Some recent answers
Q. Is the fixed bayonet damage correct? They deal less damage than a rifle butt. (1d4 vs. 1d6.) A fixed bayonet should do about as muchdamage as a shortspear (1d8), but the rulebook says a bayonet does 1d4/1d6 damage - it's safe to assume that the 1d6 is meant for the bayonet being used fixed to the barrel of a rifle (or shotgun), while the 1d4 refers to the bayonet being used as a knife.
A. The 1d4/1d6 statistic is for using a bayonet on a rifle as a double weapon. Effectively a knife (1d4) and the rifle butt (1d6)
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Q. What can you do while at 0 hp and disabled without losing an hp. It says any strenuous activity makes you drop to -1, but what is considered by rule standards as strenuous? Is it attacking, is moving your speed in distance stenuous?
A. In general, you can do anything listed under Move Actions on Table 5-2 without losing a hit point. Your GM may always has the option of deciding that something is strenuous, however, depending on the circumstance. For example, moving a heavy object is probably strenuous most of the time.
Most things that require an attack action are strenuous. Again, your GM can rule something non-strenuous, as he sees fit. For example, there are many skill uses that require an attack action that probably aren't strenuous.
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Q. Different guns have different kinds of safeties, and for some weapons, HKP7, it is a major feature of the gun. But I don't see any rules for what kind of action tripping a manual safety is, whether you can do it while drawing a gun, and wat happens if you wander around without a safty on at all?
A. Activating a weapon's safety is a free action. For this reason, we don't bother with rules for whether the weapon is on safe or not; it's assumed the weapon is safe when appropriate, and not safe when appropriate.
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Q. One quick question: do the Coordinate and Inspiration talents stack? As unnamed bonuses, I would expect 'yes'; however, I began to doubt myself when I saw that the text specifically mentioned that Inspiration and Greater Inspiration stack, but mentioned nothing of Inspiration and Coordinate. Of course, if they do stack, than the combo could yield (with Greater Inspiration) a +4 to allies' attack rolls!
A. They do stack. Keep in mind the limitations (in particular the time limit), though!
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Q. As a guideline, how long should elapse between surprise rounds? For example, a hero sneaks into the compound, surprises some guards, and shoots at them. Now, we can all agree that he shouldn't just be able to run round the corner or throw a smoke grenade, Hide again and get another surprise round. But how long should it take for the guards to once again be able to be surprised? If more heroes or guards sneak onto the scene, and their enemies don't detect them, how is that handled? Is surprise no longer a factor after a combat begins?
A. A surprise round occurs any time initiative is rolled and some characters are surprised; a surprise round can occur at the beginning of every encounter. There is no time limit between encounters.
If one encounter ends, you'll probably want to end the initiative and roll again when the next encounter begins, even if that's just a minute later. With the start of a new encounter, there's the possibility of a surprise round.
If the guards in a compound have heard gunfire, they're likely to be alert--so it'll be hard to get the drop on them. (Simply providing yourself with concealment doesn't mean you surprise your opponent.) But just because they're alert doesn't mean that they can't be surprised.
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Q. Is it possible to climb 50 ft. up a wall, then jump down and count that as a charge (or dive)? Can Tumble help against the damage taken?
A. Falling is not movement, so, technically, you can't charge while falling. That said, I'd probably bend that rule a touch to allow a character to make a charge by jumping from a height. There are a lot of important considerations, though.
For starters, the fall would have to be deliberate. In other words, if you jump from a height, you can use the drop as a charge. But if you fall inadvertantly, you cannot.
When you make a charge, you can't do any other movement, including movement to line up the charge. Thus, you must already be in perfect position at the start of your turn. You can't climb up and then jump, all in the same round. And you can't line yourself up if you're not directly above the opponent. You have to already be in position.
You can jump down from directly over the opponent, or from 5 feet to any side (so that you land in a square adjacent to the opponent). Remember that if you land in the opponent's square, you provoke an attack of opportunity before you make your attack (just like any other time you try to enter an opponent's square).
All the other rules for charging apply. For example, you must drop at least 10 feet, but no more than twice your speed. (If you have a speed of 30, you can make a charge attack if you fall 60 feet, but not if you fall 70 feet.)
At the end of the charge, after the attack, you take damage from the fall. As normal, you can make a Tumble check to reduce that damage.
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Q. In poor lighting conditions, does low-light vision give a bonus to Spot checks, negating some of the penalty?
A. There are no hard and fast rules for penalties to Spot checks for poor lighting conditions. However, if your GM chooses to impose, say, a -2 circumstance penalty on a Spot check due to poor lighting conditions, it makes perfect sense to allow a creature with low-light vision to ignore that penalty.
