GOD RULES: Player's Guide (5e) Kickstarter Pre-Launch Page

[Upper_Krust]

I definitely like the idea of the alt-cover; however, I would prefer it wasn't AI generated.

Hey dave amigo!

Well in my defense that single image took me 33 hours of re-painting to get right.

 

[lichmaster]

Finally got the Pre-launch Page activated, let me know if I have made any mistakes; its my first Kickstarter after all.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/godrules5e/god-rules-players-guide-for-5e?ref=1nxh73

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Any feedback or questions (on either the book or the Kickstarter) is appreciated.

How has all this go(o)dness eluded me so far?! And on top of it from @Upper_Krust ?! I remember devouring your CR deconstructions and immortals level scaling way back from 3.5 era ("I was there, 3000 years ago..."), so this is an insta-back for me!

Btw, just out of curiosity: a few years ago I backed the awesome Epic Legacy projects, which contained a lot of great ideas. I'm wondering if it's gonna be possible to blend the two

 

[Obly99]

Hey all!

What do you guys think of the idea of a Kickstarter Exclusive Alternate cover using the Legends & Lore homage?

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I like the idea of the alt-cover but not if it's AI generated.

 

[Upper_Krust]

How has all this go(o)dness eluded me so far?! And on top of it from @Upper_Krust ?! I remember devouring your CR deconstructions and immortals level scaling way back from 3.5 era ("I was there, 3000 years ago..."), so this is an insta-back for me!

[/QUOTE]

Ahoy there lichmaster*, I must have been flying under your radar amigo!

*just wait til I get to the Liches in the Bestiaries...completely new categories never before seen and crazy high-powered Liches of every new plane (of which there are 13) and dimension...in fact I might end up doing a Book of Liches as I went crazy last year and designed over 30 for these new rules.

Btw, just out of curiosity: a few years ago I backed the awesome Epic Legacy projects, which contained a lot of great ideas. I'm wondering if it's gonna be possible to blend the two

Is that the book which had Levels 21-30? I purposefully didn't buy it because I didn't want it influencing me - but I support any and all epic tier material. I might pick it up after my book launches.

I do remember thinking about it a while ago and it should fit easily in one of two options. Either add Divine Ranks after Level 30. Or skip Divine Ranks 1-2 (Hero-deity and Quasi-deity) in the book - since my Divine Ranks are approx. 5-6 level jumps BUT NOT in a linear advancement.

My Divine Ranks are completely modular for ease of use. So they are compatible with any 5E based system and probably any d20 based system like Pathfinder, Any D&D Edition, Shadowdark etc.

 

[Upper_Krust]

I like the idea of the alt-cover but not if it's AI generated.

Understandable Obly amigo. I know some people are against it as was I initially. My situation was one of over ambition getting the better of me.

I commissioned and licensed over 100 illustrations from real artists for this project at a cost of basically my life savings and potentially more than I might even make on this book but I am willing to take that risk just to make this passion project.

But the project kept growing, 400 pages, 500, 600, I split the book into two, Rules and Bestiary. Still it grew. Now it's multiple 400+ page books.

I cannot afford to commission more art.

The artists all got paid, some many thousands of dollars.

My only option was to finish the book with AI generated art (which always gets painted over to some degree by me - with up to 33 hours work in some cases). Otherwise I may as well give up my dream of RPG writing altogether because I have too much invested in this project.

So that is my situation. I know some are dead against AI and they won't support it's use regardless of 'excuse'. In this case that excuse being no artists lost money in this situation, quite the contrary. Artists were well paid til the money ran out. The only person losing out is me.

If people choose not to support this book I will fully respect their decision. I would just like to hope they won't judge me too harshly for its use.

 

[lichmaster]

*just wait til I get to the Liches in the Bestiaries...completely new categories never before seen and crazy high-powered Liches of every new plane (of which there are 13) and dimension...in fact I might end up doing a Book of Liches as I went crazy last year and designed over 30 for these new rules.

Awesome! I mean, demi-liches must be aspiring to something, right? I guess there'll be Uber-liches and Meta-liches!

Is that the book which had Levels 21-30? I purposefully didn't buy it because I didn't want it influencing me - but I support any and all epic tier material. I might pick it up after my book launches.

Exactly that one (two, actually, there's one mostly for DMs)! It makes sense for you not wanting to be influenced by it, but I really enjoyed those products! I suggest you give it a try once you publish yours!

