Misc. Question

[GenkiZero]

1) When a character criticals, you roll a second time for damage. Does any additional damage you do, due to strength or an ability (Say Smite for instance) get added onto the second roll as well?

2) I'm utterly confused about Level Adjustment. Does the character simply have a different rate of gaining XP than the rest of the party or can the charater take a Moster Class to ignore this?

3) I like lycanthropes but the problem is my players tend to attempt to get bitten... How does leveling for a lycanthrope work? Does the character gain all the abilities and the level adjustment, or do they have to take lycanthrope levels ? (See question number 2 which is connected) Also, how does character control factor into this? Is the character still under their control or is that only if the lycanthrope base is the same alignment of the character?

Thanks in advance !

 

[Infiniti2000]

1) When a character criticals, you roll a second time for damage. Does any additional damage you do, due to strength or an ability (Say Smite for instance) get added onto the second roll as well?

Strength, weapon enhancement bonus, smite, weapon specialization, yes. Flaming, sneak attack, no.

2) I'm utterly confused about Level Adjustment. Does the character simply have a different rate of gaining XP than the rest of the party or can the charater take a Moster Class to ignore this?

Each character has an ECL and gains experience (advances) per their ECL. All the PH races have LA 0 and no extra HD, so their ECL amounts to total class levels. Characters based off many MM monsters (or other sources) have a non-zero LA and/or 2+ HD. Remember that ECL = HD + LA + class levels.

3) I like lycanthropes but the problem is my players tend to attempt to get bitten... How does leveling for a lycanthrope work? Does the character gain all the abilities and the level adjustment, or do they have to take lycanthrope levels ? (See question number 2 which is connected) Also, how does character control factor into this? Is the character still under their control or is that only if the lycanthrope base is the same alignment of the character?

Introducing LA midstream is not easy and there are no hard-and-fast rules on it. Some people use racial progression from Savage Species, others just force the PC to not gain any levels until their XP matches their newly acquired ECL. Doing that usually solves the problems of players attempting to get bitten. Turn it into the curse it's intended to be and the problem solves itself. Making the PC be an NPC is another great method, though heavy handed and will piss off a player who might actually want to remove the curse.

 

[Arkhandus]

(Edit note: Took too long making my post I see.)

Hullo GenkiZero.

1) When a character criticals, you roll a second time for damage. Does any additional damage you do, due to strength or an ability (Say Smite for instance) get added onto the second roll as well?

Numerical damage is multiplied on a critical hit, except when noted otherwise. So plusses from an enhancement bonus, high Strength, a paladin's Smite, etc., will be multiplied. Bonus damage dice are NOT multiplied on a critical hit. Only base damage dice for the weapon (or unarmed strike, or natural weapon, etc.) is rolled again, plus the numerical bonuses/penalties as I noted above. Sneak Attack damage dice, the bonus damage dice from the Frost magic weapon ability, and other bonus damage dice are not multiplied. If there are any exceptions, they will be specifically noted in the description of whatever grants the bonus damage.

2) I'm utterly confused about Level Adjustment. Does the character simply have a different rate of gaining XP than the rest of the party or can the charater take a Moster Class to ignore this?

Level Adjustment is as follows. Firstly, racial/monster Hit Dice are not part of an LA, though they do factor into Effective Character Level; racial/monster Hit Dice are treated just like class levels pretty much. The character's total Level Adjustment is added to their actual, total character level (from class levels and racial/monster hit dice), but only for the purposes of determining 1) how many Experience Points they start with (if they're new characters), 2) how much total EXP it takes for them to gain levels, 3) how much starting wealth they get (if they're new characters), and 4) how much EXP and treasure they earn. That is all that a Level Adjustment counts towards.

So for instance, if you started a campaign at 3rd-level, and one player wanted to play a race that has a +1 LA and no racial hit dice, he'd make a character of that race with 2 class levels, such as a 2nd-level Fighter. He'd have the feats, ability scores, etc. of a 2nd-level character. But he'd start with the same amount of EXP and wealth as a 3rd-level character. In order for this character to reach 3rd-level, he'd need to accumulate as much EXP as a normal character who was trying to reach 4th-level.

