I've got a large (and still growing) list. Wall of text ahead; you've been warned.
My biggest hacks are:
- Separation of feats into
talents (for non-combat use) and
feats (for combat use), and dropping all their ability score requirements. Starting at level 5, each character gains one talent, plus one talent for every 5 levels thereafter. You can also spend feats to purchase talents (but not the other way around).
Reason: This encourages flavorful feat selection and makes former feats like Linguist more attractive.
- Removing most superior weapons, modifying some weapons, and introducing
Weapon Specialization feats that give a bonus to one weapon from a particular weapon group. E.g.
Axe Specialization increases the weapon damage die by one step for the chosen axe.
Reason: This is done both for flavor reasons and because it's something from 2e that I've missed in 4e.
- Speaking of 2e, I've hacked the cleric class and its domains. You choose one of your deity's domains (or play a boring
Generalist cleric
), which determines your secondary ability (called
domain ability), choice of weapons and armor, and possible benefits related to that particular domain.
E.g. the Fury/Vengeance domain:
[sblock]
Domain Ability: Strength.
Armor Proficiencies: Cloth, leather, hide, chainmail,
scale
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple melee, simple ranged,
military two-handed melee weapons.
Other Benefits: While you are bloodied, you gain a
+1 bonus to attack rolls with two-handed melee
weapons.[/sblock]
- Psionic augmentation costs are reworked (again, for those of you keeping track). Augments are 1 & 2 for levels 1 to 16, and 2 & 3 for levels 17+. All Psionic At-Wills also deal 2 damage dice on a hit.
Reason: This removes abusive spamming of low-level powers. The problem with weaker At-Will powers at higher levels still remains, though.
- Character advancement: At levels 4, 8, 14, 18, 24 and 28, you gain +1 to three ability scores.
Reason: This ensures that all class builds have no more than one weak F/R/W defense, and characters can increase other abilities than just the most important two for their class. There should also be more attractive multiclass and hybrid options now.
Smaller hacks/tweaks (not exhaustive):
- Magic Items: all bonuses and penalties granted by items are typed as item bonuses and item penalties.
Reason: This prevents abusive bonus stacking with magic items.
- Multiclassing gives you the power-swap feats at the appropriate levels for free.
Reason: This removes a feat tax and gives multiclass characters greater versatility.
- All classes that are primarily melee-focused use their primary ability for MBA's.
Reason: This removes a feat tax and counters the nerfing of the Melee Training feat.
- All classes have training in at least 4 skills, and several classes have expanded class skill lists.
Reason: This improves out-of-combat balance between classes. Also, no more dumb fighters and barbarians.
- Many weak powers and class features have been improved, and class features have been added in some cases. E.g. ensnaring and assault swordmages, ranger beast companions, swarm druids, ruthless ruffian rogues, and those poor, poor seekers.
Reason: More viable options for my players.
- Some classes have gained more options for customization. E.g. swordmages can choose axes, hammers, maces or spears instead of blades; knights and slayers can choose between Con, Dex, and Wis for their secondary abilities.
Reason: I like to give my players more options.
- I've removed obsolete feats and rewrote several feats (notably from PH1, HoFK and HoFL).
Reason: This is done for balance reasons. To be blunt, several feats from Essentials are too strong for their tier, and I do not approve of this power creep.
- Speaking of power creep, themes are nerfed in my non-Dark Sun games, although I'm still playtesting this. At level 1, you gain the associated utility power, which you can swap for an associated higher-level theme utility power later on. At level 5, you gain a +2 bonus to an appropriate skill. At level 10, you gain a bonus talent that must be appropriate to the chosen theme.
Reason: IMO the post-Dark Sun themes should strengthen the out-of-combat options of characters.
And many more tweaks. I don't want to bore you.
(Seriously, I've got a pdf of all that stuff using WotC's rules update format. It has got 41 pages at the moment, and it's not even up to date...)
Hacks/tweaks that I'll probably test at some point:
- Heavy armor works similar to light armor, but is modified by Str/Con; e.g. Plate armor gives +5 AC. This hack also requires a re-adjustment or removal of Masterwork armors. (I've used a baseline of a 16 in Str/Con to determine the hacked AC bonus.)
Reason: This should prevent heavy armor users from having a worse AC than light armor users at late Epic, and compensates for the drawbacks of heavy armor IMO.
- Most rituals cost healing surges instead of gold. I haven't thought much about this yet, though; maybe 1/tier of the ritual? Item creation rituals still cost gold.
Reason: This should prevent spamming of low-level rituals and encourage the use of rituals for story reasons.
- Determining bonuses to ability scores: You gain a +2
ability bonus to the primary ability score of your chosen class*, and a +2
ability bonus to one ability that your race** gets a bonus to; these bonuses are typed and do not stack. E.g a half-elf fighter would gain +2 Str and +2 Con or Wis or Cha.
* Choose one primary ability for classes with two primary ability scores, and one class for hybrids.
** Except for humans.
Reason: This should promote a greater variety of race/class combinations at the table.
