Jack Daniel
dice-universe.blogspot.com
Note: This passage is copied near verbatim from the setting book I'm writing, and it's only here to be put up to public scrutiny or whatever it is people do on this forum.
Hit Points & Fatigue Points
Fatigue points (fp) represent your ability to avoid damage. They are a combination of luck, skill, and overall experience in dealing with a fight. Wimpy and easily-tired people can’t keep on dodging blows and bullets all day, so naturally, people with lower constitution scores have fewer fatigue points. Fatigue points are determined by rolling the appropriate die (now called a fatigue die) and adding the constitution modifier, just like hit points in other games. Fatigue points replace the concept of subdual damage – creatures that used to be able to convert hp damage to subdual damage and heal it quickly now convert such damage to fatigue damage. Likewise, weapons that formerly dealt subdual damage now deal fp damage like any other weapon, but cannot deal lethal hp damage.
Characters start with an allotment of hit points (hp) equal to their constitution score times a size modifier (though undead and constructs, since they lack constitution scores, still roll hit dice; and since they never tire, they have no fatigue at all). This is regardless of your character class, so a rogue could very well have more hp than a cleric. Some people are just naturally hardier than others. Hit points represent your actual capacity for withstanding physical punishment, and if you drop to 0 of these, you’re almost a corpse.
That leaves the final matter of critical hits. under this system, a weapon’s threat range remains the same, but its critical multiplier is softened one step, so that ×2 weapons no longer deal extra damage on a critical hit. When a weapon scores a critical hit, the damage is dealt straight to the victim’s hit points, but only the base damage: extra damage from critical multipliers, sneak attacks, or energy weapons still applies to fatigue points (if any remain). Subdual weapons, such as saps and unarmed strikes, are a little different: they can only deal hit point damage against a target with no fp, so when they score a critical hit, the victim must make a fortitude save vs. DC 5 + the damage dealt or be knocked out.
Hit Points
Fine creature: Con ÷ 8
Diminutive creature: Con ÷ 4
Tiny creature: Con ÷ 2
Small creature: Con
Medium creature: Con
Large creature: Con
Huge creature: Con × 2
Garganuan creature: Con × 4
Colossal creature: Con × 8
Undead creature: 1d12/level
Constructed creature: 1d10/level
Game Rule Information
• All creatures except undead and constructs have both hit points (hp) and fatigue points (fp). Undead and constructs are not alive and have only hit points, as do inanimate objects.
• A character who falls to 0 fatigue points becomes fatigued, unable to run or charge and -2 to strength and dexterity. The character is no longer able to avoid being hit, so any further damage applies to hit points.
• Any time a character takes hit point damage (which represents an actual wounding hit), that character must make a fortitude save vs. DC 5 + the number of hit points lost or be stunned for 1d4+1 rounds.
• A character who falls to 0 hit points is unconscious; at -1 hit point, the character is dying, as per the normal rules for death and dying.
• All weapons subtract -1 from their critical multipliers: swords and daggers have no multiplier, axes and guns have a ×2 multiplier, scythes and picks have a ×3 multiplier, etc.
• Against a creature with both fatigue and hit points, a critical hit causes the base damage to bypass remaining fatigue points and deal hit point damage directly. Damage expressed as extra dice, such as from a Sneak Attack, a flaming burst sword, or the extra damage from a weapon with a critical multiplier, does not apply to hit points unless the target has no fatigue left.
• Non-lethal weapons, such as a sap, a whip, or an untrained unarmed strike, do not deal hit point damage on critical hits. Instead, they deal fatigue damage as normal and cause the target to make a fortitude save vs. DC 5 + the damage dealt, or else be stunned for 1d4+1 rounds.
• Effects that are used to double threat ranges, like the Improved Critical feat and the keen edge spell, now only increase a weapon’s threat range by +1.
• Characters heal naturally at a rate of one fatigue point per level for every hour of rest, and one hit point per day of rest.
• Cure spells restore a die plus a modifier in fatigue points, and the modifier in hit points. A 5th level cleric who casts cure moderate wounds would be able to heal 3d8+5 fp and 5 hp.
• Cure minor wounds restores 1 hit point.
• Virtue grants 1 temporary fatigue point.
• Lay on Hands heals the paladin’s level times his charisma bonus in fatigue points, and the paladin’s level in hit points.
