DM Help Houserules assistance [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

Ignimortis

2018-04-30, 11:58 AM

heregoeshell

2018-04-30, 12:52 PM

Goaty14

2018-04-30, 12:59 PM

As much fun as it would be to play PF, I have no PF content and am enjoying 3.5. I wouldn't mind being able to merge them, but thanks for the laugh

Allowing full attacks to qualify as standard actions, allowing for full iterations to be used after movement without requiring travel devotion, pounce, or other bypasses.

I don't think so. Monks and Scouts in particular would benefit the most, but for everybody else, it's just improve their melee "range".

I've seen quite a bit of house-rules (if I ever made a game, I'd dump any law/chaos requirements for players), but a lot of them concern balancing tiers (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?269440-Why-Each-Class-Is-In-Its-Tier-(Rescued-from-MinMax)), so I'd recommend you see that first.

Ignimortis

2018-04-30, 01:00 PM

As much fun as it would be to play PF, I have no PF content and am enjoying 3.5. I wouldn't mind being able to merge them, but thanks for the laugh

Allowing full attacks to qualify as standard actions, allowing for full iterations to be used after movement without requiring travel devotion, pounce, or other bypasses.

Pathfinder is available almost fully at http://www.d20pfsrd.com/ , even with some 3rd party systems like Psionics and Path of War.
Making full attack a standard action doesn't really break things, either. Be careful, though, beatstick monsters will gain a bit more power - might actually warrant their CR in a few cases.

tstewt1921

2018-04-30, 01:03 PM

I am presently using the following:
Disable Device = Open Lock
Maximize HP dice for each level
Maximize Starting gold dice
No multiclass XP penalty

1: What are your house rules, preferably tested, and what noted effect was seen in the game.

2: How would bypassing pounce affect feats such as spring attack, hit and run, and flyby attack?

3: is eliminating cross class skills a bad idea?

4: Would it be overpowering to my Players to provide them with feats every other level rather than the normal 1,3,6,9,12,15,18?

5: Are there any other recommended rules that do not heavily alter the balance of the game, or perhaps that fix and balance the game better?

1. We have done a couple things that we took from PF: We have combined Hide/Move Silently to Stealth, Spot/Search/Listen have gone to just Stealth. We don't do the multiclass experience bs. We still roll the health, if you do this for your players you should also do it for the monsters. Gold we just do whatever it says they should have at the level we start at as we rarely start at 1.

2. I wouldn't recommend trying to bypass this or get rid of it, because it's an interesting game mechanic, eliminating this would eliminate a lot of classes/monsters that use it.

3. Not a big deal, the game limits to what people can get by the amount of skill points it gives each class.

4. Be vary careful with this, unless you want a high powered game. I mean, we run gestalt....so people have worked it to where they are getting bonus feats or feats every other level out the wazoo.

5. If you haven't tried gestalt, I recommend it, you don't have to make too many changes and people are able to get the builds they want by having dual classes. However it is a higher powered game.

BowStreetRunner

2018-04-30, 01:55 PM

Regarding Disable Device = Open Lock: while there is a lot of discussion that quadratic wizards beat linear fighters, far less emphasis is place on where skillful characters fall in terms of game balance. I've found that in games where optimization takes place most players either take max ranks in a skill or none at all, with the exception of ranks applied to prerequisites that they don't otherwise wish to max out. There never seems to be enough skill points for really useful skillful characters and with spells that can completely replace the need for certain skill rolls, these characters were seldom seen in our games. Since moving to the Pathfinder skill list (which combines a lot of other skills together this way too) there has been a significant increase in the usefulness of skillful characters without any sense that they are imbalancing anything. Disable Device = Open Lock should not be a problem.

Regarding Maximize HP dice for each level: I've seen Max HP, average HP (after 1st), reroll 1s and 2s, and other rules like this. Having played a character that rolled below average on EVERY single level from 1-8 (and then died) I think the only impact is that it helps players who are unlucky with the dice. This should be as universally acceptable as point buy instead of rolled attributes.

Regarding Maximize Starting gold dice: honestly, even at max the starting equipment isn't going to have much of an impact on the game in the long run. Go hog wild.

Regarding No multiclass XP penalty: this is a mechanic that really doesn't accomplish its stated intent, so cutting it out doesn't hurt anything. I personally like the PF favored class system (bonus hit point or bonus skill point every level you take in a favored class) better than the 3.5 version.

Regarding full attacking and pounce: I don't see bypassing this would help the characters you intend to help nearly as much as it would help some that don't need it. Really, I could show you a sorcerer build that would turn full attacking as a standard action into a nightmare for the DM - and I'm sure you could probably find others in the playground who could do it better than I could. Instead, how about you give Fighters a special ability at 5th level - one pounce per day that goes up by once per day every 5 levels? It fills an otherwise dead level and isn't as easy to pick up from a dip by a gish build. You could give the same ability to certain other martial classes at a slightly slower progression too if you like.

Regarding eliminating cross class skills: there should be some advantage to a class skill, but not necessarily as large as the advantage normally in 3.5. Again, I like how PF handled it. But as long as you have some reasonable advantage to class skills, you should be fine.

Regarding feats at every other level: I think this makes low level games much more interesting without necessarily blowing the power curve away, but at high levels may open up far more doors to shenanigans. For E6 games I'd like this.

As far as favorite house rules go, I tend to find that it really depends on the makeup of the group and the type of campaign. We had one group that had a roleplay bonus on d20 rolls that worked really well - any time a player wanted an extra untyped +1 to any roll they just needed to do a really good job of roleplaying the action and the DM gave then the bonus. But that was an RP heavy group. Another group I played with had a house rule that masterwork items all gave circumstance bonuses (not enhancement) and the bonus could be on anything that the item was used for. So a particular masterwork sword might have a +2 circumstance bonus on disarm attacks for instance. This was a low magic campaign that had a lot of great masterwork items at low levels which made up for the scarcity of magic items until we got to higher levels.

exelsisxax

2018-04-30, 02:23 PM

As much fun as it would be to play PF, I have no PF content and am enjoying 3.5. I wouldn't mind being able to merge them, but thanks for the laugh

Allowing full attacks to qualify as standard actions, allowing for full iterations to be used after movement without requiring travel devotion, pounce, or other bypasses.

everyone with internet access has virtually all the PF content. There's 3 different websites that each cover virtually everything, one of which also has tons of 3pp. You quite literally have more PF than 3.5 content.

Elkad

2018-04-30, 02:50 PM

I split the difference between "everyone wants pounce" and "full attack is a standard action"
Charging just gets you 1 attack (without pounce)
We just had a thread on it. To quote myself.

