D&D 4E A Discussion Thread for Jacob's 4e Redsign Journal (+)

[Jacob Lewis]

A discussion thread for my other thread where I share my thoughts and ideas about my own 4e remake (Link to original thread).

EDIT: I made the other thread (+) before I made this thread to keep people from making posts while I'm writing over there. Seems to make more sense this way.

This may seem odd to make a separate thread for comments, but I feel it's necessary. I'm going to need a lot of space to write over there, and it's going to take me a long time. I don't want to clutter the original thread with a lot of comments and tangents, so I've created this one for anyone who has something to say.

Note that this is a (+) thread. I did this not so I would only encourage supporters or enablers, but because I have no use for dismissive and negative comments about what is essentially a passion project for me. If you don't like it, or don't agree with it, then don't comment. It's that simple. Your absence is sufficient enough to let me know that you don't care or agree.

That being said, I will gladly welcome any criticisms or comments as long as they are respectful and constructive. Just be prepared to back up your words with something more substantial than an opinion or a meme. I put a lot of thought into this (and still am). The least you can do is reciprocate with some thought and effort.

One final word: These are my own ideas and opinions. I am designing something that I want. So if this doesn't appeal to you, that's alright. That was never my goal in the first place. If it inspires you to come up with your own ideas for your own perfect game, then please feel free to steal or borrow what you need. I hope to see some inspiration and innovation from people better at this than me.

 

[Greggy C]

3d6 is too many dice, slower to get to the total, doesnt clickty clack enough, and too boring results compared to d20.

 

[kenada]

I like 3d6. That’s what I’m trying in the current iteration of my homebrew system. I like the non-uniform distribution and range of usable modifiers compared to 2d6 when rolling against fixed degrees of success. I did keep d20 rolls for attacks and saving throws, but I want to maintain compatibility with material designed for B/X. Without needing to worry about that, I can see using 3d6 throughout.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

I like 3d6. That’s what I’m trying in the current iteration of my homebrew system. I like the non-uniform distribution and range of usable modifiers compared to 2d6 when rolling against fixed degrees of success. I did keep d20 rolls for attacks and saving throws, but I want to maintain compatibility with material designed for B/X. Without needing to worry about that, I can see using 3d6 throughout.

Cool. I'll eventually get deeper into the designs of a purely 3d6 system and how it deviates from the d20 norms. I hope you'll find it useful in your work, or at least intresting to read.

 

[Aldarc]

Cool. I'll eventually get deeper into the designs of a purely 3d6 system and how it deviates from the d20 norms. I hope you'll find it useful in your work, or at least intresting to read.

Are you familiar with Green Ronin's AGE System? It is a 3d6 dice resolution systhem that uses stunt points. Stunt points are generated by (a) rolling doubles and (b) producing stunt points equal to the value of the Stunt Die, which is the differently colored 1d6 die. Stunt points must be spent that round, but you can spend your points on various special effect abilities.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

Are you familiar with Green Ronin's AGE System?

I was familiar with the Dragon Age RPG where they first came up with the AGE system. I haven't seen it since, but I assume it generally works the same as it did then. The Stunt Die was originally referred to as the Dragon Die, for obvious reasons.

 

[JarooAshstaff]

I like 3d6. I did keep d20 rolls for attacks and saving throws,

Agreed, 3d6 sounds like a chore for attacks and saving throws.

 

[kenada]

Agreed, 3d6 sounds like a chore for attacks and saving throws.

I ran into two problems. First, I wanted creatures to be easy to convert over to B/X, which meant the chances of success should be similar between the two methods. That limited me to a very narrow range of target numbers, which reduces the effect of leveling while making modifiers more important (not what I wanted). Second, skills are rolling against a fixed range, so having attacks and saving throws be against a variable target number (AC or the value of the saving throw category) would be needlessly confusing. Rolling a d20 makes it obvious one is engaging with a different mechanic.

Rolling 3d6 for skills doesn’t have this problem because the target number is fixed (9− for failure, 10–14 for partial success, and 15+ for complete success). 3d6 was chosen with the modifiers and ranges of success in mind, so I don’t have to worry about things breaking too much. It’s also separate, and players always roll skill checks, so there are no conversion worries either.

If you are doing a unified mechanic and not worrying about conversion, which is the case here AFAIK, I think it would be less of an issue. One concern I would have is how the different flavors of results are handled. I don’t know how that works in Genesys, but I found trying to come up with partial success results in D&D-like combat in Open Legend really tedious (which is why they have an alternate mechanism that applies some standard effects).

 

[VenerableBede]

Commenting largely so I can keep up with this. Reading through what you posted in the other thread, I'm very curious to see where this goes. I'm enjoying your game philosophy a lot so far, at least from what I've read. (Also, as someone who is also working on a game passion project, I find it particularly exciting to run into another project that is specifically trying to right "wrongs" in other TTRPGs.)

 

[VenerableBede]

One more thing: as someone who has a hard time finding the time he needs to meaningfully advance his passion projects, I found it inspirational when you described some of the ways being over 50 makes this very tough, yet you’re clearly managing anyway. Gives me inspiration to keep pressing forward!