New Turn Undead System for Microlite75
From Microlite74 3.0 Basic: "A Cleric can Turn Undead with a successful Magic Attack. DC is 10 + twice the Hit Dice of the undead. One undead flees per point over the roll needed. This can be used (2 + Level + MIND bonus) times per day."
It avoids the need for a table, but really doesn't feel that much like turning undead in 0e. Undead can only be turned. They are never destroyed as they can be in 0e. The number of undead turned depends on how well the player rolls on the turn attempt instead of being a random 2d6 undead.
I remember seeing a system where you rolled 2d6 and added twice the difference between the cleric's level and the undead's hit die, but that seems a bit "too much math" to be fun for many people. Looking at the formula, it looked like rolling 1d6 plus the difference between the cleric's level and the undead's hit dice (or 1d6 + Cleric Level - Undead Hit Dice) would be more or less equivalent but with less math. I started with a roll of 4 or higher needed to turn 2d6 undead and 8 or higher needed to destroy 2d6 undead. This worked, but roll 4+ was inconsistent with the roll 5+ system I've decided to use for things like surprise and perception (the same as the 0e roll 1-2 on a d6 but inverted to make using modifiers easier).
The final system I came up with was roll 1d6 + Cleric Level - Undead Hit Dice. If the result is 5 or higher, 2d6 undead are turned. If the modifier turns out to be +4 or higher (i.e. automatic success), then 2d6 undead are destroyed. While this does not give exactly the same as the table in 0e, it does not require a table and gives results much closer to 0e than the Microlite74 method. We tested in system in my game yesterday and it seemed to work while being easy to use.
Unless I hear a lot of objections to this system, I will probably use it in Microlite75 2.0.
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December 15, 2015 at 3:27 AM
Remember that, by using 1d6 instead of 2d6, you're messing with the probabilities
You could have clerics auto-turn undead with hit dice less than their level, and destroy any three under their level, assuming you're using the inflated hit dice of AD&D
If you want something accurate to pre-bump OD&D, a cleric would need to roll a 9 or higher to turn undead equal to their level, +/- 2 for every hit die over or under. Auto-turn if you only need a 5, and destroy if any roll will succeed
December 15, 2015 at 10:28 AM
ProfessorOats: Your system is the one my players thought more complex than it should be (2d6 + 2 * (CL-HD). While the 1d6 method I came up with doesn't duplicate the 0e odds, it works more like 0e than the system I used in Microlite74. Perhaps I should just break down and use a table?
December 15, 2015 at 11:40 AM
ProfessorOats: I decided to make my new system the standard rules and your system optional rules. GMs can select the complexity/accuracy mix they wish to use.
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