Our group was finally able to organize for a playtest session, the group consisting of players from all 2 gaming groups. (Unfortunately the fourth ended up tied down with overtime at work at the last minute, le sigh)
The group consisted of Gregor McGrath (Human Fighter 1), Tork Ironfist (Dwarf Cleric of Torag 1), Gilusa Ruque (Elven Wizard 1), and unfortunately we were down our rogue which leads to the groups new nickname.
Character creation went very smoothly, mostly do to have readily available a copy of the Playtest rules for everyone (two digital and one harcopy). Everyone is loving the new races, though Tork Ironfist said it was still stupid that dwarves got -2 to Charisma and stated that Dex was more appropiate. I agreed so he used the stat adjustments as following: +2 Con, +2 Wis, -2 Dex. He also misses the benefits for dwarves to craft things, but he said it was only a minor thing and not really in need for changing.
Overall in the creation process everyone was very happy class wise. Tork and Gilusa were both impressed with the utility given now to the cleric and wizard.
For starting hp I decided to go with Max 1st level + Constitution score. Tork in the end beleive for this to be a bit too much hp at 1st level. I will probably change it to Doulbe MAX plus Con Mod in later sessions.
Explanation of the skills went better than I was expecting honestly, there was a bit of confusion at first but that was quelled within a few minutes. I had been expecting some loud objections from Tork, one of his pet peeves with 4e was the oversimplification of the rules, and I feared I would be hearing grumpy complaints all night about "dumbing down skills". But I was pleasantly surprised though when he did not. In fact, overall they found them easy to pick up and use and much less of a headache than before.
Some general consensus on the skills were though that some shuffling around with the grouping needed be done. Not a soul among them thought that it made any sense that Bluff and Sense Motive had been mushed together. Suggestions were to remove Sense Motive from Deception and either place it into Perception or standing alone. They also beleived that Disguise would be better suited to being in Deception standing with Bluff. Open Lock in with Theft made no sense to any of them, and it is thought that it would be better placed in Disable Device. Again with Jump in Acrobatics, they'd rather have it seperate or have it added to the Fighter's class skill list. It was also found that a number of old skills could have spots in muliple groupings, such as Search being apart of both Perception and Theft. A suggestion was made by Tork that perhaps that double grouping could be possible, and that if you are trained in both skills that you receive a bonus. For example, halfling rogue is both trained in Perception and Theft so receives a bonus when searching.
Favoured Class change was a big hit, our groups ignored the xp penalties for multiclassing anyways, and the small hp award was well accepted.
After character creation we began the game, and what a most unfortunate night to be lacking a rogue when traversing into a nest of kobolds. The adventure was a 3.0v adventure called "The Burning Plague", despite its double removal from the current revisements I found conversion extremely easy even on the fly.
The party blundered into a number of traps, including a thunderstone trap and a pit trap, and thanks to their increased hp the pit trap didn't kill them two rooms in. Clambering out of the hole they were then set upon by kobold from above. After several rounds, the tide of the battle began to turn once the wizard and cleric were able to get within range to use their Acid Dart abilities (Thanks to having the cojuration specialization and the earth domain respectivily). The kobolds retreated back to their camp giving the group time to climb steel cables to get up to them. Which ended up being considerably easy for the elven wizard but quite the harrowing exercize for both the cleric and fighter.
Finally up they got in a fire fight down a narrow tunnel with kobold archers and the warchief sorcerer. And so it continued until the fighter charged past his shield raised and bullrushed the kobold sorcerer a considerably easy feat since his CMB was a mighty -7 making the DC 8 to bullrush him. Gregore was able to bullrush him straight through the camp into the opposite wall. Tork and Gilusa made quick work of the last three kobold archers, and then went to join Gregore who was now grappling the warchief. It did not take long for them to subdue him and now they intend to use him to guide them through the rest of the complex.
At which point we were forced to stop for the night.
