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Topics - PlzBreakMyCampaign

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41
The PBMC Metacompendium / Heal Skill
« on: March 22, 2018, 09:09:43 PM »
Add a free action DC=20+CL Heal check ability that doubles magical healing given in tandem by you if you apply the magic. This also applies to mundane healing if you can continually meet the DC.

42
The PBMC Metacompendium / Free Improved TWF
« on: March 22, 2018, 09:08:54 PM »
It doesn't require a fantastic exception to humanity to fight with a second weapon. No -2/-2 hit is needed when using a light weapon. Instead, -0/-0 is just fine.

43
The PBMC Metacompendium / Evasion for Non-Damage Effects
« on: March 22, 2018, 09:07:04 PM »
The "damage" language should be "save effect". It is an oversight because core had no non-damage reflex saves.

44
The PBMC Metacompendium / ECL Variant
« on: March 22, 2018, 09:01:21 PM »
PBMC Balanced ECL Variant

ECL = Class levels + Racial & Template LA + if positive[RHD - 2*Racial LA]
Rather than:
RAW ECL = Class levels + Racial & Template LA + RHD

(with common sense restrictions):
0) This variant is done on a character by character basis. Some in the party might use this but, not all must. This is why its a 'variant' and is actually useful.

1) If a race has racial spellcasting related to its racial HD, remove that abilities racial power source up to it's RHD. For instance a psychic Illithid would have no psuedo psion levels but a Spellweaver would still have 2 psuedo sorcerer levels. Remember that this variant is done in a character by character basis allowing a psionic illithid to not use this variant while a spellweaver in the party may chose it.

2) BAB may not exceed ECL and RHD's BAB may not be used for prereqs. This makes the RHD's BAB feel like a "practiced BAB" feat since it adds for future, non-BAB-progressing class levels. This obviously stops BAB from exceeding 20 pre-epic. It turns out this doesn't really matter much even if the 21 and 26th BAB gave more iterations. Astute DM's will notice that the ability to hit things a few more times, or even enter non-caster classes early (as casters already do with reckless abandon) is actually a boon to their game's balance. Even if initially counter-intuitive DMs are encouraged to waive this restriction.

3) Skill points from racial HD do not allow a character to exceed the normal 3+ECL max since the HD no longer count towards the ECL. For most cases, this is surprisingly not that needed of a restriction considering the other RAW ways to exceed this cap. Therefore, DMs are encouraged to waive this restriction

4) Skill points for the first level are not added twice. A character with aberration/construct/elemental/giant/humanoid/magic beast/monstrous humanoid/ooze/plant racial HD and one class level may must use the crappy 4x(2+int) for their starting skill point allotment rather than chose their lovely 4x(8+int) rogue class levels as the starting skill points. DMs are encouraged to waive this restriction

5) The racial HD does not get con bonus to HP as class levels do. DMs are encouraged to waive this restriction if they want PCs with above average amounts of HP since HP is way too low compared to the damage both PCs and Monsters can receive anyways.

6) Natural healing rate is based off of ECL and so is not affected by the free racial HD, though this might seem a bit counter intuitive. If you want the RHD to help, it shouldn't make much of a difference, so DMs are encouraged to waive this restriction for any players not abusing natural healing rates. Heck, even if they are they will still be screwed by SoDs.

7) Per level option of LA or RHD counting towards the required level for buyoff. This makes buyoffs happen a bit earlier, which in turn helps the 99% of monsters with over-inflated LAs become playable. It goes without saying that players who use restoration cheese need a single iteration cap on each buyoff tier's level per LA row in the chart.


Q: Why are all but two of the common sense restrictions encourged to be ignored? Why write them in the first place?
A: Because these highlight changes a DM would notice upon instituting this variant

Q: Why are DMs actually encouraged to ignore the above restrictions? Wouldn't that make all monsters overpowered?
A: Because by ignoring the restrictions players can play their favorite monsters better. For instance with higher than 20 BaB. Yes it increases their power. But so does a haste spell. No one complains about that even though mechanically haste is superior (and RAW). People are aversed to change. I merely highlighted the fact that healing a bit more (wait, your group has to sleep for heals!?) or having some more HP (what do you mean your character doesn't use vigor+shared pain for +400% hp!?) or a few more skill points won't unbalance anything. Unless you are playing a tier 6 only game. In that case, yes having a +1 to spot from an extra rank might threaten your DM's painfully weak campaign.

(click to show/hide)

45
The PBMC Metacompendium / Diplomacy
« on: March 22, 2018, 09:00:30 PM »
Taken from Richard Burlew (http://www.giantitp.com/articles/jFppYwv7OUkegKhONNF.html) with edits by me in italics.
tl;dr Diplomacy check = d20 + usual bonuses + Deal bonus (-20 to 20) opposed to 15 + higher of ECL or CR + relationship penalty (20 to -20)



Surveying the Rule

I have never liked the D&D rules for the Diplomacy skill. Now, let's be clear, I'm not one of those people who says that any mechanic for social interaction is a Bad Idea That Limits Roleplaying. Quite the opposite; I want a clear and concise mechanic for determining how people react to specific requests and negotiations. Here are my problems with the current skill description:

1.) It has a flat DC that is too low; a 2nd level bard turning a hostile character to indifferent is DC 25; seems "tough, but doable". But it's actually child's play. With a 16 Charisma, 5 ranks in Diplomacy, 5 ranks in Bluff (which grants a +2 synergy bonus), and 5 ranks in Sense Motive (which also grants a +2 synergy bonus), and (new in 3.5!) 5 ranks of Knowledge (nobility) (which yes, ALSO grants a +2 synergy bonus), the 2nd level bard already has a +14 and only needs a 11 or better to succeed. And that's without spending a feat on Skill Focus (Diplomacy) or Persuasive. Now here's the real problem: at 11th level, that same bard will have 9 more ranks in Diplomacy and probably at least an extra +1 from Charisma; he can now succeed on a roll of 1, which means he doesn't have to roll. He can automatically turn all hostile people indifferent by talking to them. He has 9 more levels of adventuring before he goes epic, but he can already make every enemy he meets apathetic to his existence.

