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D&D Modifications

Point-Buy Character Creation and Advancement

The idea behind this is to free up character creation and get rid of the formal class structure without affecting (too much) the way the game actually plays. Ideally all current d20 resources (monsters, items, adventure modules) should still be seamlessly playable with characters generated under this system.

Costings are, for the most part, based on the cost of similar abilities under the Hero System, because by tying costs to those used in that system, the costs can be easily and exactly calculated.

Players buy character abilities directly with Experience Points. In general, expenditure of experience should take place in the lull between adventures, or otherwise with the explicit agreement of the GM.

The amount of experience that should be doled out per adventure will be different to that recommended in the core system, and would have to be worked out pretty much by trial and error I think. An average of about 2 or 3 per playing session might be about right, depending on how quickly you want the characters to advance and change beyond all recognition.

Initial Character Creation Points

The number of points available to build a character will determine its starting power level, of course.

My gut feeling is that about 50-75 points should be adequate to get a beginning character off the ground with a reasonable range of combat and non-combat skills, saving throws etc., but this is something that will need to be determined through play-testing.

The restrictions placed on advancement rate should be relaxed for the initial character creation phase only.

Initial Characteristic Generation

Either:

A 6x6 Characteristic matrix is used, with each cell filled with the results of a 3d6 roll. Stats are chosen from ONE row or column or diagonal.

Under this system, initial characteristic values cannot be lowered to get extra points (as in the system below) but low characteristics can be bought up.

Or:

The player rolls once for each characteristic, in turn, with 6d6, discarding 3d6 each time. They don't necessarily have to discard the lowest three dice, but of course most people would.

If you want to be really harsh, then the resulting characteristics should be set once they're rolled, but in general I think it's a good idea to let people play the sort of character they want to. Therefore I'd suggest it would be best to then allow the player to shift the resulting numbers around into the characteristics of their choice.

Or:

All Characteristics start at 10, and any increase must be paid for from initial points and decreases returning points to be spent elsewhere. That's boring, but it does guarantee that you end up with decent scores in exactly the characteristics you want.

Characteristic Bonuses are determined as at present, by this formula:

(Char ÷ 2) – 5 (round down) = Bonus

Buying Characteristics

It would probably be simplest to cost all Characteristics the same at, say, 5pts each.

Characteristics shouldn't be increased by more than 1 per expenditure of experience, though one might increase more than one characteristic at a time.

Hit Dice (Vitality Points)

Players can buy any level of hit dice (one die at a time) at the following costs:

• d4 = 2pts
• d6 = 4pts
• d8 = 6pts
• d10 = 8pts
• d12 = 10pts

Where it is relevant, character level is determined by their total number of hit-dice, regardless of what specific die types make up that total.

Total Hit Points (Vitality Points) are modified level by level by the character's CON score, just as at present.

See below for fuller information on Vitality and Wound Points.

Combat Skills

Weapon skills can be bought as weapon groups for 3pts (e.g. 1-handed swords, axes, bows etc.) or for individual weapon types for 1pt.

+1 BAB = 8pts

Non-Combat Skills

3pts to be able to use a trained-only skill.

2pts to buy +1 to an individual skill.

Cross-class skills are done away with. I spit on them.

Saving Throws

+1 to any Saving Throw costs 5pts

Feats

Feats are costed as if they were Hero System powers and/or skills.

Almost all class-specific, level-dependent abilities (such as Barbarian Rage or Sneak Attack for example) should be rewritten as Feats (or skills).

There are no class-specific feats, though no doubt some would be fairly useless for some character conceptions but wildly useful for others.

The Feat Prerequisite chain remains in force — e.g. to buy Great Cleave you must first have bought Cleave, and so forth. Some, but not all converted class abilities will have to have some such prerequisite(s); they can be sorted out as and when necessary.

Magic use

10pts to be able to cast spells of a given level.

Spell levels must be bought consecutively, and never more than one increase per experience expenditure.

This ability has the same Hit Die prerequisites as are currently used — for example, to be able to buy the ability to cast 3rd level spells, the character must have at least 5 Hit Dice.

Innate spells (i.e. for sorcerers) are paid for individually, exactly as if they were Hero System powers.

