Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Rokugan RPG fantasy setting conversion for D&DNext (preliminary thoughts)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Li Shenron" data-source="post: 6289945" data-attributes="member: 1465"><p><strong>Preliminary thoughts: Combat</strong></p><p></p><p>In Rokugan, combat (particularly duels) is usually expected to be fast and deadly, while D&D generally treats combat as a matter of attrition, gradually decreasing each other's HP.</p><p></p><p>I don't want to change how combat works in D&DNext. I like its simplicity, I like how "theatre of the mind" (i.e. without keeping precise track of distances and positions) is much easier than in the previous 2 editions, and anyway changing combat rules can have lots of consequences on balance and other areas of the games. Overall, a lot of work I'd rather avoid.</p><p></p><p>However, D&DNext <em>description</em> of combat, damage and HP, seems to suggest to treat most damage as minor physical wounds and wear, or even fatigue, and to think that only strikes that drop to negative HP are "real" wounds. This might play in our favor, because if we adhere to this descriptive practice, we can imagine a fight in Rokugan being a matter of parrying and dodging, except that when an attack "hits" this means your defenses are worn down and you get closer to receiving that one hit that defeats you (or simply, the probability of losing the fight increases every time an attack gets "too close", even if we still describe a "hit" as a parry, dodge or perhaps cutting your hair and clothes).</p><p></p><p><strong>Duels</strong></p><p></p><p>While regular 5e combat rules might be fine after all when fighting monsters, duels are a little bit different.</p><p></p><p>In d20 Rokugan there are <strong>Iaijutsu</strong> rules for duels. They are supposed to significantly increase the chance of winning with your first strike. They don't always work, because even tho you get a huge damage bonus on your first strike (if you succeed at striking first!), the opponent's HP are normally more. It's very similar in magnitude to Sneak Attack, except that how much extra damage you deal depends on a skill check, and Sneak Attack definitely doesn't always kill an opponent in one blow.</p><p></p><p>Of course not every duel is to the death, many are to first blood, in which case the exact damage dealt is irrelevant, so the d20 Iaijutsu rules are still ok.</p><p></p><p>Still, I think it's worth starting off by trying to use the old d20 Iaijutsu rules for duels also in case of duels to the death, even if that means a few rounds of combat are usually due, which isn't exactly very "quick and deadly".</p><p></p><p>These are the needed adjustments:</p><p></p><p>- The d20 Iaijutsu rules are governed by a skill called Iaijutsu Focus. At first thought, we might just add this to the list of 5e skills, however the bounded accuracy of skills proficiency bonus might be a problem. This skill is not used for challenges against a DC, so what really matters is the relative difference with your opponent's bonus (i.e. your chance of striking first). There are supposed to be quite large differences between someone completely untrained and a master, and the bounded accuracy probably doesn't capture that. Still, there might be other ways to represent mastery, e.g. a Samurai subclass Iaijutsu Master (converted from the original PrCl) might get an additional bonus to Iaijutsu Focus, a feat might grant Expertise to Iaijutsu Focus, and so on.</p><p></p><p>- The absolute result of your Iaijutsu Focus determines the bonus damage (only if you do win the contest of striking first). In d20 Rokugan this damage can also be used in a regular fight if you catch an opponent flat-footed, so it has to be decided if we want something similar in 5e or if we only want this to work in a duel. In any case, the actual table for extra damage based on your skill check result certainly needs adjustment since the skill bonus/rank doesn't grow as high as in d20.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Li Shenron, post: 6289945, member: 1465"] [B]Preliminary thoughts: Combat[/B] In Rokugan, combat (particularly duels) is usually expected to be fast and deadly, while D&D generally treats combat as a matter of attrition, gradually decreasing each other's HP. I don't want to change how combat works in D&DNext. I like its simplicity, I like how "theatre of the mind" (i.e. without keeping precise track of distances and positions) is much easier than in the previous 2 editions, and anyway changing combat rules can have lots of consequences on balance and other areas of the games. Overall, a lot of work I'd rather avoid. However, D&DNext [I]description[/I] of combat, damage and HP, seems to suggest to treat most damage as minor physical wounds and wear, or even fatigue, and to think that only strikes that drop to negative HP are "real" wounds. This might play in our favor, because if we adhere to this descriptive practice, we can imagine a fight in Rokugan being a matter of parrying and dodging, except that when an attack "hits" this means your defenses are worn down and you get closer to receiving that one hit that defeats you (or simply, the probability of losing the fight increases every time an attack gets "too close", even if we still describe a "hit" as a parry, dodge or perhaps cutting your hair and clothes). [B]Duels[/B] While regular 5e combat rules might be fine after all when fighting monsters, duels are a little bit different. In d20 Rokugan there are [B]Iaijutsu[/B] rules for duels. They are supposed to significantly increase the chance of winning with your first strike. They don't always work, because even tho you get a huge damage bonus on your first strike (if you succeed at striking first!), the opponent's HP are normally more. It's very similar in magnitude to Sneak Attack, except that how much extra damage you deal depends on a skill check, and Sneak Attack definitely doesn't always kill an opponent in one blow. Of course not every duel is to the death, many are to first blood, in which case the exact damage dealt is irrelevant, so the d20 Iaijutsu rules are still ok. Still, I think it's worth starting off by trying to use the old d20 Iaijutsu rules for duels also in case of duels to the death, even if that means a few rounds of combat are usually due, which isn't exactly very "quick and deadly". These are the needed adjustments: - The d20 Iaijutsu rules are governed by a skill called Iaijutsu Focus. At first thought, we might just add this to the list of 5e skills, however the bounded accuracy of skills proficiency bonus might be a problem. This skill is not used for challenges against a DC, so what really matters is the relative difference with your opponent's bonus (i.e. your chance of striking first). There are supposed to be quite large differences between someone completely untrained and a master, and the bounded accuracy probably doesn't capture that. Still, there might be other ways to represent mastery, e.g. a Samurai subclass Iaijutsu Master (converted from the original PrCl) might get an additional bonus to Iaijutsu Focus, a feat might grant Expertise to Iaijutsu Focus, and so on. - The absolute result of your Iaijutsu Focus determines the bonus damage (only if you do win the contest of striking first). In d20 Rokugan this damage can also be used in a regular fight if you catch an opponent flat-footed, so it has to be decided if we want something similar in 5e or if we only want this to work in a duel. In any case, the actual table for extra damage based on your skill check result certainly needs adjustment since the skill bonus/rank doesn't grow as high as in d20. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Rokugan RPG fantasy setting conversion for D&DNext (preliminary thoughts)
Top