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Last week during a discussion about rangers (Pathfinder 2nd Ranger, comment #59), I had looked over the snare rules and realized that they were unworkable as a ranger specialty. I decided to rewrite them. If Pathfinder 2nd Edition has the same snare rules as the playtest, I will probably use my rewritten snare rules as a house rule.
In rewriting the rules, I saw that most problems came from one mistaken decision: using the Crafting rules for snares. The Crafting rules are for making items out of raw materials. A ranger setting up a snare in the forest is not hammering iron bar stock into the shape of a snare; instead, he is pounding stakes into the ground and attacking wires to the stakes. This is not crafting. This is more like setting up a tent or fastening a saddle to a horse or strapping on armor.
The following item and three feats replace the 3 Snare Kits on page 185, the Snare Crafting feat on page 171, the Snare Savant and Quick Snares feats on page 116, and the Powerful Snares and Improvised Snare feats on page 117.
Snare Kit: Price 50 sp, Bulk 2, Hands 2
This kit contains tools, ropes, wires, and connectors for setting up snares.
HIDDEN SNARES feat 1
General, Skill
Prerequisite Trained in Survival
General, Skill
You can set up a snare in 10 minutes. When you set up a snare, you may alter its Stealth DC to equal your Stealth DC.
SNARE SAVANT feat 1
Ranger
Prerequisite Trained in Survival
You gain the Hidden Snares feat and you can set up a snare in 1 minute. You can use rope as an improvised snare kit that gives a -2 circumstance penalty to the Survival checks and DC of your snares.
SECRET SNARE feat 8
Ranger
Prerequisite Expert in Survival, Snare Savant
While scouting an area undetected, you can spend one minute setting up an inactive secret snare in any square that was adjacent to your path. You do not need to decide on the type or location of snare at this time. Later the same day, when you are in the area, you can spend an Operate action to make the snare active, declaring its type and location and removing the parts and consumables from your inventory. If a target is in the square of the snare, you make a Stealth check against the target's Perception DC. On success, the snare triggers on that target. On failure, the snare is destroyed without triggering.
The following replaces the 2-page Snares section on pages 357 and 358 in the Treasure chapter.
SNARES
Snares are simple traps you can set up using the Survival skill. Snares are hazards that have the snare trait. The pieces of a snare are crafted in advance, so the snare is considered already crafted. Nevertheless, the snare has to be set up in location, using the Survival skill, a snare kit (see page 187), and some amount of snare components.
SNARES AS HAZARDS
A snare occupies a single 5-foot square. Some snares have tripwires that extend beyond that square. A tripwire is an unbroken wire-thin path from the snare and its length is the number of squares it passes through, counting a section of tripwire on the edge between two squares as one square long. The tripwire path does not have to be straight. A tripwire on the edge between two squares is tripped if a creature moves across it and a tripwire through the interior of a square is tripped if a creature enters the square. The trigger for a snare is a Small or larger creature entering its square or tripping its tripwire at ground level. Jumping or flying over a snare or tripwire does not trigger it. The target of a snare is the creature that triggered it. A snare has AC 14, TAC 10, hardness 4, Fort +4, and Ref +0. One dent destroys it. An attack that hits but does not dent the snare triggers it, and the attacker is affected by the snare as if he or she were in its square. Snares are used up (destroyed) by their effect, so they trigger only once. The common hazard levels of a snare are "none" when the snare does not directly threaten its target or 0 when the hazard can damage or impede the target. Upgrading a snare with better parts or consumables can raise its hazard level.
SETTING UP SNARES
You assemble a snare out of components you carry provided that you have sufficient Survival proficiency rank. The required proficiency rank is listed after "Survival" in the entry for that snare. The components come in three types: snare kit, parts, and consumbables. The snare kit is the resusable supplies for the snare and the snare kit provides as much as you need. The parts are the durable durable components and become part of the snare. They can be salvaged later. The consumbles are components that are used up in the triggering of the snare. The parts and consumables necessary to set up a particular snare are listed in the snare's entry. The character who set up a snare is known as its builder, and the builder's Survival modifier determines the checks and DC of the snare. Setting up a snare requires half an hour, but the Hidden Snares feat reduces the time to 10 minutes.
Only one snare can be set up in any square, but tripwires of different snares may overlap.
DETECTING SNARES
Creatures can detect snares as they would any trap or hazard (see page 341), using the snare’s Stealth DC. The GM secretly rolls a Perception check for the character as a free action just before the character would trigger the snare, and warns the player to avoid the snare or its tripwire. A Seek action can find the snare under other circumstances. A snare set up by a character with Hidden Snare feat may use the character's Stealth DC instead. The Point Out action can make the snare sensed by other characters. Someone who senses a snare knows the location of the snare and its tripwires.
DISABLING SNARES
Once you discover a snare, you can disable it much like other physical traps, requiring only one success from the Disable a Device action of the Thievery skill and using the Disable DC of the snare. A critical failure on Disable Device affected the character as if he or she were the target of the trap. A critical success on Disable check can temporarily deactive it with only one Interact action necessary to reactive it. If the character can reach a tripwire but not the snare's square, the tripwire alone can be disabled. The character who set up a snare always succeeds or critical succeeds to disable it: failures and critical failures are upgraded to success.
A snare left out in the weather becomes disabled after one week. A snare protected from the weather becomes disabled after one year.
SALVAGING SNARES
After a snare has been triggered, the parts may be salvaged intact through an Interact action. Consumables have been consumed. After a snare has been disabled, both parts and consumables may be salvaged intact. After a square has been destroyed by an attack, the parts may be salvaged in broken condition.
ALARM SNARE hazard none
Mechanical, Snare, Trap
Stealth DC 16
Description This snare has a tripwire up to 100 feet long. When triggered, it releases a weight that rings the snare's bell for two rounds, alerting people nearby. Triggering the snare deactivates it rather than destroys it, and it can be reset by an Interact action by any character to raise the weight again.
Disable DC 4 Parts A small bell (8 cp) Survival Trained
ALCHEMICAL BOMB SNARE hazard 0
Stealth DC 12
Alchemical, Mechanical, Snare, Trap
Description The snare throws an alchemical bomb (page 359) at the target. The attack roll is a Survival check using the builder's Survival modifier. The bomb is the consumable built into the snare, such as an acid flask, alchemist's fire, bottled lightning, liquid ice, tanglefoot bag, or thunderstone. The attack the traits of the bomb attack, and splash damage could reach beyond the snare's square. Using a higher-level bomb increases the hazard level to one less than the level of the bomb.
Disable DC 14 Consumables An alchemical bomb (30 sp) Survival Trained
ARROW SNARE hazard 1
Mechanical, Snare, Trap
Stealth DC 16
Description This snare has a tripwire up to 50 feet long that must be laid out inside a straight line of squares (see diagram on page 298 for shapes of lines). When triggered, it shoots an arrow or bolt along the line of squares at the target. The attack roll is a Survival check using the builder's Survival modifier. The damage from the arrow is crossbow damage with strength modifier 0. The arrow is the consumable built into the snare. Using an arrow with special properties could increase the hazard level to one less than the level of the arrow.
Disable DC 10 Consumables An arrow or crossbow bolt (1 sp) Survival Expert
DAGGER SNARE hazard 0
Stealth DC 12
Mechanical, Snare, Trap
Description This snare stabs the target with a dagger. The attack roll is a Survival check using the builder's Survival modifier. The damage is the dagger's weapon damage with strength modifier 0. The dagger is the part built into the snare. Using a dagger with special properties could increase the hazard level to one less than the level of the dagger.
Disable DC 10 Parts A dagger (1 sp) Survival Trained
Special If expert in Survival, you may substitute any simple or martial one-handed melee weapon for the dagger. The snare's damage is the weapon's damage.
DEADFALL SNARE hazard 0
Stealth DC 16
Mechanical, Snare, Trap
Description This snare's use of local materials makes it harder to detect. A heavy boulder or log unexpected falls on the target. The target attempt a Reflex save versus the builder's Survival DC.
