Agree with 9er, keep the homebrew combat rules relatively simple and the rest go for it. I would just let us know the ones we need to worry about at the time, no need to dump it all on us now. It's not like our characters would know all about the diseases and what causes/cures them anyway.
BTW have you come across World Anvil? It's really useful for organising the world, rules, people so would be perfect for this, I am currently creating all my stuff on it for my one homebrew world/campaign.
There won't be any more combat rules that are universal. I mean some monsters have special abilities (the foxman's scythe claws don't use actions or bonus actions but he can't use it twice in a row and he can't use it if he moves.) which work a bit differently, but I think that's more of a homebrew monster thing than a universal battle rule. The only rule that may be changed later will be regarding resurrection and death.
The remaining things will be a list of diseases, new monsters and new equipment. As for diseases having permanent effects, some diseases do reduce stats but these reductions are removed when the disease is cured. The only thing truly permanent the diseases may cause is death.
Also you won't need to give us all the information on the diseases unless we roll godlike diagnosis, so we'll still have the air of mystery on how to fix these diseases.
That's actually what I have planned. Whenever, anyone gets infected, they roll Medicine to diagnose the disease (DC depends on how common the disease is). Whenever you succeed, I will tell you about the disease and note it down in my DM notes (Another Word Document). Should you encounter the disease again, you will have advantage when you roll Medicine. (I will roll the 2nd d20 so as to not give it away) If you want, I could also note the disease in the campaign page as well as my notes upon a successful Medicine check.
Yeah I think just show us the information our characters know. Btw this is what World Anvil is great for, you can make things secret and choose who gets to see it.
If it alright could you possibly send me the disease system ? I want to put one into the rules I'm righting and it would be great to get some inspiration
Uh okay. I don't have many diseases written down but I can send you MS Word Document. Just don't meta-game with it ;).
As for what diseases your characters know about, I will put that on the public notes when I'm done writing all of them down. If you get infected by something your characters should know about, I'll just straight up tell you.
Thanks :) it's more for contracting/healing/etc rather than the actual diseases, I want to intergrate it with the injury system I'm writing (which I just found out is quite similar to the variant in DMG :) )
Hey, so I'm away at Comic Con near where I live this weekend, so won't be near an accessible computer. Responses may not be until Saturday evening or maybe Sunday night/Monday. Just a heads-up.
Elsara will be attempting to make friends with Elyza (though it's been going terribly so far) and want to keep a better eye on the horses, since they are in her care as she rented the horse & cart. If things kick off, she'll be trying her new weapon, Slasher, out. Assume she'll put [Tooltip Not Found] up and if it looks like a fight against other weapon users, she'll Bladesong.
( I know I keep posting in these in here when I probably shouldn't but you guys give really good feedback, let me know if it's getting to much)
So! I sat down to write in some homebrew rules to replace the magic component of +X weapons, armours, shields with them just being of better build qualities (my homebrew world is low-magic). Then I started to think about the item condition rules that we are using on this campaign. What started off as 10 mins writing the equivalent of simple lore, ended up with a few hours of research, tinkering, dice probabilities and rule writing.
The outcome: a completely new weapon system that separates the magic and physical components of combat items and hopefully (in combination with adjusted crafting rules involving tools and workshops) will make the crafting system more useful. The links below are two web pages detailing the physical side of combat items (magic enchantments can be put onto any of them). If you have the time, and will, let me know what you think! (PS I'm not at all saying to use them on here, just really excited and wanted peoples opinions)
On the note of your armour/weapon rules, they look okay, but later on won't be as huge an impact. The attack bonus of characters scales quicker than AC does, so later on taking heavy weapons with the penalty to hit for extra damage will be what most people will end up going for. Still browsing through it all though.
Yeah the bonus scale on the modifiers is the last bit I'm not sure about. Pretty happy with the quality section (it's just the base magic items with some negative versions), might change the modifier stats to be based on quality. Ie a balanced heavy weapon gets -1attack+2damage and a legendary heavy weapon gets -3attack+6damage. It is that too much?
(again very sorry if anyone doesn't want this on here, just tell me and I'll shut up :) )
Ok had a rethink.
