Magic/special stuff
A - Mages and Priests spell memorization/casting.
BOTH mages and priests cast spells in the same way. Specifying WHAT is memorized each day, and needing components as required.. THOUGH for mages, IF THEY ARE at a level where they have multiple spells of X level (ie a mage has 4/2/1 for first/second/third level spells, ONE SPELL OF EACH Level they have multiple for, can be 'free-cast'.. SO in the above situation, that mage would need to specify THREE of his first level and One of his second level spells, and his one third level spell. HE can free-cast one first and one second level spells.
FOR priests, their BONUS spells from a High wisdom, are able to be free-casted. ALL other spells, they get from their level, are needed to be specified what is memorized.
THEY CAN however, drop a memorized spell, for an equal level, OR LOWER, healing spell. ONLY FOR CURE WOUNDS!!!
For material components, ONLY items having a cost of OVER 10gp, NEED To actually get tracked. Paying their normal living expenses, gives them TEN Castings of each spell, even if it has a component cost of 10gp or under... IF THEY FAIL TO PAY THEIR LIVING COSTS< they then do NOT gain those 'automatic' spell components!!!
B - Elven charm resistance.
By the PHB (and elf handbook), elves (and half elves) have a 90% resistance to sleep, and Charm related spells (30% for half elves). This list below, defines what those spells are; NO Other spells, from the enchantment/charm school, or the priestly charm sphere have this resistance apply to…Additionally this is a SET resistance, unlike actual Magic resistance, which can go up or down based on caster level vs target.
Priest - Command, Charm person or mammal, Remove fear, Emotion control, Cloak of bravery/fear (the fear side).
Mage - Charm person, Friends, Sleep, Hypnotism, Suggestion, Charm monster, Fire charm, Mass suggestion, Emotion, Mass charm.
Combat
A - Initiative
Initiative is done by individual d10 rolls, MODIFIED BY weapon speed, high dexterity and casting time for spells. DEXTERITY LOWERS your weapon speed, not the D10 roll, based on the REACTION bonus.. So a 16 dexterity gives you a -1 to your weapon speed. NOTE Though, NO MODIFIER for fast weaponry can change you to having any less than a +1 for your weaponry.. SO someone who rolls a 4 for the d10, and has a +1 long sword with a 16 dexterity, would have an overall initiative 'count' of 7.. 4 +5 -1, -1.
Where as if someone was casting a spell, say a priest using Heat metal, his roll of 4 indicates when he STARTS casting the spell, the 5 casting time is then added to it, so he finishes casting it, on an 'initiative count' of 9.
Each player can use a Die by their character mini, OR on the character sheet (which ever they prefer) to indicate their casting time/weapon speed, and then places the d10 rolled for initiative BY THE DIE.
Note for spell casting, this is to help determine if they get hit, whether their spell is actually disrupted and lost, OR their chance to cast for that round is just disrupted. For if the enemy strikes them on the D roll of the D10 OR LOWER, a caster's CHANCE to cast a spell is lost that round, but they do NOT lose the memory of that spell. IF they instead gets hit from the "Count" of the D10 roll, and the # indicated by the casting time die , they not only LOSE THEIR chance to cast the spell, but its CASTING GOT disrupted so is lost from memory.
So in the above cleric's example, if he gets hit on a "count" of 1, 2 or 3, he doesn't LOSE HIS Spell, but lost his chance to CAST for the round. IF he got instead hit, on a count of 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8, his spell got Disrupted!
B- Critical hits and Fumbles.
For Critical hits; Players make the choice of A) using the Combat and Tactics players option book’s Critical hit charts. OR b) they opt to use a generic ‘double damage’ for criticals.
CURRENTLY the group has all opted to use the C&T critical hit chart!.
If they opt to use the critical hit charts in PO;C&T, then a critical hit results, from rolling a natural 18 or higher, that hits by 5 or more than what’s needed (So if you can only strike someone with a natural 16 or higher, you cannot critical). If you succeed in ‘critical hitting’ the target, then the target, gets a Save vs Petrification, to avoid the critical hit. IF HE FAILS this save, then the attacker gets to roll on the critical hit chart, corresponding to the weapon/target, as per chapter six in the combat and tactics book. IF the target saves, damage is still doubled (as per the normal critical rule). They just don’t have the issue of any OTHER injury coming in.
If they instead, opt for the generic ‘critical hits’, a natural 20 only, just does Double the weapon’s damage dice (then add in modifiers). Note though, if due to target AC and modifiers, a character can ONLY Strike said target with a natural “20”, there is no critical hit scored. It can only occur if they can hit on anything less than a 20. Also, one still needs to be able to DAMAGE the target with a ‘weapon’, to cause this double damage. Just hitting with a natural 20, does not mean the non-magical weapon, can suddenly strike a monster needing magic to affect!
This also applies to enemies!
If a critical hit is scored on a charge when using a lance, (or weapon set to receive charge, Thieves backstab, or certain magical weapon effects that already do double damage), damage goes to x3, NOT x4!. For this double (or triple damage) roll two times the weapons damage, so a long sword would roll 2d8, then add in all modifiers. For magical weaponry, add that onto all rolls then add in any other modifiers.
NOTE #4: Weapons that come via spells, such as Flame blade or Spiritual hammer, do NOT GAIN this double damage if they ‘score a critical hit”.
Regardless of which critical hit method used, a natural 20, is always considered a hit, no matter what the AC of the target is. BUT YOU STILL must be able to hit them (IE needing magic weapons or silver weapons)!!!
FUMBLES:
For Fumbling in melee, a natural 1 is considered a fumble. What this fumble does, depends on whether the attacker is using a single weapon, has multiple weapons (or multiple attacks in a routine) as to what happens;-
IF they have only the one attack (ie they are a mage/thief or priest, or warrior not using a specialized weapon), fumbling gives the enemy a free attack (or for monsters with claw/claw/bite, a routine) back. Note: If the enemy fumbles his return “Free-hit”, the initial attacker does NOT gain a free attack back.
IF they fumble while they have multiple attacks due to dual wielding (or for monsters with claw/claw/bite style attack routines) whether the enemy gains a ‘free attack’, depends on whether any of the other attack(s) hit. IF the 2nd (or one of the other attacks) hit, then the fumble just Spoiled the attack that hits (made it miss). IF none of the other attacks hit, then the defender gains a free attack (or routine) back, as above, for those using a singular weapon.
For fighters with true multiple attacks (3/2 when in the even rounds, or 2/1, or those hasted), if they fumble their first attack, it just negates your capacity to make the 2nd attack that round. IT does NOT give a free attack back. However if you fumbled your 2nd attack, that then does give the enemy a free swipe..
Fumbling in missile combat, 66% of the time causes the bow wielder, to throw his bow. (d6, 1-4 you threw your bow), or 33% of the time, causes the bow to need to make a save vs crushing blow or break or snap the string. (5 to 6 on the d6).
C -Weapon specialty/mastery
Fighters (not rangers or paladin sub-classes) PRIOR to 3rd level, can start play knowing ONE weapon specialty OR one weapon fighting style specialization (Except for the dwarven battle rager kit, as that REQUIRES two specialties starting out). Fighters starting play at 3rd level or higher, can take one weapon specialty AND One fighting style specialty. Note at NO time, can someone start play knowing the 2nd level of a fighting style specialty. THIS MUST BE LEARNED IN GAME!.
SINGLE class fighters, can eventually gain up to a total of 3 weapon specialties (or three fighting style specialties, or any combo there in, see below).
Once a fighter hits 5th level, they MAY seek out an instructor, to try and beseech them to learn Weapon Mastery in ONE SINGLE WEAPON only. See the DM list of the Warrior's guild, for which NPCS have what weapons at mastery or higher, that they can teach! (Some players may opt to save their weapon proficiency slot from 3rd level to gain mastery at 5th, rather than waiting till they hit 6th when they gain their next weapon slot).
Rangers and paladins MAY take a single weapon specialty once they hit 5th level, while Multi-classed fighters must wait till they hit 6th to do so (Multi-classed rangers cannot take a weapon specialization). This does not bar them though from gaining a specialty as a special benefit of taking a Kit that grants specialty (such as the Justifier kit). However, rangers/paladins/multi-classed fighters, or priests, who due to Kit taken or god selected, that allow/grant a weapon specialty are Unable from ever taking that up to 'weapon mastery' level, or beyond.
Warriors who start out as another class and dual INTO fighter, do gain the capacity to specialize, but do NOT gain the ability to take weapon mastery. While Fighters who dual class OUT from fighter, to another class, lose the bonuses FROM their weapon specialization(s) they may have, UNTIL their new classes level is above what their fighter got to (IE if a 4th level fighter dual classes out into thief, the thief class must gain 5th level before the fighter's specialization can be re-used). However they are INELIGIBLE for weapon mastery's bonuses being regained, if they possessed weapon mastery, prior to dual classing out of being a Fighter..
Once Single class fighters hit 5th level, they can take a 2nd weapon specialization, (or a 2nd fighting style specialty). Once they hit 9th, they can gain a 3rd weapon OR style specialty.
For weapon Mastery, see the Warrior's guild, for what weapons can be taken at Mastery or higher.
C - Weapon Groups
Weapon broad and Tight groups are as per what is in the Player’s Option: Combat and Tactics book. 2 proficiencies for a Tight group, 3 for a broad..
A warrior (including Rangers and Paladins but NOT multi-class fighters), can select up to THREE Tight weapon groups, or One tight and one broad weapon group.
Multi-class characters, can select two tight OR one broad weapon group. Priests and Rogues can select only One tight weapon group.
MAGES cannot select any weapon groups… IF psionicists are being used psionicists can select one tight weapon group!
D- Bonus SLots from High intelligence
As per the fighter's handbook, high intelligence grants additional language or proficiencies. FIGHTERS only (this does not apply to Multi-classed fighters, or the two warrior sub-classes), can use these additional slots, for A) gaining weapon fighting style specialties, B) gaining Proficiency in armor or shield, C) making up the difference to gain proficiency in a Broad or Tight weapon group. (IE a base fighter, spent his slots to become a specialist in the bow, taking three of the four starting slots, and wants to gain the Tight group of Fencing blades for close in combat, he can use one of his bonus Int slots, to gain that 5th slot he needs to take that Tight weapon group!.
Rangers, Paladins and Multi-classed fighters, can use those bonus slots, to ONLY gain Fighting style specialties OR to gain Armor or shield proficiencies. All other classes, can use them only for non-weapon slots.
As per the Character Creation rules document, a character STARTING OUT at 1st or 2nd level (by making a back-up, or tertiary character), cannot start game play with BOTH a weapon specialty AND a style specialty. He must select one or the other to start with. THIS IS EVEN if he takes a Kit that Grants a free weapon specialization. Said starting PC must wait til they hit 3rd level, and gain a new weapon proficiency slot, to pick up the other of the specialties (Or if a multi-classed fighter, wait till 6th level).
All other classes as additional non-weapon slots in addition to languages. They can also be used to buy martial art special maneuvers at the rate of 1 per slot. As of yet, the only four martial arts known of, are Savate and Sanbo (mostly known by the evil barbarians of the island nations to the east, the south and those in the mountains) or Aikido and Tai chi, which are taught by the Goddess Peoni, to her faithful priests only. As such no one but priests of Peoni, can start knowing a Martial art, but if they can find a willing instructor, can learn one later in game. Learning a martial art, takes one open weapon slot, and a minimum of 12 months of teaching (minus one month per point of wisdom over 12).
E - ARMOR notes
Due to the realm of Kervasis, being just past what would be a ‘dark age period of time’, Plate mail armors are not known of, nor does anyone know how to make them, (THIS also applies to Field plate!). Recently, however, a treasure trove of plate mail armors was located by the adventuring group led by the Human Fighter, Tostig. After 2 suits were given to the Paladin-king, and the rest, to the dwarven armorers of the mining city of Awagorr, it will take a while (at least 2 years) of back engineering, before any suits of plate mail can be created. And that’s assuming that they can be reverse engineered. More info needs to be found.
Even IF this form of armor is made, it still does not allow for field or full plate armors, or plate barding for horses.
Sleeping in Armor
Normally a character can sleep in leather, padded, studded or hide armors, without any issues. Magical chain mail, can also be slept in. For armors heavier than chain mail, a character can normally sleep OK, for two consecutive nights (+1 night per magical plus of the armor), before suffering from any penalties, due to fatigue. Having the Armor proficiency in that type of armor, increases it to 4 days, +2 per plus of the magic (so someone wearing +2 splint that they were proficient in, would be able to sleep in it up to a maximum of 8 days, before he starts suffering any penalties).
Note #15 - once plate mail becomes available, it can only be slept in for ONE night, before penalties come in! AND field or full plate, can never be slept in!
Once that # of days has gone by, sleeping in the armor any further, causes the character to:
A)Suffer -1 to hit, damage and saves, cumulative per day over.
B)Be unable to get a proper nights rest for HP recharging
C)Be unable to get a proper nights rest for priestly spell re-memorization (mages do not need to worry as they can’t even wear armor!)
IE someone who was sleeping in banded mail, for 3 days beyond its normal limit, would be suffering -6 penalties to saves, to hits and damage rolls!
(It is because of this, a number of the fighters, keep a spare suit of leather, studded leather or hide armor, for sleeping in at night)
Donning/Doffing armor
Due to the issues of having to sleep armor-less (unless one has spare suits of leather/hide) or drowning from swimming etc, it takes a # of rounds equal to the BASE bonus of the armor, to put it on, and 1/2 that to take off. If one has 1 assistant, it halves the time, or drops it to to thirds, for having two or more assistants. So someone in Banded mail, would take normally 6 rounds to put it on, 3 with one assistant or 2 with two assistants. And it would take 3 rounds to take it off properly. ONE CAN ALWAYS opt to just cut straps, to remove a suit of armor in one round (though this requires the armor be repaired before it can be worn again. Having Proficiency In an Armor, takes 3 off the # of rounds, to put it on, BEFORE you then half it for having an assistant!
F - Charging/Setting to receive charge and weapons useable For charges
Charging attacks/Setting to receive a charge;
As per the PHB, one can make a charge attack, gaining 50% more movement, a +2 bonus to their attack roll, however, by this HR, they also get to add +2 bonus to their damage roll, though charging DOES force them to give up the ability to make multiple attacks in that round if they have them (such as a Ghast attacking with his claw/claw/bite, if he charges he’d get one attack only). Charging requires a MINIMUM OF 20 meters (outside) or 20 feet (If Indoors), to pull it off. While charging, you Lose all bonuses from Dexterity to your AC, and even gain a further -1 to your AC! Note if using the Critical hit rule of “double damage”, setting to receive a charge, OR performing a charge, and you Get a critical hit on it, shifts the damage up to x3, NOT quads.
Certain weapons can deal Double damage if used TO charge with - These are All 3 versions of Lances, and the Spear (both regular or long). When charging your BASE weapon damage is doubled (adding in any bonuses from its own magic, THEN you add in for Specialty, Strength or magic (chant/bless/prayer etc). So a +2 Spear being used by a fighter that is Specialized in the spear, who has a 17 Strength (+1 damage), who is under a Prayer spell and a Recitation spell (gaining +3 from that combo of spells) does a charge into an Ogre does d8+2, TIMES 2 (from the charge), +2 for the act of charging, +2 for specialty, +1 for Strength and finally +3 from the spell bonuses. So if he hits he can max out damage, at 28hp! Not bad.
Many weapons can deal double damage, if SET to receive charges. These are: - Harpoons, Tridents, Spears, Awl pikes, Lucern hammers, Ranseurs, Spetums and Partisans. When setting to receive a charge, you ALSO give up your additional attacks you may have, AND when you set to receive a charge, the weapon damage is doubled, but you do NOT add in any bonuses from Strength.
Charging can only be done once every 10 rounds. BUT if you have the Endurance NWP, you can attempt to make additional charges in that 10 round period, by making a successful NWP check, with a Cumulative penalty to the roll, equal to how often you charge.
Kervasis Kalom HOUSE Rules used.
Moderators: Thorn Blackstone, Halaster Blackcloak
Kervasis Kalom HOUSE Rules used.
Last edited by garhkal on Sun Dec 31, 2023 2:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
It's not who you kill, but how they die!
Re: Kervasis Kalomm HOUSE Rules used.
Damage, Death, Bed rest and Reincarnation
A - Death
Death occurs for all characters at -10 hit points, or for Warrior types at - Con (Warrior types, include fighters, rangers, paladins, and Multi-classed Fighters) Fighters with a ‘berserker’ type kit, can instead, go down to Double their Con, in negative numbers, before they are dead, but this HAS to be done while in a Berserk state.
Once a PC hits any Negative HP value, If their character is a warrior, or berserker then they can attempt to still fight on. This also applies to warrior multi-classes (and priests of war gods, such as Laranni or Sarajin).
To do this, the PC must roll a Constitution check with a penalty equal to the Negative HP value. If it succeeds, they stay up. If one round goes without any fighting involved, the character falls down (unconscious). Even if they succeed, they Still lose -1hp a round from 'bleeding out, on top of any damage they might sustain. EG someone’s at -4hp, and has a 15 Con, he needs to roll 11 or less on a d20, to stay standing. Smart characters can, if they have magical healing, use that round to heal themselves, so when they do pass out, they are no longer bleeding out!
