E6 SRD - community project

[Theo R Cwithin]

Please see post#2 for latest progress on this project.

@Gilladian , @NotZenon , @Nifft , @Lord Xtheth , @Sir Robilar , @Ryan Stou'n

I'd like to officially get this going in the open, so anyone who is interested in participating, feel free to jump in (or just watch with bemusement).

In this and related threads, I'll be noting progress on this project. If this ought to go elsewhere, also let me know and we can get it moved.

Following is an overview, and is entirely open for discussion & input!

What's the goal?

That's still TBD, but I think a good end point would be an online reference that contains the minimum necessary to run an E6 game. This will include E6 applicable material from the official SRD (only), as well as ideas from the original E6 document by Ryan Stoughton. One further iteration would include relevant info from other WotC OGC (from Divine, Epic, Psionic and UA).

That document (set of rtf, webpage, or whatever) would then be available as a basic reference for folks to do with as they please. It would effectively be analogous to d20srd.org, but stripped down to only material applicable to a typical E6 game.

How to get there?

I'm open to ideas, but for now I'm thinking in terms of three milestones:

• Phase 0 - "Rough Draft" - This is a very quick and dirty first draft that basically chops the SRD down to a manageable size, and includes basic E6 material where it deviates from the SRD.
• Phase 1 - "Core E6" - Starts with the Phase 0 document, and basically corrects (especially by including official errata) and re-organizes it, and includes common E6 options. This is a serviceable E6 SRD.
• Phase 2 - "More E6 Options" - Takes the Core document and merges in E6-relevant material from the rest of WotC OGC. At this point, the document is equivalent to d20srd.org.

That was the tl;dr version. A much more detailed (and unsightly) overview that I'll be working from if no one objects is reposted below from another thread here:[sblock]E6 CORE SRD (by section)

phase 0: "Rough draft E6" - This is basically just the SRD rtfs from WotC converted to html; and index page to link it together; and everything that looks vaguley beyond E6 chopped out, plus the "official" stuff inserted where appropriate. There will be little thought to creating this, and it wil likely be rife with errors and inconsistency. It's basically the first draft, but it's also something that, once done, will have a fair bit of utility.

phase 1: "Core E6" - This contains material from the WotC's SRD rtfs and Ry Stoughton's original document only. It is the most conservative interpration of E6.
- Organization: should this include everything, or should it be even more stripped-down, sort of like a Basic Set? (ie, smaller spell, monster, magic item selection, simplified skills, etc)
- include E6 overview (plus links to Ry Stoughton's doc)
- add E6 "necessary feats" (eg, "Wondrous Rings", "Restoration", etc)
- Chop base class info above 6th level; and PrCs unattainable after 6th
- Chop spells above 3rd (or 2nd or 1st, depending upon class)
- Drop hazards, traps, and monsters above CR(?), and those with spell-likes above 3rd level
- Drop magic items of greater than CL6th
- Drop feats unnatainable at 6th level; move some feats over to "Monstrous Feats" section for those monsters that need them but PCs can't use
- possibly include UA gestalt rules (since "gestalt" is mentioned as a playstyle in Ry's docs)
- include official errata, if they exist.

phase 2: "More Advanced options" - This includes the rest of the OGC from WotC (making it more or less an E6 version of d20srd.org), as well as popular E6 concepts (eg, capstone feats and prestige feats).
- Organization possibilities:
- as "appendices": CorE6 + Other sections (similar to d20srd.org); or
- or "integrated": phase 2 material merged into the phase 1 material (eg, variant Barbarians presented under the Barbarian" section under "Classes", rather than in a separate "UA" section; and general feats from Divine merged into the "Feats" section, rather than in a separate "Divine" section; etc); or
- something else?
- items from Divine
- items from Epic
- items from Psionic
- items from UA
- "Advanced" E6 concepts - This needs some debate, as this stuff is not "official" E6 (ie, not in Ry's original docs), so a baseline of "most popular" needs to be found before inclusion.
- capstone feats?
- prestige feats (feat chains, feat trees, etc)?
- add OGC versions of select non-SRD iconic monsters? (eg, yuan-ti, mindflayer, etc)
- (TBD) Other stuff? Reintro select higher-level spells as E6 feats? Or just discuss this as possibility? Hawk UA "Incantations" as solution to higher level magics?

