Doc Eldritch's page

I've been puttering about with working up NPCs for games lately, and something I noticed about my own style of making them has made me wonder how folks handle NPCs in their own games.

When 3.0 first came out, I did the whole 'build the NPC as a full character' routine, and kept with that through the lifespan of 3.X. But recently, after reading some things in 4e, as well as playing some good old 2e and C&C, I've noticed that I've changed my style of building characters in Pathfinder. I don't bother making them exact, or balanced. I've fallen back on my old AD&D style of statting things up for just what I need.
For example, if I needed a 6th level guard captain, I'd make him something like this (and this was made as I wrote the post, like 45 seconds to toss him together):

HD 6d8 Hp: 33 AC: 17 Str +2 Dex +1 Con +1 Int +0 Wis +0 Cha +0
Fort +6 Will +2 Ref: +3
Skills +10 if useful to a guard, +6 otherwise
Important Gear: Wears chainmail, carries a longsword and crossbow

Mage types get a bit more complex, but even then I mostly just give them a few combat spells, sometimes non combat if they are meant to be a more social encounter.
Not at all perfect, but works well enough for a quick encounter.

How many of you do similar things? Or do you prefer to make sure your NPCs are balanced and created much like PCs?

I tried playing with no xp advancement in 3.X and it was hard to deal with because of the number of things in the game that had XP costs written in (magic item creation being the biggie).

How that PF has done away with that, I have thought about pulling out my copy of the Sweet20 XP rules, and using them instead. They seem pretty simple to use, and let the individual players have a say in what kinds of activities help their PC advance (which also gives the DM a nudge as to what kinda stuff the players want to see in adventures, never a bad thing).

I originally found this at Sweet20XP for anyone else who is interested in checking the idea out.

Even in 3.5. I had a "soft ban" on certain things. For instance, I did not like the flavor To9S had for my game, so it was not allowed. Same with some of the more broken PrCs (Warshaper, I am looking at you).

In PF, I am probably gonna be more picky at first. I plan on allowing core stuff, and have a list of non core classes and PrCs that I have already done some conversion work on that are allowed. Same with feats. Anything else, the player needs to ask me about, and I'll take a look at it if I happen to have the book.

Class wise, I found some of the classes that are not easily imitated in core PF were good to add, as well as some that just had a nice flavor. The 3.5 Freeport book for instance had Nobles, which were pretty nicely designed, so I am allowing them. And there are a few in Tome of Secrets I am considering. Some others, like Beguiler, I am converting to a sorcerer bloodline, to capture the flavor without needing to add a class that is basically the same as something that already exists.

The 3.5 games I played that had the worst issues, were the ones that tended to allow anything from any book, just cause the book existed. Those quickly got out of hand. The games where a DM kept control of his world vision and only allowed things in that both fit the world and that he had gone over to make sure they were not completely whacked out, tended to work best.

This is a popular topic, and a lot of people share your feelings. In fact, check out this thread. It went on for a billion pages and had a lot of good ideas on this subject.

Ooo, good find on the thread! Only partway into it right now, and it has some ideas I had not considered. Nice stuff on the math that was done on Trailblazer. I had not realized that PCs without magic items at all were designed at base to be SO successful. I had assumed they were closer to 50/50 not 70/30. That is a good thing.

This might be a bit rambly of a post, so please bear with!

Something I have noticed in 3.X, which has carried over to Pathfinder (and don't even get me started on how bad it is in 4e), is the idea that PCs of a given level must have weapons, armor, and stat items that add up to +X bonuses to be effective at a certain level.
Magic items seem to have lost their flavor in need of the PC having a +3 sword, and people don't hang onto favorite weapons (or gear) when something with a better plus comes along, because they need those pluses to remain effective.
I kinda miss the idea of a PC using few magic items, and the game not feeling like it has magic item overload (the christmas tree effect and magic item shops are the results of this malaise).

So, I am trying to come up with some way to make items feel magical again. When a PC finds that magical sword, it is likely to be something special, have a name, and not just be a +1 bane weapon.

