jdrakeh
Front Range Warlock
Since somebody asked about this and I don't have the time for a proper review just now, I thought that I'd share my first impressions of the product in question (it arrived in the mail this afternoon).
What it Is
Eclipse is a point-buy character gen system for use with any d20 core rule book. It's like HERO for d20, really.
The Good at First Glance
Rather than using XP as a base point pool for character creation as systems like Point Buy Numbers do, Eclipse bases point pool on character Intelligence. This makes much more sense as it doesn't knock the EXP progression out of whack like awarding brand new characters a huge block of XP does.
Rather than simply assigning a price to existing feats, common d20 feats are broken up into broad effects that allow a character to build a theoretically endless array of special abilities from scratch (ala HERO). Effect-based character creation is cool, says I.
Several new magic systems, most of which I haven't had a chance to look at yet but all of which apparently provide Epic support (see below).
3.5 and 3.0 compatible Epic material! New Epic spells, monsters, etc. If you're looking for Epic support, there seems to be more here than in any official 3.5 product.
Campaign worksheets that allow the GM to check off which options in Eclipse he'll be using for the campaign (cuts down on option overload at the table, I imagine).
0-Level characters!
The Bad at First Glance
The conversions of the base D&D classes (near the back of the book) are all presented at 20th level, so creating a low level D&D character requires a bit of backward engineering. Of course, if you're looking for Epic support, this is probably a feature rather than a bug.
The Different
The world creation templates aren't what I thought they would be based on descriptions. They aren't really bad, just different. Specifically they're suggested house rules for different genres (e.g., in Anime game using Eclipse, characters don't die unless they lose all of their HPs as the result of a single attack).
Overall Impression
I look forward to reading it, as it looks like it solves the main gripe that I have with other d20 point-buy systems (the XP wonkiness) and breaks things down into basic effects (again, like HERO). I'm curious to see how well it works in play, though if it lives up to its potential, it should rock.
What it Is
Eclipse is a point-buy character gen system for use with any d20 core rule book. It's like HERO for d20, really.
The Good at First Glance
Rather than using XP as a base point pool for character creation as systems like Point Buy Numbers do, Eclipse bases point pool on character Intelligence. This makes much more sense as it doesn't knock the EXP progression out of whack like awarding brand new characters a huge block of XP does.
Rather than simply assigning a price to existing feats, common d20 feats are broken up into broad effects that allow a character to build a theoretically endless array of special abilities from scratch (ala HERO). Effect-based character creation is cool, says I.
Several new magic systems, most of which I haven't had a chance to look at yet but all of which apparently provide Epic support (see below).
3.5 and 3.0 compatible Epic material! New Epic spells, monsters, etc. If you're looking for Epic support, there seems to be more here than in any official 3.5 product.
Campaign worksheets that allow the GM to check off which options in Eclipse he'll be using for the campaign (cuts down on option overload at the table, I imagine).
0-Level characters!
The Bad at First Glance
The conversions of the base D&D classes (near the back of the book) are all presented at 20th level, so creating a low level D&D character requires a bit of backward engineering. Of course, if you're looking for Epic support, this is probably a feature rather than a bug.
The Different
The world creation templates aren't what I thought they would be based on descriptions. They aren't really bad, just different. Specifically they're suggested house rules for different genres (e.g., in Anime game using Eclipse, characters don't die unless they lose all of their HPs as the result of a single attack).
Overall Impression
I look forward to reading it, as it looks like it solves the main gripe that I have with other d20 point-buy systems (the XP wonkiness) and breaks things down into basic effects (again, like HERO). I'm curious to see how well it works in play, though if it lives up to its potential, it should rock.
