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What advice do we have on using ABP to close the power gap between two casual players who favor melee and an extensively experienced player who prefers full casters?
Play a different game???
Seriously, the martial/caster class and casual/experienced player discrepancies are baked into the heart and soul of this game and nothing* short of changing it into a completely different game will fix this.
*Alternately, I guess you could just set a level cap around 6 or so to keep most caster builds under control, but this is pretty much pushing up on 'a whole different game' as well.
As the other thread mentions APB by its structure actually is very martial friendly. The first 3 bonuses you gain all boost martials more than they boost casters. The first bonus is a resistance bonus to saves, followed by an armor and weapon bonus and the last of the 3 of the 3 is a deflection bonus to AC. While
the resistance and deflection bonuses do benefit casters they have a more negative impact on casters. Most martials do not have attacks that allow a saving throw so boosting saves has a more negative impact on casters than martials.
Likewise, many casters have attacks that target touch AC and usually have a lower BAB. So, boosting touch AC again has more of a negative impact on the caster than the martial. You gain the deflection bonus at 5th level. At that level neither a ¾ BAB class nor a ½ BAB class gain a bonus to hit, but the full BAB class does. That means the caster targeting touch AC chance of hitting goes down. The full BAB class does gain a bonus to hit so his chance of hitting remains even.
But even before the deflection bonus is gained the martial gained an enchantment bonus to AC and his weapon. Most of the time the weapon bonus is of little to no use to the caster but helps the martial. So, when the characters gain the defection bonus the martial has a +3 to +4 higher chance to hit over the caster. A fighter at 5th level has a BAB of 5 and a +1 bonus for the weapon for a total of +6. The Wizard has a +2 BAB, and the cleric has a +3 BAB, neither class is going to gain the weapon bonus when casting a spell. This does not include the bonus from their attack stat which probably boost the martial more than the caster.
At 6th level the characters gain a +2 to mental stat. The martial is probably going to put that into WIS which gives him a +1 to his weakest save. Other than prepared divine casters the caster will not gain the bonus to saves. Paladins will gain the bonus to all saves (due to divine grace), as well as other class abilities.
At 7th level the characters get a bonus to physical stats. The martial gains a bonus to hit and usually damage on all attacks, the caster will usually gain a bonus to AC or HP. Dex based martials gain a bonus to hit, usually damage, AC and reflex saves, so are the big winner at this level.
At 8th level you gain multiple bonuses including increasing the resistance bonus to saves. At 10th level you gain another resistance bonus for a total of +3 and a deflection bonus. At 11th level when the casters gain their +2 to the DC of their saves the resistance bonus is already at +3. By the time the caster is gaining +3 to the DC of their saves the resistance bonus is up to +5.
Also, since the melee focused martial will be in direct combat with the enemy the bonus to AC is more important to them. So, even though the caster is gaining the same AC bonus boosts the melee focused martial more. With a melee focused caster like a magus or warpriest they get the same benefit as the melee focused martial, but the wizard or even cleric does not.
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Play a different game???
We started playing at 1st, 2nd, and 3rd editions respectively, so the divide hasn't deterred anyone yet, but experimenting with new things is what keeps it fresh.
Has anyone noticed a difference in spending habits for out of combat gear? Our front line rarely has more than one dump stat, and rarely is that stat 7 or lower, so I don't foresee the only mental boost there being wisdom.
Does knowing the next weapon upgrade is already paid for nudge any of your players to buying skill gear (or even scheming gear like a Lyre of Building)?
Bloodragers, Paladins and Swashbucklers are going to go for CHA. Slayers may go for INT because some class features benefit from a high INT, but are also likely to go with WIS. Monks, Rangers and Shifters will go for WIS. Other than those most martials will go for WIS as the first stat bonus.
If the campaign goes above 12th level the martials will start of course take the bonus to other stats besides their first choice.
I have seen more diverse magic items with ABP because the items slots are not locked in. Things like cloaks or phylacteries can be taken since the slot is free.
I'm curious if any of you allow for players to commission magic items to be made that combine the effects of two (or more items)? Generally, I allow for someone to stacks the effects of a natural armor amulet and a phylactery if they are willing to pay more.
Take the most expensive item's market value and then add the next item's value with an additional 50% markup. So, base item is 15k and the other is 5k? That will be 22.5kgp And if the other item isn't meant for the same 'slot', thats an additional 50% markup on the 2nd item. I don't allow slotless items to be used for this.
Doing that, I've never had issues with people getting the items they want.
What advice do we have on using ABP to close the power gap between two casual players who favor melee and an extensively experienced player who prefers full casters?
give the caster more magic items as he's behind the curve to begin with - at least in our games.