slachance6
2018-03-16, 03:23 PM
As I was planning an E6 game using Pathfinder I was brainstorming some ideas that may provide access to high-level spells and abilities while remaining within the rules and spirit of the subsystem as much as possible. This was what I came up with:
Basics: Levels are split into two categories, standard and bonus. They are separated on a character sheet on either side of a plus sign. Standard levels, as the name suggests, grant all of the normal abilities that would come from leveling up. However, bonus levels only grant class features, including spells and bonus feats. Normal feats, hit points, BAB, skill points, saves and similar statistics can only be increased through the gain of standard levels.
Leveling Up, HD and ECL: By default, one standard level is equal to two bonus levels. Therefore, a fighter 5+3 who levels up can choose to become fighter 6+3, 5+5 or 7+1. Bonus levels count as "levels" but not "HD" for purposes such as prerequisites and spells.
For E6: Standard levels cap at 6, but bonus levels can potentially go all the way up to 20. The GM may house rule that bonus levels cannot be taken until a character has already gained 6 standard levels and/or that one bonus level costs the same amount of XP as one standard level.
Minor Fixes That I've Considered: Since martial characters often rely heavily on feats during advancement, non-spellcasting classes may gain their full progression of feats through bonus levels at the GM's discretion.
In addition, each bonus level may count as 1/2 of a point of BAB and maybe a rank in a skill for the sole purpose of fulfilling feat prerequisites.
Thirdly, scaling of spell save DCs based on levels may get out of hand in an E6 game. Therefore, the GM may rule that save DC is, for example, 10+4+ability modifier for all spells of 4th level or higher, or maybe just have the DC increase by 1 every 2 or 3 levels.
So, there's my attempt at adding a new layer to the leveling system of 3.x/Pathfinder. It was designed with E6 in mind, but could maybe allow for some interesting concepts in the base game, such as an incredibly talented sorcerer with no experience as an adventurer or a warrior who forgoes general versatility in favor of a few general techniques. What do you guys think? I'm sure it's not perfectly balanced and can be munchkinned, but I would like to know to what extent it could work and how it could be improved.
Basics: Levels are split into two categories, standard and bonus. They are separated on a character sheet on either side of a plus sign. Standard levels, as the name suggests, grant all of the normal abilities that would come from leveling up. However, bonus levels only grant class features, including spells and bonus feats. Normal feats, hit points, BAB, skill points, saves and similar statistics can only be increased through the gain of standard levels.
Leveling Up, HD and ECL: By default, one standard level is equal to two bonus levels. Therefore, a fighter 5+3 who levels up can choose to become fighter 6+3, 5+5 or 7+1. Bonus levels count as "levels" but not "HD" for purposes such as prerequisites and spells.
For E6: Standard levels cap at 6, but bonus levels can potentially go all the way up to 20. The GM may house rule that bonus levels cannot be taken until a character has already gained 6 standard levels and/or that one bonus level costs the same amount of XP as one standard level.
Minor Fixes That I've Considered: Since martial characters often rely heavily on feats during advancement, non-spellcasting classes may gain their full progression of feats through bonus levels at the GM's discretion.
In addition, each bonus level may count as 1/2 of a point of BAB and maybe a rank in a skill for the sole purpose of fulfilling feat prerequisites.
Thirdly, scaling of spell save DCs based on levels may get out of hand in an E6 game. Therefore, the GM may rule that save DC is, for example, 10+4+ability modifier for all spells of 4th level or higher, or maybe just have the DC increase by 1 every 2 or 3 levels.
So, there's my attempt at adding a new layer to the leveling system of 3.x/Pathfinder. It was designed with E6 in mind, but could maybe allow for some interesting concepts in the base game, such as an incredibly talented sorcerer with no experience as an adventurer or a warrior who forgoes general versatility in favor of a few general techniques. What do you guys think? I'm sure it's not perfectly balanced and can be munchkinned, but I would like to know to what extent it could work and how it could be improved.