Misc. Ideas

Creating game materials? Monsters, spells, classes, adventures? This is the place!
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Clever_Munkey
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Re: Misc. Ideas

Post by Clever_Munkey »

Just finished reading through sharp swords and sinister spells.

In that rule system a fighter gets a number of attacks equal to their hit die minus the highest hit dice of a monster they are engaged with minimum 1. So a fighter with 5 HD engaged with 2 1 HD creatures, and a 3 HD creature would get 2 attacks that round. I like it thematically, but it seems like it might be really powerful outside of that system.

Side note: I used a spread sheet to generate a year of weather with my system, and after a ~week it went haywire, so it's back to the drawing board for that.
Call me Joe. Mr. Munkey is my father.
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Dimirag
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Re: Misc. Ideas

Post by Dimirag »

I would use a similar rule, something like having an extra attack if your level is doubling your opponent's HD, 3 attacks if triple and so on, but for BF maybe using a table:
Attacks.png
Attacks.png (8.3 KiB) Viewed 7117 times
This lets a fighter use multiple attacks against ONE opponent
Sorry for any misspelling or writing error, I am not a native English speaker
Drawing portfolio: https://www.instagram.com/m.serena_dimirag/
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Dimirag
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Attribute Improvement

Post by Dimirag »

Here is an idea, at each pair level gained (2nd, 4th, 6th, etc.), roll a d8, the result will tell which attribute is improve by 1 point:

1-Player's choice
2-Player's choice
3-Racial Attribute
4-Racial Attribute
5-Class Attribute
6-Class Attribute
7-None
8-None

The Racial and Class Attributes are the racial and class requirement meaning humans have greater chances to improve whatever Attribute they want.

For Combo Classes: Use the first result for the first requirement and the second for the other one following the character creation attribute order.

Option Time!!
Use a d6 if you want that every roll result in an upgrade
Ask for a d20 roll above the rolled Attribute so higher scores are harder to get
Ask for an Attribute roll but with the Attribute modifier affecting the Target instead of the roll, so, higher bonus, higher target and higher level, lower target
Ask for a normal Attribute roll but wanting to miss the target, so lower characters are more able to improve than higher level ones.
Sorry for any misspelling or writing error, I am not a native English speaker
Drawing portfolio: https://www.instagram.com/m.serena_dimirag/
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Dimirag
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Re: Misc. Ideas

Post by Dimirag »

I just tough this after replying to the "monster HD" thread.

There are some DM's that allows their players to know an opponent's AC, and there are others than don't
This idea is a little of both:
After each hit there is a 1-in-10 chance of knowing the opponent's AC, to this chance add any Wisdom Mod plus a bonus if being a fighter, something like a +1 at levels 1, 5, 9, 13 and 17.
Another way is to use a higher dice and allows fighters to go reducing the dice value as they gain levels.
Last edited by Dimirag on Mon Jan 23, 2017 1:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Sorry for any misspelling or writing error, I am not a native English speaker
Drawing portfolio: https://www.instagram.com/m.serena_dimirag/
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Clever_Munkey
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Re: Misc. Ideas

Post by Clever_Munkey »

Physical Fatigue:
This was partly inspired by the 5e fatigue rules. I'm not super sure on numbers yet, so this is really loose. The conditions that cause/relieve exhaustion are up to the GM.

There are 4 "types" of fatigue which each give different penalties. Up to 3 "instances" of each type can be applied with their penalties being cumulative for the first 2 and the doing something far more severe.

type 1: Offensive actions are penalized. On the third instance characters can hardly perform any task that involves physical exertion beyond moving around.

type 2: Movement is halved. On the third instance characters can't even move around.

type 3:Ability scores and saving throws are penalized. On the third instance characters fall unconscious.

type 4: HP is halved. On the third instance the character is dead.

I can mix and match these types and their severity to suit different conditions.

