I voted for exotic counterspells. As a rare spell for players to learn or an occasional monster ability, it could be fun.
It's the same problem as psionic combat and hackers in cyberpunk -- when you create a subgame that only one player at the table can participate in, it's boring for everyone...
I agree with both your (abridged) points.
I love the idea of a mythic thief whose role and archetype allow feats of stealth and trickery that seem supernatural, without spellcasting (see for example the defunct comic Thieves & Kings or any number of mythological trickster-heros.)
And my...
Since you ask, here's the complete data. But I don't want to derail the thread from your excellent work.
@Celebrim regarding the skill list, I've attached it. But this list is a little special: I was never a huge fan of 2E's NWP system and so I made up my own skill system that adheres more...
Interesting ideas! I really like the exceptional actions listed for the skills.
I also gave the thief class a boost in my campaign but not as extreme. The key ideas are:
1. A thief is never penalized for attempting their skills and failing the roll, unless the skill description specifies one...
Right you are, and the very best RPGs use the system to express the setting and its themes. But those games are not generic and usually don't pretend to be.
I think we have two camps arguing for two aspects of the game that are not actually in conflict.
As a fantasy game system capable of supporting a wide variety of setting and homebrew, D&D needs to provide a wide variety of options and very few restrictions. (Personally, I was upset when they...
I also loved the Binder--my favorite chapter from the Tome of Magic.
I think in 5e the Binder is functionally closest to a warlock (no duh!). The main difference being that instead of having a single, consistent patron, the PC could switch between patrons with a long rest, and eventually have...
In one of my campaigns I added a 7th ability score "Luck" that could be used like a d20 proficiency check to resolve whether a random event turned out favorable to the PC, as you would expect, but that PCs could also burn a point from to influence their PC's evolution and destiny by...
I think 3e hit the sweet spot for Vancian casting: you don't memorize spells but prepare them ahead of time, so you can cast them quickly in combat, but swapping spells after preparation is relatively rare (e.g. clerics could burn any prepared spell for healing). If I remember right PCs had the...
I have to say the DMG for 2 reasons: 1, it is a smidge closer to being a complete game than the PH; and 2 because it is the book where Gygax truly lets his freak flag fly. It has plenty of problems but it is magical.
That was not my intent. I would personally give each race some options to spend feats and/or levels to enhance their racial traits, as a new rules module. But these new abilities need not be entirely unique. One dwarf PC engages with the new rules, the other does not.