[RCFG] RCFG Ongoing Development!

[Raven Crowking]

Among the creatures up for tonight's playtest:

Blink Elf (Medium Humanoid): Mv 30 ft; AC 12; Init +4; HD 1; Att longsword (3 ranks, 1d8); SA blink (+6 bonus to check to grant combat advantage); SD blink (+6 bonus as active defence); SQ blink (up to 10 ft); SV (Fort –2, Perc +4, Prow –2, Reas +4, Refl +6, Will +4); ML 8; XP 40. Skills: None.

Wolf (Medium Animal): Mv 60 ft; AC 13; Init +2; HD 2; Att 1 bite (1d6); SA trip (DC 12, bite attack, reaction); SD none; SQ low-light vision; SV (Fort +3, Perc +2, Prow +2, Reas –4, Refl +0, Will +0); ML 8; XP 100. Skills: None.

(Gives a rough idea of working statblock size)

[Raven Crowking]

Some thoughts from the first playtest.

First off, we were unable to use (1st-level) spellcasters because that portion of the rules isn’t drafted yet. That left as PC classes Barbarian, Bard, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, and Rogue. Our two players were my older children, Mike (18) and Heather (9).

I had planned on making pregen characters, but Mike in particular enjoys character generation, so the first session was spent largely on character creation. Both Heather and Mike made two characters each. Heather’s were a gnome rogue and a half-elf ranger (favoured enemy: goblinoids). Mike made a halfling fighter (archer) and a human barbarian. Even learning new rules, character generation was faster than with 3e.

Character generation showed some areas of the RCFG Preview #1 that need revision. This isn’t much of a surprise, but it is good to find these problems so that they can be dealt with before the RCFG 1e release. There are also (again, no surprise) some rules areas that could use clarification.

After character generation, there was only time for two encounters, each of which lasted perhaps 10-15 minutes.

The first encounter was with a group of six evil blink elves, which ambushed the party in a wood. Perception saves were called for, and the gnome rogue was surprised. The blink elves achieved total surprise against the human barbarian.

Round 1: Initiative is rolled, with the halfling fighter being highest. He is informed that the blink elves are “rabble” (in relation to his “Cut Through the Rabble” ability). He holds his action to see what the elves will do. Three attack the barbarian, while one each attacks each of the other characters. The halfling shoots two arrows – one at one of the elves attacking the barbarian (slaying him) and one at the elf attacking him (causing 6 hp damage, leaving the elf with 1 hp).

One of the elves is dropped, and their leader is hanging on by a thread, so I rolled a morale check for the elves. They decide to keep going. The two elves on the barbarian automatically get the drop, doing an extra die of damage if they hit. They both hit. The barbarian is at -5 hp, but since he can still Shake it Off to 1 hp or more, he isn’t dead yet. The injured leader elf uses his Blink ability to set up an active defense, raising his AC to 19. The other two elves attack, and the gnome is rendered unconscious (the blink elf used its Blink to gain combat advantage on the gnome).

The half-elf ranger then attacks another elf, slaying him.

Round 2: The halfling fighter is again high roll for initiative, getting a 14. This means that he can act on 10 and 4. On 10, he manages to kill both of the elves that dropped the barbarian, preventing them from performing a coup de grace. The blink elves are now down to two, one of whom is severely injured. I roll another morale check, which they fail. The blink elves flee. The halfling uses his remaining action to stabilize the barbarian.

Round 3: The halfling stabilizes the gnome.

Three rounds; 15 minutes or less. Both fun and exciting. At the end of Round 1, both Mike and I were thinking that a TPK might be in the offing, but the PCs prevailed. After the encounter, the injured party members rest and Shake it Off.

The second encounter occurs while they are still injured. The party is in the same wood, it has gotten dark, and they encounter two ghouls. Stealth checks are made for the least stealthy on both sides, and then Perception saves determine surprise. Again, the barbarian is surprised (but not totally surprised this time). So is one ghoul.

Round 1: The ghoul wins initiative, and Closes with the party. The halfling fighter fires an arrow. Because the ghoul isn’t “rabble”, he gets no extra attack. He uses his skill ranks to up the damage, but fails to kill the ghoul. The half-elf ranger then attacks, using his battle ax (untrained, with a -4 penalty). He hits anyway, and the first ghoul goes down. The surprised ghoul is shot at, and hit, but is still up.

