More From This User
Related Docuements
World Cup Football) Fixtures From Chiefs World
watch it live sports events on chiefsworld check my site www.chiefsworld.tk o...
From chief
SA Louis free product
W
elcome!
If you’re reading this introduction, chances are you’re one of the countless fansof the Third Edition (3e) d20 ruleset– one of the most popular, most flexible,most open, and most thoroughly playtested role-playing games ever created.Because of the Open Gaming License, 3e has been put through its paces likeno other ruleset before it.But despite its many benefits, 3e certainly has its flaws. Some of these flawsare built into the core system, some of these flaws have emerged as the ruleshave grown, and quite frankly, some of these flaws are the fault of the DMsand players.Whether or not you have played the most recent edition of the rules, you’reprobably here because you think that 3e has a lot of life left in it yet, andyou’d sooner tune it up than trade it in.
What is Trailblazer?
Trailblazer is a “system optimizer” for your d20-compatible 3
rd
edition game.Our design approach has been straightforward and focused: identify the majorproblems of 3
rd
edition, then rebuild or refit the system using the latest in gamedesign philosophy.Trailblazer is both forward-looking and backwards compatible; innovative, butrespectful of gaming traditions.
Design Philosophy
When we set out to create the Trailblazer ruleset, we agreed to strictly defineour design process up front. We knew that we wanted to stay backwards-compatible with the enormous library of 3e products; and we agreed thatwhen we threw open the doors for revisions, we definitely didn’t want “changefor change’s sake.”
Rules Philosophy
In addition to our design philosophy, we (as players and DMs ourselves) alsohave a rules philosophy. Quite apart from what we have done with the design,we’ve identified three fundamental tenets that are the key to enjoying theTrailblazer ruleset:
The DM Rules
One of the most frustrating and baffling problems to arise from 3e is the senseof entitlement and empowerment that players experienced. There’s nothingwrong with this per se, but it seems to have come at the expense of the DM.The DM’s power, his sense of ultimate responsibility, was usurped—if not by theplayers—then certainly by the rules themselves. As many DMs expressed overthe course of our research, there was a sense in 3e that “there was a rule foreverything.” Consequently, DMs felt paralyzed, unable or unwilling to deviatefrom the rules out of a fear of being caught out by the players.
End the tyranny of the rules.
You
are in charge.
The Rules Should Support the Way You Play
There are countless ways that the rules can actually interfere with yourenjoyment of the game. Find them, change them, hammer them down andsmooth them out. It is your right and your responsibility, as DM, to make surethat the rules support you, not frustrate you. We have made every effort toexplain, in depth, the reason behind every rules change in Trailblazer—notonly to help you understand why the change was made, but also to give youthe confidence to make your own changes.
Restore a Sense of Wonder
The third tenet is actually aimed more at the players than the DM. It’s a stepback to the “old school” philosophy of the game: You don’t need to knowhow everything works behind the DM’s screen. Is he fudging? Is he makingchanges on the fly? Is what he is doing “allowed” by the rules? We feel likethis obsession with the rules is a lot like being a food critic: Don’t spend so muchtime fretting over the ingredients and the process that you can’t enjoy what theDM is serving up for you.
What’s Changed?
Over the years of playing 3e and participating in various user forums, we’vecompiled a list of changes that players wanted to see. This list does not coverall of the changes we’ve made to Trailblazer, but it was the framework fromwhich we began our design process.
Overall
• First level PCs are too vulnerable.• The power curve is too steep.• Absolutes (immunities, automatic successes/failures)• “The 10 Minute Adventuring Day.”
Characters
• Healing is a chore for clerics; they’d rather be doing something elsewith their actions and their spells.• Sneak attack doesn’t pay off often enough for the rogue.• Turn Undead uses a unique mechanic you have to look up every timeyou use it; and it doesn’t work very well when you do.• Wizards have no good options when they run out of spells.• Fighters don’t keep up with other classes as level increases.• Weapon proficiencies are too specific; it’s too hard to keep a favoriteweapon.• Some classes get boring after the first 4 or 5 levels.• Familiars are too weak, animal companions are too powerful, and bothare just too time consuming in combat.• Multiclass spellcasters don’t work very well, and other multiclasscombinations seem too good.• Spell prep and spell list management takes too much time.• Useless and sub-optimal skills and feats.• Characters don’t get enough feats.
