The purpose of this conversion of D&D for True20 rules is to allow converting D&D adventures, using classical magical items, spells etc. The only books required are True20 rulebook (first printing or revised) and True20 Bestiary. The rules cover conversion of creatures, characters and magic items, and encounters. Conversion preserves the relative power level of characters and monsters, allowing characters of a given level to oppose creatures with appropriate D&D challenge ratings.Out of combat spells are presented as rituals, which can be learned by any adept without the need to sacrifice combat power.Also included are simplified Grapple rules, an optional damage variant using static Toughnes, and a simplified monster creation system.
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INTRODUCTION 8 MODIFICATIONS OF TRUE 20 RULES FOR D&D STYLE GAMES 10 Minor Modifications 10 Changes necessary for balance 10 Optional rules 17 Combat Maneuver Rules 18 Grapple-Basic rules 18 Starting a grapple 18 When grappling an opponent 19 Grapple Maneuvers 19 Wrestling Condition 20 Pinned Condition 21 Multiple Grapplers 21 Ending the Grapple 21 Disarm 21 Overrun 22 Feinting 22 Combat Maneuver Feats 23 Chokehold (Warrior) 23 Constrict (Warrior) 23 Grappling Finesse (General) 23 Improved Disarm (General) 23 Improved Grab (General) 23 Improved Trip (General) 23 Improved Overrun (General) 23 Rake 24 Alternative Damage System 25 Brief Introduction 25 Damage 25 Non-lethal Damage 26 Damage Conditions 27 Recovery 27 Minions 28 Damaging Objects 29 PLAYER CHARACTER RULES 31 Creating Characters 31 Random rolling of abilities: 31 Point-buy system: 31 Racial Backgrounds 32 Favored feats 32 Ability Adjustment 32 Dwarves 32 Elves 32
Transcript
INTRODUCTION 8
MODIFICATIONS OF TRUE 20 RULES FOR D&D STYLE GAMES 10
Minor Modifications 10 Changes necessary for balance 10 Optional rules 17
Combat Maneuver Rules 18 Grapple-Basic rules 18 Starting a grapple 18 When grappling an opponent 19 Grapple Maneuvers 19 Wrestling Condition 20 Pinned Condition 21 Multiple Grapplers 21 Ending the Grapple 21 Disarm 21 Overrun 22
Wondrous Items 130 Amulet of Attunement 130 Amulet of Mighty Fists 130 Amulet of Natural Armor 130 Belt of Giant Strength 131 Boots, Winged 131 Bracers of Armor 131 Broom of Flying 131 Cape of the Mountebank: 131 Cloak or Vest of Resistance 131 Gloves of Dexterity 131 Gauntlets of Ogre Power 132 Efficient Quiver 132 Gem of Seeing: 132 Goggles of Minute Seeing 132 Goggles of Night 132 Hand of Glory 132 Hat of Disguise 133 Lantern of Revealing 133 Potions of Healing 133 Ring of Blinking 133 Ring of Freedom of Movement 133 Ring of Invisibility 134 Ring, Master’s 134 Ring or Amulet of Mind Shielding 134 Ring of Protection 134 Ring of Three Wishes 134 Robe of Blending 134
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Robe of the Archmagi 134 Robe of Eyes 135 Silversheen 135 Shining jewel 135 Wings of Flying 135 Thieves’ Tools, Superior: 135
Wands and Staffs 135 Wands 135 Staffs 136
D&D CAMPAIGNS 139
Planes 139 Ideal Realm 139 Astral Plane 140 The High Astral 140 Good and Evil on the Planes 141 Sigil 142 The Elemental Planes 143 The Elemental Plane of Air 143 The Elemental Plane of Earth 143 The Elemental Plane of Fire 143 The Elemental Plane of Water 144 The Negative Energy Plane 144 The Positive Energy Plane 144 The Low Astral 144 The Ethereal Plane 145
Simplified Monster Creation 159 Calculating other characteristics: 160
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Introduction This is the second version of True20 Dungeons&Dragons conversion. The grapple and combat maneuver rules are presented now as a part of the main file, together with the variant damage rules utilizing static Toughness. There are also new and adjusted powers, rituals and magic items, and finally a simplified system for the creation of monsters – balanced for D&D style games.
The basic idea which inspired the creation of the rules presented in this book was simple: to allow Narrators to run D&D style games and specifically D&D adventures using True20 rules. I wanted to ensure that you could simply convert creatures and characters presented in a D20 3.5 edition adventure and run it using only basic True20 rules, True20 Bestiary and this file, with the character able to defeat monsters of an appropriate challenge rating. Additionately, I wanted to ensure that characters remain balanced at all levels, and that Warriors, Experts and Adepts will be equally useful in combat, even in high-level play. Moreover, it should be possible and even easy to construct different D&D character classes (Barbarian, Fighter, Paladin, Cleric, Wizard, Sorcerer) and they should also be balanced.
In order to differentiate between different kinds of casters I introduced the idea of “power source feat”. Adepts by default cannot take any powers. They must first take one of the “power source feats”, which decides the key ability and power list the character can take.
I wanted to allow players to play in the “D&D world”, with the classical magic items and powers assumed by published adventures. Accordingly, eg skills are modified to allow to use skill checks provided in the published adventures. I added some powers which model some of the more useful and iconic D&D spells, like Magic Missile, Evard’s Black Tentacles, and wizard cantrips. Since I wanted to keep characters as balanced in combat as possible, I decided that out of combat spells shouldn’t use the same pool of feat/powers. They are presented as rituals, which can be learned by any adept without the need to expend any feat slots. To stop characters from overusing them, I introduced certain penalties, like longer casting time, negative consequences of failure and expensive components.
These rules have been written assuming characters using level-appropriate magical items. In order to ensure balance, each magical item has a minimum character level necessary to use it, and characters have been balanced assuming at least an appropriate weapon and armor or an item providing armor bonus. In order to make acquisition of necessary items easier I simplified the rules for crafting them. To allow Narrators some control over the items player are going to craft, I introduced the need to find in game the recipes to creating them. At the same time I limited somewhat the number of necessary magic items, removing items providing saving throw bonuses and ability bonuses, except for Strength and Dexterity (since there already exist powers providing bonuses to those abilities).
It can be added that some items have been changed, and others have become much more useful due to differences in rules. Ring of Mind Shielding and Wands of Cure have become very useful items.
Any reader who follows the news about the D&D 4 edition will see some similarites here. This is deliberate; True20 was one of the first simplified versions of D20 3.5 edition and served in some aspects as a precursor of the Fourth Edition. I thought it appropriate to include those innovations which seemed an improvement. Some of the similarities are actually a case of independent but convergent development, since I have began tinkering with those rules even before the announcement of the Fourth Edition.
I would like to thank here Frank Trollman and “K”, the authors of the TOME OF NECROMANCY, TOME OF FIENDS, DUNGEONOMICON, RACES OF WAR (http://middendorfproject.googlepages.com), and other posters at “The Gaming Den” http://tgdmb.com. I used nearly none of their rules directly, but their ideas have become the theoretical basis for those notes. (A word of caution for anyone intending to visit that forum: the posters there have a rather vitriolic sense of humor, so a lot of thick skin is necessary).
The basic idea which those rules share with D&D 4e and Frank Trollman’s work is “Staying on the Random Number Generator”. This means that when characters of approximately equal level interact between themselves or with level-appropriate monsters, they should have a reasonable chance to succeed, and it should be possible for them to fail. Similarly, when they are attacked by a monster of an appropriate level, they should have a reasonable chance to avoid that attack. This usually requires that numerical bonuses for all characters of a given level should remain within certain limits.
That idea should not be unfamilar to the players of True20. Mutants&Masterminds, a sister game of True20, includes a special mechanic designed to ensure exactly that, called: “Power Level”. I will quote the definition: “Power level is an overall measure of effectiveness and power, primarily combat ability, but also generally what sort of tasks a character can be expected to accomplish on a regular basis, assuming the ability to take 10 and take 20.”
Additionally, the abilities of characters shouldn’t fall below a certain minimum. It is not so important with monsters. It is entirely reasonable to have a monster which can fight effectively only if in a tight tunnel underground, because it is slow, has no ranged attacks and can be shot to death with impunity by fast, mounted or flying characters. Narrator can use such a monster underground against character of a level appropriate for its Challenge Rating, or allow low-level character to lure it outside and dispatch it – as a kind of puzzle or intelligence test.
On the other hand, characters in D&D (and those notes are intended to simulate D&D using True20 rules) must be able to fight effectively in any environment appropriate for their level. The next adventure can take place in a cloud castle, requiring aerial combat, or deep underground, or underwater, or on the plane of fire, or in the Abyss. And all characters must be able to survive and fight there. Some will be more efficient in certain circumstance, and other in others; this is obvious and necessary, or the game would be boring. But all must be able to help in all circumstances. When a player has to say: “Invisible and flying opponents? You go and fight; my character will have to run and hide, because he can do nothing to contribute here” it is rather boring for him.
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Modifications of True 20 rules for D&D style games
Minor Modifications Changes necessary for balance
1. Power weapons and precision weapons Weapons are divided into power weapons and precision weapons. All weapons use Strength as bonus to damage and Dexterity as modifier to attack bonus, but when you use a power weapon, your Dexterity bonus to attack cannot be higher than your Strength, and when you use a precision weapon, your Strength bonus to damage cannot be higher than your Dexterity. You cannot use finesse attacks or sneak attacks with power weapons. As an exception a longsword, a shortsword, a kukri knife, a rapier, a punching dagger or an awl-pike can serve either as power weapons or as precision weapons. This applies also to unarmed attacks. When attacking, you can decide in what manner to use them. You must, however, treat them as belonging to the chosen category in all aspects. Eg you can use a longsword to make a finesse attack, but you then suffer the above-mentioned penalty to damage if your Strength is higher than dexterity. This is not necessary for balance, but to preserve some variation amongst characters. This way strong and heavy warriors will use greatswords and wear heavy armor, and light and dexterous duellisst will fight in light armor with rapiers. Without that distinction, all experts would wear the best – ie plate armor and use the best weapons – usually greatswords to sneak attack. It can be balanced, but I consider such an option uninteresting.
2. Sweeping Attack
Power weapons can be used to make a sweeping attack, deliberately lowering damage to increase the chance to hit. You can lower damage by a number from 1 to 5 in order to gain a corrresponding bonus to the attack roll. This option cannot be combined with Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack or Defensive Attack.
In effect strong characters gain the Accurate Attack feat for free. This is intended to balance the Strength attribute, which is a bit weaker than Dexterity, and to allow strong characters to hit dexterous ones.
3. Defence You always receive a dodge (Dexterity) bonus to defence. There is no parry defence. It is very difficult to properly balance the game when defense can depend on two different attributes. In addition, when defense is based on the different attribute than attack, it can lead to such situations as giants being nearly unable to hit each other. I know that simulates wonderfully the description of giants fighting in C. S. Lewis’ “The Silver Chair”, but those gianst were a joke. I consider it inadequate for the purpose of simulating D&D. In such situation, the best solution is the simplest: Dexterity is the sole attribute improving both attack and defense. Strength on the other hand improves directly Damage, and indirectly, by allowing to wear heavier armor, Toughness.
4. Natural Weapons Natural weapons attacks by count as precision weapons or power weapons, depending whether the creature has higher Strength or Dexterity. If a natural weapon count as precision weapon, the creature can, but doesn’t have to, use Finesse Attack. If natural weapon counts as power weapons the creature can use the Sweeping Attack rule.
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When converting creatures, compare Attack Bonus to CR. Attack bonus shouldn’t generally be higher than 1.5*CR, especially if Damage bonus is high. For CR lower than 6, Attack bonus shouldn’t be higher than CR+3. If a creature of Large or greater size doesn’t have power attack, it should have a bonus All-Out attack feat. Damage of creatures attacking with natural weapons shouldn’t be generally higher than CR+3. See also the rules for the simplified creation of monsters and the table of monster statistics by CR included there.
5. Natural armor
Natural armor equals ½ of D&D natural armor, rounding down. It is treated as the enhancement bonus to armor, and doesn’t stack with it (so generally creatures with natural armor don’t benefit from wearing magic armor, unless the enhancement bonus is higher than their natural armor bonus). It does stack with the normal armor bonus.
6. Medium Armor When you wear a medium armor with bonus 3, if your Dexterity is higher than your Strength+3, you treat it as equal to your Strength+3 for purposes of Attack and Defence. With armor bonus 4, your Dexterity cannot be higher than Strenght +2.
7. Heavy Armor. When you wear a heavy armor with bonus 5, if your Dexterity is higher than your Strength, you treat it as equal to your Strength for purposes of Attack and Defence. For armor with bonus 6 the maximum Dexterity equals Strength –1. When running in heavy armor, you move only double your speed, not quadruple. Characters with at least 10 levels of Warrior and with Armor Training (Heavy Armor) do not suffer that reduction to speed.
8. Stacking bonuses There are four basic kinds of bonuses: Magic bonuses, Item bonuses, Feat bonuses and Situational bonuses. Situational bonuses eg for surprise attack, for attacking from higher position etc usually stack. However, some conditions etc essentially presume other conditions; bonuses and penalties granted by such conditions do not stack. Eg when attacking a pinned creature, you use only the penalty for being pinned; you don’t add the penalty for being grappled, and for being surprise attacked. Some feats can provide situational bonuses. You can get only one of each of remaining bonuses: only one Magic bonus, one Item bonus and one Feat bonus. Magic bonuses come from supernatural power and magic enhancements on magic items (all “enhancement” bonuses are magic bonuses). In addition, some feats can give magic bonuses. This applies particularly to feats that give “enhancement” bonuses, eg Rage. Item bonuses come from Item, and feat bonuses from feats. Any exception to those rules are either noted or should be obvious. Some feats allow to lower one characteristic in order to increase another. Eg the All-out Attack feat allows to lower defense in order to increase attack. Such feats provide situational bonuses which stack with everything. Those rules obviously resemble the rules from D&D 4ed. This is not an accident – I modelled them on 4ed rules, because I have the same goal. It is, as I called it earlier, “staying on the Random Number Generator”. When it is possible to stack bonuses, there is an obvious path to “winning” the game: it is to gather up as much bonuses as possible, until in the end some of your characterists will become so high that you will be either invulnerable, or able to destroy your enemy in one action. This is both boring (the gathering bonuses part) and obviously unbalanced.
9. Damage Reduction
Damage Reduction: A creature with this special quality receives a bonus to its Toughness against damage
from most weapons and natural attacks. The creature takes normal damage from energy attacks (acid, cold, electricity, fre, and sonic), powers, and supernatural special abilities. Damage Reduction does not affect poisons or diseases delivered by inhalation, ingestion, or contact. Characters can always see that their attacks are weakened because of Damage Reduction.
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The entry indicates the bonus (usually 2 to 6 points) and the type of attack that negates the ability. This information is separated from the damage reduction number by a slash. The creature always, with the exception of DR/area, takes normal damage from energy attacks (even nonmagical ones), spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities. For purposes of harming other creatures with damage reduction, a creature’s natural weapons (but not their attacks with weapons) count as the type that ignores its own damage reduction. For example, a vampire has DR 4/silver and supernatural. This means a vampire can bypass the damage reduction of other creatures that are vulnerable to silver or supernatural weapons, including other vampires. DR/- and DR/slashing, piercing or bludgeoning cannot be overcome that way.
When converting from D&D, a creature receives 2 points Damage Reduction in for every 5 points of damage reduction in D&D.
Magic/Supernatural Any magical weapon, that is, a weapon with with at least a +1 magical enhancement bonus to damage can bypass Damage Reduction/Supernatural, which equals D&D Damage Reduction/magic. Magic weapons don’t bypass other kinds of Damage Reduction. For example, skeletons have damage reduction +2/bludgeoning. This means they get a +2 bonus to their Toughness saves, unless hit by a bludgeoning weapon. They don't lose their +2 bonus if hit by a supernatural weapon.
Damage Type Some monsters are vulnerable to piercing, bludgeoning, or slashing damage. Natural weapons count as piercing, bludgeoning, or slashing, depending on the kind of weapon in question. Bites inflict piercing, bludgeoning and slashing damage at the same time, bypassing any kind of the above-mentioned damage reduction. Claws and talons cause piercing and slashing damage. Slams, slaps, fists and tentacles cause bludgeoning damage. Gorings (with horn or antlers) and stings cause piercing damage. Special Material Some monsters are vulnerable to certain materials: silver, adamantine, cold iron, stone or wood. Attacks from weapons that are not made of the correct material have their damage reduced.
There are only five possible types of special materials: Adamantine. The following materials count as adamantine – Alchemical Gold – Black Steel – Orichalcum – N Metal – Thinaun – Urdrukar Cold Iron. Any steel or iron weapon which is not made of adamantine or silvered counts as Cold Iron. In addition, the following materials count as cold iron: – Blood Steel – Green Steel – Morghuth Iron – Trusteel Silver: – Pandemonic Silver – Astral Driftmetal – Entropium – Nerra Mirrorblade – Ysgardian Heartwire – Mithril Stone: – Tainted Obsidian – Blended Quartz
Aligned Some monsters are vulnerable to Vice or Virtue aligned weapons. A creature with an alignment subtype (vice or virtue) can overcome both Vice and Virtue damage reduction with its natural weapons and weapons it wields.
Irresistible weapons Weapons with the Irresistible ability can overcome all kinds of damage reduction. Irresistible ability trumps all other means of overcoming damage reduction: if a creature’s damage reduction can be overcome at all, an Irresistible weapon will do so. The only exceptions are DR /- and DR/area.
Nothing When a damage reduction entry has a dash (–) after the slash, the creature takes normal damage only from energy attacks (acid, cold, electricity, fire, and sonic), powers, and supernatural special abilities. Damage Reduction/area can be bypassed only by area attacks. Even energy attacks, powers and supernatural special abilities which are not area attacks are subject to that reduction.
A few creatures are harmed by more than one kind of weapon. This kind of DR is indicated by the word “or” between qualities, such as DR 5/cold iron or virtue. A weapon of either type overcomes this damage reduction.
A few other creatures require combinations of different types of attacks to overcome their damage reduction. This kind of DR is denoted by the word “and” between qualities, such as DR 2/silver and virtue. A weapon that falls into one category but not the other is of no help in overcoming such damage reduction—the weapon must be both types to overcome this damage reduction. A weapon that is only one type is still subject to damage reduction.
Ammunition fired from a projectile weapon with an enhancement bonus of +1 or higher is treated as a magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Similarly, ammunition fired from a projectile weapon with an alignment gains the alignment of that projectile weapon (in addition to any alignment it may already have).
Whenever damage reduction completely negates the damage from an attack, it also negates most special effects that accompany the attack, such as injury type poison, a stunning, and injury type disease. Damage reduction does not negate energy damage dealt along with an attack or ability drain. It also does not affect poisons or diseases delivered by inhalation, ingestion, or contact. Attacks that deal no damage because of the target’s damage reduction do not disrupt spells.
If a creature has damage reduction from more than one source, the two forms of damage reduction do not stack. Instead, the creature gets the benefit of the best damage reduction in a given situation.
10. Elemental Damage and Resistance to Energy
All energy attacks and supernatural powers bypass all kinds of Damage Reduction, except for Damage Reduction/area (which is bypassed only by area powers).
Some weapon qualities and power also cause weapons to inflict elemental damage. In that case you add the bonus damage (if any) of one of the elemental types to the weapon damage and treat the total damage as elemental. Total elemental damage, which includes the basic damage of the weapons, bypasses Damage Reduction. If a creature has Resistance or Immunity to the weapon’s elemental damage, you can use the weapon as if it didn’t cause the elemental damage. In that case weapon causes normal damage, and the bonus damage (if any) is not added to the total.. In addition, the elemental resistance bonuses to toughness don’t stack together and don’t stack with the armor bonus to Toughness (including enhancement bonuses). Accordingly, using items granting resistance
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makes sense only if their bonus is higher than your total armor bonus. One item can have only one kind of elemental resistance. When converting a creature from D&D give it +2 Energy Resistance for every 5 points of energy resistance in D&D it possesses. This bonus (as an exception) stacks with armor and enhancement bonuses to Toughness.
Resistance to Energy possessed by some creatures in Bestiary etc does stack with armor bonus. The reason for this difference is simple – creatures were designed with an assumption of resistance stacking with armor and so it must remain. On the other hand, bonuses which can be gained by characters, eg by making armor with resistance to energy, are impossible to balance if they can stack.
11. Vulnerability to energy Some creatures have vulnerability to a certain type of energy. Such a creature takes +4 damage from effects that employ that energy, regardless of whether a saving throw is allowed, or if the save is a success or failure.
In True20 the doubling of results of damage requires always the same addition to damage bonus– about 4. This increase corresponds to the doubling of D&D damage. Doubling of damage bonus makes the effects too weak at low levels and unproportionately powerful at high levels.
12. Spell Resistance
Spell resistance is the extraordinary ability to avoid being affected by supernatural powers. A creature with spell resistance gains +2 bonus to saves against supernatural powers.
13. Conviction You can use conviction to reroll failed saves and Toughness save as many times during the round as you wish. Characters should receive a Conviction point for defeating a dangerous encounter, in addition to (not instead of) Conviction for virtues and vices. This is especially important on higher levels, where conviction has to be expended much more often. In campaigns with great urgency to keep tight time schedule, a single night rest should restore all Conviction.
14. Possession, mind control and Conviction A possessing or mind controlling character cannot use Conviction points belonging to the controlled character. They can be used by the controlled character and are (presumably) used only to defend his body from serious harm or to attempt breaking the mind control. Characters cannot attempt Extra Effort to overcome possession or mind control.
15. Stealth When an enemy is engaged in combat with another character, you can use Stealth to sneak up on him in order to make a surprise attack. You don’t need cover or concealment. You cannot use this option against opponents with all-round vision. Similarly, you can sneak behind somebody who is distracted (eg reading a book, watching directly in another direction), even if you do not have cover or concealment.
16. Skills When your Intelligence increases, you gain additional skill points retroactively, as if it was that high from the beginning – in other words, for each point of Intelligence gained, you immediately gain skill points equal to your level+3. (It is new level+2 more than you would get otherwise with the new Intelligence). Bonus skill granted by a background gives an additional starting skill (4 ranks high) at first level and a +1 bonus skill point each following level.
17. Saves All save rolls equal d20+½ character level (rounding down)+ability+role bonus. Each role gives a +2 starting bonus to one save when taken at 1st character level. Warrior role gives bonus to Fortitude save, Adept to Will save,
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Expert can choose the save. Taking subsequent levels in a different role does not give that bonus again; it can be gained only once, at 1st level.
Additionally, at character level 14 all characters receive one-time +1 bonus to all saves. At level 17 this increases to +2, and at 19 to +3.
There are new save feats, which can be taken only by the appropriate role: Warrior Fortitude(Warrior), Will of the Adept (Adept), Expert Reflexes(Expert). They give +2 bonus to the save but cannot be taken for saves in which you have the starting bonus.
Accordingly, you generally can take those feats only if you multiclass. For example, if you start as an Adept and later take a level in Warrior, you can take Warrior Fortitude to improve your fortitude save.
The saves have been changed, because otherwise the difference between saves of different roles would grow too large at higher levels. In D&D not only the difference between good save and bad save is 6 at 20 level, but in addition the roles tend to increase abilites tied to their good saves (eg Adepts have high wisdom). On the other hand, save difficulties are at a given level equal for all characters. As the result, the same save can be very easy for an adept and impossible for a Warrior. This leads to eg mind-controlled Warriors and certainly does not improve the game.
18. Undead and Constructs Undead and Constructs cannot be stunned, so they do not suffer the stun effect when they are wounded. According to rules they don’t suffer nonlethal damage. I assume, however, that they do suffer nonlethal damage as collateral damage when they suffer lethal damage. Accordingly when wounded they are dazed. They lose one round, but are not treated as surprized – don’t lose dex bonus to defense and cannot be sneak attacked. They can also be shaken, and suffer –2 penalty to attack and other rolls and saves.
Undead and Constructs which are disabled are at the same time staggered. They lose one full-round action after suffering a staggered result. They can take no actions other than reactions, lose their dodge and parry bonuses to Defense, and have a –2 penalty to Defense. Since it is not a stun effect, undead are not immune to it.
Undead and Constructs don’t suffer fatigue. When using powers, however, they lose levels of fatigue, although they don’t receive any penalties because of that. When undead or constructs are Exhausted they cannot use powers at all. Constructs add +1 to Toughness. Undead add +½ level in the Undead type to Toughness (rounding down). In case of undead with character levels, add 1/3 Character level to Toughness – in other words, for every 3 full character levels, increaste Toughness by 1.
It is possible to establish mental contact with intelligent undead using Necromancy power. Characters with Necromancy power can establish mental contact even with mindless undead. When you are in mental contact with a mindless undead, you simply get a sense of what the undead is doing. Undead are generally immune to mind-affecting powers, but the Necromancy power allows you to use following powers against them: Charm, Dominate, Illusion, Mind Probe, Mind Reading, Mind Shaping, Pain, Suggestion.
19. Total cover and other abilities which allow to avoid damage
Abilities and conditions which give you a percent chance to avoid damage, such as cover, total cover, blur, phase, blink etc do not stack. You can use only one of them against any given attack.
20. Monsters with multiple natural weapons
Such creatures can attack with more than two attacks, but each attack must be directed at a separate target, and all attacks suffer -5 penalty to hit. If a monster has Double Strike feat, the penalty for multiple attacks decreases to -2, and it can attack one target with two weapons. This is resolved similar to two weapon attack: if it attacks the same target with both attacks and both hit, increase the damage of the attack with the higher damage bonus by +2, much like a use of combined attack.
Level Save Bonus 14 +1 17 +2 19 +3
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When a monster is grappling or pinning an opponent who is at least two size categories smaller, and can make multiple attacks per standard action, it can make a grapple check as one of those attacks, with an appropriate penalty.
21. Incorporeality
Incorporeal creatures are not invisible. They are unaffected by the material world, able to pass through solid objects and creatures and move in any direction, including up or down, at their normal movement speed, although they cannot see when their eyes are within solid matter. Any equipment they are wearing or carrying is also incorporeal. Armor and magical items used by incorporeal creatures affect them normally.
Incorporeal creatures do not leave footprints, have no scent, and make noise only intentionally. In almost all cases, nonvisual senses are ineffective for detecting or pinpointing incorporeal creatures. Blindsense, blindsight, scent, and tremorsense are all useless.
Incorporeal creatures can be harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, by magic weapons, or by powers, spell-like effects, or supernatural effects. They are immune to all nonmagical attack forms. They are not burned by normal fires, affected by natural cold, or harmed by mundane acids.
Even when hit by magic powers, or magic weapons, incorporeal creatures have a 50% chance (11 or better on d20) to ignore any damage from a corporeal source (except for supernatural powers that affect the mind or spirit, positive energy, negative energy, force effects, or attacks made with ghost touch weapons). Nondamaging magic effects affect them normally unless they require corporeal targets to function or they create a corporeal effect that incorporeal creatures would normally be unaffected by. (Percent rolls to avoid attacks, such as the above, or blur, or total concealment, or blink, do not stack. You can roll to avoid getting hit only once.)
Incorporeal creatures affect each other normally. Attacks and supernatural powers used by incorporeal creatures do not grant miss chance to other incorporeal creatures.
Incorporeal creatures cannot touch or affect material world. They can attack corporeal targets only with Ghost Touch weapons and supernatural powers. Some incorporeal creatures have additionally special powers allowing them to attack corporeal creatures.
22. Swarms
Swarms do not receive size bonus (in this case, penalty) to Toughness. Their Toughness equals Constitution plus ½ level (rounding down). They have Damage Resistance 6/Area attacks.
Swarms of Tiny creatures additionally lower by 4 damage from slashing and piercing weapons. Bludgeoning weapons, natural weapons, unarmed strikes, weapons which can inflict elemental damage (eg with Elemental Weapon power) and powers which aren’t area attacks are not affected by this, but still do not bypass Damage Resistance 6/area, which can be bypassed only by area attacks.
Swarms of Diminutive or Fine creatures are immune to weapons damage. Natural weapons and unarmed strikes inflict damage-4. Powers and weapons which can inflict elemental damage (eg with Elemental Weapon power) inflict full damage, but do not bypass Damage Resistance. Only area attacks bypass damage resistance.
23. Regeneration.
This trait is weakened a bit, in order to bring it in line with D&D rules. Creatures with Regeneration make the recovery check due to regeneration with -5 penalty, without adding the constitution (they must roll 15 or better in order to succeed). “Regeneration: A creature with this ability is difficult to kill. Damage dealt to the creature is treated as non-lethal damage. As long as the creature has unhealed non-lethal damage, it automatically gains a special recovery check each round; it must roll 15 or better in order to succeed. Certain attack forms, typically fire and acid, deal lethal damage to the creature, which doesn’t go away. The creature’s descriptive text describes the details. If the creature has been rendered unconscious, any further attacks are treated as lethal.
A regenerating creature that has been rendered unconscious through non-lethal damage can be killed with a coup de grace. The attack must be of a type that can inflict lethal damage. If the unconscious creature is vulnerable to fire, covering it with oil and burning it down kills it automatically; if it is vulnerable to acid, it dies if covered wholly in acid.
Attack forms that don’t deal physical damage (such as ability damage or ability drain) ignore regeneration. Regeneration also does not heal damage caused by starvation, thirst, or suffocation. Regenerating creatures can regrow lost portions of their bodies and can reattach severed limbs or body parts; details are in the creature’s descriptive text. Severed parts that are not reattached wither and die normally. A creature must have a Constitution score to have regeneration.”
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Optional rules
1. Flanking When you attack an opponent who is in contact with a greater number of your allies (excluding you) than his allies, you gain +2 bonus to attack. Flanking doesn’t allow you to make sneak attacks. Eg – when you attack an opponent who is in contact only with you and your ally, you gain a flanking bonus. When you attack an opponent who is in contact with you, your ally and his ally, you do not gain a flanking bonus.
2. Surrounding A creature is surrounded when in contact with at least 3 enemies. You cannot be surrounded when in contact with any friends or a wall, a tree etc – in other words, when your back is covered by some secure defense, you cannot be surrounded. For each size category the surrounding characters are smaller than creature, you need 1 more character to surround (eg 4 Medium characters to surroud 1 Large creature). When the surrounding creatures are of mixed size, the lowest size counts. Any attack against a surrounded opponent counts as a surprise attack. The target of a surprise attack loses any dodge bonus to Defense against the attack and suffers an additional –2 Defense penalty. In addition he can suffer sneak damage. It is possible to benefit from flanking and surrounding your enemy at the same time.
3. Attacking unarmed opponents Attacks against unarmed opponents (without either a melee weapon or a shield) count as surprise attacks. The same applies to opponents armed only with ranged weapons, unless those weapons can also be used as improvised melee weapons (such weapons generally cannot be used immediately after as ranged weapons. Narrator decides what damage the ranged weapon suffered and how much time is necessary to put it in order). Opponents possessing Improved Strike feat count as armed. Wands which can be used to cast attack powers count as weapons.
4. Opportunity Attack If your opponent leaves the area you threaten you can interrupt his turn, and make an immediate attack
against him. You lose a full action during your next initiative count. You cannot make any more opportunity attacks until your next initiative count (during which you can take only free actions). Your position in the initiative count doesn't change. Note that a character moving within the area you threaten is not subject to an attack of opportunity. Only a character moving to a place where you will not be able to attack him provokes an attack of opportunity. Additionally, you cannot attack in this way an opponent using the Overrun maneuver against you.
5. Running on battlefield. A character running or making a double move through threatened area is treated as surprised when attacked by the opponent which threatened it. This applies to all attacks during the turn of the moving character and later, until the start of its next turn.
6. Retraining
You can retrain one feat or power each level.
7. Flat-footed condition Flat-footed condition doesn’t exist. When you are attacked in the surprise round, you are surprised, and can be sneak attacked. When you are attacked during the normal rounds (even if you haven’t yet made a move), you can defend yourself as normal. If you attacked while not wielding a weapon, see pt. 3.
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Combat Maneuver Rules Those rules can seem to be more complicated than the original True20 rules. I hope that in practice they will prove simpler, especially when fighting against gigantic monsters, monsters with multiple attacks, etc. When writing rules for a D&D style game, in which you are expected to fight with many strange creatures, I think it is better to consider all possible cases in the basic rules. Simple rules in which you cannot fight a solution for your problem are not very useful in such a case.
In addition, in those rules there are no size bonuses to grapple checks. Large creatures must rely on their strength to subdue their opponents. On the other hand, particular maneuvers which can be performed during the grapple have restrictions based on the relative size of creatures. The purpose of that change is to allow smaller character to have a chance to escape the grapple with a gigantic opponent. Otherwise, since the giant creatures have generally also gigantic strength, there is a kind of “double jeopardy” which makes the result of the grapple foreordained. Since the grapple maneuvers a smaller creature can attempt against larger are strickly limited, there is no risk of a mouse wrestling a dragon into submission.
Trip attack has been subsumed into the grapple rules, as one of the possible maneuvers. The rules for disarming and overrunning has been unified with the grapple rules. The rush maneuver has been removed; the general grapple rules can be used to perform exactly the same action (use the trip or move maneuvers). Grapple-Basic rules
The grappling creature must succeed on a grapple check each round for the grapple to continue. The defending character does not roll a grapple check. Instead it has a static Grapple Defense, essentially a Grapple check + 10, with some possible bonuses. If the check succeeds, it can perform one of the possible maneuvers. If it fails, the grapple ends, or the creature which has been grappled grapples it in return.
Grapple Check is d20 + Combat Bonus + Strength modifier
You receive +4 bonus to the grapple defense if at least one of the following applies: - you are a creature which has more than two legs or is otherwise more stable than a normal humanoid (eg
snake-shaped) and belongs at least to the same size category as your opponent - you are mounted and belong at least to the same size category as your opponent - you are by at least one size category larger than your opponent - you possess the Grappling Finesse feat.
You can receive this bonus only once, even if you fulfill multiple conditions.
Alternatively you can use as your Grapple Defense 10+Escape Artist skill (including Dexterity). In that case you do not get the bonus for the stable shape, size, being mounted or possessing the Grappling Finesse feat. Starting a grapple Use your common sense when deciding which creatures can start a grapple. Generally, herbivores (eg a horse) and other creatures which lack grappling limbs or strong fanged jaws cannot start a grapple. This common sense rule also applies to grapple maneuvers. The Narrator can make exceptions as needed – eg a horse can try to crush someone against the wall of the stable, which can be resolved using the grapple rules.
You can attempt to grapple opponents up to one size category larger than yourself. (A mounted opponent counts for this purpose as one size larger than he is.) To start a grapple you make an unarmed attack as a free action, except you do not deal damage. If you succeed, you must make a grapple check, as detailed in the following section. If your opponent is already grappling with you or somebody else (he has the Wrestling condition), you do not need to make an attack roll.
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When grappling an opponent After grabbing your opponent, you must make a grapple check as a standard action against the Grapple Defense of your opponent. While you maintain a grapple, you must also make a grapple check at the beginning of each your turn. If you do not attempt a grapple check at the beginning of your turn, the grapple ends immediately.
If you succeed at the grapple check, both you and your opponent gain the Wrestling condition. All creatures held by your opponent are immediately freed from the grapple. Finally, you must select a maneuver you want to perform as a free action. The available maneuvers depend on your size, the size of your opponent, and other factors A mounted opponent counts as one size larger than he is.
When you are grappling or pinning an opponent who is at least two size categories smaller than you, you don’t have the Wrestling condition. You can move at full speed without performing a grapple maneuver, carrying the grappled opponent with you, or perform any other action you want, provided that you hold the opponent with at least one limb and make a grapple check each round. You don’t have to perform any maneuvers if you simply want to continue the grapple (remember that you make the grapple check as a free action). If you can make multiple attacks per round (eg with many limbs and Double Strike feat), you can make a grapple maneuver as one of those attacks, with an appropriate penalty to the grapple check. If your grapple check fails, your opponent can grapple you as an immediate action without a check. In that case your roles are reversed and he is holding you. If he does not, the grapple immediately ends. Note that creatures more than one category smaller than you or unable to grapple because of their anatomy cannot grapple you.
When you suffer a wound, your opponent can break off the grapple as a reaction.
Grapple Maneuvers
1) Damage Opponent Humanoid creatures, snakes, tentacled creatures and quadrupeds with bite attack can deal damage to their opponent while grappling as a standard action. You can attempt to damage opponents up to one size category larger than yourself. You deal damage as normal for your natural weapon, unarmed strike or with a small (light) weapon held in one hand (including the pommel of a sword). Generally, unarmed strike damage dealt by humans is non-lethal, except when a specific feat or magical item allow to deal lethal damage. You can draw a small (light) weapon as a move action before dealing damage.
2) Move Humanoid creatures, snakes, tentacled creatures and quadrupeds with bite attack can move while grappling as a standard action. The opponent must be no larger than your size category. If you are grappling multiple opponents, you must make grapple checks against all of them, as one standard action. If you succeed on all of them, you move all creatures you grapple up to half your move as a move action. You do not need to perform this maneuver if your opponent is at least two size categories smaller than you.
3) Pin Humanoid creatures, snakes, tentacled creatures and quadrupeds with bite attack can pin their opponents as a standard action. The opponent must be no larger than their size category. If you succeed at your grapple check, your opponent gains the Pinned condition until the beginning of your next turn. You have still the Grappled condition and are still considered to be holding your opponent.
A pinned creature cannot move or make any actions, loses any dodge bonus and takes a –4 penalty to its Defence against all opponents other than the one pinning it. An adept can allow himself to be pinned without a need for grapple check. In that case, he can use a power as a standard action during his turn. This requires a Concentration check.
If you have the Constrict ability or feat, after you succesfully pin your opponent you can immediately deal to it your unarmed damage or natural weapon damage.
If you have the Chokehold feat, after you succesfully pin your opponent, you can alternatively (ie, not when using a Constrict feat) apply a chokehold, causing your opponent to begin suffocating for as long as you maintain the pin.
4) Trip All creatures can trip. You can, as a standard action, trip opponents up to one size category larger than yourself. You cannot trip creatures grappled by another character.
When you use a weapon designed for tripping, such as halberd, a guisarme or a whip, your opponent does not get +4 bonus to his grapple defence due to being mounted. Additionately, if you fail the grapple check using such a weapon, the grapple is automatically broken and your opponent must make a melee attack to grapple you.
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When you succeed at tripping an opponent, he falls prone. If you succeed at tripping a mounted opponent, you pull the rider from his mount, and he falls prone on the ground. In both cases the grapple is broken.
A tripped character is prone. He has –4 penalty on attack rolls. He gains a +4 bonus to Defense against ranged attacks, but takes a –4 penalty to Defense against melee attacks. Standing up is a move action.
If you have an Improved Trip feat, you can make an immediate attack against your tripped opponent. This counts as a part of the standard action used to trip an opponent.
5) Throw Humanoid creatures and tentacled creatures can throw their opponents as a standard action. The opponent must be no larger than your size category. You cannot throw creatures grappled by another character. If your check succeeds your opponent falls prone next to you and suffers damage as of your unarmed attack. After throwing the opponent the grapple with him is immediately broken.
Narrator can allow you to use the rules for improvised throwing weapons when throwing creatures at least one category smaller than you.
6) End the Grapple. You end the grapple, even if you are grappling many opponents. This maneuver is rarely used, since it is usually better to trip or throw your opponent.
7) Perform a Standard Action This is generally used to activate magic item other than scrolls (you cannot activate scrolls while wrestling), or to use supernatural powers. You can also try to disarm your opponent. You do not have to make an attack roll, but you must make again the Grapple check, as specified in the rules describing the Disarm maneuver.
Wrestling Condition While you’re grappling, grappled by or pinning an opponent you have the Wrestling condition. You cannot move except by performing a grapple maneuver. You can be surprise attacked and sneak attacked by opponents you aren’t wrestling with. If such an opponent attacks you and misses, he must roll attack again to see whether he does not hit your opponent. You retain you dodge bonus against opponents you are grappling. (If you possess the Grappling Finesse feat you retain your dodge bonus against all opponents).
While you are grappling an opponent, you must make a grapple check and perform a grapple maneuver as a standard action at the beginning of your every turn. If you do not attempt a grapple check at the beginning of your turn, the grapple ends immediately. After you perform a maneuver, see below - you can do any of the actions which do not require a grapple check (remember that you can spend a Conviction point to gain a standard action). While you are grappled by an opponent, if you are no more than one size category smaller than him, you can make a grapple check as a standard action. You cannot make a grapple check if you are smaller by two or more size categories. You don’t have to make a melee attack. If your check succeeds you are grappling that creature and must perform one of the appropriate grapple maneuvers. A creature which is unable to start a grapple (eg a horse) can make this grapple check, but if it succeeds it can only end the grapple or trip the opponent.
When you are grappling multiple opponents, you choose one opponent to make a check against. If you are grappled by multiple opponents, you must make grapple checks against all of them, as one free action. If you succeed on all of them, you select one opponent to grapple, or simply end the grapple. While wrestling, you can make the following actions without making a grapple check:
- Activate a magic item other than scroll. - If you are at least one size category smaller than your opponent, you can draw a small (light) weapon as a
move action. - If you are at least one size category smaller than your opponent, you can attack him with a small weapon
(including a weapon drawn just before as a move action), natural weapon or an unarmed attack. If you cause at least a wound to your opponent, any creature he grapples (including yourself) can break the grapple as an immediate action action.
- If you are at least two size category smaller than your opponent, you can attack him with a medium (one hand) weapon.
- You can use powers while grappling, subject to the requirements of the grapple, without making a grapple check. This requires a Concentration check. (If you are a wizard or sorcerer and do not have Still Spell Feat, you cannot use spells)
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Pinned Condition While you are pinned you cannot move or make any actions. At your opponent’s option, you may also be unable to speak. As an exception, an adept can allow his opponent to pin him without a grapple check. In that case, during his turn he can use a power as a standard action. This requires a Concentration check. (A sorcerer or wizard cannot use spells with verbal components if he cannot speak, and cannot use any spells if he does not have Still Spell feat).
You can be surprise attacked or sneak attacked by all except the opponent pinning you. You lose your dodge bonus and take a –4 penalty to your Defence against them. This doesn’t stack with the penalty for being grappled or for surprise attack.
Multiple Grapplers Several combatants can be in a single grapple. Up to four combatants can grapple a single opponent in a given round. Creatures that are one or more size categories smaller than you count for half, creatures that are one size category larger than you count double, and creatures two or more size categories larger count quadruple.
When you attempt to join the grapple, by grappling an opponent who has the Wrestling condition, you do not need to make an attack roll. You make immediately the grapple check. If your opponent has been grappling some creatures, all creatures held by your opponent are immediately freed from the grapple when you succeed. If your opponent has been grappled by somebody else, he is now grappled by you both.
If you are grappled by multiple opponents, you must make grapple checks against all of them, as free actions. If you succeed on all of them, you must select one opponent against whom to perform a grapple maneuver. The grapple with other opponents ends immediately. Alternatively, you can simply end the grapple as a standard action.
Generally, you can grapple only one opponenent. As an exception, if you are two size categories greater than your opponents and have multiple limbs or natural attacks which can be used to grapple (bite, for example), you can grapple one opponent per limb or attack.
Ending the Grapple The grapple ends when the character grappling you: 1) does not attempt to make a grapple check at the beginning of his turn, 2) fails his grapple check, and you do not grapple him in return as an immediate action, 3) trips or throws you, 4) is Wounded, and you decide to break the grapple as a reaction, 5) is grappled by a third character.
Disarm As a standard action, you may attempt to knock an item such as a weapon or device out of an opponent’s hand. The opponent must belong to the same or smaller size category as you. Some types of weapons cannot be disarmed – eg a gauntlet, a punching dagger etc. Make a melee attack against the defender. If your attack succeeds, you deal no damage, but can make a grapple check.
Grapple Check is d20 + Combat Bonus + Strength modifier
You do not receive normal bonuses to grapple check (eg for Improved Grab), and the defender to grapple defense. Instead, he receives +4 if he is wielding a two-handed melee weapon. In addition, Improved Disarm feat provides +4 bonuses to grapple check and to grapple defense.
If you succeed, the defender is disarmed. If you attempted the disarm action as an unarmed attack, you now have the weapon. Otherwise, the defender drops it. If the defender wields an item other than a melee weapon or a two handed ranged weapon (eg a wand, a pistol), you automatically succeed on the grapple check to disarm him.
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Overrun The rules for overrunning depend on the size of your target. If you are mounted, use the size, the grapple check and the natural attacks of your mount. You cannot overrun a target greater than your mount. If your opponent is mounted, use the size and the grapple check of his mount. Instead of Acrobatics, use his Ride skill.
If the target belongs to a size category larger than you: You can attempt to move past it as a standard action taken in the middle of your move. You can only make one such attempt per action. The target can choose to avoid you, allowing you to pass through its square without requiring an attack. (You can always move through a square occupied by someone who lets you by.) In this case you do not spend the standard action.
If the target does not avoid you, you make an Acrobatics check. The target opposes it with an Acrobatics or Attack Bonus Check. Attack Bonus check equals 1d20+Combat Bonus+Dexterity. Traits, feats, class abilities and situational modifiers that apply to attack rolls do not affect Attack Bonus Checks. If you win the opposed roll, you can move on. If you fail, you immediately end your movement. If you lose the opposed roll by at least 5, you fall prone.
If the target belongs to the same size category as you: You can attempt an overrun as part of a charge, double move or all-out move action. You can only make one overrun attempt per action. When you attempt to overrun a target, it can choose to avoid you, allowing you to pass through its square without requiring an attack. (You can always move through a square occupied by someone who lets you by.)
If the target does not avoid you, make a grapple check. If you succeed, you can move on. If you fail, you immediately end your movement and your turn. If you win the grapple check by at least 5, you target falls prone; if you lose the check by at least 5, you fall prone yourself.
If the target is smaller than you: You can move through its space as part of your move. If it does not avoid, it makes a grapple check against you as a immediate action. If it fails, the target falls prone and you make an unarmed or natural weapon attack against it as a free action. A creature smaller than you by two or more size categories must avoid.
Feinting The following rules replace the standard rules on feining, as well as the Quicker than the Eye option in the Sleight of Hand skill. Startle and Acrobatic Bluff feats are removed.
Make a skill check as a move action. Your foe opposes your result with an Attack Bonus check; alternatively, if your skill would normally be opposed by another skill or special check, he may roll that instead.
Attack Bonus check equals 1d20+Combat Bonus+Dexterity. Traits, feats, class abilities and situational modifiers that apply to attack rolls do not affect Attack Bonus Checks.
You can use this option with the Jump, Acrobatics, Intimidate, Bluff and Sleight of Hand skills. You can also use this with any other skill you have, provided you can come up with a suitably plausible description of its use, and the skill would normally take a standard action to complete. What counts as plausible is left to the Narrator's discretion.
A use of Intimidate, Bluff and Sleight of Hand skills takes place of your move, so you must be already adjacent to your opponent. When using Jump and Acrobatics you move at half speed. You must additionally perform an appropriate maneuver (jumping from a table or tumbling up to your opponent across a stone pavement, for example). The Narrator decides whether your maneuver is appropriate. You cannot start the move adjacent to your opponent, and it never counts as a charge.
Jump and Acrobatics are opposed by the Attack Bonus check (as above) or by Acrobatics. Intimidate is opposed with a modified level check (d20+level+Wisdom+save modifiers against fear) or Sense Motive. Bluff can be opposed by Sense Motive or Attack Bonus check. Sleight of Hand is opposed by Notice or Attack Bonus Check. Intimidate cannot be used to feint against fearless or mindless opponents. Bluff can be used against mindless opponents (They obviously require completely different style of bluffing from sentient opponents, but can actually be very easy to bluff, especially if you know their programming or attack routine).
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If you win the opposed roll, your foe is surprised by your next attack that targets him, provided it is made before the end of your next turn. The target of a surprise attack loses any dodge bonus to Defense against the attack and suffers an additional –2 Defense penalty. He can also suffer the sneak attack bonus to damage.
If you fail, you suffer a –2 penalty to attack rolls for the next round. You cannot use a fast task completion challenge to make feints as free actions.
Combat Maneuver Feats Chokehold (Warrior) If you pin an opponent while grappling, you can apply a chokehold, causing your opponent to begin suffocating for as long as you maintain the pin. This can be used only against creatures which need to breathe. When you pin an opponent and use this feat, he must start making Difficulty 10 Constitution checks on his turn, in order to continue holding his breath. The check must be repeated each round, with the Difficulty increasing by +1 for each previous success. When the opponent fails one of these Constitution checks, he begins to suffocate. In the first round, he falls unconscious. In the following round, he is dying. In the third round, he suffocates and dies. This option cannot be used together with Constrict. Constrict (Warrior) If you successfully pin an opponent with a grapple check, you can crush him, dealing your natural attack or unarmed damage. This option cannot be used together with Chokehold. In addition, the damage you deal while grappling (both when using this feat and when using Damage maneuver) can be lethal and is increased by +1 for every four total levels, rounding up (+1 at levels 1–4, +2 at levels 5–8, +3 at levels 9-12, +4 a levels 13-16, +5 at levels 17-20). This is a magic enhancement bonus. It does not stack with Improved Strike. Use that feat also for the monster ability (monsters usually do not receive the bonus to damage). Grappling Finesse (General) You receive +4 bonus to your Grapple Defense. This cannot be combined with the bonus for being a creature which has more than two legs or is otherwise more stable than a normal humanoid (eg snake-shaped), or being mounted or larger than your opponent. This bonus does not apply when you use the Escape Artist skill as your Grapple Defense. Additionately, you retain your dodge bonus to defense against all opponents while grappling, but not while pinned. Improved Disarm (General) You have a +4 bonus to grapple check when attempting to disarm an opponent, and +4 to grapple defense if an opponent attempts to disarm you. Improved Grab (General) You can use the Improved grap when you hit with an unarmed attack or with a weapon, but only if you have one hand free. In that case you can immediately make a grapple check against that opponent as a free action. The opponent must be no larger than your size category. If your grapple check succeeds, you are grappling that opponent. A successful grapple check does not deal any extra damage, even when you have Constrict ability or Crush feat, nor does it allow you to perform any grapple maneuvers that turn. During your next turn, however, you can make a grapple check without the need to make an attack roll. In addition, your grappling attacks are particularly difficult to escape. You receive +4 bonus to your grapple check. This bonus does not apply to your Grapple Defense.
Use those rules, except for the bonus to the grapple check, for the monster ability and all similar abilities (eg Snatch).
Improved Trip (General) When you trip an opponent, you can make an immediate attack against him. This counts as a part of the standard action used to initiate grapple.
Improved Overrun (General) You can use that feat only once per your turn. When you attempt to overrun an opponent equal or smaller in size than you (or your mount), the target must make an Acrobatics (Ride, if mounted) check or Attack Bonus Check in order to avoid you. You oppose it with an Acrobatics (Ride, if mounted) or Attack Bonus Check. Attack Bonus check
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equals 1d20+Combat Bonus+Dexterity. Traits, feats, class abilities and situational modifiers that apply to attack rolls do not affect Attack Bonus Checks. If the target wins the opposed roll, you move on. If you win the opposed roll your target falls prone.
If the target does not attempt to avoid you, use the general rules for overrunning. If you knock down an opponent equal to you (your mount) in size, you (or your mount) get an unarmed or
natural weapon attack against him as a free action. If you are mounted and overrunning a target smaller than your mount, you can use your Ride skill+10
instead of the Grapple Defence of your mount when the target attempts to grapple it. Normal: If you knock down an opponent smaller than you (or your mount) in size, you (or your mount) get an unarmed or natural weapon attack against him as a free action even without that feat.
Rake
A creature with this special attack gains extra natural attack when it uses the grapple maneuver to damage its opponent. Normally, a monster can attack with only one of its natural weapons while grappling, but a monster with the rake ability usually gains an additional attack that it can use only against a grappled foe.
As a part of the Damage opponent grapple maneuver, roll the grapple check second time; if you succeed on both attacks, increase the damage of the attack with the higher damage bonus by +2, much like a use of combined attack or two-weapon fighting.
D&D Monsters generally have two Rake attacks. When converting, use only one attack.
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Alternative Damage System Brief Introduction This alternative damage system gives nearly exactly equivalent results compared to the original damage system. It uses Damage roll instead of Toughness save. More mathematically inclined readers may notice that the Damage difficulties are not mathematically equivalent to the Toughness save difficulties. This is caused by the need to compensate for the lack of penalties to Toughness.
The advantage of this system is that you can write down the Damage throw results at which you become hurt, wounded or disabled on your character sheet (they equal Toughness + 5, 10 and 15). They change only when you take off your armor or are attacked using Finesse. When the attacker rolls Damage, you can simply compare the result to your thresholds and check off the corresponding box, without the need for any mathematical operations at all.
Instead of Toughness save, the attacker rolls for damage. Damage equals d20+Weapon Damage+Strength Bonus+Other Bonuses. The Damage Track levels remain as in original - Hurt, Wounded, Disabled and Dying. There are NO penalties to Toughness for any injury. There are 3 Hurt boxes, 3 Wounded boxes, 1 Disabled Box and 1 Dying Box. If a target suffers a result for which all boxes are already checked off, check off the next highest result.
The target compares the damage with their Toughness.
If Damage equals Toughness+5 target is Hurt
If Damage equals Toughness+10 target is Wounded
If Damage equals Toughness+15 target is Disabled.
I also introduced some changes not connected to the Damage roll and static damage difficulties. I changed the results of Wounding an opponent to a daze. A stun was too powerful a result, especially compared to hurting an opponent, which has no additional effects. This caused too quick death spiral. I also slowed down non-magical recovery – for wounds to once per day, and for disabling to once per week. I did this both to render healing more “realistic” and to stick closer to the standard D&D. This has no negative influence on the game, since magical healing is readily available. Damage When an attacker hits his target with a damaging attack, he makes a Damage throw, which measures the ability to inflict damage.
