Mark Hart's page

Looking over the Starfinder rules, I wonder about the effect of how combat maneuvers are handled. As opposed to Pathfinder, making a combat maneuver attack is rolled against the target's KAC plus 8.

This seems prohibitively high of a target number to me; lower level characters will almost never attempt CMs because their success rate will be so low compared to making a standard attack. I also wonder if using KAC is the best measure of determining the target number--it includes armor bonus, which under most circumstances shouldn't make someone harder to trip, for example.

On the plus side, this method makes calculating the target number very simple, which is helpful. But does this make combat maneuvers a poor tactical choice overall? Even against an unarmed opponent, the target number will be 18. A 1st-level character with 17 Strength and +1 BAB will only have a 30% chance of success with a combat maneuver. Simply stabbing or bludgeoning that same unarmored target has a 60% chance of success.

There are a few feats characters can take to make CMs more feasible, but does this come at too high a cost to the character?

Is KAC + 8 too high? Anyone have any actual in-game experience with combat maneuvers in Starfinder? My campaign hasn't started yet, so I can't unequivocally state whether CMs are a problem area or not.

Thoughts?

The binding on my "special edition" STARFINDER core rulebook seems oddly loose. I can't tell if this is the way the binding was designed or if there's actually a flaw in my copy. Has anyone else experienced/seen this?

The Kickstarter for The Fighter Folio and 5e Condition Cards by Total Party Kill Games is in its final days!

Fight for glory... fight for honor... but know HOW to fight!

Total Party Kill Games presents The Fighter Folio, a player and GM sourcebook compatible with the fifth edition (5E) of the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop roleplaying game. Also included is a gorgeous set of our 5E condition cards, giving you four of every condition, including the ones from TPK's hugely popular Fifth Edition Options title.

Check out the Kickstarter now!

Recovery Dice Options for 5E D&D

Within 5E Dungeons & Dragons (TM), Recovery Dice—otherwise known as Hit Dice—allow a character to recover hit points without the need for healing potions or cure wounds spells. This serves to extend the adventuring day by delaying the party’s need to return to civilization, which in turn allows characters to continue exploring dungeons, looting crypts, and slaying monsters. As described in the core rules, Recovery Dice represent a fire-and-forget healing system requiring minimal bookkeeping. As a result, most players tend to forget about Recovery Dice in the middle of a fight. But no more...

Recovery Dice Options, by Total Party Kill Games, takes the concept and runs with it. Rather than relegating Recovery Dice to the role of emergency healing, this sourcebook provides a range of optional ways for characters to use this mechanic. These options extend this game mechanic far beyond the realm of healing, allowing them to tap into these reserves of inner strength. Does your barbarian desperately need another rage? Could your wizard benefit from regaining a spent spell slot? Desperately need to shake off a condition afflicting your character so you can prevent a TPK? This 30-page sourcebook provides a wealth of options for use with your Recovery Dice, your well of inner strength.

So spend those Recovery Dice like a hero!

Available at Paizo.

The Kickstarter is live for The Fighter Folio and 5e Condition Cards by Total Party Kill Games.

Fight for glory... fight for honor... but know HOW to fight!

Total Party Kill Games presents The Fighter Folio, a player and GM sourcebook compatible with the fifth edition (5E) of the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop roleplaying game. Also included is a gorgeous set of our 5E condition cards, giving you four of every condition, including the ones from TPK's hugely popular "Fifth Edition Options" title.

Check out the Kickstarter now!

Dagon’s Temple & Village of Boggard’s Maw

Venom’s Kiss
Aura faint necromancy; CL 7th
Slot none; Price 24,710 gp; Weight 2 lbs.

Description
When held up to the light, this +1 short sword glistens like amber. Once per day as a standard action, the wielder may run the sword’s edge along a poison victim’s skin, drawing blood and inflicting 1 point of damage. The sword extracts poison from the subject and absorbs it, granting the benefits of the neutralize poison spell.

If the wielder uses this effect against a poisonous creature as part of a successful attack, in addition to suffering standard weapon damage, the target must make a DC 16 Fortitude save or lose the ability to inflict poison with one of its natural attacks until the end of its next turn.

Once Venom’s Kiss has absorbed poison, it exudes that same toxin along its blade. The next successful attack with the sword delivers the poison’s effects against the target, accompanied by a serpentine hiss.

Alternatively, the sword wielder may run the blade’s poisoned edge along his skin, drawing blood and inflicting 1 point of damage. Doing so grants him immunity to that toxin for the next 24 hours. During this time, the wielder’s eyes turn a deep yellow color.

The poison on the blade dissipates with the first successful use, or after 24 hours, whichever occurs first.
Construction
Requirements Craft Magic Arms and Armor, neutralize poison, poison; Cost 12,510 gp

Quicksilver Syndicate
Alignment: NE
Headquarters: Rook’s Ridge, Daggermark
Leader: Mistress of Crows
Structure: Multinational corporation
Scope: Regional
Resources: Local guildhalls in thirteen major cities across Avistan, liquid assets worth millions of gold pieces, and a network of agents, collaborators, and informants

Created as a tool of revenge against the Pathfinder Society, the Quicksilver Syndicate often competes with Pathfinder field teams and adventurers in the hunt for magic items and similar treasures. Although it resembles a thieves’ guild, the Syndicate commits theft on contract rather than for direct profit, sometimes in exchange for favors. Syndicate agents steal property, pilfer information, and kidnap creatures for their clients. They also plant evidence and instigate scandals to divert attention or to fulfill a patron’s grudge. The Syndicate is unconventional in that it recruits thieves from unlikely places; it counts numerous fey, such as quicklings and forlarren, among its ranks.

