XeviatTranion
First Post
Hello everyone, this is my first post here. The Wizards.Community boards have been slowing down lately; everyone seems too interested in their own ideas to comment on others. Because of that, I decided to come here and see if I could get some feedback on my ideas and find others to comment on and help myself.
I have been creating my setting for four years now, longer if you count the time I worked on it without a ruleset. I'm doing my best to have a high fantasy feel with enough differences to make it worthy of being its own setting. I intend to eventually publish novels for my setting, which is the major reason I run campaigns in it (having 4 to 8 players creating characters for a story gets more varied results than just creating them myself).
So, as my introductory post, I'd like to showcase my campaign. I'll try to have one post for each of the major aspects of revision in my setting, and everything that recieves interest will be posted in detail in a new thread.
Thanks in advance for all the input offered. Just to let you know, even though I'm starting the first post with general rule changes, the second post will introduce the setting (which is the most important part, but I felt that the rule changes would be easiest to comment on first, since they can be dropped into most campaigns easily).
General
I made/adopted several rule changes for my home games, done either to increase "realism" in the game and to have the rules fit my vision for my setting. These changes include the introduction of a Zero Level system, the adoption of a Wound point system, the introduction of an MP system modeled after the Expanded Psionics Handbook's Power Point system, the introduction of a Proficiency system to replace the current set class proficiencies (utilizing weapon groups), and a system that governs a characters physical, mental, and magical growth (called the Chakra system); my chakra system is largely uncompleted and requires the most assistance (it will be introduced here, but I'll make a separate thread to detail it).
Zero Level
The simplest of all my changes is the introduction of a Zero Level to all classes. A Zero level is a level attached to a character's first character class, and is only gained when the character takes their first character class. A Zero level includes maximum hit points, x4 skill points, the class's proficiency feats (discussed later), and saving throw bonuses; I altered low saving throws to grant +1/4 per level plus an additional +1 at 0 level, and high saves grant +1/2 per level plus an additional +2 at 0 level (this was done so 20th level characters will generally have whole number, or at least X.5 saving throws, since epic levels grant +1/2 to each saving throw at each level).
This slightly alters Monster/Racial hit dice: monster and racial hit dice do not have Zero levels, so monsters lose out on some skill points, but PCs gain an advantage because their extra skill points are gained from their first class, not their race.
Wound Points
I was first introduced to Wound Points by the message boards, but eventually I was able to play in a Star Wars campaign which showed me just how the wound system actually worked out in game. I really enjoyed it from a player's perspective: when I took vitality (essentially hit point) damage, I felt save, but when I suffered a critical hit and had to save vs. being stunned, I knew I was truely injured.
As a DM, I find it more descriptive and more realistic. I've made some large alterations to the system, but the idea is essentially the same. Characters have hit points and wound points: hit points are determined by your constitution modifier added to each of your class hit dice, while your wound points are equal to your current constitution score. When you are attacked and suffer damage, the damage is subtracted from your hit points. When you are out of hit points, or are subject to a critical hit, the damage is instead applied to your wound points. Additionally, once you are out of hit points, or suffer even a single point of wound damage, you are fatigued (changed to -2 to all ability scores and cannot charge or run, though the alteration to Constitution does not alter your HP or WP).
When your WP are reduced to 0, you become exhausted (-6 to all ability scores and can only take a single action, though the alteration to Con does not alter your HP or WP). Once you are reduced to negative wounds, you must begin to make Fortutide saves to resist dying. The Fort Save DC is equal to 10 + 1/5 damage below 0. If you succeed your saving throw, you are disabled; if you fail your saving throw by 9 or less, you are unconscious and dying; if you fail your saving throw by 10 or more, you are dead. Disabled means you are exhausted and now take 1 wound damage (and have to make another, recalculated, saving throw) every time you perform a strenuous action (most standard actions and some others); additionally, while disabled, if you have to make another fortitute save, any result other than a failure by 10 or more means you are now dying. Dying means you suffer one point of wound damage every round, and have to make recalculated saving throws. If you do not take damage from an outside source while dying, your first successful fortitude save means you only take damage once per hour; a successful save on your first hourly save means you are now disabled and begin to heal normally, though you are still unconscious until your wounds reach 0.
Characters heal HP at a rate of 1 hp/hour/level, and they heal WP at a rate of 1 wp/rest period/level. Because bed rest is less necessary in this system, I had to adopt a fatigue system for staying awake an excessive amount of time; though it is large and I'll post it another time.
MP
My MP system is another long writeup, but I'll give the basics here. Each class has a mana die, similar to their hit die. Sorcerers and other spontanious casters gain a d12, clerics and other preparation casters gain a d10, bards and other partial casters gain a d8, paladins and other half casters gain a d6, and fighters and other non-casters gain a d4. Your Wisdom modifier is added to this die to determine how many MP you gain at each level; while non-casters have no spells, there are feats and magic items that utilize MP, and they can be used similarly to action points.
