Collected articles not specific to any campaign.
The following house rules are (mostly) standard for my D&D games, although some of the more unusual may be marked as optional even in my stuff. Get me to list the variants I'm using before a game begins.
Small variations (or those that didn't need much explaining) are in the first section; others get pages to themselves. If I'm running something that isn't online, you can either expect me to bring (or otherwise make available) a print-friendly copy, or I might just remember the changes and not bother letting anyone else look at them.
When checking prerequisites for feats and other purposes (especially epic ones), inherent and racial ability score bonuses count towards the ability score. No other kind (apart from the actual increase gained by advancement and the appropriate epic feats) does.
A human or half-elf may nominate as favoured class at each level the class most beneficial. This will usually be the highest or the lowest. He does not automatically have to choose the highest (as the normal rules state). For example, a human fighter 6/wizard 5/rogue 1 may name rogue as favoured, rather than fighter, since this will save him an experience penalty.
Characters with natural weapons are assumed to have the correct proficiency when it is required as a prerequisite to feats or prestige classes. Some weapons may be similar enough to benefit from these feats. For example, claw-style weapons will be included provided they do less damage than a martial weapon that the character can wield in one hand; a medium-sized character could wear claws doing d6 damage over the top of his own (which probably only do d4 or d6 anyway). Any more than this and the weapon is exotic, and requires separate proficiency.
The rules for epic characters (which have now made it into the SRD, to an extent) say that the first twenty levels (or HD) contribute to the character's base attack bonus and saves, and then the epic progression takes over. However, this means that a fighter 20/wizard 20 gains a full attack bonus then goes on to learn a full complement of spells, but a wizard 20/fighter 20 learns only feats from his fighter levels and does not improve his combat, being forever stuck with minimum attack bonus. Although the FAQ to the ELH specifically confirms this, I do not think players should be penalised for the order in which they took their classes (except for the differences at first level, which are not affected by this house rule).
My rule is then that the best twenty levels count toward base attack bonus. Figure this as follows:
Count the number of levels you have in a class that gives the good attack bonus progression (or HD of dragon, magical beast, monstrous humanoid or outsider). If you have twenty or more, then your base attack bonus is +20, and you've finished.
If you don't, take the number of levels in classes with the middle (cleric) progression (or HD of anything else but fey and undead). Only add enough cleric-equivalent levels/HD to make your total 20; discard any extra. Now add ¾ of your cleric-equivalent levels/HD to your fighter ones to get your total base attack bonus.
If you still haven't accounted for 20 levels/HD, throw in enough class levels with the worst (wizard) base attack progression (or your undead or fey HD) to make 20. Add half these to your total.
After you have the total, derive extra attacks from it as normal, at a rate of one per -5.
In each case, round normally as you divide things. This may not get exactly the same numbers as you were expecting, but everyone in my campaign is using it, so it is fair. If by carefully juggling your classes you managed to get a better base attack out of your first twenty levels than you would with this system, take it; you still won't be any better than a 20th level fighter.
Example: Möbius is a fighter 9/monk 8/sorcerer 8. He has 9 levels with the best progression, so he makes a note of 9 levels spent and attack bonus +9. Then he has eight levels of the middle progression, which can all count since he has 11 levels left to account for. He marks off 17 levels and base attack of +15 (9 + ¾ of 8 = 9 + 6 = 15). Then he takes three of his sorcerer levels to make up 20; adding their base attack of half a point/level he gets 1 point of base attack, for a total of +16, which expands to +16/+11/+6/+1 as normal.
As for saves, I have not yet decided how they should work. You may be stuck with your first twenty levels of saves, or more likely you can choose the best twenty of your levels. Players who take dozens of classes to get the extra +2 from the first level of the high progression will be penalised by being made to stack the levels rather than the bonuses. In any case, you must use whole class levels rather than individual saves; under no circumstances will a fighter/wizard be allowed to take the good Fortitude from his fighter levels and the good Will from his wizard levels, rather he could have the good Fortitude on half his levels and good Will on the other half.
For most humanoids, monstrous humanoids and other mortal races the rule of adding hit dice to class level and level adjustment works quite well. However, it is a clear disadvantage for characters who are lumbered with a dozen humanoid hit dice when they could be gaining class abilities, extra skill points or extra hit points.
For PCs and important NPCs I will consider, on a case-by-case basis, allowing a player to reduce the number of racial hit dice he must take and increase his class levels to keep the same ECL. This represents training from an earlier age (most likely to happen when you are only ditching one or two HD after the first), or an outsider being created for a specific purpose and and being more specialised from the outset.
This is most likely for races with very high level adjustments, because in no case should a PC's CR exceed his ECL. Some special attacks and qualities (especially spellcasting ability and other things that are much like class features) might be removed if the character is gaining too much power.
Incidentally, for those who are wondering what difference it makes, let's assume that the table in the improving monsters section of the v3.5 SRD holds for removing HD as well as adding them (which I realise it probably doesn't, but bear with me). Then each outsider or dragon HD turned into a (useful) class level increases CR by ½, each HD of animal, magical beast or monstrous humanoid turned into a class level increases it by two-thirds, and each HD of anything else increases it by ¾. If you are changing it to a class not considered useful for that type of creature (a 'non-associated' class), things are a little different; go and check out the SRD (sorry, but I don't even know which book that stuff is in if you have the new core books; probably Core Book II).
Of course, since monster HD are considered equivalent to class levels for the purposes of ECL, the ECL does not change if you swap class levels in like this. Although I accept that some races should retain at least some racial hit dice (especially if their level adjustment depends on their special abilities being commensurate with their CR), I don't think players should be penalised (too much) for playing non-humans, and making them lug dozens of giant HD around when the rest of the party are depending on their epic feats and fantastic spells is just mean.
Example: Most celestials can cast spells as clerics. If a player wants a celestial cleric and is worried about his turning being poor, I will probably let him treat the character as a cleric, exchanging enough of his HD for cleric levels to make the spellcasting a class feature rather than a racial ability.
Example: The Gloom (from ELH) seems to be a member of a relatively insignificant race whose main interesting feature is the fact that the typical member has the special abilities of a 25th level rogue. I would be inclined to assume that they weren't 25HD monstrous humanoids, but rather 1HD monstrous humanoids who typically have 25 levels of rogue (thereby ignoring the racial HD). This reduces their hit points, increases their skill points, and makes them fit in better with the style of my epic games (which focuses on adversaries with classes rather than ludicrous monsters), as well as allowing players to multiclass them rather than being restricted to rogue until 25th level. They have a couple of racial traits and spell-like abilities that are probably dormant in lower-level characters, but besides that are a reasonable race.
More a statement of campaign style than of rules, players (especially those of outsider PCs) should be warned that outsiders in my campaigns are subtlely different to those found elsewhere.
Many outsiders are former mortals (not only those that have ascended through a character class; the Book of Exalted Deeds suggests that heaven was empty until the first petitioners arrived, and it is well known that evil petitioners can eventually become fiends), and many more spend a lot of time with them. Even those who are spawned from some concept or alignment become tainted by contact with the flock, since [demi]humanity and its complexities are infectious to someone whose life is so simple.
Because of this, most outsiders (certainly all of those that can be easily met or contacted by mortals) should have at least some human-like qualities, and most will have a full range of mortal foibles. They are just as prone as mortals to like particular things, fall in love, give in to hatred or lust, or any number of other things.
Obviously some outsiders are more likely to succumb to this than others. Most at risk are those who used to be petitioners, and those who were created in a mortal image or in the image of the same entity the mortals were modelled on. Those who have a lot of contact with mortals, especially those who must walk among them in disguise, are particularly prone to becoming like them, as are those that rely on mortal worship (i.e. deities).
On top of this, there is the issue of gender. After being around humans for a while, most outsiders tend to associate themselves with a human gender, considering themselves male or female. Those capable of changing their shape will often take on the physical characteristics of their sex, wearing human-like clothes for modesty (or not, as the case my be). This is especially important to those who masquerade as human. What sex the outsider takes on depends on their personality and personal style, as well as the experiences they have had (one who falls in love with the first mortal they see is likely to make themselves opposite to that person). The exception of course are those that already have some element of gender; mariliths, succubi and erinyes are unlikely to consider themselves male, although it has happened in the past.
Elementals could be affected, but this is unlikely; the elements are inherently more inhuman than the alignments.
You have been warned.
A polymorphed or shapechanged character does not take on average physical ability scores for the race he is morphed into, as polymorph other describes. Instead, he replaces the physical ability modifiers of his own race with those of the new one; inherent, experience and other modifiers still apply, as do his actual ability scores. Any items that can be used by the new form adapt themselves accordingly; weapons will stay at their normal size or change through as many categories as their owner, at the player's choice. Wild magic items work as normal.
Example: Pilios, the insectile human sorcerer, has two pairs of bracers (one for each pair of arms; he has the Extra Item Space feat from Savage Species), and has racial modifiers of +4 Dex, +2 Wis. When he needs to enter towns he uses polymorph self to turn himself into a regular human (sick of people seeing through alter self). Shedding the two extra arms, his first pair of bracers are on his human arms, and work as normal, but the other pair are missing and nonfunctional, to return when he gets his other arms back. His Dexterity is down 4 points (since he is using the human modifier, +0, rather than his own +4), but his Wisdom, not being a physical ability, is unaffected.
Those of you familiar with the d20 Star Wars, Stargate, Spycraft, Farscape or any of a number of others (including Unearthed Arcana for D&D), this system should be old news. However, the version I like to use is a little different to the UA version and most of the others (since the others don't have undead, for a start), so it is still worth reading through this document.
Lots of reasons.
Description: The idea of hit points as pure attrition in the face of physical damage is absurd, and the homogenous nature of hit points as they stand does much to encourage this. That a 10th level fighter is literally 10 times [actually more] as hardy as a 1st level one, when both are the same race, is crazy. Vitality (a proper description follows) is a far better mechanic for supporting a convincing and heroic-feeling description of the d20 injury system.
Danger: Tension in combat generally arrives quite late, as hit points run low, or when the Ref has hideously stacked the fight and there are one-hit-killers around. When each hit has an element of danger, players are encouraged to fight smarter and the whole game gets more interesting.
Recovery: Vitality recovers much quicker than hit points, allowing for the party to be back on its feet sooner, and reducing the awful dragging feeling you get when you've started the sixth encounter in a row on half health, because the party is out of healing.
Pacing: This variant makes creatures last longer when they would normally be routinely killed in one hit, but it makes tough enemies (and characters) easier to kill. For PCs I counterbalance this by increasing the amount of time available for a healer to get to a dying comrade, meaning that combat death will be very unlikely unless you manage to get knocked down surrounded by enemies, or a very long way from the party.
The basics of the system follow. These will be fleshed out later, when I get some time to sit down with the book, and may be formalised in a decent article on my web site. Although I currently can't quote specific differences (healing spells being the only one I can think of), this system may not be exactly the same as the UA version.
Vitality points are much like hit points as many people describe them. They represent that heroic knack that characters in fantasy fiction tend to have for avoiding serious injury, by exerting themselves to turn square hits into glancing blows (sometimes avoiding them altogether) and the like.
Wound points are your core physical well-being. Once you begin to lose wounds you are in a sorry state; the pain of any real injury distracts from virtually everything you do, while some injuries will impair your movement, coordination or senses.
Each character gains a die of vitality for each level, and adds their Constitution modifier: your vitality in the new system is equal to your previous hit point total. You have a number of wound points equal to your consitution (including enhancement bonuses and so on).
Incorporeal undead use vitality in much the same way as living physical beings, while corporeal undead have vitality representing the unnatural physical toughness of their mortal forms. In both cases wounds represent the strength of the creature's grip on the negative energy that sustains it, and is derived from Charisma rather than Constitution. Subject to this difference wounds and vitality work for undead in exactly the same way as for the living: undead are no longer immune to critical hits, and do not instantly depart when they reach 0 hit points (or wounds, in the new system).
Note that some Challenge Ratings may be changed to account for undead losing immunity to critical hits.
For the most part, vitality is interchangeable with hit points, with wound points comprising an additional pool to be removed when all vitality is lost. However, here is the crucial combat difference:
Rather than causing additional damage, a critical hit causes wound damage instead of vitality damage.
Weapons with a critical multiplier of 'x2' will retain their normal statistics (although the 'x2' is now irrelevant). For each +100% of damage beyond 'x2', the weapon's critical range increases by one. For example, most axes (20/x3) are now '19-20', a scythe (20/x4) is now '18-20' and so on. The Improved Critical feat and the keen magical effect now grant a one-point increase in the critical range: they do not grant +100% as before. Any other feature or effect that improves criticals by an additional multiplier of range or magnitude will similarly grant a one-point bonus, subject to a case-by-case GM tweak.
Spells that require attack rolls have a critical range of '20' by default. Other spells will continue to do vitality damage, although a critical failure on a save may invite wound damage.
Vitality recovers at a rate of one point per hit die, per hour of rest. I will probably award half that for an hour of light activity, but any hour that includes combat grants no respite. Wounds recover at one point per hit die per night of rest, or twice that for full days of rest (it is to this rate that the long-term care use of the heal skill applies).
