E6: The Game Inside D&D

[wolfpunk]

Human Fighter 6, 15 epic feats

Strength 16 (+1 advancement) +3
Dexterity 10 +0
Constitution 14 +2
Intelligence 13 +1
Wisdom 12 +1
Charisma 8 -1

Fortitude +7
Reflex +4
Willpower +5

BAB +6/+1
Grapple +9

HP 44

AC 19, touch 10, flat-footed 19

Speed 30 ft
Initiative +4

Skills:
Climb +12, Jump +12, Ride +9, Swim +12

Feats:
Weapon Focus (longsword) 1st
Improved Sunder 1st: +4 to attack on sunder
Power Attack 1st
Improved Sunder Damage 2nd: +1d6 sunder damage
Greater Sunder 3rd: Double damage on successful sunder
Weapon Specialization (longsword) 4th
Shrapnel Sunder 6th: Deal slashing damage after a successful sunder
Improved Shrapnel Sunder Damage 6th +1d6 slashing damage after a successful sunder

Improved Shrapnel Sunder Range epic Hit target up to ten ft. away
Greater Shrapnel Sunder epic: Deal slashing damage to all adjacent foes after a successful sunder
Arrow Slash epic: +4 to sunder projectiles
Arrow Guard epic: +2 deflection bonus to ac versus ranged attacks
Improved Arrow Slash epic: +1d6 damage when you attempt to sunder a projectile

Improved Initiative epic
Improved Shield Bash epic
Iron Will epic
Lightning Reflexes epic
Endurance epic

Cleave epic
Great Cleave epic
Improved Sunder Damage epic
Improved Shrapnel Sunder Damage epic
Improved Arrow Slash epic

Weapons
Shatterspike (4,315) +10 1d8+6 19-20/x2 or
Sunder object +18 (1d8+2d6+9)x2 19-20/x2 or
Sunder projectile +14 (1d8+2d6+6)x2 19-20/x2

Shrapnel Sunder (Reflex DC 13) 3d6 to all opponents in 10 ft. radius


Armor
Mithral Shirt +2 (5,100)
Mithral Heavy Shield +1 (2,020)

 

[wolfpunk]

Using the Elite Array

Human Rogue 4/Fighter 2

Strength 13 +1
Dexterity 16 (+1 advancement) +3
Constitution 14 +2
Intelligence 12 +1
Wisdom 10 +0
Charisma 8 -1

Fortitude +6
Reflex +7
Willpower +1

BAB +5
Grapple +6

HP 39

AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 15

Speed 30 ft
Initiative +3

Skills:
Balance +13, Bluff +9, Escape Artist +13, Hide +18, Listen +10, Move Silently +18, Search +11, Sense Motive +10,
Spot +10, Tumble +13

Climb +3, Jump +3, Ride +5, Swim +3

Feats:
Two Weapon Fighting 1st
Combat Reflexes 1st
Weapon Finesse 3rd
Weapon Focus (short sword) 1st fighter
Power Attack 2nd fighter
Improved Sunder 6th

Arrow Slash epic: Sunder projectile
Shrapnel Slash epic: deal damage to adjacent foe after successful sunder
Deadly Slash epic : deal sneak attack damage on a shrapnel slash
Improved Shrapnel Slash Damage epic +1d6 damage on shrapnel slash
Precise Arrow Slash epic: deal sneak attack damage on an arrow slash

Abilities
Sneak Attack +2d6
Trapfinding
Evasion
Trap sense +1
Uncanny dodge

Weapons
2 +1 Short Swords (4,620)
+1 Short sword +9 1d6+2 19-20/x2 or
+1 Short sword +7 1d6+2 19-20/x2 and +7 1d6+1 19-20/x2 or
+1 Short sword Sunder object +13 1d6+2 19-20/x2 or
+1 Short sword Sunder projectile +13 1d6+2d6+2 19-20/x2 or
Deadly Shrapnel Slash (Reflex DC 16) 2d6+2d6 to one adjacent foe


Armor
+1 Mithral Shirt of Shadow and Silent Moves (9,600)

 

[airwalkrr]

I like the idea in theory. I'm not sure whether I would enjoy playing it though. I wouldn't mind trying if a DM ever wished to run it though.

 

[Ry]

For the netbook of feats... what was the process of selection there?

I feel like whatever gets into a "core" E6 document needs to go through a real meatgrinder of "too weak" "too strong" screaming.

 

[Ry]

Also, Khuxan has 100 Ceremonial feats that work nicely; some are a bit unbalanced (as he said). I actually haven't looked at the sunder feats from wolfpunk yet.

But as I said all along, a diverse selection of feats is crucial.

 

[Animus]

Here is a paladin that charges into the battle against evil, but settled into a rulership role as he acquired a domain.

