[BigTim]

I and a team of folks spent quite a number of months trying to come up with a D20 hit-point system that made sense and didn't grow as the character leveled.

End result is, it's not worth the effort. Changing the way hit points work breaks the entire system. The best methods I've seen to date have been Star Wars and Traveller D20.

The closest I approached was to base a system on the size of the creature. Bigger meant tougher. Taking magic out of the picture this system worked flawlessly. Throwing magic back into the mix broke it to the point of having to go and re-class every spell for new damage.

My conclusion was that if I was going to muck with the core elements of the game mechanics to that degree it’s easier to just make one up from scratch.

I use guns in all my campaigns. They’re black-powder weapons (flintlocks). I also use gunpowder grenades.

The way I “fixed” the system so it was a bit more brutal was to just add some variance into how the existing system works.

First is to use DR instead of AC for armor. Guns ignored armor.

Second is if the to hit roll is within the threat range then it’s a critical. A natural 20 gets another roll. If the next roll is a miss then there’s no change. If it’s a hit then it’s maximum crit damage. If it’s within the thread range then it’s double maximum crit damage. If it’s a natural 20 it’s death.

This made for some very brutal combats.

[Thorp Thornbutt]

BigTim, on May 7 2007, 02:11 PM, said:

I and a team of folks spent quite a number of months trying to come up with a D20 hit-point system that made sense and didn't grow as the character leveled.

End result is, it's not worth the effort. Changing the way hit points work breaks the entire system. The best methods I've seen to date have been Star Wars and Traveller D20.

The closest I approached was to base a system on the size of the creature. Bigger meant tougher. Taking magic out of the picture this system worked flawlessly. Throwing magic back into the mix broke it to the point of having to go and re-class every spell for new damage.

My conclusion was that if I was going to muck with the core elements of the game mechanics to that degree it’s easier to just make one up from scratch.

I use guns in all my campaigns. They’re black-powder weapons (flintlocks). I also use gunpowder grenades.

The way I “fixed” the system so it was a bit more brutal was to just add some variance into how the existing system works.

First is to use DR instead of AC for armor. Guns ignored armor.

Second is if the to hit roll is within the threat range then it’s a critical. A natural 20 gets another roll. If the next roll is a miss then there’s no change. If it’s a hit then it’s maximum crit damage. If it’s within the thread range then it’s double maximum crit damage. If it’s a natural 20 it’s death.

This made for some very brutal combats.

gr8 i make it tripple crit death so that way there is a 1 in 60 chance to instantly kill rather than a 1 in 40 chance

[BrotherMouran]

BigTim, on May 7 2007, 05:11 PM, said:

I and a team of folks spent quite a number of months trying to come up with a D20 hit-point system that made sense and didn't grow as the character leveled.

End result is, it's not worth the effort. Changing the way hit points work breaks the entire system. The best methods I've seen to date have been Star Wars and Traveller D20.

The closest I approached was to base a system on the size of the creature. Bigger meant tougher. Taking magic out of the picture this system worked flawlessly. Throwing magic back into the mix broke it to the point of having to go and re-class every spell for new damage.

My conclusion was that if I was going to muck with the core elements of the game mechanics to that degree it’s easier to just make one up from scratch.

I use guns in all my campaigns. They’re black-powder weapons (flintlocks). I also use gunpowder grenades.

The way I “fixed” the system so it was a bit more brutal was to just add some variance into how the existing system works.

First is to use DR instead of AC for armor. Guns ignored armor.

Second is if the to hit roll is within the threat range then it’s a critical. A natural 20 gets another roll. If the next roll is a miss then there’s no change. If it’s a hit then it’s maximum crit damage. If it’s within the thread range then it’s double maximum crit damage. If it’s a natural 20 it’s death.

This made for some very brutal combats.

I see several flaws with the system you are suggesting, as well. First off, by not using AC you disregard the benefits of a higher dexterity; the agility to make yourself a more difficult target really need to be included. There's also the fact that, since you are dealing with black powder weapons, you're dealing with (relatively speaking) a slower projectile - several armor types are still going to be effective in mitigating the damage from a firearm. While chainmail would be mostly useless, a round may or may not penetrate a plate armor type... there's even certain types of leather armor that would be particularly good at dealing with a firearm projectile.

You are correct that your system is more brutal, but it has the downside of turning firearms into an unbalancing monster that breaks the system more than it currently is.