Damage throw equals d20 plus the attack’s damage bonus. For unarmed attacks, this is the attacker’s Strength score. For weapons, this is the weapon’s damage plus the attacker’s Strength score. For example, an attacker with Strength +1, wielding a short sword (damage modifier +2) has a total damage modifier of +3. So, he inflict Damage equal to d20 +3.
If the Damage throw is lower than Toughness + 5, the target suffers no significant damage, nothing more than a slight scratch, bruise, or torn clothing. If the Damage throw succeeds, the target suffers damage; how much damage depends on the type of attack (lethal or non-lethal) and the amount by which the Damage throw exceeds Toughness, as shown on the Damage Throw Table. Non-lethal Damage comes from unarmed attacks (punches and kicks), as well as specific non-lethal weapons, like saps. Lethal Damage is inflicted by weapons, from cutting and piercing weapons like swords and spears to heavy bludgeoning weapons like hammers and maces.
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Damage Throw Table
Damage Throw Result Non-lethal Lethal
Below Toughness + 5 no effect No effect
Equals or greater than Toughness +5
bruised hurt
Equals or greater than Toughness +10
dazed wounded
Equals or greater than Toughness +15
staggered disabled
Equals or greater than Toughness +20 unconscious dying Equals or greater than Toughness +25 unconscious dead
There are no penalties to Toughness for any injury. There are 3 Hurt boxes, 3 Wounded boxes, 1 Disabled
Box, 1 Dying Box and 1 Dead Box. When a target suffers lethal damage, check off the corresponding box with “X”. Damage Overflow: If a target suffers a result for which all boxes are already checked off, check off the next
highest result. So, if a target is already Disabled and suffers another Disabled result, check off the Dying box. If the Dying box is checked and the character suffers another Dying result, check off the Dead box.
Impossible Escape: If the Damage is so high that a natural 1 is not enough to save the target from injury, the natural throw of 1 means the character is only dazed or wounded, regardless of the Damage. Fate intervenes to spare the character from otherwise certain doom. Narrators interested in realistic consequences for damage should ignore this rule.
Critical Hits: A critical hit increases an attack’s damage bonus, meaning critical hits can potentially inflict more serious damage. The usual bonus for a critical hit equals +3.
Conviction: The attacker cannot use Conviction to re-roll the damage roll. After the attacker rolls for damage, the target can expend a Conviction point to reduce the injury by two steps (in effect subtracting 10 from the damage throw) BUT ONLY if the attacker rolled 11 or more.
Non-lethal damage uses the same damage track. If you suffer non-lethal damage, mark it on the damage track with eg "/" (and lethal damage as "X"). Non-lethal damage is always checked off in an empty box (regardless whether other boxes are filled with lethal or non-lethal damage). It can overflow to the next damage level. Eg if you have 2 Hurt marks, and suffer 2 Bruise results, mark 1 Bruise. The second Bruise overflows into the next level - mark 1 Daze.
When you suffer additional lethal damage, put it into the free boxes. If there are no free boxes on a given level, convert the non-lethal damage marks into the lethal (that means that non-lethal damage disappears and is replaced by lethal damage). In the above example you have 2 Hurt marks, 1 Bruise mark and 1 Daze mark. If you suffer 3 Hurt results, 2 of them overflow into wounded level. You will have additionally 1 remaining Daze mark. The Bruise mark has been converted into Hurt.
You don't have to erase and re-draw every mark on your Damage track. A non-lethal mark can be transformed into a lethal one by drawing an crisscrossing line to create an X.
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Damage Conditions Damaged characters can suffer from any of seven conditions, given on the Damage Track and described here. Hurt and Bruised have no direct effect on characters. Dazed characters lose one full-round action after suffering a dazed result; they can take no actions, but retain their normal Defense. The following round, they can act normally. The character can use a Conviction point to avoid the loss of a full-round action. Using one conviction point is enough to stop all dazed effects for a turn, even if the character suffer multiple such effects, or is dazed again after spending a Coviction point. Staggered characters lose one full-round action after suffering a staggered result. They can take no actions other than reactions and any attack against them counts as a surprise attack – they lose their dodge and parry bonuses to Defense, and have a –2 penalty to Defense. The -2 penalty to Defense does not stack with the penalty for being stunned (wounded) or disabled. In the following rounds, staggered characters can only take a standard or a move action, not both. Unconscious characters pass out and are Helpless, unable to do anything until they awaken. Wounded characters are shaken, suffering a –2 penalty on all checks, including attack rolls and Fortitude, Reflex, and Will saving throws, but not Constitution checks. This persists until all wounded conditions are eliminated. The penalty for multiple wounds does not stacks – a character with three wounds still suffers only -2 penalty. Additionally, a wounded character is dazed for one full round after being wounded and loses one full-round action. The character can use a Conviction point to avoid the loss of a full-round action. Using one conviction point is enough to stop all dazed effects for a turn, even if the character suffer multiple such effects, or is dazed again after spending a Coviction point.
Disabled characters are conscious and able to act, but are badly injured. They lose one full-round action after suffering a disabled result. They can take no actions other than reactions, and any attack against them counts as a surprise attack – they lose their dodge and parry bonuses to Defense, and have a –2 penalty to Defense. This effect ends just before the same initiative number where it began (and so the same character attacking in the next round will not benefit from the surprise attack). The -2 penalty to Defense does not stack with the penalty for being stunned or staggered. In the following rounds, disabled characters can only take a standard or a move action, not both. If a disabled character takes a standard action, he falls unconscious and begins dying on the following round. The same happens when he performs any other strenuous action. Strenuous actions include moving all out, attacking, or using any ability requiring physical exertion or mental concentration. Dying characters pass out and are Helpless, unable to do anything until they recover. They have to make a Constitution check (Difficulty 10) at the beginning of each round. On a failed check, the character dies. On a successful check, the character lives for another round (and must make a check the following round). If the check succeeds by 10 or more (Difficulty 20), the character’s conditions becomes disabled and unconscious. Dead characters are, well, dead. This usually means the end for the character, although some powerful healers can restore life to the recently deceased. Recovery
Recovering from damage requires a Constitution check (Difficulty 10). You recover from the worst damage
condition only. A successful check transforms lethal damage mark into non-lethal damage or erases non-lethal damage mark, while an unsuccessful check means there is no significant improvement for that time period. One recovery check removes or transforms only one mark. You remove the mark of the lowest level present, lethal before non-lethal. Eg – wounded before hurt, disabled before staggered.
You can make a recovery check once per minute for staggered and unconscious, once per day for wounded, and once per week for disabled. Dying has its own particular check; once you are stable, dying becomes unconscious and disabled, which you recover from normally (one minute for unconscious, one week for disabled).
You can spend a Conviction point to get an immediate recovery check from non-lethal damage, rather than having to wait a minute. You can do this only if you have no corresponding lethal damage, and so would be eligible
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for recovery from nonlethal damage normally. The character, as usually, rolls a recovery check from his worst damage condition. You can also spend Conviction on your recovery check from both lethal and non-lethal damage; (which usually ensures passing it).
Bruised and dazed conditions fade automatically at a rate of one per minute. Hurt conditions do the same at a rate of one per day. You can spend a Conviction point to immediately erase all bruised and hurt conditions after, but not during, a conflict. This also erases all dazed conditions – but only if you have no wounded conditions. Warriors can use their role’s core ability to spend a Conviction point to erase all bruised and hurt conditions at any time, even during combat.
Remember that you cannot attempt recovery from the less severe condition until you remove the more severe one. Eg you cannot recover from bruised, dazed and hurt conditions if you are wounded. Use of Conviction to erase all bruised, dazed, and hurt conditions after the conflict and the Warrior core ability (which allows to remove all bruised and hurt conditions) are exceptions to that rule.
Recovery Table
Non-lethal Lethal Bruised one per minute, without check Hurt one per day, without check Dazed one per minute, without check Wounded check once per day Staggered check once per minute Disabled check once per week
Unconscious check once per minute Dying special To recapitulate, if a characters has suffered all damage conditions, from Dying to Bruised, he will recover as follows:
1. A Dying character makes a Constitution check each round. If he manages to pass Difficulty 20, he becomes Unconscious and Disabled instead.
2. An Unconscious and Disabled character must heal first Unconscious condition, (since it is lower than Disabled). He makes a recovery check (Constitution check with Difficulty 10) each minute.
3. A Disabled and Staggered character must heal first Disabled condition (lethal condition on the same level is more severe than nonlethal). He makes a recovery check each week.
4. A Staggered and Wounded character must heal first Staggered condition. He makes a recovery check each minute. Note that this happens only after Disabled condition have been cured. As long as a character is Disabled, he cannot recover from being Staggered.
5. A Wounded and Dazed character must heal first Wounded conditions. He makes a recovery check each day, until all Wounded conditions are healed.
6. Dazed and Hurt character must heal first Dazed conditions. They fade one per minute without the need for a recovery check.
7. Hurt and Bruised character must heal first the Hurt conditions before Bruised conditions can be healed. Hurts fade one per day without the need for a recovery check.
8. Bruised character heals one Bruised conditions per minute, without the need for a recovery check. Healing with use of Cure power proceeds in exactly the same order
Minions
While heroes and important Narrator characters use the rules described previously, minor characters in the story are less capable (and durable). These characters and creatures are known as minions, and follow special rules, particularly where damage is concerned.
When you attack a minion, you makes a Damage throw against his Toughness+10; if you succeed (your damage throw at least equals it), the minion suffers the maximum possible result for that attack. (This is a bit tougher than the standard rules; the value corresponding exactly them is Toughness+7) Usually this means unconsciousness for a non-lethal attack and death for a lethal attack. If the attacker wishes, the minion can suffer a lesser damage result. This means minions generally have only three damage conditions: normal, unconscious, and dead. This makes it easier for heroes to dispatch less important opponents and easier for the Narrator to keep track of them in combat.
Additionally, minions never have Conviction, even if they have levels in a heroic role. Their part in the story simply isn’t important enough.
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Damaging Objects
Striking an Object You can only strike an unattended object. If you want to attack an object held by another character, you must first knock it out of his hand – use the Disarm action.
Object Defense and Bonuses to Attack Immobile objects have a Defense of 5+ the object’s size modifier. (No Combat Bonus and -5 dexterity modifier). Adjacent attacks get a +4 bonus to hit immobile objects. (If you take a full-round action to aim, you get an automatic hit with an adjacent attack or a +5 bonus with a ranged attack.)
Ineffective Attacks and Specially Effective Attacks The Narrator may determine certain attacks just can’t effectively damage certain objects. For example, you will have a hard time breaking open an iron door with a knife, or cutting a rope with a club. In these cases, the Narrator may rule that you infict no damage to the object at all.
The Narrator may rule certain attacks are especially effective against some objects. For example, it’s easy to light a curtain on fre or rip a piece of cloth. In these cases, the Narrator may increase your damage bonus against the object or simply say the object is automatically destroyed by a successful attack.
Toughness Each object has a Toughness score representing how well it resists damage. An object’s Toughness works like a character’s Toughness. The Toughness scores given on the Substance Toughness table are for approximately 1 inch of the material. Heavier objects increase their Toughness by +1 per doubling in thickness, so a foot-thick stone wall has a Toughness of 12 (base Toughness 8, +4 for approximately four doubling of thickness). Characters can attempt to break through heavier objects a little at a time, rather than all at once, such as chipping away at a stone wall inch by inch.
Damage to Objects Objects are damaged equally by both non-lethal and lethal damage, but ignore non-lethal damage with a bonus less than their Toughness. Objects treat “hurt” and “wounded” results the same – in practice they can be said to suffer only “hurts” with 6 damage boxes. A “disabled” object is badly damaged. Disabled equipment and devices no longer function, while disabled barriers have holes punched through them. A “dying” object is destroyed. Damaged and disabled objects can be repaired. It’s up to the Narrator whether or not a destroyed object is repairable; if it is, the Difficulty of the Craft check is the same as for creating an entirely new item.
Breaking Items In the case of a character trying to break something outright, such as smashing down a door or snapping bonds, make a Strength check as a full action with a Difficulty of 10 + the object’s Toughness. Success destroys the object, while failure does no damage. The only difference between this and attacking an object is the character can’t slowly wear down an object’s Toughness in this way. Often objects have a listed difficulty of breaking them – in that case use the specified difficulty.
DAMAGE TRACK
Toughness+5 Toughness+15 Toughness+20
Hurt Disabled Destroyed
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Substance Toughness Paper –10 Glass 0 Ice 0 Rope 0 Soil 2 Wood 5 Stone 8 Iron 10 Steel 15
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Difficulty of Breaking or Bursting Items
Strength Check to: DC
Break down simple door 13
Break simple chest 17
Break down good door 18
Break down strong door, treasure chest 23
Burst rope bonds 23
Bend iron bars 24
Break down barred door 25
Burst chain bonds, manacles 26
Burst masterwork manacles 28
Break down iron door 28
Break a masonry wall 35
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Player Character Rules
Creating Characters Starting characters get 5 feats + background. Random rolling of abilities: Roll d20. In the corresponding row on the table below you can find ability scores. Assign the numbers to abilities as desired.
Point-buy system: You have 13 points. Abilities start at –1 and can be increased by spending points. The following table shows the cost of buying abilities:
D20 A B C D E F
1 4 2 1 0 0 0
2 4 3 0 0 -1 -1
3 4 2 0 0 0 0
4 4 2 1 0 -1 -1
5 3 3 2 0 -1 -1
6 3 2 2 1 0 -1
7 3 3 1 0 0 -1
8 4 2 1 0 -1 -1
9 3 2 2 0 0 0
10 4 1 0 0 0 0
11 4 1 0 0 0 -1
12 3 2 1 1 0 -1
13 3 2 1 0 0 0
14 3 1 1 1 0 0
15 2 2 2 2 0 0
16 2 2 2 2 0 -1
17 2 1 1 1 1 1
18 3 2 1 0 0 -1
19 3 1 1 1 0 -1
20 2 2 1 1 0 0
Point Cost Ability 0 -1 1 0 2 1 3 2 5 3 8 4
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Ability Increases: Those increases are intended to keep characters on equal footing with D&D characters. The ability increases need to account for much lower number of items granting ability bonuses, and the lack of inherent bonuses from wishes and the like.
Special Save Bonuses At higher levels, characters receive a special bonus to all saves. This is to balance the lack of save-increasing items.
Racial Backgrounds Favored feats The following feats cannot be chosen as favored feats: Sneak Attack, Familiar. The only power which can be chosen as a favored power is Psychic Shield. When using it treat character level as adept level. Characters with no Adept level and no prerequisite feat use Charisma as the key ability. Adepts can use their key ability, but in that case have to use their actual Adept level, not total Character level. Ability Adjustment Ability adjustments cannot cause an ability to fall below -1 or to rise above 4 (not counting level bonuses). If an ability would fall below -1 as a result of adjustment, it remains at -1, but you decrease some other ability. If an ability would rise above +4, it remains at 4, but you can increase some other ability. Dwarves Dwarves have the following background traits: • Dwarf base land speed is 20 feet. However, dwarves can move at this speed even when wearing heavy armor or when carrying a medium or heavy load (unlike other creatures, whose speed is reduced in such situations). • Ability Adjustments: +1 Constitution, –1 Charisma • Bonus Feats: Great Fortitude, Night Vision. • Bonus Skills: The hero gains Craft and Search as bonus known skills at 1st level (4 ranks), in addition to those gained for the hero’s role and Intelligence score, and 2 extra skill point at each additional level, which must be spent on Craft and Search. • Favored Feats: Diehard, Favored Opponent Elves Elves have the following background traits: • Ability Adjustments: +1 Dexterity, –1 Constitution • Bonus Feats: Night Vision, Weapon Training, Psychic Shield
Level Number of increased abilities
9 +1 to 2 abilities 15 +1 to 4 abilities 18 +1 to all abilities 20 +1 to all abilities
Level Bonus 14 +1 17 +2 19 +3
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• Favored Power: Psychic Shield. When using it treat character level as adept level. Characters with no Adept level and no prerequisite feat use Charisma as the key ability. Adepts can use their key ability, but in that case have to use their actual Adept level, not total Character level. Gnomes • Small: As a Small creature, a gnome gains a +1 to Combat bonus, and a +4 bonus to Stealth checks, but he suffers –1 penalty to Toughness, uses smaller weapons than humans use (-1 to damage), and his lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character. • Gnome base land speed is 20 feet. • Ability Adjustments: +1 Constitution, –1 Strength • Bonus Feats: Iron Will, Night Vision • Bonus Skills: The hero gains Craft and Notice as bonus known skills at 1st level (4 ranks), in addition to those gained for the hero’s role and Intelligence score, and 2 extra skill point at each additional level, which must be spent on Craft and Notice. • Favored Feats: Fascinate and Favored Opponent Half-elves • Ability Adjustments: None • Bonus Feats: Night Vision, Skill Focus – chose one from Diplomacy, Gather Information, Notice or Search. • Favored Feats: Choose two (based on the half-elf’s home culture). • Bonus Skills: The hero gains Notice and Gather Information as bonus known skills at 1st level (4 ranks), in addition to those gained for the hero’s role and Intelligence score, and 2 extra skill point at each additional level, which must be spent on Notice and Gather Information. Half-orcs • Ability Adjustments: +1 Strength, –1 Intelligence • Bonus Feats: Night Vision, Weapon Training • Bonus Skill: Half-orcs have one bonus known skill (this balances out the one that they lose due to their lower natural Intelligence score). The hero gains one bonus known skill at 1st level (4 ranks), in addition to those gained for the hero’s role and Intelligence score, and 1 extra skill point at each additional level. • Favored Feats: Cleave, Rage, Halflings • Small: As a Small creature, a halfling gains a +1 to Combat bonus, and a +4 bonus to Stealth checks, but he suffers –1 penalty to Toughness, uses smaller weapons than humans use (-1 to damage), and his lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character. • Base land speed is 20 feet. • Ability Adjustments: +1 Dexterity, –1 Strength • Bonus Feats: Iron Will, Skill Focus (Notice or Stealth) • Favored Feats: Evasion, Hide in Plain Sight • Bonus Skills: The hero gains Notice and Stealth as bonus known skills at 1st level (4 ranks), in addition to those gained for the hero’s role and Intelligence score, and 2 extra skill point at each additional level, which must be spent on Notice and Stealth. Humans The traits of a human background are: • Ability Adjustments: None. • Bonus Feat: The hero gains one bonus feat at 1st level out of the list of feats available for the hero’s role. • Bonus Skill: The hero gains one bonus known skill at 1st level (4 ranks), in addition to those gained for the hero’s role and Intelligence score, and 1 extra skill point at each additional level. • Favored Feats: Choose any two feats as the character’s favored feats. These feats are available to the hero regardless of role. Favored feats for humans often vary by region and culture, and the Narrator may wish to come up with an appropriate list of favored feats for the human cultures in the setting.
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Special Races without level adjustment Astral Raider (Astral Planar Humanoid) Astral Raiders have the following background traits: • Darkvision 60 feet, • Ability Adjustments: +1 Dexterity, +1 Constitution, -1 Wisdom • Feats: Weapon Training, Exotic Weapon(Greatsword), Armor Training, one selectable feat • Special abilities: Mage Hand at will. Astral raiders receive no other feats at 1st level, and no favourite feats. They receive a normal feat at 2nd level, at third level receive Blur instead of a feat (adepts can take Light Shaping instead), at 4th and 5th level receive feats normally, at 6th level gain Dimension Door instead of a feat (adepts can take Teleport instead). At higher levels they gain feats normally. Astral raiders with character level 9 and greater always know the Plane Shift ritual, even when normally not able to use rituals (use Int as the key ability). Mage Hand: You point your finger at an object weighing up to 5 lb and can lift it and move it at will from a distance. As a move action, you can propel the object as far as 15 feet in any direction, though the effect ends it the object is farther from you than a distance in feet equal to 15+character level. Blur: As a free action you can make your outline appear blurred, shifting and wavering. This distortion grants the subject concealment (20% miss chance). A see invisibility effect does not counteract the blur effect, but a true seeing does. Opponents that cannot see the subject ignore the effect (though fighting an unseen opponent carries penalties of its own). The effect last 3 minutes. After the effect ends you must make a Difficulty 14 Fortitude save or lose a level of fatigue (this counts as a fatigue save, with appropriate penalties). Dimension Door: As a standard action you transfer yourself from your current location to any other spot within 400 feet+40/character level range. You always arrive at exactly the spot desired—whether by simply visualizing the area or by stating direction. After using this power, you can’t take any other actions until your next turn. You can bring along objects as long as their weight doesn’t exceed your maximum load. You may also bring two additional willing Medium or smaller creatures (carrying gear or objects up to its maximum load) or equivalent. A Large creature counts as two Medium creatures, a Huge creature counts as two Large creatures, and so forth. All creatures to be transported must be in contact with one another, and at least one of those creatures must be in contact with you. You must make a Difficulty 18 Will save or lose a level of fatigue (this counts as a fatigue save, with appropriate penalties). You can take along more creatures – increase the save Difficulty by 2 per each additional creature.
If you arrive in a place that is already occupied by a solid body, you and each creature traveling with you take damage 2 (ignoring armor) and are shunted to a random open space on a suitable surface within 100 feet of the intended location. If there is no free space within 100 feet you all take instead damage 10 (ignoring armor) and the spell simply fails.
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Feats: Only some feats can be favored feats. The following feats cannot be chosen as favored feats: Smite, Sneak Attack, Greater Attack Focus, Greater Attack Specialisation, Familiar, Inspire, Mass Suggestion, Suggestion, Slow Fall. There are no favored powers, except Psychic Shield. Starting characters receive 5 feats.
Some feats are designated as Combat Style feats. You can use only one Combat Style feat or power at the same time. If you possess multiple such feats or powers, you must select one you want to use, although you can freely change that selection at any moment.
Defensive Roll feat is removed. Tough is a general feat, and can be taken only once. Vehicular Combat is called Mounted Combat. Attack Focus, Attack Specialisation, Greater Attack Focus and Greater Attack Specialisation are combined into Attack Specialisation. Point Blank Shot feat is removed. Talented feat is removed, and Skill Focus changed. Improved Evasion is removed (that feat was much too powerful).
There are new save feats, which can be taken only by the appropriate role: Warrior Fortitude(Warrior), Will of the Adept (Adept), Expert Reflexes(Expert). They give +2 bonus to the appropriate save. Those feats cannot be taken for saves in which you have starting bonus. Accordingly, you can use those feats only if you multiclass. For example, if you start as an Adept and later take a level in Warrior, you can take Improved Fortitude to improve your fortitude save. What is the reasoning behind the Combat Style feats? It is based on the two basic concepts of those notes:
1. Staying on the Random Number Generator: If it is possible to combine bonuses from many different sources, in the end the total will be enough to “break” the game. If you can use at the same time Rage, Enhance Other, Greater Weapon Specialisation, Smite, Favored Opponent, Sneak Attack and Spirited Charge, you will pile up Damage Bonus high enough to kill any monster in one shot.
2. Avoiding catch-up feats. In high-fantasy game (and these notes emulate D&D, which decidedly belongs to high fantasy) each feat should give a character a new interesting ability – and this ability should be appropriate to the character level. At high levels D&D characters are half-gods – and their abilities should reflect this. Requiring characters to spend feats in order to keep their earlier feats useful stops them from selecting various interesting feats which do not give numerical bonuses. Such a“feat tax” would be justified only if there weren’t enough interesting feats in True20 – but that certainly are there.
Point Blank Shot feat is removed, because it gives easy to overlook and fairly situational benefits; it is easy to add one to attack or damage, but players have generally better things to do that rememeber. The feat is removed consequently from all prerequisites.
New and modified feats: Armor Training (Heavy Armor)-General prerequisites: Armor Training (Light Armor) You’re trained to move and fight while wearing medium and heavy armor. Characters with Armor Training only apply the armor’s check penalty to Acrobatics, Climb, Escape Artist, Jump, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, and Swim checks. When running in heavy armor, you move only double your speed, not quadruple. Normal: A character who is wearing armor with which she is not proficient applies its armor check penalty (see Armor in Chapter Five) to all physical rolls and checks while wearing it, including attack rolls and to all skill checks that involve moving, including Ride. Special: Characters with at least 10 levels of Warrior and with Armor Training (Heavy Armor), move quadruple their speed when running in heavy armor, Attack Specialization (Warrior) Combat Style feat You have unusual prowess in one particular kind of attack. Choose one attack: unarmed, a type of weapon or a supernatural power. If you have the Two-Weapons Fighting feat, you can also chose a set of two weapons; in that case you receive bonuses for attacks with both weapons, but only if you wield both at the same time. Each time you
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make the selected attack, you receive bonuses indicated in the table below. You can gain this feat multiple times. Each time, it applies to a new attack.
You can use only one Combat Style feat or power at the same time. If you possess multiple such feats or powers, you must select one you want to use, although you can freely change that selection at any moment.
Character Level Bonus to Attack Bonus to Damage 1 1 0 6 1 1 12 2 1 18 2 2
Bathed in the waters of Styx (General) Prerequisites: character level 3. You have bathed in the lethal waters of Styx, and survived. Your flesh have become hard and cold like iron, and gained undead toughness.
You gain bonus to toughness indicated on the table below. This is a magic enhancement bonus and it stacks with bonuses from feats. You can also gain this bonus when using an armor, or even a magical armor, if the enhancement bonus of the weapon is lower than the bonus indicated in the table. In that case you gain enhancement bonus to damage from this feat instead of the bonus provided by the armor. All other abilities of the magic armor work as normal.
Blind-Fight (Warrior, Expert) In melee combat, you suffer half the usual miss chance due to concealment (see Concealment, in Chapter Six). You take only half the usual penalty to speed for being unable to see; darkness and poor visibility reduce your speed to three-quarters rather than half. When you reach Notice rank 8 you gain Blindsense. Using non-visual senses, such as acute smell or hearing, you notice things you cannot see within 30 feet. You usually do not need to make Notice checks to pinpoint the location of a creature within range of your blindsense ability, provided the creature does not have total cover. Any opponent you cannot see normally still has total concealment, and you still have miss chance when attacking foes that have concealment. Visibility still affects your movement. You are still treated as surprised by attacks from creatures you cannot see. When you reach Notice rank 14, your Blindsense improves into Blindsight. This ability makes invisibility and concealment (even magical darkness) irrelevant to the you (though you still can’t detect ethereal and incorporeal creatures). In particular, you do not need to make Notice checks to detect the opponents using Cloud the Mind power, but you must still make the Will save to became aware of them. Blindsight negates displacement and blur effects, but not the Blink power. This ability operates out to a range of 60 feet. Blindsight never allows you to distinguish color or visual contrast. You cannot read with blindsight. When using blindsight, you are not subject to gaze attacks. Blinding attacks do not stop you from using blindsight, but deafening attacks do. Blindsight works underwater but not in a vacuum. Death Ward (General) Prerequisite: level 11 You gain this feat by benefitting from a powerful divine ritual. You gain many of the immunities of undead: You are immune to ability damage and drain to your physical abilities (Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution), to all magical death effects and any negative energy effects. You are protected from the negative effects of the Negative Energy Plane.
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Dodge Focus (General) Your dodge bonus increases by +1. This additional dodge bonus is lost in the same way as your regular dodge bonus, when you are flat-footed or surprised and so forth. This bonus increases to +2 at 8th character levels and +3 at level 16.
Character Level Bonus 1 1 8 2 16 3
Double Strike Prerequisites: Two or more natural weapons. This monster feat allows the creature to make multiple natural weapon attacks with the attack penalty -2 on all attacks. It can attack one target with no more than two natural weapons. If it attacks the same target with both attacks and both hit, increase the damage of the attack with the higher damage bonus by +2, like a use of combined attack or two-weapon fighting.
Normal: If a monster has multiple natural weapon, it can attack with all of them. Each attack must be against a separate target, and all attacks suffer -5 penalty to hit. Expert Reflexes (Expert). You get a +2 bonus to the Reflex saving throw. You cannot take this feat if you have a role bonus to Reflex. Favored Opponent (Warrior) Combat Style feat You are especially effective against opponents you’ve studied or fought frequently with. You can treat creatures as favoured opponents because of either experience or scholarly knowledge. Narrator decides whether you have fought often enough against any category of opponents to treat them as favoured opponents. Alternatively, you can make a check of relevant Knowledge, with Difficulty equal to 10 + the monster’s challenge rating or level (if the monster lacks the challenge rating). If you succeed, you have learned enough about such a monster to treat is as a favoured opponent. You get a +2 bonus on Bluff, Intimidate, Notice, Sense Motive, and Survival checks when dealing with your favored opponents, as well as +1 damage on all attacks against them. At character level 6 the bonus to damage increases to +2, at level 12 to +3, and at level 18 to +4.
You can use only one Combat Style feat or power at the same time. If you possess multiple such feats or powers, you must select one you want to use, although you can freely change that selection at any moment. Improved Weapon Damage (Warrior, Expert) Prerequisites: character level 3.
When using a nonmagical weapon you are more effective than normal. You gain bonus to damage indicated on the table below. This is a magic enhancement bonus and it stacks with bonuses from feats. You can also gain this bonus when using a magical weapon, if the enhancement bonus of the weapon is lower than the bonus for your level. In that case you gain enhancement bonus to damage from this feat instead of the bonus provided by the weapon. All other abilities of the magic weapon work as normal.
Improved Strike (General) You can inflict lethal damage with your unarmed strikes. Normally, unarmed attacks only inflict non-lethal damage. Your unarmed attacks count as small bludgeoning weapons and can be used to two-weapon attack; if you have at least one hand free, you can benefit from the Two Weapon Fighting, and from Two Weapon Defense feats. Your unarmed attacks are also more effective than normal. Increase your unarmed striking and grappling damage by +1 for every four total levels, rounding up (+1 at levels 1–4, +2 at levels 5–8, +3 at levels 9-12, +4 a levels 13-16, +5 at levels 17-20). This is a magic enhancement bonus and it stacks with bonuses from feats, except for Constrict feat. Intellect Fortress (Adept or Expert) You have trained and disciplined your mind to resist outside influence. Use your Intelligence score in place of your Wisdom score for determining your Will saving throw bonus. Lucky (General) Prerequisite: Charisma +1. The universe just seems to like you. You can add your Charisma score as a bonus to your Fortitude, Reflex, and Will saving throws instead of the appropriate ability. You cannot add both Charisma and other ability to a save; you must chose one of them. Mental Strife (General) Your outstanding perception, creativity and acuity make you a better warrior. You can increase your base Combat bonus by the average of your mental abilites. The bonus is equal to the sum total of your mental abilites (Charisma, Wisdom and Intelligence), divided by 3 and rounded down. Both attack and defence are increased by this amount. Bonus from Mental Strife is treated as a magic bonus. The bonus from Mental Strife is not lost when you lose dodge bonus to defense. This feat can be used together with Dodge Focus, but not with the Combat Sense power. In the D20 system generally the best solution is to specialize in some abilities – physical for the warriors, or the key ability for adepts. Generalist characters are somewhat underpowered. This feat is intended to provide some combat benefit to non-magic characters with high mental abilities. This bonus depends on the average of mental abilites in order to encourage more diversified, not so tightly focused characters.
Mind Blank (General) Prerequisite: character level 15 You gain this feat by being the beneficient of a powerful arcane ritual. The subject of this ritual is protected from all devices, powers, effect and spells that detect, influence, or read emotions or thoughts. The subject is immune to to magically caused fear and rage, cannot be possessed, dominated, charmed or fascinated; Heart Shaping, Heart Reading, Illusion (but not Light Shaping), Mind Touch, Necromancy or Suggestion do not work in respect to him. This feat does not protect against powers which merely damage mind, such as Psychic Blast.
In addition, the feat prevents discovery or information gathering by crystal balls or other scrying devices or powers, augury, clairaudience, clairvoyance, communing, contacting other planes. In the case of scrying that scans an area the creature is in, such as arcane eye, the spell works but the creature simply isn’t detected. Scrying attempts that are targeted specifically at the subject do not work at all. Mind blank even foils miracle and wish spells when they are used in such a way as to affect the subject’s mind or to gain information about it.
Mind Blank does not protect you against powers or items allowing to see invisible or ethereal creatures, darkvision, tremorsense etc. It does not stop Second Sense (when used directly, not through scrying object or power) from detecting magic auras on you or your items and the effects of already used powers, but makes it impossible to determine your adept level.
While the Mind Blank feat is active, the subject cannot use any scrying abilities, Heart Reading, Mind Touch or Necromancy powers or communicate by telepathy. The subject can use the Heart Shaping power. The subject can turn this feat off as a standard action. Turning it on again requires a five minutes meditation.
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Mounted Combat (General) Prerequisite: Ride 4 ranks You know how to maneuver a mount in combat. Once each round, if your mount would be hit by an attack, you can make a check using Ride skill as a reaction to negate the hit. The Ride check result must exceed the result of the opponent’s attack roll. You can also make a Ride check as a full-round action, in which case the skill result becomes the mount’s effective Defense for the entire round against all attacks. In addition, you can use ranged weapons while your mount is taking a double move without a penalty. While your mount is moving all out you make attacks at–4 penalty. In either case, you make the attack roll when your mount has completed half its movement. Normal: You make ranged attacks when the mount is taking a double move at -4 penalty, and while it is moving all out at -8 penalty. Ritualist (General) Prerequisite: A power source feat When performing rituals and crafting magic items, your total character level counts as Adept level. This increases your power rank and power bonus. Rage (Warrior) Combat Style feat You can fly into a berserk rage as a free action, gaining +2 bonus to Strength and to Will saves, and a –2 penalty to Defense. Moreover, while you are ragining you ignore the −2 penalty to checks, attacks and saves that comes from the wounded condition. While raging, you can’t use skills or powers requiring concentration or patience, and you can’t take 10 or take 20 on checks. Your rage lasts 30 rounds. When the duration runs out, you must make a Difficulty 17 Fortitude saving throw or suffer a level of fatigue (this counts as a Fatigue save for using supernatural powers, with penalties for multiple fatigue saves).
At character level 8 and higher you gain a +3 bonus to Strength and Will saves. The penalty to Defense remains –2. Fortitude Save difficulty equals 19. At character level 14 you gain a +4 bonus to Strength and Will Saves, with Fortitude Save Difficulty 21; and at character level 16 you gain +5 to Strength and Will saves, with Fortitude Save Difficulty 23. At character level 18 you no longer suffer – 2 penalty to defense when raging.
When raging, you cannot benefit from powers: Enhance Self or Enhance Other, from magic items which imitate those powers, or any others ability bonuses. The bonuses from Rage are magic enhancement bonuses.
You can use only one Combat Style feat or power at the same time. If you possess multiple such feats or powers, you must select one you want to use, although you can freely change that selection at any moment. You cannot use Smite feat, Sneak attack or Combat Sense power while raging, since they are Combat Style feats and powers. The bonuses from Rage and Fortitude save difficulties are summarized in the following table:
Character Level Bonus Fortitude save Difficulty 1-7 +2 17 8-13 +3 19 14-15 +4 21 16-17 +5 23 18-20 no penalty to defense when raging
Rapid Shot (General) Combat Style feat You can get one extra attack per round with a ranged or thrown weapon. The ranged weapon cannot require reloading, or you must be able to reload it as a free action. You must use the full round action to use this feat. Each attack you make in that round (the extra one and the normal one) takes a –2 penalty. When you reach character level 10, you can use this feat without penalty to attack. When you gain character level 15, you gain +2 bonus to attacks when using this feat. If you attack one target with both attacks and both hit, increase the damage of one attack by 2 and disregard the other (similarly to the use of a combined attack).
You can use only one Combat Style feat or power at the same time. If you possess multiple such feats or powers, you must select one you want to use, although you can freely change that selection at any moment.
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Sense Teleports (General) Prerequisite: Character level 6 You possess a second sense alerting you to all teleports starting and arriving in your vicinity. If you are sleeping, such a feeling awakes you, although you can before going to sleep consciously will yourself to ignore warnings. When a creature attempts to attack you by teleporting, you are able to get drop on it. You gain automatically a surprise round when someone not already in combat with you teleports in your vicinity. In case of the Greater Teleport ritual, you have 3 rounds of time to prepare, since it takes so long to travel in that fashion. Skill Focus (Expert) Choose a known skill. When making skill checks etc you treat the key ability of that spell as if it were equal to 6. At character level 5 this value increases to 7, at level 10 to 8, at level 15 to 9 and at level 20 to 10. You can acquire this feat multiple times. Each time you do, it applies to a diferent known skill. In addition to the changes in Skill Focus, the Talented feat is removed. This change has three purposes: to allow low-level characters to know a skill well, to allow characters to become competent in a skill without having high key ability (so the thieves will be able to master picking locks without having genius-level intelligence), and finally to limit the maximum value of skill bonuses.
Smite Opponent (Warrior) Combat Style feat You can charge a melee attack with the power of your determination. You cannot use this feat together with ranged attacks. You can activate this feat against any opponent which arouses your enmity or hate – nearly always, except for friendly sparring, fights with unwilling or mistaken enemies, and similar. You can use Smite Opponent once per four warrior levels, rounded up (once at levels 1–4, twice at levels 5–8, thrice at levels 9-12, four times at levels 13-16, five times at levels 17-20). You can spend a point of Conviction to use Smite an additional time. If you do not take part in combat for an hour, you regain the full number of your Smite attempts. Add your Charisma or Wisdom score (whichever is greater, and only if positive) to your attack roll and +3 to your damage.
You can use only one Combat Style feat or power at the same time. If you possess multiple such feats or powers, you must select one you want to use, although you can freely change that selection at any moment. Because of that, you cannot use Smite when raging or sneak attacking. Sneak Attack (Expert) Combat Style feat When you make a surprise attack, you do +2 damage. You can sneak attack with a ranged weapon or a melee precision weapon. You cannot sneak attack with power weapons. Ranged attacks can count as sneak attacks only if the target is within 30 feet. You cannot sneak attack an opponent you cannot perceive (due to concealment or some other effect). Opponents immune to critical hits are affected by Sneak Attack. Opponents who cannot be surprise attacked are immune to sneak attack. When you gain levels in the Expert role, your sneak damage increases, as indicated in the table below.
You can use only one Combat Style feat or power at the same time. If you possess multiple such feats or powers, you must select one you want to use, although you can freely change that selection at any moment.
Expert level Sneak Damage
1-3 +2
4-6 +3
7-9 +4
10-12 +5
13-15 +6
16-18 +7
19-20 +8
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D&D, and as a consequence also its conversion, is a combat game. All characters must be able to pull their weight in combat. True20 Expert sacrificed his combat ability in order to improve skills; such an option does not fit D&D. As a consequence, Sneak Attack feat has been improved in order to strengthen Experts. Together with the new feinting rules, using Expertise to boost skills and increase the chance to surprise opponents it should be enough to make Experts effective combatants. This solution has a disadvantage in that all Experts are virtually forced to be lightly armored dexterous combatants; but since this is a traditional D&D archetype of rogue, I consider it acceptable.
Spirited Charge (Warrior) Combat Style feat When using the charge action, you deal +3 damage with a melee weapon. This bonus increases to +4 damage when you are mounted and using a lance or spear. When you reach character level 10, you do not suffer -2 defense penalty after charging. When you reach character level 15, attack bonus given by charging increases to +4, but only if you are mounted (this is a situational bonus).
You can use only one Combat Style feat or power at the same time. If you possess multiple such feats or powers, you must select one you want to use, although you can freely change that selection at any moment. Still Spell Prerequisite: Wizard or Sorcerer. If you have Still Spell, you can cast spells with no somatic components. You do not need to be able to gesture freely to cast your spells. You do not suffer Armor check penalty to Power and Fatigue checks. You can also cast spells even when wrestling, grappled or bound, although you must make the Concentration check. You still must use verbal components or suffer -2 penalty to fatigue checks. Normal: A sorcerer or wizard without this feat casts spells using Somatic Components. He must be able to speak and gesture freely to cast his spells. He suffers Armor check penalty to Power and Fatigue checks, and cannot cast spells while wrestling or pinned. Tough (General) Your Toughness save bonus increases by +1. This feat can be taken only once. Monsters can take this feat multiple times and receive +1 to Toughness each time. Two-Weapon Defense (General) Prerequisite: Two-Weapon Fighting. Your two-weapon fighting style improves your Defense. When wielding two weapons you gain a +2 bonus to your Defense against melee attacks. You do not benefit from this feat while unarmed or with a weapon in only one hand. When you have the Improved Strike feat you can use Two-Weapon Defense when fighting unarmed, or with one hand empty. Two-Weapon Fighting (General) Your penalties on attack rolls for fighting with two weapons are reduced. The penalty for your primary hand lessens by 2 and the one for your off hand lessens by 6. In effect, the penalties are lowered to –4 for both hands. If the off-hand weapon is natural or Small, the penalties are lowered to -2 for both hands. Unarmed attacks count as small weapons. If you have the Improved Strike feat, you can treat an empty hand as a second small weapon. Normal: If you wield a second weapon in your off hand, you can get one extra attack per round with that weapon. When fighting in this way you suffer a –6 penalty with your regular attack or attacks with your primary hand and a -10 penalty to the attack with your off hand. If your off-hand weapon is small the penalties are reduced by 2 each. (An unarmed strike and natural weapon are always considered small.) If you attack the same target with both attacks and both hit, increase the damage of the attack with the higher damage bonus by +2, much like a use of combined attack. The same rules apply for throwing two weapons (one with either hand).
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Uncanny Dodge (General) You are especially attuned to potential danger, whether through training, experience, or some innate supernatural talent. You retain your dodge bonus to Defense when surprise attacked, so long as you are able to react (are not helpless, bound, unconscious, weaponless and the like). You do suffer –2 penalty to defence and can be sneak attacked. Versatility (Warrior) You suffer no penalty when using improvised weapons and throwing melee weapons which cannot usually be thrown. Your penalty for using weapons with which you are not proficient, of incorrect size, etc is reduced to -2. Warrior Fortitude (Warrior) You get a +2 bonus to the Fortitude saving throw. You cannot take this feat if you have a role bonus to Fortitude. Will of the Adept (Adept) You get a +2 bonus to the Will saving throw. You cannot take this feat if you have a role bonus to Will.
Whirlwind Attack (Warrior) Combat Style feat Prerequisite: Character level 4 As a full round action, you can give up your regular attacks and instead make one melee attack against each opponent within reach. Each attack you make in that round takes a –2 penalty. Each attack you make in that round (the extra one and the normal ones) takes a –2 penalty. When you reach character level 10, you can use this feat without penalty to attack. When you gain character level 15, you gain +2 bonus to attacks when using this feat.
You can use only one Combat Style feat or power at the same time. If you possess multiple such feats or powers, you must select one you want to use, although you can freely change that selection at any moment. When using Whirlwind Attack, you cannot gain additional attacks from any other supernatural power, weapon property or feat.
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Skills Generally, skills are used according to True20 rules. The exception are mostly craft and knowledge skills, changes to which are described below. Additionally, there are also suggestions information which skill to substitute for Knowledge skills checks required in D20 adventures. Craft is changed to make crafting items cost more (half of the normal cost), but easier (there is only one Craft skill). (based on Sword and Sorcery Saga by John “The Gneech” Robey)
Knowledge (Architecture) Knowledge (Engineering) Knowledge (The Planes) Knowledge (Science) Bardic Knowledge Knowledge (Bardic) Decipher Script Knowledge (History) Spellcraft Knowledge (Supernatural) Use Magic Device Knowledge (engineering) for larger
machines; otherwise the feat Use Magic Device
Concentration uses Constitution again in order to keep a level playing field between different types of casters.
Concentration (Constitution) Undead, which have no Constitution, receive bonus to Concentration equal to level divided by 4 (rounding down). You must make a Concentration check whenever you try to use supernatural powers and are distracted by taking damage or other adverse conditions. You must make a check when casting a spell, concentrating on an active spell, or maintaining a spell. You do not have to make checks when engaging in any activity other than spellcasting. Especially difficult conditions can cause penalty (usually -2) to the relevant skill check, but will never require a Concentration check.
If the Concentration check succeeds, you may use the power as normal. If you tried to cast a spell and failed the check, the spell fails and you lose the action. If you tried to use a fatiguing power, you must make a fatigue save. If you were concentrating or maintaining powers, you stop maintaining all the powers. The difficulty of the test does not depend on the number of maintained powers.
Situation Difficulty Cast spell while taking continuous damage 15 + damage Maintain spell while taking continuous damage 20+damage Damaged while casting 20+damage Wrestling or Pinned 10+Grapple bonus of opponent Affected by a distracting spell 10 + opponent’s power bonus Violent motion 15 Extraordinarily violent motion 20 Entangled 15 Bound 20 Concentrating on a power as a move action 10+your power rank
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Taking continuous damage: you are subject to an effect which causes you to take damage each round. If you are trying to use a power, the difficulty of the Concentration check equals to the damage bonus + 15. If you are trying to maintain or concentrate on a power, the difficulty of the Concentration check equals to the damage bonus + 20. If you are subject to a few such effects at the same time, use only the highest damage. Damaged while casting: you were damaged while casting a spell with the casting time of one full round or more. Alternatively, an enemy readied an action against you with the trigger “if he starts casting a spell” and damaged you during the resulting attack. In both cases, you must make a check with difficulty equal to damage bonus + 20. Wrestling: you are grappled or grappling someone. The difficulty of the Concentration check equals to 10 + Grapple bonus of opponent. Remember that Sorcerers and Wizards must have Still Spell feat even to attempt spellcasting while wrestling. Pinned: you are pinned by somebody. Generally, you cannot attempt to make an action while pinned. An adept can voluntarily allow to be pinned without a grapple check, which enables him to attempt to cast a spell while pinned. The difficulty of the Concentration check equals to 10 + Grapple bonus of opponent. Affected by a distracting spell: You are distracted by a spell in some other way than damage. Eg you are entangled in a Web, or caught by Black Tentacles, etc. The difficulty of the Concentration check equals to 10 + the opponent’s power bonus. If a spell is both distracting and damaging, you make only one check, with the higher difficulty. Violent motion: very rough vehicle ride, small boat in rapids, on deck of storm-tossed ship, galloping horse. The difficulty of the Concentration check equals 15. Extraordinarily violent motion: Earthquake. The difficulty of the Concentration check equals 20. Concentrating on a power as a move action: You can maintain a concentration power as a move action rather than a standard action with a Concentration check once per round. The Difficulty of the check equals 10 + your power rank. Craft (Int) Unlike D&D, this skill is not broken into separate categories– all craftsmanship falls under the same skill.
You can practice your trade and make a decent living, earning about half your check result in gold pieces per week of dedicated work. You know how to use the tools of your trade, how to perform the craft’s daily tasks, how to supervise untrained helpers, and how to handle common problems. (Untrained laborers and assistants earn an average of 1 silver piece per day.)
The basic function of the Craft skill, however, is to allow you to make items. The Difficulty and the time necessary to make the item depends on the complexity of the item to be created. The item’s finished price determines the cost of raw materials.
All crafts require artisan’s tools to give the best chance of success. If improvised tools are used, the check is made with a –2 circumstance penalty. On the other hand, masterwork artisan’s tools provide a +2 circumstance bonus on the check. Making Items: The Difficulty, time, and resources required to make an item depend on its complexity. The necessary raw materials cost half of the item’s price. If your Craft check succeeds, you make the item. If the Craft check fails, you do not produce a usable end result, but any raw materials are not wasted and you can try again. If you fail by 5 or more, you ruin half the raw materials and have to pay half the original raw material cost again. Repairing Items: Generally, you can repair an item by making checks against the same Difficulty that it took to make the item in the first place. The cost of repairing an item is one-fifth of the item’s price. Appraising items: You can appraise common or well-known objects with a Difficulty 12 Craft check. Appraising a rare or exotic item requires a successful check against Difficulty 15 (good quality item), 20 (rare item), 25 (exotic item) or 30 (unique item). If the check is successful, you estimate the value correctly; failure means you cannot estimate the item’s value. An appraisal takes about 1 minute. You can accept a challenge (+5 to Difficulty) in order to shorten the time to one round. A magnifying glass gives you a +2 circumstance bonus on Appraise checks involving any item that is small or highly detailed, such as a gem. A merchant’s scale gives you a +2 circumstance bonus on Appraise checks involving any items that are valued by weight, including anything made of precious metals. These bonuses stack. The appraisal of an item doesn’t take into account any enchantment which make be put on it. Enchanted items are appraised as masterwork items or items made of special materials. Challenges: You can take the following challenges with Craft: Fast Craft: You may add +5 or +10 to the indicated Difficulty to craft an item. This increase allows you to make the item faster than usual, reducing the time to half or one-quarter normal, respectively.
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Masterwork: By increasing Difficulty by +5, you can make a masterwork item. These items are especially well made and provide a bonus when used. This increases the cost of materials by 150 gp for a weapon or 75 gp for a suit of armor or a shield and doubles the time needed to make the item.
When you use the Craft skill to make a particular sort of item, the Difficulties for checks involving the creation of that item are typically as given on the following table.
Item Craft DC Time: Acid 15 1 day Alchemist’s fire, smokestick, or tindertwig
20 1 day
Antitoxin, sunrod, tanglefoot bag, or thunderstone
25 7 days
Armor, light 10 + Armor bonus 7 days Armor, medium 10 + Armor bonus 14 days Armor, heavy 10 + Armor bonus 1 month Shield 10 + Defence
bonus 7 days
Longbow or shortbow 12 7 days Composite bow 15 14 days Composite bow or longbow with high strength rating
15 + (2 × rating) 1 month
Crossbow 15 7 days Simple melee or thrown weapon 12 1 day Martial melee or thrown weapon 15 7 days Exotic melee or thrown weapon 18 14 days Mechanical trap Varies 1 hr. – 7 days Very simple item (wooden spoon) 5 1 hr. Typical item (iron pot) 10 12 hrs. High-quality item (bell) 15 7 days - 1 month.
Disguise (Cha) Disguise skill can be used to forge documents. Forgery requires writing materials appropriate to the document being forged, enough light or sufficient visual acuity to see the details of what you’re writing, wax for seals (if appropriate), and some time. To forge a document on which the handwriting is not specific to a person (military orders, a government decree, a business ledger, or the like), you need only to have seen a similar document before, and you gain a +8 bonus on your check. To forge a signature, you need an autograph of that person to copy, and you gain a +4 bonus on the check. To forge a longer document written in the hand of some particular person, a large sample of that person’s handwriting is needed. The check is made secretly, so that you’re not sure how good your forgery is. You don’t even need to make a check until someone examines the work. Your Disguise check is opposed by the Notice check of the person who examines the document to check its authenticity. The examiner gains modifiers on his or her check if any of the conditions on the table below exist.
Condition Reader’s Check Modifier Type of document unknown to reader –2
Type of document somewhat known to reader +0
Type of document well known to reader +2
Handwriting not known to reader –2
Handwriting somewhat known to reader +0
Handwriting intimately known to reader +2
Reader only casually reviews the document –2
A document that contradicts procedure, orders, or previous knowledge, or one that requires sacrifice on the part of the person checking the document can increase that character’s suspicion (and thus create favorable circumstances for the checker’s opposing Notice check).
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Knowledge (Int) Intelligence, Trained Only, Requires Specialization This skill encompasses several specialties, each of them treated as a separate skill. These specialties are defined below. Check: Make a Knowledge check to see if you know something. The Difficulty for answering a question is 10 for easy questions, 15 for basic questions, and 20 to 30 for difficult questions. The Narrator sets the difficulty for a particular question.
Identifying monsters: You can often use this skill to identify monsters and their special powers or vulnerabilities. You must use the correct specialty of the skill. In general, the Difficulty of a check to identify a monster equals 10 + the monster’s challenge rating or level (if the monster lacks the challenge rating). A successful check allows you to indentify a monster and to remember a bit of useful information about it.
The difficulty to gain a general knowledge of the special powers and vulnerabilities of a monster equals 15 + the monster’s challenge rating or level. For every 5 points by which your check result exceeds that difficulty, you recall an additional piece of useful information (if any remains). This represents scholarly knowledge. A character can identify or remember something about a well-know monster even without possessing a relevant knowledge skill, but such popular knowledge is not infallible and can represent only a superstition. Special: An untrained Knowledge check: Without actual training, a character can only answer easy or basic questions about a topic - Difficulty 10 or lower. Try Again: Usually no. The check represents what a character knows; thinking about a topic a second time doesn’t let you know something you didn’t know before. The Narrator may allow another Knowledge check if a character gets access to a better source of information. For example, a hero who doesn’t know the answer to a particular question on his own might get another check with access to a library (and could take 20 on that check, depending on the circumstances). Action: Taking 20 on a Knowledge check requires at least an hour, longer if the Narrator decides the information you’re looking for is particularly obscure or otherwise restricted. You can take 10 when making a Knowledge check only if you have training. You can take 20 only if you have access to the appropriate research materials (such as a library). Knowledge specialties, and the topics each one encompasses, are as follows: • Supernatural -Arcana (dragons, magical beasts, ancient mysteries, magic traditions, arcane symbols,
cryptic phrases, speculative alchemy) Includes Spellcraft and Psionics - Body of lore dealing with the phenomena of psionics in all its many manifestations. Psionics covers ancient mysteries, psionic traditions, psychic symbols, cryptic phrases, astral constructs, and psionic races. You can use this skill to identify psionic monsters and their special powers or vulnerabilities.
• Engineering, including architecture and technics (constructs, buildings, aqueducts, bridges, fortifications). It includes knowledge about larger magical machines (but not smaller portable items as wands etc).
• History (royalty, wars, colonies, migrations, founding of cities) Includes Decipher Script • Nature (animals, fey, giants, monstrous humanoids, plants, oozes, vermin, aberrations, seasons and
cycles, weather, caverns, spelunking) includes Knowledge (dungeoneering) • Religion, including philosophy (undead, gods and goddesses, mythic history, ecclesiastic tradition, holy
symbols, philosophy, mysticism) • Science, including the planes (outsiders, elementals, the Inner Planes, the Outer Planes, the Astral Plane, the
Ethereal Plane, magic related to the planes, astronomy, astrology, physics) • Bardic (information about notable people, legendary items, or noteworthy places, royalty, lineages, heraldry,
family trees, mottoes, personalities) Includes Knowledge (Nobility and royalty) Knowledge (Bardic) Legendary knowledge, often learned by druids, bards, storytellers, minstrels and the like. It includes information about notable people, legendary items, or noteworthy places, also nobility and royalty, their lineages, heraldry, family trees, mottoes and personalities.
