Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 radicaltaoist Feb 22, 2013 14:57:56	I like bloodlines. I don't like how they're costed. At low levels, the XP cost is ridiculously punitive for very little benefit. At high levels, the XP cost is drowned out by the experience river. It's hilariously front-ended. I also like legacy weapons. So I was thinking: why not cost bloodlines by turning them into legacies? Instead of buying them with XP, you complete a least legacy ritual (or take the feat) to unlock your first level of a bloodline, a lesser legacy ritual (or the feat) to unlock your second level in an intermediate or major bloodline, and a greater legacy ritual (or the feat) to unlock the third level in a major bloodline. And like legacy weapons, legacy bloodlines would come with a scaling progression of penalties to offset the bonuses you receive. I'm willing to let the players construct their custom drawback progression as they would for a custom legacy weapon, but I can be talked out of that. So: how balanced is this? It comes with scaling penalties to match the benefits progression, and it hits your WBL rather than your XP (the former being easier for a GM to control). How would you optimize this houserule if it were allowed in your game?
#2 frost.fire Feb 22, 2013 15:40:51	For certain builds this would be a boon, especially for ones where the benefit of a bloodline doesn't come online until later (hellfire warlock) but it would hurt a build like your showcased ashardalon reborn, since the early benefits aren't applicable.
#3 Tempest_Stormwind Feb 22, 2013 17:33:37	For certain builds this would be a boon, especially for ones where the benefit of a bloodline doesn't come online until later (hellfire warlock) but it would hurt a build like your showcased ashardalon reborn, since the early benefits aren't applicable. I only have a few minutes here, but most early-access bloodline builds don't need more than one at the earlier points, and many will still work with later bloodlines. Ashardalon Reborn mostly just changes his vestige selection early on and will still work just peachy if you pick up bloodlines when you're "supposed" to. The build that we've showcased that most needs the early bloodlines is Phantom Rush, actually.
#4 radicaltaoist Feb 27, 2013 15:40:10	What about legacy penalties? Is it possible to match a penalty progression to a bloodline in a balanced manner?
#5 frost.fire Feb 27, 2013 22:48:35	It would be unlikely because I feel legacy weapons use those penalties to offset "powerful" bonuses from it. The issue is that bloodlines are 3 levels long the debate becomes do you punish a character 3 times (1 per level) or do you create a system where you lose each level up in return. Both have pros and cons but I feel legacy weapons should have a lesser drawbback then a bloodline. Since they are nowhere near as powerful. Ill think more about it though, and I'm going to run it by my group tommorow.
#6 frost.fire Mar 05, 2013 14:26:51	So I talked it over with my group and outlined the pros and cons, and we are actually going to try it for the upcoming campaign with me being the test dummy. Just thought this might interedt you, but we use weapons of legacy a lot more then average groups so we are pretty excited to try this. Illl post my build in a few days when its dinalized