SATOR
2011-08-23, 03:25 PM
Basic Concepts: i like D&Desque dungeon delving and high fantasy crazyness as much as anyone here, but i feel D&D in its many iterations it's actually a bad mechanical fit for the kind of settings it tries to recreate, for various reasons. Basically this thread is born from the differences in feeling and setting between your typical fantasy novel and how d&d is actually played. From the Fluff and the Cruch if you will.
Examples:
*magic in the fluff is universally show as a dangerous if powerfull force, rare and extraordinary in it's own right no matter of high magic the setting is.
In game in all previous editions of D&D, the power curve is so it's often necessary to actually explain why middle to high level casters don't rule the world and foster a magical industrial revolution. Some setting embraced just this, and it's fine,but not my cup of tea. Other settings try to play dumb to the problem and it's sad. So i want a magic that is powerfull yet misteryous and born out continous sacrifice and neverending struggle of the human mind against the very forces of nature to make even the humblest result possible. Just like in most novels.
*Non-Casters are outmatched by raw magic power but can offsett caster's advantage in a fight using wits and pragmatic, concrete solutions.
In D&D utility magic is so ready to use you don't stand a chance anyway if the caster is ready for you. If he isn't for one reason or the other you curbstomp him. Anticlimatic.
*The kind of thing i imagine when thinking "powerfull adventurer" (and for what matters, what most fluff suggests) is a weary veteran, a travelled man of the world with many experiences and skills he picked up one way or another in his travels. The kind of man that has seen it all and punched evil in the face so hard he barelly changes facial expression when faced by insurmontable odds. He then proceeds to surmount the hell out of them by wits, experience, instinct, skills and eventually magic. What do i get from an high level character in d&d?
either a minmaxed one trick pony that never learned anything outside it's field of specialization despite having traveled the saved the world on multiple occasions, or a lonely (as in, the only one in his group) skill monkey-balanced character that made a point for similar reasons to learn ALL the kind of things his travelling companions didn't bother to, aiming to patch the group together into a working whole.
Also, what i've got is basically a quasi-exalted: it surpasses the tipical soldier-expert-court counselor magician by orders of magnitude in raw power and can take on his own on the kind of things that ravage countries and leave strong men babbling on the ground, all out of sanity points.
Now, an experienced adventurer should indeed try to take on things like this, the point is it's not climathic if he does so with raw power and direct actions: he should be doing so with skills and wits.
You go dragon hunting? cool and fine. D&D goes dragon hunting like any other encounter: characters get on position and engage a direct fight. May the side with more HPs triumph! IMHO it's way funnier if people go dragon hunting in a situation in wich direct phisical confrontation with an healthy and ready dragon is a death sentence, no matter who the hell you are. You might have to lure it out of it's cave and then softem him up with a couple ballista shots while it's on the open, try to block it on the ground with webs and chains, immobilize it so that the fatal blow can be delivered. The way you would level the odds if you were a lower level character into a fight intended for an high livel character.
So basically: i want to keep the character's power level down to encourage an higher creativity level.
E6 (that is basically a variant of D&D 3.5 with only 6 levels, you know it well here i suppose) is a step on the right direction but then characters suffers for lack of personalization.
D&D4 flattens many options (magic is a power source like any other etc) and while i like it, it's decidedly not what i want even when limiting characters to the Heroic levels.
So i started working on this homebrew. It's just a variant on d&d 3.5, but it's a very heavy variant designed to encourage another style of play.
THE BASICS of what changes.
Character Progression: There are 6 FULL LEVELS and 16 half and semi levels on the character progression table, as follows.