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A successful bardic knowledge check will not reveal the powers of a magic item but may give a hint as to its general function. You may not take 10 or take 20 on this check; this sort of knowledge is essentially random. Difficulty Type of Knowledge 10 Common, known by at least a substantial minority; common legends of the local population. 20 Uncommon but available, known by only a few people legends. 25 Obscure, known by few, hard to come by. 30 Extremely obscure, known by very few, possibly forgotten by most who once knew it, possibly known
only by those who don’t understand the significance of the knowledge. Knowledge (Engineering) Knowledge about engineering: constructs, architecture, buildings, aqueducts, bridges, fortifications, also about. Use Magic Engine: Use this skill to activate larger, non-portable magic devices. The difficulty is set by Narrator separately for each engine. This represents the difficulty to research and deduct the proper method of operating the engine. Activate Blindly: Some magic devices are activated by special words, thoughts, or actions. You can activate such an item guessing the activation word, thought, or action, even if you don’t know and has no basis to deduct it. This requires a Knowledge (Engineering) test with Difficulty 25 (or other set by Narrator). You must speak or otherwise attempt to get it to activate. If you fail by 9 or less, you can’t activate the device. If you fail by 10 or more, you suffer a mishap. A natural rolls of 2-5 always mean you failed to activate it, and natural roll of 1 is always a mishap.
A mishap means that magical energy gets released but it doesn’t do what you wanted it to do. The default mishaps are that the item affects the wrong target or that uncontrolled magical energy is released, dealing 4 points of damage to you. If you activate item blindly often enough, you learn gradually how to control it. You get a special +1 bonus on your Use Magic Device check for each time you have activated the device before. After you activate it at least 5 times, the natural rolls of 1-5 no longer automatically fail. Knowledge (History) Knowledge about history: royalty, wars, colonies, migrations, founding of cities, Decipher Script Check: You can decipher writing in an unfamiliar language or a message written in an incomplete or archaic form. The base Difficulty is 20 for the simplest messages, 25 for standard texts, and 30 or higher for intricate, exotic, or very old writing. If the check succeeds, you understand the general content of a piece of writing about one page long (or the equivalent). If the check fails, make a Difficulty 5 Wisdom check to see if you avoid drawing a false conclusion about the text. (Success means that you do not draw a false conclusion; failure means that you do.) Both the Decipher Script check and (if necessary) the Wisdom check are made secretly, so that you can’t tell whether the conclusion you draw is true or false. Action: Deciphering the equivalent of a single page of script takes 1 minute (ten consecutive full-round actions). Try Again: No. Knowledge (Supernatural) knowledge about Arcana: ancient mysteries, magic traditions, arcane symbols, cryptic phrases, dragons, Constructs, magical beasts. Includes knowledge about psionics. Spellcraft Use this skill to identify spells as they are cast or spells already in place.
Difficulty 10 + adept level
Identify a spell or power being cast. (You must see or hear the spell’s verbal or somatic components or be able to detect arcane energies.) No action required. No retry.
Difficulty 15 + adept level
Identify a spell or power that’s already in place and in effect. You must be able to see or detect the effects of the spell. No action required. No retry.
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When you use Second Sight power to detect auras, if the items or creatures bearing the auras are in line of sight, you can make Knowledge(supernatural) skill checks to determine the school of magic involved in each. (Make one check per aura; Difficulty 15 + spell level, or 15 + half caster level for a nonspell effect.) If you exceeds Difficulty on Knowledge(Supernatural) test by 10 or more, you magically divine the item’s function, its means of activation and the number of charges remaining.
By tasting a potion, you can make Knowledge(Supernatural) test with Difficulty 25 to identify it. It takes 1 minute and cannot be retried.
Knowledge(supernatural) test with Difficulty 30 allows to remember an item or similar ones from studies. Most appropriate to legendary items or items in customary shape. Success gives a hint or even reveals every detail about the item.
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Heroic Paths Bolded feats are typical for a given archetype; unbolded feats are only suggestions. Barbarian: Role: Warrior Skills: Climb, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Jump, Notice, Ride, Survival, Swim Suggested Human Bonus Feat: Improved Strike Level Feats 1 Armor Training (light), Rage, Weapon Training, Dodge Focus, Improved Speed 2 Uncanny dodge 3 Versatility 4 Blind Fight 5 Armor Training (heavy) 6 Second Chance (trigger traps) 7 Tough 8 Cleave 9 Improved Strike 10 Improved Grab 11 Grappling Finesse 12 Constrict 13 Improved Trip 14 Iron Will 15 All-out attack 16 Endurance 17 Tireless 18 Death Ward 19 Mind Blank 20 Great Fortitude
Cleric: Role: Adept and Warrior Core Ability: Talent Skills: Concentration, Diplomacy, Knowledge (supernatural/history/religion/the planes), Medicine, Notice, Ride, Sense Motive Suggested Human Bonus Feat: Connected Level Role Feats 1 Adept Armor Training (light), Cleric, Cure, (Element) Shaping, Elemental Ray 2 Adept Cure Disease 3 Warrior Shield Training 4 Warrior Armor Training (heavy) 5 Adept Elemental Blast 6 Adept Widen Power 7 Warrior Precise Shot 8 Warrior Iron Will 9 Adept Imbue Life 10 Adept Combat Sense 11 Warrior Dodge Focus 12 Warrior Improved Precise Shot 13 Adept Enhance Ability 14 Adept Enhance Other 15 Warrior Death Ward 16 Warrior Tough 17 Adept Elemental Weapon 18 Adept Empower 19 Warrior Warrior Fortitude 20 Warrior Great Fortitude
Level Feats Reserve Powers 1 Wizard, Iron Will, Mage Armor,
Mind Touch, Sleep Force Shaping, Fire Shaping, Energy Blast
2 Conjuration Blink 3 Second Sight Drain Vitality 4 Widen Power 5 Ward Light Shaping 6 Empower 7 Psychic Shield Enhance Senses 8 Wind Shaping Black Tentacles 9 Wind Walk Cloud the Mind 10 Imp Mage Armor Water Shaping 11 Tough 12 Enhance Ability Arcane Sight 13 Psychic Shield Move Object 14 Psychic Blast Scrying 15 Phase Enhance Other 16 Illusion Manipulate Object 17 Teleport Mind Reading, 18 Pain Telekinetic Sphere 19 Dominate Elemental Resistance 20 Severance Earth Shaping
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Magic
Basic changes in magic rules You cannot select a favourite power, except for Psychic Shield. This power treats character level as adept level. Characters with no Adept level and no prerequisite feat use Charisma as the key ability, both for Psychic Shield and for powers gained from items. Actual Adepts can use their key ability, but in that case have to use their actual Adept level, not total Character level.
Adept level Adept level is equal to the actual levels in Adept role plus ½ (rounding down) of levels in other roles. An exception is the Psychic Shield power, as noted above. If a character has no Adept levels and only one other level, he is treated as possessing an Adept level 0. In that case the fatigue check difficulty is 10. The Power rank is 3. You can however take powers only when taking actual Adept levels. Some power source feat provide an exception from that rule. The reason for this change is simple: otherwise Adepts cannot be effectively multiclassed; that is, multiclassed Adepts are weaker than other roles. That is so because originally all roles progressed in saves, skills, attack bonus etc, but only Adept role increased the spellcasting power. Certain powers (eg Enhance Ability, Combat Sense) remained competitive, but it proved impossible to balance all. Moreover, it was difficult to convert D&D classes with full BAB and some spellcasting (Paladin, Ranger). When the supernatural power or ritual mention the level of the target, use its total character level, adding level adjustment. In case of monsters, use their Challenge Rating instead, if the possess it.
Removed Powers and Feats Bliss (too weak, use Calm, Pain or mental grapple instead), Cure Blindness/Deafness, Cure Poison (removed as separate powers, can be used as part of the Cure Disease power – in order to strengthen the Cleric archetype), Enhance Other (it became part of Enhance Ability), Plane Shift (replaced with a ritual), Wind Walk (replaced with Fly – it was too fast at high levels), Scry (replaced with a ritual – it was much too powerful).
Quicken Power feat is removed because it is impossible to balance – powers which are balanced as standard action, may be entirely unbalanced as free actions. Increased chance to suffer fatigue is not enough to balance this, especially as Conviction allows to bypass it during the most important fights. Moreover, since the importance of both more difficult fatigue save and quicker time to use power is highly dependent on the power in question, universal feat such as Quicken Power proved impossible to balanced.
Opposed power checks. In some circumstances, an adept is called to make an opposed power check. Both adepts roll d20, adding their power bonus. The one with lower result fails, although the user of the failed powers still suffer fatigue, if any. (As with all opposed checks, when a tie happens, the character with the higher power bonus wins. If the power bonuses are the same, re-roll.) Adepts can choose to suffer a fatigue result, in addition to the normal fatigue of the power used, to gain a +5 bonus to their check. If both sides choose to suffer fatigue, no one receives this bonus. This takes no actual time; it happens as part of the check.
Nonfatiguing powers and “metamagic” adept feats The “metamagic” feats are: Empower, Quicken Power, Subtle Power, Widen Power. They can be applied to nonfatiguing powers. In that case, instead of fatigue checks, Difficulty of power checks is increased by the amount stated in feat description. If a power does not require a check, then reduce the power’s saving throw Difficulty by the stated amount.
You can make a nonfatiguing power fatiguing. This allows you to disregard penalty caused by feats applied to nonfatiguing power, if it isn’t higher than 10, or, if the penalty is higher than 10, to reduce it by 10. Distractions while using powers If an adept is damaged while casting a spell with the casting time of one full round or more, he must make a Concentration check. This also applies while an adept casts a spell as a standard or shorter action, but is hit and
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damaged by a readied attack - with the trigger “if the adept starts casting a spell”. In both cases, the adept must make a check with Difficulty equal to damage bonus + 20. Other types of distractions and corresponding difficulties are enumerated in the Concentration skill description. Full Round Action Spells A spell that takes 1 round to cast is a full-round action. It comes into effect just before the beginning of your turn in the round after you began casting the spell. You then act normally after the spell is completed. Maintaining powers Some powers can be maintained; that is, their effects can continue at the same level achieved by the initial use. Tis maintenance requires at least a modicum of concentration on the adept’s part. Maintaining an effect is a free action each round. Using another power (or another application of the same power) while maintaining other powers increases the Difficulty of the power check and the fatigue save by +2 (regardless of the total number of powers maintained).
Generally, the powers which benefit the caster or his allies do not need to be maintained and instead last a stated amount of time (as an exception, Cloud the Mind spell must be maintained). The spells affecting enemies usually must be maintained. In any case, if the supernatural power with a duration does not mention maintenance, it does not need to be maintained. If an adept is distracted while maintaing at least one power, he must make a concentration check. The difficulty of the check does not depend on the number of powers maintained. A failed check means the adept stops maintaining all the powers. An adept unable to take free actions (due to being stunned, for example) cannot maintain powers.
Concentration Some powers require intense concentration to maintain. The adept must devote a standard action each round to concentrate and maintain the ability rather than a free action. If the adept suffers damage or is otherwise distracted, he must make a Concentration check with the same difficulty as in case of maintaining powers.
You can maintain a concentration power as a move action rather than a standard action with a Concentration check (Difficulty 10 + power rank) once per round. A failed check means the power lapses. If you are concentrating on a power as a move action and suffer additionally damage, you must make two checks.
Weaponlike spells Some ranged spells – mostly those which shoot rays of various sorts – are similar to ranged weapons, requiring ranged attacks and causing damage. Both Elemental Ray and Disintegrate belong to this category. Weaponlike powers threaten a critical hit on a natural roll of 20 and deals damage + 3 on a successful critical hit.
Such feats as Improved Critical or Attack Specialisation can affect all weaponlike ranged powers. Note however that Attack Specialisation is a combat style feat, and cannot be used together with the Combat Sense power – and adepts will prefer Combat Sense. Such feats apply even to powers cast using items, such as wands. It is possible to make finesse ranged attacks with weaponlike ranged spells in order to bypass armor, but you need the Improved Precise Shot feat, as normal.
Familiarity with places:
Familiarity Difficulty Present 0 Very Familiar 5 Studied carefully 10 Seen casually 15 Reliable Description 20 Name and location 25
Unfamiliar -
“Present” is a place in which you are physically present at the moment. “Very familiar” is a place where you have been very often and where you feel at home. “Studied carefully” is a place you know well, either because you can currently see it, you’ve been there often, or you have used other means (such as scrying) to study the place for at least one hour.
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“Seen casually” is a place that you have seen at least once, possibly using magic, but with which you are not very familiar. “Reliable Description” - you have received a detailed and reliable description of this place, which included its location, characteristic orientation points, their direction and distances, and possibly some pictures. “Name and location” – you know only the name and the location of the area.
Using mental contact with the person who is familiar with the area moves you one row down the table. Eg if you are in mental contact with someone who is present in the place, you are treated as very familiar with it. If you are at the moment in mental contact with someone who is Very Familiar with the area, or you have used Mind Touch to receive a precise description and mental vision of it, you are treated as having studied carefully it, and so on. Scrying – Common rules All scrying rituals and supernatural powers create an invisible magical sensor that sends you information. Unless noted otherwise, the sensor has the same powers of sensory acuity that you possess. This level of acuity includes any spells or effects that target you, but not spells or effects that emanate from you. However, the sensor is treated as a separate, independent sensory organ of yours, and thus it functions normally even if you have been blinded, deafened, or otherwise suffered sensory impairment. Any creature with an Intelligence score of 1 or higher can become vaguely conscious of the observation by the sensor by making a Difficulty 20 Intelligence check. The sensor can be dispelled as if it were an active spell. Lead sheeting fully surrounding either the target or you blocks a scrying spell, and you sense that the spell is so blocked. The same applies to a magical protection. You treat anyone seen thanks to scrying as very familiar (+5 penalty), which means some of your powers may affect him.
The act of scrying creates a psychic disturbance, which creatures with Intelligence 0 or better can sense. Any such creature under observation can make a Sense Motive, Notice or Second Sight check, opposed by your power check. Creatures which should be able to detect magic or supernatural can make power check even without the Second Sight power. Using Sense Motive or Notice skills allows to get an intense feeling of being watched. Adepts who succeed on an opposed power check
see a glowing or shadowy image of you. You are also very familiar for any creature that senses you for the purposes of that creature’s powers, meaning some of its powers may affect you in return. Teleportation-Common Rules All teleportation powers or rituals obey the following rules: Teleport Trace: Outgoing teleport rituals and powers leave a specific kind of magical aura, called a teleport trace. This aura persists at full power for about 1 hour in case of rituals and 1 minute in case of supernatural powers. Adepts possessing a Second Sight power at the source of a teleport sense it as a magical aura, according to general rules; it can be determined to be a teleport trace by making a Difficulty 15 Knowledge(supernatural) check. By making check with Difficulty 15+Adept level it is possible to determine the destination of the teleport- treat the familiarity of the destination as Present. This allows to teleport in pursuit or to scry the destination area.
The residues of the teleport trace can be detected for a much longer period of time, but this requires special equipment and lengthy rituals. The residues of the trace are not distinct enough to enable a teleportation in pursuit.
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Converting D&D spells: A single power should grant effects of a few related spells. As an exception, very powerful spells can be converted into a separate power. Converted spells are Fatiguing, For powers with fixed effects power check difficulty is equal to minimal level of spellcaster able to cast it plus maximal bonus from key ability (4 up to 8 level, 5 up to 11 level, 6 up to 14 level, 7 up to 17 level, 8 at 18 level, 9 at 19 level and 10 at 20 level), plus a balancing modifier (from 10 to 12).
Damage-dealing powers generally don’t require power check. Powers cause damage equals to caster level. If D&D spell uses a die other than d6, calculate the maximum possible damage and divide it by 6, rounding down. This is True20 damage.
Minimum character
level
Spell level
Difficulty Fatigue
Difficulty
1 1 17 14
3 2 19 15
5 3 21 16
7 4 23 17
9 5 25 19
11 6 28 21
13 7 31 24
15 8 34 26
17 9 38 30
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Optional Simplified Magic Point System The system of fatigue saves is interesting, but too complicated when the Narrator tries to use eg a dozen magic casters at the same time. In such situations, you use the following simplified system. Note that it is not suited for use by player characters, and cannot be used by NPCs with two power source feats.
Subtract the Will save from the Fatigue save difficulty (10 plus half the adept’s level, rounded up). Find the difference in the table below. The following cells in the row will give you the starting number of magic points the adept gets and the number of magic points he can gain by voluntarily expending a fatigue level (from not fatigued to winded, from winded to fatigued, from fatigued to exhausted). The final column gives the number of magic points for minion Adepts. In order to keep things simple, they can’t expend fatigue levels for magic points, but simply start with an increased number of magic points.
Difference between Fatigue save
difficulty and the Will save
Magic Points
Additional points for
fatigue level
Magic points for minions
11 and more 1 1 4
10 1 1 5
9 1 1 5
8 2 2 6
7 2 2 6
6 2 2 7
5 2 2 7
4 3 2 8
3 4 2 8
2 5 2 9
1 6 2 10
0 7 2 11
-1 8 2 12
-2 9 2 13
Using a fatiguing power costs one magic point. Metamagic feats increase the magic point cost of powers: -Widen Power: +1 point -Empower by adding 3 ranks to a power: +1 point -Empower by adding 5 ranks to a power: +2 points
You can spend a maintenance fee of 1 magic point as a free action. This gives you an ability to use a power while maintaing another for the time of 5 rounds. As normally, using another power (or another application of the same power) while maintaining other powers increases the Difficulty of the power check +2 (regardless of the total number of powers maintained).
As an alternative to the normal cost in magic points, you can use a fatiguing power spending instead only a fatigue level or a Conviction point. Minions cannot benefit from this option. One conviction point or fatigue level can pay for any power, even used with multiple metamagic feats. or while maintaining other powers, without spending the maintenance fee. This is a one-time thing. Assuming you are maintaing a power and have used another paying with a fatigue level, if you want to use again a power, you must either spend 1 magic point maintenance fee according to the first option, or again use a power paying a Convicton point or fatigue level instead of magic points.
An adept can regain the starting number of magic points by refraining from using any fatiguing powers for at least an hour. The adept doesn’t need to physically rest during that time, just avoid any further uses of fatiguing powers. At the end of the hour, he regains the starting number of magic points. An adept can also use a Conviction point to instantly gain the starting number of magic points.
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Adepts and power source feats If you want to possess powers, you must first take a power source feat (Sorcerer, Wizard, Cleric, Paladin, Ranger, Use Magical Items). The first such feat taken by a character gives some usually some additional benefit. Taking second, third and more power source feats allows you to take powers associated with them, but gives no other benefits. Cleric (Adept). The key ability is Wisdom. The “Cleric” feat gives *Positive Energy Shaping or *Negative Energy Shaping (depending on the alignment) power when taken as the first class feat. You cannot gain the opposite power. If during play you change your alignment, you lose your Positive or Negative Energy Shaping power. When subsequently you begin to worship a deity of appropriate alignment, you gain new Shaping power. Powers: *Arcane Sight, Beast Link, Calm, Cold Shaping, Combat Sense, Cure, Cure Disease, *Disintegrate, Dominate, Drain Vitality, Earth Shaping, Elemental Blast, *Elemental Ray, Elemental Resistance, Elemental Weapon, Enhance Ability, Enhance Other, Enhance Senses, Fire Shaping, Ghost Touch, Harm, Heart Reading, Heart Shaping, Imbue Life, Mind Touch, Object Reading, Pain, Psychic Blast, Psychic Shield, Psychic Weapon, Severance, Second Sight, Shadow Shaping, Sleep, *Sound Shaping, Supernatural Weapon, Truth-Reading, Visions, Ward, Water Shaping, Weather Shaping, Wind Shaping, Wind Walk. A Cleric can use any of those powers he has not learned by expending a Conviction point. He must still fulfil prerequisites. Paladin (Warrior) The key ability for Paladins is Charisma. The “Paladin” feat gives Smite feat if you haven’t taken any other power source feat before.
Paladins can take the following powers, when taking either Adept or Warrior levels: Cure, Cure Disease, Body Control, Ghost Touch, *Positive Energy Shaping, Psychic Shield, Second Sight, Supernatural Weapon, Truth Reading. Psychic Shield is a favoured power and uses the character level as the adept level. If a Paladin has not learned any of those powers he can still use it by expending a Conviction point. He must still fulfil prerequisites. They can also take the Familiar feat (only for their mounts, using their equivalent Adept level minus creature level + 1). Paladins usually take Core Ability Fearless (instead of Determination, like other warriors). Fearless: You are completely immune to effects that cause fear (including supernatural powers like Heart Shaping) and to the effects of the Intimidate skill, unless the user’s total level is at least four greater than yours. You can also eliminate a fear-induced condition from an ally at any time by spending a point of Conviction and standing up to the source of the fear. Ranger (Warrior) The key ability for Rangers is Wisdom. The “Ranger” feat gives Favourite Opponent as a bonus feat if you haven’t taken any other power source feat before. Rangers can take the following powers, when taking either Adept or Warrior levels: Beast Link, Body Control, Cure, Cure Disease, Enhance Senses, Nature Reading, Plant Shaping, Psychic Shield, Second Sight. Psychic Shield is a favoured power and uses the character level as the adept level. A Ranger can use any of those powers he had not learned by expending a Conviction point. He must still fulfil prerequisites. They can also take the Familiar feat (only for their animal companions, using their equivalent Adept level minus creature level + 1) Sorcerer (Adept). The key ability is Charisma. The “Sorcerer” feat gives Cantrips power when taken as the first power source feat. A sorcerer uses Charisma instead of Wisdom as the modifier for the Will save, but only for fatigue checks when using powers (he has in fact two Will saves, one for fatigue checks and the other for other purposes. Should you take Lucky feat, you will use only Charisma for all saves, and both Will saves will be identical).
Sorcerers cast spells using Verbal and Somatic Components. They must be able to speak and gesture freely to cast their spells. They suffer Armor check penalty to Power and Fatigue checks. They cannot use powers while wrestling or pinned. They can cast spells without using verbal components, but this increases Difficulty of Fatigue
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checks by 2. Sorcerers can take Still Spell feat. Still Spell feat allows to cast spell without Somatic Components, so they can eg wear armor without check penalty to power checks and fatigue checks and use powers when restrained. Powers: All, except healing and Positive and Negative Energy Shaping. A Sorcerer can use any power from the above list which he had not learned by expending a Conviction point. He must still fulfil prerequisites. Use Magic Items (General) The key ability for Use Magic Items is Intelligence or Charisma (whichever is higher). This feat gives you a Power Rank, Power Bonus, Adept level and Save Difficulty, but does not allow you to take any powers. The only power you can take is Psychic Shield (which can be taken even if you take no Adept levels and is treated as favoured power). You are able to use all magic items (q.v. , eg wands, staffs and scrolls), instead. The save difficulty against the wand or scroll is identical to your save difficulties. Additionately, you can conduct rituals and craft magic items. Wizard (Adept). The key ability is Intelligence. The “Wizard” feat gives Cantrips power when taken as the first power source feat. A wizard uses Intelligence instead of Wisdom as the modifier for the Will save, but only for fatigue checks when using powers (he has in fact two Will saves, one for fatigue checks and the other for other purposes. Should you take Intellect Fortress feat both Will saves will use Intelligence and will be identical).
Wizards cast spells using Verbal and Somatic Components. They must be able to speak and gesture freely to cast their spells. They suffer Armor check penalty to Power and Fatigue checks. They can cast spells without using verbal components, but this increases Difficulty of Fatigue checks by 2. They cannot use powers while wrestling or pinned – although they can maintain powers while doing it.
Wizards can take Still Spell feat. Still Spell allows to cast spell without Somatic Components, so they can eg wear armor without check penalty to power checks and fatigue checks, and use powers when restrained or wrestling (although this requires Concentration checks, q.v.). Powers: All, except healing and Positive and Negative Energy Shaping Wizards cannot spend Conviction to use powers they have not learned. When they take a power, however, they can inscribe a second power in their spellbook (reserve powers). They can spend an hour meditating in order to ready powers from spellbook (regardless of the number of powers being readied, it always takes 1 hour). For each reserve power readied, they must move one of their own powers to reserve, so the total number of powers they can cast remains constant. The readied reserve powers are treated in all aspects as other powers of wizard. In other words, a wizard possess a pool of powers (twice as much as he took power feats) from which he can select half as his readied powers. If a power requires another power as a prerequisite, it is enough that the Wizard has the prerequisite power in his spellbook. The prerequisite power needs not be prepared. A wizard can spend a Conviction point to shorten the necessary meditation to full round per each exchanged power.
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New applications of powers: Water Shaping Fatiguing, Maintenance New applications:
Water Breathing Target: Living creatures touched Duration: 2 hour/rank; no maintenance; see text Power Check Difficulty: 20 The transmuted creature can breathe water freely. Divide the duration evenly among all the creatures you touch. The spell does not make creatures unable to breathe air.
Water Walk Casting Time: 1 standard action Targets: On or more touched creatures Duration: Maintenance Power Check Difficulty: 20 The transmuted creatures can tread on any liquid as if it were firm ground. Mud, oil, snow, quicksand, running water, ice, and even lava can be traversed easily, since the subjects’ feet hover an inch or two above the surface. (Creatures crossing molten lava still take damage from the heat because they are near it.) The subjects can walk, run, charge, or otherwise move across the surface as if it were normal ground.
If the spell is cast underwater (or while the subjects are partially or wholly submerged in whatever liquid they are in), the subjects are borne toward the surface at 60 feet per round until they can stand on it. Wind Shaping New application:
Gaseous Form Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Touch Target: Willing corporeal creature touched Duration: Maintenance, max 20 min Power Check Difficulty: 20 The subject and all its gear become insubstantial, misty, and translucent. It becomes immune to critical hits, poison and most physical harm. It can be attacked by elemental attacks and supernatural powers, but gains Damage Resistance 6/area which is effective against them. Area attacks and supernatural powers affecting mind or spirit affect it normally. It is invulnerable to all other attacks. It can’t attack or use other powers while in gaseous form. The subject also loses supernatural abilities while in gaseous form.
A gaseous creature can’t run, but it can fly at a speed of 10 feet (maneuverability perfect). It can pass through small holes or narrow openings, even mere cracks, with all it was wearing or holding in its hands, as long as the spell persists. The creature is subject to the effects of wind, and it can’t enter water or other liquid. It also can’t manipulate objects or activate items, even those carried along with its gaseous form. Continuously active items remain active, though in some cases their effects may be moot. It loses the benefit of material armor, but is protected by the Magic Armor power, natural armor and magic armor enhancement bonus. Eg a subject wearing a +5 plate armor would not receive +6 armor bonus from the plate armor, but would receive +5 magical enhancement bonus.
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New and Revised Powers: List of New powers: Black Tentacles, Cantrips, Charm, Confusion, Conjuration, Elemental Ray, Force Shaping, Mage Armor, Improved Mage Armor, Necromancy, Positive Energy Shaping, Arcane Sight, Sound Shaping, Telekinetic Sphere, List of revised powers: Blink, Cloud the Mind, Cure Disease, Elemental Blast, Enhance Ability, Enhance Senses, Phase, Second Sight, Teleport, Wind Walk, Smaller revisions: Apport only works on objects and willing subjects. They can be apported only to locations within 400 feet of you. Invisibility (Light Shaping) cannot be maintained longer than 3 minutes. The following rules replace the whole of the original text of powers. Arcane Sight Prerequisites: Adept level 10 Time: This power is always active.
See Invisibility You can see any objects or beings that are invisible within your range of vision, as well as any that are ethereal, as if they were normally visible. Naturally invisible or ethereal creatures, and also creatures affected by the Invisibility effect of Light Shaping power are seen automatically. Cloud the Mind power requires making a Will save (you don’t need to make Notice check). Creatures are visible to you as translucent shapes, allowing you easily to discern the difference between visible, invisible, and ethereal creatures.
This power does not reveal the method used to obtain invisibility. It does not reveal illusions or enable you to see through opaque objects. It does not reveal creatures who are simply hiding, concealed, or otherwise hard to see. It also does not allow you to avoid the miss chance caused by Blur.
Darkvision You can see up to 60 feet even in total darkness. Darkvision does not grant one the ability to see in magical darkness. Black Tentacles Fatiguing, Prerequisites: Adept level 7 Power Check Difficulty: 23 Range: 100 feet + 10 feet per adept level. Duration: Maintenance, max 3 min Save: Fortitude This power conjures rubbery black tentacles, each 10 feet long. These waving members seem to spring forth from the earth, floor, or whatever surface is underfoot—including water. They grasp and entwine the target creature, holding it fast and crushing it with great strength. The tentacles are immune to all types of damage.
The targeted creature must make a Fortitude save immediately and on its each next turn. If it fails save, it is entangled. If it already had been entangled by tentacles, it additionally suffers lethal magical bludgeoning damage equal to adept level-4. If it makes the save, it is free from entanglement. The targeted creatures can also free themselves from entanglement by making an opposed grapple check or escape artist check against caster’s power check during their turn, as a standard action.
When the spell is widened, any creature that enters the area of the spell is immediately attacked by the tentacles. Even creatures who aren’t entangled may move through the area at only half normal speed. Blink Fatiguing, Prerequisites: Adept level 5 Time: 3 minutes-30 rounds Power check difficulty: 21 (standard action), 31 (free action)
You “blink” becoming in turns material and immaterial and invisible. You look as though you’re winking in and out of reality very quickly and at random. Attacks, including area attacks, have a 50% miss chance against you. The exception are supernatural powers that affect the mind or spirit, positive energy, negative energy, force effects, or attacks made with ghost touch weapons. Nondamaging magic effects affect you normally unless they require corporeal targets to function or they create a corporeal effect that incorporeal creatures would normally be unaffected
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by. (Percent rolls to avoid attacks, such as the above, or blur, or total concealment, do not stack. You can roll to avoid getting hit only once.) Even such powers have a 20% miss chance for concealment, except for area attacks and attacks made by an attacker who can see invisible.
You can make surprise attacks while blinking like an invisible creature. This does not apply if the target can see invisible. Blindsense, blindsight, scent, and tremorsense are all useless against incorporeal creatures and do not allow the creatures attacking you to avoid the miss chance.
Since you spend about half your time incorporeal, you can attack incorporeal creatures. You interact with incorporeal creatures roughly the same way you interact with material ones. The power protects you from involuntarily “melding” with solid substances. As the result you cannot move into solid objects; the power does not function as long as you are grappled, although you get the miss chance on the initial attempt to grab you.
You can renew your Blink power’s duration when it expires by making a new fatigue saving throw (with the cumulative modifier for successive fatigue saves).
Body Control Time: Body Control is a free action.
You have great mental control over your body. You can make a Body Control check for a number of
different tasks summarized on the following table. Most tasks are not fatiguing.
Task Power Check Difficulty Sleep normally despite difficult distractions 10 Slow breathing to half normal rate 10 Body awareness 10 Speed recovery 15 Slow breathing to one-quarter normal rate 15 Feign death 20 Overcome disease or poison Disease’s or Poison’s Save Difficulty
Task (Fatiguing uses) Fatigue Save Difficulty
Ignore pain or injury 13 Resist fear 13 Willpower 13 Sleeping: You can sleep in difficult conditions, including bad weather, noise, buzzing insects, and so forth. Slow Breathing: You can deliberately slow your rate of breathing so that you consume less air, vital in situations where there is a limited amount of breathable air available. Body Awareness: You can become very aware of your body while asleep or concentrating. This allows you to sense if you are touched or moved in any way while using Scrying, for example. Speed Recovery: You can speed your natural healing process, gaining a recovery check in half the normal time, so long as you spend that time in a deep, healing trance. Feign Death: By exerting supreme control over your body, you can enter a deep trance almost indistinguishable from death. A Notice check with a Difficulty equal to your Power Bonus+10 is required to determine whether you are still alive. Effects that detect life still work on you. While in this state, you also suspend the effects of any disease or poison in your system for as long as you remain in the trance. Overcome Disease or Poison: By concentrating for a full round, you can substitute your Power check for your Fortitude saving throw against a disease or poison in your system. This usually means you can only use Body Control against the secondary effects of a disease or poison, unless it is slow acting and you are warned soon enough to use Body Control to resist the initial effects (in the Narrator’s judgment). Ignore Pain or Injury: Fatiguing, You can ignore the efects of pain or injury while awake or asleep. If you choose, nothing can wake you. Using the Body Control power to ignore the efects of injury only applies to the −2 penalty to checks, attacks and saves that comes from the wounded condition. All other efects of injury still apply. Resist Fear: Fatiguing. You can override your body’s natural response to fear. You gain a new saving throw against any fear effect, with a +4 bonus. Willpower-Fatiguing: You can continue to act while disabled without your condition worsening to dying. You still suffer additional damage normally.
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This power has been changed mostly by shortening the time to use it from full action to free action. To balance it, more beneficial applications of this power have become fatiguing. As the result, the power should be useful in combat.
Cantrips Not Fatiguing This power allows you to cause a number of different simple, although useful, magical effect. Those simple spells are taught to all students of magic.
Deal Damage Range: 5 feer per power rank You must succeed at a ranged attack throw to hit your opponent. If you do, you inflict one of the following kinds of damage with no save. The damage equals ½ of your adept level, rounding down. This is treated as a weaponlike spell, with the critical hit on 20 causing +3 damage. Acid Splash: You shoot a small orb of acid at the target. The orb deals acid damage. Ray of Frost: A ray of freezing air and ice projects from your pointing finger. The ray deals cold damage. Disrupt Undead: You direct a ray of positive energy. You must make a ranged attack to hit, and if the ray hits an undead creature, it deals damage to it. Ghosts and other immaterial creatures do not have the 50% chance to avoid this attack. Mage Hand: You throw a small object at your opponent. It deals bludgeoning damage.
Daze Range: 5 feer per power rank Saving Throw: Will negates Power check difficulty=12+Target's Level or CR (add level adjustment to the level). This enchantment clouds the mind of a creature so that it takes no actions. The creature must make a Will saving throw or be dazed for 1 round, taking no action, but defending normally. A dazed subject is not stunned, so attackers get no special advantage against it.
Flare Range: 5 feer per power rank Saving Throw: Fortitude negates Power check difficulty= 12+Target's Level or CR (add level adjustment to the level). This cantrip creates a burst of light. If you cause the light to burst directly in front of a single creature, that creature is blinded for 1 round, unless it makes a successful Fortitude save.
Dancing Lights Duration: maintenance Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level) Effect Power Check Difficulty One light 5 2 lights 10 3 lights 15 4 lights 20 Humanoid shape 25 Humanoid shape and four lights 30 Two humanoid shapes 35 to vary the shape of lights or to give a specific shape to the humanoid figure
+5 to difficulty
Depending on the version selected, you create lights that resemble lanterns or torches (and cast that amount of light, clearly illuminating a 20-foot radius and providing shadowy illumination out to a 40-foot radius), or glowing spheres of light (which look like will-o’-wisps), or a faintly glowing, vaguely humanoid shape. The dancing lights must stay within a 10-foot-radius area in relation to each other but otherwise move as you desire: forward or back, up or down,
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straight or turning corners, or the like. The lights can move up to 100 feet per round. A light winks out if the distance between you and it exceeds the spell’s range.
Ventriloquism Range: 5 feer per power rank Effect: Intelligible sound, usually speech Duration: Concentration or Maintenance Saving Throw: Will disbelief Power check difficulty= 12 (Concentration) or 15 (Maintenance) You can make your voice (or any sound that you can normally make vocally) seem to issue from someplace else. You can speak in any language you know. Anyone who hears the sound and makes a successful save knows you are making it. You can try to use the ventriloquism without concentration. This requires Power check with Difficulty 15.
Mage Hand Range: 5 feer per power rank Target: One nonmagical, unattended object weighing up to 5 lb. Duration: Concentration Power check difficulty= 12 You point your finger at an object and can lift it and move it at will from a distance. As a move action, you can propel the object a distance of 5 feet times your power rank, though the effect ends if the distance between you and the object ever exceeds the range.
Prestidigitation Range: 10 ft. Target, Effect, or Area: See text Duration: 1 hour Power check difficulty 15 or more at Narrator's discretion Prestidigitations are minor tricks that novice spellcasters use for practice. The effects are minor and have severe limitations. A prestidigitation can color, clean, or soil items in a 1-foot cube each round. It can chill, warm, or flavor 1 pound of nonliving material. It cannot deal damage or affect the concentration of spellcasters. Prestidigitation can create small objects, but they look crude and artificial. The materials created by a prestidigitation spell are extremely fragile, and they cannot be used as tools, weapons, or spell components. Finally, a prestidigitation lacks the power to duplicate any other spell effects. Any actual change to an object (beyond just moving, cleaning, or soiling it) persists only 1 hour.
Mending Range: 10 ft. Target: One object of up to 1 lb. Duration: Instantaneous Power check difficulty 12 Mending repairs small breaks or tears in objects (but not warps, such as might be caused by a warp wood spell). It will weld broken metallic objects such as a ring, a chain link, a medallion, or a slender dagger, providing but one break exists. Ceramic or wooden objects with multiple breaks can be invisibly rejoined to be as strong as new. A hole in a leather sack or a wineskin is completely healed over by mending. The spell cannot affect creatures (including constructs). Charm Fatiguing, Mental Contact, Maintenance Target: One creature Power Check Difficulty= 12+Target's Level or CR (add level adjustment to the level). If the target isn't a humanoid, Difficulty is never less than 20. Saving Throw: Will negates. If the creature is currently being threatened or attacked by you or your allies, it receives a +5 bonus on its saving throw. This power makes a creature regard you as its trusted friend and ally (treat the target’s attitude as friendly).
The spell does not enable you to control the charmed person as if it were an automaton, but it perceives your words and actions in the most favorable way. You can try to give the subject orders, but you must win an opposed Charisma check to convince it to do anything it wouldn’t ordinarily do (Retries are not allowed.) It won’t do
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anything which conflicts with its deeply held ideals or beliefs. An affected creature never obeys suicidal or obviously harmful orders, but it might be convinced that something very dangerous is worth doing. Any act by you or your apparent allies that threatens the charmed person breaks the spell. You must speak the person’s language to communicate your commands, or else be good at pantomiming. Cloudkill Fatiguing, Prerequisites: Adept level 9 Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level) Effect: Cloud spreads in 20-ft. radius, 20 ft. high Duration: maintenance, max 10 minutes Saving Throw: Fortitude partial; see text Power check difficulty: 25 This power generates a bank of fog, similar to a fog cloud, except that its vapors are yellowish green and poisonous. Unlike a fog cloud, the cloudkill moves away from you at 10 feet per round, rolling along the surface of the ground. Figure out the cloud’s new spread each round based on its new point of origin, which is 10 feet farther away from the point of origin where you cast the spell. Because the vapors are heavier than air, they sink to the lowest level of the land, even pouring down den or sinkhole openings. It cannot penetrate liquids, nor can it be cast underwater. As with fog cloud, wind disperses the cloud.
A living creature takes 2 points of Constitution damage on your turn each round while in the cloud (a successful Fortitude save halves this damage). Holding one’s breath doesn’t help, but creatures immune to poison are unaffected by the spell. Minions failing the Fortitude save, and creatures failing the Fortitude save by 10 or more are instantly killed.
Alternate Effect: Incendiary Cloud (required adept level 15) Saving Throw: Fortitude partial; see text Power check difficulty: 34 This use of cloudkill power creates a cloud of roiling smoke shot through with white-hot embers. The smoke obscures all sight as a fog cloud does. In addition, the white-hot embers within the cloud deal fire damage equal to adept level – 4 to everything within the cloud on your turn each round. All targets can make Fortitude saves each round to take damage equal to adept level - 8.
As with the cloudkill effect, the smoke moves away from you at 10 feet per round. Figure out the smoke’s new spread each round based on its new point of origin, which is 10 feet farther away from where you were when you cast the spell. By concentrating, you can make the cloud (actually its point of origin) move as much as 60 feet each round. If you move the point of origin beyond the range, the cloud dissipates Cloud the Mind Fatiguing, Prerequisites: adept level 5 Target: You, when widened an area with radius equal to twice your level. Duration: maintenance, max 1 hour Saving Throw: Will negates You make yourself completely undetectable to other creatures (no matter what sense they are using) by erasing all awareness of your presence from their minds. They see you physically but remain unaware of you mentally. This supernatural power has the following effects:
First, you can use Stealth skill even if you do not have cover or concealment. Only the creatures which succeed on the Notice check are entitled to the Will save. All other creatures do not notice you and are not affected by the magic.
Supernatural powers and items which allow to see invisible creatures let observers make the Will save without the need for Notice check. (True Seeing use of the Enhance Senses power allows to see you without the need for the Will save.) Only subjects observing an area are entitled to the Notice check. In case of a compact body of people, only the sentries or nearest members are considered to be observing the particular spot on which you stand.
You are invisible and inaudible to any subjects failing a Will save. They cannot detect your presence by any means. You can move safely in a crowd. Since the members of it see you physically, they will subconsciously avoid stumbling on you. The subjects remain unaware of your actions, provided you do not make any attacks or cause any obvious or directly threatening changes in the subjects’ environment. If you take an action creating a sustained and
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obvious change in the subject’s environment—for example moving a large or attended object the subject can see—the subject immediately gains a new saving throw. An ally of the subject able to see or perceive you can use an aid another action (a standard action) to warn the subject, granting an immediate new saving throw. Attacking someone makes you visible to all.
Alternatively, by Widening the power, you can affect the sphere with the radius equal to twice your level. This confers invisibility and inaudibility upon all allied creatures within radius, including you. Those affected can see each other and themselves as if unaffected by the spell. Any affected creature moving out of the radius around you (note that this area moves together with you) becomes visible, but creatures moving into the area after the spell is cast do not become invisible.
Combat Sense Combat Style power Fatiguing Casting Time: 1 move action Duration: The bonus lasts for 30 rounds (3 minutes) per use. You can improve your ability in combat by sensing the fow of events around you. This power grants you a bonus to your base Combat bonus. Both attack and defence are increased by the stated amount. The bonus depends on your Power bonus and is shown in the table below.
You can use only one Combat Style feat or power at the same time. If you possess mutliple such feats or powers, you must select one you one to use, although you can freely change that selection at any moment. In addition the bonus to defense from Combat Sense does not stack with the bonuses provided by the Dodge Focus and Mental Strife feats (remember that the bonus from Combat Sense is not lost when you lose dodge bonus to defense).
Power Bonus Combat bonus
4 1
10 2
14 3
18 4
22 5
26 6
30 7
34 8
38 9
42 10
Confusion Prerequisites: Mind Touch, adept level 7 Fatiguing, Mental Contact, Maintenance Target: One creature Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level) Duration: Maintenance, 3 min max Saving Throw: Will negates This spell causes the target to become confused, making it unable to independently determine what it will do. Roll on the following table at the beginning of each subject’s turn each round to see what the subject does in that round. d20/Behavior 1-2/Attack caster with melee or ranged weapons (or move toward caster if attack is not possible). 3-5/Act normally. 6-10/Do nothing but babble incoherently.
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11-14/Flee from user at top possible speed. 15-20/Attack nearest creature (for this purpose, a familiar does not count). A confused character who can’t carry out the indicated action does nothing but babble incoherently. Attackers are not at any special advantage when attacking a confused character. Any confused character who is attacked automatically attacks its attackers on its next turn, as long as it is still confused when its turn comes. Conjuration Fatiguing, Maintenance You can manipulate reality to create a simulated magical matter, which you can use to confuse and obstruct your enemies. Magic holds the creation together, and when the spell ends, the conjured matter vanishes without a trace. Applications:
Grease Range: 100 feet + 10 feet per adept level. Target or Area: One object or circle with a radius of 2x Adept level in feet. Duration: Maintenance, max 3 min. Saving Throw: Reflex, See text Fatigue save difficulty: 17 A grease spell covers a solid surface with a layer of salve of slipperiness (superlubricant), which completely negates friction. Any creature in the area when the spell is cast must make a successful Reflex save or fall.
Any creature which wants to stand up, move through the area of spell or take a standard action while standing must make Reflex save at the beginning of each turn. Failure means it cannot move or take a standard action (actually losing the rest of actions during the turn) and falls if it is standing. Success means it can move at half normal speed and take a standard action. Taking an action while prone doesn't require a Reflex save. Moving through the area of the spell 5 feet per move action doesn't require Reflex save. No matter what the result of the check, the affected creature doesn’t lose dodge bonus to defence.
Instead of Reflex save creature can make Acrobatics check opposed by caster's power check, with the same consequences of success and failure.
The spell can also be used to create a greasy coating on an item. Material objects not in use are always affected by this spell, while an object wielded or employed by a creature receives a Reflex saving throw to avoid the effect. If the initial saving throw fails, the creature immediately drops the item. A saving throw must be made in each round that the creature attempts to pick up or use the greased item. A creature wearing greased armor or clothing gains a +5 bonus on Escape Artist checks and to Grapple Defence (this does not stack with bonuses provided by items, eg by Slick armor).
Web Range: 100 feet + 10 feet per adept level. Effect: Web with radius of 2x Adept level Duration: Maintenance, max 3 min. Saving Throw: Reflex negates and Fortitude ends, see text Power check difficulty: 19 Web creates a many-layered mass of strong, sticky strands. These strands trap those caught in them. The strands are similar to spider webs but far larger and tougher. These masses must be anchored to two or more solid and diametrically opposed points or else the web collapses upon itself and disappears. Creatures caught within a web become entangled among the gluey fibers. Attacking a creature in a web won’t cause you to become entangled. The web has a diameter of 2x Adept level feet.
Anyone in the effect’s area when the spell is cast must make a Reflex save. On a failed save, the target is entangled, suffering a –2 penalty to effective Dexterity. The entangled creature cannot move. The entangled creature can break loose by spending 1 full round and making a Fortitude save or an Escape Artist check opposed by a power check of the caster. Even if the save succeeds, the web counts as very heavy obstruction to movement - divide speed by 4 while in the web.
Web provides cover for creatures caught in it, but only against ranged, not melee attacks. Web also provides cover for creatures on the opposite side of it. The strands of a web spell are flammable. Any fire can set the webs
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alight and burn them away in one full round. All creatures within flaming webs take fire damage from the flames equal to the adept level of the caster – 4 (Reflex save to take damage equal to adept level - 8).
Glitterdust Range: 100 feet + 10 feet per adept level. Area: a circle with radius of 2x Adept level in feets Duration: Maintenance, max 3 min Saving Throw: Will negates (blinding only) Power check difficulty: 20 A cloud of golden particles covers everyone and everything in the area, causing creatures to become blinded and visibly outlining invisible things for the duration of the spell. All within the area are covered by the dust, which cannot be removed and continues to sparkle until it fades. Naturally invisible and creatures affected by the Invisibility effect of Light Shaping power are seen automatically. Cloud the Mind power requires an opposed power check. Ethereal creatures are not affected. Blinded creatures can make a Will save each turn to regain sight as a free action. Any creature covered by the dust takes a -40 penalty on Stealth checks (only to hide, not to move silently). Cure Disease Fatiguing Range: Touch, when widened all objects and creatures within a radius around you. Time: full-round action
Delay Poison (required power rank 5, fatigue save difficulty 15) The subject becomes temporarily immune to poison. Any poison in its system or any poison to which it is exposed during the 3 hours after the casting of the spell does not affect the subject until that time has expired. Delay poison does not cure any damage that poison may have already done.
Remove Paralysis (required power rank 5, fatigue save difficulty 15) You can free a creature from the effects of any temporary paralysis or related magic, including a ghoul’s touch or a slow effect (without an opposed power check). The spell does not restore ability scores reduced by penalties, damage, or drain.
Remove Blindness/Deafness (required power rank 7, fatigue save difficulty 16) If a subject is both blind and deaf, curing both requires two castings of this spell.
Remove Disease (required power rank 7, fatigue save difficulty 16) Remove disease cures all diseases that the subject is suffering from. The spell also kills parasites, including green slime and others. Certain special diseases may not be countered by this spell or may be countered only by a caster of a certain level or higher.
Remove Curse (required power rank 7, fatigue save difficulty 16) You instantaneously remove all curses from an object or a creature (without an opposed power check). This does not remove the curse from a cursed shield, weapon, or suit of armor, although it enables the creature afflicted with any such cursed item to remove and get rid of it.
Break Enchantment (required power rank 8, fatigue save difficulty 17) This use frees subject from enchantments and transmutations (without an opposed power check). Break enchantment can reverse even an instantaneous effect.
Neutralize Poison (required power rank 8, fatigue save difficulty 17) You detoxify any sort of venom in the creature or object touched. A poisoned creature suffers no additional effects from the poison, and any temporary effects are ended, but the spell does not reverse instantaneous effects, such as hit point damage, temporary ability damage, or effects that don’t go away on their own. The creature is immune to any poison it is exposed to for an hour after the casting of the spell. Unlike with delay poison, such effects aren’t postponed until after the duration —the creature need not make any saves against poison effects applied to it during the length of the spell.
Restoration (required power rank 8, fatigue save difficulty 17) This use dispels any magical effects reducing one of the subject’s ability scores (without an opposed power check). It can alternatively cure all temporary ability damage and restore all points permanently drained from a single ability score (your choice if more than one is drained or damaged). This effect cannot be widened.
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Disintegrate Fatiguing, Prerequisites: adept level 11. Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level) A thin, green ray springs from your pointing finger. You must make a successful ranged attack to hit. Disintergate has damage bonus equal to your adept level+2. This is treated as a weaponlike spell, with the critical hit on 20 causing +3 damage.
Disintegrate is not affected by any elemental resistance. Any creature reduced to the Dying condition by this spell is entirely disintegrated, leaving behind only a trace of fine dust. A disintegrated creature’s equipment is unaffected. Only the first creature or object struck can be affected; that is, the ray affects only one target per casting. You cannot apply the Widen Power feat to Disintegrate.
When used against an object, the ray simply disintegrates as much as one 10- foot cube of nonliving matter. Thus, the spell disintegrates only part of any very large object or structure targeted. The ray affects even objects constructed entirely of force, such as forceful hand or a wall of force. You must make an opposed power check, with the caster of Disintegrate getting + 5 bonus. If you succeed, the object is destroyed. Elemental Blast Fatiguing Time: Standard action. Range: 100 feet + 10 feet per adept level. Your can strike a foe with a focused blast of elemental force. The kind of elemental damage depends on which Shaping power you possess. If you don’t have any of the indicated powers, you cannot use Elemental Blast; if you have several, you can select the effect you want. Positive Energy blast can target only an undead creature or a supernatural creature with the vice subtype. An undead creature is healed by the Negative Energy blast; use the damage as the bonus for the recovery roll. Ghosts and other immaterial creatures do not have the 50% chance to avoid Positive Energy and Negative Energy attacks.
Shaping power type of energy damage Cold Shaping Cold Energy Shaping, Weather Shaping Electric Fire Shaping Fire Water Shaping Acid Wind Shaping, Sound Shaping Sonic Positive Energy Shaping Positive Energy Negative Energy Shaping Negative Energy
An Elemental Blast has a damage bonus equal to your adept level. Targets of an Elemental Blast can make a Reflex saving throw. If successful, the blast only inflicts damage equal to adept level-4. Elemental Ray Fatiguing Time: Standard action. Range increment: adept level x 10 feet; max range: adept level x 100 feet A ray of elemental energy springs from your hand. Your Elemental Ray is a normal ranged attack with a range increment of adept level x 10 feet and a maximum range of ten increments (adept level x 100 feet). and a damage bonus equal to your adept level+5. This is treated as a weaponlike spell, with the critical hit on 20 causing +3 damage.
The kind of elemental damage depends on which Shaping power you possess (use the table for Elemental Blast, except there is no Acid Ray). If you don’t have any of the indicated powers, you cannot use Elemental Ray; if you have several, you can select the effect you want. An undead creature is healed by the Negative Energy ray; use the damage as the bonus for the recovery roll. Ghosts and other immaterial creatures do not have the 50% chance to avoid Positive Energy and Negative Energy attacks. You cannot apply the Widen Power feat to the elemental ray.
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Elemental Weapon Fatiguing Time: free action. Duration: up to 3 minutes You can imbue a melee weapon you wield with damaging elemental energy, without harming either the weapon or yourself. The weapon does the amount of damage indicated on the table below, in addition to its normal damage. It can also gain special abilities, based on Power Rank. The elemental weapons at higher power ranks posssess all special abilities of lower ranks.
All of the damage caused by the weapon, both the normal damage and the bonus damage from power, is an elemental damage. The kind of elemental damage depends on which Shaping power you possess (use the table for Elemental Blast). If you don’t have any of the indicated powers, you cannot use Elemental Weapon; if you have several, you can select the effect you want. Positive Energy weapon can target only an undead creature or a supernatural creature with the vice subtype. An undead creature is unaffected by the Negative Energy weapon; it is neither damaged nor healed. Ghosts and other immaterial creatures do not have the 50% chance to avoid Positive Energy and Negative Energy attacks.
If the weapon is a magical weapon, it is treated as a mastercraft weapon for the duration of the power. All of its enchantments are replaced by the bonuses from the Elemental Weapon power.
Elemental Burst – instead of using the weapon normally, you can cause the elemental aura surrounding your weapon to explode forward, engulfing an adjacent opponent and causing damage equal to your Power Rank. You do not make an attack roll; the opponent makes Reflex save to avoid damage. When using this option you cannot inflict critical damage. Before each attack, you can decide whether to use the weapon normally or to use the elemental burst. Enhance Ability Fatiguing One character can receive at one time only one of the following enhancements:
Enhance Ability Time: standard action Target: Creature touched or yourself. This effect cannot be Widened. As a standard action you can enhance ability of a touched creature or of yourself for 30 rounds (3 minutes). The amount of the bonus depends on the character level of the caster. The bonus can be added to either Dexterity or Strength. If desired, you can split a bonus of +2 or greater between Strength and Dexterity.
