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Contents 1 Introduction 1.1 Inspiration 2 Character Creation 2.1 Attributes 2.2 Races 2.3 Classes 2.3.1 Fighter 2.3.2 Thief 2.3.3 Cleric 2.3.4 Mage 2.4 Prestige Classes 2.4.1 Paladin 2.4.2 Barbarian 2.4.3 Ranger 2.4.4 Sorcerer 2.4.5 Druid 2.4.6 Bard 2.5 Skills 3 Combat 3.1 Defenses 3.2 Taking Damage 3.3 Healing 4 Equipment 4.1 Armor 4.2 Weapons

Introduction

Icosahedron is the (temporary) name for a d20-based gaming system, inspired by and drawing heavily from Dungeons & Dragons. The intent of project is to develop a rules-light, internally consistent system that can easily picked up by both experienced players of D&D as well as novice gamers.

Inspiration

Icosahedron is a spiritual successor to the Castles & Crusades ruleset: Where C&C is an update of the 1981 D&D "Moldvay" Dungeons & Dragons Basic Edition rules to WotC's d20 engine, Icosahedron attempts to take those same 1981 Basic rules and modify them according to the D&D 4e and Star Wars : Saga Edition design aesthetic. The specific design elements include:

• Limited class and race selection, for ease of balance.
• Limited scope. The original Basic rules only covered character levels 1-3, from there players were expected to switch to the AD&D rules. That kind of focus suits my purpose here, given that I tend to run low-level games that don't last very long
• Unlimited multiclassing, Prestige classes. Innovations from the modern rulesets that (I feel) are superior to the old multi-class/dual-class systems.
• Limited skill list, with each skill having multiple applications. Additionally, no "untrained" penalties, only bonuses for being trained.
• Three "saving throw" defense attributes, with Armor Class rolled into Reflexes.
• Symmetry. This probably just a simple human love for patterns, but you'll probably notice certain numbers/values repeat, and that some values are iterations of other values. To me, it makes a system feel more "elegant."
• Where possible, traditional D&D names and designations have been carried over to promote a sense of familiarity. Names/concepts don't have to be 1-to-1 translations, but if a similar concept existed in an older ruleset, I used the existing name rather than invent one of my own to be different.

Character Creation

Attributes

Standard six D&D attributes (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma), 3d6 or point-buy generation, using the standard d20 score-to-bonus(or penalty) mapping.

3-4 -3 5-6 -2 7-8 -1 9-12 13-14 +1 15-16 +2 17-18 +3

Strength

Dexterity

Constitution

Intelligence

Wisdom

Charisma

Races

Human (?)

Dwarf (+1 CON, +1 STR, -2 CHR)

Elf (+1 DEX, +1 CHR, -2 CON)

Gnome (+1 INT, +1 WIS, -2 STR)

..I haven't nailed down a bonus ability for humans, or the other features of the demihuman races. I'm trying to stick to abilities that will come up often (at least once per session) and impart a distinctive flavor.

Classes

These are pared down to roles in the classic adventuring party / facets of the game system. At first level in a class, you get to pick one skill (of two available for your class) that your character is Trained in. Each class also has a list of Talents, of which the player can pick one per level. We have:

Fighter

(Trained in Athletics or Endurance)

Armor Restrictions: None

Sample Talents:

• Whirlwind Attack! - If you reduce your target to zero hitpoints with a melee attack, you may immediately make another attack on any target in melee range.
• Weapon Master - Select a specific weapon type (Swords, Bows, etc.) When attacking with that weapon, you gain a +1 to hit and +2 to damage.

Thief

(Trained in Larceny or Diplomacy)

Armor Restrictions: May not use class Talents while wearing Medium or Heavy Armor

Sample Talents:

• Backstab! - You inflict double-damage against flat-footed or suprised targets

Cleric

(Trained in Arcana or Awareness)

Armor Restrictions: May not use class Talents while wearing Heavy Armor

Sample Talents:

• Level 1 Cleric Spells - You may memorize and cast a number of 1st-level spells equal to your Wisdom bonus. This Talent may be taken multiple times.

Mage

(Trained in Arcana or Awareness)

Armor Restrictions: May not use class Talents while wearing Armor

Sample Talents:

• Level 1 Mage Spells - You may memorize and cast a number of 1st-level spells equal to your Intelligence bonus. This Talent may be taken multiple times.

Prestige Classes

To be eligible for a prestige class, you must have at least 3 Heroic levels.

Paladin

Must have at least 1 level in each of the Fighter and Cleric classes, and a minimum STR bonus of +1

Armor Restrictions: None

Barbarian

Must have at least 1 level in each of the Fighter and Thief classes, and a minimum DEX bonus of +1

Armor Restrictions: May not use class Talents while wearing Heavy Armor

Ranger

Must have at least 1 level in each of the Fighter and Mage classes, and a minimum CON bonus of +1

Armor Restrictions: May not use class Talents while wearing Medium or Heavy Armor

Sorcerer

Must have at least 1 level in each of the Mage and Cleric classes, and a minimum INT bonus of +1

Armor Restrictions: May not use class Talents while wearing Armor

Druid

Must have at least 1 level in each of the Thief and Cleric classes, and a minimum WIS bonus of +1

Armor Restrictions: May not use class Talents while wearing Heavy Armor

Bard

Must have at least 1 level in each of the Mage and Thief classes, and a minimum CHR bonus of +1

Armor Restrictions: May not use class Talents while wearing Medium or Heavy Armor

Skills

Characters pick a trained skill at level 1 from the two offered by their class. They gain a second trained skill at level 4, which they may choose from any of the skills offered by any class they have levels in.

Arcana: (INT: Lore, Sense Magic, Cantrip [trained only])

Athletics (STR: Climb, Jump, Feat of Strength [trained only])

Diplomacy (CHR: Persuade, Deceive, Intimidate [trained only])

Awareness (WIS: Initiative, Perception, Stealth [trained only])

Endurance (CON: Run, Swim, Second Wind [trained only])

Larceny (DEX: Open Locks, Sleight of Hand, Use/Disable Device [trained only])

Combat

Defenses

Reflexes: level + DEX + INT

Fortitude: level + CON + STR

Willpower: level + WIS + CHR

Taking Damage

Wounded: If you take damage equal or greater to your fortitude score in a single combat round, you are considered Wounded. While wounded, you are -1 to all die rolls and Movement. Wounded condition lasts until you are fully healed.

Healing

Equipment

Armor

Here's a deviation from the standard formulas. I wanted to get away from armor-check-penalties and max-dex-bonuses, so I decided to separate Armor from the Reflex defense entirely. Instead, Armor grants a flat DR value when worn, and is restricted based on class. Also note that classes aren't banned from using armor, they just can't use their classes' Talents while wearing restricted armor.

Light (+1 DR), Medium (+2 DR), Heavy (+3 DR), Shield (+1 DR)

Weapons

I'm not particularly interested in statting up the million-and-one weapons available in the fantasy roleplaying milleu. Instead, each class does a set amount of damage with whatever one-handed weapon they wield:

• Fighter: 1d10
• Mage: 1d4
• Thief: 1d8
• Cleric: 1d6

Characters wielding a two-handed weapon (or a one-handed weapon with two hands) add +2 to their damage roll.