Star Wars Sage Edition Heroic class...

[damiller]

I've really liked the non-heroic character class, and so decided to create a heroic class, thus getting rid of all the other classes and allowing players and GMs to pick talents at will without switch classes.

pick it up at this page, click the Heroic Classes link.
http://darrelmiller.net/rpg

Hope you enjoy!

d

 

[ValhallaGH]

Your sample characters have a number of flaws, especially on their defenses. It makes the rest look very sloppy.

That said, your basic system is actually pretty slick. It allows for an very customized player character to be generated at almost any level, pretty quickly and easily. However, it's a bit clunkier for NPCs, though not much; if nothing else, a GM can just use a pre-existing heroic NPC, since it can still be built on the same formula.

You might want to emphasize that this isn't meant to replace prestige classes, just base classes.

Overall, nicely done.

 

[damiller]

ValhallaGH - about he defenses, dang I can never get those numbers figured right, I will try to correct those in the next version.

I don't understand how it would be clunkier to create an NPC, with my modification they would be either a non heroic or heroic character.

And thank you for your comments, I appreciate you taking the time to comment.

d

 

[Nifft]

You are ignoring the disproportionate benefit certain feats and talent trees grant.

By your rules, a 1st level Jedi could have:
30 +Con HP (1 feat)
6 +Int skills (1 feat)
Lightsaber proficiency
Force Sensitive
Simple weapons
+ 2 extra feats (Force Training and Skill Focus: Use the Force, for example)
+ 1 Talent

Normally, only a Human Jedi can start play with both Force Training and SF(UtF). In your rules, any Jedi could have both, and Humans would get an extra.

Skills are usually a balancing factor for Jedi, who are usually very skill poor, and many Jedi spend Talents to replace various skill checks with Use the Force checks. This rule set gives any Jedi the skills of a Noble.

Your system might be reasonable for non-Jedi classes. I haven't bothered to look, since replicating a Jedi was so obviously broken.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Donovan Morningfire]

The basic problem I see with a single "heroic" class approach is that it will allow players to very easily cherry-pick the prime talents/feats, leading to some wildly overpowered characters, as Nifft pointed out.

It works for Non-Heroics because they don't get bonus feats or talents, so balance is less of an issue there.

 

[damiller]

Nifft - I don't agree that is broken. I do think it would require more GM oversite, because it is a more fluid approach to building a character, almost a point based system, without the points, and those require more GM attention.

Donovan- I agree, it does free players up to cherry pick, that just means a GM has to oversee character creation and pay attention to what the players choose. Which I don't think is a bad thing.

d

 

[Nifft]

Nifft - I don't agree that is broken. I do think it would require more GM oversite, because it is a more fluid approach to building a character, almost a point based system, without the points, and those require more GM attention.

"Oversight".

It's not "more fluid", it's just more. More feats and more skill points for the Jedi; more hit points and feats for the Noble; more of everything. Only the Soldier-replica would lose out, because his starting feats weren't all that great to begin with.

I've given you an example demonstrating that your system is not in tune with the Saga rules: the Jedi produced by your rules is strictly better than a normal Saga Jedi. No trade off, no "fluid": just plain better.

-- N

 

[ValhallaGH]

Nifft, you forgot the feat that must be spent to gain the full base attack bonus.
In which case the Jedi "only" has 4+ skills, and is still wholly superior to his RAW counterpart.

On the plus side, there's no way to get additional talents.

 

[Nifft]

Nifft, you forgot the feat that must be spent to gain the full base attack bonus.
In which case the Jedi "only" has 4+ skills, and is still wholly superior to his RAW counterpart.

Ah, right! However, let's drop Simple Weapons instead of 6+ skills. It's not many a Jedi who will care.

Thanks, -- N

 

[Donovan Morningfire]

Donovan- I agree, it does free players up to cherry pick, that just means a GM has to oversee character creation and pay attention to what the players choose. Which I don't think is a bad thing.

d

If your a micro-managing GM with time to review every single character, which I see as a very bad thing, especially if the GM doesn't have a lot of extra time. Personally, as a GM I would much rather spend my time actually running a game than going through a character sheet with a fine tooth comb to spot any game-breaking combos, or worse yet have to retroactively veto parts of a character.

If you're going to do away with multiple classes, then you might as well just scrap the whole class/level system entirely.