Build Point System By: Omen - the Divine Referee This system makes character development and advancement more versatile. For example, if you wanted a character with more feats than would otherwise be possible, or to have outlandish ability scores (at a cost), then this is a rule variation you might wish to consider... talk it over with your group. Some things to consider as a DM: Multiclassing penalties... You can choose to incur a 1BP penalty for multiclassing when the classes are more than 1 level difference. You can choose to forgo this if you want to encourage multiclassing... however, I would recommend limiting the number of classes a character can have. If a character has the maximum number of classes allowed, and reaches the max level in one of them, and then it should be acceptable for that character to take on another class. For example, if you set the maximum number of classes at 2 and one of the classes is a racial paragon class (3 levels), once the player reaches level 3 in the paragon class, I personally would allow an additional class to be taken. Another thing to consider when restricting the number of classes is that some prestige classes require multiclassing to begin with, so you might decide to have a limit to the number of base classes and have a separate limit on the number of prestige classes. This system is based roughly on the "Stat-Buy" system from the DMG, so we'll start with that. Buying ability Scores S core 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Co st -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 6 8 11 14 18 22 27 32
Upg rade X 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5
Scor e 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
Cost 38 44 51 58 66 74 83 92 102 112 123 134 146 158 171 184 198 212 227 242
U pgra de 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 10 10 11 11 12 12 13 13 14 14 15 15
On this table, the Cost column is the cost of the skill at creation, the upgrade column is the cost of moving up to that score from the previous one. For example, if you start a character with a Str score of 13, it costs 6BP, and to raise it to 14 later costs an additional 2BP. Sound familiar? Yeah, I know, But wait, there's more you can do with Build Points.
Buying Class Levels L evel 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Start cost 1 3 6 10 15 21 28 36 45 55
Lev el-u p 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Leve l 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Start cost 66 78 91 105 120 136 153 171 190 210
L evel -up 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
I think this table should be fairly self-explanatory. One thing about this system is that you don't gain feats from gaining levels (except bonus feats from class levels). Feats must be bought separately at the cost of 1BP each. Level Adjustments Level adjustments for playing an unusual race can be handled in one of 2 ways, depending on how exotic you want to encourage your players to be. There are 2 ways of handling this, either point for point, or treat the level adjustment as class cost. For example, if a character were to be a Jann (Janni P116 of the Monster Manual) with a level adjustment of +5, the cost would either be 5BP or 15BP respectively. Regardless, the Player would still have to get the DM's ok on the race. As per D&D rules, when racial ability score adjustments are calculated, you adjust AFTER the roll, so in this case you'd adjust AFTER the buying of the ability scores. When it comes to advancing your character, to keep things at least a little bit more balanced, you pay the cost of upgrade as normal, regardless of what your racial ability score adjustments would be. So, a Drow (+2Int +2Cha) could get a starting Int Score of 14 by paying only the 4BP cost of 12, but after the character is made, would have to pay the normal 3BP to reach 15. Comparisons Going on an average roll (3d6) at Level 1, 1 feat for Level 1, the BP equivalent of an average roll would be approximately 14BP (all stats 10 = 12BP + 1 level = 1BP + 1 Feat = 1BP = 14BP total) Based on the same 3d6, Level 1 character who was lucky enough to roll all 6's, (22*6) + 1 + 1 = 134BP because an ability score of 18 costs 22BP, times 6 ability scores then add one for the level, and one for the feat. Based on a (1d8+10) stat roll, with straight 14's, at level 1, with 1 feat, the equivalent would be 50BP. Final Comments Try a few quick stat rolls and calculate the equivalent BP value, then set the starting limit and choose the specifics for your first test campaign using this system. Choose Multiclassing penalty or Multiclass limit... How to handle Level Adjustments... and how many points to start characters with, and you're ready to give it a whirl. 1000XP = 1BP
