Dungeon Master Assistance

Where anyone over 18 can share thoughts and ideas on RPGs.

D&D 3.5 – Do-it-yourself Monster Cards

5 Comments Posted by on June 20, 2012
Dire Rat 3x5 Card
Dire Rat 3×5 Card

Inspired by the D&D Miniatures monster cards, I created a Word .DOC file to use as a template for creating and printing Monster cards to use as a playing aid during combat. It is formatted to print a single 4” x 6” card. You can download the file here: Monster 4×6 card

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D&D 3.5 – Spell Casting Basics

Leave a comment Posted by on June 14, 2012

The rules for using magic in Dungeons and Dragons v3.5 can be confusing to a new player. Below is my attempt to make the magic system rules easer to understand. Note that the rules for Metamagic and Counterspells are simplified in my D&D Lite house rules.

What spells can my character cast and how does he learn them?

Spells come in two types: arcane cast by bards, sorcerers, and wizards and divine cast by clerics, druids, paladins and rangers.

How does my character cast a spell?

You simply tell the DM which spell your character is atempting to cast. If your character meets all of the requirements for casting the spell and it does not fail for some reason, then he has sucessfully cast the spell.

Your character must have and be able to use all of the componunts the spell requires. These are listed in the spell discription. The various types of components are:

  • V (Verbal): A incantation spoken in a strong voice. (Must be able to speek)
  • S (Somatic): A movement of the hand. (Must have one hand free)
  • M (Material): A small physical substance or object that is annihilated by the spell. (Must have the material in your hand)
  • F (Focus): A prop of some sort. (Must have the item of focus in your hand)
  • DF (Divine Focus): A holy symbol (for a cleric or a paladin) or a sprig of mistletoe or some holly (for a druid or a ranger). (Must be presented boldly)
  • XP (XP Cost): Some powerful spells entail an experience point (XP) cost to the character. (Must have the XP to spend without loosing a level)

Unless a cost is given for a material or focus component, the cost is negligible. Assume the character has all components (of negligible cost) needed.

To cast a spell, the character must concentrate. If something interrupts the character’s concentration while the character is casting (such as taking damage from an attack), the character must make a Concentration check or lose the spell. The DC for the saving throw depends on what causes the interruption and the level of spell you are attempting.

How long does it take to cast a spell?

Few spells take more than 1 round to cast. Most only take the time of 1 standard action.

  • For 1 acton spells, you can also make a move action before or after casting the spell.
  • A spell that takes 1 full round to cast comes into effect just before the beginning of your turn in the round after you began casting the spell. You can not also move during this round other than taking a 5 foot step before, during or after casting the spell.

Does wearing armor effect spell casting?

  • Divine spell casters (clerics, druids, paladins and rangers) can wear any armor with no chance of the armor causing their spells to fail.
  • Arcane spell casters (bards, sorcerers, and wizards) have difficulty in casting while wearing armor. Bards can wear light armor without incurring any spell failure chance for their bard spells.

Spell Failure Check: A character who casts an arcane spell while wearing armor must usually make an arcane spell failure roll. The number in the Arcane Spell Failure Chance column on the Armor and Shields Table is the chance that the spell fails and is ruined. It is not necessary to make an armor check when casting a spell without a somatic (hand movement-based) component, such as Feather Fall.
Shields: If a character is wearing armor and using a shield, add the two numbers together to get a single arcane spell failure chance.

What is my spellcaster’s most important ability score?

The ability that governs spell casting ability depends on what type of spellcaster your character is: Intelligence for wizards; Wisdom for clerics, druids, paladins, and rangers; or Charisma for sorcerers and bards.

I call this his “Key” ability.

What is the maximum spell level my character can cast?

Your characters key ability score – 10 is the highest level spell your character is capable of casting.
Example: If your 5th level wizard has an Intelligence score of 12 the highest level spell he can cast is a 2nd level spell (12 – 10 = 2). So even though the Players Handbook says that a 5th level wizard can cast one 3rd level spell each day, your wizard isn’t intelligent enough to be able to cast any 3rd level or higher spells. He can, however, substitute a lower level spell.