Enhance Self (minimum character level 8) Time: free action. You can improve your Strength or Dexterity for a short time. As a free action you can gain an enhancement bonus for 30 rounds (3 minutes). The amount of the bonus depends on the character level of the caster. The bonus can be added to either Dexterity or Strength. If desired, you can split a bonus of +2 or greater between Strength and Dexterity.
Character Level Bonus Fatigue save Difficulty
8 +1 15 14 +2 17
16 +3 19
Centering Meditation (minimum character level 12) After a 15 minute long meditation, you receive + 1 bonus to your key ability (Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma). At character level 19 your ability bonus increases to +2.
The bonus is permanent and similarly to other bonuses from Enhance Ability doesn’t requires maintenance, but as long as you benefit from it, you cannot benefit from any other ability bonus. You cannot use benefit from other applications of Enhance Ability, or from items with similar effects. Bonus to Intelligence doesn’t grant additional skills, although it increases skills based on Intelligence. You can end the effect as a free action. Enhance Senses Fatiguing Target: Creature touched
Darkvision Power check Difficulty 17. Duration: 1 hour The subject gains the ability to see 60 feet even in total darkness. Darkvision does not grant one the ability to see in magical darkness.
Scent Power check Difficulty 19. Duration: 1 hour The subject can detect opponents by sense of smell, generally within 30 feet. If the opponent is upwind, the range is 60 feet. If it is downwind, the range is 15 feet. Strong scents can be detected at longer ranges. The subject detects a creature’s presence but not its specific location. Noting the direction of the scent is a move action. If it moves within 5 feet of the scent’s source, the subject can pinpoint that source. Incorporeal and ethereal creatures cannot be scented.
A subject with the Track feat can follow tracks by smell, making a Survival check to find or follow a track. The typical Difficulty for a fresh trail is 10. The Difficulty increases or decreases depending on how strong the quarry’s odor is, the number of creatures, and the age of the trail. For each hour that the trail is cold, the Difficulty increases by 2. The ability otherwise follows the rules for the Track feat. Creatures tracking by scent ignore the effects of surface conditions and poor visibility. False, powerful odors can easily mask other scents. The presence of such an odor completely spoils the ability to properly detect or identify creatures, and the base Survival Difficulty to track becomes 20 rather than 10.
See Invisibility required adept level 5 Power check Difficulty 21. Duration: 1 hour The subject can see any objects or beings that are invisible within the range of vision, as well as any that are ethereal, as if they were normally visible. Naturally invisible or ethereal creatures, and also creatures affected by the Invisibility effect of Light Shaping power are seen automatically. Cloud the Mind power requires making a Will save (the subject does not need to make Notice check). Creatures are visible as translucent shapes, allowing easily to discern the difference between visible, invisible, and ethereal creatures.
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This power does not reveal the method used to obtain invisibility. It does not reveal illusions or enable to see through opaque objects. It does not reveal creatures who are simply hiding, concealed, or otherwise hard to see. It also does not allow to avoid the miss chance caused by Blur.
Tremorsense required adept level 7 Power check Difficulty 23. Duration: 1 hour The subject gains the ability to automatically pinpoint the location of any object or creature within 30 that is in contact with the ground. The subject must itself be in contact with the ground, and the creatures must be moving. As long as the other creatures are taking physical actions, including casting spells with somatic components, they’re considered moving; they don’t have to move from place to place for the subject to detect them. The subject cannot be an incorporeal or ethereal creature, and cannot detect incorporeal and ethereal creatures.
True Seeing required adept level 9 Power check Difficulty 28. Duration: 10 min. The subject sees through normal and magical darkness, sees the exact locations of creatures or objects under blur or displacement effects, see invisible creatures or objects normally, and can see into the Ethereal Plane (but not into extradimensional spaces). It can additionally notice secret doors hidden by magic, see through illusions, see through powers that stop it from noticing a creatures (such as Cloud the Mind) and see the true form of polymorphed, changed, or transmuted things. The range of true seeing conferred is 120 feet.
True seeing, however, does not penetrate solid objects. It in no way confers X-ray vision or its equivalent. It does not negate natural concealment, including that caused by fog and the like. True seeing does not help the viewer see through mundane disguises, spot creatures who are simply hiding, or notice secret doors hidden by mundane means. In addition, the spell effects cannot be further enhanced with known magic, so one cannot use true seeing through a crystal ball or in conjunction with clairaudience/clairvoyance. Fly Fatiguing, Maintenance Prerequisites: adept level 5 Casting Time: 1 standard action or always active Duration: 10 minutes. Power check Difficulty: 21 You can fly with good maneuverability at a speed of 60 feet. You can charge but not run, and you cannot carry aloft more weight than your maximum load, plus any armor you wear. You can maintain this power up to 10 minutes.
Should the power expire while you are still aloft, the magic fails slowly. You float downward 60 feet per round for 4 rounds. If you reach the ground in that amount of time, you land safely. If not, you fall the rest of the distance, taking damage. Since dispelling a spell effectively ends it, you also descend in this way if the spell is dispelled, but not if it is negated by an antimagic field.
At power rank 20 this power is no longer fatiguing, does not require maintenance and is always active.
Fog Shaping Fatiguing, Maintenance. Prerequisite: adept level 3 Applications:
Fog Cloud Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft. level) Effect: Fog 20 ft. high spreads in radius equal to rank*3 Duration: maintentance, max 1 hour Difficulty: 19 A bank of fog billows out from the point you designate. The fog obscures all sight, including darkvision, beyond 5 feet. A creature within 5 feet has concealment (attacks have a 20% miss chance). Creatures farther away have total concealment (50% miss chance, and the attacker can’t use sight to locate the target). A moderate wind (11+ mph)
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disperses the fog in 4 rounds; a strong wind (21+ mph) disperses the fog in 1 round. The spell does not function underwater.
Stinking Cloud Duration: maintentance, max 3 minutes Difficulty: 21 Stinking cloud creates a bank of fog like that created by fog cloud, except that the vapors are nauseating. Living creatures in the cloud become nauseated (Fortitude Save negates). This condition lasts as long as the creature is in the cloud and for 3 rounds after it leaves. Any creature that succeeds on its save but remains in the cloud must continue to save each round on your turn. Incorporeal creatures are not affected.
Solid Fog Duration: maintentance, max 1 hour Save: Fortitude Difficulty: 23 This effect functions like the fog cloud version of this power, but in addition to obscuring sight, the solid fog is extremely thick. Any creature caught in it must make a Fortitude save at the beginning of its round. If it fails the save, it progresses at a speed of 5 feet, regardless of its normal speed, and it takes a –2 penalty on all melee attacks and -1 penalty to melee damage. Even if it makes the save, the solid fog counts as very heavy obstruction to movement - divide speed by 4 while in the fog.
The vapors prevent efective ranged weapon attacks (except for magic rays and the like). A creature or object that falls into solid fog is slowed, so that each 10 feet of vapor that it passes through reduces falling damage by 2. Unlike normal fog, only a severe wind (31+ mph) disperses these vapors, and it does so in 1 round.
Acid fog Duration: maintentance, max 3 minutes Difficulty: 28 Save: Fortitude Acid fog creates a billowing mass of misty vapors similar to that produced by a solid fog spell. In addition to slowing creatures down and obscuring sight, this spell’s vapors are highly acidic. When you cast the spell, the fog deals acid damage equal to adept level-4 (Fortitude save negates), to each creature and object within it. Each creature which fails the Fortitude save at the beginning of its round suffers the same damage in addition to limitation to movement. Incorporeal creatures do not suffer acid damage. Force Shaping Fatiguing You can manipulate the raw magical force. The force affect normally incorporeal or ethereal creatures. Applications:
Magic Missile Range: 100 feet + 10 feet per adept level. Save: Reflex negates A missile of magical energy darts forth from your fingertip and strikes its target, dealing damage equal to 4+ ½ adept level (rounding down). At adept level 12 the damage becomes adept level-2. This power cannot be Widened. Inanimate objects are not damaged by the spell. Ghosts and other incorporeal or ethereal creatures do not have the 50% chance to avoid this attack.
Magic Missile Barrage (requires adept level 3) Range: 100 feet + 10 feet per adept level. Targets: Two or more creatures no two of which can be more than 20 ft. apart Save: Reflex negates You send out a salvo of magic missiles, each dealing damage 4. Number of missiles equals ½ rank - 1 (rounding down). Each missile must be directed at a different creatures, no two of which can be more than 20 ft. apart. This power cannot be Widened. Inanimate objects are not damaged by the spell. Ghosts and other incorporeal or ethereal creatures do not have the 50% chance to avoid this attack.
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Resilient Sphere (requires adept level 8) Range: power rank × 5 feet. Effect: 1-ft.-diameter/adept level sphere, centered around a creature Duration: maintenance, max 3 min Saving Throw: Reflex negates Power check difficulty: 23 A globe of shimmering force encloses a creature, provided the creature is small enough to fit within the diameter of the sphere. The sphere contains its subject for the spell’s duration. The sphere is not subject to damage of any sort except from a rod of cancellation or a rod of negation. It can also be dispelled by focused Ward power.
The sphere is invulnerable to brute force, but it contains microscopic vulnerable points. The character imprisoned in the sphere can attack it with a magic weapon, unarmed attack or natural weapon counting as magic weapon (eg of a creature with Damage resistance/magic). The character makes an Attack Bonus check, which equals 1d20+Combat Bonus+Dexterity. Traits, feats, class abilities and situational modifiers that apply to attack rolls do not affect Attack Bonus Checks. It is opposed by the Power check of the caster, which receives +5 bonus. If the caster is defeated, the sphere disappears.
These effects destroy the sphere without harm to the subject. Nothing can pass through the sphere, inside or out, though the subject can breathe normally. The power provides breathable and safe air if it was used while the subject was under water, in a poisonous cloud, in an airless void, or similar. The subject may struggle, but the sphere cannot be physically moved either by people outside it or by the struggles of those within. This sphere is effective against immaterial or ethereal creatures, which cannot pass in or out of it. Any magical effects cannot pass form outside into, or from inside out of the sphere.
Telekinetic Sphere (requires adept level 16) Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) Effect: 1-ft.-diameter/level sphere, centered around creatures or objects Duration: maintenance, max 3 min Power check difficulty: 34 Saving Throw: Reflex negates (object) This spell functions like resilient sphere, with the addition that the creatures or objects inside the globe are nearly weightless.
Anything contained within an telekinetic sphere weighs only one-sixteenth of its normal weight. You can telekinetically lift anything in the sphere that normally weighs 5,000 pounds or less. The telekinetic control extends from you out to medium range (100 feet + 10 feet per caster level) after the sphere has succeeded in encapsulating its contents.
You can move objects or creatures in the sphere that weigh a total of 5,000 pounds or less by concentrating on the sphere. You can begin moving a sphere in the round after casting the spell. If you concentrate on doing so (a standard action), you can move the sphere as much as 30 feet in a round. If you cease concentrating, the sphere does not move in that round (if on a level surface) or descends at its falling rate (if aloft) until it reaches a level surface, or the spell’s duration expires, or you begin concentrating again. If you cease concentrating (voluntarily or due to failing a Concentration check), you can resume concentrating on your next turn or any later turn during the spell’s duration.
The sphere falls at a rate of only 60 feet per round, which is not fast enough to cause damage to the contents of the sphere.
You can move the sphere telekinetically even if you are in it. Force Structures Prerequisites: Adept level 9 Fatiguing, no maintenance
Wall of Force Fatiguing Range: 5 feet per power rank. Duration: 3 min or until dismissed
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Power check difficulty: 25,+1 per each additional 10-foot square of wal, +2 if the wall is not vertical, +2 per each Force Structure active in the radius of 1000 feet. Save: Reflex partial – see text A wall of force spell creates an invisible wall of force. The caster can form the wall into a flat, not necessarily vertical plane whose area is up to ten 10- foot squares. A vertical wall must rest on the floor or hang from a ceiling; a non-vertical plane must be supported from at least two sides. It can rest on other Walls of Force. You can get more squares by increasing the power check difficulty. The wall must be continuous and unbroken when formed. If its surface is broken by any object or creature, the spell fails.
A creature adjacent to the Wall of Force can make a Reflex save when it is created; a success allows it to move to the other side before the wall forms.
The wall cannot move, it is immune to damage of all kinds, and it is unaffected by most powers. It cannot be dispelled by focused Ward power. However a rod of cancellation, rod of negation and a sphere of annihilation immediately destroy it. The wall is invulnerable to brute force, but it contains microscopic vulnerable points.
A character attacking the wall with a magic weapon, unarmed attack or natural weapon, if any of those counts as magic weapon, eg in case of a creature with Damage resistance/magic, can make an attack at such a weak point, trying to destabilize the wall. The character makes an Attack Bonus check, which equals 1d20+Combat Bonus+Dexterity. Traits, feats, class abilities and situational modifiers that apply to attack rolls do not affect Attack Bonus Checks. It is opposed by the Power check of the caster, which receives +5 bonus. If the caster is defeated, the wall disappears.
Breath weapons, powers and spells cannot pass through the wall in either direction, although teleport, and similar effects can bypass the barrier. Powers cast before the wall of force appeared can be maintained through it. It blocks immaterial and ethereal creatures as well as material ones (though ethereal creatures can usually get around the wall by floating under or over it through material floors and ceilings). Gaze attacks can operate through a wall of force.
Dismissing the Wall of Force takes a standard action.
Forcecage (required adept level 13) Range: Close (5 feer per power rank) Effect: Barred cage (20-ft. cube) or windowless cell (10-ft. cube) Duration: 3 hours, dismissable Power check difficulty: 31, +2 per each Force Structure active in the radius of 1000 feet. Saving Throw: Reflex allows the target to escape the cage before it forms, This powerful spell brings into being an immobile, invisible cubical prison composed of either bars of force or solid walls of force (your choice). Creatures within the area are caught and contained unless they are too big to fit inside, in which case the spell automatically fails. Creatures can make a Reflex save to escape from the Forcecage before it forms, if there is place on the other side of the nearest wall. Teleportation and other forms of astral travel provide a means of escape, but the force walls or bars extend into the Ethereal Plane, blocking ethereal travel.
Like a wall of force spell, a forcecage it is immune to damage of all kinds, and it is unaffected by most powers. It cannot be dispelled by focused Ward power. However a rod of cancellation, rod of negation and a sphere of annihilation immediately destroy it. The cage is invulnerable to brute force, but it contains microscopic vulnerable points. The character imprisoned in the cube can attack such a weak point with a magic weapon, unarmed attack or natural weapon, if any of those counts as magic weapon (eg of a creature with Damage resistance/magic) trying to destabilize the cage. The character makes an Attack Bonus check, which equals 1d20+Combat Bonus+Dexterity. Traits, feats, class abilities and situational modifiers that apply to attack rolls do not affect Attack Bonus Checks. It is opposed by the Power check of the caster, which receives +5 bonus. If the caster is defeated, the forcecage disappears.
Dismissing the Forcecage takes a standard action. Barred Cage: This version of the spell produces a 20-foot cube made of bands of force (similar to a wall of
force spell) for bars. The bands are a half-inch wide, with half-inch gaps between them. Any creature capable of passing through such a small space can escape; others are confined. You can’t attack a creature in a barred cage with a weapon unless the weapon can fit between the gaps. Even against such weapons (including arrows and similar ranged attacks), a creature in the barred cage has cover. All spells and breath weapons can pass through the gaps in the bars.
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Windowless Cell: This version of the spell produces a 10-foot cube with no way in and no way out. Solid walls of force form its six sides. Breath weapons, powers and spells cannot pass through the wall in either direction, although teleport, and similar effects can bypass the barrier. Powers cast before the forcecube appeared can be maintained through it. It blocks immaterial and ethereal creatures as well as material ones. Gaze attacks can operate through a forcecage. Windowless Cell does not provide breathable air, and if it was enlosed a portion of a poisonous cloud, the cloud continues to affect the creatures imprisoned in the cell. Ghost Touch Prerequisites: Paladin or Cleric, character level 5 Fatigue save difficulty: 14 Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) Target: One weapon or fifty projectiles (all of which must be in contact with each other at the time of casting) Duration: 3 minutes You give to a weapon a power to reliably affect incorporeal beings. A ghost touch weapon deals damage normally against incorporeal creatures, regardless of its bonus. (An incorporeal creature’s 50% chance to avoid damage does not apply to attacks with ghost touch weapons.) The weapon can be picked up and moved by an incorporeal creature at any time. A manifesting ghost can wield the weapon against corporeal foes. Essentially, a ghost touch weapon counts as either corporeal or incorporeal at any given time, whichever is more beneficial to the wielder. It cannot bypass armor, however. When Widened, this power affects all weapons within a radius of up to twice your adept level in feet, with you as the centre. Imbue Life Fatiguing, Prerequisite: Cure, character level 9 Range: Touch, Cannot be Widened Time: Standard Action
Resuscitation (Automatically fail fatigue save) As a standard action you revive a creature which has died no longer than 2 turns ago. As this power stops the creature from fully dying, it affects creatures which normally cannot be resurrected, such as constructs and outsiders. It can even affect undead if you have also the Necromancy power. The subject’s condition becomes “unconscious” and “disabled” (from which the subject may heal normally). Any ability scores damaged to -5 increase to -4. All spells and similar effects on the subject end at the moment of death. Normal poison and normal disease are cured in the process, but magical diseases and curses are not undone. While the spell closes mortal wounds and repairs lethal damage of most kinds, the body of the resuscitated creature must be whole. Otherwise, missing parts are still missing when the creature comes back to life.
Heal (Fatigue save difficulty 21) You channel positive energy into a creature to wipe away injury and afflictions. It immediately ends any and all of the following adverse conditions affecting the target: ability damage, blinded, confused, dazed, dazzled, deafened, diseased, insanity, nauseated, sickened, stunned, and poisoned. It removes all lethal and nonlethal damage. This use of power does not remove fatigue or restore permanently drained ability score points. Undead are affected as if by Harm – use all rules of that power, including Fatigue save difficulty, except that the undead make Will save.
Regenerate (Fatigue save difficulty 24) Time: 3 full rounds The subject’s severed body members (fingers, toes, hands, feet, arms, legs, tails, or even heads of multiheaded creatures), broken bones, and ruined organs grow back. After the spell is cast, the physical regeneration is complete in 1 round if the severed members are present and touching the creature. It takes d20 rounds otherwise.
Regenerate also cures one lethal damage condition and eliminates all nonlethal damage the subject has taken, except for the collateral damage caused by remaining lethal damage. It has no effect on nonliving creatures (including undead).
Mass Heal (Requires character level 17, Fatigue save difficulty 30) The spell affects a circle centered on you, with a radius equal to twice your Adept level in feet. You can freely select which creatures in that area are affected and which are not. Except for that, it functions exactly like Heal.
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Mage Armor Time: This power is always active. You learn to surround yourself with an invisible but tangible field of force. You receive +2 toughness bonus as long as you don't wear armor. The bonus does not apply if you are unable to take free actions. You automatically restore Mage Armor as a free action as soon as you can take free actions. This bonus is treated as armor bonus, except that it doesn’t cause armor check penalty. You can still benefit from items granting armor enhancement bonus (Amulet of Natural Armor, Bracers of Defence). This power precludes the use of the Canny Dodge feat. Mage Armor, Improved Prerequisites: Mage Armor, adept level 12 Time: This power is always active. Your Mage Armor bonus to Toughness increases to 4. Necromancy (Not fatiguing) You can establish mental contact with undead, as a move action. The base Difficulty is 10, modified by familiarity. If the subject has a Psychic Shield, you have to make a separate Mind Touch check to overcome it. Intelligent undead also gets a Will saving throw to avoid contact. If the save is successful, no contact is made. While you are in mental contact with another being, the two of you can communicate at the rate of normal speech, hearing each other’s thoughts. You can also send a single visual image each round instead of speaking. Both you and the subject can choose to lie or omit information; you’re “speaking” to each other mentally, not reading each other’s thoughts. Mental Contact is two-way, meaning you are in mental contact with the subject for purposes of her powers and vice versa. Mindless undead do not get a Will save to stop you from establishing mental contact. If they are under control of another necromancer, you must win an opposed power check against him. When you are in mental contact with a mindless undead, you simply get a sense of what the undead is doing.
In addition, you can use certain mind-affecting powers against undead, although not those which are dependent on emotions. You can use following powers: Charm, Dominate, Illusion, Mind Probe, Mind Reading, Mind Shaping, Pain, Suggestion. Negative Energy Shaping. You can shape negative energy, which is deadly to living and sustains undead.
Rebuke Undead (Fatiguing) Range: 60 feet, when widened a circle centered on you within a radius equal to twice your level. Duration: 3 min
As a standard action, you can channel negative energy, which can allow you to subdue or halt undead. You can target one creature in the 60 feet range. If you widen the power, it affects all undead in the radius equal to twice your Adept level. Affected intelligent undead must make a Will save. A nonintelligent undead creature gets no saving throw and suffers the worst possible result. Regardless whether the save succeeds or fail, the creature cannot be rebuked again in the same encounter (for 3 minutes), and succeeds all following saves automatically.
If the targeted creature fails the save, it is subdued. It cannot attack or oppose in any way you and your allies. If you or one of your allies targets with a spell, attacks or prepares to attack a subdued creature, the effect is broken. Accidentally targeting an undead again with Rebuke Undead again does not end the effect, since it cannot affect the creature.
If it fails the save by 5, it is halted – rendered immobile for the duration of the spell. The target is paralyzed: helpless and unable to move or take any actions. A winged creature who is paralyzed cannot flap its wings and falls and a swimmer can’t swim. The effect is broken if the halted creatures are attacked or take damage from a hostile source. Attacks or damage dealt by their allies cannot end the effect.
Curse Weapon Difficulty:17 Casting Time: A standard action
A touched weapon or up to 50 projectiles count as vice-aligned for the purposes of bypassing damage reduction. The effect lasts 10 minutes.
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Black Hand (Fatiguing, requires character level 11) You imbue your touch with negative energy. You deal negative energy damage equal to your adept level +5. An undead creature is healed by the touch instead; use the damage as the bonus for the recovery roll. This is a weaponlike spell – you deal +3 critical damage on the roll of 20.
Phase Fatiguing, Prerequisites: Adept level 15 Duration: 3 min Power check difficulty: 34 You can shift yourself “out of phase” with the material world, becoming incorporeal (See rules for incorporeal creatures). You are not invisible. You are unaffected by the material world, able to pass through solid objects and creatures and move in any direction, including up or down, at your normal movement speed, although you cannot see when your eyes are within solid matter. As an incorporeal creature you do not leave footprints, have no scent, and make noise only intentionally. Any equipment you are wearing or carrying is also incorporeal. Your armor and magical items affect you normally.
You can be harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, by magic weapons, or by powers, spell-like effects, or supernatural effects. You are immune to all nonmagical attack forms. You are not burned by normal fires, affected by natural cold, or harmed by mundane acids.
Even when hit by magic powers, or magic weapons, you have a 50% chance (11 or better on d20) to ignore any damage from a corporeal source (except for supernatural powers that affect the mind or spirit, positive energy, negative energy, force effects, or attacks made with ghost touch weapons). Nondamaging magic effects affect you normally unless they require corporeal targets to function or they create a corporeal effect that incorporeal creatures would normally be unaffected by. (Percent rolls to avoid attacks, such as the above, or blur, or total concealment, or blink, do not stack. You can roll to avoid getting hit only once.)
Incorporeal creatures can attack you normally. Similarly, when you attack incorporeal creatures they don’t get a chance to ignore damage.
You cannot touch or affect material world. You can attack corporeal targets only with Ghost Touch weapons and supernatural powers.
If the power’s duration ends while you are inside a material object, you are shunted into the nearest open space and must make a Toughness saving throw against +1 damage per 5 feet you travel in this manner. You can also renew your power’s duration with a new fatigue save (including the modifier for repeated power use).
Positive Energy Shaping Fatiguing, This power allow the clerics and priests to wield positive energy.
Turn Undead Casting Time: A standard action Range: 60 feet, when widened a circle centered on you within a radius equal to twice your level. Duration: 3 min As a standard action, you can channel positive energy, which can drive off, damage or destroy undead and supernatural creatures with the vice subtype (fiends).
You can target one creature in the 60 feet range. If you widen the power, it affects all undead or fiends in the radius equal to twice your Adept level. Affected undead or fiends must make a Will save. Regardless whether the save succeeds or fail, the creature cannot be turned again in the same encounter (for 3 minutes), and succeeds all following saves automatically. If the targeted creature fails the save, it suffers a hurt. If it fails by 5 or more, it suffers a wound. If it fails save by 10, it is disabled, and if by 15, it is immediately destroyed.
Additionately, if the creature fails the save, it flees from you by the best and fastest means available to it for about 3 minutes. If the affected creature cannot flee, it cowers, unable to act. Any attack against it counts as a surprise attack, but instantly ends the effect. Creature freed in that manner cannot be turned again during the same encounter.
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Bless Water Difficulty:15 Casting Time: 10 minutes Duration: Instantaneous (cannot be dispelled) You imbue all water in a container (no more than one flask or pint) with positive energy, turning it into holy water.
Bless Weapon Difficulty:17 Casting Time: A standard action A touched weapon or up to 50 projectiles count as virtue-aligned for the purposes of bypassing damage reduction. The effect lasts 10 minutes.
Project Image Fatiguing, Maintenance. Prerequisites: Light Shaping, adept level 13 Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level) Duration: Maintenance, max 30 rounds (3 minutes) Saving Throw: Will disbelief (if interacted with) Power check difficulty: 31 You create a quasi-real, illusory version of yourself. The projected image looks, sounds, and smells like you but is intangible. The projected image mimics your actions (including speech) unless you direct it to act differently (which is a move action).
You can see through its eyes and hear through its ears as if you were standing where it is, and during your turn you can switch from using its senses to using your own, or back again, as a free action. While you are using its senses, your body is considered blinded and deafened.
If you desire, any ranged power you cast can originate from the projected image instead of from you. Projected image cannot make melee attacks or use any powers on itself except for illusionary ones. The powers affect other targets normally, despite originating from the projected image.
You must maintain line of effect to the projected image at all times. If your line of effect is obstructed, the spell ends. If you use any power that breaks your line of effect, even momentarily (eg Teleport), the spell ends.
Creatures interacting with the Projected Image are entitled to a Will save to learn that it is only your copy. This doesn’t stop you from using your powers.
You can attempt to use this power only once per encounter (once per 3 minutes). Psychic Weapon Fatiguing Casting Time: 1 move action Duration: 3 minutes You can create a melee weapon out of psychic energy. Take a move action to create the psychic weapon in your hand. The appearance of the weapon is up to you; its effects are the same regardless. You wield a psychic weapon like a normal melee weapon, except you are automatically considered trained with it. If your psychic weapon is somehow knocked from your grasp or sundered it disappears; you can recreate it by taking a move action to do so. You cannot throw the psychic weapon.
The psychic weapon inflicts damage indicated in the table below. Add not only your Strength, but also half of your key ability for Psychic Weapon (rounding down) to the weapon’s damage. You can create a one handed or two-handed weapon. A two handed weapon inflict damage increased by +1. The damage indicated applies to caster of Medium size. Increase it by 1 for each size category above, and substract the same amount for each size category below Medium. You can score a critical hit with your Psychic Weapon on a natural roll of 20, inficting +3 damage.
Psychic Weapon causes normal physical damage, affecting even objects and non-intelligent creatures. It affects, however, immaterial creatures as a ghost touch weapon. The psychic weapon cannot bypass damage reduction depending either on the kind of damage (slashing, bludgeoning, piercing) – even if it looks like a weapon of a proper type - or on a special material; if you have also the Supernatural Weapon power, you may be able to bypass damage reduction according to the rules of the latter power. The psychic weapon is considered a precision or power weapon,
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Power Rank Damage Other Bonuses
4-5 3
6-10 4
11-12 5
13-14 6
15-16 7
17-18 8 Mental Attack
19 and higher 9
Mental Attack– you can mentally direct your weapon to attack your opponent. The weapon strikes without an attack roll, but the opponent can make a Will save to avoid being hit. If the Will save fails, the opponent receives damage equal to your Power Rank. When using this option you cannot inflict critical damage. You can also use the weapon normally, if you prefer. Before each attack, you can decide whether to use your psychic weapon normally or to use the mental attack. When the opponent has the Psychic Shield power and you are using this option, you must win an opposed power check in order to affect him. Even if you win, he still can make the Will save. Second Sight Always active
Sense Powers: Whenever supernatural powers are used in your line of sight, or you are in mental contact with the caster or the target, you can identify the powers used. Make Knowledge(supernatural) check with Difficulty 10 + adept level to identify the power used.
Sense Mind Touch You make a Second Sight check against the other adept’s Mind Touch check to know when someone is trying to secretly get into mental contact with you. If you win the check, you sense the attempt, but you might not be able to avoid it (depending on the results of your Psychic Shield check and Will save).
Detect Auras You can sense magical auras at range of 120 feet. 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt blocks your ability to detect magic. If the items or creatures bearing the auras are in line of sight, you can make Knowledge(supernatural) skill checks to determine the school of magic involved in each magic item. (Make one check per aura; Difficulty 15 + spell level, or 15 + half adept level.) If you exceeds Difficulty on Knowledge(Supernatural) test by 10 or more, you magically divine the item’s function, its means of activation and the number of charges remaining.
If the items, areas or creatures affected by an ongoing power are in line of sight, you can make Knowledge(supernatural) skill check with Difficulty 15+adept level to identify the power. You can pin-point invisible creatures by detecting the aura of powers affecting them (if they gained invisibility from item or spell), although even a pin-pointed invisible creature has total cover, which gives it 50% miss chance, and can make surprise attacks.
If you concentrate on a specific creature within 120 feet of you as a standard action, you can determine its adept level.
Detect Scrying When someone tries to scry you, you can make Second Sight check, opposed by his power check. If you succeed, you see a glowing or shadowy image of the scryer. You treat him as very familiar (+5 penalty), which means your powers may affect him in return. Sound Shaping Fatiguing You can mentally control sound and sonic energy. You can make a Sound Shaping check to deafen opponents, make an area of silence around yourself, or mimic nearly any sound imagineable. You can deal sonic damage when using the Elemental Blast power in conjunction with Sound Shaping.
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Deafening Burst (Difficulty 20) You create a burst of sound that can deafen any living creature within 5 feet times your Adept level. Opponents are allowed a Fortitude save to resist, and are deafened for 10 levels on a failure. A failure on the Fortitude save by more than 10 deafens the victim permanently or until the victim can be healed.
Silence Aura (Difficulty 15) Maintenance. You create an area around yourself with a radius in feet equal to 10 + 5 feet for every 2 adept levels you possess. Anything within this radius makes no sound and automatically succeeds at any Stealth check related to moving silently. This use of the Sound Shaping power requires maintenance.
Ghost sound: Maintenance. You can mimic any sound you can imagine. Producing intelligible speech requires Difficulty 16 power check. Listeners must succeed on a Notice check opposed by your Sound Shaping check to detect the fact that sound seems unnatural and artificial. You can use Ghost Sound to enhance illusions created by Light Shaping spell. Supernatural Strike Prerequisite: Improved Strike. Time: Supernatural Strike is always active. With this power, your unarmed attacks are considered magical weapons for overcoming the defenses of creatures vulnerable to such weapons. You can receive additional benefits based on your power rank – see the table for Supernatural Weapon. At higher power ranks you receive all benefits of lower ranks. Supernatural Weapon Prerequisite: Weapon Training or Combat +3 or greater Time: This power is always active. You can imbue any weapon you wield with supernatural power. The weapon is considered magical or supernatural for overcoming the defenses of creatures vulnerable to such weapons. You must personally wield the weapon for it to gain this benefit. You can receive additional benefits based on your power rank. At higher power ranks you receive all benefits of lower ranks. All benefits of this power are permanent and last as long as you wield the weapon. Power rank Bonus 1 weapon counts as magical/supernatural weapon 6 ignores damage resistance due to the specific kind of damage (piercing,
slashing, bludgeoning) 8 Adaptable (ignores damage resistance due to material or kind of damage) 10 Irresistible (ignores damage resistance, except for DR/- or DR/area) Teleport Fatiguing; Prerequisites: adept level 7
Dimensional Anchor (Difficulty: 23) Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level) Save: Reflex Duration: maintenance, max 10 min A green ray springs from your outstretched hand and unerringly flashes towards the target. Any creature which does not manage to dodge it is covered with a shimmering emerald field that completely blocks extradimensional travel. Forms of movement barred by a dimensional anchor include blink, teleport, dimension door, phase, and similar abilities. The spell also prevents the use of a gate or teleportation circle for the duration of the spell.
A dimensional anchor does not interfere with the movement of creatures already in ethereal or astral form when the spell is cast, nor does it block extradimensional perception or attack forms. Also, dimensional anchor does not prevent summoned creatures from disappearing at the end of a summoning spell.
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Dimension Door (Difficulty: 23+3 for each additional Medium creature) Range: Long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level) Target: You and touched objects or other touched willing creatures You instantly transfer yourself from your current location to any other spot within range. You always arrive at exactly the spot desired—whether by simply visualizing the area or by stating direction. After using this spell, you can’t take any other actions until your next turn. You can bring along objects as long as their weight doesn’t exceed your maximum load. You may also bring two additional willing Medium or smaller creatures (carrying gear or objects up to its maximum load) or equivalent. A Large creature counts as two Medium creatures, a Huge creature counts as two Large creatures, and so forth. All creatures to be transported must be in contact with one another, and at least one of those creatures must be in contact with you. You can tranport more creatures, increasing Difficulty by 3 for each medium creature.
If you arrive in a place that is already occupied by a solid body, you and each creature traveling with you take damage 2 (ignoring armor) and are shunted to a random open space on a suitable surface within 100 feet of the intended location. If there is no free space within 100 feet you all take instead damage 10 (ignoring armor) and the spell simply fails. See also the general rules for teleport spells about the teleport trace.
Dimensional Lock (Difficulty 34, required adept level 15) Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level) Area: 20-ft.-radius emanation centered on a point in space Duration: Maintenance You create a shimmering emerald barrier that completely blocks extradimensional travel. Forms of movement barred include astral projection, blink, dimension door, ethereal jaunt, etherealness, gate, maze, plane shift, shadow walk, teleport, and similar spell-like or psionic abilities. Once dimensional lock is in place, extradimensional travel into or out of the area is not possible. A dimensional lock does not interfere with the movement of creatures already in ethereal or astral form when the spell is cast, nor does it block extradimensional perception or attack forms. Also, the spell does not prevent summoned creatures from disappearing at the end of a summoning spell.
Maze (Difficulty 34, required adept level 15) Range: Close (5 feet per power rank) Target: One creature (cannot be widened) Save: Will, but Psychic Shield does not stop it. You banish the subject into an extradimensional labyrinth of force planes. Each round on its turn, it may attempt a Difficulty 20 Intelligence check to escape the labyrinth as a full-round action. Find the Path allows to leave the maze as a full-round action without the check. If the subject doesn’t escape, the maze disappears after 10 minutes, forcing the subject to leave. This power does not need to be maintained.
On escaping or leaving the maze, the subject reappears where it had been when the maze spell was cast. If this location is filled with a solid object, the subject appears in the nearest open space. Spells and abilities that move a creature within a plane, such as teleport and dimension door, do not help a creature escape a maze spell, although a Word of Recall or Refuge allows it to exit to whatever place is designated in that spell.
Time Shaping Fatiguing
Preservation (Difficulty 10): This effect can be used to indefinitely preserve one pound of food or other perishable substance per adept level.
Slow (Difficulty 21): Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) Duration: Maintenace, no more than 3 minutes (30 rounds) Save: Fortitude A single creature is caused to move and attack at a drastically slowed rate for 3 minutes (30 rounds). A slowed creature can take only a single move action or standard action each turn, but not both (nor may it take full-round actions). Additionally, it takes a –1 penalty on attack rolls, Defense, and Reflex saves. A slowed creature moves at half its normal speed (round down to the next 5-foot increment). Multiple slow effects don’t stack.
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Gentle Repose (Difficulty 23) You preserve the remains of a dead creature so that they do not decay. Doing so effectively extends the time limit on raising that creature from the dead (see raise dead). Time spent under the influence of this spell don’t count against the time limit. Additionally, this spell makes transporting a fallen comrade more pleasant. The spell also works on severed body parts and the like. The effect persists until the magic is removed (such as by a successful dispel magic).
Temporal Stasis (Difficulty 34, required adept level 15) Duration: Permanent, can be dispelled Save: Fortitude (cannot be widened). You must succeed on a melee touch attack. If the subject fails a Fortitude save, you place it into a state of suspended animation. For the creature, time ceases to flow and its condition becomes fixed. The creature does not grow older. Its body functions virtually cease, and no force or effect can harm it. This state persists until the magic is removed (such as by a successful dispel magic). Time Stop Fatiguing, Difficulty 38, prerequisites: adept level 17, This spell seems to make time cease to flow for everyone but you. In fact, you speed up so greatly that all other creatures seem frozen, though they are actually still moving at their normal speeds. You are free to act for 10 rounds of apparent time. Normal and magical fire, cold, gas, and the like can still harm you. While the time stop is in effect, you cannot cast any spells, use supernatural powers, or activate items which function as supernatural powers. Other creatures are invulnerable to your attacks. You cannot move or harm items held, carried, or worn by a creature stuck in normal time. You cannot attach any items to your opponents, so you cannot bind them; you are however free to place traps before or around them.
You can damage any object that is not in in another creature’s possession. Any items you can carry are affected by the temporal acceleration while you hold them. This applies also to the doors and similar objects, which can be opened or closed. As soon as you let them go, they become frozen in normal time again. This allows you to suspend items above your enemies, so they will fall down on them once the apparent time starts moving. The enemies get Reflex saving throw. You are undetectable while time stop lasts. You cannot enter an area protected by an antimagic field while under the effect of time stop.
You can use this effect only once per encounter (each 5 minutes). Ward Time: Standard Action,
Interference (Time: Standard Action, Concentration) You can create interference with other supernatural powers. You can affect an area around you with a radius equal to your adept level times 5 feet. Alternatively, you can choose to focus your Ward against a single creature in your line of sight. Anyone affected by your Ward must make an opposed check against the result of your Ward check to successfully use any powers. Powers with results less than yours fail; although, the users of the failed powers still suffers fatigue, if any. When using the Ward power, an adept is not affected by his own Ward. Interference does not dispel existing powers.
Dispel: You focus your Ward on one power or all powers affecting one object or creature. Make an opposed power check against the adept or adepts who cast the power. If you win, the targeted power turns off, although the user can re-activate it normally. If you lose, you must spend a fatigue level in order to try again the same day. You can dispel only powers which need to be maintained or concentrated upon, or in the description of which it is specifically mentioned that they can be dispelled. Enhance Ability, Enhance Other and Combat Senses don’t require maintenance and cannot be dispelled by Ward.
In both cases, Ward uses the general rules on opposed power checks. Both adepts roll d20, adding their power bonus. The one with lower result fails, although the user of the failed powers still suffer fatigue, if any. (As with all opposed checks, when a tie happens, the character with the higher power bonus wins. If the power bonuses are the same, re-roll.) Adepts can choose to suffer a fatigue result, in addition to the normal fatigue of the power used, to gain a +5 bonus to their check. If both sides choose to suffer fatigue, no one receives this bonus. This takes no actual time; it happens as part of the check.
Magic Rituals A ritual always requires some form of spoken incantation, usually accompanied by gestures. Most also require certain material components such as incense, a circle containing mystic symbols, or expensive jewels. Magic rituals are different from normal rituals since they must be cast by an adept and require power checks.
Each ritual has a required character level (not adept level). Characters of lower level cannot use the ritual. As an exception, Narrator can allow characters of lower level to use this ritual, due to special one-time beneficient astrological configuration of stars and planets, a unique spell component found as a result of a quest, one-time help from some supernatural creature, miracle etc.
Rituals must be inscribed in a spellbook. Researching and inscribing the ritual costs 50 gp plus 50 gp per level (or 100 gp per spell level). Once you researched the ritual you can transcribe it to a new spellbook for 10 gp plus 10 per level. If the ritualist doesn’t have the ritual inscribed in his spellbook, he must decipher and understand it before each use. This takes at least 15 minutes and requires a successful Knowledge (Supernatural) check against the Difficulty for casting the ritual. Taking 20 on this check requires at least 5 hours.
The Narrator makes a power check with a given Difficulty for a ritualist, keeping the results hidden (because of that, you cannot use Conviction for that check). The ritualist must make a fatigue check. After the ritual, you know whether it succeeded or failed – except when the power check was failed by the amount specified in the ritual description and a special result happened.
Most rituals require material components. The material components are consumed regardless whether the ritual succeeds or fails. If the ritual requires a focus, it is not consumed.
The ritualist may use Empower feat to increase his power bonus, at the same time increasing fatigue difficulty. A ritualist can also take longer to cast a ritual in order to lower the Difficulty. By taking five time as long, the ritualist can lower Difficulty by 5. This requires 4 additional fatigue checks (5 in total). By taking ten times as long, he can lower Difficulty by 10. This requires nine additional fatigue checks (10 in total). A ritualist can also take 20 to power check by taking 20 times as long. This requires 20 fatigue checks in total.
If the ritualist falls unconscious during the ritual, the worst possible outcome happens. If the ritualist is attacked or disturbed during ritual, he must make a Concentration check. Failure means that
the ritual has been disrupted. Unless it is wound down safely, the worst possible outcome happens. When you want to wind down safely a ritual, (because it has been disrupted or because you don’t have time
to finish it) you must take a standard action. You make a fatigue check. The Narrator makes for you a power check against an unmodified power check difficulty (you can use Empower feat). If the power check fails, the results are identical to the failure of ritual. If the check succeeds, you manage to wind down ritual safely.
If the effect of a ritual needs maintenance, it can be dispelled as usual. Typical cost to perform a ritual per level
Minimum character level
Spell level Cost of components
Difficulty Difficulty-cleric only rituals
1 1 5 17 15
3 2 25 19 16
5 3 50 21 18
7 4 100 23 20
9 5 200 25 22
11 6 300 28 24
13 7 500 31 26
15 8 1000 34 28
17 9 2000 38 30
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Alarm Level: 1: Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) Duration: As per table, can be dispelled. Casting Time: 10 minutes Components: Golden bell and silver wire, together worth at least 5 gp, or 500 gp for a permanent alarm Power check Difficulty 17 Failure: If you fail the power check by 5 or more, during the intended duration of the effect you hear only lound tinnitus and are effectively deafened. This effect can be only eliminated by Remove Curse, not by Cure Deafness. Success: Alarm sounds a mental or audible alarm each time a creature of Tiny or larger size enters the warded area or touches it. A creature that speaks the password (determined by you at the time of casting) does not set off the alarm. You decide at the time of casting whether the alarm will be mental or audible. The spell uses various detection methods and cannot be bypassed by being silenced, invisible, etc. The Stealth difficulty to bypass it equals your power bonus+30. If the intruder is incorporeal, the difficulty is lowered to your power bonus+15. Ethereal or astral creatures do not trigger the alarm. Mental Alarm: A mental alarm alerts you (and only you) so long as you remain within 1 mile of the warded area. You note a single mental “ping” that awakens you from normal sleep but does not otherwise disturb concentration. A silence spell has no effect on a mental alarm. Audible Alarm: An audible alarm produces the sound of a hand bell, and anyone within 60 feet of the warded area can hear it clearly. Reduce the distance by 10 feet for each interposing closed door and by 20 feet for each substantial interposing wall.
In quiet conditions, the ringing can be heard faintly as far as 180 feet away. The sound lasts for 1 round. Creatures within a silence spell cannot hear the ringing.
Alarm can be made permanent, but this costs 500 gp and requires a power check with difficulty 25. Power check Difficulty Maximum Radius Duration
Detect Poison Level: 1 (Spell level 1) Casting Time: 1 min Material Component: Alchemical Reagents worth 1 silver piece. Power check Difficulty 15 Failure: If you fail, your all subsequent attempts to check the same target will fail automatically until next day. Success: You determine whether a creature, object, or area has been poisoned or is poisonous. You can determine the exact type of poison with a Difficulty 20 Wisdom check. A character with the Craft skill may try a Difficulty 20 Craft check if the Wisdom check fails, or may try the Craft check prior to the Wisdom check. The spell can penetrate barriers, but 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt blocks it.
Floating Disk Level: 1 (Spell level 1) Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) Effect: 3-ft.-disk of force, can carry 100 pounds of weight per rank Duration: 8 hours, can be dispelled by Ward. Material Component: A bit of mercury worth 1 silver piece. Difficulty: 17 or 21 Casting Time: 10 min, Failure: If you fail by 5 or more, you and all creatures within 10 feet suffer force damage 4.
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Success: You create a slightly concave, circular plane of force that follows you about and carries loads for you. You can have only one disk at a time. It glows a color of your choosing. The disk is 3 feet in diameter and 1 inch deep at its center. It can hold 100 pounds of weight per rank minus 3. The disk floats approximately 3 feet above the ground at all times and remains level. The disk cannot move over water surface, although it can move 3 feet over the bottom.
It floats along horizontally within spell range and will accompany you at a rate of no more than your normal speed each round. If not otherwise directed, it maintains a constant interval of 5 feet between itself and you. The disk winks out of existence when the spell duration expires. The disk also winks out if you move beyond range or try to take the disk more than 3 feet away from the surface beneath it. When the disk winks out, whatever it was supporting falls to the surface beneath it.
By increasing the Difficulty of the ritual to 21, you can improve the abilities of the disk. You may ride on the disk, which moves at speed 20, but cannot hustle or run. The disk can move over water or other liquid. Should it happen to be higher than 3 feet from the ground (eg moving over the edge of a precipice) it doesn’t wink out, but floats downward at speed 60 feet per round. Unseen Servant Level: 1 (Spell level 1) Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) Effect: One invisible, mindless, shapeless servant Casting Time: 1 min Duration: Maintenance, Material Component: A small animal, like a mouse or a rabbit, which is killed as part of the ritual and devoured by the servant. It can be replaced by a gold figurine worth 10 gp. Difficulty: 15, or see text Failure: If you fail by 5 or more, you cannot use that or any other spell, power or ritual which summons or conjures creatures for a day. Success: You conjure an unseen servant - an invisible, mindless, shapeless force that performs simple tasks at your command. It can run and fetch things, open doors, and hold chairs, as well as clean and mend. The servant can perform only one activity at a time, but it repeats the same activity over and over again if told to do so as long as you remain within range. It can open only normal doors, drawers, lids, and the like. It can’t perform any task that requires a skill check with a Difficulty higher than 10 or that requires a check using a skill that can’t be used untrained. It automatically succeeds on all skill checks it can perform.
The servant cannot attack in any way; it is never allowed an attack roll. It has Toughness 9. It cannot be killed or attacked directly, but it dissipates if it takes any damage from area attacks. (It gets no saves against attacks.) If you attempt to send it beyond the spell’s range (measured from your current position), the servant ceases to exist.
Its speed is 15 feet. It has an effective Strength of -4 (so it can lift 20 pounds or drag 100 pounds). It can trigger traps and such, but it can exert only 20 pounds of force, which is not enough to activate certain pressure plates and other devices. The abilities of the servant can be increased by increasing Difficulty of the ritual.
Difficulty Strength Weight Carried Weight Dragged 15 –4 20 lb. 100 lb. 25 +0 100 lb. 500 lb. 31 +2 175 lb. 875 lb. 37 +4 300 lb. 1,500 lb. Augury Level: 3 (spell level 2) Casting Time: 1 minute Power check difficulty: 14+half power rank (rounding down) Material Component: Incense worth at least 25 gp. It is consumed regardless of the success of the spell. Focus: A set of marked sticks, bones, or similar tokens of at least 100 gp value. Special: if the ritualist is not a priest, the difficulty is increased by +4
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An augury can tell you whether a particular action will bring good or bad results for you in the immediate future. If the question is straightforward you receive a bonus to roll, and if it is vague a penalty. You cannot lenghten the ritual to improve the chances of succeeding at augury. On the natural roll of 1 or 2 the augury always fails. Failure: If the spell fails, you get the “nothing” result. A caster who gets the “nothing” result has no way to tell whether it was the consequence of a failed or successful augury. If you fail by 5 or more, your question is deemed impertinent. No divination spell you cast will anwer that question, until you manage to placate your deity. Success: If the augury succeeds, you get one of four results: * Weal (if the action will probably bring good results). * Woe (for bad results). * Weal and woe (for both). * Nothing (for actions that don’t have especially good or bad results).
The augury can foresee the future for only about half an hour, so anything that might happen after that does not affect the result. Thus, the result might not take into account the long-term consequences of a contemplated action. All auguries cast by the same person about the same topic use the same dice result as the first casting.
Divinations can irrevocably announce the future only if it is already fixed – in other words, if the given event will certainly occur. Usually, this is not the case. There are various possible futures, even if the majority of them have very low probability. In such a case, the divination announces the most probable future. It is therefore possible that the foreseen event will not come to pass, especially if the adventurers will behave in an atypical way. On rare occasions, a divination may be blocked by an act of certain deities or forces.
Additionately, each divination estimates the future from the point of view of the creature who answers. In case of priests, Augury is answered by their deity, so the results which the deity regards as pleasing will register as “Weal”. (Eg a bloody, even lost battle will be regarded as “Weal” by an evil god of mad slaughter.) The deity does not answer with its own interest in mind – it merely assumes that all share its estimation of what is good. Arcane Lock Level: 3 (spell level 2) Casting Time: 1 min Range: Touch Target: The door, chest, or portal touched, Duration: Permanent (can be dispelled by Ward) Material Component: Gold dust worth 25 gp. The gold dust is consumed regardless whether the ritual succeeds or fails. Difficulty: 17 Failure: If you fail by 5 or more, you cannot use that or any other spell, power or ritual which allows opening or closing for a full day. You are aware of that result. Success: An arcane lock spell cast upon a door, chest, or portal magically locks it. It can be opened with Disable Device skill, Difficulty being equal to 10 + your power bonus (if the check fails, it cannot be tried again unless the skill increases). You can freely pass your own arcane lock without affecting it. (A knock spell does not remove an arcane lock; it only suppresses the effect for ten minutes.) If arcane lock is cast on a door that already has a conventional lock, add +5 to the Disable Device Difficulty of the existing lock or use the arcane lock Difficulty, whichever is higher. Add 10 to the normal Difficulty to break open a door or portal affected by this spell. Knock Level: 3 (spell level 2) Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level) Target: One door, box, or chest Casting Time: 1 min Power check difficulty: Difficulty of Disable Device check. Failure: If you fail by 5 or more, you will fail automatically at all later attempts to open that door until it is opened by someone else. You are aware of that result.
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Success: The knock spell opens stuck, barred, locked, or arcane locked doors. It opens secret doors, as well as locked or trick-opening boxes or chests. It also loosens welds, shackles, or chains (provided they serve to hold closures shut). If used to open an arcane locked door, the spell does not remove the arcane lock but simply suspends its functioning for ten minutes. In all other cases, the door does not relock itself or become stuck again on its own. Knock does not raise barred gates or similar impediments (such as a portcullis), nor does it affect ropes, vines, and the like.
When the doors are closed with non-magical locks, and the Difficulty to force them open is lower than the Difficulty to unlock them, the spell attempts to force them open. You must make a power check against the Difficulty to force open the door using strength. Doors open or shatter with a tremendous thunderclap. A notice check to hear it has the difficulty lower than zero: -10 Difficulty. Magic Mouth Illusion (Glamer) Level: 3 (spell level 2) Target: One creature or object Casting Time: 10 min+time to speak a message Power check difficulty: 19, +1 for each additional 15 feet of range,+5 to make it permanent, Duration: Lasts until discharged, can be dispelled. Material Component: A small bit of honeycomb and jade dust worth 10 gp, or 1000 gp of jade if permanent Failure: If the ritualist fails the ritual check by 5 or more, the magic mouth appears somewhere on his body and screams loudly random words for the next 24 hours. It can be only removed by Remove Curse. Success: This spell imbues the chosen object or creature with an enchanted mouth that suddenly appears and speaks its message the next time a specified event occurs. The message, which must be twenty-five or fewer words long, can be in any language known by you and can be delivered over a period of 10 minutes. The mouth cannot utter verbal components, use command words, or activate magical effects. It does, however, move according to the words articulated; if it were placed upon a statue, the mouth of the statue would move and appear to speak. Of course, magic mouth can be placed upon a tree, rock, or any other object or creature.
The spell functions when specific conditions are fulfilled according to your command as set in the spell. Commands can be as general or as detailed as desired, although only visual and audible triggers can be used. Triggers react to what appears to be the case. Disguises and illusions can fool them. Normal darkness does not defeat a visual trigger, but magical darkness or invisibility does. Silent movement (Stealth Difficulty 20) or magical silence defeats audible triggers. Audible triggers can be keyed to general types of noises or to a specific noise or spoken word. Actions can serve as triggers if they are visible or audible. A magic mouth cannot distinguish alignment, level, or class except by external garb.
The range limit of a trigger is 45 feet. You can increase the range by increasing the difficulty of ritual by +1 for each additional 15 feet. Regardless of range, the mouth can respond only to visible or audible triggers and actions in line of sight or within hearing distance.
Magic mouth can be made permanent. This increases the cost to 1000 gp and the difficulty by +5. The permanent magic mouth acts as many times as it is triggered, but it can still be dispelled. Regeneration, Lesser Level: 3 (spell level 2) Difficulty: 21, or 16 for a cleric Casting Time: 1 day Material Component: Ointments worth 100 gp. Failure: If the ritualist fails the ritual check by 5 or more, he cannot perform that ritual for a month. He is aware of that result. Success: The subject’s severed body members (fingers, toes, hands, feet, arms, legs, tails, or even heads of multiheaded creatures), broken bones, and ruined organs grow back. After the spell is cast, the physical regeneration is complete in 1 minute if the fresh severed members are present and touching the creature. It takes 1 month otherwise.
