Recent content by Chris Lawrence

Great! Thanks for the feedback, Gerion. :)

[Repost from RPG.net] I'm currently running an Eberron campaign for PCs playing Dhakaani hobgoblins. They are out to fight against the ancient evil that destroyed their civilization (abberations, some now undead), go exploring in the wild jungle continent of Xen'drik (filled with savage drow and...

No, I don't usually give out rewards for that--that could make a good track. I like it. :) Perhaps they should get the XP even if they fail, given that such statements and the subsequent attempts are likely to land the character in a fair bit of trouble.

[Repost from RPG.net] I’m looking to give players more opportunities to customize their characters, in this case by choosing different ways in which their character can earn XP (something like TSOY’s keys). I’m calling these different methods of getting XP ‘experience tracks.’ I’d like to ask...

#17 Games shouldn't be realistic. Those who like realism don't realise that the point of the game is fun and realism isn't fun. #18 It's only fun if it's new and 'original'. Things that have been done before are tres boring dahling. #19 Hit points make sense and the correct rational...

I think the 'problem' is that D&D in general imagines very long-lived races who nevertheless always have the same average skill levels as humans. So, in a typical D&D world, the top-level elven adventurers tend to be about the same level as top-level human adventurers, even though the former may...

Hmmm... Perhaps aristocrats, experts and commoners could have the option to trade in any or all of their BAB, save and HP progression each level for a set number of skill points (maybe 2 per element traded in, giving 6 extra points for a full trade-in). Then award a set number of XP each year...

This sort of system is fairly common within house rules and in non-d20 games. It's known as the 'death spiral,' because once a creature is injured, it becomes less competent at fighting and thus more likely to be injured again, after which it becomes even less competent, and so on... Gamewise...

Thanks for the feedback, Lorehead. I agree that caution would have to be shown here, but I don't think I'd mind characters getting earlier access to some prestige classes if they had earned it off-screen, in their down-time. It's a point-a-year max, so getting significantly earlier access to...

I agree. My thinking is that, in practice, the DM would simply estimate how many skill points any given NPC would have, but that the mechanical system to back it up would give the DM a basis for his or her guess. For example, the DM might have the PCs buying gear from Joe the Merchant. Joe is 50...

I've never liked the fact that A) if an expert such as a jeweller goes up in levels, he gets much better at fighting (thanks to HP, save and BAB improvement) even if he's never lifted a sword in his life, and B) experts who don't advance in levels can't actually be experts in their craft--at...

Thanks for the feedback Dave. I'm envisioning the restriction as primarily a cultural one, so that half-elves raised by elves would be able to take the class, as would the occasional non-elven/fey character who has chosen, once and for all, to turn his or her back on world of farms, towns and...

Great ideas. Thanks Turanil! I also posted this on rpg.net, where some others suggested the scout class. Unfortunately, I don't have Complete Adventurer. Could you give me a brief overview of the scout as a class?

I've been working on an expanded list of base classes for my homebrew and have a basic idea of what I want. However, I've made the new classes mostly by stripping class features away from standard classes and I now need to think about what class features to give the new/modified classes to...