Because Wisdom is used for all character's MP, Charisma is now used for all character's saving throw DCs (including those for all SU and SP abilities). Intelligence is tied to Spellcraft and Knowledge skills, and I am seaking a way of making those skills more important/necessary to spellcasting.
Spells cost a number of MP determined by the following equasion: spell level doubled, minus 1). Each spell has a base effect (such as a fixed number of dice damage), and many spells have Augmentations (most augmentations increase the damage a fixed dice damage spell deals, though they can alter targets, target types, duration, and bonuses/penalties applied). Augmentations cost additional mana points; similarly, metamagic feats increase a spell's mp cost. Characters can only spend MP equal to their character level on a single spell at a time.
Proficiencies
I've always prefered a proficiency group system (similar to that offered in the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale computer games) over the more broad system offered by 3rd Edition rules. In my system, weapons are still grouped by simple, martial, and exotic, but are also grouped into weapon groups. Simple groups are, rightfully, the most simplistic. Martial groups require a +1 BAB to take (meaning only warriors gain take them with their first proficiencies), and also have a prerequisite simple group one must attain proficiency in (and are associated with; more later). Exotic weapons are similarly associated with Martial groups, but exotic weapons must be purchased individually and may not be purchased with proficiency feats (they must be purchased with standard feats).
Characters gain a number of proficiency feats determined by their class when they gain their 0 character level (gained along with their 1st class level). Fighters gain 10, Barbarians and Paladins gain 8, bards and rangers and rogues gain 6, clerics and druids and sorcerers gain 4, and wizards gain 2. Characters use their proficiency feats to purchase armor, weapon, and shield proficiencies (though all characters are proficient in basic weapons, which include the club, dagger, and quarterstaff).
I'm toying with the idea of granting characters additional proficiency feats upon gaining a multiple of 4 BAB, but I'm unsure. Likewise, I'm considering letting characters spend a number of proficiency feats (1 or 2 most likely) on purchasing a feat from the fighter bonus feat list; this would be helpful to light armored fighters who have no reason to purchase medium and heavy armor, as well as shields or tower shields.
Chakra system
The last of my varients requires a lot of discussion, so I'll only briefly introduce it here. The idea is that all creatures possess elemental energy within themself; everything is composed of this energy, so it is not suprising that creatures possess it as well. This energy is concentrated into energy centers within the body known as Chakras; the size and power of these energy centers determines how much energy the center is able to absorb and process.
As a character grows in experience/power, their chakras also grow in size and strength in proportion to how they are used. Since each chakra governs physical, mental, and magical aspects of a creature, everyone has opportunity to exersize them. As the chakra grows, the character's physical and mental ability scores adjust, dependent on which chakra is increasing (though I am unsure exactly which way I want this correlation to go; either the character increases their ability scores and the chakras increase, or they increase their chakras and their ability scores increase).
This is where the system requires work. The five elements are Air, Earth, Fire, Water, and Void, though I am still unsure as to how much power I want to give to Void (part of me wants to leave it "devoid" of spells, leaving it a rarely used, but possibly very potent, element, while another part of me can easily see it gaining positive and negative energy, as well as psychic powers). Additionally, in order for proper synergy to take place, I needed to split up the ability scores a little bit to add in one additional physical and mental ability scores. The new scores are Agility and Perception: Agility governs AC and Reflex saves, as well as the Tumble skill, while Perception governs Initiative, as well as the Listen, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Spot, and Survival skills.
Air is tied to Agility and Perception. Earth is tied to Constitution and Wisdom. Fire is tied to Strength and Charisma. Water is tied to Dexterity and Intelligence. Void is not tied to any ability scores.
The idea behind this system is that all characters, and creatures even, have magical power within them. They can use it to perform some minorly magical affects (having certain ranks in a chakra will allow one to spend MP to perform certain simple affects, similar to action points but split amongst the elements), to power magic items (anyone can read scrolls, for instance, but the mechanics are being overhauled), or to power actual spells (gained through feats or classes). Magic is intrinsically tied to the physical and mental being of the caster; a caster specializing in one element over the other will become physically and mentally altered by the excersize (either because it is advantagous to, for instance, become physically stronger to power fire spells, or simply the excessive use of fire spells allows the fire chakra to grow, thus making the character stronger).
Again, I am unsure of which way I want the correlation to go. I am also unsure of exactly how to determine chakras: one way is that it would be like an ability score, either treated as the average of the chakra's two scores or the lowest of the chakra's two scores; the other is to treat them like skills and grant characters a number of points at each level to progress them. I'd like to have them contribute in determining caster level, but again I'm unsure of how to do this. Any and all assistance would be appreciated.
Next post will be a description of the setting, known as the Three Worlds Campaign Setting.