Round 2: Simultaneous initiative between the remaining ghoul, the gnome, and the halfling. I make a morale check for the ghoul, who stays in the fight. The ghoul charges. Using the simultaneous initiative, I rule that because the ghoul has to cross the intervening space, missile attacks go first. The gnome sets his spear for a charge. The halfling’s arrow catches the ghoul, dropping him.

(I had intended the ghoul to use its Climb skill to gain combat advantage, scrabbling up a tree to increase its AC and attack roll as it dropped onto the characters.)

Two rounds; 10 minutes or less.

In both combats, the players felt like there was a real chance of losing (which is understandable, because there was). Ghoul paralysis in RCFG lasts 1d6 rounds, but a creature can always get the drop on a paralyzed creature, which means doing double damage at a minimum.

RCFG uses the Basic Fantasy model for XP, so calculating what the PCs earned was simple, and I did so after each encounter. (We also used Basic Fantasy equipment rules for this outing as that part of the rules isn’t yet complete.)

Some notes:

(1) Creating monsters for RCFG was a snap. I literally created over a dozen types of monster stats – including two entirely new monsters, as well as modified monsters such as the “blink elves” – over a 1-hour lunch period.

(2) Although Mike was initially skeptical about the lower numbers than in 3e, when it became apparent that the numbers were lower across the board – and that his PCs would only get more competent as time went on – he felt that the characters were capable without being invulnerable. This is exactly the balance I was hoping to achieve.

(3) Speedy combat resolution automatically refocuses the game towards exploration. As Mike observed, making rolls isn’t as much fun as making decisions. He also felt that he had meaningful decisions to make in combat, due to his skill ranks, even without the use of minis.

(4) Mike lamented the loss of commonly occurring AoOs initially, but warmed to the idea once he realized this meant that he could use combat advantage without worrying about AoOs himself.

(5) Likewise, “no feats” seemed like a negative until it became obvious that a character could try all sorts of things without having to have the proper “feat build” first.

(6) Mike, at least, was happy that his human barbarian gained +10% of earned XP.

I personally had more fun playing through those two encounters than I have had from D&D in years. The free-wheeling nature of the ruleset was a big contributor to that fun. That I was able to do minimum prep work for maximum yield was really cool – those two encounters were designed “on the fly” from monsters I’d statted for the “Runined Keep” scenario that was the intended playtest. I rolled hp at the table.

It seemed to me that Mike and Heather also found the encounters fun. I know that Heather is looking forward to using her gnome’s ability to communicate with small burrowing mammals.

The Ruined Keep scenario will begin with the same characters, fully rested, on Tuesday.

[Raven Crowking]

Another thought, about minions.

In the thread about "One hit, one kill" being anti-climactic, I believe that this is because (1) you know that the minion will fall in one hit, and (2) you know that the minion will die just as fast versus Joe the Farmer.

The "weapon skill" system allows a skilled fighter to increase the damage output of his weapons, so that he can probably "one-hit, one-kill" mooks, but isn't absolutely certain that he can do so. To my mind (and IME), this leads to a more vibrant experience, and to greater satisfaction when the fighter plows through a horde of goblins (or what-have-you). Not only is a kill not assured, but it is the fighter's skill -- rather than merely the mook's weakness -- that does the killing.

YMMV.


RC

[ExploderWizard]

Originally Posted by Raven Crowking

Another thought, about minions.

In the thread about "One hit, one kill" being anti-climactic, I believe that this is because (1) you know that the minion will fall in one hit, and (2) you know that the minion will die just as fast versus Joe the Farmer.


RC

But wait!!! That minion isn't a minion against joe the farmer. Its only when big bad PC swings at it that it goes down on a near miss. Joe would probably die of boredom before that "minion" dropped if he fought it.

I don't really find that acceptable either.

[Aus_Snow]

Originally Posted by Raven Crowking

The Ruined Keep scenario will begin with the same characters, fully rested, on Tuesday.

Then I'll look forward to reading that one too. Good stuff, mate. Sounds promising.

I might have tried some of this out - being tempted. . . well, almost - but I'm a bit short of truly free time for now and the immediate future, habitual random forum posting notwithstanding (ahem). The fact that the system is not complete is a significant factor as well. I've found that testing out bits of systems without proper context is of arguably very little use, when it comes to determining their usefulness, appropriateness, balance and so on.

