I’d like to thank John Reyst for taking a look over what I’ve written for Echelon d20 and providing feedback. I’ve been doing a series of articles that does much the same for his Threshold d20 system. This post is my response to his initial feedback.
In this post I review pages starting at (and under) http://www.d20openrpg.com/characters/archetypes These pages tend to be fairly content-light, so I’ll just do an overview. This section of my review may seem harsh. It is based on material that has not been completed (the number of partially-implemented archetypes makes that point …
Converting RSRD abilities to Echelon talents is usually pretty straightforward. Many abilities in D&D 3.x are built up of smaller abilities, usually along a path of some sort. Feat paths are pretty obvious (weapon focus and weapon specialization are an example, as is the Mobility feat path leading to Whirlwind …
Actions in D&D 3.x got fairly complicated in the end. They range from full-round through standard action, move action, swift action, free action, to immediate action. Plus ‘not an action’, but since those… things people do are by definitions ‘not actions’, I’ll ignore them. There are distinct differences between them, …
Origin of the Name It is not explicitly spelled out in the D&D 3.x core books that play changes significantly through the various levels. The lack of this explicit statement has caused, for many people, a detachment between the levels of power and the styles of play appropriate to those …
So, October’s been rather lighter on posts than I really wanted. Between trying to get my act together health-wise (eat better, sleep more, work out better), a compelling project (Vale of Elsir map for Nik) and work (the next release of our primary service is now staging for release next …
When I first read of the token pool mechanic in Iron Heroes (the core of which can be found on this site in the Open Gaming Content Library under Token Pools) I wasn’t pleased. I thought they would be a pain to track. In the last few years I’ve been …
In a recent thread in rec.games.frp.dnd, I was asked if I would really allow a player character to have “any bizarre talent of his level just because he feels like it”. The short answer: sure, why not? As long as it makes some sense for the character, I see no …
One of the sticky bits I’ve faced in building monsters in Echelon is a lack of energy resistance and energy immunity talents. This was something of a challenge because immunity should cost more than resistance, but there are creatures in the RSRD (mephits) that are immune to one or more …
Here’s a nice, quick, easy one, and it’s a modification that can work with the RSRD rules as written. Let’s start by reviewing how weapons might work with regards to melee damage. Weapons used two-handed can do more damage than weapons used one-handed. Light weapons tend to depend more on …