DoomHat
2012-05-22, 02:44 AM
-Doomhat's Chewy Introduction-
This is the first in a series of related Threads.
The reason I'm doing this is that I think there should be as little dividing wall between Fluff and Crunch as humanly possible.
When ‘Fluff’ has no real effect on Crunch, it’s utterly meaningless. (I hate that)
When ‘Crunch’ fails to serve, live up to, or even have Fluff, that’s recreational math. (Terrible!)
I want to play some D&D 3rd/Pathfinder, but I want more ‘Chewy’ mechanics. I want Fluff and Crunch that flow together until one is nearly indistinguishable from the other.
-I’d like you to help me come up with some. Here are the ground rules;
It’s not about what the player CAN do, it’s about what they Will do.
Strange abilities and tasty skill bonuses are not an End but a Means of rewarding players for interesting Roleplay. In other words, it’s not about just throwing fireballs. It’s about hating someone or thing so much that you’re willing to wad a reeking lump of sulfur and bat poop between your palms in order to make them explode.
Write Good rules for Good Players.
I don’t care what Twinky McPowergame might do with these rules, he’s not even invited. If anything these rules might help ease them into the concept of Roleplaying in the first place. RPG’s are a social game driven by collaboration and imagination, making the spirit of a rule clear is all that matters. We fear no lawyers here.
A Plug-in, not a Patch.
We’re not trying to ‘fix’ the game, or reinvent the wheel. Part of the fun of this project is to make D&D a more narrative focused game without removing a single word from the Player’s Guide.
Links to related Threads
[Doomhat’s Chewy D&D Mechanics]:Making Failure Fun (skill checks) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=12875387#post12875387)
________________
Some General Feats
Hopefully these will help demonstrate what I'm trying to pull. You may notice that most contain extremely Flavor heavy prerequisites and or open the door to possible quests as with some Prestige Classes.
Some of these feats have the option of being lost. Should you lose access to a feat in this way you may always replace the empty feat slot with something new through in-game training/questing.
If it turns out there's support for this out there I'll start working on stuff for specific character Classes.
-Coward-
Prerequisite: Your highest priority is your own wellbeing. You are must choose to gain the Shaken condition for the remained of any encounter in which you take damage, so long as what caused the injury remains a threat to you. You must also choose to automatically fail all Will Saves against Fear effects. If you don’t let your fears master you in this way, this Feat is Lost.
Benefit: You gain a +4 moral bonus to all Stealth checks, as well as Perception checks for noticing ambushes, Escape Artist checks to break free of a grapple, Diplomacy and Bluff checks when pleading for mercy, and attack rolls against a victim that is either prone or doesn’t know where you are.
-Daredevil-
Prerequisite: This feat can be lost. You may not also possess the Coward feat. You must have a Chaotic alignment and you must never refuse a dare or challenge (with the exception of anything that would violate you conscience if you’re Good).
Benefit: All fear effects have an opposite effect on you.
Shaken provides a +2 bonus rather than a -2 penalty,
Frightened causes you to doggedly peruse and assault the source of the fear effect until subdued,
Panicked causes you to Rage (as the spell and 1st level barbarian ability) instead.
When ‘Cowering’ you must instead take use any all available actions and gain a +2 bonus to AC rather than the normal -2 penalty.
An ally may use their Intimidation skill on an enemy’s behalf to ‘talk up’ their threat to you.
[Note: Just making the player Immune to Fear effects would probably more ‘balanced’, but it would also be boring. We are not here to do boring.]
-Enlightened Madness-
Prerequisite: The character must have been exposed to an extreme physiological trauma, chemical overdose, or head injury.
Benefit: Whenever the Confused condition is applied to you, the following exceptions apply.
When you would normally be forced to, “Do nothing but babble incoherently”, you may instead act ‘normally’ and gain a +4 moral bonus to all rolls for that round so long as you are babbling incoherently. [Note: the Player must act out said babbling in order to qualify; silly walks and inexplicable gestures may also apply]
When you would normally be forced to, “Deal 1d8 points of damage + Str modifier to self with item in hand.”, you may instead choose to throw the item in hand to a random direction, attempt to sunder it on the nearest hard surface, attempt to hide it, or attempt to eat it.
When you would normally be forced to, “Attack nearest creature”, you may choose to instead do something disquieting or bizarre to the nearest creature.
Possible examples may include; unsolicited hugs (often while laughing and or weeping), vociferous accusations of improbable crimes (intimidation check), using creature as an impromptu art canvas, fleeing from creature at top speed.
-Hateful-
Prerequisite: Non-good alignment. There are very few things in the world you have patience for, let alone love.
Benefit: You gain a +2 moral bonus when any action follows or includes an act of extraordinary disrespect or contempt.
