The game is now running!

Character creation rules:

All characters should be posted in the character thread. Each player may create up to two characters, one of whom will be their primary character, and the other of whom will be a secondary/additional/accessory character who will accompany the quest part of the way. Characters require the following ingredients:

Name
Race
Sex
Physical appearance
Clothing
Biography
Mechanics
NPCs

On Physical appearance - your character can look like as you choose him or her to look, although if you create an appearance that disagrees dramatically with your mechanics, you will be asked to change that. Incidentally, Elves tend to stand between 5'10" (179 cm) and 6'6" (198 cm).

On Clothing - the area in which we will begin is fairly civilized and peaceful. While it is not illegal to walk around the streets of the city bristling with weapons and covered in armor, you will be considered suspicious if you do and are not obviously on your way to somewhere. Generally, clothing in this part of the world is of mixed cultures, combining what one might call Renaisance Italian and what one might call Oriental styles. Society is very open about the (demi)human form and sensuality is not considered taboo, unlike in historical Renaisance Italy.

On Biography - read the descriptive sections below. At least one PC must know and have worked with the NPC Princess Aimienna in the past. Other PCs may or may not know Aimienna, but they all must at least know the PC who in turn knows Aimienna. PCs may otherwise know each-other as they see fit, and may discuss their biographies accordingly. Details of how your characters know each-other and who know NPCs are up to you to work out with GM commentary.

On Mechanics - We will be using the D&D 3.5 rules except as noted in the rules addenda sections below. Rules from any version of D&D including 3.5 that are not in the Player's Handbook or equivalent set of documents are subject to GM modification and/or veto.

On NPCs - Friends, acquiantances, family members, and other people you feel are of note to your character and who may become relevant once the game begins.


Characters

I accept any race in the Player’s Handbook. Other races can be proposed to me, but they need to be believable.

Classes may come from the Player’s Handbook or from the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Other classes must be reviewed by me before they may be played.


A Warning to Players

Ordinarily, players are not supposed to know what is going on behind the GM’s screen, or know what the statistics and capabilities of creatures in the world necessarily are. For this reason, the only rules that the players are considered to know in game-play are the basic rules in the Player’s Handbook and those rules added in the rules addenda. I reserve the right to change all rules not in the PHB as I see fit, including but not limited to:

-Creating new magical items and/or changing the properties of existing items
-Creating new monsters and/or changing the statistics and abilities of existing monsters
-Assigning experience points according to my opinion of the characters’ effective character level (ECL), not what the books say
-Creating new spells or spell-like powers and giving them to monsters, NPCs, and even PCs
-Re-arranging the cosmology of the TSR multiverse



Rules Addenda
Subject to change upon discussion between GM and players

Ability Scores

Each ability score is divided into two sub-abilities, each of which takes over some fraction of the ability's total effects. If the two sub-abilities of a given ability score are equal, then the rules for that ability score are identical to those of normal D&D, with one exception: Concentration is a Wisdom-based skill, not Constitution-based.

Before racial adjustments, characters may not have their sub-abilities for a given score differ by more than six points, nor can they start with any sub-ability above 18. Racial adjustments are applied after this rule, so a character can differ by more than six points for a single ability score after adjustments are made.

Spells and effects that alter ability scores alter the entire score, not just one sub-ability or another, except for effects that change ability scores only by changing size. Gained ability points can be used to increase one sub-ability two points, or an entire score one point (i.e. two sub-abilities by one point each). A character's total ability score is the average of his or her sub-abilities.

Strength is divided into Muscle and Fitness. Muscle affects your damage modifier for melee attacks, attacks with thrown weapons, and attacks with mighty weapons, as well as the amount that you can carry, as well as checks for Bull Rush, Overrun, and of course for smashing objects. Fitness affects the attack modifier for melee attacks, as well as modifies the Swim, Climb, and Jump skills. The requirements for Power Attack can be met with either score; a high Muscle indicates a character who swings harder, if less accurately, and a high Fitness indicates a character who swings riskier shots at locations that will cause more damage. Trip and Grapple checks depend upon the average of the two scores, rounded down. Elves are considered to have -4 Muscle and +2 Fitness. Gnomes and Halflings both recieve -2 Muscle but not to Fitness. Half-Orcs are considered to have +4 Muscle and no Fitness modifier. If your Muscle and Fitness modifiers are the same, then the D&D rules that apply to Strength apply to you normally.

Dexterity is divided into Agility and Coordination. Agility affects your Armor Class, your Reflex saves, and your modifiers for Balance, Hide, Move Silently, and Tumble skills. Coordination affects your attack modifiers using ranged weapons, as well as your Open Lock, Ride, Sleight of Hand, and Use Rope skills. If you are armed with a melee weapon and your Coordination is better than your Agility, then your Coordination is used to modify your Armor Class instead of your Agility. The prerequisites for Dodge require Agility. Your Escape Artist checks are determined by the average of your agility and coordination stats, rounded down. If your Agility and Coordination are the same, you follow the normal D&D rules for Dexterity. Dwarves recieve -2 Agility. Elves and Halflings recieve a +2 bonus to both forms of Dexterity.

Constitution is divided into Ruggedness and Health. Ruggedness affects your core wounds, extended wounds, and your Fortitude saves against non-disease and non-fear effects (ordinarily, your Fortitude save modifier is considered to include your ruggedness, not your health). Health affects your Vitality, your illness and fear-related Fortitude saves, as well as determines your stamina, the rate at which you tire, recover from wounds, as well as the length of time you can hold your breath. Dwarves recieve a +2 bonus to both forms of Constitution. Elves recieve -4 Ruggedness and +2 Health. Half-orcs recieve +2 Ruggedness. Gnomes recieve +2 Ruggedness with no health benefit. If your Ruggedness and Health are the same, you experience the D&D rules for Constitution normally except in that your Concentration skill is no longer modified by Constitution.