Gilusa felt that the wizard was playing very much like a sorcerer, but understandably she had to fall back on reliance of her cantrip and school power after the thunderstone trap which deafened her.
Now for some fun quotes from the game:
*when coming upon a dead plague victim*
Gilusa: Well, now they're in a better place.
Tork: Like mountains of icecream.
Gregore: Strange place to end up in the afterlife.
Gilusa: Bet there are icecream dwarves there though.
Gregore: They'd come in three different flavours; Vanilla, Chocolate, and Strawberry.
*Tork comes upon a pair of young kobolds, unsure what to do*
Tork praying: Torga, what should I do?
Torga: Make something.
Tork: What?
Torga: Make something.
Tork: But I have a moral dilemna here!
Torga: A moral dilemna? Hmmmm...here have a tea kettle.
Just going to plop down Alpha Versions of NPC classes in here as well.
Aristocrat
Class Skills: Appraise (Int), Deception (Cha), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all skills taken individually) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), Ride (Dex), Swim (Dex), Survival (Wis).
1st Level Skill Choices: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features:
The following are class features of the aristocrat.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The aristocrat is proficient in the use of all simple and martial weapons and with all types of armor and shields.
The Adept
Npc Base Fort Ref Will
Level Attack Bonus Save Save Save
1st +0 +0 +0 +2
2nd +1 +0 +0 +3
3rd +2 +1 +1 +3
4th +3 +1 +1 +4
5th +3 +1 +1 +4
6th +4 +2 +2 +5
7th +5 +2 +2 +5
8th +6 +2 +2 +6
9th +6 +3 +3 +6
10th +7 +3 +3 +7
11th +8 +3 +3 +7
12th +9 +4 +4 +8
13th +9 +4 +4 +8
14th +10 +4 +4 +9
15th +11 +5 +5 +9
16th +12 +5 +5 +10
17th +12 +5 +5 +10
18th +13 +6 +6 +11
19th +14 +6 +6 +11
20th +15 +6 +6 +12
Adept
Class Features:
The Adept
Spells per Day
Class Skills: Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (all skills taken individually) (Int), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Survival (Wis).
1st Level Skill Choices: 2 + Int modifier.
The following are class features of the adept.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Adepts are skilled with all simple weapons. Adepts are not proficient with any type of armor nor with shields.
Spells: An adept casts divine spells which are drawn from the adept spell list (see below). Like a cleric, an adept must choose and prepare her spells in advance. Unlike a cleric, an adept cannot spontaneously cast cure or inflict spells.
To prepare or cast a spell, an adept must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an adept’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the adept’s Wisdom modifier.
Adepts, unlike wizards, do not acquire their spells from books or scrolls, nor do they prepare them through study. Instead, they meditate or pray for their spells, receiving them as divine inspiration or through their own strength of faith. Each adept must choose a time each day at which she must spend an hour in quiet contemplation or supplication to regain her daily allotment of spells. Time spent resting has no effect on whether an adept can prepare spells.
Like other spellcasters, an adept can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on Table: The Adept. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Wisdom score.
When Table: The Adept indicates that the adept gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level, she gains only the bonus spells she would be entitled to based on her Wisdom score for that spell level.
Each adept has a particular holy symbol (as a divine focus) depending on the adept’s magical tradition.
Orisons (Sp): Adepts can prepare a number of orisons, or 0-level spells, each day. They can cast these spells at will as a spell-like ability. The number of orisons an adept can prepare each day is noted in their spells per day. Orisons are treated like any other spell cast by the adept in terms of duration and other variable based on level.
Summon Familiar: At 2nd level, an adept can call a familiar just as a sorcerer or wizard can.
Npc Base Fort Ref Will
Level Attack Bonus Save Save Save Special
1st +0 +0 +0 +2 Orisons
2nd +1 +0 +0 +3 Summon familiar
3rd +1 +1 +1 +3
4th +2 +1 +1 +4
5th +2 +1 +1 +4
6th +3 +2 +2 +5
7th +3 +2 +2 +5
8th +4 +2 +2 +6
9th +4 +3 +3 +6
10th +5 +3 +3 +7
11th +5 +3 +3 +7
12th +6 +4 +4 +8
13th +6 +4 +4 +8
14th +7 +4 +4 +9
15th +7 +5 +5 +9
16th +8 +5 +5 +10
17th +8 +5 +5 +10
18th +9 +6 +6 +11
19th +9 +6 +6 +11
20th +10/+5 +6 +6 +12
Level 0 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
1st 3 1 --- --- --- ---
2nd 3 1 --- --- --- ---
3rd 3 2 --- --- --- ---
4th 3 2 0 --- --- ---
5th 3 2 1 --- --- ---
6th 3 2 1 --- --- ---
7th 3 3 2 --- --- ---
8th 3 3 2 0 --- ---
9th 3 3 2 1 --- ---
10th 3 3 2 1 --- ---
11th 3 3 3 2 --- ---
12th 3 3 3 2 0 ---
13th 3 3 3 2 1 ---
14th 3 3 3 2 1 ---
15th 3 3 3 3 2 ---
16th 3 3 3 3 2 0
17th 3 3 3 3 2 1
18th 3 3 3 3 2 1
19th 3 3 3 3 3 2
20th 3 3 3 3 3 2
Expert
Class Features:
The Adept
Class Skills: Select ten skills.
1st Level Skill Choices: 6 + Int modifier.
The following are class features of the aristocrat.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The expert is proficient in the use of all simple weapons and with light armor but not shields.
Npc Base Fort Ref Will
Level Attack Bonus Save Save Save
1st +0 +0 +0 +2
2nd +1 +0 +0 +3
3rd +2 +1 +1 +3
4th +3 +1 +1 +4
5th +3 +1 +1 +4
6th +4 +2 +2 +5
7th +5 +2 +2 +5
8th +6 +2 +2 +6
9th +6 +3 +3 +6
10th +7 +3 +3 +7
11th +8 +3 +3 +7
12th +9 +4 +4 +8
13th +9 +4 +4 +8
14th +10 +4 +4 +9
15th +11 +5 +5 +9
16th +12 +5 +5 +10
17th +12 +5 +5 +10
18th +13 +6 +6 +11
19th +14 +6 +6 +11
20th +15 +6 +6 +12
Commoner
Class Skills: Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Swim (Dex).
1st Level Skill Choices: 2 + Int modifier.
Class Features:
The following are class features of the commoner.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The commoner is proficient with one simple weapon.
The Commoner
Npc Base Fort Ref Will
Level Attack Bonus Save Save Save
1st +0 +0 +0 +0
2nd +1 +0 +0 +0
3rd +1 +1 +1 +1
4th +2 +1 +1 +1
5th +2 +1 +1 +1
6th +3 +2 +2 +2
7th +3 +2 +2 +2
8th +4 +2 +2 +2
9th +4 +3 +3 +3
10th +5 +3 +3 +3
11th +5 +3 +3 +3
12th +6 +4 +4 +4
13th +6 +4 +4 +4
14th +7 +4 +4 +4
15th +7 +5 +5 +5
16th +8 +5 +5 +5
17th +8 +5 +5 +5
18th +9 +6 +6 +6
19th +9 +6 +6 +6
20th +10 +6 +6 +6
Warrior
Class Features:
The Warrior
Class Skills: Climb (Str), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Ride (Dex), and Swim (Dex).
1st Level Skill Choices: 2 + Int modifier.
The following are class features of the warrior.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The warrior is proficient in the use of all simple and martial weapons and all armor and shields.
