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<blockquote data-quote="reanjr" data-source="post: 1793838" data-attributes="member: 20740"><p>Maybe I should mention that the system does away with levels, too... So you only choose one option at a time. You can purchase a Melee Attack Increase if you have found over the last adventure that you couldn't hit crap, for instance.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Removing multiclassing, while making things simpler, just wouldn't be a very "fun" choice. It means that at first level, a single choice has pretty much defined your entire character for the next 19 levels.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Again, this is railroading your character's development. Part of role-playing games (one of the most important parts, some would say) is developing your character not just in story, but as defined by the system. Taking away the character's ability to make life-altering choices strips the game of something very important. One thing I have done in my system (and I am sure other people have good ideas on this as well), is to unify the way your character develops. Skills are done the same as Feats, which are done the same as class abilities, which are done the same as Ability Score increases, which are done the same learning spells. That makes things simpler for character development and for entry-level players. I'm currently playing in a group over half-newbie (1 3e newb, 3 RPG newbs, and 3 vets), and they unanimously think that unifying these developments makes the game alot easier to learn.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I actually am of the opposite position on feat removal. I think those feats that grant new options in combat are the only things worthy of being feats. There is already a system in place to develop your skills, initiative, attack bonus, etc. You don't need feats to improve those.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>You've kind of struck at why, after months of pondering, I decided to go with a class-less system. The classes, while providing role-playing guidance as archetypes, are TOO archetypal. Maybe back in the days of OD&D, few people had an idea of what it was like to be a wizard. But today, with the prevalence of fantasy in other forms of media, people usually have an idea of who they want to play. But the class doesn't let them. To rectify this, they take a prestige class. But then there are abilities in there that don't fit their concept, so they tweak the prestige class. But then there's another ability that just needs to be created as a new feat to fit another aspect of the concept. It's too limiting to imaginative players. The class-based system, I have found in my experience, is at the heart of all the added layers of complexity on the rules. It forces your hand too much.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I agree with all of these, for the most part. I remove Attacks of Opportunity for everything but a select few actions (casting a spell, shooting a missile weapon). I actually haven't quite worked out how to do AoO's in my movement and positioning system yet (every character is threatened by every other character in the melee, so this would create some problems).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="reanjr, post: 1793838, member: 20740"] Maybe I should mention that the system does away with levels, too... So you only choose one option at a time. You can purchase a Melee Attack Increase if you have found over the last adventure that you couldn't hit crap, for instance. Removing multiclassing, while making things simpler, just wouldn't be a very "fun" choice. It means that at first level, a single choice has pretty much defined your entire character for the next 19 levels. Again, this is railroading your character's development. Part of role-playing games (one of the most important parts, some would say) is developing your character not just in story, but as defined by the system. Taking away the character's ability to make life-altering choices strips the game of something very important. One thing I have done in my system (and I am sure other people have good ideas on this as well), is to unify the way your character develops. Skills are done the same as Feats, which are done the same as class abilities, which are done the same as Ability Score increases, which are done the same learning spells. That makes things simpler for character development and for entry-level players. I'm currently playing in a group over half-newbie (1 3e newb, 3 RPG newbs, and 3 vets), and they unanimously think that unifying these developments makes the game alot easier to learn. I actually am of the opposite position on feat removal. I think those feats that grant new options in combat are the only things worthy of being feats. There is already a system in place to develop your skills, initiative, attack bonus, etc. You don't need feats to improve those. You've kind of struck at why, after months of pondering, I decided to go with a class-less system. The classes, while providing role-playing guidance as archetypes, are TOO archetypal. Maybe back in the days of OD&D, few people had an idea of what it was like to be a wizard. But today, with the prevalence of fantasy in other forms of media, people usually have an idea of who they want to play. But the class doesn't let them. To rectify this, they take a prestige class. But then there are abilities in there that don't fit their concept, so they tweak the prestige class. But then there's another ability that just needs to be created as a new feat to fit another aspect of the concept. It's too limiting to imaginative players. The class-based system, I have found in my experience, is at the heart of all the added layers of complexity on the rules. It forces your hand too much. I agree with all of these, for the most part. I remove Attacks of Opportunity for everything but a select few actions (casting a spell, shooting a missile weapon). I actually haven't quite worked out how to do AoO's in my movement and positioning system yet (every character is threatened by every other character in the melee, so this would create some problems). [/QUOTE]
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