DontEatRawHagis
2017-01-05, 01:26 PM
I've worked out a simple d20 system to run a short(hopefully) game. I want to give it to a few friends, but I've been trying to focus on combat/encounter building. Minimum 3 to 5 players currently(plus 1 GM).
My main goals in creating this:
Make it feel like Power Rangers/Super Sentai
Keep it simple and fun
Have combat be fun, but not too easy or hard.
Balance towards 3 players or 5 players. 4 is not in theme.
NOTE: This is missing several elements that change how combat is played, such as getting re-rolls to Attacks and Damage for PCs and Zords(Not Yet Implimented).
Character Creation:
Characters have two modes of play. Civilian mode and Ranger mode. Character creation starts with Civilian mode and Ranger mode is just every stat(except derived) doubled. So if your Fight Stat is +3 while Civilian your Ranger mode's Fight is +6.
Stats:
Health Points
Armor Class/Target Number
Fight
Defend
Knowledge
Specialty
HP is set to 25 for Civilian and 50 for Ranger. There are items that will modify this.
Armor Class/Target Number is 10 + Defend. This is derived from Defend(In Ranger mode it uses the Defend's Ranger Mode value in place of Defend).
Fight is the generic attack stat. When you roll to hit you roll a d20 + Fight and aim to get higher than
Defend is the generic saving throw stat. When you roll to avoid being poisoned or an effect you roll a d20 + Defend.
Knowledge is the generic knowledge check stat. When you try to remember a historical or scientific fact roll a d20 + Knowledge.
Specialty is the Other stat. For example Lockpicking, Diplomacy, Intimidate, or anything that falls into a non-combat or non-knowledge category is here. Same as before this is a roll 1d20 + Specialty.
Distributing Stats:
Each player is to put 1, 2, 3, and 4 to distribute to their Fight, Defend, Knowledge, and Specialty stats.
What does this mean?
In Civilian mode the PC's will have a Stat range from +1-4. In Ranger mode this is doubled to +2-8.
For Armor Class/Target Number, PC's will have a range from 11-14 in Civilian mode and 12-18 for Ranger mode.
Combat:
The initiative system is drastically different from normal D&D. No one rolls for initiative instead its a system where PCs and the Enemies take turns during a combat round. So one PC will take an action then one of the enemies will take an action.
The PCs pick who acts each turn during a combat round, each PC can only act once per combat round. Each PC or Enemy can only take 1 attack action and 1 movement per combat round. When all players and enemies have taken a turn the combat round restarts.
Attacking and Damaging
Standard D&D attack rules. Roll a d20 + Fight and if it is equal to or above the Target's AC/Target Value the attack does damage.
Thoughts on Balancing Combat
I'm still ironing out the math. So far the average PC has about 50 HP, 15 AC, +5 Fight, and can dish out 7 points of damage per attack. So I've made it so the lowest enemy is about 15 HP, 14 AC, +4 Fight, and dishes out 7 points of damage per attack. The medium enemy is about 35 HP, 16 AC, +6 Fight, and dishes out 11 points of damage per attack.
My original thought is that 4 PC's versus 1 Medium might be a normal encounter if I give it 2 attacks instead of 1. The numbers are what I'm aiming to lock down.
This is not going to be for extended play and is supposed to be simple. Are there any tips for working with "To Hit rolls" and "To Damage rolls"? I remember a Game Design podcast mention that they found that ~50% chance to hit an enemy was to low for players to feel accomplished and that they were in favor of a ~75% to Hit. This is my first true homebrewed system so I'm in the dark about design conventions that might exist.
My main goals in creating this:
Make it feel like Power Rangers/Super Sentai
Keep it simple and fun
Have combat be fun, but not too easy or hard.
Balance towards 3 players or 5 players. 4 is not in theme.
NOTE: This is missing several elements that change how combat is played, such as getting re-rolls to Attacks and Damage for PCs and Zords(Not Yet Implimented).
Character Creation:
Characters have two modes of play. Civilian mode and Ranger mode. Character creation starts with Civilian mode and Ranger mode is just every stat(except derived) doubled. So if your Fight Stat is +3 while Civilian your Ranger mode's Fight is +6.
Stats:
Health Points
Armor Class/Target Number
Fight
Defend
Knowledge
Specialty
HP is set to 25 for Civilian and 50 for Ranger. There are items that will modify this.
Armor Class/Target Number is 10 + Defend. This is derived from Defend(In Ranger mode it uses the Defend's Ranger Mode value in place of Defend).
Fight is the generic attack stat. When you roll to hit you roll a d20 + Fight and aim to get higher than
Defend is the generic saving throw stat. When you roll to avoid being poisoned or an effect you roll a d20 + Defend.
Knowledge is the generic knowledge check stat. When you try to remember a historical or scientific fact roll a d20 + Knowledge.
Specialty is the Other stat. For example Lockpicking, Diplomacy, Intimidate, or anything that falls into a non-combat or non-knowledge category is here. Same as before this is a roll 1d20 + Specialty.
Distributing Stats:
Each player is to put 1, 2, 3, and 4 to distribute to their Fight, Defend, Knowledge, and Specialty stats.
What does this mean?
In Civilian mode the PC's will have a Stat range from +1-4. In Ranger mode this is doubled to +2-8.
For Armor Class/Target Number, PC's will have a range from 11-14 in Civilian mode and 12-18 for Ranger mode.
Combat:
The initiative system is drastically different from normal D&D. No one rolls for initiative instead its a system where PCs and the Enemies take turns during a combat round. So one PC will take an action then one of the enemies will take an action.
The PCs pick who acts each turn during a combat round, each PC can only act once per combat round. Each PC or Enemy can only take 1 attack action and 1 movement per combat round. When all players and enemies have taken a turn the combat round restarts.
Attacking and Damaging
Standard D&D attack rules. Roll a d20 + Fight and if it is equal to or above the Target's AC/Target Value the attack does damage.
Thoughts on Balancing Combat
I'm still ironing out the math. So far the average PC has about 50 HP, 15 AC, +5 Fight, and can dish out 7 points of damage per attack. So I've made it so the lowest enemy is about 15 HP, 14 AC, +4 Fight, and dishes out 7 points of damage per attack. The medium enemy is about 35 HP, 16 AC, +6 Fight, and dishes out 11 points of damage per attack.
My original thought is that 4 PC's versus 1 Medium might be a normal encounter if I give it 2 attacks instead of 1. The numbers are what I'm aiming to lock down.
This is not going to be for extended play and is supposed to be simple. Are there any tips for working with "To Hit rolls" and "To Damage rolls"? I remember a Game Design podcast mention that they found that ~50% chance to hit an enemy was to low for players to feel accomplished and that they were in favor of a ~75% to Hit. This is my first true homebrewed system so I'm in the dark about design conventions that might exist.