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Q. Does the +1 save bonus from Shadow Heritage add to surprise avoidance from the aware talent? My guess is that it doesn't, but I'd just like to make sure.
A. No. A character with the aware talent adds her base Will saving throw bonus--not the bonus after adding in modifiers.
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Q. Are there any rules in d20 Modern for how long it takes to get into and out of armor?
A. The time required to don armor depends on the armor type; see the table below.
Don: This column tells how long it takes a character to put the armor on. (One minute is 10 rounds.) Readying (strapping on) a shield is only a move action.
Don Hastily: This column tells how long it takes to put the armor on in a hurry. The armor check penalty and armor bonus for hastily donned armor are each 1 point worse than normal. For example, if Russell donned his light-duty vest hastily, it would take him 2 rounds, the armor would provide only a +4 bonus to his AC (instead of +5), and his armor check penalty would be ?5 (instead of ?4).
Remove: This column tells how long it takes to get the armor off (important to know if the wearer is suddenly submerged; see the drowning rules in Chapter 7).
Don Don Hastily Remove
Shield
Any 1 move action n/a 1 move action
Impromptu Armor
Light 1 round 1 attack action 1 move action
Medium 1 minute 5 rounds 1 minute*
Concealable Armor
Light 1 round 1 attack action 1 move action
Medium 2 rounds 1 round 1 round
Tactical Armor
Light 2 rounds 1 round 1 round
Medium 4 rounds 2 rounds 2 rounds*
Heavy 1 minute* 4 rounds 4 rounds*
Archaic Armor
Light 1 minute 5 rounds 1 minute*
Medium 4 minutes* 1 minute 1 minute*
Heavy 4 minutes** 4 minutes* 1d4+1 minutes*
* If the character has some help, cut this time in half. A single character doing nothing else can help one or two adjacent characters. Two characters can?t help each other don armor at the same time.
** The wearer must have help to don this armor. Without help, it can be donned only hastily
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Q. Katanas and Bastards swords. Are these weapons still considered 'equivalent' to one another? In essence, do the changes that were made to the katana apply to a bastard sword in d20 Modern as well?
A. They are not equivalent. You'll find complete stats for the bastard sword (and a bunch of other archaic weapons) in Urban Arcana, due out this week!
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Q. Hey, i was looking through the d20 Modern Book and i didn't see any rules on sniping. . .
A. This question has come up before, with players asserting that they should be able to reliably get the one-shot-one-kill results they want. Here's an overview of my earlier answers:
It's very important, when considering any new rule that gives a player a big advantage over the standard game mechanics, to think about how that rule can be used against a player as well.
It might be nice to be able to outright kill an unprepared foe with a single shot. On the other hand, it wouldn't be very nice for your GM to tell you, out of the blue, "Roll up a new character. A bad guy just blew your head off."
All that said, there are plenty of advantages you can give a sniper character, including:
Opponent is flat-footed (no Dex bonus to Defense)
Sniper has weapon with long range increment
Sniper has scope (further reduces range increment)
Sniper has feats like Far Shot, Dead Aim, Weapon Focus
Sniper has masterwork weapon
All of this would give the sniper a total advantage of +4 to +8 (possibly even more) on the attack roll over a standard attack, while eliminating range penalties for a pretty huge distance. Add to that your trained sniper's high base attack bonus, and maybe some class features, and you have a pretty dangerous character!
As for massive amounts of damage, remember that an average hit with a 2d10 weapon deals 11 points of damage--enough to make the average character save for massive damage. Throw in a couple extra abilities, like the Double Tap feat or the soldier's weapon specialization, and you can easily force the massive damage save on virtually anyone with an average damage roll.
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CHECK ALREADY IN?
The standard scope in the d20 Modern Roleplaying Game represents a typical 3x to 7x telescopic scope. There are more powerful scopes out there (up to 12x), but they should probably carry more severe penalties for use (such as requiring two or more attack actions to acquire the target, requiring a Concentration check to use, and/or the user being effectively blind to anything except the target). Higher-powered scopes might multiply the range increment by 2 or even 2.5--but probably not more than that. (There's a lot that goes into range increments other than the quality of the sighting device. The range increment for a standard scope is multiplied by 1.5, even though the scope magnification is 3x to 7x.)
As for bonuses, scopes already do that by increasing the range increment (and thus decreasing the range penalty). Imagine shooting a weapon with a range increment of 100 ft. at a target 550 ft. away. You suffer a -10 penalty on the attack. With a scope, your range increment becomes 150 ft., so you suffer only a -6 on the attack. That's like getting a +4 bonus compared to the weapon without a scope!
Finally, when wondering about the long ranges that some snipers achieve, remember that the benefit of the Far Shot feat stacks with the benefit of a scope. So even with a basic standard scope, a sniper with the Far Shot feat actually doubles the range increment of his weapon.
