User:Aarnott/Lego Bin 17

= Andrew's Campaign Rules (AKA Grimoire and Gritty) =

First off, these rules were calculated with an E8 system in mind. That is to say, they don't work well outside this system.

What is E8?
E8 is basically a system that redefines what character level means by making 8th level be considered Epic level. Under this system, characters do not gain levels after they become 8th level and instead just gain additional bonus feats as they continue to adventure.

You can see the original idea of E6 here: E6 (3.5e Sourcebook) (which uses level 6 as epic level).

Why did I choose level 8? Well, one of the main goals of this set of houserules is to keep characters on the same RNG (random number generator). That means that no character should automatically pass any die roll and no character should automatically fail. The problem with going much higher in level is that the Base Attack Bonus gap between fighters and wizards becomes extremely large. At 8th level, the gap is +4 (or 20%), at 16th it is +8 (or 40%), and at 20th it is +10 (or 50%). Base Attack Bonus is only an example too. Other values will also deviate similarly.

The problem I foresee with such a wide gap is, given a baseline somewhere in the middle, a fighter is twice as likely to succeed at attacks and a wizard is one-half as likely to succeed. The only way to balance that would be to make a fighter's attacks be one half as effective (effectiveness is a broad concept that encompasses more than damage) and a wizard's attacks twice as effective. That would be fine except that the person playing the wizard is going to find that their abilities are extremely random (having nasty effects when they work, but 3/4 of the time doing nothing). The person playing the fighter is going to find that their abilities are a little too predictable, degenerating to a "I hit him again for X damage".

At level 8, however, both low-BAB and high-BAB characters are within 10% of the baseline, which means that I don't have to worry much about either player feeling like their character is all luck, or repetitive.

What this system really boils down to is what level of variance your players are comfortable playing with. If you have players that don't mind doing the same old actions every round or, alternatively, testing their luck with uncertain doom spells, then E20 with these houserules would be great for you.

Restricting the level can also help justify the power of NPCs in a campaign setting versus the power of the heroes. If you are a level 8 hero, you have reached the pinnacle of your power, but you probably can't take on a few thousand soldiers on your own. There is just literally a cut-off of what kind of feats you can perform. And as E6 discusses, the low-mid levels are actually where heroes in fantasy literature tend to make sense. High level characters fly around, gate in massive monsters and wreck cities, and teleport all over the place in an instant. That sounds more like Dragon Ball Z than any fantasy novel I've ever read. Your mileage may vary.

Attack rolls and AC
Attack rolls and AC are greatly simplified in this system. There are no qualifiers to types of bonuses/penalties to attack rolls and AC because, for the most part, they are being removed.

An attack roll is as follows: 1d20 + BAB + Str or Dex modifier + size bonuses + tactical modifiers. Tactical modifiers are one (or more) of the following: flanking (+2), high ground (+1), opponent is flat-footed (+2, see below), touch attack (+4, see below), opponent is helpless (+4). Note that some of these things used to be an AC penalty, but are now a bonus to attack rolls. Also, some things that used to give a bonus (such as being invisible to your opponent) still give the normal bonus, but it isn't applied to attack rolls anymore, it is applied to damage (see below).

Light weapons and ranged weapons can only have Dex added to the attack roll. Two-handed weapons can only have Str added to the attack roll.

Attacks against flat-footed opponents gain a flat +2 bonus to hit (instead of removing their dex bonus to AC).

Touch attacks work differently than standard 3.5e. They let you hit more easily as before, but instead of removing different portions of AC (now that AC is simplified), they instead just let you treat your BAB as your character level + 4. They are also light weapons (so you use Dex for your ability score bonus to the attack roll).

This basic rule does away with morale bonuses, enhancement bonuses, luck bonuses, masterwork bonuses, etc. If a character would gain any bonus to their attack roll, their damage increases by 1 per point of bonuses instead. Some spells/abilities might need to be adjusted on a case by case basis (true strike should probably not add +20 damage, but bardic music should definitely add +2 damage at 1st level).

Attack roll penalties of any sort can reduce attack rolls by a maximum of 2 points, after which they instead decrease the damage dealt by the creature by 1 per point of penalties. By any sort, I mean that if it would reduce your attack roll by some amount (be it negative levels, poison damage to an ability score, etc.) it counts as a penalty for these purposes. For example, if John the 3rd level fighter has a curse on him that gives him a -6 to attack rolls and he is poisoned by a spider bite that decreased his Strength by 4 (-2 to attack rolls and damage), he instead takes -2 to attack rolls and -8 to damage (-4 from the remaining penalties from the curse and -4 from the poison).

There are no extra attacks from having a high BAB. Why not? Well, extra attacks do nothing but make damage quickly outpace your HP score. And that means combats will be shorter the higher level you get (which is kinda lame).

In addition, for every point you exceed a target's AC, you deal an extra point of damage.

AC no longer represents your ability to withstand blows, it instead represents your ability to dodge blows. A character has an AC score of 10 + BAB + size bonuses + Dex or Int modifier. Max dex of armor still applies!

There is no longer a flat-footed AC or touch AC.

This rule does away with morale bonuses, natural armor bonuses, armor bonuses, shield bonuses, etc. If a character would gain any bonus to AC (including bonuses like a monk's wisdom bonus to AC, although this is a special case, see below), they instead gain a stackable damage reduction of 1/&mdash; per 2 points of bonuses instead (round up, combining all bonuses together first). A character can also gain an additional point of damage reduction per point of BAB they have up to a maximum of their armor bonus to AC or natural armor bonus to AC, whichever is higher (not that either is actually added to AC, but you get the idea). Basically, armor counts for 1.5x the armor bonus as DR per point of BAB you have, and then counts as the normal 0.5x the armor bonus as DR for any remaining points. Note that the extra bonus from armor or natural armor uses the base armor value -- any enchantments to the armor are considered "enhancement to armor" bonuses and do not qualify for the added benefit.

