Trailblazer Teasers (collected)

Wulf Ratbane · 13th January 2009, 06:13 PM

I've been collecting a few threads into one place for my own use, but folks looking for insight into the Trailblazer design process might find some interesting reading here.

Wealth by Level

Iterative Attacks

Multiclass Spellcasters

More On Multiclassing

Starting Hit Points

Simplified Encounter Design by Budget

Turn Undead

Math and Bombast

My Blog

joela · 16th January 2009, 08:02 AM

Nice. We want more!

Wulf Ratbane · 16th January 2009, 10:06 PM

NP-- for the record, this is not the teaser preview I promised. This is just me collecting a few things together in one place to get that together.

What I can't easily show in ENworld teasers are a lot of the changes that we have made that involve more math-- not hard math, but lots of tables and proofs.

I have realized through this process, however, that we are a lot closer to finished than we thought!

joela · 18th January 2009, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wulf Ratbane

I have realized through this process, however, that we are a lot closer to finished than we thought!

shortly after the official pathfinder rpg is released?

Fenris · 22nd January 2009, 12:06 AM

Ok Wulf,
I have been following the Trialblazer project for a while now, but no very well.

And I seem to be lost. How would you characterize Trailblazer? What will it be?

It is a set of options for Pathfinder? Fixing the things from 3.5 that should be fixed and aren't? Or is it a whole new system?

What ever it is I know you will put out a great prouct and I will buy it, but I would liek to have a better idea of what it is since I am out of the loop.

So give me a three or four sentance product preview for Trailblazer, such as we wil find on RPGNow or Amazon or whereever it will be sold if you could please.

Wulf Ratbane · 22nd January 2009, 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fenris

Ok Wulf,

How would you characterize Trailblazer? What will it be?

Fixing the things from 3.5 that should be fixed and aren't?

This.

Hopefully, no more and no less.

For a very good breakdown of the kinds of things we're tackling, look here.

That's not a complete list, but it certainly informed our direction from the outset.

My home playtest is going well-- perhaps too well! My group of 6 PCs is currently punching way above their weight class.

Six 5th level PCs vs. 4 troll minions, 2 hill giants, and 1 hill giant elite boss. Very touch and go, very swingy, lots of action points burned, four PCs down at one point-- but they pulled through.

I like being able to pound away on them with big, climactic fights but it won't do anybody any good if I can't bottle this lightning for everyone else!

Fenris · 22nd January 2009, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wulf Ratbane

This.

Hopefully, no more and no less.

For a very good breakdown of the kinds of things we're tackling, look here.

That's not a complete list, but it certainly informed our direction from the outset.

My home playtest is going well-- perhaps too well! My group of 6 PCs is currently punching way above their weight class.

Six 5th level PCs vs. 4 troll minions, 2 hill giants, and 1 hill giant elite boss. Very touch and go, very swingy, lots of action points burned, four PCs down at one point-- but they pulled through.

I like being able to pound away on them with big, climactic fights but it won't do anybody any good if I can't bottle this lightning for everyone else!

Yeah, Glassjaw said you were really playing aroud with action points, new and expanded uses of those was the secret ingrediant to the play style you wanted.

So this will be a set of rules to change 3.5 into what it should have been. 3.75 if you will. Whereas Pathfinder is going way above and beyond that.

I would use this with a 3.5 game in other words.

Wulf Ratbane · 22nd January 2009, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fenris

Yeah, Glassjaw said you were really playing aroud with action points, new and expanded uses of those was the secret ingrediant to the play style you wanted.

Action Points are essential to many of the fixes 3e needs. The specific function of the APs isn't important-- the function varies, according to need, but the common purpose is to provide a resource other than hit points that the DM can attrit.

Playing a high-level game without Action Points is like playing a low-level game without hit points: Imagine a game where one hit from a weapon kills you. Action Points help bridge the gap between the low-level "sweet spot" game where the tension builds as hit points dwindle away, to a high-level game where the tension builds as Action Points dwindle away.

Quote:

So this will be a set of rules to change 3.5 into what it should have been. 3.75 if you will. Whereas Pathfinder is going way above and beyond that.

I would use this with a 3.5 game in other words.

And certainly with Pathfinder resources as well.

Fenris · 22nd January 2009, 09:47 PM

Well then move me from the "I'll buy this because BAG always makes cool stuff" to the "I can't wait for this to come out" column

Sounds very very cool. I look forward to reading the teasers and seeing the product

kikai · 11th March 2009, 08:07 PM

I really like the preview - when can we expect the final product? I'm really looking forward to it.

Wulf Ratbane · 11th March 2009, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kikai

I really like the preview - when can we expect the final product? I'm really looking forward to it.

Just before GenCon.

Fenris · 17th March 2009, 07:57 AM

I have to say that when I first looked over the 10-minute rest period, I was a little put off and wondered if Trailblazer would be right for me.

But I went back and read the whole section including the rationale (which for me was a big help in understanding the why and convincing me) and read it all. And once I understand why I got it and began to see the advantages and am looking forward to it enhancing my game play.