The cure spells (and those like them) can now work in three ways: all vitality, wounds first, or half and half, to be chosen at the time of preparation unless you can cast spontaneously. Heal will work on a 'wounds first' basis, with excess points restored to vitality. The same principles apply to casting inflict spells to heal an undead creature.
When used to inflict damage, cure and inflict always affect vitality first.
A character with no vitality starts to lose wounds when injured (starting with the rest of the attack that took his last point of vitality, unless it had no excess damage). A character who takes any wound damage becomes Fatigued (cannot run, -2 Strength and Dexterity).
A character with no wounds remaining is unconscious, and will die at the end of ten rounds (count starting at the end of the current round). No more regular damage is counted; it's a ten-round timer unless somebody gets a coup de grace in before then. An appropriate heal check or any magical healing (even if it only restores vitality) will stabilise the character on 0 wounds, or the wounds restored by the magic, as appropriate. Note that this applies to undead characters (except that heal checks can't stabilise them), and if I can be bothered to do the book-keeping it may also be used for NPCs and creatures, if there is someone around who might be prepared to save them.
The death from massive damage rule is not in effect.
Abilities that allow incapacitated characters to fight on need reassessing, but I haven't yet done that.
New kinds of Dragon for D&D v3.
The Platinum dragon is the rarest of Metallic dragons. So rare in fact, that some DMs may feel that Bahamut, god of good dragons, should be the only one (in which case, check out the Manual of the Planes or Deities and Demigods, depending on how powerful you want him).
With the arrival of the Epic Level Handbook comes a need for unreasonably powerful foes and allies. It is quite likely that platinum dragons are a sufficiently high cut above even gold and red dragons. Because different campaigns will have different needs, I have thrown together two different versions of the platinum dragon. If you use the stronger stats, you will need to beef up Bahamut, otherwise a typical member of his race would wipe the floor with him...
Dragon
Climate/Terrain: Any
Organisation: Wyrmling to young adult: solitary or clutch (2-5); adult or
older: solitary, pair or family (1-2 with 2-5 offspring).
Challenge Rating:
Treasure: Double standard.
Alignment: Always lawful good.
Advancement: See Dragon, Advanced in the ELH.
Platinum dragons are huge creatures, proportioned much like gold dragons, although often at least as large (particularly if the epic version is used), with a majesty that would put even the most regal of silvers to shame. They are like the end of a line of development that went through all of the other metallic dragons, or perhaps the beginning. As wilful supporters of good and law as the most noble of silvers and golds, platinum dragons tend not to concern themselves with the lives of humans and demihumans, instead saving themselves for tasks that concern entire races, or even planes.
Out of the egg, platinum dragons are virtually white, with tiny shards that reflect white or blue. As the dragon ages, these fragments expand, joining up to cover the dragon's body in a blue/white sheen that by the adult stage has coalesced into one colour.
Platinum dragons tend to make a lair as far away from other creatures as possible, on a plane of their own if they can manage it. They like to eat enchanted objects, although they will subsist on whatever else they can find when there is no supply of them. As with gold dragons and gems, a platinum dragon always appreciates gifts of choice magic items, although it will often be suspicious of the motivation behind such gifts.
Platinum dragons do not like to fight. They know well enough that most enemies are well below them, and usually look for the quick way to end a fight, either by scaring off the enemy, or destroying it. In any case, platinum dragons, like most others, are highly intelligent and powerful sorcerers, and like to fight on their own terms, warding areas with alarm spells and the like to give them time to use spells like improved invisibility, stoneskin, spell turning, and so on.
Breath Weapon: A platinum dragon has three breath weapons available. A cone of cold works as any other breath weapon. A cone of gas stuns opponents and forces them into a gaseous form for a number of rounds equal to twice the dragon's effective sorcerer level, negated by a Fortitude save. A beam of blue light causes a disintegration effect, which instead causes d10 damage per age category even if a Fortitude save is passed. Unlike a disintegration spell, it affects all of the matter in its path, out to the end of the effect.
Spells: A platinum dragon can cast sorcerer spells at the level indicated for his category. He can also use these slots for spells from the cleric list, or the air, protection and good domains.
Spell-like Abilities: At will: polymorph self; 3/day - control weather, control winds, detect thoughts, fog cloud, polymorph self; 1/day - quest, sunburst and foresight.
Water Breathing: A platinum dragon can breathe water as if it was air. In addition, the dragon may still use its breath weapon and other abilities underwater.
Skills: A platinum dragon has one rank in the Jump skill free for each of its hit dice. Don't ask me why; they can fly...
Reading the Table: Because I am presenting two related profiles, I have put them both on the same table, separating them with a semicolon (;). Dragons have d12 for hit die, so I have saved a little space on the table by omitting the die type. Read 10+23 as 10d12+23.
Virtual age categories are introduced in the Epic Level Handbook (and repeated in the Draconomicon for non-epic dragons), as a mechanic for allowing dragons to advance more than just their hit die. If you cannot work out what to do with the information, consult the ELH or the Draconomicon. Likewise, the Colossal+ size category is used by advanced and epic dragons in the ELH, for the breath weapons and reaches of extremely large dragons.
The ground speed of a prismatic dragon is 60', regardless of age. Similarly, the platinum dragon always has a swim speed of 60'. Only the fly speed is shown on the table.
| Age | Size | Hit Dice (hp) | AC | Attack Bonus | F | R | W | Breath Weapon (DC) | Fear DC | SR | DR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wyrmling | M; L | 10+40(110); 15+60(165) | 19 (+9 natural); 23 (-1 size, +14 natural) | +20; +24 | 2d12; 5d10 | ||||||
| Very Young | L; H | 13+65(176); 20+100(240) | 21 (-1 size, +12 natural); 27 (-2 size, +19 natural) | 4d12; 10d10 | |||||||
| Young | L; H | 16+80(192); 25+150(325) | 24 (-1 size, +15 natural); 32 (-2 size, +24 natural) | 6d12; 15d10 | |||||||
| Juvenile | L; H | 19+114(247); 30+210(420) | 27 (-1 size, +18 natural); 37 (-2 size, +29 natural) | 8d12; 20d10 | |||||||
| Young Adult | H; G | 22+154(308); 35+280(525) | 29 (-2 size, +21 natural); 40 (-4 size, +34 natural) | 10d12; 25d10 | |||||||
| Adult | H; G | 25+175(350); 40+360(640) | 32 (-2 size, +24 natural); 45 (-4 size, +39 natural) | 12d12; 30d10 | |||||||
| Mature Adult | H; G | 28+224(420); 45+450(765) | 35 (-2 size, +27 natural); 50 (-4 size, +44 natural) | 14d12; 35d10 | |||||||
| Old | G; C | 31+279(496); 50+550(900) | 36 (-4 size, +30 natural); 51 (-8 size, +49 natural) | 16d12; 40d10 | |||||||
| Very Old | G; C | 34+340(578); 55+660(1045) | 39 (-4 size, +33 natural); 56 (-8 size, +54 natural) | 18d12; 45d10 | |||||||
| Ancient | G; C | 37+407(666); 60+780(1200) | 42 (-4 size, +36 natural); 61 (-8 size, +59 natural) | 20d12; 50d10 | |||||||
| Wyrm | C; C+ | 40+480(760); 65+910(1365) | 41 (-8 size, +39 natural); 66 (-8 size, +64 natural) | 22d12; 55d10 | |||||||
| Great Wyrm | C; C+ | 43+559(860); 70+1050(1540) | 44 (-8 size, +42 natural); 72 (-8 size, +69 natural) | 24d12; 60d10 | |||||||
| per +1 virtual category | C or C+; C+ | 3 extra HD; 5 extra HD | +3 natural; +5 natural | +2d12; +5d10 |
| Age | Speed | Str | Dex | Con | Int | Wis | Cha | Special Abilities | Caster Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wyrmling | fly 200' (poor); fly 250' (poor) | 20; 26 | 10; 10 | 18; 18 | 16; 20 | 17; 20 | 16; 21 | - | |
| Very Young | fly 200' (poor); fly 250' (poor) | 24; 30 | 10; 10 | 20; 20 | 18; 22 | 19; 23 | 18; 23 | 1 | |
| Young | fly 200' (poor); fly 250' (poor) | 28; 34 | 10; 10 | 20; 22 | 19; 26 | 19; 27 | 20; 28 | 3 | |
| Juvenile | fly 200' (poor); fly 250' (poor) | 32; 38 | 10; 10 | 22; 24 | 20; 30 | 20; 30 | 21; 31 | 5 | |
| Young Adult | fly 200' (poor); fly 300' (clumsy) | 34; 42 | 10; 10 | 24; 26 | 21; 36 | 21; 36 | 21; 37 | 7 | |
| Adult | fly 200' (poor); fly 300' (clumsy) | 36; 46 | 10; 10 | 24; 28 | 21; 38 | 21; 40 | 22; 40 | 9 | |
| Mature Adult | fly 200' (poor); fly 300' (clumsy) | 38; 50 | 10; 10 | 26; 30 | 22; 43 | 22; 43 | 22; 44 | 11 | |
| Old | fly 250' (clumsy); fly 300' (clumsy) | 40; 54 | 10; 10 | 28; 32 | 25; 47 | 25; 48 | 26; 49 | 13 | |
| Very Old | fly 250' (clumsy); fly 300' (clumsy) | 42; 58 | 10; 10 | 30; 34 | 27; 51 | 28; 51 | 28; 52 | 15 | |
| Ancient | fly 250' (clumsy); fly 300' (clumsy) | 44; 62 | 10; 10 | 32; 36 | 29; 55 | 30; 56 | 30; 56 | 17 | |
| Wyrm | fly 250' (clumsy); fly 300' (clumsy) | 46; 66 | 10; 10 | 34; 38 | 32; 58 | 33; 59 | 33; 60 | 19 | |
| Great Wyrm | fly 250' (clumsy); fly 300' (clumsy) | 48; 70 | 10; 10 | 36; 40 | 34; 61 | 35; 61 | 35; 62 | 21 | |
| per +1 virtual category | No change | +2; +4 | - | +2; +2 | +1; +2 | +1; +2 | +1; +2 | +2 |
The race of vile dragons are unusual among epic dragons, in that they do not share the range of outlooks that are the mark of force dragons and prismatic dragons. Instead, they have come to represent the extreme of the chromatic dragons; evil in scaled form.
Dragon (Fire, Shadow)
Climate/Terrain: Any
Organisation: Wyrmling to young adult: solitary or clutch (2-5); adult or
older: solitary, pair or family (1-2 with 2-5 offspring).
Challenge Rating: Unknown (I will make a guess later). Probably slightly
less than a Force dragon of equivalent age.
Treasure: Double standard.
Alignment: Always evil.
Advancement: See ELH
Vile dragons are wiry and gaunt creatures, looking deceptively small most of the time. When they bother to flaunt it, their form is as glorious as any metallic dragon, but their links with the plane of shadow lend them the temperament and the ability to hide this. An ancient embodiment of evil, they are rumoured to be the result of a magical experiment to merge red and shadow dragons; it is perhaps more likely that these dragons, perhaps along with the other chromatic lines, are imperfect descendents of the original vile dragons. In any case, most vile dragons hate the world at large, and love to make other lives miserable.
A vile dragon's connection with the stuff of shadows is undeniable, and it carries over into its appearance, and in many cases its demeanour. Out of the shadows, a vile dragon will appear black, with fiery red streaks that fade to a glow more like magma as they age.
Vile dragons lair anywhere that has a large supply of intelligent life to abuse. They will often be found in the middle of cities, influencing otherwise democratic systems to bring ruin to the populace. As with all dragons, they can eat almost anything, but prefer to feed on the flesh of intelligent creatures, preferably with the victim lucid enough to understand his fate.
Vile dragons do not like to take risks. With the accomplishment they have as sorcerers, this would normally keep them out of combat completely, but they also love to cause pain, from as close as they can get. For this reason, they will often be found in close combat, after having tooled up with appropriate spells and spell-like abilities.
Vile Damage (Ex): The vile dragon's link with the powers of evil allows it to cause wounds that fester and refuse to heal. The first point of damage from every dice of damage from the dragon's attacks, including physical attacks and its breath weapon, is vile damage. Fixed damage, particularly Strength modifiers, are not affected. If the BoVD is not available, ignore this ability.
Breath Weapon (Su): A vile dragon has two breath weapons available. Firstly it can breathe a cone of fire similar to that of a red dragon (with the first point of damage from each die being vile, as above). Secondly, it can exhale a cone of shadowy gas infused with negative energy, that causes an energy drain. One negative level is inflicted for each age category of the dragon, with a a Reflex save for half. The Fortitude save to prevent the drain becoming permanent is against the same DC.
Spells: A vile dragon can cast sorcerer spells at the level indicated for his category. He can also use these slots for spells from the cleric list, or the darkness (BoVD), destruction, evil or fire domains.
