A helluva lot of change this time around. Everyone using this system will need to remake their characters (though Personal Equipment shouldnât feel too much of a hit). Apologies in advance.
Attribute Distribution has changed. Characters can distribute a total of 6 points, down from 8, and may only assign a maximum of 3 points to any one score. This should hopefully tone down some roll bonuses, and put more emphasis on the Traits your character has. Speaking of...
The amount of starting Traits has raised to 5, up from 4. Between this bump and the fact that you no longer need to dedicate some of these picks to Racial Traits, everyone should hopefully be seeing more variation in character builds. Choices, choices.
NEW MECHANIC: Defenses may now be âsunderedâ by various effects, preventing their use. This should add a bit more of a tactical approach to both combat choices and Trait choices, as well as making combat slightly more dynamic. I felt like roll battles versus traditional âArmour Classâ-style target numbers were a bit of a lacking mechanic by themselves.
NEW MECHANIC: Critical strikes now give characters a choice of dealing more damage or sundering the foeâs defense. Again, another ounce of choice in the middle of combat. I personally think giving allies an opening on a tough opponent is nice, but if I hear that people are really only taking the âextra damageâ option, I may tweak this.
Multi-attacking penalties have been increased. Critical damage canât be achieved while making three attacks. The penalties are now fairly extreme unless someone is specifically trained in flailing their weapon around that quickly, further emphasizing trait choices.
Spell DC formula has been tweaked. Your Spell DC now depends on how many spell slots youâre pumping into a spell. Also, a few changes that hopefully make the act of spellcasting a bit clearer.
Moving a Short Distance is now a main action. You may now do other minor things while running across a battlefield.
Healing DC formula has been tweaked. Similar to the Spell DC change, the difficulty of healing someone is now more dependent on how injured they are.
Rules for Temporary Hit Points have been made more prominent. In my endless attempt to make certain things seem less nebulous. Thereâs a lot of work to be done. Speaking of nebulous...
Fettles have been removed. I wasnât a fan of how specific those rules were, and how they didnât apply to certain situations. I encourage everyone who uses this system to improv rules whenever you need to. You have full control over what kind of rolls should go into things such as grappling and weakness.
Rules for Cover have been added to the âAdditional Rulesâ section. They were in the Fettles tab, but theyâve been tweaked and shoved into the spotlight, instead. Well. Maybe not the spotlight. But theyâre on the stage.
Racial Attribute Bonuses are more racist. Races that are naturally gifted with a certain attribute can now have more of that attribute than the other, WEAKER races. Humans are no longer the best at everything, but fit into a âjack-of-all-tradesâ role.
Many Traits can now be taken multiple times. Some traits increase the effectiveness of their bonus, others allow the ability they grant to be used more times. This should hopefully let characters specialize a bit more into their character concept, and once again, make builds a bit more diverse.
A new category of Traits, âAbnormal Traitsâ, have been added. These are special âsubraceâ traits that grant a character both positive and negative effects. These are all pretty drastic changes made to cater to those types of characters.
'Stand Strongâ renamed to âLast Standâ and tweaked. No longer grants its bonus most of the time, but the bonus now increases as hit points drop.
âSpirit Guideâ changed to âWild Adaptationâ. Norn may now use their Spiritâs gifts, if any, in a more immediate and impactful manner.
âColossusâ formula tweaked, and can no longer be used multiple times. Taking significant amounts of damage now make it almost impossible to stay standing. Made it a one-time use to prevent further RNG from keeping norn standing forever.
âSavage Strikerâ changed to âSavageryâ. This trait should no longer result in abrupt insta-kills on relatively healthy targets, while still making critical hits feel appropriately meaty.
âTech Masteryâ now makes characters choose a category of charr tech. Charr are no longer masters of every single technology their race has ever made.
âWhere Life Goesâ changed to âDreamsightâ. Gives a more meaningful and less specialized ability to sylvari players. Not all sylvari are looking for the mines of Moria.
âStrong Rootsâ now grants temporary hit points every rest, instead of permanent hit points all the time. That hardy bark-shell now requires more time to recover.