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Restoration, Lesser Level: 3 (spell level 2) Difficulty: 21, or 16 for a cleric Time: 1 minute Range: Touch Material Component: Ointments worth at least 25 gp. They are consumed regardless of the success of the spell. Failure: If you fail, you must expend a level of fatigue to use that ritual again during the same day. You are aware of that result. Success: This ritual dispels any magical effects reducing one of the subject’s ability scores (without an opposed power check). It can alternatively cure all temporary damage to a single ability score (your choice if more than one is damaged). It does not restore permanent ability drain. Rope Trick Level: 3 (spell level 2) Casting Time: 10 minutes Target: One touched piece of rope from 5 ft. to 30 ft. long Difficulty: 15+the number of hours Rope Trick lasts+the number of extra medium creatures Material Component: Incense worth 25 gp. The incense is consumed regardless whether the ritual succeeds or fails. Failure: If the ritualist fails the ritual check by 5 or more, it seems to function, but each creature entering the extradimentional space falls out of it after a round as a heap of dismembered parts. If the ritualist falls unconscious during the ritual or the ritual is disrupted, his body climbs the rope with the above-mentioned result. Success: When this spell is cast upon a piece of rope from 5 to 30 feet long, one end of the rope rises into the air until the whole rope hangs perpendicular to the ground, as if affixed at the upper end. The upper end is, in fact, fastened to an extradimensional space that is outside the multiverse of extradimensional spaces (“planes”). Creatures in the extradimensional space are hidden, beyond the reach of spells (including divinations), unless those spells work across planes. The space holds as many as eight creatures (of medium size). Creatures of small size and smaller count as half, of large size as two medium creatures; huge creatures count as four and so on. You can increase the space, but this increases the power check difficulty. Creatures in the space can pull the rope up into the space, making the rope “disappear.” In that case, the rope counts as one of the eight creatures that can fit in the space. The rope can support up to 16,000 pounds. A weight greater than that can pull the rope free.
Spells cannot be cast across the extradimensional interface, nor can area effects cross it. Those in the extradimensional space can see out of it as if a 3-foot by 5-foot window were centered on the rope. The window is present on the Material Plane, but it’s invisible, and even creatures that can see the window can’t see through it. The rope can be climbed by only one person at a time. The rope trick spell enables climbers to reach a normal place if they do not climb all the way to the extradimensional space.
Anything inside the extradimensional space drops out when the spell ends. The same happens when the effect is dispelled, which can be done by targetting the window. Spider Climb Level: 3 (spell level 2) Duration: maintenance, max 1 hour Material Component: Unguents worth 10 gp. Casting Time: 1 min Difficulty: 18 Failure: If you fail the ritual check by 5 or more, the target adheres to the floor instead of the walls and ceiling. It gains no benefits at climbing, and for the next hour needs to “climb” to crawl across flat floor. All rules of Climb skill apply, Difficulty of Climb checks equals 15, even if the floor is smooth or slippery. Success: The subject can climb and travel on vertical surfaces or even traverse ceilings as well as a spider does. The affected creature must have its hands free to climb in this manner. The subject gains a climb speed of 20 feet; furthermore, Difficulty of Climb checks to traverse a vertical surface (even smooth or slippery) is never greater than 15, and for a horizontal surface like a ceiling equals 20. The subject can always take 10 on Climb checks. A spider
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climbing creature can retain its Dexterity bonus to defense (if any) while climbing, as usually, by increasing difficulty of Climb checks by 5. It doesn't have to make Climb checks after taking damage. It cannot, however, use the run action while climbing. Magic Circle Level: Adept level 5 (spell level 3) Casting Time: 20 minutes Area: marked circle, max 20 feet diameter Duration: Maintenance Saving Throw: Will, +5 to save difficulty Difficulty: 20 Material Component: A little powdered silver with which you trace a circle on the floor or ground, worth 1 gold piece. The silver is lost after casting the ritual. You draw a special diagram with silver (a two-dimensional bounded figure with no gaps along its circumference, augmented with various magical sigils) to prepare the magic circle. Failure: If you fail the ritual check by 5 or more, the ritual seems to work. It is impossible to ascertain that the ritual didn’t work until a creature not under your control attempts to cross the circle or someone tries to cast spell through the circle against your will. Otherways you immediately know whether the ritual failed. If you fall unconscious during casting you can attract a spirit or a fiend which can attack or try to possess you. Success: After casting the ritual all creatures within the circle are protected against spells, and summoned creatures, undead, and creatures with vice and virtue subtypes cannot enter the area.
When you, or your ally within the barrier, are a target of any power, the attacker must make a power check using the attacking power against the result of your power check made when conducting ritual + 5. If your check result is higher, the power fails. If the attacker’s result is higher, the power affects you normally, but you still get a normal saving throw. Normal rules for opposed power checks apply.
The ritual prevents entering the circle by summoned creatures, undead, and creatures with vice and virtue subtypes. Any such creature must make a Will save against the save difficulty +5 to pass the barrier. A creature that fails the save cannot cross the boundary so long as the protection is maintained, nor can it make melee attacks against anything within the bounds of the barrier. Ranged attacks or use of powers don't require making the Will save.
If you or any of your allies protected by the ritual cross the circle or make a melee attack across it it is immediately broken. You can use your powers against any creature or attack it with ranged weapons from within a circle without breaking it.
The circle is immediately nullified if anything disturbs the diagram. However, creatures affected by magic circle must make the Will save (against the difficulty +5) to disturb the diagram either directly or indirectly. The diagram can be disturbed as a free action by an adjacent creature, or by a ranged attack with Difficulty 13 (Fine size). It cannot be disturbed by magic, with the exception of objects thrown using magic, eg power Move Object.
Nondetection Abjuration Level: 5 (spell level 3) Power Check Difficulty= 20 for a day, 25 for a week, 30 for a month, 35 for a year, 40 for 100 years. Special: If other nondetection effects cast by the ritualist are active, he receives +1 penalty to Difficulty for each. Casting Time-30 minutes Duration – depending on Difficulty Material Component: A pinch of diamond dust worth 50 gp for a day, 100 gp for a week, 200 gp for a month, 500 gp for a year, and 1000 gp for 100 years. Failure: If you fail the ritual power check by 5 or more, you will not be able to cast non-detection on the targeted creature or object for a year. You are aware of that result. Success: The warded creature or object becomes difficult to detect by divination spells and powers, such as clairaudience/clairvoyance, locate object, and detect spells. Nondetection also prevents location by such magic items as crystal balls. If a divination is attempted against the warded creature or item, the caster of the divination must succeed on a Will saving throw. This applies even if the divination was attempted originally against some other target, but it focused also on the item or person in question. Eg if someone scried someone in a crowd with you
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(under your Nondetection) in the background, he would not need to make opposed power check. If he, however, noticed you and tried to focus on you, he would need to make a Will save.
The ritual does not affect any spells or abilities used to detect invisible or ethereal creatures. If you cast nondetection on yourself or on an item currently in your possession, you gain +5 bonus to power
check. If cast on a creature, nondetection wards the creature’s gear as well as the creature itself. Assume each high level principal opponent (10 level or more) is under Nondetection cast by the
opponent himself, a likely allied adept or by a hired specialist. In particular, all dragons of sufficiently high level cast nondetection on themselves and their hoards.
Water Breathing Transmutation Range: Touch Level: 5 (spell level 3) Target: Living creatures touched Duration: 1 hour or more, no maintenance; see text Power Check Difficulty: 20 ( 1 hour), 22 (2 hours), 24 (4 hours), 26 (8 hours), 28 (24 hours) Casting Time-2 minutes Material Component: Unguents worth 10 gp per creature. Failure: If you fail the ritual power check by 5 or more, the ritualist (but not other creatures) is able to breath neither in air nor in water. You also cannot speak. See the rules for suffocation. You must conduct the ritual again, this time successfully, to regain the ability to breath (fortunately, this ritual is entirely silent and can be conducted even under water). Success: The transmuted creature can breathe water freely and speak under water. The spell does not make creatures unable to breathe air. The ritual can affect up to 8 participants. The effect last 1 hour. You can increase the duration of the effect by increasing the difficulty of the ritual. Difficulty 22 gives 2 hours, Difficulty 24 - 4 hours, Difficulty 26 - 8 hours), Difficulty 28 - 24 hours. Clairaudience/Clairvoyance Divination (Scrying) Level: 5 (spell level 3) Casting Time: 10 minutes Effect: Magical sensor Duration: Concentration, max 10 min. Difficulty: 18+ Distance penalty Material Component: Incense worth 25 gp. The incense is consumed regardless whether the ritual succeeds or fails. Distance Penalty Penalty Range 0 100 feet 2 1,000 feet 4 1 mile 6 5 miles 8 20 miles 10 200 miles 12 2,000 miles
Same continent 14 Same planet
Failure: If you fail by 5 or more, you cannot use that or any other spells, powers or rituals which allows scrying, remote viewing, or similar for a full day. Success: Clairaudience/clairvoyance creates an invisible magical sensor at a specific location that enables you to hear or see (your choice) almost as if you were there. You don’t need line of sight or line of effect, but the locale must be
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known—a place familiar to you or an obvious one (the other side of a door, a window or a wall) . Once you have selected the locale, the sensor doesn’t move, but you can rotate it in all directions to view the area as desired. Unlike other scrying spells, this spell does not allow magically or supernaturally enhanced senses to work through it. If the chosen locale is magically dark, you see nothing. If it is naturally pitch black, you can see in a 10-foot radius around the center of the spell’s effect. Clairaudience/clairvoyance functions only on the plane of existence you are currently occupying.
The vision lasts for as long as you concentrate, but your ordinary senses are overridden, so you are unaware of what is happening near you while you are observing events elsewhere. A subject observed is considered present in terms of familiarity, but not in your actual line of sight.
Clairvoyance follows the standard rules of scrying. The sensor can be dispelled as if it were an active spell. Lead sheeting stops the sensor. The act of scrying creates a psychic disturbance, which creatures with Intelligence 0 or better can sense. Any such creature under observation can make a Sense Motive, Notice or Second Sight check, opposed by your power check. Creatures which should be able to detect magic or supernatural can make power check even without the Second Sight power. Using Sense Motive or Notice skills allows to get the intense feeling of being watched. Using Second Sight allows to see a glowing or shadowy image of you. You also have a present familiarity for any creature that senses you for the purposes of that creature’s powers, meaning they may afect you in return. Phantom Steed Level: 5 (spell level 3) Casting Time: 10 minutes Range: Touch Effect: One mount Duration: Maintenance Difficulty 20 Material Component: Incense worth 5 gp. The incense is consumed regardless whether the ritual succeeds or fails. Failure: If you fail by 5 or more, you are attacked by a Nightmare. Success: You conjure a phantom steed - a large, quasi-real, horselike creature. The steed can be ridden only by you or by the one person for whom you specifically created the mount. A phantom steed has a black head and body, gray mane and tail, and smoke-colored, insubstantial hooves that make no sound. It has what seems to be a saddle, bit, and bridle. It does not fight, but animals shun it and refuse to attack it.
The mount has a Defence of 8 and Toughness 5. If it suffers Disabled result the phantom steed disappears. A phantom steed has a speed of 100 feet. It can bear its rider’s weight plus up to 50 pounds.
You can give certain powers to those mounts by increasing the check difficulty. A mount’s abilities include those of lower difficulties.
Power check
difficulty
Effect
23
A phantom steed has a speed of 140 feet. It can bear its rider’s weight plus up to 70 pounds. The mount can ride over sandy, muddy, or even swampy ground without difficulty or decrease in speed.
25 The mount has a speed of 200 feet. It can bear its rider’s weight plus up to 100 pounds. It can ride over water without difficulty or decrease in speed.
27 The mount has a speed of 240 feet. It can bear its rider’s weight plus up to 120 pounds. It can ride in the air for a round, after which it falls to the ground.
30 The mount has a speed of 300 feet. It can bear its rider’s weight plus up to 150 pounds. It can fly at its speed (average maneuverability).
Speak with Dead Level: 5 (spell level 3) Casting Time: 10 minutes Range: 10 ft. Target: One dead creature Duration: Maintenance, no longer than 10 minutes Saving Throw: Difficulty 20+2 per additional question Material Component: Unguents and herbs worth 100 gp. The unguents are consumed regardless whether the ritual succeeds or fails. Failure: If you fail by 5 or more, the body animates as an undead and attacks you. Success: You grant the semblance of life and intellect to a corpse, allowing it to answer several questions that you put to it. You may ask three questions; each additional question you wish to ask increases difficulty by 2. Unasked questions are wasted if the duration expires. The corpse’s knowledge is limited to what the creature knew during life, including the languages it spoke (if any). Answers are usually brief, cryptic, or repetitive. If the creature was or would be hostile or unfriendly to you, the corpse gets a Will save to resist the spell as if it were alive.
If the corpse has been subject to speak with dead within the past week, the new spell fails. You can cast this spell on a corpse that has been deceased for any amount of time, but the body must be mostly intact to be able to respond. A damaged corpse may be able to give partial answers or partially correct answers, but it must at least have a mouth in order to speak at all.
This spell does not let you actually speak to the person (whose soul has departed). It instead draws on the imprinted knowledge stored in the corpse. The partially animated body retains the imprint of the soul that once inhabited it, and thus it can speak with all the knowledge that the creature had while alive. The corpse, however, cannot learn new information. Indeed, it can’t even remember being questioned. This spell does not affect a corpse that has been turned into an undead creature. Divination Divination Level: 7 (spell level 4) Casting Time: 10 minutes Power check difficulty: 16+half power rank (rounding down) Special requirement: you must be a priest Material Component: Incense and a sacrificial offering appropriate to your religion, together worth at least 200 gp. You cannot lenghten the ritual to improve the chances of succeeding at divination. On the natural roll of 1 or 2 the divination always fails. As with augury, multiple divinations about the same topic by the same caster use the same dice result as the first divination spell and yield the same answer each time. Failure: If you fail by 5 or more, your question is deemed impertinent. No divination spell you cast will answer that question, until you manage to placate your deity. If the dice roll fails, you know the spell failed, unless specific magic yielding false information is at work. Success: Similar to augury but more powerful, a divination spell can provide you with a useful piece of advice in reply to a question concerning a specific goal, event, or activity that is to occur within one week. The advice can be as simple as a short phrase, or it might take the form of a cryptic rhyme or omen. If your party doesn’t act on the information, the conditions may change so that the information is no longer useful.
Divinations can irrevocably announce the future only if it is already fixed – in other words, if the given event will certainly occur. Usually, this is not the case. There are various possible futures, even if the majority of them have very low probability. In such a case, the divination announces the most probable future. It is therefore possible that the foreseen event will not come to pass, especially if the adventurers will behave in an atypical way. On rare occasions, a divination may be blocked by an act of certain deities or forces. For example, high level characters have generally some planar patrons protecting them. Because of that, any answers regarding creatures and characters of greater character level than the caster tend to be cryptic and fragmentary.
Additionately, each divination estimates the future from the point of view of the creature who answers. The deity does not answer with its own interest in mind – it merely assumes that all share its estimation of what is good.
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Scrying Divination (Scrying) Level: 7 (spell level 4) Casting Time: 1 hour Duration: 10 minutes, for each hour more add + 1 to difficulty Material Component: Alchemical substances worth at least 100 gp. Power check difficulty: 13+Familiarity penalty The difficulty of the power check depends on how well you know the subject and what sort of physical connection (if any) you have to that creature. Furthermore, if the subject is on another plane, the difficulty of the check is increased by +5. In addition you can lengthen the duration of scrying by increasing the difficulty of the check. For each +1 by which you increase the difficulty, the scrying lasts 1 hour longer. If you have a picture or other likeness of the subject, you can treat him as somewhat familiar (+15 penalty). If you have his possession or a garment, you treat him as familiar (+10) penalty. If you have his body part, lock of hair, bit of nail etc, you treat him as very familiar (+5 penalty). If you are in mental contact with the subject, you treat him as present (+0 penalty). Failure: If the power check fails or the subject makes successfully the Will save, you can’t attempt to scry on that target again for at least 24 hours. If you fail power check by 5 or more, you cannot during that time use any other items, spells, powers or rituals which allow scrying, remote viewing, or similar. Success: The subject must make a Will save (the Psychic Shield power cannot be used). If the subject succeeds on a Will save, the scrying attempt simply fails, but you know the cause. If the save fails, you can see and hear the subject, which may be at any distance. and the subject’s immediate surroundings (approximately 10 feet in all directions of the subject). If the subject moves, the sensor follows at a speed of up to 150 feet. If you have a possession or garment of the subject, it receives - 2 penalty to the will save. If you have a body party, lock of hair, bit of nail or similar, the penalty is increased to -5.
This ritual obey all general rules of scrying (q.v.). Commune Level: 9 (spell level 5) Casting Time: 30 minutes Difficulty: 22 Special requirement: you must be a priest Material Component: Incense and a sacrificial offering appropriate to your religion, together worth at least 500 gp. It is consumed regardless of the success of the spell. Failure: If you fail by 5 or more, your question is answered by a hostile entity. Success: You contact your deity—or agents thereof —and ask questions that can be answered by a simple yes or no. You are allowed one such question per character level. The answer given are correct within the limits of the entity’s knowledge. “Unclear” is a legitimate answer, because powerful beings of the Outer Planes are not necessarily omniscient. In cases where a one-word answer would be misleading or contrary to the deity’s interests, a short phrase (five words or less) may be given as an answer instead. The spell, at best, provides information to aid character decisions. The entities contacted structure their answers to further their own purposes. If you lag, discuss the answers, or go of to do anything else, the spell ends. The deities dislike frequent interruptions, and often refuse to answer questions more often than eg once per day or per week. Narrator can even restrict the use of commune to once per adventure. On rare occasions, this divination may be blocked by an act of certain deities or forces. For example, high level characters have generally some planar patrons protecting them. Because of that, any answers regarding creatures and characters of greater character level than the caster tend to be cryptic and fragmentary.
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Contact Other Plane Level: 9 (spell level 5) Casting Time: 10 minutes Duration: Concentration, 1 round per two Adept levels Material Component: Alchemical substances worth at least 200 gp. Difficulty: See table Special: The caster must be an arcane caster (Wizard or Sorcerer) You cannot lenghten the ritual to improve the chances of succeeding. Multiple questions about the same topic by the same caster or his associates directed towards the same entity yield the same answer each time. Lower and equal level entities refuse to answer questions answered earlier by other entities. Higher level entities can answer the questions answered earlier by lower level entities, but can also become irritated and break contact. Failure: If the check fails, your Intelligence and Charisma scores each fall to -1 for the stated duration, and you become unable to cast arcane spells. If you lose Intelligence and Charisma, the effect strikes as soon as the first question is asked, and no answer is received. Success: You send your mind to another plane of existence (an Elemental Plane or some plane farther removed) in order to receive advice and information from powers there. (See the accompanying table for possible consequences and results of the attempt.) The powers reply in a language you understand, but they resent such contact and give only brief answers to your questions. (All questions are answered with “yes,” “no,” “maybe,” “never,” “irrelevant,” or some other one-word answer.) The entities usually refuse to answer question directly related to characters and creatures of level higher than indicated in the table, because high level character have generally some planar patrons protecting them.
You must concentrate on maintaining the spell (a standard action) in order to ask questions at the rate of one per round. A question is answered by the power during the same round. For every two caster levels, you may ask one question.
Contact with minds far removed from your home plane increases the probability that you will incur a decrease to Intelligence and Charisma, but the chance of the power knowing the answer, as well as the probability of the entity answering correctly, are likewise increased by moving to distant planes.
Once the Outer Planes are reached, the power of the deity contacted determines the effects. (Random results obtained from the table are subject to the personalities of individual deities.)
On rare occasions, this divination may be blocked by an act of certain deities or forces.
(The entries in parentheses are for questions that pertain to the appropriate Element.) Results of a Successful Contact: d% is rolled for the result shown on the table: True Answer: You get a true, one-word answer. Questions that cannot be answered in this way are answered randomly. Don’t Know: The entity tells you that it doesn’t know. Lie: The entity intentionally lies to you. Random Answer: The entity tries to lie but doesn’t know the answer, so it makes one up.
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Domination, Permanent Enchantment (Compulsion) [Mind-Affecting] Level: 9 (spell level 5) Casting Time: 1 hour Duration: Permanent – can be dispelled by focused Ward, or Remove Curse Difficulty: 19+subject’s level (add level adjustment, use CR instead in case of monsters which have it) Material Component: Narcotic incense worth at least 200 gp for a subject of 6 level, +100 gp per additional level. This ritual allows you to permanently control a subject, but in order to attempt it you must first establish your control using other means, eg the Dominate power, or persuade the subject to voluntarily agree to it. You can conduct this ritual while concentrating on the Dominate, or alternatively the subject can be dominated by someone else. Charming the subject is not enough to qualify for this ritual, although it can make it easier to persuade the subject. The subject does not get a save and does not need it, since it can stop the ritual by simply opposing it mentally. Dominated subjects of course are unable to do this. If the subject is dominated by someone else, you can designate as the master yourself or the current controller. You can perform this ritual only on subjects which are at least 3 levels lower than you. (Use total level, including level adjustment, and in case of monsters – Challenge Rating). In addition, creatures which are not subject to mind-affecting spells – eg undead – cannot be controlled by this power. A permanent domination can be dispelled by focused Ward. In such a case, the formerly dominated subject usually immediately attacks his master, or, if this is impracticable, becomes his implacable enemy, eg searching out his opponents and providing them with the information about the master. Only subjects which voluntarily underwent the ritual are an exception to this rule. Undead are usually immune to this ritual, but if you have Necromancy power, you can dominate them. Failure: If you fail by 5 or more, you are dominated by the subject of the ritual instead. This is not apparent to the bystanders and observers of the ritual. Success: You can control the actions of the subject through a telepathic link that you establish with its mind. If you and the subject have a common language, you can generally force the subject to perform as you desire, within the limits of its abilities. If no common language exists, you can communicate only basic commands, such as “Come here,” “Go there,” “Fight,” and “Stand still.” You know what the subject is experiencing, but you do not receive direct sensory input from it, nor can it communicate with you telepathically.
Once you have given a dominated creature a command, it continues to attempt to carry out that command to the exclusion of all other activities except those necessary for day-to-day survival (such as sleeping, eating, and so forth). Because of this limited range of activity, a Sense Motive check against Difficulty 15 (rather than 25) can determine that the subject’s behavior is being influenced by an enchantment effect (see the Sense Motive skill description).
Changing your instructions or giving a dominated creature a new command is the equivalent of redirecting a spell, so it is a move action.
By concentrating fully on the spell (a standard action), you can receive full sensory input as interpreted by the mind of the subject, though it still can’t communicate with you. You can’t actually see through the subject’s eyes, so it’s not as good as being there yourself, but you still get a good idea of what’s going on.
Subjects resist this control, and any subject forced to take actions against its nature receives a new saving throw with a +2 bonus. Obviously self-destructive orders are not carried out. Once control is established, the range at which it can be exercised is unlimited, as long as you and the subject are on the same plane. You need not see the subject to control it. If you don’t spend at least 1 round concentrating on the spell each day, the subject receives a new saving throw to throw off the domination.
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Greater Teleport Level: 9 (spell level 5) Casting Time: 1 hour Power check difficulty: 15 +3 per additional creature+Familiarity modifier+energy penalty Failure: If you fail by 5 or more you teleport into the ground or wall. You and all characters teleporting with you are slain instantly. If your failure is caused solely by the energy penalty or other special penalties, you may be shifted instead to an area not affected by them and arrive more or less safely. Succces: This spell transports you in 3 rounds to a designated destination, which may be as distant as 2000 miles. Interplanar travel is not possible. You can bring along objects as long as their weight doesn’t exceed your maximum load. You may also bring three additional willing Medium or smaller creature (carrying gear or objects up to its maximum load) or its equivalent. A Large creature counts as two Medium creatures, a Huge creature counts as two Large creatures, and so forth. All creatures to be transported must be in contact with one another, and at least one of those creatures must be in contact with you.
You can take an additional medium creatures; for each additional medium creature increase power check difficulty by 3.
You must have some clear idea of the location and layout of the destination. The clearer your mental image, the more likely the teleportation works. You use the modifiers for familiarity with places (see the chapter on changes to magic).
Areas of strong physical or magical energy may make teleportation more hazardous or even impossible. When you attempt to teleport to areas associated with powerful personalities without their permission, you suffer a special energy penalty. This applies when you teleport directly inside their tower, castle, home, lair, personal dungeon etc. This area must be directly associated with them and strongly barred against entrance. Publicly accessible areas and areas you managed to breach already, (unless re-secured) can be teleported to without penalty. The energy penalty equals the level of the personality minus 10. (It follows that personalites below 11 level are too weak to cause any difficulties.)
When you teleport to a false destination, you and others teleporting with you generally receive damage 4 and return to the starting area. “False destination” is a place that does not truly exist or that no longer exists as such or has been so completely altered as to no longer be familiar to you. Sometimes you can travel instead to an area that’s visually or thematically similar to the target area.
Teleporting characters or objects disappear instantly, but teleportation takes 3 rounds. During this time, characters at the destination of the teleport can make a Notice check with Difficulty 15 to notice the characteristic discharges of static electricity. That Notice check, as usual, suffers a penalty of –1 per 10 feet between the observing character and the Teleport target. If the check succeeds, the character is aware of the incoming teleport. This generally gives them 3 rounds in which to prepare. The teleporting creatures arrive each on its initiative count immediately before its next turn.
This ritual obeys all general rules of teleports and leaves a teleport trace. Hallow Difficulty:21 Casting Time: 24 hours Area: 40-ft. radius from the touched point Duration: Instantaneous (cannot be dispelled) Level: 9 (spell level 5) Material Component: Herbs, oils, and incense worth at least 1,000 gp, plus 500 gp per rank of the power to be included in the hallowed area. Special requirement: Only a virtue-aligned priest (which generally means an Adept with the Positive Energy Shaping power) can hallow an area. Failure: If you fail by 5 or more, you have displeased your patron. You cannot use Positive Energy Shaping and powers or rituals depending on it (including Hallow) for a year or until you atone. Success: Hallowing makes a particular site, building, or structure a holy site. Hallowing an area has four major effects: • First, the site or structure is permanently affected as if by the Magic Circle. This effect does not work against
virtue-aligned creatures.
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• Second, all checks to turn undead (Positive Energy Shaping) gain a +4 bonus. • Third, any dead body interred in a hallowed site cannot be turned into an undead creature. • Finally, you may choose to fix a single power effect to the hallowed site. The spell effect lasts for one year
and functions throughout the entire site, regardless of the normal duration and area or effect. You may designate whether the effect applies to all creatures, creatures who share your faith, creatures who adhere to another faith or vice-aligned creatures (effect for vice-aligned applies also to undead). At the end of the year, the chosen effect lapses, but it can be renewed or replaced simply by casting hallow again.
Powers that may be tied to a hallowed site include heart shaping, truth-reading, second sight, enhance
senses, light shaping, shadow shaping, sound shaping, elemental resistance, dimensional anchor (from *Teleport). A popular effect connected with hallowed sites is an invisibility purge, which stops all forms of invisibility in the hallowed site from functioning. Anything invisible becomes visible while in the area, but its invisibility returns as soon as it moves out of the hallowed site. An area can receive only one hallow spell (and its associated spell effect) at a time. The hallow effects is removed when the area is desecrated, which usually requires a ritual involving a human sacrifice. Hallow cannot be dispelled using the Ward power. Magic Jar Level: 9 (Spell level 5) Casting Time: 1 hour Range: 300 feet Duration: 1 hour/level, starting from the moment your soul moves to the jar, (can be dispelled by focused Ward). Saving Throw: Will negates; see text Special requirement: you must be an arcane caster (sorcerer or wizard) Difficulty: 26 Focus: A gem or crystal worth at least 100 gp. Material Component: Alchemical substances worth at least 300 gp. Failure: If you fail by 5 or more, your soul is lost forever. Success: By casting magic jar, you place your soul in a gem or large crystal (known as the magic jar), leaving your body lifeless. Alternatively, you can prepare the crystal without transferring your soul to it. After finishing the ritual you must concentrate on contact with the crystal (treat it as concentrating on a power, crystal must remain within range) and at a later moment you can move your soul to it as a standard action.
The magic jar must be within range of 300 feet and you must know where it is, though you do not need line of sight or line of effect to it. When you transfer your soul, your body is, as near as anyone can tell, dead.
While in the magic jar, you can sense and attack any life force within 10 feet per caster level (and on the same plane of existence). You do need line of effect from the jar to the creatures. You cannot determine the exact creature types or positions of these creatures. In a group of life forces, you can sense a difference of 4 or more levels between one creature and another and can determine whether a life force is powered by positive or negative energy. (Undead creatures are powered by negative energy. Only sentient undead creatures have, or are, souls.)
You could choose to take over either a stronger or a weaker creature, but which particular stronger or weaker creature you attempt to possess is determined randomly.
Then you can attempt to take control of its body, forcing its soul into the magic jar. You may move back to the jar (thereby returning the trapped soul to its body) and attempt to possess another body. The spell ends when you send your soul back to your own body, leaving the receptacle empty.
Attempting to possess a body is a full-round action. It is blocked by the Psychic Shield or Ward powers – you must win opposed power check to affect protected creature. You possess the body and force the creature’s soul into the magic jar unless the subject succeeds on a Will save. Failure to take over the host leaves your life force in the magic jar, and the target automatically succeeds on further saving throws if you attempt to possess its body again.
If you are successful, your life force occupies the host body, and the host’s life force is imprisoned in the magic jar. You keep your Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, level, class, combat bonus, base save bonuses, alignment, and mental abilities. The body retains its Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, toughness, natural abilities, and automatic abilities. A body with extra limbs does not allow you to make more attacks (or more advantageous two-weapon attacks) than normal. You can’t choose to activate the body’s extraordinary or supernatural abilities. The creature’s spells and spell-like abilities do not stay with the body.
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As a standard action, you can shift freely from a host to the magic jar if within range, sending the trapped soul back to its body. The spell ends when you shift from the jar to your own body.
If the host body is slain, you return to the magic jar, if within range, and the life force of the host departs (it is dead). If the host body is slain beyond the range of the spell, both you and the host die. Any life force with nowhere to go is treated as slain.
If the spell ends while you are in the magic jar, you return to your body (or die if your body is out of range or destroyed). If the spell ends while you are in a host, you return to your body (or die, if it is out of range of your current position), and the soul in the magic jar returns to its body (or dies if it is out of range). Destroying the receptacle ends the spell, and the spell can be dispelled by focused Ward at either the magic jar or at the host’s location.
Raise Dead Level: 9( spell level 5) Casting Time: 1 hour Difficulty: 22 for a cleric, 27 for others. Material Component: Diamonds worth a total of 5000 gp; they are spent only if the creature is raised.
Failure: If you fail by 5 or more, the material components are lost. You summon instead of the soul of your departed friend a terrible spirit of night. It either attacks you directly as an incorporeal undead, or enters the body and animates it as a corporeal undead; it can even pretend to be your associate, only to betray you or to commit terrible crimes (choice of the player of the character being raised, who normally gets to roleplay the spirit). If the spirit enters the body, the deceased creature can only be resurrected after it is banished. Success: You restore life to a deceased creature. You can raise a creature that has been dead for no longer than 1 month. In addition, the subject’s soul must be free and willing to return. If the subject’s soul is not willing to return, the spell does not work; therefore, a subject that wants to return receives no saving throw.
Coming back from the dead is an ordeal. The subject of the spell is raised Disabled, Exhausted and without any Conviction points.
Any ability scores damaged to -5 are raised to -4. Normal poison and normal disease are cured in the process of raising the subject, but magical diseases and curses are not undone. While the spell closes mortal wounds and repairs lethal damage of most kinds, the body of the creature to be raised must be whole. Otherwise, missing parts are still missing when the creature is brought back to life. None of the dead creature’s equipment or possessions are affected in any way by this spell.
A creature who has been turned into an undead creature or killed by a death effect can’t be raised by this spell. Constructs, elementals, outsiders, and undead creatures can’t be raised. The spell cannot bring back a creature that has died of old age.
Find the Path Level: 11 (spell level 6) Casting Time: 1 minute Duration: Concentration when operating, Maintenance when suspended Power check difficulty: 15+Familiarity modifier Material Component: Rare incenses worth at least 300 gp. They are consumed regardless whether the ritual is successful. Failure: If you fail by 5 or more you are led towards a random, but invariably extremely dangerous location, instead of the specified destination. Succces: You can find the shortest, most direct physical route to a specified destination, be it the way into or out of a locale.
The locale can be outdoors, underground, or even inside a maze spell. Find the path works with respect to purely physical locations, not objects or creatures at a locale. Thus, the spell can not find the way to "a cave of the dragon" or to "a gold hoard." The location must be on the same plane as you are at the time of casting. You use the modifiers for familiarity with places (see the chapter on changes to magic). The spell requires Concentration to operate, but the subject can suspend it as a free action. The suspended spell requires only Maintenance and can be made operable again as a standard action. The spell enables the subject to sense the correct direction that will eventually lead it to its destination, indicating the exact path to follow. The ritual does not warn of any dangers in the way, provided that they can realistically be avoided, nor shows the ways to avoid
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them. The ritual shows only the way, not the actions necessary to negotiate it. Accordingly, you will be brought before the secret door, but you must discover by yourself the trigger or the codes or phrases necessary to open it, and the traps warding it. The spell will not lead you into unavoidable danger, because if you are unavoidably destroyed on the path, it is not be the correct way to reach the destination. The spell ends when the destination is reached or the duration expires, whichever comes first. The already active Find the Path spell can be used to remove the subject and its companions from the effect of a maze spell in a single round, as many times as the spell lasts.
This divination is keyed to the recipient, not its companions, and its effect does not predict or allow for the actions of creatures (including guardians).
If your target is shielded against divinations, you must win an opposed power check to be able to find it. Forbiddance Level: 11 (spell level 6) Casting Time: 10 minutes Area: Ten 60-ft. cubes Duration: Permanent (can be dispelled by Ward) Difficulty: 25+2 for each Forbiddance cast by caster still in effect+1 for each additional 60 feet cube. Material Component: A sprinkling of holy water and rare incenses worth at least 1,500 gp, They are consumed regardless whether the ritual is successful. Failure: If you fail by 5 or more you cannot cast Forbiddance again for a year. Success: Forbiddance seals an area against all planar travel into or within it. This includes all teleportation spells (such as dimension door and teleport), plane shifting, astral travel, ethereal travel, and all summoning spells. Such effects simply fail automatically.
You can increase the area affected by the ritual. For each additional 60 feet cube add +1 to power check difficulty. Maintaining multiple Forbiddances at the same time is difficult. For each Forbiddance cast by you which is still in effect increase the difficulty by 2. Ward does not dispel a forbiddance effect unless the dispeller’s adept level is at least as high as your adept level. Only focused ward can dispel forbiddance.
Assume that the base, lair etc of any high level opponent is under Forbiddance cast by the opponent himself, a likely allied adept or by a hired specialist. In particular, all dragons of sufficiently high level cast Forbiddance on their lairs. Word of Recall Level: 11 (spell level 6) Casting Time: 10 minutes Difficulty: 28 (24 if you are a cleric); +3 for each additional Medium creature Target: You and touched objects or other willing creatures Material Component: Rare incenses worth at least 500 gp, They are consumed regardless whether the ritual is successful. Word of Recall teleports you instantly back to your sanctuary when the word is uttered. You can be transported any distance within a plane and even between planes. You must designate the sanctuary before you use this power, and it must be a very familiar place. You can designate a place only when you are physically present in it, so you can never use Word of Recall to journey to any new location. You can have only one sanctuary at a time. This effect counts as a teleport, and is subject to all limitation common for teleports. When you successfully return to your sanctuary the magic is discharged, and you must conduct the ritual again. Failure: You fail to establish a sanctuary, but you are persuaded that you succeeded. When you say the word of recall, nothing happens. Success: You designate a sanctuary to which you can escape by uttering a word as a standard action. The actual point of arrival is an area no larger than 10 feet by 10 feet. You can transport, in addition to yourself, any objects you carry, as long as their weight doesn’t exceed your maximum load. You may also bring two additional willing Medium or smaller creatures (carrying gear or objects up to its maximum load) or equivalent. A Large creature counts as two Medium creatures, a Huge creature counts as two Large creatures, and so forth. All creatures to be transported must be in contact with one another, and at least one of those creatures must be in contact with you. You can transport more than this limit by increasing the difficulty of ritual, but you must decide on the number before performing it. An unwilling creature can’t be teleported by word of recall. See also the general rules for teleport spells about the teleport trace.
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Stone to Flesh Level: 11 (spell level 6) Casting Time: 10 minutes Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level) Target: One petrified creature or a cylinder of stone from 1 ft. to 3 ft. in diameter and up to 10 ft. long Difficulty: 28 Material Component: Rare unguents worth at least 300 gp. They are consumed regardless of the success of the spell. Failure: If you fail by 5 or more you are petrified yourself. Success: This spell restores a petrified creature to its normal state, restoring life and goods. The creature must make a Difficulty 15 Fortitude save to survive the process. Any petrified creature, regardless of size, can be restored.
The spell also can convert a mass of stone into a fleshy substance. Such flesh is inert and lacking a vital life force unless a life force or magical energy is available. (For example, this spell would turn a stone golem into a flesh golem, but an ordinary statue would become a corpse.) You can affect an object that fits within a cylinder from 1 foot to 3 feet in diameter and up to 10 feet long or a cylinder of up to those dimensions in a larger mass of stone.
Plane Shift Level: 13 (spell level 7) Casting Time: 10 minutes Power Check Difficulty: 25+Familiarity penalty Material Component: A gem or crystal worth at least 300 gp. It is consumed regardless whether the ritual is successful. You do not need the gem to return to your home plane.
You move yourself to another plane of existence or alternate dimension. If several willing persons link hands in a circle, as many as eight can be affected by the plane shift at the same time. You use the modifiers for familiarity with places (see the chapter on changes to magic). When you are in the mental contact with someone on the other plane or if you possess the focus of ritual, a small, forked metal rod, tuned to the plane of existence or alternate dimension you want to visit, your destination is treated as Very Familiar (+5 penalty). You cannot use the Plane Shift ritual to reach the Ethereal Plane. Failure: If you fail by 5 or more you shift into some dismal and deadly dimension. You and all characters shifting with you are never heard from again. Success: You can reach any other plane, but precise accuracy as to a particular arrival location on the intended plane is nigh impossible. You appear 5 to 500 miles (5d100) from your intended destination. Plane shift transports creatures instantaneously and then ends. The creatures need to find other means if they are to travel back. Resurrection Level: 13 (spell level 7) Casting Time: 10 minutes Power Check Difficulty: 26 Material Component: Diamonds worth a total of at least 10,000 gp. Special requirement: You must be a cleric in order to perform that ritual This spell functions like raise dead, except that you are able to restore life and complete strength to any deceased creature. The condition of the remains is not a factor. So long as some small portion of the creature’s body still exists, it can be resurrected, but the portion receiving the spell must have been part of the creature’s body at the time of death. (The remains of a creature hit by a disintegrate spell count as a small portion of its body.) The creature can have been dead no longer than 100 years, plus +10 years for each +1 to the difficulty of the ritual. You can resurrect someone killed by a death effect or someone who has been turned into an undead creature and then destroyed. Generally, you cannot resurrect someone who has died of old age. Outsiders, elementals, constructs, and undead creatures can’t be resurrected. Failure: If you fail by 5 or more, you summon instead of the soul of your departed friend a terrible spirit of night. It either attacks you directly as an incorporeal undead, or enters the body and animates it as a corporeal undead; it can even pretend to be your associate, only to betray you or to commit terrible crimes (choice of the player of the
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character being raised, who normally gets to roleplay the spirit). If the spirit enters the body, the deceased creature can only be resurrected after it is banished. Success: Upon completion of the spell, the creature is immediately restored to full health, but has no Conviction points and is exhausted.
Binding Enchantment (Compulsion) [Mind-Affecting] Level: 15 (spell level 8) Casting Time: 10 minutes Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) Duration: Permanent or long term – can be dispelled by focused Ward, Difficulty: 27 + subject’s level (add level adjustment, use CR instead in case of monsters which have it) + additional duration Components: The components for a binding spell vary according to the version of the spell, but they always include materials appropriate to the form of binding used. These components can include such items as miniature chains of special metals, soporific herbs of the rarest sort (for slumber bindings), a bell jar of the finest crystal, and the like. In addition to the specially made props suited to the specific type of binding (cost 500 gp), the spell requires opals worth at least 500 gp for each level (or CR) of the target and a vellum depiction or carved statuette of the subject to be captured. A binding spell creates a magical restraint to hold a creature. The target must be willing, unconscious, under your control eg thanks to the Dominate power, or bound by material means and unable to oppose you. It cannot be under any magical protection. The target does not get a Will save.
The binding spell has six versions. Regardless of the version of binding you cast, you can specify triggering conditions that end the spell and release the creature whenever they occur. These triggers can be as simple or elaborate as you desire, but the condition must be reasonable and have a likelihood of coming to pass. The conditions can be based on a creature’s name, identity, or alignment but otherwise must be based on observable actions or qualities. Intangibles such as level or class don’t qualify. Once the spell is cast, its triggering conditions cannot be changed. Setting a release condition lowers the power check difficulty by 4.
If you are casting any of the first three versions of binding (those with limited durations), you may cast additional binding spells to prolong the effect, since the durations overlap.
You can’t dispel a binding spell with Ward or a similar effect. It can be dispelled by conducting a ritual in reverse, with the difficulty 27+level, and costing only 500 gp. The failure by 5 imprisons the rescuer along with the original target.
A bound extraplanar creature cannot be sent back to its home plane due to dismissal, banishment, or a similar effect.
Failure: If you fail by 5 or more, you are imprisoned instead of the subject of the ritual. The subject recovers from unconsciousness or spell and is freed from all restraint. Chaining: The subject is confined by restraints that generate an antipathy spell affecting all creatures who approach the subject, except you. Such creatures feel a compulsion that forces them to abandon the subject, shunning it and never willingly returning to it while the spell is in effect. A creature that makes a successful saving throw can stay in the area or touch the subject but feels uncomfortable doing so, and is shaken. The duration is ten years, plus one year per +1 to Difficulty. The subject of this form of binding is confined to the spot it occupied when it received the spell. Slumber: This version causes the subject to become comatose for ten years, plus one year per +1 to Difficulty. The subject does not need to eat or drink while slumbering, nor does it age. This form of binding is more difficult to cast than chaining, increasing the spell’s Difficulty by 2. Bound Slumber: This combination of chaining and slumber lasts for as long as 10 months, plus one month per +1 to Difficulty. The Difficulty is increased by 4.
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Hedged Prison: The subject is transported to or otherwise brought within a confined area from which it cannot wander by any means. The effect is permanent. The Difficulty is increased by 6. Metamorphosis: The subject assumes gaseous form, except for its head or face. It is held harmless in a jar or other container, which may be transparent if you so choose. The creature remains aware of its surroundings and can speak, but it cannot leave the container, attack, or use any of its powers or abilities. The binding is permanent. The subject does not need to breathe, eat, or drink while metamorphosed, nor does it age. The Difficulty is increased by 8. Minimus Containment: The subject is shrunk to a height of 1 inch or even less and held within some gem, jar, or similar object. The binding is permanent. The subject does not need to breathe, eat, or drink while contained, nor does it age. The Difficulty is increased by 8. Astral Projection Level: 17 (spell level 9) Casting Time: 4 hours Targets: Maximum 8 willing creatures Material Component: Rare infusions, unguents, and amulets worth 1000 gp for each person to be affected. Focus: A sarcophagus worth at least 1000 gp for each astral traveler. Power Check Difficulty: 38 By freeing the spirit from the physical body, this ritual allows to project an astral body onto another plane altogether. All travellers must drink infusions and be anointed with the unguents, to be prepared for the suspended animation. Finally, they are laid within a sarcophagus, together with their equipment. Often, their bodies are bound with wrappings in the manner of a mummy (It is speculated that the mummification arose from the imperfectly understood imitation of the astral travel.) For security, astral travel is usually perfored from a closed underground chamber secured with multiple traps. It is possible when casting the astral projection to include a specific word which when said near the material body will be heard by the astral self, alerting that it should return to the body immediately. That word is usually given to a Magic Mouth set to react to anything disturbing the chamber.
One casting of the Astral projection can affect up to 8 people. The caster can be included in the spell, but this is not necessary. The principal astral travelers must be at least of the 17 level, but they can take cohorts with them. These fellow travelers are affected by the spell exactly as the principals, but are dependent upon them and must accompany them at all times. If something happens to the principal traveler during the journey, his cohort is stranded and cannot return to his body.
Failure: If you fail by 5 or more the souls of the travelers are lost in transfer. Their bodies will remain forever in their sarcophagi. They may eventually animate as eg mummies. (This is why most astral travelers prefer that the caster be included in the spell).
Success: You project the astral selves of the travelers onto the Astral Plane, leaving their physical bodies behind on the Material Plane in a state of suspended animation. If you use the astral system provided in this file, the astral selves can appear either in the Low Astral, in the location corresponding to your physical location, or in the High Astral.
The spell projects an astral copy of the travelers and all they wear or carry onto the Astral Plane. Since the Astral Plane touches upon other planes, they can travel astrally to any of these other planes as they will. In particular, the astral form can visit outer planes, demiplanes and dominions in the Astral and the elemental planes. The astral body cannot visit neither Material Planes nor Ethereal Plane. If forced within either of those planes, the spell is treated as voluntarily ended and the soul returns to body.
The astral body is identical with the natural form, except it is immune to the natural hazards of any particular plane it visits. An astral body that travels to the Elemental Plane of Fire is immune to damage from the fire-dominant trait, for example.
Worn, held, and carried items possessed by the original form are not harmed if their astral forms are damaged or destroyed. Such items reform on the astral form within a day. When the traveler leaves the plane he is on currently, the astral forms of items he left behind disappear and appear on the astral form in its new location. Similarly, when the astral projections end, the astral forms of items disappear, regardless of the intention of the traveler (that is why no one sensible, except for the dream merchants (q.v.), will ever trade with astral travelers). If
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someone removes an item from the material body, the astral copy of the item disappears as well. (This is a usually an indication that thieves have found the mausoleum and that the travelers should immediately return. Many a thief who stolen a sword from a “mummified” warrior had an unpleasant surprise when the warrior arose to demand it back). If the traveler's astral form employs magic items with a limited number of uses (such as potions, scrolls, and wands), the uses are expended on the real items as well as on the astral copies. A potion drunk on the astral plane becomes unmagical on the Material plane, and the wand exhausted on the astral plane remains exhausted on the Material plane. Spell components used on the Astral plane are rendered worthless on the Material plane.
Objects picked up by an astral character are brought back to the original body if the spell is ended voluntarily, appearing within his sarcophagus. If the astral form is slain, then astral objects picked up along the way remain where they are and don't return with the soul.
If the astral form is slain, the soul returns to the unharmed original body where it rests on the Material Plane. The traveler can decide to revive his material body immediately from its state of suspended animation, or to wait three minutes after which it is revived automatically. The astral form dissolves immediately when the material body revives. Before the astral form dissolves it can be reanimated, using eg the Imbue Life power.
When the material body of the traveler revives after the death of the astral form, he loses all of his Conviction, and he becomes Exhausted. Since powerful enemies can track the traveler back to his material body, it may be advisable to escape as quickly as possible. In addition there exist special weapons (eg astral silver swords) and other means which can kill the material body when destroying the astral form.
All subjects of the ritual can travel through the Astral Plane indefinitely. Their bodies simply wait behind in a state of suspended animation until they choose to return your spirits to them. While you are travelling astrally, your bodies do not age and suffer no damage – unless it is inflicted by outside sources. After longer astral travels (upward of century) they can become somewhat desiccated and begin to resemble mummies. This effect remains for a short time even after the return (in no way diminishing the abilities of the character), although food and drink quickly manage to restore the usual appearance.
The spell lasts for each traveler until he desires to end it, or until it is terminated by some outside means, such as Ward focused upon the physical body or the destruction of the body back on the Material Plane (which kills the traveler). As long as a particular person is travelling astrally, no divination or any other supernatural power or ritual will disclose the location of his material body. When the material body revives, this protection is ended. Moreover, it is treated as Present for anyone scrying from the place in which the astral form died. This effect lasts for an hour since the death. Miracle Level: 17 (spell level 9) Casting Time: 1 minute, or 1 full round in special circumstances. Material Component: Rare incenses worth at least 2000 gp. Power Check Difficulty: 30, +1 for each greater Miracle ritual conducted before Special requirement: You must be a cleric in order to perform that ritual You don’t so much cast a miracle as request one. You state what you would like to have happen and request that your deity intercede. The deity intervenes or not, as it deems proper. In any event, a request that is out of line with the deity’s nature is refused. Since the deities are jealous of their power, a miracle is never granted to an adept who has performed a Wish ritual. Failure: You have exhausted the patience of your deity. You will not receive any more miracles for a year. You can shorten that period by sacrifices, atonement or similar. Success: A miracle can do any of the following things. * Use any power. You use the power as an Adept of your character level, with key ability 10. You always Take 10 on your power check and do not suffer any Fatigue. Duplicated powers allow saves as normal. * Undo the harmful effects of many spells. Alternatively, a cleric can make a very powerful request. When the matter is of supreme importance, such a request can even be made as one round action and without the material components. Regardless of the casting time, requesting such a miracle imposes a cumulative +1 penalty on all the future Miracle checks. The deity never grants such a miracle if it deems that matter is not important enough; it can punish an impudent cleric as it deems proper. Most deities will require a reciprocal sacrifice (at least 25,000 gp, and more if the cleric belongs to a higher level than 17), or an oath of some great service. If the request mirrors any ritual with cost, the cleric must promise in
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addition a sacrifice of an equivalent cost. The cleric is usually expected to promise such an offering when requesting a miracle, but the deity can make its own request. Until the service is performed, the deity will not grant any more miracles, and if it deems that the cleric is tardy, it will stop answering other divine rituals, and finally punish the cleric. Examples of especially powerful miracles of this sort could include the following. * Swinging the tide of a battle in your favor by raising fallen allies to continue fighting. * Moving you and your allies, with all your and their gear, from one plane to another through planar barriers to a specific locale with no chance of error. * Protecting a city from an earthquake, volcanic eruption, flood, or other major natural disaster. True Resurrection Level: 17 (spell level 9) Casting Time: 1 minute Power Check Difficulty: 30 Material Component: Diamonds worth a total of at least 25,000 gp. Special requirement: You must be a cleric in order to perform that ritual This spell functions like raise dead, except that you are able to restore life and complete strength to any deceased creature. The condition of the remains is not a factor. This spell can even bring back creatures whose bodies have been destroyed, provided that you unambiguously identify the deceased in some fashion (reciting the deceased’s time and place of birth or death is the most common method). The creature can have been dead no longer than 200 years, plus +10 years for each +1 to the difficulty of the ritual. You can revive someone killed by a death effect or someone who has been turned into an undead creature and then destroyed. This spell can also resurrect elementals or outsiders, but it can’t resurrect constructs or undead creatures. Generally, you cannot resurrect someone who has died of old age. Failure: If you fail by 5 or more, you summon instead of the soul of your departed friend a terrible spirit of night. It either attacks you directly as an incorporeal undead, or enters the body and animates it as a corporeal undead; it can even pretend to be your associate, only to betray you or to commit terrible crimes (choice of the player of the character being raised, who normally gets to roleplay the spirit). If the spirit enters the body, the deceased creature can only be resurrected after it is banished. Success: Upon completion of the spell, the creature is immediately restored to full health, with the Conviction points and fatigue level it had at the moment of death. Wish Level: 17 (spell level 9) Casting Time: 1 hour for the summoning ritual and 1 minute for the dismissing ritual. Material Component: Rare incenses, pigments and other ritual materials worth at least 2000 gp. Power Check Difficulty: 36+1 for each successful Wish ritual conducted before. In this ritual you bind a powerful entity able to realize nearly any your wish. The wish could be made immediately, or placed in a magical item (eg a Ring of Wishes), to be used later as a standard action. Certain demands you can make on the summoned entity are known as the standard wishes; those can be made without any special risk. You may try to use a wish to produce greater effects than these, but doing so is dangerous. (The wish may pervert your intent into a literal but undesirable fulfillment or only a partial fulfillment.) The ritual of Wish is more complicated than typical. You must conduct a ritual to summon the entity, then state your wish, and finally conduct a second ritual to send the entity away, with the same difficulty as the first ritual. If you want to place a wish into a ring, your wish would be formulated for example: “I wish that immediately after any possessor of that ring makes consciously and intentionally a magical wish, pressing this ruby set into the ring, you faithfully and permanently fulfill it, and that moreover you do not harm me, the owner of the ring or his friends, or exert your power in any other way without specific and valid orders.“
Since the entities performing Wishes are deathly afraid of true deities and those who can contact them, they will never perform a Wish for anyone who has successfully a Miracle ritual. This does not apply to Wishes placed into rings, although it does apply to rituals of placing Wishes into rings.
