Handful of questions!

[Luguolo]

*edit 1* so questions 2 and 3 have been answered, and i feel kinda silly for not seeing them that way lol, but my 1st entry was less about pracitcality and just the basics of how strong it could be! so, to conclude so far:

I did look at the attack section, it doesnt specifically mention that the touch/ranged touch attacks get the bonus, its in the section but it doesnt say specifically.

my biggest fear now, is still around the BAB add to touch attacks... i know my groups arcane cannon is going to be PUMPING out orbs with that, because we have a few in-group duels and added the BAB makes it so his 10d6 orb of frost would almost never miss... i mean we are all level 10, the highest touch ac we have is 14, and he now gets 5 (bab) + 5 (20 dex) on his rolls... i mean 4 or better = doom?!?!
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alright, got 3 questions for you

1) does BAB apply to touch/ranged touched attacks? i find that makes things a little too powered, expecially since that means a wizard with a few levels of fighter can somehow shoot spells better! explain that one!

2) Critical Strikes! what happens with you have a BAB of 6 or higher? lets say +6/+1, is it one crit, one norm, two crit, one crit and thats it? sorry i know its probly silly but its been bugging me and i cant find the answer lol.

3) this one is a little idea of my own around XP. I have found that when you multi class it seems a bit off a 5th level figher would need 11k xp to learn 1st level spells that a 1st wizard would only need 1k to get, why doesnt he have to work 11 times harder for the same simple spells?

SO! my idea was that you use class level instead for xp, and ECL for prestiege, for example. 3rd level cleric (3k xp total) and 3rd level wizard (3k xp total) making a total of 6k and ECL 6 between them (instead of 15k total with ecl 6) and thus the xp needed for a level in either cleric or wizard would be 3k, or for a level in say... mystic theurge, would be 6k (ecl 6 to ecl 7).

what do you think? would it be over powered? good idea? down playing prestiege to much? good idea but needs tweeking? let me know!!

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Welcome to ENWorld!

1.) Yes, BAB applies to all attack rolls, as can be read in the combat section of the PHB where it gives you the formula for different attack bonuses. For Melee touch it is BAB + STR mod + other modifers. For ranged touch, it is BAB + DEX mod + other modifiers. If you take Weapon Finesse, touch attacks count as light weapons, so you can use dex instead of str. Other modifers could be bardic music bonuses, Point Blank Shot bonus, etc...
And if you feel Wizard/Fighter is overpowered, by all means try and play one next to a straight classed wizard past level 4 or so. You'll feel oh-so-mighty. /sarcasm
(It's almost NEVER worth losing caster levels in 3E, and certainly not for Fighter, in a strictly power-gaming outlook)

2.) I have no idea what you're asking... BAB +6/+1 means on a full attack you get two attacks. The second (or iterative attack, as it's called) is at a bonus 5 points below the first. Note this will always be the case. When your BAB is +9, your 2nd attack's base attack bonus will have raised to +4. When you hit level 20 as a Fighter, you have BAB +20/+15/+10/+5. That means you can get 4 attacks on a full attack action. Each with a bonus 5 less than the previous.

3.) Technically, the 1st level Wizard has spent much of his adult life prior to adventuring studying his craft, as opposed to just taking up wizardry later on in game, for what that's worth. And while it takes more xp to level up as you go up, you also earn more xp, as long as you're facing encounters of the same relative difficulty. In other words, at level 3 if you fought mostly CR 3 enemies, it should take about as long to level up as it does at level 18 if you're fighting mostly CR 18 enemies. (CR = challenge rating)

So...I don't like your idea, and it's not needed, sorry.

 

[El Mahdi]

First thing, Welcome to ENWorld!

alright, got 3 questions for you

1) does BAB apply to touch/ranged touched attacks? i find that makes things a little too powered, expecially since that means a wizard with a few levels of fighter can somehow shoot spells better! explain that one!

