rebalancing full-progression spellcasters against mundanes.

External Since: Jun 19, 2007 Posts: 290

ISTM full-progression spellcasters are far more powerful than other
classes, and fighters in particular are especially weak. So, here are
some draft house rules to rebalance the two (by weakening casters a bit
and strengthening fighters a bunch).

Fighters get some additional class abilities:

a. "weapon concentration (once per group of weapons, such as spears vs
axes vs swords vs bows)" at each odd level after first. For each
individual weapon type in which the fighter takes weapon focus and
has a weapon concentration for that class, the fighter
automatically gains the additional feats in the chain when s/he
meets the prerequisites. Other classes must take the feats
individually. Also, double the benefits of each feat, so
Greater Weapon Specialization gives a cumulative +4 to hit and
+8 damage.

b. TWF upgrades automatically in the same way, with the BAB
prerequisites replaced by "fighter level" equivalents one level
lower e.g fighter level 10 instead of BAB 11. For fighters only,
reduce the Dex prerequisites by 2+floor(fighter level/5): thus Dex
19 for Greater TWF (ftr lvl 10) is reduced by 2+10/5=4, or
15. Other classes must take each feat individually with the
original Dex requirements (except rangers, who keep their
exceptions).

c. Combat Expertise, Dodge, Improved Unarmed Strike, Mounted Combat,
Point blank Shot, Power Attack, and Shield Proficiency chains
improve somewhat similarly: every odd fighter level the character
gains one of these feats or any other feat in these chains for
which the s/he has the prerequisites.

d. Improved Armour Proficiency (armour category, that is, light,
medium, or heavy) is a new fighter bonus feat, improving AC
by +1 and reducing armour check penalty each time it's taken
for the specific category of armour.

e. Improved Shield Proficiency is a new fighter bonus feat, requiring
Shield Proficiency, that increases shield AC similarly. It doesn't
apply to animated shields.

I'm considering boosting spellcasters slightly by allowing other classes
to increase caster level. Specifically:
- count each level of the given class for +1
- count each level of another class of the same type of magic (arcane
or divine) as .75
- count each level of a class of the other type at .5
- count each level of a mundane class as .25
Thus a Fighter 4, Wizard 1 would have caster level 2.

Spellcasters are nerfed in the following ways:

1. Clerics can cast spells only from their two chosen domains at first
level. They can take the Extra Domain feat to add another domain,
but can't cast those spells from the domain slot nor do they gain
the granted power unless the added domain is one of their deity's.

2. Clerics can choose one of their initial chosen domains to cast
spontaneously. They can make additional domains spontaneous with
the Spontaneous Domain feat.

3. Wizards and sorcerors gain only two schools, plus Universal, at
first level. They gain additional schools via Extra School feats,
which can be taken regularly every 3 levels or as bonus feats every
level divisible by 5. Note: maybe sorceror's don't get the extra,
since they don't get bonus metamagic or item creation feats every 5
levels, either.

4. Arcane spellcasters are notorious for requiring a single good
ability score, where most others require 2+. I plan/hope to make
revisions (at least for wizards and sorcerors, perhaps others) so
they will have class features that require reasonable values in one
more ability. Possibilities include one of:
i. Dex 10+spell level requirements for spells with somatic
components; eliminated via Still Spell
ii. Even worse, requiring some form of Dex check; this wouldn't
waste the spell if it failed.
iii. Casting spells only via slow rituals, requiring Con, but
possibly allowing for longer duration than standard spells. Or,
requiring some form of "concentration" or "endurance" skill
check for the spell to go off (but not wasting the spell if the
check fails).
iv. For Int-based casters, require Cha 10+spell level for spells
with verbal components, eliminated with Silent Spell -- or
possibly a Perform check for the spell to go off (without
wastage for failure).
v. Casting spells via intervention of outsiders, thus requiring
Cha-based negotiation (at least for spell aquisition, and
possibly also for casting).

5. Save-or-die spells are "save or take big damage" spells instead,
and give half of that for each of two successive saves (in the same
round). Succeeding on the first save removes the need for the
second, and allows any "residual damage" from the spell
description. Failing on the first delivers half the damage and
requires a second save. Failing on the second one delivers the
second half of the damage; succeeding delivers any residual damage
specified in the spell description. Note: for further nerfing
increase the divisor from 2 to 3 or even 4 -- a player is likely to
be willing to do a bit of extra work if the alternative is
character death Wink

. The "big damage" number might come from several
possible sources:
a. Relative to the target's hit points: perhaps max HP or even the
max s/he *could* have had with max HD rolls.
b. Relative to the caster, such as his/her raw constitution times
caster level (appropriate for Con-based casters).
c. Some fixed maximum hit points based on spell level.

If requiring multiple rolls is annoying, perhaps introduce a "level
of failure": thus success gives residual damage, failure gives half
damage, and failure by 5 or more gives full damage.

External Since: Jul 07, 2005 Posts: 273

On Sat, 14 Jun 2008 15:43:08 -0400, David Alex Lamb
<dalamb.DeleteThis@cs.queensu.ca> wrote:

>ISTM full-progression spellcasters are far more powerful than other
>classes, and fighters in particular are especially weak. So, here are
>some draft house rules to rebalance the two (by weakening casters a bit
>and strengthening fighters a bunch).
>

[snip]

Your changes may help some, but ISTM that the big problem is that high
level spells are enormously powerful. The shoehorning required to let
17th level casters cast 9th level spells sends distortions throughout
the system. One result is that non-casters have to be either massively
upgunned, or kitted out with many powerful magic items, or both. And
they still end up outclassed by the spellcasters.

It also causes problems with magic users having to be magic misers at
low levels: A wizard who has used up his spells is basically a
commoner, with all the uselessness that that implies.

My own preference would be to stretch out the spellcasting
progression, somehow. The current ninth level spells should first
become available somewhere around levels 28-34, with the other spells
of 4+ level likewise being delayed, but with spellcasters being given
lower-powered but more frequently usable abilities to compensate. (4e
tries to do something along these lines, but IMHO the implementation
is botched.)

I'd also like to see more defenses against magic - *other* than the
typical splatbook "this new higher-level spell will defend against
certain types of lower-level spells." Things like See Invisible, or
Invisibility Purge should be both lower level and longer lasting than
Invisibility itself. In general, defenses vs magic should be cheaper
(lower level, longer lasting) than spells used offensively.

One house rule I wrote for a game that never got off the ground was to
make higher level spells more "brittle" - the DC to dispell them is
easier (14 + opposing caster level - spell level; vs the RAW 10 +
opposing caster level). Also, it was possible to create limited
antimagic areas where lower-level spells would work normally but
higher level spells wouldn't.

One thing you might do is give SR to fighters at higher level.

Another relatively "small" change might be to increase the casting
time for spells across the board. I suspect that it was a mistake to
have the default casting time in 3.x be a standard action. Making the
casting of most spells into a full-round action would help weaken
spellcasters. You could even harken back to the old days and make
higher-level spells take multiple rounds to cast. ("Mine eyes have
seen the glory of the umteenth level mage/His spells are so high-level
that their casting takes an age...")
--
Erol K. Bayburt
ErolB1.DeleteThis@comcast.net