| Dazzlerdal |
Decided to do away with Max Dex completely and make Armour Check Penalty apply as an Item penalty to all checks. So that is Attack, Save, Armour, Skill, all checks (damage roll isnt classed as a check).
Initially that might seem counter intuitive to how the game worked previously. By wearing full plate armour you now immediately lower your Armour check result by -2 (and all your attacks and saves and skill checks by -6). Remember that full plate armour provides a +4 bonus to armour checks but has a -6 check penalty.
So it would initially seem like a bad idea to wear heavy armour. However such armour is really heavy, wearing it all day is tiring, and it takes a while to get in and out so you would normally only wear it if you knew you were going into battle.
Being proficient in the armour merely makes you able to perform basic tasks in it.
However the big point of armour is not to make you harder to hit, it is to reduce the damage of the blows against you. So full plate armour provides a DR of 4 which reduces all physical damage (except Bludgeoning) by 4 which is a god send if you are a squishy and frail humanoid.
Taking Armour Training reduces your ACP for wearing the armour.
So a fighter or knight can become unhindered while wearing full plate (take Armour Training six times), and indeed anyone can take Armour Training with a universal option or by selecting certain themes. A rogue wearing a chain shirt will find their Dex score counters the check penalty to armour and most of their skills and even there attack checks (but fort and will saves will suffer).
Your high quality armours are now more useful (masterwork reduces ACP as do some special materials) and magic armour bonuses are going to be the dogs danglies of treasure.
| Dazzlerdal |
Added a Themes document for a few ideas on the method of multiclassing I intend to use.
Its bare bones at the moment, but if anyone has an idea for a theme then let me know.
| Dazzlerdal |
Updated lots of races (orc, Halfling, gnome are now available and you can make true halfbreeds by taking one race option from each class), some classes, and plenty more themes. Move paladin and blackguard out to a theme now so you can become a blackguard if you are any evil alignment and you can become a paladin if you are any good alignment. Obviously some classes make better paladins or blackguards since its primarily a combat class.
| Dazzlerdal |
Been having a go at properly converting all characters and their items and spells in my ongoing campaign into the new rules (until now i've mostly been using it on the fly without officially burdening the players with new mechanics)
So here are a few items i converted using the formula in the Magic Items document. It seems to work well enough from a cost point of view. Potions are cheap, as are charged items, anything more permanent is very expensive even at low levels of enchantment.
White Dragonhide Breastplate (Enhancement Level 1): This dragonhide belonged to the last chieftain of the HewnHead tribe of orcs. This great old chief in his younger days sought out the white dragon Scaralagmydin that plagued the tribe in the mountains of the Spine of the World. In single combat the massive orc slew the white dragon with his signature adamantine double axe and took his skin. The best orcish smiths (and a few dwarven captives) spent 2 years working on the hide to produce this excellent quality breast plate for their great chieftain. This breastplate is completely immune to cold damage but otherwise is exactly the same as a steel breastplate
Properties:
- Masterwork – Grants +1 Item bonus to Check Penalty
Magic Properties:
- Shielding – Passive Activation, Enhancement Level 1, Permanent. Grants +1 Item bonus to Armour when worn.
- Agile – Passive Activation, Enhancement Level 1, Permanent. Grants +1 Item bonus to Check Penalty when worn.
Cost: 16,000 gp/xp
Bracers of Armour (Enhancement Level 1):
Magical Properties:
Shielding – Passive Activation, Enhancement Level 1, Permanent. Grants +1 Item bonus to Armour when worn
Cost: 12,000 gp/xp
Dracofoil (Enhancement Level 1): Forged by Grelg Farhammer of Underholme 20 years after the destruction of Underholme by the combined forces of orcs, drow, and dragon. Grelg witnessed his entire family fall in the city or during the flight into the Underdark. Sick with grief the dwarf desired to take his vengeance and so for 20 years he lived, mined, and forged in this cave to create the perfect instrument of his vengeance.
Unfortunately for Grelg, just as he finished the spear a huge many legged dragon like creature (behir) took up residence in the adjacent cavern and his courage failed him. And so he died of starvation in the place where Crag found him, paralysed with fear.
Properties:
- Folded Metal – Grants +4 bonus to Hardness of the item.
Magic Properties:
- Deadly – Use Activation, Enhancement Level 1, Permanent. Grants +1 Item bonus to Attack checks and damage rolls when wielded.
- Bane – Use Activation, Enhancement Level 1, Permanent. Grants +1d6 damage against shadow dragons when used to strike such creatures.
Cost: 20,000 gp/xp
Drow Shortsword (Enhancement Level 1): This shortsword is one of many thousands of mass produced blades crafted by the drow in centuries past. This blade disintegrates if it comes into contact with sunlight level of light and as a result this type of magic item has fallen out of favour in the current century as the drow make increasing forays to the surface.
