THE BASICS:
You get 6 ability scores (STR/DEX/CON/WIS/INT/CHA). You roll either 3d6 or 4d6-drop-the-lowest or 2d6+6 to generate them depending on how generous the GM is feeling. You can swap the scores round however you like once they're rolled.
These ability scores grant modifiers to other things like so: 3 -3/4-5 -2/6-7 -1/8-12 +0/13-15 +1/16-17 +2/18 and over +3.
The basic non-combat resolution system is roll under the relevant ability score on 1d20. So the GM will be like "Give me a STR check!" and your STR is 14 and you roll 1d20 and if you get a 14 or less you succeed and if you get 15 or more you fail.
Your class gives you 5 save bonuses (paralyse/poison/breath/magic/device). In situations where they are relevant you add them to the ability score you are trying to roll under. So the GM will be like "Give me a DEX check and add your breath save!" and your DEX is 11 and your breath save is +2 so if you roll 13 or less on your 1d20 roll you succeed and if you roll 14 or more you fail.
Your class also gives you a saving throw. Once per session when something happens that you really didn't want to happen, like you fail a roll or take some damage or whatever, you can make a saving throw. If you roll equal to or more than the saving throw number given by your class, then that thing didn't happen, you actually succeeded at the roll, or it just looked bad but was really a flesh wound and you don't take any damage or whatever. If you roll under your saving throw number the bad stuff happens anyway. Either way, you can't make another saving throw until next session.
Every time you level up you gain an amount of HP determined by your class. You also add your CON modifier to this amount each time.
COMBAT:
At the start of each combat the GM determines if one side has surprised the other. If so, that side gets to have one round of action before combat starts properly. If not, or after that round, initiative is rolled. The GM rolls 1d6 and a chosen player rolls 1d6. If the GM rolls higher, the NPCs get to act first. If the player rolls higher, the PCs get to act first. They then take turns.
Each round each character gets to make a move action, like moving, and a standard action, like attacking. Some actions are full-round actions, meaning they take both a move action and a standard action to do. Others, like speaking a short sentence or dropping something you're holding, are a free action, and can be done as well as your normal move action and standard action. It's possible to swap your standard action for a second move action, but not to swap your move action for a second standard action.
A normal move action would be like walking/hustling 6 spaces horizontally, going prone or standing up, or climbing 2 spaces vertically.
When you make an attack you roll 1d20 and add your to-hit bonus which is granted by your class, and either your STR modifier if it's a melee attack or your DEX modifier if it's a ranged attack. If the total is equal to or more than the target's AC you hit, otherwise you miss.
Your AC is 10 + your DEX modifier + the defence rating of your shield if you are using one + the defence rating of the best piece of armour you are wearing if any.
If you roll 20 on your attack roll before adding any modifiers you might have scored a critical hit. Make the attack roll again. If it hits the second time, you have a successful critical hit. If it misses the second time, you still hit it's just a normal hit. When rolling damage for a critical hit, roll twice and add the scores together.
Weapon damage and range vary, so a massive sword will do more damage than a little one and a master-crafted bow will have a longer range than a shit one. Damage is represented as a die type, like 1d6 or 1d10 or whatever. Melee attacks also add your STR modifier to the damage rolled. Range is expressed as a distance, like 10 spaces or 16 spaces. When making a ranged attack you have no penalty for shooting at a target up to that distance. Up to twice that distance there is a -2 penalty to your attack roll. Up to 3 times the distance the penalty is -4. Up to 4 times, -6, and so on.
When you're dealt damage, you reduce your HP by the amount you took. If you take damage that would take you past 0 HP you are injured. Roll 1d6 to determine where (1:left leg/2:right leg/3:left arm/4:right arm/5: torso/6:head) and 1d20 to determine how bad it is. Consult a table which I will make up in full at a later date: down one side will be your 1d20 roll, across the top will be the amount of damage past 0 HP you took minus the total defence rating of any armour you are wearing on the hit location. This table will tell you whether you are dead, stunned, bleeding out, delimbed, or whatever. Injuries may cause ability score damage and will need varying levels of medical attention to heal.
Unimportant NPCs, such as mob monsters like goblins or generic goons like evil cult initiates, don't get HP. Instead, if they are dealt 6 or more damage in a single hit they die outright. If they are dealt 5 or less, they get wounded which means they carry on as normal but next time they get hit, even if it only deals 1 damage, they die.
