I've been playing as a PC with some friends for about 3 months now, and it's been great fun! I'm now working on DMing some games with my family, all of which are new.
Always love to hear about this type of thing. Sounds like a lot of fun, and family time, to boot!
1. With my family, books are open all the time, searching for the "what to do's" for different situations (them, and myself). Not a huge issue.
There's a huge learning curve with 3.5 d20 games. I came to it without having ever played a 3E game before (I'd played a lot of AD&D and AD&D 2E, though). It took me a year to get comfortable with the rules, and by that, I mean that I didn't have to refer to the books. I could rattle off most rules from memory.
Some rules, I have to figure out how to play them.
Like the Feint (see the thread where I figured out how I'm going to play the Feint in my Conan game).
But, it's worth it. d20 3.5E is a wonderful game system.
And, like anything, it gets easier the more you play.
But I'd like to know if there are some quick reference sheets for the game rules, such as step-by-teps how to handle combat rolls, with bonuses, etc.
I know I've seen such a thing, but I don't have a link. Google-Fu is your friend. I'm sure there's some charts out there somewhere.
What do you think about critical misses, and consequences? I've done a little research, and read different opinions. I think I'm homing in on using a confirmation roll of 1, then rolling for random consequences. That would introduce a 1/400 chance of accidents. Seems like it would add a little realism, suspense and comedy to the game.
Here's the thing. Critical Misses that lead to Fumbles and detrimental effects are typically very hard on the player characters. Think about it. The PCs make tons of combat throws. Even if your Critical Miss is a small percentage chance, the numbers are going to catch up with you. You'll end up with maimed or dead characters.
Still, I like Critical Misses. Here's my advice--
With a Critical Miss, make the effect temporary. Don't maim the character. Instead of cutting off his ear, let him have -2 to Listen checks for the rest of the day. Bruise the target's knee and don't allow movement above a Walk for two hours. Stuff like that.
A simple Critical Miss mechanic is to simply give the opponent an Attack of Opportunity on the character that rolled the natural 1. By making it an Attack of Opportunity, the defender will not always be able to take advantage of the attack since characters can only take one AoO per combat round (unless they have a Feat that allows them more AoOs).
Here's what I do in my 3.5E based Conan game--
It's called the GUSTUD rule. When an attacker rolls a natural 1 on a melee (melee only) attack throw, he is GUSTUD.
GUSTUD
Roll 1d6.
1. Grapple
2. Unarmed Attack
3. Sunder
4. Trip
5. Unarmed Attack
6. Disarm
So, whenever a natural 1 is made, the GUSTUD chart is consulted, and the opponent is given the
choice of using the special attack right then. Usually, each of these maneuvers gives the defender an Attack of Opportunity before the maneuver can be pulled off. For example, if you try to trip someone using the 3.5 rules, the target gets an Attack of Opportunity against you first.
The GUSTUD rule does not allow for these Attacks of Opportunity. If you roll a Trip attempt, then your opponent can try to trip you--and you do not get the usual Attack of Opportunity first.
But, an opponent may not want to take advantage of whatever attack maneuver is thrown. Why? Two reasons.
First, your opponent may not be good at the available attack maneuver. Let's say a Grapple is possible. The opponent may not want to try to grapple his foe because...his STR is low and he's likely to lose the grapple...or maybe he wants to keep the combat as blows--grappling will change the nature of the combat encounter.
Second, if your opponent does attempt the maneuver and fails, most of the maneuvers have repercussions. For example, if Able rolls a natural 1 on his attack throw, he gives a GUSTUD to his enemy Balor. The GUSTUD roll is a 4, indicating a Trip. Balor decides to take advantage of the trip opportunity. Able does not get the usual Attack of Opportunity against Balor's trip attempt.
But, let's say Balor fails in the trip attempt. The rules say, if this happens, that Able can turn around and trip Balor.
In this sense, rolling a natural 1 could be a positive boon for the character that rolled it.
So, that's why I like the GUSTUD system. Critical Misses are addressed. Effects are not permanent, and no characters are getting maimed. Opponents may not want to take advantage of the attack maneuver that they are offered. And, it makes the combat round pretty exciting, with unexpected results.
It makes combat more fun.
3. What do you think about non-combat movement rates within a dungeon? In games where I PC, people just say, I go over here ... across the map, while others potentially remain in a different area. To me, this seems like there is a large time gap when large movement are made in one turn. When I DM, I've implemented players moving at their base rate for each turn, which I think adds realism, and gives players more opportunities to explore and try things.
You just have to use your judgement here. If the characters are Walking, as they normally are, then their movement should be 30 feet or less (depending on their Speed rating).
If you are using a map, then it's easy to keep people within their speed ratings and still not be in combat.
If you're not using a map, just use your judgement and mind's eye. If it seems plausible, let them do it. If it seems too much, then say something like, "You get to the corner of the rock, about half the way you indicated when...the spider falls from the ceiling on top of you! Roll Initiative!"