Magic Properties:
- Deadly – Use Activation, Enhancement Level 1, Permanent. Grants +1 Item bonus to Attack checks and damage rolls when wielded.
- Drowcraft – Must succeed on a DC 10 Fortitude saving throw for every round it is in contact with sunlight levels of light or else be disintegrated.
Cost: 6,250 gp/xp
Ring of Jumping (Enhancement Level 1): A minor trinket enchanted by one of the dwarven priests of Underholme over many decades.
Magic Properties:
- Enspelled (Jump): - Use Activation, Enhancement Level 1, Permanent. As a Standard Action you may perform an immediate Acrobatics/Athletics (Jump) check with a +2 Item bonus to the skill check.
Cost: 5,000 gp/xp
Amulet of Sending (Enhancement Level 1): Property of the 1st Eternal Empire of the Great Chasm located on the Elemental Plane of Earth. It must have been carried by an agent of that empire who ultimately ended up as a snack for one of the many creatures in the Underdark.
Magic Properties:
- Enspelled (Sending): - Use Activation, Enhancement Level 1, Permanent. As a standard action send a 10 word message to anyone you know on the same plane as you.
Cost: 5,000 gp/xp
Elixir of Hiding (Enhancement Level 1): A potion brewed by the gnomes for the winner of the stealth contest.
Magic Properties:
- Enspelled (Invisibility): Destruction Activation, Enhancement Level 1, 1 Charge. Gain a +2 Item bonus to Stealth checks for 1 minute.
Cost: 120 gp/xp
Staff of Illumination (Enhancement Level 3): This staff is usually sheathed in silver and decorated with sunbursts.
Magic Properties:
- Enspelled (Dancing Lights): - Spell Trigger Activation, Enhancement Level 1, 10 charges
- Enspelled (Illumination): - Spell Trigger Activation, Enhancement Level 1, 10 charges
- Enspelled (Daylight): - Spell Trigger Activation, Enhancement Level 2, 10 charges
- Enspelled (Sunburst): - Spell Trigger Activation, Enhancement Level 3, 10 (7) charges
Cost: 13,600 gp/xp
Wand of Magic Missile (Enhancement Level 1):
Magic Properties:
- Enspelled (Magic Missile): - Spell Trigger Activation, Enhancement Level 1, 50 (31) charges
Cost: 1,200 gp/xp
3 Potions of Cure Wounds (Enhancement Level 1):
Magic Properties:
- Enspelled (Cure Wounds): - Destruction Activated, Enhancement Level 1, 1 charge
Cost: 120 gp/xp
Ring of Protection (Enhancement Level 1):
Magic Properties:
- Shielding: - Passive Activation, Enhancement Level 1, Permanent. Grants +1 Item bonus to Armour
Cost: 12,000 gp/xp
Bead of Fangs (Enhancement Level 1):
Magic Properties:
- Enspelled (Summon Nature’s Ally – 1d6 snakes): - Spell Trigger Activation, Enhancement Level 1, Permanent. Summons 1d6 snakes
Cost: 4,200 gp/xp
| Dazzlerdal |
Idly musing over things while i'm at work (which is terminally dull).
It occured to me that the Discipline skill is now a bit underused and discriminatory against spell casters (especially since all classes now make attack checks for anything that affects another character, regardless of whether its a melee, ranged, or spell attack) because when a spellcaster is struck in combat he must make a check to continue his action or lose it, but if a fighter gets fireballed he is unaffected.
So i'm trying to think of how i could apply Discipline to all checks. After all, if you get a sword in the gut, it is as likely to prevent your ability to swing a sword or shoot a bow as it is to cast a spell (pain and leaking body fluids are a serious distraction to any activity).
Also i dislike the idea that you have to make another roll before your check in order to see if it succeeds. Extra checks tend to be forgotten or ignored by players and they interrupt the flow of play.
So here are a few ideas.
1 - All damage incurred in a round contributes towards a Circumstance penalty that is applied to all checks made that round (skill checks, save checks, attack checks, etc), and the Discipline modifier can be used to reduce that penalty.
2 - Everytime a character wishes to perform an action a passive Discipline check is made (i.e. compare your Discipline modifier +10, to the amount of damage received this round). If your Discipline check is lower then your action fails.
Number 1 has the bonus of being slightly more realistic, if you get punched in the face a lot you start to miss on your attacks and lose concentration, unless you are very disciplined, in which case the effects are negated. As a downside this reduces the usefulness of the Discipline skill so that it can only be used actively to resist vigorous motion and other types of non damaging distractions.
Number 2 is an all or nothing approach, i.e. your attack fails or it doesnt and still includes a check (although passive) that people may forget to apply.
Any thoughts on which method to use, or any other alternatives.
