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The corebook states that spells cast are sold for CL * SL * 10. However, that can make a PC who is selling spells a lot of money over time, given significant demand. I'd like to hear from any GMs who have allowed this. How did it go? Specifically, how did you determine what a PC could earn in a given day/week/month/year?
So is racial "playability" simply subject to DM discretion alone, or are there any suggestions or rules in the books for balancing races above 10 RP? Specifically, I'm looking at possibly playing a Centaur in the future, if my DM and I can balance it against the rest of the party somehow. But perhaps more importantly, I'm wondering how other DMs handle this. Any advice is appreciated.
I'm trying to get my house rules straightened out for a future game, and I haven't touched this premise yet. I'd really like to include rules to reward players for their roleplaying with NPCs outside of combat, but I'm not yet sure how much XP to throw at players in this portion of game. In addition to the amount of XP, I would also need to determine the circumstance(s) under which the players have earned it. Anyone with suggestions, or rules they could share?
This rule attempts to address the lack of balance of the VoP monk against party members, who are covered in an array of magic items confering all manner of stat bonuses. It answers the question: How did a naked guy just punch my +5 vorpal sword in half? Put simply: He's enlightened. Vow of Poverty: The monk taking a vow of poverty must never own more than six possessions—a simple set of clothing, a pair of sandals or shoes, a bowl, a sack, a blanket, and any one other item. Five of these items must be of plain and simple make, though one can be of some value (often an heirloom of great personal significance to the monk). The monk can never keep more money or wealth on his person than he needs to feed, bathe, and shelter himself for 1 week in modest accommodations. He cannot borrow or carry wealth or items worth more than 50 gp that belong to others. He is allowed to accept and use curative potions (or similar magical items where the item is consumed and is valueless thereafter) from other creatures. A monk with this vow increases his ki pool by 1 ki point for every 2 monk levels (minimum +1)... ...A monk living in peaceful accordance with this vow becomes more enlightened and earns half again as much experience (+50%) whenever gaining experience. Additional experience earned in this manner should be tracked separately. All bonuses gained from (levels granted by) this portion of experience should be immediately ignored if the monk breaks this vow, until the monk is redeemed. Levels gained from this portion of experience do not count when determining average party level. A monk with this vow earns the still mind class feature upon reaching level 20... For low-level campaigns, or those using a level 21+ experience table, this rule variation could end here. For high-level campaigns utilizing the default experience table, consider the following addendum: ...A level 20 monk with this vow has reached an enlightened state that is difficult to surpass. Only by reflecting on the greatest of accomplishments can the monk achieve clearer inner harmony. Whenever a level 20 or higher monk completes a legendary quest, defeats a legendary creature (CR 20+), or secures an immensely powerful magical item or artifact (with help, naturally, as the monk cannot possess it), the monk gains permanent increases to their base attack bonus, saving throws, flurry of blows attack bonus, unarmed damage, AC bonus, and fast movement, following the pattern on Table 3-10. The maximum amounts these bonuses can increase to is left up to GM discretion, to fit the scope and desired power level of the campaign. Discuss?
As a GM (and as a player) I'm interested in games in which PCs are able to survive almost indefinitely, to become something both great and memorable. At the same time, however, I'm interested in a game where the threat of death is constantly looming and decisions can have a severe, lasting impact on a character's well-being. That having been said, I think I want to run a very difficult game in the future, but I'm worried that it might be less fun and/or less memorable for my players if their characters are dropping like flies or dying in less dramatic ways (drowning, starvation, etc; as opposed to falling in the heat of battle). I need to prepare to run this future game in the best of both worlds of survivability, if that's even possible, to keep things challenging without compromising the game's (quasi-)realism. Can any seasoned GMs offer general advice on how to prepare for a game's desired lethality in advance?
I rarely write up new spells. Comments/Suggestions much appreciated. .
Ebon Tendrils School Conjuration (creation) [shadow]; Level sorcerer / wizard 3
Veins of solid shadow arc from nearby surfaces, immediately spiraling toward your enemies. Each creature targeted by a tendril is subject to a combat maneuver chosen by the caster. Targets may be grappled, tripped, or dragged by the tendrils, which are treated as possessing the Improved Grapple, Improved Trip, and Improved Drag feats. The tendrils are medium size, possessing a 5 ft. reach, and are only capable of movement during a successful drag attempt (moving along a surface appropriately, in a straight line with the target). The tendrils' CMB is equal to your caster level + 2 (resulting from the relevant feat above). Each round, the combat maneuvers of the tendrils may be chosen individually, but all tendrils must use the result of a single combat maneuver roll made by the caster. Targets that are successfully grappled take 1d4 points of damage and gain the grappled condition. Grappled targets cannot move without first breaking the grapple. Ebon tendrils receive a +5 bonus on grapple checks made against targets they are already grappling, but cannot move or pin targets. Each round the ebon tendrils succeed on a grapple check, the target is dealt an additional 1d4 points of damage. The CMD of ebon tendrils, for the purpose of escaping their grapple, is equal to 10 + their CMB. Because ebon tendrils are being controlled by a caster's concentration, they can deal nonlethal damage when grappling successfully, if desired. Ebon tendrils cannot make attacks of opportunity and cannot attempt combat maneuvers against targets greater than large size. Ebon tendrils can always share spaces with allies or enemies, without penalty. Sunlight or daylight immediately destroys all ebon tendrils within the lit area.
