The Gaming Den

1117950199[/unixtime]]That can be done, but I'm not sure how you'd intend to adequately balance characters with different amounts of actions, I don't really even think that's possible, unless you keep the action gap very small. [br] [br][br]I think I'd like to do it such that *all* characters have ...

Murtak at [unixtime wrote:1117932391[/unixtime]]
Well, I am not sure how deadly your system is, but someone carrying over the actions of an entire turn may end ambushes pretty quick.

I'm not sure I understand why.

1117912145[/unixtime]][br] - The initiative system sounds decent enough, apart from the carrying over to the next round part. That sounds like a broken mechanic to me. What is it supposed to accomplish? If it merely represents characters waiting for their opportunity to strike it would probably be ...

Here's an idea for a combat system I've been tossing around. I'd like to know if the idea is workable, and further if it could be balanced. This is for a system that's mostly unrelated to d20 (in fact, it's a point-buy system), but based off of a similar concept. The system is designed as such in or...

1114472110[/unixtime]][br] [br]1. The method of spellcasting should be justified based on the learning cycle of a leveling system. [br][br]Oops, this is step one of where you are going off into crazy town. A level-based system makes no guarantees about learning , it is supposed to make claims about...

1114463859[/unixtime]]OK, seriously now, what the hell is this supposed to accomplish? [br][br]Alright... in terms of what I hope to accomplish, here are the principles I'm hoping to cover with this system:[br][br]1. The method of spellcasting should be justified based on the learning cycle of a le...

Alright, so I ignored Frank's pessimism with the impossibility of a system of this design and went ahead with making a few fairly large changes to the dynamics of the system. Although to appease a lower bound on a character's power, I did add a mechanism under Variant: Maintaining the Balance. I've ...

1113180485[/unixtime]]Assumption: omnipotent being has unlimited powers of creation and destruction.[br][br]Hypothetical proof:[br][br]Can an omnipotent being create a rock so big that it cannot destroy it? [br][br]I think the usual counter-argument for this type of proof is that yes, said being ca...

1112973573[/unixtime]]I would think that if you want peasants to sometimes die falling off a horse, you're going to want something similar to Frank's system, but on a bell curve (3d6 or something similar) as opposed to a d20. [br][br]Well, the wound/vitality system proposed also does fulfill this p...

Cool! Thanks. Has this been play-tested at all?

Here's the system for vitality and wound points that I was hoping to work out at the beginning of this thread. Note that this is combined with the previous discussion on Principles of Learning to include 0-level NPCs (characters that only have profession levels - they have a +0 BAB and +0 Saves). Un...

1112811279[/unixtime]]A Profession level has no value when compared to a real level. It's an entirely separate concern. If you were going to go that way, you'd want to have it be a truly separate tally altogether that didn't grant combat effective bonuses at all.[br][br]Then you just wouldn't allow...

1112788041[/unixtime]][br]I mean think about it. What takes longer? [br][br]A codified system will naturally take longer, of course. But a DM is free not to use it if it won't improve game dynamics.[br][br] The problem here is that you are thinking about "learning", which has nothing to d...

Just wanted to add something to what Frank said... The general relation for two comparable dice is:[br][br]Pr(dM>dN) = (2M-N-1)/(2*M) assuming M > N[br][br]Pr(dM>dN) = (M-1)/(2*N) assuming M < N[br][br]So for M=6, N=4 you get 7/12 as demonstrated[br][br]You'll notice that these equations are equivil...

With more random thoughts on things, I was wondering what a simple/realistic/fun hit point system would look like. Worth noting is Frank's hit point system, of course, which I do like, but was hoping to explore a bit. For D&D, I was thinking of a mechanism to generalize this to a vitality/wound ...

1112726504[/unixtime]]The problem here is that you are thinking about "learning", which has nothing to do with gaining levels.[br][br]Levels are a measure of power . They are associated with skill maximums for player characters because high proficiency with skills is a form of power that ...

1112678323[/unixtime]]Yes. Remember that both the odds and the evens are precisely half the size of Aleph Null. This should come as no surprise, since they grow at the same rate and when added together are the natural numbers. [br][br]The odds and evens actually have the same size as Aleph Null. Th...

1112711556[/unixtime]]Fixing commoner skills is fairly easy. Just give them huge skill bonuses. You don't need a system, you can just assign it, in much the same way that beholders get eye rays and dragons get breath weapons. An innate ability of a blacksmith can simply be a lot of skill bonuses, a...

1112706900[/unixtime]] 1112681064[/unixtime]][br] Problem: Hit points?[br][br] Potential solution: ? [br][br]Which hit point problem are you refering to? The "4 angry cats will probably kill pretty much any 1st level commoner" problem, or some other problem? [br][br]Mainly I was referring...

1112678141[/unixtime]] Now does this imply specialization is bad? Again, no... You've got to assume that your DM isn't going to be an adversary to some degree; but it's something you can't counter by imposing game mechanics on him. [br][br]I don't understand why this sentiment would make it somehow...

These ideas simply followed my train of thought in attempting to come to some sort of answer to the following problem of managing NPC levels:[br][br] Problem: A commoner should be able to master a particular craft, and not have to gain hit points or an attack bonus as a consequence of doing it. For ...

1112613660[/unixtime]] [br]Your assumption for diversification appears to rely explicitly under balanced circumstances; where all combats are essentially nothing more than battles where every character's abilities are still available. In any campaign with even the slightest bit of flavour, this doe...

1112466369[/unixtime]]I am actually completely unclear as to what the "gradual" effect that polymorph is inflicting here. You cast the spell and they either turn into a piggy or they don't... There's no reason for complicated new game mechanics, because nothing actually happens that's any...

1112450995[/unixtime]]More complicated sounds a bit easy for a system where you have to keep track of a damage score for every spell that has ever been or will be cast upon you. [br][br]You don't have to keep track of a damage score for each spell that has ever been cast on you at all. In fact, out...

1112350558[/unixtime]]Aycarus: What do you want your system to do? I honestly can not tell what you are trying to accomplish. So far I can only tell you that your charm example does not make sword damage stack with charming and that your polymorph spell is still all-or-nothing. Both are much more c...