| Brit O |
The mechanic for being woken by different noises and stuff are already covered in the core rules, but are so often overlooked because the -10 modifier just reads as "Impossible" to players.
Adding this rule to core adds a cool character ability people can pick up and that will make the rule appear more in gameplay and also let people worry a little less about watch at night knowing that they MIGHT get woken up by something.
As a note to this request, I'd like to mention that I had an encounter where the character on watch was attacked and managed to put up a fight. Mid-fight one of the players remembered this rule and asked for a roll. I allowed it excited that the remembered the rule. He rolled it, applied the penalty and failed. He wasn't even untrained, just cross-classed into it with a poor roll. Eventually everyone woke up but that penalty is just so big it'd be nice to apply this rule every once and awhile.
For anyone who doesn't know this Feat I'll include it and make the listen to perception change:
Light Sleeper
Prerequisites: 1 Rank Perception
While your character is asleep he takes a -5 penalty on perception checks based on noise.
Normal: -10 penalty to perception checks while sleeping.
| Freesword |
The mechanic for being woken by different noises and stuff are already covered in the core rules, but are so often overlooked because the -10 modifier just reads as "Impossible" to players.
Adding this rule to core adds a cool character ability people can pick up and that will make the rule appear more in gameplay and also let people worry a little less about watch at night knowing that they MIGHT get woken up by something.
As a note to this request, I'd like to mention that I had an encounter where the character on watch was attacked and managed to put up a fight. Mid-fight one of the players remembered this rule and asked for a roll. I allowed it excited that the remembered the rule. He rolled it, applied the penalty and failed. He wasn't even untrained, just cross-classed into it with a poor roll. Eventually everyone woke up but that penalty is just so big it'd be nice to apply this rule every once and awhile.
You should be aware that in situations where the PC have a chance to hear something that might wake them up the DM should either call for listen checks or make them for the players and tell them that they hear something it they succeed.
As for your example, the DC to hear a battle (which the encounter you described would be considered) is -10. That means the PC at -10 to their check with no other modifier added succeeds on a roll of 0. The PC would only have to roll high enough to beat the modifiers for intervening doors/walls and distance.
That being said, I have nothing against the idea of the Light Sleeper feat, but it strikes me as a relatively weak feat and there are much more useful feats. Right now Skill Focus in Perception would give almost as much benefit (2 less) in this case but be more useful overall. And Skill Focus is considered by many a wasted feat (I've actually taken it because it fit the character thematically better than other choices and was asked why when there are better feats).
| Brit O |
You should be aware that in situations where the PC have a chance to hear something that might wake them up the DM should either call for listen checks or make them for the players and tell them that they hear something it they succeed.
As for your example, the DC to hear a battle (which the encounter you described would be considered) is -10. That means the PC at -10 to their check with no other modifier added succeeds on a roll of 0. The PC would only have to roll high enough to beat the modifiers for intervening doors/walls and distance.
That being said, I have nothing against the idea of the Light Sleeper feat, but it strikes me as a relatively weak feat and there are much more useful feats. Right now Skill Focus in Perception would give almost as much benefit (2 less) in this case but be more useful overall. And Skill Focus is considered by many a wasted feat (I've actually taken it because it fit the character thematically better than other choices and was asked why when there are better feats).
I realized that after he asked for it. We are pretty lenient on the night ambushes. None of us enjoy them, and they are usually reserved for plot devices; not the DMs amusement.
The player failed due to a low roll (4 or 5 I think).
As for the modifier I agree a +5 under circumstances is small cheese. I took skill focus over combat casting a lot when I played casters. One of the benefits of having both available though is that they combine. Including this is core as I have written could mean a lvl 1 human ranger could take both and be the best night owl the group has.
Even if it doesn't become core I'm sure I'll houserule this, I'd just like to pitch it and share it because adding it as a 'core' feat in my group improved our fun. Night ambushes weren't quite as bad when some players had a decent chance of being woken up, and that meant we used them a bit more often.