Compromise and Conceit

There are a few things about the d20 system which I think are unnecessarily cumbersome or burdensome and serve no real purpose, or are a historical artifact. Two which I think definitely need adjustment – one because it is just so silly, and one because it is so clumsy – are the stats system, and the way power increases unevenly in different areas of the system.

Stats: It is completely unnecessary to have a system of basic stats (strength, dexterity etc.) in which the ability modifier (i.e. the bonus) is separate and determined entirely by the ability score, particularly when the relationship between the two is formulaic – i.e. a +2 increase in score gives a +1 increase in modifier. Just write the stat as a bonus or penalty, and make ability modifying items and spells half as powerful or half as frequent. Level-based ability increases occur every 8 levels instead of every 4; +1 ability score magic items are half as frequent; Bull’s Strength gives a +2 to strength; and so on. I have DM’d for beginners many times, and they always say the same thing – this is stupid.

Uneven levelling: The disconnect between the hit point and spell systems and the skill system means that there is a fundamental difference in power increases between the two. Consider, for example, the move from 1st to 2nd level for a well-powered character. This character will have a roughly +6 bonus in their main skill (which for rogues, particularly, is an essential skill) and a +4 to their main save or base attack. They will have a single die of hit points with (if a fighter) a small constitution modifier. When they go to 2nd level the main skill will increase by 2, i.e. 30%; the main save by 1, i.e. 25%. But if they rolled 2 hps at 1st level, the chances of an at least 100% increase in hit points are very high – 3 in 4 for a mage, 9 in 10 for a Fighter. Sure, if they rolled high at level 1 and then roll poorly at level 2 the opposite may occur, but chances are they will experience essentially a 100% increase in their survival ability; but their opponents will become only slightly more dangerous. Meanwhile, the wizard’s spell DC does not change at all, and in fact only goes up by 1 at 3rd level. In fact in general the main save for any class increases at twice the rate of spell DCs, and gets many more magical enhancements over time. The weak save of all classes increases slower than a wizard’s spell DC, but after adding in a level-appropriate magic item it will always be equal to the spell DC. For example, at 3rd level a weak save is +1; the Wizard gains 2nd level spells, so the wizard’s spell DC increases by +2. So any character with a +1 to saving throws due to magic has essentially equalled the wizard’s spell DC, with the only difference occurring if the wizard has high intelligence or feats.

This problem of differential powering occurs because of the disjunction between the skill system (which is secondary for all non-rogue/non-ranger characters) and the save/combat system, on the one hand, and the hit point and spell systems on the other. Were character health and spell power handled as skills, they would level up in the same general way as combat/saves and skills. Because weapon damage doesn’t increase with skill, and because spell DCs are weak compared to saves, character hit points and resistance to magic increase rapidly compared to weapon and spell power. There is no way for a fighter to kill another fighter of more than 3rd level with a single, well-timed hit except by means of a  critical, so no fight carries serious risk if the odds are in a PC’s favour. Similarly there is no way that a character at higher levels will regularly fall prey to spells except by very bad luck, since they only need to roll over 10 on their weak save, or 5 or 6 on their strong save, to beat most magic. Hence the phenomenon of parties tending to have opponents of much greater power than their individual levels.

By comparison, in rolemaster every fight was potentially deadly. Low-level opponents were always dismissed eventually, but there was always a risk of a very nasty accident. Sometimes rolemaster errs a little on the side of deadliness, and certainly games like Traveller and WFRP are way too dangerous to encourage swashbuckling. But the d20 system as it stands hardly encourages fear or caution… unless you are that ultimate in useless creatures, a wizard with no back-up…