Lizardfolk

Arbalester's page

Goblin Squad Member. Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber. 257 posts. No reviews. No lists. No wishlists.



5 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

I haven't, and as far as I know, will never, use AI-generated art or scripts for my games.

If I want an image, I'll either draw it myself, ask a friend to do it, or find someone online and pay them. (Or ask a friend and pay them.)

Between AoN and PDF's of the books, I already have all the rules answers I need; I don't want an automated script to do my thinking for me, or try to guess what I wanted it to do.

This may be related to how I handle rules questions at a table I'm GM'ing: If it can be answered in less than a minute, I may hear you out. Otherwise, I'll make a ruling on the spot and move on, with the understanding that we can have a longer discussion during break time or between sessions. So I don't need any kind of sophisticated rule-searching algorithm; if there isn't a fast and simple answer to it, then as GM, I'll make one.


11 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Any character prompt, no matter how absurd, can also be drawn/painted/modeled by an actual artist.

If AI art was done ethically, by drawing on a pool of sources that were voluntarily and openly submitted, I'd have less of a problem with it.

Artists have a tough time of things already without art thieves and scripters ripping off their work.


2 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

I would also like a weapon system that doesn't result in pages upon pages of weapon tables. The Starfinder 1e CRB has 7.5 pages of weapon tables, including ammunition, and every single book/Adventure Path published since has only added to that list. It's quite a chore to find appropriate weapons at each level, even with Archives of Nethys' search functions.

Can we please have LESS weapons, not more? I don't understand why we can't just borrow the rest of PF2e's weapon system: Basic stats at level 1, apply bigger numbers at these given levels, can add other runes/fusions to add other features.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Where do I begin?
1) The expanded downtime rules are awesome! So many new ideas for what to do in the weeks of Drift travel!

2) Anduwar is awesome: Finally, a place where a dragonkin can stretch out! I also see it as funny that it has an accidental dig at a real-life game company with all the talk about the ruling class; there are only so many proper nouns to go around. (The ruling class of Anduwar are called the Cloud Imperium; in real life, Cloud Imperium Games is a video game developer currently working on Star Citizen.) Also, I love the imagery of some of the feats, like Plow Through. "I don't dodge around them; THEY dodge around ME!"

3) Golarion World is so insane yet awesome that it needs its own forum thread. I have several ideas for adventures here, including ones with PF2e or even PF1e crossovers. If nothing else, I will be sprinkling in references to our group's Pathfinder adventures when their Starfinder characters visit. (I'll admit some concerns with continuity for the sake of continuity, but in this case, it works.)

4) Jhavom is also a great idea as a university town that isn't just "Castrovel version 2". I'll admit personal bias; one of my characters is both a researcher and a vidgamer, and I was looking for a place for them to finish their education before becoming an adventurer. Perfect!

5) Uzodia is also nice. Great to see Starfinder's take on the Magaambya! I wonder what they think of Golarion World's Mwangi Land...

6) Getting two-page blurbs on a bunch of other stations was a nice touch! Great to see some of the "runner-up" ideas for this book! Personal favorite: Ravel Station, with an entire section dedicated to soul-crushing bureaucracy solely to stop the station from ripping itself apart. Feels like something out of Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

7) And as if that wasn't enough, we got a few paragraphs each on even more stations! Personal favorite: Braxas, as a "we're totally not evil" research lab with a bona-fide lake of primordial soup. If any player wants a custom-species character, or a modified-species character, just say they escaped from here.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Most of my suggestions have been mentioned already, so I'll add: Invader Zim. I still have plans to rework The Threefold Conspiracy into a madcap comedy, using Invader Zim as inspiration.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Don't forget Flip and Burn (lets you move up to half your speed, then flip 180 degrees, regardless of turn distance), and as a last resort Turn In Place (set your facing to whatever you want, but you can't move) as other options.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

40) The GMPC that doesn't actually get in the way: The dedicated chauffeur. SRO Mechanic with an Experimental Vehicle, that also acts as an AI on the PC's starship. Can help get the PC's to and from their destination, both in space and planetside, and can also help out in a fight.
To stay more out of the way, maybe they refuse to put their vehicle in a firefight ("I just put a new paint job on it!"), but can still join a dungeon-crawl in a pinch. Their stats aren't high enough to outshine any PC's (3/4 BAB, and no exocortex or drone), but they can still put out some okay damage, as well as harrying/covering fire. Plus, they're pretty simple for a GM to run.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Do astrazoans have any kind of extra bonus to identifying each other while disguised? I'd assume the answer is no, which would be one of the reasons why astrazoans have a hard time forming their own communities.

A definitely serious question from a post I made elsewhere on this forum: When does someone in the Starfinder universe develop a vidgame about an Astrozoan getting married and raising a family, all while disguised as a human? Maybe have an antagonist who is some kind of chef, hunting the Astrozoan. Just an idea. (Apologies to Young Horses.)


2 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

It'd be nice to have a campaign with a setting and premise that feels unique to Starfinder… but we already have that, in the form of Dawn of Flame.
Seriously, how many other games have a campaign set INSIDE THE SUN?!
So instead, here are some ideas.

1) A Shadowrun-inspired campaign with the PC's on Triaxis involved in corporate warfare between dragon-run corporations.

2) Another Triaxis one: A military/mercenary campaign focused on the Skyfire Legion. (I'm reminded of the HBS Battletech line: "Of noble heart and mercenary mind.") (Also inspired by the Star Wars Rogue Squadron books.)

3) One focused on the Veskarium, and its problems both within and without; if high-level, the PC's may even be able to shape the future of the Veskarium. We've had an Azlanti Star Empire AP, albeit a half-length one (Against the Aeon Throne), we've had a Swarm AP (Attack of the Swarm), but we haven't had one for the other big empire in the setting.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Mechanics-wise, it's fine. A fun new option for Biohacker, a Strength-based option for Operative, and a few new spells, among other things.

Settings-wise? AMAZING. Some of the information isn't new, but we've never had it all in one place, and all 25 of the reprinted species are expanded upon greatly. If you liked any of them, you have a lot more material now!


