Ability Points, Skills, and Die Rolling
This probably isn't your first Candle'Bre article and as you may have noticed, "stuff" works a little bit differently around here. All three of these are kind of interrelated, so I figured rather than making three very short pieces, I could probably get away with rolling them into one article, so here goes. Let's start with...
How Skills Work In Candle'Bre
Yep, you guessed it! Skills work a little differently in Candle'Bre too. Every time a character levels up, he or she earns at least one Ability Point (AP). These can be spent to raise stats or to boost your level of mastery in skills you already know, or to buy new skills. For (almost) all skills, the progression works like this:- Unskilled (No cost, obviously)
- Proficient (Exactly what it sounds like - you get to add your proficiency modifier to any checks at this level)
- Expertise (You're really good at this skill. Add double your proficiency modifier to any checks at this level)
- Mastery (Okay, you're just stupidly good at this. Add double your proficiency modifier and improve the die you're rolling by one step)
How Die Rolling Works
Wait - what's all this "improve your die" business? Yeah, that's different too, and borrowed from the fine folks at Goodman games. In "regular" D&D, pretty much everything comes down to you rolling a d20 and generating some number which helps move the story forward. That's not how it is in Candle'Bre. Sure, sure, the d20 is still the baseline, but then stuff can get...freaky. The dice you use to roll can be "increased" or "decreased." Here is the dice chain in the Basin (again, lifted from Dungeon Crawl Classics - Goodman Games): D3 – D4 – D5 – D6 – D7 – D8 – D10 – D12 – D14 – D16 – D20 – D24 – And D30. So for instance, over in the Spirit Points article, we talked about how you could spend a Spirit Point to "increase your die." What that specifically means is that you're moving the die you roll up by one step, so if you'd normally roll a d20, when you spend a Spirit Token and declare that you want to increase your die, you're now rolling a d24. And believe it or not, they actually make a d24, though you can use an app to roll for you, or just simulate a d24 using the dice you have (roll a d6 + a d12. If the d6 is 1-3, then treat the d12 roll as face value. If the d6 roll is 4-6, then treat the d12 roll as (12+face value)). Or, if you want a set of funky dice, just do a search on Zocchi Dice and you're all set. Note too, that Candle'Bre has made Fighters just objectively, mechanically better at whacking stuff with weapons because fighters use "increased" dice for their attack rolls. Finally, observe that every character class has TWO action dice. Most everyone gets to roll a d20 for their main action, but reactions are a different story and not everyone is as combat savvy, so taking reactions (if you qualify for one) may well see you rolling on a lesser die - which is one reason why it's always handy to have a couple of Spirit Points waiting in the wings (and there are Feats you can buy that will help improve your combat/reaction dice too - you've always got options in Candle'Bre!). See the sidebar at the right for the action die breakdown, by class. How Ability Points Work Every time your character levels up, you will gain +1 Ability Point (AP). This is another type of currency. AP’s may be spent to:- Increase your level of proficiency in any skill you already know.
- Learn a new skill
- Gain +1 on any ability score
- Or customize a spell you know in a unique and interesting way subject to DM approval.
But...Why? Why All The Changes?
A fair question. The short answer is that I didn't like the way "stuff" was working in "regular" D&D and I wanted to see what would happen if I started tweaking it. I liked the results so I kept at it. That's how the Candle'Bre rules came to exist in their current form. The longer answer is that the reason I liked my results is because I believe (firmly, absolutely believe) that the way the Candle'Bre rules are written it a) allows for more freedom and flexibility in character development and b) fosters better role play. To me, that's absolutely worth the time and effort spent! See, these changes weren't made in isolation. They were made considering the whole of the architecture of the game. For instance, I decided I didn't want multiclassing, but I still wanted to give players the ability to customize their chosen classes. To do that, I needed to strengthen Feats and make skill mastery more of a universal thing, which led to the creation of Ability Points (AP). I wanted to make Fighters objectively better at fighting because that makes sense to my brain and in 5e, fighters are literally not one ounce better at fighting (mechanically speaking) than a Wizard. So - I changed it. Every rule that got touched got touched because I felt that it could be made better and that's what I set out to do. I'll leave it to you to decide how well I succeeded at that, or if I succeeded at all.
"No, no! I said I'm looking for a Master Chef to tutor me. I've no idea who this "Master Chief" you keep talking about is!"
Action Die Breakdown (By Class)
- Artificer: d20/d16
- Barbarian: d20/d20
- Bard: d20/d14
- Cleric: d20/d14
- Fighter: d24/d24
- Ranger: d20/d20
- Warlock: d20/d14
- Wizard: d20/d14
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