In the case of adding an ability score to AC, the player can choose to swap it for Dex or Int for the actual AC value and use Dex or Int for Damage Reduction instead. For example: a monk could add her Wisdom to AC and use her Dexterity to gain additional Damage Reduction.

AC penalties can reduce your AC by a maximum of 2 points, after which they instead reduce your stackable DR by 1 per 2 points of penalties.

For example: a level 1 rogue with +1 natural armor, a buckler, and a chain shirt would have DR 3/&mdash; (+2 armor, +1/2 natural, +1/2 buckler). If that same rogue wore a breastplate and used a large shield, he would have DR 4/&mdash; (+2 1/2 armor, +1 shield, +1/2 natural). A level 1 fighter in full plate would have DR 5/&mdash; (+1 armor and BAB, +4 armor). Clear as mud?

Comparison Charts for the Curious
If you are wondering how damage translates between these two systems, here is a table to illustrate the transformation.


 * Column A represents the average damage a character will deal in the standard rules (damage range in parentheses).
 * Column B represents the average damage a character will deal with these houserules (damage range in parentheses).
 * Column C represents the average damage reduction a heavily armored monster is expected to have at the character's level.
 * Column D represents the average damage a character will deal to a heavily armored monster, after damage reduction using a these houserules (damage range in parentheses).
 * Column E represents the average damage reduction a lightly armored monster is expected to have at the character's level.
 * Column F represents the average damage a character will deal to a lightly armored monster, after damage reduction using a these houserules (damage range in parentheses).

The main trick is for the DM to find a good damage reduction value that keeps average damage approximately the same. You might be thinking, that critical hits would be crazy in this system and you are absolutely right. The system already has enough variability that critical hits are basically covered by a good roll to hit and a good roll to damage. But to keep weapons balanced, I still make use of their critical range and multiplier (see below).

Critical Hits
Whenever you roll within the critical range of a weapon, add 2x its (critical multiplier - 1) to your damage. This is a critical hit; there is no confirmation roll. You can write the new critical as a range with a damage bonus (such as 15-20/+2).

For example: a scythe normally has a critical of 20/x4. In this system, that critical is translated to 20/+6.

Hit Points
Hit points at first level are a big problem with the base rules as far as gameplay is concerned. They were designed as an improvement on a very harsh system where a fighter could actually start with 1 hitpoint. And that system was designed as an improvement on a miniatures game where you actually had several models, so one of them having 1 hitpoint and being squished like an ant probably wasn't a big deal.

If you take a look at the NPC section below, these rules work under the impression that PCs are not just some heroes, they are THE heroes. PCs are made of better stuff than regular humans. And because of that, they start with an amount of hit points that won't have them being dropped in one round by a good hit from an orc's greataxe.

Another problem with the standard rules is the fact that characters can really get screwed over with bad rolls. It is possible that one barbarian rolls eight 1s for their hitpoints and another barbarian rolls eight 12s. On average, the dice came up the same, but I can say with a great deal of certainty that one of those players is going to feel shortchanged by their d12 hit die.

At every level you gain the maximum hitpoints of your hit die (plus your Constitution modifier as normal). At first level, you gain +20 hitpoints.

For example: a level 1 barbarian with a +2 Constitution modifier would have 34 hitpoints. A level 1 wizard with a +0 Constitution modifier would have 24 hit points.

Don't worry -- monsters are also being revamped to remain a challenge to these beefed up characters.

Healing Surges
This system uses the Healing Surges and Taking Stock variant rules. This allows parties to go without a dedicated healer and also replenish hp between combats, but still have a cap on how long an adventuring day lasts.

Being brought to 0 HP
There is no more "negative HP" and no more disabled condition. If you are brought to 0 HP, you are dying. Each round you are dying roll 1d20.


 * 1-10: You get worse. If you get this result twice more, you die.
 * 11-15: No change.
 * 16-18: You stabilize. Continue rolling 1d20 on each of your following turns. On a result of 16-20 you get better (see next result).
 * 19-20: You get better! You struggle back to consciousness with 1/4 your max hitpoints.

If a monster performs a coup-de-grace on you while you are dying, you count as one stage "worse". This can bring you back to a dying state from stabilized (and it keeps track of how many times you rolled 1-10, so it might kill you outright).

Whenever you are damaged while you are dying, you are no longer stabilized, but there is otherwise no other effects.

For example, if you are at 10 hp and attack deals 15 damage to you, you are brought to 0 hp and dying. During your next round, you roll a 3, so you get 1 stage worse. You then roll a 17, so you stabilize. A gnoll during its turn performs a coup-de-grace on you, so you are dying again and considered another stage worse. On your next turn, you roll a 19 and struggle up (with a wound, see below) to fight the gnoll. If you are dropped again later in the battle, you need to roll 1-10 three times before you die again (getting better resets the counter).

Note: Certain feats like Diehard need to be modified with this system.

Wounds
The first time a character goes below 1/2 their full hitpoints, they gain a wound. Every time a character is brought to 0 hitpoints they gain a wound (yes, this means that bouncing back from 0 to 1/4 hp repeatedly will take its toll on a character). Wounds are randomly determined by the following table:

You can get any of these wounds a maximum of 2 times (except for internal bleeding which has no limit). If you roll that result again, you instead get the next one up on the list).

If you are healed with a Heal check DC 10 + the wound number (1 for fractured arm, 6 for internal bleeding), you can spend a healing surge to ignore the wound for the rest of the day (although it will still need to heal naturally).

