Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gothmog" data-source="post: 1629251" data-attributes="member: 317">Sure guys, I'd be happy to elaborate.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  They rolled up their character's ability scores, and I started them at level 1.  Back then there were non-weapon proficiencies, and I told them how many they got, and they got to choose, but they didn't write down the score for it.  Weapon profs were the same way- they took the ones they wanted, and noted them down.  So basically they had their ability scores (which if you roll them or point buy, you can't keep secret), skills, WPs, and equipment.  They have a pretty good idea of what level they are, but not XP totals.After they made their characters, I went and made up a big Excel spreadsheet with their AC, HP, THACO (BAB now) for each weapon and damage, movement, saves, feats, and skills on it.  I think I put it in 6 point type, and it takes up about 1 page.  On a second page, I have a list of any magical/unusual/unidentified equipment they might have.  I NEVER told them the plus on an item, nor did I tell them exact dimensions or game info on the item- only what it did and a general idea of how it worked once they discovered its powers.During play, I found that I needed to refer to the spreadsheet less and less as I began to memorize the pertinent info.  If a player wanted to use a skill, roll an attack, or make a save, they just announced the d20 result to me, and I figured in any modifiers.  If they want to use a feat (say Power Attack in this case), I assume they make a max power attack unless they specify a Controlled Power Attack, in which case I count the attack penalty/ dmg bonus as 1/2 their BAB.  This sped up play greatly, and let them focus more on roleplaying and character development than tweaking every value on the character sheet.  During combat, I started using more vibrant and cinematic descriptions of events, and at the end of every round someone got wounded, I'd let them know if they were lightly wounded (1-25% HP gone), moderately (26-50%), severly (51-75%), or critically (76-95%), or mortally (96-99%) wounded.  This gives them a rough idea of how much fight they have left, but as in real life, its impossible to guage how badly injured you are during a hectic situation like a battle.  They told me this made combat for exciting and enjoyable for them- wondering if the next blow would be telling, and they seemed MORE willing to take risks and use unconventional tactics in combat (using tables as shields and rushing archers, using elevation, leaping into a pile of orcs during ambush, etc).  I also found that instead of saying "I attack, does an 18 hit?", they started describing and acting out their actions more, and really got into it.They was I handle level-ups is kinda sneaky, but it works.  Under 3E/3.5 I have each character give me a list of skills and feats they want to develop in their spare time, and rank them according to how much they prioritize their training.  Its assumed that during their downtime they are practicing the skill or feat.  Between each adventure, the character is free to reprioritize which skills or feats have first pick.  Once they level up, I go with the most recent skill and feat set, and apply one rank to each skill, and give them the feat they have been training most with.  If the PC wants to improve the skill by more than one rank, he gives it a 1' signification, which means I apply as many skill points to it at that level as is possible.  I give 60% of max hp at each level, so rolling HP isn't a big deal.  They actually seem to like this method, since it cuts down on paperwork for them.Spellcasters still have to deal with spells per day, and there isn't much of any way around that short of a power point system, which is too complicated for the good it would do (we tried it for a while).  If a character wants to take a certain prestige class (which are VERY rare in my world), they need to meet up with someone who can train them and convince them they should be inducted into it.  I'm usually pretty loose with PrC prereqs since they aren't cherry-picking feats and skills for what the books have in mind, but as long as they have similar power level prereqs and the same set of skills, I usually allow it.  This has only happened twice though, so it hasn't been a big concern.We have found that using the no-stat method has brought back the "magic" in the game for us, and that the players see the game world as a living world rather than as a series of numerical challenges to be overcome.  I think if you get your players to try this for a few adventures BelenUmeria, you and they will be pleasantly surprised at how much the game changes, and how different your perspectives about the game become. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /></blockquote>

Verification