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Message: <blockquote data-quote="molonel" data-source="post: 1705100" data-attributes="member: 10412">Okay, first of all, I can't create a FEEL that is going to satisfy you, because nobody can quantify a feeling. People complain that D&D 3.0/3.5 doesn't FEEL like 1st Edition D&D. Or it doesn't FEEL like the Conan novels they read years ago. I'm not even going to try to recreate that because I don't know you, I don't know exactly what you're looking for, and I'm not the best judge of what you need for your game. You're the best judge of that.As far as dealing with the mechanics of scry/buff/teleport, that requires some thought:Scrying was a real problem in 3.0 because the mechanics behind scrying were poorly written, and easy to break. The problem with making something like scry into a skill, which is what 3.0 rules did, is that (1) the DCs were incredibly easy, (2) skill-enhancing items, using the item creation guidelines, were incredibly cheap, and (3) there was no saving throw or SR check with the spell.For a review of the scrying skill in 3.0, you can read here:<a href="http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/srd/srdskillsii.rtf" target="_blank">http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/srd/srdskillsii.rtf</a>And here:<a href="http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/srd/srdspellss.rtf" target="_blank">http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/srd/srdspellss.rtf</a>Note that there is no saving throw, and no spell resistance.Andy Collins, in an article that used to be published on his web site (and here is shown in a cached Google article) suggested doubling the DCs:<a href="http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:11YEvufxt0kJ:www.andycollins.net/Features/scrying.htm+andy+collins+and+scrying&hl=en" target="_blank">http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:11YEvufxt0kJ:www.andycollins.net/Features/scrying.htm+andy+collins+and+scrying&hl=en</a>Scrying, like Harm and Haste and Heal, was broken in 3.0. Nobody denies that.Compare that to scrying in 3.5 rules:<a href="http://www.wizards.com/d20/files/v35/SpellsS.rtf" target="_blank">http://www.wizards.com/d20/files/v35/SpellsS.rtf</a>The spell provides a saving throw. SR does apply. If you've only heard of the subject of the scry, they get a +10 saving throw on the spell. Within the core rules, spells like Detect Scrying and Screen provide protection in certain areas. Powerful foes, in my campaign, may have access to such magic, and I tell that to players ahead of time.Read the spell Teleport:<a href="http://www.wizards.com/d20/files/v35/SpellsT-Z.rtf" target="_blank">http://www.wizards.com/d20/files/v35/SpellsT-Z.rtf</a>You have to scry the same area for at least an hour in order to teleport there. You cannot scry an area. You must scry a person. Unless you are intimately familiar with that person or monster, the odds are very good that they will succed at their saving throw. A 10th level caster will need to cast scry six times, and the person on the receiving end must fail six successive saving throws, and be in the same area for all that time, in order for the scry/buff/teleport to work.That's just a start, too. Enemies and NPCs have access to all the same magics that PCs have. Especially in games where political intrigue is the order of the day, wizards who can cast Detect Scrying are in high demand, and well paid. So, to summarize, the scry/buff/teleport option is not the sure thing easy option it was under 3.0 rules, and in a high magic world I assume that powerful foes and NPCs have access to the same magics and countermeasures that players can use. Successfully scrying someone to port on top of them is a dangerous gambit, as the players in my present campaign are about to find out. An adventuring strike team who makes a habit of it will acquire a reputation similar to that which terrorists in our own world have among powerful foes. I'd give players some healty warnings that their actions will have reprecussions, and if it became a real problem in my game, the players would eventually experience a taste of their own medicine.And that's just what's possible with the Core rules.As I've tried to point out, creating a great warrior like Conan is difficult to do even if you remove magic items from the picture. Remove magic items, and then give your players four 18s and a couple of dump stats (but no stats low enough for penalties) and they can create a reasonable fascimile of Conan.Magic items are simply one form of power. If you look at a LOT of mid- and high-level characters in a standard D&D game, a large portion of their wealth is usually invested in stat-boosting, whether through enhancement bonuses from items or spells ,or inherent bonuses through wishes and tomes. Those are more necessary when you don't have a character who, like most depictions of Conan I've read which are accurate to how he is portrayed in the book, has stats which are less like that of a demigod or archetypal human. Seriously. The guy is typically depicted as a 68-point character build, and I think that's low-balling it. His magic-items are already pre-built into his character. Power is power is power, whether it comes from magic items or DM fiat (or in this case, writer fiat).</blockquote>

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