But, like I said, it's sounding promising at this stage. Glad you're still going ahead with it, getting it (or 'drafts' of it) playtested, and oh yeah, those statblocks are tidy!


edit --- re:minions - in 3e(-ish) I've had 'minion' as a template, limiting them to minimum HP (NOT 1 total), and reducing things like stats and resistances, etc, somewhat. And 'elite', well they're the mirror image, having maximum HP, increased stats and so forth. It's worked well enough, and was all in place prior to 4e, like the vast majority of my house rules, including some that are reminiscent of, or even identical to, certain 4e rules.

[Raven Crowking]

Originally Posted by ExploderWizard

But wait!!! That minion isn't a minion against joe the farmer. Its only when big bad PC swings at it that it goes down on a near miss. Joe would probably die of boredom before that "minion" dropped if he fought it.

Ah. The "Schrödinger's Hit Points" type of minion.

Originally Posted by Aus_Snow

Then I'll look forward to reading that one too. Good stuff, mate. Sounds promising.

Thank you for your interest.

Have no fear, the game will be completely up and running before the year is out, with a lot of monsters (including, now, quite a few new ones), a bunch of new magic items (Ring of Reactions +1 gives you an extra reaction each combat round, Cursed Longsword [6 ranks] has six ranks of weapon skill locked within it, which you use instead of your own. Unfortunately, if you have more than six ranks, the sword interferes with your skill use, limiting you to those six ranks. A boon for 1st level characters that eventually becomes something they want to get rid of.

Unfortunately, playtesting parts of systems is the best way to discover what works in the real world, and what does not. Overall, our system test left me truly elated because the game worked much better than I had hoped.

Once I get the magic system whipped into shape, I'll really be happy.


RC

[Raven Crowking]

Originally Posted by Aus_Snow

Then I'll look forward to reading that one too. Good stuff, mate. Sounds promising.

Well, that's tonight, so it won't be long.

Send me your email, and I'll be glad to send you a copy of The Ruined Keep as a 9-page pdf. It should be easily converted to other systems. You can send that email to ravencrowking at hotmail dot com. It'll help follow along the playtest, anyway.

RC

[Raven Crowking]

If anyone else wants that pdf, send me your email.

RC

[Raven Crowking]

The first real session took place on Tuesday. The same characters were used – Mike had a human barbarian and a halfling fighter; Heather had a gnome rogue and a half-elf ranger. They knew that they were going to be exploring a ruined keep, and chose to do so beginning in the early morning. I drew them a quick sketch map of the area, showing the keep’s towers, walls, archway, some visible rubble. The map also shows a stream and pool, a bridge over the stream, a cluster of trees to the northeast, and a ruined catapult lying not too far from the keep proper. They were told that the river was slow-moving, covered with duckweed and lily pads, and that there were reeds growing along the banks.

Mike was suspicious of the bridge, but was reassured when he saw the culverts and realized that it was made of stone. They crossed and went up the keep proper. (I told them they saw ripples in the stream – perhaps a fish snagging an insect – as they crossed the bridge.)

They examined the heights of the towers from outside. They asked about a way in, imagining that the archway still contained an effective door. As it did not, they entered the keep. After a brief examination of the lower courtyard beyond the archway, Heather’s characters examined the north tower and Mike’s explored the south tower. Both towers are 30 feet by 30 feet.

In the south tower, the main floor still survives, as does part of the second floor. Within the main floor, cobwebs criss-cross the rafter beams, and the floor is thick with dirt and bits of stone. An iron ladder is bolted to the center of the south wall, leading upwards to a trapdoor to the second floor. Arrow slits look toward the gateway, to the south, and to the east.

A large spider (about the size of a small dog, light brown and yellow with a mark on its abdomen similar to a reddish-orange skull) hides in the rafters waiting for prey. It manages to surprise the barbarian, but not the halfling fighter. Because the spider has 1+1 HD, it is not rabble.

(Due to the fighter “Cut Through the Rabble” ability, “Is it rabble?” or “Are they rabble?” quickly became the battle cry of the fighter!)

There were enough fights during the session that I can’t break them down into a round-by-round with any clear memory. It took 2 rounds to beat the spider, though, with the halfling making a successful Fort save against poison at one point. They go up the trapdoor, discover the owl nest, and decide to leave it alone.

Meanwhile, Heather’s characters discover the trapdoor hidden in the floor of the north tower. No dice rolls were involved – for some reason she was keen on examining the floor (the ceiling is gone, exposing the tower to the sky). This might have to do with her experiences with pit traps in Basic Fantasy, where they are used to good effect in some of the free modules.

In any even, the trapdoor is locked, and the characters leave it for now, going to the upper courtyard.

This area is occupied by six goblins (two spearmen, three archers, and an animal trainer armed with a whip) and their two trained dire rats. In 3e, a “dire rat” is what used to be known as a “giant rat”. In RCFG, this is a “giant rat”, and a “dire rat” is a rat about the size of a tiger. They are cunning, and prefer to attack by ambush, getting the drop on their opponents whenever possible. They are sometimes trained by goblins and other evil humanoids. Think of the rats in H.G. Wells’ Food of the Gods (if you are familiar with the book) and you will get the idea.

The party manages to surprise the goblins, but while deciding what to do fail a Stealth vs. Perception, and the dire rats become aware of them. Because only the dire rats are aware of them, the party still has 1 round before anyone else can act (the dire rats are held on leads by the animal trainer). Mike considers taking out the trainer, but opts against it, firing one arrow with his halfling fighter at a dire rat and another at an archer (using Cut Through the Rabble). Heather’s ranger shoots the dire rat again, but it is still up. Mike’s initiative is high enough to give him one more shot, so he shoots another archer.

Again, there was enough combat this session that I cannot clearly remember the round-per-round blows, but the animal trainer releases the rats, siccing them on the PCs. Had the animal trainer been taken out, the rats would have attacked the nearest creature, carrying off their kill to eat privately. One of the rats was cut down by the time it reached the party, and the other died beneath the barbarian’s axe. The two goblin spearmen fled, but the archer and the animal trainer lasted long enough to die in melee combat.

The characters looted the goblins, and turned their attention to the three entryways they saw.

They first examined the ruined kitchen, finding the poisonous adder there and allowing it to slither away without harm. They then went into the ruined chamber next to the kitchen, where the gnome rogue found a slip of paper reading “....lies beneath the north tower in the Crystal Grotto....” This sent Heather’s characters back to the north tower to investigate the trapdoor.

Mike went to the ruined kennel, where he discovered the bones of a human soldier wearing chainmail – a chain around his neck still holding a rusted iron key. He also managed to locate the treasure under the cot – a small unlocked chest containing a mouldy cloth bag with 35 cp in it, a potion (reddish tint, cinnamon smell, spicy but metallic taste, made him feel slightly faster), and two potions of healing (light green, fragrant smoke rolls out of bottle when opened, no odour, minty taste, 1d6, easily identified as such when a sip made him feel slightly better).

Mike’s characters joined Heather’s at the trapdoor, unlocked it with the key, and opened it up. Below they saw a stone shaft, some 10 feet deep, with an iron ladder bolted to the north wall. The halfling used his silk rope, tied to himself, with the barbarian holding the other end, to test the ladder. When it appeared to be solid, he called to the rest of the party, and they proceeded downward.

Beyond the shaft was a stairway going south for 20 feet, a landing, and then stairs going west 20 feet, leading to a 30-foot square room vaulted to a height of 12 feet with an arched doorway in the center of the north, south, and west walls. They look down each hall, and then head west.

This hallway leads to a room is some 20 feet deep by 50 feet wide. Sconces for torches (now empty) are bracketed to the wall on either side of the door. The room is vaulted to a height of 12 feet. The far wall is carved with several images of knights cut into relief on the wall. That wall seems to be damp – water seeps through the ceiling and across the reliefs to puddle on the floor. The room otherwise seems to be empty. They look around for a couple of minutes, find nothing, and leave.

They then choose the north passage. This leads to a door with an iron-barred window. It opens into a 20-foot square room with a similar door in the far wall. This room was obviously once that of the jailor. The far door is locked with a sliding bolt, which can easily be unlocked from within the room. It creaks open on rusty hinges when the barbarian tries it.

Beyond the door is a long, low hallway (arched to about 7 feet high), with iron-barred doors hanging open on either side. The hall is 50 feet long, with four 10-foot square cells to the north, 10 to the south, and one to the far east. The area smells of old rot and corruption.

Each cell holds three animated skeletons, for a total of 27. These are primarily the remains of prisoners left here to die by the jailor, although one is wearing chainmail and has both a short sword and a key ring.

The players forget that there is a door with a sliding bolt behind them. Because two of them are short, all four can fight in the hallway, whereas only three skeletons fit in the front line. I have to random-roll each round to see which PC isn’t attacked.

This is a long battle; the longest of the game so far. At first, the PC’s lack of weapons causes them problems. The halfling fighter has to use his epee’s pommel to attack, for example, because P weapons don’t damage skeletons at all in RCFG. When the first skeletons fall, PCs scoop up long leg- and arm-bones to act as makeshift clubs. Luckily, the gnome has a sling and plenty of bullets, so he is able to help! The barbarian uses the “flat” of his battle axe, taking a –4 penalty to hit.