Moderately important NPCs do get HP, but if they are dealt damage past 0 HP, instead of rolling on a table and getting injured, they just die.
You can fight with two melee weapons at once as long as they're not stupidly big. Instead of an extra attack you get +1 to hit, or +2 if one of them is a dagger. To determine damage on a hit, roll for both weapons, then add together and divide by two. If both weapons are the same, just roll once like normal.
FATIGUE:
Sometimes you do stuff that's tiring, and being tired sucks when you're trying to adventure.
If you do something short term that could be tiring, like fighting or swimming or whatever, you could become fatigued if you are STR encumbered. Being STR encumbered is when you are carrying more things than your STR score. For these purposes, things that you can carry a bunch of in one hand like coins or arrows only count as 1 thing no matter how many you have.
If you do something long term that could be tiring, like marching all day or whatever, you could become fatigued if you are CON encumbered. This is exactly the same as being STR encumbered only it works off your CON score instead of your STR score.
In either case, if you are encumbered, you make a CON check. If you succeed you're fine, if you fail you either take 1d4 damage as you push yourself too far (you can never take damage below 0 HP like this. If you're on 0 HP you can't choose to take damage) or you get 1 point of fatigue penalty. For each point of fatigue penalty you have you get -1 to all attack rolls and ability checks. You can also automatically gain fatigue penalty by not sleeping or eating enough, at the GMs discretion.
MAGIC:
Coming soon. Or maybe not so soon, we'll see.
CLASSES:
Also hopefully coming soonish.
[ooc]So this is my vaguely old-school-ish DnD game. More a thought-exercise than anything that will see play, it's basically my own twist on/mash up of Lamentations of the Flame Princess, Crypts & Things and a few other bits and bobs that have flown into my head from various places and started rattling around in there. It will probably use a slightly modified version of these classes (http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/New%20Classes) and the spell list from LotFP. Skills, for Thieves/Specialists, will work the same as save bonuses, they'll just come up in different situations. Apart from Sneak Attack, obviously.[/ooc]
Some distinct similarities to 2e, I notice.
Cool stuff!
Quote from: KindlingModerately important NPCs do get HP, but if they are dealt damage past 0 HP, instead of rolling on a table and getting injured, they just die.
I totally do this when GMing Pathfinder. I encourage PCs to lavishly describe the manner they dispatch foes, and it sucks if a foe has fallen to -6 and isn't dead yet so the player can't talk about how they bashed their skull in and sent their brains flying everywhere or reached into their ribcage and plucked out their heart (if they're a Monk) or whatever crazy "finisher" they decided on. There are a few exceptions (Regenerating monsters/Fast Healing, or if there's a cleric baddie around who stands any chance of actually healing fallen monsters), though in those cases it doesn't usually interfere with description since the means of healing are magic anyway.
Quote from: KindlingYou can fight with two melee weapons at once as long as they're not stupidly big. Instead of an extra attack you get +1 to hit, or +2 if one of them is a dagger. To determine damage on a hit, roll for both weapons, then add together and divide by two. If both weapons are the same, just roll once like normal.
Some very interesting two-weapon fighting mechanics! I quite like this.
How do you handle non-combat skills i.e. craft, climb, jump, survival? Strict ability check? Proficiency system? Skill points? Attibute+level?
The idea behind this is kind of neat. I'll just nitpick the math. :grin:
Quote from: KindlingThe basic non-combat resolution system is roll under the relevant ability score on 1d20. So the GM will be like "Give me a STR check!" and your STR is 14 and you roll 1d20 and if you get a 14 or less you succeed and if you get 15 or more you fail.
If you want to keep the system consistently roll-over the whole time, this is basically the same as adding the stat to the roll and assuming everything is DC 21. (Making DC 20 the "base" would thus make everything 5% easier and make the numbers "round")
Quote from: KindlingYour class also gives you a saving throw. Once per session when something happens that you really didn't want to happen, like you fail a roll or take some damage or whatever, you can make a saving throw. If you roll equal to or more than the saving throw number given by your class, then that thing didn't happen
And this would be a good reason to. Abruptly switching to roll-over for this kind of thing is disorienting, and brings back memories of 2e in bad ways. Depending on how "narrativist" you want to get, you could make this a sort of "hero point" or something instead of making it require a roll at all.
Quote from: KindlingEvery time you level up you gain an amount of HP determined by your class.