The rules from the DMG on “Death from Massive damage”, where if someone takes 50 or more HP in damage from One attack or situation (like falling) is in use, where once that situation hits, they need to save vs death or die on the spot, even if the attack still left them with HP.
When someone dies, the only in game ways to come back currently, are the Raise dead spell, Reincarnation spells (either mage or druid), or via locating scrolls or rods of Resurrection, since there are NO active (or inactive) NPC's of high enough level to cast the Resurrection spell. Thus Elf PC's who die, can only count on coming back to life via the Reincarnation spell.. However, while the Reincarnation spell, does NOT require a 'resurrection survival roll' or forces a loss of a Con point, like Raise dead does, it DOES have its own downsides. And it STILL counts for a character's # of times he can be brought back from the dead (which is based on his INITIAL Con score. So even if he reincarnates and thus gets a 'new con score' it is still based on his first character's Con score).
B - Reincarnation rules
When rolling on the chart, if you are brought back as a standard PC race; whether that is from the PHB or those from the Humanoids handbook, you have the chance of keeping your class and levels earned.
Follow these steps. For Kervasis Kalomm, the races allowed, include Hobgoblin, Lizard men, and Gnoll. No other’s from the Humanoids handbook are at this time ,allowed.
A) Re roll (4d6,drop lowest, Re roll any 1s) your Strength, Dexterity and Constitution. This is what your new form has. Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma stay the same. See above about Initial Con score limits for # of times one can be brought back to life. Write this down in brackets.
B) For every 3 points your prior character had ABOVE your new rolled scores in Str/Dex or Con, increase what you rolled by 1. IE old con score was a 14, while the new con is a 9. You add +2 to it, making it now a 11! You don’t drop it, if the new score is higher than the old one though.
C) If you got a race, which allows your prior class(es), AND you still qualify for that class(es), you will keep your prior level –3. So a human mage, level 8, who comes back as an elf, will be 5th level mage.
D) If you got a race, which does NOT allow your prior class, you, start in a new class from level 1, gaining 500xp to apply to that class for every 2,000xp (roughly 1/4th the XP you had) your prior class had. If you were a multi classed character, and the form you become still allows one side of that, you keep that side (minus the 3 levels), and your other side becomes a new class with the same XP as above. IF both classes can be maintained, Drop One level from the class needing the MOST XP to go up, and Two levels from the other class (so you’re still losing 3 levels, but it’s split up). So an elf fighter/mage, came back as a dwarf, could retain his fighter side but his mage needs to change. His mage side had reached 7th level, and had 68,578xp, at the division rate that works out to him keeping 17,144p. Good for 5th level either as a priest, or thief. If instead that elf was a Mage/thief, and he came back as a Half elf, he’d still be able to be a mage/thief, and would lose one level off his mage side, and two from his thief side.
E) For each level your prior character had, add 1hp to your new character. So the prior human mage, would add +8hp, where as the elf who was 7/7 as a fighter/mage, and became a dwarf fighter/thief, would add +7hp.
If instead, your roll indicates you come back as an animal, you can still play the animal, using the “Warrior” XP chart for additional Hit Dice, Improvements to thac0 and such, but are still treated as an animal. After an “Animal” gains 3 additional HD, they can start speaking as their former race did. They cannot though, grasp most weapons/equipment, as they lack opposable thumbs.
C - Bed rest
Bed rest rules are used for when a character goes into Negative HP, but they differ somewhat from what is presented in the PHB and DMG. Any character, who goes negative, will be combat ineffective for 1 day per HP they went into the negatives, up to a maximum of 1 week, (7 days!) This is even if they went down, say to -12hp!
Once someone is taken to the negatives, they will keep bleeding out at a further rate of 1hp each round, assuming no more damage is sustained. If someone else, spends a full round bandaging the wounds Stops any further loss of HP, from bleeding out (Note #10 there is NO need for a skill check is required to do this, every class is assumed to know how to bandage a wound, however you CANNOT bandage yourself!) .
For healing up via magical spells (or potions), if a healing spell has the capacity to cure ALL the negative HP you were at (IE a cure light wounds can work on someone up to -8hp), there is NO need to roll the healing. IT WILL BRING you right up to 1hp. However, if the negative HP value is greater than what the spell (or potion) can cure, you still need to roll, and that is what it brings you up to, though you DO stop the bleeding out! Curing like this does NOT alleviate bed rest.
I.E. If someone is at 5hp negative, a simple Cure light can heal him back up to 1hp, but if he was at 11hp, he’d need at least a cure moderate to do that.)
Once they are healed back up to a positive level, they can make a system shock roll with a -5% penalty per HP they were negative. If this check succeeds, they halve the # of days they require of bed rest (round up, so a week goes to 4 days), down to a minimum of 1 day. Once this is figured out, a priest, can Lessen the # of days bed rest needed by, ONE Day if the victim receives ANY NUMBER of Cure moderate wounds, cast, ONCE they are back up in the positive Hit points. Any # of cure Serious wounds, reduce the time by 2 days, while any number of Cure Critical wounds reduce it by 3 days. Regardless of what cure spells, are used on someone that went negative, anyone dropped to the negatives WILL have at least one full day of bed rest needed. As per the book, a Heal spell will restore one to full fighting vitality instantly.
Anyone dropped into the negatives, loses all spells he or she had in memory, if they are a caster. Just being KNOCKED OUT (Reduced to exactly 0hp) does NOT remove spells that were in memory.
While in this “Combat ineffective” status, a character can barely move (he can crawl. He cannot, hold conversations, read, cast spells (even from scrolls), nor can he attack, defend or use most magical items (or activate psionic abilities). HOWEVER HE CAN DRINK Potions, or just lay on a horse as it gets led around by someone else.
Note 10 WARRIORS (including multi-class fighters) who are given a potion of Heroism or Super heroism to drink, who are in this "combat ineffective' status, are allowed to ALLIEVIATE IT, during the duration the potion lasts. BUT once the potion wears off, they are done.. Spent. They cannot again benefit from a potion, during that bed rest period.
D - Falling Damage
Falling damage is as per Gary's Cumulative method, initially mentioned in the 1e book Unearthed Arcana, where damage is 1d at 10ft, 3d at 20ft, 6d at 30ft, 10d at 40ft, 15d at 50ft, and maxing out at 20d at 60ft.
Falling saving throws for items, (as per DMG page 39) are being used, however the penalty to the item saves for falling vast distances is -1 per 10ft fallen.. So someone falling 70 feet, will need to make an item save for his plate-mail, with a -7 penalty Additionally, once a person caps out on damage from said falling 60ft, any additional distance fallen, imposes a -1 penalty to the Save vs death from massive damage for each additional 20ft fallen.
EG someone falls 40 feet, he will take 10d6 damage, and any item saves he needs to make, will have a -3 penalty applied.
E - HP tracking
Poker like mini-chips are used to make it easier to track HP for all characters (NOT men at arms or animals, though animal mounts have their own full size poker chips used to track Them, when using miniatures). White chips – 1hp. Red chips – 5hp. Blue chips – 10hp. If/when it's needed, Black chips will – 25hp. PLAYERS CAN OPT TO not use them, if they prefer just writing out their damage on scrap paper. THIS Is an option used, because it makes it easier to see what damage level someone is at! A player does NOT need to use this method, if they prefer to use just pen and paper...
For when rolling HP. First level is Always max. 2nd and 3rd level, are a minimum of half, so for a fighter, if he rolls under a 5, he gets a minimum of 5 for second and third level. There after, what's rolled is what's rolled. Optionally, the player can ask the DM to roll the same HD as he does, but ‘blind’, and if the player decides, he can Take the DM’s roll (sight unseen), rather than his own roll. This however, is a all or nothing call. So if the DM’s roll was under what the player rolled, he is stuck with it.
For multi-class HD/hp, IF A PLAYER Has access to the ‘odd’ dice (D3/D5/D7/D9), and wishes to use those, he may do so. Fighter-mages roll d7’s, Fighter-priests roll d9’s, Mage-thieves, roll d5’s. Mage-priests (unless worshippers of Halea or Save’k’nor) roll d8’s. He must pick, which class levelling up, get’s the HD roll, and just add’s in his Con bonus Once. (IE Mark is playing a Half-elf mage-thief. He has access to a d5, and opts to have his PC roll for HP when his thief side levels up. So every time his mage side levels, he does NOT roll for HP.)
F - Healing via bed rest
Natural / rest time healing is separated into two categories. Full bed rest, (IE IN TOWN) gives someone 1hp + their Con bonus. “On the road” this is only 1hp, and Only If they didn’t get any interruption during the night. No bonus is gained from their Constitution HP bonus. Also, characters (as a group call) have the option of using the healing NWP to help out (THIS IS Changed from the core PHB in how the healing NWP operates). IF this option is selected, see below under the healing NWP. (Note: So far this option, has NOT been elected to use, all times the party’s voted, they opted to keep the core Healing NWP as is). If someone going through bed rest, is treated by a person with the Healing NWP, And that character makes a successful check, the healing increases to 3hp + con, per day of rest.
Magical potions of healing (and extra) can be drunk on top of one another. However, If you consume a potion of healing first, THEN another potion, you only have miscibility within 1d3-1 rounds afterwards, or 1d6-1 for extra healing potions.
IF you drink the healing potion AFTER you already are under the effects of another potion, THEN you need to check miscibility instantly!
No healing spell can put a character above normal max hp level, or cure less than 1 hit point. Additionally, all clerics (bar those of Peoni) change up each D8 of healing done by the 4 cure wounds spells, to 2d4. Peoni clerics instead have a granted power giving them d4+4 per d8 of healing. Cure moderate wounds shifts to 1d4+1d6+1 vice d10+1. Peoni priests change this to d5+6. This granted power of Peoni, ONLY applies to cure wounds spells, whether cast by a priest, off a scroll, or used via an item (such as a Stave of Curing). IT does not shift what healing someone gets from magical healing potions!
Regeneration, either via a high Constitution, or via a magic item, is as normal, but fire damage and acid damage cannot be regenerated. They must be healed naturally or magically. Unless a character dies from fire damage or acid damage fully (IE. took no other damage), if he/she has regeneration, he will never die properly.
A - Death
Death occurs for all characters at -10 hit points, or for Warrior types at - Con (Warrior types, include fighters, rangers, paladins, and Multi-classed Fighters) Fighters with a ‘berserker’ type kit, can instead, go down to Double their Con, in negative numbers, before they are dead, but this HAS to be done while in a Berserk state.
Once a PC hits any Negative HP value, If their character is a warrior, or berserker then they can attempt to still fight on. This also applies to warrior multi-classes (and priests of war gods, such as Laranni or Sarajin).
To do this, the PC must roll a Constitution check with a penalty equal to the Negative HP value. If it succeeds, they stay up. If one round goes without any fighting involved, the character falls down (unconscious). Even if they succeed, they Still lose -1hp a round from 'bleeding out, on top of any damage they might sustain. EG someone’s at -4hp, and has a 15 Con, he needs to roll 11 or less on a d20, to stay standing. Smart characters can, if they have magical healing, use that round to heal themselves, so when they do pass out, they are no longer bleeding out!
The rules from the DMG on “Death from Massive damage”, where if someone takes 50 or more HP in damage from One attack or situation (like falling) is in use, where once that situation hits, they need to save vs death or die on the spot, even if the attack still left them with HP.
When someone dies, the only in game ways to come back currently, are the Raise dead spell, Reincarnation spells (either mage or druid), or via locating scrolls or rods of Resurrection, since there are NO active (or inactive) NPC's of high enough level to cast the Resurrection spell. Thus Elf PC's who die, can only count on coming back to life via the Reincarnation spell.. However, while the Reincarnation spell, does NOT require a 'resurrection survival roll' or forces a loss of a Con point, like Raise dead does, it DOES have its own downsides. And it STILL counts for a character's # of times he can be brought back from the dead (which is based on his INITIAL Con score. So even if he reincarnates and thus gets a 'new con score' it is still based on his first character's Con score).
B - Reincarnation rules
When rolling on the chart, if you are brought back as a standard PC race; whether that is from the PHB or those from the Humanoids handbook, you have the chance of keeping your class and levels earned.
Follow these steps. For Kervasis Kalomm, the races allowed, include Hobgoblin, Lizard men, and Gnoll. No other’s from the Humanoids handbook are at this time ,allowed.
A) Re roll (4d6,drop lowest, Re roll any 1s) your Strength, Dexterity and Constitution. This is what your new form has. Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma stay the same. See above about Initial Con score limits for # of times one can be brought back to life. Write this down in brackets.
B) For every 3 points your prior character had ABOVE your new rolled scores in Str/Dex or Con, increase what you rolled by 1. IE old con score was a 14, while the new con is a 9. You add +2 to it, making it now a 11! You don’t drop it, if the new score is higher than the old one though.
C) If you got a race, which allows your prior class(es), AND you still qualify for that class(es), you will keep your prior level –3. So a human mage, level 8, who comes back as an elf, will be 5th level mage.
D) If you got a race, which does NOT allow your prior class, you, start in a new class from level 1, gaining 500xp to apply to that class for every 2,000xp (roughly 1/4th the XP you had) your prior class had. If you were a multi classed character, and the form you become still allows one side of that, you keep that side (minus the 3 levels), and your other side becomes a new class with the same XP as above. IF both classes can be maintained, Drop One level from the class needing the MOST XP to go up, and Two levels from the other class (so you’re still losing 3 levels, but it’s split up). So an elf fighter/mage, came back as a dwarf, could retain his fighter side but his mage needs to change. His mage side had reached 7th level, and had 68,578xp, at the division rate that works out to him keeping 17,144p. Good for 5th level either as a priest, or thief. If instead that elf was a Mage/thief, and he came back as a Half elf, he’d still be able to be a mage/thief, and would lose one level off his mage side, and two from his thief side.
E) For each level your prior character had, add 1hp to your new character. So the prior human mage, would add +8hp, where as the elf who was 7/7 as a fighter/mage, and became a dwarf fighter/thief, would add +7hp.
If instead, your roll indicates you come back as an animal, you can still play the animal, using the “Warrior” XP chart for additional Hit Dice, Improvements to thac0 and such, but are still treated as an animal. After an “Animal” gains 3 additional HD, they can start speaking as their former race did. They cannot though, grasp most weapons/equipment, as they lack opposable thumbs.
C - Bed rest
Bed rest rules are used for when a character goes into Negative HP, but they differ somewhat from what is presented in the PHB and DMG. Any character, who goes negative, will be combat ineffective for 1 day per HP they went into the negatives, up to a maximum of 1 week, (7 days!) This is even if they went down, say to -12hp!
Once someone is taken to the negatives, they will keep bleeding out at a further rate of 1hp each round, assuming no more damage is sustained. If someone else, spends a full round bandaging the wounds Stops any further loss of HP, from bleeding out (Note #10 there is NO need for a skill check is required to do this, every class is assumed to know how to bandage a wound, however you CANNOT bandage yourself!) .
For healing up via magical spells (or potions), if a healing spell has the capacity to cure ALL the negative HP you were at (IE a cure light wounds can work on someone up to -8hp), there is NO need to roll the healing. IT WILL BRING you right up to 1hp. However, if the negative HP value is greater than what the spell (or potion) can cure, you still need to roll, and that is what it brings you up to, though you DO stop the bleeding out! Curing like this does NOT alleviate bed rest.
I.E. If someone is at 5hp negative, a simple Cure light can heal him back up to 1hp, but if he was at 11hp, he’d need at least a cure moderate to do that.)
Once they are healed back up to a positive level, they can make a system shock roll with a -5% penalty per HP they were negative. If this check succeeds, they halve the # of days they require of bed rest (round up, so a week goes to 4 days), down to a minimum of 1 day. Once this is figured out, a priest, can Lessen the # of days bed rest needed by, ONE Day if the victim receives ANY NUMBER of Cure moderate wounds, cast, ONCE they are back up in the positive Hit points. Any # of cure Serious wounds, reduce the time by 2 days, while any number of Cure Critical wounds reduce it by 3 days. Regardless of what cure spells, are used on someone that went negative, anyone dropped to the negatives WILL have at least one full day of bed rest needed. As per the book, a Heal spell will restore one to full fighting vitality instantly.
Anyone dropped into the negatives, loses all spells he or she had in memory, if they are a caster. Just being KNOCKED OUT (Reduced to exactly 0hp) does NOT remove spells that were in memory.
While in this “Combat ineffective” status, a character can barely move (he can crawl. He cannot, hold conversations, read, cast spells (even from scrolls), nor can he attack, defend or use most magical items (or activate psionic abilities). HOWEVER HE CAN DRINK Potions, or just lay on a horse as it gets led around by someone else.
Note 10 WARRIORS (including multi-class fighters) who are given a potion of Heroism or Super heroism to drink, who are in this "combat ineffective' status, are allowed to ALLIEVIATE IT, during the duration the potion lasts. BUT once the potion wears off, they are done.. Spent. They cannot again benefit from a potion, during that bed rest period.
