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DrSpunj's Class Balance Spreadsheet
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<blockquote data-quote="DrSpunj" data-source="post: 1462374" data-attributes="member: 994"><p><strong><em>[EDIT: Much of the system has changed thanks to the comments in this thread, but the underlying system is essentially the same. For the latest downloads go to post #199! Thanks!]</em></strong></p><p> </p><p>In <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=82640" target="_blank">this</a> thread we've been discussing a variant fighter, and talking about whether he deserves a "dead level" at every odd level beyond 1st.</p><p> </p><p>Because of that very question I started working on a spreadsheet a couple months ago that assigns values to each of the various class attributes that I've chosen to use in an upcoming campaign I hope to start midsummer. I did this to try and discover whether a Bonus Combat Feat really is so powerful that getting one more often than every even level would unbalance the character.</p><p> </p><p>The attributes are:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">HD - d6, d8, d10 (a d12 is easy to add)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">BAB - Poor, Average, Good (using fractional bonuses from UA)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Defense Bonus - Poor, Average, Good, similar to the UA variant</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Fort/Refl/Will Saves - Poor, Average, Good, again using fractions from UA</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Skill Points/lvl - 4, 6, or 8 per lvl</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Weapon Group Proficiencies - as per the UA variant</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Armor Group Proficiencies - extrapolated from the UA Weapon variant</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Special Class Abilities - General vs Combat</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Magic - either Half or Full caster levels, as per Monte's AU Magic system</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Restrictions - like a Cleric's devotion to their deity, Druid's reverence for Nature, an Oathsworn's Oath and a Paladin's Code</li> </ul><p>The system is 'Feat driven", and by that I mean I've categorized all Special Class abilities as either General or Combat feats, and valued them accordingly. While this does require a minor bit of tweaking with some abilities, it's not nearly as much work as I expected it might be. For instance, Bardic Lore gets a +1 for every Bard level. Since +1 didn't seem like enough of a bump, I changed the General Feat to give a +2 bonus with the limitation it can only be taken no more often than every other level.</p><p> </p><p>Because the values of each of these class attributes, as well as the various Special Class Abilities, are very "user-dependent", I've setup the spreadsheet so <strong>anyone</strong> can easily change the values of everything to something more to their liking in a small table at the top of the spreadsheet. Then all 20 class levels for all the Core & AU base classes are recalculated using the new values. It's easy to compare the relative worth of each class, at each level, using the totals and averages (that are computed for each class over 20 levels, all classes at 1st level, and all classes over all 20 levels).</p><p> </p><p>I've already sent this out to a small number of people this weekend, at their request. <strong>SSquirrel</strong> has been kind enough to offer it for download from his website <a href="http://www.giant.net/~hagen/DrSpunj_s_Class_Balance.xls" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p> </p><p>I'd be interested in any feedback, criticism or comments people have regarding the spreadsheet, whether it's because they've found an error, think the spreadsheet would function better in some other way, and/or have a differing viewpoint on how the various class attributes should be valued than what I've started with.</p><p> </p><p>Thanks!</p><p> </p><p>DrSpunj</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DrSpunj, post: 1462374, member: 994"] [b][i][EDIT: Much of the system has changed thanks to the comments in this thread, but the underlying system is essentially the same. For the latest downloads go to post #199! Thanks!][/i][/b] In [url="http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=82640"]this[/url] thread we've been discussing a variant fighter, and talking about whether he deserves a "dead level" at every odd level beyond 1st. Because of that very question I started working on a spreadsheet a couple months ago that assigns values to each of the various class attributes that I've chosen to use in an upcoming campaign I hope to start midsummer. I did this to try and discover whether a Bonus Combat Feat really is so powerful that getting one more often than every even level would unbalance the character. The attributes are: [list] [*]HD - d6, d8, d10 (a d12 is easy to add) [*]BAB - Poor, Average, Good (using fractional bonuses from UA) [*]Defense Bonus - Poor, Average, Good, similar to the UA variant [*]Fort/Refl/Will Saves - Poor, Average, Good, again using fractions from UA [*]Skill Points/lvl - 4, 6, or 8 per lvl [*]Weapon Group Proficiencies - as per the UA variant [*]Armor Group Proficiencies - extrapolated from the UA Weapon variant [*]Special Class Abilities - General vs Combat [*]Magic - either Half or Full caster levels, as per Monte's AU Magic system [*]Restrictions - like a Cleric's devotion to their deity, Druid's reverence for Nature, an Oathsworn's Oath and a Paladin's Code [/list]The system is 'Feat driven", and by that I mean I've categorized all Special Class abilities as either General or Combat feats, and valued them accordingly. While this does require a minor bit of tweaking with some abilities, it's not nearly as much work as I expected it might be. For instance, Bardic Lore gets a +1 for every Bard level. Since +1 didn't seem like enough of a bump, I changed the General Feat to give a +2 bonus with the limitation it can only be taken no more often than every other level. Because the values of each of these class attributes, as well as the various Special Class Abilities, are very "user-dependent", I've setup the spreadsheet so [b]anyone[/b] can easily change the values of everything to something more to their liking in a small table at the top of the spreadsheet. Then all 20 class levels for all the Core & AU base classes are recalculated using the new values. It's easy to compare the relative worth of each class, at each level, using the totals and averages (that are computed for each class over 20 levels, all classes at 1st level, and all classes over all 20 levels). I've already sent this out to a small number of people this weekend, at their request. [b]SSquirrel[/b] has been kind enough to offer it for download from his website [url="http://www.giant.net/~hagen/DrSpunj_s_Class_Balance.xls"]here[/url]. I'd be interested in any feedback, criticism or comments people have regarding the spreadsheet, whether it's because they've found an error, think the spreadsheet would function better in some other way, and/or have a differing viewpoint on how the various class attributes should be valued than what I've started with. Thanks! DrSpunj [/QUOTE]
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