Dungeons and Dragons, and the 'Stealth Kill'.

I recently stumbled on a post on reddit where someone was complaining about how difficult (or indeed, impossible) it is, in 3.X, to stealth-kill a character. As written the only way to do this is with levels in the prestige class Assassin.

Once a couple of hit-dice are involved, even a Rogue will struggle to do enough damage (9th level Rogue does ~6d6 damage on a Sneak Attack vs the 9d10 and change hit-points of an equivalent level NPC Warrior)

This is a much smaller issue, under the Wound Point system I use, but given my love of games like Shadowrun - why shouldn't I consider this problem... So I propose the following.

"A character who wishes to sneak behind an unaware victim - with the intent of dropping them during the surprise round - makes a Stealth check against the victim's passive Perception DC. A success allows the skulker to score an automatic critical threat - an attack roll is still made to confirm it, noting that the victim is helpless. Failure indicates that the victim has become aware and turns to face their would be murderer - roll for initiative."

The Assassin, from the 3.5e DMG

This is similar to the mechanic for a Coup De Grace, however as written a coup de grace attack must be a full round action, while the surprise round lasts only long enough for a standard action at most.

Under my house rules, against plot-bearing NPCs this has the potential to be disruptive - as 20 damage is enough to deplete near-any humanoid's Wound Points. But frankly, if the Mundane Badass of the party sneaks up behind the Big Bad to drop him in one - and fail for no other reason than hitpoint inflation; when the Wizard has an inventory of Save Or Lose spells that would be little worse... They're going to feel cheated.

Under the RAW 3.X rules, the Rogue would still only be looking at (with +1 Flaming Shortsword) 8d6 against 9d10. The Warrior would survive more than half the time. As a Coup De Grace, 8d6 yields an average Fort vs Death DC of 38. A level 9 Warrior has a Base Fort of +6, we'll assume a Con of 16 for +9 total, a 90% chance of death - which compares too favourably against the Wizard's best DC of 15+Int - which is why I would not allow a full Coup De Grace.

This probably doesn't lie too far from what is desired of the system. The main issue does seem to be that Perception becomes an even bigger Godstat in Pathfinder. Request for comments guys!

Shadowrun, StrikeTeam: Operation Hazzard Heist

We join in the middle of a campaign that has been running since the new year. The players are members of a LoneStar special detail designed to pro-actively deal with hardened criminals using the lawlessness of The Barrens to cover their activities and escape the law - i.e. Shadowrunners.

The group currently consists of:

Wires - Human, Skillwire user and team-leader.

Garlak - Ork, Former SWAT marksman.

Placido - Troll, and former Special Response Team grunt.

Miroslav - Human, Corporate Mage and Corporate Intelligence operative.

While visiting a seedy bathhouse in Touristville a British diplomat, and member of the Opposition Party was drugged and kidnapped by three men, who the team suspect to be members of a British special forces or paramilitary group, before ditching their cars in The Barrens.

The group's patron, Mr Johnson from the Corporate Arm of LoneStar, wanted the team to unmask the killers - so he can use the information to blackmail or trade stock with the UK government to secure security contracts - and thus improve his value to Corporate.

To this end he offered the team a 100 thousand nuyen 'gift' were they to take a paid vacation to the Federal District of Columbia and break in to the British Embassy - using their satellite link to access British government databases and search them for the assassins' biometrics taken from the vehicles they abandoned in Seattle.

Plan B was the first to be determined. Narcojet tranquiliser pistols and less-lethal Gel rounds were easy to secure but Neurostun Grenades were unavailable in this unfamiliar city. They also quickly ruled out E-Mags as they were too obvious when used and risked sparking an alarm needlessly.

The team hired a Decker, and native to FDC to hack in to the building's security from its exposed junction with the Local Telecomms Grid and snatch the embassy's security-card database. Using this fabricating any security card ex-recto would be trivial.

