Kerrick
First Post
I didn't come up with this idea; I saw it on the boards somewhere (here, I think) awhile back during a discussion about epic play. I scribbled down some notes at the time, and then forgot about it, until now. I've been working on tweaking various aspects of epic gaming, and I thought of this rule and wondered if it actually worked. This is the result.
The Rule of Tens
The Rule of Tens is fairly simple; it can be used for attack rolls, skill checks, or saves, but not ability bonuses or caster level checks. You roll 1d20 as usual; for each 10 points you have in the skill or attack bonus, you roll 1d10. Anything left over is added as a bonus.
For example: Delana has a +19 bonus in Craft (weaponsmithing). Instead of rolling 1d20+19 for her Craft checks, she would roll 1d20+1d10+9. If her bonus were, say, 31, she would roll 1d20+3d10+1.
This promotes greater variability in rolls - in the above examples, Delana would get an average result of 24 instead of 29 (with a range of 11-39) or 26 instead of 41 (with a range of 5-51). Yes, this is significantly lower on average, but there is a greater range of results possible, and you still have the chance (though much less likely) of getting a max roll. Critical successes and failures are still possible - a natural 1 or 20 on the d20 roll trumps everything.
Taking 10 and 20: Taking 10 works much the same as before; instead of just treating the roll as 10 on the d20, you take the average for ALL the dice (10 on the d20, and 5 on the d10s, with anything left over as a bonus to the roll as normal - pretty much the "average rolls" I posted above). Taking 20 is simply a max roll, as normal - 20 on the d20, and 10 on the d10s.
The Good Points
Greater variability, as I said above. No longer can someone say, "I've got a +20 bonus! I'll just take 10 and do it automatically." Instead, it's, "I've got a +20 bonus! I've got a pretty good chance of doing this right."*
It drops the gap between high and low attack bonuses at epic levels, for average rolls - at 30th level, the gap is 5 points; at 50th, it's 10; and at 80th, it finally hits 20 points.
Likewise for saves: the different between high and low saves at L30 is 7 points (22 vs. 15); at L50, it's 6 points (27 vs. 21); and at L80, it's still 6 points (26 vs. 20).
ACs, and DCs for skills and saves can be dropped drastically, since you don't have to account for ridiculously high check results. Fighters will not longer be able to automatically hit everything at high levels, and you can keep the BAB/save progressions as they are without screwing over mages and sorcerers, or screwing over those with low saves.
The Bad Points
The single largest problem I can see with this system is the increased number of dice you have to roll; this becomes a hindrance mostly in combat, where you're rolling several attacks per round anyway.
There's an increased chance of failure, which, obviously, won't appeal to most players, but let's face it - knowing you'll succeed is just boring, isn't it? There should always be a chance of failure, unless you're doing something so simple that it's really below your level of ability (a master smith making horseshoes, for example, or a renowned warrior trying to hit AC 10).
*This is one of my biggest peeves about the crafting system, and the one that I haven't been able to fix until now. A 1st level PC, with a little work, can craft MW items by taking 10 - 4 ranks in the skill, Skill Focus (+3), a couple helpers (we'll say 2, +4), a decent Int (+2), and MW tools (+2). He doesn't even need ALL of those - that's +15 there; drop the MW tools (not something most 1st level PCs would have), one point of Int bonus, and one of the helpers, and he's still got +10 - just enough to take 10 and make a MW item. With the Rule of Tens, he could still take 10, but his check would be 15, not 20 - not nearly enough to succeed.
The Rule of Tens
The Rule of Tens is fairly simple; it can be used for attack rolls, skill checks, or saves, but not ability bonuses or caster level checks. You roll 1d20 as usual; for each 10 points you have in the skill or attack bonus, you roll 1d10. Anything left over is added as a bonus.
For example: Delana has a +19 bonus in Craft (weaponsmithing). Instead of rolling 1d20+19 for her Craft checks, she would roll 1d20+1d10+9. If her bonus were, say, 31, she would roll 1d20+3d10+1.
This promotes greater variability in rolls - in the above examples, Delana would get an average result of 24 instead of 29 (with a range of 11-39) or 26 instead of 41 (with a range of 5-51). Yes, this is significantly lower on average, but there is a greater range of results possible, and you still have the chance (though much less likely) of getting a max roll. Critical successes and failures are still possible - a natural 1 or 20 on the d20 roll trumps everything.
Taking 10 and 20: Taking 10 works much the same as before; instead of just treating the roll as 10 on the d20, you take the average for ALL the dice (10 on the d20, and 5 on the d10s, with anything left over as a bonus to the roll as normal - pretty much the "average rolls" I posted above). Taking 20 is simply a max roll, as normal - 20 on the d20, and 10 on the d10s.
The Good Points
Greater variability, as I said above. No longer can someone say, "I've got a +20 bonus! I'll just take 10 and do it automatically." Instead, it's, "I've got a +20 bonus! I've got a pretty good chance of doing this right."*
It drops the gap between high and low attack bonuses at epic levels, for average rolls - at 30th level, the gap is 5 points; at 50th, it's 10; and at 80th, it finally hits 20 points.
Likewise for saves: the different between high and low saves at L30 is 7 points (22 vs. 15); at L50, it's 6 points (27 vs. 21); and at L80, it's still 6 points (26 vs. 20).
ACs, and DCs for skills and saves can be dropped drastically, since you don't have to account for ridiculously high check results. Fighters will not longer be able to automatically hit everything at high levels, and you can keep the BAB/save progressions as they are without screwing over mages and sorcerers, or screwing over those with low saves.
The Bad Points
The single largest problem I can see with this system is the increased number of dice you have to roll; this becomes a hindrance mostly in combat, where you're rolling several attacks per round anyway.
There's an increased chance of failure, which, obviously, won't appeal to most players, but let's face it - knowing you'll succeed is just boring, isn't it? There should always be a chance of failure, unless you're doing something so simple that it's really below your level of ability (a master smith making horseshoes, for example, or a renowned warrior trying to hit AC 10).
*This is one of my biggest peeves about the crafting system, and the one that I haven't been able to fix until now. A 1st level PC, with a little work, can craft MW items by taking 10 - 4 ranks in the skill, Skill Focus (+3), a couple helpers (we'll say 2, +4), a decent Int (+2), and MW tools (+2). He doesn't even need ALL of those - that's +15 there; drop the MW tools (not something most 1st level PCs would have), one point of Int bonus, and one of the helpers, and he's still got +10 - just enough to take 10 and make a MW item. With the Rule of Tens, he could still take 10, but his check would be 15, not 20 - not nearly enough to succeed.
