Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Dear Mike & Monte
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="FireLance" data-source="post: 5759490" data-attributes="member: 3424"><p>My current wish list might not seem like D&D to some people, but here goes anyway:</p><p></p><p><strong>Themes:</strong> 4E Dark Sun style themes become the macro building blocks of a character. There are themes to represent races, themes to represent classes, themes to represent backgrounds, special training (weapon styles, wizard school specialization, divine spheres of influence, etc.), and other character-defining traits (Eberron dragonmarks, Birthright bloodlines, angelic, draconic or infernal ancestry, etc.). A character's powers, abilities and other benefits are selected from those that his themes grant him access to. Level determines a character's number of powers and abilities, themes determine the number of choices for each power or ability. Hence, themes are mostly intended to add breadth (and not power) to a character. The number of themes that each character has access to can be left to the DM. If he want to run a simpler game, each character can have only one or two themes. If he wants to gradually increase the complexity, characters can be granted access to a new theme every few levels.</p><p></p><p><strong>Races:</strong> Race is a theme. There will thus be racial powers and benefits and characters who select a race theme are able to choose those powers and benefits. Mixed-race characters can be represented by selecting two racial themes.</p><p></p><p><strong>Classes:</strong> Class is also a theme. In addition to class themes, there can be power source (arcane, divine, martial, primal, shadow) themes and role (striker, defender, leader, controller) themes. Depending on the number of themes a character is granted access to, he could play a ranger, a martial ranger (or a primal ranger), or a martial striker ranger. This ensures that characters who have the same power source theme or role theme have access to the same powers and abilities, and allows for "iconic" and non-repetitive powers. Multiclass characters can be represented by selecting two class themes.</p><p></p><p><strong>Power Structure:</strong> I'd like to see more flexibility in terms of trading off powers of one type of frequency for another, e.g. at certain levels, a character could select an at-will power or an encounter power or a daily power. </p><p></p><p><strong>Feats:</strong> Feats are generic abilities that anyone can gain access to regardless of theme. When selecting a power, ability or other benefit, a character can select one that one of his themes grants him access to, or he can select a feat power, ability or benefit.</p><p></p><p><strong>HP:</strong> I think every type of character should have some kind of ability to recover hit points, but they can differentiated more in terms of flavor and maybe mechanics. For example, <em>cure light wounds</em> could be a power tied to the Divine theme, and it can be used on allies as well as the character who has the power. <em>Second wind</em> could be the equivalent from the Martial power source, and becomes extra effective if used while the character is bloodied.</p><p></p><p><strong>Magic Items:</strong> CR balancing is done assuming the characters have no access to magic items, but powerful magic items adjust the characters' level. Hence, if a <em>+3 flame tongue</em> has a +1 Level Adjustment, a 14th-level character with a <em>+3 flame tongue</em> is considered a 15th-level character for the purpose of what challenges he can reasonably expect to be able to overcome. Certain iconic magic items can also have associated themes to represent characters who spend extra effort to train with the items and unlock additional powers.</p><p></p><p><strong>Ability Scores:</strong> In possibly the most non-traditional of my ideas, ability scores are indirectly affected by the player's choices instead of being rolled or directly selected by the player. Think the Dragon Age: Origins system where the choice of race and class grants bonuses to specific ability scores, so that choosing a Fighter might grant +4 Str, +2 Con and +2 Dex, while choosing a Dwarf might grant +2 Str, +4 Con and +2 Wis. At character creation, and as the character gains levels, the player will also have the option to choose benefits which might indirectly affect ability scores. For example, training in Diplomacy might also grant +2 Cha, while the Iron Will benefit might grant +2 Wis in addition to a bonus to Will.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="FireLance, post: 5759490, member: 3424"] My current wish list might not seem like D&D to some people, but here goes anyway: [B]Themes:[/B] 4E Dark Sun style themes become the macro building blocks of a character. There are themes to represent races, themes to represent classes, themes to represent backgrounds, special training (weapon styles, wizard school specialization, divine spheres of influence, etc.), and other character-defining traits (Eberron dragonmarks, Birthright bloodlines, angelic, draconic or infernal ancestry, etc.). A character's powers, abilities and other benefits are selected from those that his themes grant him access to. Level determines a character's number of powers and abilities, themes determine the number of choices for each power or ability. Hence, themes are mostly intended to add breadth (and not power) to a character. The number of themes that each character has access to can be left to the DM. If he want to run a simpler game, each character can have only one or two themes. If he wants to gradually increase the complexity, characters can be granted access to a new theme every few levels. [B]Races:[/B] Race is a theme. There will thus be racial powers and benefits and characters who select a race theme are able to choose those powers and benefits. Mixed-race characters can be represented by selecting two racial themes. [B]Classes:[/B] Class is also a theme. In addition to class themes, there can be power source (arcane, divine, martial, primal, shadow) themes and role (striker, defender, leader, controller) themes. Depending on the number of themes a character is granted access to, he could play a ranger, a martial ranger (or a primal ranger), or a martial striker ranger. This ensures that characters who have the same power source theme or role theme have access to the same powers and abilities, and allows for "iconic" and non-repetitive powers. Multiclass characters can be represented by selecting two class themes. [B]Power Structure:[/B] I'd like to see more flexibility in terms of trading off powers of one type of frequency for another, e.g. at certain levels, a character could select an at-will power or an encounter power or a daily power. [B]Feats:[/B] Feats are generic abilities that anyone can gain access to regardless of theme. When selecting a power, ability or other benefit, a character can select one that one of his themes grants him access to, or he can select a feat power, ability or benefit. [B]HP:[/B] I think every type of character should have some kind of ability to recover hit points, but they can differentiated more in terms of flavor and maybe mechanics. For example, [I]cure light wounds[/I] could be a power tied to the Divine theme, and it can be used on allies as well as the character who has the power. [I]Second wind[/I] could be the equivalent from the Martial power source, and becomes extra effective if used while the character is bloodied. [B]Magic Items:[/B] CR balancing is done assuming the characters have no access to magic items, but powerful magic items adjust the characters' level. Hence, if a [I]+3 flame tongue[/I] has a +1 Level Adjustment, a 14th-level character with a [I]+3 flame tongue[/I] is considered a 15th-level character for the purpose of what challenges he can reasonably expect to be able to overcome. Certain iconic magic items can also have associated themes to represent characters who spend extra effort to train with the items and unlock additional powers. [B]Ability Scores:[/B] In possibly the most non-traditional of my ideas, ability scores are indirectly affected by the player's choices instead of being rolled or directly selected by the player. Think the Dragon Age: Origins system where the choice of race and class grants bonuses to specific ability scores, so that choosing a Fighter might grant +4 Str, +2 Con and +2 Dex, while choosing a Dwarf might grant +2 Str, +4 Con and +2 Wis. At character creation, and as the character gains levels, the player will also have the option to choose benefits which might indirectly affect ability scores. For example, training in Diplomacy might also grant +2 Cha, while the Iron Will benefit might grant +2 Wis in addition to a bonus to Will. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Dear Mike & Monte
Top