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Zireael
2016-02-12, 06:33 AM
I have played a Runequest game once and what I like about that system is that there is an effective cap - you can't have a skill higher than 100% (well, you can, but it doesn't affect your chances of succeeding anymore). I believe this is called a soft cap.

I would like to implement something similar in d20. Googling brought me two results from dandwiki and some mentions of 5E's "bounded accuracy" concept. I think having soft caps does not necessarily equal "bounded accuracy", so soft caps should be fine in an OGL game.

Capped skill bonus (http://dnd-wiki.org/wiki/Capped_Skill_Bonus_%283.5e_Variant_Rule%29)
Capped mods and DCs (http://dnd-wiki.org/wiki/Capped_Modifiers_and_DCs_%283.5e_Variant_Rule%29)

I am not that sure about the maths in linked homebrew rules, however. Any tips?

In addition, RQ's system results in a "hard" task always being hard, none of that ridiculous scaling where DC 20 is easy-peasy for an epic character. That's something I would like, too.

RedWarlock
2016-02-12, 12:58 PM
I have played a Runequest game once and what I like about that system is that there is an effective cap - you can't have a skill higher than 100% (well, you can, but it doesn't affect your chances of succeeding anymore). I believe this is called a soft cap.

I would like to implement something similar in d20. Googling brought me two results from dandwiki and some mentions of 5E's "bounded accuracy" concept. I think having soft caps does not necessarily equal "bounded accuracy", so soft caps should be fine in an OGL game.

Capped skill bonus (http://dnd-wiki.org/wiki/Capped_Skill_Bonus_%283.5e_Variant_Rule%29)
Capped mods and DCs (http://dnd-wiki.org/wiki/Capped_Modifiers_and_DCs_%283.5e_Variant_Rule%29)

I am not that sure about the maths in linked homebrew rules, however. Any tips?

In addition, RQ's system results in a "hard" task always being hard, none of that ridiculous scaling where DC 20 is easy-peasy for an epic character. That's something I would like, too.

Well, there's two different things going on there. Capping bonuses is a fine idea. That's part of what 5e's advantage does, increases likelihood of success without expanding the numeric reach of a roll. (On a branching topic, I have a d20 variant I'm working up that uses multiple-dice/best-of/worst-of similarly, and I use that kind of bonus for any circumstance bonus or penalty, with an eventual cap of 3 bonus rolls, for a max total of 4 dice.)

OTOH, "ridiculous scaling where DC 20 is easy-peasy for an epic character", that actually IS 5e's bounded accuracy. A difficult task stays fairly difficult for the whole lifespan of a character, though the percentages get slightly easier. Numeric progressions are slow, showing progress but at a long pace.

You may want to figure out which elements you want or don't like, then proceed from there. Don't dismiss a concept out of hand and then blindly go and advocate for its definition without connecting the two.

Zireael
2016-02-12, 02:27 PM
'That' in the last sentence referred to RQ's hard always being hard, so sorry if it was confusing. I love hard tasks always being hard.

Even better if hard being hard is a natural consequence of capping bonuses, this way I only have to tinker with one thing in the system instead of two.

Just to Browse
2016-02-12, 02:57 PM
I like soft & hard caps for scaling, but both feel video-gamey and historically have been annoying to keep track of in games.

I also want to point out a possible issue of design intent. The assumption for high-level D&D games is that DC 20 checks should be easy-peasy because you are fighting gods, and DC 20 is the skill DC for doing this (http://giphy.com/gifs/7mPtrtwS4aht6). Perhaps a good solution to your problem involves playing E6 (http://dnd-wiki.org/wiki/E6_%283.5e_Sourcebook%29) or some other level-capped system.

Zireael
2016-02-19, 05:43 AM
Any other DCs that you find plain silly?

Or any other feedback on caps in d20?

JPlayah
2016-02-19, 08:06 AM
One of the advantages of not having a hard cap is that there's no limit to how strong characters can get. At some point, bigger and bigger numbers just get boring, and you have to introduce something truly game-changing, but avoiding hard caps ensures that characters can reach level 30, 50, or 100 and still be noticeably more powerful (and in meaningful ways) as they continue gaining levels. Of course, it's up to the DM to keep things new and interesting.

Zireael
2016-02-20, 04:35 AM
The whole point of this is to curb down the infinite level-scaling.

nikkoli
2016-02-20, 02:05 PM
From my limited knowledge it really sounds like E6 is most like what you are trying to do.

Zireael
2016-02-27, 03:27 PM
I don't want to limit all character progress like E6 does, just the DCs.

To avoid this:

There's also the issue of the skill DC treadmill, where the DM needs to surround the PC's with ever-slipperier walls, thicker doors, and more inexplicably skeptical NPC's in order for their skill checks to have any possibility of failure.
(quoted from the 4th CE thread)