The Soul of D&D

In as few words as possible:

Absolute authority of the DM, rules lawyers given the boot

Rule books seldom used by a competant DM

Action and adventure in play

Swords & sorcery, not comic book superhero genre material

Group co-operation paramount for success

Freedom to extemporize and innovate for all participants

Reliance on architypical models for characters

Fellowship of those participating

Cheers,
Gary

http://knights-n-knaves.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=3626

Rolling Damage: 1d6, 1d6+1, 1d6-1, and 2d6 retain the highest

I was thinking about OD&D style damage, and was wondering how the differences between various rolling techniques work out. Specifically, I'm wondering about these:

STRAIGHT DAMAGE: 1d6

HIGH DAMAGE: 1d6+1, 2d6 retain the highest, 1d8

LOW DAMAGE: 1d6-1, 2d6 retain the lowest, 1d4

This post will work out the odds for each case.

STRAIGHT DAMAGE: 1d6
Avg 3.5/Max 6/Min 1
All results are equally likely (17%)

HIGH DAMAGE: 1d6+1
Avg 4.5/Max 7/Min 2
All results are equally likely (17%)

HIGH DAMAGE: 1d8
Avg 4.5/Max 8/Min 1
All results are equally likely (12%). Higher variability than 1d6+1.

HIGH DAMAGE: 2d6 retain the highest; double sixes counts as a 7
Avg 4.5/Max 6/Min 1
1 (3%), 2 (8.33%), 3 (15%), 4 (20%), 5 (25%), 6 (28%), 7 (2.78%)
The distribution is skewed towards higher numbers, i.e., it is the least variable and most "reliable." With 1d6+1, there's a 50% chance that you'll get 4 or fewer points of damage. But with this method, the chance of getting <5 style="font-weight: bold;">ANALYSIS: There are really, fundamentally, only four different "offensive stances" one can assume based on weapons: 2H, 1H + Shield, Dual Wielding, and 1H + Open hand. Using our different damage mechanisms can give each of these a different flavor.

• Two handed weapon: 1d6+1 or 1d6+2. Variable damage.
  
• Dual-wielding two weapons: Roll 2d6, retain the highest. A little less average damage than a two-hander but more reliable. Also, people will "get" rolling 2d6 and taking the highest (it "makes sense"). This is a classic fantasy style for rogues and their ilk, plus, its badass for a fighter to rage away with a sword and flaming torch.
  
• Sword & Shield: 1d6 + Block a hit 1x/encounter + superior total defense option
• One handed weapon + open hand: This one is tough. People used shields and polearms because they were better than keeping a hand open. You can either rigorously enforce rules about drawing equipment and such to make that free hand valuable, or you can give this "stance" a unique bonus of its own to make it a viable choice. I like the idea of giving this style some sort of "Fate" bonus so that swashbucklers with their rapier in one hand can attempt more feats of derring-do. The trick is to keep it from being exploitable -- you don't want the swashbuckler to be able to leap from the chandelier (use his fate point) then whip out a dagger and just start dual-wielding to gain the damage bonus now that he's used his fate wad.
  Perhaps a weapon used one-handed scores more critical hits? This is somewhat historically accurate -- some schools of fighting did promote searching for weak spots in armor as a way to defeat that armor. The trick is to make the math work out so that its perhaps +1 or +2 damage compared to a straight D6 damage roll to keep it comparable with TWF/2HF. You also have to be careful of layering this rule with anything else that makes crits better (like, oh, a battleaxe that has particularly hard crits). If a crit does max damage (basically +2.5 damage) then having a one-handed weapon crit on about every second or third hit would make sense. So, you could expand the crit range to from just 20s to 18-20 on a D20, or any "6" on a D6. This is still slightly less damage than a 2HF or TWF strategy but you do get the versatility of leaving that extra hand open.

ADDENDUM: Why not, instead of more frequent crits, have more effective crits? For example, when you crit using just a 1H weapon, it also imposes some sort of negative status condition, or gives you a free move, etc. That way you don't have the problem with stacking the battle axe on top.

