dragonmech, and e6

Medieval fantasy mechs powered by steam, magic, or the labor of a thousand slaves.

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Wyatt
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Post by Wyatt »

E6 huh? Might try it sometime. Though I heavily prefer the "Wuxia" and "Superhero" levels of play over "Squishy" and "Less Squishy" XD
modus666
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r6 dragonmech update

Post by modus666 »

havent played in a few weeks so there isnt much to report.

some concerns i am having though, is exactly where to take the campaign in the long run.

so far i've run the "shardsfall quest", "against the iron giant", and "the mysterious tower" (all good modules from goodman btw),

the party currently has marital ties to the rebuilding town of footprint, which may soon relocate to the site of the mysterious tower to shelter in the protected underground levels.

next they are planning on going into elven territory to return the nymph rescued from the mysterious tower to her home, devastated though it ay be. i plan on havng them meet a blue dragon locked in battle with a more powerful lunar dragon, and if the party assists the dragon he will favor them, but also be terribly interested in the nymph and start going to increasingly extree lengths to get he without directly harming the PC's. eventually a mech vs dragon showdown could be inevitable.

beyond that though, i'm at a bit of a loss for an overreaching story arc. one of the players has said he wants to be more involved in the fight against the lunar creatures, i'm not sure how best to do that with the imitations of the e6 power level. assembling all of the star shards would be an obvious direction to take it. but i'm not sure how to place them.

the above would be a lot easier to implement if i could find another player to join y group and play a cleric.
modus666
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more e6 thoughts

Post by modus666 »

thoughts on e6 and stat enhancing items

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i know the E6 community has had a bit of a slowdown since ryan stopped posting here, but my own e6 campaign carries on and so should this discussion!

anyhoo. after a long and thorough review of the magic items in both the Magic Item Compendium and the DMG (which are our two primary sources now) i discovered something i bit unnerving...

even the lowest level stat enhancing items are out of reach in e6. ie, gaunltets of ogre power are an exception, but gloves of dexterity +2, etc. all the other +2 items have caster levels too high to easily create. im not sure why the gauntlets of ogre power are different than the others... strength being a stat just as likely to see frequent use as any other stat doesnt seem to place the others at any sort of premium best as i can tell...

now i know that any item of +4 or higher should be out of the question, but do +2 items present much of a problem you think in terms of balance? i personally dont think so.

so here's the question. do you think it is best to a) read as written an only allow those items with a caster level of 6 or less and be done with it (gauntlets of ogre power anyone?) b) create some kind of specialized capstone feat that will allow item crafters to create these coveted items, perhaps with a slightly increased cost? c)toss the requirements and let them be crafted, but restriced to +2 items only.

it can be noted that there are quite a few lower level items in the magic item compendium that can allow the user to do some special things related to stats without actually boosting the stat, rather cheaply, (brute gauntlets, boots of the acrobat), and so disallowing the stat boosters wouldnt be critical, especially for those who have access to the MIC, but many characters would rather just get a simple stat boost.

thoughts, comments?
mythfish
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Re: dragonmech, and e6

Post by mythfish »

I don't think stat boosts of +2 would be that much of an issue. For simplicity's sake I'd probably go with the way it's written and just not allow anything you need to be higher than caster level 6 to create.

Alternately, you could try allowing items that give higher bonuses but have some drawback to go along with it, like it gives you +4 STR but also gives -4 INT.
Dieter Zimmerman
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walrusjester
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Re: dragonmech, and e6

Post by walrusjester »

mythfish wrote:Alternately, you could try allowing items that give higher bonuses but have some drawback to go along with it, like it gives you +4 STR but also gives -4 INT.
This would be a good way to get more impressive-looking items into an e6 game (if that were your intent) without messing up play balance too badly. I've always wondered by official d20 products don't do more with the idea of drawbacks.
DragonMech line developer, freelance writer, tall guy named Matt.
Seben-PistonRager
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Re: dragonmech, and e6

Post by Seben-PistonRager »

They don't do it cause it leads even more to Min/maxing or the fact that penalties are not a good thing.... especially penalizing INT which really doesn't effect much(since it doesn't effect skill points gained and when was the last time you saw a fighter with a bunch of knowledge skills). The people it hurts the most would be spell casters who really wouldn't need the STR bonus.

A wisdom hit would be better for fighter items. (lower will saves, and spot/listen checks)
while a hit to con and or dex would be better for caster types(increased vulnerability)

on the other side of this conversation though I pointed out at our last E6 game that there actually were a few ways to get "forbidden magic" items... CL 9 Magic missile wands... or anything else 3rd level or less at CL 9...

School focus( +1 caster level on one school of spells, -1 caster level on all other schools)
Arcane Thesis(+2 caster level for one spell)

ah good times... there might be a few ways to get it even higher but that's pretty good.
I've got a bionic ear!

