houserule- exercise

[lunar2]

i've always wanted to include some method of increasing ability scores through training, and i think i've figured out a good way to do it. include an exercise rule. for every 30 days you spend exercising a particular ability score, you gain a +1 inherent bonus to that score (the +5 maximum is still in effect).

the thing that gave me this idea was the various tomes. these tomes are supposedly books that give exercise and training regimens to increase your ability, with the effects boosted by powerful magic. while the magic certainly shortens the amount of time the process takes, why should it only be possible with magical aid?

i think this ought to work out pretty well. at the very least, it gives melee something to do while the magic characters are crafting items etc. it also gives melee a way to reduce their dependence on magic items, which i love.

[Vladislav]

What do you do when the player of a level 1 Wizard says, "well, my character was reading books furiously in the last 5 months before embarking on his adventuring career. He starts with Int 23" ?

[Ravens_cry]

In the right campaign it could work, though in a campaign with no down time, its useless, and in a game with lots of downtime, your going to face extremely buffed out martial characters fairly early. Just a heads up on that. In the right campaign, you could have characters running around with 25 strength at level 1.
If that works, good, but it is something to watch.
I am not sure if I would make it linear like this.
Maybe make it like XP, each additional level (bonus) takes significantly longer than the last, but perhaps allow higher than +5 max.
Perhaps go exponential, 15 days for +1, 30 for +2, 60 for +3, etcetera.

[Toliudar]

I guess the test of this kind of rule is - does it lead to more fun? It definitely ups the power curve for characters that are dependent on one stat only. But it also seems to encourage characters to go off on their own and lift weights/dodge arrows/read books/meditate, rather than getting together to do things.

Is extensive downtime due to crafting really an issue in your games? It rarely comes up in my experience.

[Righteous Doggy]

I like it, the fighters and barbarians have to do something while those silly spellcasters are writing books and meditating for an hour everyday.
A dm of mine once used this houserule in a game we had, it only came up once becuase I offered a rogue and barbarian a chance to train with me in the ways of the warblade(along with a few npcs). We never saw the result though, becuase they said they would rather sleep in...

[Agent 451]

It might work, but I think you as a DM need to put more caps on it. Make it somewhat exponential based on Ravens_cry's idea, but also incorporate a small quest variable. In order to get the bonus they need to see a trainer, who can train them to +1. You could have this being set up in a pyramidal fashion:

+1 +1 +1 +1 +1
\ \ / /
+2 +2 +2 +2
\ | /
+3 +3 +3
\ /
+4 +4
|
+5

To train any further though, they need to find the trainer's trainer. Either that or fluff it so that trainer A only trains your quads, B does biceps, etc.

Edit: Forum wreaked havoc on my poor pyramid :(

[nedz]

You could do it with Sport feats.
Just make the requirements
Can only be taken at first level, BAB 1

[lunar2]

thanks for the feedback. for some of the concerns listed.

1. early +5 inherent bonus. how about a +1 per 4 levels limit for inherent bonuses, instead of a +5 flat limit. you still can't get +6 until level 20, so it shouldn't be too unbalancing.

2. no motivation to adventure. adventuring is the point of the game, so even if a character would want to spend 6 months at a time training all their ability scores, it would just be glossed over until the next adventure, which would be 10 minutes or so in real time.

3. pace dependent. this is the case with any downtime activity. in a fast paced game, no one is casting spells for cash, creating/commissioning custom magic items, or any other activity that requires downtime. besides, i prefer campaigns that include downtime. i like variant rules such as training to level up, etc. that gives the PCs something besides killing to do. for players that don't like that kind of thing, it can always be glossed over as "what did you do for the last 6 months- 30 second version."

4. more powerful characters. that's fine. although this rule is technically balanced between character types (all ability scores can be raised, and take the same time no matter what), MAD characters and martial characters definitely get more benefit from it, imo. a wizard that gets an INT boost gets a couple more spells per day, and boosts his save DCs a bit. a fighter that gets a strength boost hits more often, hits harder, etc. on every single swing, every day. does the wizard still completely outclass the fighter? yes. but the wizard doesn't really get any appreciable power boost from it, while a fighter or monk does, because their ability scores matter more.

in fact, most of my houserules are like that. they technically benefit everyone, but they mean more to the lower tier martial characters.

example: crafting potions no longer requires a feat. it's part of the craft: alchemy skill (which anyone can use, not just spellcasters). potions are non-magical substances that duplicate the effects of low level spells, so the fighter with a few extra skill points doesn't need the wizard to cast fly or haste on him, he can do it himself. crafting weapons and armor gets a similar makeover. a side bonus of this, of course, is that DR/magic actually means something now, since most weapons aren't magical, just very well made.

[Greyfeld85]

This is how I see it:

Characters, when left to their own devices, will train and hone their talents at a set pace (+1 every four levels). The tomes that grant the Inherent bonuses are magic books that basically "bring out your latent abilities that you've never discovered." It unlocks a part of your brain that you've never used before, and you'd never have found without the aid of the magic from the tome itself.

[Deox]

We use something similar in our games (fluff) but mechanically, players gain +1 to two ability scores every 4 levels (like SW:Saga) instead of the normal +1 to one. This represents the extra above and beyond training/exercise and seems to fix a lot of issues (especially since down time varies from session to session, campaign to campaign).