I have been creating my setting for four years now, longer if you count the time I worked on it without a ruleset. I'm doing my best to have a high fantasy feel with enough differences to make it worthy of being its own setting. I intend to eventually publish novels for my setting, which is the major reason I run campaigns in it (having 4 to 8 players creating characters for a story gets more varied results than just creating them myself).
So, as my introductory post, I'd like to showcase my campaign. I'll try to have one post for each of the major aspects of revision in my setting, and everything that recieves interest will be posted in detail in a new thread.
Thanks in advance for all the input offered. Just to let you know, even though I'm starting the first post with general rule changes, the second post will introduce the setting (which is the most important part, but I felt that the rule changes would be easiest to comment on first, since they can be dropped into most campaigns easily).
General
I made/adopted several rule changes for my home games, done either to increase "realism" in the game and to have the rules fit my vision for my setting. These changes include the introduction of a Zero Level system, the adoption of a Wound point system, the introduction of an MP system modeled after the Expanded Psionics Handbook's Power Point system, the introduction of a Proficiency system to replace the current set class proficiencies (utilizing weapon groups), and a system that governs a characters physical, mental, and magical growth (called the Chakra system); my chakra system is largely uncompleted and requires the most assistance (it will be introduced here, but I'll make a separate thread to detail it).
Zero Level
The simplest of all my changes is the introduction of a Zero Level to all classes. A Zero level is a level attached to a character's first character class, and is only gained when the character takes their first character class. A Zero level includes maximum hit points, x4 skill points, the class's proficiency feats (discussed later), and saving throw bonuses; I altered low saving throws to grant +1/4 per level plus an additional +1 at 0 level, and high saves grant +1/2 per level plus an additional +2 at 0 level (this was done so 20th level characters will generally have whole number, or at least X.5 saving throws, since epic levels grant +1/2 to each saving throw at each level).
This slightly alters Monster/Racial hit dice: monster and racial hit dice do not have Zero levels, so monsters lose out on some skill points, but PCs gain an advantage because their extra skill points are gained from their first class, not their race.
Wound Points
I was first introduced to Wound Points by the message boards, but eventually I was able to play in a Star Wars campaign which showed me just how the wound system actually worked out in game. I really enjoyed it from a player's perspective: when I took vitality (essentially hit point) damage, I felt save, but when I suffered a critical hit and had to save vs. being stunned, I knew I was truely injured.
As a DM, I find it more descriptive and more realistic. I've made some large alterations to the system, but the idea is essentially the same. Characters have hit points and wound points: hit points are determined by your constitution modifier added to each of your class hit dice, while your wound points are equal to your current constitution score. When you are attacked and suffer damage, the damage is subtracted from your hit points. When you are out of hit points, or are subject to a critical hit, the damage is instead applied to your wound points. Additionally, once you are out of hit points, or suffer even a single point of wound damage, you are fatigued (changed to -2 to all ability scores and cannot charge or run, though the alteration to Constitution does not alter your HP or WP).
When your WP are reduced to 0, you become exhausted (-6 to all ability scores and can only take a single action, though the alteration to Con does not alter your HP or WP). Once you are reduced to negative wounds, you must begin to make Fortutide saves to resist dying. The Fort Save DC is equal to 10 + 1/5 damage below 0. If you succeed your saving throw, you are disabled; if you fail your saving throw by 9 or less, you are unconscious and dying; if you fail your saving throw by 10 or more, you are dead. Disabled means you are exhausted and now take 1 wound damage (and have to make another, recalculated, saving throw) every time you perform a strenuous action (most standard actions and some others); additionally, while disabled, if you have to make another fortitute save, any result other than a failure by 10 or more means you are now dying. Dying means you suffer one point of wound damage every round, and have to make recalculated saving throws. If you do not take damage from an outside source while dying, your first successful fortitude save means you only take damage once per hour; a successful save on your first hourly save means you are now disabled and begin to heal normally, though you are still unconscious until your wounds reach 0.
Characters heal HP at a rate of 1 hp/hour/level, and they heal WP at a rate of 1 wp/rest period/level. Because bed rest is less necessary in this system, I had to adopt a fatigue system for staying awake an excessive amount of time; though it is large and I'll post it another time.
MP
My MP system is another long writeup, but I'll give the basics here. Each class has a mana die, similar to their hit die. Sorcerers and other spontanious casters gain a d12, clerics and other preparation casters gain a d10, bards and other partial casters gain a d8, paladins and other half casters gain a d6, and fighters and other non-casters gain a d4. Your Wisdom modifier is added to this die to determine how many MP you gain at each level; while non-casters have no spells, there are feats and magic items that utilize MP, and they can be used similarly to action points.
