So, I was thinking about multiclass spellcaster combinations, and all the odd things that can result. And I thought to myself, "you know, this really needs me to sit down and work through it all, to get it all exactly balanced." Then, I moved on to thinking idly about re-balancing for a low-magic system (remove most Item Creation Feats, add defense bonuses to the classes, reduce Damage Reduction values, etc). Then, I got back to thinking about all the multiclassing tweaks I've been looking at, and decided that the way to go was to write a fully-fleshed out point-buy system for character development.
Then I realised that I was getting back to my old 2nd Edition ways, where I was considering doing a near-total re-write of the whole system.
At this point, I'm hoping to just get through the day without starting on my revised Player's Handbook :-(
Archived comment by Mort:
ReplyDeleteMy brain hurts when reading your post about multiclassing. Which is probably why I've never bothered too much with D&D, too much fiddly things you have to account for. I always prefere to GM games that have straight forward rules, which can be easily altered. (Which incidentally is why I'd rather never GM Rolemaster, I'd make an ass out of myself.)
Now, let's see if I can get the old brain fired up enough to comment on this mess...
One thing you could do is, if the player chooses to have his character use the arcane way of casting is that he always has the armour restrictions while casting spells. Due to the fact that he can't help waving his arms like a windmill even when casting Divine spells. Not really realistic, but not much in D&D is anyway.
Hmm, what else, well maybe the amount of spell slots could be divided, so only a certain number could be used for the spells from the lower 'type' (arcance/divine), in the case of a Cleric 19/Sorcerer 1 you could only use say one slot of levels 1-5 for your arcance spells, and no more, and none higher than five. Well, this is just an example, but a more rigid list could be made up. This would encourage a more even level progression between arcane and divine classes.
That is all.
Archived comment by me:
ReplyDeleteThe post on multi-classing shows just why I should never ever be allowed near a set of RPG rules. The need to tinker with them is almost overwhelming. The end result is that I usually fix the problem I see, but either cause a whole bunch of new problems, that I then feel the need to fix, or I fix the problem, but then uncover a whole bunch of other problems, that I then feel the need to fix.
By the time I get to a system that doesn't have any of the flaws I've caused or uncovered, and doesn't have the original problem I fixed, the system is basically unrelated to the original, and may well be unplayable. I've gradually become better at avoiding the second of these outcomes, but the first is still a problem. Once you change a game to the point where it's essentially unrelated to the original, I have to question the value of it at all, since one of the major advantages of using d20 (or Storyteller, or d6...) is that people know how it runs.
My multiclassing system has uncovered a very definate imbalance between Wizards and Sorcerers. Under the system, no-one in their right mind would ever take more than a single level of Sorcerer, since Wizard is equal or better in all respects other than spellcasting. As regards spell-casting, there are three possibilities:
1) Wizard spellcasting is better than Sorcerer. In this case, Sorcerers are underpowered as-is, since the Wizard also gets bonus metamagic feats and a slightly wider list of class skills than the Sorcerer.
2) Wizard spellcasting is equal to Sorcerer spellcasting, just different. In this case, the Sorcerer is underpowered as-is, since the Wizard also gets metamagic feats and a slightly wider list of class skills. Additionally, all those Prestige Classes that give "+1 caster level" are unbalanced, since the Wizard has to give up more to enter the class than the Sorcerer.
3) Sorcerer spellcasting is better than Wizard spellcasting. In this case, all those Prestige Classes that give "+1 caster level" are unbalanced, since the Wizard has to give up more to enter the class than the Sorcerer.
At present, I think the solution to that is to give Sorcerer's d6 hit points (I reckon it's case 2 that applies), but I'm not sure. I'm willing to bet, however, that this throws something else off. It's just a big mess.
Before Vampire: Revised came out, I had developed a set of House Rules for the Storyteller system (actually, Vampire) which essentially re-wrote large portions of that game. I then created a city sourcebook for the game, but wrote up all the NPCs using the House Rules. Which means that that book is now utterly useless. (And, it's not like I did a particularly good job in re-writing the game.)
AD&D second edition also got a massive re-write job from me. For much the same result.
Sigh. The multiclass spellcaster thing in D&D bugs me to no end, and I really object to them trying to fix it with a Prestige Class. But, until I start getting paid by Wizards of the Coast as a developer, I'm not going to re-balance their whole damn system for them.