This post is a heavyweight.
This is what I am playing right now. Even if it looks weird, everything has been created by slowly converting BX to an "all d6" system, while keeping it mathematically faithful. It started just to see if I could, but it works. The conversion is very clean on some parts, not so much in others (such as monster conversion) but it runs very very nice.
I am going back to the regular d20 play, but this blog is the only meaningful place where I keep my notes and I want to keep this as a reference. I had a good experience with this and might want to put it to work again in the future.
* There are no hit points, instead everybody tracks their Hit Dice. You get at least one each level, sometimes more depending on your class. If we take each Hit Dice to be equivalent to a Wizard's HD (d4 HP) from the original material, the progression for wizard//fighter mirrors it almost perfectly, keeping them stastically equally tough than their homologues.
* There are no ability scores as we know it. Instead, you pick your class straight. These are some classes that are already covered, but I make more as I am in need them. I only allow Trow or Hobbits at the beggining, and only make more classes whenever the PCs have allied or taken as a hireling a member of that class. In-setting, classes are functionally races.
*All PCs can have a specific background skill to be chosen at any moment. This background behaves as a skill. Its mechanical usage is limited to knowledge or ability skills, but cannot influence directly on combat or stealth rolls.
* When PCs undertake actions that have a chance of failing/succeeding, normally you have to get a 5+ in a d6, or a 6 if its complicated (classic 2 in 6 and 1 in 6 chances). Skills give you more dice to roll when the action is relevant. Skills can be made up at the gm's discrection using the guideline above this point. Stealth as a skill, for example, is just a new way to call your chance to surprise an enemy (2 in 6, remember) but is also used for what would otherwise be called "Thief skills": move silently, hide in shadows, etc. The other skills mentioned in this entry are Force Doors (another name for smash) and Tracking, but if you want to be good at Falconry at any moment because it has turned relevant for the campaign for some reason, say it.
*At certain levels, when the Save scores are upgraded, PCs have the chance of getting new skills. Those are also "quantum" (if you learn them, you dont have to decide them until they become relevant). In the case of skills learnt through leveling, you CAN choose any of the 2 weapon expertises (more on this later)
* PICK A CLASS. All of them use the BX fighter XP progression:
Trow are Fighters. They have Drow constitutions + Dwarven minds, while their aesthetic is borrowed from korean Joseon era. They fill the role of your classic knights and nobles, with hobbits making for the peasant/servant class. They can use all armor and weapons.
Level 01: save dice: 1 - +1 HD
Level 02: save dice: 1 - +1 HD
Level 03: save dice: 1 - +1 HD
Level 04: save dice: 2 - Chance of getting a new skill: 2 in 6
Level 05: save dice: 2 - +1 HD
Level 06: save dice: 2 - +1 HD
Level 07: save dice: 3 - Chance of getting a new skill: 2 in 6
Level 08: save dice: 3 - +1 HD
Level 09: save dice: 3 - +1 HD
Level 10: save dice: 4 - Chance of getting a new skill: 2 in 6
Level 11: save dice: 4 - +1 HD
Level 12: save dice: 4 - +1 HD
Level 13: save dice: 5 - Chance of getting a new skill: 2 in 6
Level 14: save dice: 5 - +1 HD
Your HD amount also unlocks other perks. This works for all classes, but as Trow have the better HD progression, they are the first to unlock them:
3 HD: your base AC is now 4
7 HD: you get a new attack per turn
14 HD: you get a new attack per turn
21 HD: you get a new attack per turn
The side with the HIGHEST HD MEMBER always gets the initiative unless there is surprise. This has proven for me to be a really great advantage to Fighter PCs agains the classic goblin hordes of the early levels.
This numbers make attack bonuses (in terms of damage amount) scale roughly in the same pace as in B/X, adapted diffently for every race/class depending on their HD number. They are also useful in that its very easy to check how many attacks/attack bonus a monster has.
Hobbits are the "thieves" of the setting. They get bonuses to stealth during their progrssion.
Hobbits have +1 AC against arrows due to their size; but they cannot wear plate armor or use big or 2 handed weapons.
