Old Screeds

Elegance in Labyrinths & Liontaurs

I fear that to some people, this screed is just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. That is, meaningless futzing and triviality. Those people do not appreciate one aspect of what I call "elegance." As for me, it satisfies an itch in my heart to make my game aesthetically, beautifully, balanced. To make the numbers in the rules more considered, more symmetrical. I think the best way to explain is with examples.

CLASSES

I started out with 12 character classes but I am planning on 16. The last four will come a bit later, in an expansion (splat book). But I have the foundations of these four extra classes planned out. Taken together, these 16 character classes form a unified whole.

• Hit Dice: Four use a d10; four, a d8; four, a d6; and four, a d4.
• Caster Level: Four advance by +1 per class level; four, by +3/4; four, by 1/2; and four, by 1.4.
• Skills: Four gain a base 2 ranks per level; four, 6 ranks; four, 4 ranks; and four, 2 ranks.
• Base Attack Bonus (BAB): Four advance by +1 per level; eight, by +3/4 per level; and four, by +1/2 per level

Not only that, but all sixteen classes are mathematically calculated so that all these elements (plus saving throws) are equalized for game balance. Wizards have great casting and saves, but crap for hit dice, BAB, and skills. Fighters have the best BAB, good hit dice, and good saves, but crap for skills and casting. Bards have the second best BAB and casting, and the best skills, but also the next to last hit die and crap for saves.

The same for prestige classes. Eight in core and four in expansion. Of those 12, three each have BAB +1, +3/4, +1/2, and +1/4. Three each have caster level +1, +3/4, +1/2, and +1/4. The pattern is different but still symmetrical for skills: two with 8 ranks, four with 6 ranks, four with 4 ranks, and 2 with 2 ranks. Similarly, hit dice: two with d12, two with d10, four with d8, two with d6, and two with d4. And, like primary classes, all mathematically balanced.

SPELLS

I'm using 20 spell levels, not 9, for arcane, divine, and natural spells (and no spell is on more than one list). When you look at the number of spells in each spell level, it comes out in descending order.

For arcane spells, from level 1 to level 20, there are in each level:

28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, and 9 at level 20.

And each arcane spell level has at least one spell from each of nine schools.

The other types of spells do not have as sweet a progression, but the number always descends. For divine spells, the progression from level 1 to level 20 is:

12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3.

For natural spells:

20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 12, 11, 11, 10, 10, 9, 8, 6, 5, 5, 4, 4, 4, 2, 2.

And for inherent spells, which only advance through level 15:

5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2.

SKILLS

In the core rules, I have 33 skills. I categorize them by their use: combat, interaction, and exploration. I have 11 of each. After I add three to my splat book, that will give 36 skills and 12 of each type.

..........

It has taken a lot of work to juggle all the elements of my game in these ways. But to me, this is a satisfying labor. Like finishing a jigsaw puzzle, say, or solving homework problems, I suppose ... making a thing to be complete, putting it together elegantly, makes it more beautiful.

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This is part three of a series on elegance in tabletop roleplay games. Part One | Part Two | Part Three