First I think is the need to make sure PCs get their bonuses needed, which I am still trying to figure out. It seems that it is expected that Combat (attack and damage) and Armor Class will both have +5 bonuses from magic items by the time you get to 15 or higher, and that saves will be +3 or better (this does not include special effects, JUST the base bonuses).
If that number is right, how hard would it be to dole out the pluses as something like "Destiny bonuses" to a PC over his career? Something like gaining a bonus point at X level, then another at Y, assigned as they please to Combat, Defense, or Saves, but limited to a maximum bonus based on level (with a final cap of +5). The PC then has some control over what increases fastest, at the same time getting the bonuses.

Then you can deal with magical items themselves. I still want magic to be "common". Not a low magic item campaign at all. I just want things to feel more special. Perhaps weapons and armor only gain effects (like Bane, Holy, etc), no pluses? And potions, scrolls, wands, and miscellaneous magic are more common than those?
Dealing with a favored weapon is something I would like to see too. Maybe take a page from 4e and put in a spell or item creation feat that lets a mage "move" a desired enchantment to another similar item.
Or perhaps doing something like items that grow alongside a character?
Kinda stuck here, on what to do!

Anyone have any suggestions? There are so many places in the game that fiddling with magic items can impact overall play, that it seems a daunting task when I sit down to think about it!

One solution I've seen used is to roll only once for each hand's attack, assuming that the iterative attacks would have rolled identically. So, if your character's base attack would hit on a roll of 7 or above, then a roll of 7-11 indicates one hit, 12-16 is two hits, and 17-20 would be three hits.

Potential criticals are confirmed one at a time. Damage is rolled independently for each successful attack.

Combat is much faster, and swingier. (A bad roll means all your attacks miss.)

That campaign used Action Points, and this house rule encouraged players to spend APs on moderately successful rolls, in order to capture another iterative attack.

This, I think, is my prefered option, if I start seeing it as a problem in game. A single d20 roll, with the iterative attack modifiers added in to that roll.

As a GM, I have finally fallen back on something from other games, when it comes to normal arrows. I don't keep track. Normal arrows are so cheap, that unless it matters to the story (you are shipwrecked, in the middle of nowhere with no place to resupply, etc), I don't bother tracking normal ammunition.

Special ammo, however, that I still track, as you can run out easily.

Based on some feedback from folks in a game I am currently in, as well as another message board, I have been puttering with this idea a bit, and simplified it somewhat (I think).

Still interested in feedback about these ideas, both the original post above, and the "new version" in this post here.

The link here is again a GoogleDocs link, so it should just open up in another window or tab (depending on your browser), no need for an actual download. Also posting the info below the link for folks who don't like clicking on links, just in case!

Stance Training

Fighter Stance Training

Fighters do not just train with weapons and their armor, they also train in methods of fighting. Some are focused on defense, others on offense, and still others on more esoteric methods of fighting. In game terms, this is represented by a stance that a fighter can enter. While in a stance, he gains bonuses (and sometimes penalties) to armor class, attacks, damage or CMB. As he increases in level, he gains more understanding of his training, and thus more stances.
Stances are gained starting at level 3, and a Fighter gains another stance every 2 levels after that (so at 5,7,9, etc). He can only use one stance per round to begin with, but may switch freely between any stances he knows. It normally takes a move action to switch a stance, but starting at level 9 he can switch stances as a free action, though is still limited to switching one stance per round. When he reaches level 8, a fighter is able to integrate his training more thoroughly and can use 2 different stances at once. When he hits level 15, he is able to use 3 stances at once, benefiting from all 3.

Defender: While in this stance, the fighter gains a +1 insight bonus to AC and CMD for every four fighter levels he has (round up). In addition, if he is using a shield, he can use it to provide cover. Light shields provide partial soft cover, and heavy shields provide soft cover.

Protector: This stance is focused on defending allies, and while in this stance, the fighter may choose an adjacent ally. That ally gains soft cover from the fighter. He may also, if using a shield, provide the AC bonus from his shield to an adjacent ally (as well as himself). This can be the same ally or a different one. Finally, once per round, the fighter is able to interpose himself against an attack that would have hit an adjacent ally (does not work against AoE attacks). The attack hits the fighter instead, inflicting normal damage to him. However, against that attack only, he has a DR of 2 per 4 fighter levels (round up). This counts are DR/- for bypass purposes.

