Sharpe's page

If you mean cultures that have been referred to, there was the Mongol Horde in Forgotten Realms.

But they don't have to read all 430 pages. Also there is a lot of stuff on each page but it's broken down, has the funny looking guy pointing stuff out... the lay out creates an illusion that you aren't reading a ton of stuff when you are in fact absorbing a lot of info. Also some of those pages are the cartoons that look Far Side-ish but have a different name.

Actually, there is a book out there that breaks down the game, although kids might be put off by the title, "Dungeons and Dragons for Dummies." It has the "be a cleric," "be a fighter," "be a sorceror," and "be a rogue" all set down. All sorts of suggestions are in the book about feats and spells. They also have stuff on working together during fights and a couple of encounters already laid out. Of course the bad thing is that they'll be stuck with just those few encounters...

In the 2.0 books, the Red Knight is trying to get him interested into taking up sea battles into his portfolio as well. As far as I know he hasn't, yet.

What I think most people don't realize is that during the dark ages the beer was weaker. Everyone, child and priest included, had to drink beer. And that most beer should be flat. Beer was cheap and about the only drink available (water was usually unhealthy, milk and fruit juices were seasonal...). Also beer would be considered unspecial at least the normal stuff.

Hey I think the problem isn't in that he has the claw bracers... the problem is that your group thinks that just because he has the claw bracers he cannot get an attack of opportunity made on him at all. The claw bracers only prevent AoO from happening if the wizard is actually attacking with them.
Sure he can cast defensively, so forget the AoO... flank him, shoot him with arrows, target him with enemy spells... he shouldn't have that high of an armor class. And if this is a high level game, the enemy's attack bonus should be able to hit a wizard no prob, with enough damage done to him (and at high levels or just high CR encounters the damage can get ridiculous) the wizard is going to miss his concentration check sometime, and most likely at the worst possible time.
Just remember that your wizard has to make lots of Concentration checks.

Back in 2nd ed and before Druids couldn't use worked metal items... except for a few things like their gold sickle and scimitar...

However in 3.5 a Druid has no proficiency with most weapons but can use any, they are still restricted as to armor.

For actual background stuff, L5R stuff at least, you need to get the Rokugan book. As for the rest of the stuff in OA, most of it has been reprinted and (technically) updated to 3.5. So unless you are still playing 3.0, you really can forget OA.

The Complete Warrior: Samurai, Kensai, Ronin (all Japanese)
The Complete Divine: Shugenja, I think there was something to do with the Void
The Complete Arcane: Wu Jen (Chinese, wow), Some Void oriented prestige class here too... maybe
The Complete Adventurer: Ninja

These are most of the 3.5 updated classes and prestige classes. Heck... just looking through your Dragon back issues should give you plenty of setting info.

Except that you might not want to waste spell slots on them, there are spells which do allow you to either buff your familiar into something that can aid you in battle or allow you to keep it safe in a 'familiar pocket.' Also once the familiar survives a few levels, you can use buffing spells on yourself to also buff up the familiar.
And while it might be dangerous, the ability to help cast touch attack spells can be useful.

Actually you shouldn't look all that bad... after all if the two bucklers match you'd be symetrical.

You won't be able to bring down the armor check penalties completely, however there are magical armor qualities that might be able to negate or even add a positive modifier to certain skill checks that the armor penalizes. Please note that the armor quality will only be able to effect one skill check per quality.

Such as full plate +1 with Silent Moves will negate the armor check penalty for the armor. Silent Moves grants a +5 competence bonus to move silently. There is Improved and Greater Silent Moves which will give a +10 and +15 respectively.
(the great things about qualities as this is that they don't count as +1 or higher bonuses by themselves so they don't count against the maximum)

So theoretically you could have +1 full plate with Silent Moves, Shadow and Slick qualities. Your skill checks with move silently, hide and escape artist are negated. The armor is still considered to have just a +1 bonus, however the armor would cost [1000 (+1 bonus) +1650 (full plate) +3,750 (Slick) +3,750 (Silent Moves) +3,750 (Shadow)] or 13,900 gp. Not exactly cost effective... but hey it might happen.

If you made the above armor out of mithral tack on an additional 9000 gp and you'd get a +3 bonus for those skills. (Since the maximum armor check penalty is reduced by 3) +2 if you interpret it slightly differently, meaning that since mithral stuff is masterwork anyway that the max bonus is already included to the -3 reduction to armor check penalty. So +1 mithral full plate with Slick, Shadow, and Silent Moves would be 21,900 gp.

