or...
Avatar d20
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I've been trying to watch Avatar on the internet since I can't catch it on TV. And I still can't find all the episodes in order.
While watching, I became inspired to create a D&D character to approximate. At first I tried the standard enlightened fist approach of kung-fu + blasting magic, and was predictably disappointed. I knew using the warmage and EK would be just as humiliating so I made a quick search for some homebrew material. I was disappointed again (warlock as your chassis? monk's fighting progression? deities?) I put the idea in the removable wall safe.
I recently started thinking about how D&D has problems with it's power scales. Some classes are designed to function identically all the time, while others continuously become more complex, interesting and powerful. Which the regulars of this forumn are already aware of. It also led to think of a way to get certain monsters playable in my games.
It hit me head on like a rabid bull. PrCs. Nymphs are not actually monsters, their own separate species, but are really hot elf druid chicks in a druid based PrC. In fact, many so called 'fey' are actual regular mortals whom have surrendered to their inner nature and become one with it. Dryads hugged trees so much they became part of their favorite one, Nymphs are narcissistic loners that bath in flower petal covered ponds daily, red caps are blood thirty gnomes and halflings over 40 with special hats, while satyrs are so horny they grew some. Horns.
They are all druids (hippiemacers) with their own special PrC.
I then put this idea next to the current concept of available power to characters in a regular D&D game and realized that there's no connection what so ever between these two concepts. At this point, I realize that I sound like some rambling loon, making connection where they don't exist. I'll stop now.
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I decided that instead of creating some halfway playable class that you can patch into D&D, which would have a so many people unsatisfied (as I was), I decided to make a game system which would be balanced on it's own, ignoring D&D's concepts of powers by class. In fact, ignoring D&D all together. Air benders have no place near Tiamat's worshipers, so lets not allow the two systems to be compatible. (And now I feel like a hypocrite.)
I'll start simple. Two guys slapping each other.
This requires a few variables:
- Defence Score: Each guy's ability to avoid getting hit
- Damage Reduction: Each guys ability to reduce the effectiveness of a successful hit
- Health Points: the point of cumulative damage that each guy can take before he falls down
- Attack Score: each guy's ability to hit the other
- Attack Damage: How powerful each guy's attacks are
Defence Score: Quite simply, I'll borrow from D&D. DS is like AC, it starts at 10. Now we give an arbitrary bonus that will scale as a character becomes more powerful. Say, half his level. More experienced characters are better at dodging attacks.
Attack Score: Now for offence, the AS. I'll have it scale the same, getting half your character level added as an arbitrary bonus. And since we love that icosahedral so much we'll use it as our randome number generator.
The other three scores are the most complicated and trouble some. These make a huge impact on how many rolls fights last.