D&D 5E what systems in 5th could be explored more ?

[Guest 6801328]

I like the idea of using Hit Dice as a spendable resource on things other than healing, but it has to be flavored right. I.e., I could see a "Blood Sorcerer" spending HD to fuel abilities.

 

[neobolts]

I think I follow you. Would 'unstackability' be based on the caster or the target? Currently, you could layer a number of concentration spells on one target, you just need an equal number of casters. So would unstackable create a limit? (Maybe 'unstackable' spells would use attunement slots?) Could a caster put the same unstackable spell on each member of his party? That'd seem to open the door to using more pre-buffs.

I'm picturing it based on the caster, like in the current system. Multiple casters loading buffs onto a playmaker PC would remain viable. If I was going to differentiate "unstackable" spells into categories I'd go with 3 easy categories: buff, debuff, and utility. You'd have a flying (utility) wizard with prot from good (buff) who can cast web (debuff). That's something not possible in 5e that IMO feels very "off" in comparison to 3.5. (I realize that this could have serious class balance implications, but that's not really what I'm looking at.)

 

[Patrick McGill]

Downtime is one of my favorite new additions, and I begin every session (unless it's right after a cliffhanger) with doing a quick round the table for what they did with the dowtime between last adventure and this. It's sort of become part of our beginning "ritual", whereas we talk about what happened last time, do adjustments for levelling if needed, and all that before getting into the meat of the game.

I've come up with new things to do with downtime and tweaked some of the existing stuff, though I don't think I've got the balance done quite correctly. Mostly I've focused on crafting, because the crafting rules are really bad.

 

[Bawylie]

Downtime, Fighting Style (reimagined as stances with different effects, perhaps keyed to concentration), and,

I would sort of like to explore basic adventure structures, scene building, pacing, and encounter building, as they tie into adventures. It's a bit of a mess RN.

 

[Green1]

Earlier in the thread, there was talk of attunements. Now, I understand the desire to get away from 3e style where to be competitive, you had to be lit up like a Christmas tree with magic. But, I really do not see the point in it in the 5e age and bounded accuracy and concentration.

One of the things I would love to see is the return of disenchanting and residuum in the magic item creation system.

 

[pdegan2814]

By inelegant, I more accurately mean oversimplification. I think my uneasiness stems from them combining two design goals into a single rule:
1) The disruption of spells mechanic (goal: require maintaining spells, concentration checks on damage) and
2) the non-stacking mechanic (goal: reduce emphasis on quantity of buffs)

Could they have been divorced? Imagine Concentration (maintaining) and Unstackable (buff caps) as separate concepts. Some of the current concentration spells would be one or the other, or both. It would give us some of the classic and logical spell usage that is lost in this edition.

For example:
Fly (unstackable)
Detect Magic (concentration)
Confusion (concentration + unstackable)

Apologies, this is a really rough outline of the idea. Another option would have been to put the concentration spells into a few (maybe 3) broad categories to control what does and doesn't stack (unstackable within category).

I can definitely see the Concentration mechanic being refined, though I think overall it's a pretty effective representation of the effect they're trying to portray. I'm not sure I'd split it the way you did, but I think I would allow a little more flexibility based on the caster's level and/or their ability score. I would want to allow for the type of prodigies you hear about who can draw the Mona Lisa with one hand while doing calculus with the other at the same time, y'know? Either straight Intelligence or their respective spellcasting ability, which could get REALLY complicated with multi-classed characters. You'd probably have to see that all the relevant abilities had to meet a certain minimum. And then either set a maximum number of Concentration spells they could juggle simultaneously, or perhaps have the number of spell levels factor in, so that higher-level spells were more of a strain. Or maybe don't set an absolute max for any caster, but impose penalties based on how many spell levels the caster was holding in their head at the time. Those penalties could apply to the DC of any Concentration saving throws, but also to other things if they started holding too many spells in their head, and perhaps they could have effects that took time to wear off, kind of like the exhaustion levels we have now. And then let the caster's ability scores(particularly the mental ones, though Constitution might play a role as well) mitigate the penalties.

Expanded systems like that could allow for some really neat gameplay situations, but they do have the potential to complicate things quite a bit. I think overall the setup they came up with is pretty decent, but I wouldn't say no to a well-thought alternative.

I think

 

[Tony Vargas]

One of the things I would love to see is the return of disenchanting and residuum in the magic item creation system.

It was cool in context, when items were highly available to PCs. In 5e, it'd be the kind of option a DM would have to introduce with care. 5e magic-items are back to being a lot more impactful - they can break the game, elevate one PC over others, overwhelm character concepts, even when working perfectly they make a PC 'just better' - they're properly a DM resource.

 

[Sunseeker]

I'd suggest the other two pillars of the game: exploration and social. Both of these could use sound mechanical treatments, along with something for different classes to do in them.

I'd also add downtime to that: an optional minigame of how to spend your time when you're not adventuring.

I agree, I think the "systems" are more "features" and are developed fairly enough to be applied well to any applicable situation.

Exploration has always been poorly handled in D&D, left mostly up to random rolls of the dice, which for some folks gets dry and repetitive very quickly.
Social systems have likewise been limited largely to charismatic characters, leading to parties needing a "face" and leaving little for other characters to do when the talking starts.

 

[Green1]

I agree, I think the "systems" are more "features" and are developed fairly enough to be applied well to any applicable situation.

Exploration has always been poorly handled in D&D, left mostly up to random rolls of the dice, which for some folks gets dry and repetitive very quickly.
Social systems have likewise been limited largely to charismatic characters, leading to parties needing a "face" and leaving little for other characters to do when the talking starts.

I disagree. DnD has had some awesome guidebooks for survival and exploration, particularly in 2e that were gritty realistic. The bigger issue is that many DMs do not really describe or do outdoor or wilderness survival in it's own right. It is only the skill challenge to get to the more exciting battle mat at best, not even a cut scene at worst. I really need to improve on this, too, as a DM. But, I have been running lots of city stuff.

Teleportation makes more exploration irrelevant at higher levels as you can just port place to place to avoid drama. Even though, there are components that limit that somewhat introduced 4e/5e. The most detailed forest or desert is meaningless if you know the teleportation.

 

[dave2008]

I'm glad to see this thread got ported over. Great ideas, keep them coming