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Okay, after some reworking, I now have 4 basic rules for my overall AP design:

1) For this entire AP, I am assuming 20% Story Exp; this is exp given purely for goals completed and/or clues found, and is not associated with any CR or encounter. This isn't to say that all encounters must be combat ones; if the PC's overcome the encounter through other means (stealth/bribing/befriending/bypassing altogether), they still get exp.

2) In general, the PC's gain 1 level per part of each chapter. This means that there's enough exp in Chapter 1, Part 1 to take a party of 4 PC's up to level 2, and so on.

3) The baseline "CR unit" for each chapter is the CR equal to the lowest level the PC's are expected to be that chapter. That's CR 1/5/8/11/14/17 for Chapters 1/2/3/4/5/6.

4) Many lower-CR encounters are better than a few higher-CR encounters. I know that the AP has the opposite design philosophy (I'm looking at you, Chapter 3!), but in my opinion, splitting up the exp into more lower-CR encounters has a major benefit: Moving encounters. Instead of forcing each encounter to stay in its room, groups of creatures (especially intelligent ones) can have patrols, or just wander between rooms from time to time, and if they join an existing fight, the PC's are less likely to get overwhelmed. As always, as GM, you need to keep an eye on this, and not simply throw every monster in the building at the PC's at once. However, you don't need to simply have each encounter sit in its room, regardless of what's happening in the room over, simply because having them join the fight would make an already challenging encounter absurdly difficult.

If this is too rigid or formal for you, then I'm sorry, but I need some kind of framework to handle this.

I've already worked out how to modify or move the encounters for the first 4 chapters, but now I need some help filling in the blanks (or gaping holes, in most cases). I'll post my notes for one chapter at a time, so the posts aren't overwhelming. Let me know what you think, or what suggestions you have!

As for format: I'll first go over how I'd move around the existing encounters between parts, and then go through part by part with my notes and suggestions.

With all that said, let's get started!

Chapter 1:

Chapter 1: Incident at Absalom Station
CR 1 Base, 4 Parts

Existing Content: Part 1 can stay, it just needs some expanding. I'd combine Parts 2 and 3 together into the new Part 4. Also, although I don't like moving between chapters, I'd move the ship fight from the beginning of Chapter 2 to the end of Chapter 1. That way, Chapter 1 can end back at Absalom Station, giving the PC's a more natural downtime between chapters.

Overall: Expand Part 1 a little, create Parts 2 and 3 from scratch, make a few tweaks to the new Part 4. My plan is to have parts 1/2/3/4 be investigation/dungeon/investigation/dungeon, just for some changes of pace. Parts 2 and 3 are a great opportunity to show more of Absalom Station.

Part 1 (12 CR 1's)
First off, add exp for the rest of the initial gang fight. Even with the rest of the part, it's still 2.5 CR 1's short. I'd add in another two pairs of gangsters/scavengers and one lone one, either to one of the two existing gangs or as part of another group the PC's investigate. Maybe they look for leads in the bar called Drifter's End, or in Olensa?

Part 2 (16 CR 1's)
This is the first of several gaping holes: After moving the original Part 2 to Part 4, I don't have anything here. Just for variety, how about a dungeon? Maybe the PC's investigate an Armada flotilla that went mysteriously dark (Astral Extractions sabotage, or an extremist splinter of the Hardscrabble Collective?). Or, maybe they head into Botscrap, or Downlow, dealing with hostile scavengers and/or a monster infestation? (Putting some space goblins there may give some story connections to the foolhardy group that the PC's run into in Part 4.)

Part 3 (20 CR 1's)
Another blank slate. I'm thinking more investigation in another section of Absalom Station. Maybe some leads point to a theater in Kemanis, or talking to investigators at the Eyeswide Agency?

Part 4 (32 CR 1's)
Interestingly, simply combining the original Parts 2 and 3 results in almost all the exp you need here. My only tweaks would be to add one more space goblin (because what's one more?) and to make Hebiza CR 4 instead of 3 (again, if the PC's simply agree to her proposed plan, this just means more exp for them). Plus, since the PC's are probably level 4 before they even board the Acreon, this is where the main benefit of running with many low-CR encounters kicks in: The akatas don't have to stay in their rooms. For level 4 PC's, two akatas are a regular encounter, so you have a larger margin of error. The akatas are deaf, so the sounds of combat wouldn't reach them, but they still may check the halls from time to time. Maybe one or two of them sense the goblins hiding in the crew quarters, so when the PC's arrive, they see two akatas trying to break through the door. The only other major change is, at the end of the chapter, have the Iron Rictus attack happen at the end of this chapter, so that Chapter 1 can end with the PC's on Absalom Station, dealing with the impact of what they've found, rather than ending the chapter with them still on the Drift Rock. (Either that, or move the Iron Rictus attack to when they undock to head to Castrovel. Either way, I'm including the exp in this part.)

That's all I have for Chapter 1! What do you think?


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
JJCheatah wrote:
I have a feeling that may run a bit "chunky" on the combat.

Sorry, I forgot to mention: Not all of the CR's need to be combat. Don't be afraid to make some of those story rewards, or even other rewards, depending on your PC's. I'm just lumping them all together right now for ease of presentation.

As for Chapter 1, Part 1:

Incident at Absalom Station:

Nice, you also thought of having Duravor Kreel actually get a chance to do something before the shootout! My plan is to have Kreel meet the PC's at the Lorespire Complex, take them on a quick tour of the place, then head to the docking bays with the PC's to meet a returning Starfinder team, and have the shootout happen then.

Also, I won't have Kreel instantly die, and instead resolve the attacks/damage/dying as normal. I don't like using GM-fiat to kill NPC's, especially if there's no real plot reason to do so. Even if Kreel lives, the fact that he was targeted should be enough to warrant an investigation. Plus, he can help provide some leads on the Hardscrabble Collective, especially if the PC's went out of their way to save his life during the fight. (Story-reason, he's returning the favor. Gameplay-reason, it's a bonus reward for the PCs' helping him while fighting off the gangs.)