Level 01: save dice: 2 - +1 Stealth
Level 02: save dice: 2 - +1 HD
Level 03: save dice: 2 - +1 Stealth
Level 04: save dice: 3 - Chance of getting a new skill: 3 in 6
Level 05: save dice: 3 - +1 Stealth
Level 06: save dice: 3 - +1 HD
Level 07: save dice: 4 - Chance of getting a new skill: 3 in 6
Level 08: save dice: 4 - +1 HD
Level 09: save dice: 4 - +1 HD
Level 10: save dice: 5 - Chance of getting a new skill: 3 in 6
Wizards are usually vagabond Trow, but sometimes they can be of weirder procedences. They cannot effectivelly use weapons (treat everything as a dagger) or any armor. As the XP progression is streamlined for my convenience, and also because I am testing the alternate vancian system (which is a little buff) the number of spells received is a just a little smaller. Wizards double as clerics: If your alignment is lawful, you can prepare cleric spells. Down there its the spell progression with spells arranged from level 1 to 6
Level 01: save dice: 1 - Spells: 1
Level 02: save dice: 1 - Spells: 2
Level 03: save dice: 1 - Spells: 2 / 1
Level 04: save dice: 2 - Spells: 2 / 2
Level 05: save dice: 2 - Spells: 2 / 2 / 1
Level 06: save dice: 2 - Spells: 2 / 2 / 2
Level 07: save dice: 3 - Spells: 2 / 2 / 2 / 1
Level 08: save dice: 3 - Spells: 2 / 2 / 2 / 2
Level 09: save dice: 3 - Spells: 2 / 2 / 2 / 2 / 1
Level 10: save dice: 4 - Spells: 2 / 2 / 2 / 2 / 2
Level 11: save dice: 4 - Spells: 2 / 2 / 2 / 2 / 2 / 1
Level 12: save dice: 4 - Spells: 3 / 3 / 2 / 2 / 2 / 1
Level 13: save dice: 5 - Spells: 3 / 3 / 3/ 2 / 2 / 1
Level 14: save dice: 5 - Spells: 3 / 3 / 3 / 2 / 2 / 2
Elves are a mix of druid and ranger, and, in-setting, behave much more like the latter than like classic elves. They can develop natural magical powers, but do so at a much slower rate than a magician, while inevitably being tougher and stealthy. Elves also have a background skill called Tracking. It's meant to be used to all kind of things in the forest that ranger does normally: tracking, foraging, realizing forest shit.
Level 01: save dice: 1 - +1 Stealth and +1 Tracking and +1 HD
Level 02: save dice: 1 - +1 HD or spells as a level 1 wizard
Level 03: save dice: 1 - +1 HD or +1 spell level
Level 04: save dice: 2 - Chance of getting a new skill: 2 in 6
Level 05: save dice: 2 - +1 HD or +1 spell level
Level 06: save dice: 2 - +1 HD or +1 spell level
Level 07: save dice: 3 - Chance of getting a new skill: 2 in 6. +1 AC while unencumbered
Level 08: save dice: 3 - +1 HD or +1 spell level
Level 09: save dice: 3 - +1 HD or +1 spell level
Level 10: save dice: 4 - Chance of getting a new skill: 2 in 6
* Having classes with no randomization phase would have made all PCs too similar one from each other. I wanted to try something else, as even though rolling 3d6 in order fits well into the "all d6s" challenge, I didn't want to face having to ingrain the small +1 mods into the coarse and rude d6 granularity. The first idea was to make players roll for just strenght, dexterity and intelligence, and make it so there are three tiers for each: high, normal and low. However I wanted to try something else:
*After all classes are selected, all players collectively roll 1d6 for each PC +1 (so, three players would roll 4d6) and look up the results in this table. Duplicate results are discarded. They must collectivelly assign the perks among themselves, with the GM or 1d6 resolving all possible disputes.
1- You get +1 HD and +1 to the Force Doors skill. Elves, hobbits and wizards can only take the HD
2: Weapon expertise - Sword: If you are fighting with a sword, you can re-roll any attack once per combat. You also get an extra +1 HD that will vanish once you reach level 4.
