Building a New D&D Setting

[Vexarian]

Seems like you may do well just making something the fuck up or retrofitting something else for your purposes.

You've got a few options here, broadly speaking.

1. Some manner of "Hyperspace" equivalent wherein ships can enter to expedite travel by an order of magnitude.

2. Some manner of "Hyperdrive" equivalent which can be used to tell Einstein where and how hard to "Suck it" without leaving regular space.

3. Some manner of warp/instantaneous movement to simply remove travel between known places entirely.

Personally I use a combination of all three. Although I suspect you'll probably choose the second option.

 

[Lord Raine]

Outside of the crystal spheres was the Phlogiston - a rainbow colored, flammable, unbreathable material that composed the rest of the universe

So what happens if it ignites? Does taking a smoke while traveling dimensions blow up the entire universe? "I cast Fireball at the rainbow colored gap in reality"?

 

[Alzrius]

So what happens if it ignites? Does taking a smoke while traveling dimensions blow up the entire universe? "I cast Fireball at the rainbow colored gap in reality"?

The size of the explosion is large, but scales in proportion to the size of the flame. It doesn't ignore the entirety of the Phlogiston, however; just the part immediately around you.

Likewise, the Phlogiston isn't an alternate dimension - in fact it prevents all forms of planar travel. It's the substance between the crystal spheres.

 

[Aegis]

You've been on this project for around 3-4 years almost, who are you planning to have play it? And do you have the DMing experience to make it interesting for players to stick around and not leave the campaign?

 

[Lord Raine]

First of all, no. The original idea died a long time ago. The way it's been now has existed for about a year.

Secondly, I don't really see how that matters. What are you asking? Or rather, why? Why does that matter?

 

[Aegis]

First of all, no. The original idea died a long time ago. The way it's been now has existed for about a year.

Secondly, I don't really see how that matters. What are you asking? Or rather, why? Why does that matter?

Didn't know, I just kinda figured you were tacking stuff up and expanding the campaign universe. Secondly experience and the ability to be flexible as a DM as well as being entertaining in your style and flair are both important aspects to the game's own value. I like asking questions in general to sate my own curiosity. There's a lot about being a DM in general you need to put up with, roll with, adapt to, think about, etc. I'm asking because I'm curious as to how you'll fare.

And as always I expect the end result to be told, a lot of hilarious stories come up when players and DMs get creative. Do these sorts of questions bother or offend you?

 

[Lord Raine]

I haven't actually been able to DM yet, to be honest. In fact, I've only been able to play a few trial runs with either myself or a patiently willing friend or family member. There just aren't that many people in my area who play TRPGs of any stripe, and most of the older comic stores that I would imagine might have been gathering points for that sort of thing have closed up over the past few years.

This is mostly just a thing I've been working on my off time, in an attempt to make my own world. Because that's kind of what I do when I'm bored. I make worlds in my head. I've always done that. It just took me awhile to realize that other people might actually be interested in them, too.

I'd love to have a chance to play, though, mostly because I'm of the opinion that the real meat of the world building can only come from a collusion of the GM and the PCs. There was no one person who sat down one day and came up with Waterdeep and everything in it. That happened because a lot of games were played in and around the city by the same general group of people, and over time, the incidental lore and experience added up. Then it was just a matter of taking all the raw material about the place that had been created, by both GM and PC alike, and putting it all together into a coherent whole. I can invent a world in broad strokes, but there's no way I could ever fill in all the details by myself.

To really start making this work, and to have a chance of ever having it published (which is my eventual goal. I've already had some minor success in that area), I need people who are willing to play the game with me.

All of that said, I suppose I should start doing some building now. I have a few new ideas, and I want to go over some old ones as well, because I've reworked and modified them to the point that they need mentioning. I'll go into it tomorrow, after I've gotten some rest.

I am eventually going to need people to play, though, so if anybody might be interested in doing something online, like on a live chat or something, please let me know.

