Turiann's page

Going in line and after reviewing some threads here, and the though of the designers about an optional rule for adding HP at first level, I was thinking of adding an optional rule of something like background package or training package found in some OGL games or other RPGs.

One proposal would include a generic race specific package, or even better, a combination of race + background package.

To explain what I mean, allow me to illustrate it with an example off the bat. Let us imagine I want to start playing a dwarven cleric. To add a little flavor, I imagine that he's worked as an apprentice to an armorsmith prior to joining the church as an acolyte. Alternatively, I might have decided he had chosen the religious path earlier and started right away as an acolyte, and taken an acoylte background.

Now, for his background he would get bonus hit points (as per the designers suggestion still found in Alpha 2), a background/racial skills and background/racial feat.

HP: +7 coming together as follows:
+4 racial bonus for dwarf (halflings or gnomes would get +1, elves and half elves +2, humans +3)
+3 background bonus for apprentice smith background.
Had she/he been an apprentice to a sage, or started early as an acolyte at the local priory, (s)he would have gotten a +1 hp for background. A craftsman background would have earned her/him a +2, while a hardworking farmer or stonemason would earn her/him +3, and a background as militia or slave a +4. (those are just ideas for rates, nothing I'll defend with my life blood)

Choice of 1 (or 2 for human and half elven or half orc versatilty) racial background skill among the following:
Craft or profession: mason, smith (any type), brewing, mining
Knowledge: architecture, religion, nobility & royalty, dungeoneering ,geology (whatever else seems fitting for your dwarf stereotype)
Linguistics (as in dwarven runes, though that need not be a skill)
Language: one among the racially allowed starting languages

Racial or background feat. The character would select among typical feat for his race, or for his background.
For our dwarven armorsmith this could be for example:
Improved Fortitude,
Skill Focus (in one of his chosen background skills, in our example it could be craft or profession Armorsmithing),
Light, Medium or Heavy Armor use (this could also be an option for our armorsmith's affinity with the subject)
Shield Use or Martial Weapon Use (for a militia, squire or conscript background)
Alertness (for a street urchin who had to steal his food for a living)
Dodge (the same street urchin)
Track (for an character with, say a hunter background)
etc.

The Skill and Feat lists should be adapted by race and chosen background skill.
To, it makes sense to have such background options, since everyone starts learning at a much earlier age than characters start, and is not born and trained from day 1 as a cleric or mage or bard to the exclusion of anything else. Plus in a medieval world children were put to work most often at 6 or 7, to plow the fields, tend the cattle, work as pages, maids or assistants, or found themselves on the street fending for themselves.

This additional step will certainly annoy some gamers who like to have character design as short as possible, but anyone wanting to add flavor to her/his character not only in words, but back it up with a little more, would be able to do it without much additional effort.
"Say Churn, didn't ye mention ye worked as an armorer before ye joined the ranks of Moradin's priests? I've got like this hole in my mail

In truth the one effort would be to develop the racial and background skill/feat lists, but that's something the designers must decide if they want to give it a try. Then I'm sure there'll be plenty of people to help, including myself.

I think the druid companion is fine, but I do not see the utility or usefulness of the ranger companion. I'd prefer the ranger to have an alternate ability, such as a limited form of wild shape, and be done with the companion issue for rangers.
Especially when you have a ranger and druid in group both with companions, it is rather funny, in a way.

I could imagine a ranger as a kind of outdoor and ranged specialist.

As in Rogue = indoor/dungeon skills, melee dmg dealer

Ranger = outdoor skills, ranged damage dealer.

In that respect he may have the ranged d6 bonus to dmg from the scout class from DD35 as a bonus, though in return I'd reduce his HD to d8 as the rogue. He would not be the one set to endure frontal assault on an ongoing basis, wears light armor generally, so the d8 is a fair option in my opinion.

Aside from that I do not see too many changes needed on the ranger, which was already one of the most amended class between DD3 and DD3.5.

I would be interested to know though, how many rangers make substantial use of their animal companion. I would rather give the ranger an alternative ability, such as a limited wild shape ability (as goes for the turn undead ability of the paladin vs the cleric), rather than what appear to be moderately useful companions at best.

In Alpha 2:

Paladin:
the HD per level for the paladin reads as d8 on page 19. On page 35 in the Designer Notes though, paladins are supposed to have a d10 as HD.

Barbarian:
On page 11, the rage power called "Terrifying Howl" says the Barbarian must have the Hunter's Cry Power as a prerequisite, that I did not find in the list. Also in the text there is a reference to a "Howl of the Wild", which may have been the initial and not updated name of Terrifying Blow?

Kudos for the work, I like it a lot.

A

2. Whenever hit points are rolled the minimum value you can get is half the total value (ie 3 on a d6 and 6 on a d12)

3. Reducing the dice rolled and giving them a set bonus per level (ie 1d4+2, 1d6+2, 1d8+2, etc.)

4. Giving each class a class bonus plus 1d4 hit points per level (ie 1d4+2, 1d4+4, 1d4+6, 1d4+8)

I like all three of these ideas, as they bridge the gap that may always exist between the lucky roller with a big CON adjustment, and the unlucky roller with the bad CON adjustment.

The random factor is bigger, the bigger the HD is, and by adding a certain amount of fixed bonus, that randomness is reduced somewhat. By evening out the differences (while still adding a random factor) it makes it also easier to use existing modules that have to set the bar at a certain level.