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Q. Can you collect and keep Action Points or are you only allowed to keep a certain number of them?
A. There is no limit to the number of action points you can accumulate.
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Q. Does the charecter Defense Bonus stay with you even if your suprised or caught flat footed?
A. You lose your Dex when flat-footed, but not your class Defense bonus.
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Q. When you use the Dead Aim Feat, does the bonus apply to EVERY shot you take in the next round or only the first?
A. After spending your full-round action, the bonus applies to your next attack roll. In other words, just the next shot you take, not every attack you take in the next round.
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Q. Lets say you pick an Advance Class that has a feat granted that you already have taken (Lets say your a Fast Hero who's already taken the Weapon Focus Feat and you now pick Gun Slinger as your advance class which already gives you the Feat). I know this was a bad example since you can just say "Pick another weapon" but you know what I mean, what happens to redundent feat options?
A. In general, if a class gives you a feat you already have, you don't get anything in exchange. However:
If the feat can be taken more than once, you get a second iteration. In other words, if you already have the Toughness feat, and a class gives it to you again, well, you just rack up another 3 hp because you're allowed to take Toughness multiple times. (So, in the case of Weapon Focus, you get the feat again and apply it to a new weapon.)
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Q. As a side note to last question, if you select 2 types of guns that you've focued on, do your gun slinger abilities apply to both or only the gun you used the "Gun Slinger's Weapon Focus" feat on?
A. I assume you're talking about the greater weapon focus class ability. If you have the Weapon Focus feat for one firearm and the weapon focus class ability for another, you can choose either one (but not both) to be the subject of the greater weapon focus ability. Bullseye applies only the the weapon that is the subject of the greater weapon focus ability.
For example, let's say you have the Weapon Focus (Glock 17) feat, and when you gain weapon focus class ability you apply it to the HK MP5K. When you get to 8th level and gain the greater weapon focus class ability, you decide which of those two weapons to apply it to. You decide to apply it to the Glock. At 10th level, the bullseye ability now also applies to the Glock.
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Q. With a tough hero, if he gets thrown out a window and falls on the pavement, which does he use to absorb some of the damage? The Damage Reduction Talent or the Energy Resistance (Sonic/Concusion) Talent?
A. Damage reduction. Falling damage is not an energy type.
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Q. When a character increases to a level devisable by 4, they gain get an extra point to allocate to an ability score. If they allocate a point to Constitution, they also must add the extra hit points they gain for every previous level. Does the same thing apply with Intelligence and skill points?
A. Nope.
Only permanent bonuses to Int apply when calculating new skill points; temporary bonuses (like those from magic items) don't. Sorry that isn't more clear in the text.
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Q. Page 113, General Equipment lists a surgery kit; however, there is no description for it in the rest of the rules. What is its benefit or use?
A. The surgery kit is the tool necessary to conduct surgery. As with all skill uses that require tools, you can attempt the skill without the tool, but you suffer a -4 penalty (see page 45 for more). This stacks with any other penalties, such as the penalty for not having the Surgery feat.
So, in other words, if you have neither the kit nor the feat, you're at a -8 to use Treat Injury to conduct surgery.
If you have the feat but not the kit (or vice versa), you're at -4.
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Q. I'm wondering if you could provide us with a description of the kit, anyway...for the errata, at least. I'm curious to know how the kit differs, contents-wise, from the Medical Kit.
A. You'll be seeing a more complete description of the surgery kit in an upcoming Bullet Points column.
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Q. Any one have any other ideas where extreme machine can be used...maybe in a medkit...so you use everyone has one, and when someone goes down, when you make your treat injury check, the + adds on to your roll helping people with out that skill have a chance on getting it.
Extreme machine applies only to, well, machines. As it says in the first sentence, it can be souped up "if it has mechanical or electronic components." In many cases the question of whether a given piece of equipment has such components is up to GM judgement, but I don't think a medical kit qualifies.
As for generating several bonuses that work together (like increasing a weapon's damage and a laser sight's equipment bonus), sure, you can do that. Just remember that it costs an action point every time you use extreme machine.
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Q. Is really right the defense bonus of +3 that the fast hero begins on first level or there some error in the value?
A. The Defense progression given for the Fast Hero in the book is correct.
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Q. In the book it says that the max ranks for a class skill or cross class skill that is a class skill for a class you have is the same (level +3). What is the max ranks for a cross class skill that is not possessed by any class you have?
A. Let's say you're adding a level to your character, who is a Fast 2/Smart 1. You are adding another level in Smart (becoming Fast 2/Smart 2). Let's look at three skills.
Search: This skill is a class skill for your new level in Smart. The cost to add ranks is 1 rank per skill point; the max ranks is 7 (new level + 3).
