Alternate combat rules - OGC and otherwise

[RangerWickett]

I have flavor in my combat. But injecting a few sentences of flavor per attack means that it still takes twice as long at high levels to roll damage as it does to decide what the attack looks like.

It's just that I would also like it if dramatic attacks had some dramatic benefit, instead of just an increased chance of failure. I can finagle it with DM fiat, but I'd rather have there be some rules so that people know it's worth be daring.

 

[azmodean]

To a certain extent I agree with you, but there are two things that DM flavor doesn't alter if the players have access to their character sheets and the rules.
1. giving the players more options to use in combat, for instance the "feint" mechanic used with bluffing, or various options introduced with feats.
2. providing a sense of immediacy to the combat. If a player knows the opponents dealt their character 20 pts of damage last round, and the character has 100 HP left, then they aren't too worried. On the other hand, with a save system, the player won't know with certanty how many more attacks they can withstand, so it makes the combat much more immediate and eliminates a certain degree of HP metagaming.

On another note, I ran the program with no critical successes or failures, and if anything it ends up being too forgiving. A creature's chances of getting dropped with one hit are almost nil, even if that hit would have dropped them with one hit in the HP system. It needs more work, but eliminating critical success and failure is what the system needs in order to work the way I want. As the toughness of the target increases though, they start dropping faster and faster compared to the HP system. I think I need to tone down the penalties imposed by wounds. I think I might have an outline of a workable system though

 

[Warden]

We do have the Combat Options PDFs available, and I'm not sure if there's anything in there exactly for you, but there are optional rules for a total attack bonus (that will allow your fighter to make one huge attack that adds all multiple BABs into one big total modifier), and solid damage (that converts your damage dice into a set amount of damage dealt based on the attack roll -- the higher your attack, the more damage you automatically inflict). Like I said, it might not be exactly what you're looking for, but it might have something to spark the imagination.