But, there is no mechanic to support it!
modus666
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prestige feat chains... blackguard concerns

Post by modus666 »

this is a repost from enworlds forums but i thought id post here too to get more feedback.

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i am compiling my own little E6 document for my dragonmech players and was taking a closer look at the blackguard prestige feats that were presented many pages back, for reference sake i will copy them at the bottom of my post. i had a few concerns

1) does anyone else feel that the "fallen from grace" feat's mechanic is a bit bulky. i think it might be easier to do feat or class retraining (as presented in the PHB 2) if one were a fallen paladin than to bother with this mechanic

2) does anyone else feel that the "fiendish servant" feat is a bit out of scope? perhaps it could be boiled down a bit more?

3) i think the "blessing of darkness" feat could be easily reworded to be something like this... Benefit: Choose one spell from the following list: cause fear, corrupt weapon, cure light wounds, doom, inflict light wounds, magic weapon, and summon monster I (evil creatures only); you may cast this spell once per day, with a caster level equal to the numer of blackguard "blessing of darkness" feats you posess (up to a maximum of 6th level caster); this feat may be taken multiple times, each time choosing another spell from this list

this way the blackguard could have a more varied selection of spells without allowing any one spell to be used very often.

any thoughts? i've generally been of the opinion that most prestige classes could be boiled down to 4 or 5 feats but the blackguard tends to break that mold a bit with its varied abilities.

===================
blackguard prestige feats (before any modification)
===================
Blackguard Training [Prestige]
You have begun training as a blackguard.
Prerequisite: No other prestige feats, evil alignment, must have made peaceful contact with an evil outsider, character level 6th, skills: Hide 5 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 2 ranks, feats:Cleave, Improved Sunder, Power Attack
Benefit: The following skills become class skills for you: Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Heal, Hide, Intimidate, Knowledge (religion), Profession, and Ride.
In addition, you gain an Aura of Evil. The power of the aura (see the detect evil spell) is equal to the number of prestige feats you posses.
Special: You may not gain this feat if you already possess any other prestige feats.

Sunder the Righteous [Prestige]
Your devotion to darkness has granted you power to harm the followers of the light.
Prerequisite: Blackguard Training, Power Attack, Cleave, Improved Sunder, character level 6th.
Benefit: Once per day, you may make a single melee attack against a good aligned target. You add your Charisma modifier (if positive) to the attack roll and deal 1 extra point of damage per prestige feat you posses, plus any bonuses from high Strength or magical effects that normally apply. If you accidentally use this ability feat against a target that is not good, the feat has no effect but is still used up for that day.

Inquisition [Prestige]
You have gained the ability to sense the righteous wherever they may lurk.
Prerequisite: Blackguard Training, Hide 4 ranks, character level 6th.
Benefit: You may use detect good as a spell like ability at will. In addition, any melee weapon you wield is considered evil aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction

Fallen From Grace [Prestige]
The lords of corruption favor those who were once pure.
Prerequisite: Blackguard Training, one or more paladin levels, character level 6th.
Benefit: You immediately gain a number of prestige feats equal to your paladin level/2. For example, a 3rd-level paladin/3rd-level cleric would gain 1 extra prestige feat upon gaining this feat while a 5th-level paladin/1st-level rogue would gain 2.
Special: This feat adds to the number of prestige feats you posses as normal in addition to any added by virtue of this feat. Feats gained by this feat do not count towards the limit of prestige feats you may learn.

Lord of Despair [Prestige]
Your body has become a conduit for negative energy.
Prerequisite: Blackguard Training, two or more prestige feats, Knowledge (religion) 2 ranks, character level 6th.
Benefit: You may command or rebuke undead a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier. You command undead as would a cleric who’s level equals the number of prestige feats you posses -2.
In addition, the dark energy you wield envelopes you in a malign aura that causes enemies within 10 feet to take a -2 penalty on all saving throws.

Fiendish Servant [Prestige]
Your dark masters have granted you an ally from the lower planes.
Prerequisite: Blackguard Training, three or more prestige feats, Knowledge (religion) 2 ranks, character level 6th.
Benefit: You acquire a fiendish servant that serves you as a guardian, helper, or mount. You may choose from the following: fiendish bat, cat, dire rat, horse, pony, raven, or toad. The servant further gains HD and special abilities based on the number of prestige feats you posses.
Five or less prestige feats grant your fiendish servant +2 HD, +1 Natural Armor, +1 Strength, an Intelligence score of 6, and the following special abilities: empathic link, improved evasion, share saving throws, and share spells. Six or more prestige feats grant your fiendish servant +4 HD, +3 Natural Armor, +2 Strength, an Intelligence score of 7, and the ability to speak with you.
Special: You may only have one fiendish servant at a time. Should your fiendish servant die, you may call for another one after a year and a day.