Success The target is unaffected.
Failure The target takes 1d8 bludgeoning damage.
Critical Failure The target takes 2d8 bludgeoning damage and is grabbed with escape DC 10.
Disable DC 8 Parts A log, boulder, or heavy object with bulk at least 10. Survival Trained
DROPPED NET SNARE hazard 0
Stealth DC 12
Mechanical, Snare, Trap
Description This snare drops a net on the target. The target attempt a Reflex save versus the builder's Survival DC. On failure, the target is entangled (page 321) by the net. Any creature can end the entangled condition by spending 2 consecutive Interact actions to remove the net.
Disable DC 14 Parts A net (2 sp) and a tall structure, such as a ceiling or adjacent tree, to hold the net above the square. Survival Trained
FLAMING OIL SNARE hazard 1
Stealth DC 12
Mechanical, Snare, Trap
Description This snare covers the target in oil and ignites the oil. The target attempt a Reflex save versus the builder's Survival DC.
Critical Success The trap is disabled and the oli is spilled on the ground.
Success The square is on fire for 3 rounds. Any creature crossing the square or occupying the square at the start of its turn takes 1d4 fire damage.
Failure The target takes 1d6 fire damage and 1 persistent fire damage.
Critical Failure The target takes 2d6 fire damage and 2 persistent fire damage.
Disable DC 10 Parts Flint and Steel (5 cp) Consumables Oil (1 cp) Survival Expert
HUNTING SNARE hazard none
Stealth DC 12
Mechanical, Snare
This snare is a trap only for tiny or smaller animals. If you set up this snare at the beginning of a Survive in the Wild activity, then you receive a +2 item bonus to the Survive in the Wild's Survival check.
Disable DC 0 Survival Trained
LEG SNARE hazard 0
Mechanical, Snare, Trap
Stealth DC 12
Description The wire loop of this snare catches the leg of the target, unless the target succeeds at a Reflex save versus the builder's Survival DC. A creature caught by the leg snare gains the Immobile condition until someone uses an Interact action to loosen the loop and someone uses another Interact action to remove the loop from the leg. A creature without legs cannot trigger the leg snare.
Disable DC 0 Parts A pillar, tree, mounted bracket, or heavy object to anchor the snare. Survival Trained
MARKING SNARE hazard none
Mechanical, Snare, Trap
Stealth DC 16
Description This snare splashes ink on the target to mark it. The marking grants a +2 circumstance bonus to track the target for up to 24 hours
or until the ink is washed off (requiring at least a gallon of water and 10 minutes of scrubbing). The target must attempt a Reflex saving throw versus the builder's Survival DC.
Success The target is unaffected.
Failure The snare marks the target.
Critical Failure The snare marks the target, and the target is blinded until the end of its next turn.
Disable DC 8 Parts Ink (1 sp) Survival Trained
Special If expert in Survival, you may use a scent marker instead of ink. If the target fails a DC 12 Perception check (DC 5 with scent ability), he does not realize he is marked.
SUSPENDED NET SNARE hazard 1
Stealth DC 12
Mechanical, Snare, Trap
Description This snare lifts up a net to catch the target. The target must attempt a Reflex save versus the builder's Survival DC. On failure, the target is restrained (page 321) by the net. The Escape DC of the suspended net is 20 and the Break Grapple DC is 25. A successful Break Grapple breaks the net and releases its captives.
Disable DC 18 Parts A net (2 sp) and a tall structure, such as a ceiling or adjacent tree, to hold the net above the square. Survival Expert
TRIPLINE SNARE hazard 0
Stealth DC 16
Snare, Trap
Description This snare is a well-anchored wire placed to trip people who cross it. The target must attempt a Reflex save versus the builder's Survival DC. On failure, the target trips and falls prone.
Disable DC 8 Survival Trained
I may want to invent magical snare trinkets as consumables for higher-level snares.
