The Custom Hero 1.0 Available

[Malacoda]

I have finally called it finished and am kicking it out the door. The final version of The Custom Hero is now available, version 1.0.

The Custom Hero is an alternate character creation system for d20 Modern that dispenses with classes and instead uses a point-based system to build characters. It is flexible, yet still balanced with the standard d20 Modern rules. It is "plug-n-play" with the rest of the modern d20 rules, requiring no modifications to other aspects of the game.

Included in The Custom Hero are 120 new feats derived from the talents and the class abilities of the core and advanced classes.

The Custom Hero will be supported in the future with supplements, including a magic supplement and a superpower system. And, the entire system is OGL content.

The final hero can be found here:

http://myweb.cableone.net/tyranthraxus/TBLIV/

I welcome any feedback, both rules-wise and editing wise.

 

[jonrog1]

The ONLY thing disappointing about this is that the three weeks I spent trying to accomplish this were utterly and totally wasted.

This is a fantastic, FANTASTIC, piece of work.

I'll be e-mailing you about doing the same with Spycraft characters, and some ideas for different "power suites." Man oh man, this is just one solid, infinitely usable construct. And spiffy formatting, too.

Congratulations on a job very well done.

 

[Squirrel Nutkin]

This is a fantastic, FANTASTIC, piece of work.

Ditto to everything jonrog1 already said, and then some. I'm already looking forward to the supplements you mentioned, and I hope that we'll see a 3E adaptation at some point -- "The Custom Fantasy Hero" maybe? In the meantime, please, keep up the good work!

 

[Siridar]

At least I'm not the only one with plenty of wasted time on their hands.

Wow. This just rocks.

Can't wait to see more, keep up the good work.

 

[Malacoda]

Wow, I am surprised at the response here. I am glad to see that a few of you have found something to like in The Custom Hero. There was a lot of work and thought put into it, and it is nice to see some feedback.

Note that The Custom Hero itself is still evolving, and I have already planned at least one minor change (make Reputation cheaper). I have posted a few things to the d20 Modern mailing list (WotC's list), but I am sort of at a loss of how to keep people who are interested updated.

I am plugging away at the magic and the superpower systems. The magic system will be easiest, since it is based on the SRD so heavily. While there is a fair amount of writing, there is a lot of cutting and pasting from the SRD. It will fit smoothly with The Custom Hero, but at its heart it is the standard 3e magic system. That doesn't mean there won't be room for other magic systems that use the point-based approach.

The superpower system is a lot more work, since everything has to be written from scratch. But it is going well. Writing the rules is easy, but coming up with character point values will be a pain.

Thanks for the support. Hopefully I can return that favor.

 

[Malacoda]

The ONLY thing disappointing about this is that the three weeks I spent trying to accomplish this were utterly and totally wasted.

This is a fantastic, FANTASTIC, piece of work.

Thanks for the good word. Sorry about the wasted time (OK, not really. )

I'll be e-mailing you about doing the same with Spycraft characters, and some ideas for different "power suites." Man oh man, this is just one solid, infinitely usable construct. And spiffy formatting, too.

Feel free to drop me a line. I only have access to the main Spycraft book, but I am willing to chat about it and anything else.

Thanks again.

 

[Malacoda]

At least I'm not the only one with plenty of wasted time on their hands.

Heck, I do most of my writing at work, so I sort of get paid for it! Not a bad gig.

 

[Malacoda]

Ditto to everything jonrog1 already said, and then some. I'm already looking forward to the supplements you mentioned, and I hope that we'll see a 3E adaptation at some point -- "The Custom Fantasy Hero" maybe?

I am likely to put out two fantasy supplements. One will be a lot of the 3e class abilities as feats and powers, though designed to be used by modern characters.

The second will be The Custom Fantasy Hero, as you say. An attempt at porting the point-based approach over to 3e. I have done some initial work on this. I think it is possible, but there are some significant differences between the two systems when it comes to character balance. Most notably, 3e characters are worth many more points at first level. Bonus feats for weapon and armour proficiencies, for example, really increase the total. That +2 save bonus at first is another. I have some ideas on how to handle it, though.

But, in both cases, I am likely to wait for 3.1e to come out before I plow ahead. I am not sure how extensive the changes will be, but I would hate to get everything written up and then have to do go back and do a ton more work. Besides, it may be that time before I can get to it.

Thanks again for the praise.

 

[Bibliophile]

I noticed you didn't convert the Field Scientist's Smart Defense ability, any reason why not?

 

[Malacoda]

I noticed you didn't convert the Field Scientist's Smart Defense ability, any reason why not?

When I converted talents and class abilities into feats, I tried to insure that each was worth one feat. Some had to be powered up a bit, some had to be powered down or split into two or more feats.

Smart Defense is, in my opinion, a bit too powerful for a single feat. Anyone who is likely to take it is going to have an Intelligence bonus of +2 or more, and could have +4 or +5. That is a hefty bonus to Defense for one feat. Sure its a dodge bonus, but that still strikes me as overly generous. What kind of prereqs work for that?

Perhaps breaking it into two feats, one that allows you to replace your Dex bonus with your Intelligence, then an improved version that allows you to add them together. Maybe that would be more workable.