The Gaming Den

Basically my intention with the spell revision was to make it so it wouldnt' be very useful for PCs, but would be a spell the evil wizard would cast on one of his goblin servants or something to turn him into a bear or something for the duration of the battle. Essentially just another summoning effe...

FrankTrollman at [unixtime wrote:1081728041[/unixtime]]
* A +13 bonus to AC from using light armor.

Where is the +13 coming from? +5 mithril breastplate is the best light armor I know of. Is there some new type of light armor I'm not aware of?

Hmm... good points.[br][br]What about simply tailoring the polymorph list so it doesn't include creatures with non-combat spell-like abilities?[br][br]I mean since it's a static list that we can choose when designing the spell, there wouldn't be too much trouble to simply eliminate those choices tha...

1081706353[/unixtime]] This way the spell doesn't become more powerful as more things are invented because the choices are fixed. [br][br]And yet, when the Fiend Folio comes out, you can turn into Divas. When the Monster Manual 3 comes out, there will e more crap that you can turn into.[br][br]Why ...

1081700859[/unixtime]]Basing things on monster lists in any way is a pointless exercise. If you think you've found a way to balance the spell now, how is it going to look when it definitionally becomes more powerful after the printing of the Monster Manual 3?[br] [br][br]Well, I'm talking about a f...

The only Kensai abuse I can see is if you somehow allow the enhancement bonuses from class to stack with existing bonuses and allow you a full +20 worth of enhancements... other than that, the Kensai is rather subpar IMO. It's a class whose whole purpose is to save you some gold. Might be decent for...

1081670454[/unixtime]][br]Regardless. If you are playing in a game with Polymorph, then that's the hand you're given. That's the world you live in. And pouting about how people are "too strong" when they in fact have less strength than everyone can get out of Polymorph for free is an obvi...

1081669030[/unixtime]][br]Only Divine Casters can walk around with prayer beads. They also have exclusive rights to Alignment Domains, Deathknell, and the Hierophant class.[br] [br][br]Hmm... you've got a point... maybe we'd be better off just giving each new spell a higher spell slot and just goin...

I'm having lots of trouble with Polymorph lately, and from what I'm reading here, everybody seems to be saying that it's broken as well. So basically I'd like to create a thread that deals with fixing it. We all know that the basic "pick a creature of hit dice X" just doesn't work. So I th...

1081646732[/unixtime]]However, the "whatever, just polymorph " argument is rather irrelevant. If anything, it shows that spell is too powerful. [br] [br][br]Yeah I agree. Polymorph is perhaps one of the most poorly designed spells in the game, Because it doesn't augment anything, it just ...

1081628399[/unixtime]][br]That really doesn't help. The difference in caster level between a 21st level character and a 26th level character is only five. A character with spell power only once and a karma bead can get 5 caster levels.[br] [br][br]Right, but it's better than using skills as a basis...

1081520932[/unixtime]]Caster Level is even more min maxable still.[br][br]It only costs 800 XP to make an Orange Ioun Stone, and that adds a +1 unnamed bonus to your caster level. There is no limit to how many of these you can layer on.[br][br]Karma Beads in the 3.5 DMG are apparently free, and sta...

PAO is a hopeless cause IMO. [br][br]The spell hardly changed at all since 3.0 and hardly changed from 2E to 3.0, aside from just incorporating the new polymorph rules. [br][br]I honestly believe the designers looked at the spell and just said, "this one is too much of a headache... screw it.&q...

One rule that I think is mandatory for epic rules is the ability to let characters take the best 20 levels for determining their BaB, and each of their three saves. If you start as a fighter 20 and gain 20 monk levels, you should have the saves of a 20th level monk and the BaB of a 20th level fighte...

Yeah, blasphemy is very overpowered, as are most of the no-save stun/kill spells. Anything that takes you out of a battle without so much as giving a saving throw is bad spell design IMO. It's just begging to get abused.

1081350957[/unixtime]][br]But it is heavily implied to be one of the other two - because you gain the Spell-like abilties of the new form. The Fire Elemental from page 39 doesn't have any Spell-like abilities.[br][br]In fact, none of the creatures from the monster entry in the 3.5 Monster Manual ca...

1081155927[/unixtime]]Hmm . . that's a neat idea, actually. I'll ponder that for a while.[br][br]However, not to the extent that you have. I use VP/WP, and 18-20/X4 would translate into (if I'm correct) 14-20 crit.[br][br]So basically, it would be superior to everything that's not a construct or un...

1081250201[/unixtime]][br]There is absolutely no reason why having spell force become the primary driving factor in spell versatility and power would necessarily take up more space than giving class-level scaled bonus powers to a bunch of randomly named and distributed spells spread throughout the ...

There are three different kinds of "fire elemental".[br][br]-Any creature of type elemental (fire)[br]-Any creature that is a fire elemental of some kind, including half fire elementals.[br]-The specific creature "fire elemental" listed on MM (3.5) p. 99[br][br]Now, based on the ...

1081209861[/unixtime]][br]A lot of spells have value only b/c they increase in power w/ caster level. Magic Missile, for example. If it didn't ever increase in power after the initial level, it would just flat-out suck. It's marginally more useful than just using a crossbow, at 1st level. Only the ...

With guns it all depends on if you want to alter your game mechanics to emphasize guns, because you really have to make that choice. As written in the DMG, guns are for chumps. 1d12/x3 with no strength mod... even if you could fire it as fast as a bow, it still sucks. 1d12 averages 6.5 damage per hi...

1081103947[/unixtime]][br]Oddly enough, Fragility usually manifests itself as a form of Master Plan Casting. Since a spellcaster is easier to drop with that mechanic, it is easier to stop them before they get their spell off than to stop a warrior from getting their sword attack - so the game balan...

A really interesting post, I like it.[br][br]Though you forgot one major limitation for casters, perhaps one of the most classic. [br][br] Fragility: Casters trade their ability to take damage with their ability to dish out damage. This requires casters to require protection from other characters in...

1080785657[/unixtime]]Debatable at best. I houserule it that way, but how does the monster attack iteratively? [br] [br][br]Well, when you're in a grapple you're not really using natural weapons. it's not an attack, its a grapple check, you aren't technically using a weapon... you don't need to use...

I like the minute/level duration spells. They're long term enough that they can last multiple battles, possibly an entire adventure, but short enough that you now worry about doing things like taking a 20 to pick a lock and such because time actually becomes a factor. [br][br]10 minute/level duratio...