D&D 5E What mechanic/feature/etc. would you like to see more utilized in 5E?

[Charlaquin]

You can replace one attack with a cantrip (the Bladesinger ability). Only one official subclass has that ability, it should be a staple of gish-type subclasses.

Sneak attack type abilities, or at least classes getting one attack with a bonus damage rider, instead of Extra Attack.

Speaking of sneak attack, I’d love to see rider effects you can apply in place of some number of sneak attack damage dice.

 

[jmartkdr2]

I think you could do a ton with an expanded superiority dice system - but not without re-writing many (all, really) classes.

 

[Charlaquin]

I'm going to second classic Vancian style casting. The return of body slots would be nice too

I wouldn’t want every caster to work that way. But it would be nice to have a class or a few classes that did.

 

[Charlaquin]

I think you could do a ton with an expanded superiority dice system - but not without re-writing many (all, really) classes.

In one of the playtest packets, superiority dice were a universal martial mechanic. Personally, I found it kinda boring to be honest. It’s a good mechanic, but it doesn’t need to be every martial class’s whole deal.

 

[Yaarel]

I want to see more use of:

Bloodied. Like save-or-suck effects only apply if bloodied. Thus nonlethal fights are more normal.

Combining exhaustion with lingering injuries if downing at zero hit points from lethal damage.

Rituals. Much of folklore magic is some kind of ritual, with strange prereqs and surprising outcomes. What used to be vancian can in 5e be rituals.

A knightly mage class that is strictly spells that have melee range. Their armor and sword or wrestling are spells. It is a full caster eventually gaining slot 9 spells.

The "psionic" tag that qualifies and characterizes a specific kind of innate spell casting.

Also, using "primal", as well as "arcane" and "divine", as tags. Each denotes a certain kind of benefit.

 

[DND_Reborn]

I like the idea of a Rogue-type class which uses "sneak attack" dice for other purposes, like boosts to ability checks, extra healing for allies, etc.

 

[tetrasodium]

Do you mean for equipment/encumbrance???

Yes equipment & containers. Attunement slots are nice in theory but much too limited & their application in 5e's magic items is kind of random. Body slots allowed for restrictions that attunement alone does not & the biggest hurdle to adding them into 5e games IME is getting players to accept rules copied in from old editions.

I wouldn’t want every caster to work that way. But it would be nice to have a class or a few classes that did.

I'm torn on if I'd want some classes or a straight alternate like the dfmg spellpoints dropin. Spells themselves are largely toned down in ways that make a subsystem swap that doesn't also do things with the resulting spells kind of questionable.

 

[Minigiant]

Hunter's Prey & Hunter's Defence

 

[TwoSix]

In one of the playtest packets, superiority dice were a universal martial mechanic. Personally, I found it kinda boring to be honest. It’s a good mechanic, but it doesn’t need to be every martial class’s whole deal.

I'm OK with it as long as it isn't carrying all the weight of the unique mechanics of the class. One of my favorite homebrewers is rewriting fighter, barbarian, and rogue to all use maneuvers and dice, and I think it works pretty well.

 

[CreamCloud0]

Weapon and armour properties tags and effects, I feel like there’s alot of potential to be found with them, more than what’s currently done with them.

Also more practical applications for tools.