Boci
2014-08-01, 01:39 PM
So I started DMing a monster hunting story, which I unfortunately had to end because I seemed to have a mini-burnout as a DM. However I am still interested in this setting, and I hope to return to it at some point. Given that I am currently not using these rules in a game, I figured I may as well check the biggest one, so that I can make changes if I judge them necessary.
So basically, pretty much no magic items, certain not +1 swords and cloaks of resistances. To compensate for that, characters get inherent bonuses and get to choose a heritages, which are detailed below. Inherant bonuses have only been done to 7 because that is how far the game went.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Inherent bonuses (gained as part of the levelling up process):
1st level: -
2nd level: +2 competence bonus to any two skills.
3rd level: +1 to enhancement bonus to attacks and damage - or - +1 to the save DC of a single spell school and +2 to overcoming spell resistance.
4th level: +1 dodge bonus to AC.
5th level: +2 enhancement bonus to a single ability score.
6th level: +1 resistance bonus to all saves.
7th level: +1 deflection bonus to AC and a bonus feat. This feat must be available to a 1st level character, even if it was not available to your particular character at level 1. You must however currently meet the requirements.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Heritages:
Alchemist Novice:
Preqs: 1 ranks in craft (alchemy)
You have studied briefly under a master alchemist or read a couple of books on the matter, certainly enough to make a wide variety of potions, poisons, alchemically imbued metals and other such items. You gain the brew potion feat with a caster level equal to your character level, except you may make potions of spells beyond level 3 and substitute the requirement of being able to cast the spell for a formula. Certain formulas may be harder to purchase than others and the ingredients for mutagens and bombs are similarly harder to acquire.
The ingredients for any potion whose primary affect is to increase attack, damage (unless it is by elemental energy), AC, speed, skills or saves are readily available for the standard price. The ingredients for other spells, as well as bombs and mutagens, can be bought, but are harder to find and may also have a higher price to reflect this. The corpses of monsters are gold mines for such ingredients.
Additionally, you gain a bonus equal to half your level to craft using special materials, as well as making other alchemical items and poisons. Likewise, you can often harvest ingredients for these from monsters, as well as mineral that allow normal iron to gain the properties of a special material.
You start the game with 15 points worth of formula, paying the spell's level as cost (0 level spells costing half a point). Unusual spells costs double their level, whilst learning how to make bombs costs 2 and each mutagen costs 3. Gaining additional formulas should not be too hard, and you do not need to spend point to learn how to use special materials and make other alchemical items, although some of the more potent poisons may need to be acquired in this manner.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Fortunate Soul:
Preqs: None
Fate has always shone favourably upon you. You gain a number of luck points equal to you character level that return every day 5 minutes after daybreak. You can spend them in the following manner:
1 point: Add +2 to a d20 roll after you see the roll but before you know the result - or - reroll the base damage of your weapon.
2 points: Reroll an ability check, skill check, attack roll or save.
4 points: Turn a roll of 1 on a d20 into a 20.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Driven Scientist:
Preqs: Intelligence or wisdom 13
You have learnt the fantastically insane methods of building impossible contraptions that should never work but somehow do. You gain the benefit of the craft wondrous item feat with a caster level equal to half your character level. However, this art is far from precise, and there will always be at least one drawback to your inventions, chosen from the following list:
1. Imbued with great force. As part of the construction process you must expose your finished design to a great power of nature, or some other magnificent force. This is what gives your works its initial spark. The process could involve channelling a natural lightning strike into it, digging down to immerse it in the hot waters that run deep underground, or using the dying essence of a monster. The cost of achieving this is in addition to the creation cost of the item.
2. Fuel requirement. Each time you activate your invention it consumes a unit of fuel. The type of fuel can either be easy enough to acquire but expensive (i.e. pure gold), easy to acquire but disturbing (i.e. fresh humanoid blood) or moderately difficult to acquire (i.e. mercury). If applied to items that would normally have a continuous duration, the item consumes 1 unite of fuel for every 12 hours it remains active. If you do not give it the required fuel it will stop working, but resumes as soon as it has been fed (typically a full round action).
