also here is a whole website that not only has a shit ton of adventures and such but lets you search for any item or npc or whatever and see their stats and info at your fingertips
I'm going to keep most of my reasoning behind developing this system below the cut but I think we can all agree that D&D's combat can be painfully static. I love fight scenes but after going down a combined stage combat/ videogame boss design rabbit hole I've realized that one of the primary elements is missing from D&D's combat system, namely: Movement
From a mechanical perspective, D&D combat needs movement to break up the monotony of non-spellcater characters throwing punches at eachother until one of them drops, to introduce increased risk and randomness without damage-spike abilities.
From a narrative perspective, D&D combat needs movement to introduce tension and to help put character into day to day fighting beyond just flavor text. Likewise, fights that give different opportunities for movement will feel different from one another, making them stand out in the party's mind.
So without further ado I present my fun new system, which will have your party and their enemies bouncing around the battlefield like a demolition derby:
Press the attack: If you attack a creature and your initial attack roll is higher than their constitution score, you can force them to shift 5 ft into any of the tree squares opposite from your position. You then move to occupy the space they did.
Back to a Wall: Walls and other substantial barriers grant attackers the benefits of flanking as if they were a threatening creature.
Give Ground: If you are attacked in melee and the initial roll is lower than your dexterity score you may shift into any adjacent square, forcing the opponent to move into the space you previously occupied. If you are attacked at a range, you may still shift, but the attacker loses any cover bonuses they might have till the start of their next turn rather than moving.
Tripping Hazard: If you force an opponent into a square that could be considered rough terrain ( such as if it was occupied by a chair, or down a slippery slope) the target drops prone.
First things first I want to say that this system is largely inspired by the dynamic combat movement rules by raventear productions, which I found over on reddit. It's a great system but the more I thought about it the more I realized that introducing extra rolls into combat was adding extra bloat to combat, and so I needed to retool the system to ensure that the party weren't having to roll any more dice than they normally would. My goal with homebrew is always to add more options, not bloat.
Also, go check out@jillbearup over on youtube, her series breaking down cinematic fights was one of the main drivers behind wanting to find a homebrew system like this in the first place.
Finally, long hours spent watching @ohnoitstbskyen 's in depth bloodborne playthough got me thinking about the design of fights, and the right combination of enemies and environment can truly elevate the player(s) experience. I'm also working on my own bloodborne game which gave me a reason to finalize this system.
Now lets get on to why I wanted to build this system in the first place: D&D combat is at risk of being painfully slow and boring, as it's aged the depths to which it can be slow and/or boring have only increased. While part of that is up to the skill of players at the table, I largely chalk it up to the fact that the base system of combat isn't much changed from the days of old tabletop wargaming....characters and monsters control like army units, clashing up against one another till one side drops or some spellcaster drops an AoE ( artillery). That rigidity is fine when one person is controling a whole army of units, but I think every melee character has been in a position where they're slugging away with the same old attack while the wizards get to do cool shit.
The system sort of worked back In the early days when characters and monsters could only take a couple of hits before dropping, but as the editions progressed and everything got more complex what might have first been a quick life or death clash turned into a slugfest. Attacks of opportunity and rigid flanking rules specifically encouraged this slowdown, and 4th edition, the only attempt outside of the battemaster to really play with positioning crashed and burned mainly due to WotC's incompetence.
So how do I use this?
If you're having trouble thinking of why this system might be fun to implement, here's a few ideas:
It makes groupfights more dangerous, encouraging tactical thinking. Getting advantage reliably is the deciding factor in most d&d combats, with the tide turning in favour of whichever side has the most bodies. If combatants are shifting around with every missed hit then that advantage is more up for grabs
It puts increased focus on hazards and terrain features. Ledges, pits, pillars, walls, furniture, dungeon-clutter. Make no mistake that if you use this system and then design your combat arenas with some kind of terrain feature, it's GOING to be used. Where previously players and enemies alike had to chose between engaging with the arena for a potential benefit or doing raw damage reliably, here they'll be able to do both.