D - Falling Damage
Falling damage is as per Gary's Cumulative method, initially mentioned in the 1e book Unearthed Arcana, where damage is 1d at 10ft, 3d at 20ft, 6d at 30ft, 10d at 40ft, 15d at 50ft, and maxing out at 20d at 60ft.
Falling saving throws for items, (as per DMG page 39) are being used, however the penalty to the item saves for falling vast distances is -1 per 10ft fallen.. So someone falling 70 feet, will need to make an item save for his plate-mail, with a -7 penalty Additionally, once a person caps out on damage from said falling 60ft, any additional distance fallen, imposes a -1 penalty to the Save vs death from massive damage for each additional 20ft fallen.
EG someone falls 40 feet, he will take 10d6 damage, and any item saves he needs to make, will have a -3 penalty applied.
E - HP tracking
Poker like mini-chips are used to make it easier to track HP for all characters (NOT men at arms or animals, though animal mounts have their own full size poker chips used to track Them, when using miniatures). White chips – 1hp. Red chips – 5hp. Blue chips – 10hp. If/when it's needed, Black chips will – 25hp. PLAYERS CAN OPT TO not use them, if they prefer just writing out their damage on scrap paper. THIS Is an option used, because it makes it easier to see what damage level someone is at! A player does NOT need to use this method, if they prefer to use just pen and paper...
For when rolling HP. First level is Always max. 2nd and 3rd level, are a minimum of half, so for a fighter, if he rolls under a 5, he gets a minimum of 5 for second and third level. There after, what's rolled is what's rolled. Optionally, the player can ask the DM to roll the same HD as he does, but ‘blind’, and if the player decides, he can Take the DM’s roll (sight unseen), rather than his own roll. This however, is a all or nothing call. So if the DM’s roll was under what the player rolled, he is stuck with it.
For multi-class HD/hp, IF A PLAYER Has access to the ‘odd’ dice (D3/D5/D7/D9), and wishes to use those, he may do so. Fighter-mages roll d7’s, Fighter-priests roll d9’s, Mage-thieves, roll d5’s. Mage-priests (unless worshippers of Halea or Save’k’nor) roll d8’s. He must pick, which class levelling up, get’s the HD roll, and just add’s in his Con bonus Once. (IE Mark is playing a Half-elf mage-thief. He has access to a d5, and opts to have his PC roll for HP when his thief side levels up. So every time his mage side levels, he does NOT roll for HP.)
F - Healing via bed rest
Natural / rest time healing is separated into two categories. Full bed rest, (IE IN TOWN) gives someone 1hp + their Con bonus. “On the road” this is only 1hp, and Only If they didn’t get any interruption during the night. No bonus is gained from their Constitution HP bonus. Also, characters (as a group call) have the option of using the healing NWP to help out (THIS IS Changed from the core PHB in how the healing NWP operates). IF this option is selected, see below under the healing NWP. (Note: So far this option, has NOT been elected to use, all times the party’s voted, they opted to keep the core Healing NWP as is). If someone going through bed rest, is treated by a person with the Healing NWP, And that character makes a successful check, the healing increases to 3hp + con, per day of rest.
Magical potions of healing (and extra) can be drunk on top of one another. However, If you consume a potion of healing first, THEN another potion, you only have miscibility within 1d3-1 rounds afterwards, or 1d6-1 for extra healing potions.
IF you drink the healing potion AFTER you already are under the effects of another potion, THEN you need to check miscibility instantly!
No healing spell can put a character above normal max hp level, or cure less than 1 hit point. Additionally, all clerics (bar those of Peoni) change up each D8 of healing done by the 4 cure wounds spells, to 2d4. Peoni clerics instead have a granted power giving them d4+4 per d8 of healing. Cure moderate wounds shifts to 1d4+1d6+1 vice d10+1. Peoni priests change this to d5+6. This granted power of Peoni, ONLY applies to cure wounds spells, whether cast by a priest, off a scroll, or used via an item (such as a Stave of Curing). IT does not shift what healing someone gets from magical healing potions!
Regeneration, either via a high Constitution, or via a magic item, is as normal, but fire damage and acid damage cannot be regenerated. They must be healed naturally or magically. Unless a character dies from fire damage or acid damage fully (IE. took no other damage), if he/she has regeneration, he will never die properly.
It's not who you kill, but how they die!
Re: Kervasis Kalom HOUSE Rules used.
Miscellaneous rules..
A - Books, manuals and tomes, FOR DUAL or Multi-classed characters..
If a Dual class (or multi-class character) reads a magical book that would benefit one class while hindering the other, such as a Fighter/mage who reads a Manual of Pussiant skill at arms, they go by the following:
For multi-classed PCs they suffer the negative effects first. Then they may gain any bonuses it grants (such as in the above example, the mage side would lose XP, then the warrior side can gain the level once training is completed). However if both sides would suffer from reading it, then the worse XP penalty Is used as a hit to the class that suffers the most negative, but the other class isn’t penalized.
For Dual classed PC's, it depends on whether the currently active class (the one they switched INTO) has surpassed the prior (old) class. If the book being read benefits the OLD class, and the new class has NOT surpassed the old one yet, then they can gain the benefits of it, but suffer both the XP hit from the book (like in the mage above), AND then they suffer in that they gain no XP for that session due to 'using a prior class ability'. If they have surpassed it, then check to see if the current class is the one that suffers or benefits. If they suffer, they suffer the resultant issues from reading said magical book, even if their 'old class' would benefit.
If the book benefits the NEW class, even if it would harm the OLD one, and the NEW class has surpassed the older class, they just benefit. They do not lose anything to their old class. IF they however, have yet to surpass the old class, they get dinged on ITS xp, then they gain the book's benefit to their current class.
Example a fighter (7) dualed into a mage (5), reads a manual of skill at arms. Loses xp on his current mage class, but then levels up as a fighter after finishing off the book. THEN he loses more XP as he's used his prior class during that session. Where as if that same fighter, (7) was now a 8th level mage and he read instead a tome of silver magic, he’d improve his mage level, but NOT suffer any penalties on his fighter side.
B - Cost for mages to buy spells from Guild (or replacing a lost spell book):
Common spells (Eg stuff that is known to all magic users, like any of the detection's and most defensive/offensive magics) - 200gp base plus 100gp per level of spell. (This generally is any spell in the PHB)
Uncommon spells - stuff known to many, but not all (Eg seppa snake sigal) - 400gp base +150/level. (Generally this is those in the Tome of Magic)
Rare - Named spells of a general area (Eg tenser, bigby in greyhawk) - 750gp base + 300/level. (Generally this is spells from Spells and Magic)
Very rare - spells recently made, or those from the wizards handbook (Eg within 100 yrs but older than 3 yrs old) that HAVE BEEN SHARED by their creators - 2000gp base plus 800/level.
ON the rare case a player needs to replace a lost or destroyed spell book, IF they are members of the guild, It costs 500gp to get a fresh new blank spell book, and costs 1 day per spell, per spell level, to write it in. Ink costs are 50gp/spell level for the spells to be wrote in. So if a mage had 10 first, 5 second and 2 third level spells in his spell book. It would cost 500gp base, +300gp for the inks to re-write the spells he knows. And take 24 days to do so.
Linked to this, when a mage learns a spell, if he fails his “Chance to know roll” (based on his intelligence), he must wait til he’s gained a NEW level, before he can re-try. IF HE ever fails the roll by rolling a 99 or 00%, he will NEVER be able to learn that specific spell.
C - Dual classing rules (Changed from the PHB)
As per the PHB, a human character who wishes to Dual class, must have a 15 in the attribute(s) that is the Prime Requisites of his first class he starts in, and a 17 in the PR's of any class he wishes to shift to. He must first acquire 2nd level of experience in his former class, then he can dual class out into his new one. PS, CHECK the below chart, to see how long it takes to Dual class! If a player wishes his starting Character to have dual classed, he may do so, selecting the level he shifts over, and all training is assumed to have already been performed. If he wishes to dual class afterwards, go by below. Characters may try to dual class, more than once, but needs the high attributes, for all classes he goes into, and out of.
A character may dual class a total of 4 times Maximum, going from warrior to mage to thief to priest (or which ever combination he wants). He cannot dual class from a sub-class to a base class, or from a base class into a sub-class. IE going from ranger to fighter, or mage to specialist mage. THE ONLY Exception to this is rangers and paladins who fall from grace. Rangers or Paladins who “Fall from grace”, become base level fighters, of equal level (adjust their XP down to the minimum needed for that level they become), assuming the fall they had is ONE they cannot Atone from!
When shifting classes, besides the Attribute issues, there may also be alignment issues to worry about, IE going from Ranger (Any good) to Thief (any non-good). Or for paladins. Though a paladin who dual classes OUT, loses all granted powers, even their bonded mount. One CAN quest, to dual class INTO being a paladin.
Once a character dual classes out, he is forever unable to advance (WITHOUT magic) his former class. He is forever stuck at that level, however use of wishes, or other potent magical items (Tomes/librams etc) can get around this. His HP, stay as his former class, till his new class surpasses it.. So the above fighter (3rd) who became a thief, would have 3d10 + any bonuses from Constitution, till he hits 4th as a thief, then he gains 1d6 + con bonus. If he dual classes at a point where his new class won't gain any new HD (9th for the most part), he only gains the +1/+2/+3 of the class. IF a warrior has a 17 or 18 Con, and dual classes out, he only gains the max of +2hp/hd for his new class, as long as the new class gains HD. So the above3rd level fighter, if he had a 18 Con, advanced to level 5 as a thief, he would have 3d10+12hp from his fighter side, and 2d6+4hp from his thief side.
For Fighters/Rangers/Paladins who dual class out, if they HAVE exceptional (%) strength, or they had a Weapon specialty, they lose access to said higher strength rating or specialty, till their new class supersedes the old. Once that happens, they regain access to both the specialty and % strength. However, this does not apply to weapon mastery or higher, for that is only eligible for SINGLE Classed characters. Additionally, if a character dual classes INTO a warrior class, they do not gain a % Str roll, if their former class had a 18 strength. A paladin who dual classes out of being a paladin, loses all of his granted powers, though it may take 1-2 levels, before his ‘bonded war horse’ leaves him.
As per the PHB< they lose all earned XP for an encounter and ½ XP for a entire adventure if he uses his former classes abilities, before his new class's level is higher. This INCLUDES using weapon specialization bonuses (inc attack/damage) or % strength. This does NOT though, apply to Tomes, librams or other magical writings that benefit his former class. IE if that fighter above read a manual of Pussiant skill at arms, he'd be able to increase his fighter level. BUT if his new class he has, is HURT by said tome/book, he still suffers any negatives of it, BEFORE he can finish reading it and benefit from said reading.
DUAL Classing takes time
Going from a Fighter to a mage, takes 24 months. Fighter to priest takes 12 months. Fighter to thief takes 8 months.
Mage to fighter OR thief takes 9 months. To a priest takes 15 months.
Priest to fighter or thief takes 6 months. To a mage takes 18 months.
Thief to mage takes 24 months, 14 to priest, or to fighter takes 6.
For any class going to RANGER< add 3 to 6 months (d4+2) on top of the above listed months. Going from any class to paladin, takes an additional YEAR on top of what is listed above.
ONE CANNOT DUAL CLASS OUT OF BEING a Paladin!
If someone's going from any class to a mage, but as a SPECIALIST mage, add 6 months on top of the normal duration of training needed (so a priest to specialist mage would take 24 months).
D - Training Costs for leveling up
Costs for training, are based on what level you are going TO. So a fighter at 4th level going to 5th, while training at the Guild that he is a member of, would cost 2,750gp (550gp x 5), while a bard training to 7th level would cost 5,600gp.
Costs by class are rated in usually two, some times 3 grades. Grade 1 is training at a guild, that you are a member of. Grade 2 is training at that guild, but NOT a member of it. Grade 3 is training under an NPC.
Not all classes have guilds. Clerics only get training via their temple (or shrines) or via NPCs, where as Bards and Psionicists only train Via NPC’s. Note: A PC can train a fellow PC if of the same class (and faith for priests), at 1/2 the cost listed for training under an NPC.
When training, if you open up new weapon or non-weapon slots, you can’t fill them If you are Self training. IF training under a PC or NPC, you can only fill them up, with skills (or weapons) the Trainer knows. For Mages/bards, when they train up, by the PHB they normally are supposed to gain a New spell, for their spell book, but they ONLY GET THIS if they train up Under someone else, and ONLY from what THAT teacher has available. This is why mages, especially are advised to train AT THE GUILD!
Note for Mages; Only the core specialties are represented at the Mage guild. Elementalists and Wild mage specialists are trained under NPC’s only, at a cost of 1,500gp/level.
Training take 2 weeks, regardless of class or level, though if multi-classed, and BOTH classes are training, it takes double, as each class has to train on their own. (Rangers and paladins are assumed to have a priest of the faith they follow, attending their training to help out, hence their higher prices).
Once a character hits name level (9th for most classes, 10th for some classes), they can self train. This means that they no longer need trainers, but instead, use the “trained by NPC” price, however their prices are double and take 1 month, when self training.
If a PC has underlings (such as henchmen or followers) they can train THEM (if of the same class), OR fellow player characters, at half the above costs for if being trained by an NPC, and they are 2 levels higher than what the character is training to. EG A PC fighter is 7th level, he may train any fellow PC fighters (or henchmen/followers) up to 5th level. THIS even applies for multi-class characters, but only to the class that the party has a match for!. It costs 550gp per level (that they are going to), to do so.
Training at a Shrine for priests, Is not a given. Most are not even attended, but if they are, a priest may train there up to FIFTH level at max. Similarly, if one is in a town/city that has a Warrior's guild ANNEX, they can train up to 5th level (for the one in the capital) or 7th level maximum (for the one up in Awagorr). Training beyond that, requires one to attend the main guild(s) (or temples for priests).
For Druids, as only TWO NPC druids even exist, a player character druid, must seek out one of the two, to train under. One lives in the Elven forest (a high elf), the other (also an elf) lives, in Vestway… For Psionicists, see house rule “P” for whether a given town, village or city will even have an NPC psionicist, and what level they are, for whom they can train.
Costs are; at a guild that you are a member of/At a guild not a member, or / under NPC (or fellow PC)
Fighter 550gp per level, 650gp/lev or 1,100gp/lev
Ranger shifts this to 950gp/1,100gp/1,400gp
Paladins shift this to 650gp/950gp/1,250gp.
Priests are 500gp/level AT A CHURCH, or 750gp if under an NPC.
Druids only have the NPC option at 850gp/lev.
Thieves are 400gp/500gp or 950gp/lev respectively.
Bards are like druids in they have only an NPC option for training, at 800gp/lev.
Mages are 750gp/900gp/1,200gp. NO additional cost for being specialists.
IF psionics are being used, they like bards/druids only have the option to train under NPC's at a cost of 1,200gp per level...
E - [uu]Psionics chance of NPC's[/u]
Since the player group currently HAS OPTED to allow psionics in play, the following is the chance of locating an NPC Psionicist based on where you are at.
Capital - 75% of there being 1d6
Major city - 50% of there being 1d4
Town - 35% chance of there being 1d3
Village - 10% chance of there being 1.
If they are rolled up as existing, any NPC psionicists will have a level, based on where they are at.
Any in a village, will be 4th or 5th level (d6 roll, 1-4 4th level. 5 or 6 = 5th level). Any in a town will be from 4th to 7th level (d10 roll, 1-4 = 4th level, 5-7 = 5th level, 8-9 = 6th level and 10 = 7th level). Any in a city will be from 6th to 9th level (use the same breakdown as above). Those in the capital, will be from 7th to 10th level.
NPC Psionicists will be focused on the following disciplines;
Clairsentience, 1-35%
Psychometabolic, 36-55%
Psychokinetic, 56-70%
Psychoportative, 71-85%
Telepath, 86-00%
Note, Certain Psionic powers, from the Will and the Way handbook expansion, and the Dark sun hardback book, are SPECIFIC TO dark sun games. As such they are NOT available for characters to take, if they are psionic. Those powers are Time Travel & time duplicate (Psychoportative devotions), Spirit lore (Clairsentience devotion), Alignment stabilization, Beast mastery, Insect mind and Focus forgiveness (all telepathic devotions), and the Metapsionic power of Hive mind.
A - Books, manuals and tomes, FOR DUAL or Multi-classed characters..
If a Dual class (or multi-class character) reads a magical book that would benefit one class while hindering the other, such as a Fighter/mage who reads a Manual of Pussiant skill at arms, they go by the following:
For multi-classed PCs they suffer the negative effects first. Then they may gain any bonuses it grants (such as in the above example, the mage side would lose XP, then the warrior side can gain the level once training is completed). However if both sides would suffer from reading it, then the worse XP penalty Is used as a hit to the class that suffers the most negative, but the other class isn’t penalized.
For Dual classed PC's, it depends on whether the currently active class (the one they switched INTO) has surpassed the prior (old) class. If the book being read benefits the OLD class, and the new class has NOT surpassed the old one yet, then they can gain the benefits of it, but suffer both the XP hit from the book (like in the mage above), AND then they suffer in that they gain no XP for that session due to 'using a prior class ability'. If they have surpassed it, then check to see if the current class is the one that suffers or benefits. If they suffer, they suffer the resultant issues from reading said magical book, even if their 'old class' would benefit.
