D&D 5E What previous edition books would you like to see re-done?

[DammitVictor]

Also... while I'm glad that WotC seems to have outgrown the whole Asian exoticism thing with Oriental Adventures-- a samurai is finally just a Noble Fighter and a Ninja finally just an Assassin Rogue-- I do wish we'd get a book with a nice, robust mystical martial arts system for Monks and non-Monks alike. Preferably not feat-based, but rather a whole new subsystem with Monks getting the most of it, Fighters next, then the other martials, then everyone else.

 

[Stormonu]

I'd love to see most of the old campaign setting brought back: Birthright, Ravenloft, Karu-Tur, Council of Wyrms (redone to actually be playable), Jakandor, Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Mystara, Red Steel/Savage Baronies, Mahasarpa, Dark Sun, Al Qadim (divested of Forgotten Realms), Eberron, Nerath, Dragonlance, Spelljammer, and Planescape. I'd like to see a Maztica-like world redone with more supernatural elements and a Dark Continent (Africa) psuedo-realm with strong supernatural and less real-world ties. I think it would also be interesting to see some new worlds - maybe a swashbuckling, island-hopping pirate world with firearms and a heavy mythological Roman/Greece-Egypt-Persian-Germanic Bronze Age world would be interesting to see.

Beyond campaign worlds, delving back into things like the Stronghold Builder guide, Wilderness/Dungeon Survival guide and other "worldbuilding" books I think would be nice - get away a bit from the player tools and give us DM some books to flesh out or help us brainstorm adventures.

 

[Ahrimon]

Spelljammer without the whole air bubble thing, just air everywhere (treasure planet)
Ebberon
Aroura's Whole Realms Catalougue I love that book and still have an original copy.
Psionics with a decent soulblade. Paizo did a good job on that one.

 

[kenmarable]

Planescape and Eberron are at the top off my list for settings. Also Al Qadim would be great, and along those lines a Kara Tur full on setting would be better than an Oriental Adventues. Go ahead and make it "Kara Tur: Oriental Adventures" if they wants to maintain the link to previous editions, but it really needs to be some sort off full setting (even if it isn't Kara Tur).

Also, I think it would be best if most settings were licensed out to 3PP. A lot of settings are probably too small to support long product lines for WotC so we would either get a setting book and maybe adventure and that's it, or get nothing at all. Whereas a 3PP would thrive on a licensed WotC setting of years with a nice robust product line.

Savage Species and the 3.5 Tome of Magic are personal favorites of mine. ToM doesn't necessarily need those magic systems, but a variety of variant magic systems both mechanically and especially thematically.

However, what I would really like to see is a low price 5e Hero Builder's Guidebook. Something that is advice based, maybe throw in more backgrounds, also as cheesy at can be for us veterans, I remember the alignment quiz as being popular among people still learning the system and wrapping their minds around alignment. Similar thing for classes would be cool for people new to gaming as well to figure out what class might be a good fit for them.

 

[Warunsun]

I think it is important that Psionics get their own flavor but it is also very important that it is balanced versus the other arcane casters and it fits in with the feel and workflow of Fifth Edition. That is why I think it is one of the most important supplementary books to be put out by Wizards of the Coast. While we wait for it anyone that wants to use it has to tinker up home brew stuff or attempt past edition conversions. Another less desirable scenario is that several third party companies put out several disparate versions of the Psionics rules and each player has to adjust from group to group.

I like the idea of Psionics, but in the last few editions it was either just "Spellcasting that can avoid anti-magic fields" or else it was super-powerful without any real trade off.

D&D Fourth Edition Psionics had their own feel and were balanced just fine versus the other classes. Revised Third Edition Psionics also had a different flavor and were balanced versus the arcane casters much better than in First or Second Edition AD&D. And generally, Psionics were suppressed by anti-magic fields and the like since Version 3.0.

As a player I am not too interesting in running a Psion character at this time but as a Dungeon Master I want these rules quantified officially so that any of my interested players will know how they work. Psionics has been part of D&D since the Original Edition and it never goes away. In my opinion it would have been nicer if they put the Psion class in the Player's Handbook from the start. Hopefully we will see something for it in 2015.

 

[DammitVictor]

Thinking about running a Mystara/Spelljammer game, and suddenly it hits me: a combination between 3.0's Epic Level Handbook and the Wrath of the Immortals boxed set.

 

[Joe Liker]

I'm not in any hurry to see more rehashes of campaign settings. There are enough versions of all of them already, and it's not at all difficult to adapt any of the minor crunch they contain to a 5e game.

Similarly, any of the books of treasure and spells are easy enough to adapt to 5e. I can just look at the old books for ideas and then create 5e versions as needed.

Psionics is the one thing that really requires a new sourcebook. The 4e system (apart from being a huge personal disappointment to me) is obviously not suitable for any kind of direct adaptation. The 2e and (especially) 3e systems are a little too close to magic for my taste. And, of course, 1e was kind of a crazy mess, so it will require a lot of refinement and retooling if that's the direction they go.

So while I'm a little worried that they won't get the flavor right or make psionics unique enough, this is still the book I am most eager to see in 5e.

 

[Kristivas]

I'm not in any hurry to see more rehashes of campaign settings. There are enough versions of all of them already, and it's not at all difficult to adapt any of the minor crunch they contain to a 5e game.

I have to disagree here. Some of us aren't particularly good at conversions. Many home conversions/home brew rules that I've seen from people are either ridiculously overpowered or lackluster, at best. I'd rather the version I'm playing have updated materials.

 

[thalmin]

Something that is a rehash for some of us is brand new to many players that might be 10-20-30-40 years younger than us (OMG! 55 years younger. ) Also, instead of a rehash, it might be done differently or even (gasp!) better than before. In any case, even a reprint can make something available again.

That said, I would prefer world settings not requiring total apacalyptic rebuilds.

Also, I am not in favor of endless splat books. If they come out with a "Complete Fighter" book, I hope it is COMPLETE and isn't followed the next year with "Complete Fighter II" and then "The More Complete Fighter" and "The Ultimate Really We Mean It This Time Complete Fighter."

 

[Lancelot]

Module B4 - The Lost City, revisited and revised for 5e. One of the best of the early Basic/Expert modules. It was revisited in part during the latter days of 3.5e, but I'd love to see a really extensive treatment (all levels of the pyramid, the underground realm, and the catacombs beyond).

Also, for nostalgia's sake, one of the classic old AD&D series. The Giants-Drow-Queen series has been re-done multiple times, as have Ravenloft, Slavers, Temple of Elemental Evil, etc. So, let's go for either U1-3 (Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, etc), or I3-5 (Desert of Desolation series). Either of those 3-module series could do with a serious 5e revamp. They're also two of the "classic" module series which have some fundamental flaws in the original 1e version, so it's not so easy to just convert them yourself. U2 has some structural problems due to the nature of the "enemy", and I3-5 suffer from some weird tone and balance issues (I5 particularly so).

Deities and Demigods, but focused more on legendary monsters, avatars, clerical domains, adventure hooks and themes for each of the mythologies (rather than "stats for gods").

The stronghold-building, dominion-running and mass-combat sections of the BECMI Rules Cyclopedia.

Manual of the Planes, or anything for Planescape, if done right. Which means: respecting and building on previous lore, without throwing it all away and going a different direction. For starters, I'd like to find out more about Zariel, and how she rolled Bel for lordship of Avernus (1st layer of Hell). Last I heard, Zariel was getting power-siphoned by Bel and was nearly toast. I suspect Tiamat's involvement, somehow.