Design Intent: Gaining Abilities.
Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2003 7:18 pm
From the pages of Final Fantasy d20. People should do this for all game design:
Characters should not become better or worse by taking the same abilities in a different order. Furthermore, nothing a character gets should ever go back and invalidate a choice made earlier. The reasoning on this should be obvious. Simply, organic characters generally have more flavor and backstory than characters made whole at some arbitrary level - and they should not be inferior for it.
But on a practical standpoint, what does that really mean? It means that when you get to seventh level you should be at least as powerful as a character who is brought into the game at seventh level. Any ability you get at seventh level which you could have gotten at second level should be exactly the same now that you are 7th level. No ability should grow larger because you've had it longer, and no ability should be larger because you got it in the first place at a higher level. Furthermore, no ability should ever be available instead of getting a level. And perhaps most importantly of all - no high level ability should be strictly superior to a low level ability that you could have gotten earlier unless it requires that ability.
So, keeping that in mind, here are some examples of good and bad design:
Bad Design: Choose your Int Modifier in skills to gain a bonus in when you take this ability.
Good Design: Gain a bonus in one skill. Gain a bonus in all skills.
A character's Int Modifier will generally rise as their level increases. Thus, in the bad design system a character who put off gaining this ability would benefit more from it - and thus the inorganic character would be superior.
Bad Design:6th level ability: Reduce Miss Chance from Concealment by 20 percent. 17th level ability: Ignore all Miss chance from Concealment.
Good Design: The 17th level ability requires the 6th level ability.
The character didn't have to pick up a Miss Chance Reduction at 6th level, she could have gotten Improved Trip or something instead. Thus, a character who wanted to be accurate in the dark made whole at 17th level is simply going to have an extra ability at no cost vs. the Organic character. Unless, of course, the higher level ability requires the lower level one.
Bad Design: Gain 1 skill point every time you level from now on.
Good Design: Gain 1 skill point per level you have. Gain an additional skill point every time you level from now on.
Characters can gain that ability at many different levels - if there is a marked difference in total skill points - that's bad.
Bad Design: Gain your character level in bonus gold (or whatever) when you get this ability.
Good Design: Gain your character level in bonus gold (or whatever) when you get this ability, gain bonus gold every time you level from now on.
A character's character level will be larger the longer they put off getting that ability. Obviously, therefore, a character who took that ability at the latest possible point before the present would be at a considerable advantage.
Bad Design: You may perform some great act (summon bears, shoot lightning 3 times in your life (or each time you use it is less likely to work, or whatever).
Good Design: You may perform some great act once per week.
A character who is organically grown will, of course, have to use that ability from time to time. A character who is brought in fresh will not have - which means that they will be at full power. In general, no class feature should ever be ablaitive.
-Username17
Characters should not become better or worse by taking the same abilities in a different order. Furthermore, nothing a character gets should ever go back and invalidate a choice made earlier. The reasoning on this should be obvious. Simply, organic characters generally have more flavor and backstory than characters made whole at some arbitrary level - and they should not be inferior for it.
But on a practical standpoint, what does that really mean? It means that when you get to seventh level you should be at least as powerful as a character who is brought into the game at seventh level. Any ability you get at seventh level which you could have gotten at second level should be exactly the same now that you are 7th level. No ability should grow larger because you've had it longer, and no ability should be larger because you got it in the first place at a higher level. Furthermore, no ability should ever be available instead of getting a level. And perhaps most importantly of all - no high level ability should be strictly superior to a low level ability that you could have gotten earlier unless it requires that ability.
So, keeping that in mind, here are some examples of good and bad design:
Bad Design: Choose your Int Modifier in skills to gain a bonus in when you take this ability.
Good Design: Gain a bonus in one skill. Gain a bonus in all skills.
A character's Int Modifier will generally rise as their level increases. Thus, in the bad design system a character who put off gaining this ability would benefit more from it - and thus the inorganic character would be superior.
Bad Design:6th level ability: Reduce Miss Chance from Concealment by 20 percent. 17th level ability: Ignore all Miss chance from Concealment.
Good Design: The 17th level ability requires the 6th level ability.
The character didn't have to pick up a Miss Chance Reduction at 6th level, she could have gotten Improved Trip or something instead. Thus, a character who wanted to be accurate in the dark made whole at 17th level is simply going to have an extra ability at no cost vs. the Organic character. Unless, of course, the higher level ability requires the lower level one.
Bad Design: Gain 1 skill point every time you level from now on.
Good Design: Gain 1 skill point per level you have. Gain an additional skill point every time you level from now on.
Characters can gain that ability at many different levels - if there is a marked difference in total skill points - that's bad.
Bad Design: Gain your character level in bonus gold (or whatever) when you get this ability.
Good Design: Gain your character level in bonus gold (or whatever) when you get this ability, gain bonus gold every time you level from now on.
A character's character level will be larger the longer they put off getting that ability. Obviously, therefore, a character who took that ability at the latest possible point before the present would be at a considerable advantage.
Bad Design: You may perform some great act (summon bears, shoot lightning 3 times in your life (or each time you use it is less likely to work, or whatever).
Good Design: You may perform some great act once per week.
A character who is organically grown will, of course, have to use that ability from time to time. A character who is brought in fresh will not have - which means that they will be at full power. In general, no class feature should ever be ablaitive.
-Username17