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After reading the snare descriptions I must say, I like the scaling by using normal alchemical bombs, weapons and ammunition as snare parts. That is also the part of more powerful snares that uses the crafting rules. Really nice.
A small discussion in Effects of Skill Ranges on Skill Usage made me realize two oversights in my rewritten snare rules.
1. Resets. I had written an easy reset into Alarm Snare because I figure that other party members will want to reset it while the ranger sleeps. But I had forgotten that the other snares will probably be easy to reset than to set up in the first place.
Thus, new rule: To set up the same snare in the same place takes only 20% the time to set it up the first time.
2. Single Use. Most snares are single use, since a boulder falls, a dagger stabs outward, or an bomb explodes. But the Tripline Snare does use up anything when it trips someone. So it should get a line, "This snare is not destroyed when triggered."
Still continuing the discussion from Effects of Skill Ranges on Skill Usage, where the issue of set-up time arose.
Those timespans are too large. It does not take an hour to string a wire around the place and hang a bell on it.
(Which, for the record, is what the original Alarm spell was)
I had copied the usual time intervals used in the playtest: 1 round, 1 minute, 10 minutes, 1 hour, and 1 day. One minute seemed appropriate for a Snare Savant ranger, 10 minutes seemed reasonable with experience, and 1 hour was the next time interval in the sequence. However, Draco18s is right that 1 hour is too long for most of the hazard 0 snares.
How about the following?
Snare Savant ranger: 1 minute
Hidden Snares featholder: 5 minutes
Trained in Survival: 10 minutes
For an Alarm Snare, a simple bell on a strung wire would not work. The wire would have too much friction without some pulleys or other sliders. Attaching the pulleys would take more time.
I average together the set-up times for all the snares rather than inventing a set-up time for each individual snares in order to simplify snare use. Thus, simple snares don't recieve a time advantage.
Sure, its probably more than a single bell depending on the length of the string, I'll grant that, but it still seemed absurd.
It was especially cumbersome for the damaging or disabling snare types, you know, those ones that come up in combat. It fell into the "why the b*+#*&&s would I ever do this?" realm of sheer uselessness.
I'm not even sure that at the extreme end of "one round" (I think we can both agree that 3 actions to set most snares requires insane levels of suspension of disbelief, of course Legendary and suchlike come into play, but we can set that aside for the moment) would I ever find a way to use a snare in combat. As such, I would never spend a class feat involving snares. There are so many better things I could be doing instead.
Even three actions to pick any square within 30 feet and not even need to move or change what I have in my hands I'd probably still go, "I dunno, is this really a better use of my time than firing 3 arrows?"
Remember, for 2 I can ready an action to shoot someone.
Sure, its probably more than a single bell depending on the length of the string, I'll grant that, but it still seemed absurd.
It was especially cumbersome for the damaging or disabling snare types, you know, those ones that come up in combat. It fell into the "why the b$&@~%%s would I ever do this?" realm of sheer uselessness.
I'm not even sure that at the extreme end of "one round" (I think we can both agree that 3 actions to set most snares requires insane levels of suspension of disbelief, of course Legendary and suchlike come into play, but we can set that aside for the moment) would I ever find a way to use a snare in combat. As such, I would never spend a class feat involving snares. There are so many better things I could be doing instead.
Even three actions to pick any square within 30 feet and not even need to move or change what I have in my hands I'd probably still go, "I dunno, is this really a better use of my time than firing 3 arrows?"
Remember, for 2 I can ready an action to shoot someone.
I don't see snares as an effective combat tool, especially not the playtest snares. Instead, I see them as a pre-combat tool to help the party while resting in case combat breaks out.
When the party beds down for the night, an Alarm Snare can be set up around a campsite to aid the people keeping watch. If the party sleeps in an inn, an Alarm Snare at the door could prevent nighttime burglary. With the Treat Woulds 10-minute activity becoming a major source of healing, character could also take the precaution of setting up a Tripline Snare at the entrance to their sheltering room in case enemies find them while the party treats wounds. If the party is going forward in a dungeon and the hallway branches, leaving a snare at a bypassed branch could serve as a precaution against being attacked from behind.