Intelligence is divided into Insight and Memory. Insight modifies all Intelligence-based skills, and also determines the maximum spell level that Wizards and Wizard-type spellcasters can learn, as well as the DC for said spells. Memory modifies the number of skill points you recieve, as well as determines the bonus spells you recieve as a Wizard. Half-Orcs recieve a -2 to both forms of intelligence. If your Insight and Memory scores are identical, you follow the normal D&D rules for Intelligence.

Wisdom is divided into Perception and Devotion. Perception modifies your Will saves against Illusions, your Heal, Listen, Profession, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival skills, your Armor Class bonus as a Monk, as well as the maximum spell level you can cast if using Cleric, Druid, Paladin, or Ranger-type spellcasting. Devotion modifies all other Will saves, your Concentration skill, and the bonus spells and DC of spells using Cleric, Druid, Paladin, or Ranger-type spellcasting. If your Perception and Devotion are the same, you follow the normal D&D rules for Wisdom except that Concentration is a Wisdom-modified skill.

Charisma is divided into Magnetism and Potential. It is impossible to create a complete list of Charisma-based skills and powers, but in general, Magnetism affects anything social or otherwise not explicitly magical, while Potential affects anything and everything having to do with Charisma-based magic (including the skill Use Magical Device). Dwarves recieve a -2 Magnetism but not Potential; Halflings and Half-Orcs get a -2 to their Potential but not their Magnetism. If your Magnetism and Destiny scores are the same, you follow the normal D&D rules for Charisma.


Undead ordinarily do not have a Constitution or a Health. However, they can have a ruggedness:

A common, corporeal Undead that has been skeletonized has a -4 Ruggedness from what it had in life. An intact undead body has the same ruggedness as it had in life. Incorporeal Undead have no ruggedness. Rare Undead with many special or otherwise unusual traits, such as vampires, are described in the monster manual and are not for players' viewing.

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Great Magic

I've generally had the feeling that magic in D&D is too easy to cast but what spells there are aren't powerful enough. Although I am doing nothing (so far) to adjust regular D&D spellcasting, I am implementing a system of magic above that, which is closer to what I want. For the sake of explanations, I am calling this system "Great Magic", as distinguished from "Lesser Magic", which is what the normal D&D magic system consists of (although admittedly some of the really high-level spells can do things that are pretty great). Great Magic I intend to use mainly as a plot device: PCs can use it, but I will handle it in a role-playing way, at least for the time being.

Any suggestions on how to make it more of a mechanical system are welcome, but when this game starts, none of the PCs will be using it except as a plot device.

The basis of the system of Great Magic is inspired by a card game entitled Magic: the Gathering (MTG), produced by Wizards of the Coast, who are also the current owners of D&D. In particular, Great Magic is divided into a set of different venues that do different things, and it is impossible to specialize in all of them, and generally specializing in any one of them has profound effects and/or requirements on alignment. Great Magic spells are for the most part one-shot deals: you research the spell, and then you cast it once. If you need it a second time, you need to research it again. This is because Great Magic spells are frequently very situation-specific: even if a given spell looks the same, it needs to be subtly different in order to function in anything other than an identical situation. Usually, Great Magic spells cannot be cast on a whim, although there are a few that can, although even these are reasonably specific the situation. Large numbers of apprentices, students, and aides allow you to research things more quickly. Last, Great Magic requires resources, and more than merely money, but communion with the land, the favor of the Gods, and the calling upon of power from artifacts of various kinds.

For characters, the system is not class-based, like Lesser Magic. Any class can use Great Magic, provided that you have the appropriate skills, feats - and resources. Knowledge (arcana) and Spellcraft would be pretty essential skills, but they are by no means the only skills that a Great Mage would need to effectively wield Great Magic. Generally, your skills determine your direction of specialization; if we continue the MTG analogy, this would mean the colors you have in your deck. Because of the usefulness of Spellcraft and Knowledge (arcana), Great Mages tend also to be users of Lesser Magic, but who you are as a Great Mage is determined by your skills and your alignment more than by your character class. Indeed, because of the varied skills you need, most of the best Great Mages are heavily multiclass, especially combining Arcane and Divine magic-using classes, which hampers their ability to use Lesser Magic a great deal, but they consider it worth the sacrifice. Your specialization in Great Magic is not determined by your alignment, but your specialization does have to mesh with your philosophy, so alignment is an integral part of the equation.

The spells are extremely powerful and not easily undone. The sampling of the Minor Artifacts in the back of the Dungeon Master's Guide and the things that they can do, especially the Deck of Many Things, provide an example of the sorts of things Great Magic is capable of, as well as what is necessary to destroy them. Great Magic is what created these items, it is the only way to make artifacts, and its spells are "like this" in character - except that the Knight card from the Deck of Many Things calls into existence a real person, not a construct who just looks like somebody real. The only Lesser Magic spells that have any real effect on Great Magic or its effects are Disintigrate and Mordenkainan's Disjunction, although spells such as Wish and Miracle might also be able to affect them other ways wished or requested, although it is possible that some Great Magic effects, such as the spell-like powers of a Staff of the Magi or similar item, can be supressed by an Anti-Magic Field. Greater Artifacts are also created using Great Magic, although the resources to do that sort of thing are frequently available only to the Gods themselves.

In the Jade Warrior roleplay, the Jade Warrior itself is a minor artifact created by Great Magic. Princess Aimienna has cast another Great Magic spell that facilitates many details of the quest to get the item, which would otherwise be effectively impossible because of the power of the Jade Warrior itself. Still a company of adventurers still must go and get it. More Great Magic will come into play as the story progresses, some of it more impressive and some less, and yet more is likely to appear should the game continue after the artifact is won.