Refer to d20pfsrd or Pf Core p.175 I'm wondering if weapons derive their hardness score strictly from the table titled "Common Armor, Weapon, and Shield Hardness and Hit Points" or if they should instead receive their hardness based on the table "Substance Hardness and Hit Points". Ex. Would a +5 adamantine two-handed hafted weapon have a hardness of 30, or 15? Also, if an item is broken/burst, does that mean it's then broken (reduced to half hit points) or destroyed (reduced to 0 hit points)?
Here's a fun house rule I came up with a few years back that I'd like to share. It's upside is an increased sense of campaign depth for players at a low cost to DMs, while it's downside comes in the form of longer prep time before games. You will need to buy some lined notecards and cheap folders, if you don't already have them. 1. Pre-roll all the treasure your players can possibly find during the next game session. Take your time, be descriptive, and don't overlook opportunities to be sneaky (such as cursed items or items disguised to look like more common magic items). 2. Each loot item gets it's own notecard which describes it in 1-3 sentences or bullet points. If an item is magical, proceed to step 3. For nonmagical items (art objects, quest-related items, etc.), continue to step 4. 3. Magic items should have their magical qualities/enchantment bonuses written on the opposite side of the card, which is then folded in half and scotch-taped shut. It is to be opened by your players after they manage to appraise/identify it. 3.5. Magic items requiring a more powerful identification (Analyze Dweomer, for instance) will say something to the effect of "Further qualities of this item are evident, but continue to allude you". 4. Make yourself a "master sheet" detailing the cards, if you'll need to remember better which item is which (later in the campaign) and enact the rule that "if you lose your card, your character lost his sword" (if you're a jerk DM, like me). Hand out cheap folders for your players to store their character sheets and treasure cards in. That seems complicated, but it really isn't. It may get tedious though, especially at higher levels. Here's an example: Folded:
Unfolded:
By keeping a "master sheet" (mentioned above the example) you can later avoid writing new cards for duplicate treasures located by your players. It's a fun rule, so I hope I wrote it concisely enough. Feel free to comment, or better yet take the rule for a test drive and share your experience using it.
Fairly simple, open-ended question here. I'm considering running an alignmentless game in the future. I was wondering if any DMs out there who have already done as much could tell me what to expect from players (perhaps in and out-of-character), when to beware the rules getting wonky, and other general observations. I intend to write a system of guidelines for seamless removal of alignment rules if things go well in the future, so any help or insight provided here would be much appreciated.
I've been considering writing a couple splat .pdfs after the release of the Pf corebook and as such I decided to create a custom stat block based on the Pf stat block. To dive right in, I put together stats for the Death Slaad to see how it would look. (It may be be a sloppy conversion. The layout was the important thing.) I was hoping I might get comments on appearance and ease of use? Here it is.
I just read through the sidebar on p.11 titled "Designer Notes: Starting Hit Points" and it brought me back to an idea I've been having lately: What if critical hits just weren't possible until a certain level? This would make combat a hell of a lot less unpredictable for a while and it's perhaps a possibility that certain classes might have features allowing them to crit before the minimum level. Post your thoughts.
Dwarves - - Dwarves are supposed to be renowned smiths - this should probably be reflected somewhere in their stat block. - Stonecunning could be modified slightly to also include unstable stonework. Dwarves are likely to notice poorly built architecture. Elves - - I never understood the ability to notice concealed doors, but that might be a personal gripe. I think this could be replaced by a "more elven" stat bonus. - Something could be included in the stat block about reverie (meditation/trance/elven sleep - whatever). Half-Elves - - The word 'nature' under their ability adjustment text should be plural I believe, as it is used to reference characters (plural). - Again with the concealed door detection? Dwarves, Elves, and Half-Elves have this ability. Why bother searching? - Because half-elves have the elven sleep immunity it is suggested here that they might participate in reverie rather than sleep. It could be mentioned here. Half-Orcs - - What does 'their orc stock hinders their intelligence' mean, exactly? Inbreeding? - 'Orc Ferocity' could just be called 'Ferocity' to fit stat block format. It obviously refers to Orcs. - Half-Orcs seem like they need something more here, they seem less "fleshed-out" than the other races. Halflings - - 'Sure Footed' should be hyphenated. - 'Halfling Luck' could just be called 'Luck' to fit stat block format. It obviously refers to Halflings. - Abyssal as a bonus language? Why? All Races - - 'Weapon Familiarity' could be renamed 'Equipment Familiarity', which would be beneficial if any race had a bonus to shields or armor. Furthermore, supplemental material might contain shields or armor with "racial words" in it. Like 'Dwarven Plate', 'Orcish Cuirass', etc. Finally, dwarven ability to resist speed loss from encumbrance/armor could be listed here if desired, rather than under speed. - 'Weapon Familiarity' should probably be listed at the same point in each stat block for format because it is listed under all races. |