My Hunting Snare gives a +2 item bonus to Survive in the Wild. I don't know of any other item that aids that action.
Under the playtest rules, making a snare requires trained Crafting, Snare Crafting skill feat, an 8-bulk snare kit, and paying the snare's full cost as the character makes it (I have no idea to whom the character is paying the money. I would pretend that it represents the character having purchased the parts a few days ago.). The Alarm snare on page 357 costs 2 gp and covers only a single 5-foot-by-5-foot square. And the parts are not reusable.
My pre-combat uses of snares are not worth the Snare Crafting feat. They are also not worth lugging around the 8-bulk snare kit nor pying 2 gp for an immovable single-use snare. Therefore, I decided to rewrite the snare rules. My snares are free, after initial purchases such as a snare kits and a dagger for the Dagger Snare. They don't cost 2 gp to set up and an untriggered snare can be taken down for reuse in two actions (one Disable action and one Interact action).
The Secret Snare feat does allow using snares in combat. Instead of Quick Snare's incredible act of setting up a snare in three rounds, Secret Snare pretends that the snare-builder hid a snare in that location in advance and no-one noticed it. Okay, it is unbelievable and silly, but amusing enough that I think players will like it better. The builder of secret snares takes one Operate action in combat to activate the well-hidden snare, and then the snare might do as much damage as one attack. That seems balanced. Its only advantage over making an attack is that it does not suffer a multiple attack penalty.
Oh sure, and I totally understand all of that.
But I wouldn't spend a class feat on it because it's not a combat feature, but an exploration mode or downtime feature. If I'm spending a class feat on something, I expect it to be at least as good as spending the same actions making basic attacks (some variance allowed for buff/debuff effects, of course).
Oh sure, and I totally understand all of that.
But I wouldn't spend a class feat on it because it's not a combat feature, but an exploration mode or downtime feature. If I'm spending a class feat on something, I expect it to be at least as good as spending the same actions making basic attacks (some variance allowed for buff/debuff effects, of course).
Okay, let us see what my snare rules can do without spending a feat.
Imagine a 1st-level party delving in a cave system inhabited by goblins. The party finally has a break in combat and retreats to a blind alley branch of the caves to Treat Wounds. The monk in the party is trained in Survival and carries a snare kit. While the paladin spends 10 minutes treating wounds, the monk spends 10 minutes setting up a Tripline Snare at the mouth of their little cave. Treat Wounds does not require that the patients sit still.
The paladin fails his first Treat Wounds, so the party takes a second 10 minutes dealing with their wounds. And during that time, two Goblin Commandos pass by the mouth of the branch, hear sounds within, and go in under Stealth.
The first goblin rolls a 15 (10 on the d20) on the DC 16 Perception check to spot the snare, so he does not see it. He steps over the tripline and has to make a DC 14 Reflex save to avoid tripping (the DC is the monk's Survival DC). Goblin Commandos have +5 Reflex, so he has only a 40% chance of tripping, but let's say that he does trip. His next action is to stand up. He does not want to use his third action to move next to the party, so he decides to destroy the snare. I don't think that he is trained in Thievery (the stat block does not say), so he cannot disable it. He cannot destroy it by attacking it, since his horsechopper has reach and he is adjacent to the snare. So he moves 5 feet forward. Next, the other goblin succeeds at his Perception check to see the tripline before stepping over it. He stops and uses his next action to leap 10 feet forward over the tripline. Then he cuts the tripline with his horsechopper.
Therefore, two goblins, who could have approached the party while sneaking and made one attack each against flat-footed opponents, are delayed by the Tripline Snare, do not get their attack on the party, and lose stealth. That had about a 40% chance of happening. It is possible that the first goblin would have succeeded at his Reflex save and not tripped, but unless he uses the Point Out action, the second goblin still might trip.
And the monk did not lose a single combat action. He did have to buy and carry a 2-bulk snare kit, but that kit is infinitely re-useable.