The battle takes long enough that the “battle fatigue” rules almost come into play. The total length of the battle is 15 rounds, with the lower-Constitution PCs falling prior to their reaching fatigue point. Surprisingly, the PCs fare relatively well. They manage to slay all but three of the skeletons, and of those skeletons two are damaged when the halfling at last falls.

They come to (having Shaken it Off) in individual cells. The cells are still not locked, so they go to loot the skeletons, taking the chainmail and sword. The barbarian is especially interested in the helmet that went with the mail. After a beat, they realize what has probably happened, and check the door to the cells. Yup. Locked from the outside.

The PCs have two axes among them, so they lay to and hack through the door. (All of this time, I’ve been checking for wandering monsters, and still they run into nothing at all, even with the noise of the axes!) Outside the door, they discover the bones of the three remaining skeletons – they made it not more than 5 feet from the door. Puzzled, the players try to figure out why this is. Mike suggests that the cell corridor might be magical, and tries placing some of the bones back into the cells. Nothing. Unhappily for the PCs, the room keeps its mystery.

The PCs now check the south way. The door to this room is stuck from the damp, requiring a Prowess AS DC 12 to open, which the barbarian manages easily. Beyond the door is a 30 foot by 60 foot room, with a ceiling vaulted to a height of 10 feet. It smells of rot. The room is filled with various crates, bags, and barrels, all of which are rotting, damaged, or sprouting pale violet mushrooms, yellowish mould, and the like. Water has oozed through cracks in ceiling and walls, so that all of the walls are damp to the touch.

Heather, again due to experience with Basic Fantasy, warns Mike about yellow mould.

They begin searching, and the halfling discovers a patch of yellow mould. Since he has just been warned, I give him a (free reaction) Reasoning save DC 5 to recognize and avoid it. Mike rolls a 1. Luckily, the halfling has fantastic reflexes, and isn’t poisoned.

Eventually, they find a number of useful items in this room. For every 10 minutes spent searching, I am rolling three dice. The first determines what, if anything, is found (d8), the second determines who does the finding (d4), and the third determines whether or not a random encounter occurs (d6).

Finally, a wandering encounter occurs – 3 giant ants. RCFG giant ants are about 2 feet long, and have 2 HD each. With the PCs already wounded from the skeletons, and even with the players trying some Combat Advantage, the ants clean their clocks. All four are rendered unconscious.

Now, if this had been a ghoul, the PCs would have been dead. But, being giant ants, they carry the fallen back to their nests. There are only three ants, so one is left behind – a random roll determines it is the halfling fighter. When he Shakes it Off, he goes in pursuit of the ants. He follows them out of the dungeon level, and into the courtyard before finding them. Luckily, carrying the PCs slows them down.

At first Mike considers shooting at the ants with arrows, but a small ant carrying a medium half-elf gives a 2/3 chance of targeting the half-elf, so he instead charges the closest ant. Finally, some high rolls! The ants, being mindless, give him the chance to engage them one-by-one, which proves their undoing. However, by this time the gnome has succumbed to his wounds and is truly dead – the first PC death in RCFG.

The players decide that they are going to camp near the ruin, to try to heal.

I calculate XP, and we call it night.

We began the game at 6:00 pm, with plates of spaghetti & glasses of pomegranate soda. We ended the game at 8:30 pm, with an expectation to pick it up next Tuesday.

As with all playtests, this one demonstrated some areas where the rules need tightening, but also showed that the combat engine allows for fun, tense combats that don’t grind all night. The focus was clearly on exploration – finding stuff – as opposed to moving from one set-piece battle to another.

It was fun.

I am planning to finish the spell material so that I can convert Village of Hommlet and Keep on the Shadowfell for future playtest sessions. (I was going to use Keep on the Borderlands, but I used that with Mike in 3e, so I’d rather something he didn’t know so well!)

RC

[Aus_Snow]

Heh, 'bout time there was a PC death. And hey, that's a lot of skeletons, by my reckoning. Nice that that can work at low level. Presumably at high level too, of course.

Anything else come to mind, regarding the way mechanics have been used, comparisons to 3e, AD&D, Basic D&D, and well, whatever else seems relevant?

Resolution of conflict doesn't appear to drag at all - great. Caution and boldness both seem to have their place in the 'implied setting' - also great.

