"Unearthed Arcana" for Pathfinder

[Gururamalamaswami]

Everyone had something from the Alpha/Beta they liked that got the axe. Others have suggested alternatives to existing class features.

Alternate class features are part of the OGL. Has Paizo considered putting out a "Player's Option" book or something like that primarily devoted to alternate class features or alternative options to rules?

[Morgen]

Unearthed Arcana? Well I'm not sure how much Paizo is going to be able to pull out of a book that old.

There aren't any racial class limits anymore so that sections out. The barbarian is core, the cavalier is going to be in the Advanced Players Guide. I think that the Adventurer's Armory might of had more polearms in it. The expanded spell list would be nice though I think over the years most of those spells became core anyways.

Don't think there is much left from Unearthed Arcana for Paizo to really bring in. :(

[KaeYoss]

Morgen wrote:

Unearthed Arcana? Well I'm not sure how much Paizo is going to be able to pull out of a book that old.

Are you being funny, or have you missed the 3e version of this? A lot of the stuff was even deemed open content, you can look it up on d20srd.org.

[KaeYoss]

I personally would like a pathfinder book of variant rules - though some of this will be in the Advanced Player's Guide, as the book has variant class abilities and subsystems for the 11 core classes.

[Morgen]

KaeYoss wrote:

Are you being funny, or have you missed the 3e version of this? A lot of the stuff was even deemed open content, you can look it up on d20srd.org.

They made a new one in 3rd edition? Oh jeez, no that one completely sailed right over my head. Sorry!

[Set]

Morgen wrote:

They made a new one in 3rd edition? Oh jeez, no that one completely sailed right over my head. Sorry!

The stuff under Variant Rules here, is from Unearthed Arcana.

There is a *ton* of stuff, all optional, and some quite good. I'm very fond of the Cloistered Cleric, the Domain Wizard, and, for multiclassing, the Fractional BAB/Saves and Magic Rating notions.

It definitely does look like the APG is going to cover a lot of UA territory. I'm sure, later, it could be cool to see some APG/UA style variants for the new classes as well, such as a Summoner that uses undead (and necromancy spells) or a Witch whose Familiar is an outsider/fey/genie.

[KaeYoss]

Morgen wrote:

KaeYoss wrote:

Are you being funny, or have you missed the 3e version of this? A lot of the stuff was even deemed open content, you can look it up on d20srd.org.

They made a new one in 3rd edition? Oh jeez, no that one completely sailed right over my head. Sorry!

Check it out, it definitely was a good book!

There is some controversial stuff in there, too - gestalt rules (where you get two classes with full benefits whenever you level-up) were from there.

While the APG will have a lot of class variants, there's plenty more ground to be covered by a Pathfinder Variant Rules book:

Sub-races - The way UA did them, meaning when you have, say, Arctic sub-races, you have them for every race, not just one or two. You could also have sub-race templates instead. They don't have to be limited to regions and elements, either.

Racial classes - Called paragons in UA. You basically advance in your race rather than a class, getting more of what your race is good at. This could also tie in to classes to have specialised racial variant of classes or certain class levels, or variant class abilities by race

Variants for multi-classing. This could be done with the gestalt rules (where you have two classes and get everything from both classes each level, or the better in case of saves, HD, BAB, and so on) or a system where a character with several classes gets to add some of the "off-classes" to his effective level in each class, at least for some things (i.e. a fighter 5 / wizard 5 might get 2 effective levels for wizard, which wouldn't improve stuff like BAB, HD and so on, but would increase caster level, spells/day, bonus feats and school powers. Maybe this just applies to your favoured class)

Generic classes, i.e. you only have like 3 or 4 classes: Warrior, Expert, Spellcaster, and maybe the spellcaster is split into arcanist and priest. Warriors have strong BAB and the like, experts gain more skill points, spellcasters gain magic. Class abilities are all turned into feats/feat trees.

Weapon groups. Pathfinder already has rudimentary weapon groups (the groups a fighter selects for weapon training), this would just mean that proficiencies and feats would always apply to weapon groups. This allows more flexibility with your weapon choice (a fighter who is into large blades can exchange this falchion for that greatsword when he finds a real neat magical one)

All-attack option: This basically switches saving throws - instead of you rolling to evade, the attacker rolls to affect you, like with attack rolls. It's easy to implement, too: Subtract 10 from your DC and you get your attack bonus; add 10 to your saves to get your defenses.

Class Defense bonuses and armour as DR. This could work in concert.

Variant Damage rules. This means everything other than HP: You can do VP/WP (though I'm not a fan), a condition track

Action Points. Whether you have fate points, void points, action points, harrow points - a couple of general systems and guidelines for adventure-based special points.

