Introduction

ADHD Basic #

Basic Rules Variant for Fifth Edition Fantasy Roleplaying

Introduction #

What Are These Rules? #

AHDH Basic is a minimal rule set for playing using Fifth Edition mechanics. It has been stripped down to its bare minimum while keeping the positive traits of the original system, while keeping some of the lessons learned in older editions.

You might like this system if:

  • You have a healthy skepicism of the authority of words written on a page.
  • You like Fifth Edition at its core but find it too overwhelming to run a game yourself.
  • You want to see what old-shool play is like without having to learn new dice rules.
  • You think Fifth Edition combat runs too slow.
  • Have some homebrew or a custom campaign idea and you wanted a more minimal base to build on.

We have some opinionated answers to help solve that, and we would love to know what you think of the result. We hope you enjoy playing this rule set!

Design Goals #

  • Modern game mechanics.
  • Old-school playing style.
  • Lightning fast character creation.
  • Avoid punishing players for low ability score rolls.
  • Have the entire character sheet fit on one side of a sheet of paper, or even a postcard.
  • Have fast, flowing combat while still having options.
  • Have a flexible system for skills that encourages imagination both in and out of combat.
  • Be less mechanically-dependent on species, while boosting the mechanical goodness of backgrounds.
  • Minimize time spent shuffling through books for rules, spells, and edge cases.
  • Easier encounter building with more predictable difficulty.

Not Design Goals #

  • Compatibility with B/X or 5e or anything in between.
  • Mechanical character customization options.

What Does the End Product Look Like? #

  • We use Fifth Edition fantasy roleplaying as the mechanical basis. So bounded accuracy, advantage, DCs go up, ability based saves, etc.
  • We use B/X roleplaying as the template for the style of play: similar classes, spells, progression, etc.
  • No skill or proficiency lists - backgrounds give a plain-english basis for GMs to adjudicate when proficiency applies.
  • No race mechanic - ability score bonuses and racial proficiencies are bundled into the background.
  • Side-at-a-time combat order with simple and intuitive initiative/surprise mechanic.
  • Simpler distance guage for spells and attacks.
  • Simpler mechanic for combat maneuvers and applying advantage and conditions in combat.
  • Avoiding “one level class ability dips” by banning multiclassing and instead providing special classes with multiclass-like ability progressions.
  • Shared 3d6 ability score array for the entire party.
  • A flatter ability bonus, giving a slightly bigger “dead” zone of frequent rolls that aren’t penalized.
  • About 4 numbers to track while leveling up.
  • Spells and monsters have short stat blocks: often a single line of english text in a table.

Why is it called ADHD Basic? #

The “Basic” part is a nod to its play style being that of the B/X system. The ADHD part is a pun on the term “AD&D”, and also a condition I have, which is one of the motivations in making this system.

These rules are released under the Open Game License v1.0a.

Most of this work is my own material. The rest of the rules derive from one of the following documents:

Both are worth a read for inspiration of your own!