=====EXPLORATION TRAITS=====
âHealerâ now turns single-target heals into bonus actions.
âHiddenâ now more clearly states what it does for you.
âInspiringâ has been changed significantly. Inspired characters may now choose when to grant themselves a bonus. The bonus now scales with your Charisma score.
âLeadershipâ now states what rolls it grants bonuses to.
âLey Conduitâ may now be taken up to four times. For when you really, really want to cast a spell.
âPack Masterâ has been tweaked. It now buffs a specific pet attribute. Its bonus has also been reduced, but the trait can be taken twice.
âSpell Potencyâ has been tweaked following the new Spell DC formula.
âWell-Equippedâ has been changed to allow existing Personal Equipment to be âupgradedâ. Personal Equipment should generally only begin with 1 beneficial effect (and, of course, however many negative effects you would like). This change now gives you a clear way to add more than one effect to a single piece of equipment.
The âYak Herderâ trait is now the most powerful trait in the system. All hail the Yak Herder. All hail the Yak Herder. All hail the Yak Herder.
The old âTidebreakerâ trait is now âAwarenessâ, and it no longer grants bonuses to all Defenses.
âDeath Siphonâ can now drain from creatures with 2 maximum hit points, down from 3.
âDeny the Witchâ can now be made more effective by spending more spell slots.
âDurableâ now only grants 1 maximum hit point, but can be taken up to four times.
âEldritch Batteryâ has been tweaked to be a more reliable source of damage negation compared to similar traits.
The penalty reduction from âFlurryâ is now 2, up from 1. It pairs nicely with the new âDual Wielderâ trait.
The bonus gained from âFuriousâ now applies to spell DCs, and the rate at which you gain those bonuses have been back-loaded. You must now be in extremely dire straits to gain the full effect.
âSelflessâ has been renamed to âGuardianâ, and is more dependent on your Skill.
The critical range of âPreciseâ has been reduced, but may be bumped back up to its previous benefit by taking the trait twice.
âQuick Drawâ was buffed slightly. When taken twice, it should almost guarantee your acting first in combat.
âSuccessive Attackâ has been renamed to âReaperâ, and may be taken multiple times.
âRiposteâ no longer grants a counterattack against every single opponent that fails to hit you. ...but its bonus and number of uses per encounter have been raised to compensate.
âSecond Windâ is now a bonus action, and recovers less health. It is no longer a completely free maximum health boost.Â
âSmiteâ has been changed significantly. It now grants a large accuracy boost instead of bonus damage. Also, the penalty for using it has been made more severe.
The bonus from âStabilityâ has been doubled to be more impactful.
The penalty inflicted by âTauntâ now scales with your Charisma.
'Witch Hunterâs spell DC penalty is now dependent on the characterâs attributes, but should generally be lower.
âAdrenaline Rushâ has been added. Rewards characters for takedowns.
âArcane Reactionâ has been added. Allows for spell opportunity attacks.
âBacklashâ has been added. Grants bonuses the more your defenses are sundered.
âBalance Breakerâ, âGuard Breakerâ, and âSpell Breakerâ have been added. Allows for non-damage, but more accurate attacks aiming to sunder specific defenses.
âBattlemageâ has been added. Allows multi-attacks to include a single spellcast.
âDesperationâ has been added. Being close to death bolsters a single defense massively.
âDistractionâ has been added. Another way for Charisma to be used in combat. Shout something and screw up an opponentâs roll.
âDual Wielderâ has been added. Multi-attacks are more accurate while dual wielding. Pairs nicely with the âFlurryâ trait.
âMomentumâ has been added. Characters are rewarded for successful combat rolls. Rewards can be spent for a sudden steroid boost.
âTacticianâ has been added. Yet another way for Charisma to be used in combat. Allows allies to follow your orders, potentially acting twice in a single round.
âUnbreakableâ has been added. Automatically recover a sundered defense at will.
And thatâs it. Again, these changes are drastic, and a remake of your characters is necessary. Hopefully you enjoy what comes out of it.