2.) Which leads to my second beef: there is no discrepancy between targets. Making nice-nice to the evil overlord and sweet-talking the bean farmer who wants you off his property have the same DC under the current system. There is no way to resist the effects of Diplomacy; no saving throw, no opposed skill check, no level check, nothing. An indifferent epic wizard is as vulnerable to persuasion as an indifferent 1st level commoner. There's no such thing as a stubborn NPC under the current system.

3.) The "patch" for the last two complaints is often the belief that the DM should apply circumstance penalties as he sees fit. My problem with this is without any guide as to what those penalties should be, it basically boils down to the DM thinking, "Do I want to give them such a huge penalty that they can't succeed, or not?" But I rarely have a preference. I don't decide whether I want someone to be persuadable, I want a rule system that lets me determine it randomly. It makes it very difficult to "wing" an adventure when there is no system for determining how to assess modifiers to this skill. Is that circumstance worth a -1? A -4? A -15? There's no guidelines given. In short, I want tools to use in the game, not a blank check to do what I want. I can already do what I want.

4.) When the Diplomacy check succeeds (and it usually will, with those low flat DCs), the exact outcome is too vague. They have a new mood; great, what does that mean? In reality, it means whatever the DM says it means-which brings me right back to point #3.

5.) And how far does that "mood" go? What is its breaking point? What if the PCs ask a ludicrous and overly-expensive favor of a "friendly" person? What happens? I want Diplomacy to be able to answer questions like this when I don't have the answers predetermined, and it cannot do that as it stands. I want to be able to say, "Hmm, you asked the Duke to give you a 5000 gp advance on your next adventuring fee…roll Diplomacy to see if he goes for it." Right now, it doesn't really work that way. In short, D&D does not make me have to decide on the spot whether the PC's sword strikes the target; it provides rules for determining that. Why shouldn't there be rules for determining what happens when you ask an NPC to give too much?

6.) Oh, and it's too hard to really screw up. Anyone with the basic 4 ranks of Diplomacy one would take at 1st level and no penalty to Charisma is incapable of worsening anyone's attitude by accident. It should be a lot easier to blow it, I think, especially in delicate negotiations.

In my current game, I often find myself looking at the 4th level bard's Diplomacy roll of 27 and thinking, "What do I do with that information?" It just doesn't answer the questions I want it to answer.

Building the Foundation

OK, so, in my thinking I have come up with a few ground rules to guide my principle:

1.) I only worry about characters who invest in Diplomacy. Sure, fighters will occasionally be stuck having to talk their way out of something, but the system needs to work the right way for those who put max ranks in the skill and have a decent Charisma bonus. After all, combat values are derived from the best case scenario, the fighter, not the wizard. This is, in fact, one of the flaws with the current system; anyone who spends a modicum of effort being good at it, breaks it.

2.) In 3rd Edition, Diplomacy is defined as "Making people like you." I want to change that definition, for I think it lacks depth and is poorly understood. In my new system, Diplomacy will be defined as, "Getting people to accept a deal you propose to them." The idea is that anything you need to ask another person can be phrased in the form of a trade-even if you are offering "nothing" on one end of that trade, or something very abstract.

3.) A diplomat PC asking a stranger of equal level and Wisdom of 10 to accept a deal with an even risk-vs.-reward ratio should need to roll a 10 on the die to succeed. This is my numerical starting point, and I will proceed in both directions from there.

 
The Big Reveal:

Diplomacy (Cha)

Use this skill to ask the local baron for assistance, to convince a band of thugs not to attack you, or to talk your way into someplace you aren't supposed to be.

Check: You can propose a trade or agreement to another creature with your words; a Diplomacy check can then persuade them that accepting it is a good idea. Either side of the deal may involve physical goods, money, services, promises, or abstract concepts like "satisfaction." The DC for the Diplomacy check is based on three factors: who the target is, the relationship between the target and the character making the check, and the risk vs. reward factor of the deal proposed.

The Target: The base DC for any Diplomacy check is equal to the 15 + level of the highest-level character in the group that you are trying to influence + the Wisdom modifier of the character in the group with the highest Wisdom. High-level characters are more committed to their views and are less likely to be swayed; high Wisdom characters are more likely to perceive the speaker's real motives and aims. By applying the highest modifiers in any group, a powerful king (for example) might gain benefit from a very wise advisor who listens in court and counsels him accordingly. For this purpose, a number of characters is only a "group" if they are committed to all following the same course of action. Either one NPC is in charge, or they agree to act by consensus. If each member is going to make up their mind on their own, roll separate Diplomacy checks against each.

The Relationship: Whether they love, hate, or have never met each other, the relationship between two people always influences any request.
-20 Intimate: Someone who with whom you have an implicit trust. Example: A lover or spouse.
-15 Friend: Someone with whom you have a regularly positive personal relationship. Example: A long-time buddy or a sibling.
-10 Ally: Someone on the same team, but with whom you have no personal relationship. Example: A cleric of the same religion or a knight serving the same king.
-5 Acquaintance (Positive): Someone you have met several times with no particularly negative experiences. Example: The blacksmith that buys your looted equipment regularly.
+0 Just Met: No relationship whatsoever. Example: A guard at a castle or a traveler on a road.
+5 Acquaintance (Negative): Someone you have met several times with no particularly positive experiences. Example: A town guard that has arrested you for drunkenness once or twice.
+10 Enemy: Someone on an opposed team, with whom you have no personal relationship. Example: A cleric of a philosophically-opposed religion or an orc bandit who is robbing you.
+15 Personal Foe: Someone with whom you have a regularly antagonistic personal relationship. Example: An evil warlord whom you are attempting to thwart, or a bounty hunter who is tracking you down for your crimes.
+20 Nemesis: Someone who has sworn to do you, personally, harm. Example: The brother of a man you murdered in cold blood.