Now that I mentioned it, high level play would be one of the areas I'm most keen on reading about, maybe trying out. Reason being, every edition of D&D to date has failed in this, in a variety of dull and/or spectacular ways.

[glass]

Originally Posted by Raven Crowking

The "weapon skill" system allows a skilled fighter to increase the damage output of his weapons, so that he can probably "one-hit, one-kill" mooks, but isn't absolutely certain that he can do so. To my mind (and IME), this leads to a more vibrant experience, and to greater satisfaction when the fighter plows through a horde of goblins (or what-have-you). Not only is a kill not assured, but it is the fighter's skill -- rather than merely the mook's weakness -- that does the killing.

Originally Posted by ExploderWizard

But wait!!! That minion isn't a minion against joe the farmer. Its only when big bad PC swings at it that it goes down on a near miss. Joe would probably die of boredom before that "minion" dropped if he fought it.

I don't really find that acceptable either.

I don't have any problems with 4e minions as written (because I have always thought of hp as mostly luck points or plot immunity), but in another thread here, someone suggested a "fix" which might help you guys:

The idea was you need damage above a certain threshold to 1-hit-kill a minion. Damage below that threshold bloodies them (in 4e terms) instead. A second hit on a bloodied minion kills them. Not directly relevant to your game RC, but I thought I'd mention it.


glass.

[glass]

Ah, I promised you some comments didn't I? And all I've done so far is talk about 4e minions. I've got to brave the snow to get to the bank now, but I'll try to say something useful when I get back.


glass.

[Raven Crowking]

Originally Posted by glass

Ah, I promised you some comments didn't I? And all I've done so far is talk about 4e minions. I've got to brave the snow to get to the bank now, but I'll try to say something useful when I get back.

Yeah, it's a real weenie-shrinker outside here! And I agree that EN World has offered some good fixes for some of the problems I have with 4e. EN Worlders are awesome!

@ Aus_Snow: Not having the magic section completed hampers high level playtests more than low, but I might consider trading up Hommlet for Against the Giants, and see what happens when I through higher-level RCFG PCs into that adventure. Converted, of course.


RC

[glass]

Originally Posted by Raven Crowking

Saves: Fort , Perc , Prow , Reas , Refl , Will .
Ability Scores: S , I , W , D , C , Ch .

I guessed when I saw that you intended to have one save per stat, which was then confirmed of course. If I ever do my own D&D-as-preferred, I plan to do the same thing (except I'll probably follow the 4e model and have defences rather than saves).

Anyway, is it my imagination, or are the saves listed in a different order from the stats the derive from. Is there any reason for that?

For that matter, is there any reason why they aren't just called 'Strength save' etc?


glass.

[Raven Crowking]

Originally Posted by glass

Anyway, is it my imagination, or are the saves listed in a different order from the stats the derive from. Is there any reason for that?

The saves are in alphabetical order. The stats are in AD&D order.

For that matter, is there any reason why they aren't just called 'Strength save' etc?

Preference, really. Prowess, for example, is applied Strength. A Strength-based skill, though, isn't modified by Prowess. I hoped to avoid confusion.

(Note that Saves are predominantly "keep the game moving" or "keep my character alive", so can have higher numbers than skills or ability scores.)


RC

[Nellisir]

I know you're still working on spells & such, but how about posting just one for kicks? Preferably something kind of iconic but still indicative of your changes. Magic missile or phantom steed or something.

Cheers
Nell.

[Raven Crowking]

Achievement of the Average

Evocation [Mathematical, Metamagic]

Class and Level: Sorcerer (Mathematical) 1
Casting Time: Reaction
Components: V
Range: 100 feet + 10 feet per caster level
Target: One spell
Duration: Instantaneous.
Save: None.

When this spell is cast, any rolls made by the spellcaster of the target spell (or the GM on his behalf) are automatically statistically average (round up). For example, a spell that does 4d8 points of damage will do 16 points of damage. The sorcerer is able to cast this spell on the next spell that he casts, so as to make his own spell statistically average.

This spell is therefore able to make known the duration of spells with variable durations, to guarantee a minimum amount of healing from healing spells, and to put a cap on damage from hostile spells. In conjugation with a spell that contains a low level of risk, achievement of the average can remove that risk entirely.

This spell does not affect saving throws made to avoid the effects of spells, however.

[Relique du Madde]

Reported

[Raven Crowking]

Originally Posted by Relique du Madde

Reported

Huh?

[Jack7]

This is a nice effort RC, with some really clever design principles.