What style of game do you prefer playing in considering that no two Dm are alike and house ruling is almost a given in nearly every game to some extent.
So given the choice what do you prefer ?
Class Heavy:
Your major power/ability comes from your class, you may have hoodwinked your DM into allowing gestalt or multiclassed stacking to create some seriously powered up classes with a swath of very coll abilities. Or your DM prefers having a really good idea of what he'll need to throw at you as the game progresses.
Item Heavy:
Your DM is probably more a RAW kinda guy doesn't like to mess with classes so much leaving the mechanics of the game to the people who get paid to keep things balanced. However he's more than happy to allow you to almost choose your own items to min/max your classes either within or outside set rules the items greatly overshadows your class. But again similar means of control DM gives you items and knows what to put in front of you to tax those items.
Twisted Mix:
Probably how most games are DM cater for a variety of play styles those player who prefer to rely on their class abilities and to hell with the treasure and the treasure lovers who are always after that next shiny +5 item. Riskier than the 2 previous options as the item lovers can potentially loan their gear to the class lovers to get around previsouly well crafted encounters.
Random Mayhem:
Either a RAW pureist or Free for all, your DM stand before a Tarrasque with a light whip cracking it at the brute trying to herd this critter in some vauge direction. Either the pureist that uses RAW to the extereme with random loot tables and open rolling. The dice rule the game and may end up in a very broken group but hey thats DnD. Alternatively your DM plays from the hip, you want unlimited 1st and 2nd wiz spells sure why not. you want your rage stats as a permanent attribute increase sure thing lads. You want your monk levels to stack with your rogue levels , hrmm hell lets see how its goes. The CR encounters go through the roof to keep things interesting the group levels at an insane rate and before you know it your putting your lv20's to bed and starting again because the world could not handle your awesomeness hehehe.
D
here do you stand ?
Items
Classes
Mixed
Pure Rules
Go Nuts
Hmm... strange, our group is nothing even vaguely like any of those.
I strongly prefer brain heavy for my games. Few fancy class powers and limited equipment, so the characters have to chose which battles to fight and which not, set the battleground up to their advantage if possible, and making use of the environment against their enemies.
I prefer to have the characters not have any (or too much) superhuman powers and be more like regular people. They have to overcome obstacles like normal people would and can't simply rely on fancy powers that do the job for them.
I think Indiana Jones is a good example of how characters act in such campaigns.
My favorite game was using class-less, skills-based rules. Items cost xp to retain, so if you had too many trinkets, your skills would be that much lamer than your friends'.
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...given the choice what do you prefer?
Obviously not all playstyle options are mentioned in the first post. Personally, my group likes to have high-powered characters(gestalt, bonus feats or high ability scores, etc.), with wealth remaining within guidelines. The items vary between random and tailored to the PCs.
My favorite game was using class-less, skills-based rules. Items cost xp to retain, so if you had too many trinkets, your skills would be that much lamer than your friends'.
XP to retain! Ooo I like that, quite nice. That's why all those ultra-powerful wizards and warriors don't just shoot into the stratospheric levels.
My group is none of the extremes, but probably closest to Items and Strict Rules.
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I like to think we're from the Monty Python school of gaming where anything can happen. chaos! chaos in its most awesome! where phrases like "Fetchez le vache" make sense and a man eating bunny rabbit can, and will, kill the adventurers. and if you ask to be killed by being chased off a cliff by naked women, then that is your right.
and now that i had fun, our group is really in the middle. we change rules as we see fit, though we try to stay as close to RAW as possible, and we hand out as many or as few items as we want or need.
oh, and MAYHEM!!!
My favorite game was using class-less, skills-based rules. Items cost xp to retain, so if you had too many trinkets, your skills would be that much lamer than your friends'.
Hmmm... this is a really intriguing concept. A character's power would be based on total XP... a cool idea. I'm not entirely sold on class-less gaming but I would love to see more of a cafeteria approach to class abilities... perhaps rolling class features, feats, and magic items into one set of things you can buy at each level.
Interesting idea but clearly not the way PRPG is going.
It seemed logical in an a-la-carte system that the gp by level (item) power paradigm and the combat and skills by level (xp) paradigms be combined, and then everyone is expressed at a flat level. In PFRPG it probably wouldn't work.
It seemed logical in an a-la-carte system that the gp by level (item) power paradigm and the combat and skills by level (xp) paradigms be combined, and then everyone is expressed at a flat level. In PFRPG it probably wouldn't work.
Well it would be awesome to have 4 'base' classes with set progressions but very bare bones class features. So you would be able to have a wizard that gains wild shape, or a fighter with no armor proficiency but light spellcasting... Hrm... As I said it wouldn't work for Pathfinder but it would be kind of cool.
I'm working on variant PFRPG rules now in which HTH Combat and Fire Combat are skills (replacing BAB), spellcasting level and spell repertoire expansion are handled as skills, saves are subsumed into skills (Will into Concentration, Fort into Endurance), etc. Everything will be purchased a la carte using XP. It may take me a year or more to finish. If it retains compatibility with Paizo adventures but allows the flexibility of a GURPS-like system, it'll be totally worth it.
It seemed logical in an a-la-carte system that the gp by level (item) power paradigm and the combat and skills by level (xp) paradigms be combined, and then everyone is expressed at a flat level. In PFRPG it probably wouldn't work.
At that point, I'd probably just go with the Champions/Hero system instead (where you buy skills, powers, items, etc. with points).
To answer the original question, I've always had a soft spot for fancy whiz-bang custom magic items in D&D.
At that point, I'd probably just go with the Champions/Hero system instead (where you buy skills, powers, items, etc. with points).
Ah, but can you play Paizo adventures out of the box with it? If not, I'll keep working.
At that point, I'd probably just go with the Champions/Hero system instead (where you buy skills, powers, items, etc. with points).Ah, but can you play Paizo adventures out of the box with it? If not, I'll keep working.
I wish you the best of luck with your hybrid system, but I'll believe that it will play Paizo adventures "out of the box" when I see it. :-)
I wish you the best of luck with your hybrid system, but I'll believe that it will play Paizo adventures "out of the box" when I see it. :-)
I'm more or less with you on this. I love the idea of a hybrid system but I'm too lazy to write one that would be easy to use with Paizo stuff. Heck, for my next adventure I'm seriously thinking of just using the iconic characters the whole way though :)