Lairs and Leviathans (a heartbreaker)

homebrew

#1

Hello everyone,

I shared some homebrew on these forums a few years ago and I thought the tinkerers here may get a kick out of my latest heartbreaker. This one takes quite a bit from an older iteration of Deathbringer (Professor DM’s homebrew system) and mixes in a fair bit of ICRPG.

I am putting this together for a campaign that I recently started. We already ran our funnel (DCC’s Sailors on the Starless Sea - a true classic) and we will be starting level 1 in a month or so. Its basically done.

See the bottom of this post for links to the relevant files.

A few bits about this system:

  • There are semi random stats.
  • Most ICRPG subsystems are in.
  • I took the idea of shock damage from those Kevin Crawford games. Basically, if you miss with a big melee two hander, you still deal 1 damage. Shields absorb the first point of Shock in a round.
  • The core four classes are in there. That is important for the vibe I am going for.
  • Rather than have monsters roll weapon Attacks, players have a defense value (DEF) they apply as a bonus to defense rolls against a room’s TN when attacked. I can make these rolls easy (+3), normal (+0) or hard (+3) based on the foe that’s swinging on them. I am experimenting a bit here but looking at the numbers, I think it should work. It should also speed up the game a touch. If it doesn’t I can always go back to regular armor class.
  • A very basic proficiency system is in. Its just a 1d4 bonus to certain rolls dependent on class.
  • Rather than reduce hit points or hearts, you count damage up (from Shadow of the Demon Lord).

Anywho, that’s about it.

Files

  • Updated Latest version of House Rules - LINK
  • Index Card Character Sheet (4x6) - LINK.
  • Basic Target Number cards (4x6) - LINK
  • Updated Incantations and Invocations for Wizards - LINK

Coming Soon

  • I will be making additional cards for the “character sheet”. My goal is that rather than one big sheet, the character info will just be recorded on a few cards.
  • I may add a Monk class. I know my players and one would appreciate the option for one. Basically, it’ll be an unarmored combatant that gains expertise in DEF and deals weapon-like damage when unarmed. Will probably be really good at mobility or something. Might just make it warrior or specialist variant.

Recent Updates

  • 4/23/2022: Incantations and Invocations are fully drafted. I went ahead and added in some draft crit fail tables as well.
  • 4/23/2022: Updated the spells to include more classic spells I think my Wizards would want to see come up in play. Some spells were combined.
  • 4/21/2022: I went ahead and made a separate document with more Incantations and Invocations for my Wizards. It is linked above. I still need to add in my own crit fail tables.

Homebrew: Slight Tweaks and a Character Sheet