As a longtime fan of 4th Edition D&D, being the only WotC edition I actually like, it always made me laugh when people said it was vastly different from 3e.
It was weird because when I played 3.5 I saw a lot of these alternate rules that I always wanted to use but never got the chance, typically being told "we only play by standard ruleset" or other excuses like that. Valid but not what I wanted... At least I got to play the PHB II Druid.
So, mostly as a thought experiment, I want to have a bit of fun with 3e.
Resources: Unearthed Arcana (drivethru), d20srd.org, and the giantitp forums.
""4e D&D OGL"": Non-Armor Class Defenses (NADs) in 3.5 D&D
Possibly the biggest shock for a lot of players coming from 3e to 4e was the introduction of NADs, the Non-Armor Class Defenses.
Non-Armor Class Defenses are what you get when you take the Saving Throws and turn them into static defenses that work like Armor Class.
In 3e Unearthed Arcana we get "Save Scores" which are Fortitude, Reflex, and Will that the player can target with abilities. Original rules are under the cut below.
For my purposes I'll be taking part of the rules from Unearthed Arcana. Meaning that players won't be rolling all the dice but I'll apply Save Scores to all targets of attacks.
Fortitude Score: 11 + target’s Fortitude save modifier
Reflex Score: 11 + target’s Reflex save modifier
Will Score: 11 + target’s Will save modifier
Now, there was one additional aspect of NADs, one that worked off a concept championed by 3.5 optimizers.
People don't like their characters to be MAD (multiple attribute dependency) as you stretch yourself too thin, they liked their characters to be SAD (single attribute dependency) so that they have more options to work with and can focus on what they want to do.
4e took this concept and put it into the defenses. Makes sense as players were already finding different ways to add different ability scores to different Saving Throws (there's a really good GIantitp Post that I'll link below about X Stat to Y Bonus) but overall that's not the core of 3.5 so I'll leave that out (possible homebrew ideas tho).
Using the 3.5 OGL we now have NADs that work within the 3.5 system in what could be called "Attacker Rolls all the Dice".
Attack Roll
Magic Check
Armor Class
Fortitude Score
Reflex Score
Will Score
Next Time: At-Will, Encounter, and Daily abilities.
Unearthed Arcana: Saving Throws And Save Scores
With this variant, NPCs and other opponents no longer make saving throws to avoid special attacks of player characters. Instead, each creature has a Fortitude, Reflex, and Will score. These scores are equal to 11 + the creature’s Fortitude, Reflex, and Will save modifiers.
Any time you cast a spell or use a special attack that forces an opponent to make a saving throw, instead make a magic check to determine your success. To make a magic check, roll 1d20 and add all the normal modifiers to any DC required by the spell or special attack (including the appropriate ability modifier, the spell’s level if casting a spell, the adjustment for Spell Focus, and so on).
If the result of the magic check equals or exceeds the appropriate save score (Fortitude, Reflex or Will, depending on the special ability), the creature is affected by the spell or special attack as if it had failed its save. If the result is lower than the creature’s Fortitude, Reflex or Will score (as appropriate to the spell or special attack used), the creature is affected as if it had succeeded on its save.
Fortitude Score: 11 + enemy’s Fortitude save modifier
Reflex Score: 11 + enemy’s Reflex save modifier
Will Score: 11 + enemy’s Will save modifier
If a player rolls a natural 20 on a magic check, the creature’s equipment may take damage (just as if it had rolled a natural 1 on its save; see Items Surviving after a Saving Throw).
