Player's Handbook
Character Creation
For character creation, the player rolls 4d6 seven times, noting each and every die roll. The first 6 sets form the basis for the six ability scores; the 7th set is a swap set. 4 of the 6 sets can have one of their dice swapped out with one of the dice from the seventh set. Lastly, drop the lowest die from each of the 6 sets as normal.
Starting money is standardised at 1/3 of the average the character would normally be entitled to. An orphan's upbringing is hardly extravagant.
Classes
Paladin - Special Mount
A paladin's mount can be dismissed as long as they are in range of empathy.
When applied to a standard animal, the paladin's Special Mount modifications increase the base creature's Base Attack Bonus by roughly 33%. However, if the rules are strictly applied, magical beasts do not enjoy the same benefit and in some circumstances can suffer compared to the base creature. For example, a standard stone flyer has 5HD and BAB +5; a paladin's stone flyer has 7HD and BAB +5 (no BAB difference). A standard celestial griffon has 7HD and BAB +7; a paladin's celestial griffon has 9HD and BAB +6 (BAB 1 worse)!
The solution: rather than give a magical beast a BAB equal to a cleric with the same HD, the creature has the BAB of the standard creature with extra cleric BAB based on their bonus HD. Under this rule, a paladin's stone flyer example has BAB +6 and a paladin's celestial griffon has BAB +8.
Skills
Heal
The Heal skill can be used as an immediate action to evaluate a creature's remaining hit points as a percentage of its total, accurate to within 10%. The DC for the skill check varies, based on how similar the creature's anatomy is to that best known by the observer:
- Similar (e.g. a humanoid evaluating another humanoid): 10
- Dissimilar (e.g. a humanoid evaluating a fey, giant or monstrous humanoid): 15
- Foreign (e.g. a humanoid evaluating an animal, beast, dragon or magical beast): 20
- Alien (e.g. a humanoid evaluating an abberation, construct, elemental, ooze, outsider, plant or undead): 25
Five ranks in an appropriate Knowledge skill (Arcana, Dungeoneering, Local, Nature, Religion, The Planes) gives a Skill Synergy bonus of +2 to the skill check.
To work out the figure for a successful check, determine the correct percentage, subtract 10 and add 1d20. For example, a creature with 70 hit points at full health has taken 25 points of damage and has 45 hit points remaining. 45/70 gives an actual percentage of 64%. The DM subtracts 10 (54) and adds 1d20 (15), telling the player that they think the creature has 69% of its total hit points.
Without such a check, an observer is limited to knowing whether a creature has more than half its hitpoints, or less than that. A generous DM may also provide broad descriptions of condition ("it looks fine", "it looks pretty hurt").
Feats
Versatile [General]
You are skilled in a variety of areas normally outside your profession's area of expertise.
Benefit: Select two cross-class skills. These skills are always considered as class skills for you.
Special: This feat may be selected multiple times. Each time, it applies to different skills.
Combat
Multiple Forms of Movement
You can combine different types of movement, so long as the total movement cost does not exceed your movement rate given by the action you take. For example, a character with a base movement rate of 30 feet can use a move action to:
- move 10 feet (cost: 10 feet) and, on a successful Tumble check, tumble 10 feet (cost: 20 feet).
- move 10 feet (cost: 10 feet), drop into a river (a free action) and swim 5 feet (cost: 20 feet).
- climb down 6 feet of rope (cost: 25 feet) and move 5 feet away (cost: 5 feet).
Estimating Range or Distance
A character can estimate ranges or distances of 60 feet or less as a free action to an accuracy within 5 feet. Estimating range or distance greater than that is trickier.
Estimating range or distance beyond 60 feet is an immediate action. The DM makes a special ranged attack roll against AC12 on behalf of the estimator, modified by their Intelligence rather than their Dexterity. The attack is subject to a range penalty as if the estimator were using a projectile weapon with a range increment of 100 feet. Cap the range penalty at 10 full increments: estimating a range of 1000 feet or more has a maximum penalty for these purposes of -20. If the estimator is trying to gauge the distance between two remote points, e.g. between an ally and an opponent, there is an additional -5 penalty and the range penalty is calculated from the distance between points or the distance between the estimator and the most remote point, whichever is greater.
If the attack hits, the estimate is correct, i.e. there is no error. (If the attack roll is a natural 20, the estimate is correct and the estimator receives a +2 circumstance bonus to all ranged attacks against the target for 1 round.) If the attack misses by 1-2, the estimate is off by 5%. If the attack misses by 3-4, the estimate is off by 10%, and so on. (If the attack roll is a natural 1, calculate the error as described, then double it.)