Risk vs. Reward Judgement: The amount of personal benefit must always be weighed against the potential risks for any deal proposed. It is important to remember to consider this adjustment from the point of view of the NPC themselves and what they might value; while 10 gp might be chump change to an adventurer, it may represent several months' earnings for a poor farmer. Likewise, a heroic paladin is unlikely to be persuaded from his tenets for any amount of gold, though he might be convinced that a greater good is served by the proposed deal. When dealing with multiple people at once, always consider the benefits to the person who is in clear command, if any hierarchy exists within the group.
-20 Fantastic: The reward for accepting the deal is very worthwhile, and the risk is either acceptable or extremely unlikely. The best-case scenario is a virtual guarantee. Example: An offer to pay a lot of gold for something of no value to the subject, such as information that is not a secret.
-15 Very Favorable: It's clear that you just want to sell your inventory so you can move. You don't care how little its sold for.
-10 Favorable: The reward is good, and the risk is tolerable. If all goes according to plan, the deal will end up benefiting the subject. Example: A request to aid the party in battle against a weak goblin tribe in return for a cut of the money and first pick of the magic items.
-5 Slightly Favorable: Just a slight 'sale' compared to yesterday's goods.
+0 Even: The reward and risk are more or less even, or the deal involves neither reward nor risk. Example: A request for directions to someplace that is not a secret.
+5 Slightly Unfavorable: Where did yesterday's sale go?
+10 Unfavorable: The reward is not enough compared to the risk involved; even if all goes according to plan, chances are it will end up badly for the subject. Example: A request to free a prisoner the subject is guarding (for which he or she will probably be fired) in return for a small amount of money.
+15 Very Unfavorable: You're bidding in a rigged auction and you know there is a 'plant' trying to artificially raise the bids.
+20 Horrible: There is no conceivable way the proposed plan could end up with the subject ahead, or the worst-case scenario is guaranteed to occur. Example: A offer to trade a bit of dirty string for a castle.

Success or Failure: If the Diplomacy check beats the DC, the subject accepts the proposal, with no changes or with minor (mostly idiosyncratic) changes. If the check fails by 5 or less, the subject does not accept the deal but may, at the DM's option, present a counter-offer that would push the deal up one place on the risk-vs.-reward list. For example, a counter-offer might make an Even deal Favorable for the subject. The character who made the Diplomacy check can simply accept the counter-offer, if they choose; no further check will be required. If the check fails by 10 or more, the Diplomacy is over; the subject will entertain no further deals, and may become hostile or take other steps to end the conversation.

Action: Making a request or proposing a deal generally requires at least 1 full minute. In many situations, this time requirement may greatly increase.

Try Again: If you alter the parameters of the deal you are proposing, you may try to convince the subject that this new deal is even better than the last one. This is essentially how people haggle. As long as you never roll 10 or less than the DC on your Diplomacy check, you can continue to offer deals.

Synergies: As normal.

Sparingly include circumstance bonuses/penalities. You accidentally burp when proposing the deal, or you are an elf talking to an elf-hater. They don't know you and you may have a good deal, but its still best to try again with someone else. Etc. These change among individuals with within the same relationship tier.



Living with the Rule

Extended Example:

A 5th level party is trying to get into an extravagant ball being thrown by a local baron (who is secretly an evil cultist). The party bard, with a Diplomacy of +13, tries to talk his way in. Three guards at the door are only letting in those who are on The List. Their captain is a 5th level fighter, and they are accompanied by a 1st level aristocrat with a Wisdom of 13, giving a base DC of 21 (the remaining guards are lower level and have Wisdoms of 10, so they don't add to the DC.) The guards have never met the adventurers before, so the Relationship modifier is +0. The final DC, however, depends on how the bard chooses to try to talk their way past the guards:
If the party approaches the guards and simply asks to be let in, they are offering a risk of "failing in your duty and probably getting fired or reprimanded" against a reward of "nothing". The guards might not get caught, but don't really get anything out of the deal either; it's an Unfavorable deal and gets a +10 increase to the DC, for a total of 31. The bard needs to roll a 7 or higher; just walking up and asking to be let in is risky.
If the party slips a pouch with 20 platinum pieces into the hand of the guard captain first, though, the deal becomes more favorable. Since even split four ways, the platinum is a decent amount of money compared to how much they get paid. Sure, they might get fired, but the platinum could keep them well-fed until they found another job anyway. The deal is now Slightly Favorable, and gets a -5 decrease to the DC, for a total of 16. The bard needs to roll a 3 or better-pretty easy.
If the party dresses up as aristocrats and successfully Bluffs the guards into believing they are nobles, the deal alters as well. The guard may get fired for letting in someone who is not on The List, but then, this noble before him may get him fired for keeping them out of the season's social event. Either way, the guard might lose his job, so the deal is Even, and the DC stays at 21. Our bard needs to now roll an 8 or better to succeed.
If, unbeknownst to the bard, the guard captain is fully aware of the evil baron's cult activities, things change again. First, the baron may have threatened the captain with a painful death if he fails his duty; thus, whatever method the bard uses to approach the guard will be one step less favorable, since the worst-case scenario is a brutal death rather than just job termination. The risk is much higher than the captain lets on, so if they offer him nothing in return the deal is Horrible for him, increasing the DC by +20 for a total of 41; the bard fails on a 20, and therefore knows something is up. Further, if the captain is in on the baron's evil dealings and recognizes the adventurers as agents of Good, he might be considered an Enemy and qualify for an additional +10 increase to the DC based on relationship, for a total of 51! This is a recipe for disaster if the bard attempts it, but he doesn't know that. This is still doable with optimization. +3 from feats, +6 synergy boni, 8ranks, +8 from charisma gives +25. Doable with a disguise and a roll of 16. Nevermind non-core feats, spells, items, class features, and more levels...
But then again, if they discover that guard is Lawful Good, the bard can suggest that they are there to take expose the baron's dirty deeds. The bard is still offering no money, but now the "payment" is the action the adventurers will take that supports and exemplifies the guard's alignment. The deal is Favorable for him, since even if he is fired, he will have the satisfaction of knowing he helped thwart an evil plan. If the bard also slips the captain 5 platinum, it might push the deal up to Very Favorable, for a grand total DC of 6. The bard then needs a -7: he will automatically succeed, though of course he doesn't know that either. If the guard had high expenses and was already getting paid too much for this job, he might reply that this was not enough, but would be open to further negotiation.