 

[Sdebeli]

I'm generally game for it, as long as we can schedule it properly. Different timezones can be a bitch.

 

[Aegis]

I haven't actually been able to DM yet, to be honest. In fact, I've only been able to play a few trial runs with either myself or a patiently willing friend or family member. There just aren't that many people in my area who play TRPGs of any stripe, and most of the older comic stores that I would imagine might have been gathering points for that sort of thing have closed up over the past few years.

This is mostly just a thing I've been working on my off time, in an attempt to make my own world. Because that's kind of what I do when I'm bored. I make worlds in my head. I've always done that. It just took me awhile to realize that other people might actually be interested in them, too.

I'd love to have a chance to play, though, mostly because I'm of the opinion that the real meat of the world building can only come from a collusion of the GM and the PCs. There was no one person who sat down one day and came up with Waterdeep and everything in it. That happened because a lot of games were played in and around the city by the same general group of people, and over time, the incidental lore and experience added up. Then it was just a matter of taking all the raw material about the place that had been created, by both GM and PC alike, and putting it all together into a coherent whole. I can invent a world in broad strokes, but there's no way I could ever fill in all the details by myself.

To really start making this work, and to have a chance of ever having it published (which is my eventual goal. I've already had some minor success in that area), I need people who are willing to play the game with me.

All of that said, I suppose I should start doing some building now. I have a few new ideas, and I want to go over some old ones as well, because I've reworked and modified them to the point that they need mentioning. I'll go into it tomorrow, after I've gotten some rest.

I am eventually going to need people to play, though, so if anybody might be interested in doing something online, like on a live chat or something, please let me know.

As far as DnD goes, I only just got started on it a year or maybe 2 years back. I'll say it now, I only every do 3.5 and Gamma World 4e. I'm only a decent RPer so long as I'm given a good world and NPCs, plot, backstory and all those little details that make a character worked out. My most successful game so far has been thanks to the DM working WITH me on the backstory, the origins, the character's relations, a knowledge of the land and customs, the fact that he and I also got to mod up the Kensai class here and there with some flavor. Like you he's been working on the concept for quite a while and it's turned out to be a monster of a campaign, to the point where I've had to stand back a bit to let the other group members get integrated because I literally took charge of the direction everything went. The world itself was easy to get into and everything about it was appealing and didn't feel stupidly contrived.

My DnD group is on skype, if you're ever interested in launching your campaign any time soon, I'd actually like to look at the result.

 

[Lord Raine]

I haven't actually been able to DM yet, to be honest. In fact, I've only been able to play a few trial runs with either myself or a patiently willing friend or family member. There just aren't that many people in my area who play TRPGs of any stripe, and most of the older comic stores that I would imagine might have been gathering points for that sort of thing have closed up over the past few years.

This is mostly just a thing I've been working on my off time, in an attempt to make my own world. Because that's kind of what I do when I'm bored. I make worlds in my head. I've always done that. It just took me awhile to realize that other people might actually be interested in them, too.

I'd love to have a chance to play, though, mostly because I'm of the opinion that the real meat of the world building can only come from a collusion of the GM and the PCs. There was no one person who sat down one day and came up with Waterdeep and everything in it. That happened because a lot of games were played in and around the city by the same general group of people, and over time, the incidental lore and experience added up. Then it was just a matter of taking all the raw material about the place that had been created, by both GM and PC alike, and putting it all together into a coherent whole. I can invent a world in broad strokes, but there's no way I could ever fill in all the details by myself.

To really start making this work, and to have a chance of ever having it published (which is my eventual goal. I've already had some minor success in that area), I need people who are willing to play the game with me.

All of that said, I suppose I should start doing some building now. I have a few new ideas, and I want to go over some old ones as well, because I've reworked and modified them to the point that they need mentioning. I'll go into it tomorrow, after I've gotten some rest.

I am eventually going to need people to play, though, so if anybody might be interested in doing something online, like on a live chat or something, please let me know.

