Background ECL system

[Limper]

I guess I'll toss this here in the lonly ol' house rules.....

Background ECL system

This is system I’ve been working on to allow for believable characters who’ve got some realistic skills and experience. I’ve found that the existing system (your lvl1) is a bit stifling in that if you wanted a character who’s done anything or who’s older than 15 it just doesn’t seem to realistic to be level one but realistic experience’s might bump you up to far wasting a whole lot of growth potential. The way I read the charts doing something with ECL looked to be the cure… you still get a level 20 it just takes you a bit to get there, in early adventures the DM has a whole lot more he can do to make the session entertaining and all in all you have a better feel for your character and what he/she has done or is like.

For a +1, +2, or +3 ECL a character can (with DM assistance) craft a background package consisting of up to 4 levels in NPC classes (DMG: pg 37-41 and Traps and Treachery: pg 31-33 [the Thug])

+1 = 2 levels Commoner
+2 = 3 levels combined or 4 if Commoner
+3 = 4 levels combined

Combination restrictions: Total BAB not to exceed +2 (that’s it)

You gain all the benefits for these virtual levels to include BAB, saves, att point (if 4lvl), feat’s (from restricted list), hit points, and skill points (normal allotment + Int mod for each level)

All ECL virtual level stats applied before 1st level stuff is applied.

The List of applicable feats:

Military background: Phalanx Fighting, Combat Reflexes, Mounted Combat, Endurance, Run and Toughness.

Other acceptable feats: Skill Focus, Educated, Cosmopolitan, any of the Background feats from the Realms hard back (primary examples: +2/+2 to 2 skills or skill and save bonus) and sometimes Tracking

By sufferance of the DM (aka better have a cool with a capital K reason for me to let you have it): Arcane Schooling, the misc Bloodline feats, Foe Hunter, Magical Training, Mind over Body and Spell Casting Prodigy. There are probably others but this should illustrate what I’m intending.

Example Combinations for Background ECLs :

Peasant Hero (Commoner 4) +2
Militia Member (Commoner2/ Warrior1) +2
Woodsman (Expert 3) +2
Professional Soldier (Warrior2/ Expert1) +2
Military Scout (Thug2/ Expert2) +3
Special Forces (Thug1/Warrior2/Expert1) +3
Military Command (Expert3/Aristocrat1) +3
Tradesman (Expert3) +2
Low Brow Criminal (Thug3) +2
High Brow Criminal (Thug2/Aristocrat2) +3
Nobel or Politician (Aristocrat3) +2
Healer (Expert1/ Adept3) +3

And the possibilities continue. The skill assortments of some of these will need to be sorted out but this should be enough to get started with

 

[Crothian]

Personally, I like the ecls of all the PCs to be the same so I'd select a certain number and just go with it. I think I'd lean toward having people start with either 2 or 3 (non commoners) NPC class. I exclude the commoner because it really doesn't serve much of a point for PCs. Then I'd assign a PC class and have that be level 0 for the PC so that they have training before hand ibn the next class. Personally, this is one of the reasons I want the ELH to come out. That way I can have characters start at a high level with NPC classes and not have PCs think it's a waste because they never go above level 20.

 

[whydirt]

I like this idea a lot. In fact, I went and made my own Expert variants to fill in this idea. I decided that some of these variants needed different good saving throws, so I've listed which one it is below. I consider Knowledge (all skills) to take up 2 class skill slots.

Here are some examples:

Class Name (good save)
Class skills

Priest (Will)
Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Heal, Knowledge (all skills taken seperately), Profession, Sense Motive, Spellcraft

Con Artist (Will)
Appraise, Bluff, Craft, Disguise, Forgery, Gather Information, Innuendo, Intimidate, Perform, Pick Pockets, Profession

Nomad (Fort)
Climb, Craft, Handle Animal, Intuit Direction, Jump, Listen, Ride, Swim, Use Rope, Wilderness Lore

Arcane Scholar (Will)
Alchemy, Concentration, Craft, Knowledge (all skills taken seperately), Profession, Spellcraft
*Can memorize Read Magic and Detect Magic 1/level each day

Scout (Ref)
Climb, Craft, Hide, Jump, Listen, Move Silently, Ride, Search, Spot, Swim

Other classes I've made include Sailor, Burglar, Asthetic, an alternate Noble, Performer, and Shaman.

In addition, I came up with another house rule that could help make multiclassing seem more realistic. Each of the standard PC classes requires at least one level of a certain NPC class as listed below.

Barbarian - Nomad or Warrior
Bard - Performer or Con Artist
Cleric - Priest or Shaman
Druid - Nomad or Shaman
Fighter - Warrior
Monk - Asthetic
Paladan - Warrior and Priest
Ranger - Nomad or Scout
Rogue - Sailor, Con Artist, Burglar, Noble, Scout, or Warrior
Sorcerer - *Any
Wizard - Arcane Scholar

*Sorcerers in my campaign gain their abilities through tattooing and other rituals and can come from any background. You could make an NPC class for them easily enough.

With this system you don't have to worry about your fighter suddenly taking a level of wizard without any training.

I'd start PC's at 3rd level with 2 levels of NPC classes and 1 of a PC class.

What do you think?

 

[Limper]

whydirt thanks it look cool I caught you in the other thread

Crothian I also can't wait for the ELH.... I can taste it I can! How do you feel about the 2 to 3 ratio I'm using?

 

[whydirt]

I'd also not let PC's take the Commoner class unless they present me a good reason to avoid the ECL headaches it would cause.

The other benefit of using these Expert variants is that all PC's would get (4 + Int mod) x4 skill points at 1st level and would keep the weird rogue mega-skill point craziness from occuring.

Additionally, I would include a house rule where instead of just adding BAB and Save bonuses from all the charts you get the average points per level and only get the +2 bonus from the Good Save column once. In other words you get +.75 BAB each level from medium progression BAB and so on.

 

[Crothian]

Crothian I also can't wait for the ELH.... I can taste it I can! How do you feel about the 2 to 3 ratio I'm using?

I think it would work okay. Personally, I'd keep it 1 to 1 just so that players would need more xp to gain levels. I perfer a slower advancement and anything to keep it slow is good for me.

 

[Limper]

Thanks for the input.

 

[Limper]

Gratuitous bumpage.

 

[Kweezil]

This is an excellent idea, and I have to admit that I've *ahem* borrowed it, with a couple of minor changes (like standardising the ECL adj.) My players really like it too, since it adds a lot to the characters' backgrounds.

 

[mtbdm]

skill whores

Any of you skill whores wanna buy a copy of "Sages and Specialists"?
MtbDM