Confessions of a Rolemaster addict

[lobsterGun]

I go through phases. First, I get bored with D&D and I start thinking start thinking of all the ways it could be better. That leads to thoughts about better game system, and that (inevitably) leads to Rolemaster.

Last year, I ran a one shot adventure that used d20 characters, but with Arms Law as the combat system. For the most part, it went over pretty well. The players were thrilled with the awesome power of the critical hit. The adventure really just consisted of 4 encounters (each one more challenging than the last): First came a large group of goblins, then a small group of orcs, then a large group of orcs, and finally a Stone Troll.

In one regard, the the adventure went really well; By the end, the players were leery of heading into combat without exploring all their options first (in fact, the ran from the Stone Troll without fighting it).

However, flipping though the Arms Law charts and having to do the extra arithmetic that a d100 demands really bogged the game down. I had prefigured all of their bonuses for them and provided each of them with a packet with their weapon tables and critical hit charts - but it was still too much. It broke the flow of the game. I wished it had gone smoother, but I was satisfied enough that I could go back to d20 for a while.

Well that was year ago, and I find myself back in familiar territory. D&D is going stale again. Nine months ago we were low level and nary a fight went by where we were not in mortal peril. Every fight was the fight of our lives. But now we're mid level, and it just doesn't seem as dangerous as before. The challenge is slip-slip-slipping away.

So I've got it in my head to run some more, but I don't want to make the same mistakes as last time.

I'm still going to use d20 characters (building Rolemaster characters is just to much work, and I don't want to go through the pain of teaching the players an entire new system).

I'm not going to use the Arms Law weapons tables, but I am going to use Arms Law Critical Hits.

How?

Well, I've given it some thought...a lot of thought actually. Enough thought that I thought the project needed a name. I call it... Project Wombat (d20Master sounded a bit too pretentious).

Basically it works like this: When a character attacks, they roll their d20 and add their attack bonus. If they roll a natural '1' it's off to the fumble table with them. If they miss, their turn is over. If they hit, they need to figure out how much they hit by. If they hit by enough they do a critical hit. There's more to it than that, but you've just read the gist of it right there.

I haven't sprung this on my gaming group yet (I'd like it to be a bit more polished before I do). But I have had a couple of friends look at it and have incorporated their feedback into it. I'd like to hear yours.

At this point, I'm not sure on what protocol to follow. I'm tempted to just cut and paste it into this post, but that would make for a fairly long read. So instead I'll just post this link to it --> LINK TO PROJECT WOMBAT

 

[lobsterGun]

Project Wombat

I bit the bullet and went ahead and formatted this for message board posting (the table was a bit challenging, but I think it turned out OK). I have edited out most of the editorial content to cut down on the size.

Project Wombat

* This system is designed to be used instead of the normal d20 critical hit system.

* Critical hits under this system require no confirmation roll, they occur when a to-hit roll exceeds its target number by a given amount (the amount depends on the weapon). The severity of critical hit is based on how much a to hit roll exceeds the target number.

* The Arms Law Critical hit tables are designed to be used with a percentile (d100) system, rather than the d20. Whenever a critical hit results in a modifier it needs to be converted from a d100 modifier into a d20 modifier before it is used. To do the conversion divide the d100 modifier by 5.

What You will Need

* The d20 SRD – Available here.
* A copy of Arms Law (Available from Iron Crown Enterprises). A PDF Available for under $10 from their web site.

Die Rolling Conventions

* This system uses an 'open ended' d20. When a natural 20 is rolled on an attack roll, roll the d20 again and add the two results together. If you keep rolling natural 20s keep rolling and adding. This can result in some fairly dramatic moments.

* This system also uses the Arms Law Fumble table. Rolling a 1 on an attack roll means not only that the attack has missed, but that the attacker has fumbled. Roll d100 on the Arms Law fumble table to determine the result.

Sequence

1. Roll the attack. If you missed, you're done. If you fumbled, roll on the fumble table.
2. Determine if a critical hit was delivered. If none was delivered, you're done
3. Roll on the appropriate critical hit table
4. Carnage

Feats

To use this critical hit system, some feats have to change. Either they don't really work under the constraints of the Arms Law system, or they needed to be modified to work better. In any case, this project only deals with feats published as part of the SRD. The use of feats from other source materials is not discouraged, but they should be looked at closely to make sure they won't produce crazy results.

* Combat Expertise: the Requirement for an Intelligence score of 13 is removed. Further, characters may parry with their entire attack bonus (not just Base Attack Bonus) to a maximum of 5 points. Encourage your players to take this feat. It will save their lives.
* Improved Combat Expertise: This feat allows a character to parry with their entire attack bonus. This feat requires Combat Expertise as a prerequisite.
* Characters taking the Improved Unarmed Combat feat must specify whether they are taking it for striking or for sweeping. Critical hits delivered use the appropriate Martial Arts critical hit table. This feat may be taken twice - once for each style. In Arms Law there are two types of martial arts: Striking and sweeping. Striking critical hits deal more blunt force. Sweeping critical do more knockdown.

Critical Hits

There are several different types of Critical hits - each with it's own critical hit table. When it comes to natural attacks, that can't be easily categorized, use your best judgment. (E.g. Claws can do Slash or Puncture critical hits. Pick the table that best describes how the creature attacks.)