3: Weapon expertise - Bow: If you spend at least one round aiming, the next succesful attack that hits takes 1d6 hits instead of 1. If you are an elf, it's 1d6+1 instead.
4: You get +1 skill die, declare which one you want at anytime (cannot take weapon expertises)
5: As long as your alignment remains lawful, you get 1 HD or +1 magic level, your choice.
6: Weak: You are a non-combatant. A delicate girl, an elder man, maybe a kid. Any attack roll you make is done at disadvantage (roll one extra d6 and take the worst) If you happen to know a spell, you get one full magic level beyond the one you are now.
* COMBAT ROLLS are also made with some d6s, translating roughly the original damage chances using this math, refer to it for motives and further comparison. Armor and Weapons are subsequently reworked, and it goes like this:
When you attack you roll 1d6 or more if your HD allows for more attacks. You score a hit if you roll equal or higher than the opponent's AC:
No armor: AC4
Light armor: +1 (AC5). Light armor can become a sort of medium armor if it can provide extra AC against a specific type of damage (chainmail: slashing or scalemail: arrows, for example)
Heavy armor: +2 (AC6)
If your AC goes higher than that, you get 1 point of damage reduction when a critical hit is scored against you. No more than that. If you wish, certain magical AC bonuses can apply to shield rolls instead (see below)
Shield rolls: if you're hit while carrying a shield, you can roll 1d6 to parry. On a 5 or 6, negate all damage. Shields are stastically better the less armor you wear.
If your opponent uses an axe, a roll of 1 will break a shield. Add +1 to this for each strength tier your opponent posesses (for PCs, this is each Open Doors die beyond the first)
On the offensive side, weapons are primarily differentiated by their damage on a critical hit: Hits that also happen to be a natural 6 do critical damage.
One handed weapons deal 2 damage on a critical hit.
Two-handed weapons deal 3 hits.
Daggers and other small weapons do not have critical hits, BUT any type of sneak attack deals 3 hits on a critical and has an extra d6 on the attack roll (regardless of weapon)
Spears are complex: you get +1 AC versus enemies with shorter reach, but it is negated once you are hit. You can spend one turn to regain the reach. Until you do, you cannot use the spear to attack (your enemy is just too close for that). Spears crit as daggers when one-handed and as swords when two-handed.
When fighting on unarmed combat and dealing a hit, you must pass an open doors check to actually deal the damage. Else, you just assert dominance, but fail to take an HD from your opponent.
A weapon with x2 critical damage is roughly equivalent in damage output to the damage that a fighter of average STR would deal in BX with a d8 weapon, while the x3 is equivalent to a d12 weapon (I know, I know, greatswords deal d10 but it makes for the new fighters not having any much STR or weapon bonus). The dagger progression also fits pretty well. But the numbers are much closer from level 4 onwards: a little earlier, BX fighters are a little better, mostly against plate. From level 10 onward, they are a little worse. Enter giant table:
Note: those numbers are "percentages of damage done", taking d4 hit dice and d4 damage as the base. 100% would be the damage output of a d4 weapon that would ALWAYS hit. The percentages go up inside their weapon type depending on the fighter's level (from 1 to 12 in BX, and the corresponding four tiers in the case of my version)
The first column is represents an armorless opponent, the second (semi) a point in between leather and chain armor, and the third represents plate.
When two numbers are listed, the second is the damage output VS an enemy with a shield, assuming the shield blocks 1/3 of the time. Shields are very OP with this rules, but I like to see it as a way to give the players an edge without making different rules for monsters and PCs. Monsters are just less likely to use shields.
*Monsters use the same attack progression, with two particularities: as I have balanced HD around d4s and the monsters use d8s, I like to convert monster's HD by multiplicating it by 2, then substracting 2, or just one if the monster has some spare extra HP added to their HD.
So, a monster that has 1 HD in BX would still have 1 HD here. 5 HD would turn to 8 HD here, and 7HD+2hp would be 13 HD.
