E6 game help

[tricktroller]

Hey everyone!

I am planning to run an E6 game here in the near future. I have several sets of house rules and things I have created for my group over the years to add fun and dynamic play.
(Before anyone has a fit about some of the content I have come up with; There is an express Law of the House that prevents anyone from making game-breaking characters./Min-maxing to the max, etc. The class features have been tested on almost all the classes, and most of the changes I have made are pretty standard fare from the different groups I have played with.

For this game I have created several documents that list the various rules and changes I have made. Again, the players know not to power game to the max, most of these changes are done with the express purpose of making characters do things without having to dodge dip duck dive and dodge to get the class features they want.

The documents are in the following links

1 E6 Player's Guide

2 Nerd Night House Rules

3 E6 Extra Feats

4 Class Additions List

5 Reinforcer Base Class and Spell List

Now the E6 player's guide details what rules will be allowed and used in the game, the nerd night house rules lists the basic changes I have made to D7D 3.5, the Extra feats are primarily for after 6th level, and the Class additions list are a large list of class additions I have made.

I'd love to hear what you think of the ideas I have come up with, and I would also love to hear of any pitfalls for E6 to watch out for, etc.

Thank you so much for your time everyone!

(1st Edit: Changed the class additions list to reflect allowed content, removed references on not allowed content.)
(2nd Edit: Added the Reinforcer Base Class and Spell List that I created so you guys can see what that class is all about)
(3rd Edit: Redid all the links to my drive account because of some issues with the layout of my files)

[Bronk]

I really like your house rules, and the feats and extra class abilities look great too! They really seem to focus on player fun and team cohesion.

[tricktroller]

Thanks! That is the overall goal of all the changes! I tend to run very long games and then have people run shorter games. This E6 game will focus mostly on roleplaying with battles in between to keep the pace going.

[DeTess]

I like those extra class features. If I ever run an e6 game, I might just steal those.

[tricktroller]

Feel free to do so! I love the class additions, and the full set has a lot more power options added to it, but honestly this is the better version of the list. Here is the other version for you to look at

[daremetoidareyo]

That's a lot of stone dragon maneuvers.

[tricktroller]

Do you foresee that becoming a problem?

[daremetoidareyo]

Do you foresee that becoming a problem?

Not really. Just a concern about abstract feelings of sameness.

What I really like is that you hand out goodies that are satisfying enough to stick to a class progression. I'd let monks choose a martial discipline for induvidualization.

Does the soul knife get a normal psychic Warrior progression, or the double psychic warrior class ability progression?

[tricktroller]

Normal progression but they get the bonus feats as well.

Yeah one of the things that I wanted to do was keep people from dipping again and again and taking a level here and level of this and a level of that and trying to build something workable out of 12 different classes and PRCs.

[daremetoidareyo]

Normal progression but they get the bonus feats as well.

Yeah one of the things that I wanted to do was keep people from dipping again and again and taking a level here and level of this and a level of that and trying to build something workable out of 12 different classes and PRCs.

Yeah, this about covers all of that. Bravo

[tricktroller]

We are actually playing a game at about 14th level right now with characters brought up from 1st with the class additions and I have to say that most of them are very balanced. The caster Paladin with battle blessing is a fantastic divine warrior style character.

and thanks! I worked for weeks on trying to balance the power levels of everything and get to where the house rules and class additions made competent characters that weren't just going to hose every encounter. It is more about giving the character style than giving them super powers.

Especially in an E6 game.

[tricktroller]

Also, just like with my players, I don't want you to assume you can multiclass with these. This addition list only applies to your first class and only applies for levels in that class unless specifically stated otherwise. You can multiclass out and then back in but it will ignore levels of other classes and only grant you the benefits when you reach the required level in the class.

I also added in a link to the Reinforcer class I created and his spell list. He is the Transmutation/Abjuration version of a warmage/dread necromancer/Beguiler.

[tricktroller]

One of the big things I plan to do with this game is require double the XP to level up after they gain 2nd level. So they will level to second quickjly but then need to gain 4000 more XP to level to third, 6000 more to get to fourth, 8000 more to get to fifth and 10000 more to get to 6th. After that the 5000 XP limit to get a new feat will be the norm. I want the game to be a long game less about leveling up quickly and getting to sixth and more about using what you have to accomplish your goals and roleplaying.

Does anyone think this may be too much? Perhaps I should go with half again as much XP to the next level?

[tricktroller]

Noticed a couple of typos over the weekend and have fixed them to prevent confusion.

Also, one player pointed out that he could start with 3 18's; yes that is possible but will not be a good option if your character is to survive in the game with all of the skills being necessary and roleplaying taking a heavier role in this game. I already have three players that aer extremely excited about the game and I haven't talked to the rest of the party yet but I imagine some of them will be very pleased.


I am also thinking about using a new HP system I have ome up with over the weekend.

