Ialdabaoth
2016-04-10, 04:59 AM
So, a thing I've been thinking about:
what if instead of a +2/+3/+4/+5/+6 progression of Proficiency bonus every 4 levels, your Proficiency bonus was a dice roll?
At level 1-4, your Proficiency die is 1D4.
At level 5-8, your Proficiency die is 1D6.
At level 9-12, your Proficiency die is 1D8.
At level 13-16, your Proficiency die is 1D10.
At level 17-20, your Proficiency die is 1D12.
This keeps the average bonus equivalent to the flat Proficiency bonus, but allows for the possibility of higher and lower rolls.
It also provides some intriguing possibilities:
- If you use fumble rolls, a critical failure now means a natural '1' on both your 1D20 *and* your Proficiency die, which means that critical failures are less likely to occur as you gain skill.
- A critical hit ('20' or sometimes '19') is no longer *necessarily* also the highest roll you can get, so it's possible to have hard-to-hit enemies for which a hit, if it happens it all, is guaranteed to be a crit.
- Instead of "double your Proficiency bonus", Expertise can now mean "roll two Proficiency dice and add the higher to your check". Likewise, class features which let you add half your Proficiency bonus to a check can now mean "roll two Proficiency dice and add the lower to your check"
What do you think, Sirs?
what if instead of a +2/+3/+4/+5/+6 progression of Proficiency bonus every 4 levels, your Proficiency bonus was a dice roll?
At level 1-4, your Proficiency die is 1D4.
At level 5-8, your Proficiency die is 1D6.
At level 9-12, your Proficiency die is 1D8.
At level 13-16, your Proficiency die is 1D10.
At level 17-20, your Proficiency die is 1D12.
This keeps the average bonus equivalent to the flat Proficiency bonus, but allows for the possibility of higher and lower rolls.
It also provides some intriguing possibilities:
- If you use fumble rolls, a critical failure now means a natural '1' on both your 1D20 *and* your Proficiency die, which means that critical failures are less likely to occur as you gain skill.
- A critical hit ('20' or sometimes '19') is no longer *necessarily* also the highest roll you can get, so it's possible to have hard-to-hit enemies for which a hit, if it happens it all, is guaranteed to be a crit.
- Instead of "double your Proficiency bonus", Expertise can now mean "roll two Proficiency dice and add the higher to your check". Likewise, class features which let you add half your Proficiency bonus to a check can now mean "roll two Proficiency dice and add the lower to your check"
What do you think, Sirs?