ONE: Fighters. Some systems give fighters additional attacks against opponents of 1HD or less after a certain level. I was thinking of changing this to Fighters gain one additional attack per round against opponents of 1/2 the level of the fighter (rounded down). A 2nd-3rd level fighter would gain an extra attack against opponents of 1HD or less, a 4th-5th level fighter would get one against 2HD or lower, etc.
Personally, I think it gives fighters more, well, fighting...
TWO: Another random thought, regarding Non-Weapon Proficiencies. Stealing ideas from games like Mythras and Harnmaster, the proficiency score rolled is derived from the average of two or three stat scores, instead of just one. For example, Athletics in Mythras is derived from adding (since it uses a d100% system) STR + DEX. The Boating skill is STR+CON, Dancing is DEX+CHA, so on and so forth. Harnmaster is similar but it uses three attributes such as Swimming derived from DEX+STA+AGI.
Anyhow, I was thinking, it shouldn't hurt anything, and may even be beneficial to characters in (A)D&D that use proficiencies by implementing something similar.
THREE: I'm thinking of implementing a new house rule into my (A)D&D rules based on the Luck mechanics from the game Broken Compass. In BC, characters have a small pool of Luck points, which essentially act as HPs, in addition to a single Luck Coin.
Luck Points:
Luck Coin:When you fail in the face of Dangers, you lose a number of Luck Points tied to the difficulty of it and come out unscathed, thanking your lucky star.
Long story short, so long as you have Luck Points, you can’t really fail and you always manage to somehow get out in one piece. For example, if you take a leap off a cliff and try to grab a vine in order not to end up mushed on the ground, failing doesn’t necessarily mean you bite the dust. If you have enough Luck Points, you spend them to change the failure into a success. Maybe you don’t grab the vine you were aiming for, but while falling you get caught on another one. Pure blind Luck!
Every time you fail while facing a Danger or an Enemy, you lose Luck and fill in one or more dots on your Sheet, starting from the left. Once they’re all full, you’re Out of Luck. Now that’s ugly. The good news is that so long as you have at least one Luck Point remaining, you can still survive one Danger of any kind. Being Out of Luck, you can no longer rely on Luck to save your life. If you fail again when facing Danger, then you’re really putting your life on the line. The only way to escape Certain Death is to use a Luck Coin.
So, once a character is Out of Luck AND they no longer have a Luck Coin, the next Danger that is failed, results in Certain Death. Broken Compass is a narrative RPG designed for pulp-action and adventure, but even so, it made me consider house ruling HPs in (A)D&D to work in a similar manner when hitting zero. Hit Points have always been described as an abstract amalgam of factors measuring the amount of fate the character has before succumbing to death. In all respects, this is pretty much how the Luck Points in BC work. Now most (A)D&D players view HPs as primarily "health", but really that is only one of the factors that HPs represent.Your Luck Coin is your best friend, your ace in the hole and your lifeline all wrapped in one! If you’re Out of Luck and you fail an additional Danger roll, you just need to use a Luck Coin to save your skin.
To use a Luck Coin you just need to tell your Game Master about it. That’s all. After using a Luck Coin, you need to flip a coin to find out if your Luck Coin remains with you or if it’s used and goes to the Game Master.
TAILS: Lucky dog! You took a chance and you made it. Not only did you manage to dodge a danger thanks to your Luck Coin, you also get to keep it.
HEAD: Let’s look at the bright side, your Luck Coin did its job anyways. Now you have to wave it goodbye and pass it to the Game Master.
Many DMs rule zero HPs one of two ways, either death at 0HP, or characters fall to negatives and fall unconscious and bleed out for a number of rounds before death (or rolling death saves as some newer systems). My thoughts were to let HPs act much like the Luck Points in BC, when a PC has at least 1 HP remaining, they can still take another hit, spell effect, or any sort of damage regardless of amount, but once they hit 0 HP, then the next damage or effect they take that would normally remove HPs, is the final instance that takes the character down or lets them flip a Luck Coin. So even if they are sitting at zero, characters are still up, moving and/or taking actions until something further occurs that does damage or otherwise would remove hit points.
And since (A)D&D is all about the XP for gold, I thought flipping a coin would fit right in. I would have to play test this a couple times, but I think it would be a fun mechanic to add.