SPECIFICS:

Characters

* Basics and Ability Scores - bonus spells by level table to include only to 3rd level
* Description - no change
* Character Races - no change
* Basic Character Classes I - (Bbn-Mnk)
-cut advancement tables to 6th level, and cut corresponding ability/feature descriptions;
- cut spell tables (bard, cleric, druid) to top out at 3rd level spells;
- cut druid animal companion table back to 6th level.
* Basic Character Classes II (Pal-Wiz, and multi-classing rules)
- cut advancement tables to 6th level, and cut corresponding ability/feature descriptions;
- cut spell tables (sorc, wiz) to top out at 3rd level spells;
- cut spell tables (paladin, ranger) to top out at 1st level spells;
- cut paladin mount, sor/wiz familiar, and ranger animal companion table back to 6th level.
* NPC Classes
- cut advancement tables to 6th level, and cut corresponding ability/feature descriptions;
- cut spell tables (Adp) to top out at 2nd level spells;
* Prestige Classes - only include ones possible to achieve before or at 6th character level. Typically this means at best prereqs of:
- 3rd level spell casting ability
- +5 BAB
- 8 skill ranks
i believe the SRD PrCs that are available in CORE6 are: arcane trickster, assassin, dragon disciple, duelist, horizon walker (what about other PrCs either via featchains, or by lessening entry reqs to ones a 6th char level can handle?)
* Epic Levels - N/A to E6 deprecate. (?)
* Skills I - no change
* Skills II - no change
* Feats - chop ones with prereqs beyond 6th (character) level, eg:
- character level beyond 6th
- 3rd level spell-casting ability
- +6 BAB
- 9 skill ranks
- unattainable feat prereq. (though some will move over to section for "Monstrous Feats", as required for included monsters)
- (phase 1?) also include select General feats from Psionics, Divine and Epic WotC OGC material (see d20srd.org)
* Special Abilities and Conditions - no change

Exploration and Combat

* Carrying, Movement, and Exploration - no change
* Combat I (Basics) - no change
* Combat II (Movement, Modifiers, and Special Actions) - no change
* Planes - no change
* Traps - remove traps that reference spells beyond 3rd or CLs beyond 8th.(this is arbitrary)
* Treasure - change tables:
- "treasure values per encounter", cut back to 10th level (arbitrary)
- "treaure", cut back to 10th level (arbitrary)
* Wilderness, Weather, and Environment - no change

Equipment and Items

* Equipment - no change
* Special Materials - no change
* Magic Items I (Basics and Creation) -
- sections on "Rods" and "Staffs" go away because feat is too high level;
- replace "Rings" reference to "Forge RIng" with Ry Stoughton's "Wondrous Rings" feat.
* Magic Items II (Armor and Weapons) -
- remove items wth CL greater than 6th or spells greater than 3rd
* Magic Items III (Potions, Rings, and Rods) -
- drop "Rods" section;
- replace "Rings" with Ry Stoughton's "Wondrous Rings" feat;
- remove items wth CL greater than 6th or spells greater than 3rd
* Magic Items IV (Scrolls, Staffs, and Wands) -
- drop "Staffs" section;
- remove items wth CL greater than 6th or spells greater than 3rd
* Magic Items V (Wondrous Items) - remove items wth CL greater than 6th or spells greater than 3rd
* Magic Items VI (Intelligent, Cursed, and Artifacts) - remove items wth CL greater than 6th or spells greater than 3rd ((?) and 6th for artifacts?)

Magic and Spells

* Magic Overview - no change
* Spell List I -
- chop Bard spell list beyond 2nd level spells
- chop Cleric list beyond 3rd level spells; and chop domain lists beyond 3rd
* Spell List II -
- chop Druid, Sorc, Wiz lists beyond 3rd level spell
- chop Pal and Rgr spell lists beyond 1st level spells
* Spells A-Z - For all Spells A-Z, excise references to any full-caster classes (Clr, Drd, Sor/Wiz) for which the spell exceeds 3rd level; for Brd class, 2nd level; and for Pal and Rgr, 1st level. A couple will remain to cover E6 "necessary feats", ((?)but those are relocated to Feats section).

