Author Topic: Fun Finds the 2nd Party Edition  (Read 115542 times)

Offline SorO_Lost

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Fun Finds the 2nd Party Edition
« on: December 21, 2013, 03:32:45 PM »
Hello and welcome to the Fun Finds thread where our research or mindless poking around in source books yields an amazingly valuable resource on it's own or combined with a few other quarks. This is the 2nd Party Edition where we expand our horizon and include other supplements. But you don't know what 2nd Party is? That's ok, I've got you covered.

What is 2nd party?
Second party material is classified as published source books that carry the official WotC seal of approval and/or noted licenser but are not published, edited, or updated by WotC.

Examples include and are not limited to
* Dragon Magazine
* Dungeon Magazine(?)
* Dragonlance Supplements beyond the Campaign Setting Book.
* Kingdoms of Kalamar and supplements.
* Birthright and supplements.

Technically speaking, Pathfinder is not 2nd party Material. Paizo's Pathfinder is it's own thing, through based by D&D's SRD.
However, for the sake of inclusion, feel free to mention your PF finds here as well.

When Posting new finds consider
That Dragon Magazine for instance contains well over hundred and fifty 3.5 magazine issues. Simply mentioning "it's from Dragon" will prompt people to ask which issue and even what the page number is (dragon tends to have very poor indexing). To solve those questions before their posted, simply include where to find your cool observation.
« Last Edit: December 21, 2013, 03:35:20 PM by SorO_Lost »

Offline deadkitten

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Re: Fun Finds the 2nd Party Edition
« Reply #1 on: December 21, 2013, 05:27:01 PM »
I know I got some disagreement before but if this is a thread on 2nd party, then Ravenloft should be included as well. I am not passionate in regards to Ravenloft as a setting but I do find that it is 2nd party.

Im glad that there is apparently gonna be a new thread for 2nd party fun finds, I didn't know that the original was supposed to be restricted to 1st party because when I first started reading it there was 2nd party involved.

Offline SorO_Lost

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Re: Fun Finds the 2nd Party Edition
« Reply #2 on: December 21, 2013, 05:58:05 PM »
I didn't know that the original was supposed to be restricted to 1st party because when I first started reading it there was 2nd party involved.
Historically, we have maintained a degree of separation on Dragon-like Materials and D&D's standard supplements. Just like Pathfinder is not D&D. It's not that 2nd party is excluded, but why was it included in the first place? And, the answer to that is there was never a need to.

Well, certain people expressed a desire to see it separated and it's readily apparent people will crusade for their personal favorite 2nd party supplements to be known. So this thread can please both parties. This thread loves any and all 2nd party finds. The more the merrier. :)

Offline zook1shoe

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Re: Fun Finds the 2nd Party Edition
« Reply #3 on: December 21, 2013, 08:16:28 PM »
Glad you made this. Now you and I won't fight about this particular idea ;)
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Offline Nytemare3701

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Re: Fun Finds the 2nd Party Edition
« Reply #4 on: December 21, 2013, 08:45:17 PM »
Glad you made this. Now you and I won't fight about this particular idea ;)

Good luck with the rest of them :-P

As for my entry to this thread...

Dragon 354, page 79 has a fun affiliation, with hilarious bonuses. Pin a crime on innocents, get a small cadre of pickpockets, and arrange to have NPCs disappear. It all comes with downsides, but they aren't that hard to handle.

Offline deadkitten

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Re: Fun Finds the 2nd Party Edition
« Reply #5 on: December 21, 2013, 09:44:25 PM »
Heh and my contribution comes from...well Ravenloft because thats what I have been dabbling in out of boredom of late.

Laborious Training [General]
Your selfless dedication to study and the long hours you have spent training for your craft have given you an increased capacity for learning. Prerequisites: Int 13, Knowledge (any one) 5 ranks.

Benefit: Your maximum rank in any Intelligence- based skill equals 5 + your character level. Normal: A character’s maximum rank in any skill equals 3 + character level.

From Ravenloft Legacy of the Blood pg 92

Offline Nytemare3701

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Re: Fun Finds the 2nd Party Edition
« Reply #6 on: December 21, 2013, 11:43:12 PM »
Heh and my contribution comes from...well Ravenloft because thats what I have been dabbling in out of boredom of late.

