Deepbluediver
2012-06-18, 07:16 PM
Most DMs that I've played with tend to ignore the Favored-class mechanic, because it's clunky to use, annoying to keep track of, and rather limited outside of core. Here's my idea for a somewhat different version.
Every time a player character gains a level, they must also decided what class they next wish to pursue. For example, a level 3 Fighter decides that in order to increase his combat prowess, he will work to unlock the secrets of a barbarians terrifying Rage.
Once this choice is made, it cannot be changed, except by sacrificing 25% of the experience you have earned towards your next level.
This first bit is mostly fluff, but it feels better to me for players to be thinking "ok, I'm going to expand my spell selection by studying arcane sorcery for a while" than going "hmmm, I guess I'm a wizard all of a sudden" *poof magic powers*
Various races have types of classes that they are naturally dispositioned towards, wether because of genetics, culture, philosophy or any other number of reasons. Whenever a character is working on a class that meets his race's favored class requirements, he recieves a 10% boost to any and all experience gained.
Favored Classes by Race
Elves- any arcane caster that prepares spell slots
ex. Wizards, Wu Jen
Orcs- any non-casting class with a full Base Attack Bonus
ex. Warriors, Barbarians, or Samurai,
Gnomes- any casting class with a particular focus on illusions
ex. Beguiler, Illusion-specialized Wizard, Cleric with trickery domain
Halfings- any class that gains 6 or more skill points per level
ex. Rogue, Factotum, Spell Thief
Humans- at first level, a human picks the racial favored class trait of any other race, plus any one additional class of their choosing
These are just a few examples from more common races, since my knowledge of splatbooks is usually limited to whatever I'm reading at that moment (I don't try to memorize much of anything outside of core) so if you have any other suggestions or requests, please let me know!
Every time a player character gains a level, they must also decided what class they next wish to pursue. For example, a level 3 Fighter decides that in order to increase his combat prowess, he will work to unlock the secrets of a barbarians terrifying Rage.
Once this choice is made, it cannot be changed, except by sacrificing 25% of the experience you have earned towards your next level.
This first bit is mostly fluff, but it feels better to me for players to be thinking "ok, I'm going to expand my spell selection by studying arcane sorcery for a while" than going "hmmm, I guess I'm a wizard all of a sudden" *poof magic powers*
Various races have types of classes that they are naturally dispositioned towards, wether because of genetics, culture, philosophy or any other number of reasons. Whenever a character is working on a class that meets his race's favored class requirements, he recieves a 10% boost to any and all experience gained.
Favored Classes by Race
Elves- any arcane caster that prepares spell slots
ex. Wizards, Wu Jen
Orcs- any non-casting class with a full Base Attack Bonus
ex. Warriors, Barbarians, or Samurai,
Gnomes- any casting class with a particular focus on illusions
ex. Beguiler, Illusion-specialized Wizard, Cleric with trickery domain
Halfings- any class that gains 6 or more skill points per level
ex. Rogue, Factotum, Spell Thief
Humans- at first level, a human picks the racial favored class trait of any other race, plus any one additional class of their choosing
These are just a few examples from more common races, since my knowledge of splatbooks is usually limited to whatever I'm reading at that moment (I don't try to memorize much of anything outside of core) so if you have any other suggestions or requests, please let me know!