Tumble: This skill is not a class skill for your new level in Smart, but it has been a class skill for your past levels in Fast. As a cross-class skill, the cost to add ranks is 0.5 ranks per skill point. Since it has been a class skill, the max ranks is 7.
Jump: This skill is not a class skill for you, and never has been. As a cross-class skill, the cost to add ranks is 0.5 ranks per skill point. Since it has been a class skill, the max ranks is 3.5 (half the max ranks for a class skill).
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Q. I just have 1 question on the Negotiator: the prereq feat is Alertness, yet the class doesn't have Listen as a class skill. This seems a bit annoying for a "sensory" character, though I can see the rationale. Was this intended, or is it an omission? Since the Charismatic doesn't have Listen/Spot, was it a suboptimal feat to balance the class as in D&D PrCs?
A. Your question seems based on the premise that the only characters interested in skill-related feats are those who also have a lot of ranks in them. While it's true that anyone who wants to maximize their bonus in a given skill will want the feat that supports it, skill-related feats are also valuable to characters who want a reasonable bonus in a cross-class skill. Ranks in Listen and Spot don't come easily to a Charismatic hero, and that's all the more reason to consider a feat like Alertness if you'd like a little bit of capability in those skills.
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Q. Also, I'm curious about the Mage and Telepath. All other classes except the Tough ones (artificially) are possible to get by 5th without taking the base class; but the skill prereqs rule this out for those 2. Is this a coincidence, or was it intended?
A. The prereqs are correct.
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Q. Just wondering what the stats of Bulletproof glass are.
A. We haven't established any official stats on bulletproof glass, but I'd put it at about hardness 5, 5 hp per inch. One-inch thickness is pretty typical in most applications.
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Q. i have used both bows and .22 cal handguns .and would like to know if the creatures of this system have ever shot either one? the bow has a range encriptment of 40ft and a .22 only has 20ft. how is that possible? i would love for someone to explain (other than the typical game balance answer).
A. A weapon's range increment is a reflection of both its short-to-medium range accuracy (the point at which it begins to accumulate range penalties) and its overall range (the RI times 10).
A single number is used to represent both factors for simplicity's sake. The linear effect of range penalties (in other words, the fact that range penalties accumulate evenly over distance, rather than exponentially or at some other mathematical rate) is also an issue of simplicity. If we were to model just how a give weapon's accuracy falls off over the course of its maximum range, the mechanics would be much more complicated--and probably different for each type of weapon.
The result of this abstraction is that sometimes you get a game effect that doesn't precisely match your expectations of reality. For example, a .22cal pistol may be more accurate than a bow at 30 feet in real life, while in the game the pistol is suffering from its first range penalty while the bow isn't. However, in both real life and the game the bow turns out to be much more accurate at 200 feet.
(All that said, I'm somewhat surprised that you find a standard, non-match-grade .22cal pistol to be more accurate than a compound bow beyond a very short range. We each have our different experiences in life, I guess. . . .)
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Q. FX Items: Mastercraft Required? For example, do I need to have a Mastercraft Dagger in order to have a +1 Magic Dagger?
If so, can you end up with a situation where you have a +3 Mastercraft bonus to hit on a +1 Magic Dagger?
How about a Dagger, +3 Mastercraft (to hit), +1 Magic (to hit & damage), Keen? What stacks, what doesn't? Is there a Mastercraft requirement? Is there a limit on bonuses?
A. OK, from the top:
Yes, a weapon must be mastercraft in order to be made into a magic weapon. (You'll find more rules on all this stuff in Urban Arcana.) It has to be a minimum of mastercraft +1; it doesn't matter what the bonus from mastercrafting applies to. (In other words, in the case of a dagger, it doesn't matter whether it's been mastercrafted to provide a +1 on attacks or a +1 to damage.)
You can certainly have a case where a weapon that is mastercrafted to provide a +3 on attacks is also enchanted +1. In this case, the +1 enchantment doesn't increase the bonus on attacks (because the bonuses don't stack), but does apply to damage. Also, the dagger now overcomes many types of damage reduction (see page 226 for more on that).
As I just mentioned, enhancement bonuses don't stack with circumstance bonuses from mastercrafting.
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Q. Does the additional bonuses that a Shadow Slayer gains with additional levels in that advanced class still apply so that at 6th level, that bonus would go from +1 to +2 for example? I would assume so since nothing was mentioned about removing the level increase but I wanted to check.
A. The clarification in the FAQ applies only to the first paragraph of the shadow enemy class ability. The second paragraph (which begins "At each level after 5th, the Shadow Slayer may add +1. . .") is unchanged. So, yes, at 6th level the Shadow Slayer's bonus against his favored enemy increases from +1 to +2.