If monster HP are kept in control, then all the options are pretty viable. If monster HP escalate too much, and you're including all sorts of bonus damage sources, then two handed weapons and dual-wielding start to pale because that +1 HP damage has declined from being a 33% boost in damage output to being much less significant.

Quick and Dirty ENC

Ah, Encumbrance. The bane of so many games. So often it is intended to be a strict limiting factor, but in reality, it ends up falling by the wayside due to excessive complication or a lack of ease in the math. Who wants to pull out a calculator at the table? Its just not fun! Here is my quick and dirty ENC system, based on the Stone, with inspiration for the idea owed to Delta's D&D blog (http://deltasdnd.blogspot.com/2007/04/encumbrance.html).

CARRYING CAPACITY
A character may easily carry a load in Stones equal to 4 +/- STR modifier.
They may carry up to double this amount but will be ENCUMBERED.
They may carry up to treble this amount but will be HEAVILY ENCUMBERED.

ENCUMBERED
If a character is encumbered, they move down one category on all ability score tracks. This becomes their "new normal." If a character is heavily encumbered, they move down two additional steps on each track (for a total of three steps).

EDIT: Originally I had them move down two squares on the body track alone. However, this has the problem of allowing critters with Superior Body to basically ignore ENC. It also means that if you don't make Body checks often (say you're a Wizard) then you can basically ignore ENC too. It prevented ENC from affecting Initiative (which is based on Agility/Mind). I don't like having ENC effect Heart, but I don't want clerics to ignore it, so its an abstraction. This also softens the effects of regular encumbrance a bit, because a -1 penalty isn't so bad.

ENCUMBRANCE OF STANDARD ITEMS

1 stone. This is about 14 pounds, although no harm will be done by rounding to 15. It is the base unit of the system.
Hundredweight. 8 stone. About 100 lbs. Useful for measuring creatures, bulk goods, etc. This is as much as an average man can haul, and it will be encumbering to him.
Quarter. 2 stone. About 28-30 lbs. A backpack full of gear.
1/3 of a stone. Useful for relatively light items around 5 lbs.
1/6 of a stone. Useful for handheld items.
Negligible. Items which are so light as to be negligible except in large quantities.

Protective Items
Leather Armor - 1
Chain Mail - 2
Plate Mail - 3
Light Shield - 1/3 (usable 1x/encounter)
Heavy Shield - 1 (usable 1x/encounter; allows superior parry maneuver)

Weapons
Two Handed Weapon - 1
One Handed Weapon - 1/3
Light Weapon - 1/6

Other Items
In general, one should approximate using the weapon guidelines. A torch is as a one handed weapon (1/3 of a stone). A 10' pole is much like a polearm (thus 1 stone).

Coins are quite simple; for a stone is made up of about 14 POUNDS (gold pieces), and a POUND of 20 shillings (silvers). Thus a character could carry perhaps 280-300 silver coins with one stone of ENC.

TIPS AND TRICKS

It is reasonable to just allocate one stone or perhaps a quarter for numerous small items. For example, you could set aside a quarter for your character's pack: The pack could contain 6 one handed items, 12 light items, or some mixture thereof. I suggest drawing a grid with 6 squares on your character sheet to represent the backpack and just penciling in items as you acquire them.

It might also be useful to set aside a stone for weapons. Most non-fighters will carry perhaps one or two handheld weapons and one or two light weapons at most.

EXAMPLES

Justin the Mighty Warrior has a +2 STR modifier. Thus he can carry 6 stone easily. He opts for plate mail (3 stones) and a large shield (1 stone).

He decides to pick up a stone's worth of weapons: a longsword (1/3), a javelin (1/3), and a horseman's flail (1/3).

That leaves one stone remaining for odds and ends, or perhaps a polearm. As he will not always have a squire handy, he decides that its safer to expend the last stone on a lantern with oil (1/3), two potions of healing (1/6 each), and two days of rations (1/6 each).

