Donate - narutod20 Store - Log in - Register - Profile - Log in, check your inbox - FAQ - Search - Members - Groups

New this week: Conjurer's Codex: Demon Clown at the Naruto d20 Store! Enjoy the book, everyone!

Rank and Complexity Rating

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Narutod20.com Forum Index -> Rules
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
WaffleyOne
Genin


Joined: 31 Dec 2013
Posts: 33

PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2015 11:01 pm    Post subject: Rank and Complexity Rating Reply with quote

So I`m about to start a game for my players, and some are interested at some point in inventing techniques for their characters. Now what it would be like, I imagine, is not being dissimilar from creating a spell for D&D, propose the stats and have the game master sign off. Basically the only thing I have much concern for is the complexity rating and rank, is there some sort of guide to getting a fix on these things (also I was working on a character who was basing her style on improving and varrying one low-ish level move, and figured initially that raising it would always be good, until I noticed Chidori Stream was a lower rank than its base which just..... confuzzled me.) Anything from tips, to a soft/hard guideline, would be GREAT.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
chaoticangel97
Younin


Joined: 03 Sep 2009
Posts: 384

PostPosted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 4:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm pretty sure someone with more experience will be able to pop in with some input, but I feel I can share my opinions on this topic.

A lot, and I mean A LOT, of work in making a technique is eyeballing. Like with spells in D&D there aren't a lot of hard set rules for making them. You mainly need to use common sense. When I make techniques I generally follow three quick steps to figure out the rank/complexity.
Step 1: Look at the effects I want to use in the technique, and then come up with a basic idea of what the minimum level character I could see using something like this is.
Step 2: Look for techniques with a similar premise and judge whether my technique is stronger or weaker, this will help give a basic frame of reference on what the rank and perhaps complexity rating should be.
Step 3: When all else fails, look at a D&D spell with a similar effect and power, then look at the earliest level such a spell can be learned (cause believe me, with all the additional content books for D&D 3.5, there is sure to be a spell that does what you are doing). Use that as a basic starting point on the rank decision.

Other factors go into determining how technique rank connects to technique power. For example, a Rank 10 Ninjutsu technique that does direct damage (such as Godai Ransatsu: Shodan) usually, but not always, has a max damage of 16d6. Where as a Rank 14 Ninjutsu, Godai Ransatsu: Yondan, generally has a max damage of 24d6. For techniques that do direct damage in big amounts looking at the Godai techniques for example gives a decent frame of reference for determining ranks.

Basically, the best advice I can give is look at the technique that was made, then look at techniques in the main file of about the same level of power and use the rank/complexity of those techniques to judge where the homebrew technique should be. Don't just copy of course unless you're fairly comfortable with that rank/complexity. A lot of this really is eyeballing, so as GM a lot just kinda falls on your judgement and common sense.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
keksmuzh
Kage


Joined: 15 Apr 2010
Posts: 296

PostPosted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 1:56 pm    Post subject: Re: Rank and Complexity Rating Reply with quote

WaffleyOne wrote:
So I`m about to start a game for my players, and some are interested at some point in inventing techniques for their characters. Now what it would be like, I imagine, is not being dissimilar from creating a spell for D&D, propose the stats and have the game master sign off. Basically the only thing I have much concern for is the complexity rating and rank, is there some sort of guide to getting a fix on these things (also I was working on a character who was basing her style on improving and varrying one low-ish level move, and figured initially that raising it would always be good, until I noticed Chidori Stream was a lower rank than its base which just..... confuzzled me.) Anything from tips, to a soft/hard guideline, would be GREAT.


One thing to keep in mind is that usually, if a technique is both awesome enough and unique enough for someone to need to invent it, it's probably fairly powerful. Unless it's a minor utility tech that just doesn't happen to be in the main book, I would imagine very few custom techniques will be less than B-class. Also keep in mind that S-rank techs are very often (though not always) forbidden in some way, so if a PC wants to invent an S-rank at level 6...that's probably no bueno.

Rank is basically a matter of asking yourself a question; at what Character Level would I be comfortable with a player having this technique? Basing it on existing techniques helps, but for more unique effects it's important to consider the ramifications of a low, mid, and high level party having access to it, and ranking accordingly.
_________________
"No Hiruko, you can't fix people like you do for your puppets. When people fall apart they die."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Narutod20.com Forum Index -> Rules All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum



Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group, Theme by GhostNr1