Class & Race Design Approach for C&C

[Go0gleplex]

I mentioned I had my own philosophy in how to design races and classes I used for my home campaign and was asked if by some if they could take a look at my notes. Well...here it is. Wall of text time! lol

Race & Class Design for RPGs
Essentially it boils down to equal exchange to keep either a homebrew designed race or class from being all awesome. A race should have no more than two attributes above the norm and in exchange for those above normal attributes an equal number should be below the norm. But not all attributes are equal in terms of effect. Physical Attributes should be 2x Mental Attributes.

We want to build a Half Giant Race for example;
Obvious Above normal Attributes are Strength and Constitution. Strength is a massive +3 while Constitution is a significant +2. So we have a +5 to the Physical side. We need to balance that out a bit. Giants are not known for their nimbleness, smarts, or good looks, so balance the Constitution bonus by giving Dexterity a -2 penalty. That leaves just the Physical ledger at +3 which we can quickly balance out by a Charisma penalty of -4 and Intelligence a -2; both being Mental Attributes, so each -2 penalty equaling a +1 Physical Attribute.

Racial and Class Abilities run along similar paths, so they can be looked at in much the same way. Continuing with our Half Giant, they have a really tough body with a dense bone structure and thicker skin as well as tending to be taller than normal humans. With bigger hands and feet to go along with that prodigious strength, they have a bit of an advantage in unarmed combat as well.
So, with those bits of data in mind we could justify giving our Half Giant the following Abilities;

Toughness: +2 to Armor Class with a one-time first level only bonus of +3 hit points.
Unarmed Advantage: Due to their larger build, strength, and limb size; make unarmed attacks at +1 to hit; Grapple and subdual checks are made at +3

So our Half Giant has a couple fairly decent abilities…but that size comes with a major disadvantage when considering equipment, food, clothing, and other daily life necessities and offsets the former benefits by a fair margin. The Large size also means that the Half Giant suffers combat penalties typical of Large creatures. Fortunately such penalties are covered in the core rules, so we can ignore it with the Abilities leaving the Half Giant with;

Uncommonly Large: Must have all clothing, armor, and weapons custom made; x3 listed cost. Must consume 3x the Food, water, and other consumables as a normal human daily life and is unable to fit in most normal sized dwellings/inns. Clubs and Staves may be obtained for free if in a forested area.

It may not seem like a big penalty Ability at first, but all of those daily costs add up fast and it is unlikely that any Half Giant PC will begin play with much in the way of proper equipment or lodging. So while powerful and a dangerous combatant, our Half Giant race members are doomed to a life of hardships and financially strapped without consistently looting large troves of treasure.

When designing a Class, just like when designing a Race, Class Skills should not be all powerful outside of limited circumstances or have some sort of cost or check needed for them. As an example, I’ll use my failed Inquisitor Class since it has decent examples of good abilities…and one that reached a bit too far.

Seeing the Inquisitor as more of a second line fighter type in line with Clerics and such, it started with a d8 Hit Dice.
Given the Class is meant to uphold the law of the land/gods and focuses on the concept of just punishment of the guilty; restricting the Alignment to Lawful only makes sense.

Also, since the class is primarily intellectual in nature, its PRIME Attribute of Intelligence is pretty much a given.
For weapons and armor for a class whose purpose is not primarily combat, but does expect to participate in some degree of violence, a selection of light weapons and light to medium armor as noted in red below.
Weapons: dagger, staff, rapier, light mace, light hammer, poniard, sap, dirk, brass knuckles,
short sword, long sword, and spiked gauntlets
Armor: Padded, Leather Coat, Leather Armor, Studded Leather, Mail Shirt, Cuir Bouille, Steel
Breastplate, Pot Helm, Bacinet, War Hat, Benin, Coif- leather or chain

That sets us up for Abilities. The class already has decent combat abilities and hit points, so it doesn’t need a lot of Abilities really. We know the class is Intellect based and focused on detection and discernment. So spell use doesn’t seem out of place…but given the combat skills already, lets limit the number about half per level as a mage or cleric might get…with a maximum number of 4 per spell level. (And here’s a slight gaff) Lets choose the spells used to come from both Divine and Arcane lists…but has to find the spells to study and learn…and toss in a few specialized spells. …ending up with the list below.

Inquisitor Spell List: ( * asterisk denotes a new spell to be found after the list below)
0 Level Spells-
Light, Detect Poison, Detect Illusion, Detect Evil
1st Level Spells-
Comprehend Languages, Shield of Faith, Alarm, Detect Secret Doors, Message
2nd Level Spells-
Detect Traps, Speak with Dead, Scourge*, Grim Visage*, Cloak of Shadow*
3rd Level Spells-
Tongues, Hold Person, Locate Object, Shadow Step*, Bug*
4th Level Spells-
Arcane Eye, Emotion, Locate Creature, Trace*, Loose Lips*
5th Level Spells-
Atonement, Faithful Hound, Hold Monster, Guards & Wards, Red Handed*
6th Level Spells-
Geas, Find the Path, Legend Lore, Burden of Guilt*
7th Level Spells-
Refuge, Sequester, Power Word: Stun, Instant Summons
8th Level Spells-
Binding, Mind Blank, Trap the Soul, Word of Recall
9th Level Spells-
Time Stop, Imprisonment, Reflecting Soul*, Restitution*
(some of these made it into my Lost Grimoire…others…we shall not speak of such chunni things.)