Great Magic Rules for-the-moment:

"In Eregion long ago a great many Elven Rings were made, Magic Rings you call them, and they were of course of various kinds, some more potent and some less. To the Elves, the lesser rings were but trifles, essays in the craft before it was perfected. But the Great Rings, the Rings of Power, they were perilous."
-Gandalf the Grey, in A Shadow of the Past, Book I Chapter 2 of The Lord of the Rings

Your characters are assumed to not yet be powerful enough to make any items equivalent to the Great Rings (the One, the Three, the Seven, and the Nine), but you might have items equivalent to the Lesser Rings that you have made for yourself.

*For every 20 total ranks of Knowledge, Heal, and Perform, skills you possess, you may have one magical item you have made using Great Magic. You must also have one rank in Spellcraft for every 4 ranks of Knowledge. These items can be rings, amulets, other jewelry, pieces of clothing or armor, weapons, etc. The items in question provide bonuses to you, the wielder, while you are carrying them, and cannot be used effectively except by you or somebody very similar to you as you may specify. These items do not count against the total wealth your character owns. Their boni must be related in some fashion to the Knowledge skills you have; Knowledge (geography) and Heal, for instance cannot be used to justify an item that gives you a bonus to Strength. Examples of acceptable boni are:

-A +2 bonus to any one ability score (which can be used to satisfy prerequesities for feats and spells)
-A +3 bonus to checks in two related skills, or a +2 bonus to checks in three related skills
-Use of a feat for which you already fulfil the requirements
-Increasing your spell-progression table by one level (note: you may not increase your spell progression beyond your caster level, so this is useless if you are not a multiclass spellcaster!)
-Items that give you a +2 bonus to any one saving throw

Unacceptable boni are:

-Items that increase your caster level
-Items that give you spell-like abilities or supernatural abilities
-Equipment enchancements, such as weapon or armor attack, damage, or AC boni
-Items that give you resistances to elements, damage types, spell resistance, etc.

Other items must be consulted with the GM.


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Expanded Hit Point Rules

Hit Points:

-We use the normal D&D rules for generating hit points (half of die +1 + Con modifier). Ruggedness and Health are considered to be averaged for the purposes of determining your hit points.

-There is a distinction between vitality and wound hit points, which works in the following way:
-Your wound hit points are equal to your Ruggedness + your hit dice*, assuming that your hit points at least equal your Ruggedness + your hit dice. If they do not, then all of your hit points are considered to be wound points.
-Your vitality hit points are any hit points you possess in excess of your wound hit points.
-Your hit points are abbreviated as follows: X (Y/Z), where X is your current total, Y is your (maximum) total wound hit points, and Z is your maximum total hit points.
-*If you are a creature that has racial hit dice, then your racial hit dice contribute half of their value to your wound hit points, instead of merely one point per hit die (as is the case with classes)


Effects of Damage:

-Secondary effects of being hit, such as being afflicted by contact or injected venom, do not affect you unless the damage from the hit dips into your wound points. Effects that damage on proximity, such as a flaming blade, still do their extra damage even if the normal damage is just vitality.

-If you have enough hit points to have vitality hit points, and you run out of vitality, you are fatigued (-2 Str, -2 Con). If you do not have enough hit points to have vitality, then you are fatigued if you take any damage.

-If you are below half of your wound points, you are exhausted (move at half speed, -6 Str and -6 Dex).

-If your core wound points fall to 0 or below, you must immediately roll a saving throw. The save and the save DC depend on the following:
-If the damage that caused your hit points to fall to 0 does not include any precision damage, then the save is a Fortitude save with a DC of 10 + number of hit points you are negative.
-If the damage that caused your hit points to fall to 0 does include at least some precision damage, then the save is a Reflex save with a DC of 15 + number of hit points you are negative. For the purposes of determining whether you make the save fresh, fatigued, or exhausted, you are able to use your Dexterity score immediately before you are hit to determine your Reflex save bonus.
-If the save is successful, then:
-If your hit points are at 0, or if negative, then not more negative than your Ruggedness modifier, you are disabled.
-If your hit points are more negative than your Ruggedness modifier, or if your hit points are negative and your Ruggedness modifier is zero itself negative, but also your hit points are not more negative than your Ruggedness score, then you are dying.
-If your hit points are more negative than your Ruggedness score but not more negative than twice your Ruggedness score, then you are clinically dead.
-If your hit points are more negative than twice your Ruggedness score, then you are truly dead. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, yada yada yada.
-If the save is unsuccessful, then:
-If your hit points are not more negative than twice your Ruggedness score, then you are clinically dead.
-If your hit points are more negative than twice your Ruggedness score, then you are truly dead. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, yada yada yada.

-If you are dying, then a DC 15 Heal check or any amount of magical healing will instantly cause you to become stable.
-If you are stable and attempting to recover without magical healing, your recovery is not guaranteed if you have help. This is, however, sufficiently unlikely to come up that I'm not going to go into it at this point.

-If you are clinically dead, the following rules apply:
-You appear dead to all observers. This includes you, which means (among other things) that you are unconscious and oblivious to what is happening around your lifeless corpse.
-You lose one hit point per round, as if you were dying.
-You cannot become stable on your own, even if you have the diehard feat.
-You cannot be stabilized by another character making a heal check. However, a character standing over you can make a DC 20 Heal check to determine if you are, in fact, clinically dead or truly dead. If the check is successful and you are only clinically dead, the character can cast a Conjuration (healing) spell in the same round as a free action, provided that you are the sole target.
-If you are clinically dead and you receive magical healing,
-If, after the healing, your hit points are still more negative than your Ruggedness score, you are still clinically dead.
-If, after the healing, your hit points are less negative than your Ruggedness score, you become stable, disabled, or even functional, if your hit points rise above zero. You experience no loss of prepared spells or any other ill effects as a result of your temporary departure from the mortal coil.
-Raise Dead and similar spells do work on clinically dead characters, but they function as healing spells. There is no level loss, no loss of prepared spells, etc., as if it were simply a healing spell.
-Reincarnation and similar spells do work on clinically dead characters. Casting Reincarnation on a clinically dead character instantly renders her truly dead, but also schedules her reincarnation. The divine laws governing the fates of the dead do not apply if the Reincarnated character was only clinically dead before the spell was cast because the spirit is never called to the Realm of the Dead.
-Animate Dead and similar spells do work on clinically dead characters. The divine laws governing the fates of the dead do not apply if the Animated character was only clinically dead before the spell was cast because the creation of undead creatures itself constitutes a violation of those laws.

Called Shots, Precision Damage, Critical Hits, Helplessness, and Instant Kills:

-If you suffer a critical hit, the damage from which does not dip into your wound points, then you suffer no ill effects beyond the damage.
-If you suffer a critical hit and you had vitality before the hit but after, you must roll a Reflex save (DC 0 + damage dealt) or your hit points are reduced to -1 and you are clinically dead.
-If you suffer a critical hit and did not have any vitality before the hit (and otherwise survive!), then you must roll a Fortitude save (DC 10 + damage dealt) or be clinically dead.

-You can make a called shot at a region of a target's body. Making a called shot is a full-round action that provokes an attack of opportunity. If the target is aware of you, it gets a +2 dodge bonus to its armor class. If the target is aware of you and has vitality, it gets a +4 bonus. If it is aware of you, then it also gets double the normal AC bonus from shields or cover. You also have to have line of fire to the target (e.g. an archer with a crossbow leaning over a wall leaves his head exposed, but not his heart).
-Your called shot is aimed at a specific part of the target's body, which is smaller than the target (thus increasing its AC). Important vital organs typically are located deep within the target's body and are better protected than surficial tissues, represented by a higher natural AC (human internal organs do have a natural AC bonus).
-If you are aiming for a target that is inside of a creature's body, you must correctly locate it. Otherwise, your called shot is just an ordinary attack (unless, by aiming incorrectly, you are unknowingly aiming for something else that is important!).
-If you make a called shot at a region known to contain vital organs (e.g. a human's chest), and you hit, your hit is automatically a critical threat. However, your attack is no more than a normal critical threat.
-If you aim for a specific vital organ, any hit is automatically a critical threat. Even if your threat is not confirmed, the target must still roll a saving throw or be clinically dead as though you had scored a critical hit (see rules for critical hits).
-True Strike is renamed Good Strike. Good Strike enables you to hit your opponent, including with a called shot, but you do not automatically threaten a critical hit with a called shot if the reason you hit in the first place was because you used Good Strike (if you would have hit anyway, then it's still a threat).
-The spell name True Strike is instead given to a sixth-level spell (fifth for bards) that functions identically to Good Strike except that it can be used for called shots.

-Damage from sneak attacks, the aimed attack feat, skirmish damage, etc. is considered precision damage. You must correctly identify regions of the target's body that are vulnerable to precision attacks in order to inflict extra damage.

-Any effect that causes instant death that is not a spell with the Death descriptor only causes clinical death. Unless otherwise noted, the victim is reduced to the negative of its Ruggedness score minus one hit point.

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Character Generation System

Here is my draft of a character-generation system. It is designed for two purposes: to (1) provide some balance between characters of differing experience levels, and (2) to make it so that we don't have the problem of having mid-high level characters popping up out of nowhere.

Step 1:When creating your character, first choose your level. This choice is up to the player; different players may choose different starting levels. This will determine your options for ability points:

6th level: you start with 90 ability points (that's an average of 15 in every score). You can distribute them any way you like, provided that you have no scores below 3 or above 18 before racial adjustment. Your bonus ability point for reaching 4th level is not counted against your points.

7th level: you start with minimum ability scores of 8 in every score, and have 37 additional ability points that you can distribute as you like (that's an average of 14.3333 ). Before racial adjustment, you cannot have any score above 18, nor any that are below 8. You also are limited to having no more than two scores of 18 or better (before racial adjustment). Your bonus ability point for reaching 4th level is not counted against your points.

8th level: you start with minimum ability scores of 8 in every score. You have 33 character points with which to buy ability points. Each ability point costs one character point, but costs 2 for each point starting with an ability score of 17. Before racial adjustment, you cannot have any score above 18, nor any that are below 8. Your bonus ability point for reaching 4th level is not counted against your points.

9th level: you start with minimum ability scores of 8 in every score. You have 31 character points with which to buy ability points (that's an average of 13). For points from 9-14, each character point buys one ability point. Adding to 15 or 16 costs 2 each, and 17 to 18 costs 3 each. Before racial adjustment, you cannot have any score above 18, nor any that are below 8. Your bonus ability points for reaching 4th and 8th level is not counted against your points.

Note: characters imported from The Giant Trilogy, the Treasure Hunt, the Secrets of Faerun, or the Legacy of Courage and Love begin at ECL 8 for all except the Treasure Hunt for which they are ECL 9. Imported characters may adjust their ability scores, including sub-abilities, to their flavor in the new roleplay to a reasonable degree, wherein 'reasonable' is defined by the GM. Characters from the Legacy of Courage and Love use the character-design specifications for seventh-level characters.

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Step 2: if you wish to split any of your scores into sub-abilities, you may do so. If you do so, for each score you divide, you may then add 1, 2, or 3, to one of the sub-abilities for each score, subtracting the same number from the corresponding sub-ability. You can also add/subtract 0, and then accept racial adjustments. You cannot raise any one sub-ability to more than 18 (before race adjustment), and you cannot cause them to differ by more than 6 (thus, adding/subtracting 1, 2, or 3). Your race adjustment can extend the difference between sub-abilities beyond their normal limits.