Modifiers are no longer 'purchasable' but are applied to weapons that you find. So an NPC might have a particularly heavy axe or you might find a cracked mace on a bandit. The main reason for it is so I can describe weapons etc. to my players and they can change their tactics accordingly: there's no point firing arrows at a dwarven company with large pavise shileds, you need to get up and personal or outmanoeuvre them.
I was also thinking that when players commission/craft a high quality item it would get a random bonus depending on their playstyle etc. Chance of it will be based on their relationship with the Smith: if they are brash and condescending to them the smith is only going to do the bare minimum, but if they have a long friendly relationship they would probably go the extra mile and specialise it. Makes the players RP matter
Also changed the armour tailoring from straight bonus to removing a debuff (Dex -1 for medium armour, -2 for heavy armour) and severely lowered it's cost
Finally got the time to check your weapon and item link. I like it. I really like it. I like it enough to use it in this game but I won't because it is too much for me to handle as a DM. (I know you didn't ask for it to be implemented. I'm just saying this as my way of showing how much I like it)
I want to play a supremely tanky (and hard hitting) Paladin now.
Thanks that really means a lot :) as I said earlier, it was inspired by the system (quality) were using here but just grown to incorporate a maintenance/sharpening system I was thinking about (item HP) with a bit of M&BWarband (modifiers)
(Sorry more...) The one other thing that isn't said on the rule pages is that the modifiers will effect the items weight. As I am planning on using the variant encumbrance rule it will make quite a difference. Eg small shields only have a penalty to stats (-1AC against ranged) but will be lighter than the base shield.
I really am my own worst enemy. This is one example out of many of where what started as me copying down the RAW and tunred into a completely new full system :) I'm becoming increasingly aware thay I've not even DMed the base game yet, I really am biting off quite a lot
Got time to look into your links... and in general I like it. But the damaging rules of items could make it hard to keep track and end the characters carrying four longswords if they expect to be on the road for a long time. And think in an war. “ Well, hope to defeat all the armies of that other country in just one single combat, and a fast one, or we are going to end fighting with chopsticks... “ XD I would give them more HP.
As per the restrictions of the heavy and medium armor, I would say that if you are proficient with them or get the appropiate feat you no longer suffer those penalties.
I wouldn’t give more that a +1 due to quality to the weapons. In past editions, where the max bonus due to magic was +5, perhaps a +2 due to exceptional quality and carftmanship could be fine, ( I remember that in one edition of D&D you got +1 as maximum for great quality) but giving it +3 seems too much. Reduce the cost of enchantment of those of high quality instead of giving them the same bonus as the magical items, then your players not only had to search for the materials, and for the blacksmith, but for the wizard to make their weapon truly legendary.
As I said in the OP, it's a low-magic system. I didn't want loads of magic weapons floating around and so made this physical version so NPCs could still pose a threat plus I think it's more realistic.
As with the item HP: with the current rules, if we take a standard longsword it has 5HP. On average that will take 100 attack rolls to break (5x20) and cost 1gp5sp to repair. To me that seems about right. If we upgrade it to legendary, it has an 15HP, an average of 300 attack rolls. This is a bit low so I'll probably play around with the numbers a bit to justify the 1500gp repair cost (though the sword does cost less compared to a standard +3 magic sword)
Im using the variant encumbrance and I really want my players to have to think about there stuff. I want them to have to carry a dagger in case their axe cracks down the shaft, take care of their horse because with out it their wagon with all their loot is stuck, throw a huge party because the fighter choose to bring his dulcimer instead of his shield. I want their choices to matter. The bottomless, weightless, invisible backpacks tear me out of the Immersion, which is why you always notice me talking about Folkis
As for the bit about wars..... Yes. That's exactly what happens. Repairing and maintaining your armies arms and armour tends to be the highest costs of medieval warfare, swords and spears break in their thousands. Don't even start me on how many shields
I found a different way around it, narratively speaking. See, we can assume based on starting equipment that each character puts all their stuff in a back pack or tie it around their body. I picture it as: The bag pack is big enough to hold stuff of mass greater than the carrying capacity of the PC. So in the earlier levels, it makes sense. In the later levels where strength stats shoot up thanks to stuff like Giant Strength potions and belts, I assume the PCs find some magic backpacks that grow and warp to fit whatever is put into it. If Bags of holding exist, why not backpacks of warping? I mean, DnD has magic stuff in it, why not use it to save the DM and the PC needless headache.
