JustKim
First Post
Might & Magic d20 is a project to convert the systems and ideas of Jon Van Canegheim's Might & Magic series of PC games, specifically the world of Enroth from Might & Magic VI-VIII and a number of Heroes games. What I'm looking for is feedback on the game mechanics, so it's not really necessary that you know anything about the games, though ideas from M&M players are also welcome. At this point the project is pretty big and cumbersome to read, so for the sake of brevity I'll start off with the major changes to the system.
Skills:
Might & Magic is skills-driven. BAB is replaced by ranks in weapons skills, AC is a factor of ranks in armor skills, caster level is determined by ranks in magic skills and most of the core skills exist as miscellaneous skills. Because skills are so important I feel that every class needs the same amount of skills, and 5+Int modifier seems like a good number. To prevent spellcasters with a caster level of 4 and fighters with attack bonuses of +10 at 1st level, max ranks in a class skill is equal to your level and cross-class ranks are half that. The less useful or redundant skills have also been trimmed. Spot and listen are combined into perception, hide and move silently are combined into stealth, and balance, escape artist and tumble are combined into acrobatics to prevent secondary skills from spreading a character too thin- a very real risk.
Weapon Skills:
Weapon skills are divided into the weapon groups axe, bow, crossbow, fist, flail, hammer, heavy blade, light blade, mace, polearm, spear and thrown weapon. Each rank gives a character a +1 to attack with any weapon in the group, and proficiency with all non-exotic, non-double weapons in the group. This means a high-level fighter will be at an extreme disadvantage switching from a specialized weapon to a nonproficient weapon. For combat maneuvers that rely on BAB, BAB is dropped from the equation and not replaced by anything. I don't see this posing a problem.
Armor Skills:
Armor skills are divided into the armor groups chain, dodge, leather, plate and shield. Armor is basically identical to its core D&D counterparts, and each rank in the associated armor skill increases its armor bonus by +1. Dodge does not have a base armor bonus, but is a dodge bonus rather than an armor bonus so it helps against touch attacks. Shields serve a specific purpose rather than granting an armor bonus, because full ranks in plate and shield add up to twice the attack bonus of a weapons focused character and quickly allow for unhittable characters. Instead, the shield skill can be used once a round in response to an attack, to attempt to parry that attack. The roll is 1d20 + shield ranks + Dexterity + the shield's bonus (What it would provide in AC otherwise).
Magic Skills:
Magic skills are divided into Elemental Magic (Air, Earth, Fire, Water), Self Magic (Body, Mind, Spirit), and Divine Magic (Dark and Light). Your rank in a skill is your caster level, and the number of spell points you can invest in any given group spell, but the maximum level of spells you can cast is determined by your class. So while it's possible for a secondary caster (Like a Paladin) to have max ranks in a magic skill, they will still be limited to relatively low levels of spells.
Expertise and Mastery:
Might & Magic uses skill expertise and mastery (And sometimes grandmastery) to reward characters who apply themselves to a particular skill. Weapon skills typically add your rank to damage dealt with a weapon and armor skills double or triple the AC bonus from rank, but I don't see either of these as being feasible in the d20 system- too big of bonuses. I have tried to incorporate magic and miscellaneous skill expertise/mastery, which are represented as feats.
Magic Skill Expertise/Mastery:
Expertise and mastery increase the effect of a spell. If you're familiar with Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed, the system is passingly similar to a heightened spell. For example, lightning bolt, a 3rd level Air spell, does 1d6 damage per rank normally, 1d6+1 damage per rank at Expert Air level and 1d6+2 per rank at Master Air level. Cure light wounds, a 1st level Body spell, heals 1d8 +1/rank normally, 1d10 +1/rank at Expert Body level and at Master Body level the range changes from Touch to Close. I think it might be prudent to make the benefit optional and require a higher spell point cost to apply, as this would limit the level of spell you have Mastery over and prevent the feats from being too good, but I'm not sure what the cost would be.
Miscellaneous Skill Expertise:
Because miscellaneous skills are so varied the benefit is different for each skill. This is what I have so far, just a rough draft.
Acrobatics: You may move at your base speed while balancing or tumbling.
Armsmaster: You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls with any weapon you are proficient with.
Bluff: You may feint against a nonhumanoid at no penalty.
Climb: You gain a climb speed of 20', which grants a +8 racial bonus to climb checks.
