Introduction
Yes, I made a page for another D&D campaign. No, I don't know when. After Serpents of Oran finishes, I want to do some Sci-fi, probably <sigh> Star Wars. But I keep thinking of things I want to do in the future for D&D, so I need a place to put them.
Rule Changes
Pivot Reaction
Nat 20 armor damage and Equipment Damage which ties to Shield and Weapon Sacrifice
Possibly Nat 20/Drop to zero HP lingering wounds
Gritty realism rest and healing
Undead- Immune to necromantic, poison, vulnerable to radiant. Skeletons, liches resistant to slash/pierce, vulnerable to blunt. Zombies resistant to blunt/pierce, vulnerable to slash?
Single saving throw- save once when spell is cast, no repeat saving throw unless spell specifies (additional save when wounded, for example).
Stun Reset- target loses next turn.
More good alignment warlock patrons.
More powers for Fiends- Give them spell-like abilities like in 1st ed.
Combat Proficiency Bonuses
Close Quarters combat penalty for ranged attacks/spells- Actually apply it, I usually don't care
Weather and terrain effects- hit point reduction and exhaustion for heat and cold. Slow movement in snow, mud, attack penalties in bad weather.
Conjuration spells- There needs to be better consistency with the power of summoning spells. Summon Celestial is 7th level and gives you a CR4 monster. Conjure Fey is 6th level and gives you a CR 6 monster. Conjure Woodland Beings is 4th, gives one CR2 (or multiple lesser) monster. So does Conjure Animals which is only 3rd level. So, I may come up with a general rule of "Spell level equals CR". But then you still can't summon big fiends. In AD&D, there was a 7th level spell that let evil characters summon demons that were CR13 to CR19 in 5E.
More New Spells
Here's one: remove Spare the Dying…
Campaign Setting
Brand New World??- Multiple small nations like Forgotten Realms
Single dragon species, only fire breathers. Alignment varies. No Dragonborn, Draconic Blood Sorcerers? Or only fire based? Also, Draconic Blood Sorcerers assumes some dragons are intelligent, spell using creatures. What if dragons are simpler and more beastlike?
Maybe rethink the whole dragon hoard concept entirely. I feel that is mostly due to Smaug. In other sources, dragons are more beastlike, less intelligent. Okay, further research shows dragons in mythology have hoarded various things in various eras. BUT, in many cases (as with Smaug), the dragon has taken over someone else's treasure, as opposed to accumulating it themselves. Vermithrax in Dragonslayer did not have a hoard, and they were definitely a beast and not an intelligent foe.
Less cash and magic items in general? Definitely less cash. I think the Black Company RPG had a "silver standard" to control player cash. All the prices are still in gold but change the gold pieces in monster treasure to silver pieces to reduce treasure rewards by 90%. And probably drop platinum to gold as well.
Things to do
More dungeon crawls- teach them about hallway formation fighting. And BIG dungeons.
Make adventures longer? More sessions per adventure to get more out of an idea and make campaign last longer? Maybe. More sessions per adventure sounds like another way to say, "add more combat". Bigger dungeon crawls would do that. Maybe, have to think about it.
Tougher monsters- up their HP, better tactics. Remember- no lone bosses at higher levels unless they are legendary, like a dragon.
Run some hexcrawls- make them search and find stuff. Do cross country travels as hexcrawls? Campaign map is blank except for some major cities and landmarks? *- Definitely. Unless PCs have a specific backstory reason to know, journeys will require more rolls.
Kill a PC?- Talk to party about character death and make it a possibility. Or even a probability.
No solo bosses after mid level unless they have Legendary properties.