Level Up Changes
You gain a feat at every level.

You gain +1 to two different ability scores at every even level (2, 4, 6, and 8).

At level 4 and 8, you gain a +1 bonus to every ability score.

Two weapon fighting
Fighting with two weapons is a very strong option since this system is trying to consider a single attack as the full amount of damage a character deals in a round even at higher levels (no extra attacks from BAB).

So instead of the usual -2 penalty with the feat, it is -4 with the feat (-5 if the off-hand is one-handed). Gaining the feat also allows you to attack with both weapons as part of a standard action/full round action that would normally use a single attack (which is better than the original TWF rules).

At 4th level, TWF penalties reduce by 1.

At 8th level, TWF penalties reduce by 1.

Saving Throws
Saving throws do not progress like standard 3.5e and are not used like normal. Instead they are a defense (like 4e).

They are 10 + 3/4 your character level + ability modifier. Fortitude saves allow you to add Str or Con, Reflex saves add Dex or Int, and Will saves add Wis or Cha.

If you have at least 1 level in a class that has a "good" saving throw, you gain a +1 bonus to the appropriate defense. For every 4 levels you have that improves that saving throw at a good rate, you gain an additional +1 bonus to that defense.

I am doing away with random bonuses to saves. Any other bonus you would gain to a saving throw defense instead allows you to force an opponent to reroll an attack against that defense once per day per 3 points of bonuses (round up). Track the number of rerolls you have used in a day (ie. you can't gain a +4 bonus from a spell, use 2 rerolls, dismiss the spell, cast it again and use another 2 rerolls -- the rerolls up to the "+6 worth of bonuses" are used up).

For example: John has 3 levels in rogue, and 2 levels in monk. Monk progresses all saving throws as good, so he gains at least a +1 bonus to his Fortitude, Reflex, and Will defenses. Rogue progresses reflex as good, so he has at least 4 levels progressing his Reflex defense, which gives him an additional +1 bonus to it.

Ongoing Effects
Ongoing effects can be really crappy for a player. Being blinded for a whole battle is practically the same thing as just not being there. Nobody likes sitting around watching everyone else play the game just because of a single bad die roll. Especially now that the monsters are rolling the dice for things that would normally be "save-or-lose".

Instead, I'd like to take yet another thing I think 4e did right. At the end of your turn, you may roll 1d20 for each ongoing effect you are under. On a roll of 11-20, you have broken the effect and can continue to act.

Now, you are probably thinking that this change can break roleplaying options. Maybe you want to slip poison in the noble's drink to knock him unconscious for a few hours, but not kill him. And that is totally still possible, partially because NPCs no longer share the same rules as PCs, and partially because of the following. You only get 3 chances to save against an ongoing effect and you can't make these saves if you don't have adrenaline pumping (ie. you are in a combat situation or think you might be in a combat situation at any moment).

So if you are exploring an abandoned goblin camp and a drow shoots you with a sleep arrow, you will get 3 saving throws. If you are at the local tavern and a witch, in disguise, serves you a cursed frogurt, you won't get any saves from it putting you to sleep. That way a DM can have the tools he needs to do minor plot railroads, but you also aren't getting dropped out of a session for an hour when you accidentally look a basilisk in the eye.

DCs
With the changes to saving throws to defenses and having them scale at 3/4 your character level (or your full character level for a strong save, basically), DCs will probably seem a bit low (if you wanted to do the math and figure out what they would be as an attack roll). Well, in order to make DCs work (which are now an attack roll), they instead need to scale with your character level as well.

So here is the deal. Abilities that would normally allow a saving throw now are an attack against the corresponding defense. Your bonus to that attack is equal to 3/4 your character level + 1 (technically for having 1 level in the class that grants ability, but there is no situation I can think of where you wouldn't get this bonus) + 1 per 4 levels in the class that grants this ability + your ability modifier (that would normally be used for the DC). If the DC is from a racial feature, then use your character level in place of class level.

Some interesting things that happen with this change to DCs is that gaining a single level in wizard will still be useful at 8th level because you will have a generally competitive attack roll to use against your opponent's defenses. And although your 1st level spells are useful, they won't be more powerful than a character with 8 wizard levels.

Feats are small and specific
Feats in this system are meant to be small and specific. They basically are supposed to give a small vertical increase of +1 or +2 or open up a new situational option. They don't have to make your character much stronger, but usually more versatile. And, most classes I recommend for use with these rules should be able to function just fine with poor feat choices (ie. you can't really make a bad choice of a feat because most of your power comes from your class levels instead).

Here are some examples:


 * Combat Reflexes: You gain an extra attack of opportunity each round.
 * Dodge: You gain +1 AC.
 * Greater Dodge: You gain an additional +1 AC.
 * Weapon Focus: You gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls with a chosen weapon group.
 * Weapon Specialization (Fighter Only): You gain a +1 bonus to damage rolls with a chosen weapon group per level you have.
 * Tough: You can use your Con modifier for attack rolls (in place of Str).
 * Clever: You can use your Int modifier for attack rolls (in place of Dex).
 * Intuition: You can use your Wis modifier for attack rolls (in place of Dex).
 * Passion: You can use your Cha modifier for attack rolls (in place of Str).
 * Any of the +2/+2 skill feats: The skills become class skills (they must be trained to take the feat)
 * Skill training: You gain an extra trained skill

Bull Rush
Make an attack roll using Strength against the opponent's Fortitude defense. If you succeed, you deal unarmed damage against the opponent (or the damage of your shield bash or natural weapon damage, whichever is best) and you push the opponent back 5 ft. For every 2 points you beat the opponent's Fortitude defense by, you can push them back an additional 5ft. You must move with your opponent (and cannot push farther than your movement allows, although you may spend a move action to push twice your move speed). This movement provokes attacks of opportunity at a -4 to hit.

