OP ED:

This page contains a collection of rule modifications, clarifications and different approaches that seek to establish the pace and flavor of the table I run.

(If you find anything unfair, I’m open to discussion and changing the rules for your campaign. However, I urge folks to try out these mechanics for a couple sessions before you decide you don’t like them. They might surprise you.)

CONDITIONS

COMBAT

Turn Time Limit.

• Players are expected to have their actions in combat squared away within 60 seconds.
• For more complicated combat situations, lots of enemies, a heavy role playing element, unusual terrain, etc. the time will be extended an additional 60 seconds for a 2 minute total.
• All players begin play with 6 time chips. One or more chips can be thrown in at any time during a player’s turn, to gain an additional 2 minutes per chip, to their turn.
• Time chips are replenished after every long rest.

Sudden Surprise – An unexpected attack from a revealed/seen position.

• The attacker gains advantage.
• The defender gets a perception check to break (or nullify) the surprise advantage.
• Regardless of the outcome of the perception check, the defender has all normal reaction bonuses and actions.
• Sudden surprise only lasts one turn.

For example: Gonan and his life-long buddy, Malak are cruising the courtyard of the castle they’ve been staying in for the last six months. They share a wineskin of ale and discuss the antics of the ball they attended two nights prior. Malak produces a dagger from within his sleeve and stabs at Gonan’s heart.

Ambush Surprise – An unseen attack from a concealed position.

• The attacker gains advantage.
• An ambushed target remains surprised until the attacker is revealed and the ambush is spoiled.
• The defender receives no reaction bonuses or actions against the first attack and each subsequent attack the ambush is in effect.
• Standard attacks reveal the attacker and break surprise regardless if they hit or miss.
• Silent or otherwise carefully orchestrated attacks may be performed with careful attention not to alert the target. In these cases the defender gets a perception check against each such attempted attack. Failed check means the attacker has remained unnoticed; the ambush is not spoiled and surprise is not broken.

For example: Gonan and his life-long buddy, Malak are cruising the courtyard of the castle they’ve been staying in for the last six months. They share a wineskin of ale and discuss the antics of the ball they attended two nights prior. They take no notice as they enter a market area with no one else present, save the merchants selling their wares. Four of the market merchants are actually assassins.

They’re bad assassins, like the dudes from Indiana Jones, so they jump out of their tents brandishing big scimitars, screaming Hizaahhh!! They get the drop (advantage) on Gonan and Malak, but the ambush is spoiled.

They’re good assassins. Stealthily, they bring small blowguns to their mouths and fire at Gonan and Malak as they pass. Turns out their bad shots and miss, but Gonan and Malak are far along with their ale and don’t notice. This allows the assassins to keep firing, but instead they decide to slip away and plot another ambush elsewhere. 

Fumble – Natural 1 on Combat roll

Fumbling is bad mojo at my table. A natural one on a combat roll represents, for all intents and purposes, a serious error in judgement or execution on the attacker’s behalf, or in the instance of ranged weapons or magic, simply bad fortune (Murphy’s Law as it were).

Melee Weapon

• Fumble ends the players turn. No other actions can be taken.
• Breaks concentration.
• For the remainder of turn, player is off balance and loses all dex bonus to AC.
• Fumble eliminates inspiration.
• Grants the intended target one of the following at no action cost:
  • An immediate attack of opportunity (an attack is limited to 1 blow if the target is capable of multiple attacks during an attack action.)
  • A disarm action. Successful hit knocks the weapon away from the combat or is taken by target in a free hand–target’s choice.
  • An immediate attack of opportunity to knock the attacker prone. A successful hit delivers no damage.

Range Weapon

• Fumble ends the players turn. No other actions can be taken.
• Fumble eliminates inspiration.
• Breaks concentration.
• Player’s weapon misfires. Weapon can not be used again until an action is used to clear/fix it (DC 8).
• If the player using the range weapon was in motion at the time of discharge, player can opt for melee weapon fumble instead of misfire.

Magic

• to come.

Double Damage – Natural 20 on Combat roll

Double damage is bad ass at my table. A natural twenty on a combat roll represents, for all intents and purposes, superior judgement or execution on the attacker’s behalf, or in some cases, just damn good luck, son.

When a natural 20 is rolled:

• The player gains inspiration.
• If the player has moved half or less before the attack, full movement rate it is recovered.
• Dex bonus to AC is doubled for the remainder of the combat turn (minimum +3).
• A second d20 is then rolled to assess damage:
• Double Damage breaks targer concentration — no con check.

1-7 Double Damage

• Roll normal damage and double it or roll 2 like dice. If you suck out and roll shit, tough.

8-14 Critical Hit

• Take 1 die of damage at max, roll the other.

15-19 Critical Injury

• Both dies do maximum damage.
• Damage bonuses are also doubled.
• Target receives a critical injury that sets additional effects and ongoing damage each turn. * see below.

20 Death Blow

• Target must make a Death save or die. (DC set by DM).
• If target saves, they are reduced to crawling/stumbling for 1-4+1 turns and can take no other action than participating in role playing (think death scene theatrics).

* Rather then turn to random injury charts, players are encouraged to describe all their attack actions, so that when they actually hit a critical injury, the DM already has the creative direction to carry the narrative.

Called Shots

[Samuel Jackson voice] Sometimes you just have to shoot a mother fucker in his eye or kick him in his werewolf nards.

Called shots are first and foremost role playing tools. Secondary, successful called shots can cause injury, change an enemies status, or otherwise affect them. This is ultimately at the DM’s discretion. Lastly, scoring a natural twenty with a called shot is gonna give your target the worst day of his life… quite possibly, literally.

Potentially, 2d20 are rolled each time you do a called shot.

• The first die is rolled as a standard attack to hit or miss regardless of the called shot. If you miss, your called shot failed (obviously).
• If you successfully hit, you then roll a second d20 for the actual called shot, to see how close to your target you actually hit.
• The second die, the called shot roll takes a to hit modifier based on the size of the target relation to the attacker’s own size class. Each size class grants a 2 modifier, negative if aiming smaller, positive if aiming bigger.
  For example: A medium character wants to take a bow shot at a giant’s eyeball, that happens to be 5′ wide. The giant is a gargantuan size class creature, but called shots only care about the target size. Since the eyeball is medium class, there’s no penalty or bonuses. Alternatively, the same character wants to take a shot at a Beholder’s central eye. The beholder is a large 8′ diameter creature, but his eye is only 3′ diameter, that’s less than the 3’9″ max of small size. The attacker gets -2 to hit. Same attacker decides to go after one of the smaller eye stalks next round. This smaller eyeball is only eight inches in diameter, making it in the rat size class, 3 away from the attacker’s size class, giving him a -6 to hit.
• Called shots get disadvantage at 6 or more size ranks smaller.
• Called shots gain advantage at 2 or more size ranks higher.

If you’re thinking why not make every shot a called shot? Basically, yes. In real combat you don’t just swing toward an opponent and hope you hit something, except for maybe the most desperate situations. Called shots open up role playing consequence considerations. If you’re trying to metagame, milking every attack for every possible effect and advantage, be warned fighting brutal, mercilessly maiming, may not always work in your favor, especially in civilized environments…

Though your character’s background may have a lot to say about how and who you fight.

Unless you are actually trying to wound for extra injury, effect, or a potential Coup De Grace, you may find NOT calling your shots adequate for many attacks.

Subdual Damage

Attackers can restrain force and attack in a less lethal manner on any attack. If a creature is reduced to 0 HP by half or more subdual damage, the creature will recover without intervention. If a creature is reduced by half or more with normal damage, then brought to 0 HP with subdual damage, the creature will die unless treated (players hurt in this manner get normal Death Saves to self stabilize).

The tricky part of subduing comes when deciding to subdue an enemy in the middle of a normal lethal combat fight. In this instance, too much subdual damage can wind up “accidentally” killing instead of subduing. Attempting to hold back too much damage, may give a determined opponent the time it needs to kill the player, or escape.

• Attacker can choose, minimum damage, half-damage, or normal damage. All damage mods are at the attacker’s discretion but must be decided before any rolls.
• Unless a subdued character dies in the process, all subdual damage is recovered after a short rest.

Spell Casting Concentration

Spell casting requires concentration. Actual concentration. Only as spell casters advance in experience, do they become in tune enough, experienced enough, to do something like concentrate on a spell while cooking scrambled eggs.

For example: I could give you a dozen fantasy oriented examples of how I envision spell casting concentration, BUT, none of us are spell casters, so let me give you some real world examples you might relate to. Playing a Playstation sports game against another human, or fighting a game boss–what ELSE could you do while doing that, without pausing the game? How about juggling? Or something more cerebral, like, listening to google map directions while you drive–what else can you do while doing that without missing the info or making the wrong turn? Or simply reading a lot of information off a piece of paper? What else can you manage without losing your place in the text, especially under stress?

• Spell casters do not become oblivious to the world around them during combat. But any activity that pulls their attention away from concentration, such as attacking, breaks concentration.

Which lead us to…

Concentration Distractions

“The DM may decide that certain environmental phenomena, such as a wave crashing over you aboard a ship, constitutes a DC 10 Con check.”

• Environmental phenomena is broadened to include any distraction of significance.
• It also emphasizes, distractions that the player engages in themselves.
  For example: While concentrating on a confusion spell, a portcullis starts lowering, sealing off the only exit to the chamber. The spell caster could kick over a chair to jam the portcullis, but if he kicks over the chair and it doesn’t land properly, he couldn’t stop and pick up the chair and wedge it neatly into the iron tracks. Or, if three levers controlled the portcullis, he could hold concentration while throwing one lever… but not multiple levers in a specific sequence.

Players should be warned that the task they are about to do is distracting… however, players should also use their own common sense to help the pace of the game and not metagame every possible action, trying to find the one that doesn’t require a con check.

Hold Concentration – Taking the Hit

A spell caster instinctively moves to avoid attacks or lessen the blow of an attack that hits. When the concentration of spell energies is paramount and an attack hits the caster, they can choose to reinforce their focus on their spell and not the blow.

• While concentrating during spell casting, a player hit by an opponent can bypass the required concentration check, by accepting max damage of the attack. This declaration is only made when successfully hit.
• Taking the hit can only be done by landed hits the caster sees.

Combat Spell Casters versus Combat Manipulator Spell Casters

You don’t bring a knife to a gun fight.

Similarly, you don’t bring spells that take more than an instant to cast (spells that require prolonged concentration) into melee combat.

In this regard we can gain clarity by identifying two spell casting practices.

• Combat casting: Instantaneous or fast casting spells that work in synergy with the movement and focus needed for life and death melees. Casters who actively engage in battle while casting.
• Combat Manipulators: Slower casting spells that work to alter the combat in favor of allies. Casters who remain outside the main fray, where they can concentrate on the magical energies with more undistubred focus.
  For example: A spell caster’s party engages a dozen orcs. The spell caster rushing to the front lines, to concentrate on a 20-foot-radius sphere of poisonous, yellow-green fog for 10 turns begs for a mace to the face. The same spell caster, casting the same spell from the safety of the far rear, has a much greater chance of successfully swaying the outcome of the battle, with little chance of taking a mace to the face.

Note, these are not classes. They are approaches to spell casting. A spell caster can be a combat caster one turn and a combat manipulator the next… though, casters will often develop battle techniques that favor one style.

Facing You Opponent / Fully Engaged

All creatures have a field of vision. During combat humanoids can actively see and engage to their immediate sides and the forward facing space before them (generally 3 squares in combat map context).

• A combatant can turn to face any adjacent enemy a number of times per combat turn equal to their dex bonus.
  For example: if a soldier with Dex 16, +3 bonus is surrounded on all 4 sides, he may turn from the first attacker three times to meet each opponent in one turn. This soldier is so agile, none of the attackers can gain a rear attack against him. However, at his final position when he is fully engaged, if 2 new attackers move in behind him, the soldier no longer has the agility to meet them and they get rear attacking bonuses to their combat rolls.
• When a defender has expended all his dex or has otherwise set his position, he has become fully engaged. At this point rear attacks may be occur.

Rear Attacks

• Attacking a creature from directly behind (the rear) or from one of the rear flanks, grants +3 to attack rolls.
• Rear attacks gain an additional +1 (+4 total) if an ally is engaged in an opposite flank.
• Rear attacks gain an additional +2 (+5 total) if the entire enemy is surrounded by allies.
• Rear attacks that hit break spell caster concentration. No con check.

Flanking

• All allies engaging a target gain +1  to attack rolls for each ally engaged in a rear attack. For similar sized creatures, this means a max bonus of +3 can be granted to all other friendly attackers.
• Defenders generally reposition to face as many incoming attacks as they can. For this reason no flanking bonuses are applied until a defender is fully engaged.
• Keep in mind different sized creatures may have larger or smaller rear and rear flank vulnerabilities. * Look down at the graphic where Conan fights a bunch of Firebats. You can see in that graphic, Medium vs. Small, Conan’s rear has grown to allow 4 separate attackers.

Size Attack Modifiers

• Attacks against a larger target receive +2 to hit -2 damage for each step up in size class.
  For example: Medium attacking Huge gets +4/-4.
• Attacks against a smaller target receive -2 to hit +2 damage for each step down in size class.
  For example: Medium attacking Tiny gets -4/+4.
• Full gamut of sizes:
  Grain of Sand  .062″ (from .046″-.093″)
  Seed  .125″ (from .093″-.187″)
  Pea  .25″ (from .187″-.375″)
  Grape .5″ (from .375″-.75″)
  Cherry 1″ (from .75″-1.5″)
  Crabapple 2″ (from 1.5″-3″)
  Grapefruit 4″ (from 3″ – 5.5″)
  On the large end:
  Gargantuan = 40′   ( size class = 30′- 60′ )
  Colossal = 80′ (from 60′-120′)
  Kaiju = 160′ (from 120′-240′)
  King Kaiju = 320′ (from 240′-480′)
• Top size scale is the amount of space the size category takes on a battle map.
• For humanoids, sizes are classified by the category closest to their height. On the graphic above, the colored midpoint heights show the break points between categories. For example: If your character is a 4′ halfling, he just makes it in as a medium sized creature, but a 3’6″ tall halfling would be small. 
• If a creature lands right on the midpoint of two size classes, they get to choose if they see themselves as a larger version of the smaller size, or a smaller version of the larger size. This decision permanently sets the size class of the character.

NO SEDUCTION OR SEXUAL SITUATIONS

My tables are not safe. (This wasn’t even a term or understanding for most of my DMing career.)

Everything is on the table as far as the narrative is concerned…

HOWEVER, I almost never go into sexual situations where the players have an opportunity to interact. Even among good friends it gets really weird, really fast.

In this regard, players looking to create characters that exploit a sexual nature in their roleplaying will likely find themselves hindered at my table.

• Attempts at seduction will be deferred to mainly persuasion and deception checks, but primarily, any kind of explicit sexual seductions will be downplayed narratively.
  For example: Having a sexually charged image of your character is fine. Walking around in bikini armor or just a loin cloth and gravitating toward whatever sex you find alluring in game, is fine. Some innuendo and subtext are fine. Occasional comments are fine, we’re all human. BUT, If creating and interacting in explicit sexual encounters, if flaunting you character’s sexuality, if steering every encounter toward your character’s sexuality is critical to your enjoyment in the game, you will likely be disappointed at my table. 

