New OOTS products from CafePress
New OOTS t-shirts, ornaments, mugs, bags, and more
Page 11 of 11 FirstFirst ... 234567891011
Results 301 to 314 of 314
  1. - Top - End - #301
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Grod_The_Giant's Avatar

    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Gaols and Giants - The Playground rewrites third Edition

    Quote Originally Posted by Yitzi View Post
    Perhaps the best way is to make a lot of the options modular; that way, there's less to keep track of but still a whole lot of options (more options generally makes for a richer game, as long as you don't have some classes with far more options and comparable power to others.)
    Mmm, yeah. It'd be pretty easy to make skill tricks modular. Feats... I dunno. It'll probably be OK, for the most part, as long as players aren't idiots about not recording what their abilities do.

    Pre-made example characters aren't a bad idea, all told. We might also write up some suggested feat/skill trick/spell tracks, like the PHB2 had in the back. You know, something to help both new players and busy DMs.
    Last edited by Grod_The_Giant; 2012-10-19 at 10:13 AM.
    Hill Giant Games
    I make indie gaming books for you!
    Spoiler
    Show

    STaRS: A non-narrativeist, generic rules-light system.
    Grod's Guide to Greatness, 2e: A big book of player options for 5e.
    Grod's Grimoire of the Grotesque: An even bigger book of variant and expanded rules for 5e.
    Giants and Graveyards: My collected 3.5 class fixes and more.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Grod's Law: You cannot and should not balance bad mechanics by making them annoying to use

  2. - Top - End - #302
    Troll in the Playground
    Join Date
    Jan 2012

    Default Re: Gaols and Giants - The Playground rewrites third Edition

    Talking to Grod over a rather ignorant Fighter homebrew has reminded me of something highly critical you have to address:

    Each class needs to have their own personal dedicated Storytelling Niche/Archtypal Framework. One of the significant problems in 3.5 is the number of classes doing the same thing. ACFs have their place, in order to give options for the execution of a concept or role. having a hundred classes for that is not the way though. PF kinda toyed with this concept, but their archetypes being implemented post-core instead of pre-core resulted in things like paladin being worthless as anything more then a healgod

    Quick class ideas:
    Barbarian: Noble Berzerker
    Ranger: Relyable master at arms/ Aragorn (Mixed in with Fighter)
    Paladin: Knight-Errant. Light of the people
    Knight: Knight in Shining Armor
    Priest: Preacher of the faith, healer (cleric kinda steps (with a Mobile Launch Platform) on paladin's toes)
    Mage: Learned Caster, Limited (as in to a theme, or to a school) in spells known
    Sorcerer: Wild Caster, could have a Warlock (Trade for spellcasting) ACF
    Druid: As usual, but no pet

    classes i cant find space for:
    rogue: kinda the same space as ranger
    fighter: too much mechanical overlap with ranger
    Last edited by toapat; 2012-10-27 at 12:33 AM.
    My Homebrew: found here.
    When you Absolutely, Positively, Gotta Drop some Huge rocks, Accept NO Substitutes

    PM Me if you would like a table from my homebrew reconstructed.

    Drow avatar @ myself

  3. - Top - End - #303
    Troll in the Playground
    Join Date
    Jan 2012

    Default Re: Gaols and Giants - The Playground rewrites third Edition

    Another thing needed: A solid glossary. Having the systems worked out is only half the battle, you have to make sure that you reinforce those systems with RAW in such a way that issues like Battle Blessing affects all spells you cast in 3.5, not just those cast from paladin spell slots or that are on the paladin spell list
    My Homebrew: found here.
    When you Absolutely, Positively, Gotta Drop some Huge rocks, Accept NO Substitutes

    PM Me if you would like a table from my homebrew reconstructed.

    Drow avatar @ myself

  4. - Top - End - #304
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Grod_The_Giant's Avatar

    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Gaols and Giants - The Playground rewrites third Edition

    Quote Originally Posted by toapat View Post
    Talking to Grod over a rather ignorant Fighter homebrew has reminded me of something highly critical you have to address:

    Each class needs to have their own personal dedicated Storytelling Niche/Archtypal Framework. One of the significant problems in 3.5 is the number of classes doing the same thing. ACFs have their place, in order to give options for the execution of a concept or role. having a hundred classes for that is not the way though. PF kinda toyed with this concept, but their archetypes being implemented post-core instead of pre-core resulted in things like paladin being worthless as anything more then a healgod
    Mmm. Personally, I dislike putting too many roleplay restrictions on classes, be they implicit or explicit. A certain amount of restriction is inevitable-- you can't use the wizard class to be a master swordsman-- but you should be able to play a barbarian as a cursed-but-noble warrior, a savage berserker, a trained warrior who pushes himself into a perfectly-focused fighting state, or what have you.