2 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Here's one way to handle the fact that a Colossal starship doesn't seem like it has as much room as it should: Most of the expansion bays scale with the size of the starship they're installed on. Here's two examples I came up with:

Docking Bay (3 BP, 8 PCU): This can fit one starship of up to 3 size categories smaller, or twice as many starships for each size category smaller than that. If multiples of this module are purchased, they may hold larger starships: 2 size categories smaller with 2 bays, and 1 size category smaller with 4 bays. More than 4 bays cannot hold starships larger than that, but can hold multiple smaller starships.

Vehicle Bay (2 BP, 5 PCU): This functions as a Docking Bay, but can instead hold one vehicle of up to 1 size category larger than the starship, 2 size categories larger with 2 bays, or 3 size categories larger with 4 bays.

To clarify, here is a list of each size category and how many Tiny starships (or Huge vehicles) it can fit.

Bay Capacity:

Tiny: Cannot fit a Docking Bay, could fit a Large vehicle with 4 bays.
Small: 1 Tiny ship using 4 bays.
Medium: 1 Tiny ship using 2 bays.
Large: 1 Tiny ship using 1 bay.
Huge: 2 Tiny ships.
Gargantuan: 4 Tiny ships.
Colossal: 8 Tiny ships.

Compared to the CRB's Hangar Bay and Shuttle Bay, these are larger in capacity, but not to a game-breaking degree (especially since PC's have a prohibitively hard time managing starships larger than Large).

If having a vehicle with a larger size category than the starship it's in seems weird, remember that vehicles use the character size scale, while starships use their own scale. A Large vehicle is roughly 10 feet long, while even a Tiny starship is at least 20 feet long.

As for the BP/PCU costs, I based them off of the Hangar/Shuttle bays, but scaled down to a single bay. (Per bay, the Shuttle Bay costs 2 BP and 5 PCU, and the Hangar Bay costs 2.5 BP and 7.5 PCU.)

Also, I can see that Tryn already thought of a similar idea in his Starship Builders Guidebook, but with different capacity and pricing.

More broadly, could this scaling idea apply to other expansion bays as well, like Guest Quarters, Escape Pods, or even Cargo Bay capacity? Maybe some of those scale linearly (1, 2, 3, 4) instead of quadratically (1, 2, 4, 8). What do you think?


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Dead Suns officially only runs from levels 1-12, according to the campaign outline in Part 1. However, the setting information near the back of each chapter gives a wealth of settings, plot hooks, and even characters to work with. With that in mind, I'm working on expanding the Adventure Path to run from level 1 all the way to level 20. First, I'll lay out my experience point roadmap. (I personally don't use exp when I run campaigns, but it's nice to gauge how many encounters to have at each level.)

Each chapter starts and ends assuming the PC's are a given level, and includes enough encounters of the starting CR so that the PC's will reach the starting level for the next chapter right at the end of the previous chapter. (Fun fact: This same math works in Pathfinder using the Fast exp track, since Starfinder uses the same exp amounts for levels and CR as Pathfinder!)

CR's by Chapter:

Chapter 1: Levels 1-4. 25 CR 1 encounters per PC.
Chapter 2: Levels 5-7. 15 CR 5 encounters per PC.
Chapter 3: Levels 8-10. 15 CR 8 encounters per PC.
Chapter 4: Levels 11-13. 15 CR 11 encounters per PC.
Chapter 5: Levels 14-16. 15 CR 14 encounters per PC.
Chapter 6: Levels 17-20. 15 CR 17 encounters per PC.

Assuming a team of 4 PC's, that's 100 encounters in Chapter 1 and 60 encounters in every chapter afterwards. (Using the lower CR's as a benchmark allows me to mix and match encounters more easily, and I don't have to worry as much about NPC's grouping up or calling for reinforcements, since the PC's can handle more of them without becoming overwhelmed.)

In addition, I can mostly follow the chapter's parts, simply placing encounters so the PC's gain roughly one level per part. (Chapter 1 needs an entire part added to it, but otherwise the structure is fine.)

So, my fellow GM's/worldbuilders/writers: What would you add to the Dead Suns AP to expand it? And how would you restructure what's already here? And the other challenge: Since the PC's baseline level will be far higher in each chapter, how would you boost the CR of existing encounters to compensate? I've already made a few basic notes myself, but I'm curious to hear what others think about it.

(Also, I've marked this thread as spoilers, not for any specific event, but because discussing each chapter would require talking about the specifics of characters/events/locations.)


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

So, here's an idea for a module/short adventure path in Starfinder:

The PC's are hired by a major corporation to travel with/in their starship to a region of the Vast, to assist with scanning for notable planets and placing a network of Drift beacons to make it easier for other ships to follow. However, just as the ship exits the Drift and enters orbit around an oceanic planet, a massive energy blast rocks the ship! The PC's manage to make it to the escape pods and launch to the planet's surface, minutes before the entire ship breaks apart and crash-lands. Getting their bearings in the escape pod, now floating on the ocean surface, the included PDA informs them (paraphrase as needed):

PDA wrote:
You have suffered minor head trauma. This is considered an optimal outcome. This PDA has now rebooted in emergency mode with one directive: to keep you alive on an alien world. Please refer to the databank for detailed survival advice. Good luck.

In summary, the players play Subnautica as a Starfinder adventure! So, what all would need to be changed between video game and tabletop? Here are some of my thoughts:

1) Base building and item crafting aren't usually a major part of Starfinder. GM's would either need to gloss over/handwave much of the base-building, or remove most of it (maybe major parts of the ship are still useable as rooms).

2) What happened to the PC's ship, both during transit and post-crash? My thought is to have their ship docked inside the corporate ship during transit, and then damage it during the blast/crash, but not obliterate it. (If it was docked during the crash, maybe the larger ship protected it from the worst of the damage.) However, its engines are definitely nonfunctional and in need of major repairs.