You can split anywhere from zero to all six of your ability scores. Ability scores that you do not split can be left as-are (in theory, all characters have split scores, but because in every case each racial difference is within the 6-point limit, it can be assumed that you simply pick adjustments to be then equalized by your racial adjustments). Scores that are not split follow the normal rules; a character with no split ability scores follows the 3.5 D&D rules exactly, except that Concentration is now Wisdom-modified.

Step 3: you begin with 36,000 gp for equipment. You make your equipment from the DMG.

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Multiclassing Encouragements

In order to encourage multiclassing (something which I think is actively discouraged by TSR), I have decided upon the following rules adjustments:

-Characters can choose any number of disperate classes together for the purposes of multiclassing, and recieve no experience penalty for having too many. There is no favored class. There is also no penalty for having unequal numbers of class levels.

-Monks and paladins may multiclass freely, as any other class. A monk or paladin who takes levels of another class can freely return to taking levels of paladin or monk. The release from this restriction does not apply if the paladin or monk has since taken an alignment not acceptable to paladin or monk.

-Druids and monks may freely use weapons they are proficient with from other classes or feats. Monks do not get the extra attacks while using melee weapons not on the monk's proficiency list, but they can use other weapons normally.

-Spellcasting levels of different spellcasting classes are considered to stack. This does not affect the spellcasting table for any class, but spells that depend on caster levels or if a spellcasting level check is needed, class levels are considered to stack, even if one class is an arcane spellcaster and the other divine.

-The distinction between arcane and divine spellcasting is removed for the purposes of satisfying prerequisites for prestige classes.


Equipment Additions:

Arquebus* - simple weapon, 30 gp, 8 lb, damage 1d10, 19-20/x3, range increment 50', takes 3 rounds to reload, 5 sp per shot (includes bullet and powder), requires two hands

Bayonet** - simple weapon, 1 gp, 1 lb, damage 1d6, 20/x3, melee, one hand weapon

Fusil* - martial weapon, 50 gp, 10 lb, damage 1d12, 19-20/x4, range increment 60', takes 4 rounds to reload, 5 sp per shot (includes bullet and powder), requirs two hands

Handgonne* (pistol) - simple weapon, 20 gp, 5 lb, damage 1d8, 19-20/x3, range increment 15', takes 3 rounds to reload, 5 sp per shot (includes bullet and powder), one-hand weapon

Monks are considered proficient with bayonettes. Bayonettes are considered applicable monk weapons (i.e. monks will get the extra attacks when using them). Wizards are considered proficient with handgonnes.

*Nonmagical armor is considered to be half as effective as normal against guns (round armor boni down). Magical armor is similarly reduced. Magical boni to AC are applied after the armor's effectiveness is halved, and are consequently themselves provide normal benefits. Dodge AC bonuses are treated normally because by manuevering yourself you are still difficult to hit, not because you can actually dodge any bullets. If a gun takes N rounds to load, it can be fired on the Nth round. Last, guns may fire up to 15 range increments away (at a whopping -28 to hit!).

**A quarterstaff with a bayonet can be treated as as both a bludgeoning and slashing weapon. A bayonet mounted on an arquebus or fusil is purely a piercing weapon. If you have proficiency in a bayonet but not the weapon to which it is attached, or proficiency in the weapon to which it is attatched but not the bayonet itself, you may still use functions of the weapon you have proficiency in without penalty.


Additions to Feats:

Aimed Attack
Requirements: Base Attack Bonus +1
Coordination (Dexterity) 13+
Aim Attack functions identically to Power Attack, but benefits ranged weapons and light melee weapons as distinguished from normal melee weapons. You cannot double the damage bonus for using a weapon with multiple hands. Cannot be used against creatures immune to critical hits.

Addendum to Power Attack
When choosing Power Attack, you must decide whether to base it off of your muscle or your fitness. Power Attack, as it exists in the PHB, is the muscle-associated Power Attack, and functions identically to the muscle-based version. If you use your fitness, however, you cannot gain an additional damage bonus for using Power Attack two-handed and creatures immune to critical hits are not subject to the extra damage. However, you can use light weapons with your Power Attack and still get the damage bonus.


Spell Addenda:


Game of War
Illusion (Mind-affecting)*
Level: Bard 4, Wiz/Sor 5, War 5
Components: V, S
Casting time: Standard Action
Range: you
Targets: Sentient beings within a 5' per level radius
Duration: Instantaneous (but see text)
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates, possibly Will also negates; see text
Spell Resistance: Yes
*Creatures normally immune to mind-affecting spells are still affected.

You create an imaginary contest in which you and all targets within the area of effect participate. This imaginary contest takes place in an arena of the same shape and size of the area of effect. The contest ends when there is only one of the creatures targeted still living in the imaginary contest (hereafter referred to as the winner). At the end of this contest, each individual is queried for each participant they killed in-game about whether they would like said beings to actually die in reality or if they would prefer them to live in reality. The winner is also queried about every other participant, and makes the same decision as if the winner had killed each and every one of the targets. If both the winner and the killer of a given participant wish that participant dead, then the participant must roll a Fortitude save or actually die in reality. If either the winner or the killer of a participant, but not both, wishes said participant dead, then the participant still must make a Fortitude save or die, but this save is made at a +4 bonus. If neither the winner nor killer of a participant wish that participant dead, then the participant lives without need of a saving throw. Any creature who commits suicide in-game is considered to have a killer who wants them dead in reality; however, a creature that willingly permits itself to be executed by another creature in-game is considered to be killed by the executioner.

