Universal Class (and some house rules)

[SiggyDevil]

I've found that too many class imbalance issues came from the fact that non-Wizard non-Cleric classes have trouble casting spells due to low CL.
Here, I just gave everyone full CL and BAB. Bam. Problem solved. It doesn't matter if a Mage-type has full BAB anyway since they will usually suck in close combat, lack HP, and deal shit damage due to lack of weapon proficiency. It's an unwise choice to get up close if weak. That's my balance.

[SiggyDevil]

I'm also liking how 4e status effects can be resisted with a 50% chance each turn.

Maybe if someone fails 3 saves in a row to end a debuff effect it stays until the normal duration says so, but otherwise makes stuff like Blind, Fear, Stunned, Sleep, etc, much less drastic in combat.

[RobbyPants]

There's more bookkeeping, but it could work.  Assuming a 50% chance of success, you'd only have the effect last the full duration 1/8 times.

[SiggyDevil]

More bookkeeping? How so? It's a flat 50% chance to remove a debuff. Roll 11+ on a d20 at the start of each of the character's turns for each debuff.

[RobbyPants]

You have to track the number of attempts per debuff in addition to their duration.  It's probably not the end of the world, but it is adding more complexity to the standard single-save approach.

[Bozwevial]

Actually, doesn't 4e assume a 55% standard chance of success? You have to roll a 10 or higher for a save to succeed.

[RobbyPants]

So you have a 9.1% chance to fail all three instead of 12.5%.  Personally, I don't like the idea of a flat rate like that.

[SiggyDevil]

I'd take a 9-10% chance of being cursed until removed, rather than failing a single save at around 50% and get the same thing.

[RobbyPants]

Of course it's better.  You have an overall 91% chance of success compared to 50%.  I didn't say it was worse.  My complaint is that it adds upward to two more die rolls per save and an extra variable to calculate.

The effect of this extra bookkeeping is rather subjective.  You might not notice it at all, in which case, it's likely a good fit for your game.

[SiggyDevil]

Add "Free Spell" to rectify the massive loss of spell points in later levels.
It's like a Reserve Feat but better.

[SiggyDevil]

Thinking of allowing 1 spell point recovered with each hour of rest, maybe more

[RobbyPants]

The sleep thing can work, but it's more noticeable at low levels, when an hour of rest equals one spell being cast.  When you're throwing around 5th level spells, you have to rest most of a night anyway to get back one of your highest level spells, so no one will take that option.  I guess it could be handy to track how many SP came back if they get attacked at night or something.  You might want to consider giving back a number of SP based on the caster level.

I guess it's a matter of what you want to encourage.  Getting back SP through out the day helps cut down on five minute work days, but it encourages half a dozen power naps.  I'm not saying it's bad, it's just what will happen.

[SiggyDevil]

Of course. That's what I expect, but anything that cuts down on 8 hour naps and 5-minute adventure days is good.

[RobbyPants]

Will it though, at 1 SP per hour?  A 3rd level spell costs 3 SP, right?  I mean, at first level, a one-hour power nap translates directly into one level-appropriate spell.  At fifth level, that same nap translates either into one less-than-optimal spell, or one third of a level appropriate spell.

You might want to make it scale by level, and have each hour give 1 SP per highest level of spell they can cast.

[SiggyDevil]

That eventually becomes 1 9th level spell per hour, but I suppose any breakage that would occur is a result of the spell effect and not the frequency.

I mean, Invocations are 'balanced'. Weak as shit, really. That's why they can get away with blasting every round.

[RobbyPants]

True I suppose.  So I guess at low levels, you get a level-appropriate action every hour, and at high levels, you don't.  Of course, the time people start teleporting, they'll just leave and come back next day, which will promote short work days.

[SiggyDevil]

Added clause of spell point recovery.

[RobbyPants]

That will hopefully let people get more fights in per day.  You'll have several cat-naps, but at least they won't be waiting all day.

[SiggyDevil]

The Spell Point pool avoids nova battles and hopefully encourages use of lower level (sub-par?) spells in battle rather than blasting the best every round.

... or maybe nothing is changed at all. Item-users with charged or per day spells would do that anyway.

[RobbyPants]

Well, because you use Wis score for SP, then you're looking at double-digit SP which means a dozen or more 1st level spells, right at character creation.  You need an 18 to be able to use two 9th level spells in one combat.

This makes SP scale rather oddly.  So you're still capable of going nova several encounters per day with no rest right at level 1.  I think the numbers work out better at high level, where you can cast one high level spell and then you have to use 1st and 2nd for the rest of the fight, and an hour long rest will get most of it back.  That's probably a good balance point for the most part.