Erin the Tricksy Thief is not particularly strong. She can only carry 3 stone. She opts for leather armor (1 stone), a short sword (1/3 stone), and 2 daggers (1/6 each). She also gets a torch (1/3 stone). She could bring along another stone of equipment but decides to leave her pack empty so that she can collect treasure.

Sarah the Priestess is an average character who can easily carry 4 stone. She selects a hauberk of chain mail (2 stone). To wield, she selects a light shield (1/3 stone), a one-handed mace to smite infidels (1/3 stone), and a hammer for throwing at heretics (1/3 stone). She also has one stone of capacity remaining for either odds and ends or a polearm.

IS IT REALISTIC?

First, who cares. Its a game. But realism is good, to a degree.

This system allows an "average" person to carry a hundredweight, maximum. That's 100 lbs. I think the average joe could stagger around with 100 pounds but he would definitely be at 1/2 speed and -2 to all physical checks. More than that and he's going to want a hand.

The strongest person can carry 7 stones easily -- almost a hundredweight. Additionally, their max load is 21 stones. That is 294 lbs. An olympian might be able to lift about 475 lbs. So perhaps I am shortchanging the very strongest, but its not by much, and those olympic records are just for weightlifting, not for actually moving, fighting, exploring, etc. According to my army field manual, a standard load for a soldier where you can expect him to keep moving is as follows:

Fighting Load: 1/3 body weight (48 lbs for a 160 lb man, so 3.5 stone)
Approach March Load: 72 lbs (5.1 stone)
Emergency Approach March Load: "120 lbs can be carried for several days over distances of 20 km or more" (8.5 stone)
Or even: "Loads of up to 150 lbs are feasible, although soldiers could become fatigued or even injured" (10.7 stone)

So by those standards, allowing someone to lug treble normal ENC is quite generous! Although of course, only the most superior or extraordinary specimens will even be able to move under such a burden. Most typical persons will top out from 8-12 stone (STR dependent). Which fits closely enough to our US Army Guidelines.

Armor Choices

I'd love to be able to make Armor choices matter in ODnD. Currently as it stands, fighters should hop into plate ASAP and stay there. You might as well just assign AC's by class. While technically they can wear other armors, there is usually little reason to. The benefit of superior AC is just worth too much. Thus, the "choice" to be able to use Leather is really just the Choice To Suck.

Right now I'd like to really focus hard on making a viable system with just three armors: Light (leather), Medium (chain), and heavy (plate).

Here's a few balancing factors for armors that could be used to make the choice meaningful, so that its not .

AC Protection: Right now I'm tied to 15% chunks due to D6 "to hits" and the legacy of THAC0 numbers. Obviously heavier armors provide more protection.

Weight: This is only a limfac if you have an ENC system that (A) is viable and (B) has teeth. In this case, lighter armors give you more offense/utility, because you can carry tools for problem solving or weapons for smacking stuff.

Mobility: Traditionally mobility has meant (A) AC check penalties for some tasks, especially agility tasks and (B) speed. However, mobility is often limited more by "Attacks of Opportunity," "free strikes at the rear of a fleeing opponent," etc. Giving light armors a significant bonus vs. OA's might actually grant some mobility to combatants. This could be combined with a speed penalty (perhaps 1 or 2 hexes) for heavy armor. One must also ask how any penalties tie in with the ENC system.

Damage: I don't like using damage as a balancing factor for armor. Players can already make that choice with Shields vs. Two Handed Weapons. But, it could give barbarian types a reason to stay in light hides.

Gotchas: Gotchas are things like the Rust Monster that comes and eats your plate mail or the knight's tournament where the loser gives up their armor. You can create some arbitrary pain for wearing heavy armor, but that is annoying.

Cost: While it was a major limiting factor in reality, cost is not a balancing factor unless there is some (obnoxious) upkeep factor. It is often seen as one, but all it does it keep the fighter out of heavy armor for a session or two until they get enough coin to buy a suit.

