Who Died and Made You God? Design Your Own D&D - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Who Died and Made You God? Design Your Own D&D

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Zardnaar
Nov 18, 2011 4:49:27 After 3 years no more DDI for me which essentially means no more 4th ed. Extreme difficulty of finding 5 players who could reliably make it done it in for us. With no desire to spend money on Pathfinder and a large collection of 3.5 books, all of the Star Wars Saga books, and the 4th ed "core books" (1st 3 books) books I'm gonna design my own verison of D&D. Basically if you could design you own version of D&D how would you do it? Here my crazy idea.

D&D Saga Edition.
d20 based.
Saga style hit points level 1 (18 for wizrds, 30 fighters, 36 Barbarians etc)
4th Tweaked Ed Cosmology (uses 3.5 Nine Hells maybe Abyss).
Spelljamming in the Astral Sea (Tweaked Saga vehicle combat rules, 2nd Ed Spelljammer tokens).
Modeled on 3.5 (heavily houseruled).
4th ed/Saga Skills (half level+5), tweaked skill list (Probably tweaked SW Saga skills).
Blend of 3.5 and 4th ed races. Mostly 4th ed but elves get -2 con, Dwarves get -2 cha etc.
3.5 saving throws used. 4th ed/Saga influenced defenses- +1 save bonus every 2 levels.
Broken 3.5 spells plain out banned.
Powers introduced via feats, racial powers and alternate class abilities, Book of 9 Swords used.
Save or suck/die spells probably allow +4 save bonus (stacks with improved saves).
Stat buff items removed from the game (except str ones).

Shake and bake this disaster and wait for 5th ed I suppose. Prob use 4th ed MM creatres.
#2
pluisjen
Nov 18, 2011 4:59:01 There's a big difference between "designing my own version of D&D" and "designing my ideal roleplaying game". The two would vary immensely, and the target audience of the second would be a lot smaller then the target audience of the first, and I'd enjoy the second one more, personally, for obvious reasons.
#3
Zardnaar
Nov 18, 2011 5:03:49 Thats why I'm tweaking existing material rather than build a RPG system from the ground up. If I had the time to totally design a D&D game from the ground up it would be a revamped merge of 4th, 3.5 and SW Saga using elements from each. Mostly it would resemble 4th ed with a SW Saga class structure. Roles would be gone, powers would be there but they would not define the game like 4th ed structure.
#4
pluisjen
Nov 18, 2011 5:15:37 Well, the only thing I can say for sure about designing my own D&D is that I'd think long and hard about what kind of feeling and style I'd want for it, before getting to work.

That said, I have plenty of ideas but no time to do it ^^
#5
Zardnaar
Nov 18, 2011 5:17:59 Yeah I have always wanted to do a planar campaign and I like the vehicle rules in SW Saga and the 4th ed Astral Sea. The solution seemed obvious.
#6
DanTracker
Nov 18, 2011 6:31:48 i'm working on my own ideal RPG, but it won't end up being D&D at all. As I moved through a great deal of it, I realized part of what I wanted to do was change the premise of hte entire game and change the paradigm of entering players. Once I saw that, I realized it wasn't even intended to be D&D anymore.

I've still got ideas regarding what to integrate and steal from which includes D&D past and present, but the major premise rests on concepts from Burning Wheel, Primetime Adventures, Mouse Guard, and Chronica Feudalis. I've got some ideas coming from Dresden Files also.

So, with that sort of thing in mind, I'm not sure taht I could say, "This is how I'd design D&D;" because I don't want to run games using the premise of D&D anymore. I want to run games on a different premise that is far more topic/issue based and draws more from character growth than PC growth or player empowerment.

Still, as Pluisjen says, the target audience would be smaller and the result will probably be a game and system that isn't atttractive to much of the D&D nor Pathfinder community.

I really enjoyed Star Wars Saga. We found there was some trouble regarding vehicle combat here and there, and that would have to adapt to a change in narrative function during that sort of scene.

I see you're not too interested in roles. I also don't want to bake those into character creation. I want them as an optional ruleset that can be employed in a tactical, combat-heavy game, but I feel they simply create too large a gap between characters. I particularly dislike the gap between striker damage output and non-striker damage output. It really can shut down the fun of a game when a select one or few can really turn the tide of battle through damage output while the cool debuffs of controllers and amazing buffs of leaders doesn't get noticed.

I'm curious about your thoughts on magic. You've stated that the broken spells would be removed. I've felt that 4e magic can sometimes feel totally lame when converted to combat magic.

for example: magic missile, arc lightning, eldritch bolt, acid orb, arcing fire, burning hands, and many more seem like perfect examples of combat magic. They are quick. They are damaging. These are spells that any magic -user would need to have at the ready for fighting a foe whether in war, skirmish, dueling, or self defense. The effect is a good feel of combat magic.

in contrast, slimy transmutation, sleep, Curse of ... (from warlock dailies), and several others seem like a handicapped version of a truly magical spell for the convenience of the narrative of combat. They can be pulled out quickly and used in combat, but have so limited an effect that they seem to lack potency as magic.

I blame the DC 10 saving throw more than anything in regards to those.

There are dailies that are simply combat magic enhanced: wizard's fury, flaming orb, Vestige of ... (from warlock dailies), anything with a lasting zone, and several others which give a better feel of magical spell, but at a fast pace of combat.