Iterative penalties went away a long time ago at my table.
I tried full-attack as a standard as well. It was VERY hard on the back-line types (on both sides of the screen), as often they didn't have a positioning option to keep from being shredded.

My current houserule.

Full-attack includes either your full standard movement in a straight line (same restrictions as charge regarding terrain/obstacles, but no other bonuses/penalties from charge). The movement must come before the attack(s).
Or move HALF your speed, but you can turn, cross difficult terrain (with speed penalty of course), make a Balance check, etc.

It feels kinda fiddly, but I've tried other variants and I'm liking this one best. I think my players do too.
As long as the squishy keeps a single ally or terrain feature between him and the opposing BSF, and stays 30' away, he's OK. So he shifts side-to-side in the battle, and can still use "close" range spells.

Pounce works as listed. Only helps when you charge.
Spring Attack, etc. Work like Troacctid's feat upthread. Full attack, full movement.

Tvtyrant

2018-04-30, 03:12 PM

Admin please move if in the wrong area:

Asking questions about common house rules, and the noted effects on the game balance. I also have a few questions on some myself, but would love more input.

I am presently using the following:
Disable Device = Open Lock
Maximize HP dice for each level
Maximize Starting gold dice
No multiclass XP penalty

1: What are your house rules, preferably tested, and what noted effect was seen in the game.

2: How would bypassing pounce affect feats such as spring attack, hit and run, and flyby attack?

3: is eliminating cross class skills a bad idea?

4: Would it be overpowering to my Players to provide them with feats every other level rather than the normal 1,3,6,9,12,15,18?

5: Are there any other recommended rules that do not heavily alter the balance of the game, or perhaps that fix and balance the game better?

Thank you for your time

1. So many. I play a highly tailored version of E6.

My house rules:
A. Spells and spell-like abilities above level 3 spells are converted into Incantations. An Incantation takes a number of participants equal to its spell-level, 100 times the normal casting time, failure to cast properly kills the primary caster, backlash is a 1 month coma.

A spell-like ability Incantation removes the additional casters requirement, so fiends and angels can cast spells alone (but still take a long time to do so).

Incantations above spell-level 7 do not exist, magic of that level requires divine intervention (see Sacrifice rules in Book of Vile Darkness).

B. Dropping below 0 is never lethal, and there are no negative hit points. Instead a player who drops below 0 hit points stabilizes but rolls on a major wound chart, which requires a months rest or a high level incantation to recover from. This can include losing eyes, limbs, or just massive internal damage.

Once healed the character is left with a scar associated with the injury, and may require Regeneration for limbs or eyes.

An individiual who is stabilized can be killed with a Coup De Grace, which forces a fort save against dying.

C. Crits force an individual to roll on the Minor Injury chart, which applies a -2 to all rolls until they rest overnight. They gain the associated scar.

D. Players in high epic games can buy off LA and monstrous HD by giving up the corresponding amount of epic feats. A Rakshasa player is equivalent to a level 6++8 character, so would be able to join a party with at least 8 epic feats each.

E. On hitting their fifth epic feat all characters gain an alternate form of leadership, where the followers require a secure base in return for paying a smal tithe to the player. The followers at level 1-2 are commoners, higher level followers cap at level 4 and are of the same class as the player. The cohort is primarily concerned with protecting the organization built around the player and not with protecting the player.

That is the jist of it. Aims for a more classical fantasy feeling, big magic is complicated and dangerous while casters still get to regularly use normal magic.

heregoeshell

2018-04-30, 07:22 PM

exelsisxax: I was actually not aware that PF and the splatbooks were available on the internet! (I also apologize, I can't seem to figure out if I sound sarcastic in this statement, so I thought I'd clarify that I am not being sarcastic) I do have over 90 splatbooks dedicated to DND 3.5, so it would seriously surprise me if so much is available, but I am happy to know that such resources are available.

tstewt1921: I have yet to get to play or run a gestalt game, and am interested, though hesitant considering my lack of familiarity with the power change, and being a casual optimizer, worry about potential abuse.

BowStreetRunner:
In regards to Disable Device=Open Lock, this is perhaps the best explanation of the effects of skill consolidation I've received. I feel somewhat like an idiot for not considering this, but I am really appreciative that you have pointed this out (Again, having trouble with sarcasm, this is not sarcastic).

Elkad: I really really like your rule, and with permission, will most likely be using it as a houserule in my campaign.

I also forgot to mention that I intend to fudge/remove RP/allignment limitations on classes.

As a whole, are there any other recommendations for common or worthwhile houserules? Thank you all again

Malimar

2018-04-30, 08:01 PM

1: What are your house rules, preferably tested, and what noted effect was seen in the game.
Here's some:
All characters begin with 1000gp or standard WBL, whichever is higher. Makes early levels less nasty if everybody can afford decent armor or a wand of CLW or lesser vigor or a healing belt.
Up to 2 flaws. This has about the same effect as PF's increased number of feats, except it's front-loaded (making the early levels less nasty) and flaws can themselves be interesting (mostly the Dragon Magazine flaws)
No multiclass XP penalty. However, since I like favored class to still have an effect, I give an extra feat-equivalent bonus to every character based on their racial favored class. (This also helps front-load the character, making the early levels less nasty -- sensing a theme yet?) A list (I think I'm missing a couple classes) can be found here (http://highseas.wikia.com/wiki/Favored_Class_Bonuses). (I'm not happy with Fighter's "You can move at your normal speed while wearing Medium armor", especially because Fighter is one of the most common favored classes, but I haven't thought of anything else to replace it with.)
For setting reasons and because most [epic] options are underwhelming (except Epic Spellcasting, which is banned), characters are considered [epic] at 10th level instead of 20th. To make the options with onerous skill requirements actually usable, all [epic] options (feats, prestige classes, and so on) with skill prerequisites have those skill prerequisites reduced by 10, to a minimum of 13 and a maximum of 21. Similarly, [epic] options with base attack bonus prerequisites have those prerequisites reduced by 10, to a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 18.
A bunch of classes are tweaked, roughly as seen here (http://luduscarcerum.blogspot.com/2016/04/a-variety-of-suggested-class-tweaks.html). This doesn't budge any classes from their tiers, but it makes everything a bit more playable.
Because LA is generally super-inflated, all listed level adjustments are divided by 2 (rounded down, but with a minimum of 1 for LAs that aren't already zero). Sum your character's total LA before dividing. LA buyoff is in play as normal.
The one true non-objectionable critical fumble rule: If any character rolls a total of 0 or lower on an attack roll, it is an automatic critical fumble, and they draw from Paizo's critical fumble deck. This doesn't come up much, except at early levels, and mostly for monsters.
You may split actual movement around a non-moving move action. Example: move 15' to a door, open it as a move action, and then go through the doorway that same round using the rest of your movement.
All Trained Only skills can be used untrained at a -10 penalty. Spellcraft may be used in place of Psicraft, and vice versa, at a -10 penalty. Use Magic Device may be used in place of Use Psionic Device, and vice versa, at a -10 penalty.
When a spell almost can but can't quite achieve a desired effect, or achieves the desired effect with the most generous reading but not a narrower reading (for example, using heal to cure natural insanity, or using protection from evil to ward off a [compulsion] that only grants control over the target in the broadest sense), a caster of spells or SLAs can alter a spell's effect slightly on the fly. This requires a caster level check or spellcraft check at a difficulty of 15 plus twice the level of the spell to modify. Manifesters of powers and PLAs, initiators of maneuvers, users of other natural, extraordinary, and supernatural abilities, and so on, get similar rules.

