This post was inspired/instigated by the near constant "how to fix 5e" discussion I see happening on the OSR Discord. So, I felt like I should write up a compilation of the various games people have made as their own "fixes" to WotC D&D and so that means this isn't really meant for people that want to get their groups to play something other than 5e, for that try "Five Torches Deep" or just jump full into the OSR with "Old School Essentials", or try a PbtA game, I dunno. This is more for the "forever 5e groups", I guess... and it might look a bit weird seeing a 3e alternative or a 4e "math-fix" game but I think they share a lot of DNA so hopefully there should be stuff to steal. Oh, and I should also mention that I've not tried any of these games, except for the few specified otherwise.
Alright, so starting off is what should be the most useful: actual 5e fixes! There are two I'm familiar with, the first is a series of adjustments done by Treantmonk that revises every class, reworked feats, and a few spell changes. Most likely the least useful to those looking for a "lighter" experience, but I've been running a game with it and figured I'd shout it out. The second is a Three-Part series made by Giffyglyph that reworks a lot of the "Monster Math", simplifies classes the classes quite a bit and makes it level 1-10, and the last one adds various rules to adjust the difficulty of the game; I've only used the first one but they should all be somewhat useful for those looking to make 5e "lighter/deadlier". There's also another series of reworks being done by En World, called Level Up/Advanced 5e, which is more so for those who want a more in-depth kinda game... but it's still quite heavilly in early development, although it looks neat from what I've seen.
Next is the only game that I'm aware of that could be considered a "5e alternative": Shadow of the Demon Lord. It shares a lot of fairly similar mechanics to 5e (mostly what sorts of actions can be taken) but it seems to make things a fair bit simpler (shrinks the Attribute Scores so each number above 10 is a +1 modifier, Bonus Action and Reactions are merged into one, no feats, levels go from 0-10 to name just a few). Its assumed setting is horror-fantasy and its got quite a bit of "grotesque" stuff in it, but you can remove it and just use the core; however, there's a more typical fantasy version of it that's being worked on. Oh, and it's also meant to be played rather quickly and for gamers who don't have a lot of time, so each level is meant to be played for a session with a total of 11 sessions.
Now, before we move on to the various 4e math fix games I've found, I want to talk about the best counter-3e/4e game: 13th Age! I mean... probably... it's certainly better than Pathfinder but this is also the start of games that I haven't spent a whole lot of time reading, so I'm not extremely familiar with them. It's definitely not a game for those who're looking for a more simplified version of these game, but it's got 1-10 levels and I think tighter math than 5e. It uses 4e's "Defenses" mechnic, which makes all Saves similar to AC - the attacker rolls everything basically. It's skill system is broad, player chosen categories that they can then put points into, then roll high when making a check and add the bonus if it's a task related to the skill.
OK, now for the 4e fan-made works. First is 4.5e which fixes a lot of the math issues and cuts out the need for extranious feats; it requires the actual 4e books but if you want to try out a more tactically sound version of 5e than 4e with these changes should feel much better (but definitely not a light game). Next, is Fiction First, it focuses on making things more diegetic and focused on how it interacts with the game world, reworking how your abilities are regained is the main thing. Lastly, I'm just going to link this thread that's compiled 4e clones/descendants (that last one had this thread to go along with it) and this hack just for completionist sake.
Finally, the 3e stuff and no, I'm not gonna talk about Pathfinder. The first on the list is Trailblazers that improves on a lot of the base features and works out various balance issues (especially in its companion tome, Trailblazer: Teratologue, that fixes the issues with monsters), it could probably be played straight and be lighter than 5e (maybe? might need a few changes to modifiers first, though - exchanging a few for (dis)advantage). Next is FantasyCraft which I haven't really read through but it seems neat if a bit more expanded than base. Lasty is Legend which I think is a really interesting take - it turns ability groups into three different paths that give you a feature at staggered levels and are used for Multiclassing.
Oh, the actual last game I want to talk about, LANCER, and this one I have played. It's a really cool mech tactics game that's like a marriage of 4e and Shadow of the Demon Lord - it uses 4e's different class roles and SotDL's dice mechanics. I found it to be quite the complex game and so my players and I dropped after the first mission, but if you've got the brains/will to figure it out I think it could be quite satisfying to play.
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Alright, I think that's everything. Let me know down in the comments if I missed any game that could be played as an alternative to a WotC D&D (while still being d20 and probably the same 6 stats). Have you played any of these and if so what do you think of them compared to their "base" version?
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