E6: The Game Inside D&D (new revision)

[Ry]

I don't know how to get a really smooth line like that, but you should watch out for accidentally replacing a smooth line with some very steep stairs. I doubt you're looking for a really stratified world.

I think about 20 feats is about +4 CR, but it's hard to pull out more than +4 CR from feats alone. But YMMV; I don't have the playtesting resources or expertise to retool the progression to a straight line.

 

[TinSoldier]

I didn't realize that MrNexx had posted it in the Einstein thread over at CF. I started a new thread there before I realized it.

Here's the link:
http://www.criticalfumble.net/forum/showthread.php?t=5523

 

[TheCrazyMuffinMan]

It's still good to know that even with material power increases as graphed, it can still work without going from Gritty fantasy to Heroic fantasy to Final Fantasy (not invoking Remathilis' law. This distinction is STRICTLY referring to effective power levels.)

 

[HeinorNY]

watch out for accidentally replacing a smooth line with some very steep stairs.

That's a good advice. Thanks

 

[Daelkyr]

Another pdf

For some reason, I felt inspired to try my own hand at a pdf for E6.

Not much, but here it is.

On a side note, love the idea, can't wait to test it out on my players.

But here's a question:

Is there any feat that will advance you skill cap after lvl 6? I play Eberron and would like to ensure that the Greater Dragonmark is available.

 

[joela]

What about the DM?

Looking over the various cross-links and the rants and raves against E6, a thought struck me.

So far much of the discussion on E6 has been focused on the impact the variant has the the players and their PCs. BABs are frozen at 6th, no 4th level spells, yaddayaddayadda.

But what about the DM's POV? While the system may at first it may look like a gawddess sent ("Yay! No worries about sending a pit fiend and its krew to even challenge the PCs."), won't there be times you'd like to try out such creatures? Or what about higher level spells or psionics (e.g., Foresight, Shapechange, etc.) that look really kewl. And I've read plenty a PrC which grant abilities that would be interesting to try out as either a PC or as an NPC against the PCs.

Should one simply "scale down" such encounters/spells/classes? Or resist the temptation and figure out another way to make kobolds/orcs/gnolls more challenging yet again?

 

[Jondor_Battlehammer]

What about a feat that bump up your caster level by 1 or 2. This would allow a caster to still increase damae and duration, but in a costly maner. It would also allow for higher level artifice.

A simillar feat could be given for "effective" BAB, allowing for higher level feats. This feat would also stack as effective fighter levels for fighters only. Weapon supremacy would be a nasty feat under these rules, but what if you had to sacrifice 6 or 12 feats for it?

 

[mfrench]

... man, seems like I ran over another dog over there.

Yeah, with all the time you spend killing these people's pets, how do you still find time to game?

"Hey, someone on the internet that I've never met enjoys a different part of gaming then me! **Curse curse curse curse curse**"

 

[Shazman]

I hope you understand that your bolded statements are opposite to each other. You can't have them both. Or you have advancement, or you have the game frozen at the sweet spot.
The original idea kills, as you said, one of the main driving factors of D&D. In exchange it adds the possibility to keep the game running at the sweet spot levels.
I also like the original idea. I'd rather lose the level advancement element of the game in order to keep the feel of the mid-levels.
What I'm trying to do, maybe unsuccessfully, is to somehow make those two elements, the ones I bolded in your post, be possible to co-exist, through the entire campaign.
Of course you could say that feat gainning at every 5000 xp somehow replaces the fun element of level advancement. That would be a valid point. But a subjective one. I personally don't think it does.

The point I was trying to make is advancement should still be there, but in a way that preserves the "sweet spot" feel that is the essence of E6. You rapidly reach 6th level, and then you still have some advancement via feats you get fairly rapidly, probably every 2 sessions or so. One of the most rewarding parts of leveling is picking your feats, especially since it doesn't happen very often unless you are playing a fighter or psychic warrior. It's fun but also difficult since you have to be very picky with your few feat slots. In E6, you don't have to be so picky because you can eventually get most of the feats you want. It just seemed to me that your system would have players playing for a very long time before getting these rewards. I would rather get a feat on a farily regular basis than play for six months before I get that level and several bonus feats. I believe most players would feel this way as well.

 

[Ry]

I just wanted to pass this along, it's J A Dettman's layout of the Raising the Stakes in .pdf format.

This is the most up to date version I've written, but I know it probably still needs more editing.