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OneThousandMonkeys posted:I don't know why you would roll a wizard at all under this system. But then again under normal conditions I would never roll a sorcerer. Sorcerers also get spells a level earlier, essentially subtracting 1 from both charts' levels.
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Jun 14, 2011 04:11
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I hate myself. I am prepping for a Pathfinder/homebrew game. I'm using E6, Torn Asunder (for crits and the heal skill expansion) and to top it off, bonus hp at lvl 1 based on creature size. (medium is 15, small is 10. NPCs get this too) My players wanted me to run something 3rd edition, so by God, this is what they're getting. e: Hey, this train-wreck even has a wiki! http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/ruins-of-karzan/wikis/main-page Pvt.Scott fucked around with this message at 13:33 on Jun 14, 2011 |
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Jun 14, 2011 04:14
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Yawgmoth posted:The idea is to make "sorcerer" the default generic arcane caster who fulfills both the cha-based arcane caster role and the int-based caster role. They can call themselves wizards or sorcerers or arcanists or whatever the gently caress. I am just getting flashbacks to all the things I dislike about the core classes. Sorcerer in particular has endless issues. Before I admittedly burned out on trying to fix 3E I think I had accumulated twenty-odd house rules, one of which dealt with improving the sorcerer's lot in life. I think generally it involved making them run a little more like Wilders, and get this--giving the class some actual flavor of some kind.
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Jun 14, 2011 06:24
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Another caster supremacy patch: Suck more. Casters who chase down "themed" spells rather than the most effective combat output, casters who pick spells because they are interesting, casters who are kinda bad at planning, casters who are flawed in other ways don't run into the wall as quickly. Of course as a GM you have to be sure everyone is on the same page with this, and encourage it through the development of a detailed campaign world with many diverse magical goals to pursue. Anything to drain off the raw adventuring power. Of course at some point even by accident they will stumble across awesome combos, so this is not a perfect solution, but it does push it back a bit. Also note that this is likely to make your non-casters also like messing about with different things, so you have to keep an eye on it.
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Jun 14, 2011 07:19
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OneThousandMonkeys posted:I am just getting flashbacks to all the things I dislike about the core classes. Sorcerer in particular has endless issues.
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Jun 14, 2011 13:09
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Yawgmoth posted:Same here, I have a word doc that is about 2 pages long of just houserules. I took out the full round action for metamagic (I think adding spell levels is cost enough) and you either got imp. metamagic at 1st and a bonus metamagic feat at 5 and every 5 after, or a base heritage at 1st and a heritage feat at 4th and every 4 after. It actually gave that "descended from some magical creature" concept a mechanical edge. Only two pages? I think I got to the point of starting to rewrite the magic system to start with before the scale of what I was dealing with occurred to me.
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Jun 14, 2011 15:53
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I don't bother with really huge things like the magic system (beyond getting rid of prep casting) because if I want monstrous changes like that I'll just run a different system entirely, rather than trying to kludge D&D into something it's not ever going to be. Then again I happen to like playing 3.5e in the double digit levels all the way up to level ~23, so there's that. One of my house rules listed is "All character advancement choices are pending DM approval, who reserves the right of backsies if said decision makes the game lovely for anyone later on." which tends to cover just about all of the "this is broken when paired with this other thing, but separate they are fine" interactions of race/class/feat/spell/etc.
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Jun 14, 2011 16:41
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JDCorley posted:Another caster supremacy patch: One time I built a Jungle Dwarf Necromancer who spoke halting Common, and gave him the gameplay gimmick that he never cast spells that dealt hit point damage, because he was all about curses and such (basically an evil witch doctor). Then it was discovered by everyone playing that this is actually how one would go about building the best caster, since he was frequently ending fights in the first round even at 5th level. quote:Same here, I have a word doc that is about 2 pages long of just houserules. I took out the full round action for metamagic (I think adding spell levels is cost enough) and you either got imp. metamagic at 1st and a bonus metamagic feat at 5 and every 5 after, or a base heritage at 1st and a heritage feat at 4th and every 4 after. It actually gave that "descended from some magical creature" concept a mechanical edge. If I recall, I did something close to that. Like 1/day for every four or five levels the caster could make a metamagic spell cost 1 less level, their lifespans were ten times longer than normal for their race, full-round metamagic was done away with, they could take Quicken Spell, etc. Really I have no clue why they thought sorcerers were ready to roll when they published the books. They get 1 more spell per spell level per day than a specialist wizard, and can choose their spells on the fly (the latter mattering much less if the specialist wizard picks good spells to prepare). In exchange for this "advantage," they get: -Slower spell level advancement. This is massive. -Full-round metamagic and no Quicken. -No bonus feats. How is a wizard having five more feats balanced? -No benefit from going 20 Sorcerer at all, making a PrC a logical imperative. -Much fewer skills, and significantly worse bonuses with magic-focused skills. And just to round out how clueless the designers were, sorcerers get simple weapon proficiency. Yes. That is what a person playing a caster is looking for, not to mention that this doesn't help them at all anyway. Owing to all this, I have never rolled a sorcerer, and as more splatbooks came out, sorcerer only got worse and worse. The best blasters by the end weren't even arcane casters--psions are ridiculously better at this.
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Jun 14, 2011 17:10
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I remember I was in a chat with Skip Williams once and I asked him why they thought the sorcerer was balanced when they get the short end of every stick and the answer was basically "if you want to play a wizard you should have to play a wizard." Then someone else asked him why he hates sorcerers so much, he threw a tantrum, and ended the chat. So it wasn't so much that they were clueless, it's just that their lead designer belonged in grognards.txt rather than being in charge of anything.