As far as DnD goes, I only just got started on it a year or maybe 2 years back. I'll say it now, I only every do 3.5 and Gamma World 4e. I'm only a decent RPer so long as I'm given a good world and NPCs, plot, backstory and all those little details that make a character worked out. My most successful game so far has been thanks to the DM working WITH me on the backstory, the origins, the character's relations, a knowledge of the land and customs, the fact that he and I also got to mod up the Kensai class here and there with some flavor. Like you he's been working on the concept for quite a while and it's turned out to be a monster of a campaign, to the point where I've had to stand back a bit to let the other group members get integrated because I literally took charge of the direction everything went. The world itself was easy to get into and everything about it was appealing and didn't feel stupidly contrived.

My DnD group is on skype, if you're ever interested in launching your campaign any time soon, I'd actually like to look at the result.

I do have a number of premade PCs that come pre-made and pre-packaged with backstories and plot. They're ready to roll as-is, if that's the kind of thing you prefer. One of them was the previously mentioned elven Blademaster, Ironheart, who I talked about several pages back. There are a few others as well, depending on what you want.

 

[Aegis]

I haven't actually been able to DM yet, to be honest. In fact, I've only been able to play a few trial runs with either myself or a patiently willing friend or family member. There just aren't that many people in my area who play TRPGs of any stripe, and most of the older comic stores that I would imagine might have been gathering points for that sort of thing have closed up over the past few years.

This is mostly just a thing I've been working on my off time, in an attempt to make my own world. Because that's kind of what I do when I'm bored. I make worlds in my head. I've always done that. It just took me awhile to realize that other people might actually be interested in them, too.

I'd love to have a chance to play, though, mostly because I'm of the opinion that the real meat of the world building can only come from a collusion of the GM and the PCs. There was no one person who sat down one day and came up with Waterdeep and everything in it. That happened because a lot of games were played in and around the city by the same general group of people, and over time, the incidental lore and experience added up. Then it was just a matter of taking all the raw material about the place that had been created, by both GM and PC alike, and putting it all together into a coherent whole. I can invent a world in broad strokes, but there's no way I could ever fill in all the details by myself.

To really start making this work, and to have a chance of ever having it published (which is my eventual goal. I've already had some minor success in that area), I need people who are willing to play the game with me.

All of that said, I suppose I should start doing some building now. I have a few new ideas, and I want to go over some old ones as well, because I've reworked and modified them to the point that they need mentioning. I'll go into it tomorrow, after I've gotten some rest.

I am eventually going to need people to play, though, so if anybody might be interested in doing something online, like on a live chat or something, please let me know.

As far as DnD goes, I only just got started on it a year or maybe 2 years back. I'll say it now, I only every do 3.5 and Gamma World 4e. I'm only a decent RPer so long as I'm given a good world and NPCs, plot, backstory and all those little details that make a character worked out. My most successful game so far has been thanks to the DM working WITH me on the backstory, the origins, the character's relations, a knowledge of the land and customs, the fact that he and I also got to mod up the Kensai class here and there with some flavor. Like you he's been working on the concept for quite a while and it's turned out to be a monster of a campaign, to the point where I've had to stand back a bit to let the other group members get integrated because I literally took charge of the direction everything went. The world itself was easy to get into and everything about it was appealing and didn't feel stupidly contrived.

My DnD group is on skype, if you're ever interested in launching your campaign any time soon, I'd actually like to look at the result.

I do have a number of premade PCs that come pre-made and pre-packaged with backstories and plot. They're ready to roll as-is, if that's the kind of thing you prefer. One of them was the previously mentioned elven Blademaster, Ironheart, who I talked about several pages back. There are a few others as well, depending on what you want.

Well, the basic classes I only ever touch are actually, let's see........Monk, Wizard, Ranger, Druid. And as far as weapons go I usually go for twin blades, whips, daggers and even an archer build on occassion.

