Campaign Optimization

Post/Author/DateTimePost
#1

juton

Jun 02, 2008 17:11:55		Our group is considering adding material from the Pathfinder Alpha playtest to our weekly D&D game. The majority of the base classes seemed to be improved, however I think the Cleric, Druid and Specialized Wizards have been nerfed slightly. Cleric domains of been significantly weakened, they no longer each provide a special power, and Druids get less spells per day. Specialist Wizards don't get an extra slot for spells (but the school prohibitions are a lot less severe). On the flip side Sorcerers basically get a domain and extra feats, and Barbarians get extra 'Rage powers' which give them more options in and out of combat.

We will be slow to switch over to 4e because we still have some 3.5 adventures to play through and the DM doesn't want to re-write anything he doesn't have to. Consequently if Pathfinder raises the powerlevel of all characters then it won't fly with my DM because it will involve too many changes.

With the big three casters slightly weaker and everything else more powerful the game should still be balanced, the additions shouldn't make any prestige classes from the Completes or Bo9S to strong. So my question to CO is will adding Pathfinder unbalance our campaign?
#2

wih

Jun 03, 2008 0:25:27 		I've been looking over the Alpha v3 myself, and the only other class that needs to be fixed IMHO is the Bard - it needs it's DCs for it's offensive Bardic Music dropped. All the the DCs are set by their perform check, and most people here will attest to how easy that is to raise. Even lowering the DC of their bardic music to 10+Skill Ranks+CHA is still a higher DC that it technically should be (should be 10+1/2HD+Modifier).
Some of the feats look dodgey, but I have yet to crunch the numbers (Vital Strike + TWF + larger sized weapons/unarmed strike, I'm looking at you). I also dislike the way that Combat Maneuvers work, as you now can't both Disarm and Trip in the same round, if I'm reading it right.
As long as you tweak the DC of the Bard's abilities and keep the Druid, Cleric and Wizard from the PHB (sans skills+HD), I personally think that it's a bit more balanced.