As I mentioned in my last post, our group has started to use a homebrew D&D that has four inspirations/motivations behind it: 1) a pretty simple system where the rules are not burdensome or even all that important (more rulings than rules and a system that I would be comfortable completing winging it with); 2) a system that incorporates my experiences with D&D 
(particularly my experiences from “back in the day”); 3) a system that fits my particular group of ratlings, er, players (most of whom didn’t start playing until the d20 version of D&D); and, 4) a system that lets us use a character sheet as simple as the one to the right (based on the Notebook character sheet for Basic Fantasy RPG). To be honest, it was this last one that was the initial impetus for all this.
The result is a set of three little 5.5″ by 8.5″ booklets…did I mention that an homage to the roots of this little hobby as a motivation? No, well, it is just a bit of an added bonus. The first booklet, Rats & Ratlings, is 23 pages and contains all the core rules including classes, races, equipment, combat, and exploration. The second, Gods & Gophers, has the divine spells used by clerics (clocking in at 19 pages). The third, Mice & Magic, has–as you might have guessed–the arcane spells used by magi (clocking in at a whopping 36 pages). And yes, we got cute with the names of the booklets, alliteration, and the rodent motif for out gaming group.
The core rules are enough to take a character from 1st to 9th level. We’re using the traditional D&D scores (Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, etc.) and a lot of the traditional concepts (Armor Class, Hit Points, Class, Race, etc.) with a lot of streamlining and personalization. Ability scores are 4d6, drop the low, and arrange as you like. There are four standard races: dwarf, elf, halfling, and human. Instead of a laundry list of modifiers or abilities for each, there are a couple of broad categories of abilities. Dwarves, for example, get Darkvision (i.e., see in the dark out to 60 feet), Stonecunning (a bonus to any check related to perceiving something if related to stone), and Hardy (a bonus to any check to resist physical trauma or magical manipulation and control). Each race has a minimum ability score instead of a bonus.
There are six classes: cleric, fighter, mage, paladin, ranger, and rogue. Each has an iconic set of class abilities. Clerics, for example, can cast spells, turn undead, wear armor, and fight fairly well. Fighters are, well, fighters and fight really well and get bonuses to feats of strength or endurance. Not every race/class combination is available…we’re sticking to the more traditional and iconic combinations (e.g., Paladins must be human)…and borrowing a page from Dungeon World, most classes have a additional class ability based on the character’s race (e.g., a dwarf rogue gets a bonus to checks dealing with mechanical things like locks and traps while an elf rogue gets a bonus to hiding and sneaking). Also from Dungeon World, each class has a set damage die for weapon attacks regardless of the weapon (although different weapons may modify the damage).
The “core mechanic” is essentially a d20 plus the modifier from the appropriate Ability Score for whatever task is at hand plus any miscellaneous modifiers. A roll is only needed when deemed necessary (a significant likelihood of failure, stressful conditions, or the die is going to determine the course of the game). The higher the result, the better (yes, higher is always better for rolls, Armor Class, Hit Points, etc.). I might set a certain target number that needs to be equaled or exceeded, it might be against a static score (like Armor Class), or it might be the result of another character’s roll. A fighter attacking a foe in melee, for example, would roll a d20 and add the character’s Strength modifier, the character’s level (fighters/paladins/rangers add level, clerics/rogues add half level, and magi add no level to attacks), and any miscellaneous modifiers. If the roll equals or exceeds the target’s Armor Class, the blow hits. A mage who stumbles across some arcane rune might have to make a check. It depends on whether or not it makes sense that the character would already know the rune. If not, it would be a d20 plus the mage’s Intelligence modifier plus the mage’s level (yep, a mage gets to add their level to checks about arcane/esoteric stuff). Depending on just how obscure this particular rune might be, the result would need to be a certain amount. Let’s say on a 15 or higher, the mage recognizes the rune. The roll of the die would determine what happens. That’s pretty much it.
In some instances, success and failure is pretty clean cut but in others it is not. Again borrowing from Dungeon World, some checks will result in success, others in outright failure, and others in success with, well, complications. In the example of the mage above, let’s say that the roll was only a 12 instead of 15 or higher. In this case, the mage would know something about the rune BUT might be missing a critical piece of information or have a bit of misinformation…whatever is the most interesting, most fun, or makes the most sense given the direction that the game has been going. In general, if the check is not against some statistic like Armor Class or another character’s roll, a result of 15 plus is an outright success. A result of 8 or less is an outright failure while a result of 9 to 14 is success but with complications.
Equipment is included in Rats & Ratlings and, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, borrowing from Dungeon World uses the concept of “tags” which essentially describes important elements of the item’s effect on game play. Armor, for example, might have the Clumsy tag which indicates that the character would take a penalty to certain types of actions while wearing it (fighters and paladins get to ignore an armor’s Clumsy tag but other classes do not). The heavier and more protective the armor, the higher the penalty from its Clumsy tag. Weapons have tags that indicate the range at which they can be used and other important characteristics for combat. A dagger, for example, has the tags Close, Near, Finesse, Thrown, and -1 Damage meaning that it can be used to attack adjacent foes as a melee attack (adding Strength modifier to the damage), either DEX or STR can be used as a modifier to the attack roll (Finesse), it can be thrown (Thrown) at foes up to 30 feet (Near) using DEX for the attack (Thrown) and adding STR to the damage (Thrown), and any attack with it (either melee or thrown) is at -1 damage.
Basic adventuring equipment is also covered and, yep, I’m sounding like a broken record, we’re using the notion of starting equipment from Dungeon World. In other words, each class starts with certain equipment although there are some choices that can be made. A rogue, for example, begins play with Leather Armor, Thieves’ Tools, some coin, a melee weapon (pick dagger or short sword), a ranged weapon (pick three daggers or a short bow and arrows), and two of the following: Adventurer’s Kit (a backpack with basic gear), a Healing Potion, and an Antitoxin.
Lastly, we’ve got a short section that covers the rules regarding combat, movement, and exploration. It just covers a limited set of basic rules that players like to know about. In combat, a character can move (30 feet per round) and do some short action (e.g., attack, cast a spell, tend to an ally, drink a potion, or whatever other action might be accomplished in a five or six seconds). Borrowing from Savage Worlds (bet you thought I was going to say Dungeon World), we’re using the concept of Bennies per session that allow players to re-roll checks. There are simple rules for Brawling, Charging, Cover, Critical Hits, Defending, Grappling, Healing, Light, Movement (Running), Non-Lethal Damage, Ranged Attacks in Melee, and Two-Weapon Fighting. Initiative is card-based a la Savage Worlds including Jokers being wild (giving a bonus to any checks and damage on the character’s turn). Death and dying is a matter of having your Hit Points reduced to zero (we don’t go below zero regardless of how much damage is taken). A character is unconscious and dying at 0 HP. If not tended to within three rounds of reaching 0 HP, a character dies. A player can spend a Benny to automatically stabilize their character and keep him or her from dying after reaching 0 HP.
Other than spells and spellcasting, that’s pretty much the version of D&D that we’re playing now (and have been for the last five or six months). It has been working pretty nicely for us. I’ll cover spells and spellcasting in my next post.