Beginning at 4th level and every 4 levels after that you get the opportunity to increase one ability score by one point. Increasing your spellcasters key ability will increase the highest level spell he can cast. The highest level spells are 9th level which will require a key ability score of 19.

What is the Saving Throw?

Most harmful spells allow an affected creature to make a saving throw to avoid some or all of the effect. A saving throw against your spell has a DC of 10 + the level of the spell + your spellcaster’s key ability bonus

What is Spell Resistance?

Spell resistance is the extraordinary ability that some creatures have to avoid being affected by spells. Each spell includes an entry that indicates whether spell resistance applies to the spell. If your character’s spell is being resisted by a creature with spell resistance, the character must make a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) at least equal to the creature’s spell resistance rating for the spell to affect that creature.

What is Metamagic?

Metamagic is a way of changing the nature of a specific spell. Using metamagic, a spell caster can make spells last longer, make them reach farther, make them more difficult to resist, or even make them do more damage. The ability to manipulate metamagic is gained by acquiring metamagic feats.

What are Counterspells?

It is possible to cast any spell as a counterspell. By doing so, the character is using the spell’s energy to disrupt the casting of the same spell by another character. Counterspelling works even if one spell is divine and the other arcane.

How Counterspells Work: To use a counterspell, the character must select an opponent as the target of the counterspell. The character does this by choosing the ready action. In doing so, the character elects to wait to complete his or her action until the character’s opponent tries to cast a spell. (The character may still move at normal speed, since ready is a standard action.)

If the target of the character’s counterspell tries to cast a spell, the character makes a Spellcraft check (DC 15 + the spell’s level). This check is a free action. If the check succeeds, the character correctly identifies the opponent’s spell and can attempt to counter it. (If the check fails, the character can’t do either of these things.)

To complete the action, the character must cast the correct spell. As a general rule, a spell can only counter itself. If the character is able to cast the same spell and has it prepared (if the character prepares spells), the character casts it, altering it slightly to create a counterspell effect. If the target is within range, both spells automatically negate each other with no other results.

Specific Exceptions: Some spells specifically counter each other, especially when they have diametrically opposed effects.

Dispel Magic as a Counterspell: The character can use dispel magic to counterspell another spellcaster, and the character doesn’t need to identify the spell he or she is casting. However, dispel magic doesn’t always work as a counterspell.

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D&D 3.5 – Combat Basics

2 Comments Posted by on June 13, 2012

I have found that the rules for Dungeons and Dragons v3.5 regarding combat are not presented in a way that is easy for a beginner to understand. Below is my attempt to make the combat rules easer to understand.

Each round represents 6 seconds in the game world.

In a round, you can do one of the following things:

  • Attack and move
  • Move and attack
  • Move and move again
  • Perform a full-round action

-You may also perform any number of free actions (within reason) and take a 5 foot step (if you haven’t moved otherwise).

Attack

You can make an attack, cast a spell, or perform an equivalent action – also called a standard action. Some standard actions are: Aid another, Bull rush, Drink a potion, Feint, Overrun and Read a scroll. Refer to Attack Basics below.

Move

A move action lets you move your speed in a round or perform an equivalent action that takes a similar amount of time. Equivalent actions include climbing, drawing or loading a weapon, opening a door, and picking up an item. Refer to Move Basics below.

Full-Round Actions

A full-round action consumes all of your effort in a round. Attacking more than once (if you are of sufficient level to do so), Charge, Load a heavy or repeating crossbow, Light a torch, Run, or Withdraw are all considered full-round actions.

Free Actions

Free actions don’t take any time at all, though there may be limits to the number of free actions you can perform in a turn. Free actions include dropping an Item and speaking.

Five foot step

In any round when you don’t perform any other kind of movement, you can take a 5-foot step before, during, or after your other actions in the round.

—-Move Basics—-

Speed

Your speed tells you how far you can move in a round and still do something, such as attack or cast a spell.