Options and Ideas:
At first read, it may seem like a pain to remember the two modifiers. There are two things that make it easier, though. First, in most games, 90% of all Diplomacy checks will be against total strangers, which is a +0 Relationship modifier. If there's no established relationship, there's no Relationship modifier. Second, notice that both modifiers have the same set-up: +10 to -10. That's intentional; even if you can't remember what modifier is appropriate, you can easily "wing it" by just remembering the upper and lower limit allowable, and judging accordingly.
The new Diplomacy skill offers a built-in definition for the sometimes-difficult-to-adjudicate charm person spell: a charmed creature is treated as having an allied relationship to the caster (-10 to Diplomacy DC), which replaces any previous relationship modifier. Thus, by charming an enemy, the DC drops from +10 to -10, a decrease of 20. The caster can now talk the creature into anything this improved relationship allows, without every NPC being wrapped around the caster's finger because of a 1st level spell. Note, however, that this will make the spell far more useful to a bard, who has Diplomacy as a class skill and has a high Charisma, than to a wizard. You might like that-maybe the bard should be better at charming people.
Sometimes, you may not have a good appreciation of what might be a good deal to offer. You can use Knowledge checks or even the Appraise skill to determine what a "fair trade" might be. Divination spells might play a part as well; a well-timed augury or even a detect good spell can give you a decent idea of what a particular NPC might find valuable.

46
The PBMC Metacompendium / Defensiveness
« on: March 22, 2018, 08:59:42 PM »
Combat Expertise & Defensive combat (all three versions) are at double the AC boost: +4AC & -4hit standard or full action & +8 as a full round without AoO

Similarly Casting Defensively requires DC=15+Spell level+DC+CL. Defensive SLAs require only DC=15+spell level.

47
The PBMC Metacompendium / Craft, Perform & Profession
« on: March 22, 2018, 08:57:37 PM »
These should not be a bunch of separate skills like knowledge. All ranks and bonuses help all sub-craft skills / sub profession / sub perform skills. This can be fluffed as becoming a handy-man / competent worker / Martha Stewart who does it all. This is much more 'heroic'.

48
The PBMC Metacompendium / Chassis Changes
« on: March 22, 2018, 08:54:14 PM »
3.5's designers far overestimated the power of a class's chasis. But they balanced things off of their inflated opinions. Rather than readjust things manually, let's make a chasis more exagerated. Sure it doesn't suddenly bring balance to the force, but its a start.

HP is no longer rolled. It is always max on the die.

Chassis Changes:
d4+con mod  -> 4 (penalties still apply fully)
d6+con mod  -> 6 + .5 x Con modifier (rounded down as normal)
d8+con mod  -> 8 + Con modifier
d10+con mod -> 12 + 2 x Con modifier
d12+con mod -> 20 + Con score

2+int mod   -> 2 (penalties still apply fully)
4+int mod   -> 4 + .5 x Int modifier (rounded down as normal)
6+int mod   -> 6 + Int modifier
8+int mod   -> 8 + 2 x Int modifier
10+int mod  -> 10 + Int score

The BAB rate is double and secondary attacks have a constant highest BAB-5. Divine power still only gives x1 BAB and Skillful only gives three-quarters BAB.

49
The PBMC Metacompendium / Armor Bonus PHB124 table
« on: March 22, 2018, 08:51:20 PM »
The little "1" superscript there penalizes tiny creatures rather than boosting huge ones. Feel free to ignore this (as most DMs do), or invert it so that tiny might not get a penalty (or fine sized creatures might have a quarter of their armor).

Really, though it should give huge creatures a x2 and colossal ones a x4

50
The PBMC Metacompendium / Appraise
« on: March 22, 2018, 08:48:06 PM »
    The Appraise skill is counted as a skill based off the misunderstanding that objects have intrinsic value. In reality, objects are worth what the market will bear. D&D assumes a static market, so all you have to do is ask a shop keeping if they will pay x for a good. If they say no, you've asked too much. Walk this number down until willing to pay that amount and voila, no appraise check needed. This is not a theoretical excersize unless the DM allows you to find someone willing to pay more than the items (marketplace) value. Since this goes against what most people expect, it renders the appraise skill useless.

    However the above IS useful to realize that maybe this mechanic is useful. What if the 'shopping around' for better buyers was the actual function of Appraise? This might allow selling an item at full market price. Suddenly Appraise is a useful skill again. This will steer certain classes to a higher WBL for DMs using treasure guidelines strictly. But since higher tier classes with the notable exception of the factotum, don't often have appraise as a class skill, this is actually helpful for balance.

    If not using this skill, consider allowing classes with appraise to chose another class skill. A PC can successfully sell an object worth up to 400 times the ranks in appraise in gp. The DC to be made for each check is the full value of the object divided by (400 times the character's int mod).

51
The PBMC Metacompendium / Weapon Statistic Reverse Engineering
« on: March 22, 2018, 08:40:23 PM »
"I love how 3.5 lays bare many of the rules and says "here, customize it as you wish.' I'm trying to deduce the weapon creation guidelines used for based off damage categories and all other stats that influence it. Though I don't expect them all to line up perfectly (plus or minus 1 category is good enough), I do hope for guidelines similar to how magic items are priced. What I have so far:

Categories: Ranged Projectile with ammunition, Ranged Thrown, Simple Melee, Martial Melee, or Exotic (which usually require a feat tax). Otherwise its improvised (-4hit, damage of comparable size, worst crit, threat and range increment) which basically doesn't count as much of a weapon.

Damage Type: Bludgeoning, Piercing or Slashing.

Threat Range: (the "/" means on a roll of) 19-20/ or 18-20/ for a x2 multiplier, otherwise /20. Increasing this eat step counts as a damage increase.

Critical Multiplier: x2, x3, x4. Increasing this each step counts as a damage increase.

Handedness (not chirality): light, one or two-handed. Each one causes one die bump in damage per the same size (see short sword -> long sword -> great sword) and double the weight. Many ranged weapons require two hands and therefore have a built-in damage bump.

Sized: The default sized weapon is medium. Each bump in size causes a damage bump and a change in weight of double if going up or half if going down. Weapons cease to be lethal below 1d1. Depending on the original size the progression is usually 1->1d2->1d3->1d4->1d6->1d8->2d6->3d6 and then double the previous entry (so ->4d6->6d6->8d6, etc). Weapons may start at 1d12 or 2d4 but then progress normally after that. Weapons may start at 1d10 and progress to 2d8 and 3d8 and aside from the d8's they continue normally.