I do remember thinking about it a while ago and it should fit easily in one of two options. Either add Divine Ranks after Level 30. Or skip Divine Ranks 1-2 (Hero-deity and Quasi-deity) in the book - since my Divine Ranks are approx. 5-6 level jumps BUT NOT in a linear advancement.

Makes sense. I have serious doubts I'll ever DM (let alone play!) anything above level 12, but I'm a sucker for epic levels, so this will be added to the small but beloved list!

 

[Upper_Krust]

Awesome! I mean, demi-liches must be aspiring to something, right?

Well I had Akaliches (Aka means Shadow Body in Kahuna Magic - for those that know their occult lore) in 3E. But that pales in comparison to these new Liches.

I guess there'll be Uber-liches and Meta-liches!

Too early for spoilers Lichmaster amigo, but suffice to say the craziest bunch of liches ever unearthed.

Exactly that one (two, actually, there's one mostly for DMs)! It makes sense for you not wanting to be influenced by it,

In reality that was never likely to be the case. I don't think simply adding levels works for what I want to create because it just leads to needless complexity that gets compounded the higher you go.

But certainly if you are just going 21st-30th then its not going to be a massive issue. But building Immortals with Class Levels is flawed design in my opinion...now that I have had 20 years to think about it since that's more or less what I did back in 3rd Edition.

But instead I have 30 Divine Ranks in the Book and is is as simplified as possible. Rather than needing to design class levels for all classes between 21st-30th level I just have the Hero-deity (Divine Rank 1) and Quasi-deity (Divine Rank 2 Templates). Then you just pick Purview(s) and Boon(s).

but I really enjoyed those products! I suggest you give it a try once you publish yours!

I'll be sure and give them a look after things quieten down with the Kickstarter.

Makes sense. I have serious doubts I'll ever DM (let alone play!) anything above level 12,

I recently played up to Level 20 + 8 Epic Boons and I didn't see any leap in complexity although the group was mostly non-casters.

Hopefully my book will inspire your group to give the Immortal Tier a try...even if only for a one-shot.

but I'm a sucker for epic levels, so this will be added to the small but beloved list!

I appreciate the support. Thanks buddy.

 

[dave2008]

Exactly that one (two, actually, there's one mostly for DMs)! It makes sense for you not wanting to be influenced by it, but I really enjoyed those products! I suggest you give it a try once you publish yours!

Personally. I was a bit underwhelmed with Epic Legacies rules and frankly most of the epic rules for 5e out there. However, I have high hopes UK will correct that!

 

[dave2008]

PS @Upper_Krust : have you seen Twilight of the Gods on Netflix? I think it has some interesting ideas of epic gaming.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Personally. I was a bit underwhelmed with Epic Legacies rules and frankly most of the epic rules for 5e out there.

Well I can't speak to those rules specifically, I think I only caught the Previews. But having tried the "Lets just keep leveling up" design approach myself 20 years ago (leading on from the Epic Level Handbook) I think you run into multiple problems.

1. Needless Complexity: Which gets even more complicated when you factor multi-classing.
2. Lack of Identity: Should Thor be a 53rd-level (or whatever) Barbarian or the GOD OF THUNDER!? Its a no-brainer.
3. Underwhelming Results: due to linear scaling - how could you create a character like Goku with 5e Levels; what is he over Level 9000 or something! An issue my Divinity Templates neatly avoid - in fact I actually plotted out Dragonball power levels so they fit perfect with God Rules.
4. Spread Too Thin: Imagine you had rules extended to Level 100 (or whatever), each incremental advance would be minuscule and pointless. Instead in God Rules each Divine Rank has a big impact on power without adding complexity.
5. Balancing Encounters: More levels are harder to balance. I've streamlined this at Epic Tier and above by tying Divine Rank to Challenge rating and shifting up or down ranks always means the same thing in terms of the number of characters.

E.g. So I know an Epic Tier Character (Lets call that Divine Rank 0 ) is approx. Challenge Rating 12*, Divine Rank 3 (Demigod) is Challenge Rating 24 and Divine Rank 6 (Greater Deity) is Challenge Rating 36. A jump of +12 CR (or 3 Divine Ranks) always means the more powerful character is equal to 6 of the lower CR. So the CR 24-Demigod is equal to SIX Epic Tier characters, while the CR 36-Greater God is equal to SIX Demigods.

*Simplified (Level 17 = CR 11, Level 20 is CR 13, before those player characters go 'nova').

However, I have high hopes UK will correct that!

No pressure then.