Modified SRD will be posted here. –edit this later as some of it should be in Late Game page–
A natural 13 die roll is a success regardless of difficulty!
Critical Strikes ~ Max damage. While rolling more dice does tend to equal more fun and doubling the damage is the classic house rule that became a standard I am testing this again for One major reason and a minor one. Major reason is if you have ever had the experience of rolling a critical and then doubling the damage done or rolling twice as many dice and that ends up being less than your last standard non critical hit you start to wonder what does critical hit even mean. I may have to include space on sheet for the mx dmg for attacks that can crit.
By doing Maximum damage you don’t have to roll again. That last part is the minor reason it is easier and faster thus being of great aid to new players. There are alternatives such as adding a D8 to the standard damage, increasing the dice type to the next up D8 becomes D10 or D12 becomes 2D6/8s yet those all add complications and time.
Intelligence ~
Intelligence measures mental acuity, accuracy of recall, and the ability to reason. Add a number of skills regardless if they are class skills equal to your intelligence bonus.
Armor Class ~ Why testing this change? Fuck your Bounded accuracy shortsighted bullshit how the gawdamn hell does it make sense that you can hit things better as you go up in levels yet getting the fuck out of the way of a hit Never increases unless One particular over used stat is increased (basically)
Base AC = 8 + Proficiency Bonus + (Dex or Wis) mod + Armor AC bonus
Starting Hit points: ~ When starting at low levels every hit point is proportionally of more value and to reflect that Characters start with full hit points no rolling for level one and an extra D8 for being medium sized or D6 for small sized.
Stacking abilities/ traits/ skills ~: Whenever a background and class both provide the same skill you may choose to take expertise in that or another choice from the list this cross over happens from.
Dice!
Never use D4 dice!!! Use a D8 and count 1-2 as One, 3-4 as Two, 5-6 as Three, and the 7-8 as Four. Keep them locked up with your goblin mind dice or horde of collectibles and off the floor where they are caltrops.
Also be mindful of any double D10s and be sure not to roll them in place of standard D20.
D20s aka icosahedron be they standard configuration with 21 being the total of the opposing sides our Count Down/Counter dice it does not matter. I have test rolled this to my own satisfaction and will link an updated video of doing so to replace this one
DM Tips: When you roll to attack and do the math to determine if it was successful use that as part of the description such as “The strike is safely deflected by your shield” when the math is such that it was within two of being successful or “Harmlessly scraps sweat off your barbarian hide as your rage draws near”. Also use it to quickly factor the damage by adjusting the Average damage of an attack listed in a creator’s stat block.
Player’s AC is 14. and a Mastiff’s bite +3 to hit. Hit 4 (1d6+1). You roll a 17 for an adjusted 20 call it a 6 damage and move on as it is nearly the max without being the maximum damage of the attack. Second mastiff attack roll is 15 adjusted that hits yet not by much “As the dog behind you sinks its bite into your leg it struggles to do Two points of damage”.
Hidden DM secrets you fear to know are being used
Be warned once you know this you can never go back.
Enjoy rolling Critical hits on fighters barbarians and paladins even at low levels, yet only honor a critical on casters, new players, or lower level characters every other or one out of three rolls. This is a double edged sword of enjoyment in that those who can tank big hits are going to enjoy doing so and the ones you might outright drop are less likely to feel bad for playing a character that was not combat centric.