Laborious Training [General]
Your selfless dedication to study and the long hours you have spent training for your craft have given you an increased capacity for learning. Prerequisites: Int 13, Knowledge (any one) 5 ranks.

Benefit: Your maximum rank in any Intelligence- based skill equals 5 + your character level. Normal: A character’s maximum rank in any skill equals 3 + character level.

From Ravenloft Legacy of the Blood pg 92

WHOA. That's some early entry shenanigans right there.

Offline zook1shoe

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Re: Fun Finds the 2nd Party Edition
« Reply #7 on: December 22, 2013, 01:17:30 AM »
Wow! Half the PrCs most restrictive prereq is skill ranks
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Offline nijineko

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Re: Fun Finds the 2nd Party Edition
« Reply #8 on: December 22, 2013, 11:10:46 AM »
i suppose this is where all the designated official 3.x websites should go? (darksun, ravenloft, dragonlance, mystara, planescape, spelljammer...)

Offline awaken_D_M_golem

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Re: Fun Finds the 2nd Party Edition
« Reply #9 on: December 22, 2013, 02:22:57 PM »
+1  :)


Dragon #341 has a small pile of Soulknife things.  If you give all of them via the 49 Dead Soulknifes custom Major Bloodline, you're still in Tier 5 -ville.  For those in the know, this is not surprising at all ...  :fu
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Offline zook1shoe

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Re: Fun Finds the 2nd Party Edition
« Reply #10 on: December 22, 2013, 02:31:21 PM »
i suppose this is where all the designated official 3.x websites should go? (darksun, ravenloft, dragonlance, mystara, planescape, spelljammer...)

yeah, Soro is very particular about what content is allowed in other people's threads :flutter
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Offline Childe

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Re: Fun Finds the 2nd Party Edition
« Reply #11 on: December 22, 2013, 04:28:15 PM »
Dragon 320 has metallic dragons as PC races. You begin as a "hatchling," but if you start taking the racial class levels, the rules imply you have to keep taking them until you reach the level that lists the next age category (beginning with wyrmling). As written, it doesn't actually work that way, but it's clear enough I won't argue it. The real point is: these are undebatable, level 1-playable true dragons. There are also alternate rules in here for advancing age categories.

You have the dragon type, some vision improvements, immunities, and based on your choice of metallic type, a range from Tiny to Medium for your starting size. Some even get +2 to an ability score based on metallic type.
« Last Edit: December 22, 2013, 04:35:14 PM by Childe »
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Offline awaken_D_M_golem

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Re: Fun Finds the 2nd Party Edition
« Reply #12 on: December 23, 2013, 03:01:40 PM »
hmm ... I vaguely recall Dragon builds, that took classes while not being Ancient.  Vaguely = hazy and no sources.  Something like racial prog to completed Wyrmling normal stats, then take classes as normal, would be OK with me.  Anybody got a Dragon X / Class Y official build ?


Dragon #349 has some boring psionics stuff, and 3 very tasty feats.  Psiotheugist(s) CL+ML feats pop up every now and then.  Chameleon Crafting feat gets psi+magic across that divide for 1.5x cost.  Cerebremetamagic is complicated, but is abusive Nightsticks^2 even in toned down r.a.i.

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Offline Libertad

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Re: Fun Finds the 2nd Party Edition
« Reply #13 on: December 23, 2013, 09:30:57 PM »
From Dragonlance sourcebooks:

Feats

Heroic Surge (General)
You may draw on inner reserves of energy to perform additional actions in a round.
Benefit: You may take an additional move or attack action, either before or after your regular action.  You may use Heroic Surge oncer per day based on your character level, but never more than once per round: 1st-4th level, once per day; 5th-8th level, twice per day; 9th-12th level, three times a day; 13th-16th level, four times a day; 17th-20th level, 5 times a day.

Cam Banks (one of the designers) made this feat in part so that martial characters could move and full attack.

*Source:Age of Mortals, War of the Lance, Legends of the Twins

Also, from Legends of the Twins:

Dynamic Priest
Your self-confidence and force of personality are the foundations of your faith.
Benefit: For the purpose of determining bonus divine spells per day and maximum divine spell level, your primary spellcasting ability is Charisma.  If you have more than one divine spellcasting class, the bonus applies to only one of those classes.  Your spell save DCs are not affected by this change.
Special: You may only take this feat as a 1st-level character.  If you take this feat more than once it applies to a different divine spellcasting class each time.  You may take this feat even if you have no divine spellcasting classes yet.

