FlameLover's page

I see arcane spellcasters the opposite way. Sorcerers are demonstrating the innate gift. You need to show that and get some control over it (say 5 levels worth) THEN you get the nifty specialized prestige class with the prepared spells

Oh yeah i plan on both being spontaneous casters and getting rid of the whole notion of 'prepared' casting. Maybe some sort of PrC or something but really i just don't like them and think that replacing Wizzes with Sorcs in mechanics would work better.

But i shouldn't have hijacked the thread like that i guess so... well it's posted here now so if you have any other comments post them here i guess. Sorry for that though :(

Sorry to say it but i much prefer the old cover. It now looks like a 2nd edition supplement or something but before it looked very clean and proffesional (almost like a diary). The previous one made it almost feel like a personal scrapbook, and it was wicked because of that. Now it's going for that kitch/retro look and i personally do not like it as much now. But i'll still buy it anyway :)

High Jason! I sent my first query in ever a few days ago (don't worry, i konw i gotta wait) but i was just wondering what the preffered format for a query was? I didn't make mine very clear now that i think back about it so it'd help for my next one to know what formt is best. Here is what i think mguht be good:

(IDEA NAME/ARTICLE NAME) - (TYPE)
(DESCRIPTION)

Oh and about how many ideas for articles do you prefer in a query? I think i sent about 5-10 in the lest one but if you preffered more or less i'd be happy to do them that way in the future :)

Oh and one last thing, do you have a plan on what sort of themes the issues will be? Because if you do i'd love to know what themes you have planned so i could propose some ideas that 'fit'.

So umm.. yeah keep up the great mag and hopefully you'll catch up with your mail soon so you're not so busy :)

I've been thinking about this for awhile and all i can come up with is this. You start off with the 4 archetypes Fighter, Cleric, Rogue and Wizard. You could then branch out to Paladin, Monk, Ranger, Druid, Swashbuckler, Xexblade, whatever. Those would be 'Advanced Classes'. Presitge classes would then be campaign-specific stuff.

Ofcourse some of the classes would need to be changed for this to work with but the goal would be that they could start being an advanced class at level 6 and a prestige one at 10th earliest. So to get a nature person you'd go Cleric5/Druid5/Shaper10 as an example.

Classes are what make D&D different from other RPGs so they should definitley keep that aspect of it but turning it into a 3-tier system would work wonders i think. And each of the 4 base ones would be different enough (they would need alot of changing though).

I run a pretty homebrew game though so i realize not everyone likes to mess with the RAW that much. But i do, so whatever ;)

PS: Just thought i'd mention how each of the classes would basically work:

Cleric: You'd choose 2 domains as normal, but the power you get from them would be lesser, normal and greater. Say if you took Plant and Animal as your Domains then you're already a basic Druid but then at level 6 you could take a level of Druid. Or you could go for the Good and Lawful domains and set yourself up for Paladin (although you don't NEED certain domains for either)

Fighter: Like it is now, loads of bonus feats and maybe a few more Fighter-only feats too. This should be the ONLY base class with full BAB too.

Rogue: Like it is now but has tons of skill points and start giving some selectable Rogue abilities at level 1. Some should be sneaky, con-artist type and others on the 'Swashbuckling' sort of type.

Wizard: Cast spells, has familiar, but you NEED to specialize. This one wouldn't need to prepare spells, you'd just know them and cast with points like a Psion does (Cleric casts same btw). The specialization wouldn't restrict other spells though, just make one school of magic more potent for you.

Now for Advanced:

Paladin: Clerics and Fighters are the people who'd enter this one. Give some smiting, special mount, some other abilities and you're set! No spellcasting though, if you want that take Cleric.

Druid: Shape-shifitng, special abilities, etc. This would merge the Druid and Ranger classes but with now spells! (If you want spells, again take cleric). Mainly for nature-based Clerics, Fighters or Rogues.

Monk: Mainly fighters specialized in fisty-cuffs, the Monk would be focused on the martial-arts aspect. All about inner-self and contemplation. For ki-stuff you'd take a PrC.

Bard: Mainly for Rogues and Wizards the Bard would be all about music, support and some thievery too.

Sorceror: Not sure of the name but this takes specialization to the next level. You'd pick one specialization and 2 secondary schools and the rest would be unusable. This is for someone who REALLY wants to focus on just one aspect of casting.

And the PrCs would be made by the DM mostly. So hopefully you can see the trend that very few people do what the other can do, like the Druid doesn't cast spells since if you want more spells just stay nature-Cleric. If someone can see a gaping hole in this system tell me since i am making my own RPG and am basing it around this concept.

EDIT: Alot of my ideas come from Monte Cook's Iron Heroes which from what i've seen is a great book (only seen the perviews on his site) but it does get rid of magic mostly so if you have any magic fans you might onoly be able to use some of the books ideas (which are sometimes truly inspired btw). But I think at level 1 they should be different since i hate in MMORPGs how you start off just like everyone else. The system i propose means that everyone can be different at first level since the classes would be alot more 'open' than the ones in the PHB. Like a Cleric isn't always a good, heavy armor weraing clubber. The Domain aspect really helps them be different (similar to a Wizard's specializing almost). I got the idea from the WotC boards of having 'advanced' domains. You pick two and both start at lesser. At level 5 or 6 you'd then get to pick one to become normal level and at level 10 or 11 one would become normal and the other greater.