Or the monk could have set up a Dagger Snare and one Goblin Commando might have started the fight with 1d4 damage.
Note to self: Rewrite Tripline Snare to be nothing but a tripwire. Having one full square count as part of the snare is asymmetric. Also clarify that the target of the snare can see the snare after it goes off.
I'm referring to Snare Savant, a class feat that lets me do an out-of-combat thing faster, but still not at combat speeds. As well as making snare kits out of rope (also not a combat use).
Secret Snare is combat speed, but requires having previously scouted the area, which is not always possible.
I'm referring to Snare Savant, a class feat that lets me do an out-of-combat thing faster, but still not at combat speeds. As well as making snare kits out of rope (also not a combat use).
Secret Snare is combat speed, but requires having previously scouted the area, which is not always possible.
Alas, those are meant to be ranger-only feats, so I made them class feats. A twitch interview with Jason Bulmahn hinted that after the playtest Paizo developed a skill feat that is class specific, because players did not like getting Pirate archetype skills using class feats. But I don't know the format for those. I suppose when I see one, I could switch Snare Savant to a Survival skill feat available only to rangers.
Oh, wait, I just had an idea. I could merge Hidden Snares and Snare Savant by putting the extra stuff for rangers in a special clause.
HIDDEN SNARES feat 1
General, Skill
Prerequisite Trained in Survival
General, Skill
You can set up a snare in 5 minutes. When you set up a snare, you may alter its Stealth DC to equal your Stealth DC.
Special A ranger with Hidden Snares can set up a snare in 1 minute. Also, the ranger can use a Climbing Kit as an improvised Snare Kit with a -2 circumstance penalty to the Survival DC in the snares. This also applies to a character with Ranger Multiclass Archetype.
Now I am down to one skill feat Hidden Snares and one ranger class feat Secret Snares for snares.
As for Secret Snares not always being possible, yes, it is situational. But if someone raids the party's campsite at night, it will be hilarious. "There's a snare there, and another one there, and I will mention more later, but for my third action I make one attack without multple attack penalty."
Much better IMO. I've got nothing against Rangers being good at snares, but I do have a problem spending feats I could use on something that is only mildly feasible. I.e. if i Need that feat and two others to make it viable, that's two feats too many.
Much better IMO. I've got nothing against Rangers being good at snares, but I do have a problem spending feats I could use on something that is only mildly feasible. I.e. if i Need that feat and two others to make it viable, that's two feats too many.
My wife's playtest barbarian for In Pale Mountain's Shadow selected Mountain Nomad as her background, learned Raging Athlete as her 4th-level class feat, and learned Defensive Climber and One-Handed Climber as her 2nd- and 4th-level skill feats. Thus, she spent 3 feats on climbing.
And I let climbing make a difference during the playtest. She directed the party on a different path than the chapter intended, letting them avoid one hazard by climbing more cliffs instead. Against one foe, she managed a Sudden Charge into flanking position by moving along the cliff face during the charge. And against the water elemental, she had a swim speed but preferred to climb along the rocky walls of the chamber instead of getting into the water with a hostile water elemental. She managed to attack it and then move away from its attacks by climbing out of reach up the rocky walls of that chamber.
I would claim that the climb feats give a precedent for three feats for a non-combat ability in PF2, but my wife was able to use the climb speed for combat and narrative control. Nevetheless, climbing in PF2 is a crippling action (flat-footed and no weapons) without the skill feats.
I'd have to break down what each does (away from book atm), but the off-hand comment would be "just because something else does it" doesn't make it ok.
I'd have to break down what each does (away from book atm), but the off-hand comment would be "just because something else does it" doesn't make it ok.
Skill feats have to be near the same power level so that players have a real choice rather than a puzzle to separate the good feats from the bad feats. Thus, I have to use the playtest skill feats as the model for my homebrew rules.
CLIMB untrained Athletics action
Requirements You have both hands free.
