Hot answers tagged character-advancement
12
There is absolutely no reason to take exactly 3 levels of Fighter.
Strictly Superior Alternatives
Assuming you go by non-fractional saves/BAB – which I refuse to do personally, but it is the base rule – the level gives you ~5.5 HP, +1 BAB, +1 Ref, +1 Will, and 2+Int skill points.
Taking Barbarian 1 at that point instead would get you ~6.5 HP, ...
12
Really, there are more than two kinds.
Open Fully point based, à la Hero System or GURPS: anything you can justify to the GM, you can (eventually) get. The problem is that such systems often overwhelm players and GM's with options, and often, some options may be mechanically useful but out of character, and taken anyway for the mechanical benefits alone. A ...
11
I would argue that "mechanical character advancement" isn't necessary, but advancement as a whole is.
Non-mechanical Character Advancement could fille this purpose. This could be accomplished not with dice and stats, but with abilities granted as plot points, character development by the player and the GM (GM's acknowledging character development is very ...
10
My character right now advances every, oh, 2-3 sessions, with an occasional 4- or 5-session lull when I'm hanging back and letting other characters take the spotlight. We play 2-hour sessions, though, so if you're playing 4-hour sessions, advancing every 1-2 sessions is about the same.
If you want to slow down - and you might not! - my recommendation is to ...
8
I think you've got a good start here - DFRPG sounds like a good match for you.
Refresh works exactly as you're describing it - you give up control over your destiny in exchange for powers.
I'm not up on Neverwhere, so I can't tell you how the traders get the powers in the fiction. But if that's not part of the source canon, go with whatever feels right ...
8
The idea of handing out additional stunts (or aspects - to be honest, I prefer new aspects as it creates a closer tie to the narrative of the game) is the most common within Fate systems (it's the primary mechanic in Starblazer in my mind). That said, one of the game's designers, Byron Kerr, has actually opined on this topic:
Create characters as ...
7
I've seen things like this done in most of the D&D games that I've played, actually. However, I've rarely seen it as any kind of hard-and-fast ruleset. There's a few systems that I've seen that are conducive to this:
The d20 Modern Mutations System. This system lets you mutate your character using mutation points. 5 mutation points is worth roughly ...
7
If you prefer to stick by the rules, then all of a sudden the afflicted PC get several Hit Dice and increase in level adjustment (as per template). Recalculate his ECL and - guess what - award xp based on his new ECL.
Furthermore, not only their xp gains are affected. He will obtain next level upon earning an xp total sufficient for being level ECL+1, which ...
6
3.5 had a fixed table with protected (non-OGL) hit point tables. Pathfinder was obviously not allowed to copy that, but they simplified the system a bit, while making it harder for lower level characters to close in on higher level characters.
An in-depth explanation can be found in this article by Jonathan Drain at D20 Source:
The big difference with ...
6
In the Dungeon Master's Book, the book contains instructions on how to level as per this link. If you're interested in having them level all the way to thirty, you'll need to grab the book "Heroes of the Fallen Lands".
Characters created as part of the Red Box are first level characters as presented in HoFL. HoFL presents more options to the first level ...
6
Yes. Look at the Minmax Boards handbook index. This is where all the wizards threads migraded (after a stop over at brilliantgameologists.)
Now, this index holds all of the handbooks developed for 3.5. I've found that a handbook is an excellent resource that reduces the number of choices I have to make during character creation, as the traps are neatly ...
5
Sure you can, as long as you meet the prestige class’s prerequisites. The Commoner class does not have any special rules about its advancement, it’s just a particularly weak base class.
It’s actually the easiest way to enter the Survivor prestige class (Savage Species), which requires that one’s highest base save bonus be lower than ...
5
From the previews that I've seen, they are available for any warlock.
The key is that the powers are listed as "Warlock Level X" (Where X is the respective level). As long as you are a warlock, and are switching out a power of the appropriate level, it is allowed.
I'm not so sure about the paragon path in the Dragon Magazine article. It has no ...
5
For my money, the real difference lies here:
A class system, or any set of "splats" such as found in *WoD games, asks the player, "Do you want to play this or do you want to play that?"
A point-construction system asks, "What do you want your character to be?"
The difference is the same as the difference between multiple-choice and essay tests. In my ...
