Classes for a shonen style setting [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

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Milo v3

2013-03-22, 08:51 PM

I'm making a setting which is based more on anime then myths, but I'm unsure of what classes would fit. I don't want vancian casting so that removes a decent number of classes, but I have no idea what to allow.

Snowbluff

2013-03-22, 09:08 PM

ToB is too weaboo for DnD.

Tome of Battle lets you call your attacks and then have them actually do something. I also nominate Duskblade, Psychic Warrior and PF Magus (If you swing that way).

Darius Kane

2013-03-22, 09:17 PM

ToB, only because it's so strongly associated with fighting anime by people who don't even bother to read it first.

Milo v3

2013-03-22, 10:17 PM

ToB is too weaboo for DnD.

Tome of Battle lets you call your attacks and then have them actually do something. g. I also nominate Duskblade, Psychic Warrior and PF Magus (If you swing that way).

I thought duskblade and Magus had vancian casting.

limejuicepowder

2013-03-22, 10:33 PM

Psionics comes highly recommended, as does ToB. Warlock, binder, and dragonfire adept should also prove useful.

Check out some of the ACF's as well. Ranger in particular has some nice stuff, like the wildshape variant.

Out of curiosity, what do you have against vancian casting in a shonen setting? Characters get tired :smallsmile:

avr

2013-03-22, 10:33 PM

Psionics are your friend here, I think. Power points rather than Vancian spellcasting, and heavy on the energy blasts & similar.

Milo v3

2013-03-22, 10:39 PM

Out of curiosity, what do you have against vancian casting in a shonen setting? racters get tired :smallsmile:
It shouldn't force people to only be able to use some of there abilities when realistically they could use them all.

Arskanator

2013-03-23, 05:06 AM

http://1d4chan.org/images/4/48/The_Book_of_Weeaboo_Fightan_Magic.jpg

Milo v3

2013-03-23, 05:22 AM

pic

Swordsaged by first reply.

ArcturusV

2013-03-23, 05:32 AM

Hmm. Odd things, very odd to consider. Warlock is obviously a good fit I'd think. Could cover everything from the typical Anime Mages, Like say, Louise from the Familiar of Zero, to something like Rune Soldier Louis if you dropped the Eldritch Blast, maybe switched it out for some sort of Rage ability.

OA Samurai makes sense for most of the warrior types for an Anime. And not just because of the Japan connection. But mostly because warrior types in animes are warriors less because of Magical Loot necessarily but due to things like Inner Strength and Ancient Connections. The Ancestral Daisho ability is very typical of an anime warrior. Ancient weapons that gain power along side their wielder is pretty damned common place in Anime.

Matticussama

2013-03-23, 05:38 AM

Ditto to ToB, Psionics, and Warlock for all of the reasons stated.

Additionally, I'd suggest using Legacy items. You'd need to significantly reduce the investment to upgrade them since as written it is bad, but the concept itself fits in with many Anime themes. Ancient weapons, items, etc passed down from generation to generation themed around a particular focus or purpose. Item Familiars can of course be used to the same effect, but I think their fluff is a little more boring than that surrounding Legacy items.

JeminiZero

2013-03-23, 05:39 AM

If you are willing to allow Psionics, and don't want vancian, perhaps consider using the Spel Point (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/spellPoints.htm) variant for spellcasters instead.

Darius Kane

2013-03-23, 07:04 AM

Warlocks are too anime and overpowered. (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=10832)
Warlocks are too anime and overpowered (repost). (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=6574.0)

Snowbluff

2013-03-23, 09:44 AM

If you are willing to allow Psionics, and don't want vancian, perhaps consider using the Spel Point (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/spellPoints.htm) variant for spellcasters instead.Ditto.

It shouldn't force people to only be able to use some of there abilities when realistically they could use them all.

The Duskblade Spell List is incredibly limited to mostly damaging spells and a couple of self-buffs. They really can only do a little, so missing spells slots doesn't hurt them too terribly. They get a ton of them, anyway.

zlefin

2013-03-23, 10:44 AM

I don't know if you care for homebrew; but i'm pretty sure there's some organized chunks of homebrew that are for that genre specifically.

Larkas

2013-03-23, 11:16 AM

If you are willing to allow Psionics, and don't want vancian, perhaps consider using the Spel Point (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/spellPoints.htm) variant for spellcasters instead.

I second (or third) this. I'd point you towards Ernir's Vancian to Psionics Mechanics thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=194002), but alas, he covers only SRD stuff, so you're out of luck for Duskblade and Magus (and Hexblade, for that matter, which could fit right in with the creator's errata (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19547530/Contacting_Wizards_of_the_Coast_about_Hex_Blades?p ost_id=332210466#332210466)). The original variant rule from Unearthed Arcana works more or less well, however. I'd like to shameless point this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=13323466&postcount=9) out. I like that little formula because it makes it easy to extrapolate for any one character, including variants. Using that, you can find out how many SP a Duskblade, a Magus or a Hexblade should have. You can also find out how many SP a focused specialist Wizard should have, but I digress: you shouldn't use these in a shonen setting. :smallbiggrin:

Arbane

2013-03-23, 01:10 PM

Record of Lodoss War was an anime.