Pre-learning of spells goes out the door. The back of my hand to it (but see below).

Other Changes

Hit Points

Hit Points are divided into Vitality and Wounds.

Vitality Points (VP) are accrued level by level, and represent a combination of luck, fatigue, pain and so forth rather than actual bodily damage. VP recover at the rate of the character's level per hour of rest.

Wound Points (WP) maximum is always equal to the character's current CON. WP represent actual physical damage. As long as WP are positive (i.e. greater than zero) they recover at the rate of the character's CON bonus per week, or 1 per week, whichever is greater.

Example: Ulf the Unlucky has a CON of 16. When completely healthy he has 16 WP, and if injured will recover naturally at 3 WP per week (the bonus for CON 16 is +3).

Alas, poor old Ulf makes the mistake of triggering a mystical glyph that drains his CON to 6. His WP maximum immediately drops to 6 and if injured will recover at only 1 WP per week (the modifier for CON 6 is -2, but 1 is greater).

If Ulf had taken 10 or more WP before triggering the glyph, his WP would drop to zero or lower and he would be unconscious and bleeding to death (see below). Damage previously taken to WP is not disregarded if the character's WP maximum drops for any reason.

If WP are at zero or lower, both WP and VP recover at a maximum of 1 per day — once WP reach positive numbers, VP begin recovery as normal. Proper medical attention can speed WP recovery, but poor medical skills can impede it.

Under normal circumstances, damage is applied first against VP until all are expended, and only then against WP. There are some exceptions however:

• Falling damage is applied at 1d6 per 10' against VP for falls up to 20', then 1d6 per additional 10' increment against WP.
• Some environmental effects, like radiation or extreme heat or cold for example, are applied against both VP and WP in varying ratios.

A character with zero VP is Staggered and capable of only Partial Actions. Once a character reaches zero WP, their VP also immediately drops to zero if it has not already done so, and he or she is unconscious and bleeding to death at the rate of -1 WP per Round. If they reach -10 WP, they die, i.e. on -9 WP you're alive, on -10 WP you're dead.

Creatures that are larger or smaller than Humans have their WP total adjusted up or down – fractions are rounded up:

Curative Magic

All Cure spells (i.e. Cure Light Wounds, Cure Serious Wounds etc.) restore 1 WP per d8 of healing, with the full total applied against VP. Cure Minor Wounds has no effect on WP.

Heal will restore WP at the rate of 1 point per caster-level and VP at 10 points per caster-level, to a maximum of 15 WP and 150 VP at 15th level.

Regenerate restores 4 WP plus 1 WP per caster level, and immediately restores all VP on completion of the spell.

Magic in general

Casting a spell costs VP or WP, at the rate of 1 VP/WP per level of the spell (minimum of 1 VP/WP), plus 1VP per level of effect over its base.

The points expended in this manner cannot be healed magically as they represent a temporary diminution of the character's vital essence, but they do recover naturally at the usual rate.

If a spell-caster has a Specialist School, spells from that school cost 1 fewer VP/WP to cast (with a minimum of 1 VP). Spells from an opposing school cost +1 VP/WP per spell level to cast.

There is no need to pre-choose spells. Wizards and Clerics can cast any spell from their repertoire as long as they have spent about an hour in study or meditation within the previous 24 hours, and succeed in a Spellcraft roll (DC is 10 + spell level). Failure to engage in this daily study or meditation will penalize the Spellcraft roll by -2 per day, cumulatively.

This means that the loss of a wizard's spellbook (or a priest's prayer-book) is not necessarily immediately disastrous, but spell-casting will become progressively more and more difficult as time goes by without access to written references.

The Spellcraft roll can be avoided if the spell is pre-learned. This will take 5 minutes per spell level, and allows only a single free casting per slot. The standard “Spells Per Day” for the character class determines the maximum number of spell slots that can be pre-learned.

Sorcerers gain the benefit of pre-learning for their standard number of spells per day, but need not actually take the time to learn them. Only when they have cast the number of spells of each level allowed them for that day (and assuming they have the VP or WP to spare for more spells) do they need to make Spellcraft rolls to cast spells.