'Fixing' d20 Call of Cthulhu

Okay, I now have a solution to the 'ninja grandmother' problem found in Call of Cthulhu d20. As with all my other suggestions, this isn't original - it's nicked wholesale from Babylon 5.

Firstly, change the number of hit points characters receive. Instead of 1d6 + Con bonus at each level, give them 1d6+4 at 1st level, plus one for each additonal level. Constitution no longer provides a hit point bonus, but instead affects a wounded character's chance of stabilisation.

Secondly, replace AC with Defence Value (DV). This works exactly as does AC, but is calculated as:

DV = 10 + Reflex save modifier

So, a character with a +3 base Reflex save, and 14 Dexterity will have a total Reflex save of +5, and a DV of 15.

Thirdly, change armour so it no longer gives an AC bonus, but rather damage reduction. The DR value is equal to the normal AC adjustment divided by 3 (rounded down). This makes armour rather bland in the game, but given that it's not a focus of the game, this doesn't seem to be a huge problem. (Technically, the armours should also give Energy Resistances to the same amount, against all applicable forms of damage.)

And there it is.

Now, let's consider Ethel, our poster-gran for the new millennium. She's a 70-year old defensive hero, built with the standard array. In the previous example, she was able to effortlessly beat the crap out of 6 burly young security guards (1st level offensive hero).

Now, let's assume she has used the standard array of scores, and assigned S8, D10, C12, I14, W15, Ch13. Applying the adjustments for age (Old), we get S5, D7, C9, I16, W17, Ch15. We'll assume also that her two good saves are Fortitude and Will (since I have an easier time picturing a granny who's tough as old boots than one who can catch a fly with chopsticks). At 8th level, then, her base saves are F+6, R+2, W+6, which adjust to F+5, R+0, W+9 (she'd be R+4 if Reflex was a good save). Her DV is therefore 10+0 (or 10+4). Her BAB is +2, which modifies to -1 melee and +0 ranged. Finally, let's assume a hit die roll of 4 at 1st level, giving Ethel 4+4+7 = 15 hit points.

The burly guards have 10 in every stat, a poor Reflex save, and BAB +1. They have 7 hit points on average. Also, they're armed with clubs, doing 1d6 damage. DV is 10.

Let's give Ethel the benefit of the doubt, and assume she wins initiative (doubtful - they have better Dex than she does). She has a 50% chance of hitting one with her cane, for a whopping 1d4-2 damage (I have no idea what cane damage is). This most likely fails to knock out one of the guards. They then return the favour.

Each guard has a 60% chance of hitting (need to roll a 9 on d20. This would be 40% if Ethel had good Ref save). On average, they do 3.5 damage. So, Ethel takes an average of 2.1 damage from each guard, or an average of 12.6 damage per round.

The net result of this is that it takes the guards 12 seconds to subdue Ethel, who is unlikely to take down even one of them. This is still not ideal (Ethel could probably beat up 2 or 3 guards, which isn't right), but it's rather better than previously was the case. And we are dealing with a rather extreme example here.

I have one more thing to say: if you make these changes, it's important to check damages before using spells and similar powers. Any effect doing comparable damage to a Fireball will now be instantly fatal to any character in this game, which might not be what you want. So, these damages will need to be scaled down. That said, CoC doesn't have a lot of such effects, and it might be appropriate for many of the ones that it does have to be instantly fatal.

So, does this fix the ninja-granny objection to d20 Call of Cthulhu, and are there any other problems that need tackled?