I've got the season 6 scenarios, and I'm looking to try out some alternative rules of my design.
Therefore I'm putting out a call for guinea pigs I mean players. You get to try out the various season 6 scenarios and I get to try out various rules.
No need to play all of these, these are what I want to try but if everyone is like "not that one" then we don't try it.
If everyone likes one enough to keep using it in following scenarios, or wants to try a combination, we can.
If you don't want to try these, I'd still love some feedback on why and what you think of them.
Some of the rules I want to try out (we can try out just one change per scenario or multiple at player's choice). Just the general concepts.
1) Dice. Roll a d8 plus two dice based on ability scores. This is in place of the d20, so all other modifiers are the same.
2) Vitality and Injuries and spell slots. HP is calculated differently giving you a ton of HP, but at key points you take fatigue penalties. Getting hit hard enough or criticals or similar will cause injuries. It's intended that most kills should be via injuries rather than HP depletion.
HP becomes two things, first it becomes a resource to manage that your enemy can affect. Second, it becomes your weariness and fatigue. Third, with bleed effects, it becomes a more interesting way to bleed out and fight while on the brink of death, the time for final words and similar tropes.
As a resource, it powers spellcasting instead of slots, as well as per day effects and similar. Fatigue effects and costs also operate through HP. Barbarians for example pay for rage with HP instead of a condition.
3) Ability Score Generation. 4d4 per stat, add 5 point buy points, the rolls in order swap two. Minimum equivalent point buy of 15 points.
4) Skill based combat rolls. BAB and related don't exist. You have skills for various weapons, armors, etc. Attack rolls are a skill check vs a skill check (one side averages rather than actually rolling, just like with normal AC).
More skillpoints are gained to offset needing to buy more skills.
For defense, you get the lower of your skill or armor bonus. High enough skillpoints adds to an armor's bonus.
5) Skill based spellcasting. Casting a spell requires a skill check. Spell level gives DC to cast spell at 1cl, each point exceeding that DC increases cl by 1.
6) Power and leveling. The idea here is that lots more levels are gained, but many abilities and effects based on level are instead based on power. The goal is threefold, first, the separation of raw numerical power from level allows treating them independently, thus you could have a campaign of superheroes that start off not knowing how to handle their immense power, or alternatively have a full length campaign without ever growing beyond what real world people can achieve. Second, makes it easier for power to be increased in ways other than leveling (one of my settings has "physical" material you pick up that increases your magic power). Third, power can be split, having greater power for some effects but not others, allowing more interesting build choices, buffs, and magic item boosts.
7) Pact magic. A feat tree way of dealing with granting power to others, as a patron might grant power to warlocks. This should give more customization and actually feel like extra power above a character's normal abilities. Instead of warlocks being a class, warlocks are normally built and then a deal is struck between player and GM and the player gets a few extras along with a few obligations. Using these extras requires skill and practice however, requiring skillpoint investment in something that can be withdrawn and lost. Plus plot hooks.