* Critical Hits come in 5 severities: A, B, C, D, E. 'A' is the least severe type of critical, 'E' is the most severe.
* Attacks score critical hits based on how well the attack roll exceeds its target number. There is no confirmation roll, every attack is a potential critical hit.
* Attacks doing non-lethal damage may substitute the Subdual Critical Strike table for their normal table
* Unarmed attacks do critical hits on the Brawling critical hit table
* Characters with the Improved Unarmed Combat feat do Martial Arts Critical hits.
* Slashing weapons use the Slash critical hit table.
* Piercing weapons use the Puncture critical hit table
* Bludgeoning weapons use the Krush critical hit table.
* Weapons with more than one damage type, the wielder gets to pick the table
* Critical hits can result from opposed rolls (Trip, Bull-rush, Overrun, etc)

o Overrun: Winning the Overrun contest may inflict an Unbalancing Critical in addition to the normal affect.
o Grappling: Winning the grapple may inflict a Grapple Critical in addition to the normal affect.
o Trip: Winning the Trip contest may inflict an Unbalancing Critical in addition to the normal affect.
o Bull-Rush: Winning the Bull-Rush contest may inflict an Unbalancing Critical in addition to the normal affect.
​

* Armor

o Targets wearing medium armor reduce the critical hit by one column on the severity chart, this can eliminate a critical hit.
o Targets wearing heavy armor reduce the critical hit by two columns on the severity chart, this can eliminate a critical hit
o Shields do not reduce critical hit category, they just add to Armor Class
o Mage armor (and other spells granting armor bonus) reduce critical hit as medium armor.
o Shield (the spell) does not reduce critical hit category
​

* Creatures that are size Large take their critical hits on the Large Creature critical hit chart. A hit must inflict a critical hit of severity B or higher to allow for a roll on this table. The d100 roll on this table is an open-ended roll. If the die roll comes up 96-100, roll again and add the result.
* Creatures size Huge and larger creatures take their critical hits on the Super Large critical hit table. A hit must inflict a critical hit of severity D or higher to allow for a roll on this table. The d100 roll on this table is an open-ended roll. If the die roll comes up 96-100, roll again and add the result.
* Creatures protected by natural DR reduce critical hits by two columns on the severity chart. Exception: Critical hits from attacks that ignore the creatures DR are not reduced in severity
* Creatures immune to critical hits under standard d20 rules may still take critical hits under this system with certain restrictions

o Creatures immune to d20 critical hits cannot be stunned.
o Creatures immune to d20 critical hits are immune to bleeding, if they don't have blood (skeletons, etc)
o Feats that allow a character to inflict critical hits on creature normally unable to receive critical hits treat those creatures as normal creatures for the purposes of resolving critical hits.
​

Attack rolls that exceed their target number by the above values cause the specified severity of critical hit. The extra E columns are for dealing with the effects of armor on critical hit severity

Critical Hit Range Table: The severity of the critical hit a weapon delivers depends not on on how much it exceeds its to hit roll, but also on the weapons threat range. Weapons with a larger threat range do more severe critical hits.

[FONT=Courier New]
Weapon
Threat Range	         A    B    C    D    E    E    E
20 for x2 damage         6    8   10   12   14   16   18

19-20 
-or- 
20 for x3/x4 damage      5    7    9   11   13   15   17

18-20	                 4    6    8   10   12   14   16

15-20	                 3    5    7    9   11   13   15

Grapple, Overrun, 
Bull-rush, Trip, etc.	10   12   14   16   18   20   22
[/FONT]

Critical Hit Effects
* Extra hits from a critical hit are applied as as if they were part of the blow that caused the critical.
* Must Parry : Character is forced to parry with their full bonus. Penalties following a must parry critical hit last only for as long as the Must Parry condition persists.
* Stun: Don't use the d20 stun effect. Instead, character may move at 1/2 and may not attack. Defensive bonuses granted from fighting defensively or Combat Expertise are halved.
* Stun - No Parry : Don't use the d20 stun effect, instead Character may move at 1/2 and may not attack. Defensive bonuses granted from fighting defensively or Combat Expertise are eliminated.
* Bleeding: Characters bleed on their initiative.
* Penalties accrued from critical hits remain until the wound that caused them is healed.
* Bonus accrued from critical hits last for one round unless otherwise specified.
* NOTE: remember to convert the d100 modifiers into d20 modifiers by dividing them by 5.

Healing from the Effects of Critical Hits

A critical hit can be a brutal experience. After a few rounds of combat, characters will be bleeding profusely and may have broken bones or severed limbs. It would be a good idea to make sure that characters have an ample supply of healing magic at their disposal.

* For each point healed eliminate a point of bleeding damage.
* A successful heal check (DC 15 + number of points of bleeding) will stop bleeding.
* Lesser Restoration can heal one critical hit per cast. On a target.
* Restoration heals d6 critical effects on a target.
* Greater Restoration heals all critical hit effects on a target.
* Cure X Wounds

o Cure X Wounds spells are capable of healing critical hit effects.
o To heal a critical hit effect with a Cure X Wounds spell requires a separate application of the spell : Example; Bob has taken 7 hit points of damage and a sprained wrist. It will require at least two cure lite wounds spells to heal him: one for the hit points, one for the sprain.
o Cure Lite Wounds : simple broken limbs, sprains, bruises, etc.
o Cure Moderate Wounds : tendon damage, compound breaks, etc.
o Cure Moderate Wounds may cure any two effects cured by a Cure Lite Wounds
o Cure Serious Wounds : organ damage, shattered limbs, etc.
o Cure Serious Wounds may cure any two effects cures by a cure moderate wounds, or any four effects cured by a cure lite wounds.
​

* Heal : cures all critical hit results with the exception of severed limbs.
* Regeneration: cures all critical hit effects.
* Most Critical hits will heal on their own if given sufficient time...of course the character may die before sufficient time has elapsed. Use your own judgment as to how long this takes.