3) How does the GM make sure the PC's get the message that they can't just relaunch a ship immediately, so they don't try to just quickly fix their ship and take off? (Informing the players is easy, if they're willing to go along with it; informing the PC's ingame is harder.) Maybe make it clear that the energy blast was not an accident, and came from somewhere planetside?

4) Subnautica famously doesn't have lethal weapons beyond a survival knife, but Starfinder PC's are much more heavily armed. For me, the easiest way to adapt this is to just let the PC's fight creatures if they want, and make a Wandering Encounter table or two.

I know I already warned about spoilers in the title, but I'll still hide the rest of this list, in case anyone stumbles on it.

Subnautica spoilers:

5) Having there be no other survivors may work in Subnautica, but would mean a pretty lonely adventure path here. The PC's could spend some time tracking down other escape pods, contacting/rescuing other crewmembers, and gathering them to some landmark. Maybe the other crewmembers help build a makeshift village, and gather supplies?

6) When/how do the PC's find out that they're not the first ship that crashed here, and that the corporation had a secondary objective to check this planet specifically for survivors? The fact that the corporation brought a lot of equipment for an oceanic planet may be the first hint, but the PC's could find out the rest from ship logs (and the captain or high-ranking crew, if they survived). Also, maybe in this version, Bart Torgal is still alive down in the Deep Grand Reef, becoming a good source of information if the PC's can get down there and rescue him!

7) Should the Kharaa just be a plot point, or should there be actual stats for it as a disease? Also, how do you handle the fact that Starfinder has more ways to cure diseases than Subnautica does? It'd be a short adventure path if the players just cured themselves right before accessing the Quarantine Enforcement Platform, but it feels too much like a railroad to declare the Kharaa as being unaffected by Remove Affliction. (However, Remove Affliction is instantaneous, and since the entire planet is infected, the PC's will get reinfected almost immediately.)

8) While the disease can't kill your character in Subnautica, it would be odd for the PC's if the disease suddenly paused mid-infection. On the other hand, it seems mean to put a ticking clock on each of the PC's that requires plot points to get rid of. Then again, Remove Affliction can at least reset the disease's progression, so if the PC's have regular access to that spell, it could ease up on the time pressure.

9) As usual for an adaptation, statting up each creature/vehicle.
Creatures: Stalker, Bone Shark, Gasopod, Crashfish, Crabsquid, the Reaper/Sea Dragon/Sea Emperor Leviathans, maybe some of the others.
Vehicles: Seamoth and Cyclops. Maybe Seaglide and PRAWN Suit? But how to stat those?

Overall, I think this could be a lot of fun as an adventure! Anyone else think so?


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Something just hit me a few days ago: When creating your character, if a certain Race or Theme seem awesome except for the ability score adjustment, you can basically ignore it. Just using RAW, take one of the three quick pick arrays in the CRB, pages 19-20. It's even written there:

CRB pg19 wrote:
Under this method, choices like race and theme don’t affect your ability scores—you just choose which score goes in which ability, and you’re good to go.

(Personally, the Focused and Versatile arrays are both solid for most characters, especially Focused for spellcasters and Versatile for non-spellcasters.)

Also, with GM's permission, you could create your own "premade" array, basically choosing your own Race and Theme ability scores, regardless of your character's actual Race and Theme. Anyone else notice this?


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

170. Word has been spreading of the mighty dragonslayer for hire, who has been roaming the rural villages in pursuit of dragons to slay. Luckily for him (and the PC's), there have been numerous dragon attacks over the last several weeks, far more than usual, and many villages have paid for the dragonslayer's services. Truth is, it's the same dragon attacking each village, just in different disguises, and it's working a two-person con with the "dragonslayer" in exchange for half the pay. Any PC's helping to defend against one of the dragon attacks may realize that something is amiss...

170a. As 170, but the dragon is voiced by Sean Connery, in case some players don't get the reference.

171. As 170, but replace "dragon" with "big scary monster". Could be a wildshaped druid, or a polymorphed wizard, or even a heavily disguised familiar.

172. As 170, but the hunter/monster bond is more than just a business partnership; it's a summoner and his/her eidolon. The powerful conjuration spell the "hunter" casts to "banish the beast" is, in fact, simply unsummoning the eidolon, combined with a variation on Magic Aura (and/or disguised spellcasting) to make it look like an actual spell.

173. Run as a variation on 170, or as a sequel: Hearing of the monster attacks, actual adventurers/monster-slayers get involved to hunt down and kill the beast. Both the "hunter" and the "monster" risk losing the con, and possibly their lives! For more mercenary PC's, they're willing to part with some of their saved wealth if the PC's can help them get away from the real monster-hunters, preferably without giving away the con. On the other hand, more straightforward PC's may want to see them brought to justice, which would mean facing off against an unusual pair of con artists and disguise experts.


2 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Let me see if I can shine some light on this:

The "Linear vs Quadratic", as others have said, refers to the overall power of each class as they level up. Fighters get more powerful linearly (flat damage bonuses, more feats), whereas spellcasters get more powerful quadratically (each spell level is far more powerful than the last).

Basically, starting at about 6th level, spellcasters make fighters completely obsolete. There is nothing a fighter can do that a spellcaster can also do, and much more.

For example, there are many low-level spells that make entire skills completely useless.

The 1st-level spell Disguise Self, and especially its 2nd-level version, Alter Self, make the Disguise skill completely useless. Who needs lots of makeup and a wardrobe when you can snap your fingers and look like anyone?
The 2nd-level spell Invisibility makes Stealth almost useless, or at least shuts down the whole "can he see me or can he not" debate. Combine with some spells with the Silent Spell metamagic feat, or a Rod of Silent Spell, for extra hilarity.
By 3rd-level spells, the Fly spell allows for fairly long-duration flight. It makes the Climb skill pointless, and shuts down parts of Acrobatics. (You do need another skill, Fly, but it's far more versatile than Climb, which requires a vertical surface nearby.)

On the Cleric side of things, it's kind of odd that Clerics get Heal as a class skill, since they basically don't need it at all once they get 2nd, and especially 3rd, level spells. Even the first-level Cure Light Wounds can heal far faster and more effectively than several days of bed rest, and Remove Disease uses a caster level check, not a Heal check.

