"target 20" modern

This is an idea I've had for some time. It's a silly idea, but that's rarely stopped me before. Back in high school I played a lot of d20 Modern, at least until my friends and I collectively realized that the game was kind of a mess and d20-system combat and character creation was majorly in the way of the way we actually wanted to play.

This is an attempt to strip as much of the cruft from that game while leaving parts of it recognizable. A lot of the mechanical inspiration here is due to the Target 20 system on the one hand and UVG's SEACAT system on the other. Revisiting d20 Modern I was struck by how many fiddly mechanical choices there are, in the forms of talents and feats and skills and advanced classes, and how little most of that stuff matters. Most abilities boil down to a small modifier on certain saving throws or skills checks. I only bothered importing interesting rules as Target 20 Modern's talents.

exploding statline

rule

to generate a standard six-stat line with each stat ranging from 0 to 5:

1. roll six d6; for each die that shows a 1, mark one stat down as 0 and set those dice aside.
2. re-roll the remaining dice; for each die that shows a 1 or a 2, mark a remaining stat down as 1 and set those dice aside.
3. re-roll the remaining dice; for each die that shows a 1, 2 or 3, mark a remaining stat down as 2 and set those dice aside.
4. ...and so on.

repeat, increasing the threshold, until either no dice remain or it is impossible to keep going (that is, if you would have to roll higher than a 6).

why?

if bonuses from skill range from 0 (unskilled) to 5 (expert) and bonuses from circumstance range from 8 (easiest task that could be failed) to 0 (hardest task that could succeed), then a Target-20-style core mechanic of d20 + stat + skill + circumstance such that a roll of 1 always fails and a roll of 20 alwasy succeeds.

to my mind this is a pretty good balance of character ability and circumstance. also, this kind of exploding roll is fun.

but...what are the probabilities?

the most likely stat values to be generated are 1 or 2, followed by 3, 0, 4 and distantly by 5. the exact frequencies are:

0	16.67%
1	27.78%
2	27.78%
3	18.52%
4	15.43%
5	3.09%

75.5% of six-stat lines rolled with this method will total 9 or more, and 72% will total 12 or less. the probability that the highest score rolled will be the given number is given in the following table

0	46,656 to 1 ≈ 0%
1	0.77%
2	13.42%
3	41.63%
4	35.27%
5	8.91%

winning fame

Fame is gained by defeating foes, carrying off loot or receiving grand gifts. Fame represents not only your celebrity but also your esteem among your people.

• Every hit dealt in a mêlée is worth a point of fame to each fighter on the line.
• A foe slain in single combat is two points of fame per hit it took to bring them down.
• A foe brought home as a captive is worth three points per hit they could have taken.
• A captive freed from the enemy is worth four points per hit they could take.
• A peace made is worth five points of fame for ever family involved.
• Goats or sheep seized from the enemy or given in recognition of great deeds are worth a point of fame per head. Cattle or horses are worth eight points per head.
• Wealth given away freely is worth half the fame it would be worth when seized from the enemy.
  

A group of heroes who carry of loot together (or are awarded a gift in gratitude together) each receive a full half of its fame and split the remaining half between them. Thus, if three warriors together drive home a flock of 24 goats from enemy lands, each one of them gains 12 points of fame plus one-third of the remaining 12, so each warrior receives 16 points of fame.

Only wealth taken from the enemy or awarded as a gift for one's great deeds builds an adventurer's fame. Gifts to or from one's comrades-in-arms do not increase one's fame unless they are wedding-gifts.

To determine its effect on one's fame, convert coin, fine cloth, jewels or other precious stuffs to an equivalent amount of livestock. One weight of gold, or 25 weights of silver is a fair price for an ox, a common horse (though a warrior's horse may be much dearer) or eight sheep or goats.

Fame	Title	Followers
0	Nobody	Hired hands demand payment in advance.
20	Rogue	Hands want half their fee up front.
40	Neighbor	A few (2-7) will brave danger with you for a fair share of the rewards.
80	Fellow	A band (5-35) will brave danger for a fair share, a few for loyalty alone
160	Senior	A company (30-175) will brave danger for a fair share, a band for loyalty alone. your decisions suffice for twenty families.
320	Worthy	A company will follow you for loyalty's sake. your decisions suffice for 55 families.
640	Grandee	Your decisions suffice for 400 families.
1000+	Legend	Your decisions suffice for 3,000 families.

If one's decisions suffice for a community, they still may not be in any formal position over it; this simply means that if a matter from a community of twenty families is brought to a captain to settle, they will not dispute the decision unless it is obviously unjust. One need not have a captain's esteem to officiate for such a community, though it may be more difficult without.

a freeform magic system

A piece of magic is constructed of terms which either name entities to be effected or adjure them with certain commands. A single piece can incorporate many terms to achieve greater effects---though this increases the complexity of the magic---but all magic must contain a name and an adjuration.

Ex: a magician wishes his foes to become lost in the mists, and constructs a spell that names the mists and adjures them to confound. If he wished only his foes to be lost and others to be to pass normally, he could add another term naming his foes.

The base complexity of a piece of magic depends on the magician's mastery of the adjurations involved. These ratings range from 5 (a fifth-rate magician) to 1 (a first-rate one). To this, add the complexity of the naming.

Using a genuine name the complexity varies depending on what is being named: self (0), a bodiless spirit (1), another person (2), other living beings (3), a place or insensate thing (4). One can also name entities present without knowing their names. This has a complexity of 4 for a person, 3 for a living thing, 2 for an insensate one and 1 for a bodiless spirit. If many individuals or an undifferentiated mass are named, increase this by one (by two if some present entities of the same kind are to be excluded).

Ex: the magician is a second-rate confounder, so the base complexity of this spell is 2, and the magician names mists which are close at hand (insensate 2 + 1 for a mass 2), so the complexity of the broad spell of confusion is 5.

To work magic, one needs magical power. Magicians use their own power, tap into an artifact's or call on the power of others. Roll a d6 for each power invoked (re-roll 6s, adding 5 each time) and total them. Sources of power are tapped if their die was re-rolled in working the magic.

Ex: if the magician used only his own power, he would need to roll a 6. He chooses to invoke the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth, rolling a 1 and 7, for a total of 8, which is more than enough but taps the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth, so he will not be able to call upon it again for some time.

If the total is greater than the complexity for the magic, it takes effect as intended. Otherwise, the ref may drop terms from it or modify the entities named to create a different effect.

Ex: if the magician had rolled a 2 and a 3, that would not have sufficient for the magic. If another subject could have been named for 1 complexity, the ref could do so. However, they decide that no other subject makes sense and the magic simply does not take hold.