D&D 5E What Single Thing Would You Add

[DeviousQuail]

Personally, I would only allow that for lawful character. Chaos would embrace the more unpredictable d20.

And 2d10 for the neutral folks.

 

[Blue]

Which isn't to say that THAC0 didn't have its day. It did. It was a definite improvement over having to look up your attack result on a table. It's just left behind by an even better improvement.

Oh yeah, steps of improvement. Though if you are saying the charts and THAC0 were separate my memories must be mixing together - I remember the charts where there was a several options where a 20 would still hit, not just the mathematically one that THAC0 would say, and but not all like with modern. I seem to rememebr those as being the same thing, with THAC0 being the more convient but the charts still holding true. But it was long, long ago and if that was different editions then it's my memory mushing them together.

Though I do remember every DM ignoring the weapon vs. armor table, with customized modifiers to hit or miss based on the weapon type and the AC.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

The three Defenses (Saving Throws): Fortitude, Reflex, Will.

 

[Sacrosanct]

But that's an issue with 3E that has nothing to do with THAC0. If you added in the number of bonuses and modifications to a system that used THAC0 it would be just be even worse than what 3E had.

But you didn't have that with THAC0. You did with an edition of D&D. One people still play.

Therefore, again, ascending isn't always better. It's contextual. Making claims that ascending is always better is just wrong. Even if you get past the subjective part about what people prefer liking, or how people do math differently in their head (believe it or not, lots of people feel no different subtracting than adding).

 

[BrassDragon]

Incremental advances from 13th Age: you can pick a feature from your next level up as a DM-sanctioned reward. This way, you don't suddenly have a bunch of new powers, skills and hit points blinking into existence at level-up like it's a videogame and players can get used to having more options gradually. It also lets DMs more easily craft scenes that lets the new advances emerge in the fiction.

 

[Oofta]

But you didn't have that with THAC0. You did with an edition of D&D. One people still play.

Therefore, again, ascending isn't always better. It's contextual. Making claims that ascending is always better is just wrong. Even if you get past the subjective part about what people prefer liking, or how people do math differently in their head (believe it or not, lots of people feel no different subtracting than adding).

How is it relevant? Take any version of the game. Add in the modifiers from 3.x. THAC0 is going to make that final calculation with modifiers more difficult than adding them all together. Take out the modifiers from 3.x and THAC0 is still more difficult for most people.

But you're going to continue to do this so ... have a good one.

 

[cbwjm]

Incremental advances from 13th Age: you can pick a feature from your next level up as a DM-sanctioned reward. This way, you don't suddenly have a bunch of new powers, skills and hit points blinking into existence at level-up like it's a videogame and players can get used to having more options gradually. It also lets DMs more easily craft scenes that lets the new advances emerge in the fiction.

Been talking with a friend about advancement in our current game and it can be a bit weird when you have mechanics vs fiction. He is an artificer and he is going to pick up a level of wizard which means he suddenly gets a spellbook, some cantrips, and has 6 spells written in the book. There is no real fictional backstory for this, I don't require it either, but it is a little weird. If there had been a local wizard that he was training with then maybe it would make more sense. Also the lack of downtime makes it even more jarring.

 

[Lord Twig]

Weapon descriptions in the PHB.

Here's a challenge: Go into the PHB and find what a Breastplate is. Then look for a description of what a Glaive is. How is it different from a Halberd? Good luck!

 

[TiwazTyrsfist]

Point based magic system (MP/Mana/Whatever)

 

[pogre]

I want something no one else I know does: A mass combat system that uses tons of miniatures and works with 5e magic.

This quote from the original PHB always captured my imagination:

And perhaps a war between players will be going on (with battles actually fought out on the tabletop with miniature figures) one night, while on the next, characters of these two contending players are helping each other to survive somewhere in a wilderness.

The problem is - It's tough for me to imagine that a couple of 5e 6th level wizards could not wipe out a medieval-sized army.

Even the Battle System series came up with a different set of rules for magic used in warfare.

There is certainly no real incentive to make such a set of rules commercially. I also recognize the vast majority of D&D players would much prefer a narrative approach for mass combat.

So, it remains a pipedream of mine.