I personally support not rolling for HP, so I'm not going to complain, but you're invoking such an oldschool feel I'm surprised you didn't.
Quote from: KindlingMelee attacks also add your STR modifier to the damage rolled.
Ranged weapons don't add a bonus? This kind of makes them crappy, but then again, this system seems to have lower damage in general-- iterative attacks don't exist so unless you're going to start adding in things like power attacking I don't see weapon damage climbing nearly as fast as in 3e or 4e.
Quote from: KindlingUnimportant NPCs, such as mob monsters like goblins or generic goons like evil cult initiates, don't get HP. Instead, if they are dealt 6 or more damage in a single hit they die outright. If they are dealt 5 or less, they get wounded which means they carry on as normal but next time they get hit, even if it only deals 1 damage, they die.
I am not a fan. First of all, if you're rolling for damage, you're losing a lot of the time and bookkeeping you were trying to save by using "minion" type guys in the first place. Secondly, for this rule specifically, it's rather insulting to the guy who tends to deal 5 HP per hit-- he's suddenly no more effective at mowing down mooks than the one who can only deal out 1 HP of damage. As such, doing it this way also makes weapon choice and damage bonuses such matter a lot less, which may or may not be what you want.
An alternative would be to set some arbitrary criteria, like "using a d8 or better weapon" or "martial weapon proficiency" or "has the 'fighter' keyword" or whatever as a criteria to one-shot mooks, and then at least you're not wasting time on a damage roll.
Quote from: KindlingTo determine damage on a hit, roll for both weapons, then add together and divide by two.
This is weird. It kind of messes up probabilities and makes it
less likely to land a big hit, as they'll skew towards the average. I can understand not wanting to double the damage, if you're trying to keep damage lower in general, but it would work better to roll twice and take the best result, or something.
Quote from: KindlingBeing STR encumbered is when you are carrying more things than your STR score.
So if my STR is 8 and the guy next to me is 12, he can't carry 13 1 lb sacks of flour but I can carry seven 50 lb blocks of salt?
Quote from: sparkletwistRanged weapons don't add a bonus?
I can't answer for Kindling, but I always figured the reasoning behind not adding a Dex modifier to damage or whatnot was because ranged weapons are intrinsically safer, i.e. if you're on a wall and there are are goblins down below with only swords, you can attack and they can't. If both ranged and melee weapons always got a modifier, there wouldn't be as much incentive to go melee unless you really increase melee weapon die types a lot.
I don't understand your first point about the roll-under mechanic.
I agree with your second point, and would probably change the saving throw to also be roll-under.
My wording was unclear with regards to HP, what I meant to say was that your class determines the specific roll you make for HP each level.
Melee attacks gain a strength bonus because your are taking an object in your hand and hitting something with it directly, using the force of your muscles. Although you do also use muscle power to operate a bow, it is less direct. DEX, in my minds, is relevant when trying to hit, not to the force with which the projectile strikes (although I understand that you could argue that a more accurate shot will strike a squishier body-part). Bows are useful despite this, because, as Steerpike says, you can stand a long way from the dude you're killing while you kill him. This makes it harder for him to kill you back.
You may be right about the mook damage rules, I will have to rethink. I still think the core concept is great, but I may have to tweak it a bit. Without factor in STR bonuses, only 1d10 and 1d12 weapons would one-hit mooks with average damage, other weapons would, on average, be two-hit-kills. Maybe just standardise along those lines? But that eliminates the fun possibility of rolling max damage with 1d6 shortsword and eviscerating a ghoul with a single attack.... and the ignominy of rolling 1 damage with your 1d12 greataxe and having the lowly knave of a bandit live to fight another round. Maybe make it 4+ to instakill mooks? That way even dagger-users have a small chance. Or something else, I dunno. I definitely want to be able to throw hordes at the party without having to track HP, but still make damage rolls fun and interesting.
The encumberence rules are meant to be fun and easy, not in any way realistic. Think of it like inventory slots in a CRPG. Also, you can carry as much shit as you want, you just get tired easier if you have low STR/CON
The alternative to rolling twice and taking the average is to have a table to determine the damage die when using two different damage die weapons dual-wield, which I have done but not on this computer. It is probably a better idea though, for the reasons you state.