Shadow Blend (Su): In lighting conditions short of full daylight, a vile dragon can disappear into the shadows, and gain nine-tenths concealment. Only full daylight or a daylight spell can negate this.
Create Shadows (Su): A number of times each day, a sufficiently old vile dragon can create and animate a whirling mass of shadows about itself with a radius of 300 feet. In this area, no normal or magical light shines, all creatures gain a +4 circumstance bonus to hide checks and can attempt to hide even if observed, and all creatures with ties to the plane of shadow (including the dragon) gain full concealment and are considered invisible (+2 to attack and opponents are denied Dexterity bonuses to AC), even though they can move and fight normally. Young vile dragons can invoke this effect one per day, lasting one hour. At Adult and Very Old this increases by one use per day, and a Great Wyrm can cause or suppress the effect at will.
Other Spell-like Abilities: At will: nondetection; 3/day - dimension door, mirror image, suggestion; 1/day - shadow walk.
Reading the Table: Dragons have d12 for hit die, so I have saved a little space on the table by omitting the die type. Read 10+23 as 10d12+23.
Virtual age categories are introduced in the Epic Level Handbook and the Draconomicon, as a mechanic for allowing dragons to advance more than just their hit die. If you cannot work out what to do with the information, consult one of those books. Likewise, the Colossal+ size category is used by advanced and epic dragons, for the breath weapons and reaches of extremely large dragons.
The ground speed of a vile dragon is 60', regardless of age. Only the flight speed appears in the table.
| Age | Size | Hit Dice (hp) | AC | Attack Bonus | Breath Weapon (DC) | Fear DC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wyrmling | L | 15+60 (165) | 23 (-1 size, +14 natural) | +22 (+15 HD, -1 size, +8 Str) | 5d10 (21) | 22 |
| Very Young | H | 20+100 (240) | 27 (-2 size, +19 natural) | +28 (+20 HD, -2 size, +10 Str) | 10d10 (25) | 26 |
| Young | H | 25+150 (325) | 32 (-2 size, +24 natural) | +35 (+25 HD, -2 size, +12 Str) | 15d10 (28) | 29 |
| Juvenile | H | 30+210 (420) | 37 (-2 size, +29 natural) | +42 (+30 HD, -2 size, +14 Str) | 20d10 (32) | 35 |
| Young Adult | G | 35+280 (525) | 40 (-4 size, +34 natural) | +47 (+35 HD, -4 size, +16 Str) | 25d10 (35) | 40 |
| Adult | G | 40+360 (640) | 45 (-4 size, +39 natural) | +54 (+40 HD, -4 size, +18 Str) | 30d10 (40) | 45 |
| Mature Adult | G | 45+450 (765) | 50 (-4 size, +44 natural) | +61 (+45 HD, -4 size, +20 Str) | 35d10 (42) | 49 |
| Old | C | 50+550 (900) | 51 (-8 size, +49 natural) | +64 (+50 HD, -8 size, +22 Str) | 40d10 (46) | 54 |
| Very Old | C | 55+660 (1045) | 56 (-8 size, +54 natural) | +71 (+55 HD, -8 size, +24 Str) | 45d10 (49) | 58 |
| Ancient | C | 60+780 (1200) | 61 (-8 size, +59 natural) | +78 (+60 HD, -8 size, +26 Str) | 50d10 (53) | 63 |
| Wyrm | C+ | 65+910 (1365) | 66 (-8 size, +64 natural) | +85 (+65 HD, -8 size, +28 Str) | 55d10 (56) | 67 |
| Great Wyrm | C+ | 70+1050 (1540) | 71 (-8 size, +69 natural) | +92 (+70 HD, -8 size, +30 Str) | 60d10 (60) | 71 |
| per +1 virtual category | C+ | 5 extra HD | +5 natural | +7 (+5 HD, +2 Str) | +5d10 (Fort +8) | * |
| Age | Flight | Str | Dex | Con | Int | Wis | Cha | Special Abilities | Caster Level | F | R | W | SR | DR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wyrmling | 200' (average) | 26 | 10 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 21 | - | +13 | +9 | +14 | 20 | 15/ +1 | |
| Very Young | 250' (poor) | 30 | 10 | 20 | 22 | 23 | 23 | Nondetection | 1 | +17 | +12 | +18 | 23 | 20/ +2 |
| Young | 250' (poor) | 34 | 10 | 22 | 26 | 27 | 28 | Create Shadows 1/day | 3 | +20 | +14 | +22 | 26 | 25/ +3 |
| Juvenile | 250' (poor) | 38 | 10 | 24 | 30 | 30 | 31 | Mirror Image | 5 | +24 | +17 | +27 | 29 | 30/ +4 |
| Young Adult | 300' (clumsy) | 42 | 10 | 26 | 36 | 36 | 37 | 7 | +27 | +19 | +32 | 32 | 35/ +5 | |
| Adult | 300' (clumsy) | 46 | 10 | 28 | 38 | 40 | 40 | Create Shadows 2/day | 9 | +32 | +22 | +37 | 35 | 40/ +6 |
| Mature Adult | 300' (clumsy) | 50 | 10 | 30 | 43 | 43 | 44 | Suggestion | 11 | +34 | +24 | +39 | 38 | 45/ +7 |
| Old | 300' (clumsy) | 54 | 10 | 32 | 47 | 48 | 49 | Dimension Door | 13 | +38 | +27 | +46 | 41 | 50/ +8 |
| Very Old | 300' (clumsy) | 58 | 10 | 34 | 51 | 51 | 52 | Create Shadows 3/day | 15 | +41 | +29 | +49 | 44 | 55/ +9 |
| Ancient | 300' (clumsy) | 62 | 10 | 36 | 55 | 56 | 56 | Shadow Walk | 17 | +45 | +32 | +55 | 47 | 60/ +10 |
| Wyrm | 300' (clumsy) | 66 | 10 | 38 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 19 | +48 | +34 | +58 | 50 | 65/ +11 | |
| Great Wyrm | 350' (clumsy) | 70 | 10 | 40 | 61 | 61 | 62 | Create Shadows at will | 21 | +52 | +37 | +62 | 53 | 70/ +12 |
| per +1 virtual | no change | +4 | - | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | no additional | +2 | * | * | * | +3 | +5/ +1 |
Savage Species lists the ECL modifier for the half dragon template as +2, plus some modifier dependent on the colour of the dragon parent. That the modifier in question is +1 for all core dragon types is of no consequence; the fact remains that the half dragon can be made more powerful by varying the dragon type. To that end, here is a variant template for some epic dragons: the Force and Prismatic dragons (from ELH) and my own Vile dragon.
This article refers to the MM (particularly the regular half-dragon template), and readers may also find Savage Species useful.
As much as normal dragons, or more so, epic dragons are magical creatures, capable of cross-breeding with virtually any creature. Most breeds are less likely to do so, although accidents have been known to happen even to shapechanged prismatic dragons, and vile dragons are happy to indulge in any activity that will hurt others.
In addition to the usual signs of dragon parentage, scales, claws, and so on, an epic half dragon often crackles with a tangible hint of the power latent in her blood.
As with the normal template, "epic half-dragon" can be applied to any living corporeal creature, (referred to hereafter as the "base creature"). If the base creature is already a true dragon, see the section at the bottom of this page. The creature's type becomes "dragon." It uses all of the base creature's statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
Hit Dice: The hit die of the creature increase by one type, to a maximum of d12. Note that (according to Savage Species) this applies only to racial hit dice, not to class hit dice.
AC: Natural armour increases by +5. Force half-dragons and prismatic half-dragons gain a deflection bonus to AC equal to their Charisma modifier, if positive.
Damage: The creature gains bite and claw attacks, as per a regular half-dragon.
Special Attacks: The creature retains its special attacks and gains a breath weapon, that it can use once each day. The shape and effect of this weapon depends on the breed of the dragon parent, as per Table d3. Victims of a vile half-dragon's breath may attempt a Reflex save for half damage (1 level), then a Fortitude save to resist the drain becoming permanent, as normal. All cones are 30' long.
Special Qualities: The creature retains its special qualities, and gains low-light vision, darkvision (range 60'), immunity to sleep and paralysis, plus the immunity noted on Table d3. Vile dragons also gain three-quarters concealment in any light conditions darker than full daylight or a daylight spell.
| Breed | Breath Weapon | Damage (DC) | Immunity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Force | Cone of force | 9d12 (21) | Force effects |
| Prismatic | Cone of prismatic spray effect | as spell (22) | Light and Blindness effects |
| Vile | Cone of energy drain | 2 levels (20) | Energy drain and fire |
Abilities: Increase from the base creature as follows: Str +8, Dex +0, Con +6, Int +4, Wis +4, Cha +4.
Skills: An epic half-dragon has 6 skill points (plus Intelligence modifier) per hit die, unless she gains skill points from a class.
Feats: The epic half-dragon gains feats normally from his hit dice or his class levels. Half-dragons may select feats that have 'any dragon' as a prerequisite, but not those that require 'true dragon' (unless of course they are a true dragon).
Climate/Terrain: Either the same as the base creature or the parent dragon.
Organisation: Same as the base creature.
Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature +4.
Treasure: Same as the base creature.
Alignment: Same as the dragon variety (assuming you are accepting the similar line in the half-dragon template; in my campaign they both read "Same as the base creature.")
Advancement: Same as the base creature.
Level Modifier: +5. The epic half-dragon has an ECL modifier of +5, broken down into +2 for half-dragon, and +3 for each of the dragon parent breeds listed above. (this number may well change after I think this through some more).
A true dragon given either the half-dragon or epic half-dragon template needs slight adjustment. Although dragon crossbreeds are rare, they are possible, and can be generated with the templates, as with any other offspring of a dragon parent. Because they already have a true dragon's breath weapon, the hybrid does not gain the 1/day use of the watered down version normally gained by dragons; he instead gains the option to use the breath weapon of the parent contributing the template when he might otherwise use his own. For example, a gold dragon with half-silver as a template can breathe a cone of fire or a cone of weakening gas, or use the half-silver's breath weapon of a cone of cold. The cone of cold is as a silver dragon of the appropriate size and age category, rather than that of the template.
However, a gold/silver hybrid would be lucky to have abilities matching a gold dragon, and certainly should not have increased abilities, as applying the half-silver template to a gold dragon would suggest. True dragons receiving the half-dragon template do not get the modifications to ability scores.
A possible exception would be a regular dragon being given an epic half-dragon template, or some other situation in which the lesser of two dragon kinds is used as the base creature. In this case use the abilities of the base dragon plus the modifiers of the template, or the abilities of a dragon of the template's kind, whichever are lower.
The CR of a hybrid dragon is the same as any other creature receiving the half-dragon template, unless its ability scores increase, in which case it is one higher.
In order to make the Drugs rules in the BoVD more vicious, consider the following change to the addiction rules. Currently, a character becomes addicted to a substance if they fail an initial fortitude save, after which addiction is much like a disease; characters take a saving throw each day (with a penalty if too much time has passed since the last dose) or take some ability damage, and after two consecutive successful saves, the character is free of addition.
I recommend the following. After two successful saves, the character has loosened the hold the substance has on him. One week after that, he must once more make a save, or he will suffer the damage. This continues until the character passes two weekly saves in succession. Really mean referees may want to go to months next; the sequence could be extended indefinitely.
Remember that a strong enough addiction should show in the way a character is played, and that ability damage, particularly Wisdom damage, can be roleplayed. Also, even when the physical effects are gone, the character probably still wants another fix.
Strictly v3-compliant (for the time being), this collection of articles for the d20 system provides additional enchantments and other suggestions for creating magical weapons, armour & trinkets.
Here are some new abilities to add to your magic weapons and armour. Note that abilities with bonuses of +6 or greater, or items with total bonuses greater than +10 are considered epic, and will not be available in campaigns that do not use the Epic Level Handbook. See that tome for details on pricing such items.
Some of the abilities below have a market price bonus that is not a whole number. Depending on the style of your campaign (and whether you have someone who can handle a calculator), I recommend that you either round the total of the item's pluses up, or you work out the actual cost, using (1,000gp or 2,000gp)*(plus)2 + (masterwork item).
Ability Enhancement: The enchantment placed on this armour improves one of the wearer’s Ability scores. The name of the enchantment varies, depending on the Ability improved.
| Ability | Example Name |
| Strength | Powered |
| Dexterity | Nimble |
| Constitution | Tough |
Although perhaps possible, enhancements to other abilities are very unusual. The character gains
an enhancement bonus to the appropriate Ability while wearing the armour.
Caster Level: 10th for up to +2, 12th for +3 or +4, 14 for +5, 21st otherwise; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Weapons and
Armour (Craft Epic Arms and Armour for +6 or greater bonuses), any spell to improve the desired Ability; Market Price:
Equal to ability bonus.
Note: If your referee is reading between the lines of the DMG (or is
using the first paragraph of A&AIII) it will
usually be cheaper to add ability bonuses as a second unrelated power. If they
allow it, use that.