Damage: Each bump above increases the points alotted by one except Two handed and exotic seem to give an additional 1 to the range. Simply light 5-6bumps/points, simply 1handed 6-7bumps/points, simply 2handed 7-9bumps/points, martial light 6-7bumps/points, martial 1handed 7-8bumps/points, martial 2handed 8-10bumps/points, exotic light 6-8bumps/points, exotic 1handed 7-9bumps/points, exotic 2handed 9-11bumps/points. I have no idea about ranged weapons baseline damage. They seem to have a correlation between loading, thrown and range increment. Anyone care to throw some statistics at it for me?

Weight: Anywhere from .5lb to 15lb (? there are probably heavier than the Naginata). Seems to have little effect but might be a tie-breaker for an on-the-fence case.

Cost: Anywhere from 0gp (club) to 400gp (are there handleable weapons more expensive than a heavy repeating crossbow?). Seems to have little effect.

Lastly, Ranged Weapons have a Range Increment: anywhere in multiples of 5 from 10' to 120'. See the end of the damage remarks.



Common Boolean Values, most of which are added in lieu of a damage increase:
Is it Finesseable?
Is it a Double Weapon? This seems to often only cost damage on one side.
Is it a Special Monk Weapon?
Does it deal nonlethal damage without penalty?
Is it Reach? If so, can it Attack Adjacent enemies?
Can you Trip with it? If so, can you be tripped? If so, can you drop the weapon to avoid it?


Example (Popular) Weapon of Kurari-gama:
1 for 1d6/1d4 as a double weapon
5 for the larger 1d6 damage
1.5 Has Reach but can strike Adjacent enemies
1 can Trip with it and can drop to avoid being tripped
1 Finessable
= 9 which fits the 9 to 12 points for a exotic 2handed weapon.


So what else am I missing that is a special feature present in more than one weapon? Are special features that are present in only one weapon 'line' (like lances) worth mentioning? What about apparently unique effect like shurikens counting as ammunition for enchanting (unless there is another instance of this in another weapon when not improvised)?

Edit: I've gone through all of the PHB weapons and they all line up except whip, halberd, great club and light hammer. Only the halberd is better than it should be."



"I was reading an article a while back where one of the 3.x designers basically broke down the weapon "template":

For starters, each weapon is allotted a # of points based on size and proficiency category:
 - size -- light = 1 ; 1-handed = 2 ; 2-handed = 3
 - proficiency -- simple = 1 ; martial = 2 ; exotic = 3
so, all weapons will have 2-6 points.
This assumes that you are building a weapon for a medium-sized creature.
the base "weapon" starts as 1d3, 20/x2
Then you purchase upgrades, each upgrade costs 1 point:
 - each die-size increase
 - each increase in critical threat range
 - each increase in crit multiplier
 - special qualities
sometimes the special qualities are shoehorned in via "eyeballing it" ..... just like everything else in the game.

but that's just for melee wpns .... I'm not exactly sure how range wpns are run." - Wotmaniac

"Your numbers seem right. Though the whole system seems to have exceptions... so it seems to be "use this as a base and play it by ear."

Also, much like the magic item creation rules you will want to clarify that the DM has final say. Note the difference between a spiked chain and a warmace... I mean damn." - bobthe6th

Ohh that's niice, especially if you can find that link.
I really wish I could ... I've been looking for that thing for years.
@wotmaniac: That seems isomorphic to the system I'm describing.
Then it would appear that you are on the right track  ;)

52
The PBMC Metacompendium / Planar Time Traits
« on: March 22, 2018, 08:35:49 PM »
Either all planes with the Flowing time trait instead have the Erratic time trait, or magic refreshes according to the rate of time on the Prime. Either way it is no longer the case that "you'll be back completely refreshed before your foes even know you're gone." [MotP10]

53
The PBMC Metacompendium / Swarmfighting & Aid Another
« on: March 22, 2018, 08:32:47 PM »
Should not stack. Otherwise piles of fine-sized leadership followers rule.

54
The PBMC Metacompendium / Retroactive Int
« on: March 22, 2018, 08:29:39 PM »
The original idea it was not allowed was because it complicates in-play added int. But this is far simpler than build planning without retroactive int, so it should be allowed. It's a moot point because of the Alternate Skill System Variant http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/alternativeSkillSystems.htm

55
The PBMC Metacompendium / PrC Tier Squeezing
« on: March 22, 2018, 08:09:20 PM »
Drop full casting at level 1 for all casting PrCs

Big Six:
Planar Shephard: Planar shephards have no extra Ex, Su or SLAs on wildshape. The only plane traits given are elemental and energy traits, alignment traits, and magic traits
Tainted Scholar: Remove Blooded/Tainted metamagic.
Beholder Mage: Don't allow PrC's to advance its casting.
ShadowCraft Mage: remove the cookies and any range-boosting of spells that use its abilities.
Ur-priest: Don't allow PrC's to advance its casting.


Not broken +2's:
Champion of G something = Barb trying to be a pally? Prestige paladin and rage mage. Now you don't have a crappy list!

Emissary of B something = any humanoid (all other types are safe) that fails an enchantment (bad) compulsion (really bad) language dependent (plug your ears?) mind-affecting (who isn't immune to this?) will save seven times deserves to have its alignment dicked with at will

Sentinel of B (b for bear) = seriously bear cavalry? You have to eat them when they die too. I seriously think this is all a joke. Nothing cleric 20 can't do better.

Disciple of D = Think long and hard about how 3.0 used to have crit stacking compared to 3.5. Then update the material accordingly and get back to me. Hint: iron power does nothing.

Soul Eater =  vs something immune to level drain or with high AC = SOL. The +2 saves is the nicest thing besides the obvious level drain because wight's aren't great.

Thrall of J  =   Alter self/polymorph is what casters have been doing forever. This isn't worth the levels.

Soulbow: If you are threatened by soulknives, you shouldn't read any further.

Warshaper: It allows noncasters to do something casters already do! Must be broken! No fix needed.

War Hulk: Str is the worst stat. +2? Meh its basically +dam = class level. Not broken.