Examples may include; a Performance check for singing a song with lyrics that viciously slander someone, an attack roll made after a swift action was used to spit on the target, sundering something of sentimental value to someone who’s there to see it.
-Pacifist-
Prerequisite: You must never intentionally inflict lethal damage on or otherwise take any action that would threaten the life of another sentient creature. You may have done so before acquiring this Feat, but doing so afterward will cause you to lose it.
Benefit: You gain a +3 moral bonus to any action intended to diffuse or halt a violent situation. This includes attack rolls and combat maneuvers against foes you intend to subdue without harm
[Note: If any ally attempts to kill an opponent you have subdued in this way you must protect them from your ‘ally’ with your life or instantly lose this feat and if applicable your Good alignment as well.].
-Heavyweight-
Prerequisite: Your bodyweight must be at least 20lbs above the default determined by the ‘Random Height and Weight Table’ at character creation. The easiest way to achieve this is through nutritional intake. Some schools of grappling that exploit this Feat have developed a number of cooking recipes to aid in this, as it is not as easy to maintain as you might think.
Adventuring burns a whole lot of calories, so expect your waistline to expand and contract over the course of your career along with the feast and famine. Investing some skill points in Craft: Cooking, or befriend someone who has, would be a wise.
Also, be warned, high bodyweight is often associated with indolence, so you suffer a -2 penalty to Intimidate checks against fools (any sentient creatures with a wisdom score of 10 or lower). There may also be some practical concerns regarding moving through tight spaces.
[Note: Though part of you, this added body weight counts against your Encumbrance, so it’s recommended that you have a high Strength score]
Benefit: Add +1 to your CMD for every 10lbs you are above your default weight (To a maximum of +10). Additionally you gain DR 2/non-Impact for every 30lbs (To a maximum of DR 6/non-Impact) .
-Serendipity-
Benefit: Whenever you fumble a roll, gain 1 luck point.
You may spend a luck point to (out of character and with DM’s approval) make some manner of happy coincidence of your choosing to occur in-game, especially if it might cause some trouble later on down the line, seem extremely plausible given the current circumstance, or at the very least greatly amuses all the other players.
Examples may include: The city guard is too busy containing an even bigger mess on the other side of town to worry about you right now. You remember seeing some moss a little ways back that could help cure this illness though there might be side effects. You discover a secret door back there for the party hide in but what sinister purpose was it there to serve?
This is the first in a series of related Threads.
The reason I'm doing this is that I think there should be as little dividing wall between Fluff and Crunch as humanly possible.
When ‘Fluff’ has no real effect on Crunch, it’s utterly meaningless. (I hate that)
When ‘Crunch’ fails to serve, live up to, or even have Fluff, that’s recreational math. (Terrible!)
I want to play some D&D 3rd/Pathfinder, but I want more ‘Chewy’ mechanics. I want Fluff and Crunch that flow together until one is nearly indistinguishable from the other.
-I’d like you to help me come up with some. Here are the ground rules;
It’s not about what the player CAN do, it’s about what they Will do.
Strange abilities and tasty skill bonuses are not an End but a Means of rewarding players for interesting Roleplay. In other words, it’s not about just throwing fireballs. It’s about hating someone or thing so much that you’re willing to wad a reeking lump of sulfur and bat poop between your palms in order to make them explode.
Write Good rules for Good Players.
I don’t care what Twinky McPowergame might do with these rules, he’s not even invited. If anything these rules might help ease them into the concept of Roleplaying in the first place. RPG’s are a social game driven by collaboration and imagination, making the spirit of a rule clear is all that matters. We fear no lawyers here.
A Plug-in, not a Patch.
We’re not trying to ‘fix’ the game, or reinvent the wheel. Part of the fun of this project is to make D&D a more narrative focused game without removing a single word from the Player’s Guide.
Links to related Threads
[Doomhat’s Chewy D&D Mechanics]:Making Failure Fun (skill checks) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=12875387#post12875387)
________________
Some General Feats
Hopefully these will help demonstrate what I'm trying to pull. You may notice that most contain extremely Flavor heavy prerequisites and or open the door to possible quests as with some Prestige Classes.
Some of these feats have the option of being lost. Should you lose access to a feat in this way you may always replace the empty feat slot with something new through in-game training/questing.
If it turns out there's support for this out there I'll start working on stuff for specific character Classes.
-Coward-
Prerequisite: Your highest priority is your own wellbeing. You are must choose to gain the Shaken condition for the remained of any encounter in which you take damage, so long as what caused the injury remains a threat to you. You must also choose to automatically fail all Will Saves against Fear effects. If you don’t let your fears master you in this way, this Feat is Lost.
