Reminds me a little of the old Rage Mage builds, minus the Barbarian specific features.

Quote from: (not that) adam on June 28, 2012, 06:22:27 AM

Did someone ever took a race without bonus in your games?

Yeah, I'd be curious about this, too.  It feels very strange to me.

I had a Dwarven ranger in one game (just a one-shot). They wanted to play a Delver. I didn't have the time to create something new for the class specifics and so allowed it with the caveat that they didn't get a Racial move associated with the class. I cut them some slack in other ways to sort of make up for it, but they still wanted to move ahead with the character concept. The group I generally play with loves playing against type (we all started gaming in the White Wolf system). Most people haven't wanted to choose a race that doesn't have a benefit, but there's definitely interest. I almost had an (dark) Elf thief at one point, and there's been interest in a Dwarven wizard/runecaster (which I'm actually going to be using as an NPC in the longer campaign I'm prepping).

I've been reading through Bloodstone Idol preparing to run it as an introduction, as well as to note design elements for Fronts and everything. I noticed that there's only an Impending Doom for the Front, though not for each Danger. I was under the impression that each Danger was supposed to have its own Impending Doom. Am I wrong in this? Or was this adventure written a little different from how most are intended to be written? Thanks.

The nice part with this Danger though is that they don't have just the Inquisition to deal with. The heretics are also a force. The characters can attempt to deal with either side in order to prevent the Impending Doom. Maybe they can get the Inquisition to back down, or they can get the heretics to make amends or move on. There are different strategies they can take in addressing the situation.

I agree that I'd prefer to do away with the stats and just have the modifier. Or rather, do away with the modifiers and have stats that have a smaller range similar to what modifiers have. However, one hangup that I see is that the the modifier progression doesn't increase every time the stat hits an even number like in 3.x and above. It doesn't necessarily mean that the character won't get a +1 increase to a modifier each time they increase a stat, only that it may take two increases to go from a +0 to a +1, or a +1 to a +2.

I mocked up a couple of possible HP formula alternative abandoning the Stat/Modifier system and just used the stats. What do you think? Alternative Hit Point systems

Make the player care.

And then, occasionally, kill the NPC anyway.

It makes for good drama, and furthers story-lines later on.

@ZonerZ: Cheetas aren't really desert animals. They're native to very dry areas like savannahs and grassy plains, but not really deserts. Large animals don't tend to do very well in deserts unless they have specific evolutionary adaptations for the heat and minimal water sources, like camels. The sand cat is more in line with what I was talking about, or any number of other variations on small felines that have become specifically adapted to desert life.

@rubiconium: That does sound pretty awesome, but they've also invested two levels worth of advancement choices into doing exactly that. Ultimately, I think it all comes down to the fiction. A giant blue whale or scorpion is only going to be useful for so many things, and it's definitely going to attract attention. Plus they'll have had to attune themselves to a giant scorpion. If they can pull that off through fiction, I'd be willing to let them have it. They'll have earned it.

@tehnai: I see the druid as more of a versatile class, adapting to whatever the circumstance is and to what the player wants it to be. The ability to shapeshift into any number of things means that they should always have a tool right for the job if they think things through and follow the fiction. Don't have a fighter and need to open a barred door? Great, let me shift into a rhino. And on, and on. They may not do tons of damage at first, but I think their versatility makes up for it. Options are something they should never have a lack of, and being creative should with shapeshifting should make them a powerful class, regardless of their damage.