Source: Legends of the Twins


Quick-Thinking
You react quickly to danger.
Benefit: You get a +2 bonus on Initiative rolls and a +2 bonus on all Spot checks.

*Source: Age of Mortals, War of the Lance, Legends of the Twins


Spells

Chitinskin
Transmutation
Level: Clr 3, Drd 3, Sor/Wiz 4
Components: V, S, M/DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Living creature touched
Duration: 10 min./level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)

Chitinskin toughens a creature's skin by encasing it within the hardened natural shell of an insect.  The effect grants a +1 enhancement bonus to a creature's existing natural armor bonus for every 2 levels of the spellcaster.

The chitinskin fits the target like a second skin, but the shell's bulk does not allow for the wearing of manufactured armor.  The enhancement bonus provided by chitinskin stacks with the target's natural armor bonus, but not with other enhancement bonuses to natural armor.  A creature without natural armor has an effective nautral armor bonus of +0.
Arcane Material Component: the desiccated shell of a cicada.

*Source: War of the Lance


Arcane Staff
Transmutation
Level: Sorcerer/wizard 5
Components: V, S, F
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: Touch
Target: Nonmagic quarterstaff touched
Duration: Permanent until discharged (D)
Saving Throw: Will negates (object)
Spell Resistance: Yes (object)
Spells you can normally cast may be placed into a prepared quarterstaff. You can store a number of spell levels equal to your caster level, but no spell can be higher than 4th level. For example, a 9th-level wizard could store two 4th-level spells and a 1stlevel spell; or one 4th-level spell, one 3rd-level spell, and one 2nd-level spell; or any other combination totaling nine levels. 0-level spells cannot be stored within an arcane staff.

A spell stored within the quarterstaff can be cast just as any other spell. It does not count against your normal allotment of spells for a given day. You use up any applicable material components and expend any experience cost to cast the spell when you store it in the staff. You cannot have more than one prepared arcane staff at any given time.
Focus: The masterwork quarterstaff that stores the spells.


Arcane Staff, Greater
Transmutation
Level: Sorcerer/wizard 7
As arcane staff, except that you can store up to your spellcasting level + ability modifi er (Intelligence if a wizard, Charisma if a sorcerer) in total spell levels within the quarterstaff, and the spells you store can be up to 6th level.

Arcane Staff, Lesser
Transmutation
Level: Sorcerer/wizard 3
As arcane staff, except that you can store only up to your ability modifi er (Intelligence if a wizard, Charisma if a sorcerer) in total spell levels within the quarterstaff, and the spells can be only 1st or 2nd level.

Curse the Magi
Necromancy
Level: Sorcerer/wizard 5
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: One arcane spellcaster touched
Duration: Special
Saving Throw: Will negates; see text
Spell Resistance: Yes
You cast a curse upon another spellcaster, rendering her unable to cast her spells without suffering for it. If the spellcaster you target fails her initial Will save to negate the effects, she needs to make additional Will saves in order to cast any spell. On a failed save, the spell fails and the target suffers 4 points of Constitution drain (though her Constitution cannot be taken below 1 in this way). Ability drain can be regained as normal (through restoration, for example), but the effects of curse the magi continue until the affected spellcaster has remove curse cast upon her by a spellcaster of at least 15th level, or through the use of a limited wish, miracle, or wish spell.

This spell does not affect the divine spellcasting classes, but may affect bards if bardic magic is considered arcane in your campaign.
Material Component: An iron mask with a closed mouth.