Humans, Elves, Half-elves, and Half-orcs

Speed wearing no armor or light armor: 30 ft. (6 spaces)
Speed wearing medium or heavy armor: 20 ft.(4 spaces)

Gnomes and Halflings

Speed wearing no armor or light armor: 20 ft. (4 spaces)
Speed wearing medium or heavy armor: 15 ft. (3 spaces)

Dwarves

Speed: 20 ft. (4 spaces)
(Dwarves have no speed penalty for wearing armor.)

Moving

Tactical Movement
We use a battle grid to help keep track of where everybody is during combat. It is divided into 1 inch squares. One space on the grid represents 5 feet. Your character can move up to his speed rating in spaces (20 feet = 4 spaces) each round. Count every second square moved diagonally as 2 spaces. He may move through, but not stop in, a space occupied by a friend. Either before or after moving he may also attempt one standard action, usually an attack.
Double Move
If your character doesn’t do anything else in this round, he can move up to twice his speed. He is assumed to be on alert for potential threats, dodging arrows, avoiding blows from hand held weapons, and the like.
Charge
He can move up to twice his speed in a straight line up to an opponent and attack him. You get to add a +2 bonus to your attack roll because of the charge. This will be all that your character can do in this round so it is called a “full round action”.
Run
If your character doesn’t do anything else in this round, he can move up to 4 x his normal speed (or 3 x if wearing heavy armor). He is moving as fast as he can so he is not taking the time to avoid being hit from attacks the way he is if you just take a double move. Because of this, he looses his dexterity bonus (if any) to his armor class for the entire round.
Other Move Actions
There are rules for other forms of movement during a fight such as moving while balancing, moving silently, moving while attempting to hide, tumbling, climbing, swimming or crawling. Your character normally can’t use his full speed while moving in any of these ways and there may be other penalties as well.

—-Attack Basics—-

Making an Attack Roll:

Roll 1d20 and add the bonus listed for the weapon your character is using. If the result is equal to or greater than his opponent’s armor class, he hits. Then you can roll damage.

Making a Damage Roll:

Roll the type of die indicated for the weapon used and add its bonus (if any). Damage reduces your opponent’s hit points.

Critical Hits:

If you make your attack roll and it comes up 20 before any bonuses are added, this is called a “natural” 20. A natural 20 is always a hit. In most cases it is also a potentially critical hit. You then roll a second time and if the results of the second roll is also a hit then it is a critical hit. You then roll the damage twice. Whenever a you roll a natural 20 to hit and a natural 20 to confirm the critical, the resultant hit does maximum critical damage.

Some weapons will threaten critical damage on a natural 18 or 19. And with some weapons a critical hit may do 3 or 4 times normal damage.

Full Attack

Attacking more than once (if you are of sufficient level to do so) consumes all of your effort in a round. You must make the attacks in order from highest bonus to lowest. You can take no move actions or other actions this round except for free actions (such as speaking) and taking a 5 foot step. You can take a 5 foot step at any point during your round – before, during or after your attacks. All of the attacks don’t have to be against a single opponent. Melee attacks can be against anyone within reach or who comes within reach as a result of your 5 foot step.

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D&D – Stowage capacity – Mundane Items

