Skill-based d20 balancing?

[Ranger REG]

I'm surprised no one mentioned Big Eyes Small Mouth d20. Granted, it is billed as "Anime d20" but if you look at the ruleset, it already has combat skills.

In fact, if you go to www.GuardiansOrder.com you can download the Anime d20 System Reference Document for you to scrutinize and use.

 

[Inari]

I'd though be for combat styles, packages really.

Think of fx. militia training, where with each raise, you'd be better with spears, shields, short swords, and the sort. Then you'd have gladiator where it would be fx. net, short sword, longsword, and so forth. Then you also have styles like Kenjutsu where it's Katana, wakizashi, and similiar swords. The trick would be though to have it limited, yet not. Maybe have secondary groups saying that if you master this and this sword (kenjutsu) then you can use 1/2 that bonus with similiar blades, or if you specialise with spears, that you have some good with halberds due to similarity.

Then you'd have custom styles where the player would make his own (with some good guidelines of course).

But I don't really see the need for this. I'm content with the current system of proficiencies, although I agree it could be better set up (like explain why the sword fighter, is so good with bows as well).

 

[Tonguez]

I'd go
Short Slash - knife, short sword
Long Slash - long swords, scimitars, scythes
Short Thrust - Stilleto, spiked gauntlet
Long Thrust - Spear, lance
Short Bludgeon/chop - club, axe
Long Bludgeon/chop - Staff, halberd (ie polearms)
Flex - whips, chains etc
Missile - bows
Thrown - sling, shuriken

(chop & bludgeon could be seperated maybe)

Also the feat and talents system can be used to balance out a skills based d20 system. Feats can already have prereqs to account for 'power inequality' and turning class skills into feat based talent trees covers that aspect.
In fact spells are already described as feats of magic in the core rules

 

[Heretic Apostate]

My basic approach to skills, to keep people from becoming lopsided, was to have diminishing returns.

First level in a skill is 1 point. Second level is 2 points. And so on. So that, if you want to have a +20 in a skill, you'd have to 210 skill points, instead of the 20 you'd pay in 3.x.

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

I can see where your coming from. I have some issues with the all or nothing aspect of class based systems, and the homogeneity of characters in a pure skill based game.

My ideal game system would have character "knacks", a certain number of skills in which the character would get a point break in the purchase of skill ranks. These could be chosen by the player or taken as part of a starting package. Non-knack skills could later be converted to knack skills after the character had acquired a few ranks (let's say 5) in that skill. The character could perform a skill check against a relatively high difficulty, and if successful, the character could pay twice the skill's cost to convert it to a knack skill. A failed skill check increases the difficulty of future conversion attempts.

 

[takyris]

I'd go
Short Slash - knife, short sword
Long Slash - long swords, scimitars, scythes
Short Thrust - Stilleto, spiked gauntlet
Long Thrust - Spear, lance
Short Bludgeon/chop - club, axe
Long Bludgeon/chop - Staff, halberd (ie polearms)
Flex - whips, chains etc
Missile - bows
Thrown - sling, shuriken

Not sure about Short Slash and Short Thrust. Most knives are piercing, not slashing, as is the short sword. It's not that you can't slash with it, it's just that the balance is not really built to maximize that ability. Just like you can certainly stab somebody to death with a longsword, but it's going to be a whole lot easier for you to, you know, slash them open with one instead.

For realism, then, I'd probably collapse the Short slash and Thrust together. But mileage may certainly vary, and if people with more short-weapon experience than me want to chime in, I'm all ears (my martial arts experience includes extensive knife and stick work, and while you do do a lot of slashing with the knives, those are usually just set-up moves to open somebody up for the stabbing attack that finishes things off).

 

[Inari]

Well, knowing that my idea of training packages didn't go through too smootly (militia and so forth), I'd just go with what others say.

Agile blades (short swords, daggers, wakizashis, even rapiers)
medium blades (longswords, schimitars, bastard swords, katanas)
long/heavy blades (bastard swords (2-handed), great swords, claymores)

spears (half spears, long spears, double spears, naginatas, and perhaps polearms)

Hurling (throwing daggers, axes, javelins, light hammers, shurikens)

Heavy swinging (maces of all types, axes (battle axe and greataxe))

bows (dufus)

crosbows

etc, etc, etc.

 

[DomibiaGames]

I'm surprised no one mentioned Big Eyes Small Mouth d20 (or) the Anime d20 System Reference Document

*sheepishly* I was gonna say that same thing.

Tim, who is nearly rabidly fond of BESM d20 right now.

 

[Unseelie]

*sheepishly* I was gonna say that same thing.

Tim, who is nearly rabidly fond of BESM d20 right now.

If I were going to play BESM D20, I'd just skip that altogether and just use BESM Tristat. I don't see any benefit to using their D20 variant.