Fudging the Rules
I've been thinking of a system that lets me as the GM keep an RPG very simple, but still lets the players have the freedom to enjoy the complexity of the rules. I'm thinking of D&D5 here, but it would hopefully apply to any RPG I happen to run. In a combat scene, I might have a big boss monster, a few mooks, and the environment itself. All these elements can move around, attack, get hurt, and potentially be killed or incapacitated. If I can simplify the management of all these elements then I think I can run a more interesting encounter. So first off, I wanted to have a single number that defines the 'difficulty' of the overall encounter, and any element of it. So in a class 6 encounter, the armour class of all the enemies is sixteen (base 10 + 6), the DC of any special abilities is fourteen (base 8 + 6), any attacks do six damage, and it takes six hits from the party to defeat the encounter. If an element of the encounter has to make a skill check, saving throw