2: How would bypassing pounce affect feats such as spring attack, hit and run, and flyby attack?
I've never tried fiddling with "pounce for everybody" or "full attack as a standard action" house rules, but it gives melee a nice thing, which is usually a good idea. Doesn't improve initiators any (most strike maneuvers are standard actions), but makes non-initiators a bit more competitive in terms of damage. Unfortunately, damage is commonly considered to be the one area a well-crafted meleers isn't particularly deficient in.

3: is eliminating cross class skills a bad idea?
It's fine, but makes all the classes a bit more samey, skill-wise, which may not be to everyone's tastes.

4: Would it be overpowering to my Players to provide them with feats every other level rather than the normal 1,3,6,9,12,15,18?
This is what PF does. It's fine. As noted above, I prefer to allow up to two flaws, which accomplishes roughly the same number of extra feats in the end but front-loads them.

Aotrs Commander

2018-04-30, 08:02 PM

I can very much recommend stealing PF's skill system changes, even if you don't bothered with altering the skills. (I basically did both, more or less.)

In short, rather than the mess of cross-class skills, quadruple skill points at level 1 and the skill synergys and so on, PF just gives you your skill points at every level (including first, without the four times modifier). It ditches cross-class skills entirely (so all skills cost 1 point), and all skills have a maximum rank of your character level. Instead, you get a +3 "trained" bonus for a class skill (I require you have to have a point in it, I forget it base PF does that.) (It also makes skill points from intelligence retroactive.) And it, to my knolwedge, also got rid of skill synergy bonuses.

This gives you a system that is far less hassle for everyone to deal with and gives you the exact same numbers, except that characters can get passable at skills that aren't on their class list, but won't be better than those who are and nor will they be to far behind. Skill syngery going was more of a blessing, since the amount of faff saved looking it up more than compenstates for the slight loss to a PC's skills for those who absolutely maxed-out. (And you could keep them if you reallt wanted anyway.)

Really, the only losers are characters at 1st level with low skill points, since they will be able to pick less starting skills (but perforce, they will be better at them than before).

By comparison, the half-hour pratting around with Judge Dredd D20 to work out if everyone's skill points were right we spent last day game seemed entirely pointlessly tedious.

My own "houserules" are better described as 3.Aotrs edition, since they are... Extensive, shall we say. Even exlucing the parts which are not written up material to reduce the amount of books carried, there are many pages worth.

Tvtyrant

2018-04-30, 08:38 PM

This comic seems appropriate to the 3.5 community that is left.

https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/team_chat_2x.png

Darth Ultron

2018-04-30, 09:22 PM

I am presently using the following:
Disable Device = Open Lock
Maximize HP dice for each level
Maximize Starting gold dice
No multiclass XP penalty

A.I would keep them separate. To me, opening a lock is not the same as disabling a device.
B.Opposed. This is a roll playing all combat sort of thing and does nothing to enhance the gameplay.
C.Eh, not such a big deal as characters are likely to find like 100's of gold soon enough
D.Sure, not a big deal.

1: What are your house rules, preferably tested, and what noted effect was seen in the game.

2: How would bypassing pounce affect feats such as spring attack, hit and run, and flyby attack?

3: is eliminating cross class skills a bad idea?

4: Would it be overpowering to my Players to provide them with feats every other level rather than the normal 1,3,6,9,12,15,18?

5: Are there any other recommended rules that do not heavily alter the balance of the game, or perhaps that fix and balance the game better?

1.Well...

*Clerics are always proficient in the favored weapon of their deity, even if martial or exotic. Temples train their priests in the use of their deity's favored weapon.
*Intimidate-One can use Strength instead of Charisma as the modifying characteristic to Intimidate rolls
*Feats are gained at all odd-numbered levels.
*Arcane Thesis: applies once per spell, not once per metamagic per spell
*All spells with the (Healing) descriptor, including Heal, all Cure spells, Raise Dead, etc, are now back in the Necromancy School, as they were in earlier editions.
*Teleportation- Has a range limit of one mile per Caster Level(or HD of creatures). In order for a location to be a safe destination, it must be one the user of the teleport knows well. This involves spending at least an hour in a single small location. During thar time the teleporter needs to walk around the area, smell the scents of the area, touch everything in the area and make a note of air flow and tempature. A valid target area must be static and unchanging. Anything more then a slight change, such as one object moving no more then a foot, makes the destination not valid. For example, chairs can be moved around a table with out effecting the destination, but place the chair against the wall and the location is no longer valid. For the most part natural areas make poor target locations. They only last a season at most, and lots of things can make a location invalid. Locations like next to a flowing stream, can never be used as a target location as they change too much round to round. The presense of creatures does not effect a location, unless they fill the area.
*Using a scroll is a Full Round Action, that provokes AoO and cannot be done Casting Defensively.
*The fatigued condition imposes a -2 penalty to caster level and a -1 penalty to spell save DCs. The exhausted condition imposes a -6 penalty to caster level, and a -3 penalty to spell save DCs.
*No form of metamagic reduction may reduce the spell's level below its original, or in the case of a heightened spell, below its heightened level.
*A character does not believe in her own illusions, even if she wants to.
*Illusions that produce a percentage of their effect when a target makes their save, such as Shadow Conjuration or Shadow Evocation, cannot have greater than a 100% effect on a target after a successful save. No effect produced by an illusion can produce a greater effect after a successful save than it could produce with a failed save.
*You can only emulate spells you know or have in your spellbook with shadow evocation and shadow conjuration.
*The rule that states spells have a 50% chance to miss incorporeal targets does not apply to mind-affecting spells.
*At 3rd level all non spellcasting classes gain the Create Magic Item Ability. This ability allows them to take magic item creation feats. They may pick one at 3rd level and one more every three levels. Magic item creation is essentially unchanged from the way a spell caster does it. Except that the spell need not be cast by them, or they can drain the spell from a scroll or magic item(destroying the item in the posses).
*Creation magic:By default, magic that summons or creates objects have as an additional material component a piece of material that was once part of a creature or object of the type to be summoned. Pieces of certain exotic monsters will have a high market value. (So Eschew Materials will be ineffective). Only some divine magic can ignore this.
*Polymorph magic:By default, magic that changes a creatures shape have as an additional material component a piece of material that was once part of a creature. Pieces of certain exotic monsters will have a high market value. (So Eschew Materials will be ineffective)

2.Not good, keep pounce.
3.Yes, skills help make classes unique
4.Nope, do it.