Provoker: This stance is designed to protect allies by drawing a foes attention to the fighter. While in this stance, he is able to use the Intimidate skill as a standard action against a foe, with a DC of 10 + the foe's Will save bonus. If successful, the foe sees the fighter as the largest threat, and concentrates attacks on the fighter until something proves a larger threat.  The foe must be able to see and hear the fighter for this to work. The Fighter can affect one target per 3 fighter levels (round up) to a maximum of 7 targets at 20th level. He makes only a single roll, compared against all applicable target's DCs, but he may choose what enemies he wishes to target. Creatures with no will or minds (such as mindless undead) are immune to this effect.

Crippling: This stance focuses on slowing or stopping a foe, as those with fast or unusual movements can be difficult for the untrained fighter to deal with. As a standard action, the fighter can make a CMB check against the target. Success means that the target's movement rate is halved for a number of rounds equal to the fighter's strength bonus. If the target has more than one type of movement, the fighter chooses which to limit when making the attack. In addition, if an adjacent target attempts to use any sort of instant movement (such as plane shift or teleport), the fighter can make an immediate interrupting attack against the target. If the attack hits, the target must make a concentration check to use the movement power.

Juggernaut: This stance trains the fighter to use the weight of their armor as a weapon. The fighter is able to add his armor's AC bonus to his attack damage in melee. Thus, a fighter in splint mail (a +7 armor bonus), would be able to add +7 to his damage rolls in melee. However, this deliberate style of attack is more cumbersome, and the fighter's own movement rate is halved while in this stance.

Granite: The fighter's training has taught him how to use his armor to its fullest effect, to utterly blunt weaker blows. While in this stance, he may trade any amount of his armor's AC bonus for an equal amount of DR/adamantine. The fighter can change the amount used each round, as a free action at the start of his turn.

Resolute: This stance teaches that while a strong arm and thick armor are important, a strong mind is of equal importance. While in this stance, the fighter gains a +1 bonus to Will saves for every 4 fighter levels he has (rounded up).

Punishing: Swift, brutal blows make up the training in this stance. While using it, the fighter's weapons count as being one size larger than normal, for damage purposes only. However, the speed and force of his blows does tend to make his defense a bit more open, and he suffers a -6 penalty to AC. This penalty is reduced by 1 for every 4 full fighter levels he has.

Harrier: This style focuses on quick attacks designed to harass and delay a target. The fighter gains one extra attack of opportunity while in this stance, and if he is using a single weapon, the attack does damage as if it were a critical strike (actual critical strikes increase the crit multiplier by one). If he is dual wielding or using a double weapon, he may instead choose to make an extra attack with the offhand weapon at his full attack bonus.

Relentless: The training this style imparts, teaches the fighter to keep up a furious series of attacks on a single target, denying it a chance to be effective, as well as chipping away at its defenses. While in this stance, a single target in melee range of the fighter takes a -1 penalty on all attacks for every 4 fighter levels the character has (round up). In addition, the fighter is able to make an armor cleaving blow as a standard action. This requires a CMB check, which does provoke an AoO (unless he has the Improved Sunder feat), and if successful, the target's AC is reduced by 1, with an extra -1 penalty per 5 points the CMB check succeeds by.

Tactical: One man is not an army is the teaching of this style, and while in this stance the fighter is able to use his training to assist allies more effectively. When using the Aid Another action, he provides an extra +1 bonus for every 5 points the attack roll succeeds by. In addition, he may provide that bonus to the damage done by an ally, instead of to attack or AC. Finally, he can choose to split the bonus between multiple effects or allies, up to a maximum of his Int bonus. For example if a fighter makes an Aid Another roll of 22, he provides a +4 bonus (2 from Aid Another and an extra +2 from the stance bonus). He can, if he desires, split that +4 up as he desires among allies and AC, attack, damage, or skill use, but can not split more than his Int bonus. If he had an Int of 12, he would be able to give an ally a +3 to one roll and +1 to another, or +3 to one ally and +1 to another.

