RPG's need an overhaul

[DarkCloud]

well I just had some ideas running around my head like defense values and such. These would go up as you gain experience. I would like to see dexterity play more of a part.

Let's put it this way. Why should a level 20 fighter with a dexterity of 8 avoid damage better than a level 1 fighter with a dexterity of 8?

I agree with that, that is a real failing of Dungeons and Dragons. When you get to the high levels it really gets quite tedious bashing around enemies, etc.

I suppose someone could sort of revise the system, making there be 'area-damage' (like in Battletech) or perhaps not increasing the hitpoints but giving the player points to put into Dexterity or Strength or "Tough Hide" etc. so that they can increase their innurity to pain and ability to take more punishment, etc.

Example- instead of 5 HP and 15 Hit Die to Hit going to 50 HP and 15 Hit Die to Hit, you would have...
10 HP because you maxed out "tough hide", then because of your strenght, you are well muscled so that gives you another 5 HP since there is more of you... giving you 15 HP- then you can increase your dexterity through 'training' thereby requiring 18 Hit Die to hit...

How about that

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by DarkCloud
I suppose someone could sort of revise the system, making there be 'area-damage' (like in Battletech) or perhaps not increasing the hitpoints but giving the player points to put into Dexterity or Strength or "Tough Hide" etc. so that they can increase their innurity to pain and ability to take more punishment, etc.

Example- instead of 5 HP and 15 Hit Die to Hit going to 50 HP and 15 Hit Die to Hit, you would have...
10 HP because you maxed out "tough hide", then because of your strenght, you are well muscled so that gives you another 5 HP since there is more of you... giving you 15 HP- then you can increase your dexterity through 'training' thereby requiring 18 Hit Die to hit...

How about that

I am not sure, you confused me B-)

In many systems, characters do get tough when they increase in experience, but only slowly. They avoid being killed mainly by being more skillful, say, becoming very good in using a shield or parrying with a weapon. That means firefights are much more deathly than melee combats, though having high skills in ranged weapons do help.

[self biased]

the white wolf storytelling system is one of the best, and most versatile around.

last week we warped it to do a harry potter gampaign. i'm surprised that there isn't a harry potter roleplaying system... i think i key marketing group is being neglected.

[Urban Ranger]

There's nothing special about the Harry Porter world though, nothing like the Middle Earth or similar settings. It's quite generic and drab, in fact, and can be fitted into any of the existing systems.

Discworld, on the other hand, is much more interesting.

[self biased]

true enough... but the white wolf system can be applied really to anything you can come up with.

[Sore Loser]

Another problem with combat is that it rarely matters how many enemies attack you at once, your defence rating is unchanged. There should be more strength in numbers. Some kind of exhaustion level could be introduced as well, making inferior enemies in large number even more of a challenge.

[Urban Ranger]

In the Hero System, your characters get tired from exerting themselves, and they can certainly be worn down by large number of weaker foes.

[LDiCesare]

A system like DC Heroes (superheros RPG) allowed several people to group together to increase their strength. Instead of rolling 16 attack rolls at skill 1, you could roll 8 at 2, 4 at 3, 2 at 4 or a single attack with a level of 5. This allowed to fight lots of generic grunts with very few dice rolls.
Other systems, like Rolemaster, or even more so Runequest, put emphasis on parrying. If you can't parry, it's very likely you'll be hit, and you can only parry against one opponent at a time (or get penalties to your parry skill if you parry more than once).

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Sandman



Tournaments and battlefields are special occasions. But it's silly to be able to wander the countryside wearing full plate armour. I suppose, however, that heros could be considered strong enough to wear it constantly.

well real silly to wander around wearing full plate ON FOOT. And somewhat problematic even on a battlefield, ON FOOT, for any length of time. (any SCA people here?) IIUC Full plate armor was designed to be worn by MOUNTED fighters. In BG (only RPG Ive played) there are no horses - are there in other RPG's?

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


well real silly to wander around wearing full plate ON FOOT. And somewhat problematic even on a battlefield, ON FOOT, for any length of time. (any SCA people here?) IIUC Full plate armor was designed to be worn by MOUNTED fighters. In BG (only RPG Ive played) there are no horses - are there in other RPG's?

There a mounts in pen and paper D&D (and much more then just horses.... the ostriches are my favorite ). I don't think I've ever seen a computer RPG that had mounted combat beyond simply adding a horse to the characters graphic.

[Jon Miller]

does anyone here know anything about ADnD 2.5?

Jon Miller

[DarkCloud]

Urban Ranger My basic suggestion was that the player could put points into dexterity or tough hide or something of that sort instead of hit points...

every player would have from 0-20 hit points based upon rolls...

and they could allocate their hitpoints into "area" locations such as Torso, Head, Arms, and Legs... If one area suffers x percent of damage, then it is disabled and cannot be used, etc.

Therefore, as they gain in levels they could increase the 'toughness' of their body realtive all over and increase the amount of hit dice that have to be rolled (up to 5... or some other small number) and therefore the battles would not be long slugfests- instead, if the enemy was strong enough- his power would negate said heroe's tough hide while still allowing the hero to somewhat have an easy time killing peasants that are unarmed... and unshileded and yet have the same hide rating.

It would be more like real life and more interesting than White Wolf/Mage's near two-shot kill interface...

[Jamski]

does anyone here know anything about ADnD 2.5?

You really mean "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2.5" ? Just checking, 'cos I'm not sure I ever saw a 2.5 or perhaps it was just an improved version of 2.0... (like 3.5 is basically the same as 3.0, just tweaked)

If you MEAN 2.5 then I assume its pretty much like 2.0, so yes I do.

What did you want to know? *leafs through sourcebooks*

-Jam

[Urban Ranger]

I think he meant AD&D 3.5

[Jon Miller]

no I mean ADnD 2.5

which is what I have sort of heard Baldur's Gate 2 is based on

Jon Miller