Heroic HP:
In a heroic HP system the first half of your hit points are Heroic HP, further referred to as HHP. The second half of your hit points are Regular HP, further referred to as RHP.

As an example, if you are playing a character with 80 Hit points you have 40 HHP and 40 RHP. Damage taken reduces your amout of HHP first., much like temporary hit points.

HHP recovers at 1/8 the total amount of hit points you have, every hour. So, for this example you would recover 10 HHP every hour up to your maximum HHP.

RHP on the other hand only recovers from rest and magic. The normal rules for hit points apply to RHP. You still have the -10 rule, and cure spells still heal your RHP.

Healing for HHP is different. If you are down HHP and RHP at the same time then your cure spell heals the full amount to your RHP and half that to your HHP. So, a Cure Light Wounds that healed 12 points of damage would heal 12 points of RHP and 6 points of HHP. If you are only down HHP or RHP the cure spell heals for double to that set of HP.

[tricktroller]

We will be building characters for this game soon and the current plan is to leave the entire world as a sandbox with no great overarching/world destroying storyline. THe world is the world and the adventurers don't have to save the world, they just have to exist and play in it. THey decide their own fates and where they want to go what missions they would like to take on.

If you have any ideas or criticism please let me know.

[Bronk]

We will be building characters for this game soon and the current plan is to leave the entire world as a sandbox with no great overarching/world destroying storyline. THe world is the world and the adventurers don't have to save the world, they just have to exist and play in it. THey decide their own fates and where they want to go what missions they would like to take on.

If you have any ideas or criticism please let me know.

That can be a lot more work for a DM, because you need to have more options ready and be ready to wing it more often, especially if the players tend to be flighty.

I bet if you could get the players to commit to what they want to do next at the end of each game, it would make preparing the next game easier.

Or, they could each have a cause, or a default goal that you could work in...

[tricktroller]

That is a great idea!

I do tend to run games on the fly within a general outline. The world is going to be an ever shifting place. Stories of the characters will travel far and wide from cities and towns via "bards" and merchant wagons, tales growing and changing as they move around the world. I will have to keep on my toes for a lot of the game so that I can keep the world changing but making them come up with a specific goal for their characters will allow me to craft narratives for each one as a possibility. I can also use those goals to create interparty dynamics, etc.

[tricktroller]

Another change I am planning to make is with races

Do you think that in this type of setting making half elf get a +2 bonus to any stat and one extra skill point per level would make it an option people might want?

The changes I am currently thinking of doing are
Half Elf +2 any stat +1 skill per level
Half Orc +2 Str -2 Int -2 Cha, Pick adding +1 more strength or bonus feat


These two races almost never see play from what I can see unless someone is trying to make a half elf diplomancer.

[Nifft]

Another change I am planning to make is with races

Do you think that in this type of setting making half elf get a +2 bonus to any stat and one extra skill point per level would make it an option people might want?

The changes I am currently thinking of doing are
Half Elf +2 any stat +1 skill per level
Half Orc +2 Str -2 Int -2 Cha, Pick adding +1 more strength or bonus feat


These two races almost never see play from what I can see unless someone is trying to make a half elf diplomancer.

My own suggestions:


Half-Orc:
+2 Strength
Darkvision
+2 racial bonus on Intimidate checks
Orc Blood: For all effects related to race, a half-orc is considered an orc or a human, whichever is more beneficial.


Half-Elf:
+2 Charisma
Elf Blood: For all effects related to race, a half-orc is considered an elf or a human, whichever is more beneficial.
(plus all the usual half-elf stuff)


Your fixes seem mechanically okay, but I don't like the idea of a half-elf getting +2 Constitution and thus being more robust than a human thanks to the addition of elf blood.

[Bronk]

Half-Elf:
+2 Charisma
Elf Blood: For all effects related to race, a half-orc is considered an elf or a human, whichever is more beneficial.
(plus all the usual half-elf stuff)

Your fixes seem mechanically okay, but I don't like the idea of a half-elf getting +2 Constitution and thus being more robust than a human thanks to the addition of elf blood.

Hmm, and +2 dex would be the same as a moon elf, and a +2 cha would be the same as a star elf.

I think if I were to mess around with half elves, I'd go with +1 to two or three separate ability scores of your choice (plus the other stuff), to keep it thematic with the new +1 skill point per level and the listen/spot/search bonuses if those are still around. That would still make it useful, and more desirable for people who rolled a lot of odd numbers for their ability scores.

For the Half-Orc, I can't see anyone not taking the bonus feat option, so I guess that would make it more desirable!

[tricktroller]

Keep in mind that this is an E6 game and that they are using point buy not rolling for stats.

So that +1 extra strength plus the +1 you get at 4th level could give you upwards of a 26 at the end of the game (18 base +3 half orc, +1 4th level, +2 eschew class additions, +2 ability advancement)

I don't have a problem with them picking Con on the half elf because mixing bloodlines strengthens them in most cases.