While I personally have no problem with the 5E rules as written, I have seen several people express interest in a return to BECMI style dnd. This houserule is presented for those who desire such a thing.
BECMI 5e
Character Creation
The following rules replace those in Chapter 2 (Races) and Chapter 3 (Classes) in the players handbook.
Choosing a Race
You can play an Elf, Dwarf, Halfling, or Human. The rules for creating such characters are as follows:
Elf
Use the Elf Racial Traits (choosing your subrace as normal). Your class is Fighter (Eldritch Knight). You gain the Magical Initiate Feat as a bonus feat at 1st level. You must choose the Wizard class for the purposes of this feat.
Dwarf
Use the Dwarf racial traits (choosing your subrace as normal). Your class is Fighter (Champion). You gain the Heavy Armor Master feat as a bonus feat at 1st level.
Halfling
Use the halfling racial traits (choosing your subrace as normal). Your class is Rogue (Thief). You gain the Observant feat as a bonus feat at 1st level.
Human
Use the default human racial traits. Unlike other races, you may choose your class from the following choices. Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, or Wizard. You can choose your subclass with the exception of the Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster. You do not gain a bonus feat at first level.
Multiclassing & Feats
You cannot multiclass under this system. With the exception of the above feats, feats may (or may not) be available in your campaign.
ADVANCED BECMI
This optional system is a more advanced adaptation of the BECMI rules for use with all races and classes in the 5E PHB. Use whichever system you prefer.
Character Creation
The following rules replace those in Chapter 2 (Races) and Chapter 3 (Classes) in the players handbook.
Choosing a Race
You can play any race in the 5E PHB.
Choosing a Class
All characters (regardless of race) may choose the Cleric (life), Fighter (Champion), Rogue (Thief), or Wizard (any). Your race may grant you additional options for class, or subclass in addition to the above. You cannot multiclass under this system.
Elf
Use the elven racial traits (choosing a subrace as normal). When choosing your class, you may instead choose one of the following: Bard (Lore), Cleric (Knowledge or Nature), Fighter (Eldritch Knight), Ranger (Hunter), Rogue (Arcane Trickster), or Warlock (Archfey). You gain one of the following bonus feats at 1st level: Alert, Keen Mind, Lightly Armored, Magical Initiate (Wizard only), Observant, Ritual Caster, Sharpshooter, Spell Sniper (Wizard only), or War Caster.
Dwarf
Use the dwarven racial traits (choosing a subrace as normal). When choosing your class, you may instead choose one of the following: Barbarian (Berserker), Cleric (Knowledge or War), or Fighter (Battle Master). You gain one of the following bonus feats at 1st level: Charger, Heavy Armor Master, Medium Armor Master, Savage Attacker, Sentinel, Shield Master, or Tough.
Halfling
Use the halfling racial traits (choosing a subrace as normal). When choosing your class, you may instaed choose one of the following: Bard (Lore), Cleric (Knowledge, Trickery), Fighter (Battle Master), Monk (Shadow), or Rogue (any). You gain one of the following bonus feats at 1st level: Alert, Athlete, Defensive Duelist, Dual Wielder, Dungeon Delver, Lucky, Mobile, Observant, or Skulker
Human
Use the human racial traits. You may choose the variant human. When choosing your class, you may select any class and subclass of your choice, with the exception of the following: Fighter (Eldritch Knight), Rogue (Arcane Trickster), or Sorcerer (Dragon). You do not gain a bonus feat at 1st level unless you choose the variant racial option.
Dragonborn
Use the dragonborn racial traits. When choosing your class, you may instead choose one of the following: Cleric (Knowledge, Tempest, or War), Fighter (any), Rogue (Arcane Trickster), or Sorcerer (any). You gain one of the following bonus feats at 1st level: Durable, Elemental Adept, Magic Initiate (Sorcerer only), or Resilient.
Gnome
Use the gnome racial traits (choosing a subrace as normal). When choosing your class, you may instead choose one of the following: Bard (lore), Cleric (Knowledge, Nature), Druid (Land), Rogue (Arcane Trickster), Sorcerer (Wild), or Warlock (Archfey). You gain one of the following bonus feats at 1st level: Keen Mind, Linguist, Lucky, Magic Initiate (Wizard or Sorcerer), Ritual Caster, or War Caster.
Half-Elf
Use the half-elf racial traits. When choosing your class, you may instead choose one of the following: Bard (Lore), Cleric (any), Fighter (any), Ranger (Hunter), Rogue (any), or Warlock (Archfey). You gain one of the following bonus feats at 1st level: Alert, Actor, Keen Mind, Lightly Armored, Linguist, Magical Initiate (Wizard or Cleric only), Observant, or Skilled.