I don't think that players need to give up a feat just to have a familiar. Please remember that they already have to pay 100 gp (not that much at the higher levels, but pretty hefty at 1st) just to call a familiar. True not all wizards/sorcerors would have familiars, but it is voluntary, just because you can have a familiar doesn't mean you have to have one.

I've always had a little problem with Oriental Adventures (as a former co-worker put it "Orientals are rugs and salads"). I mean I loved the fact that they tried to define martial arts, had the proficiency system, and the info in the back in the 1st ed book. However, it never really felt right.

With the 3.0 version they married it to Legend of the Five Rings and promptly sued for divorce.

The main problems are that this new Lo5R setting for OA isn't compatible with any of the old stuff, there are very heavy Japanese overtones (a small section in the back that has some mention of changing it to give another Asian feel), and that there is a ton of backstory from the old Lo5R that new DMs have to deal with, as that is the context in which it was written.

I also have some problems in interpretation. Such as, the Wu Jen seem to be the closest thing to Taoists, especially those Taoists who climb mountains to contemplate their belly buttons. They do that to cultivate themselves and attune themselves into the Way of Nature. This should mean that they should be an odd mix of Wizard, Sorceror, and Druid. What you have (even in the Complete Arcane) is a Wizard with a cool spell list and odd taboos. Another thing is the fact that while they have the 5 elements you are meant to be unbalanced in its use when the whole point of cultivation is to become IN balance.

I guess what it boils down to is: "What do you want in an Asian setting?"

If you want a Neo-Japanese setting then the 3.0 book might work for you. If you want anything else, then maybe you can take a bye on this and look for something else.

Oh hey, no prob with the disagreement. The rules are a little funky and obscure as to how long. And truth to tell I have yet to come across this as I haven't participated nor DM'd an evil campaign in 3.5, I was just voicing an opinion based on what I was reading in PHB.

I think that if you are strong enough to command it, you are in control for as long as you want. There is a limit to how many and how strong of a thing that you control (your Hit Dice), and it's a pain to maintain in that you have to constantly give the darn things commands (taking a standard action to do so). The only indication as to ending your command over an undead is if you voluntarily do so, and that is if you're trading up for a more powerful undead beastie. As for what the newly independant undead would do... I'd think it would most likely be cowed due to your power, so no real hostility. Although if you are talking about an intelligent undead, there might be problems, but that'd be based on the individual.

I think the main problems are:
1. Most non-WoTC stuff is 3.0, which means time spent going over it and adapting it to 3.5 (especially if it's something based off a class that got a major overhaul between editions).
2. There is just so much stuff out in print, it's really difficult to keep up.
3. The DM might want to stick to "official" stuff in the hopes that it is game balanced. (With some sources that is something to worry about)

Now to tell you the truth I have bought non-WoTC stuff to try and use in my game world. And now I just have way too much stuff, my world is sort of floating in Limbo waiting to get half formed. So in a way I can empathize with your DM, however if you really want to use other stuff you just might want to corner said DM and seriously talk to him/her.

Uhm, I'd guess it would really depend on what you like and more importantly (in a way) what the gamers in your area like. I mean I have a wide range of interests just within or ties to gaming, other people are more focused with what they'd play.

For the widest range, I'd say:
AEG: superheroes (City of Heroes RPG), spies (Spycraft 2.0), fantasy (d20 stuff), swashbuckling (7th Sea)
Steve Jackson: GURPS (if nothing else their world books make great research material)
Wizards of the Coast: D&D, d20 Modern

There are others out there. I mean Paizo is getting into supplement stuff with their Gamemastery line...
Oh yeah, and that Titanic company might be nifty too.

Erf... sorry if I sounded incredibly rules lawyer-ish (on page x, section 1, subsection c, paragraph z-). I just looked it up and thought the page numbers would help if you had to reference them in a game or something.

Maybe I'm just dense, but how long does the "command undead" feature last when a rebuking cleric manages to "command" them instead of rebuking them? 10 rds like the rebuke? Or 1 day/lvl as the spell command undead? I couldn't find anything clear on that.

Another question--a good friend of mine just started DMing a 3.5 game and he's never run 3.5 before. My cleric of Cyric managed to "command" 9 skeletons (he was 2nd level) and he used them in the following battle against some orcs.

This DM then penalized us XP by considering each skeleton a "party member" and dividing the XP among 4 PC's and 9 skeletons. I told him that I didn't think that was correct, because you don't penalize PC's XP for summoning monsters with spells to fight in battles or for having their warhorses fight when in mounted battles.