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Jun 14, 2011 17:18
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Well the structure of it is just lazy too. "OK we will give them the exact same spell list, minus like three wizard-only utility spells." I guess I could talk about some house rules before I start comparing 3e unfavorably with 4e. +2 Con, +1 to hit dwarves and elves, and +1 to social interactions with orcs for half-orcs. Because god drat are half-orcs terrible, almost as bad as half-elves. Even this barely evened the odds. Basically the PHB assumes you want to play a human, dwarf, or elf--maybe a halfling if you are feeling that--so they give each of these races insurmountable bonuses and give everything else more or less nothing. The dwarf actually has so many situational bonuses that it's ridiculous. Full BAB for Soulknives. Seriously they make a fighter class and then give it poo poo BAB and IIRC inferior damage. Simply because they can't be disarmed, more or less. Tower shield just gives +4 AC and +2 Reflex, imposing no penalty on attack rolls. Never roll to confirm critical hits. It's a critical hit (this helped warriors out immensely). I also set up a list of different clothing items that could be granted different stat bonuses, so you wouldn't have every character wearing amulets of natural armor or whatever and having to make dumb choices between that and a periapt, for instance. And eventually we moved full-on into items that scaled in power by level, so that there wasn't an entire endless sub-game of the DM and players working together to make sure the equipment was at the proper CR and treasure could be focused on something besides flat +kill bonuses. Name Change fucked around with this message at 19:21 on Jun 15, 2011 |
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Jun 14, 2011 17:46
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OneThousandMonkeys posted:Never roll to confirm critical hits. It's a critical hit (this helped warriors out immensely). Also I pretty much make everything a weapon of legacy in my games because everyone typically likes the idea of their poo poo "leveling" with them rather than trading out items all the time.
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Jun 14, 2011 18:05
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Yawgmoth posted:I like this because it also speeds up combat and anything that makes combat move faster is a good thing. I've had game sessions that started with combat and lasted the entire session, only ending then because everyone was tired of fighting so whatever it was died on the next hit or whatever. Yes we did a lot of legacy weapon type stuff. This actually made the game way more fun because you had something to look forward to outside of your class, and every character had abilities that would never be replicated by anyone else's. I pretty much took it upon myself to design the weapons entirely and would tailor them to help out someone's build or fill in for their weaknesses. They have been a massive hit in all my games. These ranged from: -A bard's guitar that could double as a club and deal sonic damage on hit or as an area effect, among other things. -An adamantine war fan ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_war_fan ) that could double as a weapon or a shield, and greatly improved the wielder's mobility and Charisma bonus. This was my favorite thing, and was used for a Warcraft game for a Pandaren paladin. The humor of a Japanese weapon on an anthropomorphic Chinese character was not lost on anyone. Orientalism! -A pair of wrist-mounted mechanical dart launchers that could detonate with different kinds of explosions or poison delivery. Basically I knew it was a success if the item made me want to play the character myself. I would simply ask a player what kind of item they really wanted (scythe, shield, armor, ring, whatever) and work from there, and the items got some kind of passive bonus and/or ability on every even level. I had little regard for keeping overall balance between items, since we had both technically proficient players and people who hated rolling their own characters, so it all worked out well when the less skilled player got an item that made up for their problems. I'd post a few of them I guess? Name Change fucked around with this message at 18:38 on Jun 14, 2011 |
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Jun 14, 2011 18:33
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OneThousandMonkeys posted:-A bard's guitar that could double as a club and deal sonic damage on hit or as an area effect, among other things.  quote:I'd post a few of them I guess?
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Jun 14, 2011 18:38
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Yawgmoth posted:Shame on you for not making this an axe. As Left 4 Dead 2 later indicated, a guitar is perfectly viable! Unfortunately I can't find that item in my records. So usually I don't make the items quite as ridiculous or gimmicky as these three, but these are probably good for a chuckle and illustrate what legendary items (or at least my concept of them) can do. This first one was probably my best idea out of any, for a d20 World of Warcraft game, and I wasn't even GMing this game, I just made the items on request because the idea had become that popular by the time. GM had final say. The Curious Butterfly The Curious Butterfly is a war fan—a folding fan, in this case constructed from adamantine spokes. The item is useless in the hands of a peasant, but in the hands of a user trained in the rare Pandaren Tessenjutsu combat style, it is an incredibly deadly weapon. The Curious Butterfly acts as a Heavy Adamantine Shield +1. It provides its wearer with a constant damage reduction of 3/adamantine. It can also be used, by someone proficient in its use, to the same effect as a +1 Adamantine Short Sword. It ignores Hardness 20 and cuts through adamantine damage reduction. 2nd: Reclaiming Flutter: The wearer gains the Two-Weapon Fighting feat, but only when using The Curious Butterfly. This qualifies the wearer for any feats that require Two-Weapon Fighting as a prerequisite. In addition, once per round, when a melee attack misses the wielder, he may automatically attack them with the war fan as an attack of opportunity. 4th: Dance of the Cutting Flowers: Three times per day, the wearer can move up to his full movement speed along a pre-determined path, provoking no attacks of opportunity. After taking each five-foot step, he may make an attack with The Curious Butterfly. (This resulted in the player taking pains to set up hilarious combo assaults). 6th: Two Wings: The wearer gains the Improved Two-Weapon Fighting feat, but only when using The Curious Butterfly. In addition, the wearer gains a +2 enhancement bonus to Charisma, and the item’s enhancement bonus improves to +2. The item’s enhancement bonus applies to both the armor and weapon utilities that it possesses. 8th: The Returning Spring: The wearer can throw The Curious Butterfly at enemies as a standard action. The weapon has a range increment of 15, and magically returns to the wielder’s hand on the following round. 10th: The item’s enhancement bonus improves to +3. 12th: The wearer gains the use of the Greater Two-Weapon Fighting feat, but only when using The Curious Butterfly. The item’s enhancement bonus improves to +4, as does the item’s enhancement bonus to Charisma. 