Craft: You never risk ruining raw materials with a failed check.
Concentration: On a failed check you fail to cast a spell but do not lose the SP.
Decipher: You may retry a failed attempt after a day of study.
Diplomacy: You suffer only a -5 penalty for a rushed Diplomacy check.
Disguise: You suffer no penalty for disguising someone as another gender, race or age category.
Empathy: You never risk inferring false information from a secret message.
Forgery: You do not need a copy of a document or signature to forge it, but gain no bonus if you don't have one.
Gather Information: A Gather Information check takes only 1d4 hours.
Intimidate: Demoralizing in combat is a move-equivalent action.
Jump: Your maximum vertical reach is not a factor of your size.
Lore (Current Events): ?
Lore (Elemental Magic): You can discern the caster rank and skill level (Normal, Expert, Master) of an Elemental spell you identify.
Lore (Geography): You can pinpoint your location within ten miles whenever you are outdoors and can see for 200' in at least two directions (North, east, south or west).
Lore (History): ?
Lore (Item): You may attempt to identify unique items.
Lore (Monster): You know the resistances (DR, SR or energy type resistances) and weaknesses (Special vulnerabilities), if any, of any monster you identify.
Lore (Nobility): When dealing with nobility, initial NPC reactions are always one category better.
Lore (Planes): ?
Lore (Religion): You can discern the caster rank and skill level (Normal, Expert, Master) of a Divine spell you identify.
Lore (Self Magic): You can discern the caster rank and skill level (Normal, Expert, Master) of Self a spell you identify.
Lore (Tactics): When you use this skill to inspire allies, the bonus increases by 1.
Perception: You can make a Perception check to notice a secret or concealed door without actively looking, merely by passing within 5' of it.
Perform: The amount of money you earn performing in a day is doubled.
Profession: You earn your Profession check result in GP per week, or half that amount if you dedicate only 4 hours per day to your work.
Ride: You do not suffer the normal penalty for riding creatures ill-suited as mounts.
Sleight of Hand: Performing a Sleight of Hand check as a free action suffers only a -10 penalty.
Stealth: When you attack from hiding, the penalty to Stealth checks is only -10.
Survival: You can hunt, forage or provide protection against severe weather while moving at your normal overland speed.
Swim: You gain a swim speed of 20', which grants you a +8 racial bonus to swim checks.
Treat Injury: The number of HP you restore as a full-round action increases to 1d4 plus the number your check exceeds the DC of 15.
Armsmaster Skill:
The armsmaster skill is central to focused fighters. In M&M ranks in the skill provide a bonus to attacks and damage with any melee weapon, but this isn't feasible in a d20 game. I've tried to redesign the skill with the original intention in mind, but I'm afraid it only makes Knights more cumbersome to play. Here's what I have so far.
Armsmaster (Int, Trained Only)
The Armsmaster skill represents a deeper understanding of melee attacks, and allows you to perform greater feats of skill with weapons you are already proficient with.
Check: The DC and effect of a successful check depends on what you wish to accomplish.
Blinding Fast Strike: Before initiative is rolled for combat, you may use the Armsmaster skill to catch an opponent off guard and land a quick first blow. The DC for this check is 10 plus the target's Reflex save bonus if the target is not wary of an attack from you (Such as if you use Bluff or the Quick Draw feat to suddenly produce your weapon, or attack unarmed), or 15 plus the target's Reflex save if the target is anticipating an attack. If you succeed you may make an immediate attack against the target before the first round of combat, and the target is considered flat-footed. If you fail, you overextend yourself and suffer a -5 penalty to initiative.
Flourish: By making a dramatic show of an attack you have a chance to cause more damage. When using a flourish, choose a whole number up to the maximum ranks you have in Armsmaster. This number is added to the DC of the check, and if successful deals a like amount of bonus damage. If the check fails, the number is instead subtracted from the damage dealt with a weapon. For example, a 2nd level knight with 2 ranks in Armsmaster performs a flourish with a longsword. He assigns both ranks to the flourish, raising the DC of the check to 17, and rolls 21. Because he succeeded the attack's damage increases by +2 (Assuming it hits), but had he failed the damage would be penalized by -2.
