Posts and discussion about how various pieces of Echelon work.
I was thinking the other day about how much I appreciate HERO System from an engineering standpoint. Pretty much everything mechanical is quantized, with explicit relationships between power and limitations, and character complications. I realized it might be a useful tool for designing Echelon talents, if things line up, so …
In the earlier, d20-based design I had the normal three saving throws: Fortitude, Reflex, and Will. The bonuses scaled with level using the Level Bonus, and talents could increase them further. Saving throw talents also granted other benefits such as increased hit points and increased magic points. In switching to …
There are two modes of defense in Echelon, active and passive. Active Defense Active defense applies when the defender is aware of the attack and able to act. Both combatants make attack rolls and the higher wins. Ties mean both combatants win (and lose). The winner applies damage to the …
The other night when I wrote Task Resolution Using Dice Pools: Heavy Lifting I focused on net results of the rolls, minimizing the number of complications as much as possible. I think that is likely to be the most common choice, so I gave little thought to the alternative, maximizing the number …
Last night I wrote about switching Echelon to using dice pools instead of a single roll with modifiers. I had an intuitive sense it would do some good things for me, but I thought I’d do some math and see just how it behaves. Overall, I think it’ll do good …
Today I had a conversation on Google+ about using 3d6 for task resolution (something I wrote about here a couple years ago… it’s nice to know I came to much the same conclusion, modulo the ‘Other Thoughts’ section that was predicated on things that have changed). I still think it’s …
Last week I was inspired to work on some talent design, specifically by converting various PRD game elements to talents. Sorcerer Bloodlines became cornerstone talents, Cleric Domains became common talents, and Arcane Schools became common talents. The latter interested me enough (and honestly, were a small enough set) that I converted all the arcane schools …
While working on the Red Dragon series I have discovered that the hit points tend to run somewhat lower than in Pathfinder, the base system. This is in large part because there are no longer Constitution bonuses (which add up fast). This might work if damage generally runs much lower, but …
I’m moving from “D&D 3.x” to Pathfinder as my base. The material is much more accessible and better structured for my use. I don’t expect the changes to what I’m doing be all that big, really, since the differences between D&D 3.x and Pathfinder are generally smaller than the changes …
I have to wonder, how much time, in game terms, should it take to become good at something you don’t already practice? One of the biggest sticking points for people when I describe Echelon is the ability for a character to go from ‘no casting’ to ‘decent casting’, and even …
 |
Tickets |