*Monster attacks must be tuned by hand to the most suited critical hit version, depending on their damage: dagger, sword, greatsword or bigger. Note that monsters have sometimes multiple attacks, and that to convert them all faithfully, all of them should be translated into a different roll with a number of dice according to the monster's HD. Really, I don't do that. I approximate. Sometimes I cut three attacks into two, or into one, then raise the critical hit chance. Or I increase the attack rate of the first attack (beak), and make the other two (claw and claw) roll only 1d6 each. Not gonna lie.
* Lastly, but not less important, attacks always cleave: When you finish off an opponent, you can attack another one that is at melee range. This is actually an advantage for PCs in the practice, as it is very unlikely for monsters to get much advantage from it unless they are significantly more powerful from the PCs already. One of the reasons is because lesser monsters dont usually get a Save at 0 HP (see below)
* As already stated above, low level PCs are slighty less likely to damage targets in melee than in BX. This is carefully compensated by all those quirks above (cleave, keeping 1 and 2 hd monsters susceptible to a good critical hit, weapon expertises available from level 1, little boosts to HD so fighters can improve one level earlier, etc). All of them lose impact once the monsters get bigger, and the fighters get better.
SAVING THROWS
* Saves work by getting a 6 (hard saves) or 5+ (easy saves) on 1d6. Sometimes a 5 means partial results. As you level up, you get more dice to roll, and keep the highest. For example, a save vs Dragon breath will give you half damage (rounded down, to the benefit of the affected). On a 5, you get damage as normal but you will keep at least 1 HD. This allows me to do some creativity with spell effects, while also normalizing the saving throw curve.
* There is a special save at 0 HD.
On a result of 6 you avoid serious harm and keep your last 1 HD.
On a 5 you are wounded and might suffer penalties to actions. You dont get to make this save again until recovered.
On a 4 you are unconscious and might die if left unattended.
On a three or less you're dead.
This save makes for the "last hit points" scenario that is lost to the players prejudice by not rolling hit points: 1hd characters can now take a hit over their AC and not automatically die. Also, it's very easy for high level characters to survive fatal blows providing their allies don't abandon them and there is not a TPK; more or less how a Final Fantasy works.
This is a comparison chart between B/X saves and my own, using the fighting man and halflings.
Notes: NPCs are significantly weaker. I love that. There is a reason that NPCs fear death rays and sleep spells. Saves are plot armor after all, and NPCs are outside the plot. That is for main characters (the PCs). Save numbers are really smooth and alike the original, but they are a little harder now for level 1 characters. That is OK for me. I treat most traps as a save, too. The numbers from B/X (trigger traps 1 third of the time) remain unchanged in this way.
* I chose to take halfling saves a whole tier down from the original. For setting reasons, there are a lot of hobbit characters and they are just too good at saving
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EDIT: I'm not playing this rules at the moment, but I leave a handful of notes to test in the future:
* Roll stats as normal, but dropping constitution. Ignore negative bonuses or limit a -1 to extremelly bad rolls.
Each +1 Strength gives you +1 HD and +1 die to open doors
Each +1 Dexterity gives you +1 stealth and other thief stuff
Each +1 Wisdom gives you an extra level 1 spell, providing you have one already.
Each +1 Intelligence gives you an extra die to roll in your background (rangers are just fighters with good int and a ranger background). Backgrounds should preferably be based on skills that already feature in the game. See this list.
Each +1 Charisma works just as BX D&D intended
Consider adding Alignment as the sixth stat: High: lawful, Low: Chaotic.
Certain classes allow you to raise points of certain attributes at leveling up, mostly at "save dice increase" levels, maybe raising them straight, or maybe giving you a X in 6 chance.
This allows me to delete the "learn skill" chances and other individually picked skills. Not sure if its a good idea but here it is. And this allows elves into becoming 18 DEX ninjas, and Fighters have a chance of becoming superhumanly strong; without this becoming overpowering in the long run, yet having distinct effects on the character's essence.
To finish, the game is not tested at high levels and characters might end up being a little stronger than their B/X counterparts, as they increase the HD at the same rate, but also increase their save vs death at zero HD. Will consider having the fighter and monster HD grow up by the function (Wizard's HD x 1'5, round up) instead of the current that is closer to (x 1'8)
Will test it if I go back to this version for some reason or find a second gaming group
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