D&D Pokemon-Design-ified
Talking with the tech director at my work, a long-time D&D player. He was telling me about some of the rules changes they made, and one falls right in line with my firm belief in "if it's complex, ease your players in gradually."
It goes like this: Their group would analyze the class abilities granted for a level, divide up the experience gained for that level among those abilities. Then, instead of going up in class levels, you'd choose an ability every 1,000 XP or so based on an "ability pool". So you want to specialize in casting spells? You can sacrifice extra feats or turning upgrades for greater spell access.
I really love this hack because it provides for both:
Combine this with the Sweet20 XP hack or a Burning Wheel-style BIT/XP system and I'd play D&D so fast, your dice would spin.
It goes like this: Their group would analyze the class abilities granted for a level, divide up the experience gained for that level among those abilities. Then, instead of going up in class levels, you'd choose an ability every 1,000 XP or so based on an "ability pool". So you want to specialize in casting spells? You can sacrifice extra feats or turning upgrades for greater spell access.
I really love this hack because it provides for both:
- A slow learning curve for a complex system.
- Discrete customization points, as opposed to the traditional Big Bag o' Tricks you get at the start of each level.
Combine this with the Sweet20 XP hack or a Burning Wheel-style BIT/XP system and I'd play D&D so fast, your dice would spin.