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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 1120458" data-attributes="member: 63">Personally, I'd prefer simple.  It reduces power-gaming potential, and focuses the session more on storytelling than statistics.I would have three types of armor - light (+2), medium (+5), and heavy(+8).  A shield requires a free hand to use, but gives an extra +2 AC.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Light (+2).  This armor lets you use your full mobility and Dex-based abilities.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Medium (+5).  This armor slows your base speed, and restricts you to a maximum of +3 Dex bonus for AC and Reflex saves.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Heavy (+8).  This armor gives you DR 1/-, but slows your base speed, restricts you to a +1 Dex bonus, and keeps you from using the Finesse Fighter feat.  Sleeping in heavy armor has heavy penalties. </li> </ul>The specifics of your armor are up to you.  Light armor could be leather, some sort of thin metal, kevlar, or even just your own hardened flesh.  Heavy armor could be classic plate armor, or it might be heavy bamboo armor, or a suit of living flesh that absorbs damage for you but limits your movement. Similarly, weapon damage would be based just on how you are using the weapon, not on what the weapon looks like.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Concealable (1d4).  A weapon deals this damage if you are using it in a grapple.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Standard (1d6).  A weapon deals this damage if you are using a shield.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Full (1d10).  A weapon deals this damage if you are fighting full with no shield.</li> </ul>You'd have three categories of weapons - Melee (can only be used in close combat), Reach (can be used at 10 ft., but not close), and Missile (range increment 50 ft., but using it incurs an AoO).  Every melee and reach weapon can be thrown with a range increment of 10 ft.We'd have a new feat, Martial Proficiency, that would increase your damage category by one step (all fighters and barbarians would have this feat for free).  And then other feats would let you do nifty things, like Finesse Fighter, Disarm Mastery, Trip Mastery, or Reach Mastery.  These would basically be the equivalent taking the appropriate exotic weapon proficiency for a normal D&D exotic item, except you'd be able to do nifty things with whatever weapon you want.Finesse Fighter.  You use your Dex bonus instead of Str bonus to attack rolls.  Reduce your damage die per attack by one step.Disarm Master.  You do not provoke an attack of opportunity when trying to disarm an opponent. (note that size no longer matters; you can 'disarm' a giant of his club with your dagger by nimbly stabbing his wrist, if you roll well)Trip Master.  You do not provoke an AoO when tripping, nor can you be tripped in response.Reach Master.  If you use a reach weapon, you may use it in close melee combat.  If you use a melee weapon, it gains reach out to 10 ft.  Your threatened area is 10 ft. in all directions.These would of course all have prerequisites so as to avoid being degenerate, but they let you focus more on your character's style, and less on the exact item he's fighting with.You can create all kinds of crazy fighting styles, with a minimum of number crunching.  For example, say you want a knife-fighter who fights with a pair of knives and cuts his opponents to pieces with a frenzy of fast attacks.  Now, in standard D&D, you'd need Two-Weapon Fighting and probably some sort of specialty feat to let you deal more damage or get more attacks, because, honestly, there's no statistical reason to fight with two knives.  In this system, though, you just realize this is a 'Full' fighting style, because you don't have a free hand for a shield.  You'd probably also have Martial Proficiency and Finesse Fighter.  Thus, you'd make just one attack roll, and deal 1d12 points of damage per hit.  Each individual dagger strike would probably just be a nick or small cut, but the overall effect is more important than the minutiae of each slash. The revised fighter would get good base attack bonus and one good save (Fort or Ref).  At first level he'd get three feats, at 2nd level he'd get two feats, at 3rd and 4th he'd get one each, and then he'd go on with the same progression of 1 per 2 levels.So 4th level tank fighter could have light and medium armor, shield proficiency, and martial proficiency.  He could fight with a spear just as easily as with an axe, or even a club.  If he loses his weapon, he can grab any other weapon, and keep fighting just as well.  He ends up losing style points for having to rely on someone else's weapon, and if his is magical then obviously he doesn't want to lose it, but now you won't need to worry about whether an adz is balanced with a hand-axe.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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