In the real world, the entire simulation takes place in an instant, but inside the illusion, the simulation can run for up to one hour per caster level. Participants can leave the initial area of effect and travel anywhere in the multiverse until the spell's duration expires, except that they cannot travel to planes upon which the passage of time is different from the plane where the spell is cast. If the spell's duration ends and multiple participants are still alive, any participants outside of the initial area of the effect are killed instantly (including those inside interdimensional spaces such as a Rope Trick or a Bag of Holding created or accessed within the illusion). These deaths are considered to be suicides. If there are multiple living participants within the area of effect when the duration ends, the "winner's" decision is for all dead participants to live, including those who were outside of the area of effect when the spell ended. If all remaining participants die simultaneously, or within the time frame of one round, then the "winner's" decision is for all participants to die in reality (thus forcing saving throws). Upon being affected by the spell, all participants are instantly familiar with the rules of the contest and its real-world aftereffects (as well as any peculiarities specific to the variant of the spell). However, nobody knows whether a given winner or killer wished another individual dead, only the final outcome. Apart from the possibility of death for losers of the contest, events that occur within the illusion have no effects upon the real world, such as loss or gain of hit points, use of magical or nonmagical items, ability damage or drain, level loss, or experience gain. If the spell is used in combat with one or more real hostiles, all real survivors do gain real experience appropriate to the defeat of a caster of appropriate challenge rating divided amongst them; the means of survival can be actually winning or otherwise surviving the contest, being killed by friendlies with a friendly winner, or successfully making a Fortitude save if either one's killer or the winner wishes an individual dead.

Undead creatures and constructs in the form of living creatures are affected as if they were the living creatures if they are in the area of effect. In-game, they function as either what they would be if they were living (for constructs), or what they were when they were alive (for undead). If they are then required to make a Fortitude save when the contest is over, they roll Will saves instead with a +4 bonus (cumulative with all other boni). Constructs and nonsentient undead retain the same physical stats and abilities as actual undead would; thus, a skeleton of a human wizard still has the hit points, armor class, and inherent appropriate to a skeleton, and cannot cast spells in-game. If figment-type illusions are in the area of effect when the spell is cast, their creator immediately makes a caster level check. The creator may include one HD of illusory creature if the caster level check reaches DC 20, and an additional HD for every two points it exceeds 20. In-game, these figments function as if they were real, but return to being their usual illusory selves out-of-game.

Note: read though the variants to further understand the “default” type of this spell.

Variants:
This spell has a lot of variants. Some of these are outlined as follows. Note that multiple variantations can be used in conjunction with each-other!

Initial Will Save variants
-Optional participation Will save: each creature in the area of effect is required to make a Will save. If the save fails, then the creature is forced to participate. If the save succeeds, then the creature can choose to participate or not (e.g. to help friends who failed their saves). Note that creatures who successfully resisted the spell via spell resistance also recieve this choice as though they made their will saves.
-Final effect Will save: each creature in the area of effect rolls a Will save, but the success or failure of the save has no effect on their participation: they must participate regardless. However, those who succeeded their saves are immune to death at the end of the scenario. As with the Fortitude save and the winner and killer’s decisions, the result of the Will save is not known, only the outcome. Note that creatures who successfully resisted the spell via spell resistance must participate but are immune to death as if they had rolled a successful will save.
-No save: there is no initial Will save. Everybody participates, except for those who escape it by means of spell resistance, which causes them to not participate. This variant increases the spell’s level by +2.

Weapon variants
-No weapons: participants are not supplied with weapons when the spell begins. They must use whatever weapons they have, unarmed if need be.
-Weapon grant: each participant is supplied with a weapon and is proficient in its use, regardless of whether their classes and/or feats would ordinarily allow it. The weapon can be anything - because the spell is an illusion and the combat is imaginary, there is no reason why the weapon cannot be a legendary artifact instead of a simple dagger. This variant requires a material component: the focus is a weapon of the type to be used or a model of such a weapon.
-Weapon requirement: each participant is supplied with a weapon as per the weapon grant variant, but unlike the weapon grant variant, participants are required to use the weapon they have been supplied with. Creatures ordinarily unable to use the weapon in question may still use their natural and extraordinary attacks, but not supernatural or spell-like attacks, unless the weapon granted happens to be a weapon with supernatural or spell-like powers, in which case such creatures may use supernatural or spell-like abilities if the weapon's abilities are of the same type. Weapons granted that normally feature class limitations do not have those limitations within the illusion.
-Special weapon rules: as with weapon requirement, but the functioning of the weapon, especially the effects of its damage, may not conform to the standard D&D rules. Creatures unable to use the weapon in question are able to use their natural, extraordinary, and supernatural, and spell-like powers, but they usually function in ways qualitiatively similar to the modified action of the weapon in question.

Area of effect variants
-The area of effect can be doubled for a +2 increase to the spell’s level. This doubling can be used as many times as a caster has a higher-level spell slot. The area of effect can also be tripled for a +3 increase to the spell’s level.

Range variants
-With a +2 increase to the spell’s level, the spell’s range can be increased to Medium (thus not affecting the caster). With a +4 increase to the spell’s level, the range can be increased to Long.

Deadliness variants
-With a -2 decrease to the spell’s level, the spell can be made benign. The combat takes place, but there is no chance of death at the end of the spell.


Common Tactics
Between Iunar’s advice and his own research, Corim was probably able to find the this information. If Corim sought Aimienna’s advice, he almost certainly found this information. The rest of you (Muldro, Telpenar, Iona) could know this on a DC 25 Knowledge (arcana) check, or with a DC 20 Knowledge (arcana) and a DC 20 Spellcraft check.