My most deadly character is probably the Monk I made in the most recent game and the planar shepherd druid(chose the Shadow Plane due to it's amazing and broken qualities). As for your classes I'd like to see and explore the pre-made builds in detail. Fair warning I don't RP that well if I don't have much to respond to myself, I tend to give what I get in an equal measure so the more story you can pump into an RP, the better my performance, lol.


Skype name is: artimecialeonhart

Anyone who wants to can add me

 

[Sdebeli]

You've piqued my interest Raine. While I'm not all that used to playing over chat, I've done it before.
But generally, I have a few questions first;
Which ruleset would be used? Modified DnD 3.5 edition?
Would it be a combat heavy or a rp-heavy campaign, or somewhere in-between?
And finally, are the pre-mades a condition (or highly recommended) or would we have the space to create our own characters? I'm not exactly fixated on making my own char, but, well. You know how it goes.

Personally, I'm most comfortable playing sneaky rogue-types, tinkerers and the occasional warrior-priest. But I suppose I am adaptive enough to try something else.

 

[Lord Raine]

I'm really into Pathfinder now, which is basically modified 3.5. All of the core classes have been updated in Pathfinder, making them slightly more powerful and a lot more flexible, which makes most prestige classes obsolete (you can easily customize your Rouge to be a swashbuckler, shadow thief, or even spellsneak just by picking different Rouge Talents as you level up). It's also extremely easy to take things from 3.5 and use them in Pathfinder; the systems are almost identical. Pathfinder is really more Dungeons & Dragons 3.75 than anything else.

Would it be a combat heavy or a rp-heavy campaign, or somewhere in-between?

Whichever the PCs preferred. I've deliberately modeled Farwell (the name of this universe, pronounced far-well, after the term for planar portals in this universe, which are called Wells) so that it can be either. There's an obvious tendency towards exploration and discovery, seeing how the entire selling point is the "Dawning of the Age of Exploration, when science and magic finally reach for the stars," but you can roll it as either RP centric or combat centric, depending on where in the setting you want to play. The PCs could be nobles, entrepreneurs, investors, and politicians who chart courses through the convoluted politics of their cities and nations, and employ NPC adventurers to serve them and make discoveries in their name. They could also be those adventurers, working for a powerful NPC patron or patrons back home, either of a political or religious bent. Or you could decide to found your own company and strike out on your own to seek your fortune with your friends and comrades, potentially become incredibly wealthy, famous, and politically powerful all on your own.

You could also be eaten by a Grue.

And finally, are the pre-mades a condition (or highly recommended) or would we have the space to create our own characters? I'm not exactly fixated on making my own char, but, well. You know how it goes.

Whichever you prefer. I happen to have some pre-made PCs, should you not have the desire to roll up one of your own, and you're certainly free to pick through them if you want to. But that's just an option. You're more than welcome to invent your own character from scratch.

 

[Aegis]

Well I'm interested in the campaign, though I don't have any pathfinder books so as far as THAT goes, I'll probably NEED to use the characters you've already pre-made until I'm more used to it. Just send me a PM with whatever you wanna establish IM contact with, I have Skype, MSN, Yahoo and AIM, so those are all fine.

 

[zerohour]

I'd be interested in this too, assuming this gets started. The main issue would be synching up timezones/freetime, since I have an awkward work shift, though its easy enough to just play on my days off.

 

[Sdebeli]

You could also be eaten by a Grue.

Eff everything else, you've had me there :lol:
Anyway, if you're game for the Pathfinder rules, I do believe I ma have a copy of them somewhere in my house. Might just roll up a char when I get some time tomorrow. Any particular stat distribution?
Also, yeah, do tell over what you're interested in chatting. I think I pretty much have one of everything installed anyway.

 

[Lord Raine]

Well I'm interested in the campaign, though I don't have any pathfinder books so as far as THAT goes, I'll probably NEED to use the characters you've already pre-made until I'm more used to it. Just send me a PM with whatever you wanna establish IM contact with, I have Skype, MSN, Yahoo and AIM, so those are all fine.