Given the Inquisitor is the fantasy equivalent of a Gumshoe or Roving Judge with a permanent case of laryngitis and bad attitude…a couple abilities reflecting such seem appropriate. So we end up with;

Focused Will- The Inquisitor whom is on the trail of a criminal is very difficult to side track, frighten,
dissuade, or deter. This is sometimes seen as fanaticism by those unfamiliar with the tenacity of an
Inquisitor or their dedication to the law. This focused will enables the Inquisitor to resist such attempts at distraction, fear, or dissuasion be it magical or mundane. Against such attempts, the Inquisitor gains a +2 bonus to saves and/or checks.

Track the Facts (Int)- The Inquisitor's sharp intellect and training enables them to spot key information
and inconsistencies in stories, interviews, or even casual conversation. The longer they can keep a person talking about a subject or events, the chance of spotting any key information or inconsistencies increases. Inconsistencies may be intentional lies, non-coordinating events, or such things as determined by the CK.
For every 10-minutes spent in conversation with someone the Inquisitor's success roll modifier increases
by +1 (to a maximum of +5). At the end of the conversation an Intelligence check is made at the discretion of the CK to determine if the Inquisitor was able to identify any such information. Should an Inquisitor succeed in catching someone in a lie and confront them with the fact, the CK may allow a +1 reaction modifier to the chance of forcing the truth from the person so caught.

As you can see, neither one of these abilities gives anything away on the corner. Focused Will is situationally limited. Track the Facts, is also situational with a set of requirements for successful results despite being a fairly powerful ability in terms of uncovering plot information.
Now…the Inquisitor being a representative of Law personified (can’t you just smell the chunni here?), they should have a right to invoke justice no matter how the local authorities feel about things; the guilty MUST be punished appropriately. So we add the ability of INVOKE JUSTICE! and step off the rails into territory a bit far from good game play. This is a fairly good example of how a seemingly good concept can overreach itself and turn a Class into a Mary Sue/Larry Stu or just crash and burn due to complexity, die rolls everywhere, and putting on the power munchkin pants. Especially coupled with the slightly horrible spell use Ability that started things out.

Invoke Justice- An Inquisitor abhors letting the guilty avoid facing justice for their crimes. Should localauthorities fail to punish someone whom the Inquisitor knows beyond doubt is guilty of a crime, particularly if they themselves are the one who apprehended them, the Inquisitor may call upon the god(s)/goddess(es) of Law and Invoke Justice. The use of this power directly calls upon the divine powers of law to punish the guilty person(s) in just measure. Each person that justice is invoked against is entitled to a WIS save, the CL modifier being equal to half of the invoking Inquisitor's level (rounded down). If successful, the powers of Law have seen fit to allow the secular judgment stand and the Inquisitor may not Invoke Justice against that person or persons again unless a new crime is committed.

If the target of the Invocation fails their save, then the powers of Law mark them until their dying day, much like a curse in nature and function. This mark may be removed by an appropriate remove curse spell if the person so marked becomes aware of it and shows as a glowing rune upon their brown to anyone detecting magic or with true seeing and the like. Should the person marked by the powers of Law commit a crime, then the Invocation punishes them in just measure for as long as they persist in their criminal activity as follows;
Crime being committed is “minor”: 1d4 damage per round of divine punishment is suffered
Crime being committed is “moderate”: 3d4 damage per round of divine punishment is suffered
Crime being committed is “major”: 6d4 damage per round of divine punishment is suffered
Crime being committed is murder: 3d10 damage per round of divine punishment is suffered until themurderer either dies or finds someone to remove the invocation. Criminals who die from their divine punishment are free of the invocation at that moment. Should they be resurrected, reincarnated, or rise as undead by whatever means they are free to commit whatever crimes they desire without fear of further divine punishment....unless another Inquisitor catches up with them.

So…bottom line with Race and Class Design is to never be all good or all bad. If you give something really good or powerful, then it should have a price attached or be offset by a relatively equal negative. Power is NEVER free…it ALWAYS has a price. It just may not be one readily apparent or something the determined being will be unwilling to pay for their goals.
The above isn’t anything official, just my personal approach to things. If it helps folks out…cool. If folks want to use it for sanitary landfill…also cool. Happy Gaming!

[Grandpa]

Thanks. I've noticed that often the racial choice creates its own problems. Like playing a giant limits dungeon adventuring. Or, playing an Orc makes it difficult to adventure where there are human, dwarf, elven populations, etc. The 2:1 physical to mental stat compensation is is slick.

[Go0gleplex]

Yeah. There were a couple things I sort of skipped over. Reach...so they can attack at 10' vs 5'. Likelihood of claustrophobia is high...getting stuck in tiny spaces would be a nightmare. In all likelihood, stick to outdoor or large cave exploration. It works out fairly well overall. There are times when you can't always get things to come out equally, but as long as it's a minor difference, and the abilities don't come from chunni-land, it's manageable.

[Grandpa]

Yeah. There were a couple things I sort of skipped over. Reach...so they can attack at 10' vs 5'. Likelihood of claustrophobia is high...getting stuck in tiny spaces would be a nightmare. In all likelihood, stick to outdoor or large cave exploration. It works out fairly well overall. There are times when you can't always get things to come out equally, but as long as it's a minor difference, and the abilities don't come from chunni-land, it's manageable.

That added reach can be a combat changing item. But then again some ankle biters get bonuses to hit giants so it works out.

[Go0gleplex]

Well...it was all done as an example on the fly, more or less. So if it conveys the concept of trade-offs and decently conceived ideas vs ticket-to-chunni-land I succeeded. I think. lol

[Grandpa]

Well...it was all done as an example on the fly, more or less. So if it conveys the concept of trade-offs and decently conceived ideas vs ticket-to-chunni-land I succeeded. I think. lol

yes, you succeeded in communicating the general process/concept.