Design Day: Rebuilding the Monk, Part 4

For the last week, I’ve been working on a near-total monk rebuild. This isn’t just a few fixes (like I did with my house rules), it’s a whole new version of the class. Last Tuesday, I went over the problems with the class, then on Thursday  I talked about how I planned to fix it. Then, on Flavor Friday, I talked about the new Paths I’m introducing.

And now I’m bringing it all together. That’s right. Without any further ado, I present the New Monk.

Flavor Friday: Re-Interpreting Flavor

Welcome back to Flavor Friday! I know last week I didn’t have anything posted. And while I did have an excuse, that was no reason to leave you guys hanging. So, this week, we’re going to examine what we should have looked at last week. Now, if you remember, last week (and Tuesday this week) was considered House Rule week. I was presenting changes to the basic rules that I utilize in my home games. Now, I want to present some of the changes in flavor that I utilize.

Design Day: Chase Scenes!

Aaaand we’re back! Welcome to Design Day, where I present YOU with something fun to use in your games. Today, we’re taking a turn away from the usual. No NPCs, no magic items, no house rules. Today, we’re looking at a new set of Chase Rules that I designed this weekend during our weekly game. At first, these rules were pretty on-the-fly. One character was fleeing from another (a drunk barbarian from an over-zealous samurai), and I had to come up with a system to use at that moment.

Now, I know some of you are going to ask “why not just use the chase rules in the Gamemastery Guide?” Well, I don’t know those rules off the top of my head, and from what I can remember they’re fairly complex (requiring obstacles and a deck of cards to use). I thought I’d throw something simpler together.

To use these chase rules, all you need is a d20, a piece of paper and a pair of characters that are…well, running.

Design Day: House Rules: Skills and Feats

…And we’re back with another exciting design day! Today is Thursday and this week is House Rule Week. Today, we’ll be talking a little bit about Skills and Feats. Two major parts of the game.

Design Day: House Rules: The Basics

Hello and welcome to my third design day! Sorry it’s a little late. I’ve been…well, not busy, but I recorded Walking Dead and Hell on Wheels last night and…yeah.

But now I’m here. And this week, I’ve decided, is going to be House Rule Week! Today and Thursday, I’ll be posting some of my favorite, crunchy house-rules. And on Friday, I’ll have some of my more flavorful rules on display.

First off, we’ll start with some game basics. The constant stuff that affects everyone.

The Rogue: DPR Examination

After a short discussion with a commenter, I decided to re-check my numbers and post a small build with the effective DPR for it. And let me clarify up-front that DPR means damage per round.

Lots and lots of math after the jump...

The Rogue: Exploration of a Weak Class

The Pathfinder RPG class known as the Rogue is often touted as being the weakest class in the game. Its main abilities (sneak attack, trapfinding, uncanny dodge) are all situational. And quite frankly, even when they are useful, they don’t help nearly as much as abilities granted to other classes. Even in its main element of being a skill monkey, many other classes can match its strength, and most wizards can do what a rogue can do, only better thanks to spells like Invisibility and Knock.

To get a look at what I'm talking about, here's a link to the Rogue on the PRD: The Rogue.

A huge explanation and some fun suggestions after the jump.

My Design Work Thus Far

Here is all of my design work so far. It's all for the Pathfinder RPG.

Races:

Gearman v2

Classes:

Avatar v3.2
Engineer v2.5
Gunslinger v3.3
Warden v1.1

Archetypes:

Arcane Archer (Magus) v1
Dark Knight (Antipaladin) v1.1 (Final Fantasy-inspired)
Divine Agent (Inquisitor) v1.1
Dragon Knight (Fighter) v1
Dread Knight (Cavalier) v1.3
Gun-Mage (Magus) v1.1
Master of Iron (Monk) v1
Street Fighter (Fighter) v1

House Rules:

Combat Arts v1
Firearms v1.1
New Skills v1

Enjoy!

-Chris

The New Blog!

Hey everyone who may or may not see this blog! This is going to be my definitive Tabletop RPG blog, where I post my musings on the culture, any reviews I have, and all my design work.

Hope you all enjoy!