    For me, each base class should have its own distinctive mechanic. Barbarians get rage, and associate rage-based powers and abilities. Paladins get smite and lay on hands, and abilities that build off that. Warblades get maneuvers. Fighters get, I don't know, dice pools. Playing a different base class should be a different experience. It doesn't have to be a complete subsystem, but a distinctive, overarching thematic power or two.

    Quick class ideas:
    Barbarian: Noble Berzerker
    Ranger: Relyable master at arms/ Aragorn (Mixed in with Fighter)
    Paladin: Knight-Errant. Light of the people
    Knight: Knight in Shining Armor
    Priest: Preacher of the faith, healer (cleric kinda steps (with a Mobile Launch Platform) on paladin's toes)
    Mage: Learned Caster, Limited (as in to a theme, or to a school) in spells known
    Sorcerer: Wild Caster, could have a Warlock (Trade for spellcasting) ACF
    Druid: As usual, but no pet

    classes i cant find space for:
    rogue: kinda the same space as ranger
    fighter: too much mechanical overlap with ranger
    Why "noble" barbarians? I would reverse your evaluations of fighters and rangers. Otherwise, something like that, yeah.

    I've actually been toying with the notion of "savage" classes verses "civilized" classes. It seems to me that there are an awful lot of classes that can be paired up along those lines. Barbarians vs Fighters. Wizards vs Sorcerers. Clerics vs Favored Souls. And so on.

    Quote Originally Posted by toapat View Post
    Another thing needed: A solid glossary. Having the systems worked out is only half the battle, you have to make sure that you reinforce those systems with RAW in such a way that issues like Battle Blessing affects all spells you cast in 3.5, not just those cast from paladin spell slots or that are on the paladin spell list
    I... organization is good, yes. I'm not sure what your complaint here is, though, other than "remember to edit."
    Hill Giant Games
    I make indie gaming books for you!
    Spoiler
    Show

    STaRS: A non-narrativeist, generic rules-light system.
    Grod's Guide to Greatness, 2e: A big book of player options for 5e.
    Grod's Grimoire of the Grotesque: An even bigger book of variant and expanded rules for 5e.
    Giants and Graveyards: My collected 3.5 class fixes and more.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Grod's Law: You cannot and should not balance bad mechanics by making them annoying to use

  5. - Top - End - #305
    Ogre in the Playground
    Join Date
    Sep 2009

    Default Re: Gaols and Giants - The Playground rewrites third Edition

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    I... organization is good, yes. I'm not sure what your complaint here is, though, other than "remember to edit."
    I think he's saying you need to be careful and systematic when writing the rules, so that you don't get loopholes such as one class's abilities boosting another class's spells and granting far more power than you intended.

  6. - Top - End - #306
    Troll in the Playground
    Join Date
    Jan 2012

    Default Re: Gaols and Giants - The Playground rewrites third Edition

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Why "noble" barbarians? I would reverse your evaluations of fighters and rangers. Otherwise, something like that, yeah.

    I've actually been toying with the notion of "savage" classes verses "civilized" classes. It seems to me that there are an awful lot of classes that can be paired up along those lines. Barbarians vs Fighters. Wizards vs Sorcerers. Clerics vs Favored Souls. And so on.
    The story archetypes were not intended to be Roleplay constraints. they were simply there to explain my concept a bit better (which i realize i worded really badly)

    My concept, was to build around the ideas presented in each short fluff a character class. Paladin is for instance looked at as the holy warrior, but then you have cleric, Favored Soul, crusader, Soulborn, and that psionics dude no one talks about. Giving each class their space, then building each class within that space to the achievement of the concept.

    I think a duality of all the classes would be a bit limiting, and also not a preferable design decision: Wizards (Hard Work) are opposite Warlocks (buy a thesis), while sorcerers and favored souls are opposite themselves (sorcerers look on their power as a curse, gift, or tool).

