# OD&D HD and HP Replacement Rules Inspired by Boot Hill

Warning THIS IS AN UNTESTED IDEA! It might be bad. It seems fine.
## Purpose of this weird rule

Make taking a hit a bit scarier and simpler to reduce willingness to enter fair combat + speed up combat.
## Notes

Inspired by the [Boot Hill and the Fear of Dice](https://www.chocolatehammer.org/?p=5773 "Boot Hill and the Fear of Dice (https://www.chocolatehammer.org/?p=5773)") blog post and also a bit by [Violence](https://lukegearing.blot.im/violence). I don't know if this is a good idea. Seems fun. Maybe I'll try it. Someone told me this was similar to Chainmail, so I had a look and made some adjustments. Now it's a bit closer to Chainmail.
## HD and HP Replacement Rules

Don't roll HD. Every HD is now worth 1 HP.

To attack an enemy, roll 1d6. If you have **+1 to-hit**, roll 1d8. If you have **+2 to hit**, roll 1d10.

| Dice | Hits AC equal to |
| ---- | ---------------- |
| 2    | Unarmored -1     |
| 3    | Unarmored        |
| 4    | Leather          |
| 5    | Chain            |
| 6    | Plate            |
| 7    | Plate+1          |
| 8    | Plate+2          |
| 9    | Plate+2          |
| 10   | Plate+3          |

A hit removes 1 HP from the victim. 

Optional rule (which will be the default if porting this system to B/X):
Fighters gain an attack dice at levels 4, 7, 10, and 13.

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## Probabilities
### Chance of a low-level character hitting a giant snake
- OD&D: 14-in-20. This is a 35% chance.
- my system: 5-in-6. 33% chance to hit each turn.
### Hits needed to kill a giant snake
- OD&D: It has 6-36hp. If it has 6 hp, it will die in about 2 hits. If it has 36hp, it will die in about 12 hits. On average, it will have 21 hp and die in 7 hits.
- My system: it will die in 6 hits (when rolling the default d6 to attack). No variation.
### Result: 
- A Giant snake that begins with full HP in OD&D will die twice as fast in my system. 
- If it starts with average HP (21HP) it will take one more hit to kill on average in OD&D than in my system. 
- If it starts with minimum HP (6hp), it will die much sooner in OD&D than in my system.
### Pros
On average, the giant snake needs 1 fewer hits to die. A 1 hd enemy always requires 1 hit to die in my system. In OD&D, most 1hd enemies will die in 1 hit, but some won't.
### Cons
This removes the chance of a 1HD PC surviving an attack and getting their act together. Am I removing tension, release, and excitement? Am I removing at least some of the _perceived_ uncertainty in an encounter with 1 HD monsters?
## Conclusions
This only slightly accomplishing my goal of speeding up combat and making fair combat more risky. Am I close? How can we improve this? 
TALK TO ME.