Sean McMullen has a book set in a world that I find very intriguing. I even considered it as a campaign world -- until I ran into some problems in current D&D thinking.
His world is dominated by a few interesting ideas. The one that I find most peculiar is the Call. The Call is a mental domination field that sweeps across the land at irregular intervals. Any mammal larger than a small dog is caught in the field, and will begin walking in a West, heedless of anything that gets in their way. Villagers put high walls on the west sides of their villages, called Mercy Walls, which stop people who have been Called -- the Call only lasts for a few hours, although anyone who can walk at a normal speed will stay in its area of effect -- it's like a net that grabs mammals, basically.
In his world, only a select few can resist the Call. A few monks have undergone years of meditation to steel their minds, and one type of genetically modified human is uniquely immune.
The problem with this idea in D&D terms is the darn save. I can just see it...
Me: A Call sweeps across the party in mid-fight!
Them: D'oh. Well, let's roll saves.
Me: Um. No. Nobody resists the Call unless they have years of training.
Them: Well, my cleric has years of training. That's why he has a +6 Will save.
Me: Er.
Them: Look, I just rolled a natural 20! A natural 20 ALWAYS saves!
And so forth. Sean's book is very specific -- it says nothing about five percent of the target population just going, "Huh, I resisted it this time."
So how would you handle this as a DM?
(Note: Getting Called if you don't have a Wall nearby is NOT a death sentence -- anyone out in the open for long periods of time wears a belt on a simple gear-driven countdown timer. Each hour, the belt chimes or something, and the person rewinds the timer. If they DON'T rewind it after a certain amount of time -- because they're under the effects of a Call, for example -- a grappler fires out and hopefully snags on something, hooking the person on a nearby wall or tree or bush and keeping them from continuing forward.)
Options I've considered:
1) Make the save very very high and say that in this case, a Natural 20 doesn't mean auto-success.
2) Make it a no-save effect that someone can take a feat to gain a save against. Spending a feat on "Resist Calling" or something would let you make a Will Save against Calls.
3) Make it not a save-based effect but a skill-based effect -- since Skill checks don't succeed on a 20. "Resist Calling (Wis) " is a class skill for all classes, but you can only start gaining ranks once you've undergone some training.
In any of those cases, I still see player complaints coming.
Maybe this speaks to my failings as a DM. As a writer and a TV fan, I'm too much into the drama of some save-effects. I don't think that there SHOULD be saves against them. Looking at a Medusa's eyes should STONE you, barring magical protection. When a wizard tries to turn you into a newt, your options might include dodging the little beam of light that shoots out of their hand, but simply gritting your teeth and trying to resist the spell with your natural fortitude just grates on my sense of drama.
Please note: I'm not a killer DM. I don't want to kill my players' PCs. If I ran a game in which a Medusa's gaze was an instapetrification attack, the players would a) know that beforehand, b) have a chance to learn about an artifact that could protect them, c) have clear rules on what they could and couldn't do in combat in terms of running the risks of meeting the gaze, and d) find the scroll of Depetryphicus, a handy means of de-stoning their friends.
I'm just trying to inject some drama into what often turns into "Well, I'm just gonna go for it. I only need a 4 or higher to save."
-Tacky
His world is dominated by a few interesting ideas. The one that I find most peculiar is the Call. The Call is a mental domination field that sweeps across the land at irregular intervals. Any mammal larger than a small dog is caught in the field, and will begin walking in a West, heedless of anything that gets in their way. Villagers put high walls on the west sides of their villages, called Mercy Walls, which stop people who have been Called -- the Call only lasts for a few hours, although anyone who can walk at a normal speed will stay in its area of effect -- it's like a net that grabs mammals, basically.
In his world, only a select few can resist the Call. A few monks have undergone years of meditation to steel their minds, and one type of genetically modified human is uniquely immune.
The problem with this idea in D&D terms is the darn save. I can just see it...
Me: A Call sweeps across the party in mid-fight!
Them: D'oh. Well, let's roll saves.
Me: Um. No. Nobody resists the Call unless they have years of training.
Them: Well, my cleric has years of training. That's why he has a +6 Will save.
Me: Er.
Them: Look, I just rolled a natural 20! A natural 20 ALWAYS saves!
And so forth. Sean's book is very specific -- it says nothing about five percent of the target population just going, "Huh, I resisted it this time."
So how would you handle this as a DM?
(Note: Getting Called if you don't have a Wall nearby is NOT a death sentence -- anyone out in the open for long periods of time wears a belt on a simple gear-driven countdown timer. Each hour, the belt chimes or something, and the person rewinds the timer. If they DON'T rewind it after a certain amount of time -- because they're under the effects of a Call, for example -- a grappler fires out and hopefully snags on something, hooking the person on a nearby wall or tree or bush and keeping them from continuing forward.)
Options I've considered:
1) Make the save very very high and say that in this case, a Natural 20 doesn't mean auto-success.
2) Make it a no-save effect that someone can take a feat to gain a save against. Spending a feat on "Resist Calling" or something would let you make a Will Save against Calls.
3) Make it not a save-based effect but a skill-based effect -- since Skill checks don't succeed on a 20. "Resist Calling (Wis) " is a class skill for all classes, but you can only start gaining ranks once you've undergone some training.
In any of those cases, I still see player complaints coming.
Maybe this speaks to my failings as a DM. As a writer and a TV fan, I'm too much into the drama of some save-effects. I don't think that there SHOULD be saves against them. Looking at a Medusa's eyes should STONE you, barring magical protection. When a wizard tries to turn you into a newt, your options might include dodging the little beam of light that shoots out of their hand, but simply gritting your teeth and trying to resist the spell with your natural fortitude just grates on my sense of drama.
Please note: I'm not a killer DM. I don't want to kill my players' PCs. If I ran a game in which a Medusa's gaze was an instapetrification attack, the players would a) know that beforehand, b) have a chance to learn about an artifact that could protect them, c) have clear rules on what they could and couldn't do in combat in terms of running the risks of meeting the gaze, and d) find the scroll of Depetryphicus, a handy means of de-stoning their friends.
I'm just trying to inject some drama into what often turns into "Well, I'm just gonna go for it. I only need a 4 or higher to save."
-Tacky
