MSRD Talk:Artificer (Class)

Defense and Reputation

I don't understand their purpose or function. --T G Geko 19:06, 1 January 2008 (MST)

These are both fairly important to d20 Modern and have no parallel in core DnD. Defense, according to the Modern System Reference Document (i.e. the core rules for d20 Modern) is defined as thus: "a character’s class and level grant an innate bonus to Defense. This bonus measures the character’s combat savvy and applies in all situations, even when the character is flat-footed or would lose his or her Dexterity bonus for some other reason." (my emphasis added). Because d20 Modern is by default a no-magic system, and even when magic is added it is extremely weak compared to a high magic setting like DnD, it is important that certain traits continue to grow. In DnD, AC generally climbs through buffing magical items (including enhancement on shields and armor, etc.). The equivalent trait in d20 Modern, though, called Defense instead of Armor Class, does not climb as quickly because magical buffs are very rare or nonexistent. Thus, every class has a defense progression, which is added to defense and gets better as the character levels up. This progression is like Base Attack Bonus, except that it is added to Defense instead of attack. The Fast Hero class, for example, has an understandably much higher Defense progression than the Smart Hero does, just like the Strong Hero has a higher Base Attack Bonus progression than the Charismatic Hero class does. For more on Defense, read these two short articles in the core rules: Defenses and Base Class Descriptions.

Many DnD games revolve foremost around combat ("roll playing") and secondarily around character development and social interactions ("role playing"). There is still lots of combat in d20 Modern, but-- since the world is more like our own, e.g. has no dungeons but has groups like the police, FBI, etc., it can be a very bad idea to just start killing your enemies. Thus, there are--in some campaigns (each is different)--a lot more roleplaying, e.g. of spying and infiltration, talking to NPCs to gain information and/or help, etc. To represent the effect that word of mouth and the mass media have on the world, there are the Reputation rules. These indicate that if your character is seen on the street that they might be recognized (like a famous celebrity or infamous criminal might be). Likewise, if their name is mentioned in the right circles (like Jeffrey Sachs mentioned in reference to globalization economics, for example) then they also might be recognized. Understandably, classes like the Ambassador or Personality classes have much higher progression for Reputation (i.e. they become famous more quickly) than a class like the Soldier would.

Does that help at all? –EldritchNumen 05:11, 8 January 2008 (MST)

Greatly. I just did't see the M on the MSRD. Thanks --T G Geko 10:55, 8 January 2008 (MST)

Yep, no problem. The class you are looking at is the d20Modern Artificer, not the Eberron Artificer. Eberron is not OGL, so we can't add any of it to the site (including that artificer class). Sorry! –EldritchNumen 13:11, 8 January 2008 (MST)