Change the Classes Change the World Very Low Magic

It might surprise folks who haven't tried it but 3x is a very flexible set of games. With a little application of DM elbow grease and brain sweat its pretty easy to use the system for most anything.

For those who want essentially no magic in the hands of the PC's and farily high verisimilitude it can be a little tricky but you have a couple of options.

#1 You can use the old Game of Thrones D20 rules with some combination of E6/E8 and Codex Martialis and get a very authentic set up

or you can use your PF/D20 at E6 or E8 and my low magic rules in the sidebar. This will cover your needed decently well except for the mojo.

Classes are limited to

Fighter
Rogue
Barbarian
Skirmisher Ranger
Noble
Cavalier
Warlord or War Master
and some kind of Scholar/Everyman either one of the Scholar classes, the Savant from Thieves World, The Master from Dragonlance or the Maester from Game of Thrones, depending on what you have.

The magic is best handled with a feat based system something like the special abilities in Wheel of Time.

My feat list is below though note I did not include any description as its not done. Hopefully the names will be evocative enough to give you an idea of what they are like.

Totem Spirit

Medium

Echoes of Yesterday

Fortunetelling

Foretelling

Animal Talker

Animal Kin

Old Blood

Obscure Knowledge

Wolf Brother

Heightened Senses

Animal Bond

Pack Alpha

Wolf Dream

Dream Capture

Dream Watch

War Cry

Dreamer

Dream Bind

Dream Walk

Dream Jump

Bend Dream

Sniffer

Second Sight

Waking Dream

Green Thumb

Tree Warden

Mesmerize

Uncanny Luck

Déjà vu

Horse Whisperer

Commune with Nature

Fearless

Nose of the Bear

Healing Hands

Smell Gold (Genteel Looter)

Systematic Mind

Danger Sense (Danger Intuition)

Uncanny Alertness

With this kind of set up and a little imagination you can have a game where there is magic and mystery but which cleaves decently close to reality. Not bad from a game whose default mode of play is in the words of one of my players "Final Fantasyesque"

A few words of Wisdom from one of my Players regarding High Level 3x

I was chatting with one of my players, Eric the other day and was busily extolling the virtues of E6 and and E6.

Eric politely agreed that they were cool and more realistic but than added a bit of advice "Look High Level games and worlds aren't that hard of you remember that D&D characters live in a Final Fantasy-esque world."

I have to say its interesting advice and probably true though anyone naming a character Cloud Strife without a really good reason is probably banned from the game ;)

Maximum Realism in D20 the Easy Way

When, just for fun I set out to use my D20 books to create a system that seemed to have the maximum amount of realism I was surprised how easy this was.

It took me only three steps to do it

#1 Use E6 or E8 if you want slightly super human skills or easier integration.

#2 Use the excellent Codex Martialis (info here and purchase here) and reviews here

#3 Graft in the bleeding and HP rules from D20 Game of Thrones

This turns D&D into a pretty good medieval combat simulator and while picking a magic system and using monsters was slightly tricky on the whole, other than GURPS or the now defunct The Riddle of Steel rpg, I've never seen a more realistic combat system out there.

Not bad for mechanic that at its core is designed more for Fantasy Supers is it ?

Quickhatch Revisited

I wrote this to display the versatility of the E8 Pathfinder rules and how they cross over into "superhero" territory after L6 or so.

This is a fairly complete version a certain regenerating furball who seems to show up in every other comic book and TV series =.

He uses the low magic rules, a general house rule grating +2 skills per level and a few other bits. His magic augments value are not listed but the rules come from Dragon and Oathbound. For simplicity treat them as magic items at twice the cost.

The term "advances" refers to the extra feats gained at 10k XP after maximum level (in this case 8) is achieved.

This is fan content and a great many terms are property of Wizards of the Coast. Shift was calculated at 4 rounds per day + Con Mod with an extra 2 rounds per shifter feat. Shifters were granted Low Light Vision to balance them vs other races in Pathfinder

Quickhatch

Name – Lojan of the Great North

Race – Razorclaw Shifter

Class – Level 8 Barbarian w/ 16 Advances

S 16
I 14
W 14
D 16
C 22
CH 14

Race Abilities
Low Light Vision
+2 Con
Shift 30 rounds per day!

