can't Fighters learn to Spot?

Open up the skill system completely, and the class archetypes (which are a feature, not a bug) would become weaker. They've already been weakened somewhat by taking off a lot of the more strict clamps - not sure if going too much further is worth the payoff, though.