feature
planned
AC vs Hit Bonus
Wrecksler
2026-06-18 11:44
I think we need to bring this back up to discussion. I think the current attempt at altering DnD AC vs Hit mechanics is backwards and broken.
What we have is AC as a levelling stat + armor bonuses + move bonuses. Hit chance can only be improved with moves (up to +5) and miniscule improvement from items (+3 max from 3 items).
DnD does it a bit backwards. Your character has base AC. You can CHANGE your AC by equipping an armor. And some moves can give +1 to AC. So theoretical max AC is something like 21 iirc. Or maybe 23. You can't go past that, and even reaching that level requires a lot of investment, is very hard.
Hit chance, meanwhile, increases with your proficiency, at a fixed rate. It just grows on it's own as you level up.
I'm considering reworking how the system works.
# Option 1
One option is to rework the system to be more faithful to DnD 5e. But thats gonna be messy with how it works with existing characters, refunding XP, and breaking balance all around.
But this also means that AC can only be improved with gear. So you can't, meta-gaming speaking, make your character naturally harder to damage (tougher\faster), it will have to be some kind of gear, armor. Which I dont like.
# Option 2
We could just lower the AC cap for levelling up to a more manageable level - like 14 instead of 18. This way we're just adjusting a balance knob on already existing system, so nothing breaks. Maybe an XP refund will be needed for existing chars but thats about it.
But it feels like a half-measure as we probably will still have the imbalance here.
Wonder what you guys think.
What we have is AC as a levelling stat + armor bonuses + move bonuses. Hit chance can only be improved with moves (up to +5) and miniscule improvement from items (+3 max from 3 items).
DnD does it a bit backwards. Your character has base AC. You can CHANGE your AC by equipping an armor. And some moves can give +1 to AC. So theoretical max AC is something like 21 iirc. Or maybe 23. You can't go past that, and even reaching that level requires a lot of investment, is very hard.
Hit chance, meanwhile, increases with your proficiency, at a fixed rate. It just grows on it's own as you level up.
I'm considering reworking how the system works.
# Option 1
One option is to rework the system to be more faithful to DnD 5e. But thats gonna be messy with how it works with existing characters, refunding XP, and breaking balance all around.
But this also means that AC can only be improved with gear. So you can't, meta-gaming speaking, make your character naturally harder to damage (tougher\faster), it will have to be some kind of gear, armor. Which I dont like.
# Option 2
We could just lower the AC cap for levelling up to a more manageable level - like 14 instead of 18. This way we're just adjusting a balance knob on already existing system, so nothing breaks. Maybe an XP refund will be needed for existing chars but thats about it.
But it feels like a half-measure as we probably will still have the imbalance here.
Wonder what you guys think.
Comments (5)
Toruna
2026-06-18 14:35
I still think everyone's base AC should be 8 at the least. 5 at the lowest. If the ceiling follows along this trajectory, that just sets a new baseline for what should be feasible. So I'm down for the idea.
The gear idea is fine, but that then you'd have to account for 100s of armor variants, or go with something ambiguous that fits everything and nothing at the same time. Maybe that would make Chits have an actual purpose? It just seems like such an unnecesasry workload for you. And it's not like the system is broken.
A third idea is that you have items, ontop of the base AC, never go above a certain threshold. So if you have 16 Base AC and and 3 AC from armour (19 total AC), you could set the limit to 18 no matter what.
The gear idea is fine, but that then you'd have to account for 100s of armor variants, or go with something ambiguous that fits everything and nothing at the same time. Maybe that would make Chits have an actual purpose? It just seems like such an unnecesasry workload for you. And it's not like the system is broken.
A third idea is that you have items, ontop of the base AC, never go above a certain threshold. So if you have 16 Base AC and and 3 AC from armour (19 total AC), you could set the limit to 18 no matter what.
Eden 'Overdose' Stone
2026-06-18 14:41
My recommendation was there previously where I think there should be a mechanic where every time you miss, you get a stacking chance to hit until you actually do hit, that and AC should be capped at 20 for example.
This way, even if someone has 20AC, a +5 hit would normally have a 25% chance to hit. If they miss a few times, they'll eventually hit it.
Could also lend to a strategy where you use several attacks that are lower hit to wind up a higher hit chance, which might sound cheesy but could be a strategy itself.
