Author Topic: Designing your own Custom Class in 3.5e DnD  (Read 19496 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Endarire

  • Man in Gorilla Suit
  • *****
  • Posts: 2171
    • Email
Re: Designing your own Custom Class in 3.5e DnD
« Reply #20 on: January 08, 2009, 11:13:24 PM »
I don't suggest frontloading classes, but know that capstone abilities are likely never to be reached.
Hood - My first answer to all your build questions; past, present, and future.

Speaking of which:
Don't even need TO for this.  Any decent Hood build, especially one with Celerity, one-rounds [Azathoth, the most powerful greater deity from d20 Cthulu].
Does it bug anyone else that we've reached the point where characters who can obliterate a greater deity in one round are considered "decent?"

Dumb-Age Master

  • Barbary Macaque at the Rock of Gibraltar
  • ***
  • Posts: 151
  • Abuser of Feather Token, Tree.
    • Email
Re: Designing your own Custom Class in 3.5e DnD
« Reply #21 on: January 09, 2009, 09:46:02 AM »
I don't suggest frontloading classes, but know that capstone abilities are likely never to be reached.

Took the words out of my mouth. WITCH! WITCH! BURN THE WITCH!

Anyway, expect chapter 2 around...sometime next week/weekend.

TheWordSlinger

  • Bi-Curious George
  • ****
  • Posts: 492
  • Nunc est bibendum
    • Email
Re: Designing your own Custom Class in 3.5e DnD
« Reply #22 on: January 10, 2009, 11:26:39 PM »
This looks good, I'll read it for sure!
Currently playing:
Forte Lulz, Chaotic EVIL Bard bent on world domination;
Canere Potentia, to sing of power.
Aralaxax, Warforged Osteomancer, Machines are my people, I wield bones as other wield swords.
Randall Gray, she's not sexually confused, honest!
Zion "I can make followers, but why bother when people line up for me?"
Currently DMing: Real Men Use Their Hands, World's Largest Dungeon
"If you can pretend to be a half-orc barbarian or a dwarf wizard then you can pretend to be an alpha male."-Ninjarabbit
"The hotel shop only had two decent books, and I'd written both of them."-Douglas Adams
"It's funny how the Earth never opens up and swallows you when you want it to." Xander Harris, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The_Mad_Linguist

  • Organ Grinder
  • *****
  • Posts: 8780
  • Simulated Thing
Re: Designing your own Custom Class in 3.5e DnD
« Reply #23 on: January 14, 2009, 05:53:44 PM »
Making a custom class is easy.

Find an underpowered class (like, say, fighter)

Load special abilities on it.  For example:

Kemo Savant
d10 Hit dice
Full BAB, good fort, bad reflex and will
Skills: As fighter, plus Profession
Proficiencies: As fighter
Bonus feats: every second level, can be drawn from the fighter bonus feat lists and any general feat in the PHB.

Class abilities:

Attention Duelists!(Sp)
At fifth level you may duplicate the effects of the spell shout constitution modifier times per day, as a caster of your Kemo Savant level.  At thirteenth level, this becomes Greater Shout.

Child Grabbing Classes(ex):
Add your Kemo Savant class levels to all grapple checks against opponents less than half your age, or at least a size category smaller.  Add it twice to opponents less than half your age AND a size smaller.

My Hair Gives Me the Power to Defy Gravity (su):
At third level, your hair gives you the power to defy gravity.  Your hair grants a pool of abilities, which can be drawn from charisma modifier times per day, and gradually expands as you level.  The spells are duplicated with caster level equal to your Kemo Savant level. 

Eight levels after an ability is added to the pool, it may be used at will, with no restrictions per day.