-Use in populated areas: this spell is effective at causing apprehension and mistrust, because there is only one winner or one killer in any combat and that winner can possibly kill people if he or she decides to and be difficult to trace who is responsible, especially considering that victims have to fight it out anyway. By sewing mistrust, of course, it makes the above scenario all of the more likely, and as a result is generally useful as a terror weapon. This, apparently, was the use in the attack on Elendell two days before the main story begins.

-Use in uninhabited areas or in warfare: this spell is useful for a small number of characters with good saving throws, good enough to make the spell's Will and Fort saves reliably, for thinning out a larger number of weaker opponents. This is especially true with the Final Effect Will Save variant. Conversely, this spell can also be used for multiple fighters to gang up on a stronger opponent. This is especially effective using some of the weapon-granting variants.

-Use as an assassination tool: variants of this spell can be useful in performing assassination attempts with relatively low risk to the assassins if they should fail, albeit with a higher likelihood of the attempt failing. At the very least, the actual identity of the assassins can be difficult to trace if the attempt is made in such an imaginary contest.

-General defense against this spell: the deadliness and overall destructiveness of Game of War varies greatly depending on the circumstance in which it is used, and as a result the tactics effective at countering it likewise vary. Combat in most variants is extremely chaotic because of its free-for-all nature, and as a result predicting the identity of the final winner is always difficult unless the number of targets is very small. If the spell is used in a populated area where the locals generally gets along harmoniously, the winner will generally be one of the local populace and will assign everybody or nearly everybody to life. As a result, in such a setting, the most effective way to protect somebody valued or important in-game is, ironically, to execute them yourself, since such a practice is unlikely to affect the identity of the winner and guarantees that the killer of the subjects wants them to live. This is especially true if you believe or expect that one of the uses of an enemy of this spell is to stage an assassionation attempt. In a war situation, or in another situation in which clearly-defined factions already exist, then this practice increases the likelihood that the winner will be of an enemy faction and may increase the risk for the executed instead of decrease it.


Retroactive Survival
Divination
Level: Bard 5, Wiz/Sor 5, Trickery 5
Components: V, S, M
Casting time: One minute
Range: unlimited
Targets: A dead creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: No (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)

You envision an alternate history of a particular target dead creature. If you know the circumstances of the creature's death and if there is one or a few chance events that, had they turned out differently, the creature would have lived, you modify the effect of subsequent Raise Dead, Ressurection, or True Ressurection on the target creature. Instead of restoring the creature's soul to its body and thus causing it to revive from the dead, these spells realize the alternate history you envision by the use of this spell, thus causing the person to never have died, instead of coming back from the dead. This spell thus allows you to revive fallen friends without having to recall their souls, which is otherwise often very difficult and requires an extremely stiff price from the Powers that govern the dead - not that messing with time like this can't have its own stiff prices. Raise Dead and Ressurection do not realize the alternate history completely, and as a result the target creature still does lose an experience level or constitution point if "revived" in this manner, however. Thus, in circumstances in which souls are available to be restored by revival magic, Retroactive Survival will serve little useful purpose.

Retroactive Survival only works if there is the possibility that the target could have survived given better luck or equitable circumstances. If the target died facing overwhelming odds and there are no extinuating circumstances (e.g. the target would not have faced such odds if not for an unlucky Listen check that led to the encounter), then Retroactive Survival will not envision an alternate history in which the character could have lived. Retroactive Survival also only operates in fairly simple situations; if more than a few minutes pass between the dooming event and the fatal injury of the target, it will be difficult to actually envision the alternative history. Lastly, you must be familiar with the circumstances of the events, either having witnessed them yourself or having observed them using other means of divination. Otherwise, you will not be able to envision the alternate history in an accurate enough way for it to potentially become real. The target also must be willing (or have been willing) in order for the alternate history to be realized.

Material component: A diamond of value at least 1000 gp. Although the diamond is not actually consumed by the spell, the creation of the alternate history invariably involves the gem not entering your possession; thus, it is effectively lost.



Summon Soldier I
(Conjuration, Summoning)
Level: Clr 1, Drd 1, Sor/Wiz 1
Components: V, S, (DF), True Magic Invocation (see below)
Casting Time: 1 Round
Range: Close (25 ft + 5 ft/2 levels)
Effect: one summoned creature
Duration: concentration plus one round
Saving Throw: none
Spell resistance: no

This spell summons one person (an intelligent, usually civilized creature) who volunteers to take part as a summoned warrior for your cause. She appears fully armed and armored with equipment that was given or assigned to her possession for the purpose of this summoning, and acts on your turn. Her equipment must have been allotted to her, individually; equipment allotted to another character or communally owned between her and another potential summon cannot be brought with her. The individual understands the basic situation at hand as you do at the moment of summoning; thus, she knows who are your friends and enemies and of any tactical circumstances you are aware of but she might otherwise not (e.g. if you know of the whereabouts of a hidden trap, then she knows what you know). However, she retains her free will and cannot be compelled to follow your orders by this spell.

She remains present for as long as the spell functions, and disappears when it ends. When the spell ends, she is restored to whatever state she was in before she was summoned, with no loss or gain of hit points, spells, or condition. If killed, she likewise remains dead for the duration of the spell, but her life is restored as soon as the spell ends. She does not gain experience for defeating enemies while summoned, although she can share in story-based awards for helping you accomplish some goal, including defeating an enemy. Sleeping people are likewise continue their sleep undisturbed when they return from the summons.

The summoned person is summoned as a first-level character of any class she possesses. The choice of which of her classes to be is hers to make. If her level is normally higher than first, she is still summoned as a first-level character. She cannot herself summon or otherwise conjure another creature by any means, nor can she use any teleportation or planar travel abilities that she may possess, either innately or through spells.

