With all of the D&D Next talk and OSR and the merits of each, I started thinking about what D&D at it's core is. I have run most of my games in 1e and 2e, but I have run games in every other edition of D&D as well. My preference for wiggle room and less rigidly defined mechanics might reflect the fact that I am most comfortable in those early editions of AD&D. So here are my rough notes at a very minimalistic form of D&D--something that provides a simple core mechanic that can built on to later. The roll-under, blackjack style system is nothing new here... but it is new for me as applied to D&D.
Ability Scores
These are the sacred cows of D&D that just won't die. And maybe that's ok. I find it hard to imagine playing something called D&D without looking down and seeing my six stats in a neat row. So I've retained Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, and Cha and they represent basically the same thing, just are capable of more. The Ability Scores themselves are your character's key to interacting with the world. My minimalist D&D requires no derived stats (No ability score bonus, no saving throws, no spell power) when used in its simplest form.
Scores for player characters generally range from 3-18 (some GM's might have races, backgrounds, or classes that modify starting scores) and can be generated however the group wishes. I'm partial to 3d6 myself. The higher the score, the better your character is when taking actions related to that ability.
Ability Checks
Ability checks are how your character interacts with the world. When your character attempts to do something, the GM will tell you to roll against one of your six abilities.
An ability check is made by rolling a d20 and comparing it your ability score. The rolled result is referred to your character's effort. The higher the effort, the better your character performed at the action. However, an effort result that is greater than your relevant ability score means that your character was unable to gain any headway towards successfully completing the action.
Rogar, Strength 16, is attempting to kick in a door. The GM asks for a Strength roll and Rogar's player rolls a 12. Rogar kicked down the door with an effort of 12.
Difficulty
Some actions are harder to complete than others. For example, a locked iron door is harder to break open than a rotted wooden one. Most actions will be given a difficulty score by the GM. The higher the difficulty score, the harder the action is to complete. When making an ability check against a difficult action, a player must roll higher than the action difficulty in addition to rolling under than his character's ability score.
The GM decides that the door that Rogar is trying to kick in moderately strong and has a difficulty score of 20. Rogar rolls a 12, so he didn't fail outright, but he also didn't quite succeed.
Extended Actions
Just because a character fails to meet an action's difficulty score does not mean he didn't make any progress. When it's appropriate, the GM can reduce the difficulty of the next attempt at the action by the effort of the ability check.Even though Rogar didn't succeed at kicking down the door, the GM applies his effort of 12 to the door's difficulty, so the next person that takes a hit at it only has a difficulty of 8.
Success
When it is important to know now only if the character succeeded at an action, but also how well he succeeded, you need to determine the amount of success. Success is simply the amount that the player rolled over the action difficulty. This can be important for combat as the success level could determine a base amount of damage.
Examples
Rogar has a Strength of 16 and is attempting to break down a wooden door. The GM decides that this door is moderately strong and has a difficulty score of 20. Rogar rolls a 12, so he didn't fail outright, but he also didn't quite succeed. The GM applies his effort of 12 to the door's difficulty, so the next person that takes a hit at it only has a difficulty of 8.
Bilbo has a Dexterity of 15 and is trying to sneak by Smaug who has a Wisdom of 21. Bilbo rolls a 13 for his Dexterity check and Smaug rolls a 7. Even though Smaug is usually very wise, Bilbo's effort is higher, allowing him to sneak by Smaug... this time.
Suso has an Intelligence of 18 and is attempting to cast a Charm spell on a goblin with a Wisdom of 8. Suso rolls a 19 and was unable to even harness the magical powers to begin casting the spell.
Garion has a dexterity score of 14 and is using his rapier to attack a kobold with a dexterity of 12. Garion rolls a 9 to attack. The kobold rolls a 7. Garion's effort surpassed the kobold's by 2, so the GM marks off 2 points of damage.
Expanding
From this base, a GM could add all sorts of options. Skills could give bonuses to ability checks when they are used under the purview of the skill. Levels can unlock new skills and feats. Armor can either make one harder to hit, or absorb damage or both.
Ability Scores
These are the sacred cows of D&D that just won't die. And maybe that's ok. I find it hard to imagine playing something called D&D without looking down and seeing my six stats in a neat row. So I've retained Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, and Cha and they represent basically the same thing, just are capable of more. The Ability Scores themselves are your character's key to interacting with the world. My minimalist D&D requires no derived stats (No ability score bonus, no saving throws, no spell power) when used in its simplest form.
Scores for player characters generally range from 3-18 (some GM's might have races, backgrounds, or classes that modify starting scores) and can be generated however the group wishes. I'm partial to 3d6 myself. The higher the score, the better your character is when taking actions related to that ability.
Ability Checks
Ability checks are how your character interacts with the world. When your character attempts to do something, the GM will tell you to roll against one of your six abilities.
An ability check is made by rolling a d20 and comparing it your ability score. The rolled result is referred to your character's effort. The higher the effort, the better your character performed at the action. However, an effort result that is greater than your relevant ability score means that your character was unable to gain any headway towards successfully completing the action.
Rogar, Strength 16, is attempting to kick in a door. The GM asks for a Strength roll and Rogar's player rolls a 12. Rogar kicked down the door with an effort of 12.
Difficulty
Some actions are harder to complete than others. For example, a locked iron door is harder to break open than a rotted wooden one. Most actions will be given a difficulty score by the GM. The higher the difficulty score, the harder the action is to complete. When making an ability check against a difficult action, a player must roll higher than the action difficulty in addition to rolling under than his character's ability score.
The GM decides that the door that Rogar is trying to kick in moderately strong and has a difficulty score of 20. Rogar rolls a 12, so he didn't fail outright, but he also didn't quite succeed.
Extended Actions
Just because a character fails to meet an action's difficulty score does not mean he didn't make any progress. When it's appropriate, the GM can reduce the difficulty of the next attempt at the action by the effort of the ability check.Even though Rogar didn't succeed at kicking down the door, the GM applies his effort of 12 to the door's difficulty, so the next person that takes a hit at it only has a difficulty of 8.
Success
When it is important to know now only if the character succeeded at an action, but also how well he succeeded, you need to determine the amount of success. Success is simply the amount that the player rolled over the action difficulty. This can be important for combat as the success level could determine a base amount of damage.
Examples
Rogar has a Strength of 16 and is attempting to break down a wooden door. The GM decides that this door is moderately strong and has a difficulty score of 20. Rogar rolls a 12, so he didn't fail outright, but he also didn't quite succeed. The GM applies his effort of 12 to the door's difficulty, so the next person that takes a hit at it only has a difficulty of 8.
Bilbo has a Dexterity of 15 and is trying to sneak by Smaug who has a Wisdom of 21. Bilbo rolls a 13 for his Dexterity check and Smaug rolls a 7. Even though Smaug is usually very wise, Bilbo's effort is higher, allowing him to sneak by Smaug... this time.
Suso has an Intelligence of 18 and is attempting to cast a Charm spell on a goblin with a Wisdom of 8. Suso rolls a 19 and was unable to even harness the magical powers to begin casting the spell.
Garion has a dexterity score of 14 and is using his rapier to attack a kobold with a dexterity of 12. Garion rolls a 9 to attack. The kobold rolls a 7. Garion's effort surpassed the kobold's by 2, so the GM marks off 2 points of damage.
Expanding
From this base, a GM could add all sorts of options. Skills could give bonuses to ability checks when they are used under the purview of the skill. Levels can unlock new skills and feats. Armor can either make one harder to hit, or absorb damage or both.
