The Book of Experimental Might: Now in Print!

[Darrin Drader]

A bit more of the 4e "per" paradigm.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Link to the 4e post?

Sorry, just got back to the thread. It's here. Of course, there's probably more detail in this thread. . . now.

 

[Jaws]

The Book of Experimental Might: Now in Print!

Print: http://www.lulu.com/content/2134528


j.

 

[Greg K]

To any of you with either the pdf or the book, I have several questions
1) Does he change anything about raise dead, resurrection etc.? How does he address it
2) Does he change anything about movement spells like teleportation? How does he address it
3) Does he do anything about Summon Monster and Nature's Ally spells? Again, what?
4) What does he do, if anything about save or die spells?
5) What does he do, if anything about save and suck spells? For instance, does he do anything like staged effects by degree of failure on the save?
6) How do the minor spell caster abilities compare to Complete Mage's reserve feats in terms of implementation?
7) What, if anything does he do about to eliminate/replace XP costs for spellcasting? How about for magic item creation?
8) Does he address a replacement for level draining?


Thanks

 

[Greg K]

One more question. Do background skills give bonus ranks, additional class skills, both or something else?

Thanks again

 

[kensanata]

1) Does he change anything about raise dead, resurrection etc.? How does he address it

This is what he says on page 72:

Using these rules, it’s really hard to bring back the dead, and in particular the long dead. This was an intentional choice on my part, simply because I saw how the raise dead spell cheapens the threat of death. More than that, though, it changes the campaign world. A setting where kings and the very wealthy simply won’t die except from extreme old age is really a very strange place. That’s going to completely shape the culture—not a bad thing, but something that I don’t want to deal with in most of my campaigns.

2) Does he change anything about movement spells like teleportation? How does he address it

What are you looking for? I see he has a Teleport Tracer spell in his list.

3) Does he do anything about Summon Monster and Nature's Ally spells? Again, what?

I don't see anything in particular. What are you looking for?

4) What does he do, if anything about save or die spells?

This is what he says on page 37:

I’ve found “save or die” effects to be very exciting, but ultimately unsatisfying. I have taken steps to eliminate them from the vast majority of spells presented here, changing them to massive amounts of damage instead. While the huge amounts of damage the new versions of the spells inflict might still amount to “save or die,” at least they use a standardized concept (hit points) to determine whether a character dies. I would likewise advise eliminating other similar effects, such as the vorpal weapon quality. Note that some spells, like circle of death, are left as-is despite their “save or die” nature because of the Hit Dice limitations built into them. These, in effect, are just like spells that inflict lots of damage, as creatures with lots of hit points still enjoy an advantage.

5) What does he do, if anything about save and suck spells? For instance, does he do anything like staged effects by degree of failure on the save?

What am I looking for?

6) How do the minor spell caster abilities compare to Complete Mage's reserve feats in terms of implementation?

I don't know Complete Mage.

7) What, if anything does he do about to eliminate/replace XP costs for spellcasting? How about for magic item creation?

I don't see anything about item creation in the book, so I assume these are all unchanged.

8) Does he address a replacement for level draining?

Spells like Ennervation and Energy drain are still available. I assume these are all unchanged.

 

[Greg K]

Kensanata,
thanks for answering. Some of the things I was looking for

1) For Teleportation type spells, I would like to see long range teleporation and dimensional travel spells be rituals that take longer to cast and, hopefully moved to higher levels.

2) For Summoning Spells, again I would like to see them as rituals that take much longer to cast. I would also like to see summon monster broken down into spells for Abyssal, Celestial, Infernal, Elemental

3) For Save and Suck, Ideally, I would like to see staged effects based on by how much a save is failed.

 

[Castellan]

kensanata has a pretty good breakdown of your list, Greg K.

As for the disciplines that spellcasters get, I like the way they're handled. The player picks a branch of study and can either add a new branch at higher levels, or take more powerful features of those branches he's already taken. This is balanced out by Monte removing class abilities -- PCs now have to choose a discipline to get certain abilities.

A popular one will be Eldritch Bolt, which gives a Magic Missile-like attack every round (as an aside, Monte removed the Magic Missile spell, since this discipline effectively replaces it). It's a ranged touch attack at close range, doing 1d6 force damage and increasing after every few levels gained. If the player chooses to focus on this discipline, he can get bonuses to hit, increased spell range, energy substitution, and even additional damage dice over the standard amount. It seems well-balanced and goes hand-in-hand with the 20 spell levels he's broken spells out to.

I like this method a bit better than reserve feats in Complete Mage.

This concept is similar for clerics and druids, too. The druid's wild shape ability is rolled into a discipline, so someone not wanting that power doesn't have to take it, or they can spend time really focusing on making it powerful.

I haven't had a chance to run any of the changes in a game yet, and it'll probably be awhile before I do, but I'm looking forward to trying it out.

The book also includes an action for combat called "Taking A Breather" which I far and away prefer over the 4e "Second Wind" idea. In addition to healing some damage, a PC can "refocus" to get a bonus to hit or damage against one target, get a bonus to a saving throw on the following round, or gain another saving throw to remove an unwanted spell effect. It takes a Standard Action to do, which I think is quite fair given the benefit that can arise from such a game change. Ultimately, this action is going to be a flavor issue. In some games, I'd find it appropriate, but in others, not (i.e. if you want grim and gritty, this whole book isn't for you).

My Midnight campaign won't see anything from this book, since it's just not a good fit, but a Forgotten Realms or Ptolus game would be fine host for such changes.

 

[kensanata]

1) For Teleportation type spells, I would like to see long range teleporation and dimensional travel spells be rituals that take longer to cast and, hopefully moved to higher levels.

There are no changes to Teleport, Dimension Door, Teleport Object, Greater Teleport, and Teleportation Circle.

2) For Summoning Spells, again I would like to see them as rituals that take much longer to cast. I would also like to see summon monster broken down into spells for Abyssal, Celestial, Infernal, Elemental

Again, no changes to the existing spells and lists.

3) For Save and Suck, Ideally, I would like to see staged effects based on by how much a save is failed.

I assume one would have to look at a particular spell that you have in mind. I'll pick two spells and look them up. Both Hold Person and Flesh to Stone are unchanged.

Other Changes

Monte made changes to Polymorph, essentially changing that spell into a long list of specific "turn into X" spells for a well defined list of X.

Monte also reverted to the 3.0 buff spells (hours instead of rounds and 1d4+1 instead of 4).

Monte replaced all the Cure spells with a new Healing system wherein clerics don't spend an action to heal somebody. Instead, the healed spends an action to get healed. Quite an interesting change. There are many more subtle changes in that area.

 

[Bacris]

Monte replaced all the Cure spells with a new Healing system wherein clerics don't spend an action to heal somebody. Instead, the healed spends an action to get healed. Quite an interesting change. There are many more subtle changes in that area.

It's interesting. I've had a psionic healer class in playtesting now for a few months, and he works on the same principle.

So I definitely like that change.