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Keovar
10-29-2002, 09:09 AM
...by asking for a few details from things I would assume are in the first chapter.

How are you doing the stat adjustements for races? Are you keeping the 2E +1/-1 model, despite the problems that odd adjustements cause (as described in the 3e DMG). Or, are you updating the stat adjustments to follow the 3E +2/-2 format?

Similar questions surround classes, blood powers, and regency.

*******

For the record, here are my thoughts:

~Races~

Anuirean: -2 Dex, +2 Wis
Brecht: +2 Dex, -2 Wis
Khinasi: -2 Con, +2 Int
Rjurik: +2 Con, -2 Cha
Vos: +2 Str, -2 Int (and some sort of situational penalty when using Charisma-based skills to interact with non-Vos, though it's not an actual subtraction from Cha)

(Most humanoids have more extreme adjustments, with a total of 8 points adjusted)
Dwarves: +2 Str, -2 Dex, +2 Con, -2 Cha
Elves: -2 Str, +2 Dex, -2 Con, +2 Int
Half-Elves: +2 Dex, -2 Con
Halflings: -4 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Wis

(Optional Races)
Masetian: -2 Str, +2 Cha (Provided as reference or as a surviving Masetian of The Serpent's domain.)
Goblin, Common: -2 Str, +4 Dex, -2 Cha
Goblin, Elite: +2 Dex, -2 Cha
Goblin, Large: +2 Str, -2 Int, -2 Cha
Orog: +2 Str, +2 Con, -2 Int, -2 Wis, -2 Cha


~Classes~
Barbarian - Same as PHB
Bard - Like the PHB, but with a skill base of 6, rather than 4. The spell list is fine like it is.
Cleric - Leave the cleric as PHB, but do prestige classes to represent the specialty priests. The requirements of these prestige classes should be completeable by 5th level.
Druid - Same as PHB, also with a prestige class available.
Fighter - Same as PHB.
Paladin - Either turn Paladin into a Prestige Class (I have made a write up for one patterned after the Blackguard's advancement scheme), or expand Holy Liberator (from Defenders of the Faith) into a 20-level class, patterned after the Paladin's progression. Holy Liberators would of course be the "paladins" of Cuiraecen. If the second option is chosen, then perhaps Blackguard should be expanded into a 20-level class as well, and be made available to evil types.
Ranger - Like in the PHB, but Awnsheghlien, specific human subraces, and various domains and organizations may be taken as Favored Enemies. Also, rangers may take Point-Blank Shot and Rapid Shot instead of Ambidexterity and Two-Weapon Fighting if desired.
Rogue - Same as PHB. Turn Guilder into a Prestige Class that may be easily entered by a 5th-level Rogue or Expert, so you have the option of "non-combat" Guilder types as well as ones with the rogue class abilities like Sneak Attack.
Sorceror - Requires Elven blood to practice; either Elves, Half-Elves, or some select NPC monster types (like Dragons) may become Sorcerors. The skills Bluff, Diplomacy, and Gather Information, and Intimidate are added to the class skill list, and the skill base is 4 rather than 2.
Wizard - Must have a Blooded template to take this class.

(NPC Classes)
Magician - should replace the "Adept" NPC class. Magicians would have a d6 hit die, be proficient in all simple weapons, and would have a 4 skill base rather than 2 like a wizard. It would have the "minor magics" spell list, and would get a bonus spell of either Illusion or Divination for each spell level. Also, they would get bonus feats to choose from things like Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus for Divination and Illusion, as well as feats to help them resist those two schools. Magicians may only apply any metamagic feats they might have to Illusion and Divination spells.

(Optional Classes)
Monk, Psion, and Psychic Warrior - Not available in Cerilia, but possibly present in an expansion for a different land east of the Sea of Dragons.

