Author Topic: Class structure and various concepts  (Read 1742 times)

Offline RedWarlock

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Class structure and various concepts
« on: August 15, 2012, 01:21:13 PM »
Eventually I'll have material up for these classes individually, but this acts as an overview.

Basic class structure is a little different from core.
  • Instead of using the Good/Poor will save progressions from 3.5, the base save progression is 1/3 your level, with three [Starter] feats, which grant a +2 bonus, which increases by +1 every 3 levels, offset from the base 1/3. (Starter feats are a bonus feat granted at the 1st level of all classes. Unlike most, they can ONLY be gained as bonus feats, can't be selected in regular feat slots, and if you already have a given starter, you are given a generic bonus feat of any normal sort instead.)
  • BAB is either good(1:1), or poor(1:1/2). The 3/4 BAB progression is gone.
  • I'm still working out how often, but class levels will include ability increases. Current outlay is 1 point to one of three stats, limited by class (each one will be 2 physical/1 mental, or 1 physical/2 mental), every even-numbered level. (trying to think of an equitable scheme to keep them fairly equalized, current thought is that the highest can't be more than 2x the lowest)
  • Borrowed from 4e, some classes will have default skills, which have automatically-purchased ranks every level.

The basic abilities:
  • Tricks: Variable-usage, usually per-encounter. Includes skill actions and combat maneuvers. Variable cost in skill points.
  • Spells: Cast at-will, but requires focus roll to activate. Arcane magic, constructed from spell words as a formula.
  • Prayers: Cast daily/encounter/at-will, starting daily with increasing usage on caster progression. Divine magic, generally fixed or pre-defined effects.
  • Invocations: Cast using mana points. Primal magic, augmentable in 3.5 psionic style.
  • Powers: Cast at-will or always-on ability. Eldritch magic, including inborn magical effects.

At base, the NPC classes are the 'easy-button' classes. Just as powerful (theoretically) as the player classes, but less mechanically complex. If you need to hand a newbie player something (and you're not starting at 1st level), give them one of these. These classes will have some straight-up handouts in their builds, as opposed to the trade-off abilities in the PC classes. They also get what I'm currently calling 'traits', (but may just term bonus feats) which will consist of various selectable class features as well as race-specific features, because the NPC classes replace monster racial hit dice. (the one advantage to keeping them non-feats is that they're kept out of the hands of other classes. Maybe not needed, though.)
  • Adept: Similar to a stripped-down 3.5 Warlock, the Adept is focused around a basic magic attack ability, with shape and essence applications to said blast. Dabbles in magic borrowed from mainline classes.
  • Brute: Heavy-hitter class, low on accuracy, but hefty on damage and a ton of hitpoints. Think always-on 3.5 barbarian. Either uses low-BAB, or uses high BAB but spends swings to use their bonus dice of damage.
  • Expert: Skill-user, and the least combat-centric, but buildable as an indirect-attack artificer/alchemist or minion-master type due to the expanded skill-trick functions.
  • Noble: Leader class, with support for decent combat ability and the option to dabble in magic.
  • Scout: Simplified 3.5 Rogue-like class, built for mobility and stealth. Current idea is the SA-like feature activates on SA conditions, as well as movement in melee for a skirmisher.
  • Dragon: Straddles the line between PC and NPC classes, but generally simple in construction. Mix of breath weapon progression and pre-selected natural attack maneuver set, with wings, natural armor, and other minor dragon thematics as build choices. Represents the pure physicality of a dragon, and can be taken by dragonblood/kobold PCs who want to build up that aspect of dragonhood. (Dragonbloods who want to go more magical can take levels in Mage or another magic class.)

