Savage Worlds has a mechanic like this, they can be a lot of fun to add into a casual game, though I wouldn't want to use them in a serious session. Still, I might grab them to use for random dungeon crawls or as awards to good player behaviour.
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It serves as a useful placeholder for that effect (the regeneration of missing limbs), giving the GM an index for how potent/useful the regrowing of limbs and/or organs is for modeling other spells. It seems a tad weak on the healing it provides though for a level 6 spell, but I might allow it to be changed into a healing spell of lesser or equivalent level if cast on a whole target.
Thanks everyone, all those tips and ideas are exactly what I was looking for!
I find when trying to teach a new group rules, and the art of role-playing, there are a few useful tips;
When I picked up the Unearthed Arcana book for 3.0, the best thing I got out of that book was the Destiny Points. I don't like using them for all my campaigns, but they were great to introduce as "tokens" when the PCs co-operated with fate. In a recent book purge (I was moving out of country, though that didn't quite work out) I got rid of all my old gaming books. As it stands, I don't have a single d20-family book that has a Destiny/Fate/Plot/Force point system in it. Any suggestions on a good book to grab them from? And, more to the point, what have people found is one of the more balanced versions of these points. It's nice for the players to have something to give them an element of control in their games, and a great tool for a GM to influence play. Does Pathfinder have this system published somewhere yet?
Can I suggest a Feat for this? I had presumed, as well, before reading the last line that this was at will, then when I noticed it was limited to a certain number of times per day I shrugged and incorporated it. The answer to optimizing the claws is to make a Feat for the Bloodline. Improved Draconic Claws?
Just a thought.
I had a similar thing come up with Detect Evil. Had a Green Hag toying with the party while the Paladin scanned for her. I had her staying out of LOS by remaining submerged in the nearby lake, peeking out. Made an independent Stealth vs. Perception check each round to see if the Paladin made LOS with her, with a large bonus for the concealment. I rule that most creatures with invisibility know that standing in one place while people look around is no sure mean to stay undetected. With that knowledge, they do the best they can to avoid the problem. Also, I make sure the "detector" gets the information only on his action, and can't "point to a square"; they have to role-play having to describe the location, to add some interest and drama. Last, just because you know it's there doesn't mean you can avoid the penalties to fight an invisible target. Are they bipedal or quadrapedal? Spell won't tell you that. Are they crouching, do they have a shield? The person who has the detect spell has detected their presence alone, and is just fortunate enough to know which square to swing into.
We often play with friends, or make friends of our co-players. Our friends, much like our families, have annoying traits that can really drive us nuts. And we have traits that drive them nuts. That's life. But you can't change your friends, and have no right to enforce them to change their ways unless it's bad behavior. Even then, sometimes, it can be tough to get people to change BB. Simply telling one of them "that stuff you do, it really pisses me off" can be tough, or even kill friendships if done often enough. It's hard to find gaming groups in some places, and harder to find ones that can get together once jobs/kids/spouses enter the picture. When a player-character is frustrating me, I concentrate on making that character the center stage for a while. I can throw good stuff at them, then pummel them in the name of plot, and feel better about it afterwards. When a player is frustrating me, I tend to talk to them about it if I can. When I can't, I try to vent to a trustworthy friend about it to get the steam out from under the collar. I do, by the way, protest that the DM is not the boss. My workload as a DM/GM/ST for any game I run is huge compared to the players. It's my effort by far making the game happen, so if someone needs to be final word, it's got the be the one who's put the most time in. But the group is responsible for making the fun, drama and entertainment happen, so much like an acting troupe, "we're all in this together, but the Director has the final say".
Save or Die spells and effects are artifacts of an older day of AD&D imho, and there's the rub. I started playing in the late 80s, and the games I played rarely had "you pass you die" mechanics. They did have plenty of "you run out of hit points, you're dead" mechanics. There is something to a sense of fairness and choice that is being deferred to here. When people play cards, they quickly understand that the hand you're dealt is impartial, and it can give you good and bad hands that you are then responsible for playing out. If you loose, it's not the dealer's fault, or your own, it's the game. The DM is not the dealer when SoD is involved. This monster / antagonists was put into the mix, on purpose, with this stated consequences.