2 Comments Posted by on June 12, 2012


Dry Goods

Item for (Size) creature Cost Empty Weight (lbs) Holds (cubic feet) Holds (pounds) Holds (gallons) Holds (coins) Holds (longest rod) Inside Dimensions
Backpack (M) 2 gp 1/2 1 60 – 3,000 1′-8″ 12″x10″x14″
Backpack (S) 2 gp 1/2 1/4 15 – 750 1′-2″ 6″x6″x12″
Barrel 2 gp 30 10 650 75 32,500 3′-10″ 2 ft.Dia x 3′-4″ Tall
Basket 4 sp 1 1 20 – 1,000 1′-6″ 14″ Dia x 1 ft. Tall
Bucket 5 sp 2 1 65 7 3,250 1′-6″ 14″ Dia x 1 ft. Tall
Chest 2 gp 25 2 200 – 10,000 2′-3″ 18″x16″x12″
Coffer 1 gp 1/2 1/32 7 – 350 8″ 5″x7″x1.5″
Pouch, Belt (M) 1 gp 1/2 1/5 10 – 500 1′-0″ 7″x6″x8″
Pouch, Belt (S) 1 gp 1/8 1/20 2.5 – 125 6″ 4″x3″x3″
Pouch, Spell Component (M) 5 gp 1/4 1/8 2 – 100 7″ (4) 6″x3″x3″
Pouch, Spell Component (S) 5 gp 1/16 1/32 0.5 – 25 4″ (4) 3″x2″x1.5″
Sack (M) 1 sp 1/2 1 60 – 3,000 1′-9″ 12″x12″x12″
Sack (S) 1 sp 1/16 1/4 15 – 750 1′-2″ 8″x8″x8″
Saddlebags 4 gp 8 5 250 – 12,500 2′-4″ (2) 18″x12″x18″

The “longest rod” listing represents the length of a rod, staff, wand, arrow, sword, or other similar item that can be placed in an empty container and still be able to fully close it.

Liquids

Item Cost Empty Weight Holds or Carries
Bottle, wine, glass 2 gp — 1 1/2 pints / .5 lb.
Flask 3 cp — 1 pint / 1 lb.
Jug, clay 3 cp 1 lb. 1 gallon / 8 lb.
Mug / tankard, clay 2 cp — 1 pint / 1 lb.
Pitcher, clay 2 cp 1 lb. 1/2 gallon / 4 lb.
Pot, iron 5 sp 2 lb. 1 gallon / 8 lb.
Vial, ink or potion 1 gp — 1 ounce / —
Waterskin (M) 1 gp — 1/2 gallon / 4 lb.
Waterskin (S) 1 gp — 1 pint / 1 lb.


Hauling Vehicles

Item Cost Empty Weight Holds or Carries Failure DC*
Cart 15 gp 200 lb. 1/2 ton 2 per 100 lbs.
Sled 20 gp 300 lb. 1 ton 2 per 200 lbs.
Wagon 35 gp 400 lb. 2 tons 2 per 400 lbs.

Failure DC explanation-
A vehicle has a chance of failing (breaking) if it is over loaded. The carrying weights listed are the maximum they can carry without breaking. They can be loaded up to half the listed weight without making a saving throw. If a saving throw is required the DC for the save is as indicated.
Example: A Cart can be loaded with up to 500 lbs. (half of the maximum) without having to make a save. If it is loaded with 750 lbs. a save against a DC 14 is required. [All carried weights are rounded down. 750 lbs rounds down to 700. (2 per 100 lbs) results in 2 x 7 for a DC of 14.] If the player rolls anything less than 14 on his 20 sided die, the cart fails.

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D&D – Stowage capacity – Magic Items

2 Comments Posted by on June 11, 2012

Bag of Holding

As a house rule, a bag of holding weighs 1/2 pound, regardless of type or contents and appears, from the outside, to be about half full of something light-weight such as dried leaves.

If the bag is overloaded, or if sharp objects pierce it (from inside or outside), the bag ruptures and is ruined. All contents are lost forever. If a bag of holding is turned inside out, its contents spill out, unharmed, but the bag must be put right before it can be used again. If living creatures are placed within the bag, they can survive for up to 10 minutes, after which time they suffocate. Retrieving a specific item from a bag of holding is a move-equivalent action, unless the bag contains more than an ordinary backpack would hold, in which case retrieving a specific item is a full-round action.

