DISCLAIMER:This is very long, please bare with me.
Hello. I am new to this,but found it while
searching for sources to present my ideas for critique. I am fairly new to world of RPGs, having only played around four D&D campaigns and DM’ing three, but I love it. I have been brainstorming ideas for a personal Tabletop RPG, one that I could play with friends that helped streamline the difficulty curve of D&D while still leaving room for innovation and strategic gameplay. Now keep in mind that I am basically a novice in this hobby, so I am looking for help and suggestions. This is currently what I have written down-
Dice are restricted to 1d6. A basic role for an attack or a skill check is a 1d6, with successes on 5 or 6. Advantage in skill checks or proficiency in weapons are a 2d6. Advantage adds a dice, while disadvantage removes one( if the player roles with disadvantage on a single die, the success is instead restricted to only 6)
two main resources: hit points and stamina.
Basic attacks do one to two point of damage, so health would all be lowered to hopefully contribute to easier combat.
There would be no “true” skills checks or points, this is important for combat.
I’m combat, a player has two actions per round. There are five main combat actions: Attack,Heavy Attack,Focus/Prime, Move, and Evade.
Attacking allows the player to attack for one hit point of damage.
Heavy attacking allows the player to use up stamina for 2 hit points of damage.
Focusing/Priming increases the chances of hitting, changing of success of a bit to 4,5,6 instead.
Moving allows the player to move up to the maximum distance of their movement speed.
Evading allows the player to role a 1d6 against an attack. On a 5 or a 6, they avoid the attack.
Stamina is a resource used to preform heavy attacks and abilities(Stamina would be considered “mana” for spellcasters). Stamina replenishes each day. If the player runs out of stamina, they become exhausted and suffer disadvantage on all roles.
Health is the amount of damage you can take until you die. There would be no conventional armor class. When dropping to zero hit points, you reach a “bleeding out” state. When you bleed out, you gain half of your hp as a “death timer” of sorts. Each turn drains one hit point, finally killing you when your “death timer” reaches zero. The player is rendered unconscious in this state, and taking damage removes the specified amount of damage from the death timer.
Initiative would work similar to D&D, but with each player rolling two dice and using the sum as their initiative score. (Disadvantage would be one dice, with advantage being two, respectively)
Weapons do not have unique damage numbers, but are categorized by four types: Light Melee, Heavy Melee, Light Range, and Heavy Range.
Melee weapons are used in melee range, and Ranged weapons are used for long range. Mailing an attack role with melee weapons long ranged will cause it to be rolled with disadvantage(The weapon will be thrown and will be required to be picked up unless otherwise noted) and vise versa with ranged weapons melee range. The differences between each weapon are more focused on the unique traits the have. For example, a sword may be more well rounded, while a glaive could remove the disadvantage imposed when using it from range.
Spells would be more focused around status effects. These are the possible status effects that could be implemented into spells:
-poisoned
-blinded
-restrained
-charmed
-grappled
-paralyzed
-prone
-stunned
-unconscious
-asleep
-frozen
-burning
These spells would cost stamina(mana), and would be the spellcasters’ main source of utility and damage. Spells would require being primed before being cast. There are three main categories of spells:
-Cantrips(name still in consideration)
-Blessings
-Curses
Cantrips would encompass the idea of powerful, dangerous magic. These would be the damaging spells.
Blessings would encompass the idea of revitalizing, tender magic. These would be the healing spells.
Curses would encompass the idea of draining, rotting magic. These would be the debuffing spells.
The class system would be changed pretty dramatically, to leave room for more customization. It would be easier to pick up and less complex at the beginning. The classes would be divided into five main classes, each one branching into multiple subclasses. These classes would be mainly differentiated for newer players by the health to stamina ratio:
Spellcaster- very low health, very high stamina(mana)
Rouge- low health, high stamina
Fighter- equal parts health to stamina
Priest- high health, low stamina(mana)
Tank(?)- very high health, very low stamina
Each class would have their own proficiencies in certain weapon types as well:
-Spellcaster- Light Ranged, Heavy Ranged
-Rouge- Light Melee, Light Ranged
-Fighter- Heavy Melee, Heavy Ranged
-Priest- Heavy Ranged, Light Melee
-Tank(?)- Heavy Melee, Light Ranged
Each class would branch off into skill trees, with their subclasses representing different types/roles of the class. For example, the rouge class may branch off to a silent assassin, or a deadly ranger.
These skill trees would be similar in style to the ones from Dragon Age:Inquisition, with a mix of both passives and abilities in the tree. For example, a skill for an assassin could be the ability to spend stamina in order to dash and attack a short distance, while a passive could be gaining advantage to attacks made from behind a enemy.
These are the main ideas I have, and I would greatly appreciate any help or ideas. This is really open and I am looking for some honest critique at the logistics of the systems and such. Thank you in advance.
Once you identify what would contribute to the feeling you’re aiming for, there are tons of resources here and elsewhere for each subsystem you may want to incorporate. Read those threads and resurrect them for discussion.