03/14/22: Hacking d20 Fantasy Combat
13th Age has been going well, I think. This week, the players leveled up to 2nd and one of them gained their first magic item. (Hi, Kevin!) Jade Avalanche is a Chaos Mage which means a lot of fiddly dice-rolling, which the player seems to really enjoy, so I set him up with a magic item that gives him more opportunities for fiddly dice-rolling. We’ll see how it goes.
This game has really been making me think about what my own version of D&D rules would look like; you know, a Hack.
First, I think that combat is a bit boring and the d20 makes the process even worse. Most of the time, players have 30% or less chance to hit and there are no guarantees that they are going to do any significant damage. So, right off the bat, I’ve been thinking of removing To Hit rolls entirely and just having everyone roll damage. I like this because it speeds up combat and the players still have the random variable of their damage dice to keep things chaotic. I’ve seen this elsewhere (Into the Odd, I think). But it doesn’t make combat more interesting.
Out for my walk today, I had an idea for maneuvers: discrete actions that players can take in combat that give them interesting choices to make (or ignore). The basic maneuver would be:
Strike: You hit your opponent. Roll damage.
No need to roll to see if you hit, because you’re a hero. You just roll for damage and move on.
Then there are more complex maneuvers that do require that you roll to see if you succeed:
Bind: Roll Str or Dex. On an 11+ you and your opponent can’t use your weapons until the beginning of your next turn. Your opponent can attempt to disengage on 11+
Disarm: Roll Str or Dex. On a 16+ you disarm your opponent.
Disengage: Roll Dex or Int. On a 11+ you do half damage and may step away from your opponent with no penalty.
Feint: Roll Int or Cha. On a 16+ you take half damage from your opponent’s next attack and may make a free Strike on their turn.
Parry: Roll Str or Dex. On an 11+ you take no damage from your opponent’s next attack and gain +2 to Bind or Disarm on your next turn.
Push: Roll Str or Con. On an 11+ you unbalance your opponent and take half damage from their next attack. On a 16+ you knock your opponent prone. Double your next Strike damage against that opponent.
Now, obviously, none of this has been playtested. I just got back from my walk and tossed this off on the spur of the moment. I like the beginning of what I’ve got here, though.