I kind of like the idea of combat flowing in particular ways, so the first character to strike in combat is at an advantage and can press that advantage until he misses at which point the other character has a chance to even the odds. It makes having allies aid you in combat much more important (the assisting characters may not have been hit and so can hinder your opponent).
| Dazzlerdal |
As an alternative here is a much more radical idea that takes the implementation of a single unified framework one step further.
Make attack checks and armour checks operate as skill checks. So there would be a Missile Combat skill, and Melee Combat skill (with expertise for each of the Weapon Group feats).
For the saving throws I'd use Discipline instead of Willpower, Athletics instead of Fortitude, and Acrobatics instead of Reflex.
Then any "attack" check is actually a skill check that uses the appropriate attack skill against a corresponding defence skill, with a Circumstance penalty equal to the amount of damage taken minus your Discipline skill modifier.
It'd take a little bit of alteration of some options and spells (to make them all +1 modifiers) but it wouldn't require any testing because everything will operate on the same rules and so is immediately balanced.
| Dazzlerdal |
Decided to go with option 3 and reworked the rules (only a minor rewrite taking 3 hours).
Now all attack checks, armour checks, and save checks use a skill modifier. Melee Attacks use the Melee Weaponry skill, Ranged Attacks use the Missile Weaponry skill, Armour checks use the Defence skill, Spell Attacks use the Arcana, Religion, or Nature skill (depending on the type of caster).
That way people can train to be better at attacking in anything, rather than it being by virtue of what class they have chosen. The Weaponry and Defence skills have Expertise that approximate to the Weapon Group Feats, and when you take the Skill Training feat you can select an Expertise or gain a cumulative +1 bonus to the skill check (take it multiple times to get a higher bonus or become equally skilled with multiple weapon types). If you use a weapon or armour not within your area of expertise then you only apply half your skill modifier to the check. So now i've reduced the number of Feats (Universal Options) to less than a handful and made character creation much easier because you now get between 6 and 10 Skill Training feats at first level, and 2 class options per level, and thats it, nothing else.
When you take damage a Circumstance penalty is applied to all checks made that round equal to the amount of damage suffered in that round minus your Discipline modifier. That way not only spellcasters can have their attacks interrupted, and its never an outright failure, there is always a chance of success.
As far as armour checks go. All armour imposes an Item penalty (used to be Armour check penalty) that applies to all checks (including armour checks. This can be offset and even eliminated (even providing a bonus) by taking the Defence skill to show you are trained in using certain types of armour. That way characters with light armour, heavy armour, no armour, or just shields are just as easy/difficult to hit as each other and is dependent upon the skill level of the character in question. The only advantage for having armour is that it grants Damage Resistance to reduce the amount of damage you receive.
It adds an extra level of complexity without increasing workload too much (all combat actions now comprise of one dice roll and that should be it, the reaction check is just a value lookup and there is no need for spell check failures or discipline checks, its just a modifier to the action check). So should you employ hit and run tactics to reduce the damage you take, should you concentrate on big baddies to reduce their effectiveness, should you kill the minions first, should you work in pairs so one takes the damage while the other strikes at full effectiveness.
I'll be uploading the changes tonight for those that want to see. The Combat, Classes, and Skills documents have been altered.
| Dazzlerdal |
Pretty much finished the Combat section now.
Looking at Classes again and I'm wondering if I should take the simplification one step further.
I moved Monk and Barbarian out to a theme because they were more like a job or a person's background than a stereotypical grouping of adventurer. A barbarian is (ignoring the rage ability which not all barbarian people would have) really just a fighter that hasn't got access to expensive armours and shields (and so rely on light armour and bigger weapons. A bard is really just a rogue that can cast a few spells.
Using that logic, there are only really 3 types of classes: Rogue/Expert, Fighter, Prepared Magic User, and Spontaneous Magic User
So do I simplify it so that all the more complex classes (druid, cleric, wizard, ranger, bard, barbarian, monk) are merely just expanded themes for a base class. If so, what options should I give to the base class. I could use the base class to determine HD, spellcasting ability (caster level), and skills, then all options are from the themes.
The benefit is that when designing an NPC you use exactly the same base classes and process for creating an NPC as creating PCs (except that you wouldn't add a theme with all its complexities unless you wanted a major NPC).
The downside is that I either need to allow players to have multiple themes, or make the themes very broad and expansive to allow lots of customisation (so for instance a Wilderness Warrior theme that includes everything a ranger and druid can do, then a Holy Warrior theme that includes everything a paladin and cleric can do. Also there might be some problem with hybrid classes (i.e. if I had a ranger theme that did not have a caster level option then the player would need to pick a Magic User base class). Plus i'll also need to rewrite the Classes document, but it makes it simpler and smaller to deal with in the end.