Devv
2007-01-05, 11:08 PM
Ever wondered why a forty year old man who has farmed all his life has a lower farming skill than the eighteen year old farmer who happens to live near orcs? Me too. That's why I propose a revamp of four of the NPC classes, amalgamating them to one. The Aristocrat would simply become a class, albeit not a very fun one to play.
This leaves the Commoner, Warrior, Adept, and Expert. Each would now be a subset of the simple "Commoner" class.
Obviously, this class is not meant to be played. Balance will not be an issue. The warrior subclass will grant attack bonus, the adept subclass will grant spell levels and the expert subclass will grant skill points. The health would be raised to a d6 per level, reflecting the fact that the average peasant is more healthy than a wizard. It would be hard to chart the class given this radical change, so the system would be something like this.
At first level, every Commoner has 6 HP. They may choose any one of the three subclasses to immediately begin their life. By adulthood, a child trained in combat would have a +1 attack bonus. By adulthood, a child trained in farming would have skill points in Profession (farming). By adulthood, a child trained in magic would have mastered one or two spells.
The expert subclass would allow commoners to take skill points in a single profession equal to 4 plus their level, rather than the basic three. This represents the fact that they are more inclined to spend their entire lives working that profession rather than practising it between adventures like those of another class. Just as experts, they would gain any ten skills as class skills and gain (6+Int mod) * 4 skill points at 1st level, with 6+Int additional skill points at every new level.
The warrior subclass would grant 1 extra hp per level to represent their constant practice and training. They are still not, you notice, on par with other melee classes. This is because of their less active life.
The adept subclass gains spell levels and a familiar. Their spell list and familiar rules are as follows:
Spells
An adept casts divine spells which are drawn from the adept spell list (see below). Like a cleric, an adept must choose and prepare her spells in advance. Unlike a cleric, an adept cannot spontaneously cast cure or inflict spells.
To prepare or cast a spell, an adept must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an adept’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the adept’s Wisdom modifier.
Adepts, unlike wizards, do not acquire their spells from books or scrolls, nor do they prepare them through study. Instead, they meditate or pray for their spells, receiving them as divine inspiration or through their own strength of faith. Each adept must choose a time each day at which she must spend an hour in quiet contemplation or supplication to regain her daily allotment of spells. Time spent resting has no effect on whether an adept can prepare spells.
Like other spellcasters, an adept can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on Table: The Adept. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Wisdom score.
When the table indicates that the adept gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level, she gains only the bonus spells she would be entitled to based on her Wisdom score for that spell level.
Each adept has a particular holy symbol (as a divine focus) depending on the adept’s magical tradition.
Adept Spell List
Adepts choose their spells from the following list.
0 Level
create water, cure minor wounds, detect magic, ghost sound, guidance, light, mending, purify food and drink, read magic, touch of fatigue.
1st Level
bless, burning hands, cause fear, command, comprehend languages, cure light wounds, detect chaos, detect evil, detect good, detect law, endure elements, obscuring mist, protection from chaos, protection from evil, protection from good, protection from law, sleep.
2nd Level
aid, animal trance, bear’s endurance, bull’s strength, cat’s grace, cure moderate wounds, darkness, delay poison, invisibility, mirror image, resist energy, scorching ray, see invisibility, web.
3rd Level
animate dead, bestow curse, contagion, continual flame, cure serious wounds, daylight, deeper darkness, lightning bolt, neutralize poison, remove curse, remove disease, tongues.
4th Level
cure critical wounds, minor creation, polymorph, restoration, stoneskin, wall of fire.
5th Level
baleful polymorph, break enchantment, commune, heal, major creation, raise dead, true seeing, wall of stone.