So, that's... *counts up on fingers*... 4 skills rendered completely useless so far, and I haven't even gotten into the 4th-level spells and up. Please note that, since fighters don't have spellcasting, they either need to put some ranks into those 4 skills if they want to be even half as good as a spellcaster, or they need to ask their spellcaster friends for some buffs.

The best summary I've heard of the problem comes from Jiggy. It was originally posted in this other thread.

Jiggy wrote:

Ultimately, having a "fantasy" setting just means there are things in the setting that go beyond reality. In a sense, the setting has two types of things in it: the mundane (that which is comparable to reality) and the fantastic (that which exceeds reality).

Now, different fantasy settings (which, remember, means "settings in which some things go beyond reality") will have different ways of determining how someone (or something) is allowed to exceed reality, to make the jump from being mundane to being fantastic.

In some settings, the necessary element to move from the mundane to the fantastic is simply magic. The Harry Potter universe is a perfect example: the fantasy setting is literally "reality plus magic". If you're a spellcaster (or magical creature), you're part of the fantasy story. If you're nonmagical, you're part of the mundane background; you're what the reader/viewer compares the magic to in order to see how much more fantastic it is than you are.

In other settings, a person could exceed reality and move from the category of "mundane" to the category of "fantastic" by any number of means: magic, training, enlightenment, divine parentage, and so forth. This type of setting is where you see people like Pecos Bill, who could lasso a tornado just by virtue of being a badass. Thus, his badassery was able to elevate him from "mundane" (realistic) to "fantastic" (beyond reality).

Both types of settings are fine. They tell different types of stories, and neither can really fill in for the other.

But there's an extra complication when you're talking about a game.

See, in a book or film or TV show, you can mix fantastic characters with mundane characters as you please, because you can carefully sculpt the action to have the result you want. In Avatar: the Last Airbender, the setting is of the first kind I described (only magic gets to exceed reality and be "fantastic"). However, the core group of protagonists includes both fantastic and mundane characters—there's even an episode about one of the mundane characters dealing with that gap. But since it's non-game fiction, the authors were able to create circumstances where the mundane characters could contribute meaningfully to the story through clever scripted use of circumstantial carefully-placed resources.

But in a fantasy game, that's a LOT harder to pull off. Even if you carefully sculpt situations where the muggle can help save Hogwarts, it will often feel hollow and contrived. Typically, it's no fun to have one player playing a fantasy hero and another player playing a mundane, non-fantastic character in the same game.

The ideal, then, is for every player character to be able to be "fantastic", to exceed reality. It doesn't matter which kind of setting you're using or what the requirement is for moving from mundane to fantastic; it just matters that each player has equal access to it. If exceeding reality requires a gift from the gods, then every player character should receive that gift. If exceeding reality requires being taught by a fantastic mentor, then every player character should have such a mentor. If exceeding reality requires access to magic, then every player character should have access to magic.

So again, it doesn't matter whether or not magic is the only way to go beyond reality and into fantasy. All that matters is that every player character gets to go there. The setting's definition of fantasy must be something within every player's reach.

And that's where the problem comes in: people who want a setting where X is required to exceed reality, but where not every player gets to have X. In the case of discussing Pathfinder, X is usually magic: people say that they want their fantasy to be defined as requiring magic in order to be fantastic (which is fine) but then fail to realize that some game options lack the very thing they defined as necessary for fantasy and are therefore by definition not fantasic!

The end result is this: if you want a setting where only magic can exceed reality, then fighters are not fantasy heroes, and you're just fooling yourself to say they are. If you want nonmagical characters to be capable of fantasy, then you have to allow nonmagical things to "go fantastic," to exceed reality. You've got to pick your direction and commit; trying to claim one setting while enforcing the mechanics of the other is why we keep having these arguments.


8 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Overview: A minor houserule: remove four of the mandatory magic items, give those bonuses to all characters passively, adjust WBL as needed. Still perfectly balanced for gameplay, assuming your table doesn't see Mage's Disjunction cast on a regular basis.

Background: I really hate the idea of "mandatory" magic items that give nothing but more +1's, with encounters and CR's basically assuming characters have this gear. With that in mind, I'm proposing a fairly minor houserule. I've heard variations on this before, but I can't find any place on the forums where anyone actually spelled out how it would work, so here's my version, where I deal with four of these magic items: Amulet of Natural Armor, Ring of Deflection, Headband/Belt of Stat Bonuses, and the so-good-it's-required Cloak of Resistance.
(Mind you, I consider Boots of Levitation "mandatory" on most characters I play, but I find yet another +1 to be far more boring than "Gravity? What's that?" Getting a +1 from a class feature is one thing, but I'd like my magic items, enchanted with power, to be something a little more interesting.)

Drawback:
All characters have 1/2 the expected WBL. In other words, however much wealth and treasure they'd normally get, they now get half.

If the previous sentence didn't cause you to run screaming from the forums: Still here? Good. Let's get to the bonuses. All characters gain the following five extra features over the course of their 20-level careers. These are in addition to any class or race features they would normally gain at those levels.

Heroic Resistance (Ex): At 3rd level, the character gains a +1 Resistance bonus on all saving throws. This increases by +1 every three levels thereafter, capping out at +5 at 15th level.

Heroic Deflection (Ex): At 5rd level, the character gains a +1 Deflection bonus to their AC. This increases by +1 every three levels thereafter, capping out at +5 at 17th level.

Heroic Armor (Ex): At 7rd level, the character gains a +1 Enhancement bonus to their Natural Armor bonus to their AC (Just like an Amulet of Natural Armor, this can change a +0 Natural Armor bonus into a +1). This increases by +1 every three levels thereafter, capping out at +5 at 19th level.

Heroic Attributes (Ex): All characters gain an Enhancement bonus to one or more ability scores of their choice, as laid out in the table below.

Almost Perfect (Ex): At 18th level, one ability score of the character's choice gains a +1 Inherent bonus. At 20th level, that bonus increases by 4, to a total of a +5 Inherent bonus.

