Which D&D "cow" is least sacred?

[ph34r]

Since I'm more familiar with 3rd edition that any other I feel that if they removed any of these it wouldn't feel quiet the same anymore, but that's just me.

 

[Dark Jezter]

Boy, if some of the suggestions from this thread actually do make it into 4e, then I think I'll just stick with 3.5e.

I promise not to become a Diaglo-esque broken record and always trumpet the virtues of 3.5e, though.

 

[Turjan]

I think this poll suffers from two things:

1. The recent poll regarding Vancian magic that showed a slight bias towards keeping the system left the voters somewhat excited, and here they can deliver a late revenge .

2. Other favourite hate topics, like AC and alignment, have been left out from the options. With those included, the result would look more evenly distributed, I suppose.

 

[am181d]

It's got to be armor class. I feel pretty confident that 4.0 will go the Star Wars route, with a "Defense bonus" and armor providing damage reduction. I would assume that all of the elements listed in the poll will still be around in 4.0...

 

[Norfleet]

I voted HP. IMO, this sacred cow of D&D has been weakened by the inclusion of Wound Points and Vitality in other d20 systems, and the concept of Massive Damage Threshold in d20 Modern.

You know, I'm pretty sure the massive damage rule has been around since at LEAST 2nd, if not 1st, edition.

I've personally consistently operated a house rule where hitpoints only determine whether you die, not how horribly maimed you can get. You can even survive decapitation, albeit briefly, before the continuous HP loss from massive bleeding kills you. However, being decapitated does severely limited your choice of actions to something like "flop around uselessly" and "make gagging looks with your face".

 

[William Ronald]

You know, I'm pretty sure the massive damage rule has been around since at LEAST 2nd, if not 1st, edition.

I've personally consistently operated a house rule where hitpoints only determine whether you die, not how horribly maimed you can get. You can even survive decapitation, albeit briefly, before the continuous HP loss from massive bleeding kills you. However, being decapitated does severely limited your choice of actions to something like "flop around uselessly" and "make gagging looks with your face".

I seem to recall a television program that had a section on the guillotine, and idndicated that a person could remain conscious for a second or two after decapitation.

Getting back to the main topic of the thread, while I think Vancian magic works pretty well as a game mechanic (i.e. it actually forces players to make make choices for their characters and it is easy to learn), I am open to other systems. However, I would like them to at least require the players to make some choices for their characters, and have some degree of balance.

Perhaps a key thing to remember about rules is to try to avoid making them cumbersome. Rules are an aid to fun, not a replacement for fun.

 

[LGodamus]

I feel that alignment can...and probably should go out the window....

Magic system and races a distant second

but I dont feel things would be right without levels, classes, and hitpoints.....

 

[Stalker0]

Levels: Recalibrate the game so that gameplay works well past 20th level from the core rules alone, thus eliminating the need for the ELH.

I'm an enginner, and from my perspective your asking for the golden fleece For almost any model... the tighter the frame it has to work in the more accurate it is. The farther you stretch it out... the more cracks you start to see.

If you take the dnd model past 20th level without correction (ie the ELH) you'll probably start to notice the system works even worse for 1 through 20.

 

[MadBlue]

I picked Vancian Magic myself, although I'd like to see Armor reduce damage instead of giving an AC bonus.

Vancian Magic works better in literature, where a Wizard character will have (or won't have) a spell prepared because it furthers the plot. It doesn't work as well in a game, and, like the lack of class-based Defense, it makes the characters more reliant on magic items to get them through adventures.

 

[maddman75]

Thac0 isn't gone, its just called BAB now. In 1e it was the combat matrix. The concept that attacks and saves ALWAYS go up with levels is still there. I'd like to see D&D take another step towards skills-based and make both BAB, Saves, and some kind of defense score into skills. While we're at it, might as well base magic casting on skill ranks as well. Thus classes determine hit dice, bonus feats, special abilities, and skill points/class/cross-class. This not only allows for more non combat oriented characters for those of us who are into that kind of thing (the kick-in-the-door folks can just keep them maxed out) but nicely solves the multicaster problem as well.