Benefit: You gain a +4 moral bonus to all Stealth checks, as well as Perception checks for noticing ambushes, Escape Artist checks to break free of a grapple, Diplomacy and Bluff checks when pleading for mercy, and attack rolls against a victim that is either prone or doesn’t know where you are.
-Daredevil-
Prerequisite: This feat can be lost. You may not also possess the Coward feat. You must have a Chaotic alignment and you must never refuse a dare or challenge (with the exception of anything that would violate you conscience if you’re Good).
Benefit: All fear effects have an opposite effect on you.
Shaken provides a +2 bonus rather than a -2 penalty,
Frightened causes you to doggedly peruse and assault the source of the fear effect until subdued,
Panicked causes you to Rage (as the spell and 1st level barbarian ability) instead.
When ‘Cowering’ you must instead take use any all available actions and gain a +2 bonus to AC rather than the normal -2 penalty.
An ally may use their Intimidation skill on an enemy’s behalf to ‘talk up’ their threat to you.
[Note: Just making the player Immune to Fear effects would probably more ‘balanced’, but it would also be boring. We are not here to do boring.]
-Enlightened Madness-
Prerequisite: The character must have been exposed to an extreme physiological trauma, chemical overdose, or head injury.
Benefit: Whenever the Confused condition is applied to you, the following exceptions apply.
When you would normally be forced to, “Do nothing but babble incoherently”, you may instead act ‘normally’ and gain a +4 moral bonus to all rolls for that round so long as you are babbling incoherently. [Note: the Player must act out said babbling in order to qualify; silly walks and inexplicable gestures may also apply]
When you would normally be forced to, “Deal 1d8 points of damage + Str modifier to self with item in hand.”, you may instead choose to throw the item in hand to a random direction, attempt to sunder it on the nearest hard surface, attempt to hide it, or attempt to eat it.
When you would normally be forced to, “Attack nearest creature”, you may choose to instead do something disquieting or bizarre to the nearest creature.
Possible examples may include; unsolicited hugs (often while laughing and or weeping), vociferous accusations of improbable crimes (intimidation check), using creature as an impromptu art canvas, fleeing from creature at top speed.
-Hateful-
Prerequisite: Non-good alignment. There are very few things in the world you have patience for, let alone love.
Benefit: You gain a +2 moral bonus when any action follows or includes an act of extraordinary disrespect or contempt.
Examples may include; a Performance check for singing a song with lyrics that viciously slander someone, an attack roll made after a swift action was used to spit on the target, sundering something of sentimental value to someone who’s there to see it.
-Pacifist-
Prerequisite: You must never intentionally inflict lethal damage on or otherwise take any action that would threaten the life of another sentient creature. You may have done so before acquiring this Feat, but doing so afterward will cause you to lose it.
Benefit: You gain a +3 moral bonus to any action intended to diffuse or halt a violent situation. This includes attack rolls and combat maneuvers against foes you intend to subdue without harm
[Note: If any ally attempts to kill an opponent you have subdued in this way you must protect them from your ‘ally’ with your life or instantly lose this feat and if applicable your Good alignment as well.].
-Heavyweight-
Prerequisite: Your bodyweight must be at least 20lbs above the default determined by the ‘Random Height and Weight Table’ at character creation. The easiest way to achieve this is through nutritional intake. Some schools of grappling that exploit this Feat have developed a number of cooking recipes to aid in this, as it is not as easy to maintain as you might think.
Adventuring burns a whole lot of calories, so expect your waistline to expand and contract over the course of your career along with the feast and famine. Investing some skill points in Craft: Cooking, or befriend someone who has, would be a wise.
Also, be warned, high bodyweight is often associated with indolence, so you suffer a -2 penalty to Intimidate checks against fools (any sentient creatures with a wisdom score of 10 or lower). There may also be some practical concerns regarding moving through tight spaces.
[Note: Though part of you, this added body weight counts against your Encumbrance, so it’s recommended that you have a high Strength score]
Benefit: Add +1 to your CMD for every 10lbs you are above your default weight (To a maximum of +10). Additionally you gain DR 2/non-Impact for every 30lbs (To a maximum of DR 6/non-Impact) .
-Serendipity-
Benefit: Whenever you fumble a roll, gain 1 luck point.
You may spend a luck point to (out of character and with DM’s approval) make some manner of happy coincidence of your choosing to occur in-game, especially if it might cause some trouble later on down the line, seem extremely plausible given the current circumstance, or at the very least greatly amuses all the other players.
Examples may include: The city guard is too busy containing an even bigger mess on the other side of town to worry about you right now. You remember seeing some moss a little ways back that could help cure this illness though there might be side effects. You discover a secret door back there for the party hide in but what sinister purpose was it there to serve?