Varaint One: Toughness Checks:
Toughness checks are alot like saving throws in that when damage is dealt. Instead of losing HP, you get worse in your physical condition..
Toughness Check||||Result.
Success|||Nothing
Fail by 1 to 6|||Injured
Fail by 7 to 9|||Bloodied
Fail by 10 or more|||Dying
Injured:
Injured simply gives you a -1 penalty to toughness checks to resist damage. But this stacks, so eventually the penalties over-ride any chance of success!
Bloodied:
A blooded character is conscience, but can only take a move or standard action. (Not both)
Dying:
When dying, you are unconscience and must make a saving throw every round.
Lower then 10: Slip one step closer to death, apply "death counters" to keep track. A PC can fail their dying check a number of times equal to their constitution modifier before dying.
10 to 19: Stay the same.
20: Use a healing surge to simply become bloodied.
Healing Surges:
Healing surges might be a bit more vital to your survival in this variant.
A: Help you not die once you're dying.
B: Remove the bloodied status.
C: Remove 1d4 of your -1 penalties to toughness.
As you can see, it makes no difference how much HP you could heal. Only how many healing surges you can abuse!
Sense regeneration is a monster ability, it's generally not a concern. And monsters should use the old HP rules, maybe having their HP lowered slightly. This would be a good way to determine which system lets creatures survive longer. And also makes for simplicity.
If regeneration were applied to this system. It would probably work something like every round the regenerating creature could make a saving throw. 10 or higher, and removes a -1 penalty on his toughness checks..
You gain a bonus to your toughness checks equal to your constitution modifier. And each class progresses differently in toughness.
15 starting HP (Like fighters and paladins): 1d3 bonus to toughness first and every sixth level. (Or +3 if you don't want your PCs forced to roll dice)
12 starting HP (like rangers and warlords): 1d2 bonus to toughness first and every sixth level. (Or +2 if you don't want your PCs forced to roll dice)
10 starting HP (like wizards) +1 bonus to toughness first and every sixth level.
Varaint Two: Gestalt:
Yeah, don't expect classes to be balanced for very long anyway.. What with all the rumored additions via players handbook 2, etc.. There's going to be just as many classes if not more then 3.5 which we were specifically promised wouldn't happen but I suppose you forgot.
But enough of my subtle ranting. Like 3.5, gestalt is taking the best of two classes. But there are some differences.
POWERS:
Choose powers from "both" class types. Let's say you're a fighter/wizard first level. You choose two at-will powers from wizard list, two at-will powers from fighter list, one encounter power from wizard, one encounter power from fighter. Etc. All-in-all you're getting an assload of powers. Unfourtanatly sense 4th edition is very much MAD. Your options might be limited if you're trying to powergame.. Moreso this is about coolness factor, and trying to combine crap for amusement.
HP/Healing Surges:
Take the class with the greater HP, as well with the more healing surges per day.
Defense bonuses:
Gain bonus classes powerup to defenses.
Trained Skills:
Take whichever class gives you more trained skills, and you can choose from any combonation of both your classes list of skills they can train in...
Multiclassing:
You cannot multiclass or prestige class. It would disrupt the curve.
Varaint Three: Sanity Points:
Sortof an alternate HP system to kill opponents faster, without all that hassle of toughness as well as incoporating a new sense of dread into the game. Sanity points can be loss a number of aways.
Pain (the more severe, the more sanity loss, "toture")
Seeing disturbing things (such as dead bodies, freakish monsters, your parents having sex)
Using powers (very unlikely, but this is especially encouraged if using magic)
Sanity can be recovered however. A healing surge can heal sanity as well as HP, and you can "split" a healing surge to heal both. The thing about sanity is that you don't gain more of it, so it's fairly limited and you have to be careful.
Your sanity is equal to your mental scores combined. That is your charisma, intelligence, and wisdom... I havn't really thought about this indepth, but here's some examples of what should blow your mind.
Dealt an excrutiating amount of pain=Damage higher then any of your physical scores. (Dexterity, Strength, Constitution)
Sanity loss=Saving throw DC up to DM. 1d4 sanity points.
Casting a ritual that goes awry.
Sanity loss=Saving throw DC up to DM. 1d6 sanity points.
Using a high level power.
Sanity loss=Saving throw DC up to DM. 1d4, 1d8, or 1d12 sanity points.
(Depending on if heroic, paragon, or epic)
Varaint Four: Recharge:
Recharge use to be exclusively for monsters, but why not it be for PCs primarly?
At will powers stay the same, they're at will. They shouldn't need to recharge.
Encounter powers have a DC to recharge equal to their level x2.
Per Day powers have a DC to recharge equal to their level x3.
What this means is, every round if you wish to recharge a power you used, you're going to have to roll a d100. You can only attempt to recharge once per round. (Unless you have a feat that helps you boost that amount) And recharging is a free action. The DC to recharge a level 28 encounter power is DC 56. That's only slightly less then half a chance. A level 29 daily power has a DC of 87. That's alot tougher.
At rest, you actually recharge less, because you're not active, the magic isn't flowing through you and your body isn't slowing down. So you only recharge at a rate of once per hour. On the other hand, rest is good for HP.
You don't have to use the system this way. You could be leniant and allow rest to equate to clean slate with powers. But I'd prefer to make PCs have to conservate their powers, rely on stratagy, and seekout and purchase potions.
4th edition PCs are practicaly deities!
Disagree. Perhaps you are not making challenging encounters?
But from the looks of your houserules, this isn't a matter of adding challange. It seems just like an attempt to twist D&D rules until they become another game.