Improved Bull Rush: If you hit your opponent, you can push them back an extra 5ft. You can also choose not to move with the opponent, but if you do, the amount you push them is halved.

Sidestep: You can use your Reflex defense in place of your Fortitude defense against bull rushes.

See Also: Overrun

Charge
As SRD rules (+2 to a single attack, -2 to AC until your next turn).

Demoralize
As a standard action, make an intimidate check against 10 + the target's HD + the target's wisdom or charisma modifier (whichever is higher) + any bonuses vs. fear the target has. You take a -4 penalty to this check against monsters immune to mind-affecting abilities. If you succeed, the target is shaken for 1 round + 1 round per 2 points you exceed the DC.

Having intimidate as a trained skill can allow you to demoralize with move actions or swift actions:


 * 1 HD: move action 1/encounter
 * 4 HD: move action 2/encounter or swift action 1/encounter
 * 8 HD: move action 3/encounter or swift action 1/encounter

Improved Demoralize: You can take a -2 to your demoralize check to target each enemy within 15 ft. of you (just compare the single check against all the creatures).

Disarm
As an attack action, make an attack roll at a -4 penalty against an opponent's Reflex defense. If your attack roll is higher, you disarm him, knocking his weapon into any adjacent square to him. You must be threatening your opponent to disarm him.

Note: You can disarm spellcasters of their implement.

Against creatures that only have natural weapons, making a successful disarm attempt gives them a -2 penalty to attack rolls with that natural weapon until they heal it.

Improved Disarm: You can make an attack roll against an opponent immediately after you disarm him.

Feint
As a move action, you can make a Diplomacy check (diplomacy replaced bluff) opposed by your opponent's Will defense. If you succeed, the target is treated as flat-footed (+2 to hit) against you until your next turn.

Improved Feint: You can feint as a swift action.

Fight Aggressively
You can take a -3 penalty to AC to gain a +2 bonus to your attack rolls until your next turn. You can declare this at any time during your turn as long as you have not attacked yet.

You can only fight aggressively or defensively once per turn. It isn't part of an attack, so you can choose to gain the bonus in anticipate of attacks of opportunity.

Combat Expertise: You take a -1 penalty to AC instead.

Fight Defensively
You can take a -3 penalty to hit with your attack rolls to gain a +2 bonus to AC until your next turn. You can declare this at any time during your turn as long as you have not attacked yet.

You can only fight aggressively or defensively once per turn. It isn't part of an attack, so you can choose to gain the bonus in anticipate of attacks of opportunity.

Combat Expertise: You take a -1 penalty to hit instead.

Grapple
As an attack action, make an attack roll against an opponent's Reflex defense. If you succeed, you both are considered grappled.

Escaping a grapple is a move action that requires either a bull rush (to push the target away) or an Escape Artist check against an attack roll made by the enemy. You can attempt to escape multiple grapples with the same move action.

Grappled: You are immobilized, and take -2 to attacks against creatures who you are not grappling. You also can only attack with light weapons.

Improved Grapple: You get a +2 bonus to your attack roll to start the grapple.

Overrun (and Underrun)
Make an attack roll using Strength against the opponent's Fortitude defense (if they attempt to block you) or Reflex defense (if they attempt to avoid). If you succeed, you deal unarmed damage against the opponent (or the damage of your shield bash or natural weapon damage, whichever is best) and you are able to move through your opponent's square. If the opponent attempted to avoid, you can automatically move through their square, but they get to make an attack of opportunity as you pass by if you fail to beat their Reflex defense. Otherwise, if the opponent opted to block, you are knocked prone if you fail to beat their Fortitude defense.

You can totally use this ability against a creature of any size (you may not be trampling the creature, but instead pushing through its legs or something).

Improved Overrun: You do not provoke an attack of opportunity and are not knocked prone with a failed overrun.

Improved Underrun: Against a creature that is larger than you, you can use your Dexterity instead of your Strength.

See Also: Bull Rush

Parry
As a readied attack roll against an opponent's attack roll, you can attempt to parry an opponent's attacks. If your attack roll beats their attack roll, the attack is parried (it has no effect). If the opponent uses multiple attacks, compare your attack roll against each of the attacks (possibly parrying all of them). If you do parry at least 1 attack, your opponent is treated as flat-footed against you for your next attack.

Improved Parry: 1/encounter, you can parry as an immediate action.

Sunder
As an attack action, make an attack roll at a -6 penalty against an opponent's Fortitude defense. If your attack roll is higher, you sunder his weapon, rendering it unusable for the remainder of combat.

Note: You can sunder a spellcaster's implement.

Against creatures that only have natural weapons, making a successful sunder attempt severs their natural weapon.

Improved Sunder: 1/encounter, you can sunder with a -3 penalty instead.

Total Defense
As a full round action, you can forgo all attacks you would gain until your next turn to gain a +6 bonus to AC until your next turn.

Trip
As an attack action, make an attack roll at a -2 penalty to hit against your opponent's Reflex defense. If you hit, you deal half damage (apply before DR), but your opponent is knocked prone.

A particularly sturdy creature (4 or more legs, or "really heavy" as defined by the DM) can use its Fortitude defense +2 instead of Reflex.

Improved Trip: Your trip attacks deal full damage.

Skills
Skill checks are much more simplified now. You have a base bonus of 3/4 your character level. Instead of gaining skill points every level, you start with a number of trained skills equal to your classes skill points per level + 2 (note: Intelligence does not factor into this calculation). Skills are either trained or untrained (they don't have ranks). At 4th and 8th levels you gain an additional trained skill.