Bag Type Longest Rod Water Weight Limit Volume Coins Market Price
Type I 5 ft 30 gallons 250 lb. 30 cu. ft. 12,500 2,500 gp
Tye II 8 ft. 60 gallons 500 lb. 70 cu. ft. 25,000 5,000 gp
Type III 10 ft. 120 gallons 1,000 lb. 150 cu. ft. 50,000 7,400 gp
Type IV 12 ft. 180 gallons 1,500 lb. 250 cu. ft. 75,000 10,000 gp

Handy Haversack

It has two side pouches, each of which appears large enough to hold about a quart of material. In fact, each is like a bag of holding and can actually hold material of as much as 2 cubic feet in volume or 20 pounds in weight. The large central portion of the pack can contain up to 8 cubic feet or 80 pounds of material.

Location Longest Rod Water Capacity Weight Limit Volume Coins
Side Pouch 1.5 ft. 2 gallons 20 lb. 2 cu. ft. 1,000
Central portion 3 ft. 9 gallons 80 lb. 8 cu.ft. 4,000

Portable Hole

From the portable hole description on page 264 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide:

When opened fully, a portable hole is 6 feet in diameter, but it can be folded up to be as small as a pocket handkerchief. When spread upon any surface, it causes an extradimensional space 10 feet deep to come into being. This hole can be picked up from inside or out by simply taking hold of the edges of the cloth and folding it up. Either way, the entrance disappears, but anything inside the hole remains.
The only air in the hole is that which enters when the hole is opened. It contains enough air to supply one Medium creature or two Small creatures for 10 minutes. (See Suffocation, page 304.)

As described in the excerpt, the space inside a portable hole is a cylinder 6 feet wide and 10 feet deep, which contains about 280 cubic feet of space. That’s enough to hold about 100,000 standard coins or 2,100 gallons of water.

NOTE:

I would house rule that placing any item that contained a non-dimensional or extra-dimensional space into another one have a 60% chance to spill out into the astral plane. An exception to this would be rope trick, or any other magical space created for the purpose of providing refuge or shelter to PCs.

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D&D – Gems

44 Comments Posted by on June 10, 2012

Here is some information regarding D&D gems. I started with the official D&D information and expanded on it. I use this information in my games.

Gems1

Standard gems carried by adventurers are 1/4″ in diameter. They are carried in small leather or cloth bags tied securely with a string or leather strap. Unless your character is carrying an extremely large number of gems, their weight is insignificant and you do not have to keep track of it. The information listed here is provided for those rare occasions when your character may need to  carry an exceptionally large gem or a very large number of gems.

In the real world, gem sizes do not determine weight. The density of gems varies from very light stones like opal to especially heavy stones like sphalerite or zircon. To keep it simple for D&D I am keeping the weight of all gems the same and only vary the value depending on gemstone type and size. The price per carat does not increase smoothly with increasing size. (One 4 carat gem is more valuable than four 1 carat gems.) To allow for larger stones in my game they don’t increase quite as fast as they do in the real world. I justify this by saying that larger stones are not as rare in my world.

Note regarding uncut gems.
When a piece is uncut it is called “rough”. The process of cutting and polishing it results in size and weight loss. In order to overcome the weight loss in addition to the cost of cutting, a cut gemstone is more valuable than rough. The yield from even well-shaped rough material is typically only about 25%.
To make it easy, figure a rough gem is the same value as shown below but it is at least 4 times as heavy and its size is at least 1.25 larger than indicated. It is also irregular in shape and not as “pretty”.

All gems listed here are round faceted and have the same depth as their diameter making them roughly spherical (think 20 sided dice).

Size Weight Value Number of gems this size that will fit in one cubic foot of space
6″ Dia. (size of small human skull) 31,000 carats 14 lbs. Base value x 50,000 8
3″ Dia.(large fist size) 4,856 carats 2 lbs. Base value x 5,000 64
2″ Dia. (que ball size) 1,133 carats 1/2 lb. Base value x 1,000 216
1″ Dia. (Very Large – fits snugly into an empty eye-socket) 145 carats 0.064 lbs. (16 = 1 lb.) Base value x 100 1,728
1/2″ Dia. (Large – marble size) 18 carats 0.008 lbs (125 = 1 lb.) Base value x 10 13,824
1/4″ Dia. (Medium – standard size) 2 carats 0.001 lbs.(1,000 = 1 lb.) base value 110,592
1/8″ Dia. (Small) 0.3 carats 0.000125 lbs. (8,000 = 1 lb.) base value / 10 884,736

All gems weigh 110 lbs. per cubic foot (should you be so fortunate as to need to know this).