Yes, BAB applies to touch and ranged touch spells. A Wizard with a few levels of Fighter has engaged in Martial training - something a Wizard doesn't do through the course of their becoming a Wizard (at least not to the same extent anyways). They are much more proficient at "making contact" than a Wizard without the Fighters martial training - so they would be better with these types of spells than a Wizard who doesn't have levels of Fighter.

2) Critical Strikes! what happens with you have a BAB of 6 or higher? lets say +6/+1, is it one crit, one norm, two crit, one crit and thats it? sorry i know its probly silly but its been bugging me and i cant find the answer lol.!

If you have a BAB that allows a second attack (such as +6/+1) then you roll each attack individually. Each attack has the possibility of being a Critical Hit, but they are determined individually. If the first attack is a Critical Hit, but the second attack is not, only the first attack has Critical Damage - the second attack (if successful) rolls damage normally. If the first attack is successful but not a Critical Hit, and the second attack is a Critical Hit, the first attack rolls normal damage and the second inflicts critical damage. Each attack is resolved seperately of eachother.

3) this one is a little idea of my own around XP. I have found that when you multi class it seems a bit off a 5th level figher would need 11k xp to learn 1st level spells that a 1st wizard would only need 1k to get, why doesnt he have to work 11 times harder for the same simple spells?

SO! my idea was that you use class level instead for xp, and ECL for prestiege, for example. 3rd level cleric (3k xp total) and 3rd level wizard (3k xp total) making a total of 6k and ECL 6 between them (instead of 15k total with ecl 6) and thus the xp needed for a level in either cleric or wizard would be 3k, or for a level in say... mystic theurge, would be 6k (ecl 6 to ecl 7).

what do you think? would it be over powered? good idea? down playing prestiege to much? good idea but needs tweeking? let me know!!

XP scales (you need more and more for each successive level, rather than a flat amount) for two main reasons:

1) So that monsters and opponents can scale. A stronger monster is worth more XP. If you changed the XP scale for characters without changing the XP scale for monsters, you're going to end up with the situation where your sixth level characters defeat a higer ECL monster, and gain enough experience from it to gain levels quicker than normal, or possibly even gain multiple levels at once. That probably wouldn't work out very well for your game.

2) The scaling of XP is meant to show the increasing difficulty of gaining high levels. It's just like learning anything. One makes great leaps in talent or skill at first, but as time goes on, it gets harder and harder to improve. Improvements become much slower and smaller.

So, is your idea overpowered?: Yes. Is it a bad idea?: Yes. It completely throws off the scaling and math that the system is built upon.

If the XP/class progression system causes a disconnect with you (doesn't seem realistic or seems overpowered) - maybe check out Complete_Control or Buy_the_Numbers. They allow you to use XP to buy (and mix and match) class abilities. They both basically allow you to play a classless game without having to rework the XP system.

Hope this helped, and again, Welcome to ENWorld.

 

[Dragonwriter]

First off, welcome to the boards!

1) does BAB apply to touch/ranged touched attacks? i find that makes things a little too powered, expecially since that means a wizard with a few levels of fighter can somehow shoot spells better! explain that one!

Yes, BAB applies. No, it's not overpowered that a Fighter/Wizard hits better than a Wizard. Because the Wizard casts spells more often, stronger and all-around better than the Fighter/Wizard.

2) Critical Strikes! what happens with you have a BAB of 6 or higher? lets say +6/+1, is it one crit, one norm, two crit, one crit and thats it? sorry i know its probly silly but its been bugging me and i cant find the answer lol.

The critical hit only applies to one attack. With a +6 or higher BAB, you just get extra attacks, and more chances to score that crit.

3) this one is a little idea of my own around XP. I have found that when you multi class it seems a bit off a 5th level figher would need 11k xp to learn 1st level spells that a 1st wizard would only need 1k to get, why doesnt he have to work 11 times harder for the same simple spells?

SO! my idea was that you use class level instead for xp, and ECL for prestiege, for example. 3rd level cleric (3k xp total) and 3rd level wizard (3k xp total) making a total of 6k and ECL 6 between them (instead of 15k total with ecl 6) and thus the xp needed for a level in either cleric or wizard would be 3k, or for a level in say... mystic theurge, would be 6k (ecl 6 to ecl 7).

what do you think? would it be over powered? good idea? down playing prestiege to much? good idea but needs tweeking? let me know!!

Why would you bother? That whole setup just increases bookkeeping. Multiclassing is all about the trade-off. I think your idea is coming from good intentions, but it would just throw the game off. Still, if you want to make it a House Rule of yours, no one here will stop you...

 

[El Mahdi]

...Still, if you want to make it a House Rule of yours, no one here will stop you...

Wizards of the Coast (WotC) however, has an elite police force dedicated to rules enforcement. Be careful your houserules don't stray too far from the established rules or they may pay you a visit in the middle of the night. All of their officers have Darkvision, never fail a Move Silently skill check, have a nearly indefensible Sneak Attack, and never fail to coup de grace.

 

[Starbuck_II]

never fail to coup de grace.

You do realize you can't fail a Coup de Grace. It auto hits...

 

[Theroc]

You do realize you can't fail a Coup de Grace. It auto hits...

He means they never choose not to Coup de Grace. In other words, they have no mercy.

 

[El Mahdi]

He means they never choose not to Coup de Grace. In other words, they have no mercy.

Exactly!


What it all boils down to is: THEY'RE EEEEEEVIL!

 

[aboyd]

does BAB apply to touch/ranged touched attacks? i find that makes things a little too powered, expecially since that means a wizard with a few levels of fighter can somehow shoot spells better! explain that one!

Yes, BAB applies. It's easy to explain, at least in my games. The character has deliberately taken up levels of training in a class that is all about improving your aim, damage, and combat prowess. If a character took up such a class and did not improve his or her ability to hit the enemy, that would be the weird thing, in my opinion. Don't forget, when a player makes a choice to take a class, feat, skill, or spell, they are making a clear decision about what they hope to become. If you kill off the advantages of these choices, you are basically saying, "Your character sunk all that time & effort into something that gave no return or material advantage. Ha ha."

That isn't good. Of course, if you've explained your changes beforehand, then at least the players can avoid certain things and thus avoid feeling screwed over.

Critical Strikes! what happens with you have a BAB of 6 or higher? lets say +6/+1, is it one crit, one norm, two crit, one crit and thats it?

Like StreamOfTheSky, I have no idea what you're asking here. BAB has no influence on critical strikes. Critical strikes only occur when someone naturally rolls high on a d20. The BAB doesn't figure in.

Of course, a high BAB means you can attack multiple times in a single round. So, if you have a high BAB, you'll get more chances to roll to hit. And that means more chances to roll high and get a critical strike. I guess in that sense, BAB does have some tangential relationship.

I have found that when you multi class it seems a bit off a 5th level figher would need 11k xp to learn 1st level spells that a 1st wizard would only need 1k to get, why doesnt he have to work 11 times harder for the same simple spells?

As someone else noted, you don't have to work 11 times harder (or longer) if you need 11k to gain a level. An appropriate fight for a first level character will end with the character getting about 75 XP. After 13 or 14 or 15 combat encounters, he will level up. An appropriate fight for a 5th level character would award him 350 XP. After 13 or 14 or 15 combat encounters, he will level up. Thus they are technically putting out the same effort, assuming they each fight battles appropriate for their level.

what do you think? would it be over powered? good idea? down playing prestiege to much? good idea but needs tweeking? let me know!!

I think it's an unnecessary game mechanic.

 

[Runestar]

You will realize that most enemies' touch AC scale very slowly relative to a wizard's bab, so your wizard will rarely miss with ranged touch attacks later on, completely negating the need to multiclass in fighter for improved bab.