It gives non burst-damage melee characters a new way to play. Rolling a barbarian or fighter is supposed to come with a scene of empowerment which can be undercut one folks realize their super-strong orc berserker is being outclassed for damage by the shifty guy with the knife. Telling that player "Yeah, that person gets to roll more dice, but you get to bounce badguys off the walls like pinballs" is more than a consolation, it's what they signed up to do in the first place.
It adds drama to the fight. There's only so many ways a dm can describe enemies taking non-lethal sword hits that only take up a portion of their hp, and they're liable to run out of those long before the campaign is through. Part of what sells the importance of those hits and keeps players engaged between the first and the last is the feeling that they've had SOME kind of effect. Moving folks around is a middle ground between doing nothing and dropping a foe, changing the battlefield in a myriad of small ways that can build up to something meaningful.
It might surprise some of you to know that Barbarians are one of my favourite classes, so here’s a defense of their core identity, with a petition to expand it!
Mycelium is the vegetative part of a fungus that makes a threadlike hyphae. It is similar to the roots of a plant. Mycelium is vital to soil health, nutrient cycling and ecosystem balance.
D&D 5e Character Creation Flow Charts: Backgrounds and Classes
This only includes the backgrounds included in the Player’s Handbook Mind you, so no SCAG options.
Class one doesn’t assume archetype obviously.
A fun little project I made after work today, I thought it might be helpful for players newer to the system in choosing their character’s options, or just a fun little tool.
yeah yeah fire-based characters are destructive and angry and violent and evil blah blah blah BORING overdone. more fire as a lifegiver. warm and comforting. fire-based characters as guides lighting the way. personal heater in the cold and dark but don’t sleep too close or you’ll wake up with heat rash. fire sterilizes and cauterizes!! more fire-based healers. plants perking up and flowers turning towards them and they attract moths. fire-based characters who are hearths instead of wildfires!! the core of a home the pillar of a community the key to societal advancement. give them an internal flame that visibly glows and flickers instead of a heart that beats. extinguish that light when they die. etc
*dipping a dart into an unlabelled flask and loading it into my crossbow* you better not try anything stupid because i don't even remember what this one does
funniest thing about dnd is that I made my character a failson specifically to make a rich guy suffer, but I keep rolling really high on important things, so everything has been working out for him really well, and his belief that rich people should never face any consequences just keeps getting reinforced again and again
I have, multiple times, told the other players “Hey, my character is an asshole. I am telling you things in a way that makes it clear I am obviously lying for my own benefit. I won’t be upset if you guys call him out. You can stab me. Please stab me. Please make him feel pain.” And they’re just like “Nah this is funny. We trust him with our lives. 🙂”
Telling the DM “Remember I’m a level 3 warlock. One hit could take me out. I won’t be mad if my character almost dies” and I’ll hear dice and then “Does a 4 hit?”
had to roll 3 times for deception at different points and got a 20, 17, and 19. Not counting the +5 modifier. This man is destined to never suffer. Made this guy thinking I would have a humbling character arc when faced with the real world and instead it's just him going "Wow! I really am better and more special than everyone else!"
The DM gave us a map of the world he made, and I chose my character's home city as being from a city from the northern continent, because I figured we'd be staying to the southern one (which had much more detail at the time) and told the DM that his dad was in charge of the city and part of an old-money political dynasty. I also had a backstory where he got his name stolen by the fae, so he can't pull a "Don't you know who I am?" and figured nobody in the south would recognize him. Basically a Kennedy-esque failson.
Turns out that the DM planned the climax of the story in the northern continent, and it had less detail on the big map because he was working on a super detailed map specifically for that area and it wouldn't all fit on the zoomed out big map. My character's hometown is the most important and politically influential city-state. He is essentially a prince. We ended up in his hometown today and everyone is recognizing him and doing whatever he asks.
some quick & messy reaction images of sorts i made for my online dnd groups to help us be able to nonverbally communicate during intense roleplay or PC drama that everything's okay (or when its not and a verbal aside needs to be had instead)
+ card for when the DM needs to get our attention because we got off track
text and image verions
free to use for your own groups, with or without credit!
turnnoffyourmind
baratheonpilled
pixelskylines
andulkaphoto
jacobvanloon
kianamaiart
kaledo-art
