Strike Points
I've been thinking about games that focus on combat, particularly modern trad games in the D&D tradition, and how it can often be frustrating to roll poorly and as a result not do anything. Other games have solved this problem in a variety of ways, from mixed successes or degrees of success on the PbTA end of things to powers that Just Work in 4e and its descendants. I'm a particular fan of 13th Age's Escalation Die for speeding up combat. In A Dungeon Game I solved this with Exertion, which allows you to convert failures into successes at the cost of reducing your stats temporarily.
In trying to figure out how to "solve" this problem for 5e and similar games (PF2, etc), one of my considerations is that players expect to feel their power increasing with each level. Things like Escalation Dice work perfectly and could be easily tacked on to those games, but it feels like a 'metagame' thing rather than something tied to your character. Those games are also largely about resource management, so I want it to be a resource rather than a thing that's always on. This means that there will still be plenty of moments where you roll and miss and that's it, but it also means that at important moments - whether that's a climactic battle or just when you've had a run of bad luck and really need to hit something so you don't feel useless - you get to make the decision to win this time.
Here's what I've got.
Strike Points
You have a pool of Strike Points equal to your level +1. You may spend a Strike Point to gain a +1 bonus to a failed attack roll, skill check, or saving throw. Expended points are recovered after completing a long rest.
Some variants that could be fun to play with:
• Rather than a point for a +1, you have Strike Dice. Spend a point, roll your die, add it to your original roll. The die used could be the same for everyone, could be based on hit dice/class, or be dictated by level. Alternatively only one class has the ability to use dice while everyone else has points, in the same way that DCC allows anyone to burn Luck but lets thieves roll a d3 for each point burned rather than spending them on a 1:1 basis. • Get rid of bonuses and simply say that a point turns a failure into a success, and a success into a critical success. • Class features tied to spending Strike Points. Every time the thief spends Strike to hit they also crit; every time the warrior Strikes they make a free second attack; every time the wizard Strikes they also recover a spent spell slot, or whatever.