Montante Hack - Hit Dice are definitely rolled.
A while ago I read the post Hit Dice are meant to be rolled in his Knock! version and got my head running.
Since then I wanted to set up a ruleset with that idea. Of course, it is not the first one (and it won't be the last one) but at the time I got a bunch of nice thoughts about Black Sword Hack and some other systems that I liked (like Mythras). I also believed it could be a good thing.
So, I started writing it and I'll tell you what folks: writing is hard. I pushed through it and I got a bunch of names for this ruleset: Bald Hack, Generic Old School Game, Frank-Einstein Hack. Since I am writing it in spanish, learning Verdadera Destreza and studying the blade I settled on Montante.
At the time I have a functional set of rules for combat + Magic and Equipment. I have to say that it is quite nice but needs a lot of testing. I am posting here a summarized version of what I got.
Atacking, Defending and Wounds
In combat, players roll to hit, defend or to do some action. The Warden only rolls to hit.
Every character has a Hit Dice (HD) and 3 Wounds. The third one is a critical wound. Weapons attacks to hit are rolled with dices ranging from d6 to d10, based on their size.
Each initiative round all the players deciding on attacking a single enemy roll and add their dice up. This is a To Hit roll.
When a character is attacked, the player can spend as many HD as they desire, as long as they still have enough HD. The Defense Value is the result of rolling and adding the dice + the Armor Value (from armor and shields).
When a monster or NPC is attacked, they use as many HD as the number of dices rolled for the attack. For a generic monster (which would have HD d8 in OSR games), each of the used HD applies a +4 to the defense.
E.g. A dragon using 3 HD to defend itself against the attacks of three adventurers would end up having a Defense Value of 12, +4 four for each of the 3 HD used.
If the to Hit roll is equal or higher than the Defense Value, the enemy is wounded and marks a Wound. Based on the difference between defense and attack, this Wound has an effect (painful, bleeding, extra wound, death) or the attacker decides to make a maneuver (pushing, moving, impaling, breaking armor, etc.).
If the third wound is marked (or no HD left), the defender is badly wounded, they fall to the ground and can only talk feebly. Roll in the Critical Wound table, d6
1 - KO: A hit that knocks out. Luckily, nothing else.
2 - Strong blow: Mark an additional Wound if possible and one of your items is broken.
3 - Dazzled: Disadvantage in mental saves until you rest, safely.
4 - Numb: Disadvantage in physical saves until you rest, safely.
5 - Mutilated: You lose... (roll d6) 1-2: an eye, 3-4: an arm, 5-6: a leg.
6 - Dead: Your time has run out.
In addition to this, I also added a system with an "Effort Die" for the player characters, akin to the Doom Die in Black Sword Hack. In fact, these rules are quite a merger of different blog posts and rulesets.
Anyway, hope it sounds interesting, if anything!
References and used ideas
Shields Shall Be Splintered - Blog Post
Hit Dice are meant to be rolled - Blog Post
Doom die - Black Sword Hack Rule
Maneuvers/Combat Effects - Mythras, Black Sword Hack