5.Sure, see my above ones.

Telonius

2018-04-30, 10:31 PM

I've been using various iterations of my houserules (spoilered below) for several years now. It seems to be working pretty well. Two of the ones you mention (no multiclass penalty, roll skills into one) are rules I use. Starting gold is kind of your pick; it's a one-time thing that's going to look tiny compared to how much the character earns over the course of the adventure, so sure, max away. Max hp per level sounds fine. Might make combat slightly longer, but that seems like it's a feature and not a bug for you.

Character Creation
- One free 18. Roll 4d6 five times, rerolling any one, once. (If it comes up as another one, it was meant to be). Drop lowest die result. Arrange as desired. (Mulligan if less than a collective +7 bonus).

Race
- Half-Elves get one extra skill point per level.
- Half-Orcs lose the CHA penalty and gain a +4 racial bonus to Intimidate.

Class
- Remove favored classes. Multiclass is free.
- There can be Lawful Barbarians, Lawful Bards, and Chaotic Monks.
- All Clerics are Cloistered Clerics.
- Clerics gain proficiency with their deity's favored weapon. (War domain still gives them the Weapon Focus feat).
- Fighters get 4+Int skill points per level.
- At level 5, Fighters gain the "Adaptable Focus" class ability. Once a day Fighters can spend 1 hour practicing with a weapon to change the kind of weapon for which they have Focus or Specialization. This designation lasts until the Fighter spends an hour to change the weapon focus again.
- Paladins take the alignment of their deity (if any) and must act as a prime example of the ideals of their deity, philosophy, or cause.
- Monks get full BAB, proficiency with Gauntlets (which are also a Monk weapon), and can spend time/gold/xp enchanting their own body as though it were a weapon/armor.
- Sorcerers get free Eschew Materials at first, and their HD improves to d6.
- Rogues get an additional Rogue Ability at level 20.
- Rangers and Druids trade animal companions.
- Knowledge (Religion) and Knowledge (Geography) are now on the Druid class skill list.
- Druids use the Shapeshift variant (except for the animal companion, as described above).

Skills
- Open Lock and Disable Device are rolled into one skill, Disable Device (based on Dexterity).
- Balance and Tumble are now one skill, Acrobatics (based on Dexterity).
- Listen and Spot are now one skill, Perception (based on Wisdom).
- Hide and Move Silently are now one skill, Stealth (based on Dexterity).

Feats
- Remove the +1 BAB requirement for the Weapon Finesse feat
- Weapon Focus grants a bonus equal to Fighter Level/5 (minimum 1). Greater Weapon Focus doubles the bonus.
- Weapon Specialization grants a bonus equal to 2*(Fighter Level/5). Greater Weapon Specialization doubles the bonus.
- Metamagic feats do not take more time for spontaneous casters
- Natural Spell is stricken from the game.
- The Two-Weapon Fighting feat now scales to include extra attacks with each iterative Attack. Improved Two-Weapon fighting lessens the penalty by 1 for each attack. Greater Two-Weapon fighting lessens the penalty by an additional 1.
- The Rapid Shot feat now scales to include extra attacks with each iterative Attack. Manyshot lessens the penalty by 1 for each attack.
- Toughness grants you HP equal to your current HD.
- Delete the phrase “and use the charge action” from the Ride-By Attack feat. Ride-By Attack will function as the mounted equivalent of Spring Attack.

Spells
- The following spells are stricken from the game: Shapechange, Polymorph Any Object, Wind Wall, Contingency, Knock.
- Divine Power is no longer a standard Cleric spell. It is still on the War domain list.

Miscellaneous
- Fractional BAB and saves for multiclass characters.
- Starting characters may choose race or templates totaling +2 LA. Buyoff is available.
- SR does not have to be turned off in order to receive a beneficial spell.
- All adventurers are issued the following items free, not counted against WBL:
1 Handy Haversack, 1 MW armor or MW weapon, 10 trail rations (kept in the haversack), 1 spellbook (if a wizard), 1 holy symbol (if a cleric or paladin)
- When making a mounted charge, the mount is not required to make an attack (though it may do so if beneficial).
- Dust of Sneezing and Choking does not exist.
- There are no Vorpal weapons in my game. If you ever encounter a Vorpal weapon, you can be assured that you will soon be facing a Jabberwocky, which will be an epic-level foe.
- Don’t try to break the game. I reserve the right to say no to any race/feat/class/PrC/equipment/whatever combination. If you’re not sure, ask; I’m willing to work with you if it’s not too ridiculous.
- Add Pun-Pun as an over-deity of Cheese, Exploits, and Metagaming. Pun-Pun is aware that he is a god in a fictional gaming world. Anyone that slips something past me in an attempt to break the game will bring down his wrath. He is jealous of his ultimate power, and will personally act to prevent any player/character from approaching it.

I've also been playing around with the idea of making Power Attack and Weapon Finesse into properties of the individual weapons, rather than feats - as in, any character can use dex to hit for a rapier, and every character can swap out a penalty to hit for a bonus to damage with a greatsword. But I haven't tried this out yet.

2. As far as I can tell, they wouldn't affect them at all, since I don't think I've ever had anybody take those feats.
3. Eliminating cc skills could make the skillmonkeys feel a little less special. Depending on how you do it, it could be very interesting for dipping classes with UMD.
4. Probably not, though metamagic could get a little silly. Warlock would really get some more love out of Extra Invocation. There might be some specific cases where feats give a stackable bonus that makes things unbalanced, but a matter of four extra feats over 20 levels isn't going to show up all that much.
5. Personally I like rolling for stats, but many people don't. Using point buy is often recommended.

Elkad

2018-04-30, 11:50 PM

Elkad: I really really like your rule, and with permission, will most likely be using it as a houserule in my campaign.

By all means do. I steal other people's houserules shamelessly.

Some other stuff I use. Note, these are in a constant state of flux, added, removed and adjusted between games, and sometimes during a game.