Monsters
Drop all monsters above CR12(?), and only keep select ones from CR9-12. Pay especial attention to spell-like abilities (ie avoid ones mimicking spells above 4th level), high SR, and other abilities that are hard/impossible to counter with 3rd level or lesser magic. However, keep iconics and mythics, and explicitly mention advancing monsters, as per rules below.
* Monsters Intro-A
* Monsters B-C
* Monsters D-De
* Monsters Di-Do
* Monsters Dr-Dw
* Monsters E-F
* Monsters G
* Monsters H-I
* Monsters K-L
* Monsters M-N
* Monsters O-R
* Monsters S
* Monsters T-Z
* Monsters: Animals
* Monsters: Vermin
* Types, Subtypes, and Abilities - no change
* Monster Feats - (?)move certain ones to character Feats section; chop spell-likes metmagics 4th level; also include "non-epic general feats" from Epic Feats Index (Epic Feats Index :: d20srd.org)
* Improving Monsters - no change
* Monsters as Races - no change

Phase 2: Variant Rules (UA, etc)
Races
- environmental and elemental racial variants
- racial paragon classes (to 3rd level)
- gestalts (? even in phase1, since gestalting is a mentioned playstyle in Ry's docs)
- (likely not "Bloodlines", as they are oddly balanced at low levels)
Classes - include all sections, but cut back to 6 char levels where appropriate, especially gestalts.
Building Characters - all sections?; except maybe "Spelltouched Feats"as they are high-level spells mostly.
Adventuring - TBD
Magic - TBD (likely keep "Incantations")
Campaigns - TBD
Divine, Epic, Psionics (TBD) [/sblock]
I think the project is simple enough that discussion & coordination could happen right here, though we could move it elsewhere if needed. I think Phase 0 could be done in a few weeks, Phase 1 possibly in a few months. Hopefully, Phase 2 could be done by the end of the year.

The resulting work would be downloadable for use offline, and could be embedded in a wiki, hopefully would become a community repository for E6-related houserules.

Resources, references & materials

WotC's SRD RTFs (bundled download at bottom)
Ryan Stoughton's E6 documents (in PDFs section in middle)
The original E6 discussion thread
d20srd.org

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

Below is a proposed starting point, just to get interested folks thinking.

However, before any actual changes happen, we'll need to figure out exactly how to coordinate this so people aren't duplicating efforts or messing up others' work.

I'm willing to maintain a backup, hang on to docs as people finish them, pass them around for proofing, and the like (ie, coordinate), but if someone has a more specific or reliable suggestion I'm more than happy to hear it. Please let me hear it! Otherwise, I need to sit down and work something out before this gets too far along.

Without further ado, then....

GETTING STARTED

I think the easiest place to start is to simply sort out the rules that won't change in E6 and set those aside.

Here's the list of all SRD section files at WotC (sblocked), roughly equivalent to sections at d20srd.org or chapters in the manuals:
[sblock]# Legal Information (14k RTF)
# Basics and Ability Scores (57k RTF)
# Alignment and Description (57k RTF)
# Races (17k RTF)
# Character Classes I (343k RTF)
# Character Classes II (327k RTF)
# Skills I (181k RTF)
# Skills II (183k RTF)
# Feats (168k RTF)
# Equipment (475k RTF)
# Special Materials (24k RTF)
# Combat I (Basics) (128k RTF)
# Combat II (Movement, Modifiers, and Special Actions) (149k RTF)
# Special Abilities and Conditions (146k RTF)
# NPC Classes (155k RTF)
# Prestige Classes (389k RTF)
# Magic Overview (90k RTF)
# Spell List I (77k RTF)
# Spell List II (68k RTF)
# Spells (A-B) (92k RTF)
# Spells C (114k RTF)
# Spells (D-E) (134k RTF)
# Spells (F-G) (93k RTF)
# Spells (H-L) (104k RTF)
# Spells (M-O) (95k RTF)
# Spells (P-R) (197k RTF)
# Spells (S) (259k RTF)
# Spells (T-Z) (115k RTF)
# Magic Items I (Basics and Creation) (169k RTF)
# Magic Items II (Armor and Weapons) (465k RTF)
# Magic Items III (Potions, Rings, and Rods) (261k RTF)
# Magic Items IV (Scrolls, Staffs, and Wands) (788k RTF)
# Magic Items V (Wondrous Items) (727k RTF)
# Magic Items VI (Intelligent, Cursed, and Artifacts) (264k RTF)
# Monsters (Intro-A) (311k RTF)
# Monsters (B-C) (251k RTF)
# Monsters (D-De) (433k RTF)
# Monsters (Di-Do) (258k RTF)
# Monsters (Dr-Dw) (617k RTF)
# Monsters (E-F) (414k RTF)
# Monsters (G) (438k RTF)
# Monsters (H-I)(326k RTF)
# Monsters (K-L) (297k RTF)
# Monsters (M-N) (409k RTF)
# Monsters (O-R) (364k RTF)
# Monsters (S) (461k RTF)
# Monsters (T-Z) (441k RTF)
# Monsters (Animals) (709k RTF)
# Monsters (Vermin) (274k RTF)
# Types, Subtypes, and Special Abilities (106k RTF)
# Improving Monsters (74k RTF)
# Monster Feats (26k RTF)
# Monsters as Races (53k RTF)
# Carrying, Movement, and Exploration (206k RTF)
# Treasure (171k RTF)
# Wilderness, Weather, and Environment (168k RTF)
# Traps (144k RTF)
# Planes (65k RTF)[/sblock]
Of all of those (above), the ones that I'm guessing will have few, if any changes, for E6 follow:
[edit] The following files require no changes for E6 gaming, afaict. This is an adjustment to the original list I had posted; a couple have been removed from the list, so we remember to modify them later:
[sblock]
FILES WITH NO E6 CHANGES

