I recently came across and downloaded an interesting set of word documents someone wrote up for a Pathfinder without classes. I forget where I found it, I'll post a link if I rediscover it.
In it, most of the feats are purchased in ranks, similar to skills. Among the feats were this modifications 'level' equivalent, the Hand To Hand Combat and Fire Combat feats. A rank in either of these gives you an attack bonus with melee weapons or ranged, ray, and energy attacks, respectively, and both gave 1d10 hit points.
As per usual, iterative attacks were gained every 5 attack bonuses, but that got me thinking, why should a great hammer have the same amount of attacks as a dagger, if all other things are equal?
So here is my solution:
Nix the HTH and Fire Combat feats, and instead replace it with Weapon Proficiency feats. Every time you put a rank in a Weapon Proficiency with your chosen weapon group, your attack bonus with that weapon increases by one, BUT here is the key difference from Pathfinder- Iterative attacks are earned when your ranks equal your weapon groups damage dice. For instance, Weapon Proficiency (Knives) rank 4 makes your attack bonus +4/+1. Weapon Proficiency (Shortswords) rank 13 makes +13/+8/+3.
This makes it to where a small weapon like a dagger can attack faster and thus many more times in a round than a big-ol troll squishing hammer, without being game-breaking, as rank 12 in knives gives you four attacks that average out to 8 damage, if they all connect, whereas rank 12 in a d12 weapon gives you two attacks that average out to 12 damage.
I thought it would be a clever solution to classless attack bonuses and wanted to hear what you guys thought.
And as for what to do about Hit Points, f&$* if I know. Lol.
The old Everquest D20 RPG rulebook had a system similar to this. The weapon actually modified a character's effective BAB for determining attacks per round depending on the 'speed' of the weapon. Fast weapons like a dagger allowed you to get multiple attacks earlier, while with slower ones like greatswords you gained multiple attacks later.
I'm all for it.
I may have the same docs and homebrew rules you do. I like them a great deal. I wish...sigh...no. It'll never happen.
This is a fascinating idea and I may have to use some form of it in the future.
Awesome! Glad you guys like it.
The old Everquest D20 RPG rulebook had a system similar to this. The weapon actually modified a character's effective BAB for determining attacks per round depending on the 'speed' of the weapon. Fast weapons like a dagger allowed you to get multiple attacks earlier, while with slower ones like greatswords you gained multiple attacks later.
While it would never fly with my group, I love the idea. Reminds me of the old "weapon speed" mechanics from earlier editions, except... you know... useful.
I wonder if that wouldn't make an interesting rogue talent.
Example:
Dagger Specialist (Ex) A rogue with this talent treats his base attack bonus at two points higher for the purpose of determining iterative attacks when wielding daggers.
Perhaps even reducing the base attack bonus requirements for a rogue selecting feats focused on dagger use (weapon focus and the like).
Just had an idea- what if your hit points scaled with your highest weapon proficency's damage dice?
Klort the guy with mostly barbarian skills has 13 ranks in greathammers, giving him 13d12 hit points. If he takes a rank in daggers nothing happens until he gets to rank 14 in daggers, then he gets an extra 1d4 hit points. This keeps rogues squishy and tanks beefy. Is it perfect? Meh. But it sure is different.
Like Da'ath, my group would NEVER go with this combat system, though it makes more sense and does reflect the old weapon speed rules (which added a teensy bit of almost realism to combats in the old days).