Fatigue: You could impose some sort of Fatigue or Exhaustion penalties on heavy armor wearers. Requiring an Endurance check or something or loss of ability score, etc. However, I think many players will also find this obnoxious.

I think a combination of a strict ENC system and enhancing mobility for Leather and Penalizing it for plate (with Chain being the middle of the road) is the best call. For example, say you go with an ENC system where max normal capacity is 4 +/- STR MOD stones. If plate weighs 3-4 stones, any but the strongest of individuals will surely be encumbered when they put it on, or if not encumbered, it will leave little room for that 10' pole, an extra polearm, or that longbow.

For example (note that this examples use D6 ACs):

NO ARMOR: ENC 0 STONES, AC 3, PROPERTY: BASE AC 4 vs. OA
VULNERABLE TO: Slashing Weapons, Piercing Weapons, Bludgeoning Weapons
STRONG AGAINST: Two Handed Weapons
Well, you're nimble, that's for sure, and you may be able to duck around past some of the larger, slow weapons out there. But still, being in the buff is not a good idea.

LEATHER ARMOR: ENC 1 STONE, AC 3, ENCOUNTER POWER: Disregard all Opportunity Attacks this turn, PROPERTY: BASE AC 5 vs. OA
VULNERABLE TO: Slashing
STRONG AGAINST: Two Handed Weapons
Leather is the worst armor in terms of protection. We need to throw two carrots at it: Low encumbrance, making it widely accessible, and some nice mobility-related powers. This -- and perhaps some bonuses regarding certain weapons as compared to being nekked in the buff -- make it appealing.

GAMBESON: ENC 1 STONE, AC 3
VULNERABLE TO: Slashing Weapons, Piercing Weapons
STRONG AGAINST: Nothing
SPECIAL: May be worn under Chain Mail or Plate Mail. If worn as such, it removes those armor's vulnerabilities to Bludgeoning Weapons. It may also be worn as its own garment although it is generally inferior to leather.
This garmet is dirt cheap, but it is hot, bulky, and restrictive. The padded cloth does cushion the wearer against blows, however.

MAIL ARMOR: ENC 2 STONES, AC 4
Mail is the "baseline" average armor. So, nothing particularly special. Basically, we want everyone with decent strength who might find themselves in melee to be able to feel comfortable in chainmail.
VULNERABLE TO: Nothing
STRONG AGAINST: Nothing

PLATE ARMOR: ENC 3 STONES, AC 5, PROPERTY: -1 SPEED, -1 to MOBILITY CHECKS, -1 to VIGOR CHECKS
VULNERABLE TO: Bludgeoning Weapons, Armor-Piercing Polearms
STRONG AGAINST: Slashing Weapons
Note that bludgeoning weapons and some polearms would get +1 to hit vs. Plate Armor, basically negating its AC advantage over chain. This is somewhat of a "gotcha." Also, giving a penalty to mobility and vigor checks makes it more likely that plate wearers will have trouble with obstacles and with fatigue.

PLATE ARMOR VERSION 2: ENC 4 STONES, AC 5
VULNERABLE TO: Bludgeoning Weapons, Armor-Piercing Polearms
STRONG AGAINST: Slashing Weapons
This version assumes that the ENC system will take care of any sort of mobility penalties. 4 stones is pretty serious weight to carry around for most characters and will significantly effect the rest of their loadout.

So with this system, we get:

SLASHING: Good vs. No Armor, Leather, Gambeson; Weak vs. Plate Mail
PIERCING: Good vs. No Armor
BLUDGEONING: Good vs. No Armor, Chain Mail, Plate Mail

WOUNDS I: How many HP?

How many HP should something have?

WHAT SHOULD IT BE?

Well, I think, sticking with our rule of 7, a player should be able to be attacked 5-9 times before they go down, depending on class/role (tanks take more hits than glass cannons). Sticking with our rule of 3, most monsters should go down in 3 good hits.

