Again, brilliant work!
I love the aesthetics on the booklet!
Some things I've noticed:
1) In the original Dune there was mention of stilltents, as part of the Fremkit, which is a Fremen desert survival kit (including a paracompass, a stilltent, maker hooks, a thumper and a fremkit manual).
Might also be cool to include a ruling on how to extract water from a corpse.
2) In the weapons section, the size of the weapons (light, one-handed, two-handed), the necessary proficiency (simple, martial, exotic, firearm and maybe Fremen) and the weapon group (for fighters' weapon training) are not included. It might also be good to mention which ones are firearms and which ones are not.
Dune is also a mishmash of cultures, are you allowing Eastern weapons?
3) In Dune, the Maula pistol was used to fire poison darts. In the current rules of Pathfinder, you can only apply poison to one 'attack', even in the case of ammunition. In general, it's a bit weird that magic or other enhancements apply to 50 pieces of ammo in one go, while poison applies to only one. This also makes it rather useless to use Maula pistols for poison. Maybe an idea to have them include a poison reservoir or something similar that allows ~10 projectiles to be poisoned at once?
Also, you mentioned that you're using the firearm rules of Pathfinder. The Maula pistol seems more like a crossbow (spring-loaded darts that are reloaded like a crossbow), so the firearm rules (like ignoring armor) might not fit so well.
4) The Stunner and Kindjal are not included in the weapons list, which were used in the original Dune: the Sardaukar used them in the assault on the Atreides on Arrakis. The stunner shoots a ('slow pellet') drug- or poison-tipped dart. I'd probably rule them as either a weapon that deals massive nonlethal damage or something with an inbuilt stunning, paralyzing or sleep-inducing poison-like effect. The kindjal was a large knife with a slightly curved double-blade approximately 20cm long. It was also classed as a short sword, so you could use those rules or maybe use reskinned wakizashis, falcatas or something similar.
5) The Pulse Sword seems rather expensive for what you get. It's the same price as a +4 melee weapon! Since Dune is a human-centric setting with little magic and thus little energy resistances or damage reduction, the partial sonic damage probably won't be that useful. I can't imagine anybody choosing a Pulse Sword over a +4 Falchion or a +4 Rapier (if they wanna use Weapon Finesse). At least the Lasgun gets an almost 5% instant death effect (if you wanna confirm, it'll probably 2.5%, also not sure if that's worth the equivalent of a +2 enhancement).
6) The Gom Jabbar seems massively overpowered (crit 19-20/x4), since damage in PF mostly comes from other bonuses (Str, magic, feats) instead of the damage die. It's especially overpowered if it is a light weapon (which seems logical for needle on a thimble).
Can you imagine a Str 20 fighter with two of those things?
At level 4, a fighter would have at least the TWF and weapon spec feats and +1 weapons. They've got 10% chance of a crit, let's say at least 50% chance of confirming (probably higher with the general low amount of armor in Dune), so in at least 5% of their attacks they'll have a confirmed critical hit.
On the main hand, the damage of a confirmed critical would be 9,5 (1.5 (damage die) + 5 (Str) + 2 (weapon specialization) + 1 (magic)) x4 = 38 damage!
The Falcata is considered the best melee weapon for exactly this reason :)
I'd probably rule the Gom Jabbar as a 1d1 damage weapon that does not allow an ability modifier on damage but increases the DC of a delivered poison by a small amount but a very large amount on a critical hit or called shot (+5 to +10 on the DC).
7) A bit of a side note: poisons are awful in Pathfinder. Overpriced, long crafting times (unless you take one specific feat, even then you can only make like ~20 doses of the weakest poison per week), inconsistently ruled, no ways to make them more effective and generally completely useless for PCs (1 Dex damage over 5 rounds, whoopdeedoo), although they're nice against PCs.
This is a shame since poisons feature very heavily in the Duniverse. Everyone and their grandmother use them for everything.
It'd be cool to include a poison creation system (there are a few out there on the internet) to invent a few new ones (like Chaumurky from Dune), include feats that improve poisons (higher DC with poisons you deliver or increased damage) and maybe even revisit some of the rules of poisons.
Admittedly, this might be a lot of work.