Walker in the Wastes: without black sand or high optimization early entry its worth the caster progression loss. Probably the only non-broken unedited +2 single progressing casting-based PrC. Besides the DM could always be a stickler about the vagueness of the capstone.

Legendary Captain: This is DnD. Naval combat is NEVER required. You have a fly speed right?

Anima Mage: +1 highest spell slot, +2ini, and action abuse but requires caster level lose is fine. If you aren't actually progressing your soulbinding (entry via feat), remove the full casting. Low prereq's aren't the problem everyone thinks.

Telflammar Shadowdancer: See shadow pouncing nerf

Runescarred Beserker: Normal up to 5th level progression. No spell completion. Mediocre abilities.






Troublesome PrCs (we won't even talk about font of power):
IotSV + AMF override = +1

Sublime Chord = Don't allow PrC's to advance PrC casting. Once its has to take up x9/SC9/y2 to get ninth level spells, SC becomes reasonable.

Dweomerkeeper =   Supernatural Spell needs "any one spell" replaced with "one chosen spell". Remove "does not require any components,"

Rainbow Servant = Remember the no 9ths.

Sacred Excorsist = fine without full casting

Void Disciple = 2 dead levels and 5 casting loses. Assuming the epic transparency is set correctly... +1

Anarchic Initiate: no full manifesting. Remember that the Wild surge it gives you don't stack with overchannel... Also the action lose and delay for maybe messing up opponents with wild magic is suboptimal

Hulking Hurler: Broken because of that tiny damage rule. Either fix it or add a cap.

Incantrix: Remove Cooperative Metamagic. Remove Instant Metamagic's 2/day entry. All class abilities shift one level sooner except Snatch Spell and the Improved Metamagic (and level one's entries). Add "arcane" before "persistent spell effect" in Metamagic Effect. Remove "+ her Int modifier" in the second to last sentence.
   OR sub the 3.0 version here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20010803

Thrallherd = remove the 1st level entry in the thrallherd ability's table. Now you max at 28 thralls, not 163. Remove the 24 hour replacement. Make this the number gotten in a year.

Dreadmaster: no full casting.

Moonspeaker: high prereqs. Niche. Not that powerful after no full casting

Halruaan Elder: After the heighten shenanigans of circle magic are fixed, no full casting.

Initiate of the Seven Fold Veil: Remember, the layers do NOT act "as if" a prismatic wall. They only emulate some of the layers. Remember that AMF takes down the walls and therefore makes its own LoE (even without the LoE buff to it). Remove Warding 2/day, 3/day and 4/day. IotSV only gains 2 class abilities per level: Unimpeachable Veil is gained at 2nd level,  not first. Unanswerable Strike +2 is gained at 3rd level, not 2nd. Unanswerable Strike +2 is gained at 5th level, not 6th.

Runecaster = Permanent runes only affect the runecaster that created them. Thus, no NPC runecasters creating cheap permanent buffs of every non-persistable spell ever for PCs. Of course its a standard action to gain activate any of these runes (except trap versions), but even the handbook says "DM's Objection: No Permanent runes. It's too powerful" and "DM's Objection: This class is just too unbalanced."

Spelldancer: Remove the word "safely" and replace the word "rounds" with "times" from Spelldance (Su) so it ends: "A spelldancer can spelldance a number of times per day equal to her constitution modifier plus her spelldancer class level." Remove all text after that.







Crappy Six:
1 Forsaker: Make the item destruction optional...
2 Blighter: no loss of original druid casting. Now it has 2 casting progressions.
3 Apostle of Peace (allow its subtle break of VoP)
4 Reaping Mauler: Make FoM counters FoM (1 creatures with FoM can pin another with FoM)

5 Lifedrinker: (vampires are not liches. Though there is no casting progression, wotc thought spells were integral to this class. We'll fix that)
free, stacking evolved undead template AT EACH LEVEL. Why? You're a vampire. You could use some free LA. Also it fits the fluff perfectly.
No temporary insanity on an empty lifewell unless you want to add the option for (stacking) benefits from the savage vampire template.
Invigorate does not use up lifewell points. It should be an undead HD of hp for every unspent lifewell point at the start of the adventuring 'day' instead. These don't stack but are refreshed daily so you can use them up then spend the lifewell points without taking damage.
The spell Boost (Heighten) should only be useable for non-spell 'effect level'-based abilities. Otherwise we have early entry shenanigans. This subsumes the missing ability on the table.
Special Attack Boost (Empower) should cost 1 lifewell point. Remember the chart-text conflict
Blood servant should cost 6 lifewell points, 3 for a blood elemental
Boost Defenses should cost 4 lifewell points. Make it DR 20/adamantine.
Special Attack Boost (Maximize) costs three and happens at level 6 since there is no Spell Boost version.
Greater invigorate corresponds to how much is in the pool at the start of the adventuring 'day.' If 20 or more then add +10dex enhancement as well. The boosts last even if the pool is depleted later that day.
Blood Revel is a good way to kill yourself (teleported coffin? Poof). Add profane +4 dex and remove the coffin nerfs if the vampire was immune to the vampiric weaknesses anyways. The DR is stacking 25/- and Fast Healing 10 stacks with all other sources.

6 Dragon Ascendant: change the half-dragon prereq to "before this class." Make it half the levels (so you gain the abilities twice as fast).



Not -2:
Waverider = Realize that a special mount is a special mount is a special mount.

