So I like to just jump into the action when I play a game and I don't like spending hours making a character. However, the Window system, d6 games and other "easy" games have never really appealed to me as much as a simple 1d20 + modifier has. So this is just some brainstorming on playing an easy quick d20 game.
JUST ROLL WITH IT
I don't want to spend hours trying to figure out how to play a game. I just want to play the game. It's not hard, just roll with it.
THE GAME MECHANIC
Ever play a d20 game? It's like that. You have bonuses to certain actions and roll a twenty sided die and add these bonuses to the result. If the total is equal to or greater than the difficulty class (DC) you succeed. If not, you fail.
PHYSICAL STATS
DEXTERITY - accuracy, aim, attack, finesse, marksmanship, precision
DOMAIN - area, range
MOBILITY - agility, balance, grace, speed
MIGHT - damage, destruction, power, strength
RESILIENCE - endurance, durability, stamina, toughness
MENTAL STATS
AWARENESS - alertness, insight, instincts, perception, streetwise, survival
CREATION - conjuration or crafting of material objects and substances
INFLUENCE - appeal, charisma, charm, diplomacy, intimidation, leadership, presence, wealth
KNOWLEDGE - education, intellect, investigation, memory, puzzle-solving
SUBTERFUGE - deception, guile, manipulation, skullduggery, trickery
Attack with a conjuration spell: Creation + Domain determine max # of targets/size of area/range. Creation + Dexterity to hit. Creation + Might for effectiveness/damage.
COMBAT STATS
There are 4 combat stats:
- Physical Attack (PA)
- Physical Defense (PD)
- Mental Attack (MA)
- Mental Defense (MD)
These combat stats determine just about everything in combat. If you want to cast spells or use supernatural abilities you'll be making a mental attack rolls. If you want to punch someone in the face, slice a goblin in half with a sword or bust down a door, you'll be making physical attack rolls. You begin with a rank of 0 in these combat stats and 3 points to add to them. Typically no combat rank can exceed 2 + (1.5 × your lowest combat rank) rounded down.
SKILL STATS
You can make up skills based on professional titles. The attempt is to be as specific as possible. For example, "spy" or "athlete" would be too vague. You'd want to say something like "Locksmith" or "Pick-pocket" instead of "spy" and something like "acrobat" or "swimmer" instead of "athlete". If you simply can't come up with a profession for the skill you want, a GM may allow you to use a skill from a traditional d20 system (I recommend Pathfinder).
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/skills
If you want your character to have unique powers that can be helpful outside of combat such as the ability to turn into animals and run quickly or meld into stone or fly or whatever, you can acquire such abilities as skills. Whenever put against an obstacle you wish to use your power to overcome, you may use it instead of a normal skill. In some cases, such as polymorph, such a power may just boost other skills instead of being useful in themselves. In such circumstances you can assist your own normal skill check with the power skill by rolling both and adding a bonus to your skill check equal to your power rank or half your power rank (round down) depending whether the power is specific (lycanthrope) or vague (shapeshifter).
Given the nature of your power, the GM may lower or increase the DC based on circumstances. To acquire a power as a skill I recommend selecting one magic subschool or descriptor as its skill name and use that as reference to what types of spells or powers you're capable of. If the spell or power you're thinking of is not in a subschool and doesn't have descriptors, it can be selected as its own unique skill.
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic#TOC-Spell-Descriptions
The DC to pull off a spell is typically DC5 + (2.5 x spell level)
You begin with 15 points to spend on skills. Typically no skill rank can exceed 3 + your highest combat rank.
ADVANCEMENT
There's no need for levels. You just gain more combat points and skill points. Most battles grant you a handful of skill points depending on their difficulty. Usually no more than 5 are granted from any one battle. Typically combat points are rarer than skill points (1:5 ratio). Sometimes GMs may grant players direct bonuses instead of points to spend depending on the circumstances. Who knows? Have fun with it, that's the freak'n point after all. Some of your skill monkeys or power gamers may want to exchange skill points for combat points or vice versa. If a GM allows this, the conversion rate is 1 combat point = 5 skill points.
AWESOMENESS
If your player is showing a great degree of awesomeness, badassery, freak'n-sweetness or other forms of great roleplay or battle description, you can award them an awesome point. Spending an awesome point effectively means the player can roll 2d20 instead of 1d20 and take the best result. They can even do this accumulatively if they really need to kick down that door or take out that guard. However, they must declare using this before they actually roll. If they do so after their roll the cost is 2 awesome points per d20.
Alternatively they can use an awesome point to take one extra action in a round but they cannot stack that. It's often a good idea to start players off with 1 or 3 awesome points just so they can get a feel for what it's like to be awesome.
