Rules in 3.5 that need fixing and what you'd do to fix it.

[Rel]

ENOUGH with the insults. NOW.

 

[Piratecat]

I'm not even sure I believe you are game designer.

Actually, Celebrim, please don't post in this thread any more. I'd like you to review the Rules at the top of every forum, because any more rudeness or personal attacks will end up earning you a suspension.

If this is somehow unclear, feel free to email me. My address is in the Meta forum.

EDIT: dual-mod action, Go Go Go!

 

[JVisgaitis]

Sorry, I hope I didn't incite anything. I was trying to carefully word my posts.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

How ironic.

Tell me, is 3e your first D&D? Because when I saw the 3e fighter, my thoughts were "finally... an interesting fighter that's just as appealing as paladins and rangers!"

When I think back on my initial reaction to 3e, one of the first things to fire my imagination was the fighter. "Finally they're not boring anymore!" I still feel the fighter, with the vast number of ways to customize the class with feats, is one of 3e's best innovations for D&D.

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

Having thought a bit more about this subject a bit more, I've decided I really don't enjoy fixing rules at all.

I don't like fixing my car, fixing this or fixing that. I'd much rather have someone more professional do all that. This is the philosophy of my workplace too, we have our core activities and the further we stray from it the less effective we become.

Life constraints really do require me to rely on the efforts of the professional designers out there, and I reckon they do pretty well enough.

 

[Celebrim]

I just want to know why my completely non-insulting post was sent to the trash heap and my supposedly offensive one remains.

I didn't even respond. It was over. Kill my frustrated post if you have to kill something, because it was already read and I don't care if anyone else reads it. By killing my other post completely on a different topic you are making it look like I escalated it even further, which is doubly unfair.

 

[Piratecat]

I just want to know why my completely non-insulting post was sent to the trash heap and my supposedly offensive one remains.

I didn't even respond. It was over. Kill my frustrated post if you have to kill something, because it was already read and I don't care if anyone else reads it. By killing my other post completely on a different topic you are making it look like I escalated it even further, which is doubly unfair.

Because when you were frustrated you burned your bridge as far as this thread is concerned, and in post #92 I ordered you out of the thread due to rudeness. When you posted in the thread again, I deleted your post and emailed you to see if you somehow missed my direction.

At this point you've posted in the thread twice after I asked you not to, and I'm betting you haven't had a chance to review the Rules yet, because one of them is "never call a mod out in a thread." You've been here as long as I have, I think - and that's always been the rule. I even told you to email me in my previous post.

So, let's be clear. Do not post in this thread any more. Please email me to discuss it (you'll have an email from me in your account, and you can get my email from a stickied thread in the Meta forum.)

And now, back on topic!

 

[Nyaricus]

And now, back on topic!

Sounds good!

Nyaricus' Speed Rules

Speed. Speed is another thing I've changed in my games, and made it simpler, IMO.

To get your speed, do the following: Add your Strength score and your Dexterity score together. This is your base speed. Obviously, the more 'athletic' types (ie warriors and the like) will have a higher base speed, whereas more sedative types will have lower speeds (wizards).

From here, do not round up or down just yet - first apply all applicable modifiers.

1. Racial mods: small creatures all get -25% speed, as do dwarves, large creatures get +25% speed, etc [well, needs to be fleshed out, but works for most PC-types )

2. Armour mods: Light = no adjustment, Medium = -25% base speed, Heavy = -50% base speed. Dwarves take no speed penalty from armour worn.*

3. Encumbrance mods: Light = no adjustment, Medium = -25% base speed, large = -25% base speed.*
*Only the higher of these two apply. Light armour and medium load? treat as medium load, etc.

From here, add up the percents. A dwarf wearing fullplate with a medium load has -50% speed, for example (-25% for being a dwarf, -25% for a medium load, no armour adjustment). Then, apply this percent to the sum of your Str and Dex scores, rounding up or down (to the closest number).

Magic Items and the like, I've yet to deal with. Likely stuff like Boots of Speed would add +50% to your speed or somesuch.

cheers,
--N

 

[Demetrios]

SR has always had my vote for 'silliest mechanic in the game'; what's up with making a saving throw to avoid having to make a saving throw?

