PENTHIAE CAMPAIGN QUESTIONS

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Re: PENTHIAE CAMPAIGN QUESTIONS

Postby Zanaikin » Sat Mar 29, 2008 2:25 am

frankly, there's a rule I've been really tempting to incorporate that was in BEFORE the reset, but couldn't bring myself to due to how much of the game it affects.

here it is:

Quadruple All Weapon Damage.

shocked yet?

note: this applies only to weapons (including splash weapons like alchemist's fire) and natural elemental effects (like the 2d6dmg from touching lava, 10d6 for being immersed in acid, falling dmg, etc.), does not apply to spells or special magic item effects. (this means certain weapon-like spells like Mage's Sword may need customizing).

why is this added, it's simple:
1. My game is not typical D&D, an untrained peasant will have 2lvls, a typical professional (soldier or skilled worker) will have 4~6lvls, only a child or young teen will likely have 1lvl. This means they'll often have four times the HP as in typical D&D. This needs compensating.
2. It's to help balance out melee vs. magic. No arguments there on that it's needed.
3. With the half-armor-to-DR implemented, even heavy weapons often don't do enough damage.
4. Currently, weapon damage don't increase fast enough with size to make heavy weapons REALLY worth it. Who cares about large->huge +1d6 dmg when the maneuver you use already grant +10d6? Who cares about the idea of sheathing weapons on fire for a +1d6? Well, how about a +4d6 to change your mind?
5. People do not walk off after doing insane things like falling down several hundred feet, or run through an inferno without fire immunity, and still survive with decent amt of hp.

problems:
1. Rebalancing weapon-like spells, there's a lot of them.
2. may cause a lot of confusion, there's simply TOO many things involved.

any thoughts?
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Re: PENTHIAE CAMPAIGN QUESTIONS

Postby Mr_Praetorian » Sat Mar 29, 2008 2:46 am

(0________________0)'

Maybe we could knock it down to double. I dunno, seems a bit extreme to go for that. Though I will admit it would be nice to be on the level as casters, for once...
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Re: PENTHIAE CAMPAIGN QUESTIONS

Postby TheDude51 » Sat Mar 29, 2008 3:11 am

Frankly, melee needs all the help they can get. Although some of the numbers you could get out of this are ridiculous, especially with Power Attack, spellcasters can deal out just as much, and often have an easier time hitting.

For example, right now Dmitri effectively has 4 attacks each round, each using a touch attack roll and dealing 135 points of damage. No melee character can hope to approach that consistently, and I can blast away from a safe distance, hitting more easily with my touch attack rolls. With the quadruple-damage rule, a melee character gets the ability to deal more damage than such a ranged character as myself or that frostmaster in return for taking the risk of going toe-to-toe with the enemy, which seems a reasonable trade off.

Although I shudder to think of some of the damage numbers a Frenzied Berserker executing a pouncing charge with a Valorous greatsword and full power attack could produce.

If Dai feels up to updating the things that need updating, I say go for it.
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In that case for the government
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And elect another?
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Re: PENTHIAE CAMPAIGN QUESTIONS

Postby Zanaikin » Sat Mar 29, 2008 3:17 am

oh, this only includes base-weapon dmg, not dmg from things like str-mod and power-attacking, etc, w/e.

although the quad 8d6 greatsword is still frightening
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Re: PENTHIAE CAMPAIGN QUESTIONS

Postby Mr_Praetorian » Sat Mar 29, 2008 4:22 am

Or my halberd, which would be doing 12d8 while in huge mode.
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Re: PENTHIAE CAMPAIGN QUESTIONS

Postby Zanaikin » Sat Mar 29, 2008 4:54 am

well, I fail to see how a human can get hit by a 20-ft long halberd and stay in one piece, given that a pollaxe will usually clean them apart clean, and large pollaxe could probably do the same through full plate.

but yeah, maybe increment to double is better, this requires a lot of thinking about either way.
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Re: PENTHIAE CAMPAIGN QUESTIONS

Postby Laharl » Sat Mar 29, 2008 5:29 am

Wasn't base weapon damage quadrupled prereset? If so, doubled would make more sense to account for the reduction in base power level.


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Re: PENTHIAE CAMPAIGN QUESTIONS

Postby TheDude51 » Tue Apr 22, 2008 5:37 pm

What metamagic effects can be applied to a Greater Prying Eyes spell?

It has a range, which would imply Enlarge is viable, but it works a bit differently than a normal spell that is Enlarged, which is why I ask.

It also has a variable, numberic effect (1d4+CL eyes), but I am unsure if one could Empower or Maximize this. Also, would Empower also modify the addition to the d4?

That is, would an Empowered Prying Eyes create (1d4)*1.5 + CL eyes, or (1d4+CL) * 1.5 eyes?
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And elect another?
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Re: PENTHIAE CAMPAIGN QUESTIONS

Postby Zanaikin » Wed Apr 23, 2008 12:28 am

Empower & Maximize works normally, that's all I'll say.

and yes Enlarge will work with it.
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Re: PENTHIAE CAMPAIGN QUESTIONS

Postby Zanaikin » Fri May 09, 2008 3:48 pm

changes a few rules / made additions, some of these are just written clarifications of what I've stated in the past.


