WorkingStiff Diogenes
1 hour ago
Two thoughts:
We used to have a home-brew that replaced d20 with a d12 and d8. You totaled them to get your score, but also the d12 determined hit location (12 was head, 6 was right arm, etc.) The d8 determined effects as well as points of damage. For example an 8 was severed. So a roll of 12+8 was 20 points but also a total decapitation--a guaranteed kill.
My current home-brew uses 2d6 vs. target number. There is no roll for damage--the losing side takes the difference in damage. That makes a less swingy system better. Also, 2d6 has a visceral quality--snake eyes just feel terrible and double sixes feel victorious. Advantage for the DM is that in a 2d6 system, a score of 7 is the mean, the median and the mode--very "stable." So to create a suitably-powered enemy, the GM just takes the PC's bonuses and adds 7; that's the target number of the monster.