D&D 5E D&D Storytelling variant

[Stormonu]

Let's be honest - a LOT of D&D was built and revolves around combat. But what if we were to slim down the combat options so that there could be a more equal focus between the so-called three pillars of play.

This is an optional system, just off the top of my head. To actually get use, it's going to need more tweaking and a whole lot of playtesting.

1) Remove HP from the game
- Characters have four Health states: Healthy, Wounded, Incapacitated, Dead. You can add more levels if you want to shift the difficulty (perhaps adding Bruised and Injured, for example)

2) All character options become resources

• Leveled abilities, such as Action Surge, Extra Attack, Stunning Attack and the like become a Resource. They gain a tag according to the pillar they can be used for - Combat, Exploration, Interaction
• Skills become a Resource. Proficiency grants you 1 experience point. Expertise grants 2. Tools count as 1 resource point.
• Spell slots become a Resource

-- A spell has one 1 Resource point per spell level

- Gear becomes a Resource.
-- On weapons, Simple weapons are 1 Resource Point, Martial weapons are 2 Resource points. Weapons gain the Combat tag. Weapons refresh their Resource points after a Short rest. [could be changed to encounter if feeling generous].
-- On armor, Unarmored Defense is 1 Resource point, Light Armor is 1 Resource point, Medium Armor is 2 Resource points, Heavy Armor is 3 Resource points and a Shield is 1 Resource point. Armor gains the Combat and Exploration tag. Armor refreshes it resource points after a Short rest.
-- Other equipment counts as 1 Resource point, with the Exploration tag. The DM may add the Combat or Interaction tag to certain items on a case-by-case basis. Equipment refreshes their resource points after a Short rest.

3) To defeat a foe in an encounter, the party has to expend a number of Resource points equal to the CR of the opponent. If an opponent is less than CR 1, the party can use
-- This is a fail-forward system, so if a party can't (or chooses not to) expend enough resources to defeat the encounter, they can still complete it, but suffer a Setback (Usually decreasing their Health states, but possibly inflicting other conditions ranging from Captured, Exhausted, Paralyzed, Petrified or the like).
-- Normally, there is no dice rolling associated with this system, but the DM could institute a die roll to further increase the tension of successfully completing the task (suggested: 1d20 roll per Resource point expended, make a skill-based checked with a DC of 12. So, for example, if a fighter expended one use of a Long Sword resource, he would roll a d20, adding Strength modifier + proficiency modifier, with a DC 12 to succeed).

An extended example.

Four party members, Killi the Dwarfen Rogue, Rhila the Elf Eldritch Knight, Morgan the Human Fighter and Aleena the Human Cleric are exploring a nearby cave. They are level 5, and start the adventure unharmed, or at Healthy status.

The party enters the cave and is immediately beset by the choice of three passages. Aleena casts Augury to help the party discern which path to take, and the spell indicates they should take the right branch. The party does so, with Killi scouting ahead in the dark, beyond Aleena's hand-held Light spell.

Part way down the passage, the DM announces that Killi has come across a CR 2 trap (though he doesn't reveal what it actual is yet). Killi decides to expend one Resource point from his Perception skill (he has Expertise in it) and the Resource point from his Thieve's Tools, allowing him to spot and disarm the trap - which the DM reveals was a spiked pit trap. Marking it for the others, the group continues forward until they reach a lit, open room. Killi expends his other Resource point from Perception to keep from being surprised by the room's occupants, and expends one of his Stealth Resource points (again, having Expertise in the skill) to keep from being detected by the room's occupants. As his ally's approach, he waves them down and they dowse the magical light to approach Killi's position.

Beyond the open portal, surrounding a fire pit are five nasty goblins (CR 1/2 each) trying to steal scraps of food from a powerful ogre (CR 2) who is enjoying a mutton dinner. [This is a Hard~Deadly encounter according the DMG]. While Morgan mumbles wonderment about what was down the other passages if this is the best route, the group prepares for combat.

Aleena bursts into the room first, unshrouding her light and using her Persuasion Resource to momentarily baffle and confuse the group (she decides to apply the Resource point to the Ogre). Killi then springs from the darkness in the confusion, drawing his knife and springing on two hapless goblins, killing them before they can react (and expending the one Resource point from his Dagger). From the doorway, Rhila nocks one arrow after another, dropping the three other goblins quickly (expending both Resource points from the two available from her Longbow). Finally, Morgan enters the room with a lusty charge and duels the ogre. However, while the ogre swings at her in surprise with the hefty haunch of mutton in its hand, it proves no match for Morgan's blade, and she kills it (using one of her two Resource points from her Long Sword).

