PhoenixPhyre
2020-10-10, 09:16 PM
13th Age has a concept called the Escalation die: for every round after the first in a combat, the value increases by 1, increasing your attack bonus by 1. Certain abilities either can't be used below a certain escalation die size or get more powerful/cheaper as the escalation die value increases.
The mechanical design of this won't work in 5e directly (bounded accuracy says hah!), and the very different rest/resource structures make doing it on a per-fight basis a bit useless.
So here's a mechanic I came up with taking inspiration from the escalation die. It's a WIP, let me know if something doesn't makes sense or would be broken.
Intent: To encourage parties to keep pushing forward, take risks and delay long rests by giving them a pool of resources that increases as they do so.
Gaining Momentum Dice
A momentum dice (initially a d4) is added to the common pool after every round in which any of the following happens (no more than one per round):
A party member takes damage of at least one hit die in size (so 6 damage for a wizard or 12 for a barbarian).
A party member downs an opponent.
A party member uses a significant rest-based resource such as a spell slot, rage, etc.
A party member fails on a saving throw against a hostile effect.
The maximum number of dice in the pool is equal to the number of party members. If a die could not be added because the pool was full, instead upgrade one of the smallest existing dice by one size (d4->d6->d8->d10->d12).
Spending Momentum Dice
The most basic use of momentum dice is to add to damage rolls. At any time, a player may remove a die of their choice from the pool and roll it, adding the value to the result of a damage roll.
Other uses:
A player may withdraw half of the dice in the pool (minimum 2 dice spent) to recover a short-rest resource. No spell slots above level 5 can be restored this way.
A player may withdraw two of the largest dice to get up from 0 hit points with 1 hit point as if they had rolled a 20 on their death saving throw.
A player may withdraw two of the largest dice to reroll an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw (effectively a Lucky point).
A player may withdraw all of the dice (minimum 4 dice spent) to recover a long rest resource. No spell slots above level 5 can be restored this way.
Note: the numbers are WIP at this point.
Resetting Momentum Dice
When you complete a long rest, your momentum dice reset. In tier 1, you lose all momentum dice that remain. In tier 2, you can keep one of the leftovers, but it resets to d4 if it was larger. In tier 3, you can keep one of the leftovers, resetting it to d6 if it was larger. In tier 4, you can keep up to two dice, resetting to d6.
The mechanical design of this won't work in 5e directly (bounded accuracy says hah!), and the very different rest/resource structures make doing it on a per-fight basis a bit useless.
So here's a mechanic I came up with taking inspiration from the escalation die. It's a WIP, let me know if something doesn't makes sense or would be broken.
Intent: To encourage parties to keep pushing forward, take risks and delay long rests by giving them a pool of resources that increases as they do so.
Gaining Momentum Dice
A momentum dice (initially a d4) is added to the common pool after every round in which any of the following happens (no more than one per round):
A party member takes damage of at least one hit die in size (so 6 damage for a wizard or 12 for a barbarian).
A party member downs an opponent.
A party member uses a significant rest-based resource such as a spell slot, rage, etc.
A party member fails on a saving throw against a hostile effect.
The maximum number of dice in the pool is equal to the number of party members. If a die could not be added because the pool was full, instead upgrade one of the smallest existing dice by one size (d4->d6->d8->d10->d12).
Spending Momentum Dice
The most basic use of momentum dice is to add to damage rolls. At any time, a player may remove a die of their choice from the pool and roll it, adding the value to the result of a damage roll.
Other uses:
A player may withdraw half of the dice in the pool (minimum 2 dice spent) to recover a short-rest resource. No spell slots above level 5 can be restored this way.
A player may withdraw two of the largest dice to get up from 0 hit points with 1 hit point as if they had rolled a 20 on their death saving throw.
A player may withdraw two of the largest dice to reroll an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw (effectively a Lucky point).
A player may withdraw all of the dice (minimum 4 dice spent) to recover a long rest resource. No spell slots above level 5 can be restored this way.
Note: the numbers are WIP at this point.
Resetting Momentum Dice
When you complete a long rest, your momentum dice reset. In tier 1, you lose all momentum dice that remain. In tier 2, you can keep one of the leftovers, but it resets to d4 if it was larger. In tier 3, you can keep one of the leftovers, resetting it to d6 if it was larger. In tier 4, you can keep up to two dice, resetting to d6.