Shifting BAB and Spell Progressions

[Deepbluediver]

This isn't really a finished homebrew or anything, it was just a wild idea I had and I wanted to see what people's reactions to it were.
The idea is that you have a single class that alters it's BAB and/or spell progression as it levels up. Normally, both BAB and spells are linear- if you multiclass obviously that can change, but within any one chassis they always progress at the same speed from 1-20 (AFAIK).

But what if they didn't? What if you had a class that had the best BAB early on, and as you leveled up your BAB started to improve slower, but new spell levels came faster and faster? Something like this:



Level

BAB

Special
0th
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th


1st
+1
Fighter Bonus Feat












2nd
+2
Fighter Bonus Feat












3rd
+3













4th
+4
Fighter Bonus Feat












5th
+5

*











6th
+6/+1
FBF or Meta
*











7th
+6/+1

*











8th
+7/+2
FBF or Meta
*
*










9th
+8/+3

*
*










10th
+9/+4

*
*










11th
+9/+4
FBF or Meta
*
*
*









12th
+10/+5

*
*
*









13th
+11/+6/+1

*
*
*
*








14th
+12/+7/+2
Metamagic Feat
*
*
*
*








15th
+12/+7/+2

*
*
*
*
*







16th
+13/+8/+3

*
*
*
*
*







17th
+13/+8/+3

*
*
*
*
*
*






18th
+14/+9/+4
Metamagic Feat
*
*
*
*
*
*
*





19th
+14/+9/+4

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*




20th
+15/+10/+5

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

*I didn't bother working out an actual spells-per-day progression, the asterisks just indicate where they have at least one spell



This whole thought process was inspired by the Binder (not that it has anything to do with that now) and the tier-list complaint that it can't always fill up the intervening spaces in between the 5-round cooldown abilities at lower levels. So I decided to see if I could make something that was good at melee until it could get enough uses of other abilities to let the melee fall aside.
I realize this kind of thing is very weird, but I've been toying around with spreadsheets in excel for a couple of hours and it was to outrageous NOT to share.

I've also been experimenting with other things like the inverse of the above class (fast spellcasting at lower levels, tapering off to faster melee at higher), but that puts a weird emphasis on each focus when it's weakest. I also looked at things like more of a Bard-casting progressing for a true gishy class, or advancing BAB at more than 1 per level at lower levels. The former didn't show the effects of what I was going for as dramatically and the latter would do stupid, stupid things to balance at lower levels, I'm sure. So I didn't bother making charts for them yet.

Anywho, I just figured I'd throw this out there and see what bit.

[Troacctid]

That's pretty interesting. I kinda like it.

[nonsi]

1. 4 dead levels out of the first 10 is no fun.
2. Push down 2nd SL access by 1 level - from 11th to 10 - and follow the same pattern for SLs 3+. This will separate 8th SL access from 9th SL access and will not make things more potentially broken.
3. Metamagic at 6th seems quite pointless to me.
4. Uneven progression is something you'll have to assign to all other classes. Writing a general rule for that seems like a real pain in the neck to me.

[Deepbluediver]

1. 4 dead levels out of the first 10 is no fun.
2. Push down 2nd SL access by 1 level - from 11th to 10 - and follow the same pattern for SLs 3+. This will separate 8th SL access from 9th SL access and will not make things more potentially broken.
3. Metamagic at 6th seems quite pointless to me.
4. Uneven progression is something you'll have to assign to all other classes. Writing a general rule for that seems like a real pain in the neck to me.
This wasn't meant to be either a completed class or a general rule- I was simply posting my ideas here while I continue to explore the whole concept. In fact I messed around with a couple different evolutions of the same thing, but I really didn't want to spend tons of time make post-able tables.

8th and 9th level spells were conscientiously left at the same level; I know it looks weird, but this whole concept is non-standard. Take into account that there's nothing that a class with these stats would get that's more or sooner than any other class could get. By the time you get 8th and 9th levels spells, a Wizard will have had them for 4 levels already.
Like I said, I did mess around with variations on this theme that gave you spells earlier than a wizard or BAB greater than your level, but I didn't consider those worth posting.

If/when I ever did something actually playable with this I'd probably make an original class complete with features and flavor and an explanation for why it has to be weird like this. The Bonus Feats were just added in at the last moment to show the kind of thing that can be done. That being said, I guess Metamagic when you've only got a single spell level IS pretty silly, huh?


That's pretty interesting. I kinda like it.
I've decided what a class based on this concept is perfect for- a brand new player for whom you are planning to run a campaign that runs from levels 1 to 20. Start him off simple with the basics of melee combat and as he levels up and gets more experienced with the game he'll shed his cocoon armor until he morphs into a beautiful butterfly Wizard.
:smalltongue: