Search results

Another option is to have a feat that allows multiple attacks in grapple at higher levels the same way characters gain multiple melee attacks. I would link it to BAB with the same -5 formula.

By and large I go with the broker model, but for that occasional, magic everywhere and so on campaign I use extra planar magic shops that can only be entered with a spell. Most wizards have the spell in their books, few others bother wasting a slot on it, and it only locates a magic door to the...

First thing is to make sure you understand any restrictions the rules place on flight. That can go a long way towards dealing with the immediate combat problems. Next decide how rare flight is for the campaign. For most it is rare enough people talk about seeing flying men in the distance, and...

When I ran my last homebrew sci fi, I addressed this issue by stealing liberally from multiple RPGs and board games. First by creating multiple stations that could be either PC, NPC, or AI (really just a robotic NPC) controlled. The PCs were usually better, but even if they weren't a player...

Frostgrave is fairly simple and can play fast. The emphasis is on long term development of your wizard, individual game nights can have ups and downs success wise. Terrain can be easily cobbled together, the winter theme helps when covering everything in snow. There is now a pirate themed...

For a 3.5 game a few years ago I ran a 7 samurai scenario where each PC effectively trained a mob with basic stats. Then during the final scenario the PC's mob received morale bonuses based on how the PC was doing -thus individual combats were reflected by the villagers' performance.

Vehicle combats tend to be hard regardless of genre because the vehicle usually acts as a single NPC under the control of a single player. Rogue Trader and FASA's old Star Treck are good examples of breaking the phenomenon, so look to see what you can do to give each player a meaningful job. A...

Trust has to be earned. Sometimes it's easy, a handshake, smile and socially expected behavior, but when it is not then the foundations must be layed. First, whom do you really want them to trust, you or the NPCs? If it is you then realize it will take time. Start with don't cackle where they...

Rather than a straight up fight, how about needing to drive the ghosts back with relics from the Union militia that originally defeated them? The flag could very well still be in the courthouse or museum and allow for turning the creatures and drive them back to the cave, the drum lay...

I love miniatures, have for deacades, and have used them in a multitude of games, but feel they should only be used when and where they add to the game. That being said I find that for myself the biggest advantages are not just in combat - if the party splits (which mine often do), placing the...

Low level party were up against orcs in a rather precarious fight. The cleric took total defense behind his tower shield without getting off a single spell which tipped the balance. Finally it was down to just two wounded orcs and the untouched cleric who continued to take total D as the orcs...

Having spent some time with NA black and grizzly bears I'm going with swatty hands down. When a bear hugs it isn't to squish the victim like an anaconda, it's to keep it still while the bear bites. Be mean, if the bear grapples give it a flurry of bites or some sort of rip a large piece off...

We had a character in a Cthulhu by Gaslight game who was an amateur phrenologist. The GM allowed him to ID various personality issues as well as hideous creatures from beyond disguised as humans just by running his hands over their heads.

They didn't eliminate facing, but rather included the concept with flanking. You will always turn to face an opponent, but with two you may not be able to.

Much of the theology of my default home brew campaign is wrapped up in the thought "Yes, the gods are real, but what if they are wrong?" which has led to a revolt against many of the gods. As to racial philosophies, in the same campaign elves have short life cycles but are constantly...

Mine more resembles the car featured in an old Johnny Cash song. YouTube - ‪1961 Biarritz Johnny Cash "One Piece at a Time"‬‏

Several years ago I had a nondescript NPC wizard who acquired his personality as part of an escape - the players decided that he had been playing down his real powers and that he must be important, so not having time to deal with him they began tracking him almost everyday with a scrying mirror...

I'll counter the above opinions and say that I have had better luck using miniatures than not in CoC, but rarely in combat, at least not in combats happening inside a small area like a room. Here's my valence theory of miniature use; I generally divide the battlemat or white board into vague...

A few years ago I played in a campaign where the DM used modern names mixed with describers, like Bob the Red or Felix the Fat and it worked well. It was a good combination of memorable familiarity with a fantasy twist. That is until he started using Dave as shorthand for the evil guys. Dave...

1d4 keys and a note (roll 1d6) saying; 1 "Come after dark, the servants will be gone" 2 "The prisoners must be fed EVERY day! Do not forget" 3 "It's behind the lion's head." 4 "The second door squeeks." 5 "Milk and Bread." 6 "The iron grate, not the brass one."