Nerfing the Characters

[Ace]

A couple of options if you like "Low power D&D"



Use D20 Modern and make "Core Classes" PRC's

Use Grim n Gritty Rules and Nerf Spellcasters ( max of 1 level in 2 as a spell caster)
HP in that system = BAB + Con Armor= DR Very deadlyFREX a troll (which has 5 points of DR and 64HP and does an average of 9HP damage per claw in that system is terrifying when you have 20HP! and maybe DR6)

 

[Bendris Noulg]

Alrighty then...

Grim & Gritty

And for those that want it...

SI Martial Arts

If anyone has any more of these Sleeping Imperium documents, I'd gladly take them via email to host at my site.

As for the topic: Now you have GnG, I suggest you don't use it. Not yet, anyway... It's quite deadly, and if your players are the charge-in-and-kill types (and far too many are, I'm afraid), this system is guaranteed to wipe them out.

If you are looking for something that is somewhat more grounded towards reality without loosing the ability to play out cinematic battles, I'd suggest picking up Unearthed Arcana when it is released. It will have a system in it called Wounds & Vitality, which is (in my opinion) a significant upgrade from Hit Points. It allows battles to occur as normal, but Critical Hits are to be feared rather than expected, large creatures (Large and up) are tougher (Constitution x Size multiple = Wound Points), and characters that jump out a 100' window leave a big >splat!< instead of getting up like nothing happened.

 

[doghead]

gng - got it, and read it. actually, i think that it would be a good alternative for this game - the npc classes have lower HD, so they are even better off at the low levels. magic is a lot less common amoung these classes (there is only 1 spellcaster). this would fit quite nicely with the idea of using the pc classes as prestigue classes, for which the pc's have to be able to find a teacher or school or some such.

its seems pretty straightforward as well.

 

[Thomas Hobbes]

Grim-n-Gritty's one downside is that it involves a lot of extra rolls if you use some of the more complicated extra rules (such as the fort save to avoid stunning every time you take damage). I've run some face-to-face games with it and it tends to involve a lot more bookkeeping. This, of course, makes it rather ideal for PbP, where there is no "slowing down the game."