14th: The Jumping Bee: The wearer may use Reclaiming Flutter up to twice per round. 16th: The item’s enhancement bonus improves to +5. 18th: The item’s enhancement bonus to Charisma improves to +6. 20th: Trembling Cricket: The wearer may use Reclaiming Flutter up to three times per round. In addition, the item’s enhancement bonus to Charisma improves to +8. Lastly, the wielder can instantly recall any divine spell he just cast, up to three rounds ago, and cast it again. So that was a relatively balanced one. I should note that the World of Warcraft RPG, on which this is based, basically takes standard 3e and exaggerates everything, including systemic problems. Considering we were already playing WoW without a computer I figured a Chinese trope with a Japanese gimmick weapon made perfect sense. This next one I made for a gestalt Pathfinder Druid/Barbarian. This was a crazy game that unfortunately we didn't do more than a session of at ECL 5 due to RL issues popping up. The characters could basically handle CR 8-9 monsters at level 5. Dread Armament of the Ravener Behemoth The Dread Armament of the Ravener Behemoth is a suit of +1 Black Dragonhide Full Plate of Nimbleness. It has a maximum Dexterity bonus of +2 and an armor check penalty of -4. In addition, it continues functioning while the wielder is shapeshifted, though the voluntary powers it wields cannot be used in shapeshifted form. 2nd: A Righteous Feast: As a standard action once per day, the wearer can call forth a horde of voracious worm hatchlings from the earth in a thirty by thirty area, to a range of sixty feet from the area’s midpoint. The effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to the wielder’s level. If the worms are summoned to an area above ground level, they may take several rounds to appear. These wormlings indiscriminately attack anything in the field of effect, dealing 1d4 damage per round, causing a -2 penalty to attacks, AC, and saving throws, slowing movement by 10 (to a minimum of 5), and ignoring all damage reduction whatsoever as well as hardness of less than 9. This means that the wormlings can damage non-magical objects, including armor. A victim wishing to prevent the worms from damaging his clothing and armor must spend at least a move action each round to make a Reflex save (DC 10 + ½ the wielder’s level). The worms can eventually deal serious damage to stone buildings. Creatures immune to acid take only half damage from the worms and do not suffer penalties. The wearer cannot be harmed by this power. At 5th level and every third level thereafter, the damage per round increases by +1. 4th: The armor’s enchantment bonus increases to +2. In addition, the armor provides a +2 enhancement bonus to Constitution. 6th: Emulsion: As a standard action once per day, the wearer can call forth the wormlings in order to create a 10x10 pool of their acidic excrement. From these leavings, the wearer can create up to three potions at no gold cost, infusing them with one spell each that he knows. The wearer can possess a maximum of five such potions before he can no longer use Emulsion. Healing potions made from Emulsion are twice as effective. The wearer can infuse his potions with attack spells, releasing their power by throwing the potion on the ground or at an enemy. Alternatively, the wearer can cause a called pool to become gaseous. This cloud is contained within a 20x20 area, and remains for one round per level of the wearer. Any living creature inside the cloud receives fast healing 3. The cloud can be blown away by weather or spell effects. 8th: The armor’s enchantment bonus increases to +3. 10th: Wormstrike: (This was by far the most imbalanced power) The wielder summons forth an adult sandworm to claim his enemies as a full-round action. 1d4 rounds later, the worm arrives. Sandworm Type: Large Beast Hit Dice: 10d8+50 (130 hp) Initiative: +2 Speed: 50, Burrow 50 Armor Class: 24 (+13 Natural, +2 Dex, -1 Size) Base Attack/Grapple: +10, Grapple +21 Attacks: Bite +16/+11 Damage: Bite 1d8+10 Space/Reach: 10x10, 10 Feet Special Attacks: Acid Breath, Eruption, Improved Grab, Swallow Whole Special Qualities: Earthquake, Tremorsense 60 Saves: Fort +12, Ref +9, Will +7 Abilities: Str 24, Dex 14, Con 20, Int 6, Wis 10, Cha 10 Skills: Perception +13 Feats: - Challenge Rating: 10 Acid Breath (Ex): Once per encounter, the sandworm can breathe a cone of acid that is fifty feet long and thirty feet wide at its end. Everything in the field of effect suffers 5d8 acid damage (Ref DC 20 for half damage). Earthquake (Ex): If the sandworm is burrowing within twenty feet of the surface, every creature within twenty feet of its space on the battlefield must make an Acrobatics check (DC 15) or suffer a -2 penalty to attacks, AC, and Reflex saves. Eruption (Ex): If the sandworm surfaces under another creature’s square, that creature must make a Reflex save (DC 20) or be knocked prone. Improved Grab (Ex): The sandworm can start a grapple with any creature of medium size or smaller that it makes a bite attack against. Swallow Whole (Ex): One round after grappling a creature, the sandworm can make a second grapple check to swallow the creature whole if it is of Small size or smaller. The round after being swallowed, creatures inside the sandworm’s stomach take 3d6 points of acid damage each round. They can cut their way out by dealing 26 points of damage to the inside of the sandworm. The worm remains for a number of rounds equal to 3 + half the wielder’s level, rounded up. The worm is not under the wielder’s control, but it will relentlessly attack his enemies for the duration. When the wielder increases in level, so does the sandworm. The sandworm cannot be made to attack the wielder or his allies, even magically. Summoning feats affect the sandworm. At the end of this ability’s duration, the sandworm vomits up any enemies it has not completely digested. In addition, the base damage from A Righteous Feast increases to 1d6. Finally, the armor’s enhancement bonus to Constitution increases to +4. 12th: The armor’s enchantment bonus increases to +4. 14th: Dissolution: Once per day as a full-round action, if the wearer is at full hp and is not suffering from ability damage, he can dissolve into hundreds of tiny sandworms, which quickly disappear into the earth within 1d10 rounds. The wearer can reconstitute himself at any point of his choosing that is at ground level, as the Greater Teleport spell. Optionally, he may also use this ability to immediately cast Greater Scrying as a druid of his caster level. If the wearer does this, he does not reconstitute until the scrying effect ends. Otherwise, the effect carries out as normal. In addition, the regenerative effect of the emulsion cloud increases to fast healing 5. Finally, the base damage from A Righteous Feast increases to 1d8. 16th: The armor’s enchantment bonus increases to +5. The armor’s enhancement bonus to Constitution increases to +6. 18th: Mass Dissolution/Ravening: Once per day as a full-round action, the wearer can use dissolution on both himself and as many allies within thirty feet as he has levels. Only he can still use dissolution to scry on others, and he still needs full hp and healthy ability scores in order to enact the effect. All affected allies reconstitute as if Greater Restoration had been cast on them. Alternatively, the wearer can now use Dissolution on himself only up to three times per day, a use of Mass Dissolution counting against this total. The summoned sandworm’s size improves to Huge. Ravening: The wearer may give up his use of Mass Dissolution in order to command an inexorable swarm of hatchlings to utterly consume a single target as a standard action. A creature within sixty feet is beset within 1d4 rounds. The victim takes 3d6 damage per round, half of which is acid, and half of which is an unspecified type that cannot be absorbed by damage reduction. Further, the victim suffers a -4 penalty to AC, saving throws, and attack rolls. This effect lasts for one round per three levels of the wearer. A Fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ wearer’s level + Wisdom bonus) negates the effect. A victim killed by this effect is utterly consumed, reduced to nothing but smoking slime. Only a True Resurrection, Miracle, or Wish will restore him. 20th: The Ravener Behemoth: The armor’s enchantment bonus increases to +6, and the enhancement bonus to Constitution increases to +8. A Righteous Feast deals 1d10 base damage. This next one is the dart launcher set I was talking about, for the same game. Most of the time I build stuff that is less crazy for this, but by the time I started this PF game I was ready to push 3e to its limits out of boredom with the standard fare. This was for a Ranger/Fighter who was using the crossbowman fighter kit in Pathfinder: Solomon’s Double Autobows Constructed by a gnome that some called mad, Solomon’s Double Autobows have seen many wielders over the years since they were originally stolen from his laboratory. In certain circles, the weapons are highly coveted, especially by assassins. Solomon himself is still after the items, and he is not without the means to recover them. Solomon’s Double Autobows are a pair of wrist-mounted +1 Hand Crossbows (the crossbows also automatically fire +1 darts that deal 1d4 base damage). As a move action, their wielder can reload both crossbows simultaneously. As a move action, the wielder can cause the crossbows to mechanically retract or unfurl on their own. The wielder also receives a +4 bonus to Sleight of Hand checks to conceal the weaponry. Finally, each bow can fire up to five darts before it must be reloaded. 2nd: Exploding Dart: Once per day as part of an attack action, the wielder can fire a dart that detonates on impact in addition to causing normal damage, causing 1d6 fire damage per level of the wielder to everyone in a twenty-foot radius from the impact point. A Reflex save (DC 10 + ½ level + Dex mod) reduces this damage by half. 4th: The weapons’ enchantment bonus increases to +2, and provide a +2 enhancement bonus to Dexterity. 6th: Freezing Dart: Once per day as part of an attack action, the wielder can fire a dart that, in addition to normal damage, deals 3d6 cold damage and inflicts a -2 penalty to a living victim’s attack rolls, AC, and saves for a number of rounds equal to the wielder’s Dexterity modifier. A Fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ level + Dex mod) negates this penalty. There is no save against the damage. 8th: The weapons’ enchantment bonus increases to +3. 10th: Poison Dart: Once per day as part of an attack action, the wielder can fire a dart that, in addition to normal damage, injects the target with debilitating poison. The victim must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ character level + Dex mod) or suffer 1d4 points of Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution damage. This effect lasts for ten minutes. In addition, the weapons’ enhancement bonus to Dexterity increases to +4. 12th: The weapons’ enchantment bonus increases to +4. 14th: Armor-Piercing Dart: Three times per day as part of an attack action, the wielder can fire a dart that bypasses any and all damage reduction and ignores armor and deflection bonuses to AC. He may stack this effect with another special dart effect if he likes. 16th: The weapons’ enchantment bonus increases to +5, and the enhancement bonus to Dexterity increases to +6. 18th: Autodart: Three times per day as an attack action, the wielder can fire a dart that can track targets. The dart suffers no range increment penalties, ignores bonuses to cover less than complete, fires with a +4 bonus to hit, and injects the victim with acid that deals an additional 3d8 acid damage (no save). In addition, the wielder can use all of the special dart attacks three times per day. 20th: Nuclear Dart: Once per day as an attack action, the wielder can fire a dart that, in addition to normal damage, detonates a small thermonuclear blast. Everything within sixty feet of the impact point suffers 1d8 points of damage per level of the wielder. Half of this damage is fire, and half is force. A Reflex save (DC 10 + ½ wielder’s level + wielder’s Dex mod) reduces this damage by half. Any living creature within the blast radius during impact or the next five rounds is at risk each round of contracting radiation poisoning. They must make a Fortitude save each round they are susceptible (equal to the Reflex save DC). A creature that contracts radiation poisoning suffers 1 point of Constitution damage per day until a Greater Restoration or Wish spell is cast on them. This Constitution damage can be healed in no other way. In addition, the weapons’ enchantment bonus increases to +6, and the enhancement bonus to Dexterity increases to +8.
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Jun 14, 2011 19:21
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Those are all pretty epic. Nuclear Dart is just hilarious to me, though. "I shoot a tiny nuke! Hopefully the entire party is >60ft away from this thing I'm shooting!"
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Jun 15, 2011 03:44
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So, do those cool magic items just level up with the PCs or are there feats and or other time/money sinks involved? I like the idea. Also, I was bored so I decided to try my hand at one of these, I only went up to level 6, because I'm prepping for an E6 game. I imagine later powers might grant some sneak attack powers, maybe some charm stuff, save re-rolls, etc. The Gentle Riposte This is an ornate and well-crafted rapier. The previous owned seems to have had an eye for the ostentatious, as the basket is gilded, the grip is finest ivory, the hilt is inlaid with a large ruby and there is delicate etching of twisting rose vines all along the length of the blade. The Gentle Riposte is a +1 rapier of the velvet touch (wounds inflicted with this weapon do not cause pain, but rather the sensation of a gentle touch, until the end of the encounter. Trust me, you'll find uses for it) 2nd: Poised Defense: As a swift action the wielder gains a +1 dodge bonus to AC and REF saves against a target within line of sight for the rest of the encounter. This may be used multiple times, but must be used on a different target each time. 4th: Heart Breaker The weapon's enhancement increases to +2 and the wielder may add 1/2 their DEX modifier to damage rolls made with this weapon. 6th: Life Taker The weapon gains the Keen property. 3 times a day the wielder may choose to confirm a critical threat, even after the roll to confirm. Critical hits confirmed in this manner deal x3 damage instead of the normal x2. What do you think?
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Jun 15, 2011 08:52
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Hey, I'm about to run my first game in years, Spycraft, and was just curious if there was anything I'd want to look into before starting, house rules and the like? I'm particularly curious if there's a good variant for the Freelance character rules, as they seem kinda wonky, and having the characters be members of a giant organization doesn't fit with the story I've laid out. Right now the plan is to let them fall into control of their own organization, with the minimal power rating of 5 for requisitioning equipment, and let them invest as they wish. I've been spending a lot of my free time lately pouring over the book, I'm really liking a lot of the concepts it puts forth, but it seems like it's going to be easy for me to get in over my head, so really, general Spycraft advice would be appreciated.
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Jun 15, 2011 11:52
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ArchRanger posted:Hey, I'm about to run my first game in years, Spycraft, and was just curious if there was anything I'd want to look into before starting, house rules and the like? I'm particularly curious if there's a good variant for the Freelance character rules, as they seem kinda wonky, and having the characters be members of a giant organization doesn't fit with the story I've laid out. Right now the plan is to let them fall into control of their own organization, with the minimal power rating of 5 for requisitioning equipment, and let them invest as they wish. I'm going to assume that this is Spycraft 2.0. Don't be afraid to say "gently caress you" to the damage types. Bang damage, flash damage, fire damage, cold damage, all the crap can go out the window without having a big impact on the game. The only exception would be flashbang grenades, and the best thing for that would be to write out what they do on a flash(bang) card and put it somewhere prominent. Also, try to stick to one or two types of each gun just to keep your brain from hurting. There's very little practical difference between the thirty or so service pistols, so just jot down the stats on "Pistol" and "Assault Rifle" and "Knife". You'll be happier. Long story short, the less that you have to open that textbook-sized rulebook, the happier you'll be. As for freelance characters, there's very little difference between them and faction characters aside from bonus gear choices. And if they're running their own organization, they can pick whatever gear they want to. Really the biggest purpose of faction vs. freelance was in the Living Spycraft games and you're not part of that so gently caress it. I'd definitely recommend having a creation session with your players. Not necessarily character creation (although that can certainly be part of it) but game/organization creation. Make sure that they know and agree on what's happening, because some of those campaign qualities can make or break a character concept. Ditto for the organization. If one of your players is making a character that is all about being seen and obvious, it'll be hard to work that guy into a super-secret organization. Less so for vice versa, but it'd still be jarring. The reputation stuff for the freelance characters (I forget what it's called) doesn't have to really be part of a massive organization. Think of it like a nest-egg for the team. It's money above and beyond operating cost. If you want each individual person to track their worth, it's simply how much the organization as a whole feels can be spared for an individual. There'll have to be more than the five PCs involved (if only as secretaries, mechanics, quartermasters, etc.) and their opinions of someone who constantly shot civilians would be much lower than the person who routinely acquires the MacGuffin without excess attention. Also, don't be surprised if none of your players wants to do the record-keeping on the organization and you get stuck with either having to hand wave a lot of stuff or do a lot more paperwork.
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Jun 15, 2011 14:04
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ItalicSquirrels posted:I'm going to assume that this is Spycraft 2.0. Yea, forgot to mention that, this is the group's introduction to the game, and I utterly forgot reading that there was a version before what's currently out. quote:As for freelance characters, there's very little difference between them and faction characters aside from bonus gear choices. And if they're running their own organization, they can pick whatever gear they want to. Really the biggest purpose of faction vs. freelance was in the Living Spycraft games and you're not part of that so gently caress it. The reasoning behind giving them their own organization was letting them have a bigger impact upon the organization itself, I was going to come up with some ad hoc rules for running an organization, but it was mostly going to be background fluff. I may go with having them Freelance anyway though, really, my big problem with it is how little sense it makes to have them trade in Net Worth (Freelance equivalent to Reputation) for equipment at a $50k to 1 Caliber ratio, so I might just lower the Net Worth increment instead. quote:I'd definitely recommend having a creation session with your players. Not necessarily character creation (although that can certainly be part of it) but game/organization creation. Make sure that they know and agree on what's happening, because some of those campaign qualities can make or break a character concept. Ditto for the organization. If one of your players is making a character that is all about being seen and obvious, it'll be hard to work that guy into a super-secret organization. Less so for vice versa, but it'd still be jarring. This was already planned, thankfully. We've got a Cortex game running right now, next session we're going to plan for Spycraft before launching into our normal campaign. quote:Also, don't be surprised if none of your players wants to do the record-keeping on the organization and you get stuck with either having to hand wave a lot of stuff or do a lot more paperwork. I was going to handle the organization in a pretty hand-wavey manner to begin with, essentially giving them the opportunity to choose what aspects of the Organization they wanted to invest any cash they come across in order to determine what quality of equipment the group as a whole has access to. Knowing my group, I'm doubting this part will be much difficulty, a couple seem to love book-keeping. Thanks for the advice, I get the feeling I'm going to be playing this by ear for a while until we figure out what feels comfortable for the group; I don't think we've played any of the systems we use straight for years now.
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Jun 15, 2011 15:13
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ArchRanger posted:Hey, I'm about to run my first game in years, Spycraft, and was just curious if there was anything I'd want to look into before starting, house rules and the like? I'm particularly curious if there's a good variant for the Freelance character rules, as they seem kinda wonky, and having the characters be members of a giant organization doesn't fit with the story I've laid out. Right now the plan is to let them fall into control of their own organization, with the minimal power rating of 5 for requisitioning equipment, and let them invest as they wish. I only have two comments: One, it's 'poring' over a book. Not 'pouring.' Please don't do this. Second, you're gonna need some supplements with more charts and weapon modifier stuff, because the base Spycraft game just doesn't have enough.
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Jun 15, 2011 15:45
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Gomi posted:One, it's 'poring' over a book. Not 'pouring.' 
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Jun 15, 2011 16:05
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I made a pretty neat campaign setting for D&D 3.5, set in the He-Man universe. You can check it out here. It all says "work in progress" but I haven't done anything with it in at least a year or two. There are some rough spots and ideas I never fleshed out but overall I'm still really pleased with what I have. It incorporates material from a lot of different WoTC source books—psionics, incarnum, Bo9S stuff, as well as a little bit of d20 modern. I ran two different campaigns in this setting and they were both great; in fact he more recent of the two was most fun I've had with any tabletop rpg, as DM or player. But, I think this is due to the fluff of the setting more than the crunch, and I don't have a writeup of that at that site since most of it was secret to players. It's not a "post-apocalyptic" He-Man setting, but it's a pretty dark spin (after all we're talking about a children's cartoon meant to sell toys). Most importantly, no He-Man or She-Ra, since there's really no way around them as dei ex machina, and the campaign is necessarily about the players' characters instead.
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Jun 15, 2011 16:12
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Actually I will type a little more about the fluff since it really is the Cool Part of playing he-man d&d. I probably still have dm notes somewhere, but off the top of my head what I remember: He-Man is dead by means unknown and the Power Sword is shattered. Skeletor has the largest fragment of the sword and, now immensely powerful, has taken over Castle Grayskull and is studying its secrets. The Sorceress, thought to be dead, is alone and trapped in falcon form outside of Grayskull. King Randor has apparently gone mad and become a tyrant, but in reality he is being blackmailed by Evil-Lyn to obey her will. Many of Eternia's heroes and citizens who fled have set up hidden resistance camps in the Evergreen Forest, led by Man-At-Arms and Queen Marlena. Teela, acting against the wisdom of Man-at-Arms and the Queen, led all the remaining Eternian soldiers in one desperate offensive against Skeletor at Grayskull to try to drive him out before he grows any more powerful, which failed spectacularly as Skeletor killed them all with a single spell except for Teela, whom he keeps as his prisoner inside Grayskull. She-Ra is still alive on Etheria but is (once again) Force Captain Adora, a mindslave of Shadow Weaver, who is preparing to make her move against Hordak. I forget how this part fits in but I remember one of my favorite details was this lovely little fringe snake cult that worships the ancient evil Snakemen, and resurrecting them is one of the only things that might be able to stop Skeletor. whew, look at all these terrible words I typed about he-man
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Jun 15, 2011 16:20
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Pvt.Scott posted:So, do those cool magic items just level up with the PCs or are there feats and or other time/money sinks involved? I like the idea. Also, I was bored so I decided to try my hand at one of these, I only went up to level 6, because I'm prepping for an E6 game. I imagine later powers might grant some sneak attack powers, maybe some charm stuff, save re-rolls, etc. Well, for starters I'm not going to say I have an airtight system, but these are the general hows, whys, and consequences of when I build these things. Keep in mind that I don't think I've ever even opened Weapons of Legacy. -The general idea is to give a character something unique and powerful that sets them apart from even other characters of the same class, while drastically cutting back on the amount of items a character needs just to handle encounters at a certain ECL (easily one of the worst metagame aspects of 3E). Arthur has Excalibur, Frodo has Sting, Kharn the Betrayer has Gorechild, so on and so forth. -I don't ever have characters use up any skills or feats to make the item more powerful. Character build resources are easily scarce enough as is and the idea is to give players more freedom, not less, especially when several may already be trying to qualify for a PrC. The item simply grows more powerful as the character levels. Of course, instead of levels you can set other objectives, or have characters earn their items rather than start with them, as fits your campaign's needs. -The question of what happens when a character with such an item dies is a relatively simple one. If another character picks it up, just allow them only to use the item's base properties. If there is some important fluff surrounding the item, there could also be consequences to wielding it. If you choose, you can eventually have another character earn the item somehow, but this is an entirely different world of options and questions that I'm not going to jump into here. -An item should complement a character's class and build, but ideally should have its own gimmick. This makes the item interesting, the character more interesting, and makes it easier for you to think of what the item will do. The gimmick can complement the character's own gimmick, or lead the character in a slightly different direction. I would not do anything cute like give a good character an evil sword unless they asked for it, though. You should always give a character the type of item they ask for. -I generally make the baseline item a rare (and always particularly useful) material, such as mithral, adamantine, or in the case of Warcraft d20, thorium, arcanite, etc., and then usually give it one starting item property, like Shocking or what have you. If I build someone an armor, I make sure it matches their Dex needs perfectly. A warrior with Dex 10 is probably getting one of those awesome dwarf plate armor types, without having to take the feat (Battle Plate/Mountain Plate etc.) A ranger who is going to pump his Dex as he levels will get armor that is very, very light, or just plain get clothing that adds AC. The Nimble property is a helpful babby's first power, since it increases max Dex by +1. Nimble Mithral Full Plate? Now that's dead sexy. -I almost always give the item an advancing enchantment bonus and bonus to one ability score--usually the one that the character needs most. I do this because these are the baseline things characters need to survive in high magic D&D. Enchantment bonuses generally go +1 at 1st level, +2 at 4th level, +3 at 8th level, and so on, so that the character won't ever really find an item with a better enchantment bonus at any given level. Ability score bonus generally is +2 at or before 4th level, +4 at 10th level, +6 at 16th level, and maybe a little sooner depending on the item and the character. At 20th level I probably advance the item to +6/+8, respectively. I've never designed an item that moves into the epic level, mostly because I've only ever been in one epic game, it started there, and epic level D&D is 3.0 and broken to hell. -"Cool" abilities happen at 2nd level and at least every fourth level thereafter. That is to say, spell-like abilities, more powerful passive abilities, or various special attacks. If it is an active power it is probably 1/day unless the power is not tremendously great for whatever reason or its usefulness comes from being able to be used frequently. Later on as the item increases in power, more uses per day might be allowed. At 20th level I often extend almost everything to 3/day. Depending on how uber the campaign is, these abilities might come up more than once every four levels. Your mileage will vary greatly. -There's something to be said for maintaining balance between each character's item, but there's something also to be said for the fact that some players and characters are better than others, and this item system can be used as a tool to even the playing field and let everyone have a presence at the table, especially in combat. Items meant for warriors should be more overtly powerful than items meant for casters, since this is still 3E. A player who does not know the system well, or a player who likes to play but never has any better character ideas than "Elven fighter!", will benefit greatly from a more powerful item. That being said, you generally shouldn't make one of the item's powers too much better than what a caster could do at the same level of play. So, a spell-like ability earned at 8th level is probably a 4th or perhaps 5th level spell (this system is also a great way to get more mileage out of The Spell Compendium). -Don't be afraid to nerf, buff, or change an item between sessions. A couple of times I've had to dial back items because a power is better than I originally envisioned, or fix an item that was too complicated for myself or its player to keep track of. -Keep in mind that even an item that does nothing but add an enchantment and ability score bonus makes a character significantly more powerful than his normal ECL, especially if you are starting above 1st level, if for no other reason than the player doesn't have to think about budgeting for those items when selecting equipment. A CR adjustment of either +1 or +2 is likely in order. -Be careful with summoning powers! An extra critter can be a huge distraction that screws up encounters, steals other characters' thunder, or is a waste of time, all depending on its power level and the level of play. Be sure to make a summoning flavorful and yet not able to completely mess up a battle--unless you're running a cheese campaign, at which point go hog wild. The items I've linked below include one that can summon a drunken satyr overlord and a swarm of gremlins. This is a cheese item. Another can create a bogun. The difference is night and day. That sandworm? Yeah it's going to eat a lot of critters and turn battles upside down in a hurry, since it can probably destroy most buildings. -This thread is the first time I've heard of E6 so I have no idea how that would affect such a campaign. I went ahead and uploaded most of the items I've made in the past: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1K4eKyzuU30iydiawKlOAJiImbri_NcYV_5Tfsx05zwU/edit?hl=en_US&authkey=CNL9mcEE
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Jun 15, 2011 18:33
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OneThousandMonkeys posted:-This thread is the first time I've heard of E6 so I have no idea how that would affect such a campaign. Thanks for the reply. I don't think these items would negatively impact an E6 game, since all that is is a level cap with room for expansion through feats. I want my campaign to have a swords & sorcery kinda feel, and I think these items will go a long way toward nailing that. My players already seem very interested in the idea. I'll post some more later if I come up with anything good. E: I am also writing a little bit of backstory for the items that will get revealed at each tier, you know, for the hell of it. E2: I've already done up 2 weapons for my players that I'm happy with but I'm stuck on another one's request. he wants a magical horn. His idea was that blowing the horn in front of a dwelling would compel the owner to show hospitality (in the biblical sense, food, shelter, entertainment, protection) for 24 hours, regardless of how that creature feels about the owner of the horn. Of course, hostile actions by the PCs break the compulsion. That's awesome and I love it, but I'm kinda stumped for ideas on other powers. Should it work like an amulet, or be paired with another item or two? My thoughts right now is that the horn was used by dwarven heralds to force parley with their enemies. Any ideas are welcome, and really I just need stuff for levels 1 2 4 and 6. The PC in question is playing a Dwarf rogue, with a background in smuggling and other illicit things. The campaign is centered on retaking a dwarven stronghold. For reference, here's an item I am happy with which is going to the half-orc barbarian. Raven's Feast Raven's Feast is a greatsword forged from a solid piece of star-metal from hilt to tip, and etched with eldritch runes along the blade which glow a faint crimson. When violence erupts around the blade, the runes brighten and instill viewers with a sense of dread. This is a +1 adamantine greatsword. It grants the wielder use of the Dazzling Display* feat, even if he does not meet its prerequisites. The blade illuminates a 10' area around the wielder in combat. When used for Dazzling Display, the illumination increases to 30' until the end of the encounter. If the wielder already has the Dazzling Display feat, the sword grants a +5 item bonus to the Intimidate roll. *Dazzling Display allows you to use Intimidate in combat against all foes in a 30' radius. 2nd: Starfallen: The alien properties of the star-metal grant the bearer a +1 bonus to all saves. Once per day as a swift action the wielder may deal fire damage equal to twice his Str modifier against all foes within the illumination radius of the blade. Once per encounter as a swift action, the wielder may regain hp equal to 3x his Str mod. 4th: Corpse Maker: The blade gains the keen property.The blade now grants a +2 enhancement bonus to Str. 6th: Undeniable Power: The enhancement bonus increases to +2 ant the blade begins to grow hot in combat now, dealing an additional d6 fire damage and granting the wielder Resist Fire 5. Once per day, the wielder may choose to make an attack, regardless if it hit or missed, into a confirmed critical and ignore the DR, Hardness, or Immunities of the target until the end of the encounter. Pvt.Scott fucked around with this message at 02:21 on Jun 17, 2011 |
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Jun 16, 2011 03:44
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Actually, weapons that continue to improve would fit pretty nicely in E6 really, even if you don't put a stop to the weapon's growth. Just avoid spell/weapon effects that don't belong in E6 and you're probably good. EDIT: Anyone ever thought of the effects of replacing iterative attacks with a static damage bonus that scales by BAB? Only source of extra attacks(and thus the only things that need full attacks) would be TWF, Rapid Shot, Haste, Speed Weapon. TWF feat tax is gone since you only get 2 hits max. veekie fucked around with this message at 01:16 on Jun 17, 2011 |
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Jun 17, 2011 00:45
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veekie posted:Actually, weapons that continue to improve would fit pretty nicely in E6 really, even if you don't put a stop to the weapon's growth. Just avoid spell/weapon effects that don't belong in E6 and you're probably good. You could do something crazy like double weapon damage at +6 BAB, triple at +11, etc. This again would make warriors much more viable, speed up combat, etc. Actually the more I think about that idea I just had the more I like it. 16th level fighter with a greatsword does base 8d6 damage, with (1.5 x str mod) x4.
