DM can't get the hang of high-level play

[Trainz@work]

Re: ECL and party size

ACTION DICE. Our group uses them all the time -- players receive four poker chips at the beginning of each session they can cash in to recieve a die roll bonus to checks, saves, damage, or just about anything.

Wow. Now THIS is cool. THIS I like.

What is the mechanic (do you re-roll your die, or do you boost it by d6, d8, or what) ?

 

[Schmackboy]

Hey Trainz,

You boost your die roll and it levels up with you. At low levels, it's +1d4. At mid-levels (my character is sixth right now) it's +1d6. And it scales up as the character gains levels (+1d8, +1d10, etc.) from there. My DM keeps track of it -- jonrog1 -- so I'll try to lure him here to spec out the specifics.

For example, my sixth level rogue gets 4 chips worth 1d6 each at the beginning of the session. I can use them to boost 4 individual die rolls, or all on one when I've rolled a terrible save vs. death -- if I rolled a 1 on a FORT save, I could boost it by 4d6 theoretically, plus any of my normal modifiers.

Playing a rogue who does 1d6 with a short sword, I occassionally try to use it to boost my damage when I can't get the flank. But those chips are best saved for saves.

It's surprisingly un-game-breaking. Many nights I'm packing up my stuff to go home and noticing that I've got three chips I haven't used. You have a tendency to save them for a rainy day, so players don't blow through them breaking the game.

I think SPYCRAFT uses something like this as well.

 

[Trainz@work]

Hey Trainz,

Hey.

You boost your die roll and it levels up with you. At low levels, it's +1d4. At mid-levels (my character is sixth right now) it's +1d6. And it scales up as the character gains levels (+1d8, +1d10, etc.) from there. My DM keeps track of it -- jonrog1 -- so I'll try to lure him here to spec out the specifics.

This is SO cool, I will use it for sure in my D&D game. It feels even better than the d20 M action points. I will go buy cool looking chips too.

Do you allow player's to swap chips between themselves ?

 

[Pbartender]

Re: Re: ECL and party size

Wow. Now THIS is cool. THIS I like.

What is the mechanic (do you re-roll your die, or do you boost it by d6, d8, or what) ?

Normally it boosts your dice roll by another dice roll. The size of the action dice you roll depends on your level (and which game you play)... For example, 1st-5th level chracters roll a 1d4, 6th-10th a 1d6, 11th-15th a 1d8, etc...

For my next campaign, I'm thinking of using an Action Dice-like system, but simplifiying it. Instead of adding a dice roll to your result, you simply spend the "dice" to automatically succeed at a dice roll. If spent on an attack roll, the attack would succeed and also automatically threaten a critical. Finally, the DM could spend a "dice" to nullify a "dice" used by the players, and vice versa.

Of course, I probably wouldn't hand out as many of these "dice" as the other games do. I think I might have to post that in the House Rules forum.

Do you allow player's to swap chips between themselves ?

You shouldn't. Though in Spycraft, the Pointman has a class ability that allows him to spend his action dice on an ally's dice roll.

You could probably make it a feat... It's be a great class ability for a Bard.

 

[Nifft]

I like the StarWars d20 "Force Point" mechanics. I'd give them +1d6/5 levels, which is similar to the "Light Side" mechanism.

-- Nifft

EDIT: Alternately, allow each point to add the character's level to any roll.

 

[Byrons_Ghost]

I'm using Andy Collin's rules for Epic Level campaigns

I haven't seen these; can someone point me to them?

 

[Agback]

G'day

Repugnant though they are (to you and me and your GM, but not to everyone, of course) Raise Dead and the Resurrection spells are an important part of the finely-balanced machine that is D&D combat. The assumed availability of Raise Dead within 24 hours is part of what enables an 11th-level party to deal with CR 11 encounters. If you avoid them for aesthetic reasons, you have to adjust the balance by toning down the insta-kill effects that they balance out.

So either live with the fact that old age is the only cause of True Death, or re-design all the catastrophic abilities of high-CR monsters, or put your PCs up against hordes of lower-CR monsters that can't dish it out like that (except for major encounters, I guess), or adopt a style of play with more intrigue and mystery and less combat.

A propos, I tried running a campaign which accepted the implications of the 3e table for the cost of magic items. The PCs were involved in a struggle (which at it's top was being politically directed) to recover the lost public treasures of a collapsed Elvish empire. The PCs were working for a fence (actually a political figure in disguise) who had already recovered a Stole of True Resurrection (3 per day). For a massive share in their booty, he offered them death insurance. The upshot of which was that the worst that could happen in a TPK was that the PCs could lose levels (to vampires etc.) The campaign did not flourish.

Regards,


Agback

 

[ForceUser]

I have a 12th-level cleric in a long-running 3E Greyhawk game that has died once and come near death (negative hit points) half a dozen times.

Yeah, it's frustrating.

After every near-miss I think about how I'm going to retire the son of a bitch and start up a dwarf fighter with nothing but the toughness chain of feats. Then the next question occurs to me - who would heal him? I'm the cleric.

So you do what you gotta do. For me, that means using up nearly a third of my daily spells in protective measures - extended bull's strength, extended endurance, extended greater magic weapon, extended magic vestment times two (armor AND shield), extended endure elements (fire), (cold), (acid), AND (electricty), plus other defensive spells at the ready such as spell immunity, death ward, and even little old sanctuary. On top of that, I have quite a bit of money invested in scrolls of neutralize poison, restoration, remove fear, remove paralysis, etc etc. And yes, before every foray into danger I hit the DM with the divinations and communes. And despite all that prep, I still nearly die in about half the big fights.

Why? Because you can't plan for everything.

Still, if you play smart and rack the protective magics, you stand a much better chance of survival. Without such prep I wouldn't have been almost dead half a dozen times, I'd have been dead.

 

[Cloudgatherer]

I haven't seen these; can someone point me to them?

Pick up the Epic Level Handbook (ELH). There are many variant rules in it for epic level play (21+).

 

[A'koss]

Originally posted by Cloudgatherer:

Pick up the Epic Level Handbook (ELH). There are many variant rules in it for epic level play (21+).

Also, check out this Epic Level Insight for revised Save or Die spells: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/ei/ei20030105a


Cheers,

A'koss.