RIFTS skill system.

While I have made it clear I don't see the RIFTS system as broken, I do see them ripe for house ruling. One things I don't like is percentile skill systems. I really would like to make it an attribute roll system. Giving attributes a bigger role in the system. I would love going to a 3d6 roll under attribute system for skills. Until then though I think I got a quick fix.

I'm simply going to convert the percentile system into a d20 system. Every 5% is equal to 1 in 20 on a d20. Simply divide the total skill by 5 and round down.

So if a character has a total value in a skill of 45% then he would have a 9 in that skill. A d20 roll is made trying to roll under the skill just like with the percentile system.

My other Idea I'm still toying with is to tun it around and make it a positive modifier and rolling against a target difficulty set by the GM. This one I need to put some more thought and go over the numbers a few times.

ICONS (SIGILS)

I have been thinking about adapting ICONS to settings other than super heroes. Looks like some one already did a fantasy adaption. Called SIGILS. I'm looking it over now. Really got my wheels turning now.

RIFTS ~Giving it a closer look~

On the surface it seems kind of silly after all this time getting back into Palladium games. Mainly because I have gone to mostly rules lite systems. And Palladium games have a reputation for being complex. But tell you the truth I just reread the rules in Rifts, Chaos earth, Nightbane, System failure and Palladium Fantasy. And I actually find the system rather elegant. And not complex in the slightest.

Here is the basics to combat. Any roll (if you have the weapon proficiency) over 4 is a hit.

Defenders can roll to parry, Dodge or roll with punch/blast.

If its a maga-damage (This is very high tech armor) world, damage is removed from available Maga-damage then strutural damage capacity and next hit points.

If damage is against SDC (structural damage capacity) armor, This is anything from a bullet proof vest to plate mail. It has an armor rating (AR). A roll over 4 but under the AR number the damage goes to armor. If its above the AR number the wearer take the damage.

If the damage is against Natural SDC Like a turtle shell or dragon scale. Rolls below AR do not penetrate the armor. Rolls above AR penetrate and do damage to the armor first. Then to the targets hit points.

I really like this. I like that I can have more than one type of armor. Fighting a dragon with a sword is not the same as firing on a hover tank with a laser rifle. And I know how to resolve a hover tank firing on a dragon.

I'm really digging the fantasy magic systems too. Great to see different flavors of magic.

And yes its a class and level based system. But its doesn't feel like one. There is no real bloat from level to level. Sure you get a few more hit points, Get some hand to hand combat bonuses and your skills get better. But a level one juicer is not really weak compared to a level 10 juicer.

Besides my Unisystem Dresden game I'm really looking forward to some palladium gaming.

Alternate Fighter in C&C

I noticed some grumbling about Fighters in C&C. The main complaint is that combat dominance is too weak of an ability. In my own games I really haven't noticed it since hordes of goblins are my favorite cannon fodder. I really find that in C&C even low level monsters are still dangerous. But lets look at a few options.

COMBAT DOMINANCE: At 4th level, the fighter gains an extra attack with
any weapon when fighting opponents with 1 hit die at. In order to use this
ability, the fighter must direct all attacks in a combat round against opponents
that meet these criteria. The fighter can split the available attacks among
qualified opponents as desired. This ability improves as the fighter progresses in
levels. The fighter gains an additional attack for every four levels gained after
4th level. So, at 8th level, the fighter is allowed a total of three attacks.

 One option for this I have seen is exchanging Combat dominance for Cleave.
Cleave: At 4th level, the fighter gains the ability to follow through after dropping an opponent.
When fighting with a melee weapon, if a fighter deals enough damage to drop an opponent to 0 or
less hit points, he gets an immediate extra attack against an opponent in reach. The fighter cannot
move to make this additional attack. The extra attack is with the same weapon and at the same
bonus as the attack that dropped the previous creature. This ability can only be used once per
round. It stacks with the Extra Attack ability, so a 10th level fighter will get three attacks if he
drops an opponent with a melee weapon that round.


 While I think cleave is a good ability I would like to go over a few more options.

First an alternate cleave ability.
Cleave: At 4th level, the fighter gains the ability to swing his weapon in a way to take advantage of the weapons arch. When making an attack against a target that has an adjacent foe you may make a single attack against both targets. A single roll is made and compared to both defenses (AC). If the roll would be a hit against both targets both take damage.