Watchful: This stance is focused on waiting for the right moment to strike, and then striking a final blow. While in it, and fighting an opponent, the fighter gains an insight point for every round that passes, with a maximum of 1 point per 2 fighter levels. At any point in the combat, he may use those points in a single blow (a single standard attack), gaining a bonus to hit of +2 per point he has accumulated and +1d6 damage per point. This damage stacks with sneak attack damage, though it does affect beings not normally able to be sneak attacked. The points go away when he uses this attack, switches targets, or the fight ends.

I've downloaded it. I'll take a look at it later.

Definitely interested in hearing what you (and other folks) think. As far as downloading, you probably should not need to, it is a GoogleDoc, clicking on it -should- just take you to the page to view it. Gonna stick it in here anyways, just to make it easier on folks, and as a friend mentioned to me, sometimes people don't like clicking on links, JUST in case!

Training Styles

    Fighters train most of their lives to be as deadly as possible with their chosen weapons, but most also train intensively in a particular style of combat.  While some dabble with various styles, others focus on one style to the exclusion of others.  The type of weapons used might vary, but many of the styles have some things in common.  These changes are meant both to give fighters a bit more flavour, and to address what I see as a slight weakness in the class.

Starting at level 2, a fighter can select a fighting style that he has trained in, learning the Novice rank of skill with it.  At level five, and every 3 levels thereafter, he can again choose training in a fighting style.  This can be the same style, in which case he gains the Journeyman (or Master or Grandmaster, as he goes along) rank, or a brand new style.

Defender Style
    The fighter who trains in this style concentrates mostly on personal defense.  If an attacker can not strike you and damage you, your blows do not need to be the strongest, or the most accurate, as you will eventually wear him down with little injury of your own.
    Novice:  Most defenders prefer to use a shield.  They are cheap, highly effective, and easy to learn.  This level of training takes that a step further.  The novice has learned to use his shield more effectively, granting him a +1 AC bonus on top of its normal bonus (so a shield that would normally be a +1 shield bonus to AC, is instead a +2 bonus).  In addition, he has learned to effectively use it against ranged attacks.  By using a move action, he can position the shield to provide cover to himself.  Light shields provide partial soft cover, and heavy shields provide soft cover.  If the fighter also has Journeyman Protector training, he may instead provide that cover to an adjacent ally.
    Journeyman:  Armor use is important to a fighter, and it is the rare fighter that goes unarmored.  The journeyman defender has learned to turn his armor to its best advantage, knowing exactly how the armor wears, slopes, and responds to impacts.  This is reflected in giving him a DR of 1/adamantine.
    Master:  The defender by this point has fought a variety of foes, in many situations, and has become skilled at anticipating attacks.  He gains a +1 bonus to AC for every 5 class levels of Fighter he has.  This is an insight bonus, and does stack with other insight bonuses.
    Grand Master:  The warrior has become so skilled at avoiding attacks and mitigating damage, that his armor and defenses almost feel like a second skin, enabling him to react to blows the instant they happen, lessening their impact.  Once per combat, the fighter may use his armor bonus (including shield bonus, but NOT including dodge bonuses, insight bonuses, etc.  Only the bonus from the armor/shield itself) as DR or Resistance vs a single attack.  This choice may be made after an attack hits, but before the DM announces any damage done by it.  He can do this once per day at level 11, twice at level 16, and three times per day at level 20, but no more than once per combat encounter.

