D&D 4E What Rules Do You Want to See in 4E?

[Plane Sailing]

I would like to see some big changes in magic:

1) remove the arcane/divine divide (heck, clerics can get most of the good wizard spells already, and get lots more love besides! turn about is fair play). This is the one I'm least concerned about though.

2) consistent treatment of energy/substance types across the board (implementing the basic idea from psionics energy form - or better yet, the kind of thing Cyberzombie did in Elements of Magic 1.0 - so that there were clear, scalable effects that depended upon the energy type (and if something used a different energy type for some reason the side effect changed too - no more fire substituted freezing spheres freezing some water with their heat)

3) fewer spells, but many more using either the 'reserve' mechanism or the 'casting time affects power' mechanism; for damaging spells have generic spells with an energy type chosen at the time the spell is acquired.

4) eliminate the "conjuration ignores SR for direct damage spells" loophole which has caused so many problems post-PHB.

re: Prestige classes - I still love them as an idea for exclusive orders tied to a campaign, and hate them as multiclass patches or character concept modellers. Multiclass patches should be fixed by the multiclass system (probably by using something analogous to BAB for caster level), character concepts should be handled via the feat system.

The other thing that I'd streamline is combat actions. I'd like to see things go the Spycraft route where everyone basically has two actions a round that can be used for a combination of moving, attacking and doing other stuff. Full round actions become 'double actions'. Full attacks probably disappear as such.

Cheers

 

[Croesus]

I should stay out of this thread, but it's so much fun indulging in wish-fulfillment...

1. Eliminate iterative attacks. Instead, anyone attacking with a non-natural weapon adds their BAB to damage. Two-weapon fighters can attack with either weapon, and the other adds a small AC bonus.
2. Stats for classes of weapons, not specific weapons. Don't define specific weapons, so everyone uses a bastard sword, or a composite longbow.
3. Feat at every level and hit die.
4. More skill points (+2 per level for all classes)
5. Eliminate class skills
6. Fewer bonus types. How about magic (any spell, item, SLA, SU), mundane (feat, skill, racial), circumstance. Only highest bonus of each type counts.
7. Armor = DR, Shields = AC
8. Encounter-based abilities/spells. Use a unified mechanic: action points. Want to use a feat to power attack? Spend action points. Want to use a feat to dodge? Want to cast a spell? Want to reroll a blown save? Spend action points.
Action points could start at 2xcharacter level, with a feat to add extra points. Recover at a rate of 1 per full round action, with feats to speed up their recovery.
9. Simplify grapple.
10. Simplify races - no more conditional modifiers (your race gets a +20 to saves against elven ghosts while standing in a field of clover under a full moon) Just give them a +1 or +2 to a particular save and be done with it!
11. Stop including cultural abilities as racial abilities.
12. No favored classes.
13. Eliminate fast actions, replace with swift (limit one swift action per round).
14. Reduce dependence on stats by changing to +1 per 4 points above 10. So 14 = +1, 18 = +2, etc.

 

[Croesus]

3) fewer spells...for damaging spells have generic spells with an energy type chosen at the time the spell is acquired.

The other thing that I'd streamline is combat actions. I'd like to see things go the Spycraft route where everyone basically has two actions a round that can be used for a combination of moving, attacking and doing other stuff. Full round actions become 'double actions'. Full attacks probably disappear as such.

I really like both of these ideas. For instance, why have six different buffing spells? Just have one, and choose the stat enhanced at the time of casting.

 

[KarinsDad]

I really like both of these ideas. For instance, why have six different buffing spells? Just have one, and choose the stat enhanced at the time of casting.

Precisely.

 

[KarinsDad]

Another thing is the concept of one round and one minute per level spells.

At low level, they are basically worthless (e.g. Summon Monster I).

Even one minute per level spells rarely make it from one combat to the next until at least 10th level or so.

Have decent durations for most spells.

 

[Hypersmurf]

For instance, why have six different buffing spells?

Well, how else do you keep clerics from getting Cat's Grace?

-Hyp.

 

[Croesus]

Well, how else do you keep clerics from getting Cat's Grace?

-Hyp.

Accuse them of being "girlie men"?

 

[Deset Gled]

Another design change that I would like to see is a system where additional material does not change the balance of the original material so greatly.

The current system is extremely vulnerable to power creep, and I think it's been showing a low lately. One of the biggest problems is that every new added option effects different classes in different ways. For example, a new Sorc/Wiz spell in a splatbook will always make a wizard more powerful than a sorcerer, even if the spell is completely balanced otherwise. This is because the wizard has the option to add that spell to his book at any time, while a sorcerer has a fixed number of spells. Similarly, every new spell for a divine caster is inherently more powerful than a new spell for an arcane caster, because they can simply choose to prepare it one day rather than needed to pay the money to add it to a spell book. Every new feat makes a Fighter more powerful, as they have extra feats to take advantage of them, while barbarians and monks face a very high opportunity cost in choosing their very limited number of feats.

I don't know exactly how to solve this problem, but the first stage would be to get WotC to even believe its a problem. To them, power creep is actually a good thing because it encourages players to buy more books (to a point, until it encourages to play a different game).

 

[IanB]

* Move scouts to core
* Replace sorcerers with warlocks
* Rewrite the grappling rules completely to be more consistent with normal combat
* Rewrite/scrap turn undead
* Move the druid wildshape alernate feature from PHB2 to core
* Improve half-elves, nerf dwarves

I just realized I'd be here all night if I kept going so I'll stop.

 

[punkorange]

As long as we're talking 4E we could change the way saving throws stack, too. Count levels in classes that have "Good" fort save. Look up the "Good" fort save for a character of that level. Count levels in classes that have "Poor" fort save. Look up the "Poor" fort save for a character of that level. Add.

I like this Idea, I also don't like the idea there are 10001 prestigue classes available that most players feel they have the right to take levels in them just because they meet the prereqs.