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Race as Class

Posted: Mon May 10, 2021 2:15 am
by cbarchuk
Doug, I'm trying to create race as class for S&W Complete similar to what you did for White Box. I'm having a hard time figuring out the XP progression pattern. I basically took BX and RC and compared some of the tables there to S&W to guess what kind of XP progression a Halfling, Elf, and Dwarf class might have. Can you look at my attachment and give me some feedback? Thanks!

Here's the class features for each:

Elven Adventurer

• Darkvision 60'
• Spot secret doors: 1-4 or 1 if only passing by.
• Immune to Ghoul paralysis
• Gains spells per level the same as a Magic-User. However Elves do not
use spellbooks. They must learn and memorize spells daily equal to
the number of spells granted per level.
• Gains +1 attack bonus with a Short or Long bow
• Uses Fighter attack bonus

Dwarven Warrior

• +4 on saving throws against magic
• Can easily spot various features of stonework including: sloping
corridors, moving walls, and whether stonework is recent or not. No
roll required.
• Spot stonework traps: 1-4 or 1 if only passing by. These are traps
made of stone – in particular: Holes & gaps, falling blocks, rigged
ceilings, and tiny arrow slits designed to realease poison darts or gas.
• Darkvision 60'
• Benefits from strength bonuses as a Fighter does
• Uses Fighter attack bonus

Halfling

• +4 on saving throws against magic
• +1 attack bonus when using missile weapons
• Halflings can be quite stealthy, making themselves hard to spot and moving in almost total silence: 1-5 on a d6.
• Uses Fighter attack bonus

Dwarf has access to strength bonuses but Halfling and Elf do not. None of them get Multiple Attacks or Parry.

My other house is do what Basic Fantasy does and give only humans the XP bonuses. I really like that rule. I plan on doing the same for S&W. I may even up that bonus to 20%. Chris G. mentioned in one of his posts that it really should probably be 20%.

Re: Race as Class

Posted: Mon May 10, 2021 11:19 pm
by merias
Those charts look fine to me. I was going to suggest capping the Halfling levels since they have the same XP requirements as fighters, but then I noticed past level 8 they require more XP than fighters, a good idea. You don't mention Elves and armor - can they cast spells while wearing it? Other than that it all looks good.

Re: Race as Class

Posted: Tue May 11, 2021 2:29 am
by cbarchuk
Thanks Doug! Yea I was going to keep the RAI concerning Elves casting in Armor. So magic armor required in order to cast. I'm trying not to deviate from the rules too much. I simply loathe Oe multi-classing...lol. Now in the rules Elves don't have a +1 to hit with bows. I got that idea from you which I totally dig. Do you think I should remove that? I feel like I should give some boon since the these racial classes won't have access to some of the Fighter boons. Anyways here's my final Elf Adventurer, and Dwarven Warrior. I did alter the XP progression for the Dwarf a tad. I'll add the Halfling next.

Re: Race as Class

Posted: Tue May 11, 2021 12:48 pm
by cbarchuk
Here is my Halfling Scout. I limited the Missile attack bonus to slings & darts along the same lines as Elves. Thought about also giving them the AC bonus against larger than man sized creatures. What do you think? Since I'm basically copying BX more or less I could make it a simple +2 AC bonus. Anyway here's my Halfling Scout. By the way I did increase the XP spread in the mid to later levels from 140,000 to 150,000.

Re: Race as Class

Posted: Wed May 12, 2021 12:23 pm
by merias
Nicely done, Chuck! I like the idea of giving Elves and Halflings bonuses with particular weapons vs. just a "+2 missile bonus" or whatever. I think it makes them more unique. You could even have the player pick a weapon to specialize in at character creation.

AC bonus is nice but I always forget to apply it as a player and forget to mention it as a GM. I can't say that I have ever used it. Still it seems standard for Halflings, so it's up to you.

Re: Race as Class

Posted: Wed May 12, 2021 4:49 pm
by cbarchuk
Thanks Doug. The only thing I'm wrestling with is should the Elf and/or Halfling benefit from strength bonuses. My thinking is no since they both get a small hit bonus with a specialized weapon. But as you know S&W allows Fighters to add their strength bonus to missile attacks. Normally an Elven Fighter/Magic-User would have access to these bonuses. So I'm considering allowing Elves to add their strength bonus ONLY to missile attacks. What do you think? As far as Halflings go I think I will give them the bonus +2 to AC or they only take half damage from creatures larger than man-sized.

Re: Race as Class

Posted: Wed May 12, 2021 5:32 pm
by merias
I'd just give those bonuses to human fighters. I think the demi-humans have enough bonuses. Just my opinion of course, your players may convince you otherwise :).

Re: Race as Class

Posted: Wed May 12, 2021 6:04 pm
by cbarchuk
merias wrote:
Wed May 12, 2021 5:32 pm
I'd just give those bonuses to human fighters. I think the demi-humans have enough bonuses. Just my opinion of course, your players may convince you otherwise :).
Yea your right. So do you think I should not even allow Dwarves to have strength bonuses? I could simply give dwarves a +1 bonus to hit & damage when using Axes. This way they all three gain some kind of combat bonus that they would normally get if multi-classed. What about giving the AC or damage reduction bonus to halflings? I guess with a 5 in 6 stealth it's probably not needed since most halflings will be using a darts or a sling.

Re: Race as Class

Posted: Wed May 12, 2021 8:13 pm
by merias
Well before we were just discussing strength bonuses for missile attacks, but I think strength bonuses for melee weapons are fine for Dwarves and even Halflings, since they are technically single-class fighters. Although the axe bonus is not a bad idea instead for Dwarves.

I answered the AC bonus question above, I don't use it and even if it is in the rules I always forget about it. I think you're right most Halfings will want to take advantage of distance/missiles or be stealthy, the name "Halfling Scout" is a good representation of what the class is like with 5 in 6 hiding ability everywhere.

Re: Race as Class

Posted: Thu May 13, 2021 2:23 am
by cbarchuk
Great feedback Let's recap...

Dwarves: Benefit from strength bonuses with melee weapons only.
Halfling Scout: +1 to hit with darts and sling
Elven Adventurer: +1 to hit with Short & Long Bows

Sound good? Should I make the Halfling & Elf hit bonus a +2 instead of just a +1?