D&D 5E (2024) What would you put in 1D&D from 4E?

[Branduil]

A Ranger that's actually good and fun to play!

 

[Bolares]

These and only these. I'm pro-"players roll all the dice," however, so spell attacks in 6 (though not reducing the number of saves) are good with me.

I'm down with reviving confirmation rolls for critical hits, which was in 3e. Without them, the game is too swingy towards the monsters.

Nothing ever killed my buzz more than scoring a critical and then not conffirming it.

 

[Shiroiken]

1) Monsters with more varied abilities;
2) Bloodied Condition;
3) Skill Challenges.

Unlike most of the options people want, these actually have a chance. Since 1D&D is backwards compatible, a ton of things simply cannot change. These are add-ons, rather than core changes, so they can more easily be incorporated.

 

[Clint_L]

Now, 4E is not my favorite edition of D&D, but there are some good things that I like in that edition:

1. Healing surges; HD healing in 5E is just clumsy and worse version of healing surges, and I believe it was change for changes sake as not to remind people of 4E.
But why? It was great. It was reliable, while HDs are RNG cluster #$%!.
25% of you max HP is a good amount.
You can have a number of healing surges equal to double your proficiency bonus plus your Con modifier per long rest.
Some 8sub)classes might get a bonus healing surge or two, or more on later levels.

2. Second wind; closely connected to no.1 here is Second wind. Remove it from fighter and give it global usage as a Action. Heal yourself for 25% of max HP, number of times per long rest equal to your prof bonus.

3. Short rest is 5 min. This is self explanatory. 1Hr is NOT a short rest.

4. Attacks opportunity do not spend your "reaction slot", but are on separate once per turn(any players turn) counter.
This would help melee characters keep enemies in melee range or suffer AoO more easily.

5. More things provoke AoO: casting spells that are not melee touch or close blast/cone(without Spell sniper feat), ranged attacks(without Sharpshooter feat), moving more than 10ft within melee range,

6. return to 3 saves or defenses, I'm good with what ever. But it's more fun as a PC to roll all "attacks", so from player perspective all spells could be spell attacks, vs one of 4 defense.
Have Fort save/defense be str+con mod
Reflex save/defense be dex+int mod, and
Will save/defense be wis+cha mod,

1+2 are a big nope from me, for reasons that other folks have already spelled out. Healing surges were an attempt to incorporate video game mechanics. Never a fan.

3. Yup. I mean, I kind of hate the whole short rest concept, but if they are going to be in the game make them legitimately short.

4. Huge change. Have to completely rebalance the game. Seems like it would slow combat down even more, so maybe not, though I do like the increased flexibility.

5. Yes - I like more AoO. Maybe not as many as 4e had, but a few more, anyway. Middle ground.

6. Six of one, half a dozen of the other. Not a pressing concern for me, but I wouldn't be opposed.

 

[Incenjucar]

Diverse basic attacks.

Encounter abilities, especially psionics-style ones. These let you add emotional spikes to combat, like rogues actually doing enough damage to assassinate a spellcaster, or a fighter shutting down a dragon's onslaught so the cleric can get out a big heal, without being unable to challenge the party.

Attacks that incorporate movement.

 

[the Jester]

I'm not down with any of the changes mentioned in the OP. Most of what I want from 4e is monster design, epic destinies (and possibly paragon paths), the bloodied condition, the forced movement rules, and curses and diseases on a track. Oh, and skill challenges.

Jeez, how could I forget?? THE WARLORD.

 

[TheLibrarian]

I don't remember a ton about 4e, but it seemed to incorporate tactical movement more meaningfully. I'd like to have the option to do something besides run to the center of the map and wack the opposing party.

Also, like many above, I thought Bloodied and Skill Challenges were interesting. I've incorporated a lightweight version of Skill Challenges into my games as a kind of quick montage scene.

 

[Vael]

1. Monster Design. I liked having monster roles, minions that can just be thrown at the PCs, and they were easy to run and offered interesting tactics.
2. Warlords.
3. Short Rests ... I dunno. 5 minutes feels too short, 1 hour is too long. I think I'd prefer around the 15-20 min for a short rest.
4. Bloodied. I like the condition, and still use it as a descriptor, but I like that some monsters and Player options use it.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

• Healing Surges (but make most healing features require an HS)
• More forced movement (pull/slide/push)
• 5 minutes short rests (I already use this, it works well)
• Paragon Paths (I'd see it as a lvl 11+ feats chain)
• Action Surge and Second Wind for everybody (give either bonus to those actions for the fighters or give them original features)

 

[MNblockhead]

I never played 4e, but I've picked up some things from Matt Coleville's "Running the Game" videos on YouTube and from some of my players.

There are three things that were inspired by 4e that I already use in my game:

1. Skill challenges. I don't know exactly how they were run in 4e, but I used how Matt Coleville suggested running 4e-style skill challenges in 5e in my game and I really like them. I think they really add to the game when you want to make perilous travel mean something but not be a slog. It's a good balance between hand-waiving the travel and grinding your way to get to where the real fun is. They are also great for "the temple is collapsing! Run!" situations.

2. Bloodied. I basically started using this because I had players keep asking me if an opponent looked bloodied. They basically explained it as half or fewer hit points. I didn't like it at first, but it grew on me. It is a simple way to telegraph how injured opponents are. I mean, it is fun to try to go all Matt Mercer and describe in detail the condition of an enemy, but it quickly get repetitive even if you are fairly creative and good at improv, especially if there a large number of combatants. At some point, saying someone is "bloodied" just keeps things moving. But it always bothered me that there was no mechanical significance and I'd like to read more about how the bloodied condition (if it was a condition) worked in 4e.

3. Minions. For some large combats I've used 4e-style minion rules (basically, you damage them they die) for large combats. I mix this with some homebrew gang and swarm rules. Always looking for ways to make large combats less sloggy but still tactically interesting.