Then again, I'm from a video game background and I am also of the opinion that a large portion of realism can be sacrificed in a Fantasy setting for a smoother experience and provided that you strictly follow the laws of the world you created. The second point is why I will nerf (once I figure out how I'm going to do it) higher resurrection spells. I can't answer the question: "If a high level cleric can bring anyone to life with spells like True Resurrection (following the spell restrictions of course) why doesn't everyone do it. I'm sure many townsfolk who can afford the casting cost would love to have their loved ones back among them. This probably doesn't apply to you because you are going for a more grounded setting. Rant over.
Well, on the realism matter... I think that as soon as you use the encumbrance rules you are just avoiding characters to be carrying the whle dragon horad on their coin purse.. but as ZulkRS says, there is magic in DnD that start messing things up XD If your setting is a low magic one though... then you give them a couple more things to think about and it’s great and ok! :)
As per the Resurrection spells... I find that when adventurers start to rise in level and they start finding more treasure the costs of things diludes a little bit. I mean, finding 5 GP in a purse is probably the savings of that person for half a year... ( just a raw example trying to make my point clear, not an actual example of any setting ) so when you speak of throwing diamonds of 500 gp is more than any normal peseant could afford and even most of the wealthy think twice... and if they think too much the oportunity is gone... On the other side I don’t see anything wrong with having a little “distopy” flavor in DnD campaigns, where the rich and powerful can survive an accident or have larger lifespans thanks to potions of longevity than the common folk...
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PbP Character: A few ;)
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Agree with 9er, keep the homebrew combat rules relatively simple and the rest go for it. I would just let us know the ones we need to worry about at the time, no need to dump it all on us now. It's not like our characters would know all about the diseases and what causes/cures them anyway.
BTW have you come across World Anvil? It's really useful for organising the world, rules, people so would be perfect for this, I am currently creating all my stuff on it for my one homebrew world/campaign.
There won't be any more combat rules that are universal. I mean some monsters have special abilities (the foxman's scythe claws don't use actions or bonus actions but he can't use it twice in a row and he can't use it if he moves.) which work a bit differently, but I think that's more of a homebrew monster thing than a universal battle rule. The only rule that may be changed later will be regarding resurrection and death.
The remaining things will be a list of diseases, new monsters and new equipment. As for diseases having permanent effects, some diseases do reduce stats but these reductions are removed when the disease is cured. The only thing truly permanent the diseases may cause is death.
Also you won't need to give us all the information on the diseases unless we roll godlike diagnosis, so we'll still have the air of mystery on how to fix these diseases.
That's actually what I have planned. Whenever, anyone gets infected, they roll Medicine to diagnose the disease (DC depends on how common the disease is). Whenever you succeed, I will tell you about the disease and note it down in my DM notes (Another Word Document). Should you encounter the disease again, you will have advantage when you roll Medicine. (I will roll the 2nd d20 so as to not give it away) If you want, I could also note the disease in the campaign page as well as my notes upon a successful Medicine check.
Yeah I think just show us the information our characters know. Btw this is what World Anvil is great for, you can make things secret and choose who gets to see it.
If it alright could you possibly send me the disease system ? I want to put one into the rules I'm righting and it would be great to get some inspiration
Uh okay. I don't have many diseases written down but I can send you MS Word Document. Just don't meta-game with it ;).
As for what diseases your characters know about, I will put that on the public notes when I'm done writing all of them down. If you get infected by something your characters should know about, I'll just straight up tell you.
Thanks :) it's more for contracting/healing/etc rather than the actual diseases, I want to intergrate it with the injury system I'm writing (which I just found out is quite similar to the variant in DMG :) )
Hey, so I'm away at Comic Con near where I live this weekend, so won't be near an accessible computer. Responses may not be until Saturday evening or maybe Sunday night/Monday. Just a heads-up.
