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+---- Thread: Alternate Class System (/showthread.php?tid=549)
Alternate Class System - Hiromaniac - 03-16-2017
This was an idea I had tossed around when I was first starting my campaign, but never followed up on. Final Fantasy d20 has many fun and interesting classes. However, there’s not usually enough opportunity for players to get to try out all the different classes or archetypes they might find interesting. Perhaps the archetype/class they want to play simply didn't exist at the start of the game. Some Final Fantasy games have supported the use of multiple jobs for a single character, so I figured I’d try to make a system for it in Final Fantasy d20.
Alternate Class System
Main points
[font=Symbol]·[font=Times New Roman] [/font][/font]Character Level and Class Level are tracked separately
[font=Symbol]·[font=Times New Roman] [/font][/font]Class Level progresses twice as fast as Character Level
[font=Symbol]·[font=Times New Roman] [/font][/font]Class Level cannot exceed Character Level by more than one
[font=Symbol]·[font=Times New Roman] [/font][/font]Ability Scores do not change when changing classes
[font=Symbol]·[font=Times New Roman] [/font][/font]Skills do change when changing classes
[font=Symbol]·[font=Times New Roman] [/font][/font]Class abilities are only able to be used when playing as the class from which they are earned
[font=Symbol]·[font=Times New Roman] [/font][/font]It takes one full day without interruptions to change classes
In this system, players will keep track of their Character Level separate from their Class Level. Character Level progresses normally according to whichever experience track the GM decides to use. Feats and ability score increases follow the Character Level progression. Therefore, a character only ever gets the standard 10 feats and 5 ability score increases purely from leveling up. Class Level progresses twice as fast as Character Level. Effectively classes gain 2 exp for every 1 exp the character gains. Using this progression, a character that has accumulated 2000 exp to become a 2nd-level character has 4000 exp in classes. However, a character’s Class Level can never exceed its Character Level by more than one. In this case, even though a Character may have gained 2500 exp, any Class cannot raise to 3rd level until they have accumulated 5000 exp on their Character Level progression.
Ability scores are tied to Character Level and thus a character does not change its ability scores when changing classes. This because the character is still the same person, they simply are changing how they go about their day as an adventurer. However, Skills are tied to Class Level. (I don’t have any way to spin this other than the fact that the number of skill ranks per level is tied to the class in basic character creation). A character’s Class Skills and Skill Rank allotment change when changing classes. Additionally, any class abilities earned on one class do not apply to another class (Sneak Attack earned for being a Thief does not apply when playing a Ninja, Extra Ki earned from a Ninja Trick does not apply when playing a Monk, etc).
To put some balance into being able to change classes on the same character, players are restricted on how frequently they can change classes. It takes one full day to change from one class to another. During this day, no other work, crafting, or other mechanic tied to a skill check can be done. Upon waking the next day, the character has changed their class and may begin playing as the new class. How this class change is done depends on the GM. Perhaps the players have Job Crystals that they must spend a day attuning to access the new class abilities. Perhaps the day is spent performing a ritual where the players swap places with a version of themselves from an alternate dimension. Ultimately it’s up to the GM to decide.
Some drawbacks I can see with this system:
Conventional cross-classing is not supported with this system. Considering players are already allowed to change classes semi-freely, this may not be too much of a concern.
Prestige Classes are not supported with this system. The usual drawback of effectively losing levels in your main class to take up a Prestige Class is circumvented by being able to take a second class entirely.
The only way I could see these two working with this alternate class system is if you designate a class as a Cross-Class or Prestige Class and treat it as if it were a normal class. For example, if you were to take two levels in Fighter and then one in Chemist, you would forever only be able to go as high as 19 in Fighter. In this instance, the levels cross-classed into Chemist would not be viable if later deciding to take Chemist as an Alternate Class instead of a cross-class. All in all, this leads to an additional mess in an already messy system so I think it would be justified to disallow it altogether.
Anyway, let me know what you think. How could the system be improved? Is it already as good as it is going to get for how messy it is? Should it be tossed away and forgotten altogether?
RE: Alternate Class System - Viladin - 03-17-2017
Funnily enough, I am working on a "classless" system thats different what you have here, but should be what you may be looking for.
RE: Alternate Class System - Hiromaniac - 03-29-2017
(03-17-2017, 12:52 AM)Viladin Wrote: Funnily enough, I am working on a "classless" system thats different what you have here, but should be what you may be looking for.
I think the classless system you've come up with is a good way to be able to play a character who wants to dabble in several things in one class. What I was aiming for here is a bit more along the lines of the Armoury System from XIV where you can change classes easily, but balancing it for a tabletop game instead of an MMO.
The actual inspiration was the fact that halfway through my current campaign's life there was a major update that changed how a lot of people would have built their characters if all of the new options had existed previously. I wrote in a way for the characters to completely make new characters from scratch, but the next major update brought more amazing things. So essentially I was looking for a way to allow people to experience how different classes play without having to join a brand new game to get a feel for them.