Trained skills give you a +3 bonus on your skill check. Trained class skills give you a +5 bonus on your skill check.

Basically, a skill check is:

1d20 + 3/4 character level + ability modifier + 3 (if trained) + 2 (if trained and a class skill)

Skills kinda represent a creative side to D&D and I want that to be made all the more accessible. If some task seems related to a skill you have and I give a "Disable Device" DC, you might be able to convince me that your "Profession: Taxidermist" skill would have given you enough knowledge of this task that you could attempt it using that skill. For this reason, I have also tried to group similar skills together because you'd probably be suggesting to use them in that way anyhow.

Synergy bonuses now fall into the "creative" side of things. If two skills seem to have synergy, you can ask for a synergy bonus to a skill check. The skill you want to use as synergy must be a trained skill. A synergy bonus is a flat +2 to the skill check.

I'm doing away with any miscellaneous bonuses to skills (I might allow the odd magic item that gives a +1), so I can set some standard DCs for each level and skill rolls will remain relevant (with a chance of failure always being possible for an equal-level skill challenge). Instead of miscellaneous bonuses, for every +3 of bonuses you would have gained, you instead get a reroll of the skill 1/day. Temporary bonuses do give extra rerolls, but the number of rerolls you have used is "remembered" so you can't cast a spell, get a +3 to jump checks (1 reroll), use the reroll, dismiss the spell, cast it again, and gain a new reroll.

So, for example: A level 4 monk with a +3 dex modifier that is trained in stealth would have a +3 (level) +3 trained +2 (class) + 3 (dex) = +11 stealth check. If the same monk was sneaking past a guard rotation, perception would probably be useful to spot guards and follow their patterns, so the monk could use perception as a synergy on the stealth check (gaining another +2 if perception is a trained skill).

One major difference with skills in this system is that (for the most part) they are all active. This means that instead of the DM calling on you to make a sense motive check or diplomacy check, you tell the DM that you want to make the check. This puts the game more in control of the players than the DM. My thoughts are that a DM should be a facilitator, not a ruler. Having the DM tell you when you get to make a diplomacy check is a bad form of railroading, I think.

So what checks will I still call on you to make? Perception. Spot and listen are a reactive skills and can't work any other way. Every other skill can be used in an active context. A consequence of this is that if an NPC mentions "The Grim Statue", you might have to say "I'll use Knowledge: History to see if I recall any factoids about said Grim Statue". You might even need to interact with the NPC a little more to see if you can use other knowledge skills (maybe it is a religious statue). And I think that is a GOOD thing for the game!

Acrobatics (Dex)
Acrobatics was previously the Balance skill and Tumble skill. It represents your ability to do acrobatic things like flips, rolling, and balancing. It is pretty straightforward, and definitely useful.

To tumble by an opponent they can make their Attack of Opportunity as normal, but you can replace your AC with a tumble check (taking the new result even if it is lower). To tumble through an opponent's space, you take a -4 penalty to the check.

Athletics (Str or Con)
Athletics was previously the Climb, Jump, and Swim skills. It represents your ability to do non-acrobatic things that athletes do.

If you are trained in Athletics, you can increase your base land speed, climb speed, or swim speed by 5ft. 1/encounter per 2 HD for one round as a free action (this means you can use it multiple times in the same round).

Craft (Int or Wis, trained only)
Craft is a skill you can use to make items. You are a hero and if you spend your time learning to make stuff, you are pretty much good at making anything. And, being an adventurer, you are good at crafting without the proper tools on hand. You are the fantasy equivalent of MacGyver. Considering just how useful other skills are, this skill probably comes out as balanced too!

For each HD you gain since you have picked Craft as a trained skill, you can specialize in one of the following crafts:


 * Alchemy
 * Armorsmithing
 * Bowmaking
 * Weaponsmithing
 * Trapmaking
 * Art
 * General Woodworking (any wooden objects except weapons and armor)
 * General Blacksmithing (any metal objects except weapons and armor)
 * General Stoneworking (any stone objects except weapons and armor)
 * Construction (construction of buildings and fortifications)
 * Feel free to come up with a craft not listed here

Craft checks follow the following simple pattern for DCs:


 * 5 - Very Simple Item (wooden spoon)
 * 10 - Typical Item (iron pot)
 * 15 - High Quality Item (silver bell)
 * 20 - Complex Item (lock)
 * +2 - Craft item without the proper tools
 * +3 - Craft item using makeshift materials
 * +5 - Craft item in 1 minute per level of complexity (1 to 4)
 * +10 - Craft item in 1 round per level of complexity (1 to 4)
 * +15 - Craft item as a swift action

Crafting normally takes 30 minutes per level of complexity. The DM can obviously adjudicate exceptions (such as constructing a building).

This set of rules does away with all of the imbalance that wealth can cause, so wealth is generally a roleplaying resource rather than a resource to improve character power. As a result, it isn't a big deal if you go ahead and craft a million spoons and somehow find a buyer and sell them for a million gold. Sure, you can fund a small kingdom through the sales of spoons, but at the point that you can craft that many spoons and have the skill to sell them, it is probably fine for you to have a small empire funded by your mercantile prowess and awesome spoon creation abilities.

Diplomacy (Int or Cha)
Diplomacy covers a bit more than standard 3.5e diplomacy in that it now also functions for bluffing. A smooth talker is a smooth talker and that's what diplomacy is all about. On the other hand, it doesn't work like regular 3.5e rules in that there are no "levels of hostility" or opposed rolls when you make a check.