Another option.
Fighting stances: Fighters get 3 stances. After rolling initiative fighters get to choose a stance to assume for the battle. The first stance is balanced stance. Balance stance is middle of the road it imparts no penalties and no bonuses and is balanced. The second stance is battle stance. Battle stance is aggressive. Battle stance trades defense for viscous attacks. Being in battle stance imparts a -2 to defense (AC) but grants a +1 to attack and +1 to damage rolls. The last stance is defensive stance. Defensive stance imparts a -1 to to attack and - 1 to damage rolls, But grants a +2 to defense (AC). 
Balance 0

Battle Stance: -2 to defense (AC),  +1 to attack and +1 to damage rolls. 

Defensive Stance: -1 to to attack and - 1 to damage rolls, +2 to defense (AC). 

 

3d6 in castles and crusades.

I do not make all these house rules because I think C&C is broken. I think C&C's Siege engine is great. But I see no reason not to tweak the system a little. I'm a tinkerer for one' and second I like to mold the system to the setting. I dont always run C&C in the same setting.

Along with the rest of my huge list of house rules for C&C. Why not have a 3d6 option.
I really do like a bell curve. But using 3d6 does mean adjusting a few numbers. One great thing about the siege engine is that most all rolls are against a base difficulty of 12 or 18, depending on if the attribute you are rolling against is prime or not. So all that really needs adjusted in those base target numbers.

First lets looks at primary attributes. A primary attribute base is 12 in standard C&C. For a d20 this is this is supposed to be a roll that is just slightly easier than 50% for a 1st level character with an above average prime attribute.. For a 3d6 most rolls will be average of 10.I think this would be a good target number for a primary attribute roll.

For secondary attributes the base difficulty is 18.
This would be way too difficult for a 3d6 roll. So I feel the difficulty for secondary attribute should be a  14.

This is all just a first impression and needs some play testing. I'll follow up once I have tried it all out.

No longer using AC in castles and crusades.

I really like how the siege engine works in C&C. Why not use the siege engine for combat too? Rolling to hit would be simply rolling on whatever stat you would roll to attack on normally for a siege check (Str for melee, Dex for ranged). And armor bonuses would add to the difficulty of the roll.

So for example if your strength was prime your target number to hit with a broad sword would be 12. If the target was well aware of the attack (Dex bonus of +1) and wearing leather armor (+2) the difficulty to hit him would be a 15.  (this is not entirely a new idea, a Variation is used in starsiege.)

This option may work even better in a setting where armor is damage reduction rather than an armor class bonus. Making difficulties to hit just your base difficulty and dex bonus. (as it is in star siege.)

Another option to sprout off of that last one would be to do both. Armor adds to difficulty to hit. And also gives a damage reduction based on how heavy it is. 1 point for light armor, 2 for medium, and 3 for heavy.

This could also be split into two ways too. Regular armor bonus adding to difficulty to hit. While magic defense bonuses are damage reduction. Or switch that and make magic make you hard to hit and magic is damage reduction.

Remember, Now that an attack roll is a siege check add your level to attack rolls.

Just some options to toss around.

Gritty 6 (Adding grit to Epic6) for C&C

A few posts back I explored the idea of using Epic 6. I have been putting even more thought into this. I really want to use Epic 6 to represent a gritty and dangerous world for a setting I'm working on.

Here is a reworking of some of the basic rules I will be using with Epic6 to make Gritty6. Character cant level above 6th level as in Epic6. Any mortal man at level six is an epic hero, some one of legend.

First off hit points. All character start off with 2d6 HP. If you prime is Strength or Constitution then change starting HP to 2d8. If the character has a Constitution bonus in the positive add it to the total at first level only. That is it. All characters will start with between 2d6 and 2d8+ (Con bonus) hit points. No new hit points are gained each new level.

Attack rolls. On any attack roll that exceeds the "to hit" number needed by five weapons do automatic maximum damage. On a natural roll of 20 weapon damage is doubles. These two do stack. So a roll of 20 that is 5 greater than the roll needed will do double maximum damage.

Im sure more ideas on this will jump out at me. This is just what I got for now.