To help make things clearer, I've outlined the 20-level progression below.
Abbreviations: Res, Def, and Nat refer to Resistance, Deflection, and Enhancement bonus to Natural Armor, respectively. Inh refers to Inherent bonus. Enh refers to Enhancement bonus to Attribute. All numbers given are the TOTAL bonus at that level, not the increase at that level. So at level 14, a character has a +4 Enhancement bonus to one stat, and a +2 Enhancement bonus to a different stat.

Bonuses Gained By Level:
1: None
2: None
3: +1 Res
4: None
5: +1 Def
6: +2 Res
7: +1 Nat
8: +2 Def
9: +3 Res, Enh: +2
10: +2 Nat
11: +3 Def
12: +4 Res
13: +3 Nat, Enh: +4
14: +4 Def, Enh: +4/+2
15: +5 Res, Enh: +6/+2
16: +4 Nat, Enh: +6/+4/+2
17: +5 Def, Enh: +6/+6/+2
18: Enh: +6/+6/+6, Inh: +1
19: +5 Nat, Enh: +6/+6/+6/+6
20: Inh: +5

Game Balance: The above bonuses, when duplicated by magic items, work out to just a hair over 1/2 of a 20th-level player's expected WBL. The cost breakdown:
+5 Enhancement bonus to natural armor bonus to AC (50k)
+5 Deflection bonus to AC (50k)
+5 Resistance bonus to all saving throws (25k)
+6 Enhancement bonus to four different ability scores (180k)
+5 Inherent bonus to one ability score (137.5k)
Total: 442.5k
20th-level WBL: 880k
Yes, these bonuses are slotless and Extraordinary, but I feel this is still balanced by two things: 1) The bonuses are fixed, so less player choice is allowed about what bonuses to get when, and 2) These bonuses are all but mandatory anyway, so getting one of these items lost or dispelled doesn't feel like a temporary setback/annoyance so much as exposing a glaring weakness.

Conclusion:I haven't actually playtested this in a campaign, but since the overall WBL works out to exactly the same as regular Pathfinder, I don't see how it could break anything too badly. I think it could free up a lot of slots for more eye-catching magic items, as well as stop the table from screeching to a halt every time someone casts Greater Dispel Magic (as everyone tries to figure out which magic items were hit), and preventing the classic newbie player casualty, Death By "What's a Resistance bonus?"

Feedback: So, what do you think? Is this balanced? Is this a great idea, or is it terrible? How do you think I can improve it?

P.S. Just have to add: This is the first time I've posted on the Paizo forums in a long, long time.

Goblin Squad Member

2 people marked this as a favorite.

Wow, haven't been on these forums in months! And we're still thinking about all the things that could be in the game! Glad to see that some things on here don't change.

Gedichtewicht wrote:

oh yes!!!

how about something like
And now for something completly different and totaly this :D

I'll second that idea, with my own spin on it:

GW has already said they will have mass combat/formations in the game. How about formation/mass NON-combat? Like, combined with a music skill, could produce the above link. Or you could use it for parades, or theater productions, or mass demonstrations/rallies! (The famous March on Washington springs to mind.)

And to add even more to the list with one very simple word:
Water.
Fishing, swimming, rafts, boats, player-built bridges, sunken-treasure hunting, merchant ships, pirate ships, underwater escalations (Sahuagin: Like murlocs, but a little less cute and a little more drag-you-down-to-the-depths-and-tear-your-limbs-off), and eventually, underwater settlements, even underwater farming! (They're not called kelp "forests" for nothing.)
That would be a truly titanic amount of code and work, and a massive amount of player work to get all the resources, but at some point...

I'd like to be, under the sea, in an octopus' garden, in the shade...

Goblin Squad Member

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Adaptability is already important. If the opponent keeps using his Hammer-Drop-Of-Doom attack, dealing large amounts of damage every 6 seconds, I'd imagine there are several abilities that can deal with that. Defensive bonuses, giving yourself some actual Dodge chance (short-term buff that gives all incoming attacks a chance to out-and-out miss, sort of like Concealment in the tabletop version), extra damage reduction, all sorts of tricks.

If your opponent gets predictable, then shift to a set of abilities that gives you what you need to counter him.

Overall, I'm imagining combat flowing almost like a MOBA (DOTA, League of Legends, etc.), but slower-paced... and the idea that you can switch "Champions" (aka Weapon Sets) rather quickly. Opponent using a big, hulking, hammer build? Switch to something with high damage, or just move out of range and grab a bow. Is he using super-heavy armor? Switch to a weapon with a high Damage Factor, like a dagger, to get into gaps in his armor.

With three Weapon Sets per player, and six Abilities per Set, I can see a lot of flexibility even in a single character build. So if your opponent gets predictable, switch to something that can predictably beat him.

The flexibility doesn't come from the whims of the Random Number God, it comes from players switching their strategies on the fly.

Goblin Squad Member

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Ooh, vehicle-based combat! Man, nobody's tried that! WoW's design fell apart into gimmickry; LOTRO's going to submit their version of mounted combat in a month or so. Still, that would be great! Transport troops and supplies to and from the field of battle, act as ammo resupplier/medical ambulance, or just put spikes on the sides, lances on the front, and go full-speed towards the enemy lines!

Again, that's probably going to take a LOT of coding and balancing, but if that could ever happen in PFO, that would be awesome.

Plus... Twelve Dwarf Beer Wagon Charge. That is going to happen at some point, no matter what I have to do to get it done.

Goblin Squad Member

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Not to add another element to this storm of ideas, but here's another angle to consider:

What about the non-blasting spells? Some of the most fun I've had as a Bard or Wizard is how much I can do without grabbing for a single d6 (or d20, for that matter). Illusions to confuse, protect, and hinder, Transmutations for buffs and shapeshifting to fill other roles, Enchantments for short-term knockouts against weak-minded grunts, and Conjuration for...well...everything: Calling in allies, summoning walls, building an entire square fort out of walls in 24 seconds, shaping part of it in another 6 seconds, then having my summoned minions man the ramparts, with a few illusions at the ready... good times.