8) Since there is no magic and the only healing comes from doctors (5 hp/hour) or Suk doctors (20 hp/hour), PCs have no way of healing in combat or in the middle of adventures. Maybe an idea to include discounts on healing potions or wands of healing (reskinned as hypodermic injectors or something)?
9) Rangers can cast spells but there is no magic in the setting. Are their spells reskinned as special skills or equipment? If so, you could easily include some spellcasting classes (not primary casters of course). Alchemists, bards, inquisitors, ninjas (especially since some abilities resemble the Weirding Way) and maybe even maguses/magi could be used after some adjustments (no summoning spells for instance).
Whew, sorry for the long post. I had some time to mill over your setting in public transport yesterday.
Another two quick ideas (after watching Dune yesterday :P)
Feat: Fast on Defense, Slow on Attack
Prerequisite: Weapon Finesse
The character has been trained in the art of shield dueling as practiced by the Swordmasters of Ginaz. As long as the character wields one or two melee weapons that qualify for the Weapon Finesse feat, he or she receives a +1 Dodge bonus to AC and only takes a -2 penalty when making 'slow' attacks against shielded foes.
House: House Ginaz
House Ginaz was a Great House of the Landsraad during the time of the Faufreluches. House Ginaz was renowned throughout the Imperium for its Swordmaster School. Anyone who graduated from the Ginaz School was awarded the title Swordmaster of the Ginaz.
• +2 Dex: Members of House Ginaz possess good reflexes and are dexterous, agile and limber. They have a natural talent for athletics and receive vigorous physical training. This replaces the typical human ability score racial trait.
• Trained in the Arts of War and Dueling: Members of House Ginaz are trained in the ways of the Swordmasters of Ginaz, which are said to be more than mere soldiers. They are capable duelists, warmasters and tutors. Members of House Ginaz gain a +2 racial bonus on Acrobatics and Knowledge (Warfare) and always treat these skills as class skills. This replaces the typical bonus skill point of a human.
• Swordmastery: Members of House Ginaz gain the Fast on Defense, Slow on Attack feat as a bonus feat at level 1, even if they do not meet the prerequisites. Additionally, they are proficient with all simple and martial dagger- and sword-like melee weapons that qualify for the Weapon Finesse feat. This replaces the typical bonus feat of a human.
• Physical Characteristics: ...?
• Alignment: ...?
Maybe an idea to add a pre-Duncan Idaho Ghola template that can be used to resurrect characters?
Quick idea: the Ghola template can be applied to any dead character whose cells have been harvested after death. For a (high) fee, the Tleilaxu can clone the character, train and imprint him or her to resemble the original as much as possible. Apply this template and one negative level (representing the loss of memories).
Ability scores +2 Int and -2 Wis: the Tleilaxu have engineered Gholas to be quick learners to make them more easily trainable. Unfortunately, Gholas also have no true memories or experiences (only imprinted ones) and their will is rather malleable due to the mental programming.
Skill bonuses: Gholas receive a +20 bonus to Disguise checks to impersonate the original character.
Skill penalties: Gholas receive a -2 penalty to all social skills involving people who knew the original and are aware of the Ghola's true nature. This penalty is increased to -4 if these people are particularly suspicious of the Tleilaxu.
Mental programming: some Gholas have secretly been imprinted with hidden programming by the Tleilaxu (possibly at the behest of their clients). This programming varies in nature but usually comes down to a certain set of preset commands that become active in response to a specific trigger. If triggered, the Ghola becomes subject to an effect that emulates Dominate Person, in which the Ghola will take any actions necessary to fulfill his goal. This is unknown to the Ghola.
I am not planning on listing many examples of technology, only what is needed to play in the setting. The first line of the system changes reads: "Magic doesn’t exist. Some technology mimics the effect of magic items. Weapon enhancements able to be taken, but represent various forms of technology."
Crap, sorry missed that. Dealing with some sleep deprivation.
Great work on the houses by the way! Is the House Fenring ability completely restricted to prevent the House Atreides ability? It should probably apply to all prescience. A house wouldn't breed an ability specifically to counter another house's ability, especially if the opposing house's ability is unknown to themselves (which raises the question how house Fenring would know about it).
In the shields section, you mention that melee and ranged attacks that aren't made "slow" are completely negated. How do you visualize a ranged attack that has been made "slow"?
Do you use the Pathfinder firearm rules for ranged weapons? Is their damage modified by an ability score? Otherwise the ranged weapons are kinda useless.
Are you planning to feature magic items? In a lot of cases these could be represented by technological gear. You could style +1/+2 etc... weapons as a form of mastercrafted (or Ix-crafted) weapons.
Generally, I'd worry less about being faithful to the books and more about the playability of your rules.
Please don't think I'm just being negative, I love the work you're doing and I'm definitely keeping an eye on this thread. I really, really, really wanna play a Dune universe campaign now :)
And I'm definitely gonna rewatch the Sci-Fi channel miniseries this weekend :P
I'm just a bit concerned about the water ring rule. In our world (non-desert), not wearing a still suit and not performing strenuous activities, we'd expend on average 12*3 = 36 water rings during the day and 12*2 = 24 water rings during the night, for a total of 60 water rings! We'd have to drink 30 liters of water daily!
An average person (Con 10), wouldn't survive 5 hours of sleep during the night!
Even if 'non-desert' only concerns Arrakis, it seems a bit harsh. In fact, you'd probably die of water intoxication!
People have been known to die from drinking 4 liters of water in 2 hours. You wouldn't survive an attempt to refill your water rings after half a night's sleep.
PCs: "OK, it's gonna be a pain to escort you around so we're gonna kill you, stuff your corpse in a Bag of Holding, and resurrect you when we reach our destination."
NPC: "Wait, what?!? arghghgshdgd....."
It's not "cheesing" anything to actually apply those limitations when they should apply - dungeon's stink, and walls are often thick enough to block detection, the rules say so.
It's only 'cheesing' when you literally use cheese as an overwhelming smell ;)
Characters that use Stealth effectively should be rewarded for doing something different from the standard 'hit it with a sword' or 'magic it into oblivion' tactics!
(I can't believe that I'm seeing 'Stealth is OP' on these boards, where Rogues are generally considered the weakest class around)
Most of the time the Stealth of any focused PC is kinda ruined anyway because of the clunky armor of the rest of the party. Almost all stealthy characters I've ever seen were fragile and very hesitant to scout ahead on their own. One lucky spot check or something similar and the character is dead.
In addition, I've yet to see a Big Bad completely shut down by one stealthy character. Especially in a way that a caster couldn't do each and every turn (sneak attack doesn't scale as well as say... a fireball does)
^^^^ Y'know, it might be interesting to run through the magic item lists and hazard lists with that thought process in mind to see whether the SCP Foundation would classify them as Safe, Euclid, or Keter...
Now I wanna make an adventure where 682 is unleashed upon the unsuspecting world of Golarion.
Sooooo...... you could completely destroy Golarion and the whole planetary system by using Interplanetary Teleport on a piece of Brown Mold to transport it to the sun?
You could destroy an entire plane by planeshifting it to the Plane of Fire. Kinda surprised that hasn't happened yet, should be plenty of dungeons with both Gates and Brown Mold.
Many of us know of the decanter of endless water that, unlike create water makes no mention of the water leaving existence after it has poured in. If taken purely for its mechanics, one of these could be tossed into the ocean on geyser mode and destroy the world (it might take some time).
The decanter produces 5 gallons per second, or 22 litres. The Earth (which is probably roughly Golarion-sized) has a sea surface area of approx 3.6e8 km2. So each second, the sea would rise by about 60 attometres. Assuming that a 10cm sea surface rise is enough to cause some additional distress (need to rebuild a harbour wall, occasional flooding, etc), in a mere 50 million years someone might suggest switching the decanter off.
How about using a Cubic Gate? Permanent 20 foot diameter opening to the Elemental Plane of Water? Just not really if water and such are displaced through Gates.
The 10% chance per minute of an outsider coming through is also nice.
Would probably still take a few million years to hurt anyone :P
^^^^ Y'know, it might be interesting to run through the magic item lists and hazard lists with that thought process in mind to see whether the SCP Foundation would classify them as Safe, Euclid, or Keter...
