Here's a taster of some of my upcoming campaign's rule set. Tell me if anything seems a bit extreme or overdone. I'll be trying to make stuff more concise when it actually goes up, of course (for instance, Gritty Realism and Slow Natural Healing could probably be in the same spoiler.)
Attack Rolls, Attack Rolls and Saving Throws the character is proficient in will instead have a dice rolled based on the proficiency score and added d20 roll. Expertise makes that dice be rolled twice. For example, a second level Rogue who has expertise and proficiency in Sneak with a DEX of 16 will have their sneak checks rolled as 1d20 + 2d4 + 3, rather than 1d20 + 7.
Fear: When confronting threats a creature has no hope of overcoming, a Wisdom saving throw will be rolled with a DC set according to circumstance. A failed roll means becoming frightened for 1 minute, with a repeat of the saving throw at the end of each of that character's turns, which ends the effect if passed. This will be... Quite uncommon.
Horror: More than simple fright. The revulsion and anguish upon something completely contrary to normal understanding, what can and should occur, or discovering a dreadful truth. The saving throw is Charisma, and the DC is once again dependent on circumstances. Failed means short term or long-term madness that I'll decide or roll for.
Hit points aren't regained via Long Rests, a character may spend Hit Dice at the end just like a normal rest.
A short rest is 4 hours, and a long rest is 3 days.
Initiative is rolled with 3d6 rather than 1d20. The intent of this is to keep variation while making a creature's speed or readiness have more effect.
Getting knocked out in battle sets initiative to 0.
Depending on what happens, I may decide to add a lingering injury effect from the DMG. A good example of when one is likely occur is when a creature goes from Max HP to 0 in a single round or attack, or roll a 1 on a death saving throw.
When a creature suffer damage equal to half or more of their Max HP they roll a CON saving throw, and upon failing suffer an effect such as one of these.
- Drop to 0 hit points.
- Drop to 0 hit points, but stable.
- Stunned until the end of their next turn.
- Can't take reactions and has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks until the end of their next turn.
- Can't take reactions.
All planar-shifting, long distance teleportation and resurrection magic (or anything that involves communicating with the dead or so forth) is banned due to conflict with setting. If you die, you’re dead. Zombie-raising type necromancy is still allowed, of course.
This may be the thing that makes several players decide not to apply for this game. Oh well, I reckon it's worth it.
Everything will be rolled behind-the-scenes by me, and you guys won't see any of the results directly bar a few things where it's necessary (initiative and how much damage you take.)
The goal of this is similar to the goal of rolling stealth/insight/etc checks outside of the player's eyes. That is, avoiding situations like "Oops I rolled a one for stealth, better not try and be sneaky this time" and "Oh, a natural 20, whatever my insight shows up is almost certainly true."
Plus, it puts the focus where (I believe) it should be. The RP.
Creatures will die upon failing two death saving throws, rather than three. However, rolling a natural one won't count as two failures, instead counting as a single failure and causing the creature to end up with a lingering injury.
Here's probably the most major homebrew rule, and I'm inspired by Dark Heresy for this one. Each PC will start the game off with a certain number of "Fate Points." Upon making any check that you have to roll 1d20 for, you may choose to spend a Fate Point to gain advantage for that roll.
However, in accordance with the Iron Curtain, no one will know how many fate points they have, and they also serve another important function... Stopping you from dying. In the event that a PC's death is certain, a number of fate points dependent on the severity of the system will be used to save them. For example, getting shanked by a skeleton will probably only cost a single point to be spared from. Falling from orbit, or dropping into a pit of lava without protection, however... May not be quite so cheap, and in some cases may be more than what you can afford. (In which case the character will either receive major injuries if they aren't overspending by that much, or simply die as per norm if it's more than a quick loan might be able to cover.
Fate Points will be regained at times where I see fit to have you regain them. It might be because you slew the Demi-Lich by tossing his phylactery into the fires of Mt. Doom, or it might be because you won a pie eating contest. Regardless, sometimes you might get a few RP hints about the current status of your fate points."
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Topic: Re: Dungeons & Dragons / PNP games thread: COBRA!!! (Read 939460 times)