Now here's my rant about theme-park MMO's especially WoW. Most of them turn the Mage/Spellcaster into just, "Fireball! Fireball! Fireball! Time to mix it up... MAGIC MISSILE!", resulting in a whole bunch of gamers to write off the class that can shape space and time with a word as just "more ranged dips". (At least the LOTRO Loremaster gets a bunch of knockdowns/debuffs... Though the Runekeeper is definitely more like the standard MMO mage.)

Now, why they just go with damage spells is pretty obvious: They're the easiest to code. Adding in area debuffs and shapeshifting, and especially summoning creatures and/or walls, is really hard to code and balance for gameplay; too little, and it's just gimmicky, too much, and every other class will whine (well, so what? The wizards spent years learning how to make reality their mistress, why not show it off?)

And that's not even approching the other issues addressed: Spells/day, known spells vs. spellbook vs. words of power vs. whatever else...

Yikes. This magic stuff is complicated. No wonder you need Int 10 just to begin to grasp the basics...

Goblin Squad Member

1 person marked this as a favorite.

I have been waiting for details on crafting ever since I started reading the blogs. I wasn't able to finish reading this in one sitting. I had to pause every so often to run celebration laps around my desk!

The harvesting, refining, and crafting systems sound even more amazing than I had ever imagined. Thank you so much!

EDIT: I also realized: This may be the first MMO made where the NPC's have a prominent role, and not just as shopkeepers/repairers. Wait, so you actually have to keep your workers happy while they're harvesting/processing/running your buildings? I can't think of a game that's done that before... well, besides the city-building sims, and certainly not an MMO. Well done!


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

My single favorite part is one feature of the Create Demiplane spell. (The standard one, not Lesser or Greater.)
I quote the PRD:

PRD wrote:
Structure: Your demiplane has a specific, linked physical structure, such as a giant tree, floating castle, labyrinth, mountain, and so on. (This option exists so you can pick a theme for your plane without having to worry about the small details of determining what spells you need for every hill, hole, wall, floor, and corner).

You ever read the 3.5 book, Stronghold Builder's Guidebook? (One of my favorite books in 3.5, and one I'm sad that Pathfinder doesn't have yet.) You could take any building you can design or imagine and put it in your demiplane... with ONE SPELL. Permanently; it lasts as long as the demiplane does. One 8th level spell, and bam! Instant doom fortress! Or giant cave behind a waterfall! Or anything! As soon as you have one casting of Create Greater Demiplane, you can Permanency that for about the cost of a permanent Mage's Magnificent Mansion... except now, you can reshape and change your demiplane with just one or two high-level spells and a few hours.

Plus, your demiplane is really hard to get into or out of.. it's about as secure as, say, Mage's Magnificent Mansion, but it's way bigger, and that Structure feature lets you make a pretty nice pad for your whole party, and all their friends.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Mounted Archery. CRB page 131, or right here:

Pathfinder Reference Document wrote:

Mounted Archery (Combat)

You are skilled at making ranged attacks while mounted.

Prerequisites: Ride 1 rank, Mounted Combat.

Benefit: The penalty you take when using a ranged weapon while mounted is halved: –2 instead of –4 if your mount is taking a double move, and –4 instead of –8 if your mount is running.

Does that help?


2 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

A magic item that occupies some slot I'm not using that can cast multiple 0th-level spells at will. Even if I'm already an arcane caster. That's one of my favorite magic items, my most fun ones, and one of my most useful. If you don't use 0th level spells often, you either need to work on your creativity/imagination or you haven't read their descriptions...

Assuming that 0th-level spells count as "similar abilities", which makes them cheaper, getting 5 CL 1 0th-level spells at will as use-activated on one item costs... (1 * 1/2 * 2000) * (1 + 3/4 + 3/2) = 3250 gp. Sheesh, that's Prestidigitation, Mage Hand, Light, Ghost Sound, and Create Water, all at-will use-activated for less cost than Gloves of Arrow Snaring! I usually make it my "vest of magick", or "Stage Magician's Waistcoat".

This magic item is usually a robe(body), vest(chest), or wrist(bracers/armlet), since the only core-rulebook magic items in those slots are either only useful to one class and/or way too expensive.

Putting 10 0th-level spells on it, even they aren't "similar abilities" (but aren't "different abilities" either; they're not that different) would cost... (1 * 1/2 * 2000) * 10, so 10k. Even if your GM is mean enough to not let these be similar abilities, you're still getting 10 0th-level spells at-will for slightly more than a Decanter of Endless Water, which is easily affordable around 11th level. That's Prestidigitation, Mage Hand, Light, Ghost Sound, Mending, Create Water, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Stabilize, and Summon Instrument, all at-will at CL 1 on one item!

EDIT: Just rummaged through Ultimate Magic and found 2 more spells that caught my eye: Force Hook Charge and Polypurpose Panacea.

Polypurpose Panacea: 2k for this, CL 1 at-will use-activated?! Yes please! Not a great combat spell, but this one is fantastic for roleplaying and general hilarity. The target is you-only, but you could make this as a ring, or bracer, and easily pass it around the party... use it as an analgesic during first-aid, as a sleeping aid/waking aid for taking turns during watch, or Sobriety if you just remembered about the assassination to take place during the royal ball at which you've already downed half a bottle of wine mixed with who-knows-what. Yet another spell that people tend to forget about until it suddenly becomes hilarious or awesome.

Force Hook Charge: I have been waiting for some spell like this since Use Rope disappeared. Finally, a hookshot! Problem is, it's a 3rd-level magus-only spell, so making a magic item for this is gonna be really expensive. Yikes... 8400 for a CL 7 1/day use-activated hookshot bracer. 8400?! Do you know how many 0th-level spells I could load on that bracer instead?! This is one of those spells that I'm debating creating a homebrewed lesser version of. Like, say, "Lesser Hook Charge", that deals no damage but is instead a Magus 2 spell. Or something. Still, if you don't mind breaking the bank on a utility item, for 56k you could get an Enlarged Force Hook Charge at-will on some slot, say... bracers. That costs more than a +5 weapon, but being able to hookshot up to 85 feet away at-will as a standard action, and deal 7 force damage? That's always cool.

