Unearthed Arcana Variant Rules - Previews and Questions

[d20Dwarf]

The racial variants seem to be taken from dragon

I can't wait to see if this is true, as the author of one racial variants article.

 

[Falstaff]

Can you give us more information on the Injury System?

 

[buzz]

Anyway, I am not against this book, I like options, I dislike the power that is now centered in Andy Collins' hands and the many lay offs that WotC did because it was bought by Hasbro, or the later did, for that matter.

WotC laid people off for the same reasons virtually every other company in USA did: the economy was (is) in the crapper. Freaking everyone I know has been laid off in the past year or knows someone who has.

Blaming suits at Hasbro for possible flaws in product you have yet to see is, IMHO, kinda silly. I'd be surprised if any executives at Hasbro even knew this product existed, mich less care about its content.

 

[herald]

Anyway, I am not against this book, I like options, I dislike the power that is now centered in Andy Collins' hands and the many lay offs that WotC did because it was bought by Hasbro, or the later did, for that matter.

If you have a beef with Andy, IMHO, you should bring up your points in another thread. At best your of topic...

 

[John Quixote]

RE: Wounds & Vitality, I can at least tell you how I've been running spells and sneak attacks under this system. I see a lot of people suggest converting attacks that deal dice of vitality damage into "1 point of wound damage per die," but I find that to be a pretty inelegant solution -- it loses the distinction between die types, for starters. So, I just used common sense for sneak attack and applied the rule that was already there: damage expressed as extra dice, such as from a sneak attack or an elemental weapon, is not multiplied by a critical hit. Therefore, it would stand to reason that under a VP/WP system, such damage would not change to wound damage on a critical hit, and would instead remain vitality damage.

For spells, I just took an alternate route. At the moment, I'm ruling that when a spell or similar energy effect critically hits, some of the damage becomes wound damage -- an ammount that cannot exceed the spell's level (or, if the effect has no level, 1/2 the hit dice of the creature using the attack). So far this has worked out well, but if it proves to be on the weak side, I may just change the wound cap to caster level (or, if I like the UA rules, "magic rating").

 

[Nifelhein]

Buzz and Herald,

Sorry about speaking what I think on a thread that is somehow connected to it, I try to avoid posting too much offtopic and to make my posts haev at least something connected to the initial topic, though. I understand that you did not like to have to read it here, herald, and for that I apologize.

Anyway, he did gave info on the injury system, but this is a hell lot of pages to point you, somewhere around 4 might be a good check out.

Also, Jack Daniel, thanks for sharing, the insight has been good, in my opinion, I have a D&D rules thread related to the VP/Wp mechanic if you would like to drop by.

Anyhow, how does the Level Independent XP Awards -- An alternative experience point progression with fixed experience awards for monsters irrespective of character or party level. actually work?

 

[Hjorimir]

I would like to second the request for more specific information on Spontaneous Casting for Clerics/Druids. Can somebody please give a breakdown at what pace they gain access to higher level spells? Is it exactly like a sorcerer (i.e. gain access to 2nd-level spells at 4th level as opposed to 3rd)? Do they maybe gain access to their 2nd-level domain spells at 3rd and then start selecting as a sorcerer would at 4th?

Thank you for any feedback.

 

[Voadam]

My question is, is there *finally* a paladin class for which "true good" characters (NG) are eligible?

There is one in Forgotten Heroes: Paladins, the PDF by Maladins Gate. A 20 level core class paladin variant.

 

[DanMcS]

Anyhow, how does the Level Independent XP Awards -- An alternative experience point progression with fixed experience awards for monsters irrespective of character or party level. actually work?

Probably like experience in previous editions. Standard orcs were worth 15 xp, no matter what level you were, which was a low but reasonable amount for 1st level characters, and pretty insignificant for high level characters. I'd guess the new system is something like 25 or 50xp * the CR of the critter, which would be the simplest way to introduce a system like that without all sorts of complicated calculations.

 

[JPL]

JPL:
I made a mistake, there is an Ogre Mage Bloodline, it's just the Intermediate Ogre Bloodline:
+2 on Climb checks
Power Attack
Strength +1
+1 to natural armor
Ogre Affinity +2
Darkness 1/day
+2 on Concentration checks
Invisibility 1/day
Charisma +1
Fly 1/day

Groovy. Danke. Seems to me that a gestalt Monk-Sorcerer with an Ogre Mage bloodline [and a spell list tailored to his ancestry] would be a cool character for this Oriental Adventures one-shot I have brewing...

Neutral Good Paladins...there was one in Dragon a few months back, wasn't there?