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Limited-Resource Campaign Design, Take Two
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<blockquote data-quote="mhacdebhandia" data-source="post: 3561746" data-attributes="member: 18832"><p>I enjoyed my last little experiment with limited-resource campaign design, so here we are again. This time around, I'm going to look at building a setting sketch from three angles instead of two: not only "PC races" and "monsters" but also "character classes". It's not really different from what I've done before, but I'm bored at work (at least, I was when I originally wrote this) and enjoy the exercise for its own sake.</p><p></p><p>Let's start with character classes. Everyone familiar with <em>Dungeons & Dragons</em> knows that there are four traditional roles:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Fighter</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Cleric</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Rogue</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Wizard</li> </ul><p>As a matter of experimental principle, these four classes will not be available in this setting, nor will some of their common stand-ins from the core rules. Instead, I will offer four classes from other sources to replace each, so that the final roster of available classes is a healthy sixteen.</p><p></p><p><strong>Replacing the Fighter</strong></p><p></p><p>First off the bench to replace the retiring fighter class is also the newest on the roster, coming from the recent supplement <em>Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords</em>. Some people might, at this point, be expecting me to nominate the warblade, but instead I'm actually going to choose the <strong>crusader</strong> class. I approve of its focus on defending and promoting a specific cause or ethos - it's a simple but effective hook for characterisation, and I also think the crusader's randomised available maneuvers and delayed damage pool are fun to deal with. Not every player is going to be interested in that kind of bookkeeping, of course, and that's why there are other options.</p><p></p><p>Second up, another relatively recent class: the <strong>duskblade</strong> from the <em>Player's Handbook II</em>. While I have a great deal of contempt for the elf-worshipping flavour it's given in that book, mechanically speaking it's a nice "magical warrior" class with which I'm very satisfied. It's a strong archetype that's fun to play, and I'm happy to look at adjusting its spell list to suit the setting if necessary.</p><p></p><p>Third, also from the <em>Player's Handbook II</em>: the <strong>knight</strong>. While there is some conceptual overlap between the knight and the crusader, in that both exist in the context of duty and obligation to protect and serve something greater than oneself, I actually appreciate that - there's something pleasingly mythic about oaths and service, so I'm happy to have two warrior classes connected to such an idea. Mechanically, the knight is clearly inspired by "tank" mechanics from massively-multiplayer online roleplaying games, but I'm not bothered by the cross-pollination one bit. It's a solid class which would be interesting to play.</p><p></p><p>Fourth and finally, I'm not compelled to restrict myself to official D&D sourcebooks from Wizards of the Coast. Monte Cook, one of the original designers of Third Edition <em>D&D</em>, published a "variant Player's Handbook" called <em>Arcana Unearthed</em>, later revised and expanded as <em>Arcana Evolved</em>, and one of the best classes in that book is the swashbuckling <strong>unfettered</strong> class. With a small amount of tweaking to make it compatible with otherwise standard <em>D&D</em>, the unfettered is a great "light fighter" class that can hold its own amidst its sturdier cousins.</p><p></p><p>Next: four classes to replace the cleric.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="mhacdebhandia, post: 3561746, member: 18832"] I enjoyed my last little experiment with limited-resource campaign design, so here we are again. This time around, I'm going to look at building a setting sketch from three angles instead of two: not only "PC races" and "monsters" but also "character classes". It's not really different from what I've done before, but I'm bored at work (at least, I was when I originally wrote this) and enjoy the exercise for its own sake. Let's start with character classes. Everyone familiar with [I]Dungeons & Dragons[/I] knows that there are four traditional roles: [list][*]Fighter [*]Cleric [*]Rogue [*]Wizard[/list] As a matter of experimental principle, these four classes will not be available in this setting, nor will some of their common stand-ins from the core rules. Instead, I will offer four classes from other sources to replace each, so that the final roster of available classes is a healthy sixteen. [B]Replacing the Fighter[/B] First off the bench to replace the retiring fighter class is also the newest on the roster, coming from the recent supplement [I]Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords[/I]. Some people might, at this point, be expecting me to nominate the warblade, but instead I'm actually going to choose the [b]crusader[/b] class. I approve of its focus on defending and promoting a specific cause or ethos - it's a simple but effective hook for characterisation, and I also think the crusader's randomised available maneuvers and delayed damage pool are fun to deal with. Not every player is going to be interested in that kind of bookkeeping, of course, and that's why there are other options. Second up, another relatively recent class: the [b]duskblade[/b] from the [i]Player's Handbook II[/i]. While I have a great deal of contempt for the elf-worshipping flavour it's given in that book, mechanically speaking it's a nice "magical warrior" class with which I'm very satisfied. It's a strong archetype that's fun to play, and I'm happy to look at adjusting its spell list to suit the setting if necessary. Third, also from the [i]Player's Handbook II[/i]: the [b]knight[/b]. While there is some conceptual overlap between the knight and the crusader, in that both exist in the context of duty and obligation to protect and serve something greater than oneself, I actually appreciate that - there's something pleasingly mythic about oaths and service, so I'm happy to have two warrior classes connected to such an idea. Mechanically, the knight is clearly inspired by "tank" mechanics from massively-multiplayer online roleplaying games, but I'm not bothered by the cross-pollination one bit. It's a solid class which would be interesting to play. Fourth and finally, I'm not compelled to restrict myself to official D&D sourcebooks from Wizards of the Coast. Monte Cook, one of the original designers of Third Edition [i]D&D[/i], published a "variant Player's Handbook" called [i]Arcana Unearthed[/i], later revised and expanded as [i]Arcana Evolved[/i], and one of the best classes in that book is the swashbuckling [b]unfettered[/b] class. With a small amount of tweaking to make it compatible with otherwise standard [i]D&D[/i], the unfettered is a great "light fighter" class that can hold its own amidst its sturdier cousins. Next: four classes to replace the cleric. [/QUOTE]
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