Classic Fantasy d20

Further on Base Attack Bonuses…

I thank you for the input!  I’m happy to see that my rabble was read.  I sincerely appreciate it.

It appears the main problem with base attack bonuses in Classic Fantasy is that I chose to go with 30 levels.  30 is divisible by 2 and by 3, making multi-classing severely affect the way the math works.  I looked at several alternate methods, including having all characters progress at a +1/3 levels rate with additional bonuses being gained through classes, but the same math errors came up.  For example, a 10th level barbarian/10the level fighter/10th level ranger would have a BAB that exceeds +20.

So, I have decided to stick with the 3.X formula for BAB.  Once a character reaches 20th level, their BAB will not increase.  However, with the weapon training mechanic that I am putting together, the attack bonuses gained through training will stack with BAB, thereby allowing characters faster progression for multiple attacks when using weapons they train in.  Plus, it will allow for an additional bonus of up to +5 for characters as they continue training with a weapon.  The majority of this bonus is achieved at or after 20th level, so it will, in effect, be the way a high level character will continue to improve his or her BAB.

Again, thank you to those who provided me with some thoughts and feedback.  I enjoyed reading your take on things.  I am sorry that I didn’t respond to each of you, but with my work schedule and other commitments, I’ve been a busy boy.

Until next time…

Scott.

On Base Attack Bonuses…

I’ve come to the conclusion that I can’t really improve upon the standard 3.X d20 base attack bonuses.  Unfortunately, with my plan to expand my d20-type game to 30 levels, it creates a bit of a problem.

Currently, with the 20-level system, the base attack bonuses peak at great places.  +20, +15, and +10.  This gives warrior types 4 attacks, clerics and rogues 3 attacks, and wizards only 2 attacks per round, but maximizes their attack bonus for their final attack without overloading them with attacks per round.  It’s clean and efficient.

With my 30-level plan, this creates a problem because if I just follow the current patterns, the attack bonuses will become overpoweringly high and would allow for far too many attacks per round.  It is simply out of the question to give warriors a +30 base attack bonus and 6 attacks per round.  Not to mention that the rogue/cleric base attack bonus would end on a weird number (+22).  It simply isn’t an option.

So, I need to stick with the +20/+15/+10 maximums.  Now the question is how do I stretch it out over 30 levels?  I have tried expanding them, slowing the progression rate so that they all hit their maximums at level 30.  At first, they worked well.  But, when looking at them from a multi-class point of view, they don’t hold up.  The math simply doesn’t work out properly in some cases.  I will keep trying this method, but so far it’s not looking good.

I was really hoping that I would be able to use the stretched out method, too.  I want to have the attack bonus gained from the weapon training system count toward gaining additional attacks per round, making the training even more valuable.  So far, though, it isn’t working out.

At this point, I am left with leaving the base attack bonuses as they are and having them peak when a character reaches 20th level.  This would mean that once a character reaches 20th level, their base attack bonus does not improve any further.  Sadly, this leaves 10 levels of no further combat improvement other than feats and weapon training.  It also prevents me from using the attack bonus gained through weapon training toward attacks per round because it would cause it to be very front loaded and still not provide much of a benefit beyond 20th level (well, new benefits).

So, I’m still looking at them and trying to work the math to find a happy medium.  As always, I am open to suggestions and/or input from those few that take the time to read my sporadic posts.

Spells, Spells, Spells

Well, I am once again working on spells.  I’ve decided to go ahead and separate Classic Fantasy from the old D&D rules because IF it ever sees publication, it most likely won’t be through Wizards.  So, I’ve decided to make the changes now.  Besides, this way I can strip spells down and reformat them to my liking.  Many of them will remain relatively the same.  Fireball will still be a 3rd level spell that does 1d6/level damage.  Others will get a name change, but have the same basic effects.  Some, however, will be changed one way or another in order to balance them or separate them from the old rules.  Plus, there will be unique, home crafted spells unlike anything currently available, just to keep things fresh.

It is going to be a relatively epic undertaking, being that I am working alone and in between work and regular home life time (my wife, family, and friends, for example).  So, I will do what I can when I can.  I will post updates when I get something noteworthy done, too.  So, for those few that actually read these words, there will be more updates than there have been in the past.  I hope you enjoy.