Protector Style
    The fighter who trains in this style concentrates on defending others, providing a shield of flesh and metal between his allies and damage.  Concentrating on toughness and being able to react to threats, he is able to make sure that enemies must pass over his body to harm those he protects.
    Novice:  The fighter has trained himself to react instantly to threats to his allies.  Once per round, he can interpose himself between an attack and an adjacent ally.  Against ranged attacks or area of effect attacks, this provides cover to the ally.  Against melee attacks, he takes any blow that would have landed on the ally.  The attacker still makes the attack against the ally's modified AC (for cover), but if it hits, the melee attack hits the fighter instead.  He may do this one additional time per round for every rank in this style he has past the first.
    Journeyman:  Shield use is just as important to a Protector as it is to a fighter training in the Defender style.  They just use the shield a bit differently.  By using a move action, he may give an ally a shield bonus to AC equal to his own (the Protector does not lose the shield bonus, he is able to react to protect both parties).  If he is a Novice in the Defender style, he may also provide cover as listed above to the ally.
    Master:  The fighter has learned to shrug off pain and minor injuries taken in the defense of others.  When using the Novice ability of this style, he gains DR 3/adamantine.  In addition, ranged attacks that would have struck the ally now strike the Protector instead (while using the novice ability).
    Grand Master:  Sometimes you just need to get something's attention and keep it, so it does not squish that poor merchant over there.  At this rank of training, the fighter has learned how best to get up in the face of a variety of opponents and make himself more of a nuisance than anything else.  He makes a CMB roll against, the target's Will save (simply add 10 to the target's will save bonus to get the DC).  If successful, the target temporarily forgets about whichever ally within 30 feet that the protector chooses.  This only lasts until the ally does something to call attention to itself, such as attacking or casting a spell.  Simple movement however, or bandaging wounds does not draw attention to the ally.  He may only does this once per combat for a single ally, regardless of success.

Harrying Style
    This fighter has learned early on that some foes are simply more swift or agile than he is.  And that the best way to fight them, is to limit their movement and injure them in just the right fashion to keep them from getting too far away.
    Novice:  The novice harrier is learning how to keep up with foes.  Whenever a foe takes a 5 foot step, the harrier may, as an immediate action, also take a 5 foot step that keeps him adjacent to the target.  He may only do this once per round. 
    Journeyman:  The harrier is learning more effectively how to slow a foe's movement.  He may make a CMB check, that does not provoke an attack of opportunity.  If successful, the target's movement rate is cut in half for a number of rounds equal to the harrier's strength bonus.  In addition, a target that tries to Withdraw provokes an attack of opportunity from the harrier (normally, Withdrawing does not provoke AoOs).
    Master:  At this level of training, the harrier is starting to deal with foes with more...unusual...modes of movement, such as flying, burrowing, and the like.  However, he is learning to deal with them, and keep them where he and his allies can pound on them.  He can make a CMB against the foe, that DOES provoke an Attack of Opportunity.  However, if the attack is successful, the foe is unable to use a single mode of movement, chosen by the harrier for a number of rounds equal to his strength bonus.
    Grand Master:  The harrier is a master of keeping foes exactly where he wants them.  When using the Master level ability, he no longer provokes attacks of opportunity.  Also he can interrupt foes that attempt more magical methods of escape, such as teleports or plane shifts.  Even as an innate, supernatural ability, the harrier can make a special CMB attack as an AoO against adjacent foes that attempt such movement.  Success means they must either accept a hit that is an automatic critical hit from the harrier, or abort the attempted escape.

Juggernaut Style
    Sometimes, what really counts in a fight is how much armor you are wearing.  Those who train in this style take that somewhat to the extreme.  Rarely seen in anything less bulky than medium armor, they tend to prefer heavier armors, and especially full suits of enclosed metal and mail.  Surprisingly, they are not as clumsy or slow as one might expect.
    Novice:  Training with weights, armor, and lugging heavy things around has enabled the fighter to better deal with the load his armor puts on him.  In fact, he tends to actually move a bit faster while wearing it than not for some reason.  While in medium or heavy armor, the fighter gains +5' to his movement rate (this is before any armor penalties).  He also gains a bit more from wearing armor, increasing the AC of medium armor by 1 and heavy armor by 2.
    Journeyman:  Metal protects.  This is an adage drilled into those trained in this style from the beginning, and the journeyman is starting to learn how true this is.  At the start of his turn, he can trade any amount of AC bonus his armor provides him for an equal amount of DR */adamantine.  This lasts until the beginning of his next turn.  For example, a fighter wearing Splint Mail has a +7 AC bonus from the armor.  On his turn, he could trade any amount of that AC bonus, up to 7, for an equal amount of DR/adamantine.
    Master:  A good defense can be an excellent offense, as the master of this style has learned.  The weight of heavy armor adds power to blows, making him near to unstoppable.  He may add his AC bonus from armor to all damage done in melee.  In addition, he can add that same bonus to his CMB when using Bull Rush and Overrun maneuvers.
    Grand Master:  The true master of this style has found that his armor is nearly impervious to standard foes.  The fighter gains a bonus of +2 DR/adamantine.  While that is in effect at all times, it also stacks with any similar bonuses, either from items or from the Journeyman training, unlike most DR.

