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[Kerrick]

Originally Posted by Ashtagon

Level 1-5: Realistic
Level 6-10: Heroic
Level 7-15: Wu-Xia (matrix-like stuff)
Level 16-20: Stepping on the toes of the gods

You do know that 6-10 and 7-15 overlap, right? And, this is assuming that 20th level is the highest any mortal can achieve, the absolute pinnacle of perfection. If it's not (as it isn't in a lot of campaigns) that scale goes out the window. I want to design a level layout something like this:

1-8: Realistic (Us)
9-15: Heroic (Hercules in his early days)
16-25: Wuxia (The Matrix)
26+: Godly (Elminster, Mordy, the Simbul)

Originally Posted by Hawken

So, what? You're looking at it comically right now? Gimme a break! You started this thread, so give it a serious look and see if it does what you're wanting with the proficiency level stuff.

:P I was just tossing the idea out before I forgot about it. I was looking over my Decipher Script rules yesterday and thinking about changes, and it gave me a headache - definite burnout. I will keep your skill rule in mind, though, when I have the wherewithal to get back into design.

Originally Posted by Hawken

No, that's super-stupid! Plus its the result of poorly written game mechanics that weren't even intended for skills to be used that way. There are plenty of arguments proving how broken movement mechanics are, the least of which is the most obvious--that a person can move 30' AND do something else in 6 seconds. Or move 60' in 6 seconds (move-move action). Most people can only take a single step in 1 second, muchless clear 1/5th of a football field in 6 seconds.

This is getting a bit OT, but since I started it, I guess I'll just grin and bear it. A comment someone else made not long ago about being able to swing a sword umpteen times in 6 seconds made me think that rounds are WAY too short. I know why they did it - so you can cram 10 rounds into a minute - but it's utterly absurd. I want to measure exactly how quickly I (an unencumbered human of average size) can move 30 feet, and use that as the base. It'll probably be around 10 seconds.

And just to be snippy, specialization is only a +2 bonus for a 5th fighter, longbows have a max range of 1000' and that max damage crit is only going to happen on 1 in 160 shots (1 in 20 critical hit, less if rolling to confirm; and 1 in 8 for max damage)--all this being far more unlikely to ever happen no matter how easy you make it sound.

Ash beat me to the punch on the longbow stats - I checked it out myself a couple months ago, though I missed the world record shot. 4000 feet... damn.

Where did you come up with that? RAW rules for running means your guy with a 20 Con can run for 2 minutes without stopping (1 round/pt of Con). Then he has to make a DC 10 check 1 round later or stop running, with the DC increasing by +1 per round. So, even if your DM let you Take 10 on that check, after 6 rounds (36 seconds), he would have to start rolling and after 20 more rounds (2 more minutes of running)--DC check of 36, impossible to make even rolling a 20, he would fail and have to stop. So, he could run for all of 4.6 minutes--at best! At 20' base X 3 per round, that works out to just over half a mile before having to stop and catch his breath, not 6 miles.

And this is why no one in D&D can run a marathon. Isn't it great?

No, you assume I assumed. It just isn't physically possible for someone the size of a 6 year old to wrestle someone more than double their height and more than 10 times their weight. Sure, they could grab and hang on (until the big guy threw them away), but they couldn't pin them, throw them or do any damage without resorting to biting and gouging. The tall one wouldn't have a -20 penalty to hold the short one with a single hand and then launch them like a long bomb!

Again, that's a fault of the rules. In some cases, rules should model reality to some degree.