3. Unreliable. Your designs work...most of the time. There is a 20% chance however that the item simply fails to activate. You may try to activate again as soon as you are able, but if the items fails to activate twice in the same hour, an "accident" happens. Typically this involves the item partially blowing up, damaging those around it and requiring repair work before it can be used again (inexpensive, but time consuming). For an item that is normally has a continuous duration, you must make the check every 12 hours.
You may if you wish combine multiple draw backs to reduce the crafting cost of an invention. Two drawbacks reduces the cost to 75%, whilst including all three reduces it to 50%. Additionally, some mad scientists also understands how to craft more mundane examples of technology, but even those who are capable of it rarely find any merit in the practice.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Noble:
Preqs: Charisma 13
You have a country side estate that consists typically of a small manor house and several acres of land that open out onto a forest where you have the right to hunt, as well as village of about 50 inhabitancy and a minor trade road. Your home has several bedrooms and a servant's quarter, along with a hall, kitchen and dining area, a study, a small library, as well as a modest wine cellar and stables with five horses. Your estate is run by a skeletal crew of a single cook, four maids and two stable hands, whilst a dozen men at arms guard the premise of which four can also hunt with you (the others cannot ride horses). The estate gains coin from taxing traders who pass along the road, but this coin may only be spent on repairs and maintenance, all the rest is due to the another noble (the exact rank varies depending on which region your estate is in). The estate is supported by food tributes from the village in return for use of the mill.
You title is “Foldeshur (name) of (name) Manor”. Your rights and responsibilities are as follows:
As a noble, you may only be found guilty of a crime by a fellow noble of equal or higher rank, although anyone can make the charge.
You have the right to demand and take with violence the food tributes you are due, should they be withheld.
You have the right to wear your house’s crest, and may bestow this privilege on any legitimate children of yours.
In return you are expected to keep the village safe from bandits, fiends and foreign invaders.
With services to the land’s ruling family, your land, title and privileges may well increase. Of course they can also be taken away from you, but a noble is not stripped of his lands for any light offence, and any noble who angers the ruling nobles enough to be stripped of his land and titles much have done something attention worthy, that will no doubt open a new door for the one if closed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gypsy Weaving:
Preqs: 1 rank in craft (jewellery)
You have learnt the art practiced by the gypsies of weaving spirits into mundane items where they stay from sunrise to sunset. You may create three minor tokens and 1 major token. A minor token will have the following affect:
Give a +6 competence bonus to a single skills or a +4 competence bonus to two skills
Darkvision with a range 30ft
Energy Resistance (any one) 5
Gain the power attack feat (always active)
+2 insight bonus a single save
Gain swim speed equal to land speed
Gain +2 deflection bonus to AC against attacks from evil creatures
Gain benefit of a constant feather fall
Continue fighting without a penalty when in negative HP, Con score is 5 points higher for determining when you die from negative HP
Gain ability to take 10 on climb checks even when rushed or threatened
+2 bonus on strength based skill checks and ability checks
Cannot be flanked
Touch attack deals 1d4 points of nonlethal damage and fatigues target (fortitude negates)
+2 enhancement bonus to natural AC
The major token can have the following affect:
Grant the ability to speak with animals
Identify a magical item by holding it (some skill checks may be required)
1/minute increase speed by 70ft for 1 round as swift action
Gain a 30ft ray attack that deals 2d6 cold damage
Gain a bonus equal to your character level for tracking with the survival skill
Gain the weapon finesse feat
Sense creatures touching the ground within 10ft of you
Gain a +2 moral bonus to hit, damage and fortitude saves when in negative HP
Can make a full attack with natural weapons at the end of a charge
Gain ability to take extra move action, but on your next turn you're staggered and take -4 penalty to AC
Deal +2d4 extra damage at the end of a charge
+10ft to land speed
At the start of the day and night, the gypsy weaver makes a mundane piece of jewellery by weaving a twig into a ring or making a necklace of flowers, and asks a spirit to reside inside until sunset. Once this is done the first person to close their hand around the completed item gains its benefit for as long as it remains on his person. You need not chose to make a token with the same effect each time. Minor tokens may be given to others freely, but spirits do not like it when a major token is gifted to another. If a gypsy weaver does not wear the major token he makes, he suffers a -1 luck penalty to attacks rolls, saves and skills checks until the next sunset or sunrise, whichever is comes sooner.