Whirling Death
    The adage that speed kills is most apt for the fighter trained in this style.  Hit your foes hard and fast, and down them before they know you were there.  Whether using two weapons at once, a more exotic dual weapon, a single swift blade, or even a spear whirling and jabbing, this fighter has learned to press the attack with haste and strength.
    Novice:  While hitting your foe quickly is important, even these fighters do not neglect the benefits of a good defense.  The quickly moving weapons they use and swift movements they take enable them to parry and dodge blows with ease. A novice of this style has learned to avoid and parry incoming attacks, giving him a +1 dodge bonus to AC.  For each rank of training in this style, that bonus increases again by +1, to the maximum of +4 at Grand Master.  In addition, if the fighter takes a move action this round, he gains a bonus equal to the dodge bonus he receives from this rank to his to hit and damage with melee weapons.
    Journeyman:  The journeyman has learned to hamper foes with speed and unpredictability.  As such, he gains one additional Attack of Opportunity each round (which may stack with feats that grant more), and if he is using two weapons at once, or a double weapon, he can make any AoOs with both.
    Master:  The master of the style has learned that even the most well protected foe will fall to quick and steady strikes, wearing away at his defenses.  As such, the fighter can make a CMB, which if successful, reduces the target's AC by 1, with an additional -1 reduction per 5 points his CMB roll exceeds the target's CMD by.
    Grand Master:  The fighter has become so deadly with his weapons, that they strike harder than those wielded by an untrained warrior.  Any weapon he has that he has the Weapon Focus feat in does damage as if it was a size larger than normal.

Patient Tactician
    While solid offense and solid defense have their place, the fighters that train in this style believe that there is a time and place for both, the trick is knowing when to be on the offensive and when to be on the defensive.  Such training also helps them excel as battlefield commanders, giving them a keen eye for the ebb and flow of battle.
    Novice:  The fighter's training in this style has sharpened his senses while in battle, enabling him to see openings that others might miss. As such, when he uses the Aid Another action in combat, he is more effective, increasing the bonus by +1 per 5 points his attack roll exceeds the AC of 10.  This is limited however to a maximum extra bonus of his Int bonus.
    Journeyman:  Having studied as many styles of combat as he can, the journeyman fighter is able to predict an opponent's actions.  He gains a +2 Insight bonus to AC, and an additional +1 bonus for each rank past Journeyman in this style that he gains.  If he also fights an opponent for 3 rounds, he is able to predict weaknesses in his stance and form, giving him the same bonus to hit against that opponent.  The to hit bonus only lasts for that fight, however.
    Master:  The fighter's training and sharp eye have increased to such a degree that he is able to spot gaps in an opponent's armor that he and allies can take advantage of.  He gains an insight bonus to damage equal to 2 points per rank in this style on his own attacks, both melee and ranged.  In addition, he can point out these same flaws to allies, and when using the Aid Another action, may give the bonus as extra damage instead of to hit or AC.  As a final benefit of his training at this rank, when using Aid Another, he can also split the bonus he provides between AC, Attack, and damage.  His bonus is also no longer limited to a maximum of his Int bonus.
    Grand Master:  Opponents weaknesses and openings are glaring windows to the grand master of this style.  As a fight goes on, he is able to slowly open up the opponent's defenses, eventually giving him a hole to deliver a massive attack.  For each round he fights a specific opponent, he gains a special insight point.  At any point during the fight, he can spend these points on a single attack.  The attack has a bonus to hit equal to the number of insight points and does +1d6 damage per insight point.  The points reset to zero after he makes this attack, if he stops combat, or if he engages another foe in combat.

