Dark.Revenant
2013-03-07, 04:05 AM
It's not a homebrew, it's a home-crockpot. Let's change EVERYTHING!
See this document for the full thing:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yCBvgy4B4iVUMyDjz2nvUvcR0LCtSBkEY_n50OPpfwo/edit?usp=sharing
The goal is to fix some of the more glaring issues of D&D, such as the fact that martial classes have a more boring time of it. Save-or-dies are often unfun because it's just "Oh. I guess we won!" Blasting sucks. There are only about a dozen (that's being generous) useful weapons out of the over-a-hundred we are given. Exotic Weapon Proficiency sucks. Fights once the iterative attacks come in are boring and static while everyone 5-steps and full attacks. Pathfinder broke tumbling. Instant-death from massive damage sucks. Shields are next to useless past the low levels.
This is my attempt to fix these problems. Everything herein is work-in-progress and open to serious PEACHing.
Contents
Class Weapon Groups: Shamelessly ripped and adapted from the 3.5 variant weapon proficiency system. This section expands the weapon group changes to all of the PC and NPC classes in Pathfinder, including Dreamscarred Psionics classes.
Racial Weapon Groups: More adaptation from the 3.5 variant system.
Weapon Groups Etcetera: Barebones rules for multiclassing and prestige classes as they apply for Weapon Proficiencies.
Weapon Group Combat Feats: This took some time to do; Pathfinder has a LOT of weapons. This section is a comprehensive port of the 3.5 weapon group variant feats to Pathfinder.
Full Attack and Move: A much-needed feat. The name speaks for itself. Different classes get this at different times.
Point Buy Rules: Optional rule for DMs who want to "tier the tiers" a little.
XP and Leveling: Personal preference in terms of pacing; optional.
Stat Sheet Conventions: Personal preference.
Death and Injury Rules: Injuries are fun and instant death is bad.
Acrobatics Fix: It's what it says on the tin.
Crafting Rules: Personal preference, once again.
Threat Level: An amusing tool for flavor and balance so the party can roughly gauge the effectiveness of the enemy.
High Challenge Rating Monsters: Single high-CR monsters are tougher than multiple low-CR monsters (ESPECIALLY under these rules). Why not give bonus XP for beating them?
Choking: Garrotes are useless, so this adds a bit more kick.
Saving Throw Reroll Dice: Now we're getting into some serious ****; this lets you reroll saves as many times as you have hit dice (or spend them all on one save, if you feel so inclined). It's like HP for your saving throws. Has some caveats and limitations. Works in conjunction with the armor changes.
Armor Revamp and Damage Reduction: Why pick different weapons after level 5, when only a couple creatures have damage resistance to slashing, piercing, or bludgeoning? Add DR/Slashing, DR/Piercing, or DR/Bludgeoning to all the creatures in the game! Now, natural armor and regular armor (and shields and enhancement bonuses to all three) grant DR/Slashing, DR/Piercing, or DR/Bludgeoning depending on type, and this DR stacks with all other DR. Included is a type table for all the armors and shields in the game. This change makes (non-buckler) shields more useful in general because they grant DR/- instead of a weapon-type DR. Sword and board lives on! Note that the AC bonuses for armor are NOT REMOVED. Adamantine armor is much improved as well (though the extra damage reduction is removed). Remember that this armor-based DR cuts off at 1/4 the original damage taken.
Dexterity AC: Meant to balance (improve) dexterity-based classes (including the Monk) with the armor buffs.
I won't pretend that this is done yet, so I'm open to suggestions on how to refine this ruleset.
See this document for the full thing:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yCBvgy4B4iVUMyDjz2nvUvcR0LCtSBkEY_n50OPpfwo/edit?usp=sharing
The goal is to fix some of the more glaring issues of D&D, such as the fact that martial classes have a more boring time of it. Save-or-dies are often unfun because it's just "Oh. I guess we won!" Blasting sucks. There are only about a dozen (that's being generous) useful weapons out of the over-a-hundred we are given. Exotic Weapon Proficiency sucks. Fights once the iterative attacks come in are boring and static while everyone 5-steps and full attacks. Pathfinder broke tumbling. Instant-death from massive damage sucks. Shields are next to useless past the low levels.
This is my attempt to fix these problems. Everything herein is work-in-progress and open to serious PEACHing.
Contents
Class Weapon Groups: Shamelessly ripped and adapted from the 3.5 variant weapon proficiency system. This section expands the weapon group changes to all of the PC and NPC classes in Pathfinder, including Dreamscarred Psionics classes.
Racial Weapon Groups: More adaptation from the 3.5 variant system.
Weapon Groups Etcetera: Barebones rules for multiclassing and prestige classes as they apply for Weapon Proficiencies.
Weapon Group Combat Feats: This took some time to do; Pathfinder has a LOT of weapons. This section is a comprehensive port of the 3.5 weapon group variant feats to Pathfinder.
Full Attack and Move: A much-needed feat. The name speaks for itself. Different classes get this at different times.
Point Buy Rules: Optional rule for DMs who want to "tier the tiers" a little.
XP and Leveling: Personal preference in terms of pacing; optional.
Stat Sheet Conventions: Personal preference.
Death and Injury Rules: Injuries are fun and instant death is bad.
Acrobatics Fix: It's what it says on the tin.
Crafting Rules: Personal preference, once again.
Threat Level: An amusing tool for flavor and balance so the party can roughly gauge the effectiveness of the enemy.
High Challenge Rating Monsters: Single high-CR monsters are tougher than multiple low-CR monsters (ESPECIALLY under these rules). Why not give bonus XP for beating them?
Choking: Garrotes are useless, so this adds a bit more kick.
Saving Throw Reroll Dice: Now we're getting into some serious ****; this lets you reroll saves as many times as you have hit dice (or spend them all on one save, if you feel so inclined). It's like HP for your saving throws. Has some caveats and limitations. Works in conjunction with the armor changes.
Armor Revamp and Damage Reduction: Why pick different weapons after level 5, when only a couple creatures have damage resistance to slashing, piercing, or bludgeoning? Add DR/Slashing, DR/Piercing, or DR/Bludgeoning to all the creatures in the game! Now, natural armor and regular armor (and shields and enhancement bonuses to all three) grant DR/Slashing, DR/Piercing, or DR/Bludgeoning depending on type, and this DR stacks with all other DR. Included is a type table for all the armors and shields in the game. This change makes (non-buckler) shields more useful in general because they grant DR/- instead of a weapon-type DR. Sword and board lives on! Note that the AC bonuses for armor are NOT REMOVED. Adamantine armor is much improved as well (though the extra damage reduction is removed). Remember that this armor-based DR cuts off at 1/4 the original damage taken.
Dexterity AC: Meant to balance (improve) dexterity-based classes (including the Monk) with the armor buffs.
I won't pretend that this is done yet, so I'm open to suggestions on how to refine this ruleset.