I still need to figure out how to scale this. I actually forgot about this until I double checked everything when copy pasting, so making this thread has already been useful.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So do you think this is a fair way of balancing no magic loot?
So basically, pretty much no magic items, certain not +1 swords and cloaks of resistances. To compensate for that, characters get inherent bonuses and get to choose a heritages, which are detailed below. Inherant bonuses have only been done to 7 because that is how far the game went.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Inherent bonuses (gained as part of the levelling up process):
1st level: -
2nd level: +2 competence bonus to any two skills.
3rd level: +1 to enhancement bonus to attacks and damage - or - +1 to the save DC of a single spell school and +2 to overcoming spell resistance.
4th level: +1 dodge bonus to AC.
5th level: +2 enhancement bonus to a single ability score.
6th level: +1 resistance bonus to all saves.
7th level: +1 deflection bonus to AC and a bonus feat. This feat must be available to a 1st level character, even if it was not available to your particular character at level 1. You must however currently meet the requirements.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Heritages:
Alchemist Novice:
Preqs: 1 ranks in craft (alchemy)
You have studied briefly under a master alchemist or read a couple of books on the matter, certainly enough to make a wide variety of potions, poisons, alchemically imbued metals and other such items. You gain the brew potion feat with a caster level equal to your character level, except you may make potions of spells beyond level 3 and substitute the requirement of being able to cast the spell for a formula. Certain formulas may be harder to purchase than others and the ingredients for mutagens and bombs are similarly harder to acquire.
The ingredients for any potion whose primary affect is to increase attack, damage (unless it is by elemental energy), AC, speed, skills or saves are readily available for the standard price. The ingredients for other spells, as well as bombs and mutagens, can be bought, but are harder to find and may also have a higher price to reflect this. The corpses of monsters are gold mines for such ingredients.
Additionally, you gain a bonus equal to half your level to craft using special materials, as well as making other alchemical items and poisons. Likewise, you can often harvest ingredients for these from monsters, as well as mineral that allow normal iron to gain the properties of a special material.
You start the game with 15 points worth of formula, paying the spell's level as cost (0 level spells costing half a point). Unusual spells costs double their level, whilst learning how to make bombs costs 2 and each mutagen costs 3. Gaining additional formulas should not be too hard, and you do not need to spend point to learn how to use special materials and make other alchemical items, although some of the more potent poisons may need to be acquired in this manner.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Fortunate Soul:
Preqs: None
Fate has always shone favourably upon you. You gain a number of luck points equal to you character level that return every day 5 minutes after daybreak. You can spend them in the following manner:
1 point: Add +2 to a d20 roll after you see the roll but before you know the result - or - reroll the base damage of your weapon.
2 points: Reroll an ability check, skill check, attack roll or save.
4 points: Turn a roll of 1 on a d20 into a 20.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Driven Scientist:
Preqs: Intelligence or wisdom 13
You have learnt the fantastically insane methods of building impossible contraptions that should never work but somehow do. You gain the benefit of the craft wondrous item feat with a caster level equal to half your character level. However, this art is far from precise, and there will always be at least one drawback to your inventions, chosen from the following list:
1. Imbued with great force. As part of the construction process you must expose your finished design to a great power of nature, or some other magnificent force. This is what gives your works its initial spark. The process could involve channelling a natural lightning strike into it, digging down to immerse it in the hot waters that run deep underground, or using the dying essence of a monster. The cost of achieving this is in addition to the creation cost of the item.
2. Fuel requirement. Each time you activate your invention it consumes a unit of fuel. The type of fuel can either be easy enough to acquire but expensive (i.e. pure gold), easy to acquire but disturbing (i.e. fresh humanoid blood) or moderately difficult to acquire (i.e. mercury). If applied to items that would normally have a continuous duration, the item consumes 1 unite of fuel for every 12 hours it remains active. If you do not give it the required fuel it will stop working, but resumes as soon as it has been fed (typically a full round action).
3. Unreliable. Your designs work...most of the time. There is a 20% chance however that the item simply fails to activate. You may try to activate again as soon as you are able, but if the items fails to activate twice in the same hour, an "accident" happens. Typically this involves the item partially blowing up, damaging those around it and requiring repair work before it can be used again (inexpensive, but time consuming). For an item that is normally has a continuous duration, you must make the check every 12 hours.
