magic8BALL
2008-06-14, 10:39 PM
Hey all,
Wow, turns out this a bit of a read, but I think it's worth it.
I've not had many ideas to do with homebrewing for a while, mainly becouse I havn't been playing for a while either. But recently I started playing a game of good ol' v3.5 again, and D&D is on my mind again.
The basic concept this time is to be a soluion to this (what I would sugest is common) problem:
"Here is my new level 1 Dwarf, with a sweet axe he got as a gift from his old grandfather. He slew many a dragon with this axe in his adventuring days!" At later levels... "I totally use this +2 axe now instead."
"Here is my new level 1 Wizard. His staff is a graduating present from his master" Later on... "I have this staff of fire and this staff of frost too!"
"Here is my new level 1 Ranger, with is finely crafted, ornate elven armour" At high levels "Should I get the +1 mitral chain, or the +2 chain..?"
etc.
The solution: every new character can nominate a single item (the Dwarfs axe, the Wizards staff, the Rangers bow, etc). This items power increases as the characters level increases.
For example:
The dwarf axe could be treated as Maskerworked at level 2, a +1 weapon at level three, and gain an aditional +1 bonus for every 3 points of BAB he has. (+2 at 6th, +3 at 9th, etc.)
The wizards staff could have a spell imbued within it equal to the wizards highest spell level. The spell could change, but will always be essentially the same. So Burning hands for level 1 and 2 (Fire), Scorching Ray at level 3 and 4 (Fire also), Fireball at levels 5 and 6 (guess, go on...) and so forth. The wizard gets 5 charges per level. So he can use the staff 5 times during level 1, another 5 times during level 2, etc.
The Rangers armour might work the same as the dwarfs axe, but in addition, weapons and armour can have a material suddently become uesful (I polished my axe, turnes out it was adimantine, and then I cleaned by armour, it was mithril all along!) the value of this material should be taken into account by the DM as to how powerful the item should be. So, because +1 chain and Mithril chain are the same cost, mirthril can count as a +1 bonus at low levels. At higher levels, the +1000gp for mithril is almost nothing, so the armour may become better still. Same with the +5000gp for adimantine weapons, a +2 bonus at low levels, +1 at medium, and nothing at high levels.
Of cause, you shouldn't get something for nothing, so DM's using this should shell out a bit less treasure (only 70-80% of what PC's should get, by my thinking), and a regular stock take of what PC's shave compared to what they should have at their level will keep things balanced.
This should be used as a story telling tool more than the usual number crunching that I usually do. I just really like the idea of a fighter using this greatsword all the time, and not dumping or selling it as soon as he finds a better one.
Ideas, comments, suggestions, pie?
Wow, turns out this a bit of a read, but I think it's worth it.
I've not had many ideas to do with homebrewing for a while, mainly becouse I havn't been playing for a while either. But recently I started playing a game of good ol' v3.5 again, and D&D is on my mind again.
The basic concept this time is to be a soluion to this (what I would sugest is common) problem:
"Here is my new level 1 Dwarf, with a sweet axe he got as a gift from his old grandfather. He slew many a dragon with this axe in his adventuring days!" At later levels... "I totally use this +2 axe now instead."
"Here is my new level 1 Wizard. His staff is a graduating present from his master" Later on... "I have this staff of fire and this staff of frost too!"
"Here is my new level 1 Ranger, with is finely crafted, ornate elven armour" At high levels "Should I get the +1 mitral chain, or the +2 chain..?"
etc.
The solution: every new character can nominate a single item (the Dwarfs axe, the Wizards staff, the Rangers bow, etc). This items power increases as the characters level increases.
For example:
The dwarf axe could be treated as Maskerworked at level 2, a +1 weapon at level three, and gain an aditional +1 bonus for every 3 points of BAB he has. (+2 at 6th, +3 at 9th, etc.)
The wizards staff could have a spell imbued within it equal to the wizards highest spell level. The spell could change, but will always be essentially the same. So Burning hands for level 1 and 2 (Fire), Scorching Ray at level 3 and 4 (Fire also), Fireball at levels 5 and 6 (guess, go on...) and so forth. The wizard gets 5 charges per level. So he can use the staff 5 times during level 1, another 5 times during level 2, etc.
The Rangers armour might work the same as the dwarfs axe, but in addition, weapons and armour can have a material suddently become uesful (I polished my axe, turnes out it was adimantine, and then I cleaned by armour, it was mithril all along!) the value of this material should be taken into account by the DM as to how powerful the item should be. So, because +1 chain and Mithril chain are the same cost, mirthril can count as a +1 bonus at low levels. At higher levels, the +1000gp for mithril is almost nothing, so the armour may become better still. Same with the +5000gp for adimantine weapons, a +2 bonus at low levels, +1 at medium, and nothing at high levels.
Of cause, you shouldn't get something for nothing, so DM's using this should shell out a bit less treasure (only 70-80% of what PC's should get, by my thinking), and a regular stock take of what PC's shave compared to what they should have at their level will keep things balanced.
This should be used as a story telling tool more than the usual number crunching that I usually do. I just really like the idea of a fighter using this greatsword all the time, and not dumping or selling it as soon as he finds a better one.
Ideas, comments, suggestions, pie?