Timereaver
Transmutation
Level: Sorcerer/wizard 9
Components: V, S, M, F, XP
Casting Time: 1 hour
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect: One-way portal through time and space.
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
Another spell known only to the Masters of the respective Towers of High Sorcery, timereaver is one of the most potentially powerful and dangerous spells known on Ansalon. This spell creates a portal through time and space and allows up to 1 individual per 4 levels of the spellcaster to travel through the portal to another period of time.  Originally intended to allow wizards to research the past or the future, the spell allows individuals to travel backward or forward along the River of Time. The travelers can travel up to 20 years per level of the spellcaster backward in time, or 1 year per level of the spellcaster forward in time (as the future is much more diffi cult to navigate). The spell pierces the barriers between both time and space. It requires incredible concentration from the spellcaster in order to ensure that travelers end up at both the right time and in the right place (requiring a Spellcraft check at DC 10 + 1 for every decade traveled backward and a Spellcraft check at DC 15 + 1 for every year traveled forward). If the Spellcraft check is failed: 1) the travelers end up either in the right time but the wrong place — 25 miles away per point the Spellcraft check is failed, in a random direction (50% chance), 2) in the right place but the wrong time — up to 5 years per point the Spellcraft check is failed either before or after the targeted time (50% chance). Either failure may place the travelers in a precarious situation, particularly as the spell is a one-way trip (unless the travelers are provided with a means of returning, such as through the device of time journeying or another such rare, powerful artifact).

At the beginning of time, the High God dictated that alterations to the River of Time were forbidden, thus those using the timereaver spell cannot affect either the past or the future, no matter how hard they try (as a pebble dropped into a river cannot alter the river’s path). However, if one of the Chaos Races (any race altered by the effects of the Graystone, such as kender, gully dwarves, dwarves, minotaurs, or sea elves) travels through time, the touch of Chaos within them allows for the possibility of time alteration — a potentially disastrous consequence. This spell was primarily used by the Masters of the Towers to send individuals through time to research aspects of the past or the future, secure in the knowledge the travelers could do little to affect the River of Time.  Such expeditions were rarely undertaken, however, as artifacts like the device of time journeying (which originally allowed only a single individual to return through time) are exceedingly rare and difficult to produce.

Material Component: A magical circle, created by a mixture of rare ingredients worth at least 10,000 stl + 1000 stl per decade traveled backward in time or per year traveled forward in time.

Arcane Focus: A major artifact, which is temporarily inert for 1 hour per decade of time traversed backwards or 1 year of time traveled forward.

XP Cost: 1,000 XP + 500 XP/decade traveled backward in time or year traveled forward in time.

Note: Prior to the Chaos War, traveling forward in the future reveals a world the gods never left, for Takhisis had not stolen the world. Following the Chaos War, traveling backward in time is impossible past the beginning of the Fifth Age (the moment Chaos was defeated and Takhisis stole the world) up until the gods return after the War of Souls, at which point movement forward and backward in time is unhindered.

Source: Towers of High Sorcery.
« Last Edit: January 12, 2014, 07:58:36 PM by Libertad »

Offline Libertad

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Re: Fun Finds the 2nd Party Edition
« Reply #14 on: December 23, 2013, 10:00:31 PM »
From Ravenloft sourcebooks (White Wolf):

Feats

Extra Domain [Special]
You may select an additional cleric domain with this feat.
Prerequisites: Wis 18+, 10+ ranks in Knowledge (Religion), divine spellcaster level 7th+.
Benefit: When you take this feat, you may choose and extra cleric domain.  If your deity has domains you do not have, you must choose from those.  If you have every domain your deity encompasses, then you may pick a domain that does not conflict with your deity's nature (or alignment).

*Source: Champions of Darkness

Kiss of Dawn
Your dedication to the light gives you a benefit in preparing your spells.
Prerequisite: Good alignment, arcane spellcaster
Benefit: You regain all of your spells at dawn.  When the sun rises, this feat takes effect.  Even if you cast all spells minutes before the next sunrise, you will regain them with the first rays of the sun.
Normal: Normally, an arcane spellcaster who casts a spell must wait twenty-four hours before she can cast the spell again.

*Source: Heroes of Light.

Depending upon how this feat's interpreted, once could read it to mean that it bypasses the mandatory 8 hours of rest for preparing/regaining one's spells.

Life-force Sacrifice [Metamagic]
You know how to sacrifice your own life essence for greater spell casting flexibility.
Prerequisites: If you are a divine spellcaster, you must posses one of the following domains: Death, Destruction, or Repose.  If you are an arcane spellcaster, you must have mastery over the Necromancy.  In the case of wizards, you must specialize in the school of Necromancy; in the case of sorcerers, you must know one Necromancy spell for each level of spell you can cast.
Benefit: When the tide of a situation or conflict goes in a completely different direction and catches you without appropriate spells, you may sacrifice a number of hit points equal to the level of the spell you want to "exchange" for another spell of the same level in your "repertoire."  This ability is similar to the cleric's spontaneous casting ability except that you lose hit points, and the spell can be exchanged for any spell you can normally prepare.  The sacrificed hit points must be regained only through normal healing.  Attempts to use cure spells or any other magical healing to regain hit points sacrificed using this feat are ineffective.

