The Easier Combat Calculator-

This is simplified means of figuring out whether you hit or miss your target in combat. The major premise is that both AC and THAC0 are set in an increasing scale instead of a decreaing one. Advancements in both these catagories occur at the same rate. AC starts at 10 and THAC0 starts at one. When rolling to hit, you add your roll to your THAC0. If the roll is equal to or greater than your targets AC, you hit.

Fun Critical Hits

In fights, people tend to get limb smashed and broken, have eyes plocked out, etc. The standard D&D combat system doesn't allow for this. Critical hit "tables" have been made, but they are too random. Therefore, the fun critical hit system is here to put the gore back into combat.

Weapon Classes: There are three classes of weapons when it comes to critical hits: simple, painful, and visious. The bigger/more complicated a weapon is, the nastier the critical hits it will inflict. Generally the more effective a weapon is in combat, the worse its critical hits are. The classes go as follows:

Simple: Longsword, Shortsword, Bastard Sword, Broadsword, Quartrtstaff, Club, Any Bow, Knife, Dagger, Hand Axe, Warhammer, Dart, Bo/Jo Stick, Cestus, Javelin, Pike, Bill, Scimatar, All fencing swords,

Painful: Battle Axe, Glaive, Halberd, Two-Handed Sword, Harpoon, Any Crossbow, Mace, Trident, Khobelesh, Military Fork, Spear, Boomerang, Flail, Lance, Bardiche, Partisan, Voulge, Guisarme, Claymore,

Viscious: Whip, Scourge, Bec-de-Corbin, Lusern Hammer, Morningstar,

Not listed: Just ask!

Part 2: Untargeted shots

The "boring" critical hits. When you roll a 20 on an attack roll, you hit them harder. Ignore this if 19-20 would be the only two rolls that could possible hit your enemy. With a simple weapon, the damage is doubled, minus one. With a painful weapon the damage is doubled. With a visious weapon, the damage is doubled, plus one.

Part 3: Targeted shots

The interesting effect hits. When you roll to attack, it is made at a negative 4. Same rules as above apply. If the attack is successful, you get a cool effect. The nature of this effect depends on where and how hard the opponent is hit. A non-critical hit will cause some damage (less than usual in general), but will instead cause some bad random effect. A critical hit will cause regular damage (if the shot is to an extremity, head shots do normal critical hit damage) and depnding on the damage will cause a very bad effect. To sever a limb of an average human,you need at least 6 damage. To decapitate, you need at least 8. The more complex the weapon, the lower the required damage. Otherwise, the act is assumed the shoulder (for neck shots), and is treated as a normal hit (no extra damage). The higher the weapons class is, the easier it is to do nasty things. Note: Whip cannot decapitate.

The HP rule: All charcters get maximum hp each level.

Mages: You need to learn, memorize, and cast spells like the Players Handbook says, including components. You can research and design spells of any level your charatcer can cast, but he needs the indregiants and materials to study. If the spell you are designing is over powered, you will not know until you finish your research, spend all your money and find out that what you were trying to do is not possible.

Helmets are Good: A character using a helmet gets to make a saving throw at the DMs discretion to aviod or lessen te damage from hits to the head.

Shields Save Lives!!!: A character using a shield can make an attack roll with it to nullify an attack (Offhand penalties apply here). The AC being rolled against is the opponents AC with to hit bonuses added instead of dexterity.

Dwarves are Hardheaded: Blunt targeted shots to the heads of dwarves do half damage.

Racial Prejudices: If your character is not a human, expect to get paid less for the same job when not in your home society. Mankind owns mostly everything and is a bit full of themselves. Depending on your race, they might have a different set of prejudices towards your character. Some samples:

Male Elves: They are all flamingly Homosexual

Female Elves: They are all easy.

Male Dwarves: Stink, have horrible manners. Will not get invited to a fancy dinner.

Female Dwarves: Have beards and are disgusting, like the men.

Any Orcs: They are all demented killers and need to be hunted down.

Any Goblin: They are panzies and should be hunted down for being such cowards.

Male Gnomes: Can't do anything right. Are overall failures. Hard to get hired.

Feamle Gnomes: Should stay in the kitchen. Never gained any sort of gender-equality.

Male Halflings: Are just weaklings and get pushed around.

Female Halflings: Thought to be a good target for all sorts of bad things by the criminal.

Any Minotaur: They have horrible tempers and few people will be friendly with one.

Any Lizardman: General mistrust plus almost no one can difienciate between the sexes anyway.

Any Hobgoblin: Haughty, overconfident, and a displeasure to talk to.

Racial Level Limits: Demi-humans have to put up with racial hate, a world run by humans, and a slower way of life. Level limits would just be mean. Forget them un single-classed characters. Multi-classes are limited to level 15 in each class.

Bad Guys are people too: Whenever fighting against someone of a PC race or other intellegents race, remember that they have stats and other bonuses too. An orc may have 17 strength. Also, rember that characters get max hp. Not just for you, but for all intellegent creatures. They have classes (if they are classed) and have different hit dice, THAC0s and abilities. People make the coolest villians.

Clerics: If a cleric is being bad (ie: not playing his alliance or working for his diety) the powers that be might limit his abilities. This aplies to Paladins too, as well as any other class whose powers are based on religion.

Fighters: They fight. They don't need no stupid house rules.

Halflings: They can take profiencies from the thief category at no extra cost regardless of class.

Ressuction/Reincarnation/Raise Dead: Anyone can be resurrected or reincarnated. Elves, Orcs, Lizardmen, Goblins and Hobgoblins cannot be raised.

Death: Once you hit the 0 hp mark, you can't take any more actions as you are unconscious. While at zero, you need to rest to get up to a postive number beofre you can act. If your hp hits -1, you loose one hp every turn as you are dying. Once you reach your constitution score (negative) you are dead.

Multiple attacks: Each attack is different and they happen at different times during the attack sequence. The first attack occurs at the weapons normal speed. The second occurs 3 speed units later. Any other attacks are tacked on at the end of the round. Hand-to-Hand combs ignore this rule.

Armor type vs. Weapon type table: It is an abomination. Ignore it.

Experience points rule -

Normal XP points will be given out for treasure and kills. These will be pooled together and split among the party. In addition, there are XP bonuses for players, in two major catagories: General and Class Specific.

General

Roleplaying the character most effectively: +10%

Being the Most Entertaining player: +10%

Being the most innovative player, in character or action: +10% bonus

Class Specific

Warrior

Killing something: Its xp value

Winning a Duel: double the xp value

Furthering your gods cause: Variable (Paladin only)

Successfully tracing: 25 xp per mile (Ranger)

Destroying a magical item: 1/4 its xp value (Barbarian only)

Rougue

Stealing money: Double the normal value (other characters do not share the xp as usual)

Thieveing sucessfully: Depends on how important the situation. Picking a pocket for fun may be five (plus the stolen monies value) while picking the lock to the unbreakable door would be more.

Wizard

Casting a spell to accomplish something useful: 100 times the spell level

Making an item: Items xp value

Priest

Casting a spell to accomplish something useful: 50 times the spell level

Futhering your gods cause: Variable (Cleric only)

Recruting someone into your religion: double the xp value (Cleric Only)

Protecting nature: Variable, if protecting in a battle, double the creature xp, if not, depends on situation

The "special classes" go by the main group's bonuses

As you may have noticed these rules aren't really technical. The mechanics in the game are for the most part are kept the same.