Like the idea but isn't Keter defined by a "vigorous, active hostility to human life, civilization, and/or spacetime" and "capable of causing significant destruction in the event of a containment breach"?
All of that kinda indicates that only sentient SCPs would quality, so only intelligent magic items.
Hmm... would be actually cool to have a malevolent, omnicidal intelligent magical item like a sphere of annihilation.
Incidentally, some of Set's suggestions could qualify as Keter, shadows, maybe green slime but also ghouls are self-replicating, hostile and capable of great destruction.
Even when said character talks down to the npcs and literally gives them attitude? I understand many believe I am being possibly very biased, but as the personality of th.npcs there has been a number of incidences to lead me to this point, it was not just an isolated incident
I get the problem but if you have a problem with the player/pc, discuss it with him personally. Don't take it out on the character in an indirect, maybe even kinda petty way. Be mature, discuss your problems with his min maxing and lack of roleplaying as adults!
.... and don't invite him to future campaigns if your playstyles have irreconcilable differences
You handled it pretty well but I can see your player's point, although he shouldn't have a sense of entitlement as he appears to have (he shouldn't have expected you to throw him a free diamond).
In most cases I hate it when control is taken away from my character. Although it depends on the character I play, I would really really really hate it if my character concept was suddenly irreversibly changed in both crunch and fluff. It is a violation on multiple levels.
Can you imagine lovingly building a charismatic halfling duelist and suddenly reincarnating as a Troglodyte? Or playing a melee paladin and becoming a Goblin? That's not even going into race-specific crunch or the change in size category. It would be incredibly annoying to lose a racial ability that's necessary for your build (like a bite from Tiefling) or being suddenly unable to use your weapons and armor because you've grown/shrunk a size. In flavor it's even worse. Your whole 'self-image' is suddenly determined for you.
My problem with this varies from character to character, it's not much of a problem for the less serious ones.
The thing to consider is: he doesn't like being told how to play, just like you didn't like being told what loot to award. You both don't like having control taken away from your character/game.
Options I'd consider in this case:
1) Give the option to sell/transform his gear to pay for the diamond (his party shouldn't suffer for his convenience)
2) Give the party the option to use the resurrection item in a scrying-shielded location
3) Give the PC to option to get a Polymorph Any Object or something similar some time after the Reincarnation
Actually, now that I think about it. A swashbuckler-themed Monk archetype/alternate class (without the unarmed damage) is exactly the kind of character I've wanted to play for years.
1) Copy/clone: like you said, it can be used to create copies, clones or partial clones. It could be cool to create an mix-and-match clone that combines the best features of each PC into one big mutant, possibly possessed by a daemon.
Alternatively, start a sort of breeding program for emotional influence. If there are PCs of opposite sexes, mix their genes artificially to make an IVF baby or go the 'natural' route and grow clones at an accelerated pace, have them mate and carry the baby to term naturally. Can you think of a more distressing opponent than a brainwashed sort-of-child?
Another alternative is that the PCs are clones from here on out. Not sure how to justify the cuts though. You could have a classic 'I AM THE CLONE!' moment :)
2) Design: again, like you said the sample can be used to custom design something like a pathogen for the PC or the PC's race. Personally, I'd go for the PC's bloodline! Make a disease that infects the PC's loved ones, possibly killing them but it would be even better to let them slowly perish and demand something for the cure.
Alternatively, the daemon could create and train a specialized daemon nemesis for each PC.
3) Connection: like you said, it can be used to control. Combined with the above, it might provide control over members of the PC's bloodline. Personally I'd either go with control to get the PCs into trouble, remote demonic possession in at a bad time or simply spying. For added bonus, the sample could be used as a focal point for planar travel and teleportation. Would be nice to get an express route to the king's audience hall when the PCs are there :)
4) Vector: something that would be perfect is that the PCs have been made into Typhoid Mary's. They've been infected with the disease (or the airborne pathogens are continuously plane-shifted into their presence) but they themselves are immune. Unbeknownst to the PCs, they are the ones spreading the plague!
5) Implant: the daemon did not remove anything (maybe he lied about the 'sample') but he put something inside the PCs. A parasite, special magical suicide device, torture device, etc...