Victorious, the party examines the remains of their fallen victims, and Rilli locates a locked chest near the back of the room. While the party counts the few meager coppers found on their victims, Killi expends his Sleight of Hand Resource point to pick the lock. However, before he can fling the lid open, the DM informs him he may have sprung a trap - though this one is a CR 1 poison needle. Killi decides to expend his Dwarven Resilence Resource to foil the trap. With the lid now open, his cry of delight at the content draws the rest of the party over to investigate what he has found...

 

[Krachek]

Nice concept to another game, but the term « variant » here is over abused.

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

This would work wonders for someone writing a D&D themed story. It's faithful to the system without getting too caught up in mechanics.

 

[Gilladian]

I like it, but it isn’t quite D&D. It hangs on the D&D chassis, though I think it could use most any leveling system. Is Level another resource they can use? What would it apply to?

 

[ART!]

Watching with keen interest. I'm a fan of resource management, which I think puts me in a minority on the issue, i think.

Some version of this would be great to set up ahead of time for a standard 5E game, for those times when you don't want to grind through a combat or other encounter.

 

[commandercrud]

This sounds like something from one of those choose your own adventure style RPG books. It ain't D&D.

 

[Stormonu]

I like it, but it isn’t quite D&D. It hangs on the D&D chassis, though I think it could use most any leveling system. Is Level another resource they can use? What would it apply to?

You generally get new abilities when you level, so I don't think adding Level as a resource would be a good idea. It might work, but I think it would become too generous.

Yes, its a very different style for those groups who aren't interested in working out a blow-by-blow combat. I'm hoping I can try this out on my gaming group some time soon, but this framework will need a lot more work. It would be helpful it could be reliable used, as noted, for those cases when you don't want to grind out an encounter for one reason or another.

 

[GMMichael]

1) Remove HP from the game
- Characters have four Health states: Healthy, Wounded, Incapacitated, Dead. You can add more levels if you want to shift the difficulty (perhaps adding Bruised and Injured, for example)

2) All character options become resources

• Leveled abilities, such as Action Surge, Extra Attack, Stunning Attack and the like become a Resource. They gain a tag according to the pillar they can be used for - Combat, Exploration, Interaction
• Skills become a Resource. Proficiency grants you 1 experience point. Expertise grants 2. Tools count as 1 resource point.
• Spell slots become a Resource

-- This is a fail-forward system, so if a party can't (or chooses not to) expend enough resources to defeat the encounter, they can still complete it, but suffer a Setback (Usually decreasing their Health states, but possibly inflicting other conditions ranging from Captured, Exhausted, Paralyzed, Petrified or the like).

When you pull out hit points, you're effectively breaking the game or playing a different game - just because HP seems like a pretty fundamental design element.

Magic-users will probably not like the idea of having disposable Resources, while Gear and Skills are durable. But they might enjoy no longer seeing HP as a weakness, by virtue of not having them.

I notice that the example includes non-combat/exploration usage of your (sub)system. Is it not about reducing the prominence of the "combat pillar?"

It would be helpful it could be reliable used, as noted, for those cases when you don't want to grind out an encounter for one reason or another.

That's what I thought. Keep it focused on combat only, and just the insignificant encounters - or your warrior-classes might resent it along with the magic-users. Fail forward is fine, but rather than create a Resource system, I'd use a handful of ability checks to avoid the grind. A Skill Challenge, if you will. Give the players the chance to determine their own "failures," and you might not have to assign any yourself.

 

[Stormonu]

It is mostly about reducing/shortening the importance of the combat pillar, but I think it can be general enough to be used in the others fluidly.

Someone upstream mentioned it being like a "choose your own adventure" and I don't disagree. Players are still making choices and doing things, but its more of a summary (or avoiding some math problems) for hopefully the sake of getting more time to do story things. It's essentially a zoomed out instead of a zoomed in approach. I imagine it won't be to most people's liking (heck, I love round-by-round combats), but this is something for those folks who don't care for wading into the tactical side of the game.

As for hit points, I don't think it's suddenly not D&D for not having them. After all, this version of D&D does have the option for PC/NPCs to do "average" damage with each hit, which after a fashion summarizes hit points into blocks. This variant takes it even a step further:

Healthy = 100% hp
(Bruised) = 75% hp
Wounded = 50% hp
(Injured) = 25% hp
Unconscious = 0% hp
Dead = dead

 

[Weiley31]

Don't get me wrong, it all looks nice, but I just rather have my DND left alone and be what it is. The games I play in are already cinematic/storytelling based.(to the point that everybody on this message forum would have an absolute fit if they saw how the DM ran last session: I say that with all the love in the world to the forum.)