Dire Bare
Legend
This is brilliant! Obviously ideas that need workshopping . . . . but as a way to change the way D&D plays for a campaign, and/or for world-building . . . I love this idea!Like Marvel's WHAT IF comics of old, I sometimes enjoy coming up with a crazy change to the structure of D&D and then thinking through the implications.
So here's one:
There are innumerable threads about martials vs spellcasters. I was thinking about the roles of each in combat, and I came up with a crazy idea.
What if spells didn't do direct damage? What if the only way to actually damage an enemy was to hit it with a weapon (or push it down a staircase, or set it on fire, etc).
I could see a few ways of adapting the 5e Spells to all be non-damaging...
One way would be through conditions. What if spells that deal damage instead created Conditions?
For example, you could have an On Fire Condition.
On Fire: Whenever a creature with the On Fire Condition takes damage, it also takes 1d6 fire damage per level of spell cast upon it. The creature casts bright light in a 15-foot radius, and flammable objects touching the creature catch fire.
So any spell that deals fire damage would instead, on a successful Spell Attack or failed Saving Throw, create the On Fire Condition. Maybe the condition would last for the Duration of the spell?
For cold spells, it could be something like...
Frozen: Whenever a creature with the Frozen Condition takes damage, it also takes 1d4 cold damage per level of spell cast upon it. The creature's speed is reduced to 5 feet.
Or you could even do a "pick your own condition" system. Like for an Acid Spell, you could do:
Corroded: When you cast a spell that successfully deals Acid Damage, choose instead one of the following effects, which lasts as long as the spell duration:
- Corroded Armor: The target's Armor Class is reduced by a number equal to your Proficiency Bonus.
- Blinding Acid: The target suffers disadvantage on Perception Checks, Investigation Checks, and Ranged Attacks.
- Slippery Acid: The target falls prone, and suffers disadvantage on Athletics and Acrobatics checks.
Anyways, those are just some wild ideas. What else could we do if we took the premise spells don't deal direct damage and applied it to 5e D&D?
I'm watching "The Wheel of Time" on Amazon right now and the magic-user types, the Aes Sedai, have magical rules they must follow including not using their power to harm others . . . . except under certain circumstances. However, the Aes Sedai are experts of following the letter of the law rather than the spirit . . . .