If the book benefits the NEW class, even if it would harm the OLD one, and the NEW class has surpassed the older class, they just benefit. They do not lose anything to their old class. IF they however, have yet to surpass the old class, they get dinged on ITS xp, then they gain the book's benefit to their current class.
Example a fighter (7) dualed into a mage (5), reads a manual of skill at arms. Loses xp on his current mage class, but then levels up as a fighter after finishing off the book. THEN he loses more XP as he's used his prior class during that session. Where as if that same fighter, (7) was now a 8th level mage and he read instead a tome of silver magic, he’d improve his mage level, but NOT suffer any penalties on his fighter side.
B - Cost for mages to buy spells from Guild (or replacing a lost spell book):
Common spells (Eg stuff that is known to all magic users, like any of the detection's and most defensive/offensive magics) - 200gp base plus 100gp per level of spell. (This generally is any spell in the PHB)
Uncommon spells - stuff known to many, but not all (Eg seppa snake sigal) - 400gp base +150/level. (Generally this is those in the Tome of Magic)
Rare - Named spells of a general area (Eg tenser, bigby in greyhawk) - 750gp base + 300/level. (Generally this is spells from Spells and Magic)
Very rare - spells recently made, or those from the wizards handbook (Eg within 100 yrs but older than 3 yrs old) that HAVE BEEN SHARED by their creators - 2000gp base plus 800/level.
ON the rare case a player needs to replace a lost or destroyed spell book, IF they are members of the guild, It costs 500gp to get a fresh new blank spell book, and costs 1 day per spell, per spell level, to write it in. Ink costs are 50gp/spell level for the spells to be wrote in. So if a mage had 10 first, 5 second and 2 third level spells in his spell book. It would cost 500gp base, +300gp for the inks to re-write the spells he knows. And take 24 days to do so.
Linked to this, when a mage learns a spell, if he fails his “Chance to know roll” (based on his intelligence), he must wait til he’s gained a NEW level, before he can re-try. IF HE ever fails the roll by rolling a 99 or 00%, he will NEVER be able to learn that specific spell.
C - Dual classing rules (Changed from the PHB)
As per the PHB, a human character who wishes to Dual class, must have a 15 in the attribute(s) that is the Prime Requisites of his first class he starts in, and a 17 in the PR's of any class he wishes to shift to. He must first acquire 2nd level of experience in his former class, then he can dual class out into his new one. PS, CHECK the below chart, to see how long it takes to Dual class! If a player wishes his starting Character to have dual classed, he may do so, selecting the level he shifts over, and all training is assumed to have already been performed. If he wishes to dual class afterwards, go by below. Characters may try to dual class, more than once, but needs the high attributes, for all classes he goes into, and out of.
A character may dual class a total of 4 times Maximum, going from warrior to mage to thief to priest (or which ever combination he wants). He cannot dual class from a sub-class to a base class, or from a base class into a sub-class. IE going from ranger to fighter, or mage to specialist mage. THE ONLY Exception to this is rangers and paladins who fall from grace. Rangers or Paladins who “Fall from grace”, become base level fighters, of equal level (adjust their XP down to the minimum needed for that level they become), assuming the fall they had is ONE they cannot Atone from!
When shifting classes, besides the Attribute issues, there may also be alignment issues to worry about, IE going from Ranger (Any good) to Thief (any non-good). Or for paladins. Though a paladin who dual classes OUT, loses all granted powers, even their bonded mount. One CAN quest, to dual class INTO being a paladin.
Once a character dual classes out, he is forever unable to advance (WITHOUT magic) his former class. He is forever stuck at that level, however use of wishes, or other potent magical items (Tomes/librams etc) can get around this. His HP, stay as his former class, till his new class surpasses it.. So the above fighter (3rd) who became a thief, would have 3d10 + any bonuses from Constitution, till he hits 4th as a thief, then he gains 1d6 + con bonus. If he dual classes at a point where his new class won't gain any new HD (9th for the most part), he only gains the +1/+2/+3 of the class. IF a warrior has a 17 or 18 Con, and dual classes out, he only gains the max of +2hp/hd for his new class, as long as the new class gains HD. So the above3rd level fighter, if he had a 18 Con, advanced to level 5 as a thief, he would have 3d10+12hp from his fighter side, and 2d6+4hp from his thief side.
For Fighters/Rangers/Paladins who dual class out, if they HAVE exceptional (%) strength, or they had a Weapon specialty, they lose access to said higher strength rating or specialty, till their new class supersedes the old. Once that happens, they regain access to both the specialty and % strength. However, this does not apply to weapon mastery or higher, for that is only eligible for SINGLE Classed characters. Additionally, if a character dual classes INTO a warrior class, they do not gain a % Str roll, if their former class had a 18 strength. A paladin who dual classes out of being a paladin, loses all of his granted powers, though it may take 1-2 levels, before his ‘bonded war horse’ leaves him.
As per the PHB< they lose all earned XP for an encounter and ½ XP for a entire adventure if he uses his former classes abilities, before his new class's level is higher. This INCLUDES using weapon specialization bonuses (inc attack/damage) or % strength. This does NOT though, apply to Tomes, librams or other magical writings that benefit his former class. IE if that fighter above read a manual of Pussiant skill at arms, he'd be able to increase his fighter level. BUT if his new class he has, is HURT by said tome/book, he still suffers any negatives of it, BEFORE he can finish reading it and benefit from said reading.
DUAL Classing takes time
Going from a Fighter to a mage, takes 24 months. Fighter to priest takes 12 months. Fighter to thief takes 8 months.
Mage to fighter OR thief takes 9 months. To a priest takes 15 months.
Priest to fighter or thief takes 6 months. To a mage takes 18 months.
Thief to mage takes 24 months, 14 to priest, or to fighter takes 6.
For any class going to RANGER< add 3 to 6 months (d4+2) on top of the above listed months. Going from any class to paladin, takes an additional YEAR on top of what is listed above.
ONE CANNOT DUAL CLASS OUT OF BEING a Paladin!
If someone's going from any class to a mage, but as a SPECIALIST mage, add 6 months on top of the normal duration of training needed (so a priest to specialist mage would take 24 months).
D - Training Costs for leveling up
Costs for training, are based on what level you are going TO. So a fighter at 4th level going to 5th, while training at the Guild that he is a member of, would cost 2,750gp (550gp x 5), while a bard training to 7th level would cost 5,600gp.
Costs by class are rated in usually two, some times 3 grades. Grade 1 is training at a guild, that you are a member of. Grade 2 is training at that guild, but NOT a member of it. Grade 3 is training under an NPC.
Not all classes have guilds. Clerics only get training via their temple (or shrines) or via NPCs, where as Bards and Psionicists only train Via NPC’s. Note: A PC can train a fellow PC if of the same class (and faith for priests), at 1/2 the cost listed for training under an NPC.
When training, if you open up new weapon or non-weapon slots, you can’t fill them If you are Self training. IF training under a PC or NPC, you can only fill them up, with skills (or weapons) the Trainer knows. For Mages/bards, when they train up, by the PHB they normally are supposed to gain a New spell, for their spell book, but they ONLY GET THIS if they train up Under someone else, and ONLY from what THAT teacher has available. This is why mages, especially are advised to train AT THE GUILD!
Note for Mages; Only the core specialties are represented at the Mage guild. Elementalists and Wild mage specialists are trained under NPC’s only, at a cost of 1,500gp/level.
Training take 2 weeks, regardless of class or level, though if multi-classed, and BOTH classes are training, it takes double, as each class has to train on their own. (Rangers and paladins are assumed to have a priest of the faith they follow, attending their training to help out, hence their higher prices).
Once a character hits name level (9th for most classes, 10th for some classes), they can self train. This means that they no longer need trainers, but instead, use the “trained by NPC” price, however their prices are double and take 1 month, when self training.
If a PC has underlings (such as henchmen or followers) they can train THEM (if of the same class), OR fellow player characters, at half the above costs for if being trained by an NPC, and they are 2 levels higher than what the character is training to. EG A PC fighter is 7th level, he may train any fellow PC fighters (or henchmen/followers) up to 5th level. THIS even applies for multi-class characters, but only to the class that the party has a match for!. It costs 550gp per level (that they are going to), to do so.
Training at a Shrine for priests, Is not a given. Most are not even attended, but if they are, a priest may train there up to FIFTH level at max. Similarly, if one is in a town/city that has a Warrior's guild ANNEX, they can train up to 5th level (for the one in the capital) or 7th level maximum (for the one up in Awagorr). Training beyond that, requires one to attend the main guild(s) (or temples for priests).
For Druids, as only TWO NPC druids even exist, a player character druid, must seek out one of the two, to train under. One lives in the Elven forest (a high elf), the other (also an elf) lives, in Vestway… For Psionicists, see house rule “P” for whether a given town, village or city will even have an NPC psionicist, and what level they are, for whom they can train.
Costs are; at a guild that you are a member of/At a guild not a member, or / under NPC (or fellow PC)
Fighter 550gp per level, 650gp/lev or 1,100gp/lev
Ranger shifts this to 950gp/1,100gp/1,400gp
Paladins shift this to 650gp/950gp/1,250gp.
Priests are 500gp/level AT A CHURCH, or 750gp if under an NPC.
Druids only have the NPC option at 850gp/lev.
Thieves are 400gp/500gp or 950gp/lev respectively.
Bards are like druids in they have only an NPC option for training, at 800gp/lev.
Mages are 750gp/900gp/1,200gp. NO additional cost for being specialists.
IF psionics are being used, they like bards/druids only have the option to train under NPC's at a cost of 1,200gp per level...
E - [uu]Psionics chance of NPC's[/u]
Since the player group currently HAS OPTED to allow psionics in play, the following is the chance of locating an NPC Psionicist based on where you are at.
Capital - 75% of there being 1d6
Major city - 50% of there being 1d4
Town - 35% chance of there being 1d3
Village - 10% chance of there being 1.
If they are rolled up as existing, any NPC psionicists will have a level, based on where they are at.
Any in a village, will be 4th or 5th level (d6 roll, 1-4 4th level. 5 or 6 = 5th level). Any in a town will be from 4th to 7th level (d10 roll, 1-4 = 4th level, 5-7 = 5th level, 8-9 = 6th level and 10 = 7th level). Any in a city will be from 6th to 9th level (use the same breakdown as above). Those in the capital, will be from 7th to 10th level.
NPC Psionicists will be focused on the following disciplines;
Clairsentience, 1-35%
Psychometabolic, 36-55%
Psychokinetic, 56-70%
Psychoportative, 71-85%
Telepath, 86-00%
Note, Certain Psionic powers, from the Will and the Way handbook expansion, and the Dark sun hardback book, are SPECIFIC TO dark sun games. As such they are NOT available for characters to take, if they are psionic. Those powers are Time Travel & time duplicate (Psychoportative devotions), Spirit lore (Clairsentience devotion), Alignment stabilization, Beast mastery, Insect mind and Focus forgiveness (all telepathic devotions), and the Metapsionic power of Hive mind.
It's not who you kill, but how they die!
Re: Kervasis Kalom HOUSE Rules used.
Miselaneous (Cont).
F - Standard Undead immunities
Several undead are listed specifically for what can and can't affect them, others say “they enjoy the standard undead immunities. But no where is it really listed what these are:
All skeletal and zombie like undead (including lich's, returned mages, Kephrinn and such) along with undead that are 'insubstantial (Ghosts/Spectres) cannot be affected by glitter dust/blindness or Light/Darkness, due to lacking PHYSICAL eyes (these types of undead, see via some form of supernatural Life sense). Similarly they are unaffected by Color spray. Undead with eyes and that are 'physical', such as Ghouls, Ghasts and the like, however, CAN Be blinded, or affected by spells such as Glitter dust.
All undead that are wrote as being mindless, such as skeletons and zombies, cannot be affected by mental magics OR psionics from the telepathy discipline (such as ESP), or by charms, sleep or magical holding spells (though the priestly invis to undead always work as that's more a spiritual blocking) this thus means, most mindless undead, are unaffected by purely visual illusions (such as phantasmal force). Undead with minds, are not as affected by phantasmal force or improved phantasmal force. They gain a +2 on any disbelief chances.
NOTE #11: Someone using even spectral force, or shadow magic to try and mimic a ‘clerical turning of undead’, DOES NOT have the illusion actually turn the undead, as there is no SPIRITUAL connection for the turning to work!
All forms of undead are unaffected by poisons or 'death magic'.. Also due to being non-living, trying to use Cause wounds spells does nothing. In fact, attempting to use a cause would (or similar touch based spell) on an undead that is tied to the negative plane (can drain life levels), causes the one doing the touch, to himself be drained. AND heals the undead in question.
Some undead are unaffected (or take lesser damage) from cold based spells. See the monster's write up.
All Skeletal undead (this includes Kephrinn) take ½ damage from slashing or piercing weapons. Roll all damage as normal, adding in str, specialty, magic etc, THEN halve the result.
Undead cannot be turned if they don't see the cleric. So if they are in range of say an obscurement, darkness 15' radius, or the priest is himself invisible, any attempt to turn will automatically fail. Undead who are invisible, but can still see a priest, can still be turned. They must also HEAR the priest, so silence 15 radius upon a cleric will stop him turning. IF they are silenced, they likewise, can’t be turned. Some evil priests, often put a silence up ON an undead, so they can’t be turned…
G -Rangers Species Enemies info
Rangers, as per the Ranger handbook and PHB, must choose a species enemy by 2nd level, however Unlike the PHB or ranger handbook, via this House rule, they get to add a 2nd species enemy once they hit 7th level, and a 3rd species enemy once they hit 13th level. (Three is the most they can have).
When making their species selection, for Kalomm, See the below chart;
Note #12, Unlike in 1e or the 2e PHB, a ranger, cannot select a BROAD group, such as all giants, or all goblinoids, he MUST select a specific 'type of beast'. THIS especially applies to Giants (must select which giant type) or Dragons (again, which color). However because of this, and to slightly offset it, some monsters often will have an “Includes” category, and some even have a “Related category”. IE Orcs include Orogs, and are related to half orcs. Or Ghouls include Ghasts, and are related to one of the new monsters, the Z-throk. Some do not have an “Includes category”, but do have a “related to” category, such as with Giant scorpions (related to Nemokai), while some only Have an “includes” category, but not a related to one. Anyone picking a ranger PC, is highly encouraged to Consult said chart, to help him (or her) better select what his species enemy will be!
Rangers BTB normally just gain a “To hit” bonus of +4, vs their ‘chosen foe. BY this house rule, this expands, to both a “to hit bonus”, and “A damage bonus”.
When attacking their main chosen foe, they gain Both the standard +4 to hit bonus, but also (as with 1st edition rangers), gain a +1 per level, to the damage, however this caps out at a Maximum of what the weapon’s base damage they are using is, so if a ranger is using say a spear (capping out at 6hp), they can only gain +6 to their damage, from their ranger bonus!
When attacking someone in the “includes” category (If they have one), their to hit bonus drops to only a +2. and their damage bonus becomes +1 per TWO levels they have, with the “Max damage” cap still in place.
And when attacking those in their “Related to” category (If they have one), their Two hit bonus is only a +1, while if they are 5th or lower levels, their Damage is only +1. If their level is 6th or higher, their damage bonus is +2.
Making a God Call:
For anyone NOT A PRIEST or PALADIN, there is a flat 5% chance of successfully making a god call.
For Priests, its a base 4%, +1% per level, +1% PER 3 points of their Wisdom (with a modifier based on the situation, of +/- 0 to 10%).
For Paladins its a base 2%, +1% per 2 levels, +1% per 4 points of their wisdom. +1% if they have the base 17 Charisma, +2% if they have a 18 charisma.
This is modified by what the character making the ‘god-call’ is, and has done.
Penalties;
If say he’s been badmouthing the church, or god he’s calling on, that’s a flat -4% penalty.
If he’s actually Attacked priests OF that church (other than members of that church in the party), that’s a -10%.
If he’s broken tenants of the church that he’s asking for favor for, that’s a -2% to -5% (d4+1) penalty.
Bonuses;
If he’s given a lot of money to the church, that’s a +3% bonus
If he’s helped defend a temple for that faith, that’s a +5% bonus
If he’s helped defend the tenants of that church, even while not belonging to it, that’s a +2% bonus.
If he has helped CREATE a church to that god, that is a +8% bonus.
If a non priest, has ‘converted’ to the faith, he adds +3%.
If a priest has successfully converted a non priest character, TO his faith, he adds +2% , PER character he converts, to a maximum of +10%.
Examples in use.
I - Darthoridian a priest of Corellon wishes to make a god call, after seeing half the party fall to undead he's failed to turn. As he's a 5th level priest who has a 17 Wisdom, he has a 4%, +5%, +5% for 14% chance of success.
The DM sees the situation isn't hopeless (the party's still got 4 characters up vs 5 undead that are lower HD than they are, so doesn't think the situation warrants a modifier).
II - Where as 3 sessions later, his comrade in the party, a human fighter, Dirrik, who’s often badmouthed elves, but has at least given a large share of his earned money, to a church of Corellon, has just seen 6 of the 8 members of the party fall to a group of bugbears, so ops to try a god-call. As he’s not a priest or paladin, he has a flat 5% base. However, since he did bad mouth the church a lot, but has given to it, that nets him a -1% penalty, leaving him with just a 4% chance of success. He rolls a 98%, and not only fails, but BUGGERS it up BADLY.
