D&D General House Rules ideas - Ability Score vs Modifier

[Shardstone]

Thoughts keep coming to me, so this is my last post.

With PB involved, you end up getting a +16 with a max stat. This system might only really work if you put caps on stats. Say, one ability can be 20, one can be 18, one can be 16, and the rest cap at 15. THis is a little more hacky though, and may kill the idea.

 

[DrJawaPhD]

How big of a change would it be to have ability modifiers be Score-10 instead of (Score-10)/2? It would create a bigger disparity between high and low stats, but it would make sure every +1 mattered.

I hate how odd numbered stats are useless, so the homebrew rule I use is that Saving Throw modifiers round UP for (Score-10)/2, while all the other existing mechanics continue to to round down. This ends up being a relatively minor impact, at most you gain +1 on some saving throws. But it sure feels less bad when you see that odd ability score number

That isn't actually an answer to your question but might be interesting to consider if your main motivation for tweaking the rules is to make sure every +1 matters

 

[Stormonu]

On armor, I like the idea of it negating hits.

Perhaps to reign in high dex + heavy armor make it that the number of hits the armor can absorb is subtracted from Dex. For example, Leather armor can negate 1 hit, but imposes a -1 penalty to Dex. Chain mail can absorb 5 hits, but imposes a -5 penalty to Dex. You might have to add an extra ribbon ability or two to armor to make it more enticing.

Not sure what to do on shields. Maybe it absorbs 1 hit but can be reset with a bonus action?

 

[Shardstone]

On armor, I like the idea of it negating hits.

Perhaps to reign in high dex + heavy armor make it that the number of hits the armor can absorb is subtracted from Dex. For example, Leather armor can negate 1 hit, but imposes a -1 penalty to Dex. Chain mail can absorb 5 hits, but imposes a -5 penalty to Dex. You might have to add an extra ribbon ability or two to armor to make it more enticing.

Not sure what to do on shields. Maybe it absorbs 1 hit but can be reset with a bonus action?

I like the idea of the Dex penalty, I find that pretty clever. Shield being able to reset with a bonus action is also good. The idea comes closer to fruition!

EDIT: But would it be OP if you just regained the 1 guard at the start of your turn if wearing a shield?

 

[TheHand]

For armors, if you want something more akin to traditional AC than tracking hits, you could assign AC values to the armors that override the wearer’s Dexterity score.
For instance, Medium Armors might be AC 14-16, Heavy Armors 17-20, and shields can add +2 bonus.
To keep Light Armor geared for high Dex characters I might not give them a static AC and just have them grant a bonus of +1 or +2 to the wearer’s Dex score for purposes of being hit.

 

[Shardstone]

For armors, if you want something more akin to traditional AC than tracking hits, you could assign AC values to the armors that override the wearer’s Dexterity score.
For instance, Medium Armors might be AC 14-16, Heavy Armors 17-20, and shields can add +2 bonus.
To keep Light Armor geared for high Dex characters I might not give them a static AC and just have them grant a bonus of +1 or +2 to the wearer’s Dex score for purposes of being hit.

The problem is the to hit bonuses are much bigger now since the ability score modifiers are huge. With proficiency, the maximum modifier goes from +11 to +16.

You could just make armor bigger by like +3 across the board. So Medium AC is 17-19, heavy armor is 20-23.

 

[TheHand]

The problem is the to hit bonuses are much bigger now since the ability score modifiers are huge. With proficiency, the maximum modifier goes from +11 to +16.

You could just make armor bigger by like +3 across the board. So Medium AC is 17-19, heavy armor is 20-23.

That’s true - but I was thinking they were removing prof bonuses based on what I read earlier, to keep the ranges similar.
If you keep prof bonuses, then yes you’d want to bump up the numbers.

 

[Xeviat]

Armor is a broader topic. Personally, I'd love a system that models adventure movies better. Most adventurers aren't wearing armor when they're exploring, but they put on armor before a big battle. I've never been able to figure out a good solution, other than harsh max dex bonuses.

 

[jmartkdr2]

Armor is a broader topic. Personally, I'd love a system that models adventure movies better. Most adventurers aren't wearing armor when they're exploring, but they put on armor before a big battle. I've never been able to figure out a good solution, other than harsh max dex bonuses.

You could actually go realistic with this - if you wear armor for too long, you gain levels of exhaustion.

But your unarmored AC needs to be high enough that armor is a nice bonus rather than a must-have.