Thoughts on a BECMI damage system mod

[Wik]

An idea for a pretty huge houserule that occured to me last night.

First, all PCs get a flat boost to armour class, much like in the 3E Unearthed Arcana defence bonus system. This would depend on character class.

Second, armour that PCs wear would not modify armour class OR provide any sort of damage reduction. Instead, armour would just increase a character's hit points. The amount would be rather small (I'm thinking leather would give 2 hit points, plus 1 HP per level... while plate would give 3 or 4 hp, and maybe 2 hp per level? Just spitballing numbers right now).

At the end of every combat, PCs fully heal, without magical effects or healing surges. However, every time they take a certain amount of damage (don't know the amount yet, but I think half constitution plus level is a good starting point), they take a "wound". Wounds can only be healed by magic, and apply a ceiling on your HP at the start of a new combat. And maybe add a penalty to die rolls, though I'm iffy on that right now.

I'm kitbashing BECMI, adding feats and races and a whole bunch of things I like from other systems, and want to do something interesting with armour.

Thoughts?

 

[ExploderWizard]

An idea for a pretty huge houserule that occured to me last night.

First, all PCs get a flat boost to armour class, much like in the 3E Unearthed Arcana defence bonus system. This would depend on character class.

Second, armour that PCs wear would not modify armour class OR provide any sort of damage reduction. Instead, armour would just increase a character's hit points. The amount would be rather small (I'm thinking leather would give 2 hit points, plus 1 HP per level... while plate would give 3 or 4 hp, and maybe 2 hp per level? Just spitballing numbers right now).

At the end of every combat, PCs fully heal, without magical effects or healing surges. However, every time they take a certain amount of damage (don't know the amount yet, but I think half constitution plus level is a good starting point), they take a "wound". Wounds can only be healed by magic, and apply a ceiling on your HP at the start of a new combat. And maybe add a penalty to die rolls, though I'm iffy on that right now.

I'm kitbashing BECMI, adding feats and races and a whole bunch of things I like from other systems, and want to do something interesting with armour.

Thoughts?

I'm not sure how that would work out. Basic D&D works attrition style and healing up after every fight means that every encounter has to be fairly major to have any meaning.

What I'm doing for armor is a base AC based on class and armor adds to that.

Fighter,Dwarf, Halfling,: AC 6
Cleric and Elf: AC 7
Thief: AC 8
Magic User: AC 9

Heavy armors (plate, etc.) +3
Medium armors (chain etc.) +2
Light armors (leather, etc.) +1

Thus combat training and armor combined make up defense. A fighter without armor is tougher to hit than a magic user.

 

[the Jester]

I'm not real fond of unlimited heal-to-full type stuff. I think it kills resource management, which is an aspect of the game that I really enjoy.

 

[Ted Sandyman]

Did you ever end up doing anything more with this?

I've been running Dagger for Kids quite a bit lately. A six-page lite game by Brave Halfling Publishing, characters have only have three stats: AC, HP, and a Saving Throw. This minimalism got me thinking ... if AC, HP, and Saves all reflect a character's ability to avoid damage, what's the point of having three separate stats?

That brought me to about the same place: What if characters only had one stat: HP?

• Don armor and get a bump.
• Poisons deal Xd6 HP damage.
• Paralysis and similar effects roll Xd6 where X = the monster's Hit Dice. If the total exceeds the victim's current HP then he is effected; if not then it is resisted.
• Magic spells like Charm Person don't force a saving throw, but the MU rolls d6 = to his level. Exceed targets current HP and it works
• Magic spells like Fireball lose their "save for half damage"

I'm also a big fan of the tension created by the attrition-game and I'd hate to see that go.
Healing is one of the few things that I haven't yet resolved myself to with 5th ed.