D&D 3E/3.5 3.5 Rules Cheat Sheets, other questions

[AwesomeOpossum74]

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.

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. 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. Just the real basic stuff that the players and I can reference during game play. Don't need charts. If there's nothing already available, I can write something up, but why duplicate efforts if I don't have to?

2. 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.

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.

Thanks.

 

[Celebrim]

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.

Yay! Enjoy your gaming, especially with family.

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. 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. Just the real basic stuff that the players and I can reference during game play. Don't need charts. If there's nothing already available, I can write something up, but why duplicate efforts if I don't have to?

I'd not be surprised if someone else has made up quick reference sheets. WotC itself had a series of articles I think on explaining complex rules situations like grappling in a step by step way. Unfortunately, I don't have any to share with you, and what I do have is based on a heavily house ruled 3.0e variant, so it wouldn't necessarily be of much help.

What do you think about critical misses, and consequences?

I like them, and I am currently play testing a set of critical miss rules. But I admit that it is a very delicate balancing act. On the one hand, you don't want them to gimp martial classes. And on the other hand, you don't want them to be so meaningless as to be worthless to keep track of. Right now my own rules I'm satisfied don't gimp martial classes, but only in the context of my own house rules that already significantly nerf spellcasters. However, I'm leaning towards the belief after a few years of playtesting that I've been overly cautious in setting the chance of fumble confirmation and in terms of the effects of fumbles on play. The goal is to diversify play and make it more interesting, but it has so far only rarely done so while ever so slightly slowing down play.

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.

It does do all those things, but with a confirmation roll being only a second 1, you have to really wonder whether or not its worth rolling for fumble confirmation after every 1 when it's going to be only like once ever dozen or so encounters that anyone is ever going to fumble.

What do you think about non-combat movement rates within a dungeon?

I'd have to look at the RAW, because I think it is already well specified by the rules in any situation where it matters. However, because I've been using house rules for like the last 10 years, I don't remember what the RAW says, so off hand all I can do is explain how I play.

In general, you can hustle, move normally, or move cautiously.

If you hustle, you can get from place to place quickly (using a double move). However, you are automatically treated as distracted and so suffer a -5 penalty to perception type checks (spot and listen, typically), and moving even remotely silently is next to impossible. The advantage of hustling however is that you are commando style storming the dungeon, giving foes less opportunity to get prepared while maintain as long as possible the advantage of your spell buffs.

If you move normally, you don't have any particular disadvantages but you move only your normal rate.

If you move cautiously, you move at only 1/2 your normal rate, but you can search your path as you move potentially detecting traps before you stumble into them. Because of this, most movement in a dungeon is cautious until the dungeon is well explored. Note, I have a habit of having pressure plates that only have a 10% or 20% chance of being triggered by each character that crosses them, so its not at all guaranteed that just because you went through a corridor without mishap that you can do so again. This occasionally causes great 'hilarity'.

In theory, you could also run in the dungeon, but this usually doesn't occur because there is rarely a straight and long path that allows for running speed and you are distracted, and you lack a threat zone (and so can be easily tripped or grappled), you aren't searching for traps, you can't move silently at all, and you typically have a penalty to the DC of reflex saves versus certain sorts of traps. However, it sometimes does occur when pursuing or fleeing a foe.

In the case of a player declaring that they want to move across the map while the party remains in a different area, first that player is going to die. Rule #1 of PC survival is never split the party in a dungeon. And never never split the party in a dungeon. I've flat out told my players this at the beginning of the campaign, and repeatedly thereafter, but in my experience PC's never do learn. Of the 10 PC deaths in my current campaign thus far, 9 occurred as the result of splitting the party.

But if a player insists on committing suicide by carelessness, compute the travel time of the character to wherever he's going, and allow the rest of the players to commit to whatever actions that they want while the PC is gone. It seems like that by and large you are playing in this manner, just keep in mind that they don't have to move at their base rate (though it's logical to assume that they do unless they state otherwise).

If either group is going to do anything of note, you'll probably want to separate the players into different rooms. This is the another reason why splitting the party is bad - it complicates the life of the DM to track two groups time separately. Also, you are basically proposing to bore your fellow players while you monopolize the DM's time, so if you don't have a very good reason for it, it's generally considered rude.

 

[AwesomeOpossum74]

I saw a variant of critical misses, where the confirmation had to be >= character's AC. I think that would increase the likelihood of confirmation for lower level characters, while decreasing for higher level characters. I also saw where someone thought that a high level character who could hit multiple times in a round would be at more likelihood to crit-miss. So I thought, maybe I could just set it so that they could crit-miss once per round. Thoughts?