*Source: Champions of Darkness

Nine Lives [General]
You seem to be protected, perhaps by a guardian spirit, perhaps by a malign power that wants to keep you alive long enough to deal with you personally.  Regardless, you have a penchant for surviving lethal situations.
Benefit: If you fail a Fortitude or Reflex save and are reduced to -10 hit points or below as a direct result, you may take two points of permanent Charisma drain to re-roll that saving throw.  If you fail the re-roll, you can take another two points of Charisma drain to roll yet again, and so on.  This is an extraordinary ability.  The Charisma drain can be recovered as normal with restoration or similar magic, but this ability can only be used a number of times in your character's life equal to her Charisma score at the time of character creation.
Special: You may only take this feat at character creation.

*Source: Van Richten's Arsenal, Volume 1

Judging by the wording, Nine Lives can be taken after 1st level, providing that it's the first time you're playing that character.

Unseen [General]
Provided you remain perfectly still, you can hide in plain sight.  Through some perplexing trick of the light or the mind, other creatures seem to simply overlook you.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Bluff), Skill Focus (Hide).
Benefit: Whenever you are not being observed, you can conceal yourself as a free action, making yourself invisible as though affected by the spell invisibility.  You can take no actions while concealed, including moving or talking.  The effect lasts as long as you take no actions.  This is an extraordinary ability, though see invisibility, true sight, and similar spells will reveal your presence.  In all other respects this ability is treated as a glamer, and may be disbelieved.

*Source: Van Richten's Arsenal, Volume 1
« Last Edit: December 23, 2013, 10:24:32 PM by Libertad »

Offline zook1shoe

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Re: Fun Finds the 2nd Party Edition
« Reply #15 on: December 23, 2013, 10:54:54 PM »
Birthright 3.0 Campaign Setting
Ruornil's Gift, part of the Spell domain, grants a cleric the ability to prepare 1 level lower magician spells (some of the Sor/Wiz spells. There is one for every level above 0th
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Offline Maat Mons

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Re: Fun Finds the 2nd Party Edition
« Reply #16 on: December 24, 2013, 04:57:34 AM »
It was recently pointed out to me that Dragon 293 has ECLs for a lot of creatures (the whole Monster Manual?) on pages 54 and 55.  Want to play as a toad?  Of course you do, and now you can. 

Offline RedWarlock

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Re: Fun Finds the 2nd Party Edition
« Reply #17 on: December 24, 2013, 05:50:29 AM »
It was recently pointed out to me that Dragon 293 has ECLs for a lot of creatures (the whole Monster Manual?) on pages 54 and 55.  Want to play as a toad?  Of course you do, and now you can.
The 3.0 monster manual... (note the use of the beast and shapechanger types)... Also the text assumes all animals have been awakened.

They also look a little high (ogre is ECL 8?) when compared against real 3.5 ECLs. Take with liberal dose of salt.
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Offline linklord231

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Re: Fun Finds the 2nd Party Edition
« Reply #18 on: December 24, 2013, 10:18:40 AM »
Birthright 3.0 Campaign Setting
Ruornil's Gift, part of the Spell domain, grants a cleric the ability to prepare 1 level lower magician spells (some of the Sor/Wiz spells. There is one for every level above 0th


I never understood why the Magician spell list has spells up to lvl 9. Doesn't it have the bard spell progression?
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Offline Prime32

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Re: Fun Finds the 2nd Party Edition
« Reply #19 on: December 24, 2013, 11:02:41 AM »
It was recently pointed out to me that Dragon 293 has ECLs for a lot of creatures (the whole Monster Manual?) on pages 54 and 55.  Want to play as a toad?  Of course you do, and now you can.
The 3.0 monster manual... (note the use of the beast and shapechanger types)... Also the text assumes all animals have been awakened.

They also look a little high (ogre is ECL 8?) when compared against real 3.5 ECLs. Take with liberal dose of salt.
Awakened bat = 2HD Diminutive creature with a fly speed, blindsight 120ft and -2 LA. Sounds good.