I think you missed what is to me the single biggest problem with the system.
A +9 bonus has a significantly higher average result (19.5), than a +11 bonus (17).
It's not
significanantly higher, but yeah... I caught that when I was doing the math, and forgot to note it.
Consider a telescoping roll instead. For a system that may one day live, I devised the "d5+1" mechanic:
- Roll a d6
- Value is 1-5: you get that value.
- Value is 6: you get 5 + another roll.
I didn't see what you were doing at first, but now I get it - for every 4 points in the score, you roll 1d6. If it comes up 6, you get 5+ another roll.
So if I had, say, a +24 bonus, I'd roll (I assume) 1d20+4d6, for an average of 10+(4*3.5) = 24. The problem here is that you can get well above your normal maximum with a really good roll. I kind of like the idea of using straight d6s, but you're doubling the number of dice being rolled.
No, 1d10. I'm reaplacing every 10 points of the bonus with a variable, so you can score anywhere from 1-10 in that range, while not increasing the maximum you can score.
How about a 20th level fighter, armed with a spiked chain, using his whirlwind attack feat in a room full of orcs? This is already a colossal pain in the backside...this rule would triple the number of dice rolls required.
Yeah, that was noted - it was a pretty obvious problem, even to me.
He's making one attack against each opponent in 5 feet - so something like 9-10 attack rolls. Yeah, pretty bad.
Your complaint about the Craft skill is valid, however. It's probably a topic better-suited to its own thread, but I kinda-sorta fixed it by not allowing a "take 10" on Craft checks.
I've thought about that, but I can't see any reason to justify it - it would stink of "arbitrary rule syndrome". Maybe I'll suggest dropping this rule for combat and just using it for saves and skill checks... if I could work out the other kinks first.
I've seen this... And contemplated using it, but replacing each +10 with a d20. That leaves the average of the bonus about the same. Also, whenever you take 10 or 20, all your extra d20s are considered to be 10s.
Right, the average will be the same, but the upper end will be way above the maximum, as I noted with Nifft's system. Also, replacing d10s with d20s will make the problem worse - a +19 will be a LOT better than a +20. I think the solution is go smaller, not larger - the Rule of Sixes, maybe?