This way, even if someone has 20AC, a +5 hit would normally have a 25% chance to hit. If they miss a few times, they'll eventually hit it.
Could also lend to a strategy where you use several attacks that are lower hit to wind up a higher hit chance, which might sound cheesy but could be a strategy itself.
Wrecksler
2026-06-18 15:15
Hm. I still think that there's something about the possibility of AC going above 20. Because you can STILL reach that, but it requires you bumping your hit chance and rolling high. But... that should not be something a LVL 16 character can easily reach. It should be reserved for higher level characters who also invested into some expensive gear.
Maybe armor that increases your AC should be limited to only +1 for user-created items. So you can only get +3 AC total from armor. So if we cap the AC at 14, that means max AC you can reach is 17. With a move that gives you +1 AC it's 18. And we stop there. No move can give you more than +1 AC, and no armor.
However we could have some legendary items, maybe dropped from some legendary bosses, or costing like thousands of Chits that could give you +2 AC. But no user can create it. So they would be rare and scarce. And actually valuable.
---
About the second mechanic. I am working on something like that for PvE matches. To make a few onboarding fights easier, and then adjusting 'difficulty' in following matches dynamically. A way to smoothly load the hit dice, not a hard cap (random weighted distribution adjustment instead of a hard cap). So if you keep wiping the floor with an NPC - next time it might bite harder :D Or if you keep losing - then you'll get a higher chance to win next time.
This will work between fights though, and only on PvE. We could add something like that into the inside of PvP matches... But I'm not sure if it's fair. Although... knowing game design - it's often that true random may feel less fair than weighted one, if done right.
Maybe armor that increases your AC should be limited to only +1 for user-created items. So you can only get +3 AC total from armor. So if we cap the AC at 14, that means max AC you can reach is 17. With a move that gives you +1 AC it's 18. And we stop there. No move can give you more than +1 AC, and no armor.
However we could have some legendary items, maybe dropped from some legendary bosses, or costing like thousands of Chits that could give you +2 AC. But no user can create it. So they would be rare and scarce. And actually valuable.
---
About the second mechanic. I am working on something like that for PvE matches. To make a few onboarding fights easier, and then adjusting 'difficulty' in following matches dynamically. A way to smoothly load the hit dice, not a hard cap (random weighted distribution adjustment instead of a hard cap). So if you keep wiping the floor with an NPC - next time it might bite harder :D Or if you keep losing - then you'll get a higher chance to win next time.
This will work between fights though, and only on PvE. We could add something like that into the inside of PvP matches... But I'm not sure if it's fair. Although... knowing game design - it's often that true random may feel less fair than weighted one, if done right.
Wrecksler
2026-06-18 17:38
Ok, after thinking, here's what I think I will settle on for now:
- AC starts with 8 and is capped at 14. That's maximum you can gain with level ups.
- Items can be +1 to AC max. With 3 items max it's 17 AC
- Move status effects can bump AC by +1 or +2, but also with a global stacking cap of +2.
The above brings the theoretical maximum to AC 19.
- Planning to add special legendary items, that only admin can make (expensive in store, or NPC dropped) that should be scarce, that can have +2 AC. With 3 such items the theoretical max is AC 21.
On top of that I'll add Status Effects to moves that affect Hit Chance. 2 versions:
- One that can add or subtract from your hit roll (like 1d20 + 1)
- One that messes with the dice roll distribution, increasing the likelihood of rolling higher or lower (smooth randomness distribution weighting, not hard caps)
And then we'll see if that's sufficient.
- AC starts with 8 and is capped at 14. That's maximum you can gain with level ups.
- Items can be +1 to AC max. With 3 items max it's 17 AC
- Move status effects can bump AC by +1 or +2, but also with a global stacking cap of +2.
The above brings the theoretical maximum to AC 19.
- Planning to add special legendary items, that only admin can make (expensive in store, or NPC dropped) that should be scarce, that can have +2 AC. With 3 such items the theoretical max is AC 21.
On top of that I'll add Status Effects to moves that affect Hit Chance. 2 versions:
- One that can add or subtract from your hit roll (like 1d20 + 1)
- One that messes with the dice roll distribution, increasing the likelihood of rolling higher or lower (smooth randomness distribution weighting, not hard caps)
And then we'll see if that's sufficient.
Wrecksler
2026-06-18 18:38
Added, please test how it works.
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