As always, thoughts, comments, and job offers are welcome.  :)

-Scott

Skeleton Template

I am liking the way my skeleton template is working out.  So far, I have applied it to a goblin, a human, a wolf, and an ogre.  It has scaled very well and has made each creature recognizable as what it was while still making it different enough to be a separate encounter type.  A fight with 5 goblins and a fight with 5 goblin skeletons will certainly feel different from each other.

This gives me hope as I continue fleshing out (heh) the undead templates I will be using.  And, while I want the “stock” monsters I create to work well, I also want to allow for a Game Master to be able to create his or her own creatures using the template quickly and with relative ease.  So far, so good.

Just a quick update today.  As always, questions, comments, and the like are welcome.

Scott.

Memories…

Some of my fondest memories are of playing D&D (and AD&D and 2nd Edition D&D and even some 3rd edition and 3.5…).  My friends and I enjoyed it and weren’t ashamed of it.  We also weren’t into it so far that we couldn’t have normal conversations and other interests in life (mine were the Oakland A’s and the San Francisco 49ers among others).

What I am trying to do with Classic Fantasy is to allow others to enjoy the same essence of those memories.  The joy of victory, the shock of a character’s death, the energy of creating a shared story, and the jokes, farts, and experiences that were shared by us as we sat around a table in the same room together (not at a computer screen!).

So, I don’t want the rules to overwhelm the game experience.  I want them to be guides that allow the Game Master to keep things fun and exciting without letting the players go too far overboard.  But, I want it to be flexible and customization enough that players can feel like every character in each campaign is unique.

The current (4th) edition of the most famous game system has lost a lot of the soul that made the game unique and fun.  I’d like to take that discarded soul and give it a new body; modernizing it a bit, but still allowing its old nature to shine through.

That is why I am doing this.  Will it ever get published?  Not likely.  Will anyone ever actually play it other than myself?  Probably not.  Will I finish it?  It would take a miracle.  But that doesn’t matter to me.  What matters is that I’m trying.  And, who knows?  Miracles do happen.

Thank you to those who follow or read my stuff.  I will try to keep up on things and post here more frequently.

Scott

Divine Feats

So, there you go.  The descriptions are the first drafts and are mechanical sounding.  These are the summary write ups I do before finalizing everything.  So, forgive them, please.  As always, questions, comments, and suggestions are welcome.

Scott.

Divine Feats, Part III

Spontaneous Domain Spells

Divine

Prerequisite:  Turn/Rebuke Class Ability, Access to Domain Spells, Class Level 6^th+

Cost:

Time:

                The cleric may spontaneously cast any of his domain spells by substituting it for a memorized spell of the same level.  Doing so is a swift action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.  The substitution also costs a number of turn/rebuke attempts equal to the level of the spell being spontaneously cast.

Divine Feats, Part II

Focused Turning (Smite)

Divine

Prerequisite:  Focused Turning (Individual), CHA 16+

Cost:

Time:

                When targeting an individual creature to turn, the cleric may elect to use this feat to smite the target with holy power in order to inflict damage to it.  The damage occurs in addition to and regardless of the result of the turn attempt.  Damage is equal to 1d6 per 3 cleric effective class levels.  The target receives a fortitude saving throw (DC equal to 10 + ½ effective cleric level + CHA base modifier) and if it is successful, only half damage is suffered.

Divine Feats, Part I

As promised, a selection of divine feats for Classic Fantasy RPG:

Blessed Armor

Divine

Prerequisite:  Turn/Rebuke Class Ability, CHA 13+

Cost: 

Time: 

                Divine Armor grants the cleric’s armor a deflection bonus on his armor class.  The bonus is effective against incorporeal attacks and is dependent on the cleric’s class level.

• Below  4^th:  +1
• 5^th to 8^th:  +2
• 9^th and up:  +3

Activating this feat is a swift action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.  The bonus lasts for a number of rounds equal to 1 plus the cleric’s base charisma modifier.  Use of this feat uses one of the cleric’s turn/rebuke attempts for the day.  The cleric must be wearing medium or heavier armor for this feat to be effective.

Cleric Feats

Yesterday I was able to sit down and pound out some divine feats.  Many of them resemble feats available in other products, but have some minor changes to make them more useful.  Some of them are new and unique to Classic Fantasy as far as I know.

I have gone the route that I did with rogues and their “sneak attack” ability (that I have changed to the classic “backstab”).  The feats do not provide the cleric with new special abilities; they allow them to use the abilities they already have in a unique manner.  The group of feats I completed allow clerics to use their turn/rebuke ability for more than just turning/rebuking creatures.  This way, the cleric can have the ability be useful to them for more than just encounters with the undead.