4
Having played or GM'ed most of the systems mentioned in the previous posts, I think it boils down to three types of player types: Beginner (Structured), Intermediate and Advanced(Flexible).
Players who are just starting to get into RPGs, in my opinion, tend to like a more 'structured' character creation system, using classes: 'Do you want to fight, cast ...
4
Not really, until high levels. As written, it's designed to blend classes and seems to have very steep requirements such that many dips are typically necessary to enter it in any reasonable timeframe. Take a look at the shadow sun ninja, as that seems to feature in many swordsage builds.
Examining links here, here, here, and here.
The only text on master ...
3
The character now counts as his new level (original level + RHD of the template + LA of the template) for the purposes of determining how much XP he gets from encounters and how much XP he needs to reach the next level.
Unfortunately, this is an enormous pain and is, in almost all cases, a very significant loss of power compared to other people of the same ...
3
The two are totally separated. You spend your advancement points on common skills. You spend experience on combat skills and Valor/Wisdom levels. And they reinforce thusly what you've been doing with your time.
SPENDING EXPERIENCE POINTS
Heroes may spend their accumulated Experience points
to gain a new rank in either Wisdom or Valour, and to
...
3
Here is a novel approach that I have been playtesting for a while for a game I'm developing, based on Diaspora. The initial results seem to be good. It may work for you, and if you try it, let me know how it turned out for you.
Ghosts of the past
Every character has a secondary sheet where they record every skill, aspect and stunt they ever had, even if ...
2
I am a big big big fan of the Hero System which as you mention is points based. It has to be said I am also a fan of GM created characters (which I know many people consider heresy :D ) because I feel the best stories are written round the characters. When I start building a campaign I cannot do it without building the characters that are going to drive the ...
2
One more thing to consider is that characters in the different kinds of systems will advance at different rates. In a level-based system, the characters will have sudden changes in their power level and capabilities, like someone hopping up a staircase. With point-based systems, improvement is usually more of a gradual escalator. They end up in the same ...
2
Mechanical advancement is only one part of character advancement. So long as the characters are developing with relation to the plot, mechanical advancement can be avoided all together.
Primetime Adventures is the only system I can think of off the top of my head that completely forgoes mechanical advancement (although it does have mechanics that ensure ...
2
The Spanish version doesn't say anything of mastering your magic,
I will use google translator with the important part of the text, so you can see more or less what it is saying.
Spanish version: En el caso de que un personaje desarrolle conocimiento en una
vía y posteriormente trate de dominar una opuesta, deberá invertir el doble de
nivel de magia ...
2
Sorry, I see how I missed the mark, several times.
Mastery, per se, requires a final ability score of 200+ in one of several specific categories, p.013. Magic Level and Path Knowledge are not on the list and do not scale for it. The use of the word "master" in "The Paths and Magic Level" section on p.112 may be the source of confusion, but the problem ...
2
Is there a precedent? Yes, of course. A recorded precedent? Well, that's more difficult. Anyway, 3 propositions that in my opinion apply to what you want to do:
1 - Just give them spell-like abilities. You choose one, roughly of the maximum spell-level than a caster of their level would be able to cast (e.g. 3rd lvl for lvl 5 characters), and based on one ...
1
One of my characters (a 3.0 Psychic Warrior going for Pyrokineticist) has been caught by a were-rat in the past, so I've had to deal with the issue.
They have effectively had 2 free class levels (as afflicted lycanthropes). So, if they were level 5 when afflicted, they won't level up again until they have enough XP for level 8.
I can't find a citation for ...
1
There are probably many lists of what one particular person or group considers to be optimized builds. DandDwiki’s got an entire category full of them. The problem is that people can have wildly different ideas of what “optimization” means, and plenty of people writing these lists know nothing about optimization (like most of the people on ...
1
The only reason I could see someone saying not to stop at level 3 is because you don't get the bonus feat since it's an odd level. Otherwise, it's the level your Ref and Will saves first get bumped, you always get extra BAB and HD, and the universal level 3 feat. The only level I ever thought was unfortunate for a fighter was level 5. No saves change, no ...
1
Although Brians answer was very helpful in pointing me in the right direction I was still a little confused about where to go after the new Red Box and what the relationship was between books like Heroes of the Fallen Lands and The Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide. The Wizards web site is extremely unhelpful imo but I eventually found out what I ...
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