Starvation might look something like this:
Starvation Table.PNG
Starvation Table.PNG (4.54 KiB) Viewed 7017 times
Dehydration might look like this:
Dehydration Table.PNG
Dehydration Table.PNG (3.06 KiB) Viewed 7017 times
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tzi89
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Re: Misc. Ideas

Post by tzi89 »

This is what I've used (a lot of the terminology is specific to my campaign world, but it's easy to change)

All land in a Kingdom is owned either by the King and Queen or by one of the extended family of the King or Queen Or by various notable members of their society and their underlings as well. The Ruler grants in feudal tender parcels of land to powerful nobles called Donu(Male) or Dona(female). The Donu or Dona also grant parcels of land to other noble warriors and elite people, who have the title of Cingeth. Cingeth and their leige are roughly equal in power, wealth and responsibility, but the Donu/Dona have a higher precedence in matters of courtesy and deference. The Dona or Danu and Cingeth are obliged to provide fixed numbers of soldiers and money to their overlords based on the amount of land they posses. The Dona or Danu and Cingeth, in turn, grant parcels of land to vassals of their own.

The Manor
The most common method of organizing granted land is the manor. A player will be made the equivalent of a Knight or Squire. The ruler of the manner is titled “The Master of …” such and such. A manor must be at least 1 square mile of farmable land. This will also come with 1 to 4 square miles of non-farmable land: 1 square mile if in normal agricultural area, 2-4 in heavily forested, swampy, dry or hilly country. The manor then is subdivided into “plots”. Each plot equals 25 acres and there are 25 such plots in a square mile of farmable land. Each plot supports a family with an average of 5 members. The plot produces 150 gp per year, yielding 1250 gp per square mile of farmable land.

Knight’s Duties
In exchange for the grant of land, a knight must serve in his overlord’s service for 60 days per year, providing his own heavy warhorse, chain mail armor (or better), shield, lance and sword, and bringing a squire-at-arms on a light war horse and scale armor (or better) and a hand weapon. The Knight must also feed himself, his squire and horses during the service and is required to keep his equipment in serviceable condition. Usually, the overlord expects 1 knight and squire-at-arms for each square mile of farmable land.

A Squire’s Duties
A landed squire with a grant of land pays “scutage” or “shield money” in place of military service. This payment is equal to 300 gp per square mile of farmable land, and is roughly the cost for the overlord to pay and maintain a 4th level fighter for 60 days.

The Farmers’ Duties
Each 25-acre plot will be granted on one of three terms: Serf-hold, Yeoman-hold, or Sergeantry. A serf is required to pay 50 gp per year in produce or labor to the holder of the manor (master’s choice). He may not move, marry or change occupation without the master’s permission and his heirs must give the master his best animal in order to inherit the property. The serf, on the other hand may not be legally evicted from the holding. A Yeoman holder must pay the master 50gp per year in produce or cash. After the harvest each year the yeoman or the master can terminate the lease. A yeoman can be required to serve in a local militia, which cannot be forced to move beyond the border of the local county or barony. A yeoman is otherwise a free man. A plot held as a sergeantry is similar to a knight’s fee in that the holder (or his son) is compelled to serve for 60 days a year as a foot soldier, archer in the army of a noble. The soldier, however, pays no rent or labor payment for his plot. A greater sergeantry requires the sergeant to serve as a light cavalryman, but due to the expense of maintaining the horse, this sergeant must be granted at least 3 25-acre plots.

Farming Economic Breakdown:
  • 1) The Family and Farm: A farm family with a 25-acre plot produces 150 gp a year in food stuffs. The family consists (on average) of about 3 adults and 2 children.
    2) Feeding the Family: a poor meal costs 1sp per person per day, but a farm family can get it for ½ that price since they make it themselves and there is no transport or middleman cost Children eat about ½ as much as the adults. The adults costs 5cp each per day to feed, and the children cost 5 cp per pair per day to feed, so to feed the family for a year costs 73gp-ish (365 days a year).
    3) Must pay the Rent: The family then spends 50 gp in rent to the master of the manor.
    4) Net Income: This leaves 27 gp per year as “disposable income” for tools, clothes, ale and the like. Many families will supplement this income in various ways, but that is the baseline. Of course, if things go badly in the harvest, the landlord doesn’t often offer rebates. Some families control 2 or more plots, which can leave them quite prosperous, other families only control half a plot, which leaves them wretchedly destitute. You can see that a sergeant’s family has three times the disposable income of other families, but the sergeant must provide his own arms and armor and risks death in his master’s service. The farming is harder on a sergeant’s family too, since one member is gone for 60 days a year.
I've been using this for awhile since I found this idea from somewhere else. Mainly I use this because I prefer my players belong to the landed classes in whatever society they are in. My setting is mostly Celtic in inspiration so the terminology is sometimes different BUT the idea of this is that it allows me to give players a source of income without them just being wandering murder hobo's who find big piles of cash out in some wilderness location. This way the players initial start as people with fairly nice, well made and expensive equipment is explained. They are the equivalent of a landed warrior.
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Dimirag
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Short Ideas

