Update Part 1 - Dungeon23, Rules Changes, and Something Special

Hi folks,

As you can tell by the lack of posts, life has been crazy lately. I moved States, changed jobs, and even got engaged. While I haven't been posting anything Dungeon23 related, I have continued to work on the project in my spare time. I'm still a little behind, but my goal for now is to try and post each month as a bulk post before the end of the year.

Additionally, Dungeon will be seeing a bunch of rules changes based on playtesting.

• First, the d20 Skill System will be replaced with a simple d6-roll-under Skill System. Details for this have been added to the Core Rules, and the Character Sheet has been changed to reflect this. As part of this change, Classes no longer earn Skill Points each Level, earning Skill Pips instead. This also removes the need for DCs, which will eventually be removed from Mountain of the Frost Baron.
• Why; This change has been made to simplify the job of the GM while also empowering players to know their chances of success. In true OSR fashion, there is no real need for DCs if the task is impossible. Therefore, why not just remove DCs?
• Second, all Classes / Subclasses have had certain 5th and 9th Level abilities reworded. Details for this have been added to each respective Class / Subclass.
• Why; This change has been made because what I had originally written and what I had intended were different. I had written the abilities in a 5e "Extra Attack" style, but in hindsight I have no idea why I did this. My intention was always to allow for more fluid combat by making such "Extra Attacks" Free Actions, freeing up player Actions for more creative options. This change will likely have a massive impact if you have been interpreting the rules 5e style, and so I apologize. The good news is that the new interpretation of the rules should be more fun and more balanced, allowing for all Subclasses to feel viable.
• Third, Combat Extras have been rebranded as Maneuvers. Details for this have been added to the Core Rules. Mechanically, nothing has changed. The main changes have just been to formatting.
• Why; The Combat Extras section has just always felt a bit messy, so I have separated most of it into Maneuvers and some other mechanics, such as Critical Hits and Death Saves, into separate rules.
• Fourth, Short Rests, Long Rests, and Rations have been tweaked, lowering the Healing they provide. Details for this have been added to both the Core Rules and the Standard Items List. 
• Why; This change has been made because Healing was more prevalent that expected. True OSR-style Healing is still weaker, but I decided to split the middle between that and what Dungeon! previously had.
• Fifth, the values of certain Henchman and Hirelings have been modified. Details for this have been added to the Henchman and Hirelings rules.
• Why; This change has been made to prevent Henchman from overshadowing player characters and increase the competency of certain Hirelings.
• Sixth, some new Spell have been added and some old Spells have been buffed. Details for this have been added to the Core Spell List. The most notable changes are to Bane, Bless, Color Spray, and Heroism.
• Why; New Spells are fun! Also, the buffed Spells were all a bit weak compared to the others.
• Finally, the AB and AC caps for monsters have each been increased by 5. Details for this have been added to the Core Rules and the relevant Monsters.
• Why; As my test campaign has progressed, I have discovered that Magic Items have more of an impact than expected. I suppose I should have known better, but shoulda-coulda-woulda.

On the bright side, I have something currently in the works I am excited to announce! I will post an Update Part 2 once I have more details but stay tuned until then!

- Bob