If you start a campaign at 1st-level, you generally shouldn't allow races with more than a +1 ECL (effective character level = level adjustment + racial/monster hit dice, if any). In that case, you'd start the +1 ECL character at the same XP total as the other 1st-level characters, but he'd be a bit stronger than the rest, and would take much longer to reach 2nd-level; by that time, the rest of the party will have reached 3rd-level, and the ECL adjustment will have balanced out, keeping the character 1 level behind the rest henceforth.

3) I like lycanthropes but the problem is my players tend to attempt to get bitten... How does leveling for a lycanthrope work? Does the character gain all the abilities and the level adjustment, or do they have to take lycanthrope levels ? (See question number 2 which is connected) Also, how does character control factor into this? Is the character still under their control or is that only if the lycanthrope base is the same alignment of the character?

Thanks in advance ![/QUOTE]

Lycanthropy depends. A natural lycanthrope (one born to it) must start with the full lycanthrope traits, racial hit dice, etc., and gets the full Level Adjustment of one as well. A character who is bitten by a lycanthrope and contracts that magical disease will not be a natural lycanthrope. They will not be able to control their transformation, and IIRC, they won't be able to control themselves when transformed. Non-natural lycanthropes transform on nights of the full moon, only, IIRC, and are probably just as likely to attack their comrades as they are to just wander off and search for other prey while transformed. Non-natural lycanthropes cannot make themselves transform, nor can they make themselves return to normal; the moon alone controls their transformations. A diseased lycanthrope takes on the mannerisms and alignment of a typical lycanthrope of their type, while transformed, but reverts to their normal self and alignment when not transformed. I don't recall at the moment if this can result in paladins and such violating their alignment restriction, but I think it does result in that, if the lycanthrope type isn't lawful good. Though paladins are immune to all diseases IIRC (at which level, I forget), at any rate, and contracted lycanthropy is a magical disease. A character with contracted lycanthropy likely doesn't gain the ECL/LA modifiers since they are really more of a DM-controlled, bestial, ravenous NPC while transformed. If they somehow were to gain control of it, they would then gain the full ECL/LA adjustments of a lycanthrope. There's an issue of Dragon Magazine that presents Lycanthrope level progressions, but I forget which issue.....that describes how some lycanthropes may be able to gain their abilities gradually, but even then they cannot progress in normal class levels until they acquire all of their required lycanthrope levels.

 

[dcollins]

3) I like lycanthropes but the problem is my players tend to attempt to get bitten...

Classically in D&D, lycanthropy is definitely supposed to be a curse and undesirable. In a lot of campaigns (like mine), a character who conflicts lycanthropy is removed from the game, as a now-monstrous NPC, unless cured. The fact that it completely breaks the whole ECL system is even more motivation for this.

 

[irdeggman]

As far as lycanthropes and gaining it mid-level - try this link to some articles on savage progression at the WotC site - pretty much has a way of handling the exact issue you are talking about.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/sp

 

[ThirdWizard]

Enforce the lycanthropy rules:

LYCANTHROPY AS AN AFFLICTION

When a character contracts lycanthropy through a lycanthrope’s bite (see above), no symptoms appear until the first night of the next full moon. On that night, the afflicted character involuntarily assumes animal form and forgets his or her own identity, temporarily becoming an NPC. The character remains in animal form, assuming the appropriate alignment, until the next dawn.

The character’s actions during this first episode are dictated by the alignment of its animal form. The character remembers nothing about the entire episode (or subsequent episodes) unless he succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom check, in which case he becomes aware of his lycanthropic condition.

Thereafter, the character is subject to involuntary transformation under the full moon and whenever damaged in combat. He or she feels an overwhelming rage building up and must succeed on a Control Shape check (see below) to resist changing into animal form. Any player character not yet aware of his or her lycanthropic condition temporarily becomes an NPC during an involuntary change, and acts according to the alignment of his or her animal form.

A character with awareness of his condition retains his identity and does not lose control of his actions if he changes. However, each time he changes to his animal form, he must make a Will save (DC 15 + number of times he has been in animal form) or permanently assume the alignment of his animal form in all shapes.

Once a character becomes aware of his affliction, he can now voluntarily attempt to change to animal or hybrid form, using the appropriate Control Shape check DC. An attempt is a standard action and can be made each round. Any voluntary change to animal or hybrid form immediately and permanently changes the character’s alignment to that of the appropriate lycanthrope.