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Failure: If you fail the check during the summoning ritual you lose your magical components. If you fail it by 5 or more you will suffer in the future the +1 penalty for having performed a successful wish ritual. If you fail the ritual check during the dismissing ritual the summoned entity fulfills your wish but revenges itself on you. You lose all your Conviction points and will require d20 days of bed rest due to physical and mental stresses. During that time you will be exhausted and unable to regain Conviction. Moreover, you will age 5 years. If you fail the dismissing ritual by 5 or more the summoned entity does not fulfill your wish, but instead abducts you to the far plane from which it came. Your character is irretrievably lost and cannot be retrieved even with a Wish. Success: A standard wish can produce any one of the following effects. * Use any power. You use the power as an Adept of your character level, with key ability 10. You always Take 10 on your power check and do not suffer any Fatigue. Duplicated powers allow saves as normal. * Use any ritual. You receive the benefits of a successful ritual (except Wish or Miracle, of course), conducted by an Adept of your character level, with key ability 10. You treat the ritual as conducted in the normal time and without using Empower feat or similar abilities. You always Take 20 on the power check; you must select the ritual which will succeed on such a power check. You do not suffer any Fatigue. When a wish duplicates a ritual with a material component that costs more than 10,000 gp, you must provide that component, in addition to the components of the Wish. * Undo the harmful effects of many spells, such as geas/quest or insanity. * Create a nonmagical item or spell components of up to 25,000 gp in value. * Create a magic item, of up to 15,000 gp in value. This has no additional costs. * Create an expensive magic item or add to the powers of an existing magic item: you can create a magic item of any value, but only if it could be crafted by an Adept of level equal to you. You must pay the normal costs of crafting such an item. * Reorder the ability scores of yourself or a willing creature. The creature can either roll again or use the point-buy method to establish its new ability scores. It also gains increases to the ability scores it is entitled to by its level. * Change the role and feats of yourself or a willing creature. The creature starts again at the first level and progresses to its current level, selecting desired roles and feats. This can be combined in one wish with the changing of ability scores. * Change the race or species of yourself or a willing creature. The new form cannot be more powerful than the creature is at this point. In case of powerful forms (eg a dragon) the creature loses equivalent number of levels to retain the same overall power. * Remove injuries and afflictions. A single wish can aid one creature per caster level, and all subjects are cured of the same kind of affliction. For example, you could heal all the damage you and your companions have taken, or remove all poison effects from everyone in the party, but not do both with the same wish. * Revive the dead. A wish can bring a dead creature back to life. A single wish can even revive a dead creature whose body has been destroyed, or an undead, construct, or other creature that cannot normally be brought back to life. Wish may even be able to bring back a creature who has been devoured by a Barghest (50% chance of success). A destroyed undead can be brought again as an undead or as a living creature. It is impossible to resurrect an undead as a living creature before it is destroyed. * Transport travelers. A wish can lift one willing creature per caster level from anywhere on any plane and place those creatures anywhere else on any plane regardless of local conditions. An unwilling target gets a Will save to negate the effect. * Undo misfortune. A wish can undo a single recent event. The wish forces a reroll of any roll made within the last round (including your last turn). Reality reshapes itself to accommodate the new result. For example, a wish could undo an opponent’s successful save, a foe’s successful critical hit (either the attack roll or the critical roll), a friend’s failed save, and so on. The reroll, however, may be as bad as or worse than the original roll. An unwilling target gets a Will save to negate the effect. * Turn Back Time: A poorly fated adventure can be averted entirely with a wish. You return in time to the situation before the beginning of the adventure. There is one difference – your penalty for successful Wish rituals is not removed. Such a meddling with the time-stream has usually some after-effects. If you attempt the same adventure again, you can find that it is somewhat different and more difficult than before.
You may try to use a wish to produce greater effects than these, but doing so is dangerous. (The wish may pervert your intent into a literal but undesirable fulfillment or only a partial fulfillment.) In order to do so, you must state the precise wording of your Wish and make a Wisdom check with the Difficulty set by Narrator, depending on
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the wording. If you succeed on the check, you either make successful Wish or realize that such a wish is impossible. If you fail, the summoned entity perverts your wish.
There are some things it is impossible to wish for. First of all, if you attempt to wish for more wishes, in any way, shape or form (eg wishing for a ring of wishes with three wishes on it), the entity you summoned immediately snatches you away to a far plane. Your character is irrevocably destroyed and cannot be resurrected even with a wish.
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Equipment
Nonmagical items Bandolier: A shoulder-belt with small steel cases or pockets, each containing one potion. This item makes it possible to retrieve a potion as a free action. 50 gold (including steel containers for vials with potions). Bag of flour: You can throw it at an invisible creature (thrown weapon with the ranged increment of 10 feet). If the creature is standing on the ground, you can aim at its feet - the Difficulty to hit an approximate area is 5. All creatures within 5 feet are covered in flour. An invisible creature is automatically pinpointed, but still benefits from partial cover (20%, or 17 or more on d20). Flour can be brushed off as a full action. Bag of flour cannot be used against incorporeal creatures. Cloud the Mind power is not affected, because it causes the targets to disregard what they see. Weapons:
Simple Weapons Weapon Damage
Bonus Critical Descriptor Range
Increment Size Cost Weight
Club +2 20/+3 Bludgeoning, Power Medium — 3 lb. Dagger
+1, (+2 Sneak damage)
19-20/+3
Piercing, Precision, Thrown
10 Tiny 2 gp 1 lb.
Punching Dagger
+2 19-20/+3
Piercing, Power or Precision,
Tiny 2 gp
Gauntlet +0 20/+3 Bludgeoning, Power — Tiny 2 gp 1 lb. Gauntlet, spiked
+1 20/+3 Piercing, Power — Tiny 2 gp 1 lb.
Long Spear +2 (one-handed) +3 (two-handed)
19-20/+4
Piercing, Power
Reach Large 5 gp 9 lb.
Spear (short) +2 (one-handed)
19-20/+4
Piercing, Power 20 ft. Large 1 gp 3 lb.
Mace, heavy
+3 20/+3 Bludgeoning, Power — Medium 12 gp 8 lb.
Morningstar
+3 20/+3 Bludgeoning and Piercing, Power
— Medium 8 gp 6 lb.
Quarterstaff +3 (two-handed)
20/+3 Bludgeoning, Power reach Large — 4 lb.
Mace, light, Sap
+2 20/+3 Bludgeoning, Power — Small 1 gp 2 lb.
Sickle +2 20/+3 Slashing, Precision — Small 6 gp 2 lb. Cutlass, Falchion, Machete
+3 20/+3 Slashing, Power — Medium 15 gp 4 lb.
Pommel +1 20/+3 Bludgeoning, Power — Small n/a n/a Unarmed Attack
+0 20/+3 Bludgeoning, Power or Precision, nonlethal
— — — —
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Martial Weapons Weapon Damage
Bonus Critical Descriptor Range
Increment Size Cost Weight
Axe, throwing +2 20/+3 Slashing, Precison 10 ft. Small 8 gp 2 lb. Hammer, throwing
+1 20/+3 Bludgeoning, Power
10 ft. Small 1 gp 2 lb.
Battleaxe
+3 +4 (two-handed)
20/+4 Slashing, Power — Medium 10 gp 6 lb.
Flail +3 20/+4 Bludgeoning, Power
— Large 15 gp 5 lb.
Pick + 2 19-20/+5
Piercing or Bludgeoning, Power
— Medium 8 gp 3 lb.
Greataxe +5 (two-handed) 20/+3 Slashing, Power — Large 20 gp 12 lb. Maul, Great Club
+4 (two-handed) 20/+4 Bludgeoning, Power
— Large 5 gp 8 lb.
Lance +3 (one-handed mounted) +6 (mounted and charging) +4 (two-handed on foot)
20/+4 Piercing, Power Reach Large 20 gp 10 lb.
Trident +3 20/+3 Piercing, Power 10 ft. Medium 15 gp 4 lb. Halberd, Pole-arm
+4 (two-handed on foot)
20/+4 Slashing or Piercing, Power
Reach Large 8 gp 12 lb
Awl-pike (Ahlspiess)
+4 (two-handed on foot)
19-20/+4
Piercing, Power or Precision
Reach Large 10 gp 12 lb.
Kukri
+1 (+2 Sneak damage)
18–20/+3
Slashing, Power or Precision
— Small 8 gp 2 lb.
Main-Gauche +1 to Melee Defence
+1 19–20/+3
Piercing, Precision — Small 8 gp 2 lb.
Warhammer + 2 19-20/+5
Bludgeoning, Power
— Medium 8 gp 3 lb.
Rapier (Sidesword)
+2 18–20/+4
Piercing, Precision — Medium 20 gp 2 lb.
Scimitar or Sabre
+3 18–20/+3
Slashing, Precision (cannot use finesse and sneak attack)
— Medium 15 gp 4 lb.
Sword, short +2 18–20/+3
Piercing, Precision or Power
— Small 10 gp 2 lb.
Longsword (Arming sword)
+3 19–20/+3
Slashing or Piercing, Power or Precision
— Medium 15 gp 4 lb.
Bastard Sword (Warsword),
+3 (one-handed) +4 (two-handed)
19–20/+3
Slashing or Piercing, Power
— Medium 35 gp 4 lb.
Two-handed sabre, katana
+3 (one-handed) +4 (two-handed)
19–20/+3
Slashing, Power Medium 35 gp 4 lb.
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Exotic
Weapon Damage Bonus
Critical Descriptor Range Increment
Size Cost Weight
Falx +5 (two-handed) 20/+4 Slashing, Power — Large 30 gp 8 lb. Greatsword +5 (two-handed) 19–
20/+3 Slashing, Power — Large 50 gp 6 lb.
Chain +3 20/+3 Bludgeoning, Power
reach 10 ft. Large 25 gp 10 lb.
Whip +0 20/+3 Bludgeoning reach 15 ft. Small 1 gp 2 lb. Flexible Sword
+3 20/+3 Slashing, Precision
reach 10 ft. Medium 30 gp 4 lb.
Reach Weapons – You can use such weapons against opponents who are up to 10 feet away form you. You can also use them against an opponent when there is another character between you, provided that you don’t belong to a size category smaller than the intervening character. You can use reach weapons against opponents who are near you, but you cannot use them when you are flanked or surrounded. You also cannot use them in cramped passages, dense forest etc.
Weapons for Large characters – Damage of weapons increases by 1 for each size category.
Ahlspiess or awl pike was a thrusting spear developed and used primarily in Germany and Austria from the 15th to 16th centuries. The ahlspiess consisted of a long thin spike of square cross section measuring a meter (39 inches) or more in length, mounted to a round wooden shaft and secured with a pair of langets extending from the socket. The length of the shaft ranged from 1.6 to 1.8 m. (5 - 6 feet), and located at the base of the spike was a rondel guard (a circular metal plate) to protect the hands. The ahlspiess was used in other countries as well, including England, and was a popular weapon along with the pollaxe in tournament foot combat among armoured knights. Note that it has little in common with the true pike, which is a very long spear useful only in formation combat. As it is maneuverable piercing weapon, specially designed to pierce and bypass armor, it is the only polearm which can be used as a precision weapon. You can use finesse attacks and sneak attacks when fighting with awl pike.
Arming sword: (Use this weapon for D&D longsword). The arming sword (also sometimes called a knight's or knightly sword) is the single handed cruciform sword of the High Middle Ages, in common use between ca. 1000 and 1350,
Typically used with a shield or buckler, the arming sword was the standard military sword of the knight (merely called a "war sword", an ambiguous title given to many types of swords carried for battle) until technological changes led to the rise of the longsword in the late 13th century. In the absence of a shield the empty (normally left) hand could be used for grabbing or grappling opponents. The arming sword was overall a light, versatile weapon capable of both cut and thrust combat; and normally boasts excellent balance. Although a variety of designs fall under the heading of 'arming sword', they are most commonly recognized as single-handed double-edged swords that were designed more for cutting than thrusting. Possessing wider and heavier blades than the Victorian smallsword, modern scholars have often erroneously classified them as broadswords.
Bastard Sword, Warsword: The so-called "hand-and-a-half swords" could be used either onehanded or twohanded. They were called bastard swords, warswords or simply longswords. That type of European sword was used during the late medieval and Renaissance periods, approximately 1350 to 1550. They have lengthy cruciform hilts with grips over some 15 cm (6 in) in length (providing room for two hands), straight double-edged blades often over 90 cm (35 in) in length, and weigh typically between 1.2 and 1.4 kg (2.1 to 3 lb), with light specimens just below 1 kg (2 lb), and heavy specimens just above 2 kg (4.1 lb).
The warsword or longsword was a quick, effective, and versatile weapon capable of deadly thrusts, slices, and cuts. The blade was generally used with both hands on the hilt, one resting close to or on the pommel. However, in some circumstances, the weapon may be used only with one hand, with shield held in the other. A technique called halfswording was used when fighting a heavily armored opponent, Half-swording consisted in holding the sword in both hands, one on the hilt and one in the middle of the blade, to better control the weapon in thrusts and jabs. A combatant could also use a warsword to strike an opponent with the pommel, or grab it by the tip and use to strike with crossguard like a pick.
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Bastard sword, or contemporary espée bastarde belonged to that class of weapons. It dates from roughly the early 15th century. The grips of bastard swords often feature a "waisted" appearance. The length of the weapon is roughly between 45 to 55 inches (115-140cm). Dagger: That kind of blade is mostly useless in open combat, but can be deadly when used in a surprise attack. The sneak damage bonus +2 applies when you make a surprise attack with a dagger. In that case the total damage of weapon equals 3. This bonus stacks with sneak damage bonus granted by Sneak Attack feat. Falchion (from Old French fauchon, ultimately from Latin falx "sickle") is a one-handed, single-edged sword of European origin. (Note that the two-handed “falchion” of D&D is a very different weapon, similar to some mostly ceremonial swords of janissaries. For an equivalent, use the stats of a two-handed sabre or falx). Falchion combined the weight and power of an axe with the versatility of a sword. Falchions are found in different forms from around the 11th century up to and including the sixteenth century.
The blade designs of falchions varied wildly across the continent and through the ages. They almost always included a single edge with a slight curve on the blade towards the point on the end; they also were affixed with a quilloned crossguard for the hilt in the manner of the contemporary long-swords. While one of the few surviving falchions is shaped very much like a large meat cleaver, or large bladed machete the majority of the depictions in art reflect a design similar to an enlarged knife. A surviving example from England's thirteenth century was just under two pounds in weight. Of its 37.5 inches (95.25 cm) in length, 31.5 inches (80cm) are the straight blade broadening towards the sharp tip
Unlike the double-edged swords of Europe, few actual swords of this type have survived to the present day; fewer than a dozen specimens are currently known. It is presumed that these swords had a lower average quality and status than the longer, more expensive swords. It is also possible that falchions were used as tools when they were not pressed into service as weapons. Although it is commonly thought that falchions were primarily a peasant's weapon, some were very ornate and used by nobility.
Falchions were simple weapons, not requiring elaborate fencing techniques. They were used to hack at an opponent at close distance, using brutal strength.
Falx is a Latin word originally meaning sickle, but was later used to mean any of a number of tools that had a curved blade that was sharp on the inside edge such as a scythe. Falx was also used to mean a weapon, particularly that of the Thracians and Dacians. The two-handed falx was a pole-arm. It consisted of a three-feet long wooden shaft with a long curved iron blade of nearly-equal length attached to the end. The blade was sharpened only on the inside, and was reputed to be devastatingly effective. However, it left its user vulnerable because, being a two-handed weapon, the warrior could not also make use of a shield. The length of the two-handed falx allowed it to be wielded with great force, the point piercing helmets and the blade splitting shields - it was said to be capable of splitting a shield in two at a single blow. Alternatively, it might used as a hook, pulling away shields and cutting at vulnerable limbs. The time of the conquest of Dacia by Trajan is the only known instance of the Roman army adapting personal equipment while on campaign, it seems likely that this was a response to this deadly weapon. Roman legionaries had reinforcing iron straps applied to their helmets - it is clear that these are late modifications because they are roughly applied across existing embossed decoration. Roman armour of the time left limbs unprotected; Trajan introduced the use of leg and arm protectors (greaves and manica). Flexible Sword or Coiled Sword (Urumi): It is a long sword made of flexible steel, sharp enough to cut into flesh, but flexible enough to be rolled into a tight coil. It is worn coiled around the waist or concealed in the belt, and must be straightened out before use by spinning it around. The length of the blade is at least 5 feet, and in some cases even up to 10 feet. Agility and skill are more important to a mastery of this weapon than strength. Spinning and controlling the weapon is difficult, and improficient use can result in the wounds for the wielder. Since the sword can bend sideways, but is stiff in the plane of the blade, a proficient wielder can allow it to bend around the opponent’s sword and then straighten it by rotating the handle 90 degrees. Greatsword: The above statistics describe Zweihänder (German for "two hander", also called Bidenhänder or Bihänder), two-handed sword primarily used during the Renaissance. For any earlier greatsword or “grete swerde” use the stats of a bastard sword.
Zweihänder gained renown during the 16th century as the hallmark weapon of the German Landsknechts from the time of Maximilian I. The Zweihänder could be up to 1.8 m (6 ft) long from the base of the pommel to the tip of the blade, with a 1.2–1.5 m (4–5 ft) blade and 30–45 cm (1–11 ft) hilt. The weight could range between 2 kg and 3.2 kg (4 1/2 lbs to 7 lbs).
Guards could be plain or ornate, while hilts usually ended with heart or pear shaped heavy pommels. Occasionally a blunted portion of the forte, the ricasso or Fehlschärfe (meaning "missing sharpness") at the base
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of the blade allowed a hand to be placed below the lower guard to "shorten the grip" and make it to handle like a polearm. The swords have hilt-mounted side-rings and enlarged cross-guards of up to 35 cm (14 in) across. Along the blade, some 10–20 cm (4–8 in) from the upper guard, Parierhaken ("parrying hooks") shaped like lugs or flanges acted as a guard for the ricasso to prevent other weapons from sliding down the blade.
It is a specialist infantry weapon, used by honor guards, guards of standards or by captains. It requires a very different fighting style compared to other swords, and is in many respects more similar to a polearm. It cannot be used mounted. Main-Gauche adds +1 to the melee defence, but only if used as a second weapon together with a sword or a rapier. This does not stack with the bonus given by a Defending weapon property. Pommels of swords, sabres and other one-handed weapons of that type are traditionally used during a grapple to pummel the face of your opponent. They count as small weapons, which allows their use while grappled. The masterwork bonus and all magical bonuses of the weapon apply to attacks with its pommel as well. Rapier or sidesword: those stats do not reflect the true rapier, which was a specialised duelling weapon useless for soldiers or adventurers. Those are rather Renaissance swords with rapier-like guard, but with shorter and stronger blades, useful on the chaotic battlefield or against armored opponents. Those swords are now called early rapiers, side-swords, cut-and-thrust swords, or (less correctly?) sword rapiers or cutting rapiers.
A side-sword was a type of war sword used by infantry during the Renaissance of Europe. This sword was a direct descendant of the arming sword. Quite popular between the 16th and 17th centuries, they were ideal for handling the mix of armored and unarmored opponents of that time. Early versions look very much like an arming sword with an ornate hilt and ricasso. A new technique of placing ones finger on the ricasso to improve the grip (a practice that would continue in the rapier) led to the production of hilts with a guard for the finger. The term is a recently-coined calque of the Italian spada da lato and will not be found in any actual sources from the 16th or 17th centuries.
This sword design eventually led to the development of the civilian rapier, but it was not replaced by it. While correct to call it an early rapier since it gave birth to the true rapier, it continued to be used during the rapier's lifetime. As it could be used for both cutting and thrusting, the term cut and thrust sword is sometimes used interchangeably with side-sword. Also of note, side-swords used in conjunction with bucklers became so popular that it caused the term swashbuckler to be coined. This word stems from the new fighting style of the side-sword and buckler which was filled with much "swashing and making a noise on the buckler".
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Ranged Weapons
Weapon Damage Bonus
Critical Damage Descriptor
Range Increment
Size Cost Weight
Simple Weapons Blowgun +0 20/+1 Piercing 20 ft. Medium 1 gp 2 lb. Crossbow, heavy
+4 19–20/+3
Piercing 60 ft. Medium 50 gp 8 lb. +1 lb./10 bolts
Crossbow, light +3 19–20/+3
Piercing 50 ft. Medium 35 gp 4 lb. +1 lb./10 bolts
Crossbow, hand +2 19–20/+3
Piercing 30 ft. Small 100 gp
2 lb. +1 lb./10 bolts
Dart +1 20/+3 Piercing 20 ft. Tiny 5 sp 1/2 lb. Javelin +2 20/+3 Piercing 30 ft. Medium 1 gp 2 lb. Sling +1 20/+3 Bludgeoning 50 ft. Small 5 sp 0 lb. +5 lb./
stone
Martial Weapons Longbow, composite bow
2+ Strength 20/+4 Piercing 120 ft. Large 100 gp
3 lb. +3 lb./20 arrows
Bow, short +2 20/+4 Piercing 60 ft. Medium 5 gp 2 lb. +3 lb./20 arrows
Exotic Weapons Shuriken(5) +1 20/+3 Piercing,
Autofire 10 ft. Tiny 1 gp 1/10 lb.
Boomerang +2 20/+4 Bludgeoning 20 ft. Small 1 gp 1 lb. Chakram +2 20/+4 Slashing 30 ft. Small 10 gp 1 lb. Crossbow, repeating
+3 19–20/+3
Piercing, 50 ft. Med 400 gp
12 lb. +1 lb./10 bolts
Net — — — 10 ft. Med 20 gp 6 lb.
Shortbow: You need at least two hands to use a bow, regardless of its size. You can use a shortbow while mounted. If you have a penalty for low Strength, apply it to damage rolls when you use a shortbow. If you have a bonus for high Strength, you can apply it to damage rolls when you use a composite bow or longbow (see below) but not a regular shortbow. You do not need to use a separate action to load the bow. Reaching for the arrow, nocking it etc is part of the standard attack action. Longbow, Composite Bow: You need at least two hands to use a bow, regardless of its size. You can use a composite bow, but not longbow while mounted. All composite bows and longbows are made with a particular strength rating (that is, each requires a minimum Strength modifier to use with proficiency). If the strength rating of the composite bow or longbow is higher than Strength+4, you can’t effectively use it, so you take a –2 penalty on attacks with it. The default longbow has Strength rating 4 and requires a Strength modifier of +0 or higher to use with proficiency. A composite bow or longbow can be made with a higher strength rating to take advantage of an above-average Strength score; this feature allows you to add your Strength bonus to damage, up to the maximum bonus indicated for the bow. Each point of additonal Strength bonus above 4 allowed by the bow adds 100 gp to its cost. You do not need to use a separate action to load the bow. Reaching for the arrow etc is part of the standard attack action. Crossbow, Hand: You can draw a hand crossbow by hand. Loading a hand crossbow is a move action. (Free Action with Quick Draw feat). You can shoot, but not load, a hand crossbow with one hand at no penalty. You can shoot a hand crossbow with each hand, but you take a penalty on attack rolls as if attacking with two light weapons. Crossbow, Heavy: You draw a heavy crossbow by hooking the string to your belt, putting your foot into a special stirrup mounted on the crossbow and straightening your leg. Loading a heavy crossbow is a full-round action (Move Action with Quick Draw feat). Normally, operating a heavy crossbow requires two hands. However, you can shoot, but not load, a heavy crossbow with one hand at a –4 penalty on attack rolls.
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Crossbow, Light: You draw a light crossbow back by pulling a lever. Loading a light crossbow is a move action (Free Action with Quick Draw feat). Normally, operating a light crossbow requires two hands. However, you can shoot, but not load, a light crossbow with one hand at a –2 penalty on attack rolls. Crossbow, Repeating: The repeating crossbow holds 5 crossbow bolts. As long as it holds bolts, you can reload it by pulling the reloading lever (a free action). Loading a new case of 5 bolts is a full-round action. You can fire a repeating crossbow with one hand in the same manner as you would a heavy crossbow. However, you must fire the weapon with two hands in order to use the reloading lever, and you must use two hands to load a new case of bolts. Net: A net is used to entangle enemies. When you throw a net, you make a ranged attack against your target. A net’s maximum range is 10 feet. If you hit, the target is entangled. An entangled creature takes a –2 penalty on Dexterity, can move at only half speed, and cannot charge or run. If you control the trailing rope by succeeding on an opposed Strength check while holding it, the entangled creature can move only within the limits that the rope allows. Additionally, when you make grapple attacks against entangled creature, you can grab them without making an attack roll.
If the entangled creature attempts to use a power, it must make a Difficulty 15 Concentration check. An entangled creature can escape with a Difficulty 20 Escape Artist check (a full-round action). The net can be burst with a Difficulty 25 Strength check (also a full-round action). A net is useful only against creatures within one size category of you. An invisible creature entangled in a net is automatically pin-pointed and has only partial concealment (17 on d20 to avoid being hit).
A net must be folded to be thrown effectively. The first time you throw your net in a fight, you can reroll your attack roll, but you must accept the second result. After the net is unfolded that bonus is lost.
Masterwork weapons: Masterwork weapons add +1 to attack bonus. Their cost is higher by 300 gp.
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Armor
Armor Toughness Bonus
Cost Weight Max Dexterity
Buff-coat or leather (light) 1 10 gp 15 lb. chain shirt or glued linen armor or padded armor or hide armor (light)
2 100 gp 25 lb.
Chainmail hauberk or scale mail or splint mail, all with helmet and at most greaves (medium)
3 150 gp 40 lb Str+3
Breastplate and backplate, with faulds and helmet, without cuisses (medium)
4 200 gp 40 lb Str+2
Banded armor with full protection for legs and arms (eg anima armor) or field plate with helmet (heavy)
5 250 gp 45 lb Str+0
Full Plate with helmet (heavy) 6 1,500 gp 50 lb. Str-1
Shield 7 gp, 10 lb, +3 dodge bonus to Defence, armor check penalty 3. This additional dodge bonus is lost in the same way as your regular dodge bonus, when you are flat-footed or surprised and so forth. If you have the Uncanny Dodge feat, you can benefit from your shield even if surprised. Buckler 15 gp, 5 lb, +2 dodge bonus to Defence (only against melee attacks), no armor check penalty, can be readied in the same move action with the weapon. Medium Armor When you wear a medium armor with bonus 3, if your Dexterity is higher than your Strength+3, you treat it as equal to your Strength+3 for purposes of Attack and Defence. With armor bonus 4, your Dexterity cannot be higher than Strenght +2. Heavy Armor. When you wear a heavy armor with bonus 5, if your Dexterity is higher than your Strength, you treat it as equal to your Strength for purposes of Attack and Defence. For armor with bonus 6 the maximum Dexterity equals Strength –1. When running in heavy armor, you move only double your speed, not quadruple. Characters with at least 10 levels of Warrior and with Armor Training (Heavy Armor) do not suffer that reduction to speed. Masterwork armor and shield: Masterwork armor and shield costs 150 gp more than usual. Armor check penalty is reduced by 1.
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Magic Items Player characters are expected to receive a certain amount of wealth per level. Should they receive significantly more or less wealth, they will become stronger or weaker than it is presumed by the game, and the challenges they face will have to be adjusted accordingly.
Giving players less treasure than expected will have more influence on their power level. Since most magic items have (in those rules) minimal levels necessary to use them, giving characters more wealth won’t allow them to use better items, but only more items, and so it shouldn’t have too much influence on their power.
Wealth used on anything else except buing equipment is not included in the following calculations. Buying castles, expensive entertainment etc has no effect on the power level of the party.
The table is taken from Pathfinder RPG, as the table in D&D manual is not open content.
Level Starting Wealth
Wealth gained
during level 1 1,000 gp 2 1,000 gp 2,000 gp 3 3,000 gp 3,000 gp 4 6,000 gp 4,500 gp 5 10,500 gp 5,500 gp 6 16,000 gp 7,500 gp 7 23,500 gp 9,500 gp 8 33,000 gp 13,000 gp 9 46,000 gp 16,000 gp 10 62,000 gp 20,000 gp 11 82,000 gp 26,000 gp 12 108,000 gp 32,000 gp 13 140,000 gp 45,000 gp 14 185,000 gp 55,000 gp 15 240,000 gp 75,000 gp 16 315,000 gp 95,000 gp 17 410,000 gp 120,000 gp 18 530,000 gp 155,000 gp 19 685,000 gp 195,000 gp 20 880,000 gp
Selling treasure and acquiring magic items
Narrator is responsible for designing an economy of magic items, or selecting one of the propositions
below. In any case, he should assure that all characters receive necessary item. This is of crucial importance, because not all characters rely on items in the same degree. If Narrator wants to limit accessability to magic items, it will impair warriors much more than adepts, which can use equivalent powers instead of magic items.
Such feats as Improved Weapon Damage, Bathed in Styx, Rage can to some degree alleviate the lack of proper magic items, but at higher levels they are not enough to run D&D adventures. Characters need to be able to see invisible, see in darkness, to fly, to attack incorporeal foes etc. While adepts have access to necessary powers, warriors must rely on equipment.
Designing a fitting economy should be made easier by the minimum levels required to use magic items depending on their price, as shown in tables below. As long as characters are not allowed to use items above their level, and have enough appropriate magic items near their own level, the power level of the party shouldn’t be affected.
Independently from the selected economy model, it should be possible to exchange magic items with NPCs on the barter basis. This requires, of course, finding an NPC willing to buy exactly the item your character has, and possessing the item you want. Some NPC adventurers may also be willing to pay for specific items for their own use in cash, but in that case they will generally offer only ¾ of the listed price. On the other hand, some characters can have unneeded magic items, which they will sell either for cash or for some other benefits, depending on the type of economy.
The standard economy presented in D&D rules foresees a fairly liquid market in magic items. It is enough to visit big enough city and you can buy all necessary items. In general, a character can sell something for half its listed price, including weapons, armor, gear, and magic items. To keep things balanced, this also includes character-created items. The difference between the price the merchants are willing to pay for items and
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the price for which they sell them represents not only their profit, but also their high costs and remuneration for high risks.
Note that listed prices require characters to spend practically all their treasure per level on magic items. For that reason, if Narrator relies on characters selling and buying items, it can be useful to provide an NPC artificier who will craft items for characters at half-price, that is at cost, in gratitude for help and in exchange for protection, formulas to create new magic items, rare components and the like. This will ensure that they have access to all necessary magic items and at the sime time have enough magic for buy castles, entertain etc.
The rules provide an alternative – item crafting. If Narrator provides enough treasure, downtime and magic item formulas, it is possible to spend 20 levels without selling or buying anything on the open market.
It is also possible to design an economy in which magic items are never discarded. All items are artifacts, inherited, found or captured by PCs. Artifacts automatically adjust their level to the level of PCs. Artifact weapons are presented below. The table of required level for various magic armor enchantments and wondrous items can be easily used to design an artifact armor or a special item.
There is also the most simple possibility – characters simply find necessary items during adventures. This is the least “realistic” possibility, since Narrator must discuss beforehand with players what items they want to find.
Finally, it is also possible to combine all four approaches. Some characters may be able to craft items, but do not have all formulas and enough time to supply the whole party. A few possess artifact weapon, other buy part of necessary equipment on the open market or from secretive crafters.
In addition to those simple and even simplistic variants, there exist more complicated systems. For example there is the tier system, known also as the Wish economy.
It is based on the observation that high level characters using such things as Wish spell (ritual in these rules) or the planar travel can easily gain an arbitrary amount of gold. If they use this gold to buy magic items, they can easily “break” D&D. The rules provided here are somewhat less vulnerable, due to minimum levels necessary to use magic items. This keeps most unbalanced items from being abused, but it is not quite enough. An abundant choice of magic items makes characters much more versatilite, and encounters easier.
In this system there are at least two separate economic systems: Gold Economy and Wish Economy. Gold Economy, as the name indicates, involve items which can be bought for gold. And only items costing up to 15 thousand gp can be bought for gold. More expensive items are traded in the Wish economy.
Wish economy paradixically involves items you cannot merely Wish for. For such items the price in gp is only an abstract measure of value; they cannot be bought for any amount of gold. On the other hand, they can be bartered – only for other Wish economy items – or traded for planar currencies, from more obvious, such as astral diamonds or planar pearls, to more esoteric magical substances and alchemical components, such as lapis philosophorum, prima materia, black lotus, juice of Upas tree, etc.
Crafting Magic Items
Crafting magic items does not require any special feats (Imbue Item feat is removed). Only characters with the following power source feats: Cleric, Sorcerer, Wizard, Use Magic Item can create magic items, although they may need help to create the basic nonmagical items which will be enchanted. The character must have at least the minimum level indicated in the description. If your character level is too low to use the item, you cannot create the item in question.
The artificer must know how to create the magic item, that is, during the game he must find or research the formula to create it. The techniques to create basic items are known to all. To the basic items belong: cloak or vest of resistance, gloves of dexterity, belt of strength, gauntlets of power, master’s ring. Similarly, all characters with the above mentioned power source feats know how to add enhancement bonuses to weapons and armor, and how to add elemental damage to weapons.
The necessary ingredients and other expenditures necessary to create an item (exclusive of the upkeep of the artificer) cost half of the listed price. It is additionally possible to lower the price by finding the necessary ingredients during adventures – Narrator should treat them as an equivalent to treasure, and include them in the calculation of wealth per level.
The creator also needs a fairly comfortable, well-lit and adequately equipped place in which to work. Creating an item requires about one day per 1,000 gp in the item’s base price, with a minimum of at least one day. Potions are an exception to this rule; they always take just one day to brew. The caster works for 8 hours each day. He cannot rush the process by working longer each day. But the days need not be consecutive, and the caster can use the rest of his time as he sees fit. A character can work on only one item at a time.
To create magic armor or a magic weapon, a character needs a heat source and some iron, wood, or leatherworking tools. He also needs a supply of materials, the most obvious being the armor or the pieces of the armor to be assembled. Armor to be made into magic armor must be masterwork armor, and the masterwork cost
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is added to the base price to determine final market value. Additional magic supplies costs for the materials are subsumed in the cost for creating the magic armor or weapon.
At the time of creation, the creator must decide if the weapon glows or not as a side-effect of the magic imbued within it. This decision does not affect the price or the creation time, but once the item is finished, the decision is binding.
A creator can add new magical abilities to a magic item with no restrictions. The cost to do this is the same as if the item was not magical. Thus, a +1 longsword can be made into a +2 vorpal longsword, with the cost to create it being equal to that of a +2 vorpal sword minus the cost of a +1 sword.
If the item is one that occupies a specific place on a character’s body the cost of adding any additional ability to that item increases by 50%. For example, if a character adds the power to confer invisibility to her ring of protection +2, the cost of adding this ability is the same as for creating a ring of invisibility multiplied by 1.5. For this purpose, both armor and weapons don’t count as items occupying a specific slot, and so adding a new ability to them incurs only the normal price.
As an exception you can add additional properties to basic items for normal, not increased price. To the basic items belong: cloak or vest of resistance, gloves of dexterity, belt of strength, gauntlets of power, master’s ring.
You can also remodel items, removing some properties and imbuing it with another. You pay only the increase in cost between the starting item and the final result. If as a result you get an item cheaper than the starting one, you do not recover the price difference. Modifying a magic items costs no less than 500 gp.
Magical Weapons A masterwork weapon can be imbued with supernatural power, making it a magical weapon. Magical weapons have the usual properties of masterwork weapons. Magic weapons have enhancement bonuses to damage ranging from +1 to +5. The enhancement bonus to damage does not give any bonuses to Attack. For the purposes of attack bonus, magic weapons don’t differ from masterwork weapons.
Enhancement bonus of a weapon is always equal to half of the total weapon bonus, rounding up. (Eg weapon with +10 total bonus has +5 enhancement bonus, and 5 in other special abilities). The total weapon bonus is an abstract number, which reflects the potency and price of the weapon. To calculate the total weapon bonus for a given weapon, add the bonuses noted by each of its special enhancements to the enhancement bonus to damage. A single weapon cannot have a total bonus (enhancement bonus plus special ability bonus equivalents) higher than +10.
In addition to an enhancement bonus, weapons may have special abilities. Special abilities count as additional enhancement for determining the market value of the item, but do not modify attack or damage bonuses (except where specifically noted). All magical weapons count as supernatural weapons. Any magical weapon can bypass Damage Reduction/Supernatural, which equals D&D Damage Reduction/magic.
Some magic weapons shed light equivalent to a light spell (bright light in a 20-foot radius, shadowy light in a 40-foot radius). These glowing weapons are quite obviously magical. Such a weapon can’t be concealed when drawn, nor can its light be shut off. Some of the specific weapons detailed below always or never glow, as defined in their descriptions.
Some weapon qualities and some specific weapons have an extra effect on a critical hit. This special effect functions against creatures not subject to critical hits, such as undead, elementals, and constructs. When fighting against such creatures, roll for critical hits as you would against humanoids or any other creature subject to critical hits. On a successful critical roll, apply the special effect, but do not add the weapon’s critical damage.
Some weapon qualities cause elemental damage. In that case treat the total damage of weapon as elemental. If a creature has Resistance or Immunity to the weapon’s elemental damage, you can use the weapon as if it didn’t cause the bonus elemental damage. Remember that elemental damage bypasses Damage Reduction, even DR/-, but not DR/area.
Each magical weapons must first be a masterwork weapon, which costs 300 gp.
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Weapon Bonus
Base Price Minimum Character
Level +1 1,000 gp 3 +2 4,000 gp 6 +3 9,000 gp 9 +4 16,000 gp 11 +5 25,000 gp 13 +6 36,000 gp 15 +7 49,000 gp 16 +8 64,000 gp 17 +9 81,000 gp 18 +10 100,000 gp 19
Magic Weapon Special Ability Descriptions In addition to enhancement bonuses, weapons can have one or more of the special abilities detailed below. A weapon with a special ability must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus. If the weapon allows the target to make a saving throw, its difficulty equals:
10 + 1/2 the wielder’s character level (rounding down) + the wielder’s Charisma Adamantine: This ultrahard metal adds to the quality of a weapon. Weapons fashioned from adamantine are particularly hard. They deal damage increased by 5 when attacking objects – but not constructs. They receive +5 bonus to toughness against sunder attempts. They can inflict critical damage on constructs. Adamantine is so costly that weapons made from it are always of masterwork quality; the masterwork cost is included in the price given below. Price 3000 gp. Adaptable: If the damage resistance of a creature can be bypassed by a weapon made form a specific material (eg adamantine, cold iron or silver) the weapon is treated as if made of that material. If the damage resistance can be bypassed by a weapon causing specific damage (piercing, slashing, bludgeoning) the weapon causes that kind of damage. Price +2 bonus. Bane: A bane weapon excels at attacking one type or subtype of creature. Against its designated foe, you get a +2 bonus on Bluff, Intimidate, Notice, Sense Motive, and Survival checks as well as +1 damage on all attacks against them. At character level 6 the bonus to damage increases to +2, at level 12 to +3, and at level 18 to +4. Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the bane quality upon their ammunition. This is treated as Combat Style power and does not stack with Combat Style feats, such as Favored Opponent. Moderate conjuration; Price +1 bonus. Cold Iron: Any steel or iron weapon, which is not silver or adamantine, counts as Cold Iron – and Can bypass damage reduction of certain creatures, especially fey and demons. Price n/a Dancing: As a standard action, a dancing weapon can be loosed to attack on its own. It makes melee attacks, with exactly the same Attack Bonus and Damage as if wielded by its possessor, and immediately returns to his hand. It can attack up to 2 opponents per standard action. They cannot be further away than 30 feet from the possessor of the Dancing weapon and from each other. Strong transmutation; Price +4 bonus. Defending: A defending weapon gives +1 bonus to defence against melee attacks to the wielder. If the wielder has two weapons with this ability, the bonuses do not stack. Moderate abjuration; Price +1 bonus. Disruption: A weapon of disruption is the bane of all undead. Any undead creature at least wounded by this weapon must succeed on a Will save or be destroyed. Any other creature at least wounded by this weapon must succeed on a Fortitude save or become Staggered. The difficulty of the save equals 10 + 1/2 the wielder’s character level + the wielder’s Charisma. A weapon of disruption must be a bludgeoning weapon. Strong conjuration; Price +2 bonus. Distance: This property can only be placed on a ranged weapon. A weapon of distance has double the range increment of other weapons of its kind. Moderate divination; Price +1 bonus. Flaming: Upon command (free action), a flaming weapon is sheathed in fire. The fire does not harm the wielder. It does not cause any additional damage, but lets you treat the total damage of weapon as elemental. Total elemental damage, which includes basic damage of the weapons, bypasses Damage Reduction. You can stop this effect as a free action. Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the fire energy upon their ammunition. Moderate evocation; Price +1 bonus. Force: Projectile weapons turn shot ammunition into force effect. Attack counts as force attack, ignores damage reduction and affects normally incorporeal creatures. Weapons doesn’t damage creatures immune to force. Moderate evocation, Price +2 bonus Frost: Upon command (free action), a frost weapon is sheathed in icy cold. It does not cause any additional damage, but lets you treat the total damage of weapon as elemental. Total elemental damage, which includes basic damage of the weapons, bypasses Damage Reduction. You can stop this effect as a free action. Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the cold energy upon their ammunition. Moderate evocation; Price +1 bonus.
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Ghost Touch: A ghost touch weapon deals damage normally against incorporeal creatures, regardless of its bonus. (An incorporeal creature’s 50% chance to avoid damage does not apply to attacks with ghost touch weapons.) The weapon can be picked up and moved by an incorporeal creature at any time. A manifesting ghost can wield the weapon against corporeal foes. Essentially, a ghost touch weapon counts as either corporeal or incorporeal at any given time, whichever is more beneficial to the wielder. It cannot bypass armor, however. Moderate conjuration; Price +1 bonus. Holy: A holy weapon is imbued with holy power. This power makes the weapon virtue-aligned and thus bypasses the corresponding damage reduction. Any fiend and undead at least wounded by this weapon must succeed on a Will save or be destroyed. Any other vice-aligned creature at least wounded by this weapon must succeed on a Will save or become Staggered. The difficulty of the save equals 10 + 1/2 the wielder’s character level + the wielder’s Charisma. A holy weapon bestows – 2 penalty to all checks, saves and Defence on any vice-aligned attempting to wield it. The effect remains as long as the weapon is in hand and disappears when the weapon is no longer wielded. Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the holy power upon their ammunition. This cannot be combined with the Bane ability. Moderate evocation [good]; creator must be good; Price +2 bonus. Irresistible: Irresistible weapons can overcome all kinds of damage reduction. Since Irresistible ability trumps all other means of overcoming damage reduction, if a creature’s damage reduction can be overcome by a weapon at all, a Irrestible weapon will do so. The only exception is DR/- (bypassed by elemental damage and supernatural powers) and DR/area (can be bypassed only by area weapons). Price +3 bonus. Keen or Impact: This ability doubles the threat range of a weapon. Only piercing or slashing weapons can be keen, and only blunt weapons can be Impact. This benefit doesn’t stack with any other effect that expands the threat range of a weapon (such as the keen edge spell or the Improved Critical feat). Moderate transmutation; CL 10th; keen edge; Price +1 bonus. Maiming: The weapon deals +2 damage on critical hit. Faint transmutation; Price +1 bonus. Merciful: The weapon deals an extra +1 damage, and all damage it deals is nonlethal damage. On command (free action), the weapon suppresses this ability until commanded to resume it. Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the merciful effect upon their ammunition. Faint conjuration; Price +1 bonus. Returning: This special ability can only be placed on a weapon that can be thrown. A returning weapon flies through the air back to the creature that threw it. It returns to the thrower just before the creature’s next turn (and is therefore ready to use again in that turn). Catching a returning weapon when it comes back is a free action. If the character can’t catch it, or if the character has moved since throwing it, the weapon drops to the ground in the square from which it was thrown. Moderate transmutation; Price +1 bonus. Seeking: Only ranged weapons can have the seeking ability. The weapon veers toward its target, negating any miss chances that would otherwise apply, such as from concealment. (The wielder still has to aim the weapon at the right square. Arrows mistakenly shot into an empty space, for example, do not veer and hit invisible enemies, even if they are nearby.) Strong divination; Price +1 bonus. Shining: The weapon sheds bright light in a 20-foot radius, and dim light for an additional 20 feet beyond that. Some weapons can glow only when in combat, and other can be turned on and off as a free action. Faint evocation, Price 500 gp. Shock: Upon command (free action), a shock weapon is sheathed in crackling electricity. It does not cause any additional damage, but lets you treat the total damage of weapon as elemental. Total elemental damage, which includes basic damage of the weapons, bypasses Damage Reduction. You can stop this effect as a free action. Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the electricity energy upon their ammunition. Moderate evocation; Price +1 bonus. Silvered: The weapons is plated with silver in an alchemical process. It bypasses the damage reduction of certain creatures such as lycanthropes. Adamantine weapons cannot be silvered, and mithril ones do not need to be. Price: 500 gold. Sonic: Upon command (free action), a sonic weapon begins to vibrate. It does not cause any additional damage, but lets you treat the total damage of weapon as elemental. Total elemental damage, which includes basic damage of the weapons, bypasses Damage Reduction. You can stop this effect as a free action. Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the property upon their ammunition. Moderate evocation; Price +1 bonus.
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Speed: The wielder of a speed weapon may make one extra attack with it. If you attack one target with both attacks and both hit, increase the damage of one attack by 2 and disregard the other (similarly to the use of a combined attack). This benefit is not cumulative with similar effects giving additional attacks. Moderate transmutation; Price +3 bonus. Spell Storing: A spell storing weapon allows an adept to use a power targeting one creature on it. The adept level cannot be greater than 5. Any time the weapon strikes a creature and the creature takes damage from it, the weapon can immediately use the power on that creature as a free action if the wielder desires. If the power requires an attack roll, it succeeds automatically. Once the power has been cast from the weapon, it can be again filled. The weapon magically imparts to the wielder the name of the power currently stored within it. A randomly rolled spell storing weapon has a 50% chance to have a spell stored in it already. Strong evocation (plus aura of stored spell); Price +1 bonus. Throwing: This ability can only be placed on a melee weapon. A melee weapon crafted with this ability gains a range increment of 10 feet and can be thrown by a wielder proficient in its normal use. Faint transmutation; Price +1 bonus Thundering: A thundering weapon creates a cacophonous roar like thunder upon striking a successful hit. An opponent hit by a Thundering Weapon must make a Fortitude save or be deafened. It also gives +5 to damage against objects (does not stack with bonus to adamantine weapons). Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the sonic energy upon their ammunition. Faint necromancy; Price +1 bonus. Undead Striking: This weapon can inflict critical hits and sneak attacks on undead creatures. Moderate Conjuration, CL 11th, Price +1 bonus Unholy: An unholy weapon is imbued with unholy power. This power makes the weapon vice-aligned and thus bypasses the corresponding damage reduction. Any virtue-aligned creature at least wounded by this weapon must succeed on a Will save or be destroyed. The difficulty of the save equals 10 + 1/2 the wielder’s character level + the wielder’s Charisma. An unholy weapon bestows – 2 penalty to all checks, saves and Defence to any virtue-aligned creature attempting to wield it. Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the unholy power upon their ammunition. This cannot be combined with the Bane ability. Moderate evocation [evil]; creator must be evil; Price +2 bonus. Vorpal: This potent and feared ability allows the weapon to cut to pieces any opponent it strikes. Any creature at least wounded by this weapon must succed on a Fortitude save or be instantly destroyed. The difficulty of the save equals 10 + 1/2 the wielder’s character level + the wielder’s Charisma. In addition, a vorpal weapon bypasses any damage resistance. Vorpal weapon must be a slashing weapon. Strong necromancy and transmutation; CL 18th; circle of death, keen edge; Price +5 bonus.
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Artifact Weapons Generally, the continuous search for new, better weapons and armor is considered a fun part of D&D. But sometimes, you would prefer to avoid it and simply have a weapon remain adequate independently from level. In such a case, the character can find an artifact weapon. Artifact weapons can never be bought, and no one will buy them from characters – they are either too dangerous, or will only work for some people (amongst them the character who found it, of course). It does not have to be added that characters are unable to put additional permanent enchantments on an artifact weapon. It cannot be improved.
The powers of an artifact weapon depend on the level of character wielding it. The basic weapon can be made of any special material available. It is always a masterwork weapon. In additon, all artifacts are difficult to destroy. Each should have only a single, specific means of destruction – and this should be revealed only if the Narrator thinks it can improve the adventure.
The save difficulty for Major Qualities of Artifact weapons equals:
10 + 1/2 the wielder’s character level + the wielder’s Charisma
6 1 Shape-shifting - ignores damage resistance due to a specific kind of damage (piercing, slashing, bludgeoning).
7 1
8 1
9 2 Elemental Weapon
10 2
11 2 Adaptable (ignores damage resistance due to material or kind of damage)
12 3
13 3
14 3
15 4 Irresistible (ignores damage resistance)
16 4
17 5 Ghost Touch
18 5
19 5 Major Quality
20 5
Magic weapon: Artifact weapons always count as magic (supernatural) weapons, even if because of the low level of their wielder they do not provide any bonuses to damage. As magic weapons they are automatically masterwork weapons, providing +1 bonus to hit.
Elemental Weapon: As a free action, the artifact weapon surrounds itself with an elemental aura. The kind of elemental damage is selected by Narrator when designing the weapon. It does not cause any additional damage in addition to the Bonus damage of the artifact, but you treat the total damage of weapon as elemental. Total elemental damage, which includes basic damage of the weapons, bypasses Damage Reduction. You can turn off this effect as a free action.
Lesser Quality: Each Artifact weapon have some effect which functions always, even if the character wielding the weapon has only one level. Narrator selects one effect when designing an artifact weapon: Bane- A bane weapon excels at attacking one type or subtype of creature. Against its designated foe, you get a +2 bonus on Bluff, Intimidate, Notice, Sense Motive, and Survival checks as well as +1 damage on all attacks against them. At character level 6 the bonus to damage increases to +2, at level 12 to +3, and at level 18 to +4. Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the bane quality upon their ammunition. This is treated as Combat Style power and does not stack with Combat Style feats, such as Favored Opponent.
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Throwing&Returning - This quality can only be placed on a melee weapon. A melee weapon with this ability gains a range increment of 10 feet and can be thrown by a wielder proficient in its normal use. It returns to the thrower just before the creature’s next turn (and is therefore ready to use again in that turn). Spell Storing - A spell storing weapon allows an adept to use a power targeting one creature on it. The adept level used to cast the power cannot be greater than the level of wielder. Any time the weapon strikes a creature and the creature takes damage from it, the weapon can immediately use the power on that creature as a free action if the wielder desires. If the power requires an attack roll, it succeeds automatically. Once the power has been cast from the weapon, it can be again filled. Raging - The wielder can benefit from the Rage feat even without taking it. (Remember that you can use only one Combat Style feat, such as Rage, at a time). Seeking - Only ranged weapons can have the seeking quality. The weapon or missile veers toward its target, negating any miss chances that would otherwise apply, such as from concealment. (The wielder still has to aim the weapon at the right square. Arrows mistakenly shot into an empty space, for example, do not veer and hit invisible enemies, even if they are nearby.) Keen or Impact - This ability doubles the threat range of a weapon. Only piercing or slashing weapons can be keen, and only blunt weapons can have the Impact quality. This benefit doesn’t stack with any other effect that expands the threat range of a weapon (such as the keen edge spell or the Improved Critical feat). Fighting-The weapon knows how to fight by itself, directing the wielder’s hand. The wielder can benefit from the Attack Specialisation feat without taking it. (Remember that you can use only one Combat Style feat, such as Attack Specialisation, at a time). Transforming – The weapon can transform into any kind of weapon the wielder is proficient with as a standard action. It can also change its size to suit the wielder as a standard action.
Major Quality: When the wielder reaches level 18, the major quality of the artifact weapon is revealed. Narrator selects one effect when desinging an artifact weapon: Terror - A weapon of terror strikes fear into the hearts of its foes. Any opponent must make a Will Save when at least hurt by this weapon, or become shaken for 1 hour. In addition, anyone intending to attack the wielder must first make Will save or be unable to do so. A succesful Will save allows to attack the wielder for the duration of encounter. This is a Fear effect. Soul-Eater-A soul-eater weapon absorbs the soul of any enemy slain with it. A victim who is killed by a soul-eater weapon has their soul immediately drawn into the weapon. Not even a wish can be used to revive the victim, until the weapon is destroyed. Petrification - A living victim at least wounded by this weapon who fails a Fortitude Save is petrified. Lifestealer - Any living opponent at least hurt by the weapon must make a Will save. If the save fails, the target sufers a level of fatigue, while the wielder regains a level of fatigue (if he is currently fatigued). When an unconscious opponent fails the save he dies immediately. Unhealing Wounds - This weapon inflicts unhealing wounds. An opponent with an unhealing wound remains at the highest wound level inflicted by this weapon and does not get recovery checks, regeneration etc until an adept uses the Imbue Life (Heal) supernatural power on him. The adept must succeed on an adept level check against the wielder level or the power has no effect on the victim. Disruption - A weapon of disruption is the bane of all undead. Any undead creature at least wounded by this weapon must succeed on a Will save or be destroyed. Any other creature at least wounded by this weapon must succeed on a Fortitude save or become Staggered. A weapon of disruption must be a bludgeoning weapon. Holy - A holy weapon is imbued with holy power. Any fiend and undead at least wounded by this weapon must succeed on a Will save or be destroyed. Any other vice-aligned creature at least wounded by this weapon must succeed on a Will save or become Staggered. A holy weapon bestows – 2 penalty to all checks, saves and Defence on any vice-aligned attempting to wield it. The effect remains as long as the weapon is in hand and disappears when the weapon is no longer wielded. Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the holy power upon their ammunition. This cannot be combined with the Bane ability. Unholy - An unholy weapon is imbued with unholy power. Any virtue-aligned creature at least wounded by this weapon must succeed on a Will save or be destroyed. An unholy weapon bestows – 2 penalty to all checks, saves and Defence to any virtue-aligned creature attempting to wield it. Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the unholy power upon their ammunition. This cannot be combined with the Bane ability.
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Magical Armor In general, magic armor protects the wearer to a greater extent than nonmagical armor. A suit of armor cannot have magic enhancement bonus to Toughness greater than +5. It also cannot have the total bonus (enhancement plus special ability bonus equivalents) higher than +10.
The total bonus is an abstract number, which reflects the potency and price of the armor. To calculate the total bonus for a given armor, add the bonuses noted by each of its special enhancements to the enhancement bonus to toughness (Special abilities usually count as additional bonuses for determining the market value of an item, but do not improve enhancement bonus to toughness). Enhancement bonus of an armor must be equal to half of the total bonus, rounding up. (Eg an armor with +10 total bonus has +5 enhancement bonus, and 5 in other special abilities).
Shields cannot have enhancement bonus, but can have special abilities. The equivalent bonus of a shield cannot be greater than +5.
A character cannot use an armor or shield with an enhancement greater that indicated on the table below. In regard to abilities with the price designated in gp, not in equivalent enhancement bonus, use the table: Minimum Level To Use Wondrous Item (Check each individual property separately, do not add their prices together.)
One item can have only one kind of elemental resistance. Bonuses to Toughness from equipment granting Resistance to Energy or the Adept power Elemental Resistance don’t stack together and don’t stack with the total armor bonus (including enhancement). Therefore, it only makes sense to apply resistance to energy to an armor if it will be greater than armor bonus. Resistance to Energy possessed by some creatures does stack with armor bonus. Each magical armor or shield must be a masterwork item, which costs 150 gp.