LEVEL 0: Apprentice, Half Level: if you start like this you get half your maximum starting HD+ con bonus for HP for starters and half Skill Points with a max rank of 2. (example: mickey mouse as a sorcerer apprentice, young arthur in the sword in the stone from disney)
LEVEL 1: Journeyman, Full Level: you get your firts HD at max, full Skill Points etc. You're pretty much a normal person except for your probably above averange stats. You also get your starting feat. (example: mr anyone)
LV2: Semi-Level
LV3: Semi-Level
LV4: Semi-Level
LEVEL 5: Experienced,Full Level. you get an HD and new skill points and max rank increases (a soldier who has seen action, a wise professor, a good professionist)
LV6: Semi-Level
LV7: Semi-Level
LV8: Semi-Level
LEVEL 9: Veteran, Full Level. (an army officer)
LV10: Semi-Level
LV11: Semi-Level
LV12: Semi-Level
LEVEL 13: Hero, Full Level (conan)
LV14: Semi-Level
LV15: Semi-Level
LV16: Semi-Level
LEVEL 17: Legend, Full Level (Napoleon)
LV18: Semi-Level
LV19: Semi-Level
LV20: Semi-Level
LEVEL 21: Superhuman, Full Level (Gilgamesh)
and so on if you're into epic progressions. XPs thresolds to rise level are the same as standard D&D 3.5.
Basically, only in Full levels you get a new HD, new skill points, higher max ranks etc.
In semi levels you still get class abilityes, but you get none of this. What you also get for free irregardless of your class are Personalization Points
(PPs).
You get 5 of them per semi-level, you can spend them as your level grows or hoard them for later. With them you may buy many things.
3PP: 3 skill points (max skill rank is still determined by the FULL levels as standard procedure, so at level 21 total you can have a maximum of 9 ranks per skill)
3PP: 3 bonus HP (only buyable in groups of three)
6PP: a Feat
Other things can also be bought, like the possibility to find an awesome magical weapon and so on, but you get the idea.
ON CLASSES AND CHARACTERS AND MAGIC. Here i'll show just the basic outlines, more datails later.
This homebrew uses the variant that comprises only 3 basic classes: Warrior, Expert and Initiate.
Warriors get 1 good save, all three are eligible. 4+int skill points for full level and choose up to 10 class skills at character creation that don't comprise magic skills (see later). They also get full BAB for full level. they get class abilityes based on their fighting style, not unlike rangers but better. They can freely learn more than one fighting style (full details with the class outiline).
The Expert gets either 1 good save (all three eligible) and 10+int skill points per level or 2 good saves and 6+int (chosen class skills are still 16 at character creation, again no magic skill can be chosen as a class skill). They get 3/4 BAB and d6 HD. They can decide to choose less class skills at character creation: if they do so for each class skill sacrificed one class skill can be raised up to one rank above normal full-level maximum
(ie: i want to play an weaponsmith, i suppose i don't need 16 class skills, i decide for 10 and for each class skill sacrificed Craft can get 1 rank above normal level maximum, so at level 21 i could have 15 ranks on it instead of 9! if i so choose i could divide said bonus among
as many skills as i feel i need among my class skills). The expert gets class abilityes based on doing his work, whatever it may be, quickly and efficiently.
The Initiate gets Will as a good save, D4 HD and 2+int skill points per full level. It gets 8 class skills to choose at character creations and is the only class that can choose magic skills as class skills. It gets 1/2 bab for full level and class abilityes based on casting and on the magic school it came from/his casting style.
Multiclass among these classes is impossible: you can freely multiclass into prestige classes but i feel they're a little obsolete now.
Magic Skills: Basically Alchemy (int), Conjuration (int), Divination (wis), Invocation (wis), Glamour (cha) and Manipulation (cha).
Spells are uses for these skills, they must be learned with a learning roll on the skill (higher dcs for more powerfull spells) and used rolling on the skills (so there's also an activation dc: this subsides the concentration skill: being menaced while casting just rises said dc).
Experts and Warriors CAN learn these skills but only as cross class: this allows for versatility while keeping class niches true and thus classes still usable. There are also advanced lores of magic you need certain ranks in these basic magic skills and a feat to learn, like necromancy, blood magic, elemental mastery and so on.
Every encounter a caster, regardless of class can cast N spells freely: N= Full Levels+ Mental ability score bonus chosen by the player at character creation.
Casting more spells per encounter than that is to "Surpass the Thresold" and requires a Fortitude saving throw for each additional spell
with DC= 5+3 per additional spell. Failing the saving throw the first time fatigues the caster, making it act as if he had 0 hp left (only single standard action etc) Failing it twice makes it faint (but he can be woken by his companions) failing it thrice or more times inflict 1 permanent point of constitution damage for each time. Such is the price of magic, and it's danger.