Parry: With swift twirls and pivots you can keep your weapon between you and your opponent, making yourself harder to hit. When attempting to parry, choose a whole number up to the maximum ranks you have in Armsmaster. This number is added to the DC of the check, and if successful provides a like bonus to AC until your next turn. If the check fails, you drop your weapon in your space and must use a move action to retrieve it (Provoking attacks of opportunity). A weapon dropped in flight or while climbing may require a greater effort to retrieve.
Preserve Weapon: When your weapon is the subject of a sunder attack, you may roll the Armsmaster skill to take the hit on the sturdiest part of your weapon and reduce the damage. The DC is equal to 10 plus the damage dealt by the sunder, and on a successful check the damage to the weapon is halved.
Action: None. An Armsmaster check is either a free action or performed as part of another action (Typically an attack action with a weapon or unarmed strike).
Try Again: Yes.
Synergy: If you have 3 or more ranks in Armsmaster, you gain a +2 bonus to Lore (Item) checks made to identify weapons, and with Perform checks involving a showy use of weapons.
Spell Points:
Might & Magic uses spell points instead of spells per day, all spells are cast spontaneously from spells known (Typically 2/level for primary casters, 1/level for secondary). The spell point cost of a spell is a function of its level, 1 for 1st-level, 3 for 2nd-level, 5 for 3rd-level, etc. Applying a metamagic feat increases the spell point cost of a spell by 2 points per level it would normally increase, except for still and silent spell which each increase the spell point cost of a spell by 1. The maximum number of spell points you can spend on a spell is equal to your rank in the associated magic group, so if you have 13 ranks in Fire Magic you could quicken a fireball (5 base, +8 for quickening).
I played around with spell point progression levels by class, and bonus spell points from ability scores, but this proved to be too cumersome, so instead I've decided to give most primary casters twice their casting ability score in SP per level per day, and secondary casters half that. So a level 5 Cleric with 18 Wisdom would get 4x2x5 or 40 SP to work with. That's more spells per day than a core Cleric, but I think more depends on SP.
Weapon Speed:
Weapons have different speeds in Might & Magic, and typically all weapons of a group have the same speed. To represent this I've decided to use the variable number of attacks rule from Everquest d20, which gives you a variable break in attacks depending on your weapon speed. If you had 14 ranks in a slow weapon for instance (Like a polearm), your attacks would be +14/+8/+2, while if you had 14 ranks in a fast weapon (Like a light blade), your attacks would be +14/+10/+6/+2.
There's more, but this is probably more than anyone wants to take in already. Comments, criticism, suggestions?
Skills:
Might & Magic is skills-driven. BAB is replaced by ranks in weapons skills, AC is a factor of ranks in armor skills, caster level is determined by ranks in magic skills and most of the core skills exist as miscellaneous skills. Because skills are so important I feel that every class needs the same amount of skills, and 5+Int modifier seems like a good number. To prevent spellcasters with a caster level of 4 and fighters with attack bonuses of +10 at 1st level, max ranks in a class skill is equal to your level and cross-class ranks are half that. The less useful or redundant skills have also been trimmed. Spot and listen are combined into perception, hide and move silently are combined into stealth, and balance, escape artist and tumble are combined into acrobatics to prevent secondary skills from spreading a character too thin- a very real risk.
Weapon Skills:
Weapon skills are divided into the weapon groups axe, bow, crossbow, fist, flail, hammer, heavy blade, light blade, mace, polearm, spear and thrown weapon. Each rank gives a character a +1 to attack with any weapon in the group, and proficiency with all non-exotic, non-double weapons in the group. This means a high-level fighter will be at an extreme disadvantage switching from a specialized weapon to a nonproficient weapon. For combat maneuvers that rely on BAB, BAB is dropped from the equation and not replaced by anything. I don't see this posing a problem.
Armor Skills:
Armor skills are divided into the armor groups chain, dodge, leather, plate and shield. Armor is basically identical to its core D&D counterparts, and each rank in the associated armor skill increases its armor bonus by +1. Dodge does not have a base armor bonus, but is a dodge bonus rather than an armor bonus so it helps against touch attacks. Shields serve a specific purpose rather than granting an armor bonus, because full ranks in plate and shield add up to twice the attack bonus of a weapons focused character and quickly allow for unhittable characters. Instead, the shield skill can be used once a round in response to an attack, to attempt to parry that attack. The roll is 1d20 + shield ranks + Dexterity + the shield's bonus (What it would provide in AC otherwise).
