House rules crtique [Archive] - Wizards Community

House rules crtique [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Sinaz
07-05-05, 07:38 PM Hey all.

This is a collection of house rules for our upcoming compaign (starting tonight.)

I'd love some opinions on balance (not on preference.)

Houserule 1
Bell-curve variant:
Attack rolls and Checks are done with 2D10s.

Critical threat variant:
Result of 2 = threat to critical fumble, -10 penalty on crit roll.*
Fumble crit roll:
negative result = critical fumble,AoO**
miss = miss
hit = hit, 1/2 damage

Result of 20 = threat to critical hit, +10 bonus on crit roll.*
Hit crit roll:
miss = normal hit
hit = critical hit
natural 20 = critical hit + additional attack (rolled as a crit roll.)***

*in the case of a PC having multiple attacks per round, a crit threat of any kind on the first attack makes all subsequent attacks that round a crit roll. If the first attack does not cause a threat, then no subsequent rolls that round offer a threat whether a natural 1,1(2) or 20 is rolled or not.
**in the case of a PC having multiple attacks per round, a critical fumble negates all remaining attacks.
***this is a 'combo attack' and allows a PC to keep swinging as long as natural 20s are rolled. Each additional attack takes the typical penalty for multiple attacks in one round.

Houserule 2
Wound/clobbered variant:
25% of total HP lost in one attack, FORT check DC15+[attacker's BAB] or creature suffers a wound based on the following table.*

50% of total HP lost in one attack, FORT check DC15+[attacker's BAB] or creature suffers a wound and is clobbered.

Additionally, a succesful called shot deals a threat to wound opponent (if opponent fails FORT check DC15+[attacker's BAB].)

Piercing and slashing weapons deal a bleeding wound. Bleeding wounds tack a -1 panalty to the appropriate body part* and -1 HP damage per round until stabalized with a successful heal check.

Bludgeoning weapons deal a fracture wound. Fractures tack a -2 penalty to the appropriate body part*.

*TABLE: Body partsArea of Body Percent Penalty
to hit to hit
(uncalled) (called)
Upper Trunk 0-24 -2
=FORT saves; STR checks and skills.
Lower Trunk 25-49 -2
=REF saves; DEX checks and skills.
Arm 50-59 -4
=Attack roll; STR checks and skills.
Leg 60-69 -4
=REF saves; DEX checks and skills.
Head 70-79 -4
=All attack rolls, saves, and checks.
Hand 80-87 -6
=Attack roll; INT checks and skills involving manual skill.
Foot 88-95 -6
=REF saves; DEX checks involving nimble feet.
Eye 96,97 -10
=REF saves; Skills involving depth perception (Jump,Search,SpotTumble),Range attacks.
Ear 98,99 -10
=Listen checks; initiative checks.

Successful heal check stabalizes bleeding and sets a fracture (reducing panalty for fracture in half.) Crit on a called shot doubles the wound penalty, not the damage.

Wounds heal naturally or by heal spells. A heal spell targeted at a wounded body part restores the appropriate hitpoints, and heals all wounds on that body part. Each wounded body part recovers one point against the wound penalties each day of natural healing.
weasel fierce
07-06-05, 01:32 AM I dont really like critical / location systems for D&D, as I think its too abstract a system to make sense, but your rules look like they'd work pretty well, and make the game more interesting.

The 2D10 roll is perfect though. Good addition
shiffd
07-06-05, 04:58 AM I like the bell curve. How about 5d4? Then you get real radical. Problem is that your lowest is 4. Got some pennies laying around...10d2. I'm not making fun, actually the prob with more than 2 die is all the adding. Well 3 is okay but don't divide into 20 so well.

Anyway 2d10 is the perfect roll. I like that rule. Makes combat a lot less unpredictable ,thus providing balance in realism for results. Works good for a high grit system & short encounters.

I would go for 2d12. I just like the 12 die. Not that 2d12 makes sense.
Sinaz
07-06-05, 04:06 PM Well, our first session is over...

besides me running an encounter that didn't go quite as I had envisioned, the house rules work quite well.

In combat, the damage system was gnarly. A monk broke a guys arm knocking him unconscious from the pain. The monk also narrowly FORT saved against a bleeding wound.

It turns out I was adjucating the area specific damage based on how we describe the fight... so a lot of it goes towards the upper trunk or arms. The broken arm was done as a called shot and he managed it with the incurred penalty. Very cool.