LOL! Very funny, never saw it like that!!!
I also understand the game mechanic of SR and like it, so I was thinking at the top of my head, perhaps SR could be broken into 3 catgories (could be over complicating things again, bear with me), what if creature's ST could either be:
Low, Medium, High
1. Where the effects of spells was minimised (duration, damage, other...etc) depending on
category.
2. Or if depending on the level of the spell they have a +x to their save

 

[Demetrios]

Having thought a bit more about this subject a bit more, I've decided I really don't enjoy fixing rules at all.

I don't like fixing my car, fixing this or fixing that. I'd much rather have someone more professional do all that. This is the philosophy of my workplace too, we have our core activities and the further we stray from it the less effective we become.

Life constraints really do require me to rely on the efforts of the professional designers out there, and I reckon they do pretty well enough.

You are 100% correct - I hate it too! Every time we start a campaign, we maybe make 1-2 adjustments (it's usually same setting, so no changes there). But for the most part everything is the same. We've recently just started new characters again, after a 10 year campaign, and the only house rules we've made are:

1. Everyone advances at the same time, we have x adventures before PCs advance a level, where x is the level of the PCs. Therefore 2 adventures (not sessions) will advance a PC to level 3. Simple. That brings me to point to 2. How does one get rewarded for good RP.

2. All PCs receive 1 XP for a session, and then based on their RP they can receive 1-3 more (usually 1-2, 3 is exceptional). These XP are spent giving them circumstance or competence bonuses.
They may spend x XP to receive x bonus on any roll. (max 5 on any 1 roll) This is announced before the roll OR They may spend x XP to prevent x damage with the same restrictions above OR They may spend x XP to gain +x bonus to AC for a round, again same restrictions above. These are all circumstance or competence bonuses.

5 XP spend provides them a reroll OR +1 bonus on AC for the combat OR a prevention of 1/round for the combat

10 XP can give them +1 hit point permanently OR an automatic roll of 20 (restricted to once/level)

3. HP are treated like Stamina and heal at lvl/hour. Everyone has 15 Life or Unlife for Constructs/Undead - and when you've lost Life you're wounded, taking penalties to strength and dex and taking HP damage when doing physical feats such as running, forced marches and fighting. Undead and constructs restore themselves too because of negative/necromantic/magical energies which surround them. Basically they're built/created with this ever restoring energy until they are completely destroyed. Fatigue affects your HP/Stamina recovery rate.
Cure Light Wounds cures 1 Life and restores HP/Stamina, Cure Moderate 2, otherwise All other spells affect HP/Stamina first before Life. It sounds complicated but its not - sounds clichè I know.
4. A Sorcerer's, because his power is innate, we explained his innability to cast more spells than listed for their level is because he becomes fatigued. So in my campaign a sorcerer may cast more spells at the risk of becoming fatigued, then exhausted and eventually passing out, depending on fortitude saves which get progressively more difficult as the sorcerer pushes himself. (the idea of getting tired stolen form the Dragonlance books - Raistlin). No adjustment to wizards due to the way they learn spells.

5. Lastly, who stops divine casters (druid, cleric, paladin, ranger) from casting more spells. His/her deity. We've come up with a system where asking for more divine intervention might work but at the cost of damage, skin irritation, bruises, swelling, because they are no longer protected from the raw divine power surging through them. Similar to the sorcerer but fatigue has been replaced by pain when they've passed their spell limit threshold as stated by level in the PHB
We've used a term from Management Accounts - the Margin of Safety to describe the maximum no of spells allowable to a PC before the points 4 or 5 effects kick in for the respective classes. The priest will begin feeling slight pain with his last number of spells, which will obviously progressively grow the closer he gets to the last allowable spell. The Margin of Safety is just after the last spell he casts where no actual damage is taken by casting divine spells, after that point he is unprotected by his deity and will begin experiencing the pain of dealing with divine power not meant for mortals. Same with the sorcereress - she feels the slow increasing drain from her body as she cast spells until she knows, that should she pursue casting for the day, she risks being fatigued or even worse passing out.

Anyways I've rambled long enough......