lunar2
2011-11-03, 02:46 PM
so, I'm starting to make a campaign and setting, but i have limited resources (read: SRD, and that's about it). I want to basically build or modify everything for a more balanced game, with some of the concepts I like from other materials i used to have. some of the changes i plan on making are:
1. classes: I will be rebuilding the base classes around themes. I want 4 primary caster classes, and 4 primary warrior classes, each with their own themes.
casters:
A. clerics gain their power from the divine forces. their spell selection will be focused around buffs, debuffs, and healing, with sprinkling of direct damage spells (inflict line, harm, flamestrike, etc.).
B. druids gain their power from nature spirits. their spell selection will be focused around nature related spells, and terrain control.
C. Psions are, of course, psychic. they will be spellcasters, and will be focused around enchantments, divinations, illusions, and traditional psychic stuff, like telekinesis or force/sonic related spells.
D. Wizards gain their power from arcane study. Their spells revolve around planar manipulation, and include direct damage evocations, summoning/calling creatures, as well as planar travel (including teleportation).
warriors:
A. Fighters are masters of martial training. this class will be more or less the same as normal, but will get some extra bonus feats unique to it.
B. Barbarians have adapted to life in the wild. they use "primitive" weapons such as spears, slings, axes, and clubs, and excel with them. they are naturally tougher than others, gaining damage reduction and energy resistance.
C. Monks are spiritually enlightened. they are fast and deadly, requiring no tools to punish lesser men.
D. Rogues are skilled assassins and thieves. you won't know they're there until you feel their blade between your ribs.
2. instead of standard prestige classes, i want secondary classes that basically mix themes. for example, the paladin is a mix of martial (fighter) and divine (cleric), gaining slowed progression in features from both classes, as well as a couple of its own features. gaining a secondary class merely requires 2 or more levels in each of the base classes. in addition to magic/warrior mixes, there will also be magic/magic (mystic theurge is cleric/wizard), and warrior/warrior (ninja is rogue/monk).
3. the feats will need some balancing. I already know of some fixes, like combining toughness/improved toughness (gain 3 hitpoints, plus 1 hitpoint per hd) to make a feat actually worth taking, but i need ideas for reworking other feats.
4. casting will work differently.
A. casting spells is no longer guaranteed to work. to cast a spell, the caster needs to succeed on a caster check, dc = spell level x4.
B. spell slots are no longer exhausted when a spell is cast. when a caster prepares spells, the spell slots are merely used to determine which spells he can cast, but he can cast any of them any time he makes the caster check.
C. stress: any time a caster successfully casts a spell, add the level of the cast spell to the dc of subsequent castings. stress is reduced by 1 point for each 10 minutes of no strenuous activity (no movement faster than a walk, no combat, casting, or carrying medium/ heavy loads, etc.) and 1 point per 1 minute of rest
D. whatever level a metamagic feat is supposed to add to the spell level, instead add twice that number to the dc of the spell. example, quicken spell, a 4 level metamagic, increases the dc by 8 instead. metamagic feats do not require preparing ahead of time, and can be added at will. metamagic no longer increases the casting time.
E. Level 0 spells always succeed, no matter what the stress level or metamagic level may be. they also do not add stress.
F. temporary modifiers to ability scores do not affect spell slots. this includes enhancement bonuses and ability damage, but not inherent bonus or ability drain.
G. instead of having a random chance to stop the spell, armor adds 2 to the casting dc per 5% spell failure chance to any spell with a somatic component. this applies to all spell casters.
5. I want to add in a Vow system. similar in concept to the sacred vows in book of exalted deeds, but these vows do not take feats, are not alignment related (unless they are, such as maybe a Vow of Good), are for a set amount of time (up to and including "life") and can be gained by anyone. Vows are relatively common knowledge, so anyone who can make a DC 10 knowledge (nature (nature class only, i.e. druid), or the planes) will know of the existence of vows. a DC 15 check is required to know of any specific vow, and a DC 20 check is required to know how to actually go about taking a vow. to take a vow, a character needs at least 10gp worth of materials (1gp of silver dust to make a symbol on the ground that varies by vow, and the rest is an offering to the mediator, usually some cheap gem or food). they draw the symbol, and summon an extraplanar creature (or possibly a fey, if a druid is performing the ritual). this creature is the mediator, who will hear the vow, and relay it to whatever the appropriate source is. the character taking the vow (not necessarily the one actually performing the ritual, btw) then makes a short speech, that basically consists of "I, <insert name> will/won't do X for X amount of time, or until X happens, whichever comes first. I desire assistance to accomplish this" usually with more words. the mediator takes the offering as payment, and then disappears to relay the message. after 1 hour, the character that took the vow gains the associated benefit. if a character willingly and knowingly violates the terms of the vow, they lose the benefit during the violation, and for 1 hour after the violation ends, as well as taking 2 points of damage to all ability scores. all benefits from a vow are extraordinary, unless stated otherwise. so far, the only vow i have worked out is poverty:
Vow of Poverty.
A character that has taken this vow has agreed not to use magic items in exchange for the following benefits. all benefits are retroactive:
1. they gain a bonus to all attack rolls equal to 1 per 4 levels
2. they gain a bonus feat at 1st level, as well as at every 3rd level. these feats still require all prerequisites, and can't be used as prerequisites of feats not gained by this vow. example: you can't take mobility without already having dodge, but if you take dodge with this feature, it only allows mobility if you also take mobility with this feature.
3. they gain a bonus directly to AC at every 2nd level.
4. they gain a +2 bonus to any ability score at every 5th level.
this vow may seem weak, but remember that everything is untyped, so all buff spells, etc. still apply. also, there is no limit to what kinds of armor, weapons, etc. that can be used, as long as it's not magical.
that's all I have for now, and would appreciate any advice or contributions.