I can't wait to see what else Trailblazer has to offer.

Wulf Ratbane · 18th March 2009, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fenris

I have to say that when I first looked over the 10-minute rest period, I was a little put off and wondered if Trailblazer would be right for me.

Hey Fenris! Thanks for checking it out.

Like everything in the preview, the new rest mechanic is something you can start trying in your game right away (especially if you are already using Action Points in your game). Give it a try for a couple of sessions.

It will certainly change the pace and the feel of your game. Essentially, by mutual agreement (the players want to rest, and you want to allow it) the PCs will be able to enter every fight "fresh."

We're just codifying that style of play-- that "hand wave" agreement-- that probably already exists in most games.

And if you're not willing to allow them to rest, then a big upside for the DM is that you only have to "think ahead" in 10-minute chunks.

Quote:

But I went back and read the whole section including the rationale (which for me was a big help in understanding the why and convincing me) and read it all. And once I understand why I got it and began to see the advantages and am looking forward to it enhancing my game play.

That's very gratifying to hear. The design essays are a big part of Trailblazer. We agreed when we started that we would make no changes that could not be defended and explained in such a fashion (although obviously some design essays are longer than others).

Quote:

I can't wait to see what else Trailblazer has to offer.

Stereofm · 3rd April 2009, 08:21 PM

Hiya,

I am interested too. Right now, I am more on the Pathfinder boat, but I am not one to let a good book pass by.

Where will it be sold ?
What are your plans beyond the book ?
Is it all-inclusive, or are you going on a PHB/DMG/MM course ?

Thanks in advance, I will definitely check it.

Wulf Ratbane · 4th April 2009, 02:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stereofm

Is it all-inclusive, or are you going on a PHB/DMG/MM course ?

We'll cover everything from the PHB and DMG that needs to be changed.

Not many changes on the MM front-- you'll find all your monsters remain compatible. (This actually speaks to our design philosophy, which is that it is easier to change the rules governing PCs than it is to change everything else.)

smetzger · 6th April 2009, 05:48 PM

I noticed you had an entry for easier magic item identification but didn't elaborate on it.

Here are my house rules:
1) Identify works without changes
2) Detect Magic can be used to identify a magic item by comparing it to a similar item. For example the party finds a magic cloak and already has a magic cloak, just compare the magic auras if they are the same then the cloaks are the same. If they have the same aura but one is stronger then one is +1 and one is +2.
- This makes it still take a bit of resources and investigation to ID a 'new' item, but as the party gets higher levels the more mundane items can be identified with Detect Magic.

3) Potions of the same type all taste the same. Once you've drunk one cure potion, you can easily id the next one with a sip.

As a side note I also made all zero level spells spontaneusly castable in a standard action and the Sorcerer gets access to all arcane zero level spells.

The above worked well when running RttToEE.

Wulf Ratbane · 7th April 2009, 03:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smetzger

I noticed you had an entry for easier magic item identification but didn't elaborate on it.

Potions are already pretty easy (see Spellcraft skill) but I go a step further and just forgo the roll if it's a common potion they've used before.

For everything else, I make it a skill challenge: Each success along the way to 3 successes reveals a bit more about the item; 3 failures ends the challenge.

This allows the PCs to identify and use newly acquired items "in the field."

For stuff they can take home with them-- yes, there's still identify.

Voadam · 7th April 2009, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wulf Ratbane

We'll cover everything from the PHB and DMG that needs to be changed.

Who else besides you is working on Trailblazer?

Wulf Ratbane · 7th April 2009, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Voadam

Who else besides you is working on Trailblazer?

So many people have had input in the course of development that I use "we" out of courtesy and habit.

Several EnWorlders you may know have certainly been helpful-- both publicly, on many of the threads here, and behind the scenes.

One or two of these folks may have some essays in the final product, though that contribution is up to them.

Theocrat · 9th April 2009, 04:26 AM

Hi all -
From what I'm reading I like some of this and I think I'll attempt to install at least the 10min break for this weekends game. However, I wonder if the players will say that this feels too much like 4e.
One of the posts for this says that PF establishes that there are 20 average encounters per level and 13.3 challenging encounters for a level. I realize that the 3.5 DMG states that it's about 14.5 encounters, but I've not seen that in the PF sourcebook. Is this just assumed based upon the XP to level charts that use Math that I'd never be able to understand?
In using the 10min Rest Period, it seems that as a GM you'd want your monsters to be maxed in HP and if possible not just generic Monster Manaual monsters - you'd idealy want to modify them, giving them more appropriate feats and other aspects to make an encounter additionaly challenging. Is this the case?
I simplified my XP chart to 15XP per level, granting 1XP per encounter - for all levels. I just attempt to make the encounters challenging enough that at higher levels it is still compareable. Thus for 2nd level you need 30 XP total, and 3rd is just 45 XP total.
You note that you use Action Points and the Reserve Points (in the Trailblazer book), but I don't really understand AP's and RP's. Are AP's just like those fround in d20M and Unearthed Arcana?
I look forward to seeing more.
Be Well. Be Well Blazed.
Theocrat Issak