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[Knightfall]

Forked from: Arcana Unearthed versus Arcana Evolved?

Originally Posted by Obryn

Some of them would fit right in, but some are clearly beefier.

Warmains are basically Fighters+, and might out-compete them in your game. Then again, I think they are less powerful than Warblades from Bo9S, so if your fighters need a boost, go with these guys.

Magisters, see my post above. I've heard of one in a regular 3.5 game, but I don't know if it was powergamed to any degree. I have my doubts, obviously, but it might work. Still, this is the most problematic class for me.

Akashics are generally Rogues+ but don't get as hefty a sneak attack. I think they could work alongside regular 3.5 classes, but I'd keep an eye on them.

Greenbonds are Clerics/Druids+. They don't have the animal companion or the shapeshifting, but they have lots of spells, easily expanded spell lists, and a lot of crazy healing abilities. I think one could play well with others, actually, but I'd keep an eye on their feats & templates.

Unfettered, Mageblades, Witches, Runethanes, Totem Warriors, Totem Speakers, Champions, and Ritual Warriors are probably usable as-is without much modification at all. You might run into a problem where your Unfettereds' ACs get pretty high, but I never found that to be the case in my own games.

IMO, YMMV, etc.

After checking out the AU/AE classes, you might even decide you like them better than the regular 3.5 classes. They cover all the adventuring bases, just in a different way than 3.5's classes do.

My suggestions:
I'd advise keeping the AU/AE spell lists for AU/AE characters, but maybe limit access to templates (say, X times per day in addition to their components). Also, as a practical matter, you can solve several problems with AU/AE spellcasting by limiting the casters to one use of each specific spell per combat. It's clearly gamist, but you'll have to do something!

-O

Now that I've bought a copy of Arcana Unearthed, I'd like to get some input on how best to incorporate the AU races, classes, feats, skills, etc. into my homebrewed D&D v.3.5 campaign setting, World of Kulan.

I'll be sticking with the v.3.5 magic system, at this point. Therefore, the AU magic-based classes will either get changed to work with v.3.5 or will be omitted. (However, I might consider Obryn's suggestion, as noted above, at a later date.)

So, I'm looking for suggestions from anyone with AU/AE experience. I'm looking for suggestions regarding alignment, favored class for the AU races, and anything else that might come up.

I've already printed a article from The Diamond Throne fansite called "Blending Arcana Evolved and D&D : Bumps in the Road," which has some good starting guidelines, but I want to go into a lot more detail. ( Anyone who knows me, knows I'm all about the details. ) I'll be using that article to reverse engineer AU to work with D&D v.3.5.

For example...

1. Defensive Move becomes Dodge.

2. Cleave/Great Cleave as per v.3.5.

3. Trapfinding as per v.3.5.

4. Uncanny Dodge instead of the Intuitive Sense feat.

5. Exotic weapon proficiencies as per v.3.5. Any new "exotic" weapons in AU are exotic weapons.

6. Craft (Alchemy) instead of Alchemy.

7. Hide/Move Silently instead of Sneak.

8. No Innuendo; use v.3.5 rules instead.

9. Knowledge and Profession skills are as per v.3.5; however, I have custom skills for my campaign.

10. Magic item creation as per v.3.5; however, I'm developing my own "expanded" system. (It's not even close to being done yet.)

11. v.3.5 equipment rules including armor.

12. Sneak attack as per v.3.5.