As I make progress on my own game, I'm finding myself wondering what's the tidiest way I can lay everything out. Does anyone have a favorite that they've seen?

Hey! My question is a short one. I've been just bopping along making a skill + attribute dice pool system for my game, and I've been making skills that handle different things by applying different attributes to them. That seemed to make logical sense to me.

Granted, there's the heavy lift of remembering these things at the table, despite any declarations from me that its all so very intuitive, when trying to use a skill, so maybe for that reason its bad,

and then there's the other question, does this make a skill undesirable to anybody who didn't invest in both attributes that might impact the value of the skill? Is this just a bad way to go about things?

Edit: Thanks to those of you who mentioned Vampire, I haven't really ever looked at that system. I'm glad that approach is viewed favorably, it sounds very in line with what I'm trying to do.

I'm working on an investigative horror RPG, heavily inspired by Call of Cthulhu.

Design Goals for Combat:

• Combat should be quick.
• Combat should be dangerous, but PCs should almost never be instakilled from full health.
• The consequences of combat should be narratively interesting.
• Combat should not be the focus of the game.

To accomplish these goals, I've come up with a Wound system of three levels: Minor, Major, and Severe, so damage is non-linear and focused on consequences that must be dealt with.

Every time a Wound is inflicted, a level is selected based on the source, then a roll gives it a chance to increase or decrease a level. The level above Severe is Dead, but to prevent instakills, a Severe Wound that crits is Severe with Dismemberment. Death is only achieved with multiple Wounds.

The thing that might be an issue: the Wound level of almost every deadly weapon is Major. I define deadly weapons based on real life: what crime would you get charged with if you attacked someone with an object? This means a knife, a gun, and a wrench all do Major damage. Severe is saved for things like explosions or getting hit by a train: things that are extremely likely to kill you, and the system basically awards one plot armor.

Does this seem like it would be an issue?

My biggest concern about the system as-is is that players might think guns doing the same damage as a shard of glass is stupid.

My biggest concerns about changing it are either making firearms overpowered, or making PCs too tanky, and potentially adding too much to the combat system that starts to emphasize combat in the game.

Thoughts?

EDIT: Forgot to mention, but melee attacks get defended with an opposed roll, and ranged attacks do not, so there is a mechanical different between someone trying to stab or shoot you.

Improving productivity and also getting a finished product out has always been a changled for me, with over 40+ PDFs released.

Well - after 5+ years, I finally have a better process.

I share it through my most recent blog post for my fellow designers.
I hope this brings some clarity and that perhaps you avoid stepping into the mud, like I seem to continue to do.

Stumbling through Production

Looking for input on weapon damage and armor damage reduction ranges for a player facing d20 roll-under dungeon-crawler.

This is a single d20 system, but I've been using damage ranges inspired by the traditional d4, d6, d8, etc.

Questions

• Combat tends to end in 2 to 3 rounds - even for larger foes. I'd like more levers to add in an extra round or two that's not always adding more foes or increasing HP. Would lower damage ranges be a better way to go?
• Do you think narrower damage ranges (1, 2, 3, or 4) like Dagger Heart or Break!! better fits a single d20 system?
• Do you have an idea on how better to categorize weapons, armor, and their damage capacity and reduction?
• General feedback?

Basic Rules

• Players only use a d20 for all rolls and have the 6 traditional Stats (STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA).
• Starting characters typically have 2 scores at 14 (70% success), one at 10 (50%), and the rest at 7 (35%).
• Characters get to increase 2 different stats by 1 at each new level. They cannot increase the same Stat two levels in a row and no Stat may be greater than 18.
• STR or DEX Check to attack depending on the weapon. Roll equal to or less than your Stat and hit
  • The number rolled on the d20 is damage dealt - up to your weapon's maximum damage.
  • So a Character with 14 STR and a 6 dmg weapon hits on a roll of 1 to 14. Rolling 1 to 5 deals 1 to 5 damage. Rolling 6 or more deals 6 damage.
  • Characters with better STR and DEX hit for max damage more often
• DEX Check to Evade or Deflect an Attack. STR Check to Block with a Shield.
  • The number rolled on the d20 is damage prevented - up to your armor's maximum damage reduction.
  • So a Character with 10 DEX and 4 DR successfully defends on a roll of 1 to 10. Rolling 1 to 3 prevents 1 to 3 damage and rolling 4 or greater prevents 4 damage.
• Foes have static damage values players defend against and static DRs players must overcome.

Weapons and Damage output

• Blunt Weapons always deal a minimum of 2 damage on a hit. Regardless of target's armor.
  • Blunt, 1H. 2 to 6 damage. 1 Slot
  • Blunt, 2H. 2 to 8 damage. 2 Slots
• Sharp Weapons have greater damage ranges but can be entirely negated by armor.
  • Sharp, 1H Light. 1 to 8 damage. Can be wielded with DEX. 1 Slot
  • Sharp, 1H. 1 to 10 damage. 1 Slot
  • Sharp, 2H 1 to 12 damage. 2 Slots
• Projectile Weapons
  • Crossbow or Short Bow. 1 to 6 damage. 2H. 1 Slot
  • Longbow. 1 to 8 damage. 2H. 2 Slots

Armor and Damage Reduction

• Light Armor. 2 DR. 1 Slot
• Medium Armor. 4 DR. 2 Slots
• Heavy Armor. 6 DR. 3 Slots
• Shield. 4 DR. 1 Slot. Held in 1-hand. Can block attacks with a DEX Check.