Half-Orc
Use the half-orc racial traits. When choosing your class, you may instead choose one of the following: Barbarian (any), Bard (Valor), Cleric (Tempest, War), Druid (any), Fighter (Battle Master), Paladin (Vengeance), or Rogue (Assassin). You gain one of the following bonus feats at 1st level: Athlete, Charger, Great Weapon Master, Mage Slayer, Savage Attacker, or Tavern Brawler.
Tiefling
Use the tiefling racial traits. When choosing your class, you may instead choose one of the following: Cleric (Knowledge, Trickery), Fighter (Eldritch Knight), Rogue (Arcane Trickster), or Warlock (Infernal). You gain one of the following bonus feats at 1st level: Elemental Adept, Mage Slayer, Magic Initiate (Sorcerer or Warlock), Resilient, Ritual Caster, Spell Sniper (Sorcerer or Warlock), or War Caster.
Awesome, Kalani. We'll definately get some use out of these guidelines.
As DM, I plan to eventually revisit a BECM homebrew we played recently. We called it Gauntlets & Cauldrons 
. The setting was actually 'stitched' together from old BECM modules, purposely left rough around the edges. I orginally intended to use D&D Next but to get the games up and running quickly, we decided to go with BECM rules instead (Labyrinth Lord retroclone more precisely). [I don't bring my original booklets to the table anymore ]
Prolly stick with D&D Basic and expand as we go. I have a ton of 2e stuff and I plan to convert a lot to D&D Next (get off the shelf and get some use out of it again). Very excited about this, actually.
What does BECMI stand for? I've wondered since the day I first heard it.
Basic
Expert
Companion
Master
Immortal
The five boxed sets that made up 'Basic' D&D. The red box was apparently quite a successful product. The 4e D&D Essentials Starter Set had a modern take on the original Elmore cover art. In my opinion, even the 5e Starter Set makes a nod.
Basic was a different set of rules than the Advanced hardcover books.
Wow, this really takes me back.
Why all the bonus feats for everyone but humans though? Isn't that a little unbalancing in disfavor of humans?
souldoubt wrote:
Humans have increased class choices. Everything comes at a cost. Versatility has its price. Humans have several options unavailable to the other races.
I was trying to keep it simple. I will provide an alternative option for the human which gains bonus feats based on class choice. I am afk at the moment (on cell) so have yet to finish the write up and all variant options.
The races in BECMI also had slower advancement tables. I may grant a 10-20% xp bonus to humans to reflect this. I think that is the easier option than creating new xp tables.
Cool stuff.
I would also consider using the blade pact warlock with fey patron for the elf. Perhaps as an 'Advanced' option.
Interesting and I had a similar thought. Seems to be advanced starter set D&D. I would not give the Demihumans the bonu feats though unless the humans get a bonus feat getting to chose from a small handful of them. I have been mining BECMI heavily lately and my 1st 5E campaign is a hex crawl based on Nights Dark Terror even using Threshold.
BECMi is probably the best designed D&D with maybe the exception of 5E. Not my favorite D&D as such but very well done.
BECMI was the edition I was introduced to D&D with by family and friends. I have SUCH fond memories of it and even now have a campaign going with those books. 
BECMI = <3
The new 5th edition reminds me of BECMI so very much, but with extra "goodies" thrown in, so I am just as in love with it as I am with BECMI. 
Thanks for your hard work on this Kalani and I will definitely be following this thread!
I won't be using any of it because I, like Akeisha, am already getting that nostalgic BECMI feel from the standard 5th edition rules, but I wanted to say that I am glad to see someone putting in the work to try and fine-tune that classic D&D feel with the new rules.
I started with AD&D 2nd edition, but actually found that I liked BECMI even more when running across it a few years later (since my first exposure to the concept of D&D was actually the arcade game Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom, which was a BECM-based game).
I have no problem putting in the work for those that want a 5E system that is tailored more to their preferred edition. I personally doubt I will use any of these rules myself. I am doing this work exclusively for the benefit of the gaming community at large, with an intent of capturing the true essence of the ruleset and adapting it to 5E mechanics.
I will be completing this ruleset adaptation later today, updating the Half-Orc and Tiefling, and also making revisions as needed.
Hey,this is good stuff here o.p. I also already feel that 5e is very Basic at it's core, I enjoyed BECMI, it was my first experience with the game in the 1980's. As my favorite version from TSR was AD&D I'll be running 5e raw. I will be watching your thread as it is definately an old school and worthwhile approach to the new edition. 
Completed. Human traits have been revised granting them the most flexibility in terms of class and subclass, with very few restrictions (archetypical gish builds).
For me the greatest strength of BECMI (my favorite old edition) is the sense of progression. When you level up you don't just get cool new powers, you become lords and guildmasters and such. With domain management rules rumored in the DMG, I'll be able to bring that element into my 5e games.
Kalani wrote:
The_White_Sorcerer wrote: