Remember when they were developing D&D5 and they said it would be compatible with prior editions, and you could run characters from different editions in the same party? That didn't happen (SPOILERS) but I do wonder if it's a viable idea and anyone has tried it.
What would a cross-edition party look like? Perhaps something like this, says the person with very little experience of anything before fourth edition:
AD&D1: Half-orc assassin, surely?
AD&D2: Gnome illusionist, obviously.
D&D3: Warforged cleric, probably.
D&D4: Dragonborn fighter, presumably, since fourth was supposed to make fighters as special as everyone else.
D&D5: Roll 1d12 or GM's choice. Or a Warlock of Cthulhu, eldritchly.
I very much want to try this now.
Since I adopted 5th ed after a lifetime of 1st ed, there has been some growing pains. I feel I run games just like I used to. Only some player stuff has changed. So far I have avoided all the folk who want Beholder Ninja Cyborg Gunslingers, but I am expanding my horizons slowly. And though a mixed party is no longer really needed, my current group is very diverse in class. The most unusual are an Aasimar and a Shadow Elf. But the usual is there...fighter, ranger, paladin, druid...
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting to know, as I have no experience of first edition. I do think that perhaps from the GM's perspective there shouldn't be too much trouble with a cross-edition party of characters, given that even within the same edition character classes differ in mechanics quite a bit.
DeleteMy favourite edition of D&D is the Mentzer BECMI series (I know, I know), so I have as though I have to give a shout out for:
ReplyDeleteBECMI: Elf.
(Or possibly one of the "monster as class" classes from the Creature Crucible series?)
Yes, that would be my pick too. Probably the most unique of the Basic classes.
Delete