Gem Base Value
agateagate (banded, eye, or moss ) 10 gp
azuriteazurite
quartz - bluequartz (blue)
hematitehematite
lapis lazulilapis lazuli
malachitemalachite
obsidianobsidian
rhodochrositerhodochrosite
tiger eyetiger eye
turquoiseturquoise
pearl freshwaterfreshwater (irregular) pearl
bloodstonebloodstone 50 gp
carneliancarnelian
chalcedonychalcedony
chrysoprasechrysoprase
citrinecitrine
ioliteiolite
jasperjasper
moonstonemoonstone
onyxonyx
peridotperidot
rock crystalrock crystal (clear quartz)
sardsard
sardonyxsardonyx
quartz rosequartz (rose, smoky, or star rose)
zirconzircon
amberamber 100 gp
amethystamethyst
chrysoberylchrysoberyl
coralcoral
garnet redgarnet (red or brown-green )
jadejade
pearlpearl (white, golden, pink, or silver )
spinel redspinel (red, red-brown or deep green)
tourmalinetourmaline
alexandritealexandrite 500 gp
aquamarineaquamarine
garnet violetgarnet (violet )
pearl blackpearl (black)
spinel deep bluespinel (deep blue)
topaz golden yellowtopaz (golden yellow )
emeraldemerald 1,000 gp
opalopal (white, black, or fire )
sapphire bluesapphire (blue)
corundumcorundum (fiery yellow or rich purple)
sapphire black starsapphire (blue or black star )
ruby starruby (star)
emerald bright greenemerald (clearest bright green) 5,000 gp
diamond blue-whitediamond (blue-white, canary, pink, brown, or blue)
diamond blue-whiteruby (clear red)
jacinthjacinth

Here is very nice Gemstone Generator that gives you a random selection of gems based on the starting GP value selected. This is good for those times that the characters find a bag of gems:
http://www.pbegames.com/gemstone/

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D&D – Coins

7 Comments Posted by on June 9, 2012

Here is some information regarding D&D coins. I started with the official D&D information and expanded on it. I use this information in my games.


10 Copper pieces (cp) = 1 Silver piece
10 Silver pieces (sp) = 1 Gold piece
2 Electrun pieces (ep) = 1 Gold piece
10 Gold pieces (gp) = 1 Platinum piece (pp)
All coins are the same size and the same weight regardless of the type.

1 Coin

  • 1 1/4″ Dia.
  • 1/10″ Thk.
  • 1/3 oz. (50 to a pound)

10 Coins

  • 1 foot long when placed in a line
  • 1″ tall when stacked

50 Coins

  • 1 pound

100 Coins

  • 1 square foot when placed in a 10 coins long x 10 coins wide grid

120 Coins

  • 1 foot tall when stacked

12,000 Coins

  • 1 cubic foot stacked 10 coins long x 10 coins wide x 120 coins tall
  • weighs 240 pounds

Trade Bars

  • Size: about 5″ x 2″ x 1/2″
  • Weight:
    • Silver 2 lb
    • Gold 5 lb
  • Value:
    • Silver 10 gp
    • Gold 250 gp
  • 288 bars per cubic foot
Dragon Bed of Coins
Dragon Size Minimum Number of Coins
S 12,000
M 12,000
L 50,000
G 100,000
Piles of coins (cone shaped)
Diameter Light Pile Heavy Pile
Hight in center Number of Coins Hight in center Number of Coins
5 ft 1″ 5,000 3″ 18,000
10 ft 3″ 40,000 6″ 156,000
15 ft 4″ 135,000 9″ 528,000
20 ft 5″ 320,000 1 ft 1,260,000

Less that 100 coins per square foot is a scattering of coins.
From 100 coins per square foot to a light pile is a covering of coins.
A pile can range anywhere between a light and a heavy pile.
Adding more coins to a heavy pile increases it’s height and diameter.
In an enclosed area, if there are enough coins they will spread out over the the floor to the walls and fill the available area to 12,000 coins per cubic foot.