Generally, for social encounters, I am going to be free-forming things. So every player can participate and they don't need to worry about me calling on them to make a bluff/diplomacy check. Instead, when a player wants to retry an argument on an NPC that didn't work or maybe mislead a suspicious NPC when the player is not doing a very good job at hiding intentions, they can elect to make a diplomacy check against a DC set by the DM (this will be a fairly generic DC so focused diplomats can make use of their better odds of success). If they succeed at the check, the NPC will have their attitude changed for that single point (but that may not be enough to necessarily change their attitude for everything).

So, basically, I will never say "make a diplomacy check". Instead, you can say "I want to make a diplomacy check to push that point". Which I think is a difference that will make the game a bit more interactive and put the players in control of the game a little more.

Failure will indicate that the NPC might be less receptive to new ideas you have or some such thing. Generally, I just suggest that it would be a bad thing to try to use diplomacy after every sentence you say to a NPC. Instead, you should use it to try to push a point that you know has merit, but the NPC isn't very receptive to.

And, since a chance of failure is always possible, even a diplomancer can't go around completely controlling every social interaction. A diplomancer can certainly improve things in their favor, but they cannot always have things their way. Which is the way it should be.

Escape Artist (Dex or Int)
Escape Artist now is the skill that opposes most special attacks. You can use it in place of your Fortitude or Reflex defense against tripping, bull rushing, disarming, sundering, and grappling.

Heal (Int or Wis)
Being able to patch up wounds, apply splints, and know which mushroom will cure the poison instead of make you see rainbows and vomit is a useful ability for an adventurer.

Heal works in pretty much the same ways as it did before in that you can use it to stabilize a dying character or help characters survive the effects of poisons and diseases. It can be used in place of survival to know if something has healing properties, but not how to find it.

Heal also allows you to patch yourself (or someone else) up to struggle forward a little while longer. If you are trained in heal, you can make a heal check to restore a character's healing surges.


 * 1 HD - DC 15: You restore 1 healing surge (you can only use this if that character has not had any healing surges restored today)
 * 4 HD - DC 20: You restore 1 healing surge (you can only use this if that character has had, at most, 1 healing surge restored today)
 * 8 HD - DC 25: You restore 1 healing surge (you can only use this if that character has had, at most, 2 healing surges restored today)

You can retry as many times as you like.

Intimidate (Str or Cha)
Somewhat like the base rules, intimidate is a less used tactic in social situations I find, so demoralize is made a little better and kept as an added perk for investing in this skill.

Having intimidate as a trained skill can allow you to demoralize with move actions or swift actions:


 * 1 HD: move action 1/encounter
 * 4 HD: move action 2/encounter or swift action 1/encounter
 * 8 HD: move action 3/encounter or swift action 1/encounter

Intrigue (Cha)
Intrigue is the art of the spy (Disguise, Gather Information). Investing in this skill allows you to be good at finding out secrets as well as deceiving others by hiding your own identity.

Intrigue also covers the art of making forgeries (previously the Forgery skill), but that extends to Forgeries of art and such. It also covers deciphering coded messages (if that ever comes up in a game).

Knowledge: Arcana (Int)
This skill gives you information about everything magical (including what Spellcraft used to do).

Either this skill or Knowledge: Religion can be used for what 3.5e had as Concentration checks as well as Decipher Script checks. Basically you learn techniques for inner focus from an arcane or divine source and you learn how to interpret ancient religious or arcane texts.

This skill allows you to identify constructs, dragons, and magical beasts.

Knowledge: Dungeoneering (Int or Wis)
This skill gives you information about underground environments (including geography), but not specific survival skills like tracking and hunting (although knowing that a certain moss is edible can be useful to survival).

This skill allows you to identify aberrations, oozes, and underground animals, plants, vermin, and fey.

Knowledge: History (Int)
This skill gives you information about the history of civilized creatures. This includes humanoids, giants, and monstrous humanoids and it covers everything from local legends (previously Knowledge: Local) to the social structure of a given state (previously Knowledge: Nobility and Royalty).

This skill allows you to identify humanoids, giants, and monstrous humanoids.

Knowledge: Nature (Int or Wis)
This skill gives you information about above ground environments (including geography), but not specific survival skills like tracking and hunting (although knowing that a certain berry is edible can be useful to survival).

This skill allows you to identify above ground animals, plants, vermin, and fey.

Knowledge: Religion (Int or Wis)
This skill covers everything related to religion.

Either this skill or Knowledge: Arcana can be used for what 3.5e had as Concentration checks as well as Decipher Script checks. Basically you learn techniques for inner focus from an arcane or divine source and you learn how to interpret ancient religious or arcane texts. This skill allows you to identify undead, although a character familiar with specific deities could certainly use it to identify outsiders like Archons, Angels, Demons, and Devils.

Knowledge: The Planes (Int)
This skill covers everything related to planar cosmology. This campaign setting allows planar travel from level 1, so it could be useful even at low levels (depending on what you want your group to do).

This skill allows you to identify outsiders and elementals.

Perception (Wis)
(Listen, Search, Spot)

Profession (Int or Wis)
This skill is a catch-all skill for everything that the other skills don't cover very well. The only skills it actually replaces are the following, which were not really commonly used skills in the first place:


 * Perform (musician, actor, storyteller)
 * Handle Animal (animal tamer)

Profession works similarly to craft in that if you take profession as a trained skill, you get an extra profession every time you gain a HD. Your PC is a hero and is therefore able to master professions that other people take their whole lives learning.

Ride (Dex)
As the base rules (with adjusted DCs).

Sense Motive (Wis or Cha)
Besides opposing feints (which are now more useful), sense motive can be used in social situations to be very useful. In general, a successful check will tell a PC how the NPC feels about a particular topic. The better the success, the more information will be given about that feeling.

I won't seed false information on a failure, so PCs don't need to worry about metagaming a poor roll or mistrusting their skill check results (otherwise, what's the point in using it!).

Stealth (Dex)
(hide and move silently)

Survival (Int or Wis)
(Use Rope, Survival)

Thievery (Dex or Int)
Thievery now covers Disable Device, Open Lock, Sleight of Hand, and (some of) Search. Basically anything to do with actively finding and disabling traps and locks is covered by this skill now. Other search checks such as finding a hidden gem in a pile of dung or noticing the trip line in the hallway is covered by perception.

This skill also allows you to pickpocket like a pro.

There is no longer a "Trapfinding" class feature. If you make a good enough check, you can find and disarm the trap. Having training in this skill means you are trained in trapfinding.

Trading (Int or Cha)
Formerly Profession: Trader and Appraise, this skill represents your ability to trade stuff for other stuff. Opposed trade checks will net you better or worse deals and as you become more experienced, you are just assumed to buy stuff below a certain gp value without a price adjustment (the standard cost of items is what the item is worth if you get a good deal).

As much as diplomacy would make sense for this skill, training in trading is about negotiating exchange of goods, which is significant enough to warrant its own skill.

You also learn the values of objects with this skill (because you need to know that to trade). In that respect, this skill works just like the 3.5e Appraise skill.

Here is a list of the items you can buy and sell at standard cost without having to negotiate based on your HD:


 * 1 HD or less: Buy/Sell items 100 gp and below at standard cost.
 * 2 HD: Buy/Sell items 500 gp and below at standard cost.
 * 3 HD: Buy/Sell items 1,000 gp and below at standard cost.
 * 4 HD: Buy/Sell items 2,000 gp and below at standard cost.
 * 5 HD: Buy/Sell items 3,000 gp and below at standard cost.
 * 6 HD: Buy/Sell items 4,000 gp and below at standard cost.
 * 7 HD: Buy/Sell items 6,000 gp and below at standard cost.
 * 8 HD: Buy/Sell items 9,000 gp and below at standard cost.

A character that is untrained in trading is treated as 2 HD lower with respect to the list above.

NPCs
In standard D&D, NPCs are built using the same rules as PCs. They gain class levels (some of which may be NPC-specific classes) and their level indicates their relative skill. There have been many holes poked into this model in the past such as "a master blacksmith needs to be 5th level to be able to produce masterwork weapons consistently (give or take)".

What I'd like to suggest, is instead, to look at NPCs as monsters (you can see the major changes to monsters below). So, we can just say that blacksmiths have HP as you'd expect a commoner to have (maybe a bit more than normal because of the physical labor), but they also have a huge bonus to producing weapons.

The DM can also easily generate abilities for an NPC by picking a few thematic traits a monster could get. A rogue NPC could get some d6s of sneak attack and an ability to slip into the shadows. A wizard might have a few powers such as throwing bolts of fire and turning enemies into sheep temporarily. And with all the time you save not picking out class levels, feats, and racial features, you can instead focus on the personality and character quirks of the NPC, which is probably more valuable!

Monsters
Monsters in this system don't have all of the usual statistics that a PC has. There is little point for a DM to know the Gnoll's skill modifier to weave baskets when most of the time that sort of information will never come up.

Instead, this system focuses on some simple rules to create challenging, yet balanced monsters. And one of the main features here is that the monsters will be simple for a DM to run and yet do iconic, interesting things. All the time that is saved not familiarizing yourself with ever last detail for a monster will allow you to make a better setting to house the monster in. Which should hopefully make the game more fun.

Generally a monster is considered a CR of its level, and CR is redefined here to mean "a character of the level of a monster's CR can beat this monster, but it will be a close battle". If a character is going to go 50/50 against a monster of an equal CR to their level, that means the monster is overpowered by my definition. D&D is about the stories of the players, so they should win (and should also find battles difficult). I translate "challenging" to "fun" for the purposes of D&D battles. But I translate "near impossible" or extremely difficult" or "outright impossible" to "not fun".

A minion is a monster that is expendable and is typically valued as 4 to challenge a single PC.

A champion is a monster that is exceptionally stronger than others of its kind and tends to be valued as a challenge for 2 PCs.

A solo is a monster that is meant to be fought by a group of 4 PCs on its own.

A note about various columns: For every monster, I decided that it would be easy to divide them into three categories. Some monsters are poor at something, some monsters are average at something (which generally just means not poor and not great), and some monsters are great at something. The numbers in these tables can be tweaked a bit to suit particular monsters, but generally, they help define what upper and lower bounds are at a given level. The minion/champion/solo assumes the average value is used (rather than poor or great).

Defenses (AC, Fortitude, Reflex, Will)
Each defense is chosen individually. So a dragon might have all of them as "great", but an orc might have a poor Will defense, poor Reflex, great Fortitude, and average AC. It can vary.

Ability Scores
Ability scores are here mostly as a reference point (ie. "is that dragon stronger than the barbarian?") and used for opposed checks and such. They don't affect anything else (HP, attacks, AC, etc.) because that is too much bookkeeping. The same rules for penalties to ability scores apply for monsters (first apply a max penalty of -2 and then reduce their damage instead).

These stats don't mean a great deal because they are just there to oppose different abilities. They don't have relevance as far as carrying capacity and such is concerned. Just come up with that on the fly. If it seems reasonable for a dragon to lift a castle, then it can do it. Your PCs will probably be happy that you didn't set its Strength score off the RNG so that they can at least use their ability to bull rush and such against it.

Pick them each individually.

Attack Rolls
A monster's attacks can have poor accuracy, average accuracy, great accuracy, or be touch attacks. Touch attacks are basically just a better version of great accuracy.