# Alignment and Description (57k RTF)
# Races (17k RTF)
# Magic Overview (90k RTF)
# Skills I (181k RTF)
# Skills II (183k RTF)
# Equipment (475k RTF)
# Special Materials (24k RTF)
# Combat I (Basics) (128k RTF)
# Combat II (Movement, Modifiers, and Special Actions) (149k RTF)
# Improving Monsters (74k RTF)
# Monsters as Races (53k RTF)
# Carrying, Movement, and Exploration (206k RTF)
# Wilderness, Weather, and Environment (168k RTF)
# Planes (65k RTF)[/sblock] These (above) shouldn't need many mods at all (though I might be wrong), and should be fairly close to ready for inclusion into an E6 SRD as is. Put these aside, double check them later.

Of the remainder, the items that I suspect are easiest to change to E6, with minimal house ruling & need for debate, are the base classes and spells (the main list, as well as domain and school lists). Those files are:

SRD files TO DO:

in progress | needs attention | finished | not started

(When multiple users are named, the last one listed is the 'active' one, with the indicated file status; other users performed previous action on that file.)

(When a file needs to be proofread, the status indicator, awaiting proofread, is a hyperlink to the post containing the file in question.)

(When a file is finished, the status indicator, done, is a hyperlink to the post containing the finalized version of that file.)

# Character Classes I (343k RTF) - Gilladian/the_orc_within - done
# Character Classes II (327k RTF) - macrochelys/Gilladian/SuperChris - (done) done
# NPC Classes (155k RTF) - macrochelys/the_orc_within - done
# Spell List I (77k RTF) - the_orc_within/macrochelys - done
# Spell List II (68k RTF) - macrochelys/the_orc_within - done
# Spells (A-B) (92k RTF) - the_orc_within/macrochelys - done
# Spells C (114k RTF) - Gilladian/the_orc_within - done
# Spells (D-E) (134k RTF) - the_orc_within/macrochelys - done
# Spells (F-G) (93k RTF) - the_orc_within/macrochelys - done
# Spells (H-L) (104k RTF) - the_orc_within/macrochelys - done
# Spells (M-O) (95k RTF) - Gilladian/the_orc_within - done
# Spells (P-R) (197k RTF) - the_orc_within/Gilladian - done
# Spells (S) (259k RTF) - Gilladian/the_orc_within - done
# Spells (T-Z) (115k RTF) - the_orc_within/SuperChris - done
# Basics (57k RTF) - the_orc_within/SuperChris - done

I think these are a good place to start modifications. The work involved is tedious but straightforward and shouldn't require a lot of debate.

--and the rest of the files--
(moved from post#60, to keep progress rept's in one place)

The following is a list of the files that remain to be "converted" to E6. All other files are either finished, or else require no changes to convert to E6, afaict. Most of these will require some discussion before they get modified, so let's hold off on actually touching them until we're all on the same page. They're grouped by game function, except the first grouping which is simply "miscellaneous":

THE REMAINING FILES TO DO

# Prestige Classes - the_orc_within/SuperChris - ?- removed from baseline SRD
# Traps - the_orc_within/SuperChris - (orig) awaiting proofread
# Treasure - the_orc_within/SuperChris - done