My family is aethiest and i'm aethiest, so basically i havn't had any problems. I don't have any porlbem with religion btw, just i don't beleive in it. But my grandmother is quite religious, it's just lucky she doesn't know i guess ;)

Anyway the Jade it seems you had quite s similar situation to mine. And when i read:

"A pious gnome will always have a home!"

"Uh, sweety..."

"Yes, wise one?"

I almost peed myself!

If i ever get my D&D site setup this is one of my first projects, a treasure/spell generator and big lists of stuff from WotC, Dragon and 3rd party stuff.

But it is tough so either wait 'till someone makes a table/generator or start on your own (the hard way basically ;P )

Don't have the book but from what i have picked up you have Soulmelds, Essentia, Chakras and a Totem.

Soulmeld: It's a cross between a spell, an item and a template. It's like a Warlock's invocation in that you arn't limitied by how many times you can use it, but you have to assign them in the beggining of the day (It's like a Cleric preparing spells almost). So you choose from the whole list of the power level you can use and you choose about 2 or 3 at low levels and about 10 by high levels.

Essentia: This is what powers your Soulmelds. More essentia in a Soulmeld means it has a grater effect. Switching essentia around is a standard action i think and it allows you to have say +3 to hit and +2 to AC and then with a standard action get +1 to hit and +4 to AC. It's like a Psions PP i guess except when you 'un-manifest' something you get the points back again.

Chackra: These realte to each of the 12 magic item slots. If you 'bind' a Soulmeld to a Chackra in the morning while you are preparing you get an additional benefit or effect but you can't wear a magic item on the slot you bind it to. Like say you bind some strength sort of Soulmeld. It normally gives you a +2 to strength but when you bind it to your Hand Chakra you might get the use of the feat Cleave or Power Attack.

Totem: This is like your super-duper Chakra. You only have one but when you bind something to it you get the best effect from it.

I don't have MoI yet though obviously so the Soulmelds would be alot more interesting than my examples ;) And there is a feat i think that allows you to bind a soulmeld to a chakra and also wear a magic item in the same slot, but you need to choose one and stick with it (like you do with Weapon Focus).

Hope that helped!

EDIT: Yar, i was bested!

Thanks for the welcome.

I've submitted some of my ideas as a query since i do a bit of writing on the side but i doubt any of it will get through. Ohwell, what are you gonna do.

Another point i'd like to make is that some articles are almost impossible to read because of the background. I don't mind having a pattern in the background but it should be black text on a white background mainly and should be in some sort of box (otherwise you get the background changing in places making it OK in some places and unbearable in others)

When they decide an issue will be themed though do they say anywhere? Because i'd like to write articles that fit what they want in the next issue but it's just guessing without some sort of list (and i missed my chance to do a horror one it seems).

But making 1 setting article, 2 for the theme and then 1 or 2 loosley or not at all tied to the theme would work well i think. Either that or make the setting one a themed one but include sidebars on some of the articles talking about how to fit it into FR or Eberron.

I would love to write an article all about expanding the Warlock or Spirit Shaman but i doubt they'd bite since only about 30% of readers would like or even know of the class (Although the Warlock is pretty popular i think).

But i would like to see Class Acts revamped and in the proccess supporting these alternate classes.

I'm happy for you but i'm happy just sticking with the Dragon Compendium.

Congrats though!

This is my first post on here, so i'll just start by saying hi to everyone ;)

OK well i only started getting Dragon a few issues back (I only have 4 at the moment) but i already agree that themed issues would be really good. I like the idea of 1 campaign article every issue (although it isn't mandetory just a loose goal) and having the other 3 articles mainly relating to the theme. I havn't got issues 335 or 336 yet because i'm in Australia but i'm already looking forward to 336 because of the huanting/halloween theme. So planning out a major theme for each issue would be nice (Although not all issues need a theme ofcourse).

But for 'fixing' class acts i'd like to see it altered so that is only covers maybe 3-4 classes an issue but each should get a few pages with feats, items, etc. that work around the theme. Like deadDMwalking said, items on ghost hunting and tying the Class Acts to that would have been really tight.

But i think Dragon is OK as it is now, just it could get even better. And i've heard people talking about submitting articles: i'm intrigued since i like writing and i'd love to write an article that got into Dragon (i'm probably not good enough though).

But here are some ideas for themes:

- Spelunking, an issue with a strong focus on adventuring underground and the sorts of spells, items, and feats etc. one might need (alot of this has been covered though so it'd be hard to find stuff new I guess)

- Basing an issue about the races from the PHB would be nice. An article for each of them (Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes and Hlaflings) would be really nice and for stuff like Class Acts you could talk about playing non-traditional combos (like a Dwarven Wizard or a Gnome Fighter).

- Alchemy, I liked the article about alchemical fire but would like alchemy as a whole covered with more items, some sort of rules for higher grade items (like mwk and beyond) and an alchemist PrC would rock. You could also include a bit of steampunk in this issue.

- I dunno how much this has been done before, and it's probably done to death but an issue focused on Dragons would be nice. Having rules for having a draconic mount, training dragons, the blackmarket, all that (OK this has already been done but i had to say it anyway)

- The criminal underworld would be interesting. Rules for blackmarkets, theives guilds, black mail and all that. Also items to help being sneaky and deceptive, and more poisons, etc.

Those are just some ideas. And if you are already planning out themed issues please say what they will be on the site or on the forums since i'd like to try writing an article or two that fits the issues theme.