//

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D&D 3.5 – Dungeons and Dragons – Lite

5 Comments Posted by on June 8, 2012
D&D Lite Cover

Cover page for D&D Lite

The following is a document of House Rules. In this document are alternatives to the normal Dungeons & Dragons v3.5 d20 rules.

I have been playing Dungeons and Dragons since it came out in the late 1970’s. I eagerly awaited each new release of the game and embraced all of the new rules. With each new release it got better. When 3.0 was released I saw it as a re-visioning of the original game with more logical and consistent rules. It was soon followed by 3.5 which corrected some of 3.0s failings. I had great expectations for the 4.0 release, but I was greatly disappointed. Instead of streamlining and simplifying the rules, it was a whole new game. I’m not saying that it is a bad game, it simply isn’t one that I choose to play. Others felt the way that I do and other companies have tried to “fix” D&D v3.5. The Pathfinder RPG is an attempt to improve on 3.5. While Pathfinder is an improvement over 3.5 they didn’t go far enough, in my opinion, to simplify the 3.5 rules. There are also some rules-light game systems based on the d20 SRD v3.5 such as Basic Fantasy and others but after reviewing them  I found most of them to be too light on the rules for my taste.  So, instead of throwing it all out and starting over, I decided to simply make the changes that I felt v3.5 needed to make it easier and faster to play.

Overview

This is a set of “House Rules” designed to meet the following criteria:

1. Character creation and promotion should be simple, fast and easy.

2. The rule set should be fully compatible with other v3.5 stuff (adventures, sourcebooks, etc).

3. Complicated rules should be simplified to the point where you can play 90% of the time without having to look up a rule.

The intention is to simplify and speed up play, bringing back a lot the feel of the original D&D game while preserving most of the enhancements that the d20 game provides.

To accomplish this we will use the Players Handbook v3.5 (abbreviated here as PHB), with some modifications. The major changes are:

No Multiclass characters. You will be playing iconic D&D characters. These are the 11 core classes, without regard to race or sex, with each class being the “typical” stereotype character for that class.

No Feats. Each character class has its own set of special abilities; additional abilities are added as the character advances in level.

No selection and distribution of Skill Points. You get a set of core skills by class. These increase as you increase in level.

No Proficiencies. You can use the weapons and armor you start with and can quickly learn to use others in-campaign.

No Alignment. Or, more accurately, there are no alignment related game rules and effects. Character alignment is optional.  We will substitute “Unholy” for “Evil” in most Clerical spells and effects.

No separate rules for Bull rush, Disarm, Overrun, Sunder or Trip. These are replaced with one simple “heroic actions” mechanic.

No Attacks of Opportunity. Characters are required to make an ability check (a “heroic action”) to attempt to pass through a threatened square, or perform non-attack actions within a threatened square. This eliminates the need for Attacks of Opportunity.

Rules for Grapple, Turn Undead, nonlethal damage and Counterspells have all been simplified.

This document is not intended to replace the PHB, but to supplement it. Many of the rules from the PHB have been repeated here for convince. Wherever something is mentioned for which I haven’t provided adequate information (Darkvision for instance) refer to the PHB.

You can download a free copy of this PDF file here: Dungeon-n-Dragon-Lite

The above file contains a Character Record Sheet, but here it is as a seperate PDF file: Character Sheet

Here are some Fast-Play Character Sheets.

Hare is an Animal Companion / Familiar Character Sheet.

Corrections and changes are  posted in this addendum.

As always, I would greatly appreciate any comments or suggestions.

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D&D 3.5 – Time Travel

5 Comments Posted by on June 7, 2012

Optional rules for D&D v3.5

Several attempts have been made to travel in time in D&D with more or less success. In a fantasy world where magic is real one would think time travel should be possible. The problem is how do you handle time travel in terms of the game.