Feats
1 Animal Magnetism (grants +4 to reaction from opposite sex)
3 Shifter Ferocity
5 Healing Factor
7 Extra Trait (Wild Hunt)

A1 Razorclaw Elite
A2 Iron Will
A3 Reactive Shifting
A4 Combat Reflexes
A5 Shifter Multi Attack
A6 Improved Unarmed Strike
A7 Alertness
A8 Endurance
A9 Extra Rage Power
A10 Great Rend
A11 Die Hard
A12 Shifter Savagery
A13 Shifter Magnetism
A14 Shifter Instincts
A15 Improved Initiative
A16 Weapon Focus Claws

Barbarian Abilities
Fast Movement
Rage 24 rounds per day
Trap Sense +2
Damage Reduction DR1

Rage Powers
Fearless Rage
Internal Fortitude
Renewed Vigor (2d8+6 as standard action)
Guarded Life
Smasher

Magic Augments
Admantium Claws (treat natural weapons as +2 Keen Admantium)
Admantium Bones ( 75% fortification)


Masterwork Bastard Sword
Fitted Ranger Armor
Clothes
Dagger
Personal Effects
Superior Repeating Crossbow
Case
Bolts

Traits
Coherent Rage (use Stealth as normal when raging)
Resilience (+1 Trait bonus to Fortitude)

Skills (72 w/ house rule)
Perception 13
Acrobatics 12
Climb 11
Swim 11
Intimidate 13
Stealth 10
KS: Nobility 5
Survival 8
Knowledge Nature 7
Bluff 5
Ride 8
Handle Animal 8
Sense Lies 7

HP 108
AC 20
MV 40

Epic 6 and 8 Level Titles

I have been thinking about the E6/E8 variant for D&D and Pathfinder and how closely it resembles older editions in terms of power levels, how PC hit points map to monster hit points and so on.

Then it came to me in a flash, level titles. Now I fully admit they are not my cup of tea when it comes to my game, they aren't that flavorful, they aren't generic and they don't fit my playstyle.

However there is one place they do fit nicely, with E6/E8 they map nicely in a generic sort of way to the power level of the world. And so without further ado, here is my mostly generic chart

L1 Green

L2 Seasoned

L3 Veteran

L4 Hero

L5 Elite (or Mage or Priest for Casters)

L6 Master

and optionally for E8 GM's

L7 Grandmaster

L8 Superhero

IMO the list meshes very well with how a character of a given level will interact with the world at hand and as an added bonus, meets the same level criteria for Hero and Superhero as the older editions.

I think it will come in handy as a learning aid for new players (just how good am I?) and as a design tool for GM's (how good should X, NPC be)

Let me know what you think.

So Wait.. E8 for Fantasy Super Heros?

My answer is of course why not?

A fair number of the lowered powered supers can be written easily at L7 or L8 so long as you remember the guys they are facing are mostly 1st through 3rd level with some really elite outliers around 5th.

Use low magic rules and give your heroes bodacious stats and some fate points and you can have a game that feels in play much like a comic book..

Your Bat Themed Vigilante ? 8th Human Rogue w. extra feats

Cancuck Berserker? 8th Level Shifter Barbarian

Star Spangled Shield Guy? 8th Fighter with Adamantium Shield

and so on.

With this variant you can use D&D to play Lord of the Rings and Batman or many of you favorite fantasy books with minimal rules changes.

Thinking about E6 and E8 again.

This variant is basically D&D that stops at L6 or L8 respectively and makes all future advancement after that in the form of feats at every 5000k XP.

It adds verisimilitude and grit to the game without changing the rules in any significant way and as you can guess I really like it.

However it can be difficult to explain the power curve to people at times.

Here is how I do it

L1 Ordinary Folks

L2 Skilled Folks

L3 Highly Skilled Folks, S.W.A.T. Teams that kind of thing

L4 Low Grade Hero Types (Hero in the old level titles) and Experienced Highly Skilled Folks

L5 Elite Types Navy S.E.A.L.S Green Berets, Cinematic Movie Cops, World Class Atheletes

L6 The Very Best, Near Super Humans, Bruce Lee etc

L7,L8 Low Powered Supers

Characters are differentiated within these bands by stats and if PC material action points , so while a Navy S.E.A.L. And Martin Riggs from Lethal Weapon (or his fantasy counterpart) may be both 5th level,the S.E.A.L. uses the Elite Array,Riggs has different stats and action points. Got it? Good

Thinking About: The 3x Successor for older D&D is E8

Yes Epic 8, the 3x variant in which the leveling stops at 8 and instead of new levels, all advancement after is in the form of feats at every 5000XP.

My reasoning?

Well E8 (especially with an option to get a level 5 slot with a feat) stops at roughly the hit point and power level of older versions.

With a bit of work it gives you the same relationship to the world that high level guys in AD&D and OD&D had.