Elsara will be attempting to make friends with Elyza (though it's been going terribly so far) and want to keep a better eye on the horses, since they are in her care as she rented the horse & cart. If things kick off, she'll be trying her new weapon, Slasher, out. Assume she'll put [Tooltip Not Found] up and if it looks like a fight against other weapon users, she'll Bladesong.
( I know I keep posting in these in here when I probably shouldn't but you guys give really good feedback, let me know if it's getting to much)
So! I sat down to write in some homebrew rules to replace the magic component of +X weapons, armours, shields with them just being of better build qualities (my homebrew world is low-magic). Then I started to think about the item condition rules that we are using on this campaign. What started off as 10 mins writing the equivalent of simple lore, ended up with a few hours of research, tinkering, dice probabilities and rule writing.
The outcome: a completely new weapon system that separates the magic and physical components of combat items and hopefully (in combination with adjusted crafting rules involving tools and workshops) will make the crafting system more useful. The links below are two web pages detailing the physical side of combat items (magic enchantments can be put onto any of them). If you have the time, and will, let me know what you think! (PS I'm not at all saying to use them on here, just really excited and wanted peoples opinions)
Weapons and Armour
Item Damage, Repairs and Improvements
If this turns out to be a kenku with fake wings I'm going to be so angry :D
Well now you're just giving the DM ammunition :-p
On the note of your armour/weapon rules, they look okay, but later on won't be as huge an impact. The attack bonus of characters scales quicker than AC does, so later on taking heavy weapons with the penalty to hit for extra damage will be what most people will end up going for. Still browsing through it all though.
Yeah the bonus scale on the modifiers is the last bit I'm not sure about. Pretty happy with the quality section (it's just the base magic items with some negative versions), might change the modifier stats to be based on quality. Ie a balanced heavy weapon gets -1attack+2damage and a legendary heavy weapon gets -3attack+6damage. It is that too much?
(again very sorry if anyone doesn't want this on here, just tell me and I'll shut up :) )
Ok had a rethink.
Modifiers are no longer 'purchasable' but are applied to weapons that you find. So an NPC might have a particularly heavy axe or you might find a cracked mace on a bandit. The main reason for it is so I can describe weapons etc. to my players and they can change their tactics accordingly: there's no point firing arrows at a dwarven company with large pavise shileds, you need to get up and personal or outmanoeuvre them.
I was also thinking that when players commission/craft a high quality item it would get a random bonus depending on their playstyle etc. Chance of it will be based on their relationship with the Smith: if they are brash and condescending to them the smith is only going to do the bare minimum, but if they have a long friendly relationship they would probably go the extra mile and specialise it. Makes the players RP matter
Also changed the armour tailoring from straight bonus to removing a debuff (Dex -1 for medium armour, -2 for heavy armour) and severely lowered it's cost
Finally got the time to check your weapon and item link. I like it. I really like it. I like it enough to use it in this game but I won't because it is too much for me to handle as a DM. (I know you didn't ask for it to be implemented. I'm just saying this as my way of showing how much I like it)
I want to play a supremely tanky (and hard hitting) Paladin now.
Thanks that really means a lot :) as I said earlier, it was inspired by the system (quality) were using here but just grown to incorporate a maintenance/sharpening system I was thinking about (item HP) with a bit of M&BWarband (modifiers)
(Sorry more...) The one other thing that isn't said on the rule pages is that the modifiers will effect the items weight. As I am planning on using the variant encumbrance rule it will make quite a difference. Eg small shields only have a penalty to stats (-1AC against ranged) but will be lighter than the base shield.
I really am my own worst enemy. This is one example out of many of where what started as me copying down the RAW and tunred into a completely new full system :) I'm becoming increasingly aware thay I've not even DMed the base game yet, I really am biting off quite a lot
Got time to look into your links... and in general I like it. But the damaging rules of items could make it hard to keep track and end the characters carrying four longswords if they expect to be on the road for a long time. And think in an war. “ Well, hope to defeat all the armies of that other country in just one single combat, and a fast one, or we are going to end fighting with chopsticks... “ XD I would give them more HP.
