We are on our 24th session of a Castles&Crusades game set in Greyhawk, and it's been great so far: super easy system to use on my end as a GM, and more challenging--in a good way--for my players. The magic system is stable (I'm looking at you, Dungeon Crawl Classics!) and the characters are not overpowered in the least (that's right, 5e!) which has required the lads to be a bit more strategic and cautious. All in all, we are rolling right along.
At the end of our game last night, Ed mentioned that he didn't love the Siege Engine mechanic because it seems like you have to roll really high to so something simple. For example, Ed's dwarf was trying to jump from a boat to the shore. The dwarf was fully armored, it was pouring rain, so I said we'd make Dexterity check to see if he could do it. Seemed reasonable. In order for the dwarf to do this successfully, he had to roll above an 18 or above since Dexterity was not a primary attribute. Because he had help--his companions were with him, giving him a shove/hanging to to him in cased he slipped, I didn't add a CL to it. Nor, as it turns out, did we remember to add the dwarf's level to his roll, which is a part of the mechanic.
Ed--who is one of my best friends, who is deeply committed to gaming, and who is a hideous rules lawyer--pointed out that he didn't love this part of the game, and upon reflection, I think I agree. The Siege Engine was created in the very early 2000s, and has remained a constant over the past decades as a core part of C&C. It is mathy, with primary, secondary (optional tertiary) rolls that require applying a CL, adding levels and modifiers, then beating a target number. It's not that it doesn't work; it's more that it isn't as good as the D&D difficulty class system. In D&D, the game master states a DC, and characters use whichever attribute is appropriate to roll above. The only thing you add is your attribute modifier (and your proficiency bonus, but that's not in C&C). Same with saving throws, which may have class or racial bonuses that are applied to saves: roll a d20, add mods, beat the target. Easy. [C&C has 13 different saving throws. No gracias!]
I don't think that would break the game, but is it solving a real issue? Kind of. I like rules-lite, mechanics-in-the-background systems, so simplifying this game even further is appealing. My fear is that there would be a downstream issues that I am not anticipating. For example, without primary and secondary target numbers, would it somehow make saving throws (which I hate) janky? I need to noodle this more.
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