D&D 3E/3.5 Which mechanics from 4e have you imported into your 3e game?

[bouncyhead]

For example, passive perception. We're taking Pathfinder for a test drive and in PF spot/listen are rolled up into Perception. Not a great leap to play passive perception (10+rank) as 'always on'.

If you still play 3e, which other mechanics (if any) have you imported into your game?

 

[Bladesong]

Well, some of them we had already been doing before 4ed was even a stray thought. For example I had already had a variation on passive skills; I always assumed characters and creatures were “taking 10” as they skulked about. I had already reduced the number of skills and made them set to ½ character level (but I was using 3 instead of 5 for 1st level). I also had already split certain spells out as incantations (or rituals as they call them).
So I guess the only things I have really taken from 4ed would be the healing system (i.e. surges, saves after reaching negatives and bloodied or at least a variation on it). I also have taken certain powers (I really hate that term for some reason) and translated them into feats or altered feats from some of them (cleave for example).
4ed has its merits, I just do not care for it overall…it does have parts that I really like however. Of course I felt the same way about 3.0/3.5.

 

[estavans_lackey]

4E to 3E house rules

I loved the idea of second wind action. I also use action points as well (same as the 3.5 Eberron rules). All characters are able to use Second Wind as a standard action which allows the character to get back 1/4 of their total hps. This costs 2 action points. Dwarves can use Second Wind as a move-action.

Elves get an extra 5 ft of movement added to their base movement. They also get to move normally in difficult terrain within natural settings (DM's discretion)

Those are the ones that come to mind.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

I've recently put the finishing touches on the Tale of the Twin Suns Cleric. I took the Channel Divinity 4E feature, married it to some Pathfinder Cleric concepts and reworked it for 3E.

 

[Greg K]

A few of the 4e ideas, I have already been doing. One mechanic that I have borrowed is the unfied saving throw progression.

The one that I want to adopt is removing the non-biological aspects of race (e.g, bonus vs. giants, and elven weapon training) and making them feats. I had even requested some way to handle the seperation in my pre 3e questionaire). However, this requires rebalancing the races and I would prefer to see some third party product that does this

 

[Sylrae]

Well, I was using it before 4e came out, but I dont have people confirm for Crits. If you make the first roll for a crit, it's a crit.

I also allow crits on skill rolls.

No Death by massive damage, but you can crit over and over again. So if you crit, you make a roll, If thats a crit, you make another one. Keep going until you hit one thats not a crit. Big damage multipliers that are alot of fun but dont come into play often.

I use bleeding out rules based on 4e, but its more of a hybrid rule.

The Society of 3.5 revisionists may have some things you would be interested in.

 

[Malignant Mind]

My group has been using the multiple ability scores to saves (str or con to fort, dex or int to ref, and wis or cha to will). Other than that, we don't use much from 4th edition, as we found it lacking in customization and options. Although we do like the idea of minions to help flesh out larger encounters without either A. using a bunch of low end monsters that couldn't even hope to hit the PCs, or B. using a bunch of stronger (although still weaker than the party) monsters that would then lead to the party being utterly slaughtered.

 

[Edheldur]

Passive skills: Not just perception, but also Knowledge and Survival. It makes it easier to give info to the players without needing them to ask for it. Besides, this helps me create better encounters -since now I have to think about what each PC knows in each encounter/area-

Saving throws: the higher of Str/Con for Fortitude, Dex/Int for Reflex, Wis/Cha for Will. So far I've noticed that PCs gain a slight increase in saving throw modifiers and it's more difficult to lower them.

Death and Dying: As presented for 3.5 in WotC's site

Skill Challenges: I tried to use them as they're used in 4th edition, but found Stalker0's Obsidian system much more to my liking.

Minions and Elites: Nice addition to the the game, and seem to fit my gaming group's style.

Creature roles: Assigning them has made it easier for me to decide on a creature/NPCs feats and skill selection.

 

[Khairn]

Skill Challenges: I tried to use them as they're used in 4th edition, but found Stalker0's Obsidian system much more to my liking.

The only mechanic I took from 4E for my 3E game was Skill Challenges, or the Obsidian Sysytem to be more precise. There are a few other elements that are similar, but I was using those long before 4E came out.

 

[Aus_Snow]

If you still play 3e, which other mechanics (if any) have you imported into your game?

None whatsoever. But several of the 'new' features found in 4e are also found in my house rules, going back in some cases years prior to 4e's release.

'Minions' (different from the 4e model, but serving a similar purpose; min. HP and several other weaknesses compared with the standard), 'Elite' monsters (different again; max. HP and several other strengths), 'Channel Divinity' (called the exact same thing, but meaning something a little different), Skill Challenges (partly from Unearthed Arcana [Complex Skill Checks] and partly from elsewhere, as well as being of my own making), saves based on two ability scores each (but in my case, the average of the two, rounding up if one ability in particular is higher in each case, down if the other is), [Spot + Listen] -> Perception, [Hide + Move Silently] -> Stealth, a few other similar or identical skill groupings, 'Bloodied' (but with 4 stages, not 2). . . I seem to remember that there are couple more as well, but that's all I can recall of the 4e rules, that also - coincidentally - more or less match up with some of my long standing house rules for 3e.