1. classes: I will be rebuilding the base classes around themes. I want 4 primary caster classes, and 4 primary warrior classes, each with their own themes.
casters:
A. clerics gain their power from the divine forces. their spell selection will be focused around buffs, debuffs, and healing, with sprinkling of direct damage spells (inflict line, harm, flamestrike, etc.).
B. druids gain their power from nature spirits. their spell selection will be focused around nature related spells, and terrain control.
C. Psions are, of course, psychic. they will be spellcasters, and will be focused around enchantments, divinations, illusions, and traditional psychic stuff, like telekinesis or force/sonic related spells.
D. Wizards gain their power from arcane study. Their spells revolve around planar manipulation, and include direct damage evocations, summoning/calling creatures, as well as planar travel (including teleportation).
warriors:
A. Fighters are masters of martial training. this class will be more or less the same as normal, but will get some extra bonus feats unique to it.
B. Barbarians have adapted to life in the wild. they use "primitive" weapons such as spears, slings, axes, and clubs, and excel with them. they are naturally tougher than others, gaining damage reduction and energy resistance.
C. Monks are spiritually enlightened. they are fast and deadly, requiring no tools to punish lesser men.
D. Rogues are skilled assassins and thieves. you won't know they're there until you feel their blade between your ribs.
2. instead of standard prestige classes, i want secondary classes that basically mix themes. for example, the paladin is a mix of martial (fighter) and divine (cleric), gaining slowed progression in features from both classes, as well as a couple of its own features. gaining a secondary class merely requires 2 or more levels in each of the base classes. in addition to magic/warrior mixes, there will also be magic/magic (mystic theurge is cleric/wizard), and warrior/warrior (ninja is rogue/monk).
3. the feats will need some balancing. I already know of some fixes, like combining toughness/improved toughness (gain 3 hitpoints, plus 1 hitpoint per hd) to make a feat actually worth taking, but i need ideas for reworking other feats.
4. casting will work differently.
A. casting spells is no longer guaranteed to work. to cast a spell, the caster needs to succeed on a caster check, dc = spell level x4.
B. spell slots are no longer exhausted when a spell is cast. when a caster prepares spells, the spell slots are merely used to determine which spells he can cast, but he can cast any of them any time he makes the caster check.
C. stress: any time a caster successfully casts a spell, add the level of the cast spell to the dc of subsequent castings. stress is reduced by 1 point for each 10 minutes of no strenuous activity (no movement faster than a walk, no combat, casting, or carrying medium/ heavy loads, etc.) and 1 point per 1 minute of rest
D. whatever level a metamagic feat is supposed to add to the spell level, instead add twice that number to the dc of the spell. example, quicken spell, a 4 level metamagic, increases the dc by 8 instead. metamagic feats do not require preparing ahead of time, and can be added at will. metamagic no longer increases the casting time.
E. Level 0 spells always succeed, no matter what the stress level or metamagic level may be. they also do not add stress.
F. temporary modifiers to ability scores do not affect spell slots. this includes enhancement bonuses and ability damage, but not inherent bonus or ability drain.
G. instead of having a random chance to stop the spell, armor adds 2 to the casting dc per 5% spell failure chance to any spell with a somatic component. this applies to all spell casters.
5. I want to add in a Vow system. similar in concept to the sacred vows in book of exalted deeds, but these vows do not take feats, are not alignment related (unless they are, such as maybe a Vow of Good), are for a set amount of time (up to and including "life") and can be gained by anyone. Vows are relatively common knowledge, so anyone who can make a DC 10 knowledge (nature (nature class only, i.e. druid), or the planes) will know of the existence of vows. a DC 15 check is required to know of any specific vow, and a DC 20 check is required to know how to actually go about taking a vow. to take a vow, a character needs at least 10gp worth of materials (1gp of silver dust to make a symbol on the ground that varies by vow, and the rest is an offering to the mediator, usually some cheap gem or food). they draw the symbol, and summon an extraplanar creature (or possibly a fey, if a druid is performing the ritual). this creature is the mediator, who will hear the vow, and relay it to whatever the appropriate source is. the character taking the vow (not necessarily the one actually performing the ritual, btw) then makes a short speech, that basically consists of "I, <insert name> will/won't do X for X amount of time, or until X happens, whichever comes first. I desire assistance to accomplish this" usually with more words. the mediator takes the offering as payment, and then disappears to relay the message. after 1 hour, the character that took the vow gains the associated benefit. if a character willingly and knowingly violates the terms of the vow, they lose the benefit during the violation, and for 1 hour after the violation ends, as well as taking 2 points of damage to all ability scores. all benefits from a vow are extraordinary, unless stated otherwise. so far, the only vow i have worked out is poverty:
Vow of Poverty.
A character that has taken this vow has agreed not to use magic items in exchange for the following benefits. all benefits are retroactive:
1. they gain a bonus to all attack rolls equal to 1 per 4 levels
2. they gain a bonus feat at 1st level, as well as at every 3rd level. these feats still require all prerequisites, and can't be used as prerequisites of feats not gained by this vow. example: you can't take mobility without already having dodge, but if you take dodge with this feature, it only allows mobility if you also take mobility with this feature.
3. they gain a bonus directly to AC at every 2nd level.
4. they gain a +2 bonus to any ability score at every 5th level.
this vow may seem weak, but remember that everything is untyped, so all buff spells, etc. still apply. also, there is no limit to what kinds of armor, weapons, etc. that can be used, as long as it's not magical.
that's all I have for now, and would appreciate any advice or contributions.