Aligned: This weapon is attuned to a particular alignment, and causes
+d6 damage to creatures of that alignment. It also penetrates DR when its
alignment is called for. For example a Good Aligned weapon (sometimes called a lesser
holy weapon) is a good weapon for the purposes of penetrating DR (of fiends
and the like) and does +d6 damage to evil characters and creatures.
Caster Level: 5th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, align
weapon; Market Price: +1 bonus.
Diminution: When the command word is spoken, a weapon or shield with this enchantment shrinks to one tenth of its size. Its weight is unaffected. An improved version also works on armour, and makes the weight of the item negligible while shrunk.
Caster Level: 6th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, Shrink
Item; Market Price: +1 Bonus (+2 for improved version).
Notes: This item appears with thanks to Oliver Smith, who helped design
it.
Elemental Resistance: This armour or shield protects against all elemental damage. It absorbs the first 5 points of damage per round from elemental sources (including Acid and Sound, for these purposes). If multiple damaging elements are present, the item only absorbs 5 points per round in total, not for each element.
Caster Level: 7th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, Resist
Elements; Market Price: +3 Bonus.
Elemental Warding: This armour or shield protects against all
elemental damage. It absorbs the first 25 points of damage each round from
energy sources. If damage is sustained from multiple energy types, the
resistance is for 25 points in total, not per energy type.
Caster Level: 21st; Prerequisites: Craft Epic Magic Arms and Armour
(Craft Magic Arms and Armour), Protection from Elements; Market Price: +8
Bonus.
Fast Healing: This armour - or less frequently weapon or shield - is
enchanted with powerful healing magic to constantly restore the wearer or
wielder. It grants some degree of the Fast Heal special quality, as described in
the Monster Manual.
Caster Level: 12th for up to three points, 21st otherwise; Prerequisites:
Craft Magic Arms and Armour (Craft Epic Magic Arms and Armour for more than 3
points), Regeneration or Heal; Market Price: +3 bonus (1 point),
+5 bonus (3 points), +7 Bonus (6 points), +9 (10 points).
Options: Some DMs may feel that Fast Heal is a powerful ability to let
PCs have, since they can tend to suffer more numerous, lighter hits than a
typical monster. If you would like to keep this ability out of the hands of your
mid- to high-level characters, either remove the two lowest levels, or add three
to all the market prices and remove the top one.
Feat: An item enchanted with a feat allows use of that feat, as if the character has it. An Epic feat may only be added to a weapon that is already an epic magic item (either because it has an ability worth more than a +5 bonus, or is worth more than +10 in total). The market price value of a feat depends on its prerequisites. If the feat has no prerequisites, or the item only grants it to people who already meet the prerequisites, then the ability has a +0.5 market price bonus. To ignore the lack of certain prerequisites, consult the following table:
| Prerequisite | Market Price bonus |
|---|---|
| Per other feat | +0.25 |
| Per point of base attack | +0.1 |
| Per level required to gain required class feature | +0.1 |
| Per 10 ranks of skill required | +0.1 |
| Per 10 ranks of exclusive class skill required | +0.25 |
| Level 21+ (i.e. feat is Epic) | +1* |
| Per ability score at 13+ | +0.25 |
| Per two extra ability points | +0.1 |
Examples (assuming user needs none of prerequisites): Combat Casting: +0.5
bonus (no prerequisites); Weapon Proficiency: +0.6 Exotic,
otherwise +0.5 (Martial has no prerequisite; Exotic requires base attack +1);
Armour Proficiency: Light +0.5, Medium +0.75, Heavy +1 (due to lower feats as
prerequisites); Whirlwind Attack: +2.4 (four prerequisite feats, +4 base attack,
2 abilities at 13+); Devastating Critical: +3.85 (6 prerequisite feats, epic,
Str 25).
Caster Level: 5th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Weapons and Armour (Craft
Epic Magic Weapons and Armour for epic feats), caster must have the feat or
instruction from someone who does; Market Price: variable: see above.
Feat II: This version of the Feat enchantment is offered as an
alternative to the one above. The feat is available to any user, regardless of
their lack of prerequisites. The market price bonus is +0.5 for each four levels
or part thereof that it would take a normal human to achieve the prerequisites.
The user does not gain the abilities of the prerequisite feats, and so this is
enchantment is not appropriate for some feats which are designed to stack with
their prerequisites (such as Greater and Perfect Two-weapon Fighting).
As above, the feat enchantment for an epic feat may only be put on an epic item.
Caster Level: Four levels per +0.5 bonus; Prerequisites: Craft Magic
Weapons and Armour (Craft Epic Magic Weapons and Armour for epic feats), caster
must have the feat, or have instruction from someone who does; Market Price:
+0.5 per four levels (or part) required to qualify for feat.
Keyed: This item, typically a weapon, is dedicated to its owner. The
owner can be specified when the item is created, although the dedication fades
after one month of being left unused by that person. An unclaimed keyed item
will attune itself to a character after it has been used at least once each day
for one week (sparring with a weapon or wearing armour is enough). It cannot be attuned to more than one user; if two or more people
use it once a day for a week, the item becomes keyed to the first person to use
it on the seventh day. Whenever a person not keyed to the item attempts to use
it, they gain two negative levels, that cannot be removed until the item is
relinquished, or until the key wears off.
Caster Level: 7th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, Arcane
Lock; Market Price: +0.5 Bonus.
Limited Spell Resistance: This armour or shield has been enchanted as defence against a specific school of magical effects. It bestows Spell Resistance as per the normal rules, defending against spells and effects from that school only.
Caster Level: 12th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, Spell
Resistance; Market Price: +1 Bonus (SR 15), +2 Bonus (SR17), +3 Bonus (SR19).
Living: This weapon, shield or armour has been imbued with life. Living armour or a Living shield will defend normally against Brilliant Energy weapons, and Living weapons may parry them (and be parried by them) as normal. In addition, Living shields and weapons heal damage they have sustained at the rate of one hit point per point of enhancement bonus (including bonus equivalents from special abilities) per day. If the campaign uses rules for damage to armour, Living armour should heal at a similar rate.
Although Living leather or hide armours tend to be fairly subtle, Living metal armours look very strange indeed.
At the DM's option, living metal armours are not really metal at all, and may be
worn by a druid without penalty.
Caster Level: 10th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Items and Armour; Market Price: +3 Bonus.
Locked: This weapon or shield cannot be removed from the user's grasp
without his or her consent. Disarm attempts targeting this weapon or shield will
fail automatically, without a chance of disarming the attacker. Alternatively,
an armour version prevents items from being disarmed from any gauntlet or glove
that the armour includes (usually two gauntlets are included), but does not
affect spellcasting as a locked gauntlet would. The magic stops functioning when
the bearer dies, and the items can be taken from the body, but it functions
again when taken up by someone else (or when the old owner is brought back...)
Caster Level: 9th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, Arcane
Lock; Market Price: +1 Bonus (weapon or shield), +2 Bonus (armour).
Malleability: Malleable weapons can take on the forms
of various melee/throwing weapons, giving all of the advantages of carrying a small host of
weaponry. It takes a free action to alter the shape and properties of the
weapon, although they can only be changed once each round.
A malleable weapon uses all of the traits - damage, size, critical values, et
cetera - of the weapon it is imitating, including special properties such as the
ability to make trip attacks, extra damage against chargers, and reach. Also,
the malleable weapon counts as whatever shape it currently holds with regards
feats. A non-proficient user suffers appropriate penalties until they return the
weapon to a shape they are proficient with, and feats like Improved Critical and
Weapon Focus will apply only while the weapon is in the shape of the weapon they
bought the feat for.
However, the malleable weapon cannot effectively imitate double weapons; the wielder
may choose the shape of a double weapon, but when he does so he must decide
which attacking surface carries the magical properties the weapon has. The other
end does not gain even a masterwork bonus.
Because a malleable weapon has no default shape, it must be made by enchanting a
form that represents the best type of weapon the item can replicate. These costs
are not tabulated, since they can vary with which weapons are in use in the
campaign setting.
| Name | Market Price | Available weapons | Caster Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lesser Malleability | +1 bonus | Any single size class of simple and martial weapons | 7th |
| Malleability | +2 bonus | Any two adjacent size classes of simple and martial weapons OR a single size class of weapons, regardless of proficiency group | 9th |
| Greater Malleability | +3 bonus | Any simple or martial weapons OR any two adjacent sizes of weapons, regardless of proficiency group | 11th |
| Exotic Malleability | +4 bonus | Any weapon. | 15th |
| Epic Malleability | +6 bonus | As Exotic Malleability, but weapon also grants proficiency for the weapon, regardless of its current shape. | 21st |
Caster Level: As per table; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour (Craft Epic Magic Arms and Armour for Epic version), Polymorph Any Object; Market Price: As per table.
Might: Only a bow may be enchanted with Might, although it need not be
a composite bow. A bow of Might allows any person with a Strength score in the
normal human range to add their Strength bonus to damage, as if the bow was a
mighty composite (+4) bow. In addition, the slight magical assistance removes
any penalty the firer might suffer for having a less than average Strength
score.
At the DM's option, whips and other weapons that can be mighty might be allowed
this enchantment.
This does not stack with any mighty composite bonus that the weapon may have in its
own right.
Caster Level: 6th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour; Market
Price: +0.5 Bonus.
Might, Greater: Only bows may be enchanted with Greater Might,
although they need not be composite. A bow of Greater Might allows anyone to add
their Strength bonus to damage, as if the bow was a mighty composite bow with a
bonus equal to the character's Strength bonus.
At the DM's option, whips and other weapons that can be mighty might be allowed
this enchantment.
Obviously, if the bow is mighty in a mundane way, this enchantment makes that
redundant.
Caster Level: 10th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour; Market
Price: +1 Bonus.
Movement: This armour or shield is easier to move with. For each point of this ability,
the armour gains a +1 haste bonus to its Check Penalty (improving the
penalty by one) and the maximum Dexterity bonus, and has its arcane spell
failure chance reduced by 5%. Its weight is not affected, although for every
three full points of Movement the armour is reduced by one weight
category to a minimum of light (this last part does not stack with the bonus
of Mithral armour, but it is the only part that does not).
Note that this enchantment does not bestow a haste bonus to AC, or any of
the benefits of more traditional uses of haste. The haste
effect has simply been used to bring the armour up to the speed and mobility
that the user has, and to enhance his efforts to stop and turn the moving
armour.
No combination of improvements can give armour a positive Check Penalty (a ‘Check bonus')
or take the spell failure chance
below 0%. All of the movement bonuses on an item count as a single ability for
the purposes of determining whether the item is Epic, i.e. an item with six
points worth of Movement enchantment effectively has a single ability of +6
bonus, and hence is an Epic magic item.
Caster Level: 8th (21st for more than 5 points worth); Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and
Armour (Craft Epic Magic Arms and Armour for 6 points worth or more), Haste; Market Price: +1 Bonus per point of improvement.
Comment: I suggest that although neither of them are named, the
armour check bonus on masterwork armour is a 'masterwork' bonus, due to ease
of movement, and the similar bonus on Mithral is a 'material' bonus, due to
weight reduction. I argue that the difference between this and the weapon
case is that the factors that help weapons (masterwork, material and
enchantment) all affect the same kind of things (like balance, rigidity and keenness of blade, etc.). However, if you want to
use an exact parallel to the weapon case, where masterwork bonuses, material
bonuses and enchantments are all effectively 'enhancement' bonuses, feel
free to do so.
Regeneration: This armour - or occasionally weapon or shield -
provides amazing regenerative capabilities. It grants a certain amount of
Regeneration, as detailed in the Monster Manual. For each such item found, a
weakness should be chosen; this is the type of damage that the Regeneration does
not protect against. Sample weaknesses include: alignment damages (chaotic, holy
and blessed, lawful, unholy), basic damage types (bludgeoning, piercing,
slashing), energy types (acid, cold, electricity, fire, sonic), special
materials (silver, cold-forged iron, adamantium), and so on. The DM should make sure that no
weakness significantly less common than these is allowed.
As with a Ring of Regeneration, the armour will not heal damage taken before it
was put on.
Caster Level: 15th for 1 point, 21st otherwise; Prerequisites: Craft
Magic Arms and Armour (Craft Epic Magic Arms and Armour for more than 1 point), Regeneration;
Market Price: +5 bonus (1 point), +7 bonus (3 points), +9 bonus (6 points).
Options: Some DMs may feel that Regeneration is a very powerful ability
to let non-epic characters get hold of. If you agree with them, I recommend
either adding one to all of the market price bonuses, or ignoring the lowest
incarnation of this ability. If you are increasing the bonus of Fast Heal items
(see above), then you should increase Regeneration items by the same number.
Since epic characters can have Fast Heal by themselves, Regeneration should not
cause a problem. If you feel it might, then perhaps it is best to leave this
ability out of your game entirely.
Special Material: This is a magical and alchemical process that enables a weapon to have the properties of being made of a special material. The options at present are as follows:
Each of these abilities is a +1 bonus, which is far more expensive than
making it out of the material itself (even with adamantine, since the additional
cost of increasing the market price bonus is always at least 6,000gp), but the
advantage is that these abilities stack, making the weapon even more versatile.
