commandercrud
Hero
Have you tried using the proficiency dice variant instead?
D&D 5E Bedridden musing: removing Proficiency Bonus
- Thread starter Tales and Chronicles
- Start date
Tales and Chronicles
Jewel of the North, formerly know as vincegetorix
Yup. I personally prefer it.
But even tho my players loved rolling more dice, adding them together and remembering what that die was and why they dont also roll it for damage was a chore.
(Joking aside, just to be clear, my players arent pure imbeciles, but game night is usually that night every two weeks when we can catch up, drink a little more heavily and game while having our children on our laps (between 6 month and 4 years old) making dice piles on the table. So that's why I try to keep D&D at the board-game-difficulty-level)
Snarf Zagyg
Notorious Liquefactionist
I will suggest Lord of the Dice, by Greg Costikyan:
(1.0) Introduction
Lord of the Dice is a simple, easy to play fantasy roleplaying game. It is specifically geared to those people who wish to join this fascinating hobby without having to learn extremely complicated rules, and is also challenging enough to interest the veteran roleplayer. The Player assumes the role of an adventurer in a fantasy world, and allows his persona to merge with that of the character. Creativity is necessary to this game; the more fertile the Player's imagination, the better the game.
(2.0) General Course of Play
One Player is designated the Gamesmaster; it is his "world" the other Players will adventure with their characters. The Gamesmaster co-ordinates the Players' characters within his concept of a fantasy world. He is responsible for adjudicating all actions of the Players' characters in as logical and coherent a manner as possible. While the Player is responsible for breathing life into his character, it is the Gamesmaster who gives the Player the milieu in which his character will react. It is recommended that the Gamesmaster allow no more than six Players to run characters at any one time; otherwise the number of Players will become too unwieldy for the best of Gamesmasters.
(3.0) Game Equipment
1 Rules (presumably what the Player is reading at the moment)
1 Set of Percentile Dice (not included but necessary)
1 Hoard of the most brilliant ideas ever to hit the fantasy roleplaying hobby (presumably within all competent Players)
(4.0) Character Generation
The Player rolls dice until he obtains a series of die-rolls he feels are esthetically appealing to him. The Gamesmaster then assigns names to the appropriate characteristics, detailing their effects upon his world. The GM need only assign any reasonable sounding name to the characteristic; it is only necessary to fool any semi-knowledgeable passerby. The Player then thinks up a name for his character, and he is ready to begin play.
(5.0) Play of the Game
Whenever the Player wishes to undertake an action with his character, the Gamesmaster rolls the percentile dice. If the Gamesmaster rolls a high number, the character has succeeded in his action, and reaps all benefits accordingly. If the Gamesmaster rolls a low number, the character has failed in his action, and must suffer any attendant penalties. If the Gamesmaster is not sure as to whether the roll is high or low, he should roll again until he decides one way or another. The Gamesmaster is, of course, responsible for embellishing upon the results determined via the die-roll.
Brotton Goodfellow
Explorer
Just spitballing here, but what if PB was ditched and all skill checks or saving throws need to be rolled under the corresponding ability score? Skill checks and saving throws the characters would normally be proficient in are rolled with advantage. No math. Just comparing the roll to the ability score.
But then what to do about attack rolls? Probably only adding the relevant ability modifier makes sense. An alternative could be to use the proficiency dice rules from the DMG without adding an ability modifier to the roll. All of this then comes with the question of what to do about enemy AC and save DC’s. I’d recommend 10 + challenge rating for both.
I also like the idea of proficiency bonuses as a reflection of formalized training, and am of the opinion that if the players can’t be bothered to remember the bonus and how it applies, then that’s their problem really.
But then what to do about attack rolls? Probably only adding the relevant ability modifier makes sense. An alternative could be to use the proficiency dice rules from the DMG without adding an ability modifier to the roll. All of this then comes with the question of what to do about enemy AC and save DC’s. I’d recommend 10 + challenge rating for both.
I also like the idea of proficiency bonuses as a reflection of formalized training, and am of the opinion that if the players can’t be bothered to remember the bonus and how it applies, then that’s their problem really.
You may want to check out The Black Hack, which basically takes this approach.
Tales and Chronicles
Jewel of the North, formerly know as vincegetorix
Aldarc
Legend
If you want to move the game to flatter math, then you could also check out Shadow of the Demon Lord. Your attribute bonus is simply the value plus or minus a base 10 rating. If you, for example, have an 11 Strength, then you add a +1; however, if you have an 8 Strength, then you subtract a -2 to checks.
Moreover, skill checks only require rolling higher than a 10.
Then the game's version of Advantage/Disadvantage is Banes & Boons. So for every Boon you have, you have a +1d6 to your roll. For every Bane, -1d6 to your roll. Banes and Boons cancel each other out. And you only add your highest Boon (or Bane) to the roll. So it helps the swingy nature of the d20 roll.
Moreover, skill checks only require rolling higher than a 10.
Then the game's version of Advantage/Disadvantage is Banes & Boons. So for every Boon you have, you have a +1d6 to your roll. For every Bane, -1d6 to your roll. Banes and Boons cancel each other out. And you only add your highest Boon (or Bane) to the roll. So it helps the swingy nature of the d20 roll.
Tales and Chronicles
Jewel of the North, formerly know as vincegetorix
Yup, I'm a huge fan of SotDL.
But I'm waiting for Weird Wizard to really start a game with my table. The grimness of DL is not to the taste of all my players.
With my no-proficiency rules, I'm also aiming with a TN 10 for most tasks
I think I'll make skill proficiency +2 (ala FAGE foci) and I'll bring back my rules where d20 from advantage/disadvantage are cumulative and cancel each other (like Bane/Boon) . I tried it some years ago and it was pretty easy and fun.
The idea of dealing +1 damage per 1 over the target's AC is interesting, but I'm afraid it will be forgot most of the time at the table. I've add the same idea for skill challenges, taken from FAGE Advanced Test: roll a skill check against a TN, every point over the TN is 1 Success toward a threshold that needs to be beaten.
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