DNDMC - 3E - September 2012

DNDMC - 3E

 

September 21, 2010

 

Guidelines for characters

 

17th level -This is seventeenth level, however you want to divide the levels, including multi classing and prestige classes.  You must qualify for any prestige classes per the rules. 

 

Ability scores - 25 point buy

 

Starting gold/magic - 410,000 gp in equipment.  

 

Wizards/Clerics/Druids - I like the idea of prayer books as well as spellbooks but I'm not going to do it for this one.  Wizards can buy whatever spells they can afford with starting money.  Clerics get all spells as usual.  

 

Hit Dice - per class.

 

Starting hit points - Max(hit die) + CON Modifier. 

 

Other hit points rolled per level. 

 

General ideas I will be using as well

 

• No save or die effects. Either an appropriate status (such as immobilized on a hold person spell) or a round by round save with damage being taken for spells. This goes both for PCs and monsters.
• Spells can have 3E duration, so an hour per level for buff spells.  Where I am not sure is large damaging spells.  Again, it's almost a save or die if someone can cast a maximized fireball or the DC is so high that it's tough to make it.  So, I might be doing some on the fly calculations, for NPC casters only, about how much damage their spells do and ongoing effects, a la 4E. 
• Specialist wizards get an additional spell per spell level as long as each one is in their specialty school. Clerics also get to add both domain spells to their prayer book as well. 
• Wizards, or any spell casters that use INT as their primary casting ability, can also add their intelligence modifier to the number of spells they know by spell level.  Clerics can add their wisdom modifier to the number of prayers in their prayer book.
• Healing spells can be cast as a swift action instead of standard, allowing the caster other actions in the round.  Healing abilities, such as lay on hands, take a move action. 
• Spells that are intended to enhance something the caster does can also be cast faster so that the caster can do something yet that round.  The spell I'm thinking of is Sure Strike.  That can be cast as a swift action and then used that round.  Same for Shocking Grasp, which allows an attack.  My intent is not to give casters the ability to cast more spells per round but let them attack with a melee combat type spell in the same round it is cast, rather than having to wait a round. 
• Any character who takes an item creation feat can use their stating money to buy those items at half price, to reflect that they could have made it. 

 

In a very generic, abstract way, I want classes to shine in their area of expertise. I probably need to define that better but I’m fine with you guys coming up with your own with regards to your characters. So, maybe fighters can stop people trying to move past them, as in 4E. Rogues can backstab everything so they aren’t a weak fighter against things that were immune to it. Wizards get the reserve feat to always have magic to use. Clerics can cast healing spells as a swift action (I don’t know if we ever used them as they came out in 3.5E) similar to 4E. Bards can do inspire things as a swift action. Things like that. Again, subjective and we will talk about it.

In general, I want to lean toward the fun. That’s the idea of this weekend! And I’m hoping that these changes to 3E do that. So, I’m open to other ideas that people have had but wanted to start off with these as a base. I know we don’t have tons of time, only a month away! But this will hopefully get the discussion started.

 

Adventures

 

I’m again thinking of gaming on Friday as people arrive with the main thrust of it being Saturday.

Friday adventure:  17th level adventure - More to come!

Saturday adventure: 17th level adventure - More to come!

 

The Adventure