Npc Base Fort Ref Will
Level Attack Bonus Save Save Save
1st +1 +2 +0 +0
2nd +2 +3 +0 +0
3rd +3 +3 +1 +1
4th +4 +4 +1 +1
5th +5 +4 +1 +1
6th +6 +5 +2 +2
7th +7 +5 +2 +2
8th +8 +6 +2 +2
9th +9 +6 +3 +3
10th +10 +7 +3 +3
11th +11 +7 +3 +3
12th +12 +8 +4 +4
13th +13 +8 +4 +4
14th +14 +9 +4 +4
15th +15 +9 +5 +5
16th +16 +10 +5 +5
17th +17 +10 +5 +5
18th +18 +11 +6 +6
19th +19 +11 +6 +6
20th +20 +12 +6 +6
Alright the second session and conclusion of the 1st level adventure was finally able to be run.
The group delved deeper into the mines of Durvik's Pass in search for the source of the Burning Plague. Now joined by the energized halfling rogue, Cal, and with their Kobold Prisoner M'dok.
With the rogue in tow traps were no longer a problem and no fatal pitfalls found their way beneath the group's feet. But travelling deeper they came upon a Charnel Pit of corpses and a mob of zombies. The slow moving and relentless undead attacked the group. The mighty dwarven cleric made good use of his Turns in this fight using it at critical moments to heal badly injured allies and to dwindle the numbers of the zombies with fear so that the group was not overwhelmed. Gilusa had a long line of bad attack rolls with her acid dart, but kept far away from combat. Gregore the fighter greatly enjoyed using the new cleave feat striking two zombies in a round with his devastating bastard sword. Cal the rogue found himself in dire straights in this fight, I ruled that zombies were not effected by sneak attack for simplicity sake despite the fact that the rewording said that only some undead. He reserved himself to using aid another to help harried allies since his small shortsword was of little use against the walking dead. The zombies slammed and grappled the party with relentlessness sending even the mighty gregore to the ground for a time. But in the end the group was triumphant with a little help from the kobold shaman, M'dok who used an ill placed burning hands to sear a group of zombies along with a number of the party. Thankfully the unreative zombies were caught fully in the flames and for the most part the party members were able to dodge the worse of the spell.
The kobold had been tied up, without the use rope skill I had to think up another way to guage the DC base for him to attempt to escape the bindings. I decided that bindings gained the DC of whatever character did the tying CMB. Making the DC 17 as it was the Torik the dwarven cleric whom had bound the kobold sorcerer. I beleive that in the case of bindings size doesn't apply and that the DC uses either Str or Dex which ever is higher.
More later, when I have a bit more time.
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Cal the rogue found himself in dire straights in this fight, I ruled that zombies were not effected by sneak attack for simplicity sake despite the fact that the rewording said that only some undead.
I'm pretty sure zombies are among the undead that should be sneak attackable the way the devs envision it working these days.
I'm pretty sure zombies are among the undead that should be sneak attackable the way the devs envision it working these days.
I agree. When my PCs ran into a Bone Creature I let them use sneak attacks on it.
Well I disagree seeing as zombies don't have anything exactly vital to take off. These aren't resident evil zombies or such...they are not functioning with only baser brain functions they are simply not functioning. Organs are just rotting. I can not think of a single vital spot to strike a zombie they don't really rely on anything.
In fact out of the majority of undead the only two I can think of as being vulnerable to sneak attack would be vampires whom have vulnerable weaknesses, heart and head.
So for simplicity sake, undead are immune simple as that. Makes my life a hell of alot easier than differentiating between critical hits and sneak attacks. Because despite any resemblance to humanoids or other creatures, undead simply do not rely on their living counterparts vital spots at all.
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in order to streamline the new sneak attack rules, my group has agreed that oozes, incorporeal undead, base elementals, and some constructs are immune to sneak attack. There was some debate over "skeletal" undead, but in the end we included them. We figure you can always break bones, tear muscles, cave in heads, etc. When all you are hitting is negative energy tied to a soul, that gets a little less plausible.
Ryn, who's seen too many gory films
in order to streamline the new sneak attack rules, my group has agreed that oozes, incorporeal undead, base elementals, and some constructs are immune to sneak attack. There was some debate over "skeletal" undead, but in the end we included them. We figure you can always break bones, tear muscles, cave in heads, etc. When all you are hitting is negative energy tied to a soul, that gets a little less plausible.
This is how our two Pathfinder playtest groups are playing it as well.
The Finale:
The evil orcish cleric, Jakk Tornclaw, awaits the PCs within the Wellspring where he spreads his terrible taint to the ground waters. A 5th level cleric of Lamahtsu, normally a challenge that would make short work of the ragtag amateur adventures, if only he was not infected with the very plague he was using against the humans.
The encounter begins with Jakk invisible with bane up and going. He throws a Hold Person upon the Elven Wizardess, Gilusa in the surprise round. Gilusa struggles with the spell, while the brave Cal guards his helpless friend. Torik remains out of sight in the passage to cast shield of faith upon himself before joining the fray. Gregore stood out in the open with the dragooned and threatened kobold sorcerer, M'dok, who now faced with the demon of the wellspring was given little option but to aid his captures and begins to summon a beast from Baator. Before Gregore can meet up with the orc shaman he is wracked with fear as Jakk bombards his mind with horrifying images from the goddess of monsters sending the mighty warrior fleeing from the fight.
Gilusa still struggles with the spell that keeps her helpless, and Cal remains near her side hurling daggers at the dangerous orc from afar not daring confronting him in direct melee alone. Torik enters the fray challenging the orc cleric and conjuring an acid dart to burn him. The orc angered is about to turn upon the dwarf as the rift between planes tore open and a massive centipede set upon him. M'dok began to summon again even as it arrived. Confronted with two advisaries, Jakk belowed an orcish curse and called upon his goddess' wrath to rebuke the upstarts that dared to attack him. Also breaking M'dok's concentration upon his summoning. Run out of space to run, Gregore cowers in the dark.
Gilusa finally breaks the hold of the orc's spell, and releases a magical missile at him. Seeing his friend free, Cal releases another dart at Jakk then prepares to get into flanking. Torik meets Jakk in melee, but does not attack the orc directly instead attacking his armour warping and shattering links of the orc cleric's chainmail comprimising its effectiveness considerably. M'dok began to cast again. The dwarf in his sights, Jakk swung his heavy falchion trying to make short work of the dwarf before turning upon his friends, but misses. Gregore continues to cower.
Gilusa also hurled one of her acid darts at the orc cleric now burning his flesh. While Cal rushed forward into flanking with Torik stabbing out his small shortsword and drawing the orcs blood. Torik was far from finished with dismantling the orcs gear and this time turned his destructive touch upon the orc's falchion. Then another of M'dok's hellish centipedes joined the fray, but out of spells after fighting the PCs and now the orcish shaman he could do nothing but hope that his captures succeeded or for the opportune moment to make his escape. Jakk once again surrounded sent another wave of Lamahtsu's Wrath over the heroes painful sores bursting open instantly upon their flesh. Gregore finally shook off the effects of spell the orc cleric had set upon him and began to move back into the fray.
Gilusa unleashed yet another acid dart upon the orc shaman but missed. Both Cal and Torik stabbed and swung at him as well to no avail. Still surrounded, Jakk, unleased another wave of Lamahtsu's Wrath over the heroes trying to dwindle their numbers, but these would-be heroes were resilient and withstood the wave again. Gregore charged from the shadows again cutting the orc with his bastard sword, drawing blood and a curse from the villian.
Gilusa hurled yet another acid dart, splashing Jakk once again with acid. And then Cal slipped beneath the orcs defenses and slid his blade between his ribs as Torik's mighty warhammer crashed down upon the orc's skull.
The battle won, and the orc cleric dead the wellspring waters cleared. They released M'dok and returned to Durvik's Pass heroes but with heavy news as all the miners had perished at the hands of kobolds, Jakk, and the plague. Rewarded the group had a sombre celebration that eve and stayed the night. But it was not the end for each awoke ill with the very plague they had sought to end, their prolonged exposure in the infectious mine had given the plague a chance to overcome their bodies defenses.