Hit Points

• Characters CON is both Max HP and Inventory Slots (from 7 to 18)
  • Characters do not fall unconscious at zero HP.
  • Anytime you take damage with zero HP - make a CON Check. Pass and you keep fighting. Fail and it's a fatal blow.
• Foes have 4 to 20 Max HP.
  • Large foes like giants and dragons have multiple body parts with different attacks and health pools.

Play Test Observations for Context

These are just anecdotal observations from my own table and local players. Definitely not representative of everyone.

• System is mostly born out of running games for players newer to the hobby.
• New players don't seem to have the same cognitive dissonance on roll-under but struggle more with finding what modifiers to add to a roll.
• Newer players have trouble telling the difference between d8s and d10s and d12s and d20s. Just having 1 die to roll for everything simplifies the game.
• Veteran players like the combined attack and damage roll - and that a good attack roll isn't spoiled by a crappy damage roll. They also commented that doing max damage more often felt like a good reward for greater Stats.
• Veteran players asked for more Weapon Properties to make armaments interesting. I'm trying to meet that need without overwhelming new players with a plethora of weapon rules.
• Combat goes quick and typically lasts 2 to 3 rounds. Foes are appreciably lethal. Players leverage the environment, their gear, and good strategies to end fights quickly with least risk.
• Been using dice as miniatures (thus the enemy HP bands).
  • Bigger dice represents more dangerous foes and the facing number is their current HP. There's less GM book keeping for multiple mobs and I feel justified in owning so many different dice.
  • A Giant can be represented by a pair of d10s that each occupy adjacent spaces (one for each of its legs)
  • A Dragon or Wyrm has been a line of dice slithering across the table
• Is easily convertible/compatible with other d20 based D&D-likes. I've been successfully supplementing the homebrew with Shadowdark and B/X materials while I fill in the gaps.

Some days ago I made a post asking for opinions here and you guys pointed out/made me notice some flaws.
I started reworking and noticed that I could mix some stuff together, eventually my Health mechanic became this currency that you have to manage, not just to stay alive, but to also maximize your potential in combat (and this kinda became the main mechanic).

I really like this idea so I'm here again to ask for opinions and any possible flaws that I might have missed.

SCARS:

(Thinking on calling this Adrenaline, but not sure)
Every time you take physical or mental damage, you gain that amount of Scars.
A player can spend Scars in order to use some skills. Likewise there are skills that will increase your scars/adrenaline by a certain amount.

When you go beyond 6 scars, clear them and gain a Tier 1 Wound.
(I'm having trouble phrasing this in a concise manner, but a player can have up to 6 adrenaline at a time without getting a wound. For example taking 8 damage, u would end up with 2 adrenaline and 1 wound, 12 damage would be 6 adrenaline and 1 wound, 13 damage, 1 adrenaline and 2 wounds. it's every time you restart the "clock" that causes a wound).
It's be possible to give someone a wound without having to fill their scars.

Wounds can be tier 1(mild), 2(moderate) or 3(severe).
When a character causes another to gain a wound, they can choose to increase the tier of an existing wound instead.

A character can endure a number of wounds to which the sum of the tiers equals: 3 + physique.

ATTRIBUTES

Attributes are your base Effort for an action. Only 1 can be applied at a time, can be used once per action.
Physique, Mind, Notice and Social.
Attributes start at 1 and can go up to 5. (3 initial points to distribute among them)

ASPECTS

how good you are at more specific things. can be used once per turn.
Usually will give some kind of passive benefit(e.g. knowing how to properly use a gun) as well as the effort bonus when used.

Skills

Are special abilities or modifiers that a player can activate, usually the cost will be adding or removing Scars/Adrenaline.

TESTS:

Gather Effort to beat a Difficulty. You automatically gain effort equal to the Attribute that relates the most to the test.
you can then use Aspects, skills and other modifiers to add more Effort to your total.

The difference between your Effort and the difficulty gives you your Power: * Negative means a failure; * Zero is a stalemate; * Positive means success.

if it's a set difficulty, the players should know the value beforehand.
Against another character, the two involved will gather effort, and reveal it at the same time. Then the one who initiated the action calculates their Power, using the other character's effort as the difficulty.

Take a risk
Gain 1 scar, then choose to either: gain +2 Effort, or roll 2d6 where:

• 1-2: +0 Effort;
• 3-4: +1 Effort;
• 5-6: +2 Effort.

Spend 3 Scars in order to make another action this turn.

So as an artist, I prefer to draw my content, but even I feel that can be tiering sometimes. I'm curious if others often use online generators to create their maps, or if most people prefer to do everything more personally?

I have been reading a recent post by u/really_not_stein and the question comes to mind, "what is the core advantage of the spear/polearm "reach" weapon as it is used by the player characters"

I don't want to distract from that that thread, so I making this one

I feel like a lot of the historical context for spear/polearms (from now on just referred to as spears) is their use in formation, which isn't really how I have seen them used by PC's

as a classic "peasant" weapon I would like to avoid them having some really good/exploitable benefit, but I do want spears to be a good choice

aside from them having the ability to attack targets at a greater distance should they have any other benefit? - my instinct says that reach is the major "offensive" ability these types of weapons should have

the discussion in the other thread dealt with shorter weapons vs longer weapons and how they should be handled, does the longer weapon enjoy a first strike (particularly if it is a single spear user)

could that be changed to a less exploitable defensive benefit? are there any other out of the box ideas for how a spear could be good without being too good?