While I am quite pleased overall with Pathfinder, one thing I have noticed has been a bit...lacking. And that is the fighter. While it is a much more powerful class than it used to be, it still seems to be missing some "oomph", especially as they increase in levels.

So, I am working on some ideas for beefing up the fighter, to make him more equal to some of the other classes, while trying to avoid stepping on any toes of other classes. This means avoiding "spell like" effects (such as To9S did), or adding extra feats (they already have enough), or anything similar.

What I did hit upon was doing something with a fighter's training. Fighters would tend to train in particular styles of fighting, getting better and better at a particular style, or perhaps dabbling in several. While some of this can be done with feats, I have also been working on an idea for "training paths". Something that the fighter gets starting at second level, and improving from there, but able to branch out to other paths of training as desired.

Since it is a pretty long document for posting on the forums, I am instead including a link to the GoogleDocs file I wrote it up in. I am hoping that folks with familiarity with the Pathfinder (and 3.5) system will take a look and let me know what they think. It is aimed at the Pathfinder fighter, so some rules bits reference things like Combat Maneuver Bonus and the like. Anyways, please take a look if you would and feel free to give feedback!

Fighter Training Styles

I have been thinking of doing the same. After trying out 4e and deciding it is just not for me, I am back to 3.X and WFRP (trying to decide now which I want to run next :) ).

I moved away from my gaming group a while ago, and Maptools and the like have been great for letting my game again! Though, Maptools is one I have only started looking at, I was using Gametable till recently, along with Skype for voice chat (since games run faster with chatting than with typing).
It seems an excellent program, and it can do a LOT of different dice expressions, which is great. I might actually be able to run Feng Shui online using it, since it can handle those odd dice!

For 3.X though, it is perfect. Map utility, the Token Tool for tokens, a solid interface and die roller. It looks great!

Sounds very cool! Glad to see folks doing this kind of playtest report!

Been jonesing to get back into serious gaming myself, but moved back to Michigan (the Sterling Heights area) a bit over a year ago, which meant I lost my old gaming group. One of these days I will have to dig up my Skype info and run something using that and Gametable!

In the meantime, glad to see posts like these and am seriously looking forward to seeing the Beta (and of course, final version) of Pathfinder!

While many are missing, some are not too hard to add back in. There was a thread on RPG.net about Iron Golems in 4e, and as an example, I whipped one up in the thread, using the DMG guidelines and the golem examples in the MM to work with. Took me about 20 minutes, and that was mostly page flipping and finding my old 2e Monstrous Compendium to check something. Came out pretty good, I think.

So while things are missing, it is quite possible to add them back, and even easier once you are used to it. The biggest hurdle for me was getting out of the 3.X rut of trying to make things "exact", and getting back to the 2e/red box way of just "it does this, because I want it to".

While I have a number of house rules I am thinking of, the big ones are as follows:

1) Changing the powers on Magic Items from "daily" to "encounter" in almost all cases. As is, many of them are pathetically weak as Daily powers, and making them encounter powers will not upset me at all.

2) Doing some kind of "long term" wound system for people who get dropped to under 0 HP and restored. The whole "you are fresh as a daisy after having an arm lopped off with 6 hours of rest" bit still annoys me, but I don't want to change things TOO much. Still working on various ideas, but something like this is going in.

3) Meteor Swarm has an added effect of the caster being able to shift all targets in the area of effect 2 squares. That at least brings it a bit more in line with other similar level Wizard powers and does not make it completely useless compared to the same level Cleric power (which still does more damage and is sustainable).

4) Likely coming up with my own system for generating statistics. While I am a fan of random roll, I understand why it is the least desired choice now in 4e. But I also kind of dislike how point buy and array ends up with the characters all feeling very similar, stat wise. I know there is some kind of happy medium I can come up with. :)

5) Restoring a lot of the missing 3.X spells as powers/rituals. Less a house rule really, and more something on my "to create" list.

Hmmm...more than 1 thing. Still fewer house rules than what I have in 3.X (though this is NOT all of them).