Structure and Leadership
The Syndicate includes four groups specialized in different criminal activities. The Magsmen excel at burglary and filching information, while the Blackjacks operate as smugglers and kidnappers. The Mummers, disguised as traveling entertainers, recruit new members. Finally, the Knuckles serve as enforcers, eliminating threats through blackmail and intimidation, with murder sanctioned as a last resort.

Syndicate members owe allegiance to Mistress Crow, an enigmatic First World refugee. She commands her lieutenants, the Harrowed Cabinet, through dreams and messengers. The Cabinet includes the Syndicate’s thirteen most accomplished thieves, each in charge of a different guildhall. When a thief ascends to their ranks, he draws his nickname and a glimpse at his fortune from an ancient Harrow deck.

Goals
To outsiders, the Syndicate sells thievery for gold. In truth, the organization cares little about wealth as long as its actions harm the Pathfinder Society or disrupt the Society’s plans. Mistress Crow lets nothing interfere with the vendetta against her former comrades, even at the expense of profits.

The Syndicate expends substantial effort enlisting fey creatures, with emphasis on enchanters, illusionists, and diviners, as well as individuals with supernatural stealth. The Syndicate gains strength by offering refuge to creatures shunned by the mundane world.

Public Perception
Although many people have heard of the Syndicate, few outside the criminal world understand its goals. For corrupt nobles and merchants, the Syndicate offers the best chance to retrieve a stolen or coveted item. When its agenda against the Pathfinders permits, the Syndicate strives to keep clients satisfied.

Spellblight Cage
Aura moderate abjuration; CL 7th
Slot none; Price 7,500 gp; Weight 2 lbs.
Description
Constructed of twisted bands of iron with a hinged door on one side, this cage appears sized to hold a Diminutive creature. If either a minor or major spellblight targets the cage possessor, the spellblight cage automatically captures the affliction instead. The cage holds one spellblight at a time, and it can capture only one every 24 hours. An imprisoned spellblight resembles a miniature will-o'-wisp, shedding light equal to a candle. Whether occupied or not, the cage grants the wielder a +2 resistance bonus on all saving throws against spellblights and their effects.

As a standard action, the wielder may open the cage and release the trapped spellblight. The affliction immediately flies from the cage and attacks the nearest enemy spellcaster or creature with a spell-like ability within a 50-foot line of sight. If two eligible targets are equidistant from the cage, the spellblight attacks the target with the fewest spellcaster levels. Much as if the targeted creature cast a spell or used a spell-like ability in an area of spellblight, it must make a saving throw (DC 14 Will saving throw for a minor spellblight, or a DC 22 Will saving throw for a major one) or gain a random spellblight affliction of the appropriate strength (Ultimate Magic 95).

If a target successfully saves against the affliction, or if no eligible targets are within 50 feet of the cage, the released spellblight dissipates harmlessly.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, bestow curse, remove curse; Cost 3,750 gp

I have a question about the use of more recent WotC books in desgining adventure submissions for DUNGEON. Specifically, in this case, the excellent TOME OF MAGIC.

I am designing a submission proposal that would work especially well with one of the new classes introduced in ToM.

I know that when using non-core books for adventures -- the Fiend Folio, for example, the designer needs to include info on that monster in the adventure, since the assumption is that readers do not necessarily have the FF.

How does this work for new spellcasting classes, such as the binder, introduced in ToM? Is this a case where it is just best not to use non-core material, but rather find a way to use a core class instead? I imagine that word limitations alone might force this path. Does use of something as rule-heavy as a new class from a non-core book pose too many problems, or make the adventure inaccessible for too many readers?

If it *is* permissible to use a new spellcasting class like the Binder in a DUNGEON adventure, how much info should be included?

I would greatly appreciate any help, advice, suggestions that people (editors, designers, gurus) could provide.

Thanks in advance!

I finished reading Richard Pett's excellent adventure, "The Styes" last night and was suitably impressed. One aspect I liked about the adventure was its overall tone and feel. I can only guess that the adventure draws some inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," but that is just my guess. Anyone who is thinking about running this adventure should read that story for additional ideas and flavor.

(The other two adventures in the issue were likewise high quality, entertaining, and filled with nifty atmosphere...but that's a different thread...)

Ever since issue #34 of DRAGON, and ever since the very first issue of DUNGEON, I have enjoyed these wonderful monthly gaming magazines.

One article that I know would fascinate me -- and perhaps interest other readers -- would be an insider's "virtual tour" of the overall effort that goes into just one month's issue of both magazines. The article could perhaps describe the kinds of work each staff does, the overall (immense) workload, how some decisions are made, what the staff talk about when putting together an issue, etc.

Granted, this article is tangential to gaming in general, but perhaps it might be enough of a human interest type thing that people would enjoy it.

Of course, I appreciate the irony of asking someone on staff to write an article (i.e., do more work) to describe how much work they do already...

Just a thought.