What are some of your favorite mechanics from a D20 system (not just dnd)?

[Evenglare]

Simple question, what are some of your favorite mechanics from a d20 game? Examples would be Backgrounds as skills ala 13th age, 5th edition's (dis)advantage rule, Escalation die again from 13th age, 4th edition's summoning rules. Perhaps it's a class specific mechanic that hooked you for the unique playstyle, anything that's fun/ interesting that comes to mind.

 

[delericho]

From 5e: (Dis-)Advantage

From 4e: The action economy (though not the proliferation of Minor-action powers), and the handling of gods and, especially, artifacts.

SWSE (also d20 Modern): The class layout, and especially the talent trees.

3e: The unified XP progression and core mechanic. Truth is that there's very little that's unique to 3e that makes my list, but it established a foundation that has served the game well since then.

 

[Zhaleskra]

I'm not sure the question I had is entirely answered by the first post. To a certain point, it seems that be d20 system you mean "system that uses d20 as the dominant die", yet the majority of your examples are officially "d20 System".

Going with the idea that you meant the latter, although it's powered by D&D 3.X, I like how modes of firing guns in the setting Forbidden Kingdoms are functions of the firearm instead of Feats.

 

[Evenglare]

As I understand it 13th age isn't the D20 system, it's the Archmage Engine, Castles and Crusades has their SEIGE system. The D&D d20 system isn't ruled out either. Im sorry if I didn't make it clear enough or lacked the knowledge of the correct word. It's why I gave examples.

 

[Torg Smith]

I really like the community rules from Gamma World 6E. This used the D20 Modern rules.

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/624/Gamma-World-Players-Handbook-GW-6e

They used stats as a guide to what the community was like. It gives you ways to build Gamma World towns.

 

[pogre]

A house rule we used in 3rd edition I liked and miss in 5th was how we handled wands with charges. If you had a wand with 50 charges it was a d20 wand. Every time you used it, the wand might go down a die type. d20->d12->d8->d6->d4 - you roll the given die and if you get a one it goes down. Wand might last for only 5 charges or way past 50 charges, but the average is around 50. A fun simple rule that added something to our game.

 

[delericho]

If we're including house/modified rules, I'm a fan of the Angry GM's take on Inspiration.

 

[Gorgon Zee]

As I understand it 13th age isn't the D20 system, it's the Archmage Engine, Castles and Crusades has their SEIGE system. The D&D d20 system isn't ruled out either. Im sorry if I didn't make it clear enough or lacked the knowledge of the correct word. It's why I gave examples.

13th Age is indeed a D20 system, growing out of the designers of 3E and 4E's riff on what they liked form those versions and making it into a solidly D20 game.

It has a large number of my favorite mechanisms including:

* Solving the problem of having interesting monsters without making the GM choose between many options/spells /attacks via the stat blocks conditional attack features.

* The Escalation Dice -- mitigates the nova round issues AND shortens combats AND acts as a timer for fun things happening AND can power player features; brilliant!

* Making basic attacks fun -- Roll one dice of damage for each level you have. Basic attacks no longer the lame thing you do when you run out of good attacks.

* All the modern narrative features: One Unique Thing, Backgrounds, Icon Dice

 

[Imaculata]

I'm very happy with my group's custom misfire table for firearms. We play 3.5, and whenever someone rolls a critical failure with a firearm, we roll another D20 for the misfire table. Depending on the type of firearm, there may be a greater or lower chance for a horrible mishap.

Misfire table (D20)
[TABLE="class: grid, width: 700, align: left"] [TR] [TD]Dueling pistols[/TD] [TD]Flintlock/doglock/
snaplock pistols[/TD] [TD]Multi
barrel/shot[/TD] [TD]Hold out
Pistols[/TD] [TD]Roll Result[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]1[/TD] [TD]1[/TD] [TD]1-2[/TD] [TD]1-3[/TD] [TD]The firearm explodes, dealing 1d6 damage on the wielder.[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]2-4[/TD] [TD]2-5[/TD] [TD]3-6[/TD] [TD]4-7[/TD] [TD]The weapon’s firing mechanism breaks. The weapon must be repaired before being used again, which costs one-quarter of the weapon’s total price and requires a successful DC 15 Craft (Gun smithing) check.[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]5-7[/TD] [TD]6-8[/TD] [TD]7-9[/TD] [TD]8-10[/TD] [TD]Something prevents the weapon’s firing mechanism from working. Determining and fixing the problem requires a full-round action. The firearm may not be used again, until the problem is fixed.[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]8-10[/TD] [TD]9-11[/TD] [TD]10-12[/TD] [TD]11-13[/TD] [TD]Moisture or the wrong amount of gunpowder prevents the firearm from firing. The firearm must be reloaded before it can be fired again.[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]11-14[/TD] [TD]12-15[/TD] [TD]13-16[/TD] [TD]14-17[/TD] [TD]A mechanical problem prevents the firearm from firing. The attack fails this round but may be retried with a new attack without reloading.[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]15-16[/TD] [TD]16-17[/TD] [TD]17-19[/TD] [TD]18-19[/TD] [TD]An imperfection in the muzzle causes this shot to go astray. The firearm’s user makes another attack on another creature within 5 feet of the original target, randomly determining if there are multiple targets. If there are no other targets within 5 feet, the shot simply misses.[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]17-20[/TD] [TD]18-20[/TD] [TD]20[/TD] [TD]20[/TD] [TD]No effect, the firearm misses as normal.[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] (Enhanced and masterwork weapons add their enhancement bonus to their roll on the misfire table.)

Some context to this table. We run a pirate campaign, and in our system Dueling Pistols are considered as masterwork weapons. They are the least prone to horrible failures. Firearms that have more than one barrel, or which fire multiple bullets at once, are more likely to result in horrible mishaps. And holdout pistols are perhaps the most dangerous (just like they were in real life). They are basically tiny firearms, designed to fire only one shot, while being easy to conceal. The downside is that they are just as likely to blow your own hand off, as they are to kill the person you aim it at. So our misfire table reflects that.

I'm also a huge fan of 3.5's Fortitude, Reflex and Wisdom save system. It just works, and I see no good reason why they had to change it for 5th edition. You don't need more than just those three saves.

 

[JeffB]

DCC RPG cleric healing.

Healing check, open ended. Heals #s of hit dice or cures poison/disease/paralysis, etc. (different conditions equal different hit dice cost). Heals less based on clerics faith alignment opposed to alignment of character' in need of healing. Heals more if cleric and person in need of healing match on alignment. Easy to use and eliminates cleric having to waste spell slots on that stuff.