HOW DOES OD&D PERFORM?

Going with OD&D guidelines, PC damage output is either 3.5 per hit (1d6) or 4.5 per hit (2d6, retain the highest) for your large weapons.

Most monsters do normal weapon damage too (1d6). Ogres deal 1d6+2. The larger giants deal 2d6+1, 2d6+2, and 3d6 damage. Sea Monsters deal 3d6 or 4d6. An earth elemental does 2d6-3d6. For "large animals" (including T-Rex!) damage guidelines are 2d6-4d6.

Thus, there's a rough pattern for monsters: They deal about 1d6 of damage for every 4 HD ("Tier"). So, a low level critter deals 1d6; a mid level critter 2d6; a high level critter 3d6; and the top of the scale is 4d6.

A 1+1 HD monster (say, a humanoid of some sort) vs. AC 3 (our fighter in plate) hits on a 15 (so 30% of the time) and deals 3.5 damage. The fighter likely has 4.5 HP. So, it will take about four rounds for a hobgoblin to kill a fighter. As soon as our fighter moves into the middle of that lower tier of play (level 2-3), it will take 8-12 rounds to kill him as he has gained extra HP. Then, he'll start facing mid-tier monsters and the cycle begins again, reducing surviveability again.

Our hobgoblin is AC 5 with 1 full HD. So, our first tier fighter needs a 14 to hit (35%). he deals about 3.5 damage, so he can expect to drop the hobgoblin about 3 rounds of attacking.

So, as we can see, OD&D fits my expectation pretty well, at least at low levels.

However, one thing that is likely frustrating is the low chances to hit. Each hit does a lot of damage but is unlikely to connect; i.e., the fighter is likely to miss twice and then splatter the hobgoblin with his third strike. My suggested to-hit system tends to give 50-66% odds of hitting rather than OD&D's 33% chance to hit. Thus, HP inflation needs to occur.

The Way Ahead

I want monsters to continue to largely use D6s for damage. So, we can tentatively go with 1d6/tier, with high damage monsters either getting a +1 or +2 bonus (or rolling 1d8 or 1d10). A typical monster will have 33%-50% to hit a plate clad fighter, so if we want that character to last for 7+/-2 attacks, then the character needs to have at least 10 HP. Against a middle of the road character (say, one in chain), the character would need ~14 HP to last for 7 attacks.

On one hand, I like the idea of players dealing 1d6 for damage. However, that really limits your possible weapons options and everything feels very much the same. It also likely undervalues two-handed weapons by giving them only +1 damage, basically. With D6s, your basic options for average damage output are:

1d6 = 3.5
2d6 retain the highest = 4.5, low results unlikely
2d6 retain the lowest = 2.5, high results unlikely
2d6 total both = 7

This is compared to my damage table (see another post) which tends to give results like:
1d4 = 2.5
1d6 = 3.5
1d10 = 5.5

In either event, though, the center of the road is 3.5. So for a monster to go down in 3 hits, it needs to have about 10 HP. It will take about 5-6 rounds to drop it. If that monster has a -1 AC penalty (that's -1 on a D6...), say, for being a "brute" then to stay up for 5-6 rounds it needs to have around 13-14 HP.

So we derive for monsters (for tier 1 at least):
Average monsters should have about 10 HP.
"Brutes" with -1 AC should get 13 or 14 HP.
"Soldiers" with +1 AC could get by with 7 HP.

And for PCs:
Weak/Light (leather, can take 5 attacks): 11.6 HP
Weak/Mod (chain, 5 attacks): 8.75 HP
Weak/Hvy (plate, 5 attacks): 5.8 HP
Mod/Light (leather, 7 attacks): 16.3 HP
Mod/Mod (chain mail, 7 attacks): 12.25 HP
Mod/Hvy (plate, 7 attacks): 8.2 HP
Tough/Light (leather, 9 attacks): 21 HP
Tough/Mod (chain, 9 attacks): 15.75 HP
Tough/Hvy (plate/9 attacks): 10.5 HP

The absolute high end of reasonable character archetypes would be 21 HP -- the barbarian with light armor and high durability. The absolute low end of reasonable archetypes is 8.2 HP -- the cleric in plate mail. The best range is likely within that -- I'm guessing somewhere from 10-16 HP.