I'm still waiting for a crit to roll with the 2D10s. Haven't seen it happen yet.
srkingdavy
07-06-05, 04:37 PM with a bellcurve roll, you would need to extend the critical range for a to-hit roll.

the chances of getting a natural 20 on a d20 is .05, the chances on 1d20 is .01.

Compare:

result 1d20 1d10
1 1 1
2 0.95 1
3 0.9 0.99
4 0.85 0.97
5 0.8 0.94
6 0.75 0.9
7 0.7 0.85
8 0.65 0.79
9 0.6 0.72
10 0.55 0.64
11 0.5 0.55
12 0.45 0.45
13 0.4 0.36
14 0.35 0.28
15 0.3 0.21
16 0.25 0.15
17 0.2 0.1
18 0.15 0.06
19 0.1 0.03
20 0.05 0.01

This suggests that a crit range of 20 in d20 would be equivalent to a crit range of 18-20 in 2d10. To convert:

1d20 2d10
20 18
19 17
18 16
17 15
16 14
15 13
14 13
13 12
12 12
11 11

So I would figure the weapon's critical range using the traditional way, then use this table to determine its "modified" critical range.
Sinaz
07-06-05, 05:15 PM egad! You're totally right. I was thinking I needed to do that, but I didn't sit down and simply figure out "gah! 1:100 for a crit??"

...Ahem...

So I came up with this:

1D10 is your 'crit' die... we'll make it RED
-and-
1D10 is your 'confirm' die... we'll make it BLUE

When you roll, if your 'crit' die is a 10, then if your 'confirm' die is 6-10, then you've rolled a x1 critical threat (i.e.- a D20 crit range of 20.)

If your weapon's crit range is 19-20, then you must get either a 9 or 10 on your 'crit' die and a 6-10 on your 'confirm' die to get a crit.

With a range of 18-20, an 8-10 on your 'crit' die, 17-20 requires 7-10, etc. etc.

This locks the probability in at 5% increments.

But, evens out the summation of the two dice for results.

Additionally, you have to consider that roll of 1 on your 'crit' die and 1-5 on your 'confirm' die is a critical miss (or threat to miss, depending on how you play.)

Now, its just a matter of keeping track of crits and such, which I suppose it would behoove the player to do (at least on crit successes.)