Just sayin'. :smallwink:

Semi-helpfully, are you allowing homebrew classes? I remember someone on the homebrew forum here was making a Magical Girl class.

Axinian

2013-03-23, 01:21 PM

ToB, only because it's so strongly associated with fighting anime by people who don't even bother to read it first.

It does actually do a really good job of replicating a fighting anime style, but the mistake people make is thinking that that's what it does by default.

If you use ToB, be sure to allow some of the Homebrew styles here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=255468). It allows for even more flavors of shonen awesomeness.

Darius Kane

2013-03-23, 01:22 PM

Record of Lodoss War was an anime.
So? It was also fantasy, a pretty D&D-ish at that.

Milo v3

2013-03-23, 06:50 PM

Additionally, I'd suggest using Legacy items. You'd need to significantly reduce the investment to upgrade them since as written it is bad, but the concept itself fits in with many Anime themes. Ancient weapons, items, etc passed down from generation to generation themed around a particular focus or purpose. Item Familiars can of course be used to the same effect, but I think their fluff is a little more boring than that surrounding Legacy items.
I forgot about Legacy weapons, they could be really useful with lowered penalties. And the Legacy creatures can be great villians.

If you are willing to allow Psionics, and don't want vancian, perhaps consider using the Spel Point (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/spellPoints.htm) variant for spellcasters instead.
It could work, though if I make Spell Casters have Spell Points then I shouldn't have Psionics.

Warlocks are too anime and overpowered. (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=10832)
Warlocks are too anime and overpowered (repost). (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=6574.0)
That was good for a laugh.

The Duskblade Spell List is incredibly limited to mostly damaging spells and a couple of self-buffs. They really can only do a little, so missing spells slots doesn't hurt them too terribly. They get a ton of them, anyway.
After checking Duskblades are spontaneous casters, thus will probably be allowed.

I don't know if you care for homebrew; but i'm pretty sure there's some organized chunks of homebrew that are for that genre specifically.
*Looks at signature*

On a more serious note, I plan on allowing the following Homebrew Classes:
Evolutionist (Renamed Tainted)[For Tainted character who are turning into monsters]
Gramarist (Renamed Scientist)[Manapunk]
Xenoalchemist (Renamed Physician)[Mad Scientists as doctors]
And a few fixes for existing classes

I second (or third) this. I'd point you towards Ernir's Vancian to Psionics Mechanics thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=194002), but alas, he covers only SRD stuff, so you're out of luck for Duskblade and Magus (and Hexblade, for that matter, which could fit right in with the creator's errata (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19547530/Contacting_Wizards_of_the_Coast_about_Hex_Blades?p ost_id=332210466#332210466)). The original variant rule from Unearthed Arcana works more or less well, however. I'd like to shameless point this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=13323466&postcount=9) out. I like that little formula because it makes it easy to extrapolate for any one character, including variants. Using that, you can find out how many SP a Duskblade, a Magus or a Hexblade should have. You can also find out how many SP a focused specialist Wizard should have, but I digress: you shouldn't use these in a shonen setting. :smallbiggrin:
That formula for determining SP is helpful if I use the points system, but I don't think I'll Ernir's system as (justifiably) it doesn't possess rules for non-core spells.

Semi-helpfully, are you allowing homebrew classes? I remember someone on the homebrew forum here was making a Magical Girl class.
The Magic Girl doesn't fit the setting I have planned, and it's Shojo rather then Shonen.

If you use ToB, be sure to allow some of the Homebrew styles here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=255468). It allows for even more flavors of shonen awesomeness.
I even plan on making a few new ones myself.

Larkas

2013-03-23, 07:51 PM

That formula for determining SP is helpful if I use the points system, but I don't think I'll Ernir's system as (justifiably) it doesn't possess rules for non-core spells.

I don't know if I made myself clear (so sorry if you already understood), but I came up with that formula to use with Unearthed Arcana's SP system, not Ernir's. :smallsmile:

Milo v3

2013-03-23, 08:01 PM

I don't know if I made myself clear (so sorry if you already understood), but I came up with that formula to use with Unearthed Arcana's SP system, not Ernir's. :smallsmile:

I know, I was just responding to the two main parts of your posts

Hikarizu

2013-03-23, 08:02 PM

So? It was also fantasy, a pretty D&D-ish at that.
From wikipedia:
"Record of Lodoss War was created in 1986 by Group SNE as a Dungeons & Dragons "replay" serialized in the Japanese magazine Comptiq. Replays are not novels, but transcripts of RPG sessions, meant to both hold the interest of readers and convey the events that took place."
It's been known as "ADnD the Anime."
The point of Arbane is that every standard D&D session technically can be called anime-like, because RoLW is an anime.

Menzath

2013-03-23, 08:04 PM

Milo v3

2013-03-23, 08:06 PM

I am fairly sure that you can with ease fluff most if not all classes to be incredly anime/shounen esque in play style.
And if the fluff'in doesn't work on those few, you can actually modify the class(es) that didn't fly.