The next three days were spent studying the building and its workers. The grounds themselves were warded against magic crossing, yes, but the building itself - if a spell were cast from within the grounds - would appear to offer no resistance. The exterior doors were unguarded, protected only by maglocks - which they already knew they could circumvent. The plan, it seemed, would be simple...

Magical Languages (and Hedge Magic)... D&D Houserules

The languages of Outsiders, Elementals and other natural forces contain a portion of their magic. Anyone with the knowledge of that tongue may use that magic.

When using this system it is recommended that characters, in general, have fewer 'free' languages: a single bonus language for having an intelligence score above a certain threshold. To balance, all mundane languages also include basic knowledge of courtesy to grant a +2 bonus on Diplomacy checks with members of that culture.

Abyssal - (Blasphemy) Uttering Abyssal anywhere not inherently evil causes a palpable sense of dread: All non-evil creatures who hear the words, and those within 30ft (including deaf creatures) must make a Will save or be Shaken until the speaker's next turn. The DC is equal to 10 + Charisma Modifier. A creature that passes its save is immune to further use by the same speaker for 24 hours.

Aquan - (Knowledge) A character may take a minute to tell one liquid from another by listening to it carefully with a DC15 Wisdom check. This will allow them to detect water borne contagion or poison - although a Knowledge check is still required to identify which contagion or poison specifically. They may also coerce any open body of water (such as a puddle) in to displaying any scene reflected in its pool with a DC15 Charisma check.

Auran - (Buoyancy) The character may spend a Swift Action to add their Charisma modifier to Jump checks until the start of their next turn.

Celestial - (Blessing) As a Swift Action the Celestial may be used to rally the spirits of those who hear it, providing non-evil creatures a reflexive save against any ongoing Fear effects. Any Undead who hear it (and mindless or deaf undead within 30ft) must make a Will save vs DC10 plus Charisma Modifier or be Shaken until the end of the speaker's next turn. This is not a Mind Affecting effect and mindless undead fail automatically.

Draconic - (Arcane Tongue) Any Arcane spell with Verbal Components has its Spell Save DC increased by 1. The character may choose to add Verbal components to any spell that does not normally have them to benefit from this. This also provides the +2 bonus on social skills that a Mundane language would when dealing with Draconic creatures.

Ignan - (Pyrophilia) The character may create fire or light without tinder. They may use Light as an at-will Spell Like Ability (caster level 1) and can spend a Swift Action to ignite any flammable mixture (such as gunpowder) within 100ft by speaking Ignan, granting the object a Will save against DC10 + Charisma Modifier (noting that an unattended item will automatically fail).

Most alchemical preparations are sealed against the air and will not usually ignite when properly stored.

Infernal - (Pact) Any agreement, deal or contract made in Infernal, orally or written, will bind those who made it to the letter of the agreement per a Geas spell (no save is allowed). The caster level of the spell is the highest character level of those party to the agreement. An agreement is defined as one in which both parties enter into knowingly, i.e. they cannot be 'tricked' into agreeing unintentionally, but that agreement may be based on information that is out of date or wrong.

As an example, making an agreement to have someone brought back to life without realising that individual betrayed or planned to betray them.

By petition a deal may be brought for arbitration before a court of 12 sitting Fiendish judges elected by the machinations of infernal politics. As would be expected the court will swiftly hear the facts of the case before ruling in favour of hell's (and its denizens) interests - having little reason beyond procedure to care for mortal pleas - but under exceptional circumstances they may be persuaded by bribery or blackmail.

Sylvan - (Commune) A character may use their knowledge of Sylvan to converse with an animal. The ability to communicate with the animal is not automatic and requires a Handle Animal check against DC15 to understand the animal and make oneself understood. You may also use Handle Animal with a non-intelligent creature in the same way one would use Diplomacy with an intelligent creature.

Terran - (Till) As a Swift Action the character may cause earth and rock to twist and shape - for each point of Charisma Modifier (minimum 1) a single 5ft space within 100ft becomes Difficult Terrain until that character's next turn. When using this power the character also applies their Charisma Modifier as a bonus to CMB and CMD when making and resisting Trip attempts.