I've reduced all primary hand dual-wield penalties by 2, and added an additional row for "primary and offhand both light". So (with TWF) Longsword and Shortsword is 0/-2 and 2 shortswords is 0/0.
One-handed weapons (not light) get full Str modifier to damage, even if used in the offhand.
Double weapons are treated as 2-handed for strength bonus to damage (so 1.5x strmod damage) on the primary end. Also, enchantments on the less-expensive end are at half price. Exception - quarterstaves. They do 1x str at both ends, and are treated as light at both ends for attack penalty.
*note, this pretty much makes dual-wielding superior to a two-hander, except you still have to pay for multiple weapons, and pay a feat tax.

Flanking. You can ignore a flanking creature (making you flatfooted to his attacks) to prevent his opposite from gaining flank bonuses.
Flat-footed includes loss of shield bonuses (if any)

Buckler. AC=1+1/4 wielder's BAB.
Small shield. 1+1/3 wielder's BAB, +1 reflex
Large shield. 1+1/2 wielder's BAB, +2 reflex
Tower shield. 4+1/4 wielder's BAB, +4 reflex, -2 to hit. No cover feature. A lightweight tower shield (mithril, darkwood, or just making it thin enough for half weight) reduces attack penalty to -1 and gives 1/3rd BAB instead.
Shields give DR=the total AC bonus to any effect that Evasion would apply to. The shield takes any damage you don't because of this (hardness applies as normal)
Animated shields have a BAB of 2 for a +2 enhancement cost, +2BAB for each additional +1 enhancement cost. (a big fat nerf)

Sling bullets are 10 to the pound.
A war sling (martial) has the same range and damage as a longbow.
Racial weapon proficiencies are not feats. Exotic racials are all martial for that race, not just specific listed ones.
All exotic weapons other than spiked chain and Greathorn Minotaur hammer (which are both good enough already) get some combination of crit range, crit multiplier, or damage enhancement.
Wizards lose crossbow proficiency and gain dart.
Crossbows can have a str rating, just like bows. Yes, that means you can have the barbarian load it for you - once...
Heavy Crossbows do 1d12, plus 1.5x strmod, and only take a -1 penalty per range increment.

Feat tax compression. TWF is a chain, granting improved/greater versions at the appropriate BAB, etc. Search "feat tax", there are a thousand variations on forums and blogs everywhere. I've stolen from them.
Skill compression - see Pathfinder. Though I use Athletics (Jump and Swim) and Acrobatics (Tumble and Balance)
Dodge is +1AC vs everyone (standard restrictions on being aware of your opponent), increasing at L5,10,15,20 (to +5)

Summoning (Calling). Gate and various Planar X spells. You need a truename, and you summon a specific individual based on that name. Which means it gets angry if you keep bothering it, long-reset SLAs can't be spammed, and if you get it killed, the name is useless. Creatures that grant Wishes can only grant wish(s) to someone once. So 3 wishes from an efreet and you are done. Find a new truename for another one.

Paladins use Cha for casting, and cast at their level-3 (not half)
Rangers get full animal companion progression and cast at their level-3 (not half)
Fighters get to switch their bonus feats (and any regular feat that is on the bonus feat list) around with an hour of practice each morning, get d12hp, armor training (see pathfinder) and all-good saves.

Monk. Well, it's complicated, but they get full BAB, more flurry attacks (at no penalty), better damage increases, threat range increases and Mettle. And they still suck. Considering adding swordsage stances.

Fractional BAB/Saves (from UA). You only get the +2 bonus for a Good save one time.

A bunch of daily powers with pathetic usages become encounter powers. Smite Evil, etc.

Sorcerers get a bard-like "0 spells per day" the level before they currently gain access to a new level of spells.

Once a class skill, always a class skill.

Int bonus to skill points is retroactive. Int-enhancing items have skillpoints built in (again, stolen from PF).

Ashbound Summoning is a +2 metamagic
Greenbound Summoning is a +3 metamagic

I give crazy high point buys. 42 or more. It helps the mundanes, and has almost no effect on the high tiers.

NerdHut

2018-05-01, 02:13 AM

Here's a few highlights of my current campaign's houserules, with how they've impacted the game. We've been going for almost a year as a weekly* game, and nothing has gotten out of balance (at least no more than RAW).

No creatures with Level Adjustment of +3 or above (exceptions can be made in the form of changing the creature's LA, in the same way Inevitability has done on these forums)

This hasn't changed much, since most players don't go for high-LA races, but it has relieved my own worries about OP races showing up as players *cough* pixie *cough*

Everyone gets the effects of the Able Learner feat. Rogues get 2 extra skill points to balance that a bit

This also hasn't changed things dramatically. I implemented this not out of concerns of balance, but because some of my players are absolutely terrible at math. Like, concerningly so. And others have trouble grasping and remembering the cross-class cost anyway. It makes characters more competent out of combat and without magic though. Expect players to make skill DCs more regularly.

Hit points after first level are set by your Hit Die, as follows: d4-3, d6-5, d8-6, d10-8, d12-10. Add CON.

This one has made sure everyone feels like they have appropriate hit points. You're garaunteed not to be super frail, though you also can't have super high HP. I didn't like the idea of max HP for my game, but I wanted something higher than average. This has worked well at our table.

Ignore Multiclass Penalties

Just made things easier and opened up interesting combos

Simplified XP, dropped XP cost of crafting, while keeping the system that allows lower-level characters to catch up.

Everyone earns a set amount of XP for playing in a session, plus extra if they are behind the party average. In the current campaign it's 3 XP per session, plus 1 per level behind the average, and requiring 10 XP to level up. It's worked well for us. It scales easier than the default system, and can be adjusted easily if you want the players to level slower or faster. It's also meant I don't have to worry about the exact CR of each encounter (which is not a great gauge of actual difficulty anyway), and allows for non-combat encounters without the headache of "How much XP should this be worth?" It's also relieved my Murder-Hobo infestation.

You can make a Full-Attack as a standard action, but your attack rolls take a -5 penalty for doing so.

This has kept my martials happy. They feel more useful, without becoming overpowered. You could argue that this is an inherently more powerful option, but would be hard pressed to convince me it's too powerful.

Simplified Crit Ranges of weapons, and nat 20s on attack rolls are always crits. Improved Critical and Keen still double the new, modified crit range.

19-20x2 becomes 20x3, and 18-20x2 becomes 20x4. That much is roughly on par power-wise with the original rules. Taking out the confirmation rolls does make crits more common and makes things more dangerous on both sides of combat, but it's also made combat less of a slog at our table, so I think it's worth it. For the amount it's improved the overall experience, I'd say it's worth the power change.

Initiative rolls can be made with WIS or DEX

WIS is the sensory stat. I figure the high-DEX characters react faster, and the high-WIS characters are aware of a need to react sooner. It hasn't impacted balance much, and gives the players some options.