Sorry if this got a little rambling. I was thinking it out as I went.

Goblin Squad Member

2 people marked this as a favorite.

Oh yes. As always, this is something that is devilishly hard to code, but really adds something to the game when done right. Heck, Skyrim is the first computer game to really have a physics engine in fantasy combat, and look at what they can do with it! This may be too much to put into an MMO, but a decent physics engine is a much better use of computer power than simply adding more polygons or more antialiasing. (In my opinion, anyway...) At the very least, add knockback into the game... that always makes fights more fun. "That's a very nice castle wall you're standing on - BULL RUSH!"


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

In my opinion, fighters feel like a 1st-ed class teleported up to Pathfinder times. The fighter's main strength in combat is the fact that he cannot run out of swings... back in earlier eds, as far as I understand it, spellcasters had way less spells/abilities per day. Combine this with using several lower-level encounters instead of one at-level encounter, and the wizard's going to run out of spells pretty quick. That's where the fighter comes in; even when the sorcerer's used up his last fly spell, and the cleric is on two Channel Energies left, the fighter is still swinging. He does as much damage on round 100 as he does on round 1 (fatigue rules nonwithstanding).

However, since most players rest after every one or two encounters, blowing their entire spellbook on those two encounters, the fighter does look piddly by comparison. So the only way to buff the fighter properly is to redesign the game to have multiple lower-level encounters in one day, rather than one at-level encounter. The spellcasters (and other classes) would have to watch their resources more, making the non-resource fighter more useful.

Out of combat, they're very versatile; a human fighter with at least 10 int can get Climb, a Craft skill, and one other; combined with their high strength to carry lots of miscellaneous gear around, more so than even the rogue or bard.

So yes, making the fighter useful would involve rebalancing how you run encounters.

Goblin Squad Member

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Know what excites me? The same way Minecraft excites me - the ability to take a rocky hill and being able to transform it into a bastion of civilization. I'd love to join up with some other people, find some nice spot in mid-sec, and build a town, holding it against all comers. That's what really excites me about this game in ways that even EvE Online doesn't. I'm not excited because "oh goody, I get to prove that my manhood is larger than someone else's in PvP!" I'm excited because "Oh goody, when I secure a patch of territory I CAN ACTUALLY SECURE AND KEEP IT", then take time to really customize it and build it up, much more than just watching a Sovereignty bar go up.

Goblin Squad Member

2 people marked this as a favorite.

I do like the idea of having players switch to an AI script when they log out, the problem is making that script versatile enough to deal with all possible player gearsets/skillsets/inventories. But that's already been discussed.

What if, when players log out in town, they can work as guard duty, but not directly. What if the NPC guards who are already there get buffs based on how many players are logged out "on guard duty"? (This is assuming that there are other things for logged-out players to be doing, like crafting, training, working a profession, etc.) For every, say, 5 logged-off players who have signed up for guard duty, the existing NPC guards get something like +20% health and +5% damage? Or, for each logged-out player, an extra NPC guard is spawned, at a power level similar to the player? Either way, the dev team doesn't have to write an AI script for the players, and there will be a significant difference between a town with no players on guard duty (a half-dozen NPCs of middling strength) and a town with 20 players logged out on guard duty (2 dozen guards, noticeably more powerful and better equipped, but still just NPC guards).

Goblin Squad Member

1 person marked this as a favorite.

On another note, something on the wishlist I haven't seen mentioned yet (unless it's somewhere on pages 3-7...)

Make player/creature effectiveness based on current health/vitality.

I know the tabletop Pathfinder does this also, but I'm getting kinda sick of having my character take two axes to the thigh and five crossbow shots to the chest, and still be able to attack and move exactly as well as at full health, so fights just go: I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm suddenly dead.

There's no MMO, and even no RPG, I can think of that uses this model (Well, Fallout uses something like this). I'd like to see a game where you do less damage, have less effective abilities, and/or move slower as your current health drops. This would make healing more important, and make mistakes more costly, both for the players and the creatures.

Goblin Squad Member

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Several people have already made these points, but I'm going to put in my two bits anyway for emphasis.

1) When crafting gear/items, you should actually be able to feel like you are wielding an item you made yourself, or that your good friend made for you as a reward, not just "this purple sword that everyone uses cause it's the best crafting recipe at this level". Either ways to customize the item's appearance, or just inscribe a name or phrase on it. Or even, go more like pre-CU Star Wars Galaxies and allow you to put "upgrade points" into different stats on the gear, allowing you to fine-tune its specs.

2) Playable races outside the core seven. Specifically, lizardfold and kobolds. I know that it's a pain to make character models and animations for less-humanoid races, but it would add a lot to the game's world, knowing that the centaur tribe that just moved near your town might have a few players in it. Maybe not all of these races are available from the start, leading to...

3) Do what Pathfinder does. If you think it's too overpowering to let players make some races/archetypes at the beginning, let them unlock the ability to do so. Maybe you can't play as a centaur until you both earn a plains-exploration badge, and get into good reputation with a centaur tribe. Maybe you can't make a kobold character until you've earned the trust of a kobold tribe. The one problem here is that some people would make throwaway starting characters, unlock the new races, and then immediately roll one of the unlocked races as their main, ignoring their original character.

4) Most importantly... I'd like my actions in the game to MEAN SOMETHING. I can't tell you how many times, while grinding in a theme-park MMO, I've wondered how more of the creatures can still spawn, after I've at least killed a good town's worth of them, if not rampaged through their main stronghold twice in that day alone. When me and a few people I joined up with go raiding a hobgoblin stronghold, they shouldn't all just pop back up in five minutes. Maybe a few groups of reinforcements will spawn, but if we keep at it, we should be able to clear out the whole building. Permanently. Or at least, until some other monster calls it home. Or we declare it the start of a new town.