Caster Level: ; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, an
appropriate spell (polymorph any item if nothing else); Market Price: +1
each.
Strength: Only bows and crossbows may be enchanted as weapons of
Strength (some campaigns may be using unusual weapons that could also benefit;
check with your DM). A weapon enchanted with Strength bestows a Strength bonus
to the damage of its projectiles. However, in order to fire a bow of Strength,
or reload a crossbow of Strength, a character must have a Strength ability
modifier at least equal to the damage bonus of the Strength enchantment. If a
winch is used to reload a crossbow of Strength, the enchantment will not work
until the weapon is reloaded by personal strength alone, and for this reason
such weapons typically do not have winches.
Note that a bow of Strength is not Mighty unless it is otherwise engineered or
enchanted to provide that ability. The damage bonus will stack if a bow has
both, though.
Caster Level: 12th (21st for +11 damage bonus or greater); Prerequisites:
Craft Magic Arms and Armour (Craft Epic Magic Arms and Armour for +11 damage
bonus or better), Bull's Strength; Market Price: +0.5 per point of bonus.
Unstoppable Deception: A weapon with this power allows sneak attacks
(and other precision-based damage) even against creatures with no discernable
anatomy. The target must still meet all the other conditions of a sneak attack,
and a target normally immune to sneak attacks takes only half of the bonus
damage.
Caster Level: 21st; Prerequisites: Craft Epic Magic Arms and Armour,
Craft Magic Arms and Armour, caster must have sneak attack or a similar class
feature, Cat's Grace; Market Price +6 bonus.
The DMG mentions three ways of reducing the cost of a magic item by restricting its usage. I would be wary of using these, since the chances are that as a referee you will rig the hauls so that the party only gets items some character can use anyway. For example, the Holy Avenger seems to have a bit of a cost break because most of its power is available only to a paladin, but how many campaigns have you seen where such a sword is used by anyone but? In the hands of a paladin, the sword is worth more than its market price.
There are some counterarguments. A paladin's a holy sword is only an advantage for as long as he keeps to his vows and his ethos. It means that the rest of the party cannot get full use out of it; if the paladin falls, the team member who tries to fight on with his Holy Avenger uses it at three points less bonus than the paladin did.
However, a character whose items are even more restricted - will not work at all for people outside of the appropriate group - can use this to his advantage. He can be sure that the rest of the party will not waste the charges on his wand while he sleeps, simply because they are not eunuch gnome invokers with one ear missing and and rat named 'Igor'.
Probably the restrictions should be used as they are in the DMG - those were the ones Wizards playtested, after all - but I suggest that referees watch for potential abuse. If the party's wizard is restricting everything to himself when nobody else in the party would want to use it anyway, then he is actually getting a valuable security measure, and should not be rewarded for it (it might even be worth a rise in market price).
These are the ones given in the DMG, worth 10%, 20% and 30% respectively. I suggest that the 30% cut for a required alignment refers to a specific corner; if you need to, you could split this into 15% per axis restricted. If you really want to allow it, these could be stacked; simply add the percentages before applying the discount. Be careful though; when the mighty vorpal sword +5 turns up at around 20,000gp because it can only be used by Chaotic Neutral fighter/mages, just check that it wasn't forged by a CN f/m after being designed by her player...
I strongly recommend you don't use this one. After all, if it works for only one person, then to have any business being in the campaign that person should be around. You then have a character who can get a perfectly secure item, that works for nobody else. However, if said person is part of a team, and that team could make use of the item at any stage, then the fact that they can't is a disadvantage. Reduce cost by up to 30-40% or thereabouts, if you feel it necessary. Under no circumstances stack this with anything else; this is as tight as restrictions should get (besides, if you enchant it so that only Eric the Blackguard can use it, then save more by allowing only Lawful Good users, then you just achieved the world's most magical paperweight).
The following are bad stuff that you could tack onto things to save money. Strictly speaking such an item is considered cursed, but the difference is that here the curse is considered a worthwhile price. The items may still be given up without any particular hassle, but the disadvantage remains for as long as the character carries the item (whereas the benefit only works while the item is used).
A common effect of enchanting weapons with too primal an energy, applying a
penalty to Intelligence, Wisdom and/or Charisma.
Market Price: -1 bonus per 2 points of penalty.
There now follow guidelines for stealing abilities from existing specific weapons. Since I am probably the only person who comes to this website [.] who has access to the ELHB, I will be sticking to DMG items.
This seems really obvious to me, and presumably to some of you lot, but then every now and again I remember that the proportion of people with three years worth of degree-level maths under their belt is quite small, and that some of you may benefit from being told things I think are obvious (goodness knows that I benefit from explanations of things that people at college think are obvious...).
If you like some of the stuff from one of the specific magic weapons, but would like to add more, or try and take out some that is already there, take a look at this.
Take the price of a weapon, and look up the non-magical version version. I'm using the Assassin's Dagger as an example. Taking the price of the Dagger (10,302gp) as a starting point, we look up the cost of a dagger (2gp), and subtract a masterwork dagger from the overall cost, to get the portion of the cost that is due to the enchantment (10,000gp).
Once we have that, divide by 2000gp (for weapons) or 1000gp (for armour and shields). For the Assassin's Dagger, we have 5. Then square root it, to get the total Market Price Bonus equivalent. The use of the Assassin's Dagger as an example now highlights a little quirk: the specific magic weapons and armour do not necessarily use whole numbers worth of bonuses.
The total bonus for the Dagger is the square root of five, or approximately 2.24. Going back to the description of the item, we see that it has a +2 enhancement bonus, meaning that the rest of the bonus (around a quarter of a point) is for the increase to the save DC for the assassin's death attack.
The market prices of various abilities can be found this way, although weapons with multiple powers may make it difficult to determine the values of individual abilities. For example, the Holy Avenger (120,315gp, plus equivalent of approximately 7.75) has a baseline +2 enhancement bonus, but extra stuff for paladins only (including an extra +3 enhancement, half-strength holy effect, and some anti-magic properties). The extra stuff is worth five and three-quarter points as a bundle, but DMs must make their own rulings as to which bits are worth what.
It is worth noting at this point that the Flame Tongue is overpriced; it costs 32,315gp (equivalent to +4) and has a +1 enhancement bonus and the flaming and flaming burst powers. However, the description of flaming burst says that it includes flaming, so the weapon should only be +3 (+1 enhancement, +2 flaming burst), and cost 18,315gp. Rant over...
Here are the plus equivalences for the DMG specific weapons and armour (except for one-use items and those which are merely special materials, since these are already covered in the DMG). If you need any others and would rather not wade through the instructions above, mail me. Remember that I need the whole description of the weapon.
| Weapon | Plus (2dp) | Weapon | Plus (2dp) | Armour | Plus (2dp) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assassin's Dagger | +2.24 | Oathbow | +3.71 | Banded Mail of Luck | +4.30 |
| Dagger of Venom | +2.12 | Rapier of Puncturing | +5.00 | Breastplate of Command | +4.61 |
| Dwarven Thrower | +5.48 | Sun Blade | +3.54 | Celestial Armour | +5.00 |
| Frost Brand | +4.95 | Sword of Life Stealing | +3.87 | Demon Armour | +6.32 |
| Holy Avenger | +7.75 | Sword of the Planes | +5.10 | Plate Armour of the Deep | +3.87 |
| Life-Drinker | +4.47 | Sword of Subtlety | +2.74 | Rhino Hide | +2.24 |
| Luck Blade | +9.23 | Sylvan Scimitar | +5.27 | ||
| Mace of Smiting | +6.12 | Trident of Fish Command | +1.32 | Shield | Plus (2dp) |
| Mace of Terror | +2.96 | Trident of Warning | +2.18 | Absorbing Shield | +7.07 |
| Nine Lives Stealer | +3.54 | Caster's Shield | +1.73 | ||
| Lion's Shield | +3.00 | ||||
| Spined Shield | +1.58 | ||||
| Winged Shield | +3.87 |
Powers not normally associated with weapons and armour can be added to them easily enough. Following the rules in the DMG (Table 8-40, p242) or Tome and Blood (Table 4-3, p74), perhaps with my suggestions in the Trinkets section, simply treat the weapon/armour enhancement and special abilities as one group of powers (one power, strictly speaking), and the other group(s) as others, doubling the cost of each group of powers not related to the most expensive.
It could be argued that the purpose of a weapon is to attack things, and similarly that armour is for defence, and that the enhancement and ability cost should always be the primary one. I do not agree, but I think it is likely to be a fairly academic argument as most arms and armour, arms in particular, are going to have their offensive/defensive powers get so expensive that they will always be the most expensive group.
A while ago there was an article in Dragon magazine on levelling items. The piece was recommending a heavily structured system of PCs spending experience on their magic items in order to activate their more advanced powers. Although this is a valid approach, I did notice that under the normal equivalence (1xp = 5gp) these items cost more to make than regular items, and did not mesh well with the normal gold allotment. This attempt to put that right draws heavily on the magic items in the Earthdawn game, among other things.
Levelled items are an excellent idea, it must be said, but having too rigid a system to cover them only limits their effectiveness. In most campaigns the DM takes care to rig the treasure distribution to suit the party, and levelled items should probably be seen as only one more way of doing that. Knowing that a character is focused on a particular item, the DM can throw in some enhancement for that, even while the rest of the party get a normal award. This can be done in any of the following ways.
Like the Rod of Seven Parts, an item may be incomplete. Gerbo's Many Missiles is a minor artefact consisting of a magic bag that generates sling stones. When first found in a campaign it only knows the recipes for a few types of stone, having lost knowledge of the others it could once make. Over the course of the game, new (old) orbs are found and reintroduced to the bag, so that it increases in power as its owner does.
I took the easy way out and called the item an artefact, so that I didn't have to price it. In my defence, I anticipated an item that DMs would customise depending on which orbs they felt were appropriate for their game, and I did not want to fix a general price since the specific price in a given campaign would depend on what was available. Other multipart items can be priced using the rules in the DMG, provided they are a little less eccentric.
Teach them a new command word. This needs next to no trickery on your part; it simply requires some tablet or something with a piece of legend regarding the item, that includes the command word to activate some power the owner did not previously know about.
Earthdawn is very big on its magic items, and each one has a sequence of levels that require experience to be paid, specific quests be accomplished or certain legends uncovered. Only by doing these things can the owner properly attune himself to the item and make it really work for him. It makes designing items an absolute pig, but adventuring with them is great, and the structure that already exists in the DMG can be used to make sure that the items are always of an appropriate power level.
Perhaps the item will only open the last of its special powers when its user is of a certain level. Perhaps the invisibility function only works for people with a prerequisite number of ranks in Hide. There are many game mechanics on which such a test could be based.
For weapons and armour (which is primarily what these articles are intended to cover), the costs of new levels are easy to calculate. Ignoring the cost of the mundane masterwork component, the cost of taking a weapon from +n total market price bonus to +(n+1) is (2n+1) times 1000 (for armour) or 2000 (for weapons). You'll have to work out other things yourself.
One thing I will have a look at, though, is the use of levelling intelligent items, since that table is slightly more complicated. Observe the following:
| Level | Abilities | Communication | Capabilities | Cost | Ego |
| I | 3d6, 2d6+5 twice | Semiempathy | 1 primary | 10,000 | +4 |
| II | +1 on better scores | Empathy | +1 primary | +5000 | +6 |
| III | +1 on better scores | Speech | - | +2500 | +7 |
| IV | +1 on better scores | - | +1 primary | +7500 | +10 |
| V | +1 on better scores | - | - | +7000 | +11 |
| VI | +1 on better scores | +Telepathy | +1 extraordinary | +23,000 | +15 |
| VII | +1 on better scores | - | +1 extraordinary | +23,000 | +19 |
| VIII | +1 on better scores | - | - | +22,000 | +20 |
As opposed to the DMG version (p228), this table shows line-on-line increases, giving the changes if the item was to be increased from one level to the next. Each level of intelligence adds one to each of the greater ability scores; the one at 3d6 during creation (which is likely to be lowest, although need not be) remains the same. The Ego score given on the table is an estimate, and does not include that provided by the normal enchantments of the item, or any special purpose powers.
The hermit Yves was a frail old man by the time the orc tribes swept through
the mountain range that he called home. Knowing that it might be the only way he
could survive the onslaught of the invaders, he crafted a fine oaken cudgel and
enchanted it with every trick he could come up with. When the orcs reached his
cave, he held the entrance, slaying them one after another until they decided to
take a different pass through the terrain.
Yves' Salvation is a thundering club +3, with the additional effects of
granting the wielder a +2 enhancement bonus to Strength and a +2 natural armour
bonus to AC.
Caster Level: 9th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, barkskin,
bull's strength, blindness/deafness; Market Price: 74,300gp; Weight:
3lb.
Notes: The cost is 50,300gp for the weapon part, 8,000gp (bonus2
x 1,000gp, x2 for being unrelated to main power) for the Strength, and 16,000gp
(bonus2 x 2,000 x 2) for the armour.