Kellen Greycastle
================
Human (32 point buy)
Str 14, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 16 (15+1)

HD: 6d10+12 plus 6 (55 hp)
AC: 25

Melee Attack (Longsword): +10/+5 1d8+3 19-20/x2
(PA-3): +7/+2 1d8+6 19-20/x2
(Charge): +12 1d8+3+1d8 19-20/x2
(Smite Evil): +13 1d8+9 19-20/x2
(Charging Smite, PA -5) +10 1d8+26+1d8 19-20/x2

Saves:
Fort: +10 Ref: +6 Will: +7

Abilities:
Aura of Good, Detect Evil, Smite Evil 4/day, Charging Smite, Divine Health, Aura of Courage, Remove Disease 1/week, Divine Grace

Feats:
Power Attack, Dodge, Powerful Charge, Cleave; Great Cleave, Weapon Focus (longsword), Battle Blessing, Extra Smiting, Lightning Reflexes, Leadership, Improved Toughness, Endurance, Skill Focus (Diplomacy), Skill Focus (Sense Motive), Negotiator, Awesome Smite

Skills: Tot. Rnk. Ab. Misc.
--------------------------------------------
Diplomacy +20 8 +3 +9
Kno. (nob.) +5 5 +0 --
Sense Motive +15 8 +2 +5
Ride +7 6 +1 --

Equipment:
==========
+1 Cold Iron Sacred Longsword (12,630 gp)
+2 Mithral Full plate (14,500 gp)
+2 Mithral Heavy Shield (5,000 gp)

 

[Ry]

Here's E6 without the FAQ. This will be the new "first post" of a new E6 thread once I have the FAQ done, but it's also the content that would be on a 1-page E6 .pdf for insertion into a campaign.

E6: The Game Inside D&D

What is E6?

Earlier this year Ryan Dancey suggested that D&D has four distinct quartiles of play:

Levels 1-5: Gritty fantasy
Levels 6-10: Heroic fantasy
Levels 11-15: Wuxia
Levels 16-20: Superheroes

There’s been some great discussion about how to define those quartiles, and how each different quartile suited some groups better than others.

E6 is a game about those first 2 quartiles, and as a result, it has fewer rules, a low-magic flavor, and it is quick and easy to prepare. I have playtested the system extensively with my crew, and it works as intended. There seems to be a lot of lively debate about E6, and some real interest in how it works, so I've revised it here.

E6 was inspired by the article Gandalf was a Fifth-Level Magic User by Bill Seligman. The article was published in The Dragon (which became Dragon magazine) in issue #5, March 1977.

How E6 works

E6 is a game where heroes rise against evil, face terrible dangers, and battle against mighty monsters. Like D&D, E6 is a game of enigmatic wizards, canny rogues, and mighty warriors. But instead of using D&D’s 20 levels to translate the characters in that world into the rules, E6 uses only the first 6 levels. E6 is about changing one of D&D’s essential assumptions, and it changes the world from the ground up.

What is an E6 world like?

An E6 world looks very much like a traditional fantasy world, like we see in Lord of the Rings or the Dragonlance fantasy novels. The difference is how that world is expressed in the rules. The average person in this world is a 1st-level commoner – imagine, from their perspective, the abilities of a 6th-level Wizard or 6th-level Fighter. The wizard could kill everyone in your village with a few words. The fighter could stand up to ten armed guards and kill every one of them. A manticore or a troll could slay your entire village, but a 6th-level party could save you all. These characters are mortal – but they are also epic heroes.

Mortals have conquered nations, battled demons, and discovered powerful magics. But the rules we use to show how they did that don't include Wishes, Ressurections, Astral Projection, +5 swords, and so on. Mortal power isn’t “lessened” compared to D&D. Instead, it’s a universe where even an incredible swordsmen doesn’t shrug off poisons, and they still see an ugly mob of commoners as a dangerous thing. That's not the waning of mortal power; that's translating our favorite fantasy books and movies into an RPG.

Rules

Character progression from level 1 to level 6 is as per D&D. Upon attaining 6th level, for each 5000 experience a character gains, they earn a new feat. Feats with unattainable prerequisites under this system remain unattainable. A diverse selection of feats should be made available in any E6 campaign.

Caster level requirements for items are treated as hard requirements; if, as a result of this, an item cannot be created, then it should not be distributed as normal treasure.

For the GM

E6 isn't just a change for the players: The scale for monsters in E6 is different than d20. Just as level 6 parties shouldn't be expected to tangle with monsters higher than CR 10, the mighty monsters of E6 should be made using a CR 7-10 as a base, and then enhancing those creatures with feats.

Huge and Gargantuan creatures can be created from smaller ones with templates and feats - but not with extra hit dice.

 

[Dragonblade275]

When you see a manticore, you, and your whole village must run, and you can only hope to find men of such power and skill that might be able to defeat them.

Ryan,

It sounds good so far, but can we change the wording, here, just a bit. "Them" at the end of that sentence sounds strange to me since we're talking about one manticore. Perhaps, this would work better?

When you see a manticore, you, and your whole village must run, and you can only hope to find men of such power and skill that might be able to defeat it.​

Or:

When you see a manticore or a troll, you, and your whole village must run, and you can only hope to find men of such power and skill that might be able to defeat such a creature.​

 

[Ry]

Whooo... yeah, let me clean that up. Less writing during meetings at work would probably help.

 

[Ry]

improved it above. thoughts?