• Wholeness of Body restores twice the monk’s level in fatigue points, and half the monk’s level in hit points.
• Body adjustment manifestations allow psionicists to heal hit point damage at the same rate as ability damage, or the normal die range of fatigue point damage.
• Fatigue points completely replace the concept of subdual damage. Creatures with regeneration convert hit point damage to fatigue damage, and heal the fatigue damage quickly.
• Making subdual attacks with lethal weapons, and vice versa, doesn’t change; simply apply the rules above for how lethal and non-lethal weapons behave. A fighter could take a -4 penalty to his attack rolls to strike a foe with “the flat of the blade” and attempt a K.O. rather than a kill. Likewise, a monk could (at no penalty) declare his next unarmed strike to be a nonlethal attack, and if it critically hits, instead of lethal damage, the monk gets a good deal compared to his Stunning Fist -- the victim is stunned for 1d4+1 rounds!
Armor and Natural Defense
There’s one more rule regarding keeping your hero alive long enough to enjoy the sublime beauty of a good alternate hit point system. Enter the inherent armor class bonus, natural defense (ND), figgured by adding 2 to a character's base fortitude bonus. In days of yore, games used the reflex bonus, but that made tank thieves and wimp soldiers, so some games just switched the bonuses around and others made up new progressions that make no sense. Using fortitude as a base is much simpler -- espeically since most high-fortitude classes are also the high AC classes. The following changes need to be made to balance the classes:
• Lower the foritude of clerics and druids to the medium progression.
• Lower all of the monk's saves to medium. Apply his wisdom and level bonus (formerly to AC) to HP instead.
• Lower the bard's will save to medium, and raise his fortitude to medium to compensate.
ND acts just like an armor bonus in all respects – it doesn’t stack with equipment bonuses, it is ignored by touch attacks, etc. You only apply the natural defense bonus or the armor bonus (whichever is higher) but eventually the class based-bonus will be much higher than an armor bonus.
So why, you may ask, would anyone ever wear armor? Well there are two special qualities of armor you should get acquainted with: first, there's no reason to have armored spellcasters spontaneously fizzle spells just because they put on a breastplate. They can get along well enough without armor now. So, instead of a percentile chance of spell failure, apply the armor’s check penalty to the caster’s spell DCs to represent the difficulty of casting while wearing metal duds (monks should likewise take the check penalty to their vital-area attacks, like stunning fist and quivering palm). Second, all armors (but not shields) have a special damage reduction that protects hit points but not fatigue points. That means that when you’re low on fp, or you take a critical hit, armor just might save your life by absorbing a few points of damage.
The DR values for common armor types are given below. The DR is not a set value like innate damage reduction, but rather a die roll. This represents the fact that damage is randomized not only by where the blow lands on the body (the damage roll) but also where it lands on the armor (the DR roll). Note that the armor’s standard AC bonus still applies, but that value represents the armor’s ability to deflect a blow. The DR is a function of its material quality and stopping power. While enhancement bonuses apply to both DR and AC, superior materials (even ones that don’t increase AC, like dragonhide or mythrill) will boost the DR dice.
Magical effects that provide an armor bonus to AC also grant DR to hit points. Subtract 2 from the armor bonus prodvided; this indicates the median value of the DR roll, as shown on table 1-3. It doesn’t stack with any damage reduction from armor worn, so the higher value applies. If a high-level fighter wears adamant full plate (DR 2d6+2) and bracers of armor +8 (DR 1d12) he may only roll damage reduction from the armor that has the better average, in this case the adamant full plate.
Armor Damage Reduction
The parenthetical value is the average DR. It can be used in place of a die roll if the DM thinks it will speed up the game.
*The base DR is for normal armors. The superior DR applies to any armor made of a superior material, such as mythrill, adamant, or dragonhide. In addition, enhancement bonuses from magic or adamant are added to DR as well as AC.
**Rolling a d5 is accomplished by halving a d10 roll.
Hit Points & Fatigue Points
Fatigue points (fp) represent your ability to avoid damage. They are a combination of luck, skill, and overall experience in dealing with a fight. Wimpy and easily-tired people can’t keep on dodging blows and bullets all day, so naturally, people with lower constitution scores have fewer fatigue points. Fatigue points are determined by rolling the appropriate die (now called a fatigue die) and adding the constitution modifier, just like hit points in other games. Fatigue points replace the concept of subdual damage – creatures that used to be able to convert hp damage to subdual damage and heal it quickly now convert such damage to fatigue damage. Likewise, weapons that formerly dealt subdual damage now deal fp damage like any other weapon, but cannot deal lethal hp damage.