Level 3 and up: Feather Fall, swift fly,

Level 7 and up: Fly, Air Walk

Level 11 and up: Reverse gravity

Fascinate(ex): Your hair is... unique.  It takes great willpower to look away.  At first level, you gain the ability to fascinate your opponents as the bard ability, but without the perform requirement.
Linguist, Mad, Unique, none of these things am I
My custom class: The Priest of the Unseen Host
Planetouched Handbook
Want to improve your character?  Then die.

woodenbandman

  • Man in Gorilla Suit
  • *****
  • Posts: 2188
    • Email
Re: Designing your own Custom Class in 3.5e DnD
« Reply #24 on: January 14, 2009, 10:39:01 PM »
Shut up tristan, the only reason you cared about serenity was because you wanted to get into her pants!

Dumb-Age Master

  • Barbary Macaque at the Rock of Gibraltar
  • ***
  • Posts: 151
  • Abuser of Feather Token, Tree.
    • Email
Re: Designing your own Custom Class in 3.5e DnD
« Reply #25 on: January 19, 2009, 12:56:50 AM »
So busy...so sorry. Might not get back to this for a while.

dman11235

  • Grape ape
  • *****
  • Posts: 1544
    • Email
Re: Designing your own Custom Class in 3.5e DnD
« Reply #26 on: January 19, 2009, 01:27:03 AM »
I will definitely be here aiding it going up....

Note the sticky in the Inspiration Strikes forum, my guide to homebrewing.

Quote
Players are impatient creatures.  They'll typically swap classes at the first sign of class weakness unless your class offers something excellent soon.  The nature of D&D optimization, at least in 3.5, is that the typical campaign will die within 3 levels of its start, or it won't go beyond level 6.  Players want power now because they may never reach next level.

This is where good class design comes in.  A good class will give something useful at EVERY level, not just the most likely levels.  Every level they gain a new, exciting ability....

Quote
I don't suggest frontloading classes, but know that capstone abilities are likely never to be reached.

...leading to this, the capstone.  This intriguing ability is hard to make for one simple reason: it must still be an exciting new ability....but it cannot bring anything new to the table.  All of your main features must be gained in the first level or three of play.  As you grow in power, your primary ability(ies) grow in power, and you gain secondary abilities that don't define your character, but are probably new things you couldn't do before.  At the last level of the class (note that this includes PrCs) you gain a capstone.  This can be anything from an increase in power to your other abilities to a new ability that is also unique, but one thing it cannot do is define your character.
My sig's Handy Haversack: Need help?  Want to see what I've done?  Want to see what others have done well?  Check it out.

SneeR

  • Bi-Curious George
  • ****
  • Posts: 432
  • Sneering
Re: Designing your own Custom Class in 3.5e DnD
« Reply #27 on: September 29, 2010, 06:23:33 PM »
I REALLY want to read this information!
The posts aren't there, though. Is there any way I could see them?
The answer to everything:
[spoiler][/spoiler]
SneeR
[spoiler]
I don't know if the designers meant you to take Skill Focus for every feat.
Sounds a little OP.

The monk is clearly the best class, no need to optimize here. What you are doing is overkill.

It's like people who have no idea what a turn signal is. They ruin it for everyone else.
When another driver brandishes a holy symbol and begins glowing with divine light, seek cover or get spattered with zombie brains. I do not see what is so complicated about this.
[/spoiler]

urarenge

  • Ring-Tailed Lemur
  • **
  • Posts: 30
Re: Designing your own Custom Class in 3.5e DnD
« Reply #28 on: September 29, 2010, 08:35:44 PM »
dude, the guide isn`t finished.
Let the topic die in peace

Endarire

  • Man in Gorilla Suit
  • *****
  • Posts: 2171
    • Email
Re: Designing your own Custom Class in 3.5e DnD
« Reply #29 on: September 29, 2010, 09:19:11 PM »
Consider what's been done.  Before you try to fix the Fighter, or any martial class, ensure you know the Tome of Battle.
Hood - My first answer to all your build questions; past, present, and future.

Speaking of which:
Don't even need TO for this.  Any decent Hood build, especially one with Celerity, one-rounds [Azathoth, the most powerful greater deity from d20 Cthulu].
Does it bug anyone else that we've reached the point where characters who can obliterate a greater deity in one round are considered "decent?"