Only Thieves/Specialists get skills. They put ranks into them, and when relevant add them as bonuses to their ability checks. Other classes just make straight ability checks, maybe with some situational bonuses or penalties as the GM decrees.
EDIT: Also, on ranged weapon damage - if you want a bow that does a fuckload of damage, just put into the base damage - 1d12+2 due to the epic draw strength or whatever. It's just determined entirely by the weapon, not by the weapon and the character in concert as with a melee weapon. I'd be tempted, in a game I ran, to have bows that do higher die-types of damage be more common than melee weapons with high die-types of damage anyway, but that has more to do with the setting - bow's aren't super common as battlefield weapons in most parts of the world, so when they do show up they can be pretty devastating.
Quote from: KindlingI don't understand your first point about the roll-under mechanic.
The point is that you've mixed roll-over and roll-under in the same system; there's no reason to, and it keeps things more sane and consistent if you don't. Roll-over where the "base" DC is 21 works out mathematically exactly the same as the roll-under system you've described.
Quote from: KindlingBows are useful despite this, because, as Steerpike says, you can stand a long way from the dude you're killing while you kill him. This makes it harder for him to kill you back.
I understand the reasoning, and this may actually work as long as the modifiers stay small. The problem is if the bonus starts to become the largest majority of the damage-- magic weapons, power attacking, two-handed attacks, and so forth-- and the dice rolled become far less meaningful. Then, anything that
doesn't get this bonus starts to feel a bit pathetic. I mean, in normal D&D, ranged weapons like bows still do add a Str modifier. The balance comes from the fact that it's a multi-attribute weapon, since you're using Dex to aim it, so it's likely to be lower-- but at least you still get some bonus.
Quote from: KindlingThe encumberence rules are meant to be fun and easy, not in any way realistic. Think of it like inventory slots in a CRPG.
Why even bother keeping track at all, then? Characters are encumbered if they're loaded down with heavy stuff and they aren't if they aren't. Players and the GM should generally be able to agree when someone's "loaded down," anyway.
Yeah, I can't see the bonus often being more than the average of the die roll on any weapon's damage.
And I guess because it's nice for the dude with the epic constitution score to be able to hump more gear than the others, although you're right that there are other ways of doing it... But they all seem a little more complex for the balance of book-keeping and action that I'm aiming for.
Quote from: sparkletwistI mean, in normal D&D, ranged weapons like bows still do add a Str modifier.
Only composite bows (which are priced accordingly) and thrown weapons (which have a short range) add strength damage in 3.X/Pathfinder. Regular bows, crossbows, firearms do not.
Quote from: Steerpike
Quote from: sparkletwistI mean, in normal D&D, ranged weapons like bows still do add a Str modifier.
Only composite bows (which are priced accordingly) and thrown weapons (which have a short range) add strength damage in 3.X/Pathfinder. Regular bows, crossbows, firearms do not.
Wait I can't add my Str bonus to a blunderbuss? So it doesn't matter how hard I pull the trigger? That sucks, man!
It's a blunderbuss, bro. Just swing it at his head.
Quote from: Theopteryx
It's a blunderbuss, bro. Just swing it at his head.
Yeah. That works. Seems like flinging a crossbow ought to let you add Str bonus on that, too.
I love it.
I worked out OSR d20 homage rules for myself a while ago, so I can toss together a game in 20 minutes. Some similarities, but the ideas and speed were the same.
Basically, 90% of the rules fit on 5 excel sheets.
Quote from: SteerpikeOnly composite bows (which are priced accordingly) and thrown weapons (which have a short range) add strength damage in 3.X/Pathfinder. Regular bows, crossbows, firearms do not.
Though notably, regular bows do apply a strength
penalty to damage when applicable, unlike, say, crossbows, which care not whether your strength is low or high.
I'm not sure why I know this. Carry on.
Quote from: Polycarp
Though notably, regular bows do apply a strength penalty to damage when applicable, unlike, say, crossbows, which care not whether your strength is low or high.
Unless you
throw them! Like in Robin Hood: Princes of Thieves :D
Quote from: mlYou can fight with two melee weapons at once as long as they're not stupidly big. Instead of an extra attack you get +1 to hit, or +2 if one of them is a dagger. To determine damage on a hit, roll for both weapons, then add together and divide by two. If both weapons are the same, just roll once like normal
interesting.
I actually like having a 1 handed and 2 handed value for STneeded, DXneeded, and separate damage. But this is very quick and easy.