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Edit (30th March 2013): Changed Save DCs to be in-line for a Cantrip. DC10+Cha mod. Abyssal now affects non-evil only, Celestial grants reflexive saves to non-evil only.

Edit (30th March 2013 @ 1800GMT): Rewrote Auran to affect Jump rolls only, but no longer require a Charisma check. Rewrote Terran to provide a bonus to resist Trip manoeuvres and changed the duration to start of the character's next turn, not end of.

Edit (31st March 2013 @ 0330GMT): Rewrote Terran to provide Armour Resistance and remove the Attribute Check. Slightly concerned it might still be the no-brainer of the set to cause sheenanigans when interacting with Class Defence rules however.

Edit (31st March 2013 @ 0400GMT): Rewrote Terran again, changed the power dramatically.

Full (D&D) Firearms Rules

In an earlier post I mentioned that Firearms deserved a post of their own...

Rather than go the normal route for firearms in D&D and try to make their damage more 'realistic' (ignoring how much/little damage an arming sword already does in the game) I concentrated on making them balanced relative to the weapons already in the game. They offer slightly improved raw damage over a Crossbow at the cost of DPS, but do not 'break' the game, or its feel, as their damage is still comparable to existing weapons. 

Unless otherwise noted, all the below are muzzle loaded firearms. A character who is proficient with it may reload a firearm with a paper cartridge using a full-round action. Rapid Reload may not be used with a firearm.

Simple One-Handed Ranged Weapons
Pistol, 100gp, 3lb
Damage: d4+1 piercing, Critical on 19-20, Range Increment 30ft

Dragon, 150gp, 3lb
Damage 2d4 piercing Reflex Half (see text*), Critical -, 15ft Cone
 * No roll is made to hit targets in its cone of effect; instead its victims receive a Reflex save for half damage against DC10 + Operator's attack bonus.

Simple Two-Handed Ranged Weapons
Arquebus, 150gp, 6lb
Damage d10+1 piercing, Critical on 19-20, Range Increment 120ft

Blunderbuss, 200gp, 6lb
Damage 2d6 piercing Reflex Half (see text*), Critical -, 30ft Cone
 * No roll is made to hit targets in its cone of effect; instead its victims receive a Reflex save for half damage against DC10 + Operator's attack bonus.

Ammunition & Accessories
Powder & Shot/Bullets (10) costs 1 gold and weighs 1lb.
Powder may also be burned or used as tinder. If somehow ignited every stack of 10 charges does d3 (reflex half) fire damage and a single charge does 1 fire damage.

Bayonet, 2 gold, 1lb
This weapon must be affixed to an Arquebus as a move-equivelant action (which may be combined with a move action). When it is in place the Arquebus cannot fire but uses the full stats for a Spear (including 'Defensive'). Removing the bayonet takes just as long as attaching it.

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Edit (28th March): Reduced reloading time down a full-round action. Expanded the entry for ammunition.

Belphegor's Quest, Prologue

A couple of newbies to tabletop cornered me to GM for a couple of hours on the promise that, were this to become a full campaign, they would secure a third player for future sessions. The characters were premade by me (for expedience) and names have not been settled for the characters yet as it's been of little importance to the story so far...

The occultist human priest and the elven wayfaring mage reached the varangian settlement on the edge of frozen Jotenheim. The cleric was seeking a haugr deep in the tundra and for pay as guide the wizard had promised his good relations with the Jarl and the use of the settlement as a stop-over to replenish supplies and rest for the final leg of their long journey.

All in the village were dead, huddled deep within the meeting hall and watched by the corpses of their militia.

Following the tracks they came across a dark cave. The wizard crept in, slowly, finding goblins within. A plan was hatched to set a fire at the mouth of the cave and bring silent vengeance to the goblins for the sacking of the village.

Looking through the remains of the Goblin's hovel in search of the provisions they desperately needed they found no dead Goblins - they had passed through a fake wall in the cave into a man made passage.