Blessing of Darkness [Prestige]
The dark masters you serve have invested a spark of the divine in you.
Prerequisite: Wisdom 12+, Blackguard Training, three or more prestige feats, Knowledge (religion) 2 ranks, character level 6th.
Benefit: You may cast one spell per day from the following list: cause fear, corrupt weapon, cure light wounds, doom, inflict light wounds, magic weapon, and summon monster I (evil creatures only).
In addition, you gain a bonus to your saving throws equal to your Charisma modifier (if positive).
modus666
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Re: dragonmech, and e6 (resurrected)

Post by modus666 »

my dragonmech game has been taking a back seat to 4th ed D&D for awhile but some nice folks have done a lot of work compiling a sort of e6 SRD. they've boiled down the srd to mostly just what applies to e6 and posted in in wiki format and a free downloadable document.

for those of you who liked the idea behind e6 and dragonmech, check this out.

https://sites.google.com/site/e6baselinesrd/index

links to the downloadable file are at the top of the first page
modus666
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dragonmech e6 feats

Post by modus666 »

heres a beginning list of what i've done so far for my dragonmech e6 game:


E6 FEATS FOR DRAGONMECH PC's

Additional Steam-Gadget [General]
Prerequisites: character level 6, the ability to maintain steam powers
Benefit: you gain the ability to build and maintain one additional steam power
Limitation: no steam-powered device you create may have more individual parts contributed by you than the maximum # of steam powers you could maintain before you first acquired this feat
Special: you may gain this feat more than once, it's bonuses stack
(reasoning: allows coglayers to maintain multiple devices over times, while keeping the power level of each device limited to a certain range)

Craft Magical Mech [Item Creation]
You can build mechs powered by magic.
Prerequisite: Spellcaster level 6, Spellcraft 7 ranks, Craft (mechcraft) 7 ranks, Craft Wondrous Item
Benefit: You can design any animated or undead mech whose prerequisites you meet. The actual construction of a mech usuallyrequires a crew (and is covered in more detail on page 81 of the dragonmech campaign setting book).
(reasoning: would be difficult to justify the existence of magical mechs without this feat, so modifying it for availability was necessary)

Craft Powered Mech [Item Creation]
You can build mechs powered by steam, clockworks, or human labor.
Prerequisite: Craft (mechcraft) 7 ranks, Knowledge (mechs) 7 ranks,
Benefit: You can design any steam-powered mech whose prerequisites you meet. The actual construction of a mech usually requires a crew (and is covered in more detail on page 81 of the dragonmech campaign setting book).
(reasoning: would be difficult to have almost any kind of dragonmech campaign without this feat, so modifying it for availability was necessary)

Extra Artificial Parts [General]
Prerequisite: character level 6, artificial parts steamborg ability
Benefit: you gain one additional artifical part
Limitation: no category of bonuses granted by aritificial parts may exceed +3
Special: you may gain this feat more than once, it's bonuses stack
(note: the constitution based limit on artificial parts still applies)
(reasoning: allows the steam borg to continue to advance in one of his core abilities while keeping the potential for stat abuse very low)

Enhanced Integration [capstone]
Prerequisite: coglayer level 6
Benefit: you gain the benefit of the level 7 coglayer ability integrated parts, thus gaining a second use of the integrated parts ability
(reasoning: steam powers and modifying them are very important to coglayers, so allowing them to bump up to this level 7 ability seems reasonable)

Mech Dancer [Mech: Irontooth]
Some Irontooth clansmen are so skilled at piloting their mechs that they can make them “dance.” Other mech jockeys acquire this skill through great talent as pilots.
Prerequisites: Dex 13+, Mech Pilot 7 ranks, Skill Focus (Mech Pilot)
Benefit: You are so finely attuned to your mech’s positioning that you can maneuver it as if it were an extension of your own body. You add your own Dexterity modifier to the mech’s AC, to the mech’s trip checks (in addition to your ranks in Mech Pilot or the mech’s Str or Dex bonus), to the DC for creatures to avoid being trampled by the mech, to the mech’s Reflex saves, and generally to all other mech checks that are contingent on Dexterity. Mechdancers are able literally to make their mech dance. This has no practical combat applications but is certainly good for entertainment. The most talented Irontooth clansmen often have mech dancing competitions.
(reasoning: this is an essential part of the iron tooth clan's charm, their perfect skill with mechs and mech movement, so modifying this feat to be available seemed apropriate)

Mech Fingers: Skill Transfer [capstone]
Prerequisite: mech jockey level 6
Benefit: you gain the benefit of the level 7 mech jockey ability 'Mech Fingers: Skill Transfer' and all the benefits that go along with it
(reasoning: this ability is quintessential to the mech jockey and the class would suffer overmuch without it)

please discuss
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