Alternative D&D mechcanics

Got a weird question, fa/tg/uys: Is there an existing alternative mechanic overlay to D&D 3.5?

> be playing rarely, but with same group of people
> run postapocalypse, warhammer, wod's and recently fading suns for most part
> decide that we need a new setting
> choice falls on high fantasy for freshness
> D&D becomes an obvious choice
> but mechanics are abysmal in general opinion
>> be fighter, can't into smart skills, but hurr durr +1 attack with longswords feat
>> be rogue, get fuckload of skill points just because
>> be sorcerer, gotta look good to cast shit

Even alignments are considered bearable, but limitations to characters and their leveling not so much.
What would be prefereable is improving abilities and stats with xp instead of simple level upping.

Inb4
> why not just Exalted, Earthdawn and whatever else?
Group decided for Forgotten Realms setting already, so I need to roll with it as a GM.
And, if possible, I would prefer to spare myself extra work with changing mechanics to existing spells or stats of NPC's.

tl;dr
Are there any easy to use alternative mechanics for D&D 3.5 leveling and combat?

D&D 5e, D&D 4e, AD&D, D&D 2e

This, although if they want vibrant high fantasy, 4e is probably the best choice.

Your group has shit taste and doesn't deserve better.

As for mechanics better suited for the shit sandwich that is forgotten realms, play 5e D&D. It is the same shit as 3.5, watered down (so anyone who picked forgotten realms won't get scared), but has more but less intresting magic for PCs.

There are systems that are setting agnostic, you can just port FR to one of those

Use the book of weaboo martial in place of fighter and rogue. Seriously, at least you'll have balance between Martians and casters.

The other D&Ds (5th in particular), FantasyCraft (for your classes, OGL-esqe desires), 13th Age, Dungeon World, Savage World, *Opens Fantasy Folder* Basic Fantasy, Burning Wheel, Castles and Crusades, Runequest, Shadows of the Demon Lord, Torchbearer, Wicked Fantasy,Lone Wolf Multiplayer, Adventurer Conqueror King.

tl:dr Yes.

Honestly though, most of what you specified wanting is in Fantasy Craft.

>balance between Martians and casters
>Martians and casters

Sounds like a fun game.

Trailblazer.

Yeah, see...no. Trailblazer was a valiant effort, no denying that, but it certainly didn't succeed at fixing d20. One of their changes was making spellcasting more flexible so magic users didn't have to commit their spells. They actually thought that full progression casters not being versatile enough was a problem that called for fixing. Nobody who would make that decision is qualified to diagnose the problems with the system, let alone treat them.

Might be worth skimming for ideas and maybe stealing a couple specific suggestions, but it did not fix 3.5.

DnD is a great brand but a miserable game.
Forgotten Realms is a sandbox no DM can live up to. You can use the setting with any mechanics. Beats me why your group would want to. Is it 50 year old hype?
Have fun however you like, but if you come here asking for good mechanics, people will tell you about good mechanics. Some people.

Reign Enchiridion, Torchbearer and Burning Wheel, Runequest, even Fate runs better than DnD.

I was thinking about getting away from the problem, not deeper into its family.

You have point, but it all depends how much work it would take to get it going.

Generally, it is about being tired of dark fantasy and grimdark settings, which dominated our sessions for years now. And they know FR best from vidya and books.


Overall, thanks, anons, I will look up these suggestions and check how well they fit into general setup.

>I was thinking about getting away from the problem, not deeper into its family.

Switching from 3.5 IS getting away from the problem.

>FR
you're fucked.

use Restrict martials to Book of Nine Swords and casters to PHB.

I don't even understand why you wanted to play 3.5 in the first place.

Reread it, bruh. My group wants to play FR setting, without the need to use same D&D mechanics that it was build upon.

No one in my group actually wants to play D&D 3.5 by its rules, hence this thread asking about an alternative that can improve mechanics.

Yeah, but why 3.5? Any of the other D&D systems are built around FR as well, and in the end it's just a setting; you can apply any system to it.

>No one in my group actually wants to play D&D 3.5 by its rules

Then don't! Why modify 3.5 if none of you want to actually play it?

Switch to another D&D, or another game entirely.

we're on 5th edition now plz keep up.

It was picked as an glorified high fantasy classic, I guess.

>you can apply any system to it
Yeah, I could if I put enough work into it. Still, I was hoping that someone already got it done before and that someone here would hear about it.

Personally, as a foreverGM, I'd just prefer something less grimdark. But, getting these chucklefuck players of mine to follow might be a problem.

/thread

>My friends all want to eat at McDonalds.
>We agreed on Happy Meals all around.
>Is there a way to make Happy Meals more tasty, healthy, and fun?
Don't eat at McDonalds.
I mean you could home cook a healthy meal from organic ingredients and prepare servings that look like burgers and fries. Then you could break into a franchise at night or steal from a delivery to acquire Happy Meal wrappers and cups. Get non toxic wood toys and seal them in clear plastic bags. Pack your quality food in McD wrappers and sneak them into the franchise to have dinner there.

But there is no business that delivers that experience for you.

Wouldn't it be easier to just buy a couple Happy Meals and throw away the food?

Are you a consumer or an adventurer?

If I was an adventurer, I wouldn't be playing RPGs, now would I?

I suppose you have a point.

Oh well, a lot of work ahead.

Or.

You could just.

Use any other edition.

There are three (THREE) other editions with FR in them without the problems of 3.5.

>organic ingredients
THIS FUCKING TRIGGERS ME
MCDONALDS DOESN'T COOK SHIT FROM STONES, THEIR INGRIDIENTS ARE ALSO ORGANIC
THE WORD YOU ARE LOOKING FOR IS "not made by greedy megacorp boogimen that want to poison us!1!"

>McDonalds ingredients are organic

He's technically correct, in the sense that 'organic' in the scientific sense just means 'contains carbon'. By that definition, a lot of stuff is organic. Of course, that definition is different from the sort people usually use it for when referring to food.

If you don't like dem limitations, don't play a class based system.
D&D is class based. Every edition.
Forgotten Realms is cancer anyway. If you'd chosen a good setting I'd have told you to keep D&D, but I'd advise you just to drop it.

5th edition is miles better, but it sounds like you don't want a class-based system.
You can't remove classes from D&D. It just couldn't work without them. Everything is designed around levelling up.

>Everything is designed around levelling up.

That doesn't preclude a classless system. I could think up a classless system with levels based on D&D, no problem. It would be like the Generic Classes system, except everybody uses the same table, with no separation for different classes. One feat per level, all class features (including spellcasting) turned into feats.