Thus, the "Commoner" class would have a table looking something like this:
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th
1st|
+1
|
+0
|
+0
|
+0
||3|1|-|-|-|-
2nd|
+2
|
+0
|
+0
|
+0
|Summon Familiar (2nd Adept Level)|3|1|-|-|-|-
3rd|
+3
|
+1
|
+1
|
+1
|Medium Armour (3rd Warrior Level)|3|2|-|-|-|-
4th|
+4
|
+1
|
+1
|
+1
||3|2|0|-|-|-
5th|
+5
|
+1
|
+1
|
+1
||3|2|1|-|-|-
6th|
+6/+1
|
+2
|
+2
|
+2
|Heavy Armour (6th Warrior Level)|3|3|1|-|-|-
7th|
+7/+2
|
+2
|
+2
|
+2
||3|3|2|-|-|-
8th|
+8/+3
|
+2
|
+2
|
+2
||3|3|2|0|-|-
9th|
+9/+4
|
+3
|
+3
|
+3
||3|3|2|1|-|-
10th|
+10/+5
|
+3
|
+3
|
+3
||3|3|2|1|-|-
11th|
+11/+6/+1
|
+3
|
+3
|
+3
||3|3|3|2|-|-
12th|
+12/+7/+2
|
+4
|
+4
|
+4
||3|3|3|2|0|-
13th|
+13/+8/+3
|
+4
|
+4
|
+4
||3|3|3|2|1|-
14th|
+14/+9/+4
|
+4
|
+4
|
+4
||3|3|3|2|1|-
15th|
+15/+10/+5
|
+5
|
+5
|
+5
||3|3|3|3|2|-
16th|
+16/+11/+6/+1
|
+5
|
+5
|
+5
||3|3|3|3|2|0
17th|
+17/+12/+7/+2
|
+5
|
+5
|
+5
||3|3|3|3|2|1
18th|
+18/+13/+8/+3
|
+6
|
+6
|
+6
||3|3|3|3|2|1
19th|
+19/+14/+9/+4
|
+6
|
+6
|
+6
||3|3|3|3|3|2
20th|
+20/+15/+10/+5
|
+6
|
+6
|
+6
||3|3|3|3|3|2[/table]
All commoners get the worse end of the three base save bonuses.
The table is really split in two. The Base Attack Bonuses and two class features go to those commoners with warrior levels, and the spell points and the other class feature goes to those commoners with adept levels. Experts just get skill points and saves. Every Commoner is a multiclass character (although no experience penalty results for radical level differences) between those three classes, in simple terms. Thus a War 7/Exp 9/Adp 4 with 10 Int would have a familiar, access to 2nd level spells, 20d6+7 hp, 480 skill points, ten class skills, and an attack bonus of 7/2.
Here's some game rule information:
The Commoner
Hit Die - d6
Class Skills - A commoner with levels in the expert subclass may choose any ten skills as class skills.
Skill Points at 1st expert Level - (6 + Int modifier) ×4.
Skill Points at Each Additional expert Level - 6 + Int modifier
Class Features
Weapon and Armour Proficiency - A Commoner is proficient with all simple weapons and light armour. For every level of the warrior subclass, the Commoner gains martial weapon proficiency with a martial weapon the Commoner owns or has access to. If the Commoner has 3 or more levels in the warrior subclass, they are also proficient with all medium armour. If the Commoner has 6 or more levels in the warrior subclass, they are also proficient with all heavy armour.
Spells - A Commoner with any levels in the adept subclass gains spells (see spoiler and table above).
Summon Familiar - A Commoner with two or more levels in the adept subclass can summon a familiar as a sorcerer or wizard can.
So what I've done is revamp the way the classes fit together. I haven't solved the problem yet, though, and that's why I'm also changing the way commoners gain experience.
The commoner has three pools of experience. Experience gained through skills goes towards expert levels, experience gained through spells goes toward adept levels, and experience gained through combat goes toward warrior levels. The experience requirements are separate for each pool. To become a War 7/Adp7/Exp6 would actually take less experience than becoming a War 20, attributable to the versatile nature of a commoner. The maximum level of a commoner is always 20, however, no matter what addition of subclass levels results in this.
First and foremost, the expert and adept no longer gain experience from combat. If the primary subclass of the Commoner is warrior, however, then the Commoner simply gains experience as normal. Thus, if a Adp 2/War 4 commoner defeated an orc, they would gain the experience that a single level 6 person would gain from an orc.
The adept gains experience for casting spells. They gain experience equal to 10 + caster level + spell level for every successful casting of a spell from their spell list. Thus if an Adp 6 cast a second level spell successfully they would gain 18 experience.
The expert gains experience for using skills. For every weekly profession check, add 5x the check to the Commoner's experience. Thus if an Exp 6 commoner with 10 Wisdom rolled ten on their weekly Profession (farming) check, they would have a check result of 20 (based on the expert's new ability to gain one more skill point than a regular person in a single profession skill). The expert would gain 100 experience that week.
