Li Shenron
Legend
Still after all these years I hear people complain that 5e is not modular enough or that WotC has broken their promise to deliver modularity. Yesterday I was browsing the DMG with this in mind and counted at least thirty paragraphs of stuff which I would definitely consider to be "optional rules modules".
Some of them are really small (e.g. the Flanking "module" is practically a single rule) but nevertheless can have a significant impact on gameplay (indeed, try add Flanking to your game if you don't believe me), while others are fairly complex with a page or more of description.
Many aren't explicitly listed as optional, but they effectively are, as they are definitely "modular" in the purest sense i.e. you don't need to change other parts of the game whether you use them or skip them. The primary example for me is Inspiration, which I am sure many consider "essential" in their game, except that I have never used it and my game still works without further changes. Even the whole combat grid can be considered an optional module, in fact I am not using that either (and no, I am not ignoring distances and areas in my game, I am just measuring them in every direction instead of trying to adhere to a discrete subdivision of space).
Sometimes I think many people might have in mind the mythic idea of a "tactical combat module" when they claim that WotC didn't deliver. So while thinking about it, I decided to cherrypick a bunch of smaller modules from the DMG and see if altogether they form a decent tactical combat (assembled) module. Here is what I came up with:
*these are not explicitly optional rules
You can also feature the Injuries and the Chases modules, but I decided not to include them in the list because they are more about what happens after combat rather than during.
So what do you think about it? I can imagine how each one of those modules can be disliked, but all together it's hard for me to believe that this isn't already quite tactical and complex!
Some of them are really small (e.g. the Flanking "module" is practically a single rule) but nevertheless can have a significant impact on gameplay (indeed, try add Flanking to your game if you don't believe me), while others are fairly complex with a page or more of description.
Many aren't explicitly listed as optional, but they effectively are, as they are definitely "modular" in the purest sense i.e. you don't need to change other parts of the game whether you use them or skip them. The primary example for me is Inspiration, which I am sure many consider "essential" in their game, except that I have never used it and my game still works without further changes. Even the whole combat grid can be considered an optional module, in fact I am not using that either (and no, I am not ignoring distances and areas in my game, I am just measuring them in every direction instead of trying to adhere to a discrete subdivision of space).
Sometimes I think many people might have in mind the mythic idea of a "tactical combat module" when they claim that WotC didn't deliver. So while thinking about it, I decided to cherrypick a bunch of smaller modules from the DMG and see if altogether they form a decent tactical combat (assembled) module. Here is what I came up with:
- either combat grid or gridless combat, but definitely avoid TotM
- ALL optional combat Actions (Disarm, Mark, Overrun, Shove Aside, Tumble, Climb Onto)
- Flanking
- Facing
- Speed Factor
- Mobs
- Hitting Cover
- Cleaving Through Creatures
- Massive Damage
- Morale
- Mounted Combat, Underwater Combat and Weather rules when appropriate*
*these are not explicitly optional rules
You can also feature the Injuries and the Chases modules, but I decided not to include them in the list because they are more about what happens after combat rather than during.
So what do you think about it? I can imagine how each one of those modules can be disliked, but all together it's hard for me to believe that this isn't already quite tactical and complex!