Because Wisdom is used for all character's MP, Charisma is now used for all character's saving throw DCs (including those for all SU and SP abilities). Intelligence is tied to Spellcraft and Knowledge skills, and I am seaking a way of making those skills more important/necessary to spellcasting.
Spells cost a number of MP determined by the following equasion: spell level doubled, minus 1). Each spell has a base effect (such as a fixed number of dice damage), and many spells have Augmentations (most augmentations increase the damage a fixed dice damage spell deals, though they can alter targets, target types, duration, and bonuses/penalties applied). Augmentations cost additional mana points; similarly, metamagic feats increase a spell's mp cost. Characters can only spend MP equal to their character level on a single spell at a time.
Proficiencies
I've always prefered a proficiency group system (similar to that offered in the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale computer games) over the more broad system offered by 3rd Edition rules. In my system, weapons are still grouped by simple, martial, and exotic, but are also grouped into weapon groups. Simple groups are, rightfully, the most simplistic. Martial groups require a +1 BAB to take (meaning only warriors gain take them with their first proficiencies), and also have a prerequisite simple group one must attain proficiency in (and are associated with; more later). Exotic weapons are similarly associated with Martial groups, but exotic weapons must be purchased individually and may not be purchased with proficiency feats (they must be purchased with standard feats).
Characters gain a number of proficiency feats determined by their class when they gain their 0 character level (gained along with their 1st class level). Fighters gain 10, Barbarians and Paladins gain 8, bards and rangers and rogues gain 6, clerics and druids and sorcerers gain 4, and wizards gain 2. Characters use their proficiency feats to purchase armor, weapon, and shield proficiencies (though all characters are proficient in basic weapons, which include the club, dagger, and quarterstaff).
I'm toying with the idea of granting characters additional proficiency feats upon gaining a multiple of 4 BAB, but I'm unsure. Likewise, I'm considering letting characters spend a number of proficiency feats (1 or 2 most likely) on purchasing a feat from the fighter bonus feat list; this would be helpful to light armored fighters who have no reason to purchase medium and heavy armor, as well as shields or tower shields.
Chakra system
The last of my varients requires a lot of discussion, so I'll only briefly introduce it here. The idea is that all creatures possess elemental energy within themself; everything is composed of this energy, so it is not suprising that creatures possess it as well. This energy is concentrated into energy centers within the body known as Chakras; the size and power of these energy centers determines how much energy the center is able to absorb and process.
As a character grows in experience/power, their chakras also grow in size and strength in proportion to how they are used. Since each chakra governs physical, mental, and magical aspects of a creature, everyone has opportunity to exersize them. As the chakra grows, the character's physical and mental ability scores adjust, dependent on which chakra is increasing (though I am unsure exactly which way I want this correlation to go; either the character increases their ability scores and the chakras increase, or they increase their chakras and their ability scores increase).
This is where the system requires work. The five elements are Air, Earth, Fire, Water, and Void, though I am still unsure as to how much power I want to give to Void (part of me wants to leave it "devoid" of spells, leaving it a rarely used, but possibly very potent, element, while another part of me can easily see it gaining positive and negative energy, as well as psychic powers). Additionally, in order for proper synergy to take place, I needed to split up the ability scores a little bit to add in one additional physical and mental ability scores. The new scores are Agility and Perception: Agility governs AC and Reflex saves, as well as the Tumble skill, while Perception governs Initiative, as well as the Listen, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Spot, and Survival skills.
Air is tied to Agility and Perception. Earth is tied to Constitution and Wisdom. Fire is tied to Strength and Charisma. Water is tied to Dexterity and Intelligence. Void is not tied to any ability scores.
The idea behind this system is that all characters, and creatures even, have magical power within them. They can use it to perform some minorly magical affects (having certain ranks in a chakra will allow one to spend MP to perform certain simple affects, similar to action points but split amongst the elements), to power magic items (anyone can read scrolls, for instance, but the mechanics are being overhauled), or to power actual spells (gained through feats or classes). Magic is intrinsically tied to the physical and mental being of the caster; a caster specializing in one element over the other will become physically and mentally altered by the excersize (either because it is advantagous to, for instance, become physically stronger to power fire spells, or simply the excessive use of fire spells allows the fire chakra to grow, thus making the character stronger).
Again, I am unsure of which way I want the correlation to go. I am also unsure of exactly how to determine chakras: one way is that it would be like an ability score, either treated as the average of the chakra's two scores or the lowest of the chakra's two scores; the other is to treat them like skills and grant characters a number of points at each level to progress them. I'd like to have them contribute in determining caster level, but again I'm unsure of how to do this. Any and all assistance would be appreciated.
Next post will be a description of the setting, known as the Three Worlds Campaign Setting.
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and let people milk classes as they see fit - that's why the boys at WotC made it that way. People will make characters the way they want to make them... so what if they dabble here and there? They'll get more abilities/feats, sure, but they'll suffer in the long run.