Characters start with an allotment of hit points (hp) equal to their constitution score times a size modifier (though undead and constructs, since they lack constitution scores, still roll hit dice; and since they never tire, they have no fatigue at all). This is regardless of your character class, so a rogue could very well have more hp than a cleric. Some people are just naturally hardier than others. Hit points represent your actual capacity for withstanding physical punishment, and if you drop to 0 of these, you’re almost a corpse.
That leaves the final matter of critical hits. under this system, a weapon’s threat range remains the same, but its critical multiplier is softened one step, so that ×2 weapons no longer deal extra damage on a critical hit. When a weapon scores a critical hit, the damage is dealt straight to the victim’s hit points, but only the base damage: extra damage from critical multipliers, sneak attacks, or energy weapons still applies to fatigue points (if any remain). Subdual weapons, such as saps and unarmed strikes, are a little different: they can only deal hit point damage against a target with no fp, so when they score a critical hit, the victim must make a fortitude save vs. DC 5 + the damage dealt or be knocked out.
Hit Points
Fine creature: Con ÷ 8
Diminutive creature: Con ÷ 4
Tiny creature: Con ÷ 2
Small creature: Con
Medium creature: Con
Large creature: Con
Huge creature: Con × 2
Garganuan creature: Con × 4
Colossal creature: Con × 8
Undead creature: 1d12/level
Constructed creature: 1d10/level
Game Rule Information
• All creatures except undead and constructs have both hit points (hp) and fatigue points (fp). Undead and constructs are not alive and have only hit points, as do inanimate objects.
• A character who falls to 0 fatigue points becomes fatigued, unable to run or charge and -2 to strength and dexterity. The character is no longer able to avoid being hit, so any further damage applies to hit points.
• Any time a character takes hit point damage (which represents an actual wounding hit), that character must make a fortitude save vs. DC 5 + the number of hit points lost or be stunned for 1d4+1 rounds.
• A character who falls to 0 hit points is unconscious; at -1 hit point, the character is dying, as per the normal rules for death and dying.
• All weapons subtract -1 from their critical multipliers: swords and daggers have no multiplier, axes and guns have a ×2 multiplier, scythes and picks have a ×3 multiplier, etc.
• Against a creature with both fatigue and hit points, a critical hit causes the base damage to bypass remaining fatigue points and deal hit point damage directly. Damage expressed as extra dice, such as from a Sneak Attack, a flaming burst sword, or the extra damage from a weapon with a critical multiplier, does not apply to hit points unless the target has no fatigue left.
• Non-lethal weapons, such as a sap, a whip, or an untrained unarmed strike, do not deal hit point damage on critical hits. Instead, they deal fatigue damage as normal and cause the target to make a fortitude save vs. DC 5 + the damage dealt, or else be stunned for 1d4+1 rounds.
• Effects that are used to double threat ranges, like the Improved Critical feat and the keen edge spell, now only increase a weapon’s threat range by +1.
• Characters heal naturally at a rate of one fatigue point per level for every hour of rest, and one hit point per day of rest.
• Cure spells restore a die plus a modifier in fatigue points, and the modifier in hit points. A 5th level cleric who casts cure moderate wounds would be able to heal 3d8+5 fp and 5 hp.
• Cure minor wounds restores 1 hit point.
• Virtue grants 1 temporary fatigue point.
• Lay on Hands heals the paladin’s level times his charisma bonus in fatigue points, and the paladin’s level in hit points.
• Wholeness of Body restores twice the monk’s level in fatigue points, and half the monk’s level in hit points.
• Body adjustment manifestations allow psionicists to heal hit point damage at the same rate as ability damage, or the normal die range of fatigue point damage.
• Fatigue points completely replace the concept of subdual damage. Creatures with regeneration convert hit point damage to fatigue damage, and heal the fatigue damage quickly.
• Making subdual attacks with lethal weapons, and vice versa, doesn’t change; simply apply the rules above for how lethal and non-lethal weapons behave. A fighter could take a -4 penalty to his attack rolls to strike a foe with “the flat of the blade” and attempt a K.O. rather than a kill. Likewise, a monk could (at no penalty) declare his next unarmed strike to be a nonlethal attack, and if it critically hits, instead of lethal damage, the monk gets a good deal compared to his Stunning Fist -- the victim is stunned for 1d4+1 rounds!