Magic Skills:
Magic skills are divided into Elemental Magic (Air, Earth, Fire, Water), Self Magic (Body, Mind, Spirit), and Divine Magic (Dark and Light). Your rank in a skill is your caster level, and the number of spell points you can invest in any given group spell, but the maximum level of spells you can cast is determined by your class. So while it's possible for a secondary caster (Like a Paladin) to have max ranks in a magic skill, they will still be limited to relatively low levels of spells.
Expertise and Mastery:
Might & Magic uses skill expertise and mastery (And sometimes grandmastery) to reward characters who apply themselves to a particular skill. Weapon skills typically add your rank to damage dealt with a weapon and armor skills double or triple the AC bonus from rank, but I don't see either of these as being feasible in the d20 system- too big of bonuses. I have tried to incorporate magic and miscellaneous skill expertise/mastery, which are represented as feats.
Magic Skill Expertise/Mastery:
Expertise and mastery increase the effect of a spell. If you're familiar with Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed, the system is passingly similar to a heightened spell. For example, lightning bolt, a 3rd level Air spell, does 1d6 damage per rank normally, 1d6+1 damage per rank at Expert Air level and 1d6+2 per rank at Master Air level. Cure light wounds, a 1st level Body spell, heals 1d8 +1/rank normally, 1d10 +1/rank at Expert Body level and at Master Body level the range changes from Touch to Close. I think it might be prudent to make the benefit optional and require a higher spell point cost to apply, as this would limit the level of spell you have Mastery over and prevent the feats from being too good, but I'm not sure what the cost would be.
Miscellaneous Skill Expertise:
Because miscellaneous skills are so varied the benefit is different for each skill. This is what I have so far, just a rough draft.
Acrobatics: You may move at your base speed while balancing or tumbling.
Armsmaster: You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls with any weapon you are proficient with.
Bluff: You may feint against a nonhumanoid at no penalty.
Climb: You gain a climb speed of 20', which grants a +8 racial bonus to climb checks.
Craft: You never risk ruining raw materials with a failed check.
Concentration: On a failed check you fail to cast a spell but do not lose the SP.
Decipher: You may retry a failed attempt after a day of study.
Diplomacy: You suffer only a -5 penalty for a rushed Diplomacy check.
Disguise: You suffer no penalty for disguising someone as another gender, race or age category.
Empathy: You never risk inferring false information from a secret message.
Forgery: You do not need a copy of a document or signature to forge it, but gain no bonus if you don't have one.
Gather Information: A Gather Information check takes only 1d4 hours.
Intimidate: Demoralizing in combat is a move-equivalent action.
Jump: Your maximum vertical reach is not a factor of your size.
Lore (Current Events): ?
Lore (Elemental Magic): You can discern the caster rank and skill level (Normal, Expert, Master) of an Elemental spell you identify.
Lore (Geography): You can pinpoint your location within ten miles whenever you are outdoors and can see for 200' in at least two directions (North, east, south or west).
Lore (History): ?
Lore (Item): You may attempt to identify unique items.
Lore (Monster): You know the resistances (DR, SR or energy type resistances) and weaknesses (Special vulnerabilities), if any, of any monster you identify.
Lore (Nobility): When dealing with nobility, initial NPC reactions are always one category better.
Lore (Planes): ?
Lore (Religion): You can discern the caster rank and skill level (Normal, Expert, Master) of a Divine spell you identify.
Lore (Self Magic): You can discern the caster rank and skill level (Normal, Expert, Master) of Self a spell you identify.
Lore (Tactics): When you use this skill to inspire allies, the bonus increases by 1.
Perception: You can make a Perception check to notice a secret or concealed door without actively looking, merely by passing within 5' of it.
Perform: The amount of money you earn performing in a day is doubled.
Profession: You earn your Profession check result in GP per week, or half that amount if you dedicate only 4 hours per day to your work.
Ride: You do not suffer the normal penalty for riding creatures ill-suited as mounts.
Sleight of Hand: Performing a Sleight of Hand check as a free action suffers only a -10 penalty.
Stealth: When you attack from hiding, the penalty to Stealth checks is only -10.
Survival: You can hunt, forage or provide protection against severe weather while moving at your normal overland speed.
Swim: You gain a swim speed of 20', which grants you a +8 racial bonus to swim checks.
Treat Injury: The number of HP you restore as a full-round action increases to 1d4 plus the number your check exceeds the DC of 15.
