This page is dedicated to the D&D group Clan of the Bitter Rose. The group purged the city of Freeport from a mysterious cult, had defeated a crazed druid in his demented grove, and is now embarking on their greatest challenge yet... Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil.
Updated 10/05/07 Adventure journal (final session is posted!)
Toughness feat - modified from the PHB. Toughness still adds 3HP. In addition, the first Toughness taken allows rerolling HP when gaining a new level. If a reroll is taken, the second roll must be kept. Additional Toughness feats do not provide further rerolls; instead, the increase the amount of HP gained - 6HP for the second, 9HP for the third, etc.
Great Cleave feat - Great Cleave allows you to continue to cleave until unsuccessful in dropping an opponent, for a single attack in a given round. Great Cleave works for any attack in a round, including Attacks of Opportunity, and may be combined with any other feat such as Combat Reflexes.
Sorcerer Skills - Sorcerers have Bluff instead of Spellcraft as a class skill
Learning new skills - when levelling up, characters can add points to any skill they already know, as well as any "every man" skill. However, if they wish to learn a new skill that requires special training, they must find a mentor to teach them that skill, pay their fee and spend the time required (per DM judgement). This includes learning new languages.
Tumble - Similar to 3.5ed. Normal tumble is at half-speed. A check must be made for each opponent being tumbled past or through (base DC's are still 15 for past and 25 for through). Each opp adds +2 to the DC roll, and there are additional terrain modifiers. Tumbling at full speed is at -10 to the roll.
Weapons & Combat
Ranged weapon ammunition - it is assumed that characters always carry enough arrows, sling stones and similar standard ammunition. A "restocking fee" will be charged by the DM on a regular basis during city visits to replenish lost ammunition. This rule only applies to standard ammunition!
Flanking - once a flanking situation has been established, all characters who are attacking the flanked character are considered flanking, regardless of their position.
Fighting in water - -2 on attack and damage rolls, and all damage from slashing/blunt/claw/tail is then further reduced by half.
Too much thought in combat - The DM will skip a character's combat round if the player is not ready with an action within a reasonable time frame (usually less than 30 seconds) once their round arrives.
Magic
Identify spell - in case of an item with charges or similar effects (wand, staff, brooch of shielding), Identify will also reveal the number of charges (absorption points etc.) present
Harm & Heal - as per 3.5ed. Both spells work for 10HP per caster level up to a maximum of 150, will save for half. Harm cannot reduce below 1HP.
Writing spells into spellbooks - The following rules replace the 3rd edition rules related to writing new spells into spellbooks (from research, copying from scrolls etc.):
Page Count - Each spells occupies a total of 1 page + 1 page/level (for example, a cantrip occupies 1 page, a 1st level spell occupies 2 pages, a 5th level spell occupies 6 pages)
Time - 1 day for cantrips and 1st level spells; 2 days for spells of 2nd level or higher
Cost - 100GP per page (as per normal rules; however, note that due to the reduce page count, spells above 1st level will cost significantly less to write in a spellbook)
Miscellaneous
Character Death - Several rules are in effect regarding character death and total party kill (TPK):
Characters played well and "in character" will not die solely due to a series of bad die rolls. This rule is designed to encourage role playing and thinking on one's feet, as well as dramatic combat.
TPK will not happen even if die rolls indicate otherwise, unless the party exhibits "gross negligence" (per DM judgement). For clarity's sake, "gross negligence" does include taking on foes that are far superior to the party, and a resulting TPK will not be altered. Thus, this rule is not intended to encourage "head against the wall" hack-n-slash behavior; instead, it is in effect to ensure that a well-played party is not completely eliminated due to a series of disastrous die rolls.
Any death effect allows at least one saving throw, regardless of whether one is indicated in the effect's description. This rule does not apply to non-death effects.
It is important to remember that characters can and will still die, and that TPK is possible; however, these house rules above are designed to eliminate non-sensical deaths. Any "fibbing" resulting from these rules will be done secretly by the DM and will not be communicated to the players.
Character Death (the primary rule) - A character can only be brought back from the dead, regardless of the means utilized to do so, a number of time equal to their initial Constitution score minus 1. Even direct divine intervention cannot increase this limit.
Character Death (effects) - A character that dies and is raised does not lose a level as per the standard 3rd edition rules. Instead, the following procedure takes place:
The character's relative position within its current level is calculated as a percentage of the amount of experience needed to advance between the current and next level. Example: A fourth level character with 9,000XP will be considered to be at 75%: 9,000 is 75% of the way between 6,000 (needed for level 4) and 10,000 (needed for level 5).
Using the percentage number from step 1, the relative XP number beteen the current level and previous level is calculated. Example: for the above character, the 75% point between the current (4) and previous (3) level would be 75% of the way between 3,000 and 6,000, or 5,250.
The character immediately loses all XP accumulated in the current level. Example: the above character would now drop from 9,000XP to 6,000XP.
The character incurs an "XP debt" equal to the additional amount between the number from step 2 to the new current number from step 3. Eample: the above character would incur an "XP debt" of 750 (6,000 minus 5,250).
The XP debt is repaid at a 50/50 ratio until it is fully paid. Example: the above character gains 500 XP, increasing XP from 6,000 to 6,250 while reducing the XP debt from 750 to 500.
The formula:
Assume CXP = Current XP
Assume CL = Current level minimum XP required
Assume NL = Next level minimum XP required
Assume PL = Previous level minimum XP required
XP Debt = (1-(CXP-CL)/(NL-CL))*(CL-PL)
note: in all cases, the final XP debt figures will be rounded down to the nearest ten
Negotiations - standard and masterwork items may be sold for 50% of their value. When negotiating to sell a non-standard item, a successful diplomacy check (DC 15+1/1000GP value) allows a percentage bonus to sale price equal to charisma score (for example, a character with 17 CHA will receive 67% of market value on a successful check)
Special duty XP awards - additional XP awards will be given for each session for being the mapper (when mapping occurs). Also, journals written and submitted by any player (and published on this site) for any session qualify for an identical award. The following table summarizes XP awards based on character level at the beginning of the session for the first nine levels:
Level
XP Award
Level
XP Award
Level
XP Award
1
50
5
200
9
400
2
100
6
250
10
450
3
100
7
300
11
500
4
150
8
350
12
550
Special DM awards - special awards of XP, ability points, wealth or items will be given by the DM for any effort that the DM deems greatly benefits the group. Ideas must be coordinated with the DM in advance. Examples: sketching portraits for all party members based on character descriptions; painting everyone's character miniature (requires that players provide miniatures for painting).
Missing sessions - missing a session results in a 10% XP penalty for the character whose player is missing; the deducted XP is then redistributed between the characters whose players participate in the session.
