Search results

I think a fixed penalty to strength (-6) is a decent fix to prevent a maximized ray of enfeeblement (-11 strength) from being one of the better opening salvos in the mid to high level wizard's arsenal. Considering that for the average two-handed weapon fighter each of his attacks would be...

So you are thinking along the lines of a halfway point between Ogre and Hill Giant? In general I'd say that's pretty fair but I might decrease the bonus to con to +6(ogres get +4, Hill Giants +8) in an attempt to reduce LA to +3.

Technically speaking when you get up into heavy plate armors bludgeoning weapons often become more effective than slashing and in some cases piercing weapons. The reason for this is that even with rigid armor the impact of a heavy bludgeoning object can cause severe tissue damage and internal...

I might even go further and say that both shorter range increments and a maximum of 5 increments should be used. That would help indicate that not only are pre-rifle firearms quite inaccurate at longer ranges but that the relatively slow muzzle velocity of the early firearm reduced lethality as...

Also remember that many of the nerfs on spells are also to the PCs benefit. With 3.0/3.5 allowing classed humanoids it's quite likely that a first level party might encounter a kobold sorcerer who can cast sleep against them. If a spell is insta-win in the hands of a PC group it becomes...

Yeah, unfortunately this seems to be the minority viewpoint concerning PrCs as many DMs seem to allow them in without checking whether they thematically fit the setting desired. I think some other people feel PrCs are basically 2e kits on crack and damage the original niche protections of the...

I would concur that this was very much the modus operandi back in the 1e days. I couldn't remember off the top of my head which version had the stinking cloud of doom spell but it was almost always an encounter winner. Most of the insta-win spells have been pretty much nerfed (justifiably...

Firearms as ranged touch attacks are generally seen as too powerful as they tend to negate alot of the power of high AC tanks. If you want to do this I would suggest using the armor as DR rules from Unearthed Arcana. Thus it's generally easier to hit an armored foe but the DR tends to make the...

Cloudkill and Stinking Cloud has definitely seen less use than back in the day. While they are both still potent they are less of a insta-kill type effect than they tended to be in 1e and 2e.

Yes based on the RAW it's substantial easier to attack a diminutive held object in the hands of a high ac character than it is to hit that person with an attack. Further it's substantial easier to hit him with a sunder attempt than to grab the item from him :\. Personally I find the rules to...

Basically if the XP cost of the magic item is more than the amount of XP the caster has above thier current level then they are unable to make the item until they have earned experience equal to the XP total of the item in question. The second part allows mid-level spellcasters the ability to...

Indeed negative modifiers to mental stats only reduce the options for class choices even further. -2 to int on top of +1/+2 LA makes the race a crappy choice for rogues and rangers. -2 to wisdom makes spot and listen that much more challenging and considering the PC will likely have a poor will...

I can't imagine it happening as PrCs are spectacular page fillers and seem to be pretty popular among most players. As long as PrCs don't significantly rewrite gameplay too much they are manageable but some of the ones that do become significant DM headaches as one has to keep track of all...

While low level spell casting is generally a waste of time for the dragon in combat once a dragon can cast dispel magic it becomes a very useful round one spell to cast to reduce PC buffs or can be used to remove negative effects cast on the dragon. Later on mid to high level sorcerer spells...

When I used to be more of a completist I was generally ok with most splatbooks as I generally could read them ahead of time. As I've gotten better about picking and choosing I pretty much limit to WotC materials that I currently own and are part of the setting. Thus no using FR specific...

I'm mixed on this as many PrCs such as mystic theurge allow you to advance significantly in power versus a pure multiclass approach. However without the multiclass boosting PrCs players who choose to multiclass are always going to be at a significant disadvantage vis a vis thier solo classed...

Ahh I forgot inevitables had DR/Chaotic instead of DR/adamantine like normal constructs. That definitely changes the math quite a bit although specialty built weapons tend to outperform general purpose weapons.

Swarms, swarms and more swarms! Other than that Otyughs, carrion crawlers, and assorted refuse eating monsters fit well in extensive sewer systems.

It's potent but not deal breaking if it's given a limited number of uses per day. With this alternate ability the sorcerer gives up a little for the ability to toss off maximized and especially quickened spells a limited number of times a day. In practice this limits the mid to high level...

I think SR does a pretty good job of simulating a saving throw isn't normally allowed by a spell. I'm not sure you want to create a new special effect than be fairly accurately simulated by other existing abilities within the game.