Avoiding the goblin traps they passed through a rotten, abandoned, cellar and up stairs to a wooden door - separating them from the scared Goblin voices they hear waiting within.

First post.

During the period where we had no internet for a week I introduced some of my flatmates to tabletop Roleplaying Games and 'broke' a new generation of players by doing so with Old School (third edition) Shadowrun. :)

It's always fascinated me that making a newbies first taste of the game be Shadowrun alters their perceptions of RPGs so much - later, when running the first session of a Pathfinder/D&D campaign their initial plan, upon finding a goblin-infested cave, was to aspyxiate the goblins with a fire at the cave's mouth... Compare this to my normal game group who have been playing Dungeons and Dragons for years before I ever met them, and  near a decade since. It has taken years to get them to 'think' in the game space Shadowrun runs in: killing everyone stealthily.

Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to use this blog to host a couple of campaign diaries for my two games:
Shadowrun, StrikeTeam (Shadowrun, 3e)
Belphegor's Quest (Paizo Pathfinder with alternate damage/combat system*)

 * Belphegor's Quest uses the following houserules, listed here to provide context:

• In addition to Armour Class, armour grants 'Armour Resistance' equal to 1/2 its AC bonus, rounded down (minimum 1). Armour Resistance reduces physical damage, as though it was Damage Reduction, except it stacks with Damage Reduction (but not itself).
• Druids and Clerics each receive Light Armour Proficiency only.
• When not wearing any Armour, characters gain a Class Defence Bonus per the rules from Unearthed Arcana or the SRD at http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/defenseBonus.htm (noting that Rangers use column C; Druids and Clerics use column B).
• Vitality and Wound Points rules are used, again per Unearthed Arcana.
• When calculating saves, use the highest of two attributes (stolen from 4e). Fortitude uses the best of Strength or Constitution; Reflex uses Dexterity or Intelligence; Willpower uses Wisdom or Charisma.
• The Cure and Inflict families of spells are added to the Sorcerer and Wizard spell lists, they use the same progression as a Druid (0/1/3/4/5/6/7/8/9)
• Shortbows and Longbows count as Exotic Weapons (except for Elves) (no longer in force)
• The setting has Flintlock firearms - an Arquebus does d10+1 piercing, a pistol does d4+1 piercing. A character with BAB+1 and Proficiency with Simple Weapons can reload a blackpowder weapon in 1 minute/10 rounds. This deserves a post all of its own.
• Quarterstaffs and Polearms, when wielded in two-hands, are 'Defensive' weapons and grant a +1 Shield bonus to AC. (Stolen from Iron Heroes, I think).
• <SNIP> http://takemynuyen.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/houserules-revision-damage-types.html
• Characters don't get Bonus Languages per the rules, any character with Intelligence score 11 or higher may choose a language from their Bonus languages list - otherwise additional languages must be bought with the Linguistics skill.
• 'Magical' languages (Abyssal, Aquan, Auran, Celestial, Draconic, Ignan, Sylvan and Terran) grant 'hedge magic' abilities. This deserves a post in its own right. The mundane languages (Imperial, Dwarven, Elven...), and Draconic, grant a +2 bonus to Diplomacy checks when dealing with that culture.
• The Diplomacy Skill change from Giant In The Playground: http://www.giantitp.com/articles/jFppYwv7OUkegKhONNF.html
• Spell Resistance does not require an action to lower, the target can choose to apply or not apply it to any spell they wish even when unable to take actions.

Most of these house rules are based on those used in the 'Road to Ravensvale' forum game I ran a couple of years back; the special rules for losing Wound Points to the different types of damage is the main addition and I'd appreciate remarks or comments about it.

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Edit (30 March 2013): Removed the bit about Armour Resistance applying against Critical Hits.

Edit (4th April 2013): Added some stuff I didn't realise were House Rules or otherwise forgot.

Edit (18th July 2013): Removed rules for special effects from damage types. Revised version of such is here: http://takemynuyen.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/houserules-revision-damage-types.html. Bows no longer considered Exotic weapons.