I'll give you an idea of what Pathfinder is like. What's your favorite core class?

Any particular stat distribution?

We're going to be doing a point allocation one, in all likelihood. I'll have to go through the Core Rulebook and Advanced Dungeon Guide to pick one that I like.

Of course, we could do dicerolls if you guys want to, but I prefer the point-buy systems. I like the greater control they give you over your character. Plus, it eliminates the potential gamebreakers and gameruiners that high and low rolls saddle you with.

 

[Aegis]

Well I'm interested in the campaign, though I don't have any pathfinder books so as far as THAT goes, I'll probably NEED to use the characters you've already pre-made until I'm more used to it. Just send me a PM with whatever you wanna establish IM contact with, I have Skype, MSN, Yahoo and AIM, so those are all fine.

I'll give you an idea of what Pathfinder is like. What's your favorite core class?

Any particular stat distribution?

We're going to be doing a point allocation one, in all likelihood. I'll have to go through the Core Rulebook and Advanced Dungeon Guide to pick one that I like.

Of course, we could do dicerolls if you guys want to, but I prefer the point-buy systems. I like the greater control they give you over your character. Plus, it eliminates the potential gamebreakers and gameruiners that high and low rolls saddle you with.

Monk, Druid, Ranger, Wizard. In that order

Thing is I have ALL the Dungeons and Dragons books(except for the Dragon mags) and I've explored the best of the best each class has to offer, I have 0 experience with Pathfinder and I'm afraid of being 'that guy', the one who's always asking what to do next.

I hate to ask again, but seeing as we have no IM communication, a PM on whichever system you want to use would be great. I favor skype since it lets you edit posts, trace stuff back to the start, etc. You always have the material of all chats, so that's always great.

 

[Sdebeli]

Personally, I'm good with point buy. Just give the count, base starting stats, and prices and I can roll up a char.
On that subject, Pathfinder is incredibly easy to get used to. It really takes minimal effort to move from DnD to that rule set seeing as it's nearly it's equal, except better.

 

[Aegis]

Personally, I'm good with point buy. Just give the count, base starting stats, and prices and I can roll up a char.

On this point I can just use my point calc anyways, so it's not much of a bother. How many points though?

 

[Alzrius]

I have 0 experience with Pathfinder and I'm afraid of being 'that guy', the one who's always asking what to do next.

It was mentioned previously that there's a Pathfinder SRD; you can take a look at it <a href='http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/index.html' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>over here</a> to get a feel for things.

If you want more than that, you can also look at this <a href='http://www.d20pfsrd.com/' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>fan-made Pathfinder SRD</a>, which is very high in its quality; it has virtually everything in the official Pathfinder SRD, plus things such as other Pathfinder materials from Paizo (Pathfinder's publisher), material from third-party publishers, conversions from 3.5, fan-contributed materials, etc.

 

[Aegis]

I have 0 experience with Pathfinder and I'm afraid of being 'that guy', the one who's always asking what to do next.

It was mentioned previously that there's a Pathfinder SRD; you can take a look at it <a href='http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/index.html' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>over here</a> to get a feel for things.

If you want more than that, you can also look at this <a href='http://www.d20pfsrd.com/' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>fan-made Pathfinder SRD</a>, which is very high in its quality; it has virtually everything in the official Pathfinder SRD, plus things such as other Pathfinder materials from Paizo (Pathfinder's publisher), material from third-party publishers, conversions from 3.5, fan-contributed materials, etc.

The classes look pretty much the same, so I guess I can use a 3.5 sheet to use it which is fine with me

 

[Sdebeli]

I've read the stuff, and mind you, rely on the data there, the changes are somewhat drastic in some cases.

 

[Lord Raine]

I've read the stuff, and mind you, rely on the data there, the changes are somewhat drastic in some cases.

