As some of you know (all three of those people will probably be breathing hellfire down my neck for posting this) I've been working on a series of rules for combat in Modern. The rules I'm attempting to make would make combat a little more hazardous in some respects, but I think that it would also help to make combat a bit more dynamic in your average Modern game. This isn't necessarily for all users, but I feel that it may work for us. However, I want some opinions before I decide to go off the deep-end and start testing it in one of my games (which one I haven't decided yet, but I think I'm going to keep one as-is).
The basics of it are as follows:
Action Bonus is a modifier which starts at +0, and increases by +1 at every even-numbered level. This is a floating bonus; the bonus is applied at the first initiative after the Surprise Round. This bonus may be used in one of four ways:
The bonus may be split as needed; thus, a 6th spellcaster may decide to want his spells to be almost guaranteed (drop 3 AB into Arcana), decide that he may need to escape or be hit during combat and require his Concentration checks to be high (Drop 3 AB into Focus), want to be more defensive (3 into defense), or decide that he wants a mixture of all of them (+1 to Focus/Defense/Arcana).
With this system we would also eliminate some of the standard +1 bonus feats. Weapon Focus, Dodge, and similar would be replaced by Improved Action.
Improved Action (General)
prerequisite: +1 Action Bonus (see Special).
Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus to your AB score.
Special: This feat may be gained multiple times. It's effects stack. However, the feat may only be gained if the current bonus from Improved Action is less than or equal to half of your base Action Bonus. This feat replaces Weapon Focus, Dodge and similar feats in feat chains; however, you must meet the prerequisites of the initial feat (a dex. of 13 for Dodge, BAB +1 and weapon proficiency for Weapon Focus, etc.) to advance further in the chain.
Now, I've been working on the numbers in general, but here is an example of a combat. Two 5th level heroes, one Strong the other Fast, are fighting it out. We will assume median HP rolls and a 13 in Constitution for both (giving us Strong and Fast with 26 HP apiece) and their top score (16 with the 4th level boost) being in their respective ability modifier, with their next highest ability (14) being in the opponent's favored ability score. Each vs. reads Strong Vs. Fast according to their order in the Core.
Now, how does combat play out? Their Defenses would be different (+5 vs. +8), their BAB are of course different (+5 vs. +3) and standard melee (+8 vs. +5) and ranged (+7 vs. +6) both favor the Strong hero. However, neither knows what the other has spent their hard-earned Action Bonus on. That +2 bonus could enhance their defenses (+7 vs. +10) or their attacks (+10/+9 vs. +7/+8).
Our heroes are in for an interesting time; as you can see they would be quite evenly matched if both placed in the opposite direction in melee (Strong places his AB in defense, Fast in attack, each is rolling +7 in melee), while in the same case our Fast Hero gets a boost in ranged combat in an opposed check (+7 vs. +8).
let's assume that the Fast Hero places his points into Defense and the Strong places his in attack. In melee we are looking at +10A vs. +10D, with the Strong hero gaining a slight detriment at range (+9A vs. +10D). This difference makes the Fast Hero slightly harder to hit in ranged combat than the normal rules (5% harder) and makes him about a match against the Strong hero (50/50) at the current level.
The system, of course, starts to have some issues at higher levels; but we're working on them. We're also working on additional uses for Action Bonus (Imagine an Aid check which could boost you significantly against that heavily-armored beastie, or dropping those additional points into a powerful strike [with spell or sword]). We're also working on the best way to treat Critical Hits/Failures (allow for an AoO? What happens when both Critically hit?) and possible effects of Counter Attack feats (such as those found in Blood and Fist) when it comes to this new defense system.
What do you think? I've been running numbers for around 3 days and I'm liking what I see.
Any suggestions for tweaking it before I present it to the players would be appreciated.
Slainte,
-Loonook.
The basics of it are as follows:
- Remove Standard Defense; replace with a Defense check (d20 + Class granted Defense Modifier + Dexterity Modifier)
- Use the standard numbers for Attack Bonuses and Attacks.