Now the savvy among you will say that damage is the same string here, and you're right. Except there are ways to mitigate damage coming in that may reflect the nature of the character being targeted. A Ring of Regeneration to heal the character's broken body as they lie gasping for life after the deadly spell, or some Potion long preserved for just such a life or death situation. Damage maintains the feeling of choice and fairness, and removes the "I kill you" sentiment from the hands of the DM. It's an illusion, for certain†, but that's part of games. There is also the issue of how does a spell just "kill" someone? There are too many ways to stop the life of a human being to ever list, but most of them involve trauma, not snuffing life-force. Damage is a good way to simulate this. Naturally, spells should exist to simulate the "I mangle your soul" spells, and they do; a good chunk of the Necromancy spells do just that. And then there's Power Word Kill, the ultimate "and you die" spell. It's a level 9, it's nasty and there's next to no way to avoid it (aside from 101+ current hit points or a Death Ward††). The existence of "you die" spells can change the balance of power quickly in a world into wizard's hands (Avada Kedavra comes to mind, and that one you would at least get a Reflex save against). The loveliness of giving wizards the raw power to slay mortals on the spot is tempting. And pointless; they have it. A decent wizard can kill and peasant, bishop or king by snapping their fingers, and never need to know Power Word Kill. The PCs are anything but normal people. They are head and shoulders above most mortals, and a wizard should not lightly be able to slay them. But it's not impossible at all. Likewise, the best Fighter in the world can crush any foe with blade or bow. They can fell the king, peasant or bishop with a single swing or loose of his weapon. Would we want to give the Fighter a "Cleave Asunder" ability in their class? They penetrate your AC and you die? I don't think Save or Die is dumb. I think the lack of spells that just outright kill you, no matter what, is not a problem in this or any game. And if death is becoming trivial, fix it. It's your game, play around with some of the conditions on Resurrection and you've fixed that problem. Or, make it rare as heck, and if/when a PC gets it, make their Deity give them quests to perform in service each time this awesome power is used. Make conditions on it, like "the one being restored must worship me from now on"... Always, always, own the game you bought. *It's also a tough part of being a DM is being just impartial enough to attack the right character. Using one of these spells on your best friend or *gulp* your partner at the table can be hard... or fun!
Most of the classes assume the character has spent their childhood mastering basic skills, then spent some time as an apprentice / journeyman to learn their trade. Much like most modern tweenagers and younger teens would not know how to drive, work efficiently, interact well, or do have any trade / skill of note, most fantasy tweens and young teens will be in the process of learning their craft. Allowing people to play young characters is fine if you want them to be able to play the "kid" archetype. The only thing to recall is, aside from cinema, this "helpful" kid in Fantasy is not the most common trope. Movies love it because it brings it to the kid's level, but kids used to identify with the "newbie" character in a story over the "kid with adult powers". Bilbo was inexperienced, not young. Ask the player if they can't play the "wet behind the ears" sort of character rather than the "many inches shorter with little muscle mass and an incomplete brain development" kind of character. This all being said, the modern age makes kids out to be more helpless than they actually are (though some gladly slip in to that role). To be fair, the advantage of being 5 to 10 years younger than other PCs rarely comes into play. The Curse of the Ages (Pathfinder 557) is one of the few aging effects I've seen, and this youth will give you 5 to 10 days of extra resistance, but otherwise what advantage does it hold? In an epic game spanning generations, it would make a short-lifespan character able to participate for longer. It's tempting to "realistically" reflect the downsides of children and teens and to lay the hurt down on the character, but it's largely "fluff" in game. If you want a realistic setting, the less-than-minimum-roll-age of any race is too young to have picked up an adventuring class. My own children, 8 and 9, have problems lifting anything heavy or paying attention / retaining data enough to not be helpful in a workplace, much less fight with sharp weapons and cast spells. I've dealt with a lot of young teens in my work, and most of them aren't focused or governed enough to master anything as complex as formalized fighting and calculus (ie: wizardry!), but are getting closer physically. If you want a cinematic, fun and frolic feel to your game, allow under-age but impose some penalties to interactions with serious adults (ie: imagine if Aragorn was a young teenager trying to counsel Theoden to ride to the summons of Gondor). Sorcerer's are the ideal young class, as a lot of the talents are natural. A last touch is the classic "immortal child" or "too much Potion of Youth" scenario. I played a Wizard who had been "blessed" by the Goddess of Youth, and was a six-year old child for eternity. We represented it by low, low, low maximum Strength and Constitution scores, though she was chronologically in her twenties. An adult made child has to deal with mostly physical problems, ie: low Strength and Constitution. It may be tempting to give kids more Charisma, but a trip to the mall or a McDonalds will likely cure anyone of that delusion. A final note of caution. In my own group we have a player who loves playing the young, spunky kid. This causes the campaign to constantly shift in certain directions, and can turn out to be frustrating for other character who constantly have to deal with it. Certain series have done well with having "the kid" along but not letting the tone be set by it (Firefly for example, before River became a Slayer in the movie *groan*). You have a player or two who want serious role-playing in towns, who want to mix it up in bars and brothels? The kid will be left out of certain action real soon (or your game gets very, very odd in a hurry). Imagine the awkwardness if the 12 year old male Bard does manage to seduce the barmaid, as any 12 year old boy would... and lets not even start about underage females and sex and violence. Likewise, the player playing the kid may have to deal with being told to shut-up in character, which can become painful after a while. |