Bedridden for several days at the Temple of Sarenrae they each fought their own battle with plague with the aid of the temple. Gilusa and Gregore recovered in mere days, but both Cal and Torik were not fortunate. After several days of battling the plague only the resilient and hearty dwarf was able to fight off the plague, but Cal had succumbed. A final revenge from Jakk and Lamahtsu against the one whom had laid the killing blow upon both their plans.
And that ends the 1st playtest adventure.
Some comments after play from the players were as follows.
Skills, the lack customizeability not appealing. A lack of "levels of mastery" would also be appealing. Taking this into consideration I will be using the Hybrid Skill system as proposed on the Design Focus thread for Skills.
Tpo Gilusa found that the 1st level wizard felt much like she was playing a 1st level sorcerer instead due to the acid dart ability. She ended up relying on it for most of the combat encounters, but some circumstances demanded it early on due to a deafening surprise left by kobolds. But even after deafness had lapsed she found she still fell back on the special ability rather than her actual spells. But she is still very excited about the new wizard despite this, and is extremely excited about it.
As for running, I found it very easy to convert despite the fact that the adventure was originally written for 3.0 and not even 3.5. I will be posting up the major NPCs from the adventure later as I was using them, plus revised and playable versions of both kobolds and orcs. I also liked Rebuke Undead in the final combat, overall I found it extremely useful and was very pleased that it gave me a way to damage many opponents when faced with overwhelming odds. The simplicity of turn/rebuke undead was enjoyed greatly by both myself and tpo Torik. I look forward myself to using these new rules as a player.
This weekend I intend to run my second playtest adventure this time a 3rd level adventure, all four characters will be updated to that level. Some changes in rules that will be used: Hybrid Skill System, Double Starting Hp.
The skill system may be changed to whatever is released in the 2nd Alpha Release if it is released before Saturday.
Kobold characters possess the following racial traits
- -2 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Int: Kobolds are agile and cunning, but because of their stature they are weaker than other races.
- Small size: +1 bonus to Armor Class, +1 bonus on attack rolls, +4 bonus on Stealth.
- Normal Speed: Kobolds have a base speed of 30 ft.
- Darkvision 60 fee: Kobolds can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
- Dungeon Builder: Kobolds receive a +2 racial bonus on Craft (trapmaking) and Profession (miner) checks.
- Keen Senses: Kobolds receive a +2 racial bonus on sight- and touch-based Perception skill checks.
- Scales: Kobolds have a +1 natural armour.
- Light Sensitivity: Kobolds are dazzled in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.
- Languages: Kobolds begin play speaking Draconic. Kobolds with high Intelligence scores can choose any of the following: Common, Dwarven, Elemental, Gnome, and Undercommon.
- Favoured CLass: The favoured class of kobolds is sorcerer.
Orc characters possess the following racial traits.
- +4 Str, +2 Wis, -2 Int, -2 Cha: Orcs are strong and have great instincts, but are not very bright and are uncivilized.
- Medium: Orcs are Medium creatures, and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
- Normal Speed: Orcs have a base speed of 30 feet.
- Darkvision 60 feet: Orcs can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
- Light Sensitivity: Orcs are dazzled in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.
- Keen Senses: Orcs receive a +2 bonus on smell- and taste-based Perception skill checks.
- Orc Ferocity: Once per day, when a orc is brought below 0 hit points, but not killed, he can fight on for one more round as if disabled. At the end of his next turn, unless brought to above 0 hit points, he immediately falls unconscious and begins dying.
- Weapon Familiarity: Orcs are proficient with greataxes and falchions, and treat any weapon with the word "orc" in its name as a martial weapon.
- Languages: Orcs begin play speaking orc. Orcs withhigh Intelligence scores can choose any of the following: Common, Dwarven, Giant, Dnoll, Goblin, and Undercommon.
