House Rule - No Aid Other in Rituals

[hailstop]

One of my peeves in higher level rituals is that it becomes trivial for aid another to work (since the DC is a static 10). This makes higher level Diseases of Afflictions trivial to remove.

One solution I see is to just eliminate the Aid Another option from Rituals.

Another solution is to allow Aid Another, but scale the DC number (either Normal or Hard DC).

Comments?

 

[Camelot]

My houserule is exactly your last sentence there: the DC for Aid Another (in any instance) is 10 + half-level. It's never actually come up in play (I'm really trying to tell my players they have other options than their powers, but they just don't get it!!! That's another problem, though...), so I don't really know how it works or to what exactly the half-level refers (the PC who's aiding? The PC who's being aided? The ritual? The encounter? The monster? Aid Another can come up in many situations).

PS: Sorry about the parentheses. My ramblings should really be in the form of a sentence diagram, with tangents hanging off main ideas, but this is my substitute for that. =)

 

[Starfox]

I apply the tier DC modifiers to Aid Another: +5 at Paragon tier, +10 at Epic Tier. I still find that Aid Another becomes trivial at higher levels, but then I have very skill-happy players.

 

[Destil]

For skill challenges I've found I generally disallow aid another and instead let the players roll secondary skills with set DCs and a -2 penalty to the person who's making the primary check on failure.

At this point I wonder why aid another isn't just a 'roll 10 or better' like a save. It's pretty hard to get a good formula for it (I wouldn't like the spiky drop in difficulty between 10 and 11th with the proposed rule above, for instance). 10+1/2 level at least would make me happier. But on a whole it's a mechanic that I think could easily use a full rework to something more sensable/fun/interesting...

 

[malraux]

You could go with the group skill check mechanic from DMG2. Everyone involved roles a check and if 50% make it, then it was a success.

 

[the Jester]

One of my peeves in higher level rituals is that it becomes trivial for aid another to work (since the DC is a static 10). This makes higher level Diseases of Afflictions trivial to remove.

One solution I see is to just eliminate the Aid Another option from Rituals.

Another solution is to allow Aid Another, but scale the DC number (either Normal or Hard DC).

Getting rid of aid another in rituals seems silly- otherwise, you'd never have a group of six people all chanting around a big eldritch energy thingie, you'd just have one guy doing all the work.

Scaling the DC, on the other hand, seems perfectly reasonable.

 

[keterys]

Requiring that people who want to aid with rituals either are Ritual Casters or are trained in the relevant skill will probably solve your problem, also.

 

[LostSoul]

Requiring that people who want to aid with rituals either are Ritual Casters or are trained in the relevant skill will probably solve your problem, also.

That's generally what I do, though I'd probably always allow a blood sacrifice to count as an auto aid-another.

 

[the Jester]

Requiring that people who want to aid with rituals either are Ritual Casters or are trained in the relevant skill will probably solve your problem, also.

Yeah, but if all the backup guys need to do is swing a thurible of incense and chant, "CTHULHU FTAGHN!" over and over again, does that really require training?

I guess I see ritual "aiders" as helping make sure the materials are on hand, holding the bowl that catches the virgin's blood and stuff like that.

 

[Camelot]

Blood sacrifice? Virgin's blood? What kind of rituals are you guys performing? Mine only use alchemical reagents, rare herbs, and the occasional sanctified incense.