BookTenTiger
He / Him
I was remembering fondly playing d20 Conan, one of my favorite d20 games. I was thinking about what it would look like to port something from d20 Conan into 5e.
In d20 Conan, your character had two defenses: Block and Dodge.
Block = 10 + Strength Modifier + Shield
Dodge = 10 + Dexterity Modifier
Armor then served as Damage Reduction instead of a bonus to Armor Class.
I believe there were some restrictions on when you could Block instead of dodge, such as against Ranged Attacks.
The other important rule was Massive Damage. When characters received 20 or more damage, they had to make a Constitution Saving Throw (I believe it was against half the damage) or die. It was a pretty brutal system.
So what would this look like ported over into 5e?
In d20 Conan, your character had two defenses: Block and Dodge.
Block = 10 + Strength Modifier + Shield
Dodge = 10 + Dexterity Modifier
Armor then served as Damage Reduction instead of a bonus to Armor Class.
I believe there were some restrictions on when you could Block instead of dodge, such as against Ranged Attacks.
The other important rule was Massive Damage. When characters received 20 or more damage, they had to make a Constitution Saving Throw (I believe it was against half the damage) or die. It was a pretty brutal system.
So what would this look like ported over into 5e?
- Overall, characters would get hit more often. However, they would take less damage. But effects that happen on a hit, such as a snake's grapple or a drow's poison, would occur more often.
- Strength builds could still have solid Defense.
- Armors would lose their AC but gain DR.
- This could also be a neat opportunity to add some more flavor to armor, such as Double Damage Resistance that only effects some kinds of damage. For example, one kind of armor could have Double-Damage Resistance against piercing, and other slashing.
- If the Massive Damage system were ported over, characters would be saving against Massive Damage quite often from spells, though not often from weapon attacks.
- I also think in 5e this kind of Massive Damage system would send characters to 0 HP instead of outright killing them. OR a failed Saving Throw versus Massive Damage could result in a failed Death Save, even as the character is still conscious and fighting.