I'll see how it goes next session!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Sinaz 07-05-05, 07:38 PM	Hey all. This is a collection of house rules for our upcoming compaign (starting tonight.) I'd love some opinions on balance (not on preference.) Houserule 1 Bell-curve variant: Attack rolls and Checks are done with 2D10s. Critical threat variant: Result of 2 = threat to critical fumble, -10 penalty on crit roll.* Fumble crit roll: negative result = critical fumble,AoO** miss = miss hit = hit, 1/2 damage Result of 20 = threat to critical hit, +10 bonus on crit roll.* Hit crit roll: miss = normal hit hit = critical hit natural 20 = critical hit + additional attack (rolled as a crit roll.)*** in the case of a PC having multiple attacks per round, a crit threat of any kind on the first attack makes all subsequent attacks that round a crit roll. If the first attack does not cause a threat, then no subsequent rolls that round offer a threat whether a natural 1,1(2) or 20 is rolled or not. in the case of a PC having multiple attacks per round, a critical fumble negates all remaining attacks. *this is a 'combo attack' and allows a PC to keep swinging as long as natural 20s are rolled. Each additional attack takes the typical penalty for multiple attacks in one round. Houserule 2 Wound/clobbered variant: 25% of total HP lost in one attack, FORT check DC15+[attacker's BAB] or creature suffers a wound based on the following table. 50% of total HP lost in one attack, FORT check DC15+[attacker's BAB] or creature suffers a wound and is clobbered. Additionally, a succesful called shot deals a threat to wound opponent (if opponent fails FORT check DC15+[attacker's BAB].) Piercing and slashing weapons deal a bleeding wound. Bleeding wounds tack a -1 panalty to the appropriate body part* and -1 HP damage per round until stabalized with a successful heal check. Bludgeoning weapons deal a fracture wound. Fractures tack a -2 penalty to the appropriate body part. TABLE: Body partsArea of Body Percent Penalty to hit to hit (uncalled) (called) Upper Trunk 0-24 -2 =FORT saves; STR checks and skills. Lower Trunk 25-49 -2 =REF saves; DEX checks and skills. Arm 50-59 -4 =Attack roll; STR checks and skills. Leg 60-69 -4 =REF saves; DEX checks and skills. Head 70-79 -4 =All attack rolls, saves, and checks. Hand 80-87 -6 =Attack roll; INT checks and skills involving manual skill. Foot 88-95 -6 =REF saves; DEX checks involving nimble feet. Eye 96,97 -10 =REF saves; Skills involving depth perception (Jump,Search,SpotTumble),Range attacks. Ear 98,99 -10 =Listen checks; initiative checks. Successful heal check stabalizes bleeding and sets a fracture (reducing panalty for fracture in half.) Crit on a called shot doubles the wound penalty, not the damage. Wounds heal naturally or by heal spells. A heal spell targeted at a wounded body part restores the appropriate hitpoints, and heals all wounds on that body part. Each wounded body part recovers one point against the wound penalties each day of natural healing.
weasel fierce 07-06-05, 01:32 AM	I dont really like critical / location systems for D&D, as I think its too abstract a system to make sense, but your rules look like they'd work pretty well, and make the game more interesting. The 2D10 roll is perfect though. Good addition
shiffd 07-06-05, 04:58 AM	I like the bell curve. How about 5d4? Then you get real radical. Problem is that your lowest is 4. Got some pennies laying around...10d2. I'm not making fun, actually the prob with more than 2 die is all the adding. Well 3 is okay but don't divide into 20 so well. Anyway 2d10 is the perfect roll. I like that rule. Makes combat a lot less unpredictable ,thus providing balance in realism for results. Works good for a high grit system & short encounters. I would go for 2d12. I just like the 12 die. Not that 2d12 makes sense.
Sinaz 07-06-05, 04:06 PM	Well, our first session is over... besides me running an encounter that didn't go quite as I had envisioned, the house rules work quite well. In combat, the damage system was gnarly. A monk broke a guys arm knocking him unconscious from the pain. The monk also narrowly FORT saved against a bleeding wound. It turns out I was adjucating the area specific damage based on how we describe the fight... so a lot of it goes towards the upper trunk or arms. The broken arm was done as a called shot and he managed it with the incurred penalty. Very cool. I'm still waiting for a crit to roll with the 2D10s. Haven't seen it happen yet.
srkingdavy 07-06-05, 04:37 PM	with a bellcurve roll, you would need to extend the critical range for a to-hit roll. the chances of getting a natural 20 on a d20 is .05, the chances on 1d20 is .01. Compare: result 1d20 1d10 1 1 1 2 0.95 1 3 0.9 0.99 4 0.85 0.97 5 0.8 0.94 6 0.75 0.9 7 0.7 0.85 8 0.65 0.79 9 0.6 0.72 10 0.55 0.64 11 0.5 0.55 12 0.45 0.45 13 0.4 0.36 14 0.35 0.28 15 0.3 0.21 16 0.25 0.15 17 0.2 0.1 18 0.15 0.06 19 0.1 0.03 20 0.05 0.01 This suggests that a crit range of 20 in d20 would be equivalent to a crit range of 18-20 in 2d10. To convert: 1d20 2d10 20 18 19 17 18 16 17 15 16 14 15 13 14 13 13 12 12 12 11 11 So I would figure the weapon's critical range using the traditional way, then use this table to determine its "modified" critical range.
Sinaz 07-06-05, 05:15 PM	egad! You're totally right. I was thinking I needed to do that, but I didn't sit down and simply figure out "gah! 1:100 for a crit??" ...Ahem... So I came up with this: 1D10 is your 'crit' die... we'll make it RED -and- 1D10 is your 'confirm' die... we'll make it BLUE When you roll, if your 'crit' die is a 10, then if your 'confirm' die is 6-10, then you've rolled a x1 critical threat (i.e.- a D20 crit range of 20.) If your weapon's crit range is 19-20, then you must get either a 9 or 10 on your 'crit' die and a 6-10 on your 'confirm' die to get a crit. With a range of 18-20, an 8-10 on your 'crit' die, 17-20 requires 7-10, etc. etc. This locks the probability in at 5% increments. But, evens out the summation of the two dice for results. Additionally, you have to consider that roll of 1 on your 'crit' die and 1-5 on your 'confirm' die is a critical miss (or threat to miss, depending on how you play.) Now, its just a matter of keeping track of crits and such, which I suppose it would behoove the player to do (at least on crit successes.) I'll see how it goes next session!