If the estimate has an error, roll 1d(even_number) to determine whether the estimate is lower or higher than the actual figure (e.g. odds is lower, evens is higher). When communicating the estimate, round to the nearest 5 feet.
For example, a human archer with a short bow (range increment 60 feet) wishes to determine whether their target is within range. The actual distance to the target is 650 feet, beyond range. The archer has a base attack bonus of +6 and an Intelligence modifier of +2. The actual range confers a -12 penalty. The DM rolls a 9 on behalf of the archer, for a total attack roll of 5. This misses AC12 by 7, hence the estimate is off by (4 x 5 =) 20%. A 1d6 roll of 3 indicates the estimate is lower than the actual figure. The archer thinks the range is 20% less than 650 feet, i.e. (650 x 0.8 =) 520 feet. Believing the target to be within the short bow’s 600 foot range, the archer takes the shot with no chance of success. The arrow falling short may give the archer cause to think the estimate was wrong.
Spells
Conflicting Spell Versions
In the case of multiple published versions of a spell, we use the most recent 3.5 edition version of the spell. This often works out to be the Spell Compendium version with official errata applied. For example, Recitation and Spiritjaws.
Conjuration Spells
A Conjuration "must arrive in an open location on a surface capable of supporting it." In the case of a rigid object such as a wall, the supporting surface need not be continuous but it must hold the object in a stationary place. For example, a Wall of Iron can be used to span a ravine, or can have one of its ends in mid air (as long as its centre of gravity is supported).
Antimagic Field
The act of spellcasting within an Antimagic Field is considered a spell used within the area, and is therefore suppressed. Any spell thus cast is consumed to nil effect.
Endure Elements
Endure Elements protects the recipient from extremes of temperature, but does not interfere with their ability to sense such. Someone in arctic climate knows it is cold but does not shiver; someone in the desert knows it is hot but does not sweat.
Identify
Identify on a magical teleportation device allows the caster to visualise the destination as well as the item creator knew it, as it was when the item was created.
Tenser's Floating Disc
The force effect created by Tenser's Floating Disc is semi-visible, as if it were made of transparent glass.
Dungeon Master's Guide
Movement Rules
Tactical Aerial Movement
At the end of a flying creature's movement whose manoeuvrability is less than perfect, note the direction of its last 5 feet of movement. On its next turn, any flying movement that deviates from this direction must follow the rules for the creature's class of manoeuvrability (DMG p20). This is to stop creatures with less than perfect manoeuvrability being able to perform aerial manoeuvres that they ordinarily wouldn't be able to do, simply because they are performing them in contiguous turns.
Monster Manual
Earth Glide (Earth Elemental and Stone Flyer ability)
- Any large root system will either slow down or prohibit Earth Gliding. A stone flyer can "push through" small root systems with nil effect, but larger roots will either slow it down (difficult terrain) or stop it.
- An Earth Gliding stone flyer can use either its land speed or its flying speed. If flying, however, it is subject to all the usual rules concerning a flying creature with average manouevrability, e.g. it can only turn 45 degrees per 5 feet of movement and it must maintain half speed or "fall".
- We are currently using Fergus' "deck" analogy for a flying Earth Gliding creature. The "deck" is when the creature's body is in its solid state - what everyone else considers natural. Leaping "off the deck" is when the creature's body becomes permeable, and it can Earth Glide. The creature can launch off the "deck" from a stationary position to fly, but the reverse is not true - it cannot remain motionless while flying to land on the "deck".
- When Earth Gliding, a creature's senses attune to the solid medium, allowing them to function "normally" in solid matter. It can see, hear, smell, feel (and, in the case of a stone flyer, Tremorsense) as well as it can in normal space, including seeing those things that would impede its progress (e.g. metal). However, while so attuned, its senses do not work in normal space (with the exception of Tremorsense for a stone flyer). It senses can be thought to "toggle over" - solid matter becomes as air does to normal creatures, and air becomes as solid matter. The inside of a mountain might look like open space, while a worked corridor within would look like an impenetrably dark box-shaped bar. A vein of precious metal might look like a golden tree structure. If while Earth Gliding the creature's head should penetrate into an open space, it would not see (by light source or darkvision), it would be unable to hear, and its sense of smell would not function. The only sense that would provide any information would be a stone flyer's Tremorsense, until it fully passed through the solid medium and changed state.
How then does a stone flyer determine whether the medium on the other side of the earth/stone is safe to enter? If it cannot "see" that it is about to enter a frozen lake, how does it know not to go there?
Should it be a hazard, in much the same way as teleportation is a hazard to spellcasters?