Next: the Warrior, and then the other classes in detail.
Examples:
*magic in the fluff is universally show as a dangerous if powerfull force, rare and extraordinary in it's own right no matter of high magic the setting is.
In game in all previous editions of D&D, the power curve is so it's often necessary to actually explain why middle to high level casters don't rule the world and foster a magical industrial revolution. Some setting embraced just this, and it's fine,but not my cup of tea. Other settings try to play dumb to the problem and it's sad. So i want a magic that is powerfull yet misteryous and born out continous sacrifice and neverending struggle of the human mind against the very forces of nature to make even the humblest result possible. Just like in most novels.
*Non-Casters are outmatched by raw magic power but can offsett caster's advantage in a fight using wits and pragmatic, concrete solutions.
In D&D utility magic is so ready to use you don't stand a chance anyway if the caster is ready for you. If he isn't for one reason or the other you curbstomp him. Anticlimatic.
*The kind of thing i imagine when thinking "powerfull adventurer" (and for what matters, what most fluff suggests) is a weary veteran, a travelled man of the world with many experiences and skills he picked up one way or another in his travels. The kind of man that has seen it all and punched evil in the face so hard he barelly changes facial expression when faced by insurmontable odds. He then proceeds to surmount the hell out of them by wits, experience, instinct, skills and eventually magic. What do i get from an high level character in d&d?
either a minmaxed one trick pony that never learned anything outside it's field of specialization despite having traveled the saved the world on multiple occasions, or a lonely (as in, the only one in his group) skill monkey-balanced character that made a point for similar reasons to learn ALL the kind of things his travelling companions didn't bother to, aiming to patch the group together into a working whole.
Also, what i've got is basically a quasi-exalted: it surpasses the tipical soldier-expert-court counselor magician by orders of magnitude in raw power and can take on his own on the kind of things that ravage countries and leave strong men babbling on the ground, all out of sanity points.
Now, an experienced adventurer should indeed try to take on things like this, the point is it's not climathic if he does so with raw power and direct actions: he should be doing so with skills and wits.
You go dragon hunting? cool and fine. D&D goes dragon hunting like any other encounter: characters get on position and engage a direct fight. May the side with more HPs triumph! IMHO it's way funnier if people go dragon hunting in a situation in wich direct phisical confrontation with an healthy and ready dragon is a death sentence, no matter who the hell you are. You might have to lure it out of it's cave and then softem him up with a couple ballista shots while it's on the open, try to block it on the ground with webs and chains, immobilize it so that the fatal blow can be delivered. The way you would level the odds if you were a lower level character into a fight intended for an high livel character.
So basically: i want to keep the character's power level down to encourage an higher creativity level.
E6 (that is basically a variant of D&D 3.5 with only 6 levels, you know it well here i suppose) is a step on the right direction but then characters suffers for lack of personalization.
D&D4 flattens many options (magic is a power source like any other etc) and while i like it, it's decidedly not what i want even when limiting characters to the Heroic levels.
So i started working on this homebrew. It's just a variant on d&d 3.5, but it's a very heavy variant designed to encourage another style of play.
THE BASICS of what changes.
Character Progression: There are 6 FULL LEVELS and 16 half and semi levels on the character progression table, as follows.
LEVEL 0: Apprentice, Half Level: if you start like this you get half your maximum starting HD+ con bonus for HP for starters and half Skill Points with a max rank of 2. (example: mickey mouse as a sorcerer apprentice, young arthur in the sword in the stone from disney)
LEVEL 1: Journeyman, Full Level: you get your firts HD at max, full Skill Points etc. You're pretty much a normal person except for your probably above averange stats. You also get your starting feat. (example: mr anyone)
LV2: Semi-Level
LV3: Semi-Level
LV4: Semi-Level
LEVEL 5: Experienced,Full Level. you get an HD and new skill points and max rank increases (a soldier who has seen action, a wise professor, a good professionist)
LV6: Semi-Level
LV7: Semi-Level
LV8: Semi-Level
LEVEL 9: Veteran, Full Level. (an army officer)
LV10: Semi-Level
LV11: Semi-Level
LV12: Semi-Level
LEVEL 13: Hero, Full Level (conan)
LV14: Semi-Level
LV15: Semi-Level
LV16: Semi-Level
LEVEL 17: Legend, Full Level (Napoleon)
LV18: Semi-Level
LV19: Semi-Level
LV20: Semi-Level
LEVEL 21: Superhuman, Full Level (Gilgamesh)
and so on if you're into epic progressions. XPs thresolds to rise level are the same as standard D&D 3.5.