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Q. Is the fixed bayonet damage correct? They deal less damage than a rifle butt. (1d4 vs. 1d6.) A fixed bayonet should do about as muchdamage as a shortspear (1d8), but the rulebook says a bayonet does 1d4/1d6 damage - it's safe to assume that the 1d6 is meant for the bayonet being used fixed to the barrel of a rifle (or shotgun), while the 1d4 refers to the bayonet being used as a knife.
A. The 1d4/1d6 statistic is for using a bayonet on a rifle as a double weapon. Effectively a knife (1d4) and the rifle butt (1d6)
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Q. What can you do while at 0 hp and disabled without losing an hp. It says any strenuous activity makes you drop to -1, but what is considered by rule standards as strenuous? Is it attacking, is moving your speed in distance stenuous?
A. In general, you can do anything listed under Move Actions on Table 5-2 without losing a hit point. Your GM may always has the option of deciding that something is strenuous, however, depending on the circumstance. For example, moving a heavy object is probably strenuous most of the time.
Most things that require an attack action are strenuous. Again, your GM can rule something non-strenuous, as he sees fit. For example, there are many skill uses that require an attack action that probably aren't strenuous.
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Q. Different guns have different kinds of safeties, and for some weapons, HKP7, it is a major feature of the gun. But I don't see any rules for what kind of action tripping a manual safety is, whether you can do it while drawing a gun, and wat happens if you wander around without a safty on at all?
A. Activating a weapon's safety is a free action. For this reason, we don't bother with rules for whether the weapon is on safe or not; it's assumed the weapon is safe when appropriate, and not safe when appropriate.
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Q. One quick question: do the Coordinate and Inspiration talents stack? As unnamed bonuses, I would expect 'yes'; however, I began to doubt myself when I saw that the text specifically mentioned that Inspiration and Greater Inspiration stack, but mentioned nothing of Inspiration and Coordinate. Of course, if they do stack, than the combo could yield (with Greater Inspiration) a +4 to allies' attack rolls!
A. They do stack. Keep in mind the limitations (in particular the time limit), though!
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Q. As a guideline, how long should elapse between surprise rounds? For example, a hero sneaks into the compound, surprises some guards, and shoots at them. Now, we can all agree that he shouldn't just be able to run round the corner or throw a smoke grenade, Hide again and get another surprise round. But how long should it take for the guards to once again be able to be surprised? If more heroes or guards sneak onto the scene, and their enemies don't detect them, how is that handled? Is surprise no longer a factor after a combat begins?
A. A surprise round occurs any time initiative is rolled and some characters are surprised; a surprise round can occur at the beginning of every encounter. There is no time limit between encounters.
If one encounter ends, you'll probably want to end the initiative and roll again when the next encounter begins, even if that's just a minute later. With the start of a new encounter, there's the possibility of a surprise round.
If the guards in a compound have heard gunfire, they're likely to be alert--so it'll be hard to get the drop on them. (Simply providing yourself with concealment doesn't mean you surprise your opponent.) But just because they're alert doesn't mean that they can't be surprised.
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Q. Is it possible to climb 50 ft. up a wall, then jump down and count that as a charge (or dive)? Can Tumble help against the damage taken?
A. Falling is not movement, so, technically, you can't charge while falling. That said, I'd probably bend that rule a touch to allow a character to make a charge by jumping from a height. There are a lot of important considerations, though.
For starters, the fall would have to be deliberate. In other words, if you jump from a height, you can use the drop as a charge. But if you fall inadvertantly, you cannot.
When you make a charge, you can't do any other movement, including movement to line up the charge. Thus, you must already be in perfect position at the start of your turn. You can't climb up and then jump, all in the same round. And you can't line yourself up if you're not directly above the opponent. You have to already be in position.
You can jump down from directly over the opponent, or from 5 feet to any side (so that you land in a square adjacent to the opponent). Remember that if you land in the opponent's square, you provoke an attack of opportunity before you make your attack (just like any other time you try to enter an opponent's square).
All the other rules for charging apply. For example, you must drop at least 10 feet, but no more than twice your speed. (If you have a speed of 30, you can make a charge attack if you fall 60 feet, but not if you fall 70 feet.)
At the end of the charge, after the attack, you take damage from the fall. As normal, you can make a Tumble check to reduce that damage.
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Q. In poor lighting conditions, does low-light vision give a bonus to Spot checks, negating some of the penalty?
A. There are no hard and fast rules for penalties to Spot checks for poor lighting conditions. However, if your GM chooses to impose, say, a -2 circumstance penalty on a Spot check due to poor lighting conditions, it makes perfect sense to allow a creature with low-light vision to ignore that penalty.
