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I think the full round casting is necessary for balance (although rapid spell is a great way to get around it). Individually the critters aren't that impressive - summon monster II gets you a CR1 critter. However, you can keep summoning them. So by round 3, you can have 3 CR1 beasties nipping...

Wait a sec - don't draconic template creatures and kobolds have the dragonblood subtype?

I can see a strongish (str 16+) rogue being interesting, playing more of a thug than a burglar. - take the feat Martial Weapon Proficiency (greatsword) feat at 1st level - work towards improved feint - invest in magical armor (which is pretty cheap) for AC - look at prestige classes normally...

Hey all, With Complete Mage out, I want to try to build a good character using the Master Specialist Prestige class, specifically a human conjurer. Here's some bits I've come up with - if you could make some suggestions about spells, feats, equipment, and any other prestige classes (or...

As a DM, on a scale of 1 to "absolute meat grinder of doom", I rank Shackled City at an 8 ... It is a very difficult campaign. Not because of Encounter Levels or horrific monsters, but because of things your characters won't expect, or won't be necessarily constantly prepared to deal with...

I've found Shackled City to be great for urban and social interaction, and the city really does become the Enterprise (tm) of the campaign, having a personality unto itself. However, I'd have to agree that the last few adventures are unmemorable. I'm replacing most of the last three with my...

Hey all, Something I noticed with the reserve feats - they say they're supernatural abilities that take 1 standard action unless noted otherwise. Does that mean if you take the Elemental Summoning reserve feat, you can call up an elemental as a standard action, rather than a full-round action...

Interesting. Some would say D&D to some degree is a living rule set, as experienced DMs invariably have house rules, ranging from the simplistic to the extensive. Sadly, I think the OGL was built to be a much better living rule set than it turned out to be - rule modules could have (and maybe...

There are opportunities for diplomacy, so a Bard, charismatic Cleric, or Paladin would all be good. A ranger wouldn't be a bad addition either, or a Monk for variety. But I agree - a bard is probably your best bet.

How did we activate a 4 year old post?! Ah well ... it's stil la good topic. While I would agree with the School of Hard Knocks teaching them, there are alternatives that I have used. 1) When a player asks "how do I bull rush/grapple/activate a wand with Use Magic Device", or anything similar...

Hey all, One of my players grumbled that technology doesn't move forward in the Forgotten Realms. I know I had read some instances where they did talk about advances, especially in the AD&D Netheril supplement, so I spent an hour going through my gaming library, and what I found I put below...

So: Thistledown Material Armor (ROW) -10% arcane spell failure Mithral Material Armor (DMG) -10% arcane spell failure Twighlight Magical Armor (PHB2) +1 equivalent, -10% arcane spell failure Githyanki Battle Caster (MM4) -10% arcane spell failure Spellsword (CA) 1st level -10% arcane spell...

In Monster Manual IV, there's a feat called Githyanki Battle Caster, that lets a githyanki ignore 10% of spell check failure ...

Hi all, What do you think of my rewrite of the Shackled City villain, Ardith Wa? I've replaced her with a monk of the long death - any suggestions? Ardith Wa (CR 17) Female Shou Tiefling Monk 12 / Monk of the Long Death 2 / Fighter 2 LE Medium Outsider (native) Init +6; Senses Darkvision 60...

It's funny how the different AP's grab some people but not others. I loved Shackled City, but Age of Worms left me cold. I liked the overall idea of Kyuss and worm-infested spawn, but the individual adventures felt flat and uninspiring to me. Now I've read the first two adventures for Savage...

I require down-time to level, but no training or gold cost (unless they want to multiclass into wizard, etc). Once the characters have sufficient xp to level up, I grant them a positive level (just like a negative level, but in reverse, +1 to hit, +1 to all skills, +1 to all saves, +5hp)...

Hi all, Small niggling rule question - cover grants a +4 to AC if a corner of the targets' square runs alongside or through an obstruction, right? So, does shooting someone through a door grant cover? How do you handle this in your games? Thanks!

There was a great article in Dragon magazine a while back about how to customize the Summon Monster lists by CR and by watching and adjusting for spell-like abilities. It's a great article, considering no one at WOTC ever talks about that rule mechanic. I don't recall which issue, but it was...

I think the spirit and soul is in the understanding that the players are intelligent. Monte Cook or Peter Adkinson said they wanted to have 'mastery' in the game - a simple system that could be played quickly, but mastered with all the nuances slowly. I agree product bloat is watering down the...

I've got to say I don't like where this is headed. Simplifying dice rolls because 'math is hard'? What's next, taking out all the cool and sometimes-Vancian vocabulary that made the game so flavorful? How can you talk about simplifying the system when you have 1-3 new books with X feats, and...