6) Extract: the daemon extracted something from the PCs. Possibly something vital to extort them or even their souls themselves. You could give the PCs a minor penalty and a minor bonus to reflect their current soullessness.
I highly disagree that evil should not get away it with through mechanical means. If anything evil should be rewarded in some ways, since it should be a temptation to 'fall'. There is absolutely no virtue in being good if you get punished 'from above' for straying.
Let me reiterate that: being good has no meaning at all if you are punished for being evil
The 'punishment' for being evil should come in indirect ways, such as the reputation among NPCs, the lack of quest hooks, the pursuit of law enforcement, the aimlessness of existence and the fact that you cannot trust anyone. I do admit that is very hard to properly GM evil players but it can be quite fun.
That being said, I've got almost no experience with PFS games so I do not know how much freedom a GM has to explore the consequences of being evil.
Regardless of your views on the matter there is one thing that you've got very wrong: evil creatures do not and should not take damage from positive energy.
Positive energy is not inherently good and negative energy is not inherently evil. They are elemental forces that are as much good or evil as fire, water, earth and air are.
Negative energy is anti-life and creates undead, which are often evil, but negative energy has no moral or ethical value whatsoever. Just check the Inflict [...] Wounds spells, they have no 'evil' descriptor. Yes it can be used to hurt people but so can fire, water or weapons. Bloody hell, so can positive energy: you can die from overexposure to positive energy (check the Positive-Dominant quality of Planes).
Swashbuckler's Scabbard: this magical scabbard is used by actors and vain duelists. When a bladed weapon is drawn from the scabbard, a minor magical effect makes the blade emit a well-audible "schwinggggg" sound and it briefly shines with a flash of light. The scabbard grants +2 on any performance checks involving the blade.
Prismatic Hairband: this simple hairband has been enchanted with a variation of the Prestidigitation spell. As a result, it slowly and continuously changes the color of the hair of the wearer to random bright colors.
Shining Hands: these simple leather gloves are able to cast the spell Light at will with CL 1. By slightly opening or closing his hand, the wearer can change the direction of the light from a 360 degree arc (opened hand) to a narrow 15 degree beam (mostly closed hand).
Thermug: this enchantment can be used on any drink container that is appropriately sized for a Medium or Small creature (examples are mugs, glasses, bottles etc...). A ring of metal runs along the bottom of the container. This ring can be turned clockwise and counterclockwise to adjust the temperature of the liquid within. The temperature ranges from that of a refreshingly cool iced drink to that hot tea or coffee. While the temperature can be high enough to cause unpleasant burns in the mouth, it is not high enough to damage anyone.
Love this! Original god, original story and a damn good fit with the general feeling I get from humans: 'spare parts', antagonistic, flawed, destructive and prone to infighting but also challenging, flexible, dynamic, creative and no-nonsense.
Some of these I already posted in a different thread.
1) Cast Light on a stone that you place in a tube like a scabbard to make a directed flashlight that you can turn off and on.
2) Cast Prestidigitation to change a few stones into bright colors, which I used as signal stones to people waiting outside while we cleared a building. (e.g. red stone = enemy coming out, green stone = all OK, etc.)
3) When travelling with an NPC I cast Prestidigitation to create an imitation of a cult's tattoo on the palm of my hand. Over an hour or so I indicated to each individual party member that I suspected that NPC of belonging to that cult by opening my hand and showing my palm to that PC and pointing at the NPC
4) Cast Prestidigitation to change to color of my robes to fit the environment, to get a circumstance bonus to Stealth
5) Cast Plane Shift as an instant death spell by shifting the target to another plane, like the Elemental Plane of Water or preferably the Hell or Abyss if it was a bad guy.
6) Created instant death traps by casting Glyph of Warding with Hold Person on a bridge, the supports of which had been partially sawed-through. If an enemy stepped on the bridge, he'd be paralyzed and drop into the river flowing beneath it, drowning.
