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I think this is one that, as a GM, its important to discuss with your players before it comes up. Pick a rule: GM plays your character, another player plays your character, or 'fades into background'... and stick with it. Make sure everybody understands what can and cannot happen to their...

As others have noted, I think its right, and, like any 'optimized' character, he's optimized for one thing and one thing only. So be it. Give him his 'moment in the limelight', by offering opponents who can be disarmed, and give him challenging opponents who cannot, e.g., claw-claw-bite...

I'd agree with you, actually, though for a different reason: Skill Points. I find that 'Int' is a very poor 'dump stat' choice for any character due to the reduced skill points. A fighter-type, a monk, or a rogue with a negative intelligence modifier is dramatically weaker than the same class...

In addition to the "What's going on with the bad guys' organization?" question, there's "What allies and friends do the good guys have who would act to foil such a plan?" Who else might be scrying on the enemy, and able to either warn the PC's or arrive in time to affect the outcome? Scry /...

Issue #17: Interludes and Intermissions - Episode 9 of 13 Miriel leads Paks and Telryn to Noon’s Hospice, the temple of Madriel. As they walk through the city, she tells her companions about the points of interest which they are passing. Near the center of the city is the grand park, Tanil’s...

Stone had actually considered that point, explicitly - when he punched Chuck on the shoulder, I think his thought was 'hey, if we do business there, maybe we'll learn something.' House Asuras is also a large, legitimate business house, and if you wanted to place money 'on deposit', for...

Ask DrSpunj Yes. You're looking for this thread: Dr. Spunj's Class Balance Spreadsheet. The good doctor has come up with a decomposition of all of the 'components' of a class based on the assumption that 'the core classes are balanced'. Along the way, he disproved that assumption, developed a...

There's a number of things you can play with in the 'damage' region. One thing I'm considering for my campaign is 'effectiveness reduction' as characters fall below certain thresholds. I'm thinking the equivalent of about d6 ability loss to one of the physical attributes (Str, Dex, Con) as they...

(Its is cut+paste the same for a ranger) My interpretation of this precisely agrees with the original poster's conclusion, "Up until 4th level, paladins and rangers can't read scrolls," but for a different reason. I'd read that as indicating that up until 4th level, a paladin or a ranger is not...

Issue #17: Interludes and Intermissions - Episode 8 of 13 It takes a day and a half of travel, as the road winds along the river’s edge, to reach Lave. We journey without incident, enjoying the crisp fall air. It is Wildday, the thirteenth day of the month. As we draw near the great Veshian...

I've been working it into my material for the 'first session', actually - a foundation of sorts for the players to better understand their characters. It makes for a slower exposition, but a better grounding I think.

Really quickly - though its been clarified above - I wanted to address why this math appears to come out wrong. The assumption that you could add max ranks in a skill for the classes involved is incorrect, because your example 'max ranks' includes the base '3' for '0-level'. Let's look at...

I'd second that. It's all in how you imagine it / describe it. One of my favorite 'low charisma' characters was a PC drow with a 6 Charisma. On the surface, wandering around human lands, and the player chose to play him as exceptionally intimidating (as we mean the word in common usage). Every...

In this I hear several things, but primarily a feeling that it has become "work" and not "play". What you personally need to do to return "play" to your life, I can't say. Some ideas come to mind: It sounds as though you've hit a point of GM burnout, like your game is missing that spark of...

Far too many 'failed saves' here I think. I was hoping to see some really good non-combat fatalities. Like the failed ride check. My favorite happened to a player in a game I was DM'ing. Having spent months wandering around the frozen north, the fighter took passage on a boat down a (not...

The party has gone to sleep in the Inn, whereupon the Bad Guys sent four assasins using dust of disappearance to take care of the new 'problem' in town. Though my character saw them put on the dust of disappearance (being out lurking around town at night, rather than sleeping with my...

I'd say 'definitely', I want to give the character a chance to explore his/her new abilities; its a way to ensure that everyone has a chance to 'shine'. However, on the flip side, "If nobody has the required skill, too bad," I can certainly see that from a DM's perspective, but from a player's...

Our DM runs a 'you roll the monster's attacks against you' mechanic. I'd been using this pretty blue d20 with white lettering, and one day I felt like it was persecuting me, rolling too many 1's. In a fit of pique after a particularly bad fumble, I told it "That's it! From now on, I'm using you...

My first thought on reading this thread was: And whose to say the dragon they just killed off so easily wasn't similarly illusionary? Now they've tipped their hand to the real Ancient Evil Dragon that they're likely to kill him, and he's mad. It may take them months to figure out who the evil...

At +5, if the priests have only secondhand knowledge of the subjects. Definitely. Remember, the NPC's won't have 24/7 coverage (or whatever hour/day combination your campaign uses) - they certainly won't hear every conversation the PC's hold. 3.5 scrying takes an hour to cast and provides only...