He relented, but once again I couldn't find anything clear on that in the DMG (did I miss something?) The section on XP doesn't mention splitting XP with cohorts, hirelings or followers, and neither does the section on NPC's. It talks about how many XP a cohort gets, but doesn't mention taking away XP from a PC because they used cohorts, hirelings or followers.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Uhm, I'n not sure you would have been able to command that many skeletons. Of course you could have had a fantastic roll to rebuke, but even then on page 159 it says that you can control "any number of undead whose total hit dice do not exceed his level".

It doesn't state a duration, since a good cleric's result is the undead's total destruction. However, you'd have to constantly spend standard actions giving them commands. When things get too tedious you can always voluntarily give up commanding any undead you do control.

As for the XP division, under XP for cohorts it explicitly says not to count the cohort in the number of PCs (page 104 of the DMG, first numbered paragraph after heading Experience Points in Cohort section).
On page 37 of the DMG after the ennumerated XP calculation for an encounter, it explicitly says to not add in any monsters summoned or otherwise added to the encounter through magical means by the bad guy. This is because this ability is already added into it's CR. So the same would hold true for a PC. Your Rebuke / Command Undead is an evil cleric's ability.

I'm 34.

To be honest I'm not sure when it started. My stepmother (or soon to be stepmother... it gets kind of fuzzy) got me the old first edition Deities and Demigods (with the copywrited stuff they took out in the reprints) for my birthday, because my brothers and I liked mythology. I sort of acquired the rule books for 1st ed over time and way out of order.

Was unhappy when 2nd ed came out... tried to resist and ended getting a mini library of the books. And then nearly the same thing happened when 3rd ed came out. And now I've got a whole lot of 3.5 (but not everything... I'm not that rich and some things don't appeal to me).

I've DM'd and played. And yes, it's really weird to play with people in their early to mid 20's who have said, "I think I've heard about that [Clash of the Titans], isn't that the one about the Greek myths?"

I'm familiar with the Regional Feats as presented in the FR sourcebook. I like the concept and had intended to translate them to Greyhawk. That was...three years ago? Sometimes you best intentions get waylaid. Now that I see someone has referred to Greyhawk Regional Feats existing now, I've been hoping someone would slip the details of the source material. Anyone? Is this a Living Greyhawk/RPGA thing or something available to the masses?

The Greyhawk regional feats are in Dragon #315. The Classic Campaigns issue. Lots of good stuff in that issue.

I looked through my books and couldn't find anything on either the Dao or the Marids.
The books I have (where they might have been) are: Races of Stone, Sandstorm, Stormwrack, Monster Manual II, and Fiend Folio. The closest things were the Nerids and Oreids for the Marids and they're different myths.

The Dao and Marids from Manual of The Planes,as in do they show up in other books after that one?

Also, did Al-Qadim ever get updated to 3.0-3.5 rules?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Not so sure about the Dao and Marids... too many books to look through. I can however try to get back to you on that.

The Al-Qadim setting itself was not updated. However there is at least one article related to that setting. In Dragon #315, the Sha'ir class was published... other than that you'd have to find fan sites of that setting to see if anyone has been able to update it.

Ok, just found this one...

As I mentioned earlier, it'd be great to see a Chinese based setting.

Now, if Bioware/Microsoft (whoever owns the rights) isn't all that cooperative, there still are elements that can be expanded upon which they can't exactly pitch a fit about. A lot of Jade Empire was inspired by The Water Margin. And since those books have been in print for centuries... it's public domain.

Um, starting from page 36 in the DMG is where the XP awards are dealt with. Although the tables are designed with 4 characters, one of each basic archetype (one fighter, one rogue, one arcane caster, and one divine caster).

I liked Sharpe's Rifles and the series of made for TV movies that followed based on the novels by Bernard Cornwell.
I also used this avatar name on the White Wolf palace. Due to circumstances it's now become my real world nickname at the gaming stores I frequent.

I have played all sorts of RPGs. Before the 3rd ed reset thing, I used to play a lot of White Wolf's World of Darkness games (Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, and Changeling), usually on the internet in real-time chatroom and a little live-action. I also have played RIFTs, Shadowrun, Amber, Champions (not sure which ed... one of the first hard cover compilation), GURPs, Top Secret SI, Ninjas and Superspies, Elfquest, and yes Villains and Vigilantes (well maybe GM'd it I think).

