Proposal: Retraining for New Material

[covaithe]

I have to say I most prefer covaithe's version, where you can train one additional power/feat if it's from a source approved since your last level.

There's a subtle distinction here; what I suggested was that you can retrain an extra power if the new one wasn't available at the time you got approved with the old one. That might be many levels ago. Suppose you're a human wizard, and at level 1 you pick magic missile, scorching burst, thunderwave, and burning hands. At level 2, you do something else. Then, before you reach level 3, AP comes out and is approved. At level three you can lose magic missile and scorching burst and replace them with AP powers, say Nuclear Meltdown and Summon Oncoming Train. At level four, you could still drop both burning hands and thunderwave in favor of AP powers. Or you could lose Nuclear Meltdown in favor of Magic Missile, and still retrain Burning Hands for something else from AP.

 

[Lord Sessadore]

Hmm ... I like it, but it would be a little harder to track. It's fairly trivial to find the date that a character was approved (and therefore leveled up), and to find the date when a specific source was approved. Finding the date when a certain power was gained/retrained could be a bit more difficult, though not impossible. (Putting character sheets in the wiki was a brilliant idea, whoever thought of that.)

 

[Dunamin]

I would have chimed in here sooner but I’ve been unable to make up my mind.

I do like Cov’s suggestion overall and that’s my current preference. I’m always hesitant about deviating from rules, though, so I’m a bit unsure about allowing retraining of both power, feat, and skill choice. It does seem a nice consideration to account for the pace of PBP, however, and I can’t really think of ways it could impact balance.

 

[KenHood]

What do you think about the second-level overhaul?

 

[Dunamin]

I think it's ok as long as class, race, ability scores, and basic concept stay the same.

Honestly, though, I can't claim to be completely impartial since it might slow down our game if you had to redo your level-up.

 

[Lord Sessadore]

Well, I don't think many people will really retrain skills past 2nd or 3rd level - after that, they've likely figured out which skills they really want, and will stick with them. Allowing skill retraining "for free" doesn't really bother me.

Feat retraining will happen a little more often, I think; but barring the "switch Toughness at the upper end of a tier, then get it back at the beginning of the next tier" trick and things like that, I don't see feat retraining being any more than discovering you don't really like the feat you originally picked and wanting a new one (or switching for something newly approved).

Powers are a little bit of a different story again, but I think it's essentially the same as feats. You'll really only retrain powers if you don't like your old ones, or if a new source gets approved which has powers you like more or that fit your concept better.

In each case, I can't really imagine retraining two of each in one level-up will be much of a problem. I think I'm ready to vote on this ... but which post is the actual proposal??

 

[KenHood]

Honestly, though, I can't claim to be completely impartial since it might slow down our game if you had to redo your level-up.

I don't know what you mean...

 

[Dunamin]

In each case, I can't really imagine retraining two of each in one level-up will be much of a problem. I think I'm ready to vote on this ... but which post is the actual proposal??

I think the formal proposal is this - mostly just a rewrite of covaithe’s words (correct me if I’m wrong):

Every time your character gains a level, you can retrain one feat, power, and skill. If new character options have been approved for play in L4W since your character’s last approval of submission or level-up, you may additionally retrain one new feat, power, and class feature (when selectable) from the new source(s).

Once before your character is approved for level 2, you may do an overhaul of your character. This is a single opportunity in that character’s career to recreate all mechanical aspects of the character except for class, race, ability scores, and basic character concept. The overhaul must be approved as per the normal rules for character approval, and requires DM permission if the character is involved in an adventure.

 

[Ozymandias79]

to that I vote YES for

 

[Lord Sessadore]

Every time your character gains a level, you can retrain one feat, power, and skill. If new character options have been approved for play in L4W since your character’s last approval of submission or level-up, you may additionally retrain one new feat, power, and class feature (when selectable) from the new source(s).

Once before your character is approved for level 2, you may do an overhaul of your character. This is a single opportunity in that character’s career to recreate all mechanical aspects of the character except for class, race, ability scores, and basic character concept. The overhaul must be approved as per the normal rules for character approval, and requires DM permission if the character is involved in an adventure.

I also vote YES on this.