Combat
• Players’ turns take too long to resolve; combat is no fun when you spendmost of your time waiting for your turn.• Grappling rules are a pain in the ass.• The 1-2-1 movement rules for moving diagonally on the grid are hardto remember.• Attacks of Opportunity are confusing; it’s hard to remember whatprovokes them and it’s no fun having to “walk on eggshells” duringcombat; it makes combat feel static and “locked down.”• Iterative attacks slow down combat.• Buffs are too hard to keep track of.• Too many Save-or-Die effects.• Energy drain (permanent level loss) is not fun.
Magic Items
• Identifying magic items is too difficult/not fun.• XP for crafting magic items.• “The Big Six” (weapon, armor & shield, stat booster, resistance,deflection, and natural armor).
DMing
• Creating statblocks for NPCs takes too long.• Calculating XP, EL, and CR.• Solo and elite monsters.• Scry-Buff-Teleport.• Campaign-breaking spells (usually including scrying, divination/commune, teleport, and raise dead).
GM’s Day Preview
For our special GM’s Day Preview, we’ve chosen a set of rule subsetsspecifically with the GM in mind. Each of these subsets was also chosenbecause you can use them right away, independent of any other rules changes.• The 10 Minute Adventuring Day• Encounter Budgeting• Treasure Parcels• Customizing Monsters
Let Us Know What You Think!
If there’s something you’d like to see us address that you think we’reoverlooking, or if you’d simply like to let us know you enjoyed the preview,please drop us a line at support@badaxegames.com, or visit us online at ourENworld forums:http://www.enworld.org/forum/bad-axe-games-hosted-forum/
SA Louis free product
T
he 10—Minute Adventuring Day
Most DMs have experienced this phenomenon at one time or another: Theheroes set out in the morning, refreshed and ready for adventure. Theyapproach the cave opening to the dungeon, and engage the fearsomeguardian on the threshold. Unfortunately, a couple of rolls don’t go their way,and before they’ve managed to overcome the first encounter, they’re battered,beaten, out of hit points, and out of spells. It would be suicide for them to goany further into the dungeon.And so, ten minutes into their adventuring day, they head back to the inn,resolved to try again tomorrow (when they have all their spells back).As with all of the rules changes in Trailblazer, we firmly believe that the rulesshould support the way the game is actually played. In our experience, 3etypically plays out with the following considerations:• Players would sooner stop adventuring than continue in a sub-optimalstate.• The CR system is most accurate when the party is at their full capacity.• By second level, the PCs have purchased a wand of
cure light wounds
.• Given 5 minutes (50 rounds), they can completely empty any wand andbring everyone back to full health.• The PCs will do everything possible to enter every fight at full hitpoints, if not necessarily at full ability. (This is simply smart play, and iscertainly to be encouraged.)• The cost of a
cure
wand (of applicable potency for the party level)simply becomes a tax on the PCs wealth. They’re always going to wantto buy or craft such a wand as soon as possible, and that expensedrains them of funds they would prefer to spend on something moreinteresting.• Published adventures almost always go “off script” because the PCsretreat at unexpected times. Your options as a DM are to allowit— which means suddenly accounting for the passage of 1 day— orto find some excuse to prevent them from retreating. For many DMs the solution is simply to put some pressure on the players toforce them to continue. But in most cases, you’ll find the PCs in one of twoscenarios:In the first scenario, the PCs are exploring an area that is largely static, wherethere is no real rationale for the DM to pressure them (such as exploring alargely abandoned tomb full of undead or golem guardians that are notinclined to pursue). If the PCs are able to retreat and rest overnight withoutbeing unduly harried, then you might as well do everything you can to get themback into the action. In this case, many DMs will simply hand-wave the retreatback to the inn, all the intervening time, and the return trip: “Ok, it’s the nextday, and you find yourself back at the entrance to the dungeon.”Indeed some players, once they are forced by the DM to retreat and rest for afull day, will balk at sitting idle; they’ll find all sorts of other things to do withtheir time besides getting back to the adventure intended for them. From thesafety of the inn, they’ll want to craft scrolls or weapons, they’ll wander off totalk to NPCs to