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Q. Does the +1 save bonus from Shadow Heritage add to surprise avoidance from the aware talent? My guess is that it doesn't, but I'd just like to make sure.
A. No. A character with the aware talent adds her base Will saving throw bonus--not the bonus after adding in modifiers.
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Q. Are there any rules in d20 Modern for how long it takes to get into and out of armor?
A. The time required to don armor depends on the armor type; see the table below.
Don: This column tells how long it takes a character to put the armor on. (One minute is 10 rounds.) Readying (strapping on) a shield is only a move action.
Don Hastily: This column tells how long it takes to put the armor on in a hurry. The armor check penalty and armor bonus for hastily donned armor are each 1 point worse than normal. For example, if Russell donned his light-duty vest hastily, it would take him 2 rounds, the armor would provide only a +4 bonus to his AC (instead of +5), and his armor check penalty would be ?5 (instead of ?4).
Remove: This column tells how long it takes to get the armor off (important to know if the wearer is suddenly submerged; see the drowning rules in Chapter 7).
Don Don Hastily Remove
Shield
Any 1 move action n/a 1 move action
Impromptu Armor
Light 1 round 1 attack action 1 move action
Medium 1 minute 5 rounds 1 minute*
Concealable Armor
Light 1 round 1 attack action 1 move action
Medium 2 rounds 1 round 1 round
Tactical Armor
Light 2 rounds 1 round 1 round
Medium 4 rounds 2 rounds 2 rounds*
Heavy 1 minute* 4 rounds 4 rounds*
Archaic Armor
Light 1 minute 5 rounds 1 minute*
Medium 4 minutes* 1 minute 1 minute*
Heavy 4 minutes** 4 minutes* 1d4+1 minutes*
* If the character has some help, cut this time in half. A single character doing nothing else can help one or two adjacent characters. Two characters can?t help each other don armor at the same time.
** The wearer must have help to don this armor. Without help, it can be donned only hastily
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Q. Katanas and Bastards swords. Are these weapons still considered 'equivalent' to one another? In essence, do the changes that were made to the katana apply to a bastard sword in d20 Modern as well?
A. They are not equivalent. You'll find complete stats for the bastard sword (and a bunch of other archaic weapons) in Urban Arcana, due out this week!
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Q. Hey, i was looking through the d20 Modern Book and i didn't see any rules on sniping. . .
A. This question has come up before, with players asserting that they should be able to reliably get the one-shot-one-kill results they want. Here's an overview of my earlier answers:
It's very important, when considering any new rule that gives a player a big advantage over the standard game mechanics, to think about how that rule can be used against a player as well.
It might be nice to be able to outright kill an unprepared foe with a single shot. On the other hand, it wouldn't be very nice for your GM to tell you, out of the blue, "Roll up a new character. A bad guy just blew your head off."
All that said, there are plenty of advantages you can give a sniper character, including:
Opponent is flat-footed (no Dex bonus to Defense)
Sniper has weapon with long range increment
Sniper has scope (further reduces range increment)
Sniper has feats like Far Shot, Dead Aim, Weapon Focus
Sniper has masterwork weapon
All of this would give the sniper a total advantage of +4 to +8 (possibly even more) on the attack roll over a standard attack, while eliminating range penalties for a pretty huge distance. Add to that your trained sniper's high base attack bonus, and maybe some class features, and you have a pretty dangerous character!
As for massive amounts of damage, remember that an average hit with a 2d10 weapon deals 11 points of damage--enough to make the average character save for massive damage. Throw in a couple extra abilities, like the Double Tap feat or the soldier's weapon specialization, and you can easily force the massive damage save on virtually anyone with an average damage roll.
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The standard scope in the d20 Modern Roleplaying Game represents a typical 3x to 7x telescopic scope. There are more powerful scopes out there (up to 12x), but they should probably carry more severe penalties for use (such as requiring two or more attack actions to acquire the target, requiring a Concentration check to use, and/or the user being effectively blind to anything except the target). Higher-powered scopes might multiply the range increment by 2 or even 2.5--but probably not more than that. (There's a lot that goes into range increments other than the quality of the sighting device. The range increment for a standard scope is multiplied by 1.5, even though the scope magnification is 3x to 7x.)
As for bonuses, scopes already do that by increasing the range increment (and thus decreasing the range penalty). Imagine shooting a weapon with a range increment of 100 ft. at a target 550 ft. away. You suffer a -10 penalty on the attack. With a scope, your range increment becomes 150 ft., so you suffer only a -6 on the attack. That's like getting a +4 bonus compared to the weapon without a scope!
Finally, when wondering about the long ranges that some snipers achieve, remember that the benefit of the Far Shot feat stacks with the benefit of a scope. So even with a basic standard scope, a sniper with the Far Shot feat actually doubles the range increment of his weapon.