Relating that back to mechanics I already have, what about 4+/-MOD (giving 1-7) + Max of Traditional Hit Die (so 4 for wizards, 6 for thieves, 8 for clerics, 10 for fighters)?

Or you can just give HP equal to the character's starting CON score. That is more luck dependent.

ADDENDUM

Dan over at Geek Grab Bag suggests that the worst case beatdown should have a defined Start, Middle, and End. That is, the overeager scout/thief that gets jumped while scouting should have about 3 rounds of survival, as should the mage that gets swarmed.

With hexes the most foes that can get in is 6. With squares its 9. However, at some point, most critters get large, so that limits the reasonable number of foes to 4-6.

4-6 monsters * 0.66666 to hit = 2.6666 - 4 hits per round. if you give a 50% to hit (...might be a good time to go total defense) its 4-6 * 0.5 = 2-3 hits per round. In OD&D (where monsters do 1d6 per tier), that'd be 9 - 14 HP (scenario A) or 7-11 HP (scenario B) each round. So your mage or over-eager scout needs a minimum of 21 HP to have a defined start, middle, and end to his Monster Mash experience.

You can get away with fewer HP if you allow for a Panic Button. For example, a limited healing power might buy you a round of time. So I'd say that maybe 14 HP is the minimum, and figure that the PC can buy themselves a third round either by killing off some of the bad guys mobbing them or use of a limited resource (consumable/power).

DOUBLE ADDENDUM:

Note that increasing monster HP with level requires increasing damage output with level too. Some ways that has been done:
- AD&D's ranger bonus damage
- Bonus damage vs. large critters (large critters tend to have more HD -- note that this nicely puts the game in two scales, so a fighter with a long sword can face a bunch of orcs and its interesting, or a bunch of ogres and its interesting; this is basically a fighter-only feature because its the bladed weapons that tend to do so much better)
- Multiple attacks for fighter types
- Magical "pluses" adding to damage rolls
- Chances to hit increase very fast (remember that fighter-type in "Against the Giants" that hit on a 2?)
- Spells that scale with level (the classic 1d6 per level for fireballs et al...)
- Scaling backstab damage (double, then triple, then quadruple, etc)
- Increasing critical damage (a 4E technique)
- Giving everyone double damage at epic levels (another 4E technique)

If you significantly scale monster HP with level then you MUST include some of these "work arounds" for players to keep pace.

D6 To Hit

What do folks think about the viability of using just D6s for OD&D?

Many of the subsystems already rely on the D6 alone. Pretty much just to-hit rolls do not. The advantage of this system for to-hits is that its quick and easy. It uses only D6s. Also, it only includes only the most significant modifiers. This is similar to 4E granting +2 to hit for CA and making it non-stackable. Basically, the smallest D6 modifier is +3 or -3 on a D20, which really boils it down to only the most important factors.

THE BASICS:
Roll 1d6 to hit. Rolling high is good.
BASE AC: 4 (i.e., 50% chance to hit)

ARMOR TYPE:
Target is heavily armored (soldier-type; plate): -1 to hit
Target is moderately armored (average type critter; chain mail): +0 to hit
Target has light or no armor (brute-type; leather): +1 to hit
Advanced option -- Attacker using appropriate weapon (mace vs. heavy armor, for example): +1 to hit
Advanced option -- Attacker using inappropriate weapon (light blade vs. heavy armor, for example): -1 to hit

Note that Plate was typically AC3, Chain around AC5, and Leather AC8; 10-15% jumps. Our 1/6 variation in odds makes heavy armor a bit more valuable than it is in the D20 system.

