D&D 4E Classless 4e

[Sylrae]

i wouldnt want to modularize the races, just the classes, i dont think the power feats are the way to go though. they might work I guess. i dunno. but yeah, thats the basic idea, and those would be the main issues you would encounter while designing it.

If you want to give it a shot, I commend you. I don't have toime to do this yet.

I like the input and ideas though.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Well, obviously if you want to keep the races as-is, that makes it a bit easier.

I don't really have time to tackle it (though it may grow on me). It would be a good GSL product. I'd be tempted if there were an SRD-type document readily available, so I wouldn't have to retype everything.

 

[Ambush Bug]

Not to hijack your thread, but I recently posted a suggestion for classless D&D 4.1 that might suit you. I don't think it's necessary to give every ability a point value and balance them against each other - that'll be a great deal of bookkeeping and not gain you much. If you stick to categories (powers, class features, etc) and just change how they're distributed, you get what looks like a balanced game...

 

[Sylrae]

Your idea presents a way to play without classes, but they are more powerful than standard classes, not just more versatile in regards to options during levelup. as such, it would require the scaling up of all encounters to compensate, and it would require the whole game to be classless.

The goal I have is to be able to have classes, but not have them be required. having classes as possible builds instead of as 4e's 'straitjacket'ed options, as you said. if the versatility comes with more power than the default classes (not just certain combinations, but on a whole) then its too powerful. it should be the same powerlevel.

although it is possible to scale everything up, the monster manual is balanced against the powerlevel of standard classes, and using more powerful classes then compensating is adding more work to my huge amount of prep time than I would like.

speaking of encounter levels, how do encounter ratings work when using classed NPC characters?