This is pretty complicated, but it's actually quite simple for non multiclass characters. Feats and equipment are just as hard to generate as a regular NPC character, and there are a few things missing from non multiclass NPC's in this system. All saves are standard, too.
What do you think?
This leaves the Commoner, Warrior, Adept, and Expert. Each would now be a subset of the simple "Commoner" class.
Obviously, this class is not meant to be played. Balance will not be an issue. The warrior subclass will grant attack bonus, the adept subclass will grant spell levels and the expert subclass will grant skill points. The health would be raised to a d6 per level, reflecting the fact that the average peasant is more healthy than a wizard. It would be hard to chart the class given this radical change, so the system would be something like this.
At first level, every Commoner has 6 HP. They may choose any one of the three subclasses to immediately begin their life. By adulthood, a child trained in combat would have a +1 attack bonus. By adulthood, a child trained in farming would have skill points in Profession (farming). By adulthood, a child trained in magic would have mastered one or two spells.
The expert subclass would allow commoners to take skill points in a single profession equal to 4 plus their level, rather than the basic three. This represents the fact that they are more inclined to spend their entire lives working that profession rather than practising it between adventures like those of another class. Just as experts, they would gain any ten skills as class skills and gain (6+Int mod) * 4 skill points at 1st level, with 6+Int additional skill points at every new level.
The warrior subclass would grant 1 extra hp per level to represent their constant practice and training. They are still not, you notice, on par with other melee classes. This is because of their less active life.
The adept subclass gains spell levels and a familiar. Their spell list and familiar rules are as follows:
Spells
An adept casts divine spells which are drawn from the adept spell list (see below). Like a cleric, an adept must choose and prepare her spells in advance. Unlike a cleric, an adept cannot spontaneously cast cure or inflict spells.
To prepare or cast a spell, an adept must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an adept’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the adept’s Wisdom modifier.
Adepts, unlike wizards, do not acquire their spells from books or scrolls, nor do they prepare them through study. Instead, they meditate or pray for their spells, receiving them as divine inspiration or through their own strength of faith. Each adept must choose a time each day at which she must spend an hour in quiet contemplation or supplication to regain her daily allotment of spells. Time spent resting has no effect on whether an adept can prepare spells.
Like other spellcasters, an adept can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on Table: The Adept. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Wisdom score.
When the table indicates that the adept gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level, she gains only the bonus spells she would be entitled to based on her Wisdom score for that spell level.
Each adept has a particular holy symbol (as a divine focus) depending on the adept’s magical tradition.
Adept Spell List
Adepts choose their spells from the following list.
0 Level
create water, cure minor wounds, detect magic, ghost sound, guidance, light, mending, purify food and drink, read magic, touch of fatigue.
1st Level
bless, burning hands, cause fear, command, comprehend languages, cure light wounds, detect chaos, detect evil, detect good, detect law, endure elements, obscuring mist, protection from chaos, protection from evil, protection from good, protection from law, sleep.
2nd Level
aid, animal trance, bear’s endurance, bull’s strength, cat’s grace, cure moderate wounds, darkness, delay poison, invisibility, mirror image, resist energy, scorching ray, see invisibility, web.
3rd Level
animate dead, bestow curse, contagion, continual flame, cure serious wounds, daylight, deeper darkness, lightning bolt, neutralize poison, remove curse, remove disease, tongues.
4th Level
cure critical wounds, minor creation, polymorph, restoration, stoneskin, wall of fire.
5th Level
baleful polymorph, break enchantment, commune, heal, major creation, raise dead, true seeing, wall of stone.