You may if you wish combine multiple draw backs to reduce the crafting cost of an invention. Two drawbacks reduces the cost to 75%, whilst including all three reduces it to 50%. Additionally, some mad scientists also understands how to craft more mundane examples of technology, but even those who are capable of it rarely find any merit in the practice.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Noble:
Preqs: Charisma 13
You have a country side estate that consists typically of a small manor house and several acres of land that open out onto a forest where you have the right to hunt, as well as village of about 50 inhabitancy and a minor trade road. Your home has several bedrooms and a servant's quarter, along with a hall, kitchen and dining area, a study, a small library, as well as a modest wine cellar and stables with five horses. Your estate is run by a skeletal crew of a single cook, four maids and two stable hands, whilst a dozen men at arms guard the premise of which four can also hunt with you (the others cannot ride horses). The estate gains coin from taxing traders who pass along the road, but this coin may only be spent on repairs and maintenance, all the rest is due to the another noble (the exact rank varies depending on which region your estate is in). The estate is supported by food tributes from the village in return for use of the mill.
You title is “Foldeshur (name) of (name) Manor”. Your rights and responsibilities are as follows:
As a noble, you may only be found guilty of a crime by a fellow noble of equal or higher rank, although anyone can make the charge.
You have the right to demand and take with violence the food tributes you are due, should they be withheld.
You have the right to wear your house’s crest, and may bestow this privilege on any legitimate children of yours.
In return you are expected to keep the village safe from bandits, fiends and foreign invaders.
With services to the land’s ruling family, your land, title and privileges may well increase. Of course they can also be taken away from you, but a noble is not stripped of his lands for any light offence, and any noble who angers the ruling nobles enough to be stripped of his land and titles much have done something attention worthy, that will no doubt open a new door for the one if closed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gypsy Weaving:
Preqs: 1 rank in craft (jewellery)
You have learnt the art practiced by the gypsies of weaving spirits into mundane items where they stay from sunrise to sunset. You may create three minor tokens and 1 major token. A minor token will have the following affect:
Give a +6 competence bonus to a single skills or a +4 competence bonus to two skills
Darkvision with a range 30ft
Energy Resistance (any one) 5
Gain the power attack feat (always active)
+2 insight bonus a single save
Gain swim speed equal to land speed
Gain +2 deflection bonus to AC against attacks from evil creatures
Gain benefit of a constant feather fall
Continue fighting without a penalty when in negative HP, Con score is 5 points higher for determining when you die from negative HP
Gain ability to take 10 on climb checks even when rushed or threatened
+2 bonus on strength based skill checks and ability checks
Cannot be flanked
Touch attack deals 1d4 points of nonlethal damage and fatigues target (fortitude negates)
+2 enhancement bonus to natural AC
The major token can have the following affect:
Grant the ability to speak with animals
Identify a magical item by holding it (some skill checks may be required)
1/minute increase speed by 70ft for 1 round as swift action
Gain a 30ft ray attack that deals 2d6 cold damage
Gain a bonus equal to your character level for tracking with the survival skill
Gain the weapon finesse feat
Sense creatures touching the ground within 10ft of you
Gain a +2 moral bonus to hit, damage and fortitude saves when in negative HP
Can make a full attack with natural weapons at the end of a charge
Gain ability to take extra move action, but on your next turn you're staggered and take -4 penalty to AC
Deal +2d4 extra damage at the end of a charge
+10ft to land speed
At the start of the day and night, the gypsy weaver makes a mundane piece of jewellery by weaving a twig into a ring or making a necklace of flowers, and asks a spirit to reside inside until sunset. Once this is done the first person to close their hand around the completed item gains its benefit for as long as it remains on his person. You need not chose to make a token with the same effect each time. Minor tokens may be given to others freely, but spirits do not like it when a major token is gifted to another. If a gypsy weaver does not wear the major token he makes, he suffers a -1 luck penalty to attacks rolls, saves and skills checks until the next sunset or sunrise, whichever is comes sooner.
I still need to figure out how to scale this. I actually forgot about this until I double checked everything when copy pasting, so making this thread has already been useful.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So do you think this is a fair way of balancing no magic loot?