# Feats - the_orc_within/SuperChris - done
# Monster Feats - the_orc_within - awaiting proofread

# Monsters (Animals) - Gilladian/the_orc_within - done
# Monsters (B-C) - the_orc_within/macrochelys - done?
# Monsters (D-De) - the_orc_within/macrochelys - done
# Monsters (Di-Do) - the_orc_within - done
# Monsters (Dr-Dw) - the_orc_within/ideasmith - done
# Monsters (E-F) - the_orc_within/macrochelys - done
# Monsters (G) - the_orc_within/macrochelys - done
# Monsters (H-I) - the_orc_within/macrochelys - done
# Monsters (Intro-A) - the_orc_within/macrochelys - done
# Monsters (K-L) - the_orc_within/macrochelys - done
# Monsters (M-N) - the_orc_within/macrochelys - done
# Monsters (O-R) - the_orc_within/macrochelys - done
# Monsters (S) - the_orc_within - awaiting proofread
# Monsters (T-Z) - the_orc_within - awaiting proofread
# Monsters (Vermin) - Gilladian - done
# Special Abilities and Conditions - ideasmith/the_orc_within - done
# Types, Subtypes, and Special Abilities - ideasmith/the_orc_within - awaiting proofread monstrous spells version

# Magic Items I (Basics and Creation) - ideasmith/the_orc_within - done
# Magic Items II (Armor and Weapons) - ideasmith/the_orc_within - done
# Magic Items III (Potions, Rings, and Rods) - ideasmith/the_orc_within - done
# Magic Items IV (Scrolls, Staffs, and Wands) - ideasmith/the_orc_within - awaiting proofread
# Magic Items V (Wondrous Items) - ideasmith/the_orc_within - done
# Magic Items VI (Intelligent, Cursed, and Artifacts) - ideasmith - awaiting proofread

# Legal Information

 

[Gilladian]

I'm on vacation all next week, so I will be happy to grab a class file and do some chopping down, and see what happens. I'll post on Monday, probably, what I've selected to chop and then repost my results for critiqueing...

I think it might be a good idea if anyone starts work on a file that they "dibs" it here so we don't duplicate work.

Gillian

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

Sounds good, thanks. When you choose a file, would you mind making a new post specifically for it, and putting its name at the top or in title of the post, maybe with a status of some sort, along the lines of "Classes I - dibs | editing | please proofread | etc". I'll also make the annotation in post 2 in the to-do list; yell at me if I fail to update something there.

Hopefully that will make it easier to see what's going on at a glance. At least let's try that system just so we can say that, yeah, we've got a system.

I'm out of town for the weekend, but I expect to have time to do the initial little tasks:
- really quick skim of the "no change" files (second sblock) just to make sure they're no change; if I catch one with big changes, i'll move it to the to-do list (3rd sblock)
- file "Magic overview" (which I'm guessing is the easiest one)

When you pick a class file, Gillian, I'll take the other one.

James

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

file: Magic Overview

file: Magic Overview

status: Oops! This file is actually a "no change" file!

comments:
I hope to get this completed & ready for proofread by 10 Jan or so.

Moved this file to the "no changes" list

 

[Lord Xtheth]

Poking my head in.
I'm working on notes and an outline for my project. Unless I get attacked by the killer lazy (a strong possibility) it shouldn't take too long to start the drafting process.

 

[macrochelys]

file: ClassesII

file: ClassesII

status: dibs/ in progress

My seasonal employment is ending next Tuesday, and I'd like to jump in on this to keep me busy. Started editing already, and it's going pretty fast. Might be done this file late tonight.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

Hi, macrochelys. Great to see you hop in here! Just try not to get too far ahead, since I'm still trying to get a feel for how to keep this coordinated! The system may change.

In any event, when you're done, attach the revised file in your post with a status of "please proofread" so others know to look it over.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

PROOFREADING

When a file gets a status of "please proofread", feel free to take a look at it. Make sure that tables are truncated to 6th level, and feature lists match what's in the table. Hopefully, spelling and grammar aren't an issue, but go ahead and fix those too, if you find them.

Don't worry too much about rules errata right now; that will get done at a later stage all at once.

For those who proofread, go ahead and use the same system as for editing: write the filename bold at top of the post and some status like "proof-reading" or something. Try to be really careful on the proof read. There's no need to rush it! If two people end up proofing the same file, it's not necessary at this stage, but certainly not a problem.

When you're done proofreading, attach the proofed file to your post or some sort of list of problems (as is convenient), update the status to "proofread finished", then "@ mention" me and the person who originally did it. I'll update the TO DO list, and you two can work out whatever you need to work out. I think it's less confusing for me if the finalized file ends up in the original editor's post, with an annotation about who did the proofing.

We'll probably go for a second round of proof reading all at once before "Phase 0" is declared done, but let's hold off on that for now.

 

[macrochelys]

file: ClassesII

file: ClassesII

status: please proofread

Less to change than I expected. Hopefully I didn't miss anything glaringly obvious.