Just got Guidebook - Why all the changes?
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spacemansteve
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At first glance, it looks like the D20 Core book is no longer needed because all of the rules are incorporated in this new book.
My issue is that there are enough subtle rules changes that if someone has the guidebook and someone uses the handbook, then the characters won't be consistent. <sigh>
Imagine two players with Vargar Professional characters show up to join your game. Both are from desert homeworlds and both have 10,000 EXP points. One is 4th level and one is 5th level. One has Spot at rank 8, yet the other is limited to a maximum of 3 Ranks in Spot. Both have purchased the same feats with their level and class bonus feats, yet one has taken Skill Focus at 4th level, the other does not. Both characters are made with the rules as written. Sound's like the start of a bad riddle, right?
Seriously, is this a result of play testing, or just lack of consistency between printings?
Imagine two players with Vargar Professional characters show up to join your game. Both are from desert homeworlds and both have 10,000 EXP points. One is 4th level and one is 5th level. One has Spot at rank 8, yet the other is limited to a maximum of 3 Ranks in Spot. Both have purchased the same feats with their level and class bonus feats, yet one has taken Skill Focus at 4th level, the other does not. Both characters are made with the rules as written. Sound's like the start of a bad riddle, right?
Seriously, is this a result of play testing, or just lack of consistency between printings?
Both, opensent, both. Some elements were not clearly labelled (like alien levels) in T20 THB.
In both, the character should be 5th level, with level 4 allowed in spot. The difference is that one has a level of Alien, which provides no skills. Some aliens in the THB did.
In both, the character should be 5th level, with level 4 allowed in spot. The difference is that one has a level of Alien, which provides no skills. Some aliens in the THB did.
Thanks for responding Aramis. It helps to have the viewpoint of an experinced member of the board.
When you brought up Alien levels, it did make me realize that I hadn't seen anything about those in the guidbook. Upon searching, it looks like they took out Alien levels in the Guidebook. There are no references to it and the example provided on pg 14 shows examples for Ursa (which specifically included Alien levels in the THB pg 28) and Luriani (which did not/not include Alien levels or mention an EXP issue).
Here is the text in question from the Guidebook.
Alien XP Penalties
Some aliens races described here have an XP penalty listed for
them. A character of this race must earn the normal amount of
experience required to attain a new level plus the amount of the
penalty listed for their race.
For example a 3rd level Ursa character (3000xp penalty)
must earn then normal 6000xp to reach 4th level plus an addition
3000xp for a total of 9000xp before reaching 4th level.
A 1 st level Luriani character (1000xp penalty) must earn a
total of 2000xp to reach 2nd level and to reach 3rd level must
have earned a total of 4000xp.
It's a good thing IMHO to dump the alien levels, but again, it appears that you can have two Luriani with 1000 xp that are two different levels. THB characters will be level 2 (because no XP issue is mentioned nor is the alien level issue brought up in the race description text). The Guidebook Luriani will be level 1 still, since he needs 2000 xp to reach second level.
Is the intent for the guidebook to depreicate THB rules what conflict with it? Or will some of these things revert to THB handling via Errata? Does anyone know?
When you brought up Alien levels, it did make me realize that I hadn't seen anything about those in the guidbook. Upon searching, it looks like they took out Alien levels in the Guidebook. There are no references to it and the example provided on pg 14 shows examples for Ursa (which specifically included Alien levels in the THB pg 28) and Luriani (which did not/not include Alien levels or mention an EXP issue).
Here is the text in question from the Guidebook.
Alien XP Penalties
Some aliens races described here have an XP penalty listed for
them. A character of this race must earn the normal amount of
experience required to attain a new level plus the amount of the
penalty listed for their race.
For example a 3rd level Ursa character (3000xp penalty)
must earn then normal 6000xp to reach 4th level plus an addition
3000xp for a total of 9000xp before reaching 4th level.
A 1 st level Luriani character (1000xp penalty) must earn a
total of 2000xp to reach 2nd level and to reach 3rd level must
have earned a total of 4000xp.
It's a good thing IMHO to dump the alien levels, but again, it appears that you can have two Luriani with 1000 xp that are two different levels. THB characters will be level 2 (because no XP issue is mentioned nor is the alien level issue brought up in the race description text). The Guidebook Luriani will be level 1 still, since he needs 2000 xp to reach second level.
Is the intent for the guidebook to depreicate THB rules what conflict with it? Or will some of these things revert to THB handling via Errata? Does anyone know?
deprecates the THB when conflict arises. It's the 1.1 version of the rules, if you will.Similar threads