I plan on doing a large amount of refluffing, but vancian casting (Prepared not spontaneous) was something I couldn't get working.

Darius Kane

2013-03-23, 08:30 PM

From wikipedia:
"Record of Lodoss War was created in 1986 by Group SNE as a Dungeons & Dragons "replay" serialized in the Japanese magazine Comptiq. Replays are not novels, but transcripts of RPG sessions, meant to both hold the interest of readers and convey the events that took place."
It's been known as "ADnD the Anime."
The point of Arbane is that every standard D&D session technically can be called anime-like, because RoLW is an anime.
One D&D campaign that's animated doesn't make all other D&D campaigns anime-like. :smallconfused: That's a pretty fallacious reasoning.

Jeraa

2013-03-23, 08:37 PM

Darius Kane

2013-03-23, 08:40 PM

Milo v3

2013-03-23, 08:50 PM

Something can't really be "anime-like". Anime is a genre that can cover everything from Saturday-morning cartoons to animated versions of daytime soap operas. Saying something is "anime-like" is really no different then something is "live-action-movie-like". It covers far too many things.

So instead of saying "anime-like", why not just actually say what you want? Saying you want something "more anime" doesn't really help.

No need to be rude, I said Shonen style in the title, if you don't know what that is here is an excerpt from Wikipedia's page on Shonen manga:

Examples of shōnen manga include Fist of the North Star, Death Note, Dragon Ball, One Piece, Naruto, Astro Boy, Kuro****suji, Rurouni Kenshin, Kinnikuman, Saint Seiya, Dr. Slump, Gin Tama, Fighting Spirit, Detective Conan, YuYu Hakusho, InuYasha, Hunter × Hunter, Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, Bleach, Soul Eater, Air Gear, Slam Dunk, Zatch Bell!, Fairy Tail, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Fullmetal Alchemist, Buso Renkin, and D.Gray-man.

The "genre" is rather wide, but it still often possesses similiar tropes.

EDIT: I'll try and get a list of examples for the above post.

Naruto
Dragon Ball Z
One Piece
Fairy Tail
Soul Eater
Code Geass
Blazblue (It's a game though)

Darius Kane

2013-03-23, 09:03 PM

The "genre" is rather wide, but it still often possesses similiar tropes.

In the context of manga and associated media, the word shounen refers to a male audience roughly between the ages of 10 and 18. In Japanese, the word means simply "young male", and has no anime/manga-related connotations at all. It does not comprise a style or a genre per se, but rather indicates the publisher's intended target demographic. Still, while not mandatory, some easily identifiable traits are generally common to shounen works, such as: high-action, often humorous plots featuring male protagonists; camaraderie between male friends; sports teams and fighting squads (usually coupled with the aforementioned camaraderie); unrealistically attractive female characters (see fanservice). Additionally, the art style of shounen tends to be less flowery than that of shoujo and the plots tend to be less complex than seinen, but neither of those is a requirement.
I assume the bolded is what you're after?

CIDE

2013-03-24, 12:14 PM

There's always BESM d20.

Milo v3

2013-03-24, 04:27 PM

There's always BESM d20.
I can't get any new systems.

Jeraa

2013-03-24, 04:59 PM

I can't get any new systems.

It has an SRD. (http://www.livinginnod.com/RULES/BESMD20/index.html)

Not an officially maintained one, as the company that made BESM d20 no longer exists, but its still an SRD.

That site also includes the Open Content from d20 Mecha as well.

And another SRD (http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/animesrd.html), but listed as Anime d20 instead of BESM d20. This one doesn't contain the d20 Mecha stuff.

Milo v3

2013-03-24, 05:03 PM

It has an SRD. (http://www.livinginnod.com/RULES/BESMD20/index.html)

Not an officially maintained one, as the company that made BESM d20 no longer exists, but its still an SRD.

That site also includes the Open Content from d20 Mecha as well.

I have blocks on my laptop so I can't see that site.

Darius Kane

2013-03-24, 05:25 PM

I have blocks on my laptop so I can't see that site.
Then remove them. :smallconfused: It's your laptop, is it not? You can do with it what you want.

Milo v3

2013-03-24, 05:26 PM

Then remove them. :smallconfused: It's your laptop, is it not? You can do with it what you want.

No I can't. It's from my school.

Darius Kane

2013-03-24, 05:36 PM

Then it's not your laptop. >.> Even though you said "my laptop"...

Also, you still didn't explain what exactly you mean by shonen anime. I provided a definition, but didn't get an answer from you. >.>

Milo v3

2013-03-24, 05:46 PM

Then it's not your laptop. >.> Even though you said "my laptop"...
It's kind of like a weird partial ownership, I keep it but until I leave school they have blocks on it.

Also, you still didn't explain what exactly you mean by shonen anime. I provided a definition, but didn't get an answer from you. >.>
Didn't see that, give me a sec.

EDIT: Okay, like that. But also with ridiculous wuxia combat (which a large amount of shonen does).

Larkas

2013-03-24, 08:43 PM

Just remembered. PF's Qinggong Monk should fit right in! In an anime setting, it could be Dragon Ball-like, I guess.