CHARACTER CREATION & LEVELING:
6. Epic
You continue progression of Base Attack Bonus and all Base Saves as normal when above level twenty (consult DM for the BAB and saves of any WOTC Epic Prestige Class).
Furthermore, upon reaching level twenty-one, your character receives an one time bonus of 4 ‘stat-buy’ points to your ability scores, increasing your effective starting scores (before taking in bonuses from stat boost gained by leveling) from 32 point buy to 36 point buy. Upon reaching level twenty-six, you receive another 4 ‘stat-buy’ points, raising your effective starting scores to 40 point buy.

***I use a point-buy system in NPC generation where the point-buy amount is based on level of character. For epic characters it's 36 point buy, and for high-epic characters it's 40 point buy. =P


ACTION POINTS:
Under uses of 1AP:
• Gain the effects of any one feat you choose which does not have a knowledge prerequisite for one round; you must meet all the requirements of the chosen feat.
***Yes, this means you may no longer emulations feats like Arcane Thesis or any War Magic feats (=O). The reason for this is because unlike most other feats, knowledge-based feats are those meant to require considerable research to understand, where the prerequisite ranks are considered the foundation or basics, therefore you simply can't imitate it on a second's notice. Well, that and the fact Arcane Thesis emulation is just outright broken...use either Casting Arrays to power up the metamagic or learn the feat yourself =P.
• Continue to fight without penalty even while disabled or dying for one round (you still die upon reaching –10 hit points).
***Based on the Boar's ferocity ability.

Under uses of 2AP:
• Continue to fight without penalty even when reduced to –10 hit points or below for one round. You must be conscious and above a hit point amount equal to the negative of half your maximum hit points to use this ability. The ‘no penalty’ implies only to the penalties of disabled or dying, but not to the results of major bodily damage (such as loss of limbs) from being critically damaged.
***Given the penalties involved in losing and rebuilding a character, this ability is for you to better keep your characters alive. It's similar to the Knight lvl20 ability.

To assist the above rule, I also implemented this:
6. A character who has consumed his limited amount of action points for the round may continue to use his remaining reserve action points, but at a penalty. For every action point you would normally spent, you must now consume three times that amount. You may not use this ability to produce an action point effect above your standard limits (e.g. take an extra standard action when you do not have the Action Surge feat), nor may you spend above double your normal limit (prior to the tripling of AP costs, thus a character with the Action Surge feat may produce up to the effects of four action points in one round, costing him eight action points total). After using this ability, your character becomes fatigued (or exhausted if already fatigued) for the next 10 minutes, which applies even if you have immunity to fatigue or exhaustion. Exhausted characters may not use this ability. Players are advised to reserve this ability only for emergency life-or-death situations.


MORALE EFFECTS:
Immunity to Mind-Affecting effects (such as Mind Blank) prevents you from being affected by all morale effects, both good and bad.


LEADERSHIP:
The full ranking system is as followed. This system is not strictly military, and may be adapted to any organization.
...
You may add your rank as an untyped modifier to any of the following:
• Leadership score (as described above), but only for the purpose of attracting cohorts and followers from within your organization.
• Rally checks (see Heroes of Battle p73).
• Diplomacy, gather information, intimidate, and opposed charisma check made against another member of the same organization.




and if you haven't seen this yet:
5. A character with the Heroic Surge feat (free feat at character level twenty-five) may activate it to gain 1 temporary action point per round (each lasting until the end of round) for one round per character level (see Heroic Surge in custom feats for details). The character may spend up to 3 action points per round during this time. This grants the ability to use three action points to perform any of the following:
• Take 20 on any saving throw.
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Re: PENTHIAE CAMPAIGN QUESTIONS

Postby Zanaikin » Sat May 17, 2008 10:04 pm

most of you probably won't care about this... but, I've made one new change:

Favored Souls, like Clerics & Archivists, are now restricted to Misalin & Church of Misaliners (no longer available to Norinth)
Enforcer (LN Paladin) is no longer being used.

I replaced both of them by adapting a single PRC for Norinth use: Rainbow Servant (and don't worry, beguilers, warmages, & dread necros don't benefit from it, just sorc/wiz/bards/etc).
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Re: PENTHIAE CAMPAIGN QUESTIONS

Postby TheDude51 » Tue May 20, 2008 8:10 pm

I was wondering a couple things.

First: Can one take the Mastery of Metamagic high arcana multiple times? Most high arcana that can be taken multiple times note it, but Mastery of Metamagic only refers to the feat Improved Metamagic, which specifies that it is stackable.

Second: How long does it take to retrain a feat? Specifically, swapping Cooperative Spell for Arcane Thesis/

Third: How long does it take to develop a spell? In this case, Greater Orb of Force, which Dai said would be an 8th level spell. Also, what, if any, costs would be involved with this, either in gold or experience?
Would it not be easier
In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?
-Bertolt Brecht

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Re: PENTHIAE CAMPAIGN QUESTIONS

Postby Zanaikin » Thu May 22, 2008 12:14 am

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Re: PENTHIAE CAMPAIGN QUESTIONS

Postby Zanaikin » Tue May 27, 2008 5:45 pm

btw, in case you're wondering... I'm still thinking about increasing base weapon damage =P. Currently I'm somewhere around leaning on tripling. Too lazy to actually write out & implement said rule / edit all those NPCs though =P.

I think I also figured out a way to make MetaStrike (maneuver) feats, but I'm wondering if I should even bother with them...
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Re: PENTHIAE CAMPAIGN QUESTIONS

Postby Mr_Praetorian » Tue May 27, 2008 6:03 pm

I'm thinking that it should really be either or.
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