Armsmaster Skill:
The armsmaster skill is central to focused fighters. In M&M ranks in the skill provide a bonus to attacks and damage with any melee weapon, but this isn't feasible in a d20 game. I've tried to redesign the skill with the original intention in mind, but I'm afraid it only makes Knights more cumbersome to play. Here's what I have so far.
Armsmaster (Int, Trained Only)
The Armsmaster skill represents a deeper understanding of melee attacks, and allows you to perform greater feats of skill with weapons you are already proficient with.
Check: The DC and effect of a successful check depends on what you wish to accomplish.
Blinding Fast Strike: Before initiative is rolled for combat, you may use the Armsmaster skill to catch an opponent off guard and land a quick first blow. The DC for this check is 10 plus the target's Reflex save bonus if the target is not wary of an attack from you (Such as if you use Bluff or the Quick Draw feat to suddenly produce your weapon, or attack unarmed), or 15 plus the target's Reflex save if the target is anticipating an attack. If you succeed you may make an immediate attack against the target before the first round of combat, and the target is considered flat-footed. If you fail, you overextend yourself and suffer a -5 penalty to initiative.
Flourish: By making a dramatic show of an attack you have a chance to cause more damage. When using a flourish, choose a whole number up to the maximum ranks you have in Armsmaster. This number is added to the DC of the check, and if successful deals a like amount of bonus damage. If the check fails, the number is instead subtracted from the damage dealt with a weapon. For example, a 2nd level knight with 2 ranks in Armsmaster performs a flourish with a longsword. He assigns both ranks to the flourish, raising the DC of the check to 17, and rolls 21. Because he succeeded the attack's damage increases by +2 (Assuming it hits), but had he failed the damage would be penalized by -2.
Parry: With swift twirls and pivots you can keep your weapon between you and your opponent, making yourself harder to hit. When attempting to parry, choose a whole number up to the maximum ranks you have in Armsmaster. This number is added to the DC of the check, and if successful provides a like bonus to AC until your next turn. If the check fails, you drop your weapon in your space and must use a move action to retrieve it (Provoking attacks of opportunity). A weapon dropped in flight or while climbing may require a greater effort to retrieve.
Preserve Weapon: When your weapon is the subject of a sunder attack, you may roll the Armsmaster skill to take the hit on the sturdiest part of your weapon and reduce the damage. The DC is equal to 10 plus the damage dealt by the sunder, and on a successful check the damage to the weapon is halved.
Action: None. An Armsmaster check is either a free action or performed as part of another action (Typically an attack action with a weapon or unarmed strike).
Try Again: Yes.
Synergy: If you have 3 or more ranks in Armsmaster, you gain a +2 bonus to Lore (Item) checks made to identify weapons, and with Perform checks involving a showy use of weapons.
Spell Points:
Might & Magic uses spell points instead of spells per day, all spells are cast spontaneously from spells known (Typically 2/level for primary casters, 1/level for secondary). The spell point cost of a spell is a function of its level, 1 for 1st-level, 3 for 2nd-level, 5 for 3rd-level, etc. Applying a metamagic feat increases the spell point cost of a spell by 2 points per level it would normally increase, except for still and silent spell which each increase the spell point cost of a spell by 1. The maximum number of spell points you can spend on a spell is equal to your rank in the associated magic group, so if you have 13 ranks in Fire Magic you could quicken a fireball (5 base, +8 for quickening).
I played around with spell point progression levels by class, and bonus spell points from ability scores, but this proved to be too cumersome, so instead I've decided to give most primary casters twice their casting ability score in SP per level per day, and secondary casters half that. So a level 5 Cleric with 18 Wisdom would get 4x2x5 or 40 SP to work with. That's more spells per day than a core Cleric, but I think more depends on SP.
Weapon Speed:
Weapons have different speeds in Might & Magic, and typically all weapons of a group have the same speed. To represent this I've decided to use the variable number of attacks rule from Everquest d20, which gives you a variable break in attacks depending on your weapon speed. If you had 14 ranks in a slow weapon for instance (Like a polearm), your attacks would be +14/+8/+2, while if you had 14 ranks in a fast weapon (Like a light blade), your attacks would be +14/+10/+6/+2.
There's more, but this is probably more than anyone wants to take in already. Comments, criticism, suggestions?
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