I will post an example or two soon, for those few souls that might be interested.

Scott.

Monsters, Classes, Levels, and Hit Dice.

So, I’ve had a thought about monsters that take class levels.  It goes a little something like this:

In my Classic Fantasy version of the 3.5 rules all “giant” type creatures have a base hit dice of d10.  Ogres, for example, have the base hit dice of 4d10 (plus constitution modifier, of course).  I felt the bump up in base hit dice was justified and gives giant creatures something that separates them from the smaller humanoid races.

A base human (or elf, dwarf, halfing, etc.) has a base hit dice of d8.  So, I started thinking that if an ogre has a higher base hit dice than a human, why would an ogre fighter use the same hit dice as a human fighter?  Wouldn’t it stand to reason that the ogre would still have the advantage when it came to hit dice?  To me, the answer is “yes”.

So, as I am working out details on monsters for Classic Fantasy d20, I am leaning toward doing just that.  Here’s how it would work:

1. d8 would be considered the “base” or standard hit dice for creatures (based on creature type) in the game.  Anything above a d8 hit dice is considered above average and anything below it is considered below average.  Ogres (and all giant-types) use a d10 because they have above average hit points.  On the flip side, the Faerie type creatures will have a d6 for hit points because they are below average when it comes to their ability to take punishment.
2. A creature’s base hit dice should affect the hit dice they use when they take class levels.  So, for example, an ogre has a base hit die of d10.  This is one higher than the standard of d8.  So, any class levels that the ogre has would gain this benefit as well and be one die higher than normal.  A wizard ogre would have d6 hit dice (instead of d4) for its wizard levels and an ogre with fighter levels would gain d12 hit dice (instead of d10) for those fighter levels!  If the class already has a d12 for hit dice (barbarian, for example), then the d12 would still be used, but the ogre would gain +1 hit point per level, making his hit dice effectively d12+1.
3. The same would apply the other direction, too.  Faerie, for example, would move down one die whenever taking class levels.  Faerie rogues would use d4 and their fighters would use d8.
4. The base hit dice of the creature would not change.  An ogre needs to be an adult before it can be given any class levels.  So, they would, in effect, need to be 4th level ogres (4d10 hit dice).  Class levels would then go on top of that (similar to multi-classing).  Therefore, a 5th level ogre fighter would be a 9th level monster (4th level ogre/5th level fighter) and have corresponding hit dice (4d10 + 5d12 plus constitution modifier).  Creatures with one hit die or less (as a base adult, such as an orc or the player races) would not be required to use their “race level” and could go right into having a class.

I feel that this would keep encounters with different monsters that have class levels feel different from each other.  A fight with an ogre fighter would feel different from one that involves a faerie fighter or a human fighter, thereby creating more memorable (and challenging) combat scenarios.

I hope I have explained this well enough. If anyone has a question, shoot me an ask and I will clarify.  Right now, I am going to try applying this thought process to a monster and see how it works out.

Scott 

The Undead are on My Mind…

Well, skeletons and/or zombies, at least.  As I am rounding out the cleric class, I am setting my mind toward their most notorious enemies:  the living dead.  I am starting with skeletons and zombies because, traditionally, they are the weakest of the undead and the first to be encountered.

Both of these types of undead are also best utilized as a template; a set of adjustments that can be applied to an existing monster to enhance it or turn it into something else.  My level-based monster design concept is working out really well for this, and that makes me very excited.

So far, I am focusing on skeletons.  I have completed the template (for now…) and have used it to create skeleton goblins, humans, and wolves.  Next up will be my first “big hitter”, the ogre.  I want to see how well the template scales, not just within itself, but with the base creatures as well.  It is fun seeing these things fall into place and so far, it is all working.

So, I will probably be talking about clerics, domains, spells, and undead for a little while now.  Fighters, rogues, and wizards are pretty much done, so the cleric is the next “must have”.

I will get a bit more into what I’m doing with the cleric and the undead in the future.  I just need to tinker with it a bit more.  In the meantime, thoughts, comments, and questions are always welcome.

Scott

Turn, Turn, Turn!

You know what would be awesome?  If a cleric could select a specific undead target and focus his turning ability on that individual, causing damage to it each round.

You know what would be really awesome?  If powerful clerics could turn away demons and devils like they do undead, even if it were much more difficult (and dangerous).

Yeah, it would be awesome if some one put stuff like that into a d20-style fantasy table top RPG…