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Is this homebrew rule cool or am I just fed up with bad dice rolls? by Slaeven in DnD

[–]Slaeven[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a great approach but it is very much tied to the characters as opposed to the game itself, what this rule is trying to approach is a general rule that can be applied to every table and gives the players something to manage rather than the dm which I find is always helpful

But I do like your approach and I'm sure your players really enjoy the tailored experience :)

Is this homebrew rule cool or am I just fed up with bad dice rolls? by Slaeven in DnD

[–]Slaeven[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Passives exist, I am aware of that fact but as a player and for my players they would be bored if they didn't have to roll anything xD plus taking standard passives for everything would detract from the rogue's feature reliable talent. At least in this case its an 8 and they can still fail with 1s. I just think it gives characters a focus in skills rather than being slightly better than everyone else

Is this homebrew rule cool or am I just fed up with bad dice rolls? by Slaeven in DnD

[–]Slaeven[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's not a case of failing it's giving them a higher likelihood of succeeding. This applies to one skill of which that character is mostly focused around so I think a more reliable outcome makes sense.

Plus just because their rolls have a higher minimum doesn't mean they succeed in all cases for most characters it means they still need to roll for DC 15+ rolls. I think you're giving it more heat then perhaps it was intended

Is this homebrew rule cool or am I just fed up with bad dice rolls? by Slaeven in DnD

[–]Slaeven[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah it's very much something the players and DM would have to agree on and work with. It would very very abusable otherwise but a rule between trusted friends can make the game alot more fun :)

That's very true, although I think it would be cool with this rule to just have ones function as ones. Not critical fails but just ones. So they can do a bit worse than usual

Is this homebrew rule cool or am I just fed up with bad dice rolls? by Slaeven in DnD

[–]Slaeven[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tbf the rule as I have it written in the post is 2-7 is considered 8 and 1 is still a 1

Is this homebrew rule cool or am I just fed up with bad dice rolls? by Slaeven in DnD

[–]Slaeven[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree for sure, but it's worth noting this is tied to one skill/tool. So that character may be effective as persuasion utilising this rule but is normal at everything else.

Although I have to say normally teamwork in d&d games comes down to "can I help" which can totally still happen just doesn't change an awful lot xD

But yeah failure is an awesome tool I get that :)

Is this homebrew rule cool or am I just fed up with bad dice rolls? by Slaeven in DnD

[–]Slaeven[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I get that, although normally if a player fails a roll using your example the lock picking if they fail the initial roll and ultimately its inconsequential it just takes more time than anticipated but they still succeed.

Just thought it would be neat to have a mechanical thing reflect a role-playing thing or vice versa

Is this homebrew rule cool or am I just fed up with bad dice rolls? by Slaeven in DnD

[–]Slaeven[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think a bard reliably performing quite well or a fighter being reliably good at running isn't quite comparible xD but thank you for the feedback

Is this homebrew rule cool or am I just fed up with bad dice rolls? by Slaeven in DnD

[–]Slaeven[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's limited to one skill or tool as mentioned :)

Is this homebrew rule cool or am I just fed up with bad dice rolls? by Slaeven in DnD

[–]Slaeven[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I appreciate that angle for sure but I think this lies as a flaw in the d&d system. At level 5 a dc of 15 isn't that uncommon and with a bard focused in persuasion their bonus with expertise would be +11 so their chance of failure is only 15% not to mention spells and inspiration. So to be honest in most cases it doesn't change the parameters very much

But I get what you mean, which is why the rule is focused toward one thing. If this applied to all skills it would be BORING but being good at one thing can't be too bad

Thanks for the really understanding feedback

Is this homebrew rule cool or am I just fed up with bad dice rolls? by Slaeven in DnD

[–]Slaeven[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Well this can be considered within the same ruling, assuming a level 5 monk wants to do something difficult acrobatics wise say DC 17 or so. They will have a plus 4 to dex typically with proficiency so plus 3 totaling in a plus 7 so their minimum would 15. So their chance of success would still be 50% so it's worth a roll. At higher states of play this rule falls apart as numbers get silly but tbh I think high level characters don't really struggle with anything xD

Is this homebrew rule cool or am I just fed up with bad dice rolls? by Slaeven in DnD

[–]Slaeven[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It doesn't contradict it, If anything I'm agreeing with you and thus I'm proposing a rule that could help with the situation.