The biggest change are the sheer options that some of the classes have, now. Rouge Talents, for instance, are a list of abilities you can choose from as you level up. They cover everything from improving your usage of poisons, to making backstabs more efficient, to allowing death attacks, to giving you X number of uses of certain low level utility spells per day as an 'arcane knack.'

The new flexibility granted by the class restructuring has actually made prestige classes almost completely obsolete. Depending on which Rouge Talents you pick, you can model your Rouge to be anything from Indiana Jones to an assassin to a spellsneak.

Some of the classes did get pretty big overhauls, though. Sorcerers in particular have been totally restructured, and are, in my opinion, much better off for it. They used to be shittier versions of wizards. Now, though, they have "Bloodlines." You pick a Bloodline when you first make your character (or when you take your first level of Sorcerer, if you're multiclassing). That Bloodline denotes the origin and/or nature of your sorcerous talent, and you gain bonuses, special powers, and abilities as you level up as a part of your Bloodline.

Example: The Celestial Bloodline

Your Bloodline is blessed by a celestial power, either from a celestial ancestor or through divine intervention. Although this power drives you along the path of good, your fate (and alignment) is your own to determine.

Class Skill: Heal (Heal becomes a Class Skill for you)

Bonus Spells: bless (3rd), resist energy (5th), magic circle against evil (7th), remove curse (9th), flame strike (11th), greater dispel magic (13th), banishment (15th), sunburst (17th), gate (19th).

Bonus Feats: Dodge, Extend Spell, Iron Will, Mobility, Mounted COmbat, Ride-By Attack, Skill Focus (Knowledge [religion]), Weapon Finesse.

Bloodline Arcana: Whenever you cast a spell of the summoning subschool, the creatures summoned gain DR/evil equal to 1/2 your sorcerer level (minimum 1). This does not stack with any DR the creature already possesses.

Bloodline Powers: Your celestial heritage grants you a great many powers, but they come at a price. The lords of the higher planes are watching you and your actions closely.

Heavenly Fire (Sp): Starting at 1st level, you can unleash a ray of heavenly fire as a standard action, targeting any foe within 30 feet as a ranged touch attack. Against evil creatures, this ray deals 1d4 points of damage +1 for every two sorcerer levels you possess. This damage is divine and not subject to energy resistance or immunity. This ray heals good creatures of 1d4 points of damage +1 for every two sorcerer levels you posses. A good creatures cannot benefit from your heavenly fire more than once per day. Neutral creatures are neither harmed nor healed by this effect. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier.

Celestial Resistances (Ex): At 3rd level, you gain resist acid 5 and resist cold 5. At 9th level, your resistances increase to 10.

Wings of Heaven (Su): At 9th level, you can sprout feathery wings and fly for a number of minutes per day equal to your sorcerer level, with a speed of 60 feet and good maneuverability. This duration does not need to be consecutive, but it must be used in 1 minute increments.

Conviction (Su): At 15th level, you can reroll any one ability check, attack roll, skill check, or saving throw you just made. You must decide to use this ability after the die is rolled, but before the results are revealed by the GM. You must take the second result, even if it is worse. You can use this ability once per day.

Ascension (Su): At 20th level, you become infused with the power of the heavens. You gain immunity to acid, cold, and petrification. You also gain resist electricity 10, resist fire 10, and a +4 racial bonus on saves against poison. You also gain unlimited use of the wings of heaven ability. Finally, you gain the ability to speak with any creature that has a language (as per the tongues spell).

And that's just one Bloodline. There are dozens. Stuff for Demons, Angels, Dragons, Elementals, Dijinni, and Fey. Some of them have your power resulting from an auspicious alignment of stars and planets. Others have you gaining your powers from the Far Realm. The Destined Bloodline has your sorcererous talent springing directly from a vague but powerful touch of destiny that is upon your family and, most particularly, you. There's even an Undead Bloodline, which can result from either an undead taint in your family (such as a vampire or lich relative), or some strange inexplicable magical power of your own (being born dead but spontaneously returning to life).