You move up, down, or across an incline. Unless the climb is particularly easy, you must attempt an Athletics check. The DC is determined by the GM based on the nature of the incline and any environmental circumstances. If you fall, the Grab Edge use of Acrobatics might allow you to catch yourself. You are flat-footed while climbing unless you have a climb Speed.
Success You move 5 feet up, across, or safely down the incline. If your Speed is 40 feet or greater, you move 10 feet instead.
Critical Success You move half your Speed up, across, or safely down the incline.
Critical Failure You fall (see page 310). If you began the climb
on stable ground, you fall and land prone.
DEFENSIVE CLIMBER feat 1
General, Skill
Prerequisites trained in Athletics
You are trained in climbing techniques that allow you to twist and weave as you climb without sacrificing your grip. You’re not flat-footed while climbing.
ONE-HANDED CLIMBER feat 2
General, Skill
Prerequisites expert in Athletics
You can Climb even if one of your hands is occupied. You must still have one hand and both legs available in order to Climb.
RAGING ATHLETE feat 4
Barbarian
Prerequisites expert in Athletics
Requirements You are not wearing heavy armor.
While you are raging, you gain a climb Speed and swim Speed equal to your land Speed.
By the playtest rules, a character cannot climb with weapon in hand without the One-Handed Climber. Storming a castle wall with ladders can't be accomplished before 3rd level (2nd level for a rogue).
Technically, my wife's barbarian could have retrained away Defensive Climber upon learning Raging Athlete, because she has a climb speed while raging so she wouldn't be flat-footed. But she has spent the fatigued time between rages clinging to a cliffside, so she is not always raging while climbing.
For comparison of feats, let's look at snare crafting from the Playtest rulebook.
CRAFT trained Crafting activity
You can make an item from raw materials. The GM determines the DC to Craft an item, which is based on its level, quality, and rarity, and might be affected by other circumstances. You need the Alchemical Crafting skill feat (page 162) to create alchemical items, the Magical Crafting skill feat (page 168) to create magic items, and the Snare Crafting feat (page 171) to create snares.
To Craft an item, you must meet the following requirements:
• The item is your level or lower. (An item that doesn’t list a level is level 0.)
• You have the proficiency rank appropriate to the item’s quality. (See page 190.)
• You have the formula for the item.
• You have an appropriate set of tools and, in many cases, a workshop. For example, you need access to a smithy to forge a metal shield.
• You must supply raw materials worth at least half the item’s Price. You always expend at least that amount of raw materials
when you Craft successfully. If you’re in a settlement, you can usually spend currency to get an equal amount of raw materials you need, except in the case of rarer special materials.
You need to spend a minimum number of downtime days to Craft your item to a basic state of completion. This number depends on your level and the level of the item. You need to spend 4 downtime days for an item of your level. Reduce the number of days by 1 for each level by which your level exceeds the item’s level, to a minimum of 1 day. After spending this base number of days, you can either expend more materials to complete the item immediately or spend more days Crafting, completing the item more slowly but at lower cost. The success entry explains this mechanic further.
You can Craft items with the consumable trait in batches, making up to four of the same item simultaneously. This requires
you to include the raw materials for all the items in the batch at the start, and you must complete the batch all at once.
After you expend the required amount of raw materials and base downtime, attempt a Crafting check. If you fail or critically fail, you can try to Craft the item again, but you have to start over.
Success Your attempt to create the item is successful. You can pay the remaining half of the item’s Price to complete it immediately, or spend additional downtime days working on it. For each additional day you spend, reduce the value
of the materials you need to expend to complete the item by an amount based on your level and proficiency rank (see Table 4–3). After any of these downtime days, you can complete the item by spending the remaining amount. If your downtime days are interrupted, you can return to finish the item later, continuing right where you left off.
Critical Success Per a success, but each day you spend working reduces the remaining raw materials cost as though your level were 1 higher.
Failure You fail to complete the item. You can salvage the raw materials you supplied for their full value.
Critical Failure You fail to complete the item. You ruin 10% of the raw materials you supplied, but can salvage the rest.
