Griffith!
2016-07-16, 06:30 AM
This isn't anything too serious. I get tired of class systems periodically, mostly because they always seem so limited, and I have to learn a dozen new tricks to make the mechanics work with my character concepts every time I roll a new character, and GMs are always fighting me with things like "That feat only works with scimitars, not sabers", or "I don't care how it worked in that book/game/novel, this is DnD" and yeah, I know, Homebrew, but that's kind of my point. Also run-ons.
And to further complicate matters, I can't convince my current players to play anything besides DnD. No GURPS. No Fate. So in my latest campaign, I tried to mix things up a little. And this is the system I threw together - let me know what you think (and yes, I am aware what this does to party balance.)
First, a couple things to know and remember - this was for a low-magic campaign, set in a kind of late bronze age Germany. 20 point buy, one trait, Spell-like abilities exist and function as normal. Races are limited to humans and halfas (Half-elf, half-orc, tiefling, Aasimar, Dhampir, etc...) But, I have no system in place for casters and equipment is limited.
So, forget the regular classes for a minute. In this system there are three - Balanced, Strong, Smart. These are exactly what it says on the tin - Smart characters have the slowest BAB progression, the lowest fort save, and the fewest hitpoints, but they gain the most feats and the most skill points overall. Strong characters are the opposite, and Balanced characters are the happy medium between the two. These three "classes" form the backbone for your character.
At every level, you gain a number of what I'm calling Build Points equal to your level +2. You spend these Build Points to purchase class features from the original classes. The cost of each class feature is equal to the level at which you would normally earn it (so the Cavalier's Challenge 1/day costs 1 BP and Master Tactician 17).
And that's it in a nutshell. Simple, broken, and abuse-able. But fun.
And just so you know what those first three classes look like mechanically:
STRONG
Hit Dice: 1d10
Class Skills: Any 10
Skill Ranks Per Level: 4+Int modifier
Feats: One at third level, and every third level thereafter.
Requirement: Minimum 15 STR or CON
BAB
FORT
REFLEX
WILL
1
2
0
0
2
3
0
0
3
3
1
1
4
4
1
1
5
4
1
1
6/1
5
2
2
7/2
5
2
2
8/3
6
2
2
9/4
6
3
3
10/5
7
3
3
BALANCED
Hit Dice: 1d8
Class Skills: Any 8
Skill Ranks Per Level: 6+Int modifier
Feats: One at second level, and every second level thereafter.
Requirement: None
BAB
FORT
REFLEX
WILL
0
0
2
0
1
0
3
0
2
1
3
1
3
1
4
1
3
1
4
1
4
2
5
2
5
2
5
2
6/1
2
6
2
6/1
3
6
3
7/2
3
7
3
SMART
Hit Dice: 1d6
Class Skills: Any 12
Skill Ranks Per Level: 8+Int modifier
Feats: One at first level, one at second level, and one every second level thereafter.
Requirement: Minimum 15 INT or WIS
BAB
FORT
REFLEX
WILL
0
0
0
2
1
0
0
3
1
1
1
3
2
1
1
4
2
1
1
4
3
2
2
5
3
2
2
5
4
2
2
6
4
3
3
6
5
3
3
7
So while this has worked for me so far, any feedback would be nice. Of special interest would be any ideas on how to work spell-casting back in. A one-to-one conversion of spell by level would be too expensive, and casters would end up actually weaker than they are in the core game.
I don't know. Let's workshop it. Thoughts?
EDIT - forgot to mention, that you do have to have all previous 'levels' of a feature to purchase it. So, you have to have Challenge 1/day to buy Challenge 2/day.
And to further complicate matters, I can't convince my current players to play anything besides DnD. No GURPS. No Fate. So in my latest campaign, I tried to mix things up a little. And this is the system I threw together - let me know what you think (and yes, I am aware what this does to party balance.)
First, a couple things to know and remember - this was for a low-magic campaign, set in a kind of late bronze age Germany. 20 point buy, one trait, Spell-like abilities exist and function as normal. Races are limited to humans and halfas (Half-elf, half-orc, tiefling, Aasimar, Dhampir, etc...) But, I have no system in place for casters and equipment is limited.
So, forget the regular classes for a minute. In this system there are three - Balanced, Strong, Smart. These are exactly what it says on the tin - Smart characters have the slowest BAB progression, the lowest fort save, and the fewest hitpoints, but they gain the most feats and the most skill points overall. Strong characters are the opposite, and Balanced characters are the happy medium between the two. These three "classes" form the backbone for your character.
At every level, you gain a number of what I'm calling Build Points equal to your level +2. You spend these Build Points to purchase class features from the original classes. The cost of each class feature is equal to the level at which you would normally earn it (so the Cavalier's Challenge 1/day costs 1 BP and Master Tactician 17).
And that's it in a nutshell. Simple, broken, and abuse-able. But fun.
And just so you know what those first three classes look like mechanically:
STRONG
Hit Dice: 1d10
Class Skills: Any 10
Skill Ranks Per Level: 4+Int modifier
Feats: One at third level, and every third level thereafter.
Requirement: Minimum 15 STR or CON
BAB
FORT
REFLEX
WILL
1
2
0
0
2
3
0
0
3
3
1
1
4
4
1
1
5
4
1
1
6/1
5
2
2
7/2
5
2
2
8/3
6
2
2
9/4
6
3
3
10/5
7
3
3
BALANCED
Hit Dice: 1d8
Class Skills: Any 8
Skill Ranks Per Level: 6+Int modifier
Feats: One at second level, and every second level thereafter.
Requirement: None
BAB
FORT
REFLEX
WILL
0
0
2
0
1
0
3
0
2
1
3
1
3
1
4
1
3
1
4
1
4
2
5
2
5
2
5
2
6/1
2
6
2
6/1
3
6
3
7/2
3
7
3
SMART
Hit Dice: 1d6
Class Skills: Any 12
Skill Ranks Per Level: 8+Int modifier
Feats: One at first level, one at second level, and one every second level thereafter.
Requirement: Minimum 15 INT or WIS
BAB
FORT
REFLEX
WILL
0
0
0
2
1
0
0
3
1
1
1
3
2
1
1
4
2
1
1
4
3
2
2
5
3
2
2
5
4
2
2
6
4
3
3
6
5
3
3
7
So while this has worked for me so far, any feedback would be nice. Of special interest would be any ideas on how to work spell-casting back in. A one-to-one conversion of spell by level would be too expensive, and casters would end up actually weaker than they are in the core game.
I don't know. Let's workshop it. Thoughts?
EDIT - forgot to mention, that you do have to have all previous 'levels' of a feature to purchase it. So, you have to have Challenge 1/day to buy Challenge 2/day.