Damage
This is the average damage an attack should deal (and the corresponding number of d6s plus something). All monster damage should be in terms of d6s. It is just easier that way.

I assume that a character starts with 20 HP plus 10 per class level (tougher characters will take longer to take down, weaker characters will take less hits before they drop). That means if I want a character dropped in 4 hits for average damage, 5 hits for poor damage, and 3 hits for great damage, monsters need to deal:


 * 5 + 2.5 per class level for average damage
 * 5 + 2 per class level for poor damage
 * 5 + 3.33 per class level for great damage

My strategy for filling dice is, use as many dice as possible, then add a constant and round down.

Champions should have 2 actions per round that attack.

Solos should have 4 actions per round that attack (and usually should have conditions on them that avoid using them all on the same PC and dropping them in one round).

Examples
Here is an example Orc tribe that the characters could face:


 * Encounter 1: 8 Goblin slaves + 2 Orc Grunts
 * Encounter 2: 4 Orc Grunts
 * Encounter 3: 2 Orc Grunts + 1 Orc Shaman
 * Encounter 4: 1 Orc Leader

Goblin Slave - CR 1 Minion
 * Humanoid (Goblinoid)
 * Str 8 (-1), Dex 12 (+1), Con 10 (+0), Int 8 (-1), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 10 (+0)
 * Land Speed 30ft. (6 squares)
 * 1 HP, 0 DR
 * 13 AC
 * 13 Reflex (Evasion)
 * 10 Fortitude (Mettle)
 * 10 Will (Mettle)
 * Dagger Stab (standard): +2 vs. AC, 2 damage
 * Shifty (immediate, missed by a melee attack): This creature takes a 5ft. step.

Orc Grunt - CR 1
 * Humanoid (Orc)
 * Land Speed 30ft. (6 squares)
 * Str 16 (+3), Dex 12 (+1), Con 14 (+2), Int 10 (+0), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 10 (+0)
 * 24 HP, 5 DR
 * 13 AC
 * 13 Reflex
 * 14 Fortitude
 * 11 Will
 * Powerful Swing (standard): +3 vs. AC, 2d6 damage
 * Orc Brutality (standard): +3 vs. AC, 1d6 damage, push opponent 1 square per 2 damage dealt.
 * RAGE! (swift, must be bloodied): For the next 3 rounds, this creature deals +4 damage, but takes a -2 penalty to AC, Reflex, and Will.
 * Violent Push (swift): By taking an attack of opportunity from an opponent, the next time this creature would push the opponent until this creature's next turn, it can make an attack roll against the opponent's Fortitude with a bonus equal to the number of squares the opponent is being pushed. A success means that the opponent is also knocked prone.

Orc Shaman - CR 1 Champion
 * Humanoid (Orc)
 * Land Speed 30ft. (6 squares)
 * Str 14 (+2), Dex 12 (+1), Con 16 (+3), Int 12 (+1), Wis 14 (+2), Cha 12 (+1)
 * 48 HP, 3 DR
 * 14 AC
 * 13 Reflex
 * 15 Fortitude
 * 14 Will
 * Bloodlust (swift, magical buff): One orc within 30ft. with the "RAGE!" ability has that ability activated (even if the orc is not bloodied).
 * Fire bolt (swift, magical attack): +4 vs. Reflex, 1d6 damage, 30ft. range.
 * Purge (standard, magical attack): +4 vs. Will, 1d6 damage, 30ft. range, opponent has the most recent beneficial magic affecting them dispelled.
 * Tremor (standard, magical attack): +4 vs. Reflex, 1d6 damage, opponent is knocked prone.
 * MAGE RAGE! (swift, must be bloodied): For the next 3 rounds, this creature can target an extra creature with each of its abilities, but takes a -2 penalty to AC, Reflex, and Will.

Orc Leader - CR 1 Solo
 * Humanoid (Orc)
 * Land Speed 30ft. (6 squares)
 * Str 20 (+5), Dex 14 (+2), Con 18 (+4), Int 14 (+2), Wis 14 (+2), Cha 14 (+2)
 * 120 HP, 5 DR
 * 15 AC
 * 14 Reflex
 * 16 Fortitude
 * 13 Will
 * Can make saving throws against ongoing effects like a PC can.
 * 3 swift actions, 1 standard action, 1 move action
 * Shrug Off (immediate): As an immediate action (even when incapacitated), the Orc Leader can make an extra saving throw against an ongoing magical effect.
 * Intimidating Glare (swift): Demoralize against a single target within 30ft., lasts 3 rounds.
 * Snap Weapon (immediate, missed by a melee attack): This creature makes a sunder attempt against the attacker -1 vs. Fortitude.
 * Counterattack (immediate, attacked in melee, once per turn): +4 vs. opponent's attack roll. Success means the attack is parried and this creature can make an immediate attack at +6 vs. AC (note: the flat-footed modifier from the parry is included).
 * Bash (swift): +4 vs. AC, 2d6 damage, opponent is pushed 1 square per 4 damage dealt.
 * RAGE! (swift, must be bloodied): For the next 3 rounds, this creature deals +4 damage, but takes a -2 penalty to AC, Reflex, and Will.
 * Brutal Cut (standard): +3 vs. AC, 3d6 damage, success allows a second attack at +3 vs. Will which dazes the target for 1 round.

Some consequences
An character will have a 22 or 24 for their high ability score. This means the max bonus they can have against an equal BAB character is +6/+7. But that character will also have a 22/24, which they can apply half of the score to it making the difference +3/+4.

3/4 BAB characters only lag behind the martial characters by 2 points, which is fine because they will have some new tricks instead.

Skills, saves, AC, and attack rolls are all on the same RNG. That means we can do weird things like Diplomacy vs. AC or Acrobatics vs. Will.