The PC classes will be more mechanically complex, with more done on their turns.
  • Bard: Basically a retrofitting of my invoker bard. Eldritch at-will powers, plus marshal/dragon-shaman-esque aura bonuses.
  • Berserker: PC-class counterpart to brute, more of a feral feel. Originally wanted to merge this concept with the shapeshifter, might still do that (rages would be the low-level ability, shapeshifting would be the high-level). Rages are at-will rather than per-day, but exert a toll or bear increasing penalties to use, including backlash. One idea I like is that they involve a trade-off of one ability for another.
  • Hunter: Animal-companion-focused ranger. Equal mix of melee and ranged capacity, including non-exclusive or swappable features for doing both. Optional primal casting secondary ability.
  • Knight: Heavily-armored fighter-type, focused on tanking. Primary construction option so far are a set of 'improvements' selectable every X levels, so that all prior enhancements improve at those levels, allowing order of choice to set build differentiation. Optional divine casting secondary ability (possibly one of the builds).
  • Mage: Primary arcane caster class. Casting a spell requires a dice-improving 'focus roll', which sets how strong the ability is. Conceptually, better at casting over several turns of build-up. Arcane magic effects will NOT have save-or-die, but will have options to continue a spell effect in multiple rounds to effect the same kind of roll. It's not just fire-and-forget, in the sense that the magic does the work on its own, if you want to, say, petrify a target, you need to focus on the effect for several rounds, increasing in effect each round, slowing them and impairing movement, until you finally turn them to stone. Likewise, summons and buff spells have to be managed, making it easier to buff another character, rather than self-buffing and wading into combat. Might split this into distinct classes, but currently using chain-requirements on different spell-words to keep focused abilities.
  • Priest: Primary divine caster class. Even without ASF, the Wisdom-to-AC keeps casters (anyone Wis-centric, which they all are) in lighter gear. Priest spells focus on healing and buffing, often both at once, and probably summoning. All prayers above orison level are arranged into domains, which are sets of 3-level prayers, each domain has a domain benefit gained when you take the domain, and a benefit for taking all three spells in the domain. For instance, the Hands of Healing domain allows you to add ranks of Mending (revised Heal skill) to all healing-tagged spells, while the completion bonus adds that every 10 pts of over-healing grants 5 temp HP and a +1 to all attacks and saves per 5 temp HP remaining, with the reminder that temp HP from the same source(IE caster) don't stack.
  • Rogue: Primary light-armored fighter-type class. This rogue is as much swashbuckler as thief, getting full BAB. Gets half the usual Sneak Attack progression, but has the option to take extra penalty to hit to gain back the full SA dice, putting them roughly at 3/4 BAB, except with the benefit of full BAB's high-accuracy swings. Will also gain a selection of maneuver/skill tricks as explicit bonuses, in addition to having the highest PC skill points per level. Qualifies as psionic in flavor, as high-level stealthy skill tricks/maneuvers have shadow/psionic flavoring to them.
  • Shaman: Main primal caster. Summoning primarily, then healing and buffing, and some damage-dealing and utility. Closest thing to a jack-of-all-trades caster.
  • Shapeshifter: I've posted this before, the basic idea being a Wild Shape/lycanthrope base class. Starts with one alternate form, which you can either build up, or divide powers into multiple distinct forms for different purposes. Currently looking at rebuilding the powers along the lines of the PF summoner's eidolon evolutions.
  • Spellblade: Not sure if I want this as a base class concept or not. Melee-focused arcane caster concept. Might not be needed with good multiclassing and optional build features.
  • Warlock: Primary Eldritch caster and blasting cannon. Thematically, I might rename this 'sorcerer', since that's what flavor-text I'm borrowing, that of inherent magic-blooded character. Similar to Adept, but more flexible, including melee build ability.

I was originally going to include some prestige classes, but I think I've broken down all their unique mechanical concepts to the point where specific classes for the concepts are unnecessary. This is more of a left-over concept rundown, how these are unneeded as base classes or specific class material.
  • Archmage: More-and-bigger Mage. Not required.
  • Artificer: Craft is a primary skill, with tricks replacing the crafting feats. Anybody can dabble, and if they really want to focus, Expert can do the job.
  • Assassin: Since Rogue includes shadow/psi flavor, this is just rogue+. Not needed.
  • Beastmaster: Possibly, but again since I've got the Beastmaster skill tricks, this just builds on what the Hunter or a Beastmastery-focused Expert could do.
  • Druid: Better off represented as a shaman/shapeshifter, maybe hunter, multiclass.
  • Necromancer: Intended to bridge the gap between Priests and Mages, but perhaps better off left as skill tricks on top of the Necromancy skill, with either class able to handle it in their own styles.
  • Warlord: Originally a leader-of-men, again better covered by spending skill points on Command skill tricks.
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Offline RedWarlock

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Re: Class structure and various concepts
« Reply #1 on: August 16, 2012, 01:25:29 AM »
A few examples of monsters with racial traits which turn a generic NPC archetype into something specific to that monsters:

  • Medusa: Adept with blast dice traded for single points of Petrification. (each point is a flat -1 to attacks, saves, and defense. If points exceed con score, target is petrified. Points dissipate 1/hour, or can be removed via magic or Mending skill checks.)
  • Mind Flayer: Adept, with ACF that allows blast damage to stun, adds the Psychic keyword, and be used in a cone/blast, as well as one that trades blast dice for a one-round dominate effect. Perhaps some as Nobles, or multiclassed with levels in Noble.
  • Wolf/Dire Wolf: Scout, with trick that subtracts SA dice to allow a trip attempt first. Later trait would include size increase.

A lot of near-humanoid monsters (celestials, centaurs, ogres, etc) are personally varied enough that they might have a common multiclass (ogres typically having levels in Brute, or centaurs in Scout, or celestials in Noble) but be viable in a variety of roles.

Can anybody think of a common monster which doesn't fit these class archetypes? Or other classic monsters which do? (I'm heading to bed, so my mind is a little fogged out, but I'll gladly take suggestions or interesting challenges.) I'll also welcome any general questions about the original post, because they help me shape and carve away at the concept in my head to be able to present it to you guys.
WarCraft post-d20: A new take on the World of WarCraft for tabletop. I need your eyes and comments!