Thus, the "Commoner" class would have a table looking something like this:
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th
1st|
+1
|
+0
|
+0
|
+0
||3|1|-|-|-|-
2nd|
+2
|
+0
|
+0
|
+0
|Summon Familiar (2nd Adept Level)|3|1|-|-|-|-
3rd|
+3
|
+1
|
+1
|
+1
|Medium Armour (3rd Warrior Level)|3|2|-|-|-|-
4th|
+4
|
+1
|
+1
|
+1
||3|2|0|-|-|-
5th|
+5
|
+1
|
+1
|
+1
||3|2|1|-|-|-
6th|
+6/+1
|
+2
|
+2
|
+2
|Heavy Armour (6th Warrior Level)|3|3|1|-|-|-
7th|
+7/+2
|
+2
|
+2
|
+2
||3|3|2|-|-|-
8th|
+8/+3
|
+2
|
+2
|
+2
||3|3|2|0|-|-
9th|
+9/+4
|
+3
|
+3
|
+3
||3|3|2|1|-|-
10th|
+10/+5
|
+3
|
+3
|
+3
||3|3|2|1|-|-
11th|
+11/+6/+1
|
+3
|
+3
|
+3
||3|3|3|2|-|-
12th|
+12/+7/+2
|
+4
|
+4
|
+4
||3|3|3|2|0|-
13th|
+13/+8/+3
|
+4
|
+4
|
+4
||3|3|3|2|1|-
14th|
+14/+9/+4
|
+4
|
+4
|
+4
||3|3|3|2|1|-
15th|
+15/+10/+5
|
+5
|
+5
|
+5
||3|3|3|3|2|-
16th|
+16/+11/+6/+1
|
+5
|
+5
|
+5
||3|3|3|3|2|0
17th|
+17/+12/+7/+2
|
+5
|
+5
|
+5
||3|3|3|3|2|1
18th|
+18/+13/+8/+3
|
+6
|
+6
|
+6
||3|3|3|3|2|1
19th|
+19/+14/+9/+4
|
+6
|
+6
|
+6
||3|3|3|3|3|2
20th|
+20/+15/+10/+5
|
+6
|
+6
|
+6
||3|3|3|3|3|2[/table]
All commoners get the worse end of the three base save bonuses.
The table is really split in two. The Base Attack Bonuses and two class features go to those commoners with warrior levels, and the spell points and the other class feature goes to those commoners with adept levels. Experts just get skill points and saves. Every Commoner is a multiclass character (although no experience penalty results for radical level differences) between those three classes, in simple terms. Thus a War 7/Exp 9/Adp 4 with 10 Int would have a familiar, access to 2nd level spells, 20d6+7 hp, 480 skill points, ten class skills, and an attack bonus of 7/2.
Here's some game rule information:
The Commoner
Hit Die - d6
Class Skills - A commoner with levels in the expert subclass may choose any ten skills as class skills.
Skill Points at 1st expert Level - (6 + Int modifier) ×4.
Skill Points at Each Additional expert Level - 6 + Int modifier
Class Features
Weapon and Armour Proficiency - A Commoner is proficient with all simple weapons and light armour. For every level of the warrior subclass, the Commoner gains martial weapon proficiency with a martial weapon the Commoner owns or has access to. If the Commoner has 3 or more levels in the warrior subclass, they are also proficient with all medium armour. If the Commoner has 6 or more levels in the warrior subclass, they are also proficient with all heavy armour.
Spells - A Commoner with any levels in the adept subclass gains spells (see spoiler and table above).
Summon Familiar - A Commoner with two or more levels in the adept subclass can summon a familiar as a sorcerer or wizard can.
So what I've done is revamp the way the classes fit together. I haven't solved the problem yet, though, and that's why I'm also changing the way commoners gain experience.
The commoner has three pools of experience. Experience gained through skills goes towards expert levels, experience gained through spells goes toward adept levels, and experience gained through combat goes toward warrior levels. The experience requirements are separate for each pool. To become a War 7/Adp7/Exp6 would actually take less experience than becoming a War 20, attributable to the versatile nature of a commoner. The maximum level of a commoner is always 20, however, no matter what addition of subclass levels results in this.
First and foremost, the expert and adept no longer gain experience from combat. If the primary subclass of the Commoner is warrior, however, then the Commoner simply gains experience as normal. Thus, if a Adp 2/War 4 commoner defeated an orc, they would gain the experience that a single level 6 person would gain from an orc.
The adept gains experience for casting spells. They gain experience equal to 10 + caster level + spell level for every successful casting of a spell from their spell list. Thus if an Adp 6 cast a second level spell successfully they would gain 18 experience.
The expert gains experience for using skills. For every weekly profession check, add 5x the check to the Commoner's experience. Thus if an Exp 6 commoner with 10 Wisdom rolled ten on their weekly Profession (farming) check, they would have a check result of 20 (based on the expert's new ability to gain one more skill point than a regular person in a single profession skill). The expert would gain 100 experience that week.
This is pretty complicated, but it's actually quite simple for non multiclass characters. Feats and equipment are just as hard to generate as a regular NPC character, and there are a few things missing from non multiclass NPC's in this system. All saves are standard, too.
What do you think?