The Many Missiles come in a small bag, typically holding ten small spheres when it is found. Each of the spheres is about two inches across and as heavy as lead. They come in a number of varieties, each of a slightly different pattern, and with a different effect. To trigger the effect, the Missile must be thrown or fired from a sling, or subjected to some other shock (although they cannot be triggered until removed from their bag).
Although at one time the bag understood many types of Missiles, at the moment it only remembers the secrets of a few. The others have been removed from the bag through some ritual now lost, and have become inert. If they are found and returned to the bag, they will be reactivated, and then the bag will be able to make new ones of that type in addition to the others it knows.
Each hour, if the bag has less than ten Missiles inside, a new one appears. However, it is difficult to predict which type the new orb will belong to. Each orb has a relative frequency, which represents how common that type is compared to the others. When a new orb is made, add up the frequencies of all of they types the bag currently knows, and then the frequency of any particular orb is the proportion chance of that orb being made (I may write a little app to work that out for you, later).
The following effects have been documented:
| Description | Effect | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Orange, flame effect | d6 fire damage | 10 |
| Light Blue, shimmering | d6 cold damage | 10 |
| Green, swirling | d4 acid damage for d3 rounds | 5 |
| Black, red glyph | +2 sling stone (20' increment if thrown) | 10 |
| Clear, rings when struck | d4 sonic damage, +1 Fort save (DC 14) or deafness as per Thundering weapon | 5 |
Although I have plenty more effects in mind, I think I will save them, in case I get the chance to run anything that could include the Many Missiles.
The DMG includes a number of unusual materials for the construction of weapons and armour, and many more are added by the Arms and Equipment Guide (please don't ask me questions about that; I don't yet have it). However, the passing comment given in the Monster Manual regarding one of my favourite armour materials is disappointing, and leaves a lot to be desired (especially since my character in one game now has the complete hides of two dragons, albeit relatively small ones).
Here, then, I will try to put together a useful guide to using the hides of an adventurer's greatest foe to make interesting and different armours.
The new edition (v3.5) SRD says only that armourers can make masterwork armour and shields from dragonhide. The older version had more information: they make masterwork armour or shields 'for the normal cost' (I assume they mean the normal masterwork cost), according to the following table:
| Dragon Size | Minimum Age by Colour | Armour Type | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | II | III | IV | V | Hide | Banded | Half | Full | |
| Tiny | - | - | - | - | Wyrmling | Dim. | Fine | - | - |
| Small | - | - | Wyrmling | Wyrmling | Very Young | Tiny | Dim. | Fine | |
| Medium | Wyrmling | Wyrmling | Very Young | Very Young | Young | Small | Tiny | Dim. | Fine |
| Large | Very Young | Very Young | Juvenile | Juvenile | Young Adult | Medium | Small | Tiny | Dim. |
| Huge | Young Adult | Young Adult | Adult | Adult | Mature Adult | Large | Medium | Small | Tiny |
| Gargantuan | Old | Old | Ancient | Ancient | Wyrm | Huge | Large | Med. | Small |
| Colossal | Wyrm | Great Wyrm | Great Wyrm | - | - | Garg. | Huge | Large | Med. |
Minimum Age: The minimum age category that a dragon of each size progression must be to have grown that large. The progressions are:
Armour Type: The armourer may make one suit of armour up to the size given in the appropriate column; hide armour, banded mail, half plate or full plate (a breastplate requires the same size hide as full plate).
Beyond the fact that it is masterwork, the armour has no special properties (although it does allow druids to wear plate armour...).
Apart from the hide, the assumption is that the dragon skin is to be used as a replacement for metal in the armour. Certainly, sections of the hide can be treated - heavily cured to make them rigid and tough - and used in place of metal. However, this is not the only possible use; most of the common armour types can be constructed in dragonhide with only slight modification.
The following items are those appearing on the armour table in the SRD:
Armour Spikes: Dragonhide armour can be spiked in the same way as any other. The spikes can be made of pieces of spare plate, or even teeth, claws and horns, if you have them.
Banded Mail: Wide of heavy-cured hide are placed on a backing or more mundane armour, or perhaps on soft leather from the creature's wings. Banded mail needs smaller continuous pieces of 'metal' than many other armours, and so can be constructed with a smaller hide than plate armours would need.
Breastplate: A breastplate made of cured hide makes the basis for an admirable suit of armour, even when finished off with only greaves and some wing-leather.
Buckler: The smallest shield can usually be made from a single plate of cured hide.
Chain Shirt, Chainmail: True mail cannot effectively be replicated with pieces of dragon. The behaviour of the links works because of the properties of the wire they are wound from, and no part of the dragon behaves in quite the same way.
Full Plate: For most people the final word in armour, dragon hide is perfectly suited to making full plate. However, the plates must be cured whole, so there must be large sections of high quality scale. This means that the intended wearer of full plate armour must be far smaller than the dragon that will provide the raw materials.
Gauntlet, Locked: Although some of the functional pieces must be filled in with metal, there is no reason that the gauntlets of a suit of dragon-hide armour should not be made lockable.
Half-Plate: In the same way as full plate, half-plate requires large sections of good scale. However, slightly less plate is required, and sometimes a maker of half-plate can tolerate a carefully hidden join or two in making the plates, allowing the armour to be larger than the equivalent full plate.
Hide: When the strength of metal is not required, dragon hide can be used more or less untreated. Sometimes those sections of hide judged unfit for curing can make a suit of hide, in addition to some metal-substitute armour.
Leather: Most of a dragon is far too tough to be used as a substitute for leather; even untreated it is as tough as carefully layered hide armour. However, the wings of a dragon, and some other vulnerable parts, are as tough as boiled leather while retaining much of their suppleness.
Padded: Padded armour cannot be made of dragon hide. No part of the dragon will give so little protection.
Scale Mail: Individual scales, preferably the large ones from the spine and other tough areas, can be cured until they are completely rigid, tougher even than the plates used to emulate metal. They can then be sewn onto a suit of normal leather, or even dragon wing.
Shield, Large or Small: With a metal or wooden base, or simply layered up with patches of treated hide, a shield can be far more substantial than the plates of a suit of armour. Because of this it can be far more 'patchwork' than armour proper, needing only small scraps of curable hide.
Shield Spikes: As with armour, dragon skin shields can be spiked with cured hide, horns, teeth or claws.
Shield, Tower: In the same way as other shields, a tower shield can be built up from leftovers. However, just how much will be left over depends on what else is planned, and how big the dragon is; a tiny dragon simply doesn't have enough good hide for a tower shield large enough for a human.
Splint Mail: Like banded armour with vertical strips rather than horizontal bands, this armour has similar requirements, i.e. slightly more dragon than is required for the equivalent hide armour.
Studded Leather: Soft wing skin studded with individual cured scales, dragonhide studded leather is something of a compromise between leather armour and scale mail.
The exact properties of dragon armour depend on how the hide has been prepared. For example, cured plates behave much like metal but are considerably lighter and a little more flexible, while the hide from the wings allows far more mobility than leather.
The following table shows all of the common options for dragonhide armour; the asterisks and specials are those described in the SRD. The extra effort and skill required to work with such exotic materials means that all dragon armour items must be masterwork; the modifiers for this are included in the table.
| Armour | Cost | Armour Bonus | Max Dex | Check Penalty | Speed | Weight (lb) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (30') | (20') | |||||||
| Light Armour: | ||||||||
| Leather | 1,055 | +2 | +8 | 0 | 30' | 20' | 10 | |
| Studded Leather | 1,575 | +3 | +7 | 0 | 30' | 20' | 15 | |
| Medium Armour: | ||||||||
| Hide | 1,565 | +3 | +5 | -3 | 20' | 15' | 25 | |
| Scale Mail | 2,300 | +4 | +4 | -3 | 20' | 15' | 20 | |
| Breastplate | 3,350 | +5 | +4 | -3 | 20' | 15' | 20 | |
| Heavy Armour: | ||||||||
| Splint Mail | 4,450 | +6 | +1 | -6 | 20'* | 15'* | 30 | |
| Banded Mail | 4,500 | +6 | +2 | -5 | 20'* | 15'* | 25 | |
| Half-plate | 6,150 | +7 | +1 | -6 | 20'* | 15'* | 35 | |
| Full Plate | 8,550 | +8 | +2 | -5 | 20'* | 15'* | 35 | |
| Shields: | ||||||||
| Buckler | 765 | +1 | - | 0 | 5 | |||
| Shield, Small | 759 | +1 | - | 0 | 5 | |||
| Shield, Large | 1,070 | +2 | - | -1 | 10 | |||
| Shield, Tower | 4,280 | ** | - | -9 | 30 | |||
| Extras are unchanged. | ||||||||
Of course, there are other benefits to wearing the skin of a dragon. First of all, dragon armour usually grants a +2 circumstance bonus to Intimidate checks; the DM should adjust this to fit his campaign setting; some campaigns may think dragons almost commonplace, while in others they may be so rare that nobody would recognise their hide when worn by anything else.
Next is the fact that some small degree of the dragon's resistance remains in its skin, even when it has passed on. Each colour of dragon hide retains resistance to a particular energy type, allowing the wearer to ignore a number of points each round equal to the armour bonus of the armour worn (count the tower shield as having a bonus of +6 for this purpose). The following table lists the resistances:
| Colour | Resistance | Colour | Resistance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | Acid | Brass | Fire | |
| Blue | Electricity | Bronze | Electricity | |
| Red | Acid | Copper | Acid | |
| Green | Fire | Gold | Fire | |
| White | Cold | Silver | Cold |
This resistance does not stack with energy resistance from a magical effect or a racial ability; use whichever is more advantageous.
Since all dragon items are masterwork, they can always be enchanted. Some DMs may wish to allow cost breaks for adding especially appropriate special abilities such as strengthening the armour's inherent energy resistance and trying to emulate the dragon's damage reduction or spell resistance; that is up to them.
I don't expect to see these items on sale anywhere; the costs given are market prices mainly for use when worrying about how much gear a character should have. What I do expect to happen is that player characters who manage to kill dragons to consider doing something with the armour, probably taking it to the best armourer they can find and asking him to make them some armour.
When that happens, the character should be charged the cost of a normal version of the requested item, plus the masterwork modifier. Unless you watch him very carefully, expect the armourer to hang on to the leftovers, perhaps to the point of lying and claiming there was nothing spare. If the DM needs to fix the character's finances one way or the other, he should use this as an opportunity to do so; the price probably won't go down much, but could go right up to near the market price if the armourer in question is the only one with the skill to take on such a task.
Right, here is a new version of the table from above.
| Dragon Size | Hide | Metal Substitute | Leather | Shield | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banded/Scale | Half | Full | Large | Tower | |||
| Tiny | Dim. | Fine | - | - | Dim. | Fine | - |
| Small | Tiny | Dim. | Fine | Tiny | Dim. | Fine | |
| Medium | Small | Tiny | Dim. | Fine | Small | Tiny | Dim. |
| Large | Medium | Small | Tiny | Dim. | Medium | Small | Tiny |
| Huge | Large | Medium | Small | Tiny | Large | Medium | Small |
| Gargantuan | Huge | Large | Medium | Small | Huge | Large | Medium |
| Colossal | Garg. | Huge | Large | Medium | Garg. | Huge | Large |
For each hide you may choose one of the Metal Substitute columns and one of the shield columns. In addition, you can always make leather or studded leather up to the size in the Leather column. A large shield for one creature will count as a small one for a creature of the next size category up, or a buckler for two sizes up.
There is no advantage in saving the materials earmarked for making a shield, but if you make hide armour instead of a metal armour you may count the dragon as a size larger for the purpose of the shield, and if you make only a shield you can count the hide as two sizes larger.
The material left over after a suit of armour might be enough for another; once you have cut out enough for the first set, consult the armour columns again as if the hide was now three sizes smaller. The same works for the shield allotment and the leather column.
In all cases an object of one size may be replaced with two of the size below.
Example: Elle has the pelt of a tiny white dragon. Measuring it up, she decides that if she was to cure the best bits, she could make fine scale mail and a large shield for a fine creature. Unfortunately the party contains no fine creatures, the smallest member being one of the mages' familiars, a diminutive toad. If she makes hide armour for him, she can use the better bits on a shield, with enough to make a buckler for the party's halfling. No matter what she does with the body, the wings will be enough for leather armour or studded leather armour for the toad.
Later on her party kill a large blue dragon. Taking the hide from that, she could make hide armour and a large shield for herself, or banded mail and a large shield for the halfling, full plate for the toad and a small shield for herself, or just a tower shield for herself. On top of that, she has enough wing for a medium sized suit of leather.
On day she sits back, dreaming of the day that she stands atop the corpse of a red Great Wyrm. With a colossal hide, her first priority would be full plate. The leftover pieces worthy of being armour would be as per a large hide, with enough for full plate for the toad, or hide for one of the other humans. She would want a large shield; since there is hide enough for a large shield fit for a huge creature, there is enough for four for humans (one shield for a huge creature is equivalent to two for large creatures, which are two each for humans). On the same principle, she could make leather armour for a gargantuan creature, equivalent to eight humans.
