5e Advanced Mode – A set of advanced rules to increase the game challenge

The 5e Advanced Mode is a pdf that contains tips and changes to the basic rules of Dungeons & Dragons 5e to make it more challenging.

The changes does not modify the core mechanics of the game.

You can apply all the modifications, or just some of them, according to your personal goal as Game Master or according to the campaign you are running.

Many of the suggestions are imported from AD&D 2e, but adapted to fit into D&D 5e, without breaking the core.

The modifications are about the following topics:

Character Creation

This chapter suggests to roll the ability score with the old method of 3d6.

You can roll 3d6 and assign the score in sequence, or roll 3d6 and assign the score to an ability of your choice. Reducing the ability scores will make the player’s much more prudent and will force them to play as a team in order to compensate their lacks.

In addition, I suggest a cap when rolling the hit points. The character rolls hit point until level 10, then wil get a fixed amount of hit points.

Racial Modifiers

Here we go back to the old way.

Each race has its own modifiers, meaning that a dwarf is not tough as an elf, and a half-orc is not as smart as a gnome.

However the recent versions of D&D tried to erase or reduce the impact or negative racial modifiers. This flatten a bit the diversity, turning it into a choice aimed to optimize the character other than roleplaying the character.

Equipment (or weapon speed)

In AD&D 2e weapons were different in many aspects. Whilst recent editions did a great job in increasing weapons diversity, they forgot a small detail.

Weapons affected initiative, with what is called weapon speed.

Inside the pdf you will find the weapon speed for each of the weapon presented in the player’s handbook.

Multiclassing (former Dualclassing)

In AD&D multiclassing was very strict, and not flexible at all, even more for humans who couldn’t even be multiclassed characters.

Here I propose to maintain the concept of multiclassing – no matter the race of the character – but I introduce new ability score requirements.

Other Homebrew rules

The 5e Advanced Mode also introduces changes on game concepts like:

Long rest and short rest. Basically short rest is not a thing anymore. This will increase even more the resource management and the tactics of your players if they want to survive through all the adventure.

Proficiency Bonus. Monsters are divided in categories. I propose some point of strength that each category may possess. Most important of all, I change the proficiency bonus modifier by basing it on hit dice instead of the challenge rating.

Monsters, intelligence and tactics. In this chapter I suggest that a monster with high intelligence may obtain significant advantages over the characters, both tactical and in term of knowledge of their weak points. The advantages are rollable and resumed on a table.

The 5e Advanced Mode will be expanded and updated in future releases.