    Cleric and Wizard were replaced on my concept list not because they are bad in and of themselves, but because one is OP no matter what, and the other uses a mobile mountain to crush paladin's space into non-existance

    Quote Originally Posted by Yitzi View Post
    I think he's saying you need to be careful and systematic when writing the rules, so that you don't get loopholes such as one class's abilities boosting another class's spells and granting far more power than you intended.
    actually, it is a note to remind them to right a high quality glossary, so Non-RAW terms like <Class> Spells become RAW, and slightly less broken. Battle blessing is a good example for a feat that gets more powerful the more you read into it. It applies to all spells you cast as a result of using rules that arent.
    Last edited by toapat; 2012-11-13 at 11:55 PM.
    My Homebrew: found here.
    When you Absolutely, Positively, Gotta Drop some Huge rocks, Accept NO Substitutes

    PM Me if you would like a table from my homebrew reconstructed.

    Drow avatar @ myself

  7. - Top - End - #307
    Ogre in the Playground
    Join Date
    Sep 2009

    Default Re: Gaols and Giants - The Playground rewrites third Edition

    Quote Originally Posted by toapat View Post
    actually, it is a note to remind them to right a high quality glossary, so Non-RAW terms like <Class> Spells become RAW, and slightly less broken. Battle blessing is a good example for a feat that gets more powerful the more you read into it. It applies to all spells you cast as a result of using rules that arent.
    The same could be done just by saying "spells gained from the Paladin class" in the ability description. You only need a glossary when you're using a concept so often that it's easier to define it in a glossary and then refer to it than to mention it separately each time.

  8. - Top - End - #308
    Troll in the Playground
    Join Date
    Jan 2012

    Default Re: Gaols and Giants - The Playground rewrites third Edition

    Quote Originally Posted by Yitzi View Post
    The same could be done just by saying "spells gained from the Paladin class" in the ability description. You only need a glossary when you're using a concept so often that it's easier to define it in a glossary and then refer to it than to mention it separately each time.
    the example of battle blessing is just simply a feat that RAI is not as powerful as it is RAW, because the terms it is using, dont exist. SotAO has the same problem, but using wizards spells
    My Homebrew: found here.
    When you Absolutely, Positively, Gotta Drop some Huge rocks, Accept NO Substitutes

    PM Me if you would like a table from my homebrew reconstructed.

    Drow avatar @ myself

  9. - Top - End - #309
    Titan in the Playground
     
    PairO'Dice Lost's Avatar

    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Malsheem, Nessus
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Gaols and Giants - The Playground rewrites third Edition

    Quote Originally Posted by Yitzi View Post
    The same could be done just by saying "spells gained from the Paladin class" in the ability description. You only need a glossary when you're using a concept so often that it's easier to define it in a glossary and then refer to it than to mention it separately each time.
    In that particular case, "spells gained from the Paladin class" works, but it would be better to have a more comprehensive definition of what "X spells" means. Does "cleric spells" include spells gained through the G&G equivalent of Arcane Disciple or Wyrm Wizard? Is it a "wizard spell" if it's a wand of a spell on the wizard's spell list created by a wizard? Is there a difference between adding something to the paladin list and your paladin list? Much better to have one single definition to cover all cases, because if you have any abilities at all that let you access other classes' spells in any way it will come up then.
    Better to DM in Baator than play in Celestia
    You can just call me Dice; that's how I roll.


    Spoiler: Sig of Holding
    Show

    Quote Originally Posted by abadguy View Post
    Darn you PoDL for making me care about a bunch of NPC Commoners!
    Quote Originally Posted by Chambers View Post
    I'm pretty sure turning Waterdeep into a sheet of glass wasn't the best win condition for that fight. We lived though!
    Quote Originally Posted by MaxiDuRaritry View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by PairO'DiceLost View Post
    <Snip>
    Where are my Like, Love, and Want to Have Your Manchildren (Totally Homo) buttons for this post?
    Won a cookie for this, won everything for this

  10. - Top - End - #310
    Titan in the Playground
     
    PairO'Dice Lost's Avatar

    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Malsheem, Nessus
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Gaols and Giants - The Playground rewrites third Edition

    Soooo...is this still happening and people just haven't been updating, or has it died like all the other community fixes?
    Better to DM in Baator than play in Celestia
    You can just call me Dice; that's how I roll.