Basically, only in Full levels you get a new HD, new skill points, higher max ranks etc.
In semi levels you still get class abilityes, but you get none of this. What you also get for free irregardless of your class are Personalization Points
(PPs).
You get 5 of them per semi-level, you can spend them as your level grows or hoard them for later. With them you may buy many things.
3PP: 3 skill points (max skill rank is still determined by the FULL levels as standard procedure, so at level 21 total you can have a maximum of 9 ranks per skill)
3PP: 3 bonus HP (only buyable in groups of three)
6PP: a Feat
Other things can also be bought, like the possibility to find an awesome magical weapon and so on, but you get the idea.
ON CLASSES AND CHARACTERS AND MAGIC. Here i'll show just the basic outlines, more datails later.
This homebrew uses the variant that comprises only 3 basic classes: Warrior, Expert and Initiate.
Warriors get 1 good save, all three are eligible. 4+int skill points for full level and choose up to 10 class skills at character creation that don't comprise magic skills (see later). They also get full BAB for full level. they get class abilityes based on their fighting style, not unlike rangers but better. They can freely learn more than one fighting style (full details with the class outiline).
The Expert gets either 1 good save (all three eligible) and 10+int skill points per level or 2 good saves and 6+int (chosen class skills are still 16 at character creation, again no magic skill can be chosen as a class skill). They get 3/4 BAB and d6 HD. They can decide to choose less class skills at character creation: if they do so for each class skill sacrificed one class skill can be raised up to one rank above normal full-level maximum
(ie: i want to play an weaponsmith, i suppose i don't need 16 class skills, i decide for 10 and for each class skill sacrificed Craft can get 1 rank above normal level maximum, so at level 21 i could have 15 ranks on it instead of 9! if i so choose i could divide said bonus among
as many skills as i feel i need among my class skills). The expert gets class abilityes based on doing his work, whatever it may be, quickly and efficiently.
The Initiate gets Will as a good save, D4 HD and 2+int skill points per full level. It gets 8 class skills to choose at character creations and is the only class that can choose magic skills as class skills. It gets 1/2 bab for full level and class abilityes based on casting and on the magic school it came from/his casting style.
Multiclass among these classes is impossible: you can freely multiclass into prestige classes but i feel they're a little obsolete now.
Magic Skills: Basically Alchemy (int), Conjuration (int), Divination (wis), Invocation (wis), Glamour (cha) and Manipulation (cha).
Spells are uses for these skills, they must be learned with a learning roll on the skill (higher dcs for more powerfull spells) and used rolling on the skills (so there's also an activation dc: this subsides the concentration skill: being menaced while casting just rises said dc).
Experts and Warriors CAN learn these skills but only as cross class: this allows for versatility while keeping class niches true and thus classes still usable. There are also advanced lores of magic you need certain ranks in these basic magic skills and a feat to learn, like necromancy, blood magic, elemental mastery and so on.
Every encounter a caster, regardless of class can cast N spells freely: N= Full Levels+ Mental ability score bonus chosen by the player at character creation.
Casting more spells per encounter than that is to "Surpass the Thresold" and requires a Fortitude saving throw for each additional spell
with DC= 5+3 per additional spell. Failing the saving throw the first time fatigues the caster, making it act as if he had 0 hp left (only single standard action etc) Failing it twice makes it faint (but he can be woken by his companions) failing it thrice or more times inflict 1 permanent point of constitution damage for each time. Such is the price of magic, and it's danger.
Next: the Warrior, and then the other classes in detail.