Table: SHIELDS
Item Base Price
Minimum character level to use item
+1 shield 1,000 gp 3 +2 shield 4,000 gp 9 +3 shield 9,000 gp 13 +4 shield 16,000 gp 16 +5 shield 25,000 gp 18
Table: SHIELD SPECIAL ABILITIES Special Ability Base Price Modifier Arrow catching +1 bonus Bashing +1 bonus Blinding +1 bonus Variable +1 bonus Arrow deflection +2 bonus Animated +2 bonus Elemental Immunity +2 bonus Acid resistance +18,000 gp (min. level 14) Cold resistance +18,000 gp (min. level 14) Electricity resistance +18,000 gp (min. level 14) Fire resistance +18,000 gp (min. level 14) Sonic resistance +18,000 gp (min. level 14) Acid resistance, improved +42,000 gp (min. level 17) Cold resistance, improved +42,000 gp (min. level 17) Electricity resistance, improved +42,000 gp (min. level 17) Fire resistance, improved +42,000 gp (min. level 17) Sonic resistance, improved +42,000 gp (min. level 17) Spell resistance +4 bonus Acid resistance, greater +66,000 gp (min. level 19) Cold resistance, greater +66,000 gp (min. level 19) Electricity resistance, greater +66,000 gp (min. level 19) Fire resistance, greater +66,000 gp (min. level 19) Sonic resistance, greater +66,000 gp (min. level 19)
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Table: ARMOR Item Base
Price Minimum character level to use item
+1 armor 1,000 gp 3 +2 armor 4,000 gp 6 +3 armor 9,000 gp 9 +4 armor 16,000 gp 11 +5 armor 25,000 gp 13 +6 armor 36,000 gp 15 +7 armor 49,000 gp 16 +8 armor 64,000 gp 17 +9 armor 81,000 gp 18 +10 armor 100,000 gp 19
Table: ARMOR SPECIAL ABILITIES Special Ability Base Price Modifier Glamered +2,700 gp (min. level 7) Comfortable +1 bonus Elemental Aura +1 bonus Impenetrable +1 bonus Slick +3,750 gp (min. level 8) Agile +1 bonus Blur +1 bonus Elemental Immunity +2 bonus Fortification +3 bonus Ghost +3 Shadow +7,500 gp (min. level 11) Slick, improved +15,000 gp (min. level 14) Acid resistance +18,000 gp (min. level 14) Cold resistance +18,000 gp (min. level 14) Electricity resistance +18,000 gp (min. level 14) Fire resistance +18,000 gp (min. level 14) Sonic resistance +18,000 gp (min. level 14) Acid resistance, improved +42,000 gp (min. level 17) Cold resistance, improved +42,000 gp (min. level 17) Electricity resistance, improved +42,000 gp (min. level 17) Fire resistance, improved +42,000 gp (min. level 17) Sonic resistance, improved +42,000 gp (min. level 17) Spell resistance +4 bonus Etherealness +49,000 gp (min. level 18) Acid resistance, greater +66,000 gp (min. level 19) Cold resistance, greater +66,000 gp (min. level 19) Electricity resistance, greater +66,000 gp (min. level 19) Fire resistance, greater +66,000 gp (min. level 19) Sonic resistance, greater +66,000 gp (min. level 19)
Acid Resistance: A suit of armor or a shield with this property normally has a dull gray appearance. The armor gives a +12 bonus to Toughness against acid damage. One item can have only one kind of elemental resistance. Faint abjuration; CL 3rd; resist energy; Price 18,000 gp, min. level 14 Acid Resistance, Improved: As acid resistance, except it gives +14 bonus to Toughness against acid damage. Moderate abjuration; CL 7th; resist energy; Price 42,000 gp. min. level 17 Acid Resistance, Greater: As acid resistance, except it except it gives +16 bonus to Toughness against acid damage. Moderate abjuration; CL 11th; resist energy; Price 66,000 gp. min. level 19 Adamantine: Shield made from adamantine has +5 bonus to toughness against sunder attempts. Armor or shield made from adamantine is always a masterwork item (cost already included). The armor check penalty is reduced by 1 because of masterwork bonus. Armor bonus of adamantine armor is Impenetrable. The characters wearing such an armor cannot be damaged by attacks with damage lesser than armor bonus, including enhancement. Finesse attacks which bypass armor are not subject to this limitation.
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Price 15,000 gp (heavy) or 10,000 gp (medium armor), or +3,000 gp (shields) Agile: This suit of armor has armor check penalty reduced by 2 (together with masterwork this makes 3). Moderate Transmutation. CL 8th, Price +1 bonus Animated: This shield does not cause armor check penalty and can be readied or loosed as a free action. Strong transmutation; CL 12th; animate objects; Price +2 bonus. Arrow Catching: A shield with this ability attracts ranged weapons to it. It has a +1 bonus to defence against ranged weapons because projectiles and thrown weapons veer toward it. Moderate abjuration; CL 8th; entropic shield; Price +1 bonus. Arrow Deflection: A shield with this ability protects the wielder from ranged attacks. It has a +2 bonus to defence against ranged weapons. Faint abjuration; CL 5th; shield; Price +2 bonus. Bashing: A shield with this special ability is designed to perform a shield bash. A bashing shield deals bludgeoning damage as if it were a weapon of two size categories larger (a buckler deals 2 points of damage and a shield deals 3 points of damage). The shield acts as a magic masterwork weapon when used to bash. (Tower shields cannot have this ability.) Moderate transmutation; CL 8th; bull’s strength; Price +1 bonus. Blinding: A shield with this ability flashes with a brilliant light up to twice per day upon command of the wielder (standard action). Anyone within 20 feet except the wielder must make a Reflex save or be blinded for 3 rounds. Moderate evocation; CL 7th; searing light; Price +1 bonus. Blur: You can activate your armor as a free action. This enables the blur effect, giving you concealment against all attacks - 20% miss chance. This effect persists for 3 minutes. After that time, you must make Fortitude Save with difficulty 14 or lose one level of fatigue (this counts as a Fatigue save for using supernatural powers, with penalties for multiple fatigue saves). Price: +1 bonus. Comfortable: You can sleep in this armor without fatigue. Additionally, you never receive any penalties due to wearing that armor in hot environment. Price: +1 bonus. Cold Resistance: A suit of armor or a shield with this property normally has a bluish, icy hue or is adorned with furs and shaggy pelts. It gives a +12 bonus to Toughness against cold damage. One item can have only one kind of elemental resistance. The resistance bonuses to toughness don’t stack together and don’t stack with the armor bonus. Faint abjuration; CL 3rd; resist energy; Price 18,000 gp Cold Resistance, Improved: As cold resistance, except it gives a +14 bonus to Toughness against cold damage. Moderate abjuration; CL 7th; resist energy; Price 42,000 gp Cold Resistance, Greater: As cold resistance, except it gives a +16 bonus to Toughness against cold damage. Moderate abjuration; CL 11th; resist energy; Price 66,000 gp. Dimension Door: As a standard action you transfer yourself from your current location to any other spot within 800 feet. You always arrive at exactly the spot desired—whether by simply visualizing the area or by stating direction. After using this power, you can’t take any other actions until your next turn. You can bring along objects as long as their weight doesn’t exceed your maximum load. You must make a Difficulty 18 Fortitude save or lose a level of fatigue (this counts as a fatigue save, with appropriate penalties).
If you arrive in a place that is already occupied by a solid body, you take damage 2 (ignoring armor) and are shunted to a random open space on a suitable surface within 100 feet of the intended location. If there is no free space within 100 feet you take instead damage 10 (ignoring armor) and the spell simply fails. Moderate Conjuration, Price 20,000 gp, minimum level to use: 15
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Electricity Resistance: A suit of armor or a shield with this property normally has a bluish hue and often bears a storm or lightning motif. It gives a +12 bonus to Toughness against electrical damage. One item can have only one kind of elemental resistance. The resistance bonuses to toughness don’t stack together and don’t stack with the armor bonus. Faint abjuration; CL 3rd; resist energy; Price 18,000 gp Electricity Resistance, Improved: As electricity resistance, except it gives a +14 bonus to Toughness against electrical damage. Moderate abjuration; CL 7th; resist energy; Price 42,000 gp Electricity Resistance, Greater: As electricity resistance, except it gives a +16 bonus to Toughness against electrical damage. Moderate abjuration; CL 11th; resist energy; Price 66,000 gp. Elemental Aura (energy type): Anyone grappling you or remaining in contact for a full round suffers +2 damage from the chosen element (fire, cold, electricity, sonic, acid). Faint abjuration; CL 3rd; Price +1 bonus. Elemental Immunity (energy type): You can activate this armor or shield as an immediate action, gaining the immunity to the chosen element (fire, cold, electricity, sonic, acid). This effect lasts 3 minutes. After that time, you must make Fortitude Save with difficulty 22 or lose one level of fatigue (this counts as a Fatigue save for using supernatural powers, with penalties for multiple fatigue saves). If one armor or shield has both Elemental Immunity and Elemental Resistance enchantments, they must protect from the same element. Strong Abjuration, Price +2 bonus Etherealness: On command (standard action), this ability allows the wearer of the armor to become ethereal once per day. The character can remain ethereal for as long as desired, but once he returns to normal, he cannot become ethereal again that day. If the effect ends while the wearer is inside a material object (such as a solid wall), he is shunted off to the nearest open space and take 1 point of damage per 5 feet that he so travels. On planes other than the Material, where Etherealness is not available, the wearer becomes instead incorporeal and invisible. Strong transmutation; CL 13th; ethereal jaunt; Price +42,000 gp, min. level 18. Fire Resistance: A suit of armor with this ability normally has a reddish hue and often is decorated with a draconic motif. It gives a +12 bonus to Toughness against fire damage. One item can have only one kind of elemental resistance. The resistance bonuses to toughness don’t stack together and don’t stack with the armor bonus. Faint abjuration; CL 3rd; resist energy; Price 18,000 gp Fire Resistance, Improved: As fire resistance, except it gives a +14 bonus to Toughness against fire damage. Moderate abjuration; CL 7th; resist energy; Price 42,000 gp. Fire Resistance, Greater: As fire resistance, except it gives a +16 bonus to Toughness against fire damage. Moderate abjuration; CL 11th; resist energy; Price 66,000 gp. Fortification: This suit of armor produces a magical force that protects vital areas of the wearer more effectively. The wearer is immune to critical hits, but not to sneak attacks. Strong abjuration; CL 13th; limited wish or miracle; Price +3 bonus
Ghost: This armor seems almost translucent. On command (a standard action) you become incorporeal, as if using the Phase power. This effect lasts 3 minutes. After that time, you must make Fortitude Save with difficulty 23 or lose one level of fatigue (this counts as a Fatigue save for using supernatural powers, with penalties for multiple fatigue saves). Strong transmutation; Price +3 bonus, minimum level 15. Glamered: A suit of armor with this ability appears normal. Upon command, the armor changes shape and form to assume the appearance of a normal set of clothing. The armor retains all its properties (including weight) when glamered. Only a true seeing spell or similar magic reveals the true nature of the armor when disguised. Moderate illusion; Price +2,700 gp.
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Impenetrable: This armor is especially precisely constructed, with well fitting joints. It provides Damage Reduction 3 against swarm attacks, and a bonus to Concentration checks and saves caused by swarms equal to armor bonus. Moderate Abjuration, Price + 1 bonus, Mithril: Mithril is a very rare silvery, glistening metal that is lighter than iron but just as hard. When worked like steel, it becomes a wonderful material from which to create armor and is occasionally used for other items as well. An item made from mithril weighs half as much as the same item made from other metals. Weapons or armors fashioned from mithril are always masterwork items as well; the masterwork cost is included in the prices given below. An armor or shield made of mithril has its armor penalty check reduced by 2 (together with masterwork bonus by 3). Light armor +1,000 gp Medium armor +4,000 gp Heavy armor +9,000 gp Shield +1,000 gp Shadow: This armor is jet black and blurs the wearer whenever she tries to hide, additionally dampening sound around her. The armor grants a +5 competence bonus on Stealth checks. (The armor’s check penalty still applies normally.) Faint illusion; Price +7,500 gp. Slick: Slick armor seems coated at all times with a slightly greasy oil. It provides a +5 bonus on its wearer’s Escape Artist checks. (The armor’s armor check penalty still applies normally.) This doesn’t increase Grapple Defense. Faint conjuration; Price +3,750 gp. Slick, Improved: As slick, except in addition to a +5 bonus on Escape Artist it gives +5 bonus to Grapple Defense. Moderate conjuration; Price +15,000 gp. Sonic Resistance: A suit of armor or a shield with this property normally has a glistening appearance. It gives a +12 bonus to Toughness against sonic damage. One item can have only one kind of elemental resistance. The resistance bonuses to toughness don’t stack together and don’t stack with the armor bonus. Faint abjuration; Price 18,000 gp Sonic Resistance, Improved: As sonic resistance, except it gives a +14 bonus to Toughness against sonic damage. Moderate abjuration; Price 42,000 gp. Sonic Resistance, Greater: As sonic resistance, except it gives a +16 bonus to Toughness against sonic damage. Moderate abjuration; Price 66,000 gp. Spell Resistance: This property grants the armor’s or shield’s wearer spell resistance (+2 to all saves against magic) while the armor or shield is worn. It can be put only on medium or heavy armor and on full shields, but not on bucklers. Strong abjuration; Price +4 bonus Variable: This shield can assume any size (from buckler to tower shield). You give it orders mentally, as a swift action. Faint transmutation, Price +1 bonus Void:
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Wondrous Items Table: MINIMUM LEVEL TO USE WONDROUS ITEM
Can use items costing up to :
character level
150 gp 1 400 gp 2 800 gp 3 1 300 gp 4 1 800 gp 5 2 300 gp 6 3 000 gp 7 4 000 gp 8 5 000 gp 9 6 500 gp 10 8 000 gp 11 10 000 gp 12 13 000 gp 13 18 000 gp 14 25 000 gp 15 36 000 gp 16 49 000 gp 17 64 000 gp 18 80 000 gp 19 80 001 gp and more 20
Amulet of Attunement (universal): This amulet of smooth, unadorned black stone allows a creature wearing it to function normally on any plane without suffering its ill effects. The amulet of attunement protects the wearer only against the plane itself, however, not from its denizens or effects produced by them, and not from unnatural formations found on the plane. Faint abjuration; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, avoid planar affects; Price 24,000 gp, level 15 Amulet of Attunement (single plane): This amulet of smooth, unadorned black stone allows a creature wearing it to function normally on one particular plane without suffering its ill effects. The amulet of attunement protects the wearer only against the plane itself, however, not from its denizens or effects produced by them, and not from unnatural formations found on the plane. Faint abjuration; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, avoid planar affects; Price 6,500 gp, level 10 Amulet of Mighty Fists: This amulet grants certain bonuses to unarmed attacks and natural weapons. First of all, your unarmed attack is a lethal attack, even if you don’t have Improved Strike feat. Moreover, your natural weapon or unarmed attack counts as supernatural/magic weapon and receives certain weapon abilities based on the price of your version of the amulet. Higher priced amulets include the benefits of cheaper ones. Minimum level Price Bonus
6 6,000 gp ignores damage resistance due to a specific kind of damage (piercing, slashing, bludgeoning).
11 24,000 gp Adaptable (ignores damage resistance due to material or kind of damage) 14 54,000 gp Irresistible (ignores damage resistance) 16 96,000 gp Ghost Touch 18 150,000 gp Improved Critical (like the feat, doubles the threat range of your attacks) Faint evocation; CL 5th; Price 6,000 gp (+1) - minimum level 6, 24,000 gp (+2) - level 11, 54,000 gp (+3) - level 14, 96,000 gp (+4) – level 16, 150,000 gp (+5) – level 18. Amulet of Natural Armor: This amulet, usually crafted from bone or beast scales, toughens the wearer’s body and flesh, giving him an enhancement armor bonus to Toughness of from +1 to +5, depending on the kind of amulet. This bonus does not stack with the enhancement armor bonus, eg from a magic armor. This bonus does not forbid the use of the Cunning Dodge feat.
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Faint transmutation; Price 2,000 gp (+1)-level 6, 8,000 gp (+2)- level 11, 18,000 gp (+3)-level 14, 32,000 gp (+4) – level 16, or 50,000 gp (+5) – level 18. Belt of Giant Strength: This wide belt is made of thick leather and studded with iron. The belt adds to the wearer’s Strength score in the form of an enhancement bonus of +1, +2 or +3 for 10 rounds. It follows the same rules as Gloves of Dexterity. Gloves of Dexterity can be used together with the Belt of Giant Strenght. Moderate transmutation; CL 10th; Price 4,000 gp (+1); 16,000 gp (+2), 36,000 gp (+3);Weight 1 lb. Boots, Winged: These boots appear to be ordinary footgear. On command, the boots sprout wings at the heel and let the wearer “walk” on air with a speed of 50 feet, with perfect maneuverability. He can fly for up to 3 minutes per flight. After that time the wearer must make Fortitude save with 16 difficulty or lose a level of fatigue. This counts as a fatigue save and is treated similarly to using a fatiguing supernatural power. Faint transmutation; CL 5th; Price 16,000 gp; Minimum level 14, Weight 1 lb. Bracers of Armor: These items appear to be wrist or arm guards. They surround the wearer with an invisible but tangible field of force, which give him magic enhancement armor bonus to Toughness from +1 to +5. Both bracers must be worn for the magic to be effective. This bonus does not stack with the enhancement armor bonus, eg from a magical armor. When the wearer has the Armor Training feat, bracers can be used to provide additionally +2 armor bonus, with no armor check penalty.
Bracers of armor cannot be used together with physical armor, Mage Armor power, the Amulet of Natural Armor, or the Ring of Protection. They remain effective when the wearer is in gaseous shape or shape-shifted. Moderate conjuration; 2,000 gp (+1)-level 6, 8,000 gp (+2)- level 11, 18,000 gp (+3)-level 14, 32,000 gp (+4) – level 16, or 50,000 gp (+5) – level 18. Broom of Flying: This broom is able to fly through the air with average maneuverability for up to 9 hours per day (split up as its owner desires). The broom can carry 200 pounds and fly at a speed of 40 feet, or up to 400 pounds at a speed of 30 feet. In addition, the broom can travel alone to any destination named by the owner as long as she has a good idea of the location and layout of that destination. It comes to its owner from as far away as 300 yards when she speaks the command word. The broom of flying has a speed of 40 feet when it has no rider. Moderate transmutation; CL 9th; Price 17,000 gp; minimum level 14, Weight 3 lb Cape of the Mountebank: On command, as a standard action, this bright red and gold cape allows the wearer to use the magic of the dimension door in order to transfer himself from his current location to any other spot within 800 feet. He always arrives at exactly the spot desired—whether by simply visualizing the area or by stating direction. After using this power, he can’t take any other actions until his next turn. He can bring along objects as long as their weight doesn’t exceed his maximum load. The wearer must make a Difficulty 18 Fortitude save or lose a level of fatigue (this counts as a fatigue save, with appropriate penalties). When he disappears, he leaves behind a cloud of smoke, appearing in a similar fashion at his destination.
If he arrives in a place that is already occupied by a solid body, he takes damage 2 (ignoring armor) and are shunted to a random open space on a suitable surface within 100 feet of the intended location. If there is no free space within 100 feet he takes instead damage 10 (ignoring armor) and the spell simply fails. Moderate conjuration; Price 10,000 gp; minimum level 12, Weight 1 lb.
Cloak or Vest of Resistance: These garments offer magic protection in the form of a +4 to +12 Resistance to all energy types (fire, cold, electric, acid, sonic). Resistance from different sources does not stack. Resistance bonus does not stack with armor bonus to toughness nor magic armor enhancement (so it makes sense to wear the cloak only when its Resistance bonus is greater than your total armor bonus to Toughness). Price 1,000 gp (+4) -level 4, 4,000 gp (+6) – level 8, 9,000 gp (+8) –level 12, 16,000 gp (+10) level 14, 25,000 gp (+12) – level 15; Weight 1 lb. Gloves of Dexterity: These thin leather gloves are very flexible and allow for delicate manipulation. As a free action they can add to the wearer’s Dexterity score an enhancement bonus of +1, +2, or +3 for 30 rounds (3 minutes). Both gloves must be worn for the magic to be effective. Treat this as an aplicaton of Enhance Ability power. They cannot be used together with bonuses from Enhance Ability.
As an exception, Gloves of Dexterity can be used together with the Belt of Giant Strenght. In that case, the sum of both enhancement bonuses cannot exceed 3. Add both bonuses and use the total to look up the difficulty of Fortitude save and the minimum character level to use.
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When the duration runs out, the user must make a Fortitude saving throw or suffer a level of fatigue (this counts as a Fatigue save for using supernatural powers, with penalties for multiple fatigue saves). Bonus Minimum level to
use Fortitude Difficulty
+1 8 15 +2 14 17
+3 16 19
Moderate transmutation; CL 8th; Price 4,000 gp (+1), 16,000 gp (+2), 36,000 gp (+3). Gauntlets of Ogre Power: These gauntlets are made of tough leather with iron studs running across the back of the hands and fingers. They grant the wearer great strength, adding a +1 enhancement bonus to his Strength score for 10 rounds. They follow the same rules as Gloves of Dexterity. Both gauntlets must be worn for the magic to be effective. Faint transmutation; CL 6th; Price 4,000 gp;Weight 4 lb. Efficient Quiver: This appears to be a typical arrow container capable of holding about twenty arrows. It has three distinct portions, each with a nondimensional space allowing it to store far more than would normally be possible. The first and smallest one can contain up to sixty objects of the same general size and shape as an arrow. The second slightly longer compartment holds up to eighteen objects of the same general size and shape as a javelin. The third and longest portion of the case contains as many as six objects of the same general size and shape as a bow (spears, staffs, or the like). Once the owner has filled it, the quiver can produce any item she wishes, as if from a regular quiver or scabbard. The efficient quiver weighs the same no matter what’s placed inside it. Moderate conjuration; Price 1,800 gp; Weight 2 lb. level 5. Gem of Seeing: This finely cut and polished stone is indistinguishable from an ordinary jewel in appearance. When it is gazed through, a gem of seeing enables the user to see as though she were affected by the true seeing spell. A gem of seeing can be used for as much as 30 minutes a day, divided up into periods of minutes or rounds as the user sees fit. Moderate divination; Minimum level to use: 19; Price 75,000 gp. Goggles of Minute Seeing: The lenses of this item are made of special crystal. When placed over the eyes of the wearer, the lenses enable her to see much better than normal at distances of 1 foot or less, granting her a +5 competence bonus on Search checks to find secret doors, traps, and similar concealed objects. Both lenses must be worn for the magic to be effective. If the wearer has the Use Magic Item feat, goggles give him also Second Sight power, but only at distances of 1 foot or less. Faint divination; Price 1,250 gp, Minimum level to use: 4. Goggles of Night: The lenses of this item are made of dark crystal. Even though the lenses are opaque, when placed over the eyes of the wearer they enable him to see normally and also grant him 60-foot darkvision. Both lenses must be worn for the magic to be effective. Moderate transmutation; Price 12,000 gp. Minimum level to use: 13. Goggles of Night, Greater: The lenses of this item are made of dark crystal. Even though the lenses are opaque, when placed over the eyes of the wearer they enable him to see normally and also grant him 60-foot darkvision. He receives also +5 bonus to Notice skill. Both lenses must be worn for the magic to be effective. The wearer can activate the goggles (as a standard action) to grant him blindsense out to 30 feet for 3 minutes. After that time the wearer must make Fortitude save with 16 difficulty or lose a level of fatigue. This counts as fatigue save and is treated similarly to using a fatiguing supernatural power. Faint transmutation; Price 16,000 gp. Minimum level to use: 14. Hand of Glory: This mummified human hand hangs by a leather cord around a character’s neck (taking up space as a magic necklace would). If a magic ring is placed on one of the fingers of the hand, the wearer benefits from the ring as if wearing it herself, and it does not count against her two-ring limit. The hand can wear only one ring at a time.
Even without a ring, the hand itself can be used to allow its wearer to see any objects or beings that are invisible within your range of vision. Naturally invisible or ethereal creatures, and also creatures affected by the Invisibility effect of Light Shaping power are seen automatically. Cloud the Mind power requires making a Will
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save (you don’t need to make Notice check). Creatures are visible to you as translucent shapes, allowing you easily to discern the difference between visible, invisible, and ethereal creatures.
This item does not reveal the method used to obtain invisibility. It does not reveal illusions or enable you to see through opaque objects. It does not reveal creatures who are simply hiding, concealed, or otherwise hard to see. It also does not allow you to avoid the miss chance caused by Blur. To turn this effect on you must take a standard action. This effect lasts for an hour, after which you must succeed on Difficulty 14 Fortitude check or suffer a level of fatigue. This counts as fatigue save and is treated similarly to using a fatiguing supernatural power.
Faint varied; CL 5th; Craft Wondrous Item, animate dead, daylight, detect invisibility; Price 8,000 gp; Weight 2 lb. level 11 Hat of Disguise: This apparently normal hat allows its wearer to alter her appearance. As part of the disguise, the hat can be changed to appear as a comb, ribbon, headband, cap, coif, hood, helmet, and so on.
You make yourself—including clothing, armor, weapons, and equipment—look different. You can seem 1 foot shorter or taller, thin, fat, or in between. You cannot change your body type. Otherwise, the extent of the apparent change is up to you. You could add or obscure a minor feature or look like an entirely different person. The hat does not provide the abilities or mannerisms of the chosen form, nor does it alter the perceived tactile (touch) or audible (sound) properties of you or your equipment. If you use this hat to create a disguise, you get a +10 bonus on the Disguise check.
A creature that interacts with the glamer gets a Will save to recognize it as an illusion. (Difficulty 10+half character level+Charisma). Faint illusion; CL 1st; Craft Wondrous Item, disguise self; Price 1,800 gp. Minimum level to use: 5 Lantern of Revealing: This lantern operates as a normal hooded lantern. While it is lit (a standard action), it also reveals all invisible creatures and objects within 25 feet of it. Naturally invisible or ethereal creatures, and also creatures affected by the Invisibility effect of Light Shaping power are seen automatically. To see characters affected by the Cloud the Mind power requires making a Will save. All characters able to see the target can attempt the save; they don’t need to make Notice check. Creatures are visible as translucent shapes, allowing you easily to discern the difference between visible, invisible, and ethereal creatures. Faint evocation; CL 5th, Price 30,000 gp;Weight 2 lb. Minimum level to use: 16 Potions of Healing: Drinking a potion grants an immediate magical recovery check, using the normal Difficulty (10, for dying characters 20). Instead of the subject’s constitution, use the bonus depending on the potency of a potion. • Cure Light Wounds: This potion provides a +4 bonus to the magical recovery check. • Cure Moderate Wounds: This potion provides a +8 bonus to the magical recovery check. • Cure Serious Wounds: This potion provides a +12 bonus to the magical recovery check The recipient heals the most serious wound condition if the magical recovery check succeeds. For every 10 points by which the magical recovery check result succeeds, the recipient’s next most serious damage condition heals. Cure light wounds (potion) 50 gp, Cure moderate wounds (potion) 300 gp, Cure serious wounds (potion) 750 gp Ring of Blinking: On command (standard action), this ring makes the wearer blink, as with the blink power. Moderate transmutation; CL 7th; Forge Ring, blink; Price 27,000 gp, Minimum level to use: 16
Ring of Energy Resistance: This reddish iron ring continually protects the wearer from damage from one type of energy—acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic (chosen by the creator of the item; determine randomly if found as part of a treasure hoard). The wearer has a +4 bonus to Toughness saving throws against damage of the given energy type. This does stack with armor bonuses, but not with other bonuses to energy resistance.
Faint abjuration; Price 12,000 gp, min. level 13.
Ring of Freedom of Movement: This gold ring allows the wearer to move and attack normally while underwater, even with slashing weapons such as axes and swords or with bludgeoning weapons such as flails, hammers, and maces, provided that the weapon is wielded in the hand rather than hurled. The freedom of movement ring does not, however, allow water breathing.
The wearer gains a +5 bonus to grapple defence. In addition his grapple defence is never lower than 20+level. Use the second value if it is higher than his normal grapple defence + 5.
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The wearer can make an opposed power check (as with the Ward power), when affected with magic that usually impedes movement, such as paralysis, solid fog, slow, and web, including magic which impedes movement in addition to damage. For the purpose of this check, the wearer has the Adept level equal to character level, with key ability being Charisma. If a wearer is an Adept, he can alternatively use his own key ability, but in that case must use his actual Adept level. Moderate abjuration; CL 7th; Price 40,000 gp. Minimum level to use: 17 Ring of Invisibility: By activating this simple silver ring (a standard action), the wearer can benefit from invisibility. The wearer is not magically silenced, and certain other conditions can render him detectable (such as stepping in a puddle). The effect ends if the subject attacks any creature. For purposes of this effect, an attack includes any spell targeting a foe or whose area or effect includes a foe. (Exactly who is a foe depends on the invisible character’s perceptions.) Actions directed at unattended objects do not break the spell. Causing harm indirectly is not an attack. Faint illusion; Price 20,000 gp. Minimum level to use: 15 Ring, Master’s : This ring increases your attack bonus with supernatural powers by +1. This stacks with Attack Focus. This ability can be added to rings with other abilities without increasing their price, and the other way round. (Normally, the second ability added to the same ring has price increased by 1.5). Faint divination; CL 3rd; Price 1,000 gp, Minimum level to use: 4. Ring or Amulet of Mind Shielding: This ring or amulet is usually of fine workmanship and wrought from heavy gold. The wearer is treated as possessing the Psychic Shield power, with the Adept level equal to character level and key ability being Charisma. If a wearer is an Adept, he can alternatively use his own key ability, but in that case must use his actual Adept level. Faint abjuration; CL 3rd, Price 8,000 gp. Minimum level to use: 11. Ring of Protection: This ring offers continual magical protection in the form of a an enhancement armor bonus to Toughness from +1 to +5, just as though the user were wearing the Amulet of Natural Armor. This bonus does not stack with the enhancement armor bonus, eg from a magical armor or the Amulet of Natural Armor. This bonus does not forbid the use of the Cunning Dodge feat. Faint abjuration; Price 2,000 gp (ring +1) level 6; 8,000 gp (ring +2) level 11; 18,000 gp (ring +3) level 14; 32,000 gp (ring +4) level 16; 50,000 gp (ring +5) level 18. Ring of Three Wishes: This ring is set with three rubies. Each ruby stores a wish spell, activated by the ring. When a wish is used, that ruby disappears. For a randomly generated ring, determine randomly the remaining number of rubies. See the Wish ritual on the particulars. Activating a ring and making a wish takes a standard action. You do not have to pay the basic cost of the ritual, but you do have to pay any additional costs pertaining to your wish. It is possible to place additional wishes into the ring by performing the Wish ritual, but a single ring cannot hold more than 3 wishes. Strong aura; CL 20th; Price 25,000 gp for an empty ring and 25,000 gp for each wish in it. Minimum level to use: n/a, but the ring will work reliably only for characters of 15 and greater level. The results of a lower level character trying to use a ring of wishes are up to Narrator and can require some pertractations with the entity granting the wishes. The Ring of Wishes can be crafted by Adept of at least 15 level. It is always crafted empty; to place any Wishes into it it is necessary to perform the Wish ritual. Robe of Blending: When this robe is put on, the wearer intuitively knows that the garment has very special properties. A robe of blending enables its wearer to appear to be part of his surroundings. This allows him a +5 bonus on Stealth checks. The wearer can adopt the appearance of another creature, as with the disguise self spell, at will (see Hat of Disguise). All creatures acquainted with and friendly to the wearer see him normally. Moderate illusion; Price 30,000 gp; Weight 1 lb. Minimum level to use: 16. Robe of the Archmagi: The wearer of this normal-appearing garment, if an arcane spellcaster, gains the following powers. +14 resistance to all energy types (fire, cold, electric, acid, sonic). + continual magical protection in the form of a +5 enhancement armor bonus to Toughness, just as though the user were wearing the Amulet of Natural Armor. This bonus does not stack with the enhancement armor bonus, eg from a magical armor or the Ring of Protection. This bonus does not forbid the use of the Cunning Dodge feat. Strong varied; Price 75,000 gp; Minimum level 19, Weight 1 lb.
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Robe of Eyes: This valuable garment appears to be a normal robe until it is put on. Its wearer is able to see in all directions at the same moment due to scores of visible, magical eyelike patterns that adorn the robe. She also gains 120-foot darkvision. The robe of eyes sees all forms of invisible or ethereal things within 120 feet.
The wearer of a robe of eyes gains a +5 competence bonus on Search checks and Notice checks used to spot. She retains her Dexterity bonus to Defence even when flat-footed, and she can’t be flanked. The wearer gets the benefit of Uncanny Dodge feat. However, she is not able to avert her eyes or close her eyes when confronted by a creature with a gaze attack. Moderate divination; Price 120,000 gp;Weight 1 lb. min. level 20. Silversheen: This substance can be applied to a weapon as a standard action. It will give the weapon the properties of alchemical silver for 1 hour, replacing the properties of any other special material it might have. One vial will coat a single melee weapon or 20 units of ammunition. Faint transmutation; Price 250 gp, min. level – n/a Shining jewel: This jewel shines with eternal light. It clearly illuminates a 20-foot radius and provides shadowy illumination out to a 40-foot radius. The jewel can be affixed to a chain and worn on neck or set in a diadem or a helm and worn on the brow. The jewel can be turned off and on with a word, as a standard action. 200 gp, min. level – 2 Wings of Flying: A pair of these wings might appear to be nothing more than a plain cloak of old, black cloth, or they could be as elegant as a long cape of blue feathers. When the wearer speaks the command word, the cloak turns into a pair of bat or bird wings that empower her to fly with a speed of 60 feet (good maneuverability). Moderate transmutation; CL 10th; Price 54,000 gp; Minimum level 18, Weight 2 lb. Thieves’ Tools, Superior: This kit contains special magical tools used to deactivate traps and open locks. They give +2 masterwork bonus to Disable Device skill checks. In addition, they allow users to dispel any permanent magical effect. Treat this as the Dispel application of Ward power, except that it takes 1 minute and uses Disable Device skill check instead of your power check. Make an opposed check against the power check of the adept. If you win, the targeted effect turns off, although the user can re-activate it normally. If you lose, you must spend a fatigue level in order to try again the same day. You can dispel only efffects which need to be maintained or concentrated upon, or in the description of which it is specifically mentioned that they can be dispelled. Each attempt uses up alchemical reagents worth 50 gp. Faint abjuration; Price 1800 gp, min. level 5
Wands and Staffs Wands A wand is a thin baton that contains a single power or a specific use of a power. Each wand has an undeterminable number of charges when created, and can be used as long as they last. When you roll 1 attempting to use the wand it means it has run out of charges and is just a stick.A typical wand is 6 inches to 12 inches long and about 1/4 inch thick, and often weighs no more than 1 ounce. Most wands are wood, but some are bone. A rare few are metal, glass, or even ceramic, but these are quite exotic. Occasionally, a wand has a gem or some device at its tip, and most are decorated with carvings or runes. A typical wand has Toughness 3, and a break Difficulty of 16. Activation: Wands use the spell trigger activation method, so casting a power using a wand is usually a standard action. (If the power, however, has a longer casting time than 1 action, it takes that long to use the power from a wand.) To activate a wand, a character must hold it in hand (or whatever passes for a hand, for nonhumanoid creatures), point it in the general direction of the target or area, and speak the activation word. A wand may be used while grappling or while swallowed whole. Only a character who has a class feat allowing him to use the power provided by the wand can use it. Additionally, you need a character level at least equal to the wand level. Use Magic Device feat allows to use all wands, although you must still be of high enough level. The character makes a power check against the difficulty of the power. If the roll equals 1, roll again. If your second roll equals 10 or less, it means the wand is depleted.
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This result cannot be re-rolled using Conviction – the wand is simply out of charges. Using a wand does not cause a fatigue check. All powers cast from a wand are treated as not fatiguing. Each wand has an equivalent adept level. Each wand provides a specific use of a power with a specific power check difficulty. The power check difficulty cannot be greater than 15+ wand level. In case of powers which normally do not require a power check, use the power as if cast by an adept of a level equal to the level of the wand. Casting such a power from the wand requires a power check. The power check difficulty in that case equals 13+the wand level. In some cases, the power check difficulty is different than for the corresponding power. The save difficulty against the wand is identical to the save difficulties of your powers. Some examples of wands: Wand of Cure: Requires the feat: Cleric or Paladin. Price 750 gp. Wand level 1. Power check difficulty 10 (as the Cure power). Full round to use. Wand of Neutralize Poison: Requires the feat: Cleric or Paladin, Price 21,000 gp. Wand level 7. Power check difficulty 20. You neutralize any sort of venom in the creature or object touched. A poisoned creature suffers no additional effects from the poison, and any temporary effects are ended, but the spell does not reverse instantaneous effects, such as damage or ability damage. The subject is additionally immune to any poison for an hour. Wand of Lesser Restoration: Requires the feat: Cleric or Paladin. Price 4500 gp. Wand level 3. Power check difficulty 16. Time – 1full round action The wand dispels any magical effects reducing one of the subject’s ability scores (without an opposed power check). It can alternatively cure 1 point of temporary ability damage or restore 1 point permanently drained from a single ability score (your choice if more than one is drained or damaged). You can repeat the attempt as often as you wish. Wand of Restoration: Requires the feat: Cleric or Paladin. Price 26,000 gp. Wand level 7. Power check difficulty 20. Time – 3 full round actions The wand dispels any magical effects reducing one of the subject’s ability scores (without an opposed power check). It also cures temporary ability damage and restores all points permanently drained from a single ability score (your choice if more than one is drained). You can repeat the attempt as often as you wish. Wand of Pain. Requires the feat: Wizard or Cleric. Price 4500 gp. Wand level 3. Power check difficulty 15. Wand of Fire Ray. Requires the feat: Wizard or Cleric. Price 3,750 gp. Wand level 5. Power check difficulty 18. Casts Elemental Ray(Fire) as an Adept of the 5th level –causing fire Damage 10. Wand of Invisibility. Requires the feat: Wizard. Price 4,500 gp. Wand level 3. Power check difficulty 16. The target becomes invisible. He is not magically silenced, and certain other conditions can render him detectable (such as stepping in a puddle). The spell ends if the subject attacks any creature. For purposes of this spell, an attack includes any spell targeting a foe or whose area or effect includes a foe. (Exactly who is a foe depends on the invisible character’s perceptions.) Actions directed at unattended objects do not break the spell. Causing harm indirectly is not an attack. Wand of Fireball. Requires the feat: Wizard. Price 11,250 gp. Wand level 5. Power check difficulty 18. Sphere 20 feet radius. Fire Damage 5, Reflex for half. Wand of Magic Missiles level 1 Requires the feat: Wizard. Price 750 gp. Wand level 1. Power check difficulty 14. Damage 4. Reflex save, Wand of Magic Missiles level 3 Requires the feat: Wizard. Price 2,250 gp. Wand level 3. Power check difficulty 16. Damage 5, or 2 missiles each at different target, Damage +4. Reflex save, Wand of Magic Missiles level 5 Requires the feat: Wizard. Price 3,750 gp. Wand level 5. Power check difficulty 18. Damage +6, or 3 missiles each at different target, Damage +4. Reflex save. Staffs
A staff is a long shaft of wood that holds a few powers. To use a staff, you need a class feat which allows you to take powers provided by the staff. When you hold a staff, you are treated as if you had the powers it provides. Some staffs provide also Adept feats. Such feats can be used only to modify the powers granted by the staff. The Adept feats possessed by the character can be freely used to modify powers from the staff. Differently from other magic items, the staffs do not need minimal character level to use it. If the powers provided by it have as a
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prerequisite power rank, however, you must have it to use the power in question. All other prerequisites of the powers are void. Charming: Made of twisting wood ornately shaped and carved, this staff allows use of the following powers: Mind Touch, Charm Moderate enchantment; Price 16,500 gp. Conjuration: This staff is usually made of ash or walnut and bears ornate carvings of many different kinds of creatures. It allows use of the following powers: *Conjuration, *Black Tentacles Strong conjuration; CL 13th Price 65,000 gp. Divination: Made from a supple length of willow, often with a forked tip, this staff allows use of the following spells: Mind Touch, Enhance Senses, Scrying Strong divination; CL 13th; Craft Price 73,500 gp. Earth and Stone: This staff is topped with a fist-sized emerald that gleams with smoldering power. It allows the use of the following powers: Earth Shaping, Object Reading Moderate transmutation; Price 80,500 gp. Enchantment: Often made from applewood and topped with a clear crystal, this staff allows use of the following powers: Mind Touch, Sleep, Suggestion and feats: Widen Power Strong enchantment; Price 65,000 gp. Evocation: Usually very smooth and carved from hickory, willow, or yew, this staff allows use of the following powers: Force Shaping, Elemental Blast(Fire and Cold) and Feats: Widen Power Strong evocation; Price 65,000 gp. Fire: Crafted from bronzewood with brass bindings, this staff allows use of the following powers: Fire Shaping, Elemental Blast(Fire) and feats: Widen Power Moderate evocation; Price 17,750 gp. Frost: Tipped on either end with a glistening diamond, this rune-covered staff allows use of the following powers: Cold Shaping, Elemental Blast(Cold) and feats: Widen Power Moderate evocation; Price 56,250 gp. Healing: This white ash staff, with inlaid silver runes, allows use of the following powers: Cure, Cure Disease, Moderate conjuration; Price 27,750 gp. Illusion: This staff is made from ebony or other dark wood and carved into an intricately twisted, fluted, or spiral shape. It allows use of the following powers: Mind Touch, Illusion, Flesh Shaping, Light Shaping (except invisibility) and feats: Widen Power Strong illusion; Price 65,000 gp. Illumination: This staff is usually sheathed in silver and decorated with sunbursts. It allows use of the following powers: Light Shaping Strong evocation; Price 48,250 gp. Life: Made of thick oak shod in gold, this staff allows use of the following powers: Imbue Life Moderate conjuration; Price 155,750 gp. Passage: This potent item allows use of the following powers: Teleport, Plane Shift (as ritual, but takes only 1 full action). Strong varied; Price 170,500 gp. Power: The staff of power is a very potent magic item, with offensive and defensive abilities. It is usually topped with a glistening gem, its shaft straight and smooth. It has the following powers: *Force Shaping, Fire Shaping, Cold Shaping, Energy Shaping, Elemental Blast, Ghost Touch(only staff), Elemental Weapon(only staff, can select cold, electric or fire), and feats: Widen Power The staff is also a +2 quarterstaff.
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A staff of power can be used for a retributive strike, requiring it to be broken by its wielder. (If this breaking of the staff is purposeful and declared by the wielder, it can be performed as a standard action that does not require the wielder to make a Strength check.) This has the effect of casting of three Widened Elemental Blasts: Fire, Cold and Energy centered on the wielder, with no need for any fatigue or concentration checks. Strong varied; Price 211,000 gp.
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D&D Campaigns
Planes The planar system described below is based on three fundamental assumptions: 1) Planes form a psycho-morphic realm outside of the material multiverse. They are psycho-morphic, that is, they change in the reaction to the morality, ideas, wishes, fears or emotions of intelligent creatures. The planes are the place when the pathetic fallacy is true and the reality is really consensual. This does not mean that the world is the average of people's wishes - it reflects their whole mentality, and it is rather difficult to bring your whole mind in line with your conscious wishes. Generally, only high-level wizards, saints and some philosophers can manage it. 2) The fundamental questions – the good and evil, the final fate of souls, etc - are important, but must remain ultimately unanswered. As long as you remain in the game, there is no way to irrefutably prove that being good is better than being evil (although there certainly are rather pointed hints in that direction). 3) All of the reality is interconnected. If you are adventuring on the far planes, you are influencing your material world - of course indirectly, but perhaps more radically than by adventuring in the material universe. Additionately, it is possible to really influence the planes - and that means that except for the Astral, there are no infinite planes. They are immense, incomparably greater than the Material worlds, but finite. There is a finite number of domains in the Astral, finite, although unknown, number of layers in the Abyss etc. There are three fundamental tiers of reality: the Material Multiverse, the Astral (which is a single plane, a bit different from the standard D&D) and the Ideal realm. Ideal Realm The Ideal is the realm of absolute and cannot be directly accessed by PCs. It is not a plane and is not directly part of the game-world - it serves rather to make that world conceptually whole.
The beings from Ideal are truly immortal, have no bodies at all, and so cannot be fought with. Both Celestials and Fiends have their home in Ideal. This is also the destination of the souls of the dead. The beings from Ideal cannot directly act in the planes, although they can try to persuade and influence being living there. They can also form avatars to act in the planes. In fact, all of the deities, demon lords, celestials, fiends etc who have stat-blocks are avatars of the beings from Ideal and cannot be ultimately killed, although they can be banished from the planes and rendered powerless there.
The Ideal can be contacted with the various clerical divination spells, but the Good beings refuse any precise anwers what it is like, and Evil make answers which are inconsistent and probably false. In fact, when asked about the fundamental questions (immortality of souls, the eternal destination of evil and good souls, the creation of the world etc), Evil beings can and will lie, even if the spell description in question indicates that they should answer truthfully.
It is commonly thought that beings living in the Ideal, including souls of the dead, can never change their allegiance, but it cannot be proved. There is, in fact, no irrefutable proof that the Ideal exists at all. The clerical divination spells could contact as well some so-called "avatars" living on the planes. This is exactly the position of the Athar - there is no Ideal, and even if it does exists, it is wholly unknown. All of the beings which claim to live there lie.
The majority of the Dustmen and Doomguard, to the contrary, think that the Ideal Realm is the only real existence. According to them, we are prisoners in the planes, and must either die True Death, or destroy all the planes, to free ourselves and reach the true existence.
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Astral Plane The Astral is a single plane divided into the High Astral and the Low Astral, which is also called the Dreamland. The Astral can be accessed both by beings from the Material Multiverse and from the Ideal Realm; there are also native creatures (planar races). It is psychomorphic - it form itself in response to the thoughts and emotions of beings living there. There is no air in the Astral Plane, it is instead filed with ether, pure in the High Astral and somewhat contaminated with matter and misty in the Low Astral. In the Astral Plane there is no need to drink and eat, although those with lesser willpower and less accustomed to it can easily feel hungry. That does not mean there are no predators in the Astral. In the Astral the matter is shaped by mind and ideas. Whereas the predators of the Material Multiverse are hungry because they need to eat, the predators of the Astral need to eat because they are hungry. Their hunger is their defining characteristic - they can never die from it and they can never eat enough to be sated.
Because the Astral Plane is a single plane, the plane shift spell cannot be used to travel within it. The Plane Shift to Astral used from the Material always transfers the traveller into the corresponding point of Low Astral, without the chance to deviate from that point to any great degree, and the other way round. It is impossible to select any other destination or to plane shift into the High Astral. Plane Shift to the Astral used by travellers starting in one of the Astral demiplanes always transfers them to High Astral near the border of the demiplane, also without the chance for deviation.
When shifting between the Low Astral and the Material plane, there exists a slight deviation effect. It makes it impossible to shift directly into inhabited buildings or vehicles in use. The High Astral The High Astral, also called the Silvery Void, the Great Realm, or simply the Sky, is an infinite expanse filled instead of air with pure ether, perfectly transparent and clear. There is no sun and the stars are in reality uncountable shining domains and demiplanes. The silvery light comes from the ether itself, so that there are no shadows. Since there is no ground in the High Astral, the planar voyager seems to be surrounded by an infinite sphere of the sky. The color of the sky can change - usually it is either dark or lightly silvery, but near domains it can be influenced by them. Near the Nine Hells the sky is black with streaks of blood-red, rust and dark flame.
Within the High Astral the superiority of the mind over the matter is so immense that the natural processes which proceed in time simply don't happen without some intelligence to direct them, even unconsciously. People in Astral don't age and nothing decays there. Age, hunger, thirst, poison and natural healing do not function in the High Astral. As an interesting side effect, no children can be born or grow in the High Astral - they are too weak and unshaped to direct their own growth, and only the greatest wizard would be able to direct the growth of another being.
Similarly, the gravity is purely mental and operates only when the characters are on objects which normally should have gravity - ships, islands, buildings etc. There is no falling damage, however. The creatures which can fly, can fly using the normal rules. When on the object with pseudo-gravity, normal modes of movements, such as walking, running, swimming, jumping or climbing function as usually. Additionally, all intelligent creatures can fly as per the fly spell. Activating that ability is a free action, and the fly speed equals 50 feet plus 10 feet per point of intelligence, with perfect maneuvrability. Mindless creatures cannot fly in that way. Mounts can use the intelligence of their riders.
Long-range travel in the Astral is fundamentally different from short-ranged movement. Since the Astral is infinite, and there is practically no way to determine directions within it, using normal travel methods is impractical. Therefore, all long range travel is mental. The time needed to travel somewhere is based on three factors: the familiarity of the destination, the similarity between the starting point and the destination, and the similarity between the traveller and the destination. For example, a devil wholly unfamiliar with the heavenly realms, which started in the Nine Hells, would need an infinite time to reach Celestia. That same devil, both familiar and similar to the Nine Hells, which started in Celestia, would found his return voyage to the Nine Hells remarkably quick, despite the great unsimilarity of the starting points. The familiarity of the destination can be modified by the intelligence, since the more intelligent characters find it easier to understand unfamiliar realms. In case of the astral ships and the like, the familiarity is decided by the steersman, but the similarity is the average of the whole ship. The teleport spell is useless as a means of long range travel on the High Astral plane – the distances are much too vast.
Outer Planes, Astral Domains and Demiplanes Within the High Astral there are uncountable outer planes, demiplanes and domains. Beings from the Ideal Realm can create outer planes and demiplanes corresponding to their ideals, where they are represented by avatars. That way Wotan can have his Valhalla and fighting heroes, which is impossible in Ideal. Those outer
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planes and domains are not infinite and are based on the power of the given deity/being in the Material and Astral. If a being from the Ideal Realm suffers great enough loss of power, its plane contracts and finally disappears, leaving only a great stone figure, usually called "a dead god" . This doesn't mean the deity itself is destroyed - according to prevailing opinion, it remains in the Ideal Realm, but can no longer influence anything else.
Beings from the Ideal have certain difficulties in accessing the Astral, and correspondingly greater difficulties in accessing the Material Multiverse. That is why they want to recruit living people in the Astral, which is the common meeting ground of all planes. Their realms in the High Astral influence the Low Astral which in turns influences Material. Eg Valhalla lies "near" (as "near" is accounted in the Astral) the Astral land corresponding to the lands of the Norse, and can influence it by sending there Valkyries etc.
Fiends create in Astral demonic subworlds. Amongst those are the Nine Hells, the Layers of the Abyss etc. They can grow and contract, depending on the infernal/abyssal influence in the world. Most of the damned are souls from Ideal. According to popular opinion, they shouldn't be freed, because they are incurably evil. But there can be other prisoners in Astral hells who should be liberated. Living people and their souls can be imprisoned in the Astral. Since killing them would send them to the proper afterlife, fiends tend to keep such prisoners alive until they can get them to damn themselves.
But not only celestials and infernals can create domains. Any creature powerful enough can create a demiplane, and there is no way to unerringly establish what kind of creature it is - you can have only its word that it is what it seems. Any epic wizard could create a Valhalla, although it would be, of course, much smaller. In fact, according to a persistent rumor, that is how Wotan began his deific career - he was a powerful wizard who managed to create a personal demiplanes, and it proved to be very precisely aligned with the desires of the Norse warriors. Belief in him rose exponentially, and now he is the chief god of the Norse pantheon, having overthrown less popular Tyr.
Those demiplanes and domains are regarded as separate planes, and can have different traits. In particular, they nearly never share the special traits of the High Astral - lack of gravity, timelessness etc. They are always psychomorphic and usually share the fundamental trait of the Astral – the lack of need to eat or drink.
The demiplanes seen from afar in the Astral look like variously colored stars. From a nearer distance, their appearance can differ widely. The Valhalla of Wotan is similar to an immense castle build on all sides of a cube, with pointed towers reaching in all directions, so that it seems like a spiky star. The Nine Hells looks from the Astral, no matter from which way it is approached, like a great dark wood through which flows the river Styx. In the center of wood, on the shore of Styx stand the tremendous Gates of Hell. It is impossible to reach the Nine Hells from "underneath" - in fact they simply do not have an underside, being (conceptually) at the bottom of the Creation. It is impossible to say much about the way the travellers from Astral appear in the demiplanes, since it is different for each one, except one thing: if you don't know your destination, it is better if you can fly, since you can appear high in the air. Similarly, in nearly all demiplanes there can be found ways to travel to the Astral without using the Plane Shift or portals, but they can difficult to reach and extremely obscure. Good and Evil on the Planes The powerful evil beings are wholly persuaded that their actions will give them more happiness than they would gain from being good. This happens, although they can visit the Astral and all the different heavens present in it. It seemingly cannot be reconciled with the fact that for any objective observer it is clear that the hells are filled with terrible torment and despair, and heaven with real pleasure and happines. The explanation is actually quite simple. The basic reason is that evil beings are evil not simply because they act in evil way. They are evil because they are inordinately attached to some thing - whether those are riches, lust, anger, or anything else. This is what causes their behaviour, and to stop being evil they would have to detach themselves from it - and it is exactly what they cannot do.
Moreover, the final destiny of any spirit cannot be known. Souls of the dead, as it is commonly presumed, go to the Ideal Realm. Not all appear as avatars in the Astral Domains. Those spirits that appears as lowest demons and devils generally don't remember their lives - if they had any earlier life at all. If any denizen of the planes will actually travel to the Nine hells in the Astral, and is powerful enough to speak with devils there without being immediately captured, he will be assured that the successful Evil people are richly rewarded after death. He can even be shown very pleasant realms, where he can obtain his desire, whether it is power, lust, revenge or whatever else. He can also see the degraded and tormented spirits of good people - as he is assured by the devils.