Although they probably have no special qualities unless enchanted with them, other items can be made of pieces of dragon. A dragon corpse will provide plenty of spell components, their teeth, claws and horns could be used as part of weapons or even musical instruments, and the wings make excellent cloaks.
I suspect that the selection of armours in the PHB represents all of the kinds that could reasonably use dragonhide. However, in case anyone wants to convert armour from other sources, here is a little explanation.
Firstly, it's all masterwork: one point of check penalty removed. Next, the leather substitute is far softer than leather, and the metal substitute is more supple than metal, so I've put the maximum Dexterity bonus up by one point on everything (if only for completeness, in the case of hide armour). I've also reduced the weight of everything by one third, and then rounded it about a bit.
As far as pricing goes, I've charged n2*100 for resistance of n, and then thrown in the cost of the normal item, the masterwork cost, and 500 to cover the weight reduction and the extra point of Dex bonus. I haven't bothered to scale that cost with the armour category or anything; your DM might want to increase it for the armours with a maximum Dexterity bonus low enough to matter to player characters, but I think the massive increase in the cost of the resistance should cover it.
I refer you to Table 8-40, on page 242 of the DMG, and Table 4-3, page 74 of Tome and Blood. As a clarification, as best I can tell, the phrase 'Use-activated' in the Spell Effect section includes any effect that is constant while the object is being worn/wielded ('used'). In other words, although the Lantern of Revealing is used as an example, since the 'use' of clothes is to wear them, items such as the Cloak of Elvenkind (which gives an effect when the hood is raised) is also an example of this trigger type.
Oh, and look carefully: in the DMG version, on the Special: Charges per day line that symbol is a divide sign (which I don't even seem to have on my keyboard), not a plus. Took me a while to notice that... In the Tome and Blood version, that symbol is instead a minus sign, which almost certainly isn't right (since '5 - charges per day' should remain positive, in my opinion. But then again, maybe Wizards know what they are doing. What do I know about formulae?
Beyond that, it is mainly a case of finding a spell of about the right power level for the effect you want, or an item that already does something similar. The main principles to remember are:
I recommend implementing combinations of these are follows:
Remember, if the cost that comes out after using the tables is not competitive with other items, feel free to reduce it (provided you are the ref, or the ref agrees). The example in Tome and Blood comes in at 23,000gp, which is far more than the Bag of Holding 2 (of which it is a souped-up version), so the designer makes some arbitrary changes (that do not stem from game rules) to reduce it to something more reasonable. If you only use some aspect of a spell's power, treat it as a lower level, or scale down the cost some other way.
The main thing to remember is that the referee always has power of veto over anything that anyone else attempts to bring to their game. Whether I tell you this as a reminder to bow to the ref's will, or as a reminder that you are allowed to subject people to it, you would do well to remember it.
If in doubt, leave it out. It is far harder to put up with the player who is annoyed because you took away his favourite game-unbalancing toy than it is the one who is annoyed because you wouldn't let them have it in the first place.
And if the worst comes to the worst, as ref, call it an artefact. Then you don't need to price it at all...
Many of the following are epic, and hence have Character Level 21 as one of their prerequisites.
You can move further to protect your charge from harm.
Prerequisites: Harm's Way class feature, Deflect Attack class feature,
base move 30', Dexterity 21+.
Benefit: You may use Harm's Way or Deflect Attack while your charge is within 10', rather than 5'.
You are skilled in the way of the drawing strike.
Prerequisites: Quick Draw, Improved Initiative, Base Attack Bonus +4,
Dexterity 13+
Benefit: You may draw a slashing weapon and strike with it as a single
free action. Provided you are not surprised at the beginning of a combat you may
take this action before the first action of the combatant with the highest
initiative score, after which combat proceeds normally; a character hit by the
surprise strike is denied a Dexterity bonus to AC. If more than one character is
using this feat, they take their free attacks in initiative order before combat
proper begins.
You may deflect ranged attacks that threaten your charge.
Prerequisites: Deflect Attack class feature, Dexterity 19+, EITHER
{Deflect Arrows, Improved Unarmed Strike} OR {Ranged Parry, Weapon Focus}
Benefit: Provided your charge is within the range of your Deflect Attack feature,
you may use your ranged deflection feats to
protect her instead of yourself. This includes Deflect Arrows or Ranged Parry,
but also others such as Exceptional Deflection and Infinite Deflection. You may
not use Infinite Deflection to deflect additional melee attacks.
You are even more accomplished in the way of the drawing strike.
Prerequisites: Iaido, Quick Draw, Improved Initiative, Improved Critical,
Base Attack Bonus
+8, Dexterity 13+
Benefit: When you hit with a draw-and-attack action with a
slashing weapon for which you have the Improved Critical feat, the hit is automatically a threat. Check
to confirm as
normal.
You are an accomplished multiweapon fighter, able to carefully balance attack
and defence.
Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +3, Multiweapon Fighting, Dexterity 13+.
Benefit: For each limb worth of attacks you decline to use, you gain a
stacking +2 shield bonus to your AC for that round.
Special: This feat is based on Off-Hand Parry (from Sword and Fist)
and replaces that feat for characters with more than two arms.
The character may use his weapon to parry incoming arrows and other ranged
attacks.
Prerequisites: Dexterity 13+, Weapon Focus.
Benefit: While using a weapon on which he is focused, the character may
deflect attacks from ranged weapons. Once per round as a free action the
character may make a Reflex save, (DC 20 + any enhancement bonus the projectile
has) to ignore the attack. Otherwise this feat works as Deflect Arrows.
Special: There are armed versions of Exceptional Deflection, Infinite
Deflection and Reflect Arrows. They must be purchased separately to their
unarmed counterparts, they have Ranged Parry and Weapon Focus replace Deflect
Arrows and Improved Unarmed Strike in their prerequisites, and references to
'having one hand free' must be changed to 'being armed with a focused weapon'.
You cannot Snatch Arrows with a melee weapon.
This feat is much like the epic feat Armed Deflection, from the Epic Insights
column at www.wizards.com. However, I do
not see that deflecting with a weapon is so much worse than without one,
especially since I think monks are suspicious anyway. For this reason, my
campaigns use this version, with the easier prerequisites. However, I cannot
guarantee that this will always be the case, and players with this feat should
be prepared to trade up or find something else to take.
At high levels (such as Glorious Few, the Epic Ravenloft game I seem to have gotten myself into) some of the metamagic feats could be stacked in a particularly devious and twisted way. The following are suggestions to referees who wish to curb this; things put as 'recommendations' should be considered DM rulings for my games, other things are not (yet).
Some metamagic feats cause the entire effect of a spell to happen more than once. Twin Spell causes the effect to happen twice in one round, Repeat Spell causes it to happen again in the next, and so on. I recommend that Energy Admixture be treated as additive metamagic, equivalent to Twin Spell plus Energy Substitution/Energy Affinity (depending on which source you have it from).
A mote is a magical effect as written up in the spell descriptions in the PHB and elsewhere. An additive metamagic feat creates an additional mote, with some condition (alongside the original, a round after the original, or with a particular energy type). Regardless of how you stack them, multiple additive metamagics only affect the original mote; this means that you will always get one additional mote from each additive feat. For example, a Twinned, Repeated spell makes three motes, one from the base spell, one alongside it from Twin Spell, and one the next round from Repeat Spell. Repeat Spell does not affect the Twin mote ('two doublings equals a tripling', remember).
Mote metamagic affects only a single mote, even when additive metamagic has been used to get more than one mote out of a slot.
Example: a Maximised, Twinned spell has one normal mote and one maximised. An Enlarged, Twinned spell has one mote at normal range and another at double range.
Even feats that cannot normally be stacked can be added as many times as it takes to apply them to all of the motes spawned from that slot (i.e. once for each additive feat used), without buying the feat again. Taking the example above, most spells that one would Twin would then need Enlarging twice to be worth Enlarging at all.
Some metamagic affects the 'variable, numeric' properties of a spell. These tend to say how they interact: a Maximised, Empowered spell has the maximised normal effect, plus half of the effect rolled as normal, and Intensify Spell states that it does not stack with 'any other feat that affects the variable, numeric effects of a spell'. At the DM's option there may be some spells that deserve to be treated as having 'variable, numeric' effects for the purpose of Empower Spell and perhaps Intensify Spell (the new ability enhancement spells spring to mind, since they used to be variable, and I'm sure people can come up with others).
Note that the half-and-half metamagic feats (such as Sacred, Consecrate, Corrupt and Vile) stack by cutting each type of damage in two: a Corrupted fireball does half fire damage and half unholy damage, so a Violated, Corrupted fireball does one quarter fire damage, one quarter vile fire damage, one quarter unholy damage and one quarter vile unholy damage (an in case you were counting, it now has the [evil] descriptor at least twice...).
Some metamagic feats affect the way the spell is cast, rather than the effect it has. These feats are applied only once, since a spell slot (and however many spells it spawns) is cast all at once. These feats include Quicken Spell, Silent Spell and Still Spell. Slightly different but also in this group is Heighten Spell (and Improved Heighten Spell); this should be considered the most fundamental metamagic feat, and is always applied first.
When metamagic is stacked with itself, each use of a metamagic feat is called a layer.
Some metamagic feats can be applied more than once. The Enhance Spell explains how it stacks; you may add it once for each time you have bought the feat, adding +4 to the level of the spell slot each time. As noted above, you can reapply spell metamagic once for each additional spell gained through additive metamagic; this stacking does not require additional purchases of the feats in question.
One of the most powerful feats in the game when stacked, Improved Metamagic reduces the level cost of every metamagic feat the caster knows by +1, to a minimum of +1. As a suggestion (watch my wording; not yet a recommendation), add the levels of multiple layers of a single metamagic feat before taking off the effect of Improved Metamagic. So to increase the damage cap of a damaging spell by 20 levels, buy Enhance Spell twice, use a spell slot +8 higher than normal, then take the number of purchases of Improved Metamagic you have from this +8.
Alternatively (and this one is in my games for playtesting, as an option for players who want to use it) allow stacking of feats that do not normally stack, without extra purchases, but with the above condition on Improved Metamagic. The feats that will stack under this option are (and I'm not saying all of these are worth it):
Chain, Consecrate, Corrupt, Delay, Empower, Energy Admixture, Enlarge, Extend, Intensify, Purify, Repeat (see below), Sacred, Split Ray, Twin, Violate, Widen
When stacking metamagic like this, you add together the cost of all the purchases of the same metamagic, then take away your Improved Metamagic discount. The minimum cost is +1 per layer of metamagic.
Example: if you want more than one extra mote at the same time, you could stack Twin Spell with itself. Twin Spell normally costs +4, so using it twice has a total modifier of +8. You take the number of purchases of Improved Metamagic away from this total rather than each layer, but you must still pay at least +1 per layer (even if you have 7 slots of Improved Metamagic) for a minimum of +2.
A doubly consecrated lightning bolt does one quarter doubly holy damage (although unless your DM says otherwise, this is equivalent to normal holy damage), two quarters (i.e. one half) holy damage and one quarter lightning damage. [I did warn you that some combinations would be less than useful.]
Think carefully about how things stack, and if in doubt use the percentage version that I have used on the table below rather than the multiplicative version in the book. For example, Empower twice would be +100% variable effect. [As it is described, Maximise works on 100% of the spell's normal effect, so two Maximise layers will maximise the extra from both Empower layers (but that is the same as Intensify and more expensive).] Obviously there is no use in maximising twice, so only the doubling aspect of the second or subsequent Intensify layers have an effect.
For those of a slightly strange disposition, try this. Stacking Repeat Spell gives you an additional spell the in the second round (for a total of two in the second round). If you wish, for +2 rather than +3 the stacked Repeat can happen the round after; for a total of +5 levels you get the initial spell, then another for each of the next two rounds. Extra spells in the fourth and subsequent rounds are +1 level each; you cannot arrange a late repeat unless there is already a repeat in the round immediately before it.
In case these clarfications have made things less than clear, there now follows a step by step guide to stacking metamagic.
Obviously the first step in choosing a metamagic effect is to pick a base spell. In addition, you may well want to choose the number of levels you have available for metamagic at this stage; it is easier to keep your monstrosity under control if you work to a budget, so to speak. As for planning the effect, it is difficult to get the full potential out of more than one mote unless you have several slots of Improved Metamagic, and several spell levels available; that will be an important decision later.
Some metamagic feats affect the entire spell slot. These include the Heighten Spell feats, as well as Quicken, Still and Silent Spell. Slot metamagic feats are marked as such in the table below. Most slot metamagic feats (Still, Silent, and so on) are purchased once only.
The next step is working out how many effects you want. You can increase the overall effect of a spell by adding additional motes using additive metamagic (see that section, above). Each use of an additive feat gives you an additional mote, but each mote must be improved separately in the next step, so it may be possible to have too many to use effectively. Additive feats are marked in the table below by having 'Add' in their type column.
The there are the other metamagic feats, those that affect one mote each. If you only have one mote (by having skipped step 2), then these stack as noted in their descriptions. Otherwise you must pay for each mote feat once for each mote you want affected, either buying once per mote, or leaving some motes unaffected.