- Favoured Class: The favoured class of orcs is barbarian.
Also calculating xp was extremely easy, and considerable. After calculating it up and distributing it, all four characters will level up for the next adventure. I may actually be able to run these four adventures I've got as an actual mini-campaign at this rate. ^^;
I'm of two minds of the update coming out before our next session.
1) I would really like to all the new updates and apply them. And I also don't want to have to switch in the middle of an adventure.
2) But I would also like a chance to give the Hybrid Skill System a whirl before I switch into another.
4. Hybrid System: In this system, characters would get a number of skill ranks equal to the number of skill choices granted by the Skills chapter of the Pathfinder RPG. Skill ranks granted by the first level of your class must be spent on class skills. Skill ranks granted after first level and those granted by a high Intelligence score at first level could be spent on any skill. Instead of the class skill/cross-class skill distinction, your bonus in a skill would be determined in the following method.
0 ranks – Untrained: Bonus = ability modifier + racial modifiers (or modifiers)
1 ranks – Trained: Bonus = 1/2 your character level + modifiers
2 ranks – Skilled: Bonus = your character level + modifiers
3 ranks – Expert: Bonus = your character level + 3 + modifiers
4 ranks – Master: Bonus = your character level +6 + modifiers
There are a few additional rules to go with this. At first level, you can have no skill higher than 2 ranks (or the skilled level). Many of the prestige class requirements would need an alteration to require expert or even master standing in some skills.
This is the skill system we will be using this game. A few changes, Starting Ranks will equal (Class mod + Int mod) x2
Alright after some number crunching last night I figured out the optimal way build characters using the Hybrid system so that it was more or less equivilant to 3.5.
First off the x2 ranks at first is neccessary.
Now First I tried using this with the skill progression given...and it came out too little.
Then I tried using the skill progression again this time at each level a character gained their class mod + Int Mod in ranks, (so at 2nd, 4th, a rogue would gain ranks equal to 8+Int). This ended up being far too much. The rogue alone ended up with the equivilant 1062 ranks, and 42 mastered skills (there aren't even that many ^^;).
Finally, I tried to give each class a single rank at every level. This actually worked out fairly well and very close. A rogue could end up with 6 skills mastered (chararacter level +6) and 1 skills expert (character level + 3), which inequivilance to the 3.5 system this equals 179 ranks. In the 3.5 rank system a rogue normally ends up with 184 ranks total.
Some notes about the calculations, Intelligence was not throw into any equation for the simple fact that it was not static and varied from character to character. The final total ranks is measured at 20th level.
Also despite these calculations I am still in the camp that classes that gain 2 + Int mod for skills are still highly underskilled. I beleive that those classes with those ranks should be upped to 4+Int mod or possibly 3 + Int mod to give them viability as skilled.
Well, not much to say, most of the group got together to level up characters. But our cleric was absent. The fighter has now become a Half-orc Fighter 2 by the name of Kahn, aka Corpse Hurler, thanks to the Throw Anything feat.
Not willing to through them in without the cleric, we decided to have PVP in a dungeon. Which was also filled with wandering unallied monsters. Kal the revived rogue, *coughs* note to self when your in a temple Fort saves can be replaced by heal checks <.< >.>, snuck around nigh invisible most of the time. While Gilusa and Kahn blundered into several wandering monsters before each other. Killing the wandering monsters gave Kahn plenty ammunition for his throw Anthing feat which he used to hurl kobold, troglodytes, and orcs at any he came across. The finally Gilusa and Kahn faced off, Kal hiding in wait, with their severely depleted hp. It came down to who could stop rolling 2s and 3s first, which was Gilusa finally taking the hulking fighter down with an acid dart.
Unfortunately for Gilusa whom not hunted for any remaining creatures, she stumbled cross Kal's hiding place, out he burst from beneath the corpse of a kobold striking the surprised wizard in the gut. And so it was that the full hp rogue won the PVP.