~Blood Abilities~
Make Bloodlines into templates that allow you to have a bloodline stat and derivation, and allow you to choose a number of blood powers dependent upon that stat. If using the 4d6 stat method, simply roll an extra stat and assign one to Bloodline. If you are using point-build stats, then add 5 more points to the pool you have to spend on stats. There would be a template for each bloodline strength; Tainted, Minor, Major, Great, and True. The more powerful the bloodline template, the higher it's ECL rating, such as: Tainted = ECL 0, Minor = ECL 1, Major = ECL 2, Great = ECL 4, True = ECL 8.

~Regency~
There would be 4 types of Regent prestige classes, Law Regent, Temple Regent, Guild Regent, and Source Regent. These each have simple requirements, such as:

Law Regent Requirements
Template: Blooded
Base Attack Bonus: +1
Knowledge (Law): 2 ranks
Special: Must be an heir or current ruler of a Law domain.

Temple Regent Requirements
Template: Blooded
Knowledge (Religion) or Knowledge (Nature): 4 ranks
Spellcasting: must be able to cast 1st level Divine spells.
Special: Must be an heir or current ruler of a Temple domain.

Guild Regent Requirements
Template: Blooded
Appraise: 4 Ranks
Profession (Merchant): 4 ranks
Special: Must be an heir or current ruler of a Guild domain.

Source Regent Requirements
Template: Blooded
Spellcraft: 4 ranks
Spellcasting: must be able to cast 1st level Arcane spells.
Special: Must be an heir or current ruler of a Source domain.

Each of these classes would give the abilities needed to collect and spend regency in order to run a domain.

Ariadne
11-09-2002, 06:56 PM
Why should a monk not be available in Cerilia. In Khinasi might be some monk-orders, I think...

Ariadne
11-09-2002, 06:59 PM
Errr, why can't I edit my own writings on this page? Please some statements (or better a change)...

kgauck
11-09-2002, 10:52 PM
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ariadne" <brnetboard@TUARHIEVEL.ORG>
Sent: Saturday, November 09, 2002 12:56 PM
>
> Why should a monk not be available in Cerilia. In Khinasi might
> be some monk-orders, I think...

I have no problem with monks anywhere in Cerilia, but since the standard
version is an OA type character, for Cerilia it needs to be adapted. This
can be done mostly cosmetically, but with a little tweaking as well. The
monk (as are all the classes) is a combination of two things: a set of
abilities and a set of cultural assumptions. His set of abilities makes him
(among other things) a hand-to-hand type combatant. In addition he comes
with cultural assumptions and the abilities derived from that. Its easy
though, to imagine a different kind of hand-to-hand combatant which could
constructed borrowing heavily from the monk class.

Take the fighter. He`s the most generic class, meaning he has the least
cultural assumptions to him. But he does, indeed have cultural assumptions.
Not every society produces warriors who typically wear heavy armor. You
don`t have to go as far as the Samurai to find a warrior who doesn`t wear
heavy armor. What if a player came to you and said, "I want to my Brecht
fighter to exchange his heavy armor proficiency for allowing him to have
Bargain as a class skill." I`d allow that in a second.

Very quickly after the fighter, cultural context becomes an even more
important part of whether a class fits or is "balanced". The classes do not
rise to the level of archetypes. The new modern d20 game with its classes
based on the six primary ability scores is an attempt to create archtypal
characters. 3e`s use of feats and multi-classing allows for better
approximations of specific character concepts, but it also makes it easier
to take classes apart and reconstruct them to best suit your campaign.

Here`s a sumary of changes I have made:
Clerics are deity specific, more like 2e, effectivly making each one a class
Arcane magic is based on a spending points to cast a spell
Divine magic is based on making a Fort check to cast a spell
Standard, spellcasting rangers are "paladins" of Erik
The more common ranger would be a skills & feats based wilderness warrior
I`ve ditched the paladin class and made it a template
I`ve added an archer class
I`ve added a mounted warrior class
Bardic spellcasting can be divine or arcane, depending
I`ve re-worked the monk to be a brawler class

and that`s kind of just the most obvious stuff. If we started talking about
druids using sources and so forth, we could go on some more. Only the
Fighter and Rogue are left pretty much as I found them, although I have
changed around weapons availability and done some other things.