EACH character can make ONE God call a Game session, but if the situation isn't Dire, and its a flippant use, you may actually ANGER the gods.. As is making multiple god calls in a 'in game calendar week'. If someone selected to 'roll low', but rolled a 92% or higher, they angered the god. OR if they selected 'to roll high' but rolled 08% or lower, they angered the gods.
If you succeed at a God call, the DM Rolls 2d10.
On a 2, 3 or 4, the God Sends his 'favor' (Effect to be determined on WHICH god got supplicated).
On a 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10, the God sends 1d4 creatures, that are 'allied' to that god (IE Laranni may send some double strength 'war dogs', while Moradin may send some war-boars.
On a 11, 12, 13, 14 or 15, the god sends 1d6+1 creatures.
On a 16, 17, or 18, the god sends 2d4+2 creatures.
On a 19 or 20, the god does something else (if NOT near a shrine to another deity, he may send an avatar).
If they rolled sufficient to 'anger the gods', roll 2d8
On a 2, 3, 4, or 5, they get 'wracked by pain', sufficient to cause a -2 to hit, damage, saves and move for 1d4 rounds.
On a 6, 7, 8, or 9, the level of pain only imposes a -1 penalty.
On a 10, 11, 12 or 13, they (if a priest or mage) lose all memorized spells for the day, and suffer the inability to memorize any new spell, till they make amends (2d4 x 100gp worth in sacrifice to the god). IF Not a mage or priest, they just suffer a -2 penalty to saves, till the same amount of 'sacrifice' is made'.
On a 14, 15 or 16, they suffer the effects of a Cause Serious wounds spell (2d8+1) damage.
I - Absent Players
Everyone has instances where they can’t make a game. Every player must therefore select who they are going to pick, of the other players, to handle their character(s) being played, when they are absent. Whether this is a fellow player, or the DM, OR if “possible”, to be left out (via staying in town etc). If they stay in the field, and are ran by someone else, they gain full XP, but can still suffer death, or injury/loss. They are ran just as if their controlling player was still there, and if the ‘substitute player’ appears to be doing something the DM feels/thinks, is out of character for that PC, based on what has been observed from prior play, he can step in and overrule.
J - Thief Skill failure
Failing thief skill rolls, is NOT always an automatic ‘bad things happen’ issue. Depending on What the roll failed by, depends on what the outcome was.
We already see in the PHB, what the result is for failing your Pick pocket (or climb walls) roll. So here’s a chart for failing the others.
-Open locks - Failing an Open locks roll by 10 to 19%. The lock is rendered Unpickable at THIS level.
Failing it by 20 to 29% means the lock is jammed BY your tools You need to make a new roll to try and remove the tools. It still can't be picked at this level. (failing this 2nd roll, means the picks get broken off in the lock).
Failing it by 30% to 39% not only did it jam, but you broke your thieves tools in the lock. Need to replace them.
Failing it with either a roll of 40% more than roll, OR a roll of 95% or higher, the locks is permanently jammed. It can never be picked.
-Moving Silently OR Hide in shadows - Failing it by 10 to 19% means anyone in 5 feet of you can make a Hear noise check (OR perception check if that mechanic is used) and if THAT succeeds, they notice you.
Failing it by 20-29%, increases that range to 15ft, and gives a +5% (+1 on the d20 for the perception check) on the chance to notice you.
Failing it by 30-39%, increases the range to notice you, out to all in ear shot (depends on area).
Failing it by 40% or more, OR a roll over 95%, means all in area notice you instantly.
-Find/Remove traps - Fail it by 10-19%, the trap has a 1 in 20 chance of going off on you (all saves to avoid it are at normal). IF it doesn’t go off, you cannot remove it at your current level.
Fail it by 20-29%, the chance to go off, drops to 1 in 10, and your tools get jammed in the trap (if the trap does not go off, you can Try to remove the TOOLS with a 2nd roll, much like with open locks).
Fail it by 30-39%, and the trap automatically goes off
Fail it by 40% or higher, OR a result of 95% or higher, and not only does the trap go off but you forfeit any chance to save against it.
-Read languages - Failing it by 10 to 30%, means you just can’t decipher it at this level. Failing it by more than 30%, or any roll of 90% or higher gets you an Entirely different result (it may be the opposite of what you thought!).
Hear noise, is the only skill, that failing it, has no bad things that can happen!
K = Paralyzation
Certain creatures and spells can paralyze a person. How it’s treated depends on which method it is.
Spells like Hold person, Paralyzation, and the touches of Dracolich’s, Lich’s and Ghouls, the bone piercing screech of a Bone Golem or Necrophidius, sight of a mummy (fear), Sea hags, Nightmares, assassin bugs, s, ‘freeze’ their targets in place, much like if they were ‘stopped in time’. They still breath (as that’s an unconscious ability), can think and move their eyes, but cannot move their own limbs. If they have abilities they can activate by will, they may still use them (such as psionics). Enemies can move them, like they were in full ‘riger moritis”, so if say someone (foolishly) tried to bear hug a lich, as a wrestling attack, If they failed their save vs it’s Paralyzation touch, the lich can escape.
Where as, with Poisoning creatures, such as Carrion crawlers, Giant centipedes, and eye beams from beholders, silver dragon breath, Fire snakes, Driders, Stingray’s, poisoned arrows from jungle giants, Grell, hornets - giant, forest trappers, molds/oozes and slimes, Naga, and the like, turn those who fail their save vs paralyzation, into “rag Dolls”, where the person goes limp and drops to the ground (much like irl what happens with people who get tazered). Those folk are still aware of what’s going on, but simply can’t do anything about it.
Either way, a character that is paralyzed or magically held, can Still use magic items that operate by thought, OR can use psionics.
L - Bard Song/Inspiration of allies
Bards are well known as being able to sing, recite poetry or play music in a way to inspire allies, rallying friends and the like. A bard has two methods of doing this.
A)If a bard has time to prepare, and knows who they are going to face, he can perform this inspiration, by immortalizing them in song and music. Doing this, takes 3 full rounds of singing, or playing music, but once activated, they stay. When activated the bard can select one of the below benefits, which are felt by allies within a 10 yard radius, +5 yards per level of the bard;
+1 to hit and damage
+1 to saving throws
+2 to morale (applies to NPCS or henchmen)
+1 to AC
If gets dropped into the negatives, can stay up fighting, as if made his constitution check. (though still bleeds out 1hp/round).
These benefits lasts till; a) the bard stops singing*, b) is hit in combat**, or c) 3 round+1 round per level (if he just ceases playing once the bonuses kick in).
If he keeps playing, he cannot attack, but does gain the ability to defend as normal, and move up to 1/3rd his normal speed, while keeping the inspiration going.
IF the bard wishes, and has more time to prepare, and decides to spend additional time, working his allies up, he can add in a 2nd ability from the above list, after 2 more rounds, or a 3rd ability after four more rounds. He however, cannot add more than 3 abilities. If he keeps playing, he cannot attack, but does gain the ability to defend as normal, and move up to 1/3rd his normal speed, while keeping the inspiration going.
Note #15: *. IF he stops playing at the instant the bonuses kick in, they last for 3 rounds + 1 round/level. If he keeps playing, they last till he stops, but must make a con check once the # of rounds equal to his Con score.
**If hit in combat, the bard can make a Musical instrument or singing NWP check, to NOT lose concentration on his bardic inspiration.
B)Unprepared. If his allies are already in combat, he can start singing, and the FOLLOWING round, any allies in 10ft +10ft per level, gain ONE of the above benefits, for one round/level, OR as long as the bard keeps playing/singing, though if hit, the bard can make the same above NWP check, to retain his concentration. If he keeps playing, he cannot attack, but does gain the ability to defend as normal, and move up to 1/3rd his normal speed, while keeping the inspiration going. Like above, he can only keep playing up to Half his Con score.
Either way, once the benefit(s) are being accessed by the Bard’s allies, the bard is free to do other things, such as cast spells, attack and such.
ALL of the above benefits, can be canceled by an enemy hitting the bard with a silence spell, being knocked out, or by the bard getting magically held. Once the benefit(s) cease, the bard CAN re-inspire allies, once they withdraw from combat, but NOT while they are in. Also all benefits, combine with priestly spells, such as Bless, Chant, Prayer and Recitation. Lastly, if multiple bards work together, they can inspire allies, each adding one of the above benefits, but they can’t stack the same benefit on top of one another. IE two bards in a party get rumbled by an Orc ambush, so after the surprise round, Bard A starts singing, while Bard B starts playing his bongo drums, in round 2 (after surprise), Bard A selects the +1 bonus to AC, while bard B adds in the +1 to hit/damage.
F - Standard Undead immunities
Several undead are listed specifically for what can and can't affect them, others say “they enjoy the standard undead immunities. But no where is it really listed what these are:
All skeletal and zombie like undead (including lich's, returned mages, Kephrinn and such) along with undead that are 'insubstantial (Ghosts/Spectres) cannot be affected by glitter dust/blindness or Light/Darkness, due to lacking PHYSICAL eyes (these types of undead, see via some form of supernatural Life sense). Similarly they are unaffected by Color spray. Undead with eyes and that are 'physical', such as Ghouls, Ghasts and the like, however, CAN Be blinded, or affected by spells such as Glitter dust.
All undead that are wrote as being mindless, such as skeletons and zombies, cannot be affected by mental magics OR psionics from the telepathy discipline (such as ESP), or by charms, sleep or magical holding spells (though the priestly invis to undead always work as that's more a spiritual blocking) this thus means, most mindless undead, are unaffected by purely visual illusions (such as phantasmal force). Undead with minds, are not as affected by phantasmal force or improved phantasmal force. They gain a +2 on any disbelief chances.
NOTE #11: Someone using even spectral force, or shadow magic to try and mimic a ‘clerical turning of undead’, DOES NOT have the illusion actually turn the undead, as there is no SPIRITUAL connection for the turning to work!
All forms of undead are unaffected by poisons or 'death magic'.. Also due to being non-living, trying to use Cause wounds spells does nothing. In fact, attempting to use a cause would (or similar touch based spell) on an undead that is tied to the negative plane (can drain life levels), causes the one doing the touch, to himself be drained. AND heals the undead in question.
Some undead are unaffected (or take lesser damage) from cold based spells. See the monster's write up.
All Skeletal undead (this includes Kephrinn) take ½ damage from slashing or piercing weapons. Roll all damage as normal, adding in str, specialty, magic etc, THEN halve the result.
Undead cannot be turned if they don't see the cleric. So if they are in range of say an obscurement, darkness 15' radius, or the priest is himself invisible, any attempt to turn will automatically fail. Undead who are invisible, but can still see a priest, can still be turned. They must also HEAR the priest, so silence 15 radius upon a cleric will stop him turning. IF they are silenced, they likewise, can’t be turned. Some evil priests, often put a silence up ON an undead, so they can’t be turned…
G -Rangers Species Enemies info
Rangers, as per the Ranger handbook and PHB, must choose a species enemy by 2nd level, however Unlike the PHB or ranger handbook, via this House rule, they get to add a 2nd species enemy once they hit 7th level, and a 3rd species enemy once they hit 13th level. (Three is the most they can have).
When making their species selection, for Kalomm, See the below chart;
Note #12, Unlike in 1e or the 2e PHB, a ranger, cannot select a BROAD group, such as all giants, or all goblinoids, he MUST select a specific 'type of beast'. THIS especially applies to Giants (must select which giant type) or Dragons (again, which color). However because of this, and to slightly offset it, some monsters often will have an “Includes” category, and some even have a “Related category”. IE Orcs include Orogs, and are related to half orcs. Or Ghouls include Ghasts, and are related to one of the new monsters, the Z-throk. Some do not have an “Includes category”, but do have a “related to” category, such as with Giant scorpions (related to Nemokai), while some only Have an “includes” category, but not a related to one. Anyone picking a ranger PC, is highly encouraged to Consult said chart, to help him (or her) better select what his species enemy will be!
Rangers BTB normally just gain a “To hit” bonus of +4, vs their ‘chosen foe. BY this house rule, this expands, to both a “to hit bonus”, and “A damage bonus”.
When attacking their main chosen foe, they gain Both the standard +4 to hit bonus, but also (as with 1st edition rangers), gain a +1 per level, to the damage, however this caps out at a Maximum of what the weapon’s base damage they are using is, so if a ranger is using say a spear (capping out at 6hp), they can only gain +6 to their damage, from their ranger bonus!
When attacking someone in the “includes” category (If they have one), their to hit bonus drops to only a +2. and their damage bonus becomes +1 per TWO levels they have, with the “Max damage” cap still in place.
And when attacking those in their “Related to” category (If they have one), their Two hit bonus is only a +1, while if they are 5th or lower levels, their Damage is only +1. If their level is 6th or higher, their damage bonus is +2.
H -God Calls[/u]So if Ray the ranger, selected Ogres as his species enemy, at 6th level, he’d have +4 to hit and add +6 damage to his long sword vs ogres, +2 to hit and +3 to damage versus Merrow (as they are the “includes”), but only +1 to hit and +2 to damage if he fought Ettins whom are related. Where as if he had selected Ghouls, he’d gain +4/+6 vs ghouls, +2/+3 vs ghasts and +1/+2 vs Z-throk.
Being the standard CRE program, does not print this information out, a player is highly encouraged to PEN IT IN, somewhere on his or her character sheet, preferably in a place they can easily see and reference!
Making a God Call:
For anyone NOT A PRIEST or PALADIN, there is a flat 5% chance of successfully making a god call.
For Priests, its a base 4%, +1% per level, +1% PER 3 points of their Wisdom (with a modifier based on the situation, of +/- 0 to 10%).
For Paladins its a base 2%, +1% per 2 levels, +1% per 4 points of their wisdom. +1% if they have the base 17 Charisma, +2% if they have a 18 charisma.
This is modified by what the character making the ‘god-call’ is, and has done.
Penalties;
If say he’s been badmouthing the church, or god he’s calling on, that’s a flat -4% penalty.
If he’s actually Attacked priests OF that church (other than members of that church in the party), that’s a -10%.
If he’s broken tenants of the church that he’s asking for favor for, that’s a -2% to -5% (d4+1) penalty.
Bonuses;
If he’s given a lot of money to the church, that’s a +3% bonus
If he’s helped defend a temple for that faith, that’s a +5% bonus
If he’s helped defend the tenants of that church, even while not belonging to it, that’s a +2% bonus.
If he has helped CREATE a church to that god, that is a +8% bonus.
If a non priest, has ‘converted’ to the faith, he adds +3%.
If a priest has successfully converted a non priest character, TO his faith, he adds +2% , PER character he converts, to a maximum of +10%.
Examples in use.
I - Darthoridian a priest of Corellon wishes to make a god call, after seeing half the party fall to undead he's failed to turn. As he's a 5th level priest who has a 17 Wisdom, he has a 4%, +5%, +5% for 14% chance of success.
The DM sees the situation isn't hopeless (the party's still got 4 characters up vs 5 undead that are lower HD than they are, so doesn't think the situation warrants a modifier).
II - Where as 3 sessions later, his comrade in the party, a human fighter, Dirrik, who’s often badmouthed elves, but has at least given a large share of his earned money, to a church of Corellon, has just seen 6 of the 8 members of the party fall to a group of bugbears, so ops to try a god-call. As he’s not a priest or paladin, he has a flat 5% base. However, since he did bad mouth the church a lot, but has given to it, that nets him a -1% penalty, leaving him with just a 4% chance of success. He rolls a 98%, and not only fails, but BUGGERS it up BADLY.
EACH character can make ONE God call a Game session, but if the situation isn't Dire, and its a flippant use, you may actually ANGER the gods.. As is making multiple god calls in a 'in game calendar week'. If someone selected to 'roll low', but rolled a 92% or higher, they angered the god. OR if they selected 'to roll high' but rolled 08% or lower, they angered the gods.
If you succeed at a God call, the DM Rolls 2d10.
On a 2, 3 or 4, the God Sends his 'favor' (Effect to be determined on WHICH god got supplicated).
On a 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10, the God sends 1d4 creatures, that are 'allied' to that god (IE Laranni may send some double strength 'war dogs', while Moradin may send some war-boars.
On a 11, 12, 13, 14 or 15, the god sends 1d6+1 creatures.
On a 16, 17, or 18, the god sends 2d4+2 creatures.
On a 19 or 20, the god does something else (if NOT near a shrine to another deity, he may send an avatar).
If they rolled sufficient to 'anger the gods', roll 2d8
On a 2, 3, 4, or 5, they get 'wracked by pain', sufficient to cause a -2 to hit, damage, saves and move for 1d4 rounds.
On a 6, 7, 8, or 9, the level of pain only imposes a -1 penalty.
On a 10, 11, 12 or 13, they (if a priest or mage) lose all memorized spells for the day, and suffer the inability to memorize any new spell, till they make amends (2d4 x 100gp worth in sacrifice to the god). IF Not a mage or priest, they just suffer a -2 penalty to saves, till the same amount of 'sacrifice' is made'.
On a 14, 15 or 16, they suffer the effects of a Cause Serious wounds spell (2d8+1) damage.
I - Absent Players
Everyone has instances where they can’t make a game. Every player must therefore select who they are going to pick, of the other players, to handle their character(s) being played, when they are absent. Whether this is a fellow player, or the DM, OR if “possible”, to be left out (via staying in town etc). If they stay in the field, and are ran by someone else, they gain full XP, but can still suffer death, or injury/loss. They are ran just as if their controlling player was still there, and if the ‘substitute player’ appears to be doing something the DM feels/thinks, is out of character for that PC, based on what has been observed from prior play, he can step in and overrule.
J - Thief Skill failure
Failing thief skill rolls, is NOT always an automatic ‘bad things happen’ issue. Depending on What the roll failed by, depends on what the outcome was.
We already see in the PHB, what the result is for failing your Pick pocket (or climb walls) roll. So here’s a chart for failing the others.
-Open locks - Failing an Open locks roll by 10 to 19%. The lock is rendered Unpickable at THIS level.
Failing it by 20 to 29% means the lock is jammed BY your tools You need to make a new roll to try and remove the tools. It still can't be picked at this level. (failing this 2nd roll, means the picks get broken off in the lock).
Failing it by 30% to 39% not only did it jam, but you broke your thieves tools in the lock. Need to replace them.
Failing it with either a roll of 40% more than roll, OR a roll of 95% or higher, the locks is permanently jammed. It can never be picked.
-Moving Silently OR Hide in shadows - Failing it by 10 to 19% means anyone in 5 feet of you can make a Hear noise check (OR perception check if that mechanic is used) and if THAT succeeds, they notice you.
Failing it by 20-29%, increases that range to 15ft, and gives a +5% (+1 on the d20 for the perception check) on the chance to notice you.
Failing it by 30-39%, increases the range to notice you, out to all in ear shot (depends on area).
Failing it by 40% or more, OR a roll over 95%, means all in area notice you instantly.
-Find/Remove traps - Fail it by 10-19%, the trap has a 1 in 20 chance of going off on you (all saves to avoid it are at normal). IF it doesn’t go off, you cannot remove it at your current level.
Fail it by 20-29%, the chance to go off, drops to 1 in 10, and your tools get jammed in the trap (if the trap does not go off, you can Try to remove the TOOLS with a 2nd roll, much like with open locks).
Fail it by 30-39%, and the trap automatically goes off
Fail it by 40% or higher, OR a result of 95% or higher, and not only does the trap go off but you forfeit any chance to save against it.
-Read languages - Failing it by 10 to 30%, means you just can’t decipher it at this level. Failing it by more than 30%, or any roll of 90% or higher gets you an Entirely different result (it may be the opposite of what you thought!).
Hear noise, is the only skill, that failing it, has no bad things that can happen!
K = Paralyzation
Certain creatures and spells can paralyze a person. How it’s treated depends on which method it is.
Spells like Hold person, Paralyzation, and the touches of Dracolich’s, Lich’s and Ghouls, the bone piercing screech of a Bone Golem or Necrophidius, sight of a mummy (fear), Sea hags, Nightmares, assassin bugs, s, ‘freeze’ their targets in place, much like if they were ‘stopped in time’. They still breath (as that’s an unconscious ability), can think and move their eyes, but cannot move their own limbs. If they have abilities they can activate by will, they may still use them (such as psionics). Enemies can move them, like they were in full ‘riger moritis”, so if say someone (foolishly) tried to bear hug a lich, as a wrestling attack, If they failed their save vs it’s Paralyzation touch, the lich can escape.
Where as, with Poisoning creatures, such as Carrion crawlers, Giant centipedes, and eye beams from beholders, silver dragon breath, Fire snakes, Driders, Stingray’s, poisoned arrows from jungle giants, Grell, hornets - giant, forest trappers, molds/oozes and slimes, Naga, and the like, turn those who fail their save vs paralyzation, into “rag Dolls”, where the person goes limp and drops to the ground (much like irl what happens with people who get tazered). Those folk are still aware of what’s going on, but simply can’t do anything about it.
Either way, a character that is paralyzed or magically held, can Still use magic items that operate by thought, OR can use psionics.
L - Bard Song/Inspiration of allies
Bards are well known as being able to sing, recite poetry or play music in a way to inspire allies, rallying friends and the like. A bard has two methods of doing this.
A)If a bard has time to prepare, and knows who they are going to face, he can perform this inspiration, by immortalizing them in song and music. Doing this, takes 3 full rounds of singing, or playing music, but once activated, they stay. When activated the bard can select one of the below benefits, which are felt by allies within a 10 yard radius, +5 yards per level of the bard;
+1 to hit and damage
+1 to saving throws
+2 to morale (applies to NPCS or henchmen)
+1 to AC
If gets dropped into the negatives, can stay up fighting, as if made his constitution check. (though still bleeds out 1hp/round).
These benefits lasts till; a) the bard stops singing*, b) is hit in combat**, or c) 3 round+1 round per level (if he just ceases playing once the bonuses kick in).
If he keeps playing, he cannot attack, but does gain the ability to defend as normal, and move up to 1/3rd his normal speed, while keeping the inspiration going.
IF the bard wishes, and has more time to prepare, and decides to spend additional time, working his allies up, he can add in a 2nd ability from the above list, after 2 more rounds, or a 3rd ability after four more rounds. He however, cannot add more than 3 abilities. If he keeps playing, he cannot attack, but does gain the ability to defend as normal, and move up to 1/3rd his normal speed, while keeping the inspiration going.
Note #15: *. IF he stops playing at the instant the bonuses kick in, they last for 3 rounds + 1 round/level. If he keeps playing, they last till he stops, but must make a con check once the # of rounds equal to his Con score.
**If hit in combat, the bard can make a Musical instrument or singing NWP check, to NOT lose concentration on his bardic inspiration.
B)Unprepared. If his allies are already in combat, he can start singing, and the FOLLOWING round, any allies in 10ft +10ft per level, gain ONE of the above benefits, for one round/level, OR as long as the bard keeps playing/singing, though if hit, the bard can make the same above NWP check, to retain his concentration. If he keeps playing, he cannot attack, but does gain the ability to defend as normal, and move up to 1/3rd his normal speed, while keeping the inspiration going. Like above, he can only keep playing up to Half his Con score.
Either way, once the benefit(s) are being accessed by the Bard’s allies, the bard is free to do other things, such as cast spells, attack and such.
ALL of the above benefits, can be canceled by an enemy hitting the bard with a silence spell, being knocked out, or by the bard getting magically held. Once the benefit(s) cease, the bard CAN re-inspire allies, once they withdraw from combat, but NOT while they are in. Also all benefits, combine with priestly spells, such as Bless, Chant, Prayer and Recitation. Lastly, if multiple bards work together, they can inspire allies, each adding one of the above benefits, but they can’t stack the same benefit on top of one another. IE two bards in a party get rumbled by an Orc ambush, so after the surprise round, Bard A starts singing, while Bard B starts playing his bongo drums, in round 2 (after surprise), Bard A selects the +1 bonus to AC, while bard B adds in the +1 to hit/damage.
It's not who you kill, but how they die!
Re: Kervasis Kalom HOUSE Rules used.
Weapon specific stuff..
A - Strength Bows
Purchasing a strength bow is costly. At a base Long bows are 75gp. The costs for
Strength bows increases as the Strength goes up.
So it goes 16 Str - 150gp
17 Str - 225gp
18 (no %) Str - 300gp
18/01-50% Str - 375gp
18/51-75% Str - 450gp
18/76-90% Str - 525gp
18/91-99% Str - 600gp
And 18/00% Str - 675gp.
You cannot get Str bows made for any Str higher than 18/00.
TO make one with Bowyer/Fletcher skill, requires A) the Strength the bow is needing to be made for, to be present, and B) Takes DOUBLE the time. It also imposes a -4 to the crafting check.
B - Gnoll War Bows
Gnolls are well known for using their “Gnoll great bows, also known as War bows. These beasts are unable to even be used by humans or elves, who are NOT at least 7ft or greater in size, AND possess a 17 or greater strength. Gnoll War-bows cannot fire regular sheaf or flight arrows, NOR can their war-arrows be fired from regular (or composite) longbows. They have a slower Rate of fire than regular bows, only gaining 1 shot a round, but they ARE ALWAYS CONSIDERED strength bows. They deal 1d10 damage vs small/man Or vs large, and have a range of 80/160/240. They have a speed factor of 8.
If a Gnoll fighter (whether PC or NPC), gains specialty in the Gnoll war-bow, they increase the RoF to 3/2 for levels 1-6, then to 2/1 for levels 7 to 11 Since no Gnoll can be above this, they can’t improve beyond this, unless they go for weapon mastery or higher.
C - Crossbows
Expanding on the new crossbow rules presented in the PO-C&T, below is a revised crossbow list. All crossbows except for hand crossbows, get a "punching" bonus against METAL armor at short and medium ranges equal to +5 to hit/+2 respectively. Of the below crossbows, only the Hand and Assault cannot be specialized in. IT is up to PLAYERS To remember to use this!
NOTE #7; The medium crossbow is added in, as a weapon used mostly by Human warriors defending the mining city of Awagorr. As such its not available for dwarves to use as a weapon of choice for sharpshooter kit members. The light and heavy x-bow damage drop from d6 to d4+1, or d8/d10 for when they are shifted to “Spear guns” (under water crossbow version, a weapon predominantly used by Sahuagin. There is no hand crossbow or medium crossbow spear gun variant. Ranges also drop to 5/10/15 for light, and 7/14/21 for heavy, while as spear guns.
Hand crossbows have a d4/d3 damage, range of 20/40/60, can be fired one handed, weight in at 5lb, and have a weapon speed of 2. Their rate of fire is 2/1.
Light crossbows have a d6/d6 damage, 60/120/180 range, 1/1 rate fire, speed of 5, weight of 7, and also can be fired one handed at no penalty (Though they can't be reloaded one handed)
Medium crossbows increase damage to d8/d8, still have a 1/1 rate fire, speed ups to 6, and range goes to 70/140/210. They can be fired one handed at a -2 penalty.
Heavy crossbows increase damage to d10/d12, speed ups to 8, have a 1/2 rate fire, but a 80/160/240 range. Same as the war bow of Gnolls.
For Dwarven sharpshooters (the Kit), they increase the Base rate of fire for Light crossbows to 3/2, from level 1-6, 2/1 from levels 7 to 12, then 5/2. Damage increases to d8/d8.
Heavy Crossbow sharpshooters, increase the rate of fire to 1/1 for levels 1 to 6, 3/2 for levels 7 to 12, and 2/1 for levels 13+. Damage goes to 2d6/2d8.
D - Dwarven Close in Combat spikes
As per the dwarf handbook, there already exists a # of these items; knee and elbow spikes and the head spike. To this, are added, Fore arm, Shin, and Shoulder spikes, along with Chest ridges.
All Dwarven fighters, and multi-class fighter/priests, especially Vindicators, are considered to be automatically proficient in them, However no one can ever specialize in them. Any other class or race wishing to take them must spend a proficiency slot to do so, per 'location' type. NOTE – if the dwarf has the spike created as part of his armor, and the armor is made magical, (or is magical from the get go), they count as what the armor's + is for purpose of what they can strike, AND gain the + to hit, but only count once for damage. Doing so, adds 10% to the Base cost to make the suit of armor, and imposes a -1 chance to successfully create the armor, PER weapon spike group to be added!
Strength bonuses to damage, also go by the “only count” once per opponent. If not made as part of armor, and are 'attachments', they can only hurt creatures needing magic to strike, if the attachment is itself enchanted. Strength bonus only applies to the head, shoulder, fore-arm, shin, knee and elbow spikes. They never apply to Chest ridges.
When choosing to attack with close in combat weaponry, one must either go for an arm (in which case he can get possibly both his fore-arm and elbow spikes) or leg (for shin and possibly knee spikes), or choose to charge (for head/shoulder), or go in for wrestling (for chest ridges). If the to hit roll succeeds by up to 4 above what was needed to hit, the arm (or leg) only hits with ONE of the 'spike' groups (roll 1d6, 1-3 elbow or knee, 4-6 fore-arm/shin). If it hits by 5 or more, both weapon spike groups hit.
If a character has grappled a target, he can get both his legs, or both of his arms, added to his ‘chest ridges’ worth of damage. Or if he charges, he can use his head and or shoulder spikes to hit someone. NOTE: Charging with head or shoulder spike groups, causes double damage, if they hit. Only the head OR the shoulders can be used to hit one target, BUT if two foes are standing side by side (not more than 3 feet apart), the dwarf CAN try to hit BOTH. He makes ONE attack roll, with the HIGHER of the two foes, AC as his target. IF hit, BOTH subjects take damage. Though any Strength bonus the dwarf has, MUST BE SPLIT UP between both targets! The bonus damage From strength, does NOT double on the charge! Only the base damage of the head or shoulder spike(s).
EG - Broug rushes at two orcs standing in a Door way, both are 2 feet from one another. Broug has a Thac0 of 17, but Orc A is an AC of 4 (so he will need a 13 to hit him), while Orc B is at an AC of 6 so can be struck on a 11 or better. Broug needs to hit orc A, and if he does, he splits his +3 from his strength of 18/28, into +2 to orc a, and +1 to Orc B.
EG- - Mog tries to kick an orc. He needs a 13 to hit him, so if he rolls a 13 to 17, he hits only with either the knee or shin spike group, if he hits with an 18 or greater, both the knee and shin groups hit, but he only gains ONE strength bonus to the attack.
For the Chest ridges, the damage is (say for an Orc), d3 round 1, he is being ‘ground up on’, d3+1 for round 2, d3+2 for round 3, and on up, maxing out at d3+10. Strength does NOT ADD IN, to this damage.
Head spikes have a damage of d6/d8, can be melded into helmets, have a 12 inch size, speed factor of 4, and deal double damage if used in a charge.
Shoulder spikes do d6/d6+1 damage, have a size of 5 to 8 inches, speed of 3, and can be crafted into armor.. They also do double damage in a charge. (for a Visual think of what the Legion of Doom wrestling team used to wear in the old days of the WWE).
Elbow and Knee spikes do d4 damage, both have a speed of 2, but do not do double damage in a charge.
Fore-arm and shin spikes do d4+1/d4 damage.
Gloved nails are d4+2/d4+1 PLUS PUNCH damage, have a speed of 3.
And Chest ridges have a damage of d3/d2, adding 1 point per ROUND the character keeps "Grinding" on the target, once held.
A - Strength Bows
Purchasing a strength bow is costly. At a base Long bows are 75gp. The costs for
Strength bows increases as the Strength goes up.
So it goes 16 Str - 150gp
17 Str - 225gp
18 (no %) Str - 300gp
18/01-50% Str - 375gp
18/51-75% Str - 450gp
18/76-90% Str - 525gp
18/91-99% Str - 600gp
And 18/00% Str - 675gp.
You cannot get Str bows made for any Str higher than 18/00.
TO make one with Bowyer/Fletcher skill, requires A) the Strength the bow is needing to be made for, to be present, and B) Takes DOUBLE the time. It also imposes a -4 to the crafting check.
B - Gnoll War Bows
Gnolls are well known for using their “Gnoll great bows, also known as War bows. These beasts are unable to even be used by humans or elves, who are NOT at least 7ft or greater in size, AND possess a 17 or greater strength. Gnoll War-bows cannot fire regular sheaf or flight arrows, NOR can their war-arrows be fired from regular (or composite) longbows. They have a slower Rate of fire than regular bows, only gaining 1 shot a round, but they ARE ALWAYS CONSIDERED strength bows. They deal 1d10 damage vs small/man Or vs large, and have a range of 80/160/240. They have a speed factor of 8.
If a Gnoll fighter (whether PC or NPC), gains specialty in the Gnoll war-bow, they increase the RoF to 3/2 for levels 1-6, then to 2/1 for levels 7 to 11 Since no Gnoll can be above this, they can’t improve beyond this, unless they go for weapon mastery or higher.
C - Crossbows
Expanding on the new crossbow rules presented in the PO-C&T, below is a revised crossbow list. All crossbows except for hand crossbows, get a "punching" bonus against METAL armor at short and medium ranges equal to +5 to hit/+2 respectively. Of the below crossbows, only the Hand and Assault cannot be specialized in. IT is up to PLAYERS To remember to use this!
NOTE #7; The medium crossbow is added in, as a weapon used mostly by Human warriors defending the mining city of Awagorr. As such its not available for dwarves to use as a weapon of choice for sharpshooter kit members. The light and heavy x-bow damage drop from d6 to d4+1, or d8/d10 for when they are shifted to “Spear guns” (under water crossbow version, a weapon predominantly used by Sahuagin. There is no hand crossbow or medium crossbow spear gun variant. Ranges also drop to 5/10/15 for light, and 7/14/21 for heavy, while as spear guns.
Hand crossbows have a d4/d3 damage, range of 20/40/60, can be fired one handed, weight in at 5lb, and have a weapon speed of 2. Their rate of fire is 2/1.
Light crossbows have a d6/d6 damage, 60/120/180 range, 1/1 rate fire, speed of 5, weight of 7, and also can be fired one handed at no penalty (Though they can't be reloaded one handed)
Medium crossbows increase damage to d8/d8, still have a 1/1 rate fire, speed ups to 6, and range goes to 70/140/210. They can be fired one handed at a -2 penalty.
Heavy crossbows increase damage to d10/d12, speed ups to 8, have a 1/2 rate fire, but a 80/160/240 range. Same as the war bow of Gnolls.
For Dwarven sharpshooters (the Kit), they increase the Base rate of fire for Light crossbows to 3/2, from level 1-6, 2/1 from levels 7 to 12, then 5/2. Damage increases to d8/d8.
Heavy Crossbow sharpshooters, increase the rate of fire to 1/1 for levels 1 to 6, 3/2 for levels 7 to 12, and 2/1 for levels 13+. Damage goes to 2d6/2d8.
D - Dwarven Close in Combat spikes
As per the dwarf handbook, there already exists a # of these items; knee and elbow spikes and the head spike. To this, are added, Fore arm, Shin, and Shoulder spikes, along with Chest ridges.
All Dwarven fighters, and multi-class fighter/priests, especially Vindicators, are considered to be automatically proficient in them, However no one can ever specialize in them. Any other class or race wishing to take them must spend a proficiency slot to do so, per 'location' type. NOTE – if the dwarf has the spike created as part of his armor, and the armor is made magical, (or is magical from the get go), they count as what the armor's + is for purpose of what they can strike, AND gain the + to hit, but only count once for damage. Doing so, adds 10% to the Base cost to make the suit of armor, and imposes a -1 chance to successfully create the armor, PER weapon spike group to be added!
Strength bonuses to damage, also go by the “only count” once per opponent. If not made as part of armor, and are 'attachments', they can only hurt creatures needing magic to strike, if the attachment is itself enchanted. Strength bonus only applies to the head, shoulder, fore-arm, shin, knee and elbow spikes. They never apply to Chest ridges.
When choosing to attack with close in combat weaponry, one must either go for an arm (in which case he can get possibly both his fore-arm and elbow spikes) or leg (for shin and possibly knee spikes), or choose to charge (for head/shoulder), or go in for wrestling (for chest ridges). If the to hit roll succeeds by up to 4 above what was needed to hit, the arm (or leg) only hits with ONE of the 'spike' groups (roll 1d6, 1-3 elbow or knee, 4-6 fore-arm/shin). If it hits by 5 or more, both weapon spike groups hit.
If a character has grappled a target, he can get both his legs, or both of his arms, added to his ‘chest ridges’ worth of damage. Or if he charges, he can use his head and or shoulder spikes to hit someone. NOTE: Charging with head or shoulder spike groups, causes double damage, if they hit. Only the head OR the shoulders can be used to hit one target, BUT if two foes are standing side by side (not more than 3 feet apart), the dwarf CAN try to hit BOTH. He makes ONE attack roll, with the HIGHER of the two foes, AC as his target. IF hit, BOTH subjects take damage. Though any Strength bonus the dwarf has, MUST BE SPLIT UP between both targets! The bonus damage From strength, does NOT double on the charge! Only the base damage of the head or shoulder spike(s).
EG - Broug rushes at two orcs standing in a Door way, both are 2 feet from one another. Broug has a Thac0 of 17, but Orc A is an AC of 4 (so he will need a 13 to hit him), while Orc B is at an AC of 6 so can be struck on a 11 or better. Broug needs to hit orc A, and if he does, he splits his +3 from his strength of 18/28, into +2 to orc a, and +1 to Orc B.
EG- - Mog tries to kick an orc. He needs a 13 to hit him, so if he rolls a 13 to 17, he hits only with either the knee or shin spike group, if he hits with an 18 or greater, both the knee and shin groups hit, but he only gains ONE strength bonus to the attack.
For the Chest ridges, the damage is (say for an Orc), d3 round 1, he is being ‘ground up on’, d3+1 for round 2, d3+2 for round 3, and on up, maxing out at d3+10. Strength does NOT ADD IN, to this damage.
Head spikes have a damage of d6/d8, can be melded into helmets, have a 12 inch size, speed factor of 4, and deal double damage if used in a charge.
Shoulder spikes do d6/d6+1 damage, have a size of 5 to 8 inches, speed of 3, and can be crafted into armor.. They also do double damage in a charge. (for a Visual think of what the Legion of Doom wrestling team used to wear in the old days of the WWE).
Elbow and Knee spikes do d4 damage, both have a speed of 2, but do not do double damage in a charge.
Fore-arm and shin spikes do d4+1/d4 damage.
Gloved nails are d4+2/d4+1 PLUS PUNCH damage, have a speed of 3.
And Chest ridges have a damage of d3/d2, adding 1 point per ROUND the character keeps "Grinding" on the target, once held.
It's not who you kill, but how they die!
Re: Kervasis Kalom HOUSE Rules used.
MY Revision to the weapon fighting style Specialties..
ALL warriors know the base level in Four of Six the weapon styles, and can gain specialty in all six of them.
Weapon and shields proficiency is known to clerics. Mages and thieves cannot ever gain specialty in it, especially since they cannot normally gain use of shields. Psionicists CAN, but must learn it in game.
Weapon and Shield Fighting style
This style forms the basis for all other fighting styles. A person uses a shield in his off-hand, and a one handed weapon in his on hand. Proficiency in this style, is assumed for priests and warriors, and just lets someone gain proper, full benefits, from wielding a shield. For 99% of folks the shield is in their left hand, weapon in right. Though there are rare folks who due to being lefties (Switch hitters), have their shield in their right hand.
By spending a single slot, a Warrior or Priest, can become Specialized in this style. Once done, they gains 3 benefits. 1) Shield parry’s, also called hard blocks, 2) Shield rushes and 3) Shield punches/bashes. Note, unlike shield parries, doing a shield rush or punch, Does cause the character to lose any AC bonuses he has, from the shield, in the round he makes these attacks. This is why, they must declare during the initiative roll, that they wish to make either of those attacks.
A) Once every round, your character can perform a “Combat Block”, also known as a Shield parry or hard block, on an opponent's attack, however you Must declare the use of this ONLY ONCE the enemy's actually hit, but before damage dice have been rolled. You can also only do it, on attacks coming from the Front or side your shield is on. And if multiple attacks are coming in, you need to specify which attack this is being used to block against, so choose wisely my padawan!
To perform it, you make a standard melee attack with your shield, taking into account your strength, and any magical bonuses the shield may have. Compare it to the AC the enemy hit. If you hit an EQUAL or higher AC value, you block his attack on the shield, and at the END OF THAT round, need to make an “Item saving throw” for the shield, versus normal blows, ONLY IF THE Creature's strength is 16, 17 or 18 (no percent). However, if the blow comes from a creature (or NPC) who has 18% or HIGHER strength, the save for your shield is versus Crushing blow. Thus using this option to protect you vs the attack of a Giant may be good for your hit points, but it may NOT be good for your shield!
During the round in which you perform a shield block, you do NOT LOSE YOUR AC Bonus you gain, from your shield, unlike with a punch or rush. (People without this style specialty, may still do shield blocks, but do lose their AC bonus in the round they perform it)/ Also, during the round you use the benefit of making a shield parry, you cannot perform a shield punch or rush.
B) You may perform a shield rush. This is akin to a Charge attack, so requires at least over 10ft of movement, imposes a -1 to your initiative, and can only be performed Once every 10th round, as with Charging!.. Doing a shield rush, is the only attack you get in that round, but it can knock down your opponent! Similar with the shield parry, it is a standard to hit, including bonuses from Strength, and the magic of the shield. However, it can not be performed with small shields or bucklers, only with medium, large or body shields (the small/buckler shields, simply do not have enough 'frontage' to generate the mass needed to perform this maneuver. If you hit, the damage is d6 (medium), d8 (large) or d10 (body) plus strength, and once hit, the target must make an immediate dexterity check to remain standing. This check is penalized based on the following modifiers;
+3 bonus to his dexterity, if he was moving towards the 'shield rusher' or +1 bonus was NOT moving at all.
-3 penalty to his dexterity, if he was hit from behind/-1 penalty from the flank.
-3 penalty to his dexterity if he was unaware of being rushed into..
So performing a shield rush on someone standing still, from the rear on someone unaware of the attack, makes for a net -5 penalty (+1 standing, -3 rear, -3 surprised).
Falling down forces the opponent to forego any attacks in the following round as he has to get up. Additionally during the round in which you perform a shield rush, you Lose your shield bonus to your armor class, from the time ONLY AFTER you perform the rush, to the start of the next round (determined via your initiative score), unlike for the whole round with shield punching.
C) Once every other round, you may perform a Shield punch. This is a standard Melee attack with the shield, but unlike the 'combat parry', a shield's magical bonuses do NOT COUNT for modifying your thac0. Strength bonuses still add in though. IF you hit, the damage caused is based on the shield type you are using to punch with. Small or Buckler shields, do a flat d3 damage plus strength, Medium shields cause d4 damage, large causes d6, and d8 for body shields. YOU CANNOT perform a shield bash in the same round you perform a shield parry, so you must declare which you will do at the beginning of the round, when you roll initiative.
Using a shield bash in a round you also make a melee attack, incurs the standard Two Weapon fighting penalties, as per the DMG, being a -2 to hit with your primary hand (your melee weapon!) and a -4 to hit with your off hand (your shield). Having a 16 or higher Dexterity, can alleviate some of that penalty, as standard based on your Reaction adjustment, as can having the Ambidexterity NWP, which pushes your off hand penalty to be even with your on hand penalty. NOTE: No matter how high your Dexterity is, your reaction modifier, can ONLY eliminate the penalty from the two handed fighting. It will never become a bonus (so even if you have a 19 dexterity, you only negate the -2 penalty, it doesn't become a +1 bonus). Additionally, during the round you do a shield punch, you lose your AC bonus from the shield for that round.
Target's hit by a shield punch, must make the same sort of Dexterity check, as with the Shield rush, but rather than penalties based on movement, they have a penalty based on damage. Every 2 points of damage dealt, gives a -1 penalty to the Dex check, to avoid being knocked down.
Spending a 2nd slot on specializing in this style, or a 3rd slot for those rare bards/thieves who can use a shield via a kit, allows you to perform the shield rush or shield punch and NOT lose your bonus from the shield off your armor class.
Two handed weapon style is known by warriors and priests, mages CAN select it later on. Psionicists, bards and thieves cannot learn this style.
Two handed weapon fighting style:
Our second style is the Two handed weapon style. This one emphasizes size of weapon, over speed, as practically every two handed weapon from the big lugging pole-arms, to the maul and two handed sword are slowwwww... As with weapon/shield style, by spending a single slot, a Warrior or Priest, can gain specialization in this style. A Mage can also gain proficiency then specialty in this style via spending 2 slots, one to get proficient, and a 2nd to become specialist. Since Thieves can’t use these large weapons, they don’t gain access to this style.
Becoming a specialist grants 4 bonuses;
A), you see an Instant improvement on your speed factor, dropping the Weapon speed of all two handed weapons (including the bastard sword used two handed or the morning star) down by 5. So a speed of 8 (say for a footman's flail) becomes a 3! THIS OVERRIDES the warrior's handbook bonus of -3!!! Like with magic or high dexterity, NO weapon speed can be lowered to less than a 1!
B) , if you wield a 1 handed weapon in two hands; This applies to the following weapons only – Battle axe, Club, Footman's mace, Machete, Spear (regular), Trident, Scythe, long sword, Broad sword, Katana, Scimitar, and Warhammer; You gain a +2 bonus to the damage you deal when you hit. However you do not gain any benefit to its speed or the to hit of the weapon.
C), you may perform a 'combat parry' similar to the weapon and shield style's block, once every OTHER round. Like with the parry given by the shield/weapon style, this is a “Free parry”.
D), you gain a -2 bonus to your strength score in any attempts to disarm you. Additionally you need 2 successful disarm attempts in the same round, to get disarmed!
UNLIKE with weapon and shield style, Two handed weapon style has no 2nd level of specialization.
Single handed style is known by rogues and priests, and mages CAN gain proficiency then specialty in it, later on. So can psionicists.
Single handed weapon style:
Where as both the above styles have you holding something in both hands, whether the same weapon or a shield, this one has you leaving your off hand open, and often put behind you or to the side, for greater balance. It is very much used by fencers, swashbucklers and the like.
Proficiency in this style, is a 'given' for all classes barring mages. Mages who wish to know it, must spend one weapon slot, to become proficient. Fighters, Clerics and Rogues, may spend a slot to become specialists, (Mages must spend two more slots, on top of the initial one to become specialists). Doing so, grants only a few bonuses.
First up comes the AC bonus, due to having improved balance. This is a -2 bonus off your armor class (Compared to the -1 bonus as listed in the warriors handbook). OPTIONALLY, you can subtract 2 from your weapon's speed instead. IF DONE, it applies to that specific weapon only. Each character, who takes “single handed style spec, Must make this selection, once picked, and it lasts till they spend a further slot, to gain a 2nd level of specialty.
Secondly you always have a 2nd hand open, so you could drink a potion, grab a torch, or the like.. However, if you Punch with that off hand, you then go by ‘two handed fighting’.
Like with weapon and shield style, a Warrior, Rogue or Priest can spend another slot, gaining a 2nd level of specialization. Doing this increases your AC bonus to -3. OR allows you to have an initiative bonus with TWO weapons. Or let’s you enjoy both the normal level -2 ac bonus, and +2 initiative bonus with one weapon. EACH player may select which of the three options he goes with, when he gains this 2nd level of specialty.
And lastly, Two weapon fighting (known as dual wielding). Rogues can pick it up, so can clerics. Mages, cannot. Psionicists can, but must be taught it.
Two weapon fighting style
This last style, is often associated with fencers as well, where someone uses a small one handed weapon in the off hand, and his standard one handed weapon in his other.. Often long swords and short swords, or long swords and daggers.. Regardless of which used, the OFF hand weapon MUST BE smaller than the on hand, however, certain weapons can always be dual wielded; Daggers, Hand axes, Jo sticks, Nunchaku and Sai/Jitte (the latter 3 are from Oriental Adventures). As was mentioned above in the weapon/shield style, Normally when using 2 weapons together imposes a -2/-4 penalty to hit, offset by high dexterity. This is what is assumed to be in play for warriors/mages and thieves, who have the base proficiency level in this style. PRIEST'S can learn it for a slot, till then they increase the penalty to -3/-5.
Spending 1 slot as always, to become specialist, grants a few benefits.
I) you reduce the penalties to -1/-3 with your on/off hand, so being both ambidextrous as well as having two weapon style, nets you -1/-1 Penalties with either hand (Yippie).. Again this is offset by the dexterity reaction adjustment. Ergo having a 16 or higher dex, means you have no penalties!!!
II) Secondly, when wielding the off-handed weapon, you can opt to forgo it’s attack, and instead perform a Combat parry with it.
NOTE performing a parry with a smaller or larger weapon than the one being parried, has a flat +2/ -2 bonus/penalty PER SIZE DIFFERENCE. So trying to use say a dagger (size S) to parry a two handed sword (Size L) imposes a -4 penalty to the parry attempt, where as if the wielder of that two handed sword tried parrying the dagger, he’d have a +4 bonus to his attempt to do so!. AND you can only parry up or down 2 weapon sizes. So a dagger cannot be used to parry a size G weapon (Standard giant size)..
The downside to two-weapon style specialty, is that you must SPLIT any bonuses you gain from a high strength, for Damage, between the two weapons. The primary weapon gets any +1, the off hand gets any remainder.. So a 16, or 17 strength only gives the +1 with the on hand, never with the off, and an 18 strength (no percentile) Is needed to have a +1 with both weapons..
Spending a 2nd slot on this style, allows one to now wield the same SIZE weapons in both hands, ie two long swords.. Rangers are assumed to automatically have the 1st level of specialization in this, AS LONG AS THEY WEAR only light (leather/studded/padded) armors.. They can still CHOSE to spend a slot on it, so they can use two weapons while in heavier armor.
There are Two other styles, but even WARRIORS MUST learn of them, in game.. And both only have the one level of specialty.
Thrown weapon/missile style specialty;
This style is used by archers, or Peltasts. It emphasizes movement while shooting or hurling things, and can only be used by those using missile or thrown weapons (spears/javelins).. NEVER IN MELEE!
Specialty grants only 2 bonuses. First up is that, you can now move your FULL movement rate and still gain ½ your rate of fire. Normally as per the DMG, you gain only 1 attack a round period if moving more than 10ft a round in combat.. Optionally you can move up to ½ your speed and retain full rate of fire.. Good for archers!
Secondly, you impose a -1 to hit penalty on those firing or hurling things back AT you. However if someone engages you in melee, this bonus is lost, even if others are still firing at you, as you can't move around as much.
THIS specialization has no 2nd level to it..
While Hanging back, Manix see's 2 more ogres approaching from another entrance that the party didn't see.. As he's got several javelins at the ready, he moves to the side at full speed, trying to draw them to him, then hurls one of his javelins. This has the intended result, of drawing these 2 new foes towards him, which he feels with his superior movement, he can play with, till his comrades come to his aid, after downing the other ogres..
Horse archer
Normally, when firing missiles from horse back (or flying mounts), one gains a penalty to hit based on the speed of the beast you are riding.. And your Rate of fire gets halved. Spending a slot on this style to specialize, allows you to remove all penalties when moving up to half speed, OR lowering it to only -2, when moving any other speed, AND you keep your full rate of fire!
Like with hurled/missile style, there is no 2nd level to this...
ALL warriors know the base level in Four of Six the weapon styles, and can gain specialty in all six of them.
Weapon and shields proficiency is known to clerics. Mages and thieves cannot ever gain specialty in it, especially since they cannot normally gain use of shields. Psionicists CAN, but must learn it in game.
Weapon and Shield Fighting style
This style forms the basis for all other fighting styles. A person uses a shield in his off-hand, and a one handed weapon in his on hand. Proficiency in this style, is assumed for priests and warriors, and just lets someone gain proper, full benefits, from wielding a shield. For 99% of folks the shield is in their left hand, weapon in right. Though there are rare folks who due to being lefties (Switch hitters), have their shield in their right hand.
By spending a single slot, a Warrior or Priest, can become Specialized in this style. Once done, they gains 3 benefits. 1) Shield parry’s, also called hard blocks, 2) Shield rushes and 3) Shield punches/bashes. Note, unlike shield parries, doing a shield rush or punch, Does cause the character to lose any AC bonuses he has, from the shield, in the round he makes these attacks. This is why, they must declare during the initiative roll, that they wish to make either of those attacks.
A) Once every round, your character can perform a “Combat Block”, also known as a Shield parry or hard block, on an opponent's attack, however you Must declare the use of this ONLY ONCE the enemy's actually hit, but before damage dice have been rolled. You can also only do it, on attacks coming from the Front or side your shield is on. And if multiple attacks are coming in, you need to specify which attack this is being used to block against, so choose wisely my padawan!
To perform it, you make a standard melee attack with your shield, taking into account your strength, and any magical bonuses the shield may have. Compare it to the AC the enemy hit. If you hit an EQUAL or higher AC value, you block his attack on the shield, and at the END OF THAT round, need to make an “Item saving throw” for the shield, versus normal blows, ONLY IF THE Creature's strength is 16, 17 or 18 (no percent). However, if the blow comes from a creature (or NPC) who has 18% or HIGHER strength, the save for your shield is versus Crushing blow. Thus using this option to protect you vs the attack of a Giant may be good for your hit points, but it may NOT be good for your shield!
During the round in which you perform a shield block, you do NOT LOSE YOUR AC Bonus you gain, from your shield, unlike with a punch or rush. (People without this style specialty, may still do shield blocks, but do lose their AC bonus in the round they perform it)/ Also, during the round you use the benefit of making a shield parry, you cannot perform a shield punch or rush.
B) You may perform a shield rush. This is akin to a Charge attack, so requires at least over 10ft of movement, imposes a -1 to your initiative, and can only be performed Once every 10th round, as with Charging!.. Doing a shield rush, is the only attack you get in that round, but it can knock down your opponent! Similar with the shield parry, it is a standard to hit, including bonuses from Strength, and the magic of the shield. However, it can not be performed with small shields or bucklers, only with medium, large or body shields (the small/buckler shields, simply do not have enough 'frontage' to generate the mass needed to perform this maneuver. If you hit, the damage is d6 (medium), d8 (large) or d10 (body) plus strength, and once hit, the target must make an immediate dexterity check to remain standing. This check is penalized based on the following modifiers;
+3 bonus to his dexterity, if he was moving towards the 'shield rusher' or +1 bonus was NOT moving at all.
-3 penalty to his dexterity, if he was hit from behind/-1 penalty from the flank.
-3 penalty to his dexterity if he was unaware of being rushed into..
So performing a shield rush on someone standing still, from the rear on someone unaware of the attack, makes for a net -5 penalty (+1 standing, -3 rear, -3 surprised).
Falling down forces the opponent to forego any attacks in the following round as he has to get up. Additionally during the round in which you perform a shield rush, you Lose your shield bonus to your armor class, from the time ONLY AFTER you perform the rush, to the start of the next round (determined via your initiative score), unlike for the whole round with shield punching.
C) Once every other round, you may perform a Shield punch. This is a standard Melee attack with the shield, but unlike the 'combat parry', a shield's magical bonuses do NOT COUNT for modifying your thac0. Strength bonuses still add in though. IF you hit, the damage caused is based on the shield type you are using to punch with. Small or Buckler shields, do a flat d3 damage plus strength, Medium shields cause d4 damage, large causes d6, and d8 for body shields. YOU CANNOT perform a shield bash in the same round you perform a shield parry, so you must declare which you will do at the beginning of the round, when you roll initiative.
Using a shield bash in a round you also make a melee attack, incurs the standard Two Weapon fighting penalties, as per the DMG, being a -2 to hit with your primary hand (your melee weapon!) and a -4 to hit with your off hand (your shield). Having a 16 or higher Dexterity, can alleviate some of that penalty, as standard based on your Reaction adjustment, as can having the Ambidexterity NWP, which pushes your off hand penalty to be even with your on hand penalty. NOTE: No matter how high your Dexterity is, your reaction modifier, can ONLY eliminate the penalty from the two handed fighting. It will never become a bonus (so even if you have a 19 dexterity, you only negate the -2 penalty, it doesn't become a +1 bonus). Additionally, during the round you do a shield punch, you lose your AC bonus from the shield for that round.
Target's hit by a shield punch, must make the same sort of Dexterity check, as with the Shield rush, but rather than penalties based on movement, they have a penalty based on damage. Every 2 points of damage dealt, gives a -1 penalty to the Dex check, to avoid being knocked down.
Spending a 2nd slot on specializing in this style, or a 3rd slot for those rare bards/thieves who can use a shield via a kit, allows you to perform the shield rush or shield punch and NOT lose your bonus from the shield off your armor class.
Two handed weapon style is known by warriors and priests, mages CAN select it later on. Psionicists, bards and thieves cannot learn this style.
Two handed weapon fighting style:
Our second style is the Two handed weapon style. This one emphasizes size of weapon, over speed, as practically every two handed weapon from the big lugging pole-arms, to the maul and two handed sword are slowwwww... As with weapon/shield style, by spending a single slot, a Warrior or Priest, can gain specialization in this style. A Mage can also gain proficiency then specialty in this style via spending 2 slots, one to get proficient, and a 2nd to become specialist. Since Thieves can’t use these large weapons, they don’t gain access to this style.
Becoming a specialist grants 4 bonuses;
A), you see an Instant improvement on your speed factor, dropping the Weapon speed of all two handed weapons (including the bastard sword used two handed or the morning star) down by 5. So a speed of 8 (say for a footman's flail) becomes a 3! THIS OVERRIDES the warrior's handbook bonus of -3!!! Like with magic or high dexterity, NO weapon speed can be lowered to less than a 1!
B) , if you wield a 1 handed weapon in two hands; This applies to the following weapons only – Battle axe, Club, Footman's mace, Machete, Spear (regular), Trident, Scythe, long sword, Broad sword, Katana, Scimitar, and Warhammer; You gain a +2 bonus to the damage you deal when you hit. However you do not gain any benefit to its speed or the to hit of the weapon.
C), you may perform a 'combat parry' similar to the weapon and shield style's block, once every OTHER round. Like with the parry given by the shield/weapon style, this is a “Free parry”.
D), you gain a -2 bonus to your strength score in any attempts to disarm you. Additionally you need 2 successful disarm attempts in the same round, to get disarmed!
UNLIKE with weapon and shield style, Two handed weapon style has no 2nd level of specialization.
Single handed style is known by rogues and priests, and mages CAN gain proficiency then specialty in it, later on. So can psionicists.
Single handed weapon style:
Where as both the above styles have you holding something in both hands, whether the same weapon or a shield, this one has you leaving your off hand open, and often put behind you or to the side, for greater balance. It is very much used by fencers, swashbucklers and the like.
Proficiency in this style, is a 'given' for all classes barring mages. Mages who wish to know it, must spend one weapon slot, to become proficient. Fighters, Clerics and Rogues, may spend a slot to become specialists, (Mages must spend two more slots, on top of the initial one to become specialists). Doing so, grants only a few bonuses.
First up comes the AC bonus, due to having improved balance. This is a -2 bonus off your armor class (Compared to the -1 bonus as listed in the warriors handbook). OPTIONALLY, you can subtract 2 from your weapon's speed instead. IF DONE, it applies to that specific weapon only. Each character, who takes “single handed style spec, Must make this selection, once picked, and it lasts till they spend a further slot, to gain a 2nd level of specialty.
Secondly you always have a 2nd hand open, so you could drink a potion, grab a torch, or the like.. However, if you Punch with that off hand, you then go by ‘two handed fighting’.
Like with weapon and shield style, a Warrior, Rogue or Priest can spend another slot, gaining a 2nd level of specialization. Doing this increases your AC bonus to -3. OR allows you to have an initiative bonus with TWO weapons. Or let’s you enjoy both the normal level -2 ac bonus, and +2 initiative bonus with one weapon. EACH player may select which of the three options he goes with, when he gains this 2nd level of specialty.
And lastly, Two weapon fighting (known as dual wielding). Rogues can pick it up, so can clerics. Mages, cannot. Psionicists can, but must be taught it.
Two weapon fighting style
This last style, is often associated with fencers as well, where someone uses a small one handed weapon in the off hand, and his standard one handed weapon in his other.. Often long swords and short swords, or long swords and daggers.. Regardless of which used, the OFF hand weapon MUST BE smaller than the on hand, however, certain weapons can always be dual wielded; Daggers, Hand axes, Jo sticks, Nunchaku and Sai/Jitte (the latter 3 are from Oriental Adventures). As was mentioned above in the weapon/shield style, Normally when using 2 weapons together imposes a -2/-4 penalty to hit, offset by high dexterity. This is what is assumed to be in play for warriors/mages and thieves, who have the base proficiency level in this style. PRIEST'S can learn it for a slot, till then they increase the penalty to -3/-5.
Spending 1 slot as always, to become specialist, grants a few benefits.
I) you reduce the penalties to -1/-3 with your on/off hand, so being both ambidextrous as well as having two weapon style, nets you -1/-1 Penalties with either hand (Yippie).. Again this is offset by the dexterity reaction adjustment. Ergo having a 16 or higher dex, means you have no penalties!!!
II) Secondly, when wielding the off-handed weapon, you can opt to forgo it’s attack, and instead perform a Combat parry with it.
NOTE performing a parry with a smaller or larger weapon than the one being parried, has a flat +2/ -2 bonus/penalty PER SIZE DIFFERENCE. So trying to use say a dagger (size S) to parry a two handed sword (Size L) imposes a -4 penalty to the parry attempt, where as if the wielder of that two handed sword tried parrying the dagger, he’d have a +4 bonus to his attempt to do so!. AND you can only parry up or down 2 weapon sizes. So a dagger cannot be used to parry a size G weapon (Standard giant size)..
The downside to two-weapon style specialty, is that you must SPLIT any bonuses you gain from a high strength, for Damage, between the two weapons. The primary weapon gets any +1, the off hand gets any remainder.. So a 16, or 17 strength only gives the +1 with the on hand, never with the off, and an 18 strength (no percentile) Is needed to have a +1 with both weapons..
Spending a 2nd slot on this style, allows one to now wield the same SIZE weapons in both hands, ie two long swords.. Rangers are assumed to automatically have the 1st level of specialization in this, AS LONG AS THEY WEAR only light (leather/studded/padded) armors.. They can still CHOSE to spend a slot on it, so they can use two weapons while in heavier armor.
There are Two other styles, but even WARRIORS MUST learn of them, in game.. And both only have the one level of specialty.
Thrown weapon/missile style specialty;
This style is used by archers, or Peltasts. It emphasizes movement while shooting or hurling things, and can only be used by those using missile or thrown weapons (spears/javelins).. NEVER IN MELEE!
Specialty grants only 2 bonuses. First up is that, you can now move your FULL movement rate and still gain ½ your rate of fire. Normally as per the DMG, you gain only 1 attack a round period if moving more than 10ft a round in combat.. Optionally you can move up to ½ your speed and retain full rate of fire.. Good for archers!
Secondly, you impose a -1 to hit penalty on those firing or hurling things back AT you. However if someone engages you in melee, this bonus is lost, even if others are still firing at you, as you can't move around as much.
THIS specialization has no 2nd level to it..
While Hanging back, Manix see's 2 more ogres approaching from another entrance that the party didn't see.. As he's got several javelins at the ready, he moves to the side at full speed, trying to draw them to him, then hurls one of his javelins. This has the intended result, of drawing these 2 new foes towards him, which he feels with his superior movement, he can play with, till his comrades come to his aid, after downing the other ogres..
Horse archer
Normally, when firing missiles from horse back (or flying mounts), one gains a penalty to hit based on the speed of the beast you are riding.. And your Rate of fire gets halved. Spending a slot on this style to specialize, allows you to remove all penalties when moving up to half speed, OR lowering it to only -2, when moving any other speed, AND you keep your full rate of fire!
Like with hurled/missile style, there is no 2nd level to this...
Last edited by garhkal on Fri Apr 22, 2022 12:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
It's not who you kill, but how they die!
Re: Kervasis Kalom HOUSE Rules used.
Examples of each in use-
Weapon/shield style=
Weapon/shield style=
Two weapon styleThoric the valiant is leading his band of adventurers against a group of Ogres that has taken over a human mine. As he's third level, he can have both a style specialty AND a weapon specialty, or two style specialties. He selected the latter option, going for both two-handed weapon style, and the weapon/shield style.
After finding the savages, Anges the party scout notices 2 of the Ogres are standing outside on 'guard duty'. Briefing his comrades, Manix the priest, Aroobara the mage, Evadoza the fighter/mage, and Vorash the bard, Toric decides to charge into one of them, while his caster comrade, Manix hits the other in the eyes with a light spell, and Vorash starts singing to inspire him. So for the surprise round (the party achieved surprise), he charges in with a Shield rush. As the Ogre is standing still, and was unaware of the attack, he has a net -2 penalty to his dexterity check, which for this example the DM rolls a 13 for (used 3d6 on the spot). So a roll of 11 or lower on a D20 indicates the Ogre didn't get knocked down. Toric hits him, but fails to cause him to fall over..
Now the surprise round is over, Toric is engaged with melee. However to his horror, the other Ogre Made his saving throw and is now not blinded by the light in his face.. For his first round of melee, he ops to use his shield to combat parry the 2nd ogre's blow, while trusting in his weapon and strength of arms to deal with the first one, hoping to slay him before he gets attacked.. The first ogre however is made of sterner stuff, and survives Toric's blow and counters with his own smash! Now Toric has a choice.. Block the 2nd ogres blow as intended or block the first one's blow.. He ops to keep it as declared, and takes the 13hp damage from the first ogre's blow. OUCH THAT HURT!.. Now we compare results. The 2nd ogre had a modified Thac0 of 14, and rolled a 12 meaning he hit AC 2. Toric's base melee Thac0, due to his being a 3rd level warrior is 18, modified down to a 17 due to his having a 17 strength. So he needs to hit an AC of 2 or better, meaning he needs to roll at least a 15, or higher. Toric lucks out and rolls a 17, blocking the 2nd blow.
Round 2 comes, and Toric thinks “I need to take this first ogre out quickly” so instead of parrying for this round, ops to use his shield-punch. His first blow with his weapon hits, dropping the beast to barely a hand full of hit points left, but alas his shield punch fails to connect. Now Toric is sweating as he just lost 4 points off his armor class, the 1 from his medium shield, and the 3 he gains from having the Shield proficiency. Luck shines on him though, as neither ogre connects.. And he gladly watches as a trio of magic missiles fly in from his 2 casting comrades, finishing off the first ogre.
Single handed styleIn our third round of battle, Toric sees 3 more ogres rushing out due to the sounds of battle. One swiftly smashes into him before he even notices them (his attention was elsewhere). The other 2 miss their surprise round attacks. Worse for Toric, he uses his combat parry to again block the 2nd ogres blow, however this time he rolls a natural 1, and sees his shield shatter under the blow.
Now Toric is shieldless, he switches to using his morning star in both hands. This immediately drops his speed factor down from 7 to 2, and adds +2 to his damage.
His blow strikes hard and true, and luckily for him, this 2nd ogre's health was not as high as the first one.. Now 3 more to deal with.
And lastly, Dual wielding.Anges, Toric's thiefly comrade (scout), rushes in to his aid with his long sword at the ready. Deftly moving in and out, he is a hard target to strike due to his lower AC.. In the 5th round of combat, he scores a nasty cut into the 3rd ogre's flank, while Toric's morning star bashes in his skull.. 3 down, 2 more to go!
Evadoza, Toric's warrior/mage ally, now joins in the melee, seeing that his spells wouldn't work here.. He pulls out his trusty broad sword in his primary hand, and his dagger in his off hand. As he has the first level of specialization, and is ambidextrous, with a 16 dexterity he has no penalties to hit, while dual wielding.. He keeps his off hand weapons' attack though, to try and parry the blow of any ogre swinging his way, but has a -4 penalty to any such parry, due to the size difference..
It's not who you kill, but how they die!