I think that the primal dailies of Barbarian and Warden are by far the best format for daily magical, caombat-ready powers. These powers have a lasting effect on the remainder of all powers from the PC until the end of the encounter which creates a more potent feel for those forms of magic.
#7
Zardnaar
Nov 18, 2011 13:16:17 Most of the damage type 3.5 spells are fine, others will be rewritten to resemble their 2nd ed version others will just be plan old banned out right. I did toy with the idea of only using the Warmage and Beguiler as the default arcane spellcasters along with Bards.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Zardnaar Nov 18, 2011 4:49:27	After 3 years no more DDI for me which essentially means no more 4th ed. Extreme difficulty of finding 5 players who could reliably make it done it in for us. With no desire to spend money on Pathfinder and a large collection of 3.5 books, all of the Star Wars Saga books, and the 4th ed "core books" (1st 3 books) books I'm gonna design my own verison of D&D. Basically if you could design you own version of D&D how would you do it? Here my crazy idea. D&D Saga Edition. d20 based. Saga style hit points level 1 (18 for wizrds, 30 fighters, 36 Barbarians etc) 4th Tweaked Ed Cosmology (uses 3.5 Nine Hells maybe Abyss). Spelljamming in the Astral Sea (Tweaked Saga vehicle combat rules, 2nd Ed Spelljammer tokens). Modeled on 3.5 (heavily houseruled). 4th ed/Saga Skills (half level+5), tweaked skill list (Probably tweaked SW Saga skills). Blend of 3.5 and 4th ed races. Mostly 4th ed but elves get -2 con, Dwarves get -2 cha etc. 3.5 saving throws used. 4th ed/Saga influenced defenses- +1 save bonus every 2 levels. Broken 3.5 spells plain out banned. Powers introduced via feats, racial powers and alternate class abilities, Book of 9 Swords used. Save or suck/die spells probably allow +4 save bonus (stacks with improved saves). Stat buff items removed from the game (except str ones). Shake and bake this disaster and wait for 5th ed I suppose. Prob use 4th ed MM creatres.
#2 pluisjen Nov 18, 2011 4:59:01	There's a big difference between "designing my own version of D&D" and "designing my ideal roleplaying game". The two would vary immensely, and the target audience of the second would be a lot smaller then the target audience of the first, and I'd enjoy the second one more, personally, for obvious reasons.
#3 Zardnaar Nov 18, 2011 5:03:49	Thats why I'm tweaking existing material rather than build a RPG system from the ground up. If I had the time to totally design a D&D game from the ground up it would be a revamped merge of 4th, 3.5 and SW Saga using elements from each. Mostly it would resemble 4th ed with a SW Saga class structure. Roles would be gone, powers would be there but they would not define the game like 4th ed structure.
#4 pluisjen Nov 18, 2011 5:15:37	Well, the only thing I can say for sure about designing my own D&D is that I'd think long and hard about what kind of feeling and style I'd want for it, before getting to work. That said, I have plenty of ideas but no time to do it ^^
#5 Zardnaar Nov 18, 2011 5:17:59	Yeah I have always wanted to do a planar campaign and I like the vehicle rules in SW Saga and the 4th ed Astral Sea. The solution seemed obvious.
#6 DanTracker Nov 18, 2011 6:31:48	i'm working on my own ideal RPG, but it won't end up being D&D at all. As I moved through a great deal of it, I realized part of what I wanted to do was change the premise of hte entire game and change the paradigm of entering players. Once I saw that, I realized it wasn't even intended to be D&D anymore. I've still got ideas regarding what to integrate and steal from which includes D&D past and present, but the major premise rests on concepts from Burning Wheel, Primetime Adventures, Mouse Guard, and Chronica Feudalis. I've got some ideas coming from Dresden Files also. So, with that sort of thing in mind, I'm not sure taht I could say, "This is how I'd design D&D;" because I don't want to run games using the premise of D&D anymore. I want to run games on a different premise that is far more topic/issue based and draws more from character growth than PC growth or player empowerment. Still, as Pluisjen says, the target audience would be smaller and the result will probably be a game and system that isn't atttractive to much of the D&D nor Pathfinder community. I really enjoyed Star Wars Saga. We found there was some trouble regarding vehicle combat here and there, and that would have to adapt to a change in narrative function during that sort of scene. I see you're not too interested in roles. I also don't want to bake those into character creation. I want them as an optional ruleset that can be employed in a tactical, combat-heavy game, but I feel they simply create too large a gap between characters. I particularly dislike the gap between striker damage output and non-striker damage output. It really can shut down the fun of a game when a select one or few can really turn the tide of battle through damage output while the cool debuffs of controllers and amazing buffs of leaders doesn't get noticed. I'm curious about your thoughts on magic. You've stated that the broken spells would be removed. I've felt that 4e magic can sometimes feel totally lame when converted to combat magic. for example: magic missile, arc lightning, eldritch bolt, acid orb, arcing fire, burning hands, and many more seem like perfect examples of combat magic. They are quick. They are damaging. These are spells that any magic -user would need to have at the ready for fighting a foe whether in war, skirmish, dueling, or self defense. The effect is a good feel of combat magic. in contrast, slimy transmutation, sleep, Curse of ... (from warlock dailies), and several others seem like a handicapped version of a truly magical spell for the convenience of the narrative of combat. They can be pulled out quickly and used in combat, but have so limited an effect that they seem to lack potency as magic. I blame the DC 10 saving throw more than anything in regards to those. There are dailies that are simply combat magic enhanced: wizard's fury, flaming orb, Vestige of ... (from warlock dailies), anything with a lasting zone, and several others which give a better feel of magical spell, but at a fast pace of combat. I think that the primal dailies of Barbarian and Warden are by far the best format for daily magical, caombat-ready powers. These powers have a lasting effect on the remainder of all powers from the PC until the end of the encounter which creates a more potent feel for those forms of magic.
#7 Zardnaar Nov 18, 2011 13:16:17	Most of the damage type 3.5 spells are fine, others will be rewritten to resemble their 2nd ed version others will just be plan old banned out right. I did toy with the idea of only using the Warmage and Beguiler as the default arcane spellcasters along with Bards.