SKILLS/PROFICIENCIES

Skills and proficiencies anchor a character to their background and deepen direction and connection to role playing.

Having a streamlined system based on ability scores is great, but there is no reason to eliminate the flavor of a more specific skill system. Luckily, it’s quite easy to run both in synergy.

In addition to the rules as they stand, I’m borrowing some of the design from my personal RPG system, allowing the following skill/proficiency system:

• All skills are possible. Get specific. Have fun. If you’re creating a new skill, provide a detailed description and your idea of potential benefits and the DM will give you an official take.
• If you try to metagame a new skill based on an existing skill or game mechanic, especially in an effort to stack advantages, the existing skill or mechanic will overrule the new skill.
       Example: Barbarians get Feral Instinct at 7th level which gives them advantage to initiative. So you roll up a barbarian and come up with the skill, “Wild Alertness” which you suggests give you advantage to initiative, hey and at level 1 too! Your nicely described new skill “Wild Alertness” will be added to the skill list based on the same benefits/restrictions of Feral Instinct.
  
• If an existing skill or mechanic is only available to a certain class, you can not gain access to it by introducing it as a skill. Trying to do so is literally the definition of multi-classing.
• Skills are ranked by the following tiers:
  • 0 Deficient. Disadvantaged on rolls.
  • 1 Novice. Basic understand, not yet practiced. No bonuses.
  • 2-7 Experienced. Proficiency bonus applied.
  • 8-14 Expert. Doubly Proficiency bonus applied.
  • 15-20 Master. Triple Proficiency bonus applied.
• Any skill given to you by the official rules, starts you at Experienced level.
• To gain a skill after character creation, there has to be a role playing/narrative source. That’s it. Even a basic or brief explanation by an accurate source grants the skill at the novice level.
  • Example: The tavern is busy and the barkeep drags you behind the bar, quickly pours a “Sour Dragon’s Egg” in front of you and tells you to keep making that drink and don’t stop till you run out of glasses. You just learned novice “Bartending Skill.”
• When a new skill is learned, write down your character level next to the skill. You increase one level in the skill each time your character level goes up. DM can increase or decrease the rate of advancement in any skill based on how often the character actually uses the skill during play.
• Your proficiency bonus is applied at your character level. Not the skill level.
  • Example: You’re an expert bartender, but somehow your character is only on level 2. Your bonus is +4 total. OR you’re an expert level bartender and your character is on level 20, your bonus is +6 (x2) for a +12 total.
• At this time I’m not running deficiencies.

XXXX

• XXXX.
• XXXX.

FEATS / ABILITIES

Alertness (revised)

• You have a +5 bonus to initiative.
• You have advantage when rolling perception checks for surprise.

Examine (new)

• Open to all players.
• Successful intel check delivers “clue” about an item under examination.
• Additional successful checks deliver additional clues, but a single failed check prevents any further examination.

CHARACTER CREATION

Character Backgrounds

Players are encouraged to create backgrounds for their characters. At the end of the day, your background is the story of your character BEFORE you actively take him up in the gaming world. Because everyone’s story contains mostly elements they don’t control, I break the character background process into two parts.

• The first part is your part. Develop whatever you want.
• The second part, is my part. Where I rework your idea of what you “hoped” happened and what effects sprung forth from it, to what “actually did happen.”  My goal is to work with the material you present, to exploit elements in the campaign, while giving you some surprises and material to work with through the game.
• Of course, it’s also my job to balance any actual mechanic elements you might try to include as a benefit to your background. BE WARNED, I tend to give a wide berth when players want to create “in game benefits” from their background, so you might just get what you’re asking for… but I look for ways to balance out benefits with logical hindrances or handicaps.
  • Example: You decide your character is actually the prince of the entire campaign setting, literally the next in line for the throne. Ok, I’ll allow it… but… turns out the royal archbishop has decreed you must live five years in poverty without calling on the treasury in any fashion, in fact, you’ve been completely barred from the castle and any dwellings owned by your family. Further, you have a younger cousin who wants your claim to throne and will leverage all his families wealth and power to rip it from you.
    