    Spoiler: Sig of Holding
    Show

    Quote Originally Posted by abadguy View Post
    Darn you PoDL for making me care about a bunch of NPC Commoners!
    Quote Originally Posted by Chambers View Post
    I'm pretty sure turning Waterdeep into a sheet of glass wasn't the best win condition for that fight. We lived though!
    Quote Originally Posted by MaxiDuRaritry View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by PairO'DiceLost View Post
    <Snip>
    Where are my Like, Love, and Want to Have Your Manchildren (Totally Homo) buttons for this post?
    Won a cookie for this, won everything for this

  11. - Top - End - #311
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Lord_Gareth's Avatar

    Join Date
    Sep 2007

    Default Re: Gaols and Giants - The Playground rewrites third Edition

    Quote Originally Posted by PairO'Dice Lost View Post
    Soooo...is this still happening and people just haven't been updating, or has it died like all the other community fixes?
    Well, the trouble on doing these sorts of fixes is that most attempts at quality control would require the thread to have an owner. No owner, no control - no control, no consensus, no project. In this case, some of the posters had very poor-quality ideas or strong disagreements with other posters, and since thread ownership isn't a thing here there was no method to remove the dissenters and thus continue the project.

    Incidentally, not complaining about the lack of thread ownership - just explaining the consequences thereof. This sort of thing would roll much better on another forum, whereas GitP is great for getting, say, mass peer review.


    Quote Originally Posted by Chilingsworth View Post
    Wow! Not only was that awesome, I think I actually kinda understand Archeron now. If all the "intermediate" outer planes got that kind of treatment, I doubt there would be anywhere near as many critics of their utility.
    My extended homebrew sig

  12. - Top - End - #312
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Grod_The_Giant's Avatar

    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Gaols and Giants - The Playground rewrites third Edition

    Yeah... it's... it's dead, Jim. Sorry, all.

    In retrospect, I don't think we ever really had enough writers. There were a few people at first, but the number dwindled to just me an Eldan, and somehow I was cranking out almost the entire volume. There was a lot of good feedback, and we had sorted out a lot of the bigger arguments, but... well, I got bogged down with finals, and suffered a laptop fatality while on vacation not long thereafter. By that point, it was pretty dead.

    I don't know. I personally think we had a lot of the basics down pretty solidly-- revised combat mechanics, modified basics, good ideas for skill changes, a reasonable amount of agreement on the magic... most of what was left was volume-- spell rewrites, skill tricks, revised races, and revised classes.

    If there's still interest, I could try to get back into it. Most of the crucial threads were mine to begin with-- combat and magic, and skills never got to far. And I, at least, was pretty OK with the direction things were going. I dunno; thoughts? Was what we had worth continuing? If I take command, with community interest but "the buck stops here" authority, might this work?

    Update: IT LIVES!
    Last edited by Grod_The_Giant; 2013-01-16 at 05:48 PM.
    Hill Giant Games
    I make indie gaming books for you!
    Spoiler
    Show

    STaRS: A non-narrativeist, generic rules-light system.
    Grod's Guide to Greatness, 2e: A big book of player options for 5e.
    Grod's Grimoire of the Grotesque: An even bigger book of variant and expanded rules for 5e.
    Giants and Graveyards: My collected 3.5 class fixes and more.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Grod's Law: You cannot and should not balance bad mechanics by making them annoying to use

  13. - Top - End - #313
    Troll in the Playground
    Join Date
    Jan 2012

    Default Re: Gaols and Giants - The Playground rewrites third Edition

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    If there's still interest, I could try to get back into it. Most of the crucial threads were mine to begin with-- combat and magic, and skills never got to far. And I, at least, was pretty OK with the direction things were going. I dunno; thoughts? Was what we had worth continuing? If I take command, with community interest but "the buck stops here" authority, might this work?
    Im still interested, but i think that you would have to start first with a solid and more useful Glossary and then build around such.
    Last edited by toapat; 2013-01-16 at 12:31 AM.
    My Homebrew: found here.
    When you Absolutely, Positively, Gotta Drop some Huge rocks, Accept NO Substitutes

    PM Me if you would like a table from my homebrew reconstructed.

    Drow avatar @ myself

  14. - Top - End - #314
    Colossus in the Playground
     
    Eldan's Avatar

    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Switzerland
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Gaols and Giants - The Playground rewrites third Edition

    I'm still sort of here. Though I must admit that I found out that I was much more interested in discussing the broad strokes instead of getting down and writing up every skill on the list. I guess I could start it up again.
    Resident Vancian Apologist

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •