So I'm starting up my new campaign at the end of September.
(If you're in Helsinki and you're free on Sundays, I'M LOOKING FOR PLAYERS!)
It's going to be the first time since the very early 90s that I'm not using my own setting for the adventures (I even tied in my HERO supers game from 2007 into the setting), so I guess you can say it's the first totally new campaign since then.
(to me, a campaign goes beyond the characters or even players that participate in it...)
This calls for NEW HOUSE RULES!
I've been thinking of a few different things... let me know how stupid and game-destroying these would be...
Instead of an Attack Bonus, a character has a generic Combat Bonus every round. This bonus can be applied to the attack roll, AC, and/or the initiative roll for the round (must be declared before initiative is rolled, of course).
No spell levels. All spells will be re-jiggled as level one spells that scale up as the character gains levels. Magic-Users can cast as many spells as he has levels. (research and scrolls and writing in spellbooks would need rejiggled info as well) (I guess I'd have to do this with clerics as well?)
Demi-humans will be reconfigured to be new human classes. This thread on the LotFP board has a lot of ideas from different people. Not sure what I'll do with the Halfling and Dwarf, but the Elf can become some sort of fae-touched person... one possibility is that they don't have to memorize/prepare specific spells at the beginning of the day (if they have it in their book they can cast it), but to counteract that I'll have "metal doesn't exactly agree with them" limitations.
Oh, I'll also remove every single direct damage-causing spell.
Kill the Intelligence stat. The idea that it's player skill and I don't give any real consideration to INT as a stat during play. Make Charisma the "adjusts saving throws versus magic" stat with the idea that force of personality is what affects magic, and Wisdom stays as the "world awareness" stat that adjusts non-magic saves.
Just ideas, don't know which will be implemented or which will stick around if I decide to try them.
(If you're in Helsinki and you're free on Sundays, I'M LOOKING FOR PLAYERS!)
It's going to be the first time since the very early 90s that I'm not using my own setting for the adventures (I even tied in my HERO supers game from 2007 into the setting), so I guess you can say it's the first totally new campaign since then.
(to me, a campaign goes beyond the characters or even players that participate in it...)
This calls for NEW HOUSE RULES!
I've been thinking of a few different things... let me know how stupid and game-destroying these would be...
Instead of an Attack Bonus, a character has a generic Combat Bonus every round. This bonus can be applied to the attack roll, AC, and/or the initiative roll for the round (must be declared before initiative is rolled, of course).
No spell levels. All spells will be re-jiggled as level one spells that scale up as the character gains levels. Magic-Users can cast as many spells as he has levels. (research and scrolls and writing in spellbooks would need rejiggled info as well) (I guess I'd have to do this with clerics as well?)
Demi-humans will be reconfigured to be new human classes. This thread on the LotFP board has a lot of ideas from different people. Not sure what I'll do with the Halfling and Dwarf, but the Elf can become some sort of fae-touched person... one possibility is that they don't have to memorize/prepare specific spells at the beginning of the day (if they have it in their book they can cast it), but to counteract that I'll have "metal doesn't exactly agree with them" limitations.
Oh, I'll also remove every single direct damage-causing spell.
Kill the Intelligence stat. The idea that it's player skill and I don't give any real consideration to INT as a stat during play. Make Charisma the "adjusts saving throws versus magic" stat with the idea that force of personality is what affects magic, and Wisdom stays as the "world awareness" stat that adjusts non-magic saves.
Just ideas, don't know which will be implemented or which will stick around if I decide to try them.
I like the fae-touched-person idea for replacing elves. Giving them spells without the need to memorize is a huge advantage because it removes the need to plan ahead for spell-casting.
ReplyDeleteI created a class/race with that ability but I tried to balance it by giving them the old elf XP level progression (4000 xp for level 2, etc) and a few other disadvantages.
One thing you need to be prepared for is when they try to cast over their daily allotment of spells. I thought having a cumulative penalty to a magic save with d6 per level damage for a fail was enough risk that they might want to push it but would need to be desperate to do so. What I mean by cumulative is -1 for each extra spell level cast. For example, the character is out of spells and casts a 2nd level spell to get out of trouble. That character has to roll a magic save at -2. The same character that casts a level one spell the next round is rolling at -3. I'm not sure how that fits into your no-spell-level plan but it's a place to start.
I guess you could just tell them that if they try to cast too many spells they spontaneously combust and leave it at that. I just like the idea of players pushing the envelope with a save either making things better or a whole lot worse.
One thing I've done with the LotFP rules is add a "bow" skill: it starts at -2 for all characters (applied after all other attack bonuses), and can be raised using skill points (allowing assassin-type specialists) or raised by +2 by not taking +1 attack bonus as a fighter.
ReplyDeleteI also give my specialists a couple extra skill points at Lvl. 1 as I find it helps differentiate different types of specialists. That's my favorite thing about the way you've defined the class: it lets someone play a thief, a ranger, an assassin, or a builder all using one class, pretty cool stuff.
I like those ideas a lot. Especially the combat bonus and magic spells ideas.
ReplyDeleteJames -
ReplyDeleteAny interest in a magic system other than 'memorized spell with canonical effects can be cast N times/day'? e.g. the Ars Magica system, or Hite's 'GURPS Cabal' hermetic/kabbalah mashup?
I've never seen GURPS Cabal, but I did take a look at Ars Magica just a few years ago. It didn't seem to me to be an "adventuring" magic system if that makes any sense.
ReplyDeleteI am currently reading the Malleus Malificarum (Mackay translation) to see if I can do something with that (makes sense for the timeframe and the whole witchhunter thing), but damn that book is a slog to get through.
Instead of an Attack Bonus, a character has a generic Combat Bonus every round. This bonus can be applied to the attack roll, AC, and/or the initiative roll for the round (must be declared before initiative is rolled, of course).
ReplyDeleteI like this with regard to attack roll & AC. But I’m not sure what the logic is with regard to initiative unless the idea is that one can give up some likelihood to hit and some defensive ability in order to act more quickly. Hmmm... I suppose that does make sense. So I like all of this.
In case you haven’t already thought of this, I’d also make it so the Combat Bonus could be used broken up however the player chooses, not just all on one thing and nothing on the others.
No spell levels. All spells will be re-jiggled as level one spells that scale up as the character gains levels.
I like this. But the re-jiggling sounds like a lot of work. And you might have to completely eliminate some spells that can’t be satisfactorily re-jiggled to low level casting. But, if you want to do all that work, I like it.
Magic-Users can cast as many spells as he has levels.
Severely weakens M-Us. But, if you don’t have a problem with that, then neither do I.
research and scrolls and writing in spellbooks would need rejiggled info as well
Not necessarily. You could just have Spell Level always be 1. And that’d go a long way toward making up for the weakening of M-Us by cutting their spells back to 1/level. And it’d also change M-Us from being primarily about what spells they have memorized to what stuff they’ve made to use. And that’s an interesting change.
I guess I'd have to do this with clerics as well?
Not necessarily. Only if you want clerical magic to be similar to M-U magic. But, if you want to emphasize how different they are, then just leave ‘em different.
...the Elf can become some sort of fae-touched person... one possibility is that they don't have to memorize/prepare specific spells at the beginning of the day (if they have it in their book they can cast it), but to counteract that I'll have "metal doesn't exactly agree with them" limitations.
Unless the metal thing means they can’t cast spells while in close proximity to any significant amount of metal – such as armor or weapons – then this’ll make them even further outclass M-Us. If it matters to you at all, a more balancing option would be to give M-Us the “don't have to memorize/prepare specific spells” thing instead, but still impose the metal thing on whatever you make the Elf. Or, if you think that’s too extreme, let both M-Us and whatever you make the Elf have the “don't have to memorize/prepare specific spells” thing. But, either way, still do impose the metal thing on whatever you make the Elf.
I'll also remove every single direct damage-causing spell.
Sounds good to me. I like the idea of magic having effects that are more subtle than just causing damage directly.
Kill the Intelligence stat...Make Charisma the "adjusts saving throws versus magic" stat with the idea that force of personality is what affects magic, and Wisdom stays as the "world awareness" stat that adjusts non-magic saves.
I like this very much. Intelligence is a useless stat if it doesn’t control things that the character knows but the player doesn’t.
>>Magic-Users can cast as many spells as he has levels.
ReplyDeleteSeverely weakens M-Us. But, if you don’t have a problem with that, then neither do I.
In any event, this only results in less spell slots after level 4, but my hunch is the ability to freely prepare based on the entire list of known spells rather than "two of this level, one of this level, and one of that level" will make up for it.
I guess actual play will determine if MUs are actually weakened.
...the ability to freely prepare based on the entire list of known spells rather than "two of this level, one of this level, and one of that level" will make up for it.
ReplyDeleteYou might be right about that. Certainly, that does add lots more flexibility.
And, anyway, even if M-Us higher than 4th level are severely weakened -- so what? Fuck 'em.