PLAYING
You play like you would any other RPG with a GM calling the shots and when they aren't sure if you're going to succeed or not they ask you to make a roll. You roll 1d20 and put it up against a DC the GM has deemed appropriate for the task. If you're trying to accomplish something complex, the GM may require you to make multiple checks and require multiple successes in order for you to accomplish the goal. Mostly this is for players to "figure things out." GMs, don't be afraid to throw bones and drop hints to players who are having a hard time deciphering what to do next. You got to make the game fun. After all, you are the master, the Game Master.
LUCK
Rolling a 20 gives you an automatic success, but only if the action you're taking was possible to begin with. Rolling a 1 is an automatic failure and you lose one of your successes in trying to overcome the obstacle. The GM can roleplay this as they see fit. Also, if you beat a DC by 10 or more you gain 2 successes instead of 1.
COMBAT
Turn order is determined by an Initiative check which is its own skill. In a PBP game initiative order is first come first serve as the saying goes.
During combat everyone takes turns and can only take one move and one standard action per turn. A standard action is any action that competes with another creature, trap or obstacle such as a combat check or opposed skill check. A move action merely moves the character around or allows them to open a door or pick up an item. Some environments may be hazardous (such as balancing on a tight rope or jumping over a chasm) and require a skill check to successfully move. Failing such a skill check normally means you don't move or only move as far as you can before the obstacle stops you. Failing by 10 or more usually has dire consequences (such as falling down the chasm) but usually isn't instantly fatal (your coat gets caught on a branch and now you're dangling over the cliff ledge). Talking doesn't count against your actions.
If you try to attack multiple people at once you must have a good explanation for being able to do so and have it approved by the GM. If you get this approved, you take an accumulative -1 penalty to all your attack rolls per person after the first you try to hit.
Making an attack has a DC and a "success" or "failure." Defeating a foe is merely based on a number of successful hits required to defeat them. What's neat about this is GMs set these DCs based on a foe's archetype and even their personality. For example, if a foe is a fearless warrior then manipulating his mind through fear or demoralization will have a high DC as will trying to stun him or shock his metabolic system. However, his pride may get in the way and charming him or surrendering and begging for mercy or bribing him may be more useful and have lower DCs. They may even allow you to overcome the foe with less checks. It's all based on the character design. This is called resistances and weaknesses which are assigned based on a character's personality and particular traits. Resistances and weaknesses range on a scale (minor ±2, major ±4, extreme ±6). Typically a character has a weakness of equal degree for every resistance they have.
Some DCs are just obstacles to get the chance to make another DC. For example, hitting a foe that dodges a lot of blows is difficult (DC15) but knocking him out once you hit may be easy if they're fragile (DC5). So you'll swing with your blade over and over, miss and miss until you finally hit against his evasive ways (DC15) and once you do you can then make a check against his toughness instead to represent how hard you hit him (DC5).
DIFFICULTY CLASSES
DC0 sometimes circumstance create crazy penalties that make things we take for granted, difficult. These are those times.
DC5 is something that any idiot could do. More like EC than DC. Am I right?
DC10 is average. Nothing difficult.
DC15 is difficult but if you're a professional this should be no problem.
DC20 is tough, even professionals have a little trouble but they get it done.
DC25 this is incredibly difficult. Professionals strive for this degree of awesomeness.
DC30 This is where professionals become worldwide masters of their art.
DC35 World masters strive to achieve this degree of awesomeness.
DC40 this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Witnessing a check like this will be a story you tell your grandchildren before they call you a crazy old person.
DEFEATING FOES
The typical "template" is that foes can be defeated in 1, 3 or 10 successful checks depending on how powerful they are. 1's are minions, cannon fodder. 3's are elites and 10's are boss fights.
GMs for the most part make generalizations about what DCs constitute an NPC, monster, trap or other obstacle but only inform the players of the obvious and whatever they figure out through roleplay and clever investigation. Combat is more about players "figuring out" what works against an enemy rather than raw stats. GMs shouldn't be too picky though, it is supposed to be fun.
GMs may even keep players on their toes by increasing a particular DC by 2 every time a successful check is used against an enemy with the same type of skill or combat rank. This forces players to try to target other aspects of an enemy instead of just beating on them with the same action over and over again. The duration of this increase should be short, perhaps just a few rounds (1d4+1 rounds for example).
Players can be defeated too. Typically, if 3 or more successful checks are made against a character in the same encounter, they are defeated. If they have allies that are nearby this usually doesn't kill them but does incapacitate them somehow. If a character is attacked or drawn into another obstacle, trap or environmental hazard while incapacitated, then that typically kills them though there may be exceptions based on circumstances. Players can attempt to remove these checks against other characters through skill checks that may be helpful instead of detrimental. A player that no longer has 3 or more successful checks against them is no longer incapacitated.
ENCOUNTER BUILDING
Each encounter should have an accumulative amount of enemies, traps and hazardous environments totaling no more skill points and combat points than between half and 1.5 times the accumulative skill points and combat points of the party. Other than that, sky's the limit on how GMs want to build encounters.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:20, Wed 07 June 2023.
