SkipSandwich
2015-09-28, 10:48 AM
Hey all,
I was doing some pondering recently about combat and how the number of dice required to resolve a round's actions keeps multiplying as level increases and thought up the following mechanic to streamline things.
Degree-of-Success
TL;DR
Attacks resolved as a single opposed d20 roll with degree of success determining # of hits.
Full Description
Under this rule set, when a character wants to attack another character, they roll a single d20 + BAB + usual modifiers which is opposed by the opponent's Dodge (d20 + BAB + Dex + Armor + misc bonuses) or Parry (d20 + BAB + Str + Shield + Armor + misc bonuses, vs. melee only w/o a worn shield or feat investment). If the attack succeeds, they score 1 'hit' which deals damage as normal, for every 5 points by which the attacker beats the defenders defense roll, they score 1 additional hit. To resolve the final damage, multiply the result of the first hit by the total number of hits. When you take a full-attack action you apply double your BAB to the attack roll, when you take the full-defense action you apply double your BAB to defense rolls until your next turn.
Critical Hits and Perfect Defense
When your d20 roll while attacking is equal to or greater then your weapon's critical range, you score bonus hits equal to the weapon's critical multiplier -1 (so a x2 multiplier scores 1 bonus hit on a critical, +2 hits for x3 and +3 hits for x4). When defending, the same result is called a Perfect Dodge or Parry and has the effect of reducing the opponent's # of hits by (critical multiplier -1), if this reduces the opponent's hits to zero the attack misses. Dodge defense uses the critical/multipliers of your unarmed strike unless otherwise noted, while parry defense uses the statistics of your equipped weapon or shield. Shields gain a bonus to critical threat and multiplier when used to parry, as shown below;
Buckler: 19-20/x2 on parry
Light Shield: 19-20/x3 on parry
Heavy Shield: 18-20/x3 on parry
Tower Shield: 18-20/x4 on parry
Changed Feats
Dodge
Benefit: Double your Perfect Dodge Rate (20 becomes 19-20, 19-20 becomes 17-20, 18-20 becomes 15-20), this stacks with effects that modify the critical threat range of your unarmed strikes.
Weapon Finesse
Benefit: As normal, plus the following; When wielding an appropriate weapon, light shield or buckler, you apply your dex modifier to parry defense instead of str.
This is still a work in progress, so feedback is appreciated!
I was doing some pondering recently about combat and how the number of dice required to resolve a round's actions keeps multiplying as level increases and thought up the following mechanic to streamline things.
Degree-of-Success
TL;DR
Attacks resolved as a single opposed d20 roll with degree of success determining # of hits.
Full Description
Under this rule set, when a character wants to attack another character, they roll a single d20 + BAB + usual modifiers which is opposed by the opponent's Dodge (d20 + BAB + Dex + Armor + misc bonuses) or Parry (d20 + BAB + Str + Shield + Armor + misc bonuses, vs. melee only w/o a worn shield or feat investment). If the attack succeeds, they score 1 'hit' which deals damage as normal, for every 5 points by which the attacker beats the defenders defense roll, they score 1 additional hit. To resolve the final damage, multiply the result of the first hit by the total number of hits. When you take a full-attack action you apply double your BAB to the attack roll, when you take the full-defense action you apply double your BAB to defense rolls until your next turn.
Critical Hits and Perfect Defense
When your d20 roll while attacking is equal to or greater then your weapon's critical range, you score bonus hits equal to the weapon's critical multiplier -1 (so a x2 multiplier scores 1 bonus hit on a critical, +2 hits for x3 and +3 hits for x4). When defending, the same result is called a Perfect Dodge or Parry and has the effect of reducing the opponent's # of hits by (critical multiplier -1), if this reduces the opponent's hits to zero the attack misses. Dodge defense uses the critical/multipliers of your unarmed strike unless otherwise noted, while parry defense uses the statistics of your equipped weapon or shield. Shields gain a bonus to critical threat and multiplier when used to parry, as shown below;
Buckler: 19-20/x2 on parry
Light Shield: 19-20/x3 on parry
Heavy Shield: 18-20/x3 on parry
Tower Shield: 18-20/x4 on parry
Changed Feats
Dodge
Benefit: Double your Perfect Dodge Rate (20 becomes 19-20, 19-20 becomes 17-20, 18-20 becomes 15-20), this stacks with effects that modify the critical threat range of your unarmed strikes.
Weapon Finesse
Benefit: As normal, plus the following; When wielding an appropriate weapon, light shield or buckler, you apply your dex modifier to parry defense instead of str.
This is still a work in progress, so feedback is appreciated!