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Q. Can you collect and keep Action Points or are you only allowed to keep a certain number of them?
A. There is no limit to the number of action points you can accumulate.
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Q. Does the charecter Defense Bonus stay with you even if your suprised or caught flat footed?
A. You lose your Dex when flat-footed, but not your class Defense bonus.
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Q. When you use the Dead Aim Feat, does the bonus apply to EVERY shot you take in the next round or only the first?
A. After spending your full-round action, the bonus applies to your next attack roll. In other words, just the next shot you take, not every attack you take in the next round.
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Q. Lets say you pick an Advance Class that has a feat granted that you already have taken (Lets say your a Fast Hero who's already taken the Weapon Focus Feat and you now pick Gun Slinger as your advance class which already gives you the Feat). I know this was a bad example since you can just say "Pick another weapon" but you know what I mean, what happens to redundent feat options?
A. In general, if a class gives you a feat you already have, you don't get anything in exchange. However:
If the feat can be taken more than once, you get a second iteration. In other words, if you already have the Toughness feat, and a class gives it to you again, well, you just rack up another 3 hp because you're allowed to take Toughness multiple times. (So, in the case of Weapon Focus, you get the feat again and apply it to a new weapon.)
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Q. As a side note to last question, if you select 2 types of guns that you've focued on, do your gun slinger abilities apply to both or only the gun you used the "Gun Slinger's Weapon Focus" feat on?
A. I assume you're talking about the greater weapon focus class ability. If you have the Weapon Focus feat for one firearm and the weapon focus class ability for another, you can choose either one (but not both) to be the subject of the greater weapon focus ability. Bullseye applies only the the weapon that is the subject of the greater weapon focus ability.
For example, let's say you have the Weapon Focus (Glock 17) feat, and when you gain weapon focus class ability you apply it to the HK MP5K. When you get to 8th level and gain the greater weapon focus class ability, you decide which of those two weapons to apply it to. You decide to apply it to the Glock. At 10th level, the bullseye ability now also applies to the Glock.
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Q. With a tough hero, if he gets thrown out a window and falls on the pavement, which does he use to absorb some of the damage? The Damage Reduction Talent or the Energy Resistance (Sonic/Concusion) Talent?
A. Damage reduction. Falling damage is not an energy type.
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Q. When a character increases to a level devisable by 4, they gain get an extra point to allocate to an ability score. If they allocate a point to Constitution, they also must add the extra hit points they gain for every previous level. Does the same thing apply with Intelligence and skill points?
A. Nope.
Only permanent bonuses to Int apply when calculating new skill points; temporary bonuses (like those from magic items) don't. Sorry that isn't more clear in the text.
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Q. Page 113, General Equipment lists a surgery kit; however, there is no description for it in the rest of the rules. What is its benefit or use?
A. The surgery kit is the tool necessary to conduct surgery. As with all skill uses that require tools, you can attempt the skill without the tool, but you suffer a -4 penalty (see page 45 for more). This stacks with any other penalties, such as the penalty for not having the Surgery feat.
So, in other words, if you have neither the kit nor the feat, you're at a -8 to use Treat Injury to conduct surgery.
If you have the feat but not the kit (or vice versa), you're at -4.
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Q. I'm wondering if you could provide us with a description of the kit, anyway...for the errata, at least. I'm curious to know how the kit differs, contents-wise, from the Medical Kit.
A. You'll be seeing a more complete description of the surgery kit in an upcoming Bullet Points column.
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Q. Any one have any other ideas where extreme machine can be used...maybe in a medkit...so you use everyone has one, and when someone goes down, when you make your treat injury check, the + adds on to your roll helping people with out that skill have a chance on getting it.
Extreme machine applies only to, well, machines. As it says in the first sentence, it can be souped up "if it has mechanical or electronic components." In many cases the question of whether a given piece of equipment has such components is up to GM judgement, but I don't think a medical kit qualifies.
As for generating several bonuses that work together (like increasing a weapon's damage and a laser sight's equipment bonus), sure, you can do that. Just remember that it costs an action point every time you use extreme machine.
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Q. Is really right the defense bonus of +3 that the fast hero begins on first level or there some error in the value?
A. The Defense progression given for the Fast Hero in the book is correct.
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Q. In the book it says that the max ranks for a class skill or cross class skill that is a class skill for a class you have is the same (level +3). What is the max ranks for a cross class skill that is not possessed by any class you have?
A. Let's say you're adding a level to your character, who is a Fast 2/Smart 1. You are adding another level in Smart (becoming Fast 2/Smart 2). Let's look at three skills.
Search: This skill is a class skill for your new level in Smart. The cost to add ranks is 1 rank per skill point; the max ranks is 7 (new level + 3).