Additionately, not only the planes themselves are influenced by the mentality of their dwellers. Even more, the perception of the planes depends on the mentality of the observer. For the fiends Mount Celestia, for example, is filled with unbearable piercing cold, burning acid, and light so bright that it blinds them more than darkness. Even for evil and neutral mortals Celestia is difficult to withstand for long. In addition to that, of course, even a mere presence of Evil thought taints the psychomorphic realms of good, and as result any evil
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creatures there are usually attacked at sight. Conversely, different hells look much more pleasant to fiends and evil mortals than to good people and celestials. This does not mean that the torments there are any lesser; but for the evil characters the various devils etc look noble and even beautiful, not like disfigured and monstrous creatures seen by good-aligned. The hells themselves are similarly filled with grandeur and beauty in the eyes of their dwellers.
According to usual belief, both celestials and fiends have made an irrevocable choice - angels for the good, and demons for evil. Despite that theory, there are many examples of creatures who certainly look like angels engaging in evil acts and debasing themselves into forms of evil. The standard answer to that is that the creatures which can be seen are not true immaterial spirits, but only their planar avatars. And there is no unbreakable barrier stopping someone evil from assuming a good avatar - although it is certainly very difficult for more aligned creatures. The avatars themselves are not so difficult to create. The various summoning spells, which call down the shapes of celestial creatures, don't bring actual celestials, but simply create empty avatars, without any governing soul. They possess certain mechanical intelligence, which allows them to execute the orders of the mage, but are merely automatons without any volition or initiative.
Additionately, there exist such spells as polymorph. Some beings are also quite good at disguising themselves, and some other are simply very nearly angels - but not quite. Powerful good creatures can look while in the Astral quite like angels - if they think so of themselves. Even some quite non-angelic personages can think they are virtually angels - and belief is very near reality in the Astral.
Sigil Sigil exists in the Astral, as the center of trade between different Material worlds and Astral demiplanes. It differs from other demiplanes and domains by a number of peculiarities. For one thing, all demiplanes and domains are connected by a number of permanent planar gates and pathways, such as the rivers Styx and Oceanus, or the Yggdrassil Tree. Sigil possesses not a few, but an uncountable number of portals reaching perhaps to all other planes. Those portals can be used by even very weak (that is, low-level) creatures, as long as they know the key. Sigil is filled with matter to a greater degree than any other domain in the Astral. This is beneficient to mortals, since the purely etheric realms of the Astral plane can prove to be very uncomfortable and difficult to endure for them. Sigil is even filled not with ether, but air, and the psychomorphic trait there is so weak that it is necessary to eat and drink.
Keeping the air in Sigil requires a hermetic sealing of the city, which makes it impossible to travel directly from the Astral to Sigil or the other way round. From the Astral, Sigil looks like a spinning torus with no openings. The city is located within, on the invisible inner surface.
Finally, Sigil is perhaps the most universally secure place in the Planes. Of course, the good domains are wholly secure for their proper dwellers, but for all others they are deadly. All other planes and domains are dangerous for all. In Sigil the Lady stops most powerful intruders, and the cooperation of various factions ensures a certain level of security from common criminals. What is more, that security is extended to all, so that even the creatures who normally would fight at sight can meet and converse there.
All this makes of Sigil the best connected place in the Multiverse - at least for the less powerful (lower-level) beings. Ideas which are common there tend to be propagated far and wide. Whoever can win the war of ideas in Sigil, can shape to a large degree the whole Astral and consequently even Material Multiverse - at least the factions of Sigil like to think so. Certainly, ideas popular in Sigil can spread to mortal realms much easier that those from more powerful beings which lack any direct contact with mortals.
On the other side, compared to the immense power, grandeur, wealth and beauty of other domains, Sigil is dirty, petty, poor and weak. The merchants of Sigil haggle for profits which are certainly big when compared to the Material cities, but seem like nothing when compared to the whole planes made of gold and diamonds.
Really powerful beings (except the gods, of course) can make business and even dwell in Sigil. The typical citizen of Sigil resembles however a street urchin, who is persuaded that he knows all secrets of the state policy when he sees the carriages before the royal palace, and is always ready to deride and mislead rural rednecks. They are also filled with tremendous resentment against people from the Material Plane, which is easy to understand, considering that the most typical visitor is a high level wizard or cleric, who travels by astral projection with a retinue of his cohort, bodyguards, factotums, bound demons and animated undead, and whose interaction with the locals is limited to ordering the undead forward to disperse the rabble. (And this is if he is relatively good aligned. Less lawful astral travelers like to spend astrally projected gold, which disappears as soon as the visitor leaves Sigil.)
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The Elemental Planes
The elemental planes are different in many aspects from all other dominions existing within the Astral
Plane. Whereas the Outer planes represent various sublime or debased ideas, the elemental planes, also called the planes of power, represent the basic building blocks of reality. The elements are the most stable thing that can exists, and the elemental planes inherit that trait. They are not psycho-morphic at all; no ideas or mental exertions can stop fire from burning or water from drowning.
They are not infinite, although they are immensely great – each of them is much greater than the whole material universe.
From the Astral Plane they look like stars: The Elemental Plane of Air sun-yellow, the Plane of Fire red, The Plane of Earth dark red and dying, The Plane of Water blue, the Positive Energy Plane burning electric white, and the Negative Energy Plane black as a black hole.
The elemental planes are interconnected. The marches where the elemental planes interconnect are called paraelemental planes (of salt, of ash etc). All elemental planes connect in the Elemental Chaos. Both paraelemental planes and the Elemental Chaos count as separate planes for the purpose of plane shift.
The Elemental Plane of Air
The Elemental Plane of Air is an empty plane, consisting of sky above and sky below. The Elemental Plane of Air is the most comfortable and survivable of the Inner Planes, and it is the
home of all manner of airborne creatures. Indeed, flying creatures find themselves at a great advantage on this plane. While travelers without flight can survive easily here, they are at a disadvantage.
The Elemental Plane of Air has the following traits: Subjective directional gravity. The strength of gravity on a plane with this trait is the same as on the
Material Plane, but each individual chooses the direction of gravity’s pull, and can fly by “falling” in the chosen direction. It is also possible to "turn off" gravity. Such a plane has no gravity for unattended objects and nonsentient creatures. This sort of environment can be very disorienting to the newcomer, but is common on “weightless” planes.
Air dominant - consists mostly of open space, just a few bits of floating stone or other elements. It usually has a breathable atmosphere, though it may include clouds of acidic or toxic gas.
The Elemental Plane of Earth
The Elemental Plane of Earth is a solid place made of rock, soil, and stone. An unwary and unprepared traveler may find himself entombed within this vast solidity of material and have his life crushed into nothingness, his powdered remains a warning to any foolish enough to follow.
Despite its solid, unyielding nature, the Elemental Plane of Earth is varied in its consistency, ranging from relatively soft soil to veins of heavier and more valuable metal.
The Elemental Plane of Earth has the following traits: Normal gravity. No breathable air. Earth-dominant. Individuals without the ability to burrow are entombed in the earth and must dig their
way out (5 feet per turn).
The Elemental Plane of Fire Everything is alight on the Elemental Plane of Fire. The ground is nothing more than great, evershifting
plates of compressed flame. The air ripples with the heat of continual firestorms, and the most common liquid is magma, not water. The oceans are made of liquid flame, and the mountains ooze with molten lava. Fire survives here without need for fuel or air, but flammables brought onto the plane are consumed readily.
The Elemental Plane of Fire has the following traits: Normal gravity. No breathable air. Fire-dominant. Fire-dominant planes are extremely hostile to Material Plane creatures, and those
without resistance or immunity to fire are soon immolated. Unprotected wood, paper, cloth, and other flammable materials catch fire almost immediately, and those wearing unprotected flammable clothing catch on fire. In addition, individuals take 10 points of fire damage every round they are on a fire-dominant plane. Creatures of the water subtype are extremely uncomfortable on fire-dominant planes. Those that are made of water take 15 damage each round.
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The Elemental Plane of Water The Elemental Plane of Water is a sea without a floor or a surface, an entirely fluid environment lit by a
diffuse glow. It is one of the more hospitable of the Inner Planes once a traveler gets past the problem of breathing the local medium.
The eternal oceans of this plane vary between ice cold and boiling hot, between saline and fresh. They are perpetually in motion, wracked by currents and tides. The plane’s permanent settlements form around bits of flotsam and jetsam suspended within this endless liquid. These settlements drift on the tides of the Elemental Plane of Water.
The Elemental Plane of Water has the following traits: No breathable air. No gravity. Water-dominant. Visitors who can’t breathe water or reach a pocket of air will likely drown. Creatures
of the fire subtype are extremely uncomfortable on water-dominant planes. Those made of fire take 4 points of damage each round.
The Negative Energy Plane
To an observer, there’s little to see on the Negative Energy Plane. It is a dark, empty place, an eternal pit where a traveler can fall until the plane itself steals away all light and life. The vast, empty reaches suck the life out of travelers who cross them. It is a lonely, haunted plane, drained of color and filled with winds bearing the soft moans of those who died within. The Negative Energy Plane is the most hostile of the Inner Planes, and the most uncaring and intolerant of life. Only creatures immune to its life-draining energies can survive there.
The Negative Energy Plane has the following traits: No breathable air. Subjective directional gravity. Major negative-dominant. Each round, you must make a Difficulty 25 Fortitude save or suffer 1 point
of Constitution drain. A creature whose Constitution is drained to -5 is slain, becoming a wraith. The death ward feat protects a traveler from the damage and energy drain of a negative-dominant plane. Some areas within the plane have only the minor negative-dominant trait, and these islands tend to be inhabited.
Minor negative-dominant: living creatures take damage 2 each round. When they reach Dying condition, they crumble into ash.
Impeded healing magic: The Difficulty of power check for Cure power and all similar powers and items is increased to 20 (from 10). This affects wands, but does not affect potions and natural healing. Creatures which are healed by negative energy are not affected. This affects even characters protected from negative effects of the plane.
The Positive Energy Plane
The Positive Energy Plane has no surface and is akin to the Elemental Plane of Air with its wide-open nature. However, every bit of this plane glows brightly with innate power. This power is dangerous to mortal forms, which are not made to handle it. Despite the beneficial effects of the plane, it is one of the most hostile of the Inner Planes. An unprotected character on this plane swells with power as positive energy is force-fed into her. Then, her mortal frame unable to contain that power, she immolates as if she were a small planet caught at the edge of a supernova. Visits to the Positive Energy Plane are brief, and even then travelers must be heavily protected.
The Positive Energy Plane has the following traits: No breathable air. Subjective directional gravity. Major positive-dominant. A creature arriving on a major positive-dominant plane must make a
Difficulty 15 Fortitude save to avoid being blinded for 10 rounds by the brilliance of the surroundings. Simply being on the plane grants fast healing as an extraordinary ability (you make recovery tests each minute - ie 10 rounds). However, a creature must make a Difficulty 20 Fortitude save each minute. Failing the saving throw results in the creature exploding in a riot of energy, killing it. Some regions of the plane have the minor positive-dominant trait instead, and those islands tend to be inhabited. Minor positive trait grants all inhabitants Fast Healing - they can make recovery tests each minute. The Low Astral The Low Astral is also called Dreamland, Faery or Otherworld. It shares some common traits of the Astral: eg the lack of need to eat and drink, and the lack of sun. It is psychically connected with Material. Each planet in Material has a corresponding piece of Low Astral, which is its more or less exact reflection. Usually, the terrain features are reflected quite precisely, but the works of civilisation are either wholly absent or show decayed and
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desolate. The Dreamland is filled with a dark forest where the Material World has fields, and the often travelled road from the Material is covered there with grass and lichens. The Dreamland is influenced also by the mental atmosphere prevailing in the corresponding material land. A country ruled by bloody tyranny will have rivers and rains of blood, with black clouds etc in the Low Astral. In such a realm, the Astral, which looks like the sunless bright sky illuminating the Dreamland, will be usually be covered by heavy dark clouds.
The Dreamlands have little enough human population, but are filled with dreamers. All those who dream appear somewhere within the Dreamlands. There are whole Dream-cities, some in places corresponding to the real cities, others in strange and impractical locations. The dreamers seldom appear within the cities corresponding to their own, but some even in dream are following their trade. The dream-merchants can offer many rare and valuable items, but it is inadvisable to try to take them by force. The dreamers, similarly to those who travel by astral projection, cannot be killed - if the dream-self is slain, the dreamer simply awakens from his nightmare and goes right back again to sleep. And when the dream-merchant disappears, so do all his unsold wares. But the things they sell become permanent and solid. The dream merchants are the only people willing to trade with astral forms created by the Astral Projection. When they accept gold from astral travelers, the gold carried by the material body of the traveler turns to lead, ashes or dry leaves.
Because of that function of the Dreamlands, it is impossible to dream in the Low Astral. As the result the elves, who as all fay come from Dreamlands, do not sleep but meditate instead. In addition to dreamers, elves and fay, Dreamlands are filled with monsters. Even the strangest and most impractical animal can exists in a dream, and in the realm when it is impossible to die from hunger the mantichore can hunt a hundred years for a man.
The psychic connection between the Low Astral and the material world goes in both directions. The changes in Dreamlands influence the emotions in the Material. Defeating evil presence in the Low Astral can lead to improvements in the Material World, causing better weather, more responsible people, even a revolution against a tyrant. This is by no means easy - the analog of the city ruled by a tyrant can be a fortress filled with giants, evil fay or undead, ruled by a demon.
Dreamlands are usually flat, and are greater than the corresponding material worlds, such that at the borders there are lands which have no analog in the material realm. When you reach the border of the world, you see an enormous cliff, and beyond that the silvery void of the Astral. Properly prepared ships can sail beyond the border of the world and travel through the Astral to other Dreamlands and even to the Astral realms. Dreamlands of different planets and different alternative realities usually are not linked together, although from time to time there appears a land-bridge or a strand of sea extending through the Astral.
The other way to voyage to the Astral from the Dreamland is to find a high enough mountain. High mountains reach beyond the polluted ether of the Low Astral into the cool winds of the Astral. Because of that, they can be visited by the gods. They had once danced on the peak of Hatheg-Kia, and to this day have their palaces on the Olympos. When returning from the Astral to the Dreamland, it is important to return to the edge of the world or the high mountains. Otherwise, unless the traveller can fly, he will fall burning like a falling star when the gravity of the land seize him.
The Greater Teleport ritual can be used to safely move from the Low to High Astral and the other way round (treat familiarity as “directly seen”), but it cannot be used to travel to a specific location within the High Astral – the distances are much too great. The Ethereal Plane
The Ethereal Plane is the shallow border, where the pure ether of the Astral is heavily mixed with matter, forming an interminable mist. It is not an independent plane, but rather a border between the Astral and the Material Planes, and because of that it is sometimes called the Border Ethereal. While on the Ethereal Plane, a creature is called ethereal. Such a situation usually doesn’t last long, since the Ethereal is fundamentally unstable and tends to eject creatures into the Material Plane. There are, however, a few creatures permanently dwelling in the Border Ethereal.
It is extremely rare for a creature to visit the Ethereal Plane, since there are no spells which can allow to move there. The plane shift spell moves the caster directly to the Low Astral and never to the Ethereal. Similarly, there are no gates, portals or similar leading to the Ethereal Plane. Only certain magic items, such as an armor of etherealness, make possible a shift to the Ethereal Plane. Such items work only on the Material Plane, since the Ethereal cannot be accessed from any other plane.
Unlike incorporeal creatures, ethereal creatures are not present on the Material Plane. Ethereal creatures are invisible, inaudible, insubstantial and scentless to creatures on the Material Plane. Even most supernatural attacks have no efect on them. Since ethereal creatures are not materially present, Notice checks, Scent, Blind-Fight, blindsense and blindsight don’t help locate them. The powers which allow to see invible creatures usually reveal ethereal creatures (Glitterdust spell is an exception to that rule).
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An ethereal creature can see and hear into the Material Plane in a 60-foot radius, though material objects still block sight and sound. (An ethereal creature can’t see through a material wall, for instance.) An ethereal creature inside an object on the Material Plane cannot see. An ethereal creature can’t affect the Material Plane, not even with supernatural powers or abilities. An ethereal creature, however, interacts with other ethereal creatures and objects the way material creatures interact with material creatures and objects. Ethereal creatures move in any direction (including up or down) at will. They do not need to walk on the ground, and material objects don’t block their passage. Ethereal creatures pass through and operate in water as easily as air. Ethereal creatures do not fall or take falling damage.
A force effect originating on the Material Plane extends onto the Ethereal Plane, so that a wall of force blocks an ethereal creature, and a magic missile can strike one, provided the spellcaster can see the ethereal target. Gaze attacks and various defensive abjuration spells also extend from the Material Plane to the Ethereal Plane. None of these effects extend from the Ethereal Plane to the Material Plane.
Converting D&D Converting Damage, Traps and Spells To convert the damage inflicted by traps, spells and everything else except attacks, determine the highest possible damage in D&D (eg if the trap can inflict 12d6 it would be 72) than divide it by 8 (rounding down) and add 5.
True20 damage= 5+D&D damage/8
Halving the damage in D&D is converted to subtracting 5 from True20 damage
D&D half damage equals True20 damage - 5
Use D&D save difficulties. Save Difficulty should never be much higher than CR/2 (rounding up)+15. If it much higher than that in D&D, lower it accordingly. Ranges: Close: 25 feet +5 feet for every two full adept levels. Medium: 100 feet + 10 feet per adept level. Long: 400 feet + 40 feet per adept level. When calculating Power bonus for traps with spell effects, use the following formula
Converting Encounters Challenge Ratings Monsters are about as powerful as a character of a level equal to their Challenge Rating. For example a bearded devil has a Challenge Rating (CR) equal to 5. Were it to fight a series of combats against level 5 characters, it should win about 50 % of them. In reality, this is difficult to ensure, and some monsters are a bit strong or a bit weak for its CR – but the same applies to characters. True20 Bestiary does not indicate the Challenge Rating of monsters, but it can be easily found in D20 SRD, available online.
You can also design monsters of a given challenge rating yourself, using the simplified monster creation system provided at the end of those rules. The table of example monster characteristics can be used to estimate the CR of an existing monster. Encounter Leve l: Each monster or a group of monsters the party can fight with constitutes an encounter. In case of single monsters, the danger they pose to player characters is identified by their Challenge Level. To determine the power of a group of monsters, you must determine their Encounter Level.
A single monster has obviously an encounter level equal to its CR. For more monsters the general rule is that each doubling of the number of monsters increases the encounter level by +2. Moreover, a pair of monsters, one with CR equal to X, and the other X-2, has an encounter level equal to X+1. For example a CR 8 and CR 6 monsters together have an encounter level 9. Number of Creatures Encounter level 1 Creature CR 1 Creature with a companion of CR-2 CR+1 2 Creatures CR +2 3 Creatures CR +3 4 Creatures CR +4 6 Creatures CR +5 8 Creatures CR +6 12 Creatures CR +7 16 Creatures CR +8 Encounter leve l of the party, and adjusted party leve l. Generally speaking, player characters have a challenge rating (CR) equal to their character level. This assumes that the characters have appropriate equipment and ability scores for their level, and are intelligently constructed. Pure adepts must have maximized key ability and effective powers; pure experts need high dexterity and the Sneak feat; pure warriors need either high dexterity or high strength and a fitting combat style feat; all characters need high constitution. Physical combatants must have equipment adequate to their abilities – high dexterity characters need precision weapons and light armor, and characters with high strength power weapons and heavy armor.
Encounter level of the party is calculated in the same way as the encounter level of a group of monsters. For the typical party of 4 player characters of equal level it is equal to their level + 4. Adjusted party level equals the encounter level – 4. In case of the standard party it is equal simply to the level of PCs.
In case of atypical parties, you can calculate the adjusted party level by first calculating their average level. If the group contains six or more characters, add one to their average level; if it contains 8 characters add 2. If the group contains three characters, subtract one from their average level; if it contains only two characters, subtract 2 from their average level. For a solo character, its ADJ equals level – 4.
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Diff iculty of Encounters The difficulty of encounters depends on the relation between adjusted party level (ADJ) and the encounter level of the monsters.
Difficulty Encounter level Easy APL –1 Average APL Challenging APL +1 Hard APL +2 Epic APL +3 Equal APL +4
Easy Encounters: Easy encounters should be overcome without nearly any expenditure of resources and spending no Conviction. Intelligently played characters should be able to overcome a very high number of such encounters without resting, withdrawing etc.
When converting such encounters from D&D: Weak monsters in numerous groups (more than PCs) should be minions. At higher levels double their number. Monsters appearing singly or in pairs should be basic adversaries without conviction. A single monster intended to escape can have one or two Conviction points, but it should be an exception.
Average Encounters:
Properly played characters should be able to overcome such encounter easily, but will have to spend some resources and use Conviction. Stereotypically, the party should be able to defeat four such encounter without resting; in practice – if they will not meet more dangerous enemies – they will be able to keep going much longer, as long as they have Conviction.
D&D experience system, and consequently adventures are designed in such a way that after about 12-16 of such encounters the characters will gain a level.
When converting such encounters from D&D: Monsters in groups approximately equal in number to the PCs, of a CR no lower than APL – 4 should be normal monsters without Conviction. At higher levels increase their number or give them some conviction. Monsters with CR below APL-4 should be minions; double, or at higher levels triple their number compared to D&D. In both cases at least one leader should have ½ or ¼ Conviction. All single monsters should have ½ Conviction. Groups of two or three monsters usually have ½ or ¼ Conviction.
Challenging, Hard and Epic Encounters Such encounters can use a lot of resources, and have some risk of a PC dying, or even of a total party kill (TPK) in case of epic encounters. Party can be forced to stop after only a few such encounters. You should give all PCs a Convicton point after one, two or (in case of Challenging) three such encounters – in addition to the points gained for virtues and vices.
When converting such encounters from D&D: All monsters with CR equal to the APL should have Conviction; multiple monsters should have ¼ or ½ conviction, and single ½ or ¾ conviction. Final enemies should have always ¾ conviction.
Monsters with CR one to three lower than APL should be normal monsters without conviction, and below that minions. At higher levels you will need more standard monsters and minions to challenge PCs: twice as many normal monsters and four or more times as many minions compared to D&D. Minions should come in staggered waves and be properly dispersed, so they will not be all taken out by a few area spells. Both normal monsters and minions need a few leaders with ½ Conviction. Equal Encounters Encounters with Encounter level equal to Adjusted Party Level + 4 are equal, because the players and monsters have the same chance to win or lose – 50%. If you intend to keep such encounters really equal, no monsters should be below APL-2; all monsters should have ¾ Conviction, or, when opposing a fresh party, full Conviction of a player character.
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Such enounters generally should not be used – even a few such encounters in a campaign make a total party kill practically unavoidable. Narrator can use such an encounter as a final combat in the campaign, but only if the players understand and agree that they can and quite possibly will lose it.
When converting such encounters from D&D: Generally, it is necessary to make such encounters a bit
easier, so the players have a reasonable chance to win them. Combat against single opponents is inherently easier, since they have a limited number of actions. Give single opponents ¾ Conviction and multiple opponents only ½ Conviction. Make sure the players start the combat with full or nearly full Conviction. Conviction Important NPC’s (main villains) should have ¾ conviction of a PC of the same level (including level adjustment) or in case of monsters of the same CR, treating 20 level as maximum. No monster can have more than 9 points of Conviction. Less important NPCs (commanders of dangerous groups of monsters, less dangerous solo enemies) have ½ conviction, and minor named NPCs (leaders of smaller groups, independent enemies) have ¼ of conviction of a PC.
level Conviction ¾ ½ ¼
1 3 3 2 1
2 3 3 2 1
3 4 3 2 1
4 4 3 2 1
5 5 4 3 2
6 5 4 3 2
7 6 5 3 2
8 6 5 3 2
9 7 6 4 2
10 7 6 4 2
11 8 6 4 2
12 8 6 4 2
13 9 7 5 3
14 9 7 5 3
15 10 8 5 3
16 10 8 5 3
17 11 9 6 3
18 11 9 6 3
19 12 9 6 3
20 12 9 6 3 NPCs Abilit ies and Characteristics Use all abilities as they are, but remove items giving bonuses to them. Increase the abilities by the same amount. The only exception are the Gloves of Dexterity and the Gauntlets and Belt of Strength – use the converted version of them. At lower levels use the D&D saving throws, including bonuses from items. At high levels recalculate the saving throws – they grow too high in D&D. Calculate attack bonus:
Attack bonus = base attack bonus + Dex + size modifier + other bonuses.
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Calculate Defence based on base attack bonus (called combat bonus in D&D), Dexterity, feats and items (eg shields):
Defense=10+combat bonus+Dex+size modifier + other modifiers.
Calculate armor bonus to toughness based on the armor used, enhancements etc. When converting warrior and rogue-types, assume that they have taken Dodge Focus feat. All characters should take the Tough feat as quickly as possible You can either recalculate skills, or simply convert existing skills to True20. In that latter case, all characters will have less skill point compared to characters build with True20, and fighters much less. You can give them eg maxed Notice skill and such skills as ride, swim, jump, acrobatics.
Converting Monsters: Convert monsters with the help of True20 Bestiary monster creation procedure and the notes below. Compare the results to the table of model monster characteristics below; if the discrepances are too great, you may wish to adjust the monster statistics.
1. Adept level of monsters The adept level of monsters shouldn’t be higher than their CR.
2. Monsters with adept levels and powers When monsters have only one power of limited imporance (similar to favored power) it increases in power with additional adept levels, but does not grant additional adept levels to other powers. Dragons, undead and outsiders add their creature levels (in case of dragons, half of their creature level) to Adept levels, for both powers gained as an Adept and powers gained as a creature (differently than suggested in True20 Bestiary).
3. Undead:
Undead cannot be stunned, so they do not suffer the stun effect when they are wounded. They don’t suffer nonlethal damage, except as collateral damage when they suffer lethal damage. Accordingly when wounded they are dazed. They lose one round, but are not treated as surprized – don’t lose dex bonus to defense and cannot be sneak attacked. They can also be shaken, and suffer –2 penalty to attack and other rolls and saves.
Undead which are disabled are at the same time staggered. They lose one full-round action after suffering a staggered result. They can take no actions other than reactions, lose their dodge and parry bonuses to Defense, and have a –2 penalty to Defense. Since it is not a stun effect, undead are not immune to it.
Undead don’t suffer fatigue. When using powers, however, they lose levels of fatigue, although they don’t receive any penalties because of that. When undead or constructs are Exhausted they cannot use powers at all. Undead add +½ level in the Undead type to Toughness (rounding down). In case of undead with character levels, add 1/3 Character level to Toughness – in other words, for every 3 full character levels, increaste Toughness by 1.
It is possible to establish mental contact with intelligent undead using Necromancy power. Characters with Necromancy power can establish mental contact even with mindless undead. When you are in mental contact with a mindless undead, you simply get a sense of what the undead is doing. Undead are generally immune to mind-affecting powers, but the Necromancy power allows you to use following powers against them: Charm, Dominate, Illusion, Mind Probe, Mind Reading, Mind Shaping, Pain, Suggestion.
Undead generally use powers as Adepts of half their level. As an exception, however, undead relying mostly on powers, and with level no higher than CR, can use powers as an adept of their level. If an undead gains levels in the Adept role, add levels in Adept class and equivalent Adept level gained as an undead, both for powers of undead and powers gained as an adept.
4. Dragons: Dragons use powers as Adepts of half their level, with the same stipulation as undead. Dragons receive bonus powers (in addition to powers provided in True20 Bestiary): 1st and 2nd at 13 level, and one each next 3 levels (at levels 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, and 34). Remember that natural attacks of dragons with Damage Resistance/magic count as magic attacks. level power 13 Mind Touch, *Cantrips 16 Ward 19 Psychic Shield 22 Light Shaping 25 Ghost Touch 28 Enhance Senses 31 Teleport 34 Supernatural Weapon 37 Phase
5. Skills and Saves Use skill modifiers as given in the descriptions, simply changing the converted skills. Remember that in D&D Move Silently is not subject to size penalty, but Hide is. In True20, Stealth is always subject to size penalty. You
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may sometimes wish to increase key skills to level+3+ability bonus. Use D&D saves. High level monsters may have too high saves; adjust if necessary.
6. Natural weapons Convert damage from natural weapons according to the damage conversion rules in the appendix to True20 rulebook. D&D statistics block already gives combat bonus. Simply add size modifier and Dexterity to get the Attack bonus. Defence Bonus will be generally equal to Attack bonus+10. Natural weapons attacks by count as precision weapons or power weapons, depending whether the creature has higher Strength or Dexterity. If a natural weapon count as precision weapon, the creature can, but doesn’t have to, use Finesse Attack. If natural weapon counts as power weapons the creature can use the Sweeping Attack rule. Compare Attack Bonus to CR. Attack bonus shouldn’t generally be higher than 1.5*CR, especially if Damage bonus is high. For the creatures with CR 6 or less, Attack bonus shouldn’t be highter than CR+3. Creatures with low attack bonus for its CR should receive Accurate Attack or All-Out Attack as bonus feats. Damage of natural weapons shouldn’t be generally higher than CR+3. Damage Conversion:
If an attack does multiple dice of damage, multiply the damage bonus on the table by the number of dice rolled. The exception to this rule is for attacks based on a d3 or d2, since multiplying by zero gives a result of zero; in this case, every additional die adds +1 to the bonus (so an attack of 4d3 has a bonus of +3). To this base damage bonus, add any damage bonuses for Strength, special abilities, and the like, as normal. If an attack includes bonus damage dice, such as a rogue’s sneak attack bonus, convert that damage to a bonus as above and add it to the attack’s base damage. Size bonuses to Combat Colossal Gargantuan Huge Large Medium Small Tiny Diminutive Fine -8 -4 -2 -1 +0 +1 +2 +4 +8
7. Toughness
Divide the natural armor bonus (adding to it deflection or any similar bonuses not provided by items) by 2. It is treated as the enhancement bonus to armor, and doesn’t stack with it (so generally creatures with natural armor don’t benefit from wearing magic armor, unless the enhancement bonus is higher than their natural armor bonus). It does stack with the normal armor bonus.
Size Bonuses to Toughness: Colossal Gargantuan Huge Large Medium Small Tiny Diminutive Fine +8 +6 +4 +2 +0 –1 –2 –4 –8
Construct: Add +1 to toughness Undead: Add +½ level in the Undead type to Toughness (rounding down). In case of creatures with character levels, add 1/3 Character level to Toughness – in other words, for every 3 full character levels, increaste Toughness by 1.
8. Damage Reduction and Energy Resistance
Die Type Base Damage d3 or lower +0 d4 +1 d6 +2 d8 +3 d10 +4 d12 +5
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A creature receives 2 points of Damage Reduction in True20 for every 5 points of D&D damage reduction. A creature receives +2 Energy Resistance in True20 for every 5 points of energy resistance in D&D it possesses. This bonus (as an exception) stacks with armor and enhancement bonuses to Toughness.
9. Monsters with multiple attacks or natural weapons
Such creatures can attack with more than two attacks, but each attack must be directed at a separate target, and all attacks suffer -5 penalty to hit.
Creatures with multiple attacks should generally receive Double Strike as a bonus feat. Monsters with multiple slam attack always receive Double Strike.
If a monster has Double Strike feat, the penalty for multiple attacks decreases to -2, and it can attack one target with two weapons. This is resolved similar to two weapon attack: if it attacks the same target with both attacks and both hit, increase the damage of the attack with the higher damage bonus by +2, much like a use of combined attack.
When a monster is grappling or pinning an opponent who is at least two size categories smaller, and can make multiple attacks per standard action, it can make a grapple check as one of those attacks, with an appropriate penalty.
10. Breath Weapons
A breath weapon attack usually deals damage and is often based on some type of energy. Such breath weapons allow a Reflex save for Damage-4 (DC 10 + 1/2 breathing creature’s racial level+ breathing creature’s Con modifier; the exact DC is given in the creature’s descriptive text). A creature is immune to its own breath weapon unless otherwise noted. Some breath weapons allow a Fortitude save or a Will save instead of a Reflex save.
- Using a breath weapon is typically a standard action. - No attack roll is necessary. The breath simply fills its stated area. - Any character caught in the area must make the appropriate saving throw or suffer the breath weapon’s
full effect. In any cases, a character who succeeds on his saving throw still takes Damage-5 or some other reduced effect.
- Breath weapons are supernatural abilities except where noted. - Creatures are immune to their own breath weapons. - Creatures unable to breathe can still use breath weapons. (The term is something of a misnomer.)
Calculate damage according to the rule for traps and spells: calculate the maximum possible damage, divide it by 8, rounding down, and add 5. This is True20 damage. A breath weapons which is available in D&D every d4+1 rounds in True20 occurs every 3 rounds.
True20 damage= 5+D&D damage/8
11. Swarms
Swarms do not receive size bonus (in this case, penalty) to Toughness. Their Toughness equals Constitution plus ½ level (rounding down). They have Damage Resistance 6/Area attacks.
Swarms of Tiny creatures additionally treat damage from slashing and piercing weapons as 4 points lower. Bludgeoning weapons, natural weapons, unarmed strikes, weapons which can inflict elemental damage (eg with Elemental Weapon power) and powers which aren’t area attacks are not affected by this, but still do not bypass Damage Resistance 6/area. It can be bypassed only by area attacks.
Swarms of Diminutive or Fine creatures are immune to weapons damage. Natural weapons and unarmed strikes inflict damage-4. Powers and weapons which can inflict elemental damage (eg with Elemental Weapon power) inflict full damage, but do not bypass Damage Resistance. Only area attacks bypass damage resistance.
Improvised methods of dealing with Swarms It can be easily seen that swarms are extremely difficult to fight with physical attacks. However, there are a few home-brew methods of dealing with them (if you don’t have an Adept who is able to throw Widened Elemental Blasts), as follows:
A lit torch swung as an improvised weapon (-4 to hit) deals fire damage equal to strength per hit. A lit lantern can be used as a thrown weapon (10 feet range increment), dealing +1 fire damage to all
creatures in 5 feet radius. This counts as an area attack.
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You can pour a pint of oil on the ground to cover an area 5 feet square, provided that the surface is smooth. If lit, the oil burns for 2 rounds and deals +1 fire damage to each creature in the area. This is also an area attack.
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Vampire Template
Vampires use the template from True20 Bestiary, with the following changes: - add 1/3 Character level to Toughness – in other words, for every 3 full character levels, increase Toughness by 1. - They get Cold Resistance 4, not immunity to cold (this is a simple mistake in Bestiary.) - Feats: Vampires receive as bonus feats: Improved Initiative, Lightning Refexes, Great Fortitude - Skills: Vampires have a +2 bonus on Bluff, Notice, Search, Sense Motive and Stealth checks. In addition they gain a bonus 2 skill points per level, which they can use only on those skills. As the result, they tend to have maximum possible skill ranks in them (level+5). Otherwise their skills are the same as the base creature. - Fast Healing and Gaseous Form are a changed somewhat, in order to bring it in line with D&D rules and with the Gaseous Form use of the Wind Shaping power. It also makes vampire easier to kill for high-level characters. - Dominate works as the power, except the vampire does not need a mind touch, but must instead look into the eyes of his victim, range 30 feet. - Slam: Vampires gain a bonus to their Slam damage (to balance the lack Energy drain, and in order to keep it relevant against tougher enemies at higher levels). - Children of the Night: This ability has been changed, because it was not appropriate for all vampires or all situations.
“Vampire” is an acquired template that can be added to any humanoid or monstrous humanoid creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature). A vampire uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
Size and Type: The creature’s type changes to undead. Do not recalculate base combat bonus, saves, or skills. Size is unchanged. Abilities: Increase from the base creature as follows: Str +3, Dex +2, Int +1, Wis +1, Cha +2. As an undead creature, a vampire has no Constitution score. Skills: Vampires have a +2 bonus on Bluff, Notice, Search, Sense Motive and Stealth checks. In addition they gain a bonus 2 skill points per character level or hit die, which they can use only on those skills. As the result, they tend to have maximum possible skill ranks in them (level+5). Otherwise their skills are the same as the base creature. Feats: Vampires receive as bonus feats: Improved Initiative, Lightning Refexes, Great Fortitude Toughness: A vampire has Toughness based on its size, with a bonus equal to half level in the Undead type and 1/3 total level in all roles. The base creature’s natural armor bonus to toughness improves by +3. Supernatural Powers: Vampires can use any supernatural powerthey knew in life. Speed: Same as the base creature. If the base creature has a swim speed, the vampire retains the ability to swim and is not vulnerable to immersion in running water (see below). Damage: Vampires have slam attacks. They have only one slam attack, indepentely form size, and this attack cannot be used as a part of two-weapons attack. iIf the base creature does not have this attack form, use the appropriate damage value for the vampire’s size (see table). In addition, slam damage receives bonuses based on level (before the level adjustment). Those count as magical enhancement bonuses, and cannot be combined with eg Improved Strike ability. Strength increases Slam damage as normal. The level damage bonus is applied normally to medium-sized vampires. In case of larger creatures, compare the resulting damage to the model monster characteristics table (q.v.), and lower it if it is to high.
If the base creature can use weapons, the vampire retains this ability. A creature with natural weapons retains those natural weapons. A vampire fighting without weapons uses either its slam attack or its natural weapon (if it has any). A vampire armed with a weapon uses its slam or a weapon, as it desires.
Size Damage Fine –4 Diminutive –1 Tiny +0 Small +1 Medium +2 Large +3 Huge +4 Gargantuan +6 Colossal +8
Level 1 2-6 7-10 11-12 13-14 15-20
Damage Bonus 0 1 2 3 4 5
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Traits: A vampire retains the traits of the base creature and gains those described below. The save Difficulty of the vampire’s attack is 10 + 1/2 vampire’s level + vampire’s Charisma unless noted otherwise.
Blood Drain (Ex): A vampire can suck blood from a living victim with its fangs by making a successful grapple check. If it pins the foe, it drains blood, draining 1 point of Constitution each round the pin is maintained. On each such successful attack, vampire gains an additional recovery check (as per fast healing ability). This ability cannot be combined with Constrict or Chokehold – you can benefit only from one of them at one time.
Children of the Night (Su): Vampires command the lesser creatures of the world and once per day can call forth 5 CR 2 or 10 CR 1 monsters as a standard action. Narrator determines the type of creatures a given vampire can summon and their availability; usually they are bat swarms, rat swarms or wolves, and are available respectively in dungeons and in forests. These creatures arrive in 1 minute and serve the vampire for up to 1 hour. Dominate: A vampire can crush an opponent’s will just by looking onto his or her eyes. This is similar to a gaze attack, except that the vampire must use a standard action, and those merely looking at it are not affected. Anyone the vampire targets must succeed on a Will save or fall instantly under the vampire’s influence. The opponent can declare on his turn that he avoids looking at the vampire’s face, instead looking at its body, watching its shadow, tracking it in a reflective surface, and so on. Each round, the opponent has a 50% chance to not need to make a saving throw against the gaze attack. The creature with the gaze attack, however, gains concealment against that opponent. Blind or blindfolded opponents are immune, but the vampire has total concealment against them.
The vampire can control the target’s actions as long as it concentrates. It can force the subject to perform any action it wishes, within the limits of his abilities. It is generally aware of what the subject experiences, but it does not receive direct sensory impressions from him. Subjects forced to take actions against their natures receive a new saving throw with a bonus of +1 to +4, depending on the nature of action. A successful save breaks the control. Create Spawn: If a vampire kills a victim with blood drain (i.e. reduces the victim’s Constitution to –5), the victim returns as a vampire inthree days. The spawn vampire retains the memory of its former life, and gains the vampire template. Alternate Form: A vampire can assume the shape of a bat (small size) or a wolf as a standard action. While in its alternate form, the vampire loses its Dominate ability; the natural weapons of its new form function exactly as the slam attack of the vampire, modified for the new size. It can remain in that form until it assumes another or until the next sunrise. This power might allow other animal forms depending on the vampire’s native culture or if the base creature is extraterrestrial. Regardless, the animal form is almost always something traditionally associated with instinctive fear or revulsion in most people, and is the vampire’s size (terrestial) or one size level smaller (flying).
All of the gear melds into the vampire’s body. Magic items that provide constant bonuses and do not need to be activated continue to function while melded in this way (consequently the vampire loses the benefit of material armor, but is protected by the Magic Armor power, natural armor and magic armor enhancement bonus). Items that require activation cannot be used while the vampire keeps that form.The vampire cannot use items or supernatural powers while in the alternate form.
The terrestial form gains speed 50 feet and the Scent special ability. The flying form is one size smaller, gaining appropriate benefits and penalties as shown in the True20 Bestiary p. 30, table: Size Adjustments to Physical Abilities and Natural Armor. (A medium sized vampire receives: -2 Str, +1 Dex, -1 Con, +1 Combat Bonus, +4 Stealth, -1 Toughness –independently from Constitution loss). It gains flying speed 90 (good maneuvrability) and the Blindsight special ability. Damage Reduction: A vampire has damage reduction 4/silver and magic. A vampire’s natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Fast Healing: A vampire makes a recovery check (Difficulty 10 Constitution check) from damage each round, as long as it is not reduced to the “Dying” condition. The vampire receives -5 penalty on this check (it must roll 15 or more to succeed). Remember that although Undead can never receive nonlethal damage directly, they suffer it as collateral damage when they receive lethal damage, and must recover from it normally.
A vampire never receives Dead condition, no matter how high the damage. If reduced to “dying” condition on the damage track, a vampire automatically assumes gaseous form and attempts to escape. It must reach its coffin within two hours or be utterly destroyed. (It can travel up to nine miles in two hours.) Once at rest in its coffin, a vampire is helpless. It goes to “disabled” on the damage track after an hour, then is no longer helpless and resumes healing at the rate of one recovery check per round Gaseous Form: As a standard action, a vampire can assume gaseous form at will and can remain gaseous indefinitely. It and all its gear becomes insubstantial, misty, and translucent. It becomes immune to most physical harm. It can be attacked by elemental attacks and supernatural powers, but gains Damage Resistance 6/area which is effective against them. Area attacks and supernatural powers affecting mind or spirit affect it
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normally. It is invulnerable to all other attacks. It can’t attack or use other powers while in gaseous form. It also loses supernatural abilities while in gaseous form.
In gaseous form a vampire cannot run, but it has a fly speed of 20 feet (perfect). It can pass through small holes or narrow openings, even mere cracks, with all it was wearing or holding in its hands, as long as the spell persists. It is subject to the effects of wind, and it can’t enter water or other liquid. It also can’t manipulate objects or activate items, even those carried along with its gaseous form. Continuously active items remain active, though in some cases their effects may be moot. It loses the benefit of material armor, but is protected by the Magic Armor power, natural armor and magic armor enhancement bonus. Resistances: A vampire has +4 resistance to cold and electricity. This stacks with armor and magical armor bonus. Spider Climb: A vampire can climb sheer surfaces at a speed of 20 ft. with no Climb check and no chance of falling. Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature +2. Vampire Weaknesses For all their power, vampires have a number of weaknesses. Repelling a Vampire: Vampires cannot tolerate the strong odor of garlic and will not enter an area laced with it. Similarly, they recoil from a mirror or a strongly presented holy symbol. These things don’t harm the vampire - they merely keep it at bay. A recoiling vampire must stay at least 5 feet away from a creature holding the mirror or holy symbol and cannot touch or make melee attacks against the creature holding the item for the rest of the encounter. Holding a vampire at bay takes a standard action. Vampires are also unable to cross running water, although they can be carried over it while resting in their coffins or aboard a ship. They are utterly unable to enter a home or other building unless invited in by someone with the authority to do so. They may freely enter public places, since these are by definition open to all. Slaying a Vampire: Only certain attacks can slay vampires. It can be attacked with elemental attacks and supernatural powers while it is forced into gaseous form after receiving “dying” condition. If it receives dying condition the second time it is immediately destroyed. Exposing any vampire to direct sunlight disorients it; it can take only a single move or standard action and is destroyed utterly the following round if it cannot escape. Similarly, immersing a vampire in running water causes it one level of lethal damage, starting with “wounded” each round until its condition is “dying” on the damage track, at which time it is destroyed (1st round – Wounded, 2nd round – Disabled, 3rd - immediately destroyed). Driving a wooden stake through a vampire’s heart instantly slays it. This can be done as a coup de grace if the vampire is helpless; it is impossible otherwise. A vampire returns to life if the stake is removed, unless the body is destroyed. A popular tactic is to cut off the staked vampire’s head and fill its mouth with garlic, or to burn the body or expose it to sunlight, any of which destroys it.
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Lich Template Liches are adepts who have used their supernatural powers to extend their existence by becoming undead. A lich is a gaunt and skeletal humanoid with withered flesh stretched tight across horribly visible bones. Its eyes have long ago been lost to decay, but bright pinpoints of crimson light burn on in the empty sockets. Creating a Lich “Lich” is an acquired template that can be added to any humanoid creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature), provided it can create the required phylactery; see The Lich’s Phylactery, below. A lich has all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here. Size and Type: The creature’s type changes to undead. Do not recalculate base combat bonus, saves, or skills. Size is unchanged. Abilities: A lich’s mental abilities all increase by +1. Being undead, a lich has no Constitution. Skills: Liches have a +2 bonus on Notice, Search, Sense Motive and Stealth checks. In addition they gain a bonus 2 skill points per character level or hit die, which they can use only on those skills. As the result, they tend to have maximum possible skill ranks in them (level+5). Otherwise their skills are the same as the base creature. Toughness: A lich has Toughness based on its size, with a bonus equal to half level in the Undead type and 1/3 total level in all roles. A lich has a +2 natural armor bonus to Toughness or the base creature’s natural armor bonus, whichever is better. Combat: A lich has a paralyzing touch attack that it can use once per round (see below). If the base creature can use weapons, the lich retains this ability. A creature with natural weapons retains those natural weapons. A lich fighting without weapons uses either its touch attack or its natural weapon (if it has any). A lich armed with a weapon uses its touch or a weapon, as it desires. The paralyzing touch attack requires one hand; it can be used as a part of a two-weapons attack.
Traits: A lich retains the traits of the base creature and gains those described below. The save Difficulty of the lich’s attacks is 10 + 1/2 lich’s level + lich’s Charisma unless noted otherwise. Fear Aura: Liches are shrouded in a dreadful aura of evil. Creatures in a 60-foot radius that look at the lich must succeed on a Will save or be affected by the fear efect of the Heart Shaping supernatural power. A creature that successfully saves cannot be afected again by the same lich’s aura for 24 hours. Paralyzing Touch: A paralyzing touch attacks deals negative energy damage equal to the level of the lich, without bonuses from Strength. Any living creature a lich hits with its touch attack must make a Fortitude save or be permanently paralyzed. The effect cannot be dispelled. A Cure Disease check against the save Difficulty can restore the victim. Anyone paralyzed by a lich seems dead. A Difficulty 20 Notice check or a Difficulty 15 Medicine check reveals the victim is still alive. An undead creature is healed by the touch instead; use the damage as the bonus for the recovery roll. Damage Reduction: A lich’s undead body is tough, giving the creature damage reduction 6/bludgeoning and magic. Its natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Immunities: Liches have all the immunities of undead. In additon they are immune to cold, electricity and polymorph effects (though they can use polymorph effects on themselves). The Lich’s Phylactery An integral part of becoming a lich is creating a phylactery in which the adept stores his life force. As a rule, the only way to get rid of a lich for sure is to destroy its phylactery. Unless its phylactery is destroyed, a lich reappears within ten days after its apparent destruction.
Each lich must make its own phylactery. The character must have an adept level of 11th or higher and the Wizard or Sorcerer feats (in rare cases clerics can also become liches), and find or research a recipe to creating the phylactery. The phylactery costs 120,000 gp and has level equal to that of its creator at the time of creation. The most common form of phylactery is a sealed metal box containing strips of parchment on which magical phrases have been transcribed. The box is Tiny and has toughness 16 and a break DC of 40. Other forms of phylacteries can exist, such as rings, amulets, or similar items.
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Simplified Monster Creation Attack bonus shouldn’t generally be higher than 1.5*CR. For the creatures with CR 6 or less, Attack bonus shouldn’t be highter than CR+3. Damage and Toughness should be approximately 5+ ¾ CR Defence should be approximately equal to Attack +10.
CR Defence Toughness Attack Damage Good Save
Poor Save
Primary Ability
Difficulty
1 14 5 4 5 4 1 12
2 15 6 5 6 4 1 13
3 16 7 6 7 5 2 14
4 17 8 7 8 7 3 15
5 18 8 8 8 8 4 15
6 19 9 9 9 8 5 16
7 20 10 10 10 9 6 17
8 22 11 12 11 11 7 18
9 23 11 13 11 12 8 18
10 25 12 15 12 12 8 19
11 26 13 16 13 13 9 20
12 28 14 18 14 15 11 21
13 29 14 19 14 16 12 21
14 31 15 21 15 16 12 22
15 32 16 22 16 17 13 23
16 34 17 24 17 19 14 24
17 35 17 25 17 20 15 24
18 37 18 27 18 20 16 25
19 38 19 28 19 20 16 26
20 40 20 30 20 22 17 27
Special cases Those numbers are already balanced relative to CR; for that reason monsters cannot use feats and powers which give numerical bonuses to them – eg Combat Style feats and powers (eg Combat Sense) or Enhance Ability power – since those would make them overpowered. (Characters need such help in order to catch up with monsters). The only exception would be a monster with too low characteristics for its CR, which uses such powers in order to compensate for its weakness. Those numbers are intended only for combat opponents; the monsters which are not intended to be opponents in battle do not have to use them. Eg, big peaceful herbivors can have attack and defence values too low compared to toughness. Similarly, it is absolutly possible to have a combat monster with a certain characteristic lower than described in those rules. Such a monster can be called a “puzzle” monster – there is a way to slay it much more easily that its CR would indicate. If the players guess or deduct it, the encounter will be unexpectedly easy. Similarly, a monster which cannot oppose a supernatural abilities typical for its level can have disproportionately high physical characteristcs. It does not matter what damage a monster can inflict, if the player characters are not supposed to engage it hand to hand. For example a monster which above a certain level has no way to oppose flying, invisible or immaterial characters will always, and without any risk, be defeated by characters with necessary abilities. If a monster can make multiple attacks, lower its damage by 2. (Such monsters nearly always have Double Strike feat). If a monster have special abilities which allow it to deal increased damage, such as summoning additional monsters, lowers its damage accordingly.
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If a monster makes mostly ranged attack, lower its Toughness by 2. If a monster has abilities which allow it to avoid damage, lower its toughness accordingly. Adjusting the numbers: It is possible to adjust the characteristics while retaining the overall balance. First of all, there are certain hard limits to adjustment. If a certain change in characteristics would result in exceeding those limits, it cannot be perfored. Toughness and Damage or save difficulty can be increased no more than by +4, and decreased no more than by -4. Other characteristics can be increased by no more than 4, and decreased by no more than 6.
- Attack vs Damage or Save Difficulty: You can trade damage or save difficulty inflicted by an attack
with Attack bonus on a one-to-one basis, with the maximum change equalling 4. - Defense vs Toughness: You can trade-off Defense bonus for Toughness and the other way round on
a one-to-one basis, with the maximum change equalling 4. - Attack vs Defense: You can trade-off Attack bonus for Defense and the other way round on a one-to-
one basis, with the maximum change equalling 3. Calculating other characteristics: When you have selected the Challenge Rating and adjusted the numbers to your liking, you can calculate the derived characteristics. First of all, select the type, subtype and size of the monster. Next, you can select its basic Combat Bonus, and on that basis calculate its Dexterity. Finally, you can select Constitution, Strength and special abilities (in D&D terms, traits, extraordinary, supernatural and spell-like abilities). Example abilities
Selecting special abilities is the crucial part of the design!
Specific special abilities can make the numerical characteristics meaningless. A flying permanently invisible monster with ranged attack will defeat any party not able to see invisible opponents, even if it is very weak in every other respect. Conversely, a flying character will defeat a surface-bound monster without ranged attacks, unless it is hidden underground in cramped quarters. In fact, a 1st level, but fast, ranged character (eg a horse-archer) on a featureless plain will eventuall kill any slow monster without ranged attacks, if only he is able to
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inflict damage on it faster than it can heal. You can even kill a supposedly super-powerful tarrasque (CR 20) in that way, although you will need a whole army of horse archers to inflict more damage than it can regenerate and a Wish to keep it dead.
The best way to establish the special abilities a monster needs is to compare it to other D&D monsters, and to magic items and powers available to characters. The table above contains only some example powers, as a suggestion. Remember that some special powers are specially potent in combination: eg invisiblity or flight and ranged attacks, or incorporeality, invisibility and ranged supernatural powers. You can give flight even to a first level monster, but it must be distinctly weaker physically compared to standard, and in no case can have a ranged attack. You can give incorporeality to monsters starting from 3rd level (characters get their magic swords at that level), but they must be comparably weak. In the table it is included at 15 level, because it can be given at that level to monsters without any changes in physical characteristics (PCs should be able to deal with incorporeal monster at that level).
You must also consider the world in which the monster will operate and the opposition it will meet. Some powers are quite innocuous if the monster passively waits for the characters to appear and then charges or blasts them, but terribly dangerous if used actively. Consider a humble Shadow: it has merely CR 3. According to the description “Shadows lurk in dark places, waiting for living prey to happen by”. If however, even a single shadow will decide to attack (eg when controlled by a spellcaster) it can convert a whole city into shadows in a single night. Since it is incorporeal, it cannot be opposed without magic weapons or spells. The True20 version is even worse, since it is essentially indestructible thanks to its Rejuvenation ability.
For another example, even a relatively low level True20 adept with Mind Touch, Mind Probe, Mind Shaping, Pain, Psychic Blast and Illusion, if he encounters no supernatural opposition, can become a god-emperor of the whole world in about a month - without leaving his home.
Finally, consider the intelligence of the monster. Many opponents have very high intelligence and should be played by Narrator that way, which when combined with their special abilities will make them extraordinarily powerful.
Spellcasting monsters
Spellcasting (adept-like) monsters are constructed somewhat differently. They generally have somewhat weaker physical abilities (as monsters about 3 levels lower). If their attack and defence scores are as weak as that of an Adept, they should have Combat Sense and similar powers. If the defence score higher than half the standard for their CR, they cannot have Combat Sense.
