Training as "Item Creation" For Non-Casters

[Lysander]

Here's a concept I wanted to run by here before making anything specific on the homebrew forum.

Right now casters can use up their xp to create magic items or perform certain powerful spells. Non-casters basically just use xp to gain new levels. What if non-casters could spend xp to buy special feats or abilities apart from their normal class abilities? The xp cost would represent time and effort spent learning these abilities.

Right now I have four broad ideas:

Conditioning - Permanent stat improvement. Training your body or mind through exercise, mental puzzles, etc. This would bear a high xp cost.

Techniques - Permanently learning new feats or gaining new skills. This would bear a high xp cost.

Practice - This is the equivalent of a buff spell with a duration of several hours. By spending an hour and a small amount of xp practicing, for the next 24 hours you receive a competence bonus to that specific action or temporarily improve one specific stat while the practice is still fresh in your mind.

Tricks - This is the equivalent of a charged item like a wand or staff. A trick is a one time insight bonus to a single action, or temporarily gaining the benefit of a feat you don't have for a single round. It's noticing something about that specific situation that helps you excel. Different bonuses would bear different xp costs. You can choose to spend xp for a trick on the spot, allowing a non-caster to gain a bonus whenever needed.

[Vizzerdrix]

Hmm... I like the concept of this. I'd like to see a feat that gives fighter's an edge when using this though. maybe mooks too.

[Sinfire Titan]

Tricks - This is the equivalent of a charged item like a wand or staff. A trick is a one time insight bonus to a single action, or temporarily gaining the benefit of a feat you don't have for a single round. It's noticing something about that specific situation that helps you excel. Different bonuses would bear different xp costs. You can choose to spend xp for a trick on the spot, allowing a non-caster to gain a bonus whenever needed.

What about making this similar to Eternal Wands? X uses/day, refreshes every day (and maybe allow them to spend some XP to force an additional use/day).

[Lysander]

What about making this similar to Eternal Wands? X uses/day, refreshes every day (and maybe allow them to spend some XP to force an additional use/day).

I like that idea. The tricks could have general circumstances in which they could be used. For example the Duelist Trick, which provides a bonus on a single attack roll made during a 1 on 1 melee. So twice a day during any duel you could get +2 to your attack.

[deuxhero]

Complete Scoundrel already has a system to gain feats (junk ones that you only use for qualifications, but iron will and skill focus:know get you into a lot of stuff) and a few random abilites with the opportunity cost of magic items (you can purchase them with wealth by level) and visiting various places.

[Splendor]

Using extremely loose D&D math here.
1) The BoXD has a optional rule allowing those with the Vow of Poverty to create magical items by ONLY expending XP and not spending any GP (Since they can't get GP).

Conditioning - Permanent stat improvement.

Equivalent to a tome: +1 is 13,750 + 1100 xp normally. so 2750xp+1100xp=3850xp spent using this rule, which seems kinda cheep until you remember tome's dont stack they overlap when giving ability bonuses. So a +2 in a stat would cost 7700xp, a +3 would be 11550 xp.

Techniques - Permanently learning new feats.

Items which grants feats or bonuses to skill usually are cheap.
Feats seem to run about 5,000gp (for feats like alertness/sunder) and skills have a direct formula.
400 xp for a feat seems kinda cheap to me. But if you required 400 xp for each feat and say 6 months of training then thats seems better. Or if its 400 xp for each basic feat and an additional 400xp for each feat requirement. Ex- Lets say you already have dodge, mobility, combat expertise and spring attack and want to train for whirlwind attack, then its 400 xp + 400 x(4 requirement feats)=2000 xp and takes 6 months to train for it. But even that still seems cheap....

Practice - This is the equivalent of a buff spell with a duration of several hours.

I think this would be the easiest to put into practice, but I would make a specific list of buff spells they could chose from and maybe even have a maximum per level they could learn/know.

Tricks - This is the equivalent of a charged item like a wand or staff.

I could see this in a game, like in the old Chinese martial arts movies where the old man concentrates for a couple seconds and then runs across the lake. But tricks shouldn't be on the fly they should have to be learned beforehand much like feats but these cost XP each time they use them.


In addition you could always have a MAX that a person can know. Each different feat/trick/etc.. could be based on a stat and they could learn an additional amount of powers/feats/tricks based on that stat.