The following only need the above's full casting/manifesting/whatever except at level 1:
Talon of Tiamat
Eye of Lolth
Acolyte of the skin
Green Star Adept
Mindbender
Entropomancer
Insidious Corruptor
Arcane Archer
Metamind
Bonded Summoner
True Necromancer: Necromantic Prowess is broken but doesn't need changed. Should be permanent CL boost, not EClerL. Yes the casting boost applies to both sides.
Witchborn Binder
Yathrinshee
Brimstone Speaker
Wonderworker: definitely not meant for psionics and obviously not arcane either. Great at the end of Cleric17
Fochlucan Lyrist = enterable via ring of evasion. Don't be such a literalist. New players don't know that evasion is a class ability. They might look for a spell or character option (like sovereign archetypes). Also no multiclass penalties (at all) is cool.
Ollam: make add “Bardic” to lore. See the casting bump.
Evangelist: Inspire dread and hope need to be non-mind affecting. Keep in mind you can combine this with bardic music... Makes a good diplomancer and the fire shield is nice.
Master of the unseen hand: Ex flight? Sure the capstone is bad but on a ghost this class is awesome.
Mindspy: Make Anticipate uncapped by level. Make the telepathy abilities a free action once per round. Make the capstone all creatures within 100' not just 4
Duelist: uncap Canny defense. Make it stack for SA. Remove the precision strike one weapon restriction. Add good Fort saves
Forrest Master: Whoa! Somebody forgot to check a control plants spell's level. Remove that.
Dirgesinger: Make dirgesong stack for progressing all bardic music qualities. Make song of grief not compulsion or mind-affecting. This capstone is off the chain. Raise that BBEG under your command and make it have all its abilities except (Ex) ones!
Incarnum Blade: Make the blademeld benefits apply to any weapon you hold and allow others to benefit. Now you can mildly power up the whole party!
Necrocarnate: Remove the spellcraft 10 prereq.
   Make the chasis d8, good fort (and will), 4+int and medium BAB
Defiant: Make sure that SR always stacks. I had a thread about this... Make the capstone folded into the first level ability. Capstone should make the SR apply to arcane magic too.
Solar Channeler: No loss of spellcasting, class features, or items while making use of this class's abilities.

56
The PBMC Metacompendium / Monster Difficulty
« on: March 22, 2018, 07:59:33 PM »
Assumption: All encounters should be "overpowering." If there isn't a significant risk in a game with a heavy amount of time invested in created characters, DnD becomes a WoW grind at 10% speed.

Solution, or How to Quick and Dirty make Printed Adventures not Incredibly Easy
1. half the starting ECL and xp gain (so ECL 3 ending around 10)
and
2. double all monster numbers and statics values: (HD, HP, initiative, speed, AC, Grapple, damage, reach, special qualities' numbers, saves, stats discluding their ripple effects, skills, spell DCs, spells slots, etc) except where it would cause difficulty for the DM (space, spell known, highest level cast, inventory, feats, etc)
3. Monsters will have useless feats swapped for useful ones, if you have the time.
4. Monsters will always add 20 in leui of rolling a d20 on their saves.
(click to show/hide)

This way you can on-the-fly read monsters character sheets without having to go through and rewrite everything.

57
The PBMC Metacompendium / LA for LA-- Templates
« on: March 22, 2018, 07:58:17 PM »
I maintain that the designers were just too scared to assign reasonable LA to many of the LA: -- templates. It haunts their dreams along with casters in heavy armor and other over powered munchkinry.

I'd like to remedy this. Here is a list of most (but not all) of the templates without LA. There will be none of those "But the PC has limited actions!" or "This only applies to animals!" or "Then PC can't move!" or "The PC will be enslaved!" or "The PC will be mindless!" objections. There are already ways to do this, so let's not worry about such little things.

Template starting list:
Bone Creature (BoVD 184)
Corpse Creature (BoVD 185)
Corrupted Creature (BoVD 186)
Effigy Creature (CAr 152)
Pseudonatural Creature (CAr 160)
Spellstiched (CAr 161)
Living Zombie (CR 128)
Arachnoid Creature (CSQ 124)
Half-Dragon Faerunian (CSQ 126)
Revenant (CSQ 127)
Silveraith (CSW 127)
Mob (DMG2 59)
Skeletal Dragon (Dr 192)
Husk Vermin (DrU 126)

Acidborn Monster (Du 111)
Dungeonbred Monster (Du 112)
Guardian Monster (Du 113)
Sentry Ooze (Du 114)
Hivenest Monster (Du 115)
Horrid Animal (ECS 287)
Living Spell (ECS 293)
Magebred Animal (ECS 295)
Corrupted by the Abyss (EDP 190)
Paragon Creature (ELH 208)
Pseudonatural Creature (ELH 212)
Worm That Walks (ELH 228)
Yellow Musk Zombie (FF 191)
Huecuva (FF 94)
Madborn (FN 125)
Zin-Carla (FP 184)
Chosen of Bane (FP 213)
Shade (FRCS 314)
Bonesinger (Gh 158)
Monstrous Vampire (Gh 166)
Mumia (Gh 167)
Yuan-ti (Gh 173)
Tainted Minion (HH 153)
Tainted Raver (HH 154)
Dread Warrior (LE 169)
Necromental (LM 112)
Revived Fossil (LM 118)
Swarm– Shifter (LM 123)
Umbral Creature (LM 128)
Elder Eidolon (LoM 146)
Pseudonatural Creature (LoM 161)
Crypt Spawn (Mag 184)
The Magister (Mag 185)
Spectral Mage (Mag 189)
Skeleton (MM 225)
Captured One (MM2 204)
Chimeric Creature (MM2 206)
Half-Golem (MM2 209)
Spellstitched (MM2 215)
Titanic Creature (MM2 217)
Warbeast (MM2 219)
Living Spell (MM3 91)
Web Mummy (MM4 165)
Thoon-Thrall (MM5 111)
Phantom (MM5 130)
Xorvintaal Dragon (MM5 43)
Beast of Xvim (Mon 85)
Curst (Mon 87)
Lich, Good (Mon 90)
Revenant (Mon 93)
Petitioner (MP 199)
Pennaggolan (OA 189)
Half-Elemental (RT 160)
Bone Naga (SK 73)
Quorbound Creature (SoS 150)
Quorbred Creature (Sos 151)
Gelatinous Creature (SS 116)
Gravewight (StS 31)
Warforged, Quorcraft (SX 84)
Blightspawned (Una 59)
Dread Warrior (Una 62)
JuJu Zombie (Una 66)
Arachnoid Creature (Und 80)
Half-Illithid (Und 89)

If you want to critique an LA, please do! But can you do one book's templates? Pretty please? Who wants to do Dungeonscape?

