by Narsham » Mon Sep 14, 2009 6:09 pm
I agree about the flexibility of 3.0/3.5 multiclassing--unimportant, generally, for spellcasters but vital for other classes--but I can see where the implementation might be tricky and this feature I can do just as easily without. (Most other cRPGs I'm playing single-classed characters...) I can also see strong arguments against the cheesy ways taking 1 level in a class can work.
As for prebuffing, I have mixed feelings about it. The major reason to forbid it, in my mind, is from a design standpoint:
Let's allow prebuffs. Party A goes into a major encounter with the following spells cast on everyone: Haste, Stoneskin, Prot Arrows, all Prot element spells, Spell Resistance, Death Ward, Prot Evil, Mind Blank, Freedom of Movement, Bull's Strength and Displacement.
Party B goes into the same encounter with no prep spells cast.
How do I design an encounter that will be challenging for party A without forcing party B to die horribly? In effect, I simply reset the "default" to a party running with all preps in advance, enemies with preps too, and turn the opening rounds into a Dispel Magic competition. If I'm using KotC spells, I also render most of the monster special abilities useless. Death and domination effects won't work, I can't web or grapple anyone, spells will bounce off of the high spellcast SR and every PC will have max resists and DR off of Stoneskin.
What's worse, if I match by having all the monsters running similar spells, then the PCs can't use any of these effects either.
So what's really needed is JUST ENOUGH prebuffing to allow the "tender" PCs to survive the first round alpha strikes or surprise round + regular round combos that can kill them.
If I were doing it, I'd take several steps:
1. Restrict most prebuffs to item effects or caster-only spells. Offer a Mind Blank helmet for the low Willpower types but force clerics and wizards to pick between defense and offense. Limit Stoneskin to wizards but let them run around with it up all the time (until the damage limit is reached). By the level they can cast it, enemies will have special effects on their attacks and enemies can always grapple or counterspell anyway.
2. Weaken any prebuff effect which offers immunity. Death Ward is the prize example. Instant death effects are no fun, but they should still be something of a threat. Maybe have Death Ward offer a +5 stacking bonus to saves, and if a Death save is failed then the death effect is stopped but the Death Ward spell ends? Ablating prebuffs would offer protection for that first or second round of a fight but, if triggered, would vanish.
3. Extend prebuff duration but limit the number any character can have running at once. Maybe have a prebuff management screen, or use the inventory screen? An 11th level character might have 3 prebuff slots (1 at 1, 2 at 6th and so on). You'd configure your party, selecting what prebuff spell to have on each character and which caster would provide it, and they'd be cast automatically after a rest. The spell slots would be expended. If a prebuff is dispelled or expended, you could either prohibit recasting until a rest or permit them to be recast at any time so long as they don't exceed the slot limit.
If you don't separate spells into two types, with one type prohibited during combat, then any prebuff spells cast as buffs in combat on someone whose buff slots are full would only last as long as that fight and would then be removed. OR, you could make prebuff spells work only as preparation spells, not in regular combat.
As an alternative, you could replace 3.5 prebuffs with some other mechanic. Two options off the top of my head:
A. Buff auras. Every class would have its own selection to choose from; each could have no more than one active at a time. They'd affect every member of the group, though, so you could have four running at any one time. Setting them would be a matter of strategy. A Paladin might have an aura allowing any other party member to receive his Fort saves against any death effect; a Monk might receive a Deflect Arrow roll to protect any adjacent ally.
Balance against monsters by allowing only "named" enemies to have these auras. Probably a monster with other specials (like immunities, innates or a pre-set X Shield effect) should consider them to be instead of an aura. But you could also implement enemy-only auras. An elven leader might grant +2 to hit for all elf archers in his group, for example. That would add to strategy as it would provide a reason to take the leader down first instead of killing off the weaker archers.
B. Steal an idea from 4.0 and replace prebuffs with rituals. They'd cost GP to cast and would last until expended. I'd probably make all of them ablative, so they protect once against a given effect or power and are then gone until performed again. (Prot from Petrification, for example, would remain in place until that first save is failed, at which point it goes away but stops the effect. Or you could make it auto-prevent the first attack of that type, regardless of save.) Not my favorite option, though...