Post by Jesse the Thief on Jan 25, 2011 0:36:12 GMT -5
I've done a bit of tweaking to the core game rules to make a few things more interesting as well as fill in a few gaps. In particular, one of my goals has been to make low level combat more survivable and interesting.
1. All PCs receive an extra attack at -5 Base Attack Bonus. Thus a level 1 Fighter with 16 Strength would have attack rolls of 4/-1 while a level 1 Wizard with 10 Strength would have 0/-5.
This extra attack remains as the character levels, but becomes gradually less useful as ACs increase. By epic levels this last attack will be negligible in impacting combat for the most part.
This attack does not, unfortunately, show up on the character sheet due to game engine limitations.
2. All PCs receive a level 1 hit point bonus equal to their starting Constitution score. Thus a level 1 Dwarven Fighter with 16 Constitution who would normally have 13 HPs will instead of 29. (13 + 16) A level 1 Elven Wizard with 12 Constitution will now have 17 HPs instead of 5. (5 +12)
This prevents one hit KOs and helps mages in particular who normally have abysmally low HPs at start.
3. Cantrips, as minor displays of magical talent or training, are now able to be cast at will without memorization or limit. All casters who would normally have a handful of cantrip spells now receive feats which grant infinite casting of all cantrips on that class's spell list options. These are automatically granted at level 1.
This greatly increases the value of low level casting classes while providing a valuable source of minor healing in early, delicate levels. Needless to say this only aids casting classes.
4. Weapon Finesse no longer exists; that is to say, all PCs have the benefit of Weapon Finesse by default. There's really no need for this to require a separate feat. By allowing it for free some interesting new options open up for a variety of characters, particularly for classes which normally cannot afford such a feat for casual combat.
5. All spells are cast at a minimum caster level of 4. Meaning, even a level 1 mage will cast a spell such as Burning Hands as if he was level 4. Much in the same way skill points begin higher than character levels so too do caster levels now. This change applies even if a spell is cast from a scroll or wand. This is to make low level casting actually useful; low level spells with a few paltry caster levels just generally lack any use.
6. All casting classes now stack for the sake of determining caster levels when casting spells. This means that, for example, a character with 10 levels of Wizard and 10 levels of Cleric would have a caster level of 20 for all spells he could cast. Note this does not refer to any more spells per day, merely the level based power of spells being cast.
Thus this same 10 Cleric/10 Wizard character could cast a Haste spell which lasted for 20 rounds as well as a Heal spell at the HP cap of 150. Under normal rules his Haste would only last 10 rounds and his Heal spell would only recover 100HPs.
Assassins and Blackguards are considered full casting classes for determining total caster levels. Only Rangers and Paladins deviate from this norm of 1 caster level per class level. These two classes only count half their total levels for casting level.
The Practiced Spellcaster feats have been condensed into a single selectable feat to accommodate this system. Practiced Spellcaster need only be taken once, and only has effect if the character isn't a pure caster. (Or has enough Paladin/Ranger levels for these bonus caster levels to apply)
1. All PCs receive an extra attack at -5 Base Attack Bonus. Thus a level 1 Fighter with 16 Strength would have attack rolls of 4/-1 while a level 1 Wizard with 10 Strength would have 0/-5.
This extra attack remains as the character levels, but becomes gradually less useful as ACs increase. By epic levels this last attack will be negligible in impacting combat for the most part.
This attack does not, unfortunately, show up on the character sheet due to game engine limitations.
2. All PCs receive a level 1 hit point bonus equal to their starting Constitution score. Thus a level 1 Dwarven Fighter with 16 Constitution who would normally have 13 HPs will instead of 29. (13 + 16) A level 1 Elven Wizard with 12 Constitution will now have 17 HPs instead of 5. (5 +12)
This prevents one hit KOs and helps mages in particular who normally have abysmally low HPs at start.
3. Cantrips, as minor displays of magical talent or training, are now able to be cast at will without memorization or limit. All casters who would normally have a handful of cantrip spells now receive feats which grant infinite casting of all cantrips on that class's spell list options. These are automatically granted at level 1.
This greatly increases the value of low level casting classes while providing a valuable source of minor healing in early, delicate levels. Needless to say this only aids casting classes.
4. Weapon Finesse no longer exists; that is to say, all PCs have the benefit of Weapon Finesse by default. There's really no need for this to require a separate feat. By allowing it for free some interesting new options open up for a variety of characters, particularly for classes which normally cannot afford such a feat for casual combat.
5. All spells are cast at a minimum caster level of 4. Meaning, even a level 1 mage will cast a spell such as Burning Hands as if he was level 4. Much in the same way skill points begin higher than character levels so too do caster levels now. This change applies even if a spell is cast from a scroll or wand. This is to make low level casting actually useful; low level spells with a few paltry caster levels just generally lack any use.
6. All casting classes now stack for the sake of determining caster levels when casting spells. This means that, for example, a character with 10 levels of Wizard and 10 levels of Cleric would have a caster level of 20 for all spells he could cast. Note this does not refer to any more spells per day, merely the level based power of spells being cast.
Thus this same 10 Cleric/10 Wizard character could cast a Haste spell which lasted for 20 rounds as well as a Heal spell at the HP cap of 150. Under normal rules his Haste would only last 10 rounds and his Heal spell would only recover 100HPs.
Assassins and Blackguards are considered full casting classes for determining total caster levels. Only Rangers and Paladins deviate from this norm of 1 caster level per class level. These two classes only count half their total levels for casting level.
The Practiced Spellcaster feats have been condensed into a single selectable feat to accommodate this system. Practiced Spellcaster need only be taken once, and only has effect if the character isn't a pure caster. (Or has enough Paladin/Ranger levels for these bonus caster levels to apply)