Templates with assigned LA and ability summary:
(click to show/hide)

58
The PBMC Metacompendium / Generic Classes Mixing
« on: March 22, 2018, 07:56:03 PM »
"If you use these generic classes, you shouldn't also use the standard character classes (or variants of those classes). You can still include prestige classes, if you wish to add that level of complexity to your game, but you may have to tweak some prestige class prerequisites that include class features not available to these classes." ... "the game master probably shouldn't apply an XP penalty for characters who multiclass."

Whoa whoa. So the hundreds of PrCs, many of which will not fully function or be enterable are okay, but the few base classes are incompatible? And you expect the DM to tweak things? And the only thing the PCs get out of this restriction is sloppier leveling allowances if they want full XP? Nonsense.

Do not tweak PrCs. Enforce XP penalties for higher tier PCs. Players will find they will want to multiclass. This is a good thing.

Allow all base classes and ACFs along with generic classes. This means those familiar substitution wizard levels for specialists can work with generic arcane casters (provided they dump their bonus feat for a familiar).

The only thing this system did do right is the "treat any race whose favored class is barbarian, fighter, monk, or paladin as having warrior as its favored class. A race whose favored class is bard, ranger, or rogue has expert as its favored class. A race that has cleric or druid as its favored class treats divine spellcaster as favored, while a race with a favored class of sorcerer or wizard treats arcane spellcaster as its favored class," bit.


What this now allows:
+2d6 SA at level one so +1d6 overall. Good for noncaster DPSers
More feats and more customizable skill lists. Good for skillmonkeys and meeting prereqs
Getting around arbitrary ACF restrictions. Good for everyone
Getting around arcane/divine restrictions for the big 3 core lists without blowing a feat but only for spontaneous casters. Good for the spontaneous vs prepared divide
More turning pools faster (+1 in the end considering 2 levels sunk for 2 pools) for DMM. Very niche but probably helps the various DMMing classes evenly.

59
The PBMC Metacompendium / Feats that Should Be Free
« on: March 22, 2018, 07:53:54 PM »
These feats only apply to physical weapons, not spells or spell effects and only to builds that achieve the highest level of BAB (12).

The BAB here must be from class chassis. Divine power or skillful weapons don't help:

Organized by Prerequisites (the BAB here must be from class chassis. Divine power or skillful weapons don't help)

BAB+0:
TWF

BAB+1:
Track

BAB+2:
Combat Experience (@-2, Deadly Defense [CS76] is already free)
Improved Bullrush

BAB+3:
Improved Grapple
Improved Trip

BAB+4:
Improved Shield bash
Improved Sunder
Improved Disarm

BAB+5:
Improved Feint
Improved Unarmed Strike
Improved Overrun

BAB+6:
Trample
Blind Fight
Power Attack
Cleave

BAB+7:
Dodge
Whirlwind Attack
Deft Opportunist [CAdv]
Heavy Armor Optimization

BAB+8:
Shield Specialization
Weapon Focus
Parrying Shield
Improved Buckler Defense
Point Blank Shot

BAB+9:
Expert Tactician [CAdv109]
Monkey Grip [CW103]
Power Critical [CW103]
Ranged Disarm [CW103]
Prone Attack [CW103]

BAB+10:
Ranged Pin [CW103]
Ranged Sunder [CW103]
Sharp Shooting [CW105]
Throw Anything [CW105]
Prone Attack [CW103]

BAB+11:
Quickdraw
Weapon Finesse
Improved Combat Expertise [CW100]
Precise Shot
Flick of the Wrist [CW99]
DareDevil Athlete [CS76]

BAB+12:
Rapid Shot
Manyshot
Eyes in the Back of your Head [CW98]
Improved Toughness [CW101]
Improved Rapid Shot [CW101]
Karmic Strike [CW102]







Organized by Alphabetically

Blind Fight
Cleave
Combat Experience
DareDevil Athlete [CS76]
Deft Opportunist [CAdv]
Dodge
Expert Tactician [CAdv109]
Eyes in the Back of your Head [CW98]
Flick of the Wrist [CW99]
Heavy Armor Optimization
Improved Buckler Defense
Improved Bullrush
Improved Combat Expertise [CW100]
Improved Disarm
Improved Feint
Improved Grapple
Improved Overrun
Improved Rapid Shot [CW101]
Improved Shield bash
Improved Sunder
Improved Toughness [CW101]
Improved Trip
Improved Unarmed Strike
Karmic Strike [CW102]
Monkey Grip [CW103]
Parrying Shield
Point Blank Shot (weapon only, not spells)
Power Attack
Power Critical [CW103]
Prone Attack [CW103]
Quickdraw
Ranged Pin [CW103]
Ranged Disarm [CW103]
Ranged Sunder [CW103]
Sharp Shooting [CW105]
Shield Specialization
Throw Anything [CW105]
Track
Trample
TWF
Weapon Finesse
Whirlwind Attack

60
The PBMC Metacompendium / Fair PC LA for DMG2 'NPC' Templates
« on: March 22, 2018, 07:43:19 PM »
The line "Because these abilities are not balanced for PC use, these level adjustments are quite liberal" literally means that the LA is too high. One might argue RAI, what this is trying to say is that the change to ECL is simply wrong.

This is supported by the LA+12 for single dominated monster at a time. Warlock 6 / Mindbender 7 does this 6 more times a week at the same ECL and is a viable character all the while. Compare that to a LA12 / x 1 character which has no saves or hp...

So we know the LA is inflated, but by how much? We need a litmus with a listed ability that compares to an existing LA. Vestigal Twin seems comparable to LA+2 for the far superior multiheaded template after level drains. This is what makes me think the table's PC LA should be atleast halved and rounded down. The Superior Multiweapon Fighting feat/ability is swapped for the multivoice feat, but we are still out Nat+1, Con+2, Darkvision 90', vorpal semi-immunity, +2Listen,Spot&Search, and the Improved Initiative and Combat Reflexes feats.

What we should we do with the fractions? I'm not sure its worth a full LA+1 but it feels close. The template is only LA+2 and we've supposedly found 1 LA of it, maybe a bit more considering the ability is just slightly better than the feat. This makes me think we should make the LA divided by three and round. It also makes sense to be able to combine fractional LA for LA1.


Note: I'm not interested in the fail of a litmus test in SS11. -1 LA for small size? Ni infinite SR for LA1? Whatever.

Reference Chart:
(click to show/hide)

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