there does seem to be some disagreement over what "low fantasy" means...
as the CRB uses it, it does refer to the kind of 'low power' game meabolex was talking about. its less fantastic in the sense that it is more dangerous/difficult (therefore the PCs aren't great heroes but basically normal people struggling to survive in a dangerous world). ironically, this style does tend to favor casters (as haraldklak mentioned)- they fair better with only a single exceptional stat that melees and hybrids and are less gear dependent.
as the OP seems to be using it, it does mean 'low(er) magic'. there's a bunch of solid advice about this (if it is actually what OP is looking for) throughout the thread- especially my earlier advice :)
One option is to turn all the full casters into 10 level prestige classes by chopping off their heads. Requirements are 4 ranks of the appropriate Knowledge skill and base Will save of +2. You'll also need some kind of class for knowledgeable sages besides the Expert class.
Rather than one, I would be inclined to ban all full casters.The major reason I want to keep at least one type of full caster is so the PCs have access to Raise Dead and other revive spells.
An alternative is to give everyone intelligent items that cast Raise Dead with its own version of Blood Money that damages the player's statistics to bring them back over and over until they die forever.
Doing an epic 6 or 8 is a pretty good idea. I might go for Epic 9 so that everyone gets that last feat.
Turn some of these spells into rituals, instead. Rituals can involve the contributing energies of a number of people, and may more closely fit the setting.
Possibly they'd need to 'sacrifice' enough spell slots to attain the level of the spell to be cast as part of the ritual, as well as knowing the correct rites.
Aside from Raise Dead, you could work with your players to determine what would be flavorful to include.
So I am curious, where can I find the rules for Epic 6/8?
So I am curious, where can I find the rules for Epic 6/8?
e8 is adaptable, but e6 is pretty much ready to go with the material submitted. e8 requires a bit of an overhaul, which is possible, just more work on the backend. I'd stick with e6 as there are plenty of options that bring a 6th level character inline with an 8th.
So I am curious, where can I find the rules for Epic 6/8?e8 is adaptable, but e6 is pretty much ready to go with the material submitted. e8 requires a bit of an overhaul, which is possible, just more work on the backend. I'd stick with e6 as there are plenty of options that bring a 6th level character inline with an 8th.
There isn't really one definite "e6 ruleset", the P6 Codex is one or a few guys version of E6 for pathfinder, which includes a lot of options to become a lot stronger than a 6th level character. I don't really like it, as for me it seems to be pretty much just straight E8 but with unnecessarily complex rules.
The basic rules of E6 is just:
You stop leveling at 6th level.
Each x XP after that, you get a feat (number of exp determined beforehand).
That's it. Then some groups like to have a lot of add-on rules, extra feats etc, to let characters become more powerful than they otherwise could have been. For me it just adds too much complexity with not much extra depth, especially compared to just playing E8 instead then.
We mostly play E7, and our version is this:
- You stop leveling at level 7.
- There are no 4th level spells on spell lists, the slots gained can be used for metamagic though.
- Each 10000 xp, you get a feat.
- Only two new feats:
Skill Training
Benefit: You get one extra skill point per character level. This feat may be taken any amount of times.
Ritualcrafting
Prerequisites: Knowledge (arcana or religion) 1 rank.
Benefit: You may craft rituals. Treat these as use-activated magic items that are instantly activated when they're finished crafting and that mimick a single spell. Cost is spell level * caster level * 50. You can use the rules to bypass spell requirements. Check is Knowledge (Arcana) for arcane spells and Knowledge (Religion) for divine spells.
(The first because it fills a hole in the system and allows characters to continue get skill ranks, gaining breadth without height. The second because it codifies what was previously custom wondrous items and allows higher-level spells as days-long rituals that costs lots of gold (as a potion would have cost, so a ritual for raise dead is DC 19, costs 2250 gp and takes three days).
And no, E6 isn't "trying to hammer a square peg into a round hole", and iron heroes isn't a better version of what E6 tries to do. They're very different with different aims, and certain people like different parts of it.
Iron Heroes aims for an equally high-powered campaign/characters, but with lower reliance on magic items and spells. If you want to make something similar to Conan in feel, Iron Heroes work very well.
Iron Heroes is great because you can be martial heroes relying on themselves, not magical crutches, in a high-powered prewritten campaign.
Iron Heroes is bad because it doesn't much lower the annoying complexity and number racing at higher levels.
E6 aims for a more low-powered campaign/characters, but doesn't really take a stand about less magic _at a certain level_ the way Iron Heroes does - it just keeps to a level where there is a natural lower reliance on magic items. It works well for a game with a more LotR feel.
E6 is great because it keeps the game simple, and the lower complexity in height allow for more breadth.
E6 is bad because you can't easily just throw it into a prewritten AP, and it can be hard to balance.
- 10 point buyOh God why!?
Anything under 20 is just asking for stat dumping. 10 makes it mandatory.
I wouldn't play in such a campaign. I have a steam library that could use that time.
Two 14s not good enough for ya?