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Nealok's AD&D rules hospital Vol. 1 The most obnoxious parts of the AD&D system to me are combat and saving throws. Could someone please tell me what the saving throw signifies? If anyone says "dumb luck" I am going to throw a brick at them. They mean NOTHING. ugh! I want to change that. Unfortunately, I am an idiot, so I have no idea what would be an effective, balanced way of computing saving throws, and I'll be damned if I make my players roll their CON and INT every time; no sir, my players need tables and numbers! Heh, just a little roll-playing (sic) (sic on the sic) humor. So anyway, you'll have to wait for the saving throw stuff. But I did get my arms around the combat, so read on. If you don’t like the changes, then don’t friggin’ use them.
Warrior Have More Blood Than Wizards The allocation of HP’s and body hit location. I think most of it is self-explanatory, although it could be organized better. Nonetheless, I have received some complaints, and so I'll explain. The "Health Total" chart simply indicates the general maximums for PC health levels. My rationale is that 8 points of damage is the best whalloping short if a natural 20 that a long sword could deliver. If you receive an amazingly well-placed longsword to the head, then you are going to buy the farm, plain and simple, bud. Similar logic went into the arm and legs; I made the legs stronger because, well, most people’s legs are about three times stronger than their arms, so it seemed natural that they could take more punishment. On the "Progression" chart are the numbers added to each body level on a level increase. Wizards are wusses and warriors are not. I basically used the hit die scheme from the PHB to decide which class was tougher. If you need me to explain body hit locations and beginning health
levels, then you have issues...er...I mean, e-mail me at Nealok@aol.com.
Health Total: No head HP past 10- If a character take a head hit to 0, then s/he is dead. No arm HP past 15- If a character takes arm hits to 0, then s/he has lost a limb and dying (losing 1 HP/ turn from the chest); all rolls should be made at -4. If both arms are lost, then double both of those figures. Add common sense modifiers as necessary: Player: "I try to pick the lock!" No leg HP past 20- If a character takes leg hits to 0, then s/he has lost a limb and dying (losing 1 HP/ turn from the chest); all rolls should be made at -4. If both legs are lost, then double both of those figures. Again common sense modifiers as necessary.Chest and stomach have no intrinsic HP limit- If a character takes chest or stomach damage to 0, the character is dead. If the character takes half his health, all rolls should be made at -2. All modifiers are cumulative. Progression of Body Health Levels: Wizards add 2 HP/ level until 10th level. Rogues add 4 HP/ level until 12th level. Priests add 6 HP/ level until 15th level. Warriors add 1d4+7 HP/ level until 15th level.
Beginning Health Levels: Wizard: 3 in every location Warrior: 1d4+7 in every location (except head, which is 6) Priest: 7 in every location (except head, which is 5) Rogue: 5 in every location (except head, which is 4) Even not using this system, I recommend rolling all relevant attack
dice at the same time to speed things along. Normally you pick up your d20,
decide where you hit, then determine damage, then the DM decides how well the
damage is absorbed by armor (keep reading). Instead, take your d20, d12, and d(weapon damage
di(c)e), and roll them simultaneously. At the same time, the DM
should be slapping down the armor roll just in case you hit. Inspired by both the Alternity game and mundane logic, I have made armor function as a buffer to attacks received, as opposed to the traditional AD&D rules set, which makes Dex 25 and a set of splint mail the same thing. Think about that...Okay, so that's pretty stupid right? So we compensate: use the normal damage for a weapon and then roll the number for the armor. Subtract the armor result from the damage result, and voila, full plate stops more damage than treated cow skin.
Optionally, if any attack does twice any armor's maximum damage capacity, I recommend that the armor be injured in some way that renders it useless or at least massively less functional. If you decide to use the optional Weapon Type vs. Armor Modifiers, I recommend using the values in table 52 (DMG) as modifiers to amount of damage rolled. So full plate would absorb 3d12 + 6 vs. Slashing weapons, while its absorption value would be unchanged vs. bludgeoning weapons. Okay, Nealok, what about the other stuff? I mean, this is AD&D, people use a helluva lot more than bastard swords and pikes; they use spells and stuff. Okay, magic damage coverage is not beneath me. Personally, I think the magic missile spell should do full damage to anyone, but I’m harsh. Armor, at its roots, protects from impacts–a cutting blade is merely the effect of a bludgeoning weapon distributed over a smaller space– and a magic missile, is, well, who the Hell knows what it is, but I have always thought of it as concentrated concussive force. But anyway, with the exceptions of elemental spells and effects, like fireball, lightning bolt, cone of cold, and the like, damage should be calculated and subtracted normally. Fire- Give the offended character xd4
damage as you see fit. Ground zero of a fireball in plate mail? Subtract as normal, then
give’em a good ol’ 3d4 burning problem. Enchanted armor changes things, obviously. Add a level of protection based on the enchantment of the armor, starting at 1d6 for +1, and upgrading one die per level of plus. So for leather armor +5, the damage absorbed would be 1d6-1 PLUS 1d20. Laugh at my leather now, bitch. Enchanted shields should do the same thing, but the bidding should start at 1d4. Amulets and cloaks and rings of protection aid in movement factor, not armoring. See the next section. Determining "To Hit" Values (a.k.a. "What AC should have been") Take a look at the following two tables, then leap to the other side (where most of the text is white), so I can explain it. Don't ask me why the tables are so funkily aligned, and please don't tell me. Okay, now go to the other side, and refer to the tables when you need to.
Magical Defense -1 bonus to MF per point of "+" value of the item x of Speed x of Speed (Boot, Oil, etc.) Def. Adj. x2, to a min. of –2, except for characters with Dex<8; then –1 And what all that means: Movement factor (MF) and action objectives (AO)- This is a value possessed by a target character based on movement capabilities. Add the listed value to the attacker's roll in the exact same way as any other modifier to the weapon. Since there is no AC any more, combat rolls are directed at the targets AO; AO is functionally AC all over again, and I only gave it a new name and acronym to be more truthful to what it signified and because I like making acronyms. AO, as the chart explains number changes depending on both the size of the target, where it is in relation to the attacker, and what it is doing. This system is intended to reflect that the +70 suit of full plate is a LOT easier to hit than that Oil of Speeded Thief you just thought you saw in the forest. In the case of protection stuff, the item does make the person harder to hit (no one will ever convince me that their ring of protection functions as armor, thank you very much.), so it affects MF. I think the table is correct as far as said protection stuffs go, but I might consider giving more protection to the higher end of the enchantment scale, perhaps -2 per point above +3. That’s all for this supplement. On the agenda for next time: x of Speed (Boot, Oil, etc.) Def. Adj. x2, to a min. of –2, except for characters with Dex<8; then –1 And what all that means: Movement factor (MF) and action objectives (AO)- This is a value possessed by a target character based on movement capabilities. Add the listed value to the attacker's roll in the exact same way as any other modifier to the weapon. Since there is no AC any more, combat rolls are directed at the targets AO; AO is functionally AC all over again, and I only gave it a new name and acronym to be more truthful to what it signified and because I like making acronyms. AO, as the chart explains number changes depending on both the size of the target, where it is in relation to the attacker, and what it is doing. This system is intended to reflect that the +70 suit of full plate is a LOT easier to hit than that Oil of Speeded Thief you just thought you saw in the forest. In the case of protection stuff, the item does make the person harder to hit (no one will ever convince me that their ring of protection functions as armor, thank you very much.), so it affects MF. I think the table is correct as far as said protection stuffs go, but I might consider giving more protection to the higher end of the enchantment scale, perhaps -2 per point above +3. That’s all for this supplement. On the agenda for next time: |