launch hooks and plot lines you may not be prepared for, andso forth.In the second (and certainly more common) scenario, the PCs are exploring anarea that is “alive” and “responsive.” They may choose to wander off for aday; but you, being a crafty DM, are certain that the foes they face will takethe respite given to them to prepare for the PCs’ return. What will the orcencampment do, given a full day before the heroes return?Now consider for a moment the impact on your game if the PCs could fully restin just ten minutes, instead of a full day.In the first scenario, rather than hand-wave away an entire day, you’re onlywaving away ten minutes. The PCs never have to leave the adventure site; thehand-wave requires the same amount of real time at the table, but the playerswill not lose focus on the planned adventure.In the second scenario, the orc encampment, it is only necessary for you tofigure out what the orcs will do in the
next ten minutes
, rather than over thecourse of a full day. Once the alarm is raised, enemy spellcasters will almostcertainly prepare themselves for battle, casting their 10 minute/level buffs(and even their 1 minute/level buffs, given a high level spellcaster). They mighteven choose to take the opportunity to rest and recover their own hit pointsand spells. Moreover, if you don’t simply want the rest period to be a given,you can put pressure on the PCs right away, inside a much more manageabletime frame.(As an aside, as a result of this change, we’ve started using WanderingMonsters again, and simply put the check on a 10-minute timer. The PCs arenever sure of getting a 10-minute uninterrupted rest.)
The Trailblazer Solution
The 10-minute Rest Period
• A “rest period” is redefined as 10 minutes of uninterrupted rest, toinclude no more than conversation and light activity.• All character abilities and class features that were previously granted“per day” are instead granted “per rest.” This includes rage, smite,wild shape, etc. as well as spellcasting (see below).• The number of Reserve Points allocated per PC is up to the DM. Abaseline of 1 +½ character level, rounding down, is a good low end.(If you use Action Points, which we recommend for the full Trailblazerruleset, you can simply fold the two mechanics together.)• Each time a PC gains a level, he can choose to put one of his ownReserve Points into a “Party Pool.” A player can choose to spendReserve Point from the Party Pool instead of from his own total (anddoes not need permission from the other players to do so).• The DM can award additional Reserve Points, either individually orto the Party Pool, for reaching quest milestones, good roleplaying,bringing snacks, busting up the table with a good joke, etc.• All abilities are refreshed once every 24 hours, at no cost of Reservepoints. (In other words, always at least as often as the current 3e rulesallow.)
After a successful rest period, at no cost of Reserve Points:
• All “per rest” abilities are refreshed.• All characters heal an amount of hit points equal to 50% of theirnormal hit point total.• All
Rote
spells are refreshed. (See below).• Any ongoing spell effects on your person are dispelled when your restis complete, regardless of any duration they may have remaining.This does not apply to spells with instantaneous or permanentdurations; however it does apply to spells both beneficial and harmful,regardless of their origin.
After a successful rest period, at a cost of 1 Reserve Point:
• A character can recover an additional amount of hit points equal to50% of their normal hit point total (which will restore any character tofull hit points).• A spellcasting PC can refresh all of his
Restricted
spells (see below) .• A spellcasting PC can refresh
one
Ritual
spell per Reserve Point spent.
Spellcasting
All spells are designated as
Rote
,
Restricted
, or
Rituals
.Rote spells include:• All 0-level spells.• Any single target spell with a duration of 1 min/level or less.Restricted spells include:• Any area of effect or multiple-target spell.• Any spell with a duration of 10 minutes/level or longer.• Any Conjuration (creation, calling, or teleport). Ritual spells include:• Any spell with an XP cost.• The big three gamebreakers: Divination/Commune, Raise Dead, Teleport• “Edge case” spells that create permanent goods (water, food, iron) atthe DM’s discretion.
SA Louis free product
of 00
Trailblazer GM Day Preview
1,080 Reads
Info and Rating
| Category: | Uncategorized. |
| Rating: | (1 Rating) |
| Upload Date: | 04/09/2009 |
| Copyright: | Attribution Non-commercial |
| Tags: |
Leave a Comment
Great supplement. The most revised version is now available.