Monks in Cerilia, sure, why not. I just would call them something else.

Kenneth Gauck
kgauck@mchsi.com

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Ariadne
11-10-2002, 05:33 PM
Originally posted by kgauck

Here`s a sumary of changes I have made:
Clerics are deity specific, more like 2e, effectivly making each one a class
Arcane magic is based on a spending points to cast a spell
Divine magic is based on making a Fort check to cast a spell
Standard, spellcasting rangers are "paladins" of Erik
The more common ranger would be a skills & feats based wilderness warrior
I`ve ditched the paladin class and made it a template
I`ve added an archer class
I`ve added a mounted warrior class
Bardic spellcasting can be divine or arcane, depending
I`ve re-worked the monk to be a brawler class
Please detail why every religion is an own character class. In my opinion a cleric is a cleric, the only difference are the different domains (O.K., if you give back the fighter's attack to the priesthood of Cuiraécen, I might live with it. In the moment a "real" priest of Cuiraécen is a "Stormlord"...).

Why a cleric/ druid must make a Fort check to cast a spell? The magic comes from the gods. If they would not want, that their clerics/ druids cast spells, they cancel them...

Did you base your arcane magic on the old 2nd Edition psyonic system?

If I see right, you have canceled the ranger class too (see paladin). Why? My comments to your paladins I gave elsewhere (by the way, I thought your paladins are a PrC, not a template)...

Birthright-L
11-10-2002, 05:48 PM
That wouldbe hard for us who get the list as mails...

/Carl

From: "Ariadne" <brnetboard@TUARHIEVEL.ORG>

> Errr, why can`t I edit my own writings on this page? Please some
statements (or better a change)...
>



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kgauck
11-10-2002, 09:41 PM
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ariadne" <brnetboard@TUARHIEVEL.ORG>
Sent: Sunday, November 10, 2002 11:33 AM

> Why a cleric/ druid must make a Fort check to cast a spell?
> The magic comes from the gods. If they would not want, that
> their clerics/ druids cast spells, they cancel them...

There are two reasons, one in-game, one out-of-game. The in-game reason is
that channeling such tremendous power is exhausting, and you may not be able
to pull it off. The out-of-game reason is that it is the one and only limit
on divine spell casting. There are no level limits, no spells per day.

> Did you base your arcane magic on the old 2nd Edition psyonic system?

No. I never paid attention to psionics after a dalliance with them in 1e.
I took the spell levels and doubled the cost for each level. So 0 level
spells cost one point, 1st level cost 2 pts, 2nd level costs 4 pts, 3rd
level costs 8 pts, and so forth. I calculated spell points by adding up the
points as they are presented in the PHB for the standard assortment of
spells.

All arcane caster levels stack with all other arcane caster levels. All
divine caster levels stack with all other divine caster levels. A 6th level
Druid/2nd level Cleric of Erik/2nd level Bard would be a 9th level caster
for Erik (6+2+2/2). He would automatically know all the spells of his first
divine spell list, and could learn spells from other lists and cast them as
though they are all one spell list. Erik, Larme, and Cuiraecen supports
divine bards.

Wizards don`t memorize spells, they cast out of a spell book. Sorcerers
don`t need a spell book, but also gain no benifit from spell books. Wizards
can cast any spell they have in their spellbook which they can afford with
their spell points. Their only limits are points and the spell being in
their book. Sorcerers have to learn a spell to cast it. There is no
forgetting spells. Sorcerers don`t need spell books, but must already know
a spell to cast it, and their spell knowledge is limited as per the PHB.
Otherwise arcane levels stack. A 6th level Wizard/2nd level Sorcerer/2nd
level Bard has 9 caster levels (6+2+2/2), he has 116 spell points, as a
sorcerer can cast 5 cantrips and 2 1st level spells without a spellbook.
Arcane bards work like wizards.

> If I see right, you have canceled the ranger class too (see paladin).
> Why?

I think that a skills & feat based ranger should be more common. I still
have the PHB ranger, but they are only found where devotion to Erik is high.
Ranger spells casting is divine and stack with other divine (Erik)
spellcasting. I could have cancled the class, I have no special need for
it, but it fits nicely as an Erik devoted warrior, and there is absolutly no
learning curve, we already know the PHB ranger.

> My comments to your paladins I gave elsewhere (by the way, I
> thought your paladins are a PrC, not a template)...

Its more like a template. There are no prerequisites. The character is
required to act like a cleric (in terms of peity and adhearance to sect,
taking direction for church officials &c) and in exchange is allowed to buy
feats commonly assciated with paladins or granted powers. It is a player
option that just lays on top of the character.

Kenneth Gauck
kgauck@mchsi.com

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irdeggman
11-11-2002, 09:31 PM
Most of the discussion here really belong on the general discussion boards.

Just to update a few things on the project.

We (the development team) don't want to give the impression that we are ignoring everyone, we just want to avoid getting mired in potentially endless discussions (if anyone doubts the validity of this just take a look at the Dark Sun discussion boards and see what has happened to that team). We are making steady progress and really don't want to put out anything that is incomplete, that is something that is not consistent with it self and has major gaps. This could happen if we posted only sections (i.e., Chapters). When I say discussion and/or comment I'm referring to within the group not posted on the board for general comments.

Chapter 1 - Characters - is mostly complete, some things will be revisited as we copmplete the other chapters.

Chapter 2 - Blood and regency - is also complete, with some things again being revisited as we proceed.

Chapter 3 - Magic - We've gone through one round of serious discussions and are getting ready for another. This is a major section, by coving how magic (both arcane and divine) works in Cerilia and adding additional spells, some from the BoM and BoP along with some other new ones. Also the clerical domains are included here.

Chapter 4 - Deities of Cerilia - Only a brief discussion of this chapter has occured so far.

Chapter 5 - Ruling a domain - Again this chapter has gone through one round of serious discussion and is getting ready for another. This is also a major chapter, covering the domain actions.

Chapter 6 - Domain warfare - The first draft has just gone out for discussion. This is also a major chapter. IMO this first draft is very good and discussions shouldn't be lengthy.

Chapter 7 - Realm magic - A first round of discussion has been done on this one. This was determined to be so substansive that it was broken out of the magic chapter for special attention.

Chapter 8 - Running the game. This is the chapter that contains the things that don't quite fit into the other chapters. This chapter hasn't gone out for discussion yet, but scheduled for later this month.

The remaining chapters (three so far) are mostly in predraft version, although a chapter on monsters has undergone 2 drafts worth of discussion so far. This section includes discussion of awnsheghlien and how they become the way they are.

For those who may think that this process is taking a long time just take a look at the Dark Sun 3rd ed process (at athas.org). That group has been working on their project since shortly before the 3rd ed PHB was released and the project is not yet complete. We have only been working on this project, officially, since Jan/Feb of this year with several of us joining in later (March/April) and a few others joining the gang even later (June/July).

We will try to keep the rest of you appraised of the status, but please don't think us rude if we don't respond to every posting or suggestion. The product is coming, really it is and IMO you won't be disappointed. And remember, that as a DM you have the authority (and right) to disregard anything you see as inappropriate for your campaign/group.
([_]

Ariadne
11-15-2002, 09:38 AM
Originally posted by kgauck

There are two reasons, one in-game, one out-of-game. The in-game reason is that channelling such tremendous power is exhausting, and you may not be able to pull it off. The out-of-game reason is that it is the one and only limit on divine spell casting. There are no level limits, no spells per day.
Do you mean your clerics of 3rd level may cast "word of recall", if they succeed in a fort save? And they can cast as many spells as they want to, without limit?

Summated not a bad idea, now I know, why you don't want your players to get more powerful as they are now...