 Problems to Overcome

1. The time paradox problem.

What happens if you kill one of your ancestors? You would cease to exist thus undoing your murder which would bring you back into existence where you would travel back in time to kill your ancestor, etc. A paradox.

2. The interacting with your future self problem.

What if you meet your future self and touch? Some writers say there would be an explosion.  Perhaps ending the universe..

3. The changing history problem.

Can you change history? One line of thinking says that you can’t change history, any attempt to do so will be foiled. Another opinion is that the moment you change history, a new branch of history is created. Every moment spawns multiple alternant future time lines, depending on the actions taken.

Solving the problems

In keeping with the principle that the D&D game should first be fun, and second should not unnecessarily limit what a player character can do, I propose the following time traveling rules.

1. There will never be a time paradox.

When you travel in time you can do anything you want and it will never cause a time paradox. This doesn’t mean that time travel is without risks, but you don’t have to work about accidentally killing your grandfather. I’ll explain later.

2. You will never meet your past or future self.

This is simple not possible. If you travel to a time where you have already been, you will occupy the body you had then. If you travel to a time you have never been before, past or future, your body disappears from where it is now and re-appears there.

3. Of course you can changing history.

What fun would it be to time travel if you couldn’t change things?

You can download a free copy of my time travel rules here: Time Travel

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D&D 3.5 – Optional Chase Rules

5 Comments Posted by on June 6, 2012

Optional rules for D&D v3.5

 Why do we need more rules? What is wrong with just using the rules as printed?

Problems with using standard Dungeons and Dragons rules for a chase:

1)     The move rules are written for use in combat, and are excellent for that, but chases are resolved as if they were races. As anyone knows who has ever watched an action movie with an exciting chase scene, a chase is not a race. Being quick, clever and daring (along with a good portion of luck) can result in a slower person getting away form a faster pursuer, or a slower pursuer catching someone faster.

2)    On page 20 of the DMG “Evasion and Pursuit” says in round-by-round movement it is imposable for a slower character to catch a faster character. If they have the same speed, let them make an opposed Dexterity check to see who wins. And for long chases, have everybody make Dexterity checks to see who can keep up the pace the longest. This is workable but it replaces what could be an exciting chase into a single role of the dice. If combat was handled like this, everyone would roil one d20, add any ability or circumstance modifiers, and the fight would be over.  This would “work” but wouldn’t be much fun.

3)    Each character moves during his or her turn during a combat round. Even though this works just fine for combat, for a chase it can result in awkward situations. For example, your character could be chasing another with the same speed, each round on your turn you would move up close to him and then on his turn your opponent would pull away from you. If you are chasing someone and you are both running at the same speed, shouldn’t you stay the same distance apart for the whole round?

4)    Actions and moves are handled separately. There are very few actions that can be performed while moving. As we all know, during a chase, you don’t normally stop to do other things. Practically everything you do is done while you are running.

What these new rules attempt to do:

Only one thing. Make chases fun! To do this:

1)     It must be simple. The new rules are kept to a minimum.

2)    It must still be D&D.  A chase is basically a special combat situation. All standard combat rules still function normally during a chase except where specifically noted otherwise. Most importantly, your character isn’t limited to what he can attempt to do.

3)    It must work for any number of characters chasing any number of other characters. The PCs can be chasing others or be chased by others and each PC determines his own actions.

4)    It must work equally well for characters on foot, mounted, fling or driving a vehicle. Everyone on a vehicle is involved in the chase, but there will typically only be one character driving or controlling the vehicle. The mode of travel can even change during the chase. For example, someone might jump onto or off or his horse, or he might swim across a lake or climb a wall.

5)    There must be a way for the slower person to win. The distance you move each round can’t be just a static distance based on your characters speed rate. There will be a roil of a 20 sided die that each character involved in the chase makes that will modify his distance traveled. And it will be adjusted by various factors such as terrain, obstacles, abilities and actions taken during the round.

Download a free copy of these chase rules here: Chase Rules

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