I've also done some tweaks specific to certain classes. Most of them are small enough as to barely impact the game (such as letting Half-Orcs choose the INT penalty or CHA, instead of having both)

*Weekly as in we intend to play every week and have cancelled on less than half of those occasion.

Vaern

2018-05-01, 03:07 PM

Combining disable device and open lock seems fine to me. Both involve the manipulation of mechanical devices and are both key points of a rogue's job expectation.

I wouldn't recommend max HP at every level unless you're going to a high-powered campaign and are planning to either give them few opportunities to rest or are planning to consistently set the players against encounters above their level.
In lieu of rolling for HP at each level, my DM gives us the option to take what would be the average for our HD, rounded to the nearest even number at even levels or the nearest odd number at odd levels. You can choose to roll if you really want to, but it's generally the safer bet to just take the average.

I don't see maximizing starting gold as being problematic at all. It makes the early game a bit easier to survive and by level 2 the difference it'll make will be negligible.

I don't think I've ever played with a group that enforces multiclassing penalties. Then again, I don't think I've played with anyone that's ever actually take levels of more than one base class.

Flyby attack and spring attack allow an attack to be made during movement. The pounce ability applies to a charge, which is a full-round action that ends your movement adjacent to that target. Even if you gave everyone the spring attack feats and the pounce ability for free, they would not be capable of interacting with each other as they each require a different type of action to activate.

Eliminating cross-class skill rules would certainly make things easier, but as someone else has mentioned it makes some skill-based classes less desirable. You might consider a way to allow characters to invest in any skill, but add some sort of bonus if it happens to be marked as a class skill for them. Maybe the option to, once per day, reroll a skill check with a class skill. As a random example, this might allow a paladin to invest max ranks into disable device, though a rogue would still be desirable as the ability to redo a poor roll makes him significantly less likely to accidentally spring a trap. As an extra bonus, maybe add an additional reroll per day to skill focus to make that line of feats a bit more appealing.

Giving feats every other level shouldn't be too overpowering. I'd say give feats at odd levels, so that anyone playing a fighter will have something to look forward to every level instead of having to wait two levels to grab two new feats.
Bonus feats at every odd level will give your players a net gain of 1 additional feat by level 10 (or 3 feats by level 20) compared to the standard "every third level" method, which makes them more powerful than normal but is not game breaking by any means.

heregoeshell

2018-05-01, 11:21 PM

Malimar: I have not mentioned flaws to my players yet, but am happy to oblige, even non published ones that they may come up with. I like your idea of front loading, and making epic progressions available at 10, but don’t want to overpower my players for what I inted to be a long running campaign from 3-20. I really like your LA rule, and personally find the LA buy off system irritating, expecially considering I usually play by story progression or “when I feel it’s right”, rather than explicitely through XP, and as such find it limiting. I really like your untrained skill idea, have always found that something can be attempted even without training. I’m also really a fan of the flexibility in spells, considering many times I have had interpretations of spells or rules go awry, and find that many times the interpretation of the player is worth the fudge. If it’s okay I may steal some of these.

Darth Ultron: I appreciate your comments on illusions and shadow conjuration and evocation. I’ve found these potentially abused, and like this as a logical fix with enough flexibility to allow players not to feel stifled.

Telonius: I like the inclusion of adaptable focus, but will probably not be using it in this campaign, but might recommend it in future ones. My personal difficulty for rolling up perception is the differentiation between spot and search, which I find to be active and passive versions of the same idea of visual perception, similarly, I like the opposing checks aspect when it comes to stealth and in general want to keep those separate. As a general, I have yet to need to worry about banning game breaking (especially considering that I am the most likely to instigate it of my group), but if needed, I may too begin to worship the Almighty Pun-Pun. I really like the weapon feature idea, and wouldn’t mind seeing that expanded, but am hesitant to include it in my own game. I would also like to know how these have worked:
The Two-Weapon Fighting feat now scales to include extra attacks with each iterative Attack. Improved Two-Weapon fighting lessens the penalty by 1 for each attack. Greater Two-Weapon fighting lessens the penalty by an additional 1.
- The Rapid Shot feat now scales to include extra attacks with each iterative Attack. Manyshot lessens the penalty by 1 for each attack.

Elkad: I like the inclusion of BAB to AC, but don’t want to mess with it too much. My opportunities to playtest are limited and I don’t enjoy doing the testing on my own. Your flanking option sounds like a great idea I may snag as well. In your opinion how has feat tax compression altered your game? Has it been worth it? Does it make access to easy? Is abuse that may have been more difficult now even worse, or does it balance well?

NerdHut: Thank you very much for including the effects the changes have had to your game, your post was very valuable. I may very well include the able learner feat as well.

AT present I am considering the following changes:
38 point buy or 4d6 best 3 reroll 1’s
Disable Device = Open Lock
No multiclass XP
Maximize HP and Starting Gold Dice
No alignment limitations for classes
Full-attack includes either your full standard movement in a straight line (same restrictions as charge regarding terrain/obstacles, but no other bonuses/penalties from charge). The movement must come before the attack(s). Or move HALF your speed, but you can turn, cross difficult terrain (with speed penalty of course), make a Balance check, etc. This feat can be used in conjunction with a Spring Attack, Flyby Attack, or Swim-By Attack, allowing you to make each of your attacks at any point during your movement. (This replaces the single attack made in a Spring Attack, although you may still avoid attacks of opportunity from one target as normal, and Bounding Assault and Rapid Blitz still function normally if you have them.)
LA divided by 2 round down
*Illusions that produce a percentage of their effect when a target makes their save, such as Shadow Conjuration or Shadow Evocation, cannot have greater than a 100% effect on a target after a successful save. No effect produced by an illusion can produce a greater effect after a successful save than it could produce with a failed save.
*You can only emulate spells you know or have in your spellbook with shadow evocation and shadow conjuration
- Remove the +1 BAB requirement for the Weapon Finesse feat
Pun Pun May become deity of mess with my game and I will drop the ban-hammer

Any input or thoughts recommended

Telonius

2018-05-01, 11:46 PM

The TWF and Rapid Shot iteratives thing hasn't really been an issue. I'd put them there as a slight powerup to mundane-ish combatants (particularly throwing Ranger a bone, in that they'd still derive some benefit from their Fighting Styles that other classes would be unlikely to spend the feats on). But my players have been gravitating away from Fighter and Ranger, and into Tome of Battle classes; so far nobody's made use of either. So I guess I could probably say that it's not a big enough power boost to lure them back from ToB.

I will say that some of the NPCs I've built with those in mind were a bit harder hitting.

martixy

2018-05-02, 05:21 AM

You seem to be stuck in a vanilla 3.5 so many of us have left behind so, so long ago.