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Crafting a level-appropriate item takes 4 days and costs the full price of the item in raw materials. Being higher level reduces the days and trying to save money increases the days. (I don't like the emphasis on level, either. I would prefer a crafting system based on skill proficiency rank.) This amount of time to craft a snare in place would make them nearly useless, so the playtest rules forbid crafting snares. For some odd reason, a crafter can make a snare kit by the regular crafting rules but not a snare itself. The snare itself costs a feat.
SNARE CRAFTING feat 1
General, Skill
Prerequisites trained in Crafting
You can use the Craft activity to create snares, using the rules from page 357. When you choose this feat, you gain the formulas for four common snares. If you have a formula book, you can put these formulas into the book.
The rules from page 357-359, Snares, change the crafting time for snares to 1 minute, regardless of the level of the snare or of the character. However, they add, "If you want to Craft a snare at a discount, it still requires the usual amount of downtime indicated in the Craft activity," so if a character wants less than full price, snare crafting will take at least a day. The cheapest snare is 20 sp.
That is the only skill feat for snares, but the ranger has 4 class feats.
SNARE SAVANT feat 4
Ranger
Prerequisites expert in Crafting, Snare Crafting feat
You gain the formulas for three common or uncommon snares (see page 357). Each time your proficiency rank in Crafting improves, you gain three more common or uncommon snare formulas.
QUICK SNARES feat 8
Ranger
Prerequisites expert Crafting, Snare Savant
You craft snares that normally take 1 minute with 3 Interact actions.
POWERFUL SNARES feat 16
Ranger
Prerequisites master in Crafting, Snare Crafting, Snare Savant
When you set a snare, any saving throw DC becomes your class DC if that’s better than its normal DC.
IMPROVISED SNARE feat 18
Ranger
Prerequisites Snare Crafting, Snare Savant
You can craft a snare without needing to have any required materials, but when you do, the DC of any saves decreases by 2 and you can’t use Powerful Snares to increase the DC.
For judging Snare Savant, 1st-level formulas cost 10 sp, 4th-level formulas cost 50 sp, and 8th-level formulas cost 250 sp. So at 4th level Snare Savant saves the ranger 150 sp and then at master proficiency, it saves the ranger 750 sp. And it is a prerequisite, i.e., a feat tax, on Quick Snares, Powerful Snares, and Improvised Snare.
Quick Snares is amazing, yet I think the point of snares is that they can be set up in advance so that the ranger does not have to spend combat actions on them.
For judging Powerful Snares, the level 1 snares have DCs from 17 to 22 or don't allow a save, level 4 snares have DCs from 18 or 20 or don't allow a save, and the level 8 snares have DC 22. "Don't allow a save" does not mean they are hard to resist; rather, it means the snare does not directly affect the triggering creature, who therefore has no chance to nullify the effect. At 16th level, a class DC would be about 32, and at 8th level it would be about 23. The Stealth DC of the snare equals the builder's Craft DC.
As for Improvised Snare, the snare builder has been carrying a bulk 8 snare kit for 17 levels already and probably stuffed it into a bag of holding already. I suppose it saves the builder from having to pull out that bulky kit during combat to use Quick Snare.
I'd have to break down what each does (away from book atm), but the off-hand comment would be "just because something else does it" doesn't make it ok.Skill feats have to be near the same power level so that players have a real choice rather than a puzzle to separate the good feats from the bad feats. Thus, I have to use the playtest skill feats as the model for my homebrew rules.
There's a difference between skill feats and class feats. And, generally speaking, most people consider most skill feats to be near-worthless. I know that on one of my play test characters I didn't take skill feats at all. Nor did that character even encounter a situation where a skill feat would have come up.
Class feat power is why I didn't like the ranger snare feats. Their power was equivalent to a skill feat, where the average skill feat is about a third of a class feat.
A separate conversation needs to happen regarding how powerful a skill feat should be, particularly in a combat situation, but also generally. Barring a few (quick jump, powerful jump) a lot of them I look at and go "why does this even exist?"