And those are just the vanilla ones. The Ultimate Magic supplement adds about a dozen more Bloodlines into the pool, so at this point, Sorcerers are so customizable that you're liable to never run into two that are the same, or even similar.


[EDIT]

I'm working on making a Metal Ooze. I've already worked out that I want it to have a fairly high DR (to represent the fact that it's living metal), but I'm not sure how far I should take it. I'm tempted to just give it DR/Adamantine equal to the Hardness of steel as a substance, but I'm not sure if that would be too much.

Also, Metal Oozes consume metals, which adds to their mass (and allows them to procreate by splitting off once they get big enough), but the process takes time, so they don't have any special anti-metal powers like Rust Monsters. However, it does mean that Metal Oozes tend to gather 'nests' of discarded metal objects, such as armor, weapons, and jewelry, which they treat much like a squirrel does hoarded nuts. I'm considering giving them the Double Standard Treasure designation to reflect this, but I'm not sure if DST would warrant making them more powerful to justify the increased reward. Is the DR enough for that? Or should they be tougher?

I've actually been toying with the idea that they might be living masses of Adamantium, (i.e. Adamantine Oozes), and that's where Adamantium comes from (Adamantium veins are the fossilized remains of Adamantine Oozes), in which case they might have a DR/Adamantine equal to the hardness of Adamantium, but I'm not sure if that's pushing it too far.

What do you guys think?

 

[Aegis]

I've read the stuff, and mind you, rely on the data there, the changes are somewhat drastic in some cases.

The biggest change are the sheer options that some of the classes have, now. Rouge Talents, for instance, are a list of abilities you can choose from as you level up. They cover everything from improving your usage of poisons, to making backstabs more efficient, to allowing death attacks, to giving you X number of uses of certain low level utility spells per day as an 'arcane knack.'

The new flexibility granted by the class restructuring has actually made prestige classes almost completely obsolete. Depending on which Rouge Talents you pick, you can model your Rouge to be anything from Indiana Jones to an assassin to a spellsneak.

Some of the classes did get pretty big overhauls, though. Sorcerers in particular have been totally restructured, and are, in my opinion, much better off for it. They used to be shittier versions of wizards. Now, though, they have "Bloodlines." You pick a Bloodline when you first make your character (or when you take your first level of Sorcerer, if you're multiclassing). That Bloodline denotes the origin and/or nature of your sorcerous talent, and you gain bonuses, special powers, and abilities as you level up as a part of your Bloodline.

Example: The Celestial Bloodline

Your Bloodline is blessed by a celestial power, either from a celestial ancestor or through divine intervention. Although this power drives you along the path of good, your fate (and alignment) is your own to determine.

Class Skill: Heal (Heal becomes a Class Skill for you)

Bonus Spells: bless (3rd), resist energy (5th), magic circle against evil (7th), remove curse (9th), flame strike (11th), greater dispel magic (13th), banishment (15th), sunburst (17th), gate (19th).

Bonus Feats: Dodge, Extend Spell, Iron Will, Mobility, Mounted COmbat, Ride-By Attack, Skill Focus (Knowledge [religion]), Weapon Finesse.

Bloodline Arcana: Whenever you cast a spell of the summoning subschool, the creatures summoned gain DR/evil equal to 1/2 your sorcerer level (minimum 1). This does not stack with any DR the creature already possesses.

Bloodline Powers: Your celestial heritage grants you a great many powers, but they come at a price. The lords of the higher planes are watching you and your actions closely.

Heavenly Fire (Sp): Starting at 1st level, you can unleash a ray of heavenly fire as a standard action, targeting any foe within 30 feet as a ranged touch attack. Against evil creatures, this ray deals 1d4 points of damage +1 for every two sorcerer levels you possess. This damage is divine and not subject to energy resistance or immunity. This ray heals good creatures of 1d4 points of damage +1 for every two sorcerer levels you posses. A good creatures cannot benefit from your heavenly fire more than once per day. Neutral creatures are neither harmed nor healed by this effect. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier.