Tumble: This skill is not a class skill for your new level in Smart, but it has been a class skill for your past levels in Fast. As a cross-class skill, the cost to add ranks is 0.5 ranks per skill point. Since it has been a class skill, the max ranks is 7.
Jump: This skill is not a class skill for you, and never has been. As a cross-class skill, the cost to add ranks is 0.5 ranks per skill point. Since it has been a class skill, the max ranks is 3.5 (half the max ranks for a class skill).
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Q. I just have 1 question on the Negotiator: the prereq feat is Alertness, yet the class doesn't have Listen as a class skill. This seems a bit annoying for a "sensory" character, though I can see the rationale. Was this intended, or is it an omission? Since the Charismatic doesn't have Listen/Spot, was it a suboptimal feat to balance the class as in D&D PrCs?
A. Your question seems based on the premise that the only characters interested in skill-related feats are those who also have a lot of ranks in them. While it's true that anyone who wants to maximize their bonus in a given skill will want the feat that supports it, skill-related feats are also valuable to characters who want a reasonable bonus in a cross-class skill. Ranks in Listen and Spot don't come easily to a Charismatic hero, and that's all the more reason to consider a feat like Alertness if you'd like a little bit of capability in those skills.
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Q. Also, I'm curious about the Mage and Telepath. All other classes except the Tough ones (artificially) are possible to get by 5th without taking the base class; but the skill prereqs rule this out for those 2. Is this a coincidence, or was it intended?
A. The prereqs are correct.
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Q. Just wondering what the stats of Bulletproof glass are.
A. We haven't established any official stats on bulletproof glass, but I'd put it at about hardness 5, 5 hp per inch. One-inch thickness is pretty typical in most applications.
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Q. i have used both bows and .22 cal handguns .and would like to know if the creatures of this system have ever shot either one? the bow has a range encriptment of 40ft and a .22 only has 20ft. how is that possible? i would love for someone to explain (other than the typical game balance answer).
A. A weapon's range increment is a reflection of both its short-to-medium range accuracy (the point at which it begins to accumulate range penalties) and its overall range (the RI times 10).
A single number is used to represent both factors for simplicity's sake. The linear effect of range penalties (in other words, the fact that range penalties accumulate evenly over distance, rather than exponentially or at some other mathematical rate) is also an issue of simplicity. If we were to model just how a give weapon's accuracy falls off over the course of its maximum range, the mechanics would be much more complicated--and probably different for each type of weapon.
The result of this abstraction is that sometimes you get a game effect that doesn't precisely match your expectations of reality. For example, a .22cal pistol may be more accurate than a bow at 30 feet in real life, while in the game the pistol is suffering from its first range penalty while the bow isn't. However, in both real life and the game the bow turns out to be much more accurate at 200 feet.
(All that said, I'm somewhat surprised that you find a standard, non-match-grade .22cal pistol to be more accurate than a compound bow beyond a very short range. We each have our different experiences in life, I guess. . . .)
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Q. FX Items: Mastercraft Required? For example, do I need to have a Mastercraft Dagger in order to have a +1 Magic Dagger?
If so, can you end up with a situation where you have a +3 Mastercraft bonus to hit on a +1 Magic Dagger?
How about a Dagger, +3 Mastercraft (to hit), +1 Magic (to hit & damage), Keen? What stacks, what doesn't? Is there a Mastercraft requirement? Is there a limit on bonuses?
A. OK, from the top:
Yes, a weapon must be mastercraft in order to be made into a magic weapon. (You'll find more rules on all this stuff in Urban Arcana.) It has to be a minimum of mastercraft +1; it doesn't matter what the bonus from mastercrafting applies to. (In other words, in the case of a dagger, it doesn't matter whether it's been mastercrafted to provide a +1 on attacks or a +1 to damage.)
You can certainly have a case where a weapon that is mastercrafted to provide a +3 on attacks is also enchanted +1. In this case, the +1 enchantment doesn't increase the bonus on attacks (because the bonuses don't stack), but does apply to damage. Also, the dagger now overcomes many types of damage reduction (see page 226 for more on that).
As I just mentioned, enhancement bonuses don't stack with circumstance bonuses from mastercrafting.
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Q. Does the additional bonuses that a Shadow Slayer gains with additional levels in that advanced class still apply so that at 6th level, that bonus would go from +1 to +2 for example? I would assume so since nothing was mentioned about removing the level increase but I wanted to check.
A. The clarification in the FAQ applies only to the first paragraph of the shadow enemy class ability. The second paragraph (which begins "At each level after 5th, the Shadow Slayer may add +1. . .") is unchanged. So, yes, at 6th level the Shadow Slayer's bonus against his favored enemy increases from +1 to +2.
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, So you're the Good thief huh ?
