Quite a class-book vision, Ryan D!

[Plane Sailing]

I was reading Ryan Dancey's excellent contribution to a thread over at RPG.net which Eric directed us towards http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?threadid=1910&perpage=20&pagenumber=3

And I was particularly taken by the following gem

I would change the focus of the builder books too. Instead of being aimed squarely at players, I would enhance the amount of content directed at DMs.

Here's a rough outline (I'm not a full time designer, and the people who are would likely come up with a better list of stuff than this if asked - so take this as a "near layperson's" opinion of what I'd like to see in the books) of what I'd put in the v2.0 Builder Books:

1. Min-maxing instructions (recipies) for characters using just the PHB/DMG (how to combine classes, p-classes, feats & skills with Magic items and various spells to achieve certain target character archetypes just using the core books)

2. Thoughts and comments on successfully using Monsters from the MM with [Book Focus] levels both as NPCs and as PCs

3. Ideas for customizing the basic classes of [Book Focus] without creating whole new class concepts - a topic touched on in the DMG and almost completely ignored by all the d20 publishers (and WotC itself).

4. Tools for building prestige classes to extend the metaphor of [Book Focus] classes (with five or six completed examples).

5. New uses of existing Skills for [Book Focus] characters

6. New uses of existing Feats for [Book Focus] characters

7. New Feats for [Book Focus] characters

8. New equipment for [Book Focus] characters

9. A Rules Expansion for [Book Focus] characters (roman numerals correspond to focus group):
i. A more detailed combat extension with parries & martial arts
ii. Additional uses of "energy" (turning, rebuking, commanding undead energy) and material to integrate with the Deities & Demigods rules systems to explain Holy Power.
iii. A detailed system for spell research and new spell development
iv. A detailed system on creating, triggering, and disarming devices (not just traps), and a detailed system for customizing Bard powers by instrument and art form
v. Detailed rules for dealing with animals and mounts (both wild, tamed, and magically ehanced)

I'd shoot for a book of about 128 pages, with a price point around $25-$30.

Gosh, I'd love to have had classbooks which looked like this! Options 1 and 3 were things that I had particularly hoped for in the classbooks and sadly never saw realised... but they would have been worth *much* more to me than lots of extra prestige classes.

Sadly I don't suppose there is any real chance of seeing something like this appear now - but I wonder if anyone in the world of Netbooks would be up for considering some of these sorts of thing?

Cheers

 

[Plane Sailing]

*bump*

So is this -not- the kind of thing that a group might consider making a netbook for?

 

[Crothian]

I understand the new uses for old skills and AEG has been the one I'm most impressed with by doing this. However, how would you do new uses for old feats? Feats seem pretty well defined and limited so I'm not sure how this would be done.

 

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

The new 3e Netbook of Unlawful Carnal Knowledge has a new use for Sneak Attack, which lets a character use their sneak attack bonus as a bonus to the bluff (seduction) check to "arouse" an NPC. Limited usefulness and probably not all that well thought out, LOL. S'funny, tho.

 

[Green Knight]

Link, please?

 

[Mokona]

*bump*

That is quite a class book Ryan describes (though he is long gone from D&D). Do people still like those ideas? Do you think we've gotten some of that in the new Complete books of the Hero Series?

 

[Crothian]

*bump*

That is quite a class book Ryan describes (though he is long gone from D&D). Do people still like those ideas? Do you think we've gotten some of that in the new Complete books of the Hero Series?

No, the complete books were really mis named

 

[MerricB]

No, the complete books were really mis named

We got some of it. However, a lot of Ryan's ideas are in other 3.5e books.

Cheers!

 

[Klaus]

The funny thing is, there was already a book that did #1, but it was possibly the worst-received book in 3.0: The Hero Builder's Guidebook. The last chapter (before the name appendix) has recipes for building The Ultimate Archer (either elf for the Dex bonus or Human for the bonus feat, class is fighter all the way), The Witch-Hunter (fighter/wizard specialized in counterspelling), The Spy, The Friar (Tuck-like cleric or druid), etc...

 

[Particle_Man]

#1 was also done in goodman games "power gamers 3.5 warrior strategy guide", (although they got a few things wrong in execution, it is still useful to look at).

Myself, I would like to see *more* on the *cool* classes, like Hexblade, Warlock, etc.