Facing rules (i.e. which way you are pointed), and rules for hex-based battle grids

Variant rolling rules. Stuff like bell curve rolls (where you roll 2d10 or 3d6 instead of 1d20 for most rolls) or variable bonuses (i.e. instead of getting a flat bonus, you get bonus dice)

Magic rating (which is basically a BAB for magic)

Variant magic systems, like spell points, recharging magic, and the like

Incantations/Ritual magic. Whether they do something new or work on the epic magic-like system from UA.

Status like reputation, honour, ranking/standing/status.

Variant afflictions like Taint, Fear/Anger (though this might be close to sanity/insanity rules, which are already in the GMG)

Those are just things inspired by UA, you can probably go much farther if you just think about it.

[Bwang]

UA has a number of features I have taken into my game.

Racial variations are key to adapting the common races to extreme environments with ease. No, I still have to detail the specifics, but having a blueprint makes it SOOOO much easier.

Class options are wonderful for individualizing Barbarian tribes, though I personally hate the names they gave the Totems. Little verbiage was employed in helping GMs incorporate them into the game. My 'Dragon' totem deals with a orc tribe that inhabits a particular part of the Underland or Underdark. Hardly a Dragon feel.

'Specialist Wizard Variants' has allowed me to bring forward some Wizard groups from my 70s game, as well as giving me options to give the magic groups of the world unique features. Again, having a blueprint allows me to work in features my weak brain just failed to understand.

While Spell Touched feats are available in my game, none have been taken. Weapon Group feats are THE bomb! They are core to my game. Even with restrictions I installed, they helped the real combat classes back to the fore.

Action points have been a part of my game and may be again. Magic Rating, Summon Monster Variants, Recharge Magic, Metamagic Components and Spontaneous Metamagic are here to stay. I use a slightly modified version of their Spell Point system. Contacts and Reputation in my game are more modified, but leap from the same source.

Along those lines, I love Alternate Class Features for certain Races and other origins for characters. Once you get started integrating some of these, expect players to offer suggestions. A player has been brainstorming Changelings, feats, class adjustments and the like. If she gives the word, I'll try and post some here.

[Orthos]

Quote:

Generic classes, i.e. you only have like 3 or 4 classes: Warrior, Expert, Spellcaster, and maybe the spellcaster is split into arcanist and priest. Warriors have strong BAB and the like, experts gain more skill points, spellcasters gain magic. Class abilities are all turned into feats/feat trees.

This is very, very tempting.... I may consider this for my next campaign. After all, we tried Gestalt on the one we're in now, might as well try something else out of the same book, eh? :)

[Set]

Orthos wrote:

Quote:

Generic classes, i.e. you only have like 3 or 4 classes: Warrior, Expert, Spellcaster, and maybe the spellcaster is split into arcanist and priest. Warriors have strong BAB and the like, experts gain more skill points, spellcasters gain magic. Class abilities are all turned into feats/feat trees.

This is very, very tempting.... I may consider this for my next campaign. After all, we tried Gestalt on the one we're in now, might as well try something else out of the same book, eh? :)

Pretty much the entirety of the True20 game is based on this premise, with Adept, Expert and Warrior being the only classes, making it a full game based on this brief UA mechanic.

If you end up trying that sort of game and liking the feel of it, you might be able to find some copies of the True20 corebooks to look over and decide if a more fleshed out variation is worth the bucks.

[Orthos]

Set wrote:

Orthos wrote:

Quote:

Generic classes, i.e. you only have like 3 or 4 classes: Warrior, Expert, Spellcaster, and maybe the spellcaster is split into arcanist and priest. Warriors have strong BAB and the like, experts gain more skill points, spellcasters gain magic. Class abilities are all turned into feats/feat trees.

This is very, very tempting.... I may consider this for my next campaign. After all, we tried Gestalt on the one we're in now, might as well try something else out of the same book, eh? :)

Pretty much the entirety of the True20 game is based on this premise, with Adept, Expert and Warrior being the only classes, making it a full game based on this brief UA mechanic.

If you end up trying that sort of game and liking the feel of it, you might be able to find some copies of the True20 corebooks to look over and decide if a more fleshed out variation is worth the bucks.

Well, I ran it by my players and they're less than enthused :P However we stumbled across the Dragon Age RPG and might be giving that a try instead.

[Lunever]

The best option in all DnD 3.5 books ever has been the spell point system. Sure you can mix UA with PF, but I'd love to see Paizo to include their own variant of offering an option to ditch Vancian stuff.