Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="takyris" data-source="post: 649045" data-attributes="member: 5171">I hadn't found a way yet to work Action Points into the lineup.Ideally, I'd like a system that lets someone risk permanent injury or death if it's important enough to generate a ton of power.The methodology I was thinking of was SOMETHING like:Let's take "Moving Something"Basic DC=15Character makes a "Magic Check" (1d20+class level+Int)Assumes an object weighing no more than "Normal", which is five pounds per class level.  For heavier objects, the character takes a penalty equal to (Actual Weight/Normal Weight):(Ergo, a 5th level caster can lift 25 pounds normally. Trying to move a 100 lb object means that he takes a 100/25, or -4, penalty) A magic user can normally move an object 5 ft./level as a standard action. Use the same equation for moving greater distances.Attended objects must be struck -- use the same roll, with appropriate penalties, to see if the character can yank the weapon out of his opponent's hands.If the character wishes to lift an item and attack with it, he makes the check with a -2 penalty for attempting swift, targetted, jerky motions -- this check also functions as his attack roll (which means it's unlikely to be very high, unless he puts effort into it).  The weapon is considered attended as long as the caster attacks with it.  The character can use the weapon to charge, flank, disarm, or other motions, but he always takes a -2 on his roll for attacking with it,If the character wishes to "grip" an item or person, holding it in place, his roll functions as the Reflex Save DC (for a target), as well as the Strength Check DC or Escape Artist DC for a character who has already been caught.Maintaining an effect that is already in place gives the caster a +2 bonus on future checks.Fatigued characters take a -2 penalty.Exhausted characters take a -4 penalty.Each round that the character spends studying his target and preparing his action gives him a +1 bonus on his roll, to a maximum of his class level.Now then.Here's what I was thinking:Regardless of whether the roll is being used as a DC or simply to move an object, check the table to see what the final roll is:0 or lower: Character is rendered unconscious for 1d3 hours and takes 1d6 points of damage to one physical score and one mental score. 1 point of damage to one of these scores is permanent unless repaired through Surgery.1-5: Character takes 1d6 points of damage to one randomly determined score. The character is stunned for 1d6 rounds and is Exhausted.6-10: Character must make a Fortitiude Save, DC15, to avoid becoming Exhausted. Success indicates that the character is merely Fatigued. The character is also stunned for 1 round and dazed for 1d3 rounds after the stunning ends.11-14: Character must make a Fortitude Save, DC15, to avoid becoming Fatigued. The character is dazed for 1 round even on a successful save.15-19: The character succeeds with no problem.20+: The character succeeds and gets a +2 bonus on any similar magical activity for the remainder of this encounter.Note: A spell still succeeds on these really bad rolls -- it just has an absurdly easy DC to avoid and does some damage to the Hero in the process.So... let's see.5th level dude with an Int of 16 will have a base check of 1d20+8.He wants to hold an evil Bad Guy in place (effectively a Hold Person spell).Bad Guy weighs in at close to 200 pounds.200 lbs/25 lbs = -8 penalty.If he just goes for it, there's a good chance he'll do himself some damage, and the bad guy will get a pretty easy save, most likely.  The smart thing for the hero to do would be to spend a few rounds muttering to himself and concentrating, until he can get a +5 bonus -- at which point he'll be rolling 1d20+3 -- very little chance of killing himself or anything like that, and the bad guy will have, at the very least, a harder DC.If he took 10, he'd get a 13 -- not too bad, but he won't be able to hold on, and anyway, this guy looks fast -- a Reflex save of 13 to avoid the attack isn't that tough.  The hero might instead try to use his magic to throw the guy off the edge of the nearby cliff, in which case it doesn't matter if our hero is dazed next round...-Tacky</blockquote>

Verification