53. The Glimmer Trading Guild
The first multinational company in the world, the famous and powerful Glimmer Trading Guild had humble origins as recently as 200 years ago, when the gnome merchant Marqash Glimmer set out on his first travels as a small-time merchant. Marqash Glimmer, having adopted his last name from a nickname that mocked his greed, was shrewd and resourceful and after some ups and downs was able to amass great wealth in his first 75 years of trading. Eventually, he started recruiting young and ambitious members of merchant guilds to expand his reach and establishing a trading empire. These days, the Glimmer Trading Guild, still run by the veritable but bitter Marqash Glimmer, has caravans on most roads, ships in most seas and offices in every major city on the continent and several offices on other continents. Most of his extended family, including children, grand-children and great-grandchildren, are employed by the Glimmer Trading Guild but wealth has made many of them decadent and useless in Marqash’s eyes. His family is rarely promoted to prominent positions, being limited to managing one office of at most one city, and Marqash is bitter about his lack of suitable heirs. The Glimmer Trading Guild employs some full-time guards but still heavily depends on mercenaries and mercenary companies for the protection of its caravans and ships. The Glimmer Trading Guild is large enough to employ its own diplomats, internal police force and even small villages, having become a sort of pseudo-nation (similar to the Hanseatic League).
I know next to nothing of Mythic PF so I'll keep to pre-Mythic PF stuff.
Specific builds:
If you rule that the Caster Level of 20 levels of a class stacks with prestige classes.:
Overlord of the Arcane/Divine
Any primary caster class + 3x a prestige class with full spell progression.
Kinda speaks for itself, CL 50!.
Avatar of Nethys
Cleric/Oracle 20; Wizard/Sorcerer/Witch 20; Mystic Theurge 10
Caster level 30 on both Divine and Arcane spells? Hell yeah. Not just because of access to Divine and Arcane spells but due to the fact you have a CL 30 in each class.
Additionally, you can cast Miracle and Wish simultaneously 1/day, which is just fantastic.
If you rule that the CL of a prestige class does not stack with 20 levels of a base class.:
Sonata of Nethys
Cleric/Oracle 10; Wizard/Sorcerer/Witch 10; Mystic Theurge 10; Bard 20.
Caster level 20 in both Divine and Arcane spells and a skill monkey to boot? I'd probably play this class, just because you can excel in anything in the game.
Rage of Heavens
Oracle 13, Barbarian 20, Rage Prophet 10, .... 7?
Ragecaster: When using moment of clarity, he adds his barbarian level to his caster level. Yeah, Ragecaster makes you a GOD. Caster level 40 when the max CL is generally 20? Yes please!
Not sure what to fill the last 7 levels with though. Possibly something that gives immunity to fatigue so you can rage-cycle or Monk for the WIS to AC and abilities.
[Edit]: ah, a Lame Oracle is already immune to fatigue. So 7 levels of Monk? Maybe get 7 levels of Commoner just to mock the rest of the party?
As someone who's played quite a bit of ELH campaigns: it can be incredibly fun and it allowed a unique twist on DnD. The spell-designing system alone was fantastic, as I completely adore character customization and design.
That being said, I've encountered few products that allowed for as much abuse by players as the ELH.
Stuff I've seen/done:
1) A Psion with the Leadership feat to get an army of psions who once per week casted a spell ('Bigsby's Big Bada Brain Boost') that boosted his Intelligence by 40, resulting in ungodly amounts of power points.
2) A Druid with an awakened monkey druids as a animal companion, a cohort and followers, each of which also had awakened monkey druids as animal companions, cohorts etc.... All of which assisted in his non-combat spellcasting, resulting in unbelievably powerful spells.
3) Rogues that are simply undetectable, without using invisibility (as there are spells against that). Simply ungodly Hide&Move Silent (Stealth in PF), that made it impossible for anyone who didn't have epic-level specialization in Spot&Listen (Perception in PF) to ever notice them. One prestige class even made you forget he ever existed!
4) Diplomancers (characters completely devoted to Diplomacy and Bluff) that were able to get any single person to be fanatically devoted to them unless they had epic-level specialization in Sense Motive.
The ELH was usable and allowed for unique and incredibly fun campaigns, as long as the players had enough wisdom to avoid abusing it and cooperated with the DM/GM
How was your epic monk not immune to the poison I wonder?