I also play or have played Magic the Gathering (way back... stopped before Homelands), Heroclix, and Versus. Although I'm not very good.

I also have a bunch of games on my shelf (or stacked here and there on the floor) which I have the rules but not played at all. The last edition of Star Wars (before d20), Mechwarrior 2nd ed and 3rd ed, and some others... I think.

Anyway The player wants to know if he could make an hide and move silently check after combat has begun. Presuming these work can he use the ninja sneak attack again?

So far I haev ruled that if he can manage to actually hide and move silently after a combat has begun then I figure he could sneak attack again - though there is no indication that the enemy would actually be technically without his Dex bonus anymore (its the middle of combat after all). What are other DMs doing?

Okay, are you using 3.0 rules or the ninja from the Dragon article which got reprinted in Complete Adventurer? Because I might be able to answer if you are using the one from the Complete book.

The Ninja doesn't get a sneak attack he gets a sudden attack. Different rules in that the ninja can't do extra damage to foes he's flanking unless they would technically be denied their Dex bonus.

Anyway, I'd say that he'd probably could make a hide check IF he did something really ninja-like like using a smoke bomb or somesuch. He would seriously have to take a full round to do all the stuff he'd need to to try and gain the advantage needed to do his sudden attack.

Of course this is moot if he just invests in a bunch of tanglefoot bags and tossed one during the surprise / first round of combat. If they can't move, they are denied their Dex bonus and therefore are subject to sneak and sudden attacks until the effect wears off... same with blinding powder to the face.

Why is damage reduction an extraordinary ability for barbarians and a supernatural abilty for the creatures in the MM?

Is there a reason why I shouldn't treat a dragons DR as an extraodinary abilty (i.e. uneffected by an antimagic feild)?

Well a supernatural ability is defined as a magical power. Barbarians do not normally use magic innately, at least not without obtaining a spell casting / magic-innate class or prestige class.

Dragons and the other monsters with damage reduction (Su) are all beings of magic in some way (they might not have the magic animal subtype, but any subtype other than humanoid, animal, and plant I believe are magic in nature).

I love the game, never really finished it, but I love that game.

I really would like to see a Chinese based setting for D&D. It's never really been done before... at least with the atmosphere and everything. Everything has Japanese overtones.

The only thing that I can see as a "problem" is fitting it into a campaign in progress. Oh and making flyers too available.

So, are you planning to work on this as a proposal to Dragon?

I'm surprised no one has mentioned constructs. The mechanical horse that could fly (running on the air) which was used to kidnap the sultan. I'm almost certain that there might have been something akin to a shield guardian as well in the stories.

Oh yes... genies who aren't all fun and games. A lot of the stories from the Arabian Nights had beings stuck in lamps and bottles who'd like nothing better than to rip you apart even if you just freed them.

Hospitality is important. Salt is important. You cannot harm a man with whom you shared salt, even if the "sharing" was accidental. Coffee with a side of cream... although it is supposed to be a guy thing (maybe even a nomad guy thing... I forget the exact details).

Hope this helps,

Sharpe

Why make the distinction for the Elemental and not the Plant form. Plants limit the types of spells the druid could be affected by. Plants can't be sneak attacked, flanked etc...

It's not a big deal but it makes me wonder. Its a thing that makes me go: Hmmmm.

Cheers,
C.

I believe it's because plants still need to breathe, while elementals do not. It's one of the main differences between the plant and elemental sub-types.

There might also be a second reason as well. Elementals technically have no souls, or should I say are all soul-stuff. It'd be a nightmare for the DM should the druid be killed in elemental form and the only thing to bring the character back is something as powerful as True Resurrection.

Hope this helps,

Sharpe

Frostburn has the stats for an artic fox.

<So, my question is: does the druid assume the "Animal" & "Plant" creature types when assuming those forms?

Personally I think this would be very cool for the druid. However, given the Elemental exception I can see how how some would argue for limiting this ability. I'm curious to recieve your opinions.>

Yes, they get the "Plant" or "Animal" subtype when assuming the form of a plant creature or animal.

As for keeping their subtype when in elemental form, it allows for the druid to be affected by spells that elementals would not. It also means that they can be sneak attacked, flanked, and other nasty things that elementals just do not have to worry about.

As for the Awaken spell, since it's not a Target: Personal spell, you would need another Druid in the party or allied to it who would then have to have it prepared. I also believe that the DM would have to allow for it to be cast, since it does take 24 hours to cast... when you're the DM anything can happen in 24 hours.