Enhanced, Twinned, Doubly Intensified lightning bolt (20th level caster): the base mote of lightning bolt is a line doing 10d6 electricity damage, as a 3rd level spell. Enhance (+4) is Slot metamagic, and one use affects the entire spell, increasing the basic damage from 10d6 to 20d6. Twin Spell (+4) makes this two motes, each being a line of 10d6 electricity damage. Because there are now two motes, Intensify may be bought once for each mote (otherwise it will only affect one), and so the caster has chosen to doubly Intensify, turning each mote into line of 240 electricity damage (now 240x2 damage, with electricity resistance counting twice), for +14 spell levels. The spell now needs a 25th level spell slot, but each of the first three slots of Improved Metamagic reduces this by 4 levels, then the next three reduce it by 2 levels. So three slots makes it level 13, and six slots make it level 7.
Doubly Enhanced, Quad (three Twins) fireball (30th level caster): the base mote of fireball is a burst of 10d6 fire damage, as a 3rd level spell. Enhance (+4) is slot metamagic, and so both purchases affect the entire spell (but bear in mind that you must have two feat slots of Enhance Spell to do this), turning the base mote into 30d6 damage for +8 levels. Quad Spell is three layers of Twin Spell, making three additional motes at 30d6 fire damage for +4 each, coming to +12 levels. The whole spell is then four fireballs of 30d6 fire damage each, all hitting the same spot at the same time, for a total of 23rd level. Up to three slots of Improved Metamagic would reduce this by five levels each, to a minimum of 8th level (4x30d6 damage, ranges 120-720, average 420, minus four times the opponent's fire resistance).
The better option, then is the Doubly Enhanced, Doubly Intensified, Twinned lightning bolt. The base mote is once again a line of 10d6 electricity damage, for 3rd level. Doubly Enhancing costs +8 levels and increases the base mote to 30d6 electricity damage. Twinning then makes an additional mote of that effect for +4 levels, making a total of two motes of 30d6 damage. Then both are Intensified, for +14 levels, making each a line of 360 damage. The spell then does 2x360 electricity damage (resistance applies twice), in a 29th level spell slot. The first three slots of Improved Metamagic reduce this by five levels each, the next three reduce it by two levels each. So with three slots of Improved Metamagic the spell requires a 14th level slot, and with six slots it requires an 8th level slot. Clearly if you have know Intensify and have enough slots of Improved Metamagic, this version is better.
Using the options I have introduced above, you can manage the following. Doubly Enhanced, Triply Intensified Violated flame strike (35th level caster): the basic mote of flame strike is a column of 15d6 damage, half fire, half divine, for a 5th level spell. Double Enhancement costs +8 levels and changes the base mote to 35d6 (proportions as above), requiring two slots of Enhance Spell. Triple Intensity costs +21 levels, increasing mote damage by 300% and maximising up to 600% (since we only have 400%, that's all of it), to a total of 420 fire and 420 divine. Finally Violate Spell turns half the damage into vile damage, costing +1 level and making the finished spell 210 fire, 210 vile fire, 210 divine and 210 vile divine (fire resistance only counts once). It takes up a 35th level spell slot (requiring Wis 45!), but the first three slots of Improved Metamagic reduce this by +3 each and up to 17 more reduce it by a further +1 each. A caster with three slots of Improved Metamagic can put the spell in a 26th level spell slot, and one with six slots can treat it as 23rd.
Bear in mind, however, that each of the above spells still count as their regular level (3rd or 5th), and so may be easier to save against or resist with SR than spells you might expect from such high level slots.
| Feat | Source | Type | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chain | T&B | Mote | +3 | Single target spell arcs to [caster level] secondary targets for half damage (Ref half) or +4 bonus to save |
| Consecrate | BoXD | Mote | +1 | Add [good], half of damage is divine2 |
| Cooperative | T&B | Slot | +0 | Cast the same spell as adjacent ally for increased save DC and caster level |
| Corrupt | BoVD | Mote | +1 | Add [evil], half of damage is unholy2 |
| Delay | T&B | Slot | +3 | Set a 1-5 round delay |
| Disguise Spell | Dei&Dem | Slot | +1 | Bard only; spell is subtlly incorporated into performance |
| Empower | PHB | Mote | +2 | +50% variable, numeric |
| Energy Admixture | T&B | Add | +4 | Choose an energy type; when you cast any energy spell make an additional spell of your chosen type. |
| Energy Affinity | MH | Mote | +0 | Choose an energy type; substitute another energy for your chosen type |
| Energy Substitution | Dei&Dem, T&B | Mote | +0 | As Energy Affinity (name change) |
| Enhance | ELH | Slot | +4 | Damage cap increases by 10 levels |
| Enlarge | PHB | Mote | +1 | +100% range |
| Eschew Materials | Dei&Dem, T&B | Slot | +0 | Ignore material component of up to 1gp |
| Extend | PHB | Mote | +1 | +100% duration |
| Heighten | PHB | Slot | Increase effect level (maximum 9th) | |
| Ignore Material Components1 | ELH | Slot | +0 | Ignore all material components |
| Improved Heighten | ELH | Slot | As Heighten, but no maximum level | |
| Innate1 | T&B | Mote | +8 | Spell is not cast, but can be used once per round as a Spell-like ability |
| Intensify | ELH | Mote | +7 | +100% variable effects then up to 200% maximised |
| Maximise | PHB | Mote | +3 | Maximum on damage dice |
| Nonlethal Substitution | BoXD | Mote | +0 | Substitute nonlethal damage for energy damage |
| Persistent Spell | Dei&Dem, T&B | Mote | +4 | Duration becomes 24 hours |
| Purify Spell | BoXD | Mote | +1 | No damage to good creatures, half damage to neutral creatures, one die type up to evil outsiders |
| Quicken | PHB | Slot | +4 | Cast as a free/swift action |
| Reach Spell | Dei&Dem, DotF | Mote | +2 | Changes range from touch to 30' |
| Repeat Spell | Dei&Dem, T&B | Add | +3 | Spell happens again next round |
| Sacred Spell | Dei&Dem, DotF | Mote | +2 | Half of damage is divine2 |
| Sanctum | T&B | Slot | +0 | +1 caster level when cast in your sanctum, -1 caster level otherwise |
| Sculpt | T&B | Mote | +1 | Pick a new area shape |
| Split Ray | T&B | Mote | +0 | Two targets each take half damage |
| Subdual Substitution | Dei&Dem, T&B | Mote | +0 | As Nonlethal Substitution (name change) |
| Sudden [feat] | MH | Mote | +0 | 1/day free and unprepared use of [feat] |
| Silent | PHB | Slot | +1 | Not Bard; Remove verbal component |
| Still | PHB | Slot | +1 | Remove somatic component |
| Twin | T&B | Add | +4 | Additional spell, same time and target as original |
| Violate | BoVD | Mote | +1 | Add [evil], half of damage is vile |
| Widen | PHB, T&B, Dei&Dem | Mote | +3 | +100% in each linear measurement of area3 |
| 1 Not strictly a metamagic feat, but behaves like one. Recommend that characters who want to use Innate Spell as metamagic are allowed to, so that they can use the slot for something else the next day; whether Improved Metamagic reduces the cost of Innate Spell is at DM's discretion. | ||||
| 2 Recommend that Sacred be reduced to +1 slot (Consecrate and Corrupt are from more recent sources). Change Consecrate's divine damage to holy damage; adding [good] is a commensurate advantage. | ||||
| 3 Since the terminology is always area, recommend that only two dimensions of measurement (radius counts as both) are increased. This is actually an +300% increase, since doubling in each of two dimensions increases area by a factor of 22. (All three dimensions would increase volume eightfold) | ||||
This section will remain small for the time being, since I don't run Tékumel and while I'd love to the list of things I'd love to run is much longer than the list of things I'll get time to run, for the foreseeable future.
At the request of the referee of our current game, I've knocked together a 'tick-off' style calendar for the year as described in Adventures on Tékumel Part One: Tsolyáni Calendar (PDF, 13kB).
I'd like feedback if anyone can think of ways to make it clearer or more useful, preferably without making it go off the page.
I might make a second copy marked with dates important to the party in the current game, such as the 14th of Langála and the 1st of Pardán...
Resources and house rules, and so on.
Note that the nine attributes fit in a grid: each category (mental, physical, social) has a power attribute (Intelligence, Strength, Presence), a finesse attribute (Wits, Dexterity, Manipulation) and a resistance attribute (Resolve, Stamina, Composure).
A given task will couple the most appropriate attribute with the most likely skill. Some actions are described in the rules, while others the referee will determine on the spot (and sometimes things written in the book might get made up instead anyway). So a mental task requiring sheer power of intellect would require Intelligence, one requiring mental agility might be Wits and a mentally exhausting task could be Resolve.
For social tasks, Presence is about getting your way by force of charisma and inspiration, Manipulation is for subtle trickery and Composure is for keeping your cool. There's a fine line between Resolve and Composure, but most tasks can be distinguished as mental or social.
The physical attributes need little explanation; they're pretty much the same in every other game...
Sometimes a task is borderline and I'll let you choose. Sometimes I'll let you roll what you want if you've got a good justification for solving the problem with those traits. Sometimes I'll be considering things on a case-by-case basis and I don't promise to follow precedents consistently.
Some attributes contribute to other mechanics. The resistance attributes are often used as a penalty when opponents use that kind of action against you. Stamina helps determine health, while Willpower is Resolve plus Composure. Defence is the worse of Wits and Dexterity.
Once the task has a skill and an attribute, you add together the dots, roll that many d10 and count those that are 7 or better (although I might have a house rule letting me specify other target numbers where appropriate). This means that skill dots are as powerful as attribute dots, albeit more specialised. Skill specialities are further refinements in which you specify one favoured facet of a given skill: when it's relevant it's worth a bonus dot. You can have as many specialities on a skill as you like, but you can only claim one at a time.
When you have no dots in a skill, you suffer a penalty that depends on the category: -3 dice for mental, -1 otherwise. This means that the first dot is the most valuable, since it's a increase of 2 dots or 4.
Two is a respectable skill level, especially at your age. Three is the [normal] maximum for child characters, and is really quite impressive.
Computer: You can just about use one without dots, but not to get anything interesting done. Crafts: Making/fixing stuff with your hands. Investigation: Search, analyse scenes, interview people, etc. Medicine: At the levels we're talking, you could be pretty good at first aid. Occult: Know lots of folk tales and legends, maybe something more sinister. They may or may not be true. Politics: Both political theory and current affairs, as they apply to real politics or even playground politics.
Study: Academic and other book knowledge. Adults have parallel skills: Academics and Science.
Athletics: Running, jumping, climbing, throwing... Brawl: Unarmed combat. Firearms: You better have a damn good reason for taking this. Larceny: Picking locks, pockets and other sleights. Stealth: Hiding and moving undetected. Survival: Finding food, water, shelter and so on in natural settings. Weaponry: Armed close combat.
Animal Ken: Getting on with animals, understanding them, training etc. Empathy: Judging motives, lies and so on. Expression: Writing, composing and on small scales speaking well. Intimidation: Subtle or otherwise. Persuasion: Convincing people of things (especially when you believe it). Socialise: Having fun in company and making sure everyone else does. Streetwise: Knowing how to find things and get by, on the dark side. Subterfuge: Making people believe things when you don't...
Every child character has a dominant positive trait and a dominant negative one. They needn't be balanced and they won't be the character's only trait, but one of each is specified. When short term actions fit the character's Fault he regains a Willpower point; when longer term action is in keeping with his Asset his Willpower is refilled. I'll run through a list of sample Assets and Faults when we meet up.
When you absolutely have to get something done you can spend a temporary Willpower point for a three-dice bonus to one roll, or a two-dot bonus to a resistance attribute to resist one enemy action.
I'm not going to explain combat until we need to know it, so that's more or less all you need to know.
By request, a quick run down on the traits and stuff is here.
The fifth dot in most things costs double, but I don't expect you to be able to afford any fifth dots.
You start with a free point in each (already inked in). Pick your favourite category (Mental, Physical, Social) and distribute 5 dots. Pick your next category and distribute 4 dots, then 3 in the final category. For a balanced character it pays to have two dots in each attribute (which leaves you with little choice of how to do that tertiary category...). Attributes are capped at 5; remember the last dot is double.
No free dots this time, but otherwise much the same deal: 7 dots in your primary category, 4 dots in the secondary and 2 in the tertiary. Finally pick one skill and specify one aspect of it in which you're specialised. Skills are capped at 3 for most children; see the Prodigy merits, below.
Distribute 7 points across the following list (costs in brackets; the fifth dot costs double):
You should be able to find everything else you need somewhere on the character sheet.
Select a career from the list to see its entries and exits. Click on an entry or exit career to move it to the middle. Advanced careers are named in italic. The database currently includes all the careers from the second edition core rulebook; if anyone wants to provide me with lists of careers (including entries, exits and racial restrictions) from other sources, I'll look into including them.