Plageman's page

As a player I liked 3.x but was frustrated by the skill system and skill point allotments. As a DM I found that running a game, especially a homemade adventure in which you had to design all the npcs from scratch, a real nightmare.

I'm waiting for PFRPG release next year to start playing the AP, especially if theyu deliver a better 3.x system (and yes I'm downloading the Alpha updates, I just don't want to start introducing it at my table until it's more stable).

I also look forward to D&D 4E. To me both of them can exist and I see this new release more like BECMI D&D and PFRPG like AD&D. A different kind of play experience, maybe an easier entry point to new player for 4E, but both enjoyable.

Some times I wonder what would have happened if WotC hadn't revoked the licence for Dungeon and Dragon Magazines. Guess that matter for another thread :-)

Why not go the middle path and offer the Fighter Training Schools. They would work like Cleric domains, offering special Fighter-only talents (EX type only) and use up one the Bonus Feat to learn. A fighter might then specialize in one school or learn trick from a few other making up his own style (and maybe teaching it to pupils in later levels).

So with your character above, your Fighter/Wizard climbs just as well, and can still improve his climbing. He also will find his previous Arcane Knowledge to be more effective now.

So I have just to invest a single point in a skill to always treat it as a class skill ? It seems open to abuse...

Once mor e I wonder while we always want to "punish" cross-class skills instead of "rewarding" class skills. For example give a +2 expertise bonus to a single class skill every 3 character level that can be taken multiple time or a Class level bonus to a single class skill every 4 character levels.

I'm in the group who'll try 'em both. To me 3.x has already busted the "classic" D&D feeling so, well 4th is only a step further in this direction ^_^
If I want to wake up the D&D memory I just have to open up my red box and start making a new party... >_<

While I like Epic Meepo proposal, I have a question:
If my fighter has 4 skill ranks in Handle Animal, when multiclassing with rogue at the next level, he would make his check with only a +2 bonus (as it is not a class skill). What reason "in game" could I give for this, why did he suddenly "lose" his training ?

Show me a Fighter that can do any of these things, and I'll be happy because Fighters definitely don't have monopoly on "high HPs" or "high AC" or "raw damage" or "battlefield control."

Well the Fighter's monopoly on "battle" action is gone since the earliest days of the 3.x edition... If paizo is to stick with a backwards compatibility the only option they have is to create meaningful, fighter-only, feats to make the fighter more attractive. While I'm all for a heavily revised fighter, I doubt it would be feasible without creating a huge balance change in the game.

And to those who think the fighter is the best entry character for new players, just check MMOs; many young players are able to manage playing wizards, thief or any complex class without too much difficulty...

Well, I've always thought that the 3.x Fighter had lost the few "advantages" his previous (Basic D&D / AD&D 2) incarnations had. The "Archery" and "Two-weapons" path are part of the Ranger class, the best Hit Dice is given to the Barbarian. Both the Barbarian and the Paladin share the same BAB progression. Most Characters have now access to the same set of weapons / armor and the "exceptionnal strength score is gone too.

I totally understand that it's main feature is meant to be it's versatility, but the feat selection proposed in the PHB are just not interesting enough and those I've read in the Alpha won't change this feeling. Maybe there should be "trees" like "brawny","sword&shield specialist", "agile" fighter that would build up for 4/5 slots and replace some of the "bonus feats". These feat-like and EX abilities would help make the fighter more of a "class" instead of a feat-mesh.

Furthermore what all characters lack is a mean to be more than a "class". If I want to play a PC who's also a member of the nobility or a mariner or a militia member the current system will not help me do it, forcing me in a role that will not be compatible with my roleplay intentions.

While I loved the concept behind Exalted I found the execution lacking. I haven't tried the second edition now, but 1st edition was too complicated to allow multiple type of exalts to appear in a game session. It seemed to me like trying to play with Vampire Werrewolf and Mage during the same session and using all three rulebooks at the same time.

Maybe Scion will offer an intersting alternative to the heavy Exalted system and be what that game should have been...

I guess this make Pathfinder a RPG product rather than a magazine... Will there be shipping offers for us living overseas ?