Armor and Natural Defense
There’s one more rule regarding keeping your hero alive long enough to enjoy the sublime beauty of a good alternate hit point system. Enter the inherent armor class bonus, natural defense (ND), figgured by adding 2 to a character's base fortitude bonus. In days of yore, games used the reflex bonus, but that made tank thieves and wimp soldiers, so some games just switched the bonuses around and others made up new progressions that make no sense. Using fortitude as a base is much simpler -- espeically since most high-fortitude classes are also the high AC classes. The following changes need to be made to balance the classes:
• Lower the foritude of clerics and druids to the medium progression.
• Lower all of the monk's saves to medium. Apply his wisdom and level bonus (formerly to AC) to HP instead.
• Lower the bard's will save to medium, and raise his fortitude to medium to compensate.
ND acts just like an armor bonus in all respects – it doesn’t stack with equipment bonuses, it is ignored by touch attacks, etc. You only apply the natural defense bonus or the armor bonus (whichever is higher) but eventually the class based-bonus will be much higher than an armor bonus.
So why, you may ask, would anyone ever wear armor? Well there are two special qualities of armor you should get acquainted with: first, there's no reason to have armored spellcasters spontaneously fizzle spells just because they put on a breastplate. They can get along well enough without armor now. So, instead of a percentile chance of spell failure, apply the armor’s check penalty to the caster’s spell DCs to represent the difficulty of casting while wearing metal duds (monks should likewise take the check penalty to their vital-area attacks, like stunning fist and quivering palm). Second, all armors (but not shields) have a special damage reduction that protects hit points but not fatigue points. That means that when you’re low on fp, or you take a critical hit, armor just might save your life by absorbing a few points of damage.
The DR values for common armor types are given below. The DR is not a set value like innate damage reduction, but rather a die roll. This represents the fact that damage is randomized not only by where the blow lands on the body (the damage roll) but also where it lands on the armor (the DR roll). Note that the armor’s standard AC bonus still applies, but that value represents the armor’s ability to deflect a blow. The DR is a function of its material quality and stopping power. While enhancement bonuses apply to both DR and AC, superior materials (even ones that don’t increase AC, like dragonhide or mythrill) will boost the DR dice.
Magical effects that provide an armor bonus to AC also grant DR to hit points. Subtract 2 from the armor bonus prodvided; this indicates the median value of the DR roll, as shown on table 1-3. It doesn’t stack with any damage reduction from armor worn, so the higher value applies. If a high-level fighter wears adamant full plate (DR 2d6+2) and bracers of armor +8 (DR 1d12) he may only roll damage reduction from the armor that has the better average, in this case the adamant full plate.
Armor Damage Reduction
Code:
[size=3]
Armor Base DR Superior Material*
Padded Cloth 1d2 (1) 2d2 (3)
Leather Jerkin 1d2 (1) 2d2 (3)
Studded Leather 1d4 (2) 2d3 (4)
Chain Shirt 1d4 (2) 2d3 (4)
Hide Jerkin 1d4 (2) 2d3 (4)
Scale Mail 1d6 (3) 2d4 (5)
Breast Plate 1d8 (4) 2d5** (6)
Banded Mail 1d6 (3) 2d4 (5)
Chain Mail 1d8 (4) 2d5** (6)
Splint Mail 1d6 (3) 2d4 (5)
Half Plate 1d10 (5) 2d6 (7)
Full Plate 1d10 (5) 2d6 (7)
[i]Mage Armor[/i] 1d4 (2)
Armor Bracer +3 1d2 (1)
Armor Bracer +4 1d4 (2)
Armor Bracer +5 1d6 (3)
Armor Bracer +6 1d8 (4)
Armor Bracer +7 1d10 (5)
Armor Bracer +8 1d12 (6)
[/size]The parenthetical value is the average DR. It can be used in place of a die roll if the DM thinks it will speed up the game.
*The base DR is for normal armors. The superior DR applies to any armor made of a superior material, such as mythrill, adamant, or dragonhide. In addition, enhancement bonuses from magic or adamant are added to DR as well as AC.
**Rolling a d5 is accomplished by halving a d10 roll.
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