Like I said, no magical stuff helps against the poison. As for class-based immunities, I don't remember, I probably took a prestige class or something.
[Edit]: Ah, the poison immunity of Monks was Supernatural in 3.5, which was/the DM probably ruled to be negated by the antimagic poison. It was more than 7 years ago, can't remember which it was exactly.
I'd love to see a product like this. I'd just add one or two other features like
- How to make a villain complex
How do you create a villain that is sufficiently villainous, antagonistic and fun to oppose while not resorting to cliches or cookie-cutter bad guys?
- How to handle the interaction between players and a (recurring) villain
One of the biggest problems I've had in GMing was how to handle the villain-player interaction. The PCs have a tendency to kill anything they come across and it's quite difficult to make a villain recur without resorting to deus ex machina. If the villain escapes (that's a big if, with all the PC options), that will just frustrate the players. If the villain resurrects, the PCs will just make sure he can't next time. If... etc... The problem is that you often either have to take away some of the freedoms of your players or you have to accept that the villain you spent 4 hours creating was killed in 15 minutes of combat.
In addition, how do you foster a nice little antagonism between the PCs and the villain? Even in roleplay-heavy parties it can be difficult to get the PCs sufficiently invested in a villain (without hurting their characters in a mechanical way).
There was one Epic game in 3.5 in which the Druid used Animal Companion and Leadership to get awakened monkey druids as a companion, a cohort and followers. Each of which also used Animal Companion and Leadership to get awakened monkey druids as companions, cohorts and followers. Each of which... you get the picture.
Aside from the hilarious legion of screaming and poop-flinging monkeys, one of the best parts was that you could make incredibly powerful Epic spells that required cooperative casting with lower level characters. While these were not completely viable in combat, you can imagine what a buff spell with >1000 casters looks like.
Hanky-Panky: When when waved at a person that is looking at the user, the target becomes affected by Unnatural Lust (CL 5) with a duration of 1D6 hours. The user of the Hanky-Panky is the object of the target's lust. The Hanky-Panky can only be used once, after which it is destroyed.
Well, I know what the plot for my next game I run is....Isle of time time...clockwork dinos!..Andoroids...clockwork everything!
Heheh, yeah it's something I've been playing around with for a while as well, a clockwork-themed (or rather, bad clockwork puns-themed) dungeon inhabited by a crazed artificer called the Clocksmith. The enemies include Clockroaches, Clockatrices, Clocktopuses, Peaclocks, Flintclock traps, Clock Lobsters etc....
I'm not saying it's healthy. Just saying nature is messed up
Might've come out a bit harsh and/or weird, sorry. It's just that in general blindly considering "natural" to be good, moral or desirable is a bit of an annoyance to me.
This is only marginally related, but I can tell you why there are no half-mermaid, half-humans running around-
A fish generally reproduces by laying its eggs, then the male sprays his seed over the eggs to fertilize them. Telling you, there must be a lot of disappointing adventurers/sailors out there after seducing a mermaid.
There are multiple threads on using Quick Draw in conjunction with natural weapons, unarmed strikes, gauntlets, armor spikes etc...
This cheese is not allowed.
You cannot use the same limb to attack more times than determined by your BAB and/or TWF feats.
[Edit]: the only semi-exception is a Monk, as he uses his whole body as Unarmed Strike. He could use a different monk weapon in each hand and then the rest of his body as a third weapon for the rest of his flurry.
Really, really, really scarily primal stuff, like the fever dreams of druids.
Sort of a mix of the Dreaming of the Australian Aboriginals and Lewis Carrol, or better yet American McGee's Alice
Seriously, if you like using Fey, read the Dresden Files or possibly Terry Pratchett's Lords and Ladies.
Bloody hell they're scary forces of nature. Not good, not bad, just.... themselves
Motivation for Evil Druids? Easy peasy: completely giving into the primal urges of nature. Kill, eat, screw, no matter who it hurts. Animals and plants are not 'in balance'. They get balanced by starvation or predators. Given the chance, any given animal species would unthinkingly indulge in their urges until extinction. A druid who gives into that is evil by humanoid morality but 'natural' in the myriad eyes of Mother Nature.