CIRCUMSTANCES: Select only the largest bonus and penalty that apply.
Attacker has significant advantage (flanking, striking at unprotected rear, surprise, charge, etc): +1 to hit -- one time only (so flanking, surprise, and charging still gives only +1)
Attacker has exceptional advantage (helpless defender): +2 to hit
Defender has significant advantage (cover, concealment): -1 to hit
Defender has exceptional advantage (battlements, arrow slit, etc): -2 to hit

MANEUVERS:
Defender is parrying: -1 to hit
Advanced option -- Defender is parrying with shield: -2 to hit
Attacker is not proficient with weapon: -1 to hit
Advanced option -- Attacker is making an Opportunity Attack: +/- HEART (WISDOM) modifier to hit

RELATIVE LEVEL:
Fighting Man vs. Tier 1 Monster (1-4 HD): +0 to hit
Fighting Man vs. Tier 2 Monster (5-8 HD): -1 to hit
Fighting Man vs. Tier 3 Monster (9-12 HD): -2 to hit
Fighting Man vs. Tier 4 Monster (13+ HD): -3 to hit
Hero vs. Tier 1 Monster: +1 to hit
Hero vs. Tier 2 Monster: +0 to hit
Hero vs. Tier 3 Monster: -1 to hit
Hero vs. Tier 4 Monster: -2 to hit
Superhero vs. Tier 1 Monster: +2 to hit
Superhero vs. Tier 2 Monster: +1 to hit
Superhero vs. Tier 3 Monster: +0 to hit
Superhero vs. Tier 4 Monster: -1 to hit

This looks busy, but really isn't. If you're of appropriate level, you get no modifier. If you're higher level than the monster, you get a bonus to hit. If you're lower level than the monster, you get a penalty to hit. The GM should be sure to throw in some monsters of tiers higher/lower than the heroes occasionally so they can feel like they're growing in power ("Wow, these giant rats sure are a lot easier to kill now!").

Autohits become possible only if three of the four conditions are met:
(A) The target is not armored
(B) the attacker is using a particularly effective weapon
(C) the attacker has "combat advantage"
(D) The attacker is a tier of play higher than the defender

And frankly, if you're a naked goblin facing a Hero who's flanking you, its time to run away anyways. Likewise, if you're a naked first level fighting man and an ancient red dragon is bearing down on you, it is also time to depart expeditiously.

"But, what about..."
All of these rules are optional to add extra depth.

What about shields?
Giving a +1 bonus to AC (i.e., about a +3 bonus in D20 terms) is too much. Thus this simple rule:
Once per encounter, you can use your shield to parry an attack that hits you. Treat the attack as having missed altogether. Normally a shield gives +1 or +2 to AC. That translates to 5-10% fewer hits. In a typical 7 round combat, the fighter will be taking about 14 hits (assume he gets ganged up on some). If he uses a shield, you can expect 1-2 of those hits to miss due to the shield. So, allowing him a "dodge" replicates this nicely.

You can also add a modifier like this:
Defender is parrying with shield: -2 to hit, adjacent character gains -1 to be hit as well

What about leather armor?
Why would you wear light armor if you don't get an AC bonus?

First, there might be magical versions. This is of course handy.

Second, you could use something like our shield rule above, and let a player dodge an attack 1x/encounter.

Finally, you could deal with it on the wounds side. Perhaps leather soaks 1 Hit, chain soaks 2 Hits, and Plate soaks 3. Its better to have Soak 1 from leather than Soak 0 from nothing.

What about critical hits?
Having a critical hit occur 15% of the time (any natural 6) is probably too much. Indeed nearly 1/3 or 1/4 of hits would be criticals if you allowed them on any natural 6, which would make combat very swingy. Ideally you want criticals to occur on about 5-10% of attack rolls.


