Tzarevitch said:
My $.02.
1) Separate the item creation feats a bit better.
Yes, but by function rather than form. Wand and staff are good (single spell/multiple related spells) as is. Arms and Armor is fine for a single feat. I agree that ointments, dusts, etc. should fall under Brew Potion. The really sticky ones are Forge Ring and Craft Wonder--and why are magical gauntlets wondrous items and not armor?
First of all, anything that grants bonuses to abilities or skills, and any use-activated magical powers, fall into the category of wondrous item. If you want to make a magic sword that also gives you +2 to Str, you have to have both Craft arms and armor and craft wonder. Rings could be to wondrous items as staffs are to wands, allowing cheaper stacking of related powers.
As for Craft rod, it can certainly go bye-bye.
2) The skills system is too weak. It is a great idea but doesn't go far enough.
I don't really have a problem with DC's, but if every class got two more skill points per level they'd still be balanced with each other. I think 4 should be the minimum, and the lists of class skills should be broadened for everyone a bit.
I would also allow every character to choose one additional class skill at level 1.
Opposed non-combat rolls should be based on 2d10 rather than a d20, or on a "best of 3" mechanic so that novices (no ranks) beat masters (10 ranks) much less often.
Fighters who are supposed to be skilled in combat manouvers can't Tumble and apparently have no sense of Balance. They also apparently too stupid to figure out when someone is feinting them in combat (no Sense Motive in class) despite the fact that they should be the best at spotting feints in a fight. Combat is what they do (and based on both a lack of skills AND skill points fighting is all they CAN do) so they should at least be good at it. Oh! Did I forget to mention that the big, burly fighter who can cleave you in twain apparently isn't very Intimidating either.
Our house rule is simple: to oppose a feint, you may use your BAB instead of Sense Motive on the opposed roll.
2d)Lastly, the ability to make skill items with unbounded skill bonuses makes the skill system useless at mid to high levels (mainly due to the problem of so many low, static DCs.)
Yes, skill items are undervalued.
My own additions would be few:
1) Make spells less user-friendly. The risks of fireball backlash and falling to your death from a Fly spell added savor to the wizard class, and made arcane magic more flavorful. Everything has been given a safety belt... even dispelling a fly spell only turns it into a feather fall. (WTF?)
2) Minor tweaks to front-loaded classes to make them more attractive at higher levels.
3) Explicit rules for customizing classes, or at least a couple of examples for each. Something like "Paladins who come from societies where mounted combat is very uncommon may exchange their sacred mount class ability for an additional Smite every 3 levels." and "Druids are less common among dwarves and other subterranean societies, but they do exist. Underground druids have a modified spell list as follows:" (delete a dozen or so plant-based spells, replace with earth-based spells). I know it's not hard for DMs to do on a case-by-case basis, but more examples would make the relative value of different class abilities clearer.
That's about it, really. I wouldn't change armor/hp at all--it's easy and gives a nicely cinematic feel, and the critical hit system works really well. I would add a couple of new core feats to make certain weapons/fighting styles more viable--like a feat that lets you fight with a polearm at close range, and Improved grapple.
--Ben
