Post by howandwhy99 on Apr 25, 2017 23:55:55 GMT -6
General Advancement vs. Specific Advancement in games
By general advancement I mean every ability increases all at once regardless of how experience points are scored.
- Benefit: you can focus playing the game only in the parts you enjoy and still advance every ability. The game is also easier to balance due to each character having the same ability at every level.
- Drawback: The greater variety of metrics for scoring, the more disconnected to player's ability is to doing well at all unplayed aspects of the game.
By specific advancement I mean every ability is broken into numerous portions each advanced separately. Sometimes these are called skill games, where a list of skills is increased individually.
- Benefit: You gain ability quickly and only in the areas you are interested in.
- Drawbacks: Advancing similar abilities requires as much repeated practice by the player as increasing dissimilar ones, meaning gameplay becomes repetitive and boring. More problematic, the game is very hard to balance if there is no separation of each area into its own challenges. Also, the less overlap in challenges the less cooperative team play is supported across specialites.
OD&D is in the middle - Each core class covers a wide breadth for potential advancement, yet the game still focuses each class in self similar behaviors. Not to mention it supports multiple core classes widely diverging from each other, but with enough overlap to make cooperative play strategically viable.
I believe D&D struck a balance between general and specific advancement by grouping similar behaviors under broad core class. These classes focus on a single class system, but as every system is connected in the game creative play is supported by everything else in the game whenever players wish to accomplish class goals by going outside their normal focus.
The Creation of New Subclasses
Subclasses are specializations within the already specialized core classes. I believe players must focus and refocus during play to learn their class. Given enough potential metrics for scoring within each core class this broad play is supported. However, focusing within the class to the detriment of all other abilities means no longer bothering to study the rest via play or gaining the XP rewards for competently performing them. This is going to slow players advancement down, not to mention their XP rate. It's these players who might want to create a new subclass. ...Or maybe just niche players who really only like to play ninjas or dark elf rangers. Either way.
The fun part about creating new subclasses is the wild variance already in the game. If a magic item gave the character the ability to walk on walls, it might be incorporated into the new class. Or if they made a pact with the god Huroo to bring light to dark places in exchange for bioluminescence. Or if they just trained really hard to fight with two weapons. The point is, given enough potential scoring metrics within each core class, then creating a new subclass might also mean stretching its focus into non-core class system play - or the new subclass might simply be better at a few abilities sooner and significantly less so at others.
A new subclass wouldn't happen right away. But if the player elected to try and develop their ideas of the scope into a new subclass still within the focus of the core (i.e. combat, magic, clericism, or thievery), the process could begin.
Questions
I'm not sure how well this would work. Does a new subclass start at level one or as a "prestige class" out of the core class? Maybe they must start again like dual class character: a second class at level 1 and separate XP total, but the character can only advance as high as their core class level in the new class?
I assume an extensive number of years doing pre-level 1 training would be necessary just like the original class. I mean, they are developing the entire subclass and how the powers are gained (potential for adventuring).
I also assume a new character wanting to become the subclass starting at level 1 must be trained by someone of higher level in the subclass, thus perpetuating the new subclass in the world.
Comments? Has anyone else done this?
By general advancement I mean every ability increases all at once regardless of how experience points are scored.
- Benefit: you can focus playing the game only in the parts you enjoy and still advance every ability. The game is also easier to balance due to each character having the same ability at every level.
- Drawback: The greater variety of metrics for scoring, the more disconnected to player's ability is to doing well at all unplayed aspects of the game.
By specific advancement I mean every ability is broken into numerous portions each advanced separately. Sometimes these are called skill games, where a list of skills is increased individually.
- Benefit: You gain ability quickly and only in the areas you are interested in.
- Drawbacks: Advancing similar abilities requires as much repeated practice by the player as increasing dissimilar ones, meaning gameplay becomes repetitive and boring. More problematic, the game is very hard to balance if there is no separation of each area into its own challenges. Also, the less overlap in challenges the less cooperative team play is supported across specialites.
OD&D is in the middle - Each core class covers a wide breadth for potential advancement, yet the game still focuses each class in self similar behaviors. Not to mention it supports multiple core classes widely diverging from each other, but with enough overlap to make cooperative play strategically viable.
I believe D&D struck a balance between general and specific advancement by grouping similar behaviors under broad core class. These classes focus on a single class system, but as every system is connected in the game creative play is supported by everything else in the game whenever players wish to accomplish class goals by going outside their normal focus.
The Creation of New Subclasses
Subclasses are specializations within the already specialized core classes. I believe players must focus and refocus during play to learn their class. Given enough potential metrics for scoring within each core class this broad play is supported. However, focusing within the class to the detriment of all other abilities means no longer bothering to study the rest via play or gaining the XP rewards for competently performing them. This is going to slow players advancement down, not to mention their XP rate. It's these players who might want to create a new subclass. ...Or maybe just niche players who really only like to play ninjas or dark elf rangers. Either way.
The fun part about creating new subclasses is the wild variance already in the game. If a magic item gave the character the ability to walk on walls, it might be incorporated into the new class. Or if they made a pact with the god Huroo to bring light to dark places in exchange for bioluminescence. Or if they just trained really hard to fight with two weapons. The point is, given enough potential scoring metrics within each core class, then creating a new subclass might also mean stretching its focus into non-core class system play - or the new subclass might simply be better at a few abilities sooner and significantly less so at others.
A new subclass wouldn't happen right away. But if the player elected to try and develop their ideas of the scope into a new subclass still within the focus of the core (i.e. combat, magic, clericism, or thievery), the process could begin.
Questions
I'm not sure how well this would work. Does a new subclass start at level one or as a "prestige class" out of the core class? Maybe they must start again like dual class character: a second class at level 1 and separate XP total, but the character can only advance as high as their core class level in the new class?
I assume an extensive number of years doing pre-level 1 training would be necessary just like the original class. I mean, they are developing the entire subclass and how the powers are gained (potential for adventuring).
I also assume a new character wanting to become the subclass starting at level 1 must be trained by someone of higher level in the subclass, thus perpetuating the new subclass in the world.
Comments? Has anyone else done this?