Celestial Resistances (Ex): At 3rd level, you gain resist acid 5 and resist cold 5. At 9th level, your resistances increase to 10.

Wings of Heaven (Su): At 9th level, you can sprout feathery wings and fly for a number of minutes per day equal to your sorcerer level, with a speed of 60 feet and good maneuverability. This duration does not need to be consecutive, but it must be used in 1 minute increments.

Conviction (Su): At 15th level, you can reroll any one ability check, attack roll, skill check, or saving throw you just made. You must decide to use this ability after the die is rolled, but before the results are revealed by the GM. You must take the second result, even if it is worse. You can use this ability once per day.

Ascension (Su): At 20th level, you become infused with the power of the heavens. You gain immunity to acid, cold, and petrification. You also gain resist electricity 10, resist fire 10, and a +4 racial bonus on saves against poison. You also gain unlimited use of the wings of heaven ability. Finally, you gain the ability to speak with any creature that has a language (as per the tongues spell).

And that's just one Bloodline. There are dozens. Stuff for Demons, Angels, Dragons, Elementals, Dijinni, and Fey. Some of them have your power resulting from an auspicious alignment of stars and planets. Others have you gaining your powers from the Far Realm. The Destined Bloodline has your sorcererous talent springing directly from a vague but powerful touch of destiny that is upon your family and, most particularly, you. There's even an Undead Bloodline, which can result from either an undead taint in your family (such as a vampire or lich relative), or some strange inexplicable magical power of your own (being born dead but spontaneously returning to life).

And those are just the vanilla ones. The Ultimate Magic supplement adds about a dozen more Bloodlines into the pool, so at this point, Sorcerers are so customizable that you're liable to never run into two that are the same, or even similar.


[EDIT]

I'm working on making a Metal Ooze. I've already worked out that I want it to have a fairly high DR (to represent the fact that it's living metal), but I'm not sure how far I should take it. I'm tempted to just give it DR/Adamantine equal to the Hardness of steel as a substance, but I'm not sure if that would be too much.

Also, Metal Oozes consume metals, which adds to their mass (and allows them to procreate by splitting off once they get big enough), but the process takes time, so they don't have any special anti-metal powers like Rust Monsters. However, it does mean that Metal Oozes tend to gather 'nests' of discarded metal objects, such as armor, weapons, and jewelry, which they treat much like a squirrel does hoarded nuts. I'm considering giving them the Double Standard Treasure designation to reflect this, but I'm not sure if DST would warrant making them more powerful to justify the increased reward. Is the DR enough for that? Or should they be tougher?

I've actually been toying with the idea that they might be living masses of Adamantium, (i.e. Adamantine Oozes), and that's where Adamantium comes from (Adamantium veins are the fossilized remains of Adamantine Oozes), in which case they might have a DR/Adamantine equal to the hardness of Adamantium, but I'm not sure if that's pushing it too far.

What do you guys think?

That depends on how you're handling their damage and with what rules? Because if you're handling the metal monsters as you'd handle a weapon and breaking it? They will be tough shit, and when I say tough shit I mean the fact that just breaking free from adamantium cuffs is a difficulty 50+ apparently. Hell the subject is probably even worse if you're planning on handling these things like you would Metal Slimes or something, and what of their supernatural abilities, special skills, inherent properties and HD? As far as treasure goes, I say give it double to triple standard, seeing as each of these would basically multiply over time, and gather in what amounts to small hordes. Let's just hope we never face the Adamantine Metal King or we're SOL. On the other hand you could just be changing how much Natural armor they get and upping their resistances a bit, so maybe it doesn't amount to much more than a palette swap with added toughness>


Anyways as far as pathfinder goes, I am always up for a new type of game, and you've managed to make it more interesting than my first skim of it was, only problem is finding someone to put up with teaching me the ropes of the mechanics