The person whom you summon will be a person identified unambiguously on a list of potential summons (usually she identifies herself by signing her name to the list). You do not need the list to be physically present to cast the spell, but you must refer to it in the casting. The spell summons the first person on the list if it can, and then proceeds in the order of names on the list. Unwilling targets cannot be summoned; the spell will simply pass over unwilling targets on the list until it finds a willing and acceptable target. Potential targets that are unwilling are left unaware that the spell has attempted to summon them, but they make their decisions as though they were not only aware of the spell but also the identity of its caster. If there are no targets available, the spell is not expended but the round is lost.

If a person summoned is killed or banished during the summoning, then the levels or hit dice of the people summoned cannot be summoned again for a period of time dependent upon the Invocation power available to you (see below). If a person has multiple levels, then that person can be summoned and killed or banished once for each level available. If a 'person' has multiple creature hit dice, then she cannot be summoned with fewer levels than her creature dice. If these multiple levels are associated with different character classes, then these are the classes that may be lost to her ability to choose when she is summoned.

Invocation cost: the use of this spell depends upon True Magic. It can be cast under any circumstances, but the time it takes for a killed or banished target to be summonable again varies depending on True Magic circumstances. Under ideal conditions, the wait time is a year and a day, but under less favorable circumstances, one hundred and forty-four years is the standard without True Magic support.

Special: Scrolls, wands, and other spell-storing items have the list of potential targets specified as part of the creation of the item. Also, it is not possible to forge another person's signature for the summoning list; the signer is the person who did the signing.


Higher level versions of Summon Soldier - Similar to the Summon Monster and Summon Nature's Ally series spells, Summon Soldier also has another eight spells that go up in level. They differ from Summon Soldier I in the following ways:
-Duration is concentration plus one round per spell level.
-Maximum character level of the target is equal to the level of the spell.
-Higher level spells can summon more soldiers of lower level than the spell. The number summoned is doubled for every level below the highest, to a maximum of 64 (for six levels down).
-If summoning multiple individuals, they can be summoned into basic military formations (i.e. rank and file), a certain number wide and deep. The center of the formation must be within the range when the spell is cast, but not all of the targets need be.


Tactical notes - In practice, the Hylar usually combine this spell with Sonorous Hum.

About 50% of adult Elves (both male and female) and of the Hylarin tribe are registered on a list somewhere with one of the military hierarchies of the Hylarin Empire. The percentage is about 20-25% for other races (in Humans, about 30% of men, about 10% of women). Of those living in large towns or cities, the number of people on lists is about 10% higher for all races and sexes for people living in said towns and cities. All able-bodied citizens are required to be members of the local militia if they are not otherwise in military service, and are trained in the use of some weapon or weapons that they will use if summoned and they are not actual soldiers. For Elves, this is most often shortbow and club (for men) or shortbow and spear (for women), but nobility will usually bring other weapons, usually rapiers if female nobility and a mixture of rapiers, longswords, or other military weapons if male. For Humans it is usually shortspear or club, but exceptions to these rules are common. Most non-military citizens do not own armor, although when summoned they will be clothed.

The summoners will generally prefer to summon Elves when possible, but will summon Humans if desperate or if it is otherwise appropriate (e.g. summon the villagers to protect their village from the enemy that is still a mile away).

*

Forseen Course
(Divination)
Level: Wiz/Sor 9
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 Hour
Range: Unlimited
Effects: up to 100 targets per level (see text)
Duration: Instantaneous (see text)
Saving Throw: Will special (see text)
Spell Resistance: Yes (see text)

You forsee a possible future based upon a particular course of action that you can undertake or otherwise cause. In the possible future, you, the other spellcasters who partook of the spell's casting, and any who witness the casting or who are made aware of it (including those you tell) realize that this is an envisioned possible future. This possible future is envisioned for one day per three caster levels to a maximum of seven days at 21st caster level. In the possible future, you and everybody else can do whatever they wish in whatever way they would, with or without the knowledge that they are experiencing a simulated possible future and not a real future. In all other ways, the spell's action performs as a simulated universe for the number of days foreseen.

You can designate up to 100 points worth of targets per caster level of the spell. All targets must succeed at a Will save in order to remember the outcome of the spell's forecast from their own perspective (as if they had experienced it in a dream). The DC of the Will save is 30 for targets designated with a single point, but the DC is lowered by 5 for every factor of 10 in points you spend on a target (e.g. DC 30 for 1 point, DC 25 for 10, DC 20 for 100, etc.). You may distribute these points in any way that you see fit at the time of casting the spell. A person cannot experience the spell's forecast except for what they would experience themselves; thus, characters who make their saves can recall details of what they saw or heard, conversations they had, and what they were doing up until the moment of their deaths, but cannot know anything that they did not experience directly or indirectly in such a fashion.

A creature hostile to you can attempt a saving throw and require a spell resistance check to not be present in the spell's forseeing. The save is made at a -10 penalty and you get a +10 bonus on your spell resistance check, and a natural 20 on either does not indicate an automatic success nor a natural 1 an automatic failure (note that these apply only to those trying to resist the spell; the will saves of those who may learn the results follow the normal rules). If the creature manages to resist the spell, then it is effectively not present in the resulting "simulated universe".

Although this spell forecasts characters' actions as best it can, the forecast does not correct for any effects of individuals' knowledge that they are experiencing a possible future and not a real one. Furthermore, although it can anticipate the actions, positions, and motivations of creatures and events, it cannot anticipate random chance; thus, if this spell is used to forsee the outcome of a battle, die rolls that affect the outcome of that battle in the future forseen by the spell are entirely independent of die rolls should the real battle actually take place.

Material Component: a ceremony costing 100 gp to prepare and requires four other spellcasters each of which is able to cast spells of fifth level or higher (they can be of any class, arcane or divine). The other casters do not expend any spells from their spell slots.

[This message has been edited by Beren V (edited 08-19-2008 @ 08:55 PM).]