I myself have got a big list of house-rules, too big to post here, but the gist of it is:
Borrow liberally from Pathfinder, notably the skill system, reduce feat taxes(http://michaeliantorno.com/feat-taxes-in-pathfinder/), allow high-LA races/combos to be viable and grant more versatility to characters, with a particular focus on martials. Also, reduce the impact of alignment(I've removed almost all race and alignment restrictions on various things, ranging from monks needing to be lawful to evil poisons).

Zombimode

2018-05-02, 06:44 AM

2: How would bypassing pounce affect feats such as spring attack, hit and run, and flyby attack?

3: is eliminating cross class skills a bad idea?

4: Would it be overpowering to my Players to provide them with feats every other level rather than the normal 1,3,6,9,12,15,18?

5: Are there any other recommended rules that do not heavily alter the balance of the game, or perhaps that fix and balance the game better?

Thank you for your time

2: I highly recommend against allowing full attack as Standard Action or anything of that like.
Full Attack denial IS a viable tactic in 3.5
That some people are ignorant of this (especially those that claim 3.5 combat to be boring slugfest where everyone just stands there and trade blows) doesn't mean it is not there.

You can use movement and Terrain (as well as abilities that influence movement and Terrain) to Limit your opponents full-attack potential.
And there are abilities that directly influence the targets ability to full-attack (like the excellent Staggering Strike).
And all of this hinges on the fact that full-attacks are a full-round action.

The Full-Attack/Single Attack + Movement Division is one of the cornerstones of the 3.5 combat Framework. Don't change it without rethinking everything (and if you do that you're probably better of using a different system).
You might think to help your "poor" melee PCs to get their full-attacks more often but in my experience Players can migitate this with better tactical decisions.
Actually, melee PCs are probably the ones most disadvantaged by this since now every monster always full-attacks against them. Always.

4: I'm not speaking for or against it, but one of the consequences are that Bonus Feats get "devalued" in the sense that a Bonus feat is something not all that special anymore.
If that is a good thing or a bad thing is probably a matter of perspective.

Aotrs Commander

2018-05-02, 08:42 AM

4: I'm not speaking for or against it, but one of the consequences are that Bonus Feats get "devalued" in the sense that a Bonus feat is something not all that special anymore.
If that is a good thing or a bad thing is probably a matter of perspective.

I switched to feat every odd level a while back, and long before that, switched fighter to a bonus feat every level and we have never looked back. In all of 3.5 there are WAAAAY more feats than anyone could ever use (my 3.Aotrs feat LIST (just the short descriptions) runs to about 36 pages!)

Elkad

2018-05-02, 11:42 AM

Elkad: I like the inclusion of BAB to AC, but don’t want to mess with it too much. My opportunities to playtest are limited and I don’t enjoy doing the testing on my own. Your flanking option sounds like a great idea I may snag as well. In your opinion how has feat tax compression altered your game? Has it been worth it? Does it make access to easy? Is abuse that may have been more difficult now even worse, or does it balance well?

BAB to AC (with shields) is part of an attempt to make multiple fighting styles a bit more equal. So Dual-Wield (including double weapons) and sword&Board are closer in power to grabbing a greatsword and ubercharging.
Hitting people with your shield is too much like TWF, so I enhanced defense instead. I've seen others put DR on shields, or let you parry with them (opposed attack rolls). In an automated system (RPG-like), I'd probably go with the parry option as well.

The flanking just made sense. If there is a goblin with a 1d3 stick behind you and an 8d6 greatsword+sneak-attack ogre in front of you, you are going to just ignore the goblin. Especially if the goblin has AC:rollanat20 . Makes it more like playing with facing (which I like) but with less complications.

Feat compression. It's just good. I can't think of a drawback at all. Making someone pay for ITF and GTF just contributes even more to cookie-cutter "big weapon and Power Attack" school of melee.

2: I highly recommend against allowing full attack as Standard Action or anything of that like.
Full Attack denial IS a viable tactic in 3.5
That some people are ignorant of this (especially those that claim 3.5 combat to be boring slugfest where everyone just stands there and trade blows) doesn't mean it is not there.
... snip ...

Agreed. I didn't listen to prior arguments and had to try "full attack is a standard" anyway. Denial was almost impossible. Bad enough I switched to my hybrid system mid-campaign, something I almost never do.

Under my hybrid, you can deny, with work. On the attacker's side, instead of just going for Pounce and feats to deal with turns and terrain while charging, you can optimize for speed or something and make the half-move work.
If you have to move at half-speed, cross a difficult square, and dodge around the guy with the reach trip weapon, you aren't getting there as a spd:20 dwarf, even with Haste. But a light-armored Xeph on Burst with Haste and Freedom Mantle (speed:100') can.

daremetoidareyo

2018-05-02, 11:51 AM

I don't use the xp penalties for favored class. If you are a race with class levels in a favored class, you get 2 additional skill points in that class per level. That way the favored class element is preserved without making melee characters struggle even more.

heregoeshell

2018-05-02, 05:44 PM

Telonius: I will run the idea by my players, see how they feel about it. I feel that adjustment and making less desirable feats more worthwhile is a good idea, though I am still tempted to reduce feat tax on several feats as well.

Martixy: My ability to devote time to my own personal adjustments to 3.5, limited experience with actually playing other systems, and lack of time to peruse and test, has limited my ability to adjust or remove myself from the vanilla aspects of 3.5. Similarly, I have been bitten before by un tested adjustments, and that is why I am working to ask for more experienced individual's input here.

Zombimode: I entirely agree that removing full attack options is a worthwhile endeavor. However, I personally find that the martial vs arcane options and survivability provide that providing some bonuses to martial classes, though through an adjustment that is not unusable or even unfavorable for arcane casters, is desirable. And while this may be more of the "poor melee PCs" argument, I find it more desirable. Similarly, I find that the full attack exclusion removes some of the more enjoyable aspects of even getting to progress. Personally, I've found very few incidences outside of Pounce to get to enjoy my iterative attacks, not out of not trying, but due to the limiting nature of even trying to use the iteratives without accommodating to a moving opponent.

Aotrs: I agree with the overload of feat options, and i feel it gets even worse when so few are really found worthwhile without some form of catering to them, in many cases to a crippling extent.

Elkad: I will probably also be stealing your flanking option, I think that's a great way to facilitate and logically accommodate for facing. I will take more time to understand feat compression as well, am simply too unfamiliar with it to adopt right away.

daremetoidareyo: I think the favored class option is a great one, will probably be suggesting it to my players.

martixy

2018-05-03, 03:38 AM

@heregoeshell
I completely understand. And also agree that preventing full attack should remain a viable tactical opportunity, hence do not recommend standard full attacks.

