Lokathor said:
A system so good I registered just to ask about it.
I did a quick survey of the level 1 characters I had around from DMing my own game and from a game I'm playing in (8 characters total), and the average trained skill bonus was only +7.8. This is mostly because my players don't get as many 18s with point buy, they go for more even arrays.
If I'm reading this right, that means I should subtract 1 from all the DCs and it'll all work out. Is this correct?
Yep, a -1 to DC should get you straightened out. I would love some feedback on how 8 character parties handle with my system. The baseline is 5, and I made allowances for larger and smaller parties but that math gets fuzzier, so feel free to let me know how it goes!
Many people are asking about XP. From a strict number of roll perspective, my complexities tend to equal WOTC's.
So 1 = 1, 2=2, 3=3, etc. However, my system allows party members to spend more resources. I would go with Complexity 1 = WOTC Complexity 1. Complexity 2 = WOTC Complexity 3. Complexity 3 = WOTC Complexity 4.
Also, a question was asked about the 80% win rate. If the party is at 62%, these are the win rates:
Complexitiy
1: 84%
2: 80%
3: 78%
+1 DC
1: 79%
2: 73%
3: 69%
-1 DC
1: 89%
2: 87%
3: 85%
Subject to change slightly for guys with higher or lower bonuses, but in general they shouldn't move much.
These numbers do not factor in any heroic surges, so a party that utilizes surges can bump that number up.
On to the question of Skill Challenges in combat, I think they would absolutely work. As mentioned before, a level 4, complexity 1 challenge should represent 1 level 4 monster....assuming that WOTC is correct about a complexity 1 challenge being equal to a single monster.