Unless I am reading it wrong, the rogue is not giving up sneak attack damage to cause the bleed, the bleed is IN ADDITION to the sneak attack damage. The amount of the bleed is just based on how many dice of sneak attack the rogue has at that level.

Perhaps some kind of feat to either alter the area (make it a cone or such), or a way to choose targets within the area (so it ignores allies or enemies) might be a good way to go to. I love the idea of healing/damage from turn/rebukes, that is something really fun. Of course, I can also see evil clerics just having to suck it up and risk damaging their living allies if they want to rebuke with them nearby. In a way, kinda fitting.

Just a few things that I hope to see covered in Pathfinder eventually, mostly my own current nitpicks with 3.X. Leaving out the things I already see in the works for changes (like skill consolidation (very good), and giving classes more to do), here is a short list of things I look forward to seeing your take on!

Prestige Classes: I hate the current glut of them. They stopped feeling special almost immediately (part of that I know is a GM thing, you have to control what comes into the game and how easily it is gotten by PCs). Personally I would love to see Prestige Classes all be 5 levels and just ooze awesome at each level. Make them something special, not just a better base class. On a similar note however, the base, core, classes should be viable and interesting all the way to 20 (or epic levels). Looks like you have made a great start on that however so far!

Skill DCs in combat: Only way I can think to list this one. Stuff like Concentration checks and the like are WAY too easy currently. I think the introduction of the CMB you have in the first alpha release is good though, and could be easily applied to things like Concentration checks and the like, so that they remain a challenge and not just a speed bump of sorts once you get past a certain level.

Magic overshadowing Melee: Another minor peeve, which you seem to be addressing already, is how, once you get into the mid teens or higher, magic trumps melee too easily. Fighters and the like should be able to do cool stuff and contribute to the group. The stuff I have seen so far is a nice start and I hope to see that trend continue!

One Core Book: Mostly meaning the players rules here. Hopefully once you make the final release of Pathfinder, it will be in the vein of Arcana Evolved, where I only need it and don't even need to crack open my 3.X PHB unless I happen to want something unique out of it. I am a much happier gamer when I can carry around only a couple of books or so, instead of needing a small rucksack to carry to each game. :) Of course, since I moved recently and most of my gaming is now done via virtual tabletop/voice chat, that is less an issue. But it is still nice to only need to reference one book!

Magic Item Bloat: This is one I really hate. I always felt that magic items should be kinda unique and special. As it stands now, they are practically required, to the point of PCs needing magic item shops and walking around with enough magical gear to glow in the dark and read by! :) It would be nice to see a way to reduce that reliance on magical gear while not making PCs weaker, thus making actual magic items special again. That is kinda a hard one to do though, but definitely something I will be watching for! One way we handled it in a low magic game was giving PCs something every couple levels (like stat increases, but it could apply to other things. Our DM had a nice chart worked up, and it pretty much replaced bog standard magical gear like +1 rings and such, so that the actual magic items we found DID things, rather than just added to our stats, since that was not as needed).

Anyways, looking forward to seeing more on this, what I have seen so far has actually gotten me excited about DnD again, so I am chomping at the bit to see/test more!

I am also going to chime in here and state how much I am looking forward to seeing more info on Pathfinder as an rpg. Our GM has run a few of the adventure path games, and I have been really impressed with the quality of work you all at Paizo have put out! I have enjoyed 3.X, and while it needs some cleaning up and toning down (way too much splat material for instance, to me at least) it has remained a favorite since it came out.

My dissatisfaction with what I have seen for 4e has made me start looking away from DnD in general, but this announcement and what I have seen in this first alpha release has given me new hope for the game (and so far I really like what I am seeing).

Hopefully we will see the Alpha 2 and 3 releases somewhat soonish (I know that it is not something to rush however!), mostly because our group is pretty mixed, class wise, and I am sure will be quite interested in testing this out. Luckily we only have one "odd" class in the mix (one guy playing a Warlock), but I know the Bard and Sorcerer's players will be very interested to see what is proposed for their classes.

So definitely looking forward to seeing more of this and testing it out, and if things stay as interesting looking as they are now, you will have at least one other set of players buying Pathfinder next year when it finally releases!