@Elkad,
Hey man, I didn't notice your hidden quote.
You've got quite a few houserules that tickle my design fancy. However, something to keep in mind is that your TWF tweaks are half the class features of the Bloodclaw master PrC, thus erasing its usefulness.

I too tie a lot of effects to BAB, making it significantly more impactful than normally. More specifically:

Characters receive a bonus feat for every 3 BAB which they possess from the following list:
Improved Unarmed Strike, Dodge, Combat Expertise, Power Attack, Precise Shot, Quick Draw, Rapid Reload, Mounted Combat, Blind Fight, Endurance, Any individual Improved Maneuver feat(e.g. Improved Sunder, etc), Weapon Focus(Single weapon), Weapon Specialization(Single weapon), Weapon Focus Ability(Single weapon).
(Notes: 1. Dodge/Mobility are merged, Point Blank Shot does not exist; 2. I use PFs combat maneuver system and merge some maneuvers together into Deft or Powerful maneuvers(basically this: http://michaeliantorno.com/feat-taxes-in-pathfinder/); 3. I use weapon groups; 4. I have a more worthwhile Weapon Focus feat which provides more benefits: +1 to attack(at BAB+1), +2 damage(at BAB+4) and an ability tied to the weapon group(at BAB+7) [obscure feats related to that weapon group that don't deserve an entire feat slot go here] )

Note: A bunch of feat taxes, usually critical prereqs for certain builds, not worth a feat slot on their own.
Characters gain a +1 dodge bonus to AC for every 3 BAB

Note: Introduces a scaling AC, which mitigates the problem of advancing attack, but static AC. (So now high-BAB characters can retain a competitive AC without investing practically ALL their WBL into AC bonuses.)
Characters gain 1 proficiency point per BAB bonus.
* Simple weapons cost 1 point, martial weapons cost 2, exotic weapons cost 3, a weapon group costs 5.
* You may spend 1 point to treat any weapon that shares the same weapon group with a discipline's preferred weapons as a preferred weapon itself.
* You may spend an amount of points equal to the proficiency cost of the weapon again to treat the weapon as a monk special weapon.
* Armor proficiency costs 2 points. Shield Proficiency costs 2 points. Tower shield proficiency costs 3 points. (You have to meet the prerequisites.)

Note: This, along with weapon groups allows significantly more versatility to martial builds. So now I don't have to tailor my weapon loot to the party's limited weapon expertise, because that expertise is significantly wider. More variety, more verisimilitude and less agonizing over stupid details for me, all at the same time.

The shield tweak you've made fits perfectly in that framework as a good method of encouraging more shield use and another good option for scaling AC.
And the "Shield specialization" feat might instead increase the scaling factor of shields like so: 1/4→1/3→1/2→2/3, instead of the paltry +1 AC.

Elkad

2018-05-03, 07:32 AM

@Elkad,
Hey man, I didn't notice your hidden quote.
You've got quite a few houserules that tickle my design fancy. However, something to keep in mind is that your TWF tweaks are half the class features of the Bloodclaw master PrC, thus erasing its usefulness.

Invalidating a couple features of a PRC doesn't concern me. Bloodclaw master is solid if you already want to be a Tiger Claw specialized pure melee brute, but is too limited in it's application otherwise.

It just doesn't fit if you want to use longsword and dagger as a Ranger. Or a Rogue with 2 shortswords. Or a quarterstaff-wielding spell-slinging Duskblade.

martixy

2018-05-03, 09:59 AM

Invalidating a couple features of a PRC doesn't concern me. Bloodclaw master is solid if you already want to be a Tiger Claw specialized pure melee brute, but is too limited in it's application otherwise.

It just doesn't fit if you want to use longsword and dagger as a Ranger. Or a Rogue with 2 shortswords. Or a quarterstaff-wielding spell-slinging Duskblade.

Not saying "don't do it", more like "if you're gonna do it like that, the class should probably be reworked".

Elkad

2018-05-03, 11:26 AM

Not saying "don't do it", more like "if you're gonna do it like that, the class should probably be reworked".

Sure. Requiring Truenames for summons probably means I should probably rework Malconvoker too.

Hmm. What to give Bloodclaw master instead.
Need to replace "no penalty TWF". I think that's the only feature that overlaps.

Hmm.
When attacking with a light Tiger Claw weapon, you may power attack as if using one-handed weapons. When attacking with one-handed Tiger Claw weapons (just claws and unarmed?), Power attack gives a damage bonus as two-handed weapons.

The Shadowmind

2018-05-03, 11:39 AM

I'd like restricted gestalt-ing:

Tier 1/Tier 2 classes may gestalt with two tier 6 classes, or 1 tier 5.

Tier 3 may gestalt A Tier 4 and 1 Tier 5.

Tier 4 classes may pick an additional tier 4, or 2 Tier 5.

Tier 5, may pick up to three tier 5 classes.

So a Wizard, could be a Wizard//Warrior//Artiocrat, and get good bab, and a few more skill points. But a Paladin could be a Paladin//Healer//Fighter//Knight or something. Factotum//Spell thief//Divine Mind(with Mind's eye fixes)

Also steal Pathfinders skill system, and feat progression.

martixy

2018-05-03, 12:13 PM

Sure. Requiring Truenames for summons probably means I should probably rework Malconvoker too.

Hmm. What to give Bloodclaw master instead.
Need to replace "no penalty TWF". I think that's the only feature that overlaps.

Hmm.
When attacking with a light Tiger Claw weapon, you may power attack as if using one-handed weapons. When attacking with one-handed Tiger Claw weapons (just claws and unarmed?), Power attack gives a damage bonus as two-handed weapons.

You're actually invalidating 2 features: Claws of the beast (full Str-to-dmg for off-hand) and Superior TWF (no penalties).

Me, I threw some thought at it and was thinking in 3 directions:

Make shifting copy "Bite of the X" spells, though with lower, untyped bonuses. E.g. Aspect of the Rat/Wolf at L1, Boar@L3, Tiger/Bear@L5
Replace low-light/scent with "Senses of the Hunter" which at 3rd level gives a choice between Low-light or Darkvision if you already have low-light, or increasing their ranges and at 5th level gives the option between Scent and Tremorsense(a good unique capstone for 5-level PrC).
The tiger claw synergies are also dreadfully underwhelming, so I had this idea:
At 4th level, whenever you initiate a strike from any discipline that involves making a single melee attack, you may instead strike once with each of your claws or weapons. Penalties for two-/multi-weapon fighting apply normally. Any special effects apply only to the first attack, though if you also hit with a second attack, the strike's DC(if any) is increased by +2.
I have no good option for 2nd level yet, but the ability to switch between the listed bonuses so far as a swift seems like a no-brainer.