ADVANCED CRIT RULE:

Any natural 6 indicates a critical threat. Roll 2d6 to confirm the critical. If the result is <= 4 +/- your HEART modifier, you score a critical hit. - If your natural 6 would have hit the target, you deal maximum damage. - If your natural 6 would not have hit the target, you deal normal damage. Thus, a character with average HEART would score critical hits on about 27% of threats (4.5% of all to-hit rolls). A character with above average HEART (+2) scores crits on about 58% of threats (9.6% of all to hit rolls). Unfortunately a character with really cruddy HEART just about never scores a critical hit.


SIMPLER CRIT RULE:

Any natural 6 on a to-hit roll indicates a critical threat. Immediately make a HEART/CHA check (i.e., TN =4-6, add your current HEART ability score check modifier to the roll). Success indicates a crit that deals maximum damage. A character with Normal Heart will score crits 1/2 of the time on a threat (~8% of all attacks). A character with Superior or Extraordinary Heart will score crits 4/6 the time on a threat (~11%). A character that has had their morale shaken and is badly rattled (say, -2 to Heart checks) will score crits 1/6 of the time (3% of the time).


SIMPLEST CRIT RULE:

Any natural 6 on a to-hit roll indicates a critical threat. If the damage rolled is an odd number, the damage is maximum damage instead. This is much faster as no extra die rolls are required -- you're rolling damage anyways!

Thus, crits occur about 7.5% of the time.

CRIT OPTION: Advantage, PC
When a PC scores a critical hit, they deal 1 hit of extra damage for each tier of play.

What about Magic?
Magic items can be dealt with in several ways.

UNIQUE ITEMS: The first is to treat them like Sting. Attach a situational benefit to it and make each magic item unique. Perhaps it glows near orcs and always grants its owner Combat Advantage against orcs (or is always treated as being against a favorable armor type).

OCCASIONAL LARGE BONUSES: The second way is to give a major bonus once in awhile (not every round), like our shield rule above . For example, a +1 sword meant +5% hits. In a typical 7 round engagement, that means about a 35% greater chance to land a hit over the course of the fight. So, over the course of the day, it pretty much meant one extra hit. So, you could just say that a +1 magic weapon either automatically hits 1x/day, or it grants +2 to hit 1x/encounter.

THE ARMS RACE -- YOU'RE JUST TREADING WATER ANYWAYS: However, consider that monster AC usually increased to counter the increase in PC power. So, a magic sword might not really increase the odds of hitting; it might just allow a PC to keep pace with the arms race. So you could say that a magic sword didn't really give any real mechanical benefit, and go back to option 1 -- make the magic flavorful!

YOU ONLY GET A BONUS TO HIT FOR THE LAST ADVENTURE IN A TIER: You could reserve granting +1 to hit or +1 to AC for only the most powerful of items. This would be like your top-of-the game Holy Avenger class of weapons. Sure it skews the odds but it won't be around too long. You could minimize the stacking by not allowing this bonus to stack with either Combat Advantage or Armor Type Vulnerability. You could also allow a Tier 1 Magic Sword to grant +1 to hit vs Tier 1 monsters, but no bonus vs. Tier 2 monsters. Thus you can hand it out a few sessions before your players go into Tier 2 and not destroy the game because its basically a consumable item.

DEAL WITH IT IN THE WOUNDS SYSTEM: Finally, you could allow magic weapons to deal more wounds. The wound system might be a bit more granular, so a +1 weapon that deals +1 wound would still allow a character to emphasize their offense. Likewise +1 armor could soak 1 wound damage.

OPEN PROJECTS

Here's my gaming to-do list:

• 4E Fixes. See earlier post. Implement story-telling archetypes/values system, fix skill challenges, fix XP awards.
• Heavily Modified OD&D. A potential stepping stone to SEPTIMUS to let me playtest subsystems and proofs of concept.
• SEPTIMUS. This is my homebrew Fantasy RPG, still very much in the brainstorming phase.
• Hoards & Heroes. A lite strategy card game where the players are Dragons facing down heroes and trying accumulate a nice little nest egg.
• Sorcerer. A stalled card game.