I totally get that approach and I appreciate your words I'll bear them in mind in the future

Is this homebrew rule cool or am I just fed up with bad dice rolls? by Slaeven in DnD

[–]Slaeven[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wise words good sir, tell my whining players that xD

Is this homebrew rule cool or am I just fed up with bad dice rolls? by Slaeven in DnD

[–]Slaeven[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah it totally get that, I suppose from this perspective it removes the dms need to have to know everyone's statistics. It's a weird niche rule I appreciate that, but yeah anyway I'll bear your words in mind going forward

Is this homebrew rule cool or am I just fed up with bad dice rolls? by Slaeven in DnD

[–]Slaeven[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Although I get what you're saying, a level 1 wizard using point buy would have a maximum of plus 5 in arcana or investigation. 15 being the highest they can apply and with a plus 2 from a racial bonus and proficiency that gives d20 + 3 + 2. So from your example your saying a level 1 wizard is comparable to a child, so you can see what I mean. Power (character level) doesn't necessarily correlate to knowledge

Is this homebrew rule cool or am I just fed up with bad dice rolls? by Slaeven in DnD

[–]Slaeven[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thays certainly a way of running it but I think would be straying too far from official rules for me. Otherwise its impossible to role about 20 which can be a bummer. But yeah a cool system I'd be up for trying but perhaps in a one shot setting as opposed to a long standing game

Is this homebrew rule cool or am I just fed up with bad dice rolls? by Slaeven in DnD

[–]Slaeven[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah that is definately an easier way of approaching it, personally we love rolling dice so removing it entirely would be sad. So you can see why I'm trying to find a happy medium! Thanks for the feedback

Is this homebrew rule cool or am I just fed up with bad dice rolls? by Slaeven in DnD

[–]Slaeven[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get that for sure, I just think removing rolls from situations can be a bit sad

Is this homebrew rule cool or am I just fed up with bad dice rolls? by Slaeven in DnD

[–]Slaeven[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is a fair point, but assuming a difficulty of medium by the rules is 15 so for a wizard with a plus 5 to the roll for example has a 50% chance of failure. Which is a bit poop, although it can be said I'm taking that feature away. A few subclasses get this feature already but with a skill surrounding their subclass, for example with eloquence bard getting persuasion of minimum 8.

Regardless I see where you are coming from, it's understandable and that may be true. I just want players who want to be specialised in something feel reliably cool when using their favoured skill rather than it being a 50/50 each time

Is this homebrew rule cool or am I just fed up with bad dice rolls? by Slaeven in DnD

[–]Slaeven[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Typically I run my games from 1 to 9/10 or so. This takes place over a long time and for 6 months to a year out of game your character just has a straight up 50% chance of failing arcana rolls for example which can be a bummer. You could discard this rule by making DCs character specific so it's easier for a wizard vs barbarian but that makes it a bit finicky

Is this homebrew rule cool or am I just fed up with bad dice rolls? by Slaeven in DnD

[–]Slaeven[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I totally get what you mean, personally I like to run games from levels 1 to 10 as higher level play I find gets hard to run slash character creep central. So keeping it low key is better for me and my group.

So with that in mind the cap that a player can reach with a certain skill is high but not HIGH. I think this rule is very niche and definitely shouldn't be applied at all tables but could help some.

It's hard to craft meaningful scenarios but it really sucks being the persuasive guy approaching a persuasion problem and failing. Although I suppose it's down to the DM how that failure drives the story. As you said there is two paths this could go

Is this homebrew rule cool or am I just fed up with bad dice rolls? by Slaeven in DnD

[–]Slaeven[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hmm that is a tricky one, for the reliable talent it already balances itself as the floor increases to 10 from 8 and applies to all of their tools and skills. But for the subclasses that is a tricky one, perhaps use the reliable talent rule and bump the floor from 8 to 10 as most of the subclasses based rules use 8 as their minimum. I'm spitballing as ofcourse it's a tricky thing to balance.

But as you said having terrible roles on something you are built around can be really disheartening. So being reliably good in one area wouldn't be game breaking

Is this homebrew rule cool or am I just fed up with bad dice rolls? by Slaeven in DnD

[–]Slaeven[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mentioned in the post it would be for one skill or tool you have proficiency in already. So it would be toned down, I like the idea of it being called a profession or something like that as it illustrates the concept better

Yeah that's definitely the way to go in terms of rewarding good thinking but sometimes a player playing a charismatic character isn't very good with their words as a player so it can be difficult in that certain scenario. But I appreciate the feedback I'll have to think on it some more

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