As per the restrictions of the heavy and medium armor, I would say that if you are proficient with them or get the appropiate feat you no longer suffer those penalties.
I wouldn’t give more that a +1 due to quality to the weapons. In past editions, where the max bonus due to magic was +5, perhaps a +2 due to exceptional quality and carftmanship could be fine, ( I remember that in one edition of D&D you got +1 as maximum for great quality) but giving it +3 seems too much. Reduce the cost of enchantment of those of high quality instead of giving them the same bonus as the magical items, then your players not only had to search for the materials, and for the blacksmith, but for the wizard to make their weapon truly legendary.
But that’s just my humble opinion.
PbP Character: A few ;)
No frandal the whole point is the quality replaces +1,2,3 magic itmes. Enchantments ontop will be just the extra stuff
As I said in the OP it's a low magic world, I didn't want magic items everywhere so replaced the base ones with physical equivalents
As I said in the OP, it's a low-magic system. I didn't want loads of magic weapons floating around and so made this physical version so NPCs could still pose a threat plus I think it's more realistic.
As with the item HP: with the current rules, if we take a standard longsword it has 5HP. On average that will take 100 attack rolls to break (5x20) and cost 1gp5sp to repair. To me that seems about right. If we upgrade it to legendary, it has an 15HP, an average of 300 attack rolls. This is a bit low so I'll probably play around with the numbers a bit to justify the 1500gp repair cost (though the sword does cost less compared to a standard +3 magic sword)
Im using the variant encumbrance and I really want my players to have to think about there stuff. I want them to have to carry a dagger in case their axe cracks down the shaft, take care of their horse because with out it their wagon with all their loot is stuck, throw a huge party because the fighter choose to bring his dulcimer instead of his shield. I want their choices to matter. The bottomless, weightless, invisible backpacks tear me out of the Immersion, which is why you always notice me talking about Folkis
As for the bit about wars..... Yes. That's exactly what happens. Repairing and maintaining your armies arms and armour tends to be the highest costs of medieval warfare, swords and spears break in their thousands. Don't even start me on how many shields
I found a different way around it, narratively speaking. See, we can assume based on starting equipment that each character puts all their stuff in a back pack or tie it around their body. I picture it as: The bag pack is big enough to hold stuff of mass greater than the carrying capacity of the PC. So in the earlier levels, it makes sense. In the later levels where strength stats shoot up thanks to stuff like Giant Strength potions and belts, I assume the PCs find some magic backpacks that grow and warp to fit whatever is put into it. If Bags of holding exist, why not backpacks of warping? I mean, DnD has magic stuff in it, why not use it to save the DM and the PC needless headache.
Then again, I'm from a video game background and I am also of the opinion that a large portion of realism can be sacrificed in a Fantasy setting for a smoother experience and provided that you strictly follow the laws of the world you created. The second point is why I will nerf (once I figure out how I'm going to do it) higher resurrection spells. I can't answer the question: "If a high level cleric can bring anyone to life with spells like True Resurrection (following the spell restrictions of course) why doesn't everyone do it. I'm sure many townsfolk who can afford the casting cost would love to have their loved ones back among them. This probably doesn't apply to you because you are going for a more grounded setting. Rant over.
Well, on the realism matter... I think that as soon as you use the encumbrance rules you are just avoiding characters to be carrying the whle dragon horad on their coin purse.. but as ZulkRS says, there is magic in DnD that start messing things up XD If your setting is a low magic one though... then you give them a couple more things to think about and it’s great and ok! :)
As per the Resurrection spells... I find that when adventurers start to rise in level and they start finding more treasure the costs of things diludes a little bit. I mean, finding 5 GP in a purse is probably the savings of that person for half a year... ( just a raw example trying to make my point clear, not an actual example of any setting ) so when you speak of throwing diamonds of 500 gp is more than any normal peseant could afford and even most of the wealthy think twice... and if they think too much the oportunity is gone... On the other side I don’t see anything wrong with having a little “distopy” flavor in DnD campaigns, where the rich and powerful can survive an accident or have larger lifespans thanks to potions of longevity than the common folk...
PbP Character: A few ;)