Midgame Customization is something I really want to explore a bit in my work. A good example of what I mean is the updated Eladrin, with its ability to swap between seasons. Each season changes the character somewhat, both in the fiction and of course in the mechanics. I like that very much, since I'm a bipolar guy and I like change; what can I say!
So, I created Midgame Customization support for Starfinder already, with an ability to swap between "class talents/feats". For 5e this isn't viable, since the building process is rather static, and classes don't have pick lists (consistently) across the board. So, to include Midgame Customization, you either do it like WotC did (and make a race with such options), or you go all out and create a new class. Has anyone of you played Ragnarök Online? :) There's a Novice class that's a stepping stone for the character to branch out into the real classes of the game. It's a sort of inspiration for this thought:
What if there's an Adventurer class that offers high versatility at the expense of power? I'm not talking about how Bards achieve versatility with their Jack of All Trades feature. What if the Adventurer is a character that can pick from a list of talents/tools after each long rest (called "Preparations") to gather their abilities for the coming day? Imagine dabbling in magic, and selecting your talents from the Hedge Magic pool? Or selecting your talents from the Combat Tricks list? At third level, you would then specialize in one of the subcategories of talents, to gain more permanent (non-switchable) abilities that are in line with the concept of your character.
The subcategories are currently (in this ideation phase) pulled from the NPC classes; but that's just a thought. Maybe there's also an additional Feature at Level 3 that lets you phase out Adventurer for full-blown Fighter, Wizard, Rogue?
Tell me what you think? Would you create a new class, or pursue a different approach? If Feats were more widespread in use, it would be easier to use Feats for this, but that's probably not an option, or is it?
This is an interesting concept because I recently tried creating a class similar to this. I've been reading the Kingkiller Chronicle by Pat Rothfuss and thought it could be interesting to create a class based on the Arcanists in the book, which specialize in medicine, crafting, magic, rhetoric, alchemy and math. The problem that I came across is, if I just gave them ability score improvements and expertise, I could basically make a character the character I wanted through feats.
TL;DR It's very hard to generalize a class and make it something people can't just achieve through clever customization.
I'd still lie to hear other peoples' thoughts though on how to make a class like this work.
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Hey folks!
Midgame Customization is something I really want to explore a bit in my work. A good example of what I mean is the updated Eladrin, with its ability to swap between seasons. Each season changes the character somewhat, both in the fiction and of course in the mechanics. I like that very much, since I'm a bipolar guy and I like change; what can I say!
So, I created Midgame Customization support for Starfinder already, with an ability to swap between "class talents/feats". For 5e this isn't viable, since the building process is rather static, and classes don't have pick lists (consistently) across the board. So, to include Midgame Customization, you either do it like WotC did (and make a race with such options), or you go all out and create a new class. Has anyone of you played Ragnarök Online? :) There's a Novice class that's a stepping stone for the character to branch out into the real classes of the game. It's a sort of inspiration for this thought:
What if there's an Adventurer class that offers high versatility at the expense of power? I'm not talking about how Bards achieve versatility with their Jack of All Trades feature. What if the Adventurer is a character that can pick from a list of talents/tools after each long rest (called "Preparations") to gather their abilities for the coming day? Imagine dabbling in magic, and selecting your talents from the Hedge Magic pool? Or selecting your talents from the Combat Tricks list? At third level, you would then specialize in one of the subcategories of talents, to gain more permanent (non-switchable) abilities that are in line with the concept of your character.
Adventurer -> Warrior
Adventurer -> Spellcaster
Adventurer -> Expert
The subcategories are currently (in this ideation phase) pulled from the NPC classes; but that's just a thought. Maybe there's also an additional Feature at Level 3 that lets you phase out Adventurer for full-blown Fighter, Wizard, Rogue?
Tell me what you think? Would you create a new class, or pursue a different approach? If Feats were more widespread in use, it would be easier to use Feats for this, but that's probably not an option, or is it?
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This is an interesting concept because I recently tried creating a class similar to this. I've been reading the Kingkiller Chronicle by Pat Rothfuss and thought it could be interesting to create a class based on the Arcanists in the book, which specialize in medicine, crafting, magic, rhetoric, alchemy and math. The problem that I came across is, if I just gave them ability score improvements and expertise, I could basically make a character the character I wanted through feats.
TL;DR It's very hard to generalize a class and make it something people can't just achieve through clever customization.
I'd still lie to hear other peoples' thoughts though on how to make a class like this work.