Post by Dimirag »

When "hitting with the flat of the blade":
Fighters choose between the -4 penalty or the 50% damage reduction due to their combat prowess.
Clerics can ignore both penalties when using their bludgeoning weapons, they are trained to not shed blood.

Hit Dice:
Characters start with the max roll possible of their HD (nothing unheard of).
At each level divisible by 2 they get half the above value
At every other level (3, 5, 7, etc) they roll their HD as normal

Recovery:
Characters recover the result of 1HD in HP after a night of sleep, roll 2 dice after a full day of rest
Extra HD for healing can be gained at different levels if the GM wants faster recovery.
Sorry for any misspelling or writing error, I am not a native English speaker
Drawing portfolio: https://www.instagram.com/m.serena_dimirag/
Fastjack2xs
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Re: Misc. Ideas

Post by Fastjack2xs »

I like adding flavor to my games as well, but any time I allow the PCs to have special skills or anything that improves their power level, I make sure that they understand that NPCs will also have access to the same things.
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Dimirag
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Re: Specialized Magic Users

Post by Dimirag »

This idea came yesterday to my mind.

A player can choose his Magic pc to be an Specialist, doing this requires that the GM create at least a Specialization School, a School is comprised of 1 or more Subjects, each one being a central theme unifying spells.

Being a Specialized Magic User confers some benefits:
Start play with one extra spell
Learning cost and times are halved
Spell research time and cost is 3/4 normal, chances are 30% + 10% per level - spell level
At each level gained gains a new spell, if this rule is already used then he gets 2 new spells

Belonging to a School has its drawbacks also:
Can't cast spell outside of his School's Subject nor he can read them
Mus accrue an extra 10% XP (sometimes even more, see below)

Schools and Subjects:
A School is not limited in the numbers of Subjects it can contain, but specialization in such Schools is a demanding thing.

Each Subject a School posses after the first imposes the following modifications:
An extra +10% XP
A 10% increase in time and costs for learning and researching spells
A -10% to spell research chances
Sorry for any misspelling or writing error, I am not a native English speaker
Drawing portfolio: https://www.instagram.com/m.serena_dimirag/
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laDracykei
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Re: Misc. Ideas

Post by laDracykei »

A player of mine wants to play a hunter character. I really like this idea, since incidentally hunting is especially significant to the theme of the setting I've been hacking together for the campaign. I considered importing the ranger class from AD&D for her, but I have no idea how that would affect balance, and after looking over the class descriptions, she said that she could easily just play a hunter as a thief that doesn't care about picking locks or pockets.

To make things more interesting, I brewed up "hunter" as a variant of the thief class:

The skill Remove Traps is generalized into the skill Traps, which in addition to finding and removing traps, may also be used to create and set any trap of the type that would be used by a hunter or other outdoorsman.

The skill Pick Pockets is replaced with Track Quarry, which allows the hunter determine what creatues have recently been present in the vicinity, and to determine which way they have gone. (This is easiest in the case of natural animals, but may also be used to pursue monsters and men.) The skill Listen is refocused to be used to detect the current presence of creatures, especially in the wilderness, but may still be used to listen as the thief would at a penalty of -20 percentage points.

The skill Open Locks is replaced with Snipe, which can be used to perform a sneak attack with a missile weapon (normally not allowed). Such a snipe, if rolled successfully, receives no long-range penalties. The skill may also be used in lieu of an attack roll to make very difficult shots at non-enemy targets (e.g. performing such stunts as splitting another arrow down the shaft or shooting an apple off the head of another) or to disable a specific body part of monster with a called shot.

How does it look in terms of balance? Does anything stand out?
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