While, I’m not totally against going back and forth a few times, I’ve found that just working on the background 1 time each, creates a solid dynamic. With no “revisions,” you’re kind of forced to regulate your power of complete freedom, because you never know how your ideas are going to be balanced out.

Last point here, if you’re not comfortable being thrown curveballs on your character’s background, you may prefer to simply keep it fairly generic, getting minimal input from my end.

MISCELLANEOUS

Item Identification System

All items can be assessed based on 5 aspects:

• Artistic Craftsmanship – The artistry of the item.
• Structural Craftsmanship – How the item is made.
• Material Makeup – What the item is made of.
• Properties – How the item functions.
• Origin – Cultural or historical significance.

The following skills are available:

General Appraise

Specialized Appraise

Artistic Craftsmanship Appraise

Structural Craftsmanship Appraise

Material Makeup Appraise

WILL FINISH THE APPRAISE SECTION SOON.

EXPERIENCE POINTS

Experience points awarded only for combat creates an unbalanced system. I also award XP for:

Ideals

What is best in life, Conan?

To crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentations of their women.

• Players should have one overarching core ideal for their characters. Their view of what is best in life.
• Whenever directly pursuing or executing on your core ideal an XP bonus is granted.
  For example. If accumulating wealth is the most important thing to you, then finding treasure will give you XP bonuses. If, like Conan, crushing your enemies is the only thing that really matters, then combats will yield bonus XP for you.
• Take note. Where pursuing a goal grants bonuses, not actively pursuing that goal grants no bonuses.
  For example. If crushing your enemies is your core ideal, but you always solve puzzles in game and try to talk your way out of combats, your character may progress more slowly than allies actively pursuing their goals.

XP for Gold

• Spending gold (your own) in direct pursuit of your core ideal grants you XP at a 1:1 gold coin to XP conversion value.
• The DM may adjust the conversion value if your pursuit is indirect.
  For example: Your core ideal is to abolish slavery in all its forms. You book passage on a ship and find out three of the crew are slaves. You spend 300 gold in buying their freedom and earn 300 XP. OR Your core ideal is to create beautiful art and make everyone’s life a little bit more colorful. You spend 500 gold in materials, carve and erect a statue at the dirt road intersection out of town. You gain 500 XP.
  

Roleplaying that Deepens the Narrative and/or Spawns Significant Consequences

• Everyone at the table is expected to roleplay to some degree, but direct engagement that unlocks deeper scope of the narrative or creates greater/unexpected consequences will be rewarded with XP.
  For example. A local noble gathers the people in the town square where he announces the kidnapping of his daughter by bandits to the North. He offers a 1,000 gold coin reward for her safe return. You bravely step forward and accept the task. You’re handed a map to the Northern caves and some provisions. With the cheers of the crowd you depart at once. You’ve got the minimum info you needed for the adventure to begin.
  • But had you roleplayed and engaged the noble further, you could have unlocked additional information, learning more about the daughter. Including some narrative relevant key clues as to why she was actually kidnapped.
  • Had you engaged some other some townsfolk, you could have unlocked addition information, learning that the noble is in financial trouble and has bad relations with the king. Again, gaining narrative relevant clues bringing the full narrative in greater focus.
  • Lastly, your roleplay with one of the noble’s guards leads to a heated disagreement. The noble’s cousin watching in the crowd, doesn’t take a liking to your display and boasts. A thief by trade, he decides to shadow you to the caves and look for a moment to take advantage and teach you a lesson. In this last instance, your interaction with the story unlocked unexpected consequences. Though ultimately negative for you, you gain XP for altering the course of the story, just the same.
    

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