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Jun 17, 2011 03:53
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OneThousandMonkeys posted:You could do something crazy like double weapon damage at +6 BAB, triple at +11, etc. This again would make warriors much more viable, speed up combat, etc. Pathfinder has a feat where you can make one attack at your highest base and roll and additional weapon's worth of damage on a hit. There's more down the chain to replace the other iterative attacks. It doesn't multiply the damage bonuses though. I do like just sort of house ruling that into the defacto way things get done. it's a trade off, because your iterative attacks might all hit, and you'd do more damage, or you get your best attack bonus with the extra x weapon die for sacrificing the other attacks. The secondaries are good for clearing out mooks or if you're trying to get something specific to happen with crits or something, otherwise it just takes up extra time. Pvt.Scott fucked around with this message at 04:38 on Jun 17, 2011 |
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Jun 17, 2011 04:34
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Hmm, was thinking more along the lines of +BAB to damage, rather than multipliers, since multipliers get silly real quick once you stack em(x1.5 from 2H, x2 from BAB, then heck, x2 again from a Lance, netting you a x6 to damage or a x3.5 to damage depending on how you handle it) and linear modifiers are easier to process. Problem is the big hit to full attack damage. It might halve the output of optimized 2H full attacks(though from what I can tell it'd still probably 2-hit enemies) Part of the idea was to give a hand up to TWF'ers, since it drops their crazy '3 feats for a tactic that only works while standing still and is mostly going to miss anyway' thing for a '2 hits with lots of damage', as well as Spring Attackers, Whirlwind Attack, Cleave(more valuable when its one of the few ways to hit the next guy) and generally making melee get to move around more.
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Jun 17, 2011 14:12
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Really the math doesn't change tremendously. 2 attacks = 2x damage on one attack, the only difference is the number of rolls being made. It picks up around the mid-range levels when enemies start getting a huge AC and all those secondary attacks fail 95% of the time, but at that point your casters are capable of doing huge damage anyways so it's not like it's a balance issue. Also of note is that lances only get x2 damage when set against a charge, so you have to actively make this tactic work as a DM; first, the character has to have a lance, then he has to expect this enemy to charge, then he has to spend his standard action setting against a charge, and then the enemy has to charge him. And after all that, he still needs to hit. If all that occurs, I say let the guy have his moment in the sun.
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Jun 17, 2011 15:00
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You can do double damage with a lance from a mounted charge, but even so it seems more productive to take a two-handed weapon with better damage dice.
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Jun 17, 2011 15:03
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Oh yeah, forgot about mounted charge. Mostly because I have never in my life seen anyone actually be capable of doing a mounted charge. Closest I ever saw was a paladin who spirited charge but kept going into places that made mounted combat impossible. He was so excited about doing triple damage with his lance, but every combat was in a cavern or castle or swamp or something. 
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Jun 17, 2011 15:10
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OneThousandMonkeys posted:You can do double damage with a lance from a mounted charge, but even so it seems more productive to take a two-handed weapon with better damage dice. Theres also that leap attack thing thats another x2. But mainly yeah, the concern was that while I was at it, why not try to make the disfavored combat styles somewhat workable?
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Jun 17, 2011 15:36
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OneThousandMonkeys posted:You can do double damage with a lance from a mounted charge, but even so it seems more productive to take a two-handed weapon with better damage dice. It's actually triple damage with a feat. I forget exactly which one exactly. At level 5 if you have 18 strength with the feats: Mounted Combat, Ride-by-Attack, Spirited Charge, Weapon Specialty Lance you can do something like 1d8+8 x3 with a charge.
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Jun 17, 2011 16:24
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Jenzar El posted:It's actually triple damage with a feat. I forget exactly which one exactly. The advanced version adds Shock Trooper to dump your whole BAB into Power Attack and still hit. Which gets x1.5 and then x3. Then you find a way to Pounce and add multiple hits.
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Jun 17, 2011 17:08
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What's the Pounce feat?
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Jun 17, 2011 17:20
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Jenzar El posted:What's the Pounce feat? Pounce lets you charge and make a full attack. It's not a feat as far as I know, but it is an (Ex) ability certain creatures have and there's also certain PrCs that grant it.
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Jun 17, 2011 17:26
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Pounce is a special attack that allows you to make a full attack on a charge. It's usually reserved for monsters only, but there's the "Lion Totem Barbarian" substitution level from Complete Champion that grants Pounce instead of Fast Movement at 1st level. You still get rage, so taking a one-level dip is great. Combine that with a Valorous Weapon (Unapproachable East) which doubles your damage on a charge attack (and thus if you have any charger whatsoever, you will never go without a valorous weapon), then the usual fun with Leap Attack and Shock Trooper and have fun. With a paladin, there's the Rhino's Rush spell (Spell Compendium) which doubles the damage on your next charge, so that's 5x damage while mounted. Cavalier (Complete Warrior) has per day options that boost your charge even further, and things get even funnier if you score a critical hit (Riding Boots from Magic Item Compendium boost your lance critical multiplier to x4 while charging), where you can do 12x damage, which you then combine with power attack, smite evil, bard song, high strength bonus, a collision weapon (Expanded Psionics Handbook) and it basically turns into "either you die or I die." You can easily throw down 200 or more damage at level 7 (which is when a paladin can pick up a pegasus mount, ensuring that there's always an angle to charge from).
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Jun 17, 2011 17:35
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LightWarden posted:...it basically turns into "either you die or I die." You can easily throw down 200 or more damage at level 7 (which is when a paladin can pick up a pegasus mount, ensuring that there's always an angle to charge from). Short version yeah.  <- Kinda like that.Its the rationale behind making it a linear, static increase, other than ease of use. The whole combined business can essentially render even large level gaps insignificant, since it's down to basically chance if the monster survives to act in the first round. While this change diminishes melee power somewhat, I THINK it still does what it should, namely dealing with level appropriate melee brutes in 2-3 rounds with typical luck. Though a consequence I hadn't considered is how much kick an AoO would then pack. With the right build you could just stand there, get enemies to attempt to attack you and impale themselves on your counters.
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Jun 17, 2011 19:18
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 16:08 |
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I'm just popping my head in to ask about how good the Babylon 5 d20 game is?
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Jun 17, 2011 22:29
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