- Use a modified version of the Armor as DR rules found in Unearthed Arcana, that grants DR of X/Ballistic instead of X/-.
- Grant players a set amount of HP (rolled 3 HD of initial class + Constitution)
- This is the trickier part: Grant a level-based modifier known as 'Action Bonus'
Action Bonus is a modifier which starts at +0, and increases by +1 at every even-numbered level. This is a floating bonus; the bonus is applied at the first initiative after the Surprise Round. This bonus may be used in one of four ways:
- Defense: Modifies Defense Roll (duh)
- Attack: Same, but for Attack Bonuses
- Focus: Modifies standard Skill checks made during Combat
- Arcana: Modifies magic skill checks made for spellcasters (we're using Elements of Magic: Mythic Earth for spellcasting).
The bonus may be split as needed; thus, a 6th spellcaster may decide to want his spells to be almost guaranteed (drop 3 AB into Arcana), decide that he may need to escape or be hit during combat and require his Concentration checks to be high (Drop 3 AB into Focus), want to be more defensive (3 into defense), or decide that he wants a mixture of all of them (+1 to Focus/Defense/Arcana).
With this system we would also eliminate some of the standard +1 bonus feats. Weapon Focus, Dodge, and similar would be replaced by Improved Action.
Improved Action (General)
prerequisite: +1 Action Bonus (see Special).
Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus to your AB score.
Special: This feat may be gained multiple times. It's effects stack. However, the feat may only be gained if the current bonus from Improved Action is less than or equal to half of your base Action Bonus. This feat replaces Weapon Focus, Dodge and similar feats in feat chains; however, you must meet the prerequisites of the initial feat (a dex. of 13 for Dodge, BAB +1 and weapon proficiency for Weapon Focus, etc.) to advance further in the chain.
Now, I've been working on the numbers in general, but here is an example of a combat. Two 5th level heroes, one Strong the other Fast, are fighting it out. We will assume median HP rolls and a 13 in Constitution for both (giving us Strong and Fast with 26 HP apiece) and their top score (16 with the 4th level boost) being in their respective ability modifier, with their next highest ability (14) being in the opponent's favored ability score. Each vs. reads Strong Vs. Fast according to their order in the Core.
Now, how does combat play out? Their Defenses would be different (+5 vs. +8), their BAB are of course different (+5 vs. +3) and standard melee (+8 vs. +5) and ranged (+7 vs. +6) both favor the Strong hero. However, neither knows what the other has spent their hard-earned Action Bonus on. That +2 bonus could enhance their defenses (+7 vs. +10) or their attacks (+10/+9 vs. +7/+8).
Our heroes are in for an interesting time; as you can see they would be quite evenly matched if both placed in the opposite direction in melee (Strong places his AB in defense, Fast in attack, each is rolling +7 in melee), while in the same case our Fast Hero gets a boost in ranged combat in an opposed check (+7 vs. +8).
let's assume that the Fast Hero places his points into Defense and the Strong places his in attack. In melee we are looking at +10A vs. +10D, with the Strong hero gaining a slight detriment at range (+9A vs. +10D). This difference makes the Fast Hero slightly harder to hit in ranged combat than the normal rules (5% harder) and makes him about a match against the Strong hero (50/50) at the current level.
The system, of course, starts to have some issues at higher levels; but we're working on them. We're also working on additional uses for Action Bonus (Imagine an Aid check which could boost you significantly against that heavily-armored beastie, or dropping those additional points into a powerful strike [with spell or sword]). We're also working on the best way to treat Critical Hits/Failures (allow for an AoO? What happens when both Critically hit?) and possible effects of Counter Attack feats (such as those found in Blood and Fist) when it comes to this new defense system.
What do you think? I've been running numbers for around 3 days and I'm liking what I see.
Any suggestions for tweaking it before I present it to the players would be appreciated.
Slainte,
-Loonook.
