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In a project I am working on attempting to create a paranormal investigation game, Fiends and Phantasms, I added Karma points to give the characters a better chance at surviving while not necessarily making them overly strong. The Karma points allow reroll of failed rolls. Thoughts on that?

I was also thinking of another mechanic to add to the ML20 system -- HP Combat Bonus or Power Through. You can take your Level from HP and add it to your attack roll. Sort of on the same theme as magic users in ML20.

squirewaldo wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 11, 2022 10:48 am

In a project I am working on attempting to create a paranormal investigation game, Fiends and Phantasms, I added Karma points to give the characters a better chance at surviving while not necessarily making them overly strong. The Karma points allow reroll of failed rolls. Thoughts on that?

Action points exist (as an optional rule) In some of my OSR M20 variants and they serve a similar purpose to what you are describing. They don't really break anything unless (generic) you are playing some type of "killer dungeon" campaign.

I was also thinking of another mechanic to add to the ML20 system -- HP Combat Bonus or Power Through. You can take your Level from HP and add it to your attack roll. Sort of on the same theme as magic users in ML20.

This might be a bit expensive for the result compared to the cost of spells with a similar power. Otherwise, I don't see why it would not work -- at least in some settings.

I was thinking of a similar mechanic, but to Randall's point, maybe make the effect last until either 1) the end of the combat, 2) a number of rounds equal to the HP spent, or 3) a number of rounds equal to half the HP spent.

The second two add some complexity, but might make players more willing to make the sacrifice.

randalls wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 12, 2022 8:52 pm

This might be a bit expensive for the result compared to the cost of spells with a similar power. Otherwise, I don't see why it would not work -- at least in some settings.

Yes, that was my thought. I doubt players would use it very much but... it might be one of those things that could come in handy and won't necessarily break the game.