wazbar @iolbs@dice.camp

making some progress on #3eish, here is a mechanical skeleton of the basic rules including:

- core mechanic (it's the d20 system, but there are sometimes degrees of success)
- how all the attributes get used
- hit dice and points
- injuring and recovering your attributes!
- subdual! deprivation! exhaustion! carrying capacity! hot and cold weather!

check it out here:
https://iolbs.blogspot.com/2022/05/3eish-bones.html

one might even say that 4e is the only edition of d&d to be coherently designed

the weirdest sea change in the post-5e world has got to be people finally giving d&d 4e a fair shake for being an actually coherently designed game

in a game with modifiers to a roll and variable target number, there is no need for negative modifiers. simply add to the opposite side of the comparison.

i worry that this will not feel enough like d&d, but i like the idea of dexterity used as an active defense, and the way this ties into the action economy; it makes attacks of opportunity a riskier strategy, when they leave you unable to use your active defense until next round

here's how ac fits into this:

- base difficulty to hit a foe is 1 (2 for unfamiliar weapon)
- light (helmet & jack), medium (chain) and heavy (breastplate) layers of armor increase difficulty by 1 each
- if the attack roll succeeds by the target's Agility (one-half dex score) or less, they can use a reaction to dodge it

"difficulty" is thus a number 1-10, and every increment of difficulty is 15%, a meaningful difference in play (imo)

unlike in numenera, difficulty for a task is set mostly without reference to who is going to be doing it, with the sole exception that a check or attack made without a relevant skill is at +1 difficulty (this is the nonproficiency penalty)

thinking about the core mechanic of #3eish

i don't want to significantly alter "d20 plus mods >= TN" because imo it's at the heart of the vibes of 3e. however, i am considering adopting a TN of "difficulty times three" a la numenera/cypher system to minimize the complexity involved in setting TNs

so im not a big fan of "dwarves with guns" but "dwarves with bayonets" might sell me on it

Want campaigning rules? Like Smallworld? I got you.

https://iolbs.blogspot.com/2022/05/its-small-domain-level-world.html

hobbit: Con 10, Size 4.
- carry 9 things ~36lbs
human: Con 10, Size 6 (+2)
- carry 14 things ~52lbs
gnole: Con 9, Size 8 (+8)
- carry 23 things ~92lbs
ogre: Con 8, Size 10 (+25)
- carry 39 things, ~156lbs
giant: Con 7, Size 12 (+50)
- carry 65 things, ~260lbs

if you have problems with the way this math works out i do invite you to keep them to yourself because this system was not easy to put together

after much hemming and hawing i am simply going with "half constitution plus size" as the threshold for being burdened (in units of "items"/approximately 3-5lbs), with characters above a certain size getting bonuses to this threshold from a table

i'm beginning to suspect that, at the scales of people and animals, the standard deviations on the square cube law make it more like the square cube suggestion

pretty proud of these injury rules:
- when you run out of hp, save or die
- if you live, injury reduces str by 1d6 (special attacks might target a different ability)
- a season after the injury, you can make a save to recover 1d3 points. adults and youths can also make a save a month after, and youths can also make one a week after.
- if these saves don't raise you back to your original score, your ability is permanently reduced and only magical restoration will bring it back.

i do think the appropriation of reflex saves by wis and will saves by cha is correct and here to stay

i actually think this is pretty well balanced, even if i'm not crazy about adding a fourth save category to distinguish STR and CON saves

however, i do think the division makes sense? fortitude for poison and physical restraint, vitality for death saves, recovery from disease and injury

uses of the abilities in #3eish (other than skill checks)

STR: fortitude saves, physical damage rolls
DEX: hand and thrown attacks, AC
CON: vitality saves (to recover from disease and injury), hp, carrying capacity, interval between checks vs exhaustion
INT: skill points, arcane mastery (caster level) checks, spells per day
WIS: reflex saves, initiative rolls, shooting attacks, DC to be surprised
CHA: will saves, magic damage rolls, leadership, petitions (divine spells)

cyberpunk

blade runner, the film: being a cop means doing so much dehumanizing violence to others that in the end you are dehumanized yourself.

blade runner, the rpg: hey want to be a cop