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I continue to work on developing a Pathfinder-compatible product over at my blog, and this week I look at a question of class.
I continue to work on developing a Pathfinder-compatible product over at my blog, and this week I look at a question of class.
Interesting read. I have certainly noticed a slowdown in the SGG base classes which in some ways has saddened me. My absolute preference for new material is in the form of a new base class. It is easily digested, and relatively self contained. I dont have to worry much about how the rules interact except with whats withing the product. I am not a fan of ever expanding options for existing classes because it makes creating a character that much more difficult.
Each set of new talents, feats, etc is x more pages to look for options that fit a certain concept. And while choosing say an inquisitor class might narrow things down, it still means i might need alot of different books/pdfs in front of me when making my character. Where as a base class and to a lesser extend an alternate class is a self contained set of options added to the game.
If a player chooses for instance a dragon rider, they need only open up the dragon rider pdf to start making their character. They might need feats and such from other books but not the things that make it a dragon rider. Where as if the dragon rider were say a series of options/archetypes/alternate features for a cavalier, then they need not only the dragon rider product (with the new rules) but also cavalier material in the APG, and possibly also ultimate combat in front of them as well. This is a massive turnoff for me in terms of adopting new material.
This is my personal preference ofcourse, and I realize it seems I am in the minority here. And even I wonder if we will ever see new talents, lineage domains, dragon types, etc for existing base classes from SGG. But I am still sad to see the rather dramatic slowdown of SGG base classes.
I guess I do not completely agree with the majority that a base class needs to hold some special niche in order to be a reasonable option. I dont worry so much about overlap with existing character classes because in the end only x classes will be chosen in a given game. If a Templar overlapped heavily with the paladin in terms of abilities but had a certain different flavor, or a shift in the way the class worked, it wouldn't be a big deal to me if they were both in my game. I am not concerned with niche protection and never have been.
Though I am interested to see how the chronomancer, dracanomancer and mosaic mage turn out if and when they are released.
I continue to work on developing a Pathfinder-compatible product over at my blog, and this week I look at a question of class.
Cheese magic. There's a goofy element to some of my rather serious adventures that creeps in from time to time, and I *NEED* cheese magic! I think it was a 2e compatible product, but back in the day there was the Netbook of Chocolate, which dealt with Chocolate Magic and the Fudge Golem. Funny, funny stuff!
Also, Chronomancer, please!