User:Soulblazer 87/Experience-based Class-leveling

This is, as of yet, still incomplete. It is meant as a guide or benchmark if you will. Using this, it will make it possible for characters to spend experience points to increase in power, rather than using stiff class levels for it. Essentially, this variant will make characters amass low-level skills, combining them for more than the sum of its components, seeing as how low-level abilities cost much less than the high level ones. Additionally, this variant takes for granted that all classes are of equal balance point. Do not use this variant if your players are going to have a difference in balance points.

Ground Rules

Ground rules are just that; limits on what you can and can't get.

• Class ability components: You cannot purchase class abilities that are granted at a level greater than your HD. For prestige classes, you calculate this by using the minimum level possible to acquire the prestige class and then add the level that is granted (so if you can acquire the prestige class at five and you want to take the ability of the third level, then you need at least 8HD). Of course, to purchase prestige class abilities, you need to fulfill all prerequisites for said class, as normal. When you choose to take a class's abilities, you gain every ability of noted level.

If there is a level of that class that is blank (a dead level, giving you nothing in terms of 'special' abilities), you still need to purchase it as normal. To purchase a class ability component, you need not only have the HD for it, but also have every previous ability granted by that class.

For classes that give bonuses according to one's level in that class (such as the defence bonus to AC from the monk or the toxinblade's toxin pool), your effective 'class level' is the level that grants the highest class ability from that class. Therefore, even if your HD is 20, if you only have the first three class components of the toxinblade, your character level is only three.

• HD: Increasing your HD does exactly that; increases your hit points. It does NOT grant you increased saves or attack bonus. These abiities are purchased separately. It does grant you however skill points equal to your Intelligence modifier.

• Saves: While you can purchase increased saves freely, the total may not exceed the highest possible of a good save for your HD.

• Skills: They are purchased separately from everything and have their own cost, dependant on your ranks in said skill. You cannot have more skill ranks in a single skill greater than your HD+3. At character creation, select a number of skills equal to your Intelligence modifier. These are the equivalent of your 'class skills' and have their cost halved.

• Spellcasting: You may purchase caster level increases that total up to your HD for each spellcasting type that you possess. Therefore, a sorcerer/druid with five HD can have up to five caster levels as a sorcerer and five caster levels as a druid. Variant: Your total caster levels cannot surpass your HD except via class ability components granted by classes such as *BLANK DUE TO FORGETFULLNESS*

Costs

Everything is paid by experience points. DMs should feel free to adjust these costs to fit their campaign.

• HD: 500 experience points multiplied by the new total of HD. Add/subtract 100 experience for every size category greater/smaller than D8. Minimum D4, maximum D12
• Class Ability: 500 experience points multiplied by the HD required to take it.
• Caster Level: 1000 experience points multiplied by the new caster level total.
• Save: INCOMPLETE
• Attack Bonus: INCOMPLETE
• Skill Point: 50 experience points multiplied by the new skill point total of that skill.
• Feat: 3000 experience points.