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A couple of options I'm curious about with Trailblazer
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<blockquote data-quote="smathis" data-source="post: 5603631" data-attributes="member: 56465"><p>I just picked up TB from Amazon. Came in a few days ago and I was hooked. Read the whole thing, pretty much front to back. Very interesting work and I agree with others that I probably would've stuck with 3.5 longer had this book been in my hands sooner.</p><p></p><p>That said.</p><p></p><p>One of the things that's killed me about 3.5 is how long it often takes to create characters. For 4e, it's even worse IMO.</p><p></p><p>And a lot of that I lay down on Feats and Skills (of course, it's Powers in 4e). Especially Skill Points. Sure, some of us have a pretty good grasp on what we're going for and we can knock out a non-spellcaster in less than half-an-hour. But then there are the analysis paralysis types who are going to sit there and grouse over whether they should take Cleave or Power Attack or something else for an hour or two.</p><p></p><p>Long story not-so-short, I think it's the added investment in character creation that gave 3.0 and now 4.0 players this sense of entitlement they they deserve to eek through and be "heroes". Even though I think it's more what a player does with a character (than what numbers are written on a character sheet) that earns that distinction. But I get where they're coming from. If it's going to take 90 minutes or basically the rest of the night to put together a replacement character, suddenly PC mortality is something that's just not fun, cool or whatever.</p><p></p><p>That said, TB is great at breaking down the math of third edition. And I'm looking forward to the monster book, even though 3e isn't on my list of games that I play regularly anymore.</p><p></p><p>That would change, though, if I could do TWO things.</p><p></p><p>1) Get rid of Feats. Or at least move their function into another, more freeform, less shopping-list, mechanic. Like Action Points maybe?</p><p></p><p>2) Get rid of Skill Points. Just offer the +5 for Trained and all that.</p><p></p><p>Could either of those work in Trailblazer? Is it possible?</p><p></p><p>I'm also of the opinion that the skill points inflate the skills to insane levels in 3e. 4e too. Making it such that a regular lock needs a DC of 20 to pick. That's kind of crazy, IMO. But it's something I feel I can easily address by slowing level progression down (Epic6 style) after a cutoff level -- like 8th or 10th.</p><p></p><p>I really like what I've seen with Trailblazer. It's still 3e -- which means I still find it fidgety and trying to fit a rule in for every hole. But it's a very PURPOSEFUL 3e. Whereas a lot of 3e revisions seem like they're just throwing spaghetti on the wall to see if it's done, Trailblazer seems to have things figured out and exudes a confidence that "yes, this will work and will fix the issues we've identified".</p><p></p><p>I only wish it would've taken a step or two further, perhaps even as variants.</p><p></p><p>But I'm concerned with how either (or both) of those changes would completely mess up the game.</p><p></p><p>How would "no feats" look in Trailblazer? How could those abilities be modeled using another approach? Let's say it was tied off Action Points, as in "spend an Action Point to use Power Attack" or "spend two to use Rapid Shot". How would the Action Point economy need to change to allow for characters using them for crazy stunts and/or already defined Feats?</p><p></p><p>Or maybe "Bonus Feats" stay and only the generic feats per level go?</p><p></p><p>And how would the "+5 for Trained" model (or something similar) translate to TB? How many Trained skills would characters get? When would they get new ones?</p><p></p><p>Maybe these questions are easier to answer than I think.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="smathis, post: 5603631, member: 56465"] I just picked up TB from Amazon. Came in a few days ago and I was hooked. Read the whole thing, pretty much front to back. Very interesting work and I agree with others that I probably would've stuck with 3.5 longer had this book been in my hands sooner. That said. One of the things that's killed me about 3.5 is how long it often takes to create characters. For 4e, it's even worse IMO. And a lot of that I lay down on Feats and Skills (of course, it's Powers in 4e). Especially Skill Points. Sure, some of us have a pretty good grasp on what we're going for and we can knock out a non-spellcaster in less than half-an-hour. But then there are the analysis paralysis types who are going to sit there and grouse over whether they should take Cleave or Power Attack or something else for an hour or two. Long story not-so-short, I think it's the added investment in character creation that gave 3.0 and now 4.0 players this sense of entitlement they they deserve to eek through and be "heroes". Even though I think it's more what a player does with a character (than what numbers are written on a character sheet) that earns that distinction. But I get where they're coming from. If it's going to take 90 minutes or basically the rest of the night to put together a replacement character, suddenly PC mortality is something that's just not fun, cool or whatever. That said, TB is great at breaking down the math of third edition. And I'm looking forward to the monster book, even though 3e isn't on my list of games that I play regularly anymore. That would change, though, if I could do TWO things. 1) Get rid of Feats. Or at least move their function into another, more freeform, less shopping-list, mechanic. Like Action Points maybe? 2) Get rid of Skill Points. Just offer the +5 for Trained and all that. Could either of those work in Trailblazer? Is it possible? I'm also of the opinion that the skill points inflate the skills to insane levels in 3e. 4e too. Making it such that a regular lock needs a DC of 20 to pick. That's kind of crazy, IMO. But it's something I feel I can easily address by slowing level progression down (Epic6 style) after a cutoff level -- like 8th or 10th. I really like what I've seen with Trailblazer. It's still 3e -- which means I still find it fidgety and trying to fit a rule in for every hole. But it's a very PURPOSEFUL 3e. Whereas a lot of 3e revisions seem like they're just throwing spaghetti on the wall to see if it's done, Trailblazer seems to have things figured out and exudes a confidence that "yes, this will work and will fix the issues we've identified". I only wish it would've taken a step or two further, perhaps even as variants. But I'm concerned with how either (or both) of those changes would completely mess up the game. How would "no feats" look in Trailblazer? How could those abilities be modeled using another approach? Let's say it was tied off Action Points, as in "spend an Action Point to use Power Attack" or "spend two to use Rapid Shot". How would the Action Point economy need to change to allow for characters using them for crazy stunts and/or already defined Feats? Or maybe "Bonus Feats" stay and only the generic feats per level go? And how would the "+5 for Trained" model (or something similar) translate to TB? How many Trained skills would characters get? When would they get new ones? Maybe these questions are easier to answer than I think. [/QUOTE]
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A couple of options I'm curious about with Trailblazer
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