Excellent info on the move rates, and characters who leave the adventure group!
If a character does separate, I think I would, like you say, determine the distance they went, handle any issues they encounter along the way, then allow the other players an appropriate number of actions based on the amount of calculated time the first player took. If anything happens to the first player, I might indicate to the other players that they hear noises, but may not be able to determine direction or distance. Then they could decide if they wanted to search out the source. I think that might sufficiently deter the first character from separating again, especially if their group doesn't immediately locate them. Does that sound like a good DM option?

 

[Dandu]

I saw a variant of critical misses, where the confirmation had to be >= character's AC. I think that would increase the likelihood of confirmation for lower level characters, while decreasing for higher level characters. I also saw where someone thought that a high level character who could hit multiple times in a round would be at more likelihood to crit-miss. So I thought, maybe I could just set it so that they could crit-miss once per round. Thoughts?

I find that critical misses slow down the game and don't add much realism to my game of magical flying firebreathing lizards and kung fu monks.

If someone rolls a one, he misses in an amusing way. Everyone has a laugh and moves on to the next turn.

]Excellent info on the move rates, and characters who leave the adventure group!
If a character does separate, I think I would, like you say, determine the distance they went, handle any issues they encounter along the way, then allow the other players an appropriate number of actions based on the amount of calculated time the first player took. If anything happens to the first player, I might indicate to the other players that they hear noises, but may not be able to determine direction or distance. Then they could decide if they wanted to search out the source. I think that might sufficiently deter the first character from separating again, especially if their group doesn't immediately locate them. Does that sound like a good DM option?

They will then use the Status spell.

 

[AwesomeOpossum74]

I find that critical misses slow down the game and don't add much realism to my game of magical flying firebreathing lizards and kung fu monks.

If someone rolls a one, he misses in an amusing way. Everyone has a laugh and moves on to the next turn.

Point made, amusingly.

They will then use the Status spell.

Cool how people can just pull spells from their head so easily. I have a lot to learn.

Status looks like a good one, especially if you find a character that has a tendency to run off.

 

[N'raac]

Excellent info on the move rates, and characters who leave the adventure group!

If a character does separate, I think I would, like you say, determine the distance they went, handle any issues they encounter along the way, then allow the other players an appropriate number of actions based on the amount of calculated time the first player took. If anything happens to the first player, I might indicate to the other players that they hear noises, but may not be able to determine direction or distance. Then they could decide if they wanted to search out the source. I think that might sufficiently deter the first character from separating again, especially if their group doesn't immediately locate them. Does that sound like a good DM option?

Rather than separate the group to separate rooms, moving to communication by notes (we always have a dollar store notebook for every player in each campaign for note passing thanks, Aaron Allston and the Strike Force book published many years ago!). This reminds me of a 1e/2e war story (before the Status spell!).

The scenario was a published one, involving a group of adversaries who could turn invisible at will (Duergar, IIRC) who were trailing the party through the dungeon. Two members of the party decided to go off in a different direction. "What, in the Dungeon - are you stupid?" "You guys aren't deaf - we'll take this hallway, and if you hear any trouble, you can come running". [Some grumbling about whether they would, in fact, come running ensued, but play continued.]

OK, who guessed that

[sblock] the invisible Duergar team included a Cleric who has the Silence spell memorized. Yup. They let them get a ways out of sight, then surrounded them. I handed back two notebooks with the works "You can no longer hear your footsteps." Two faces fell simultaneously. They played it out honestly, rolling dice and passing books. They managed to break the Duergar line, reaching a point where they could hear their own screams again. It was a very close call, however, and "separating the party" left the playbook for quite a while. [/sblock]

 

[N'raac]

I never noticed we don't have "careful exploration and mapping" movement any more. We always allowed that you could move faster than "dungeon movement" if you did not slow down to carefully explore and map. Now, we allow that, at a walk, you can maintain a rough map (assumed, not with a player drawing it as we go). You can move faster, but you're not as careful in exploring and no map is maintained.

If you say "I go over there" and that's 750' away, while others are making smaller movements, you'll take a while to get there. Maybe you're 300' along when something happens to the group back where you started - assuming you can perceive that, you start 300' away.

 

[Dandu]

I found a cheat sheet with some information you might find useful.

 

[Rabulias]

No spoiler codes? Did I miss them?

Try SBLOCK and /SBLOCK in brackets [].

 

[Water Bob]

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!"