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View Full Version : Class Balance (no, it's not about Wizards vs. Monks)



MisterSaturnine
2008-02-03, 04:34 PM
OK, I'm working on a little campaign world that's meant to be relatively low magic. Magic is a relatively foreign thing, and opinions vary widely from society to society. Some find it inherently evil, some believe it to be a gift from God/the Gods, etc. I've worked out a rough list of classes the PCs can be, and was wondering if they were balanced against each other (in all senses of the term).


Shadowcaster
Truenamer
Binder
Warlock
Homebrew druidic class yet to come
Ultimate Rogue
Ultimate Monk
Ultimate Ranger
Ultimate Barbarian
Ultimate Fighter
Ultimate Paladin


Ultimate classes can be found here (http://www.liquidmateria.info/wiki/index.php?title=Ultimate_Classes).

Dunno what would be the best method to balance Truenamer and Shadowcaster, but I'd probably go with one of the other methods of determining DC (which has slipped my mind, and if anyone could suggest one, that'd be great), and change the Shadowcaster's spells to per encounter. If anyone has any suggestions for a Druid-type class that would fit well with these guys, I would appreciate it. Otherwise, I'll try and puzzle something out.

Fenix_of_Doom
2008-02-03, 05:09 PM
From what I heard, truenamer is a badly designed class and very weak as well, so your probably better of not using it.

About the rest, Ultimate classes are something like fighter types made on-par with usual magic types right?(no I did not take the time to read it all, even though it looks interesting)
You're also using the weaker magic classes, so maybe your fighter types will overshadow the magic types as it is now.

I'm afraid I have to little experience with all those classes to say anything more useful.

MeklorIlavator
2008-02-03, 05:22 PM
The Tome of battle classes are generally considered on par with the weakened caster(especially if you fix the Shadow caster and the Truenamer), and I'm going to agree with Fenix_of_Doom, as I understood that the ultimate classes were all balanced to be as good as the current top tier(though correct me if I'm wrong).

Also, The Incarnum is thought to be all right balance wise.

MisterSaturnine
2008-02-03, 08:41 PM
I am aware the Truenamer is a weak class, and if I used it, I would make it much easier to meet the DCs. Although I'm a big fan of the ToB classes, they have a feel that's a little too supernatural for the campaign (or at least the Swordsage and Crusader are), in which the magical is really very rare.

The other thought is to just use a few of the Ultimate casting classes given (keeping the Warlock and the Binder).

In that case, I'd go with the Ultimate Druid, Ultimate Sorcerer, Ultimate Wizard, Ultimate Prodigy, and Ultimate Incarnate, along with the Binder, and dropping the Warlock.

Thinker
2008-02-03, 11:20 PM
For a druid class you could use the regular druid, take away the animal companion, take away the spellcasting, and give it full BAB.

bugsysservant
2008-02-03, 11:49 PM
For a druid class you could use the regular druid, take away the animal companion, take away the spellcasting, and give it full BAB.

Wouldn't that pretty much nerf it until it gets wildshape? It would be a fighter with slightly better saves and skill points, worse hit dice and... not even any bonus feats. You could instead just give it an animal companion up till 5th and drop spell casting. Once you get wildshape you can fluff it as absorbing the force of nature into your soul or somesuch. Still be better than a fighter, but lets be honest, what isn't?

Draz74
2008-02-04, 12:00 AM
For a druid class you could use the regular druid, take away the animal companion, take away the spellcasting, and give it full BAB.

At that point, just use the Wildshape Ranger (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#ranger) instead. Combine it with a spell-less Ranger variant if you wish.