I’ve never been really happy with how undead work in D&D. I’ve got some changes below that I think will improve them in play and make them better fit my image of them. Note that much of this article has since been folded into my article on Revising Monster Types, …
This was originally posted in 2006 to help clarify the tags I was using on my posts to rec.games.frp.dnd. Apparently ‘kjd-imc’ became known as a place for cool-but-scary ideas, so people would sometimes avoid these posts even when they were relatively simple and straightforward topics. I’ve since carried the use …
Dwarves IMC are very isolationist. After stomping the humans rather thoroughly when the Empire tried to annex the mountains (human infantry trying to attack dwarven fortresses, said fortresses having cannon and grapeshot… you just know that’s not going to work), they turned their backs on them, having a no-interaction arrangement. …
I think that counterspelling is an action that is too infrequently used in D&D. It has an obvious benefit, but it is usually too difficult to apply in-game. Counterspelling requires that a caster not cast a spell when he can, that he readies an action, that he identifies the spell …
Items that draw their power from their user, rather than their creator.
Each round represents approximately 6 seconds in the game world. A round presents an opportunity for each character involved in a combat to take an action. Each round’s activity begins with the character with the highest initiative result and then proceeds, in order, from there. Each round of a combat …
Introduction Languages are handled simply — simplistically, in my opinion — in D&D, using the Speak Language ‘skill’. There are several things I don’t care for with this model. A single rank in Speak Language provides full fluency with a language; you either speak a language fluently or not at …
This article describes a variant of the Vitality and Wound Points rules from Unearthed Arcana Chapter 4: Adventuring. In considering how to synthesize d20 and HERO system, I considered various hit point and damage models. Vitality and wound points look like they come close, with some modifications. Definitions Vitality points …
I originally got the idea for my karma rules from David Harper’s Kismet rules. They are not available online, unfortunately. I have adapted them for use with d20 rules. Karma is a point-based measure of accumulated luck, divine favor, and other such concepts. Karma points are also sometimes referred to …
Advanced classes provide some additional ability, sometimes at the cost of constraining character options. Each class has prerequisites such that a character has to work toward becoming a member of the class. To become a Wizard you must have some spell casting ability, a cleric must be able to channel …