Annoying Game Questions You Want Answered

General questions, debates, and rants about RPGs

Moderator: Moderators

TiaC
Knight-Baron
Posts: 968
Joined: Thu Jun 20, 2013 7:09 am

Post by TiaC »

OgreBattle wrote:Do D&D dragons have lungs like mammals, reptiles, or birds?
From my 3.5 Draconomicon:
A dragon’s vast lungs fill much of its chest cavity. The lung structure resembles that of an avian, which can extract oxygen both on inhalation and exhalation. In addition to being the organs for respiration, a dragon’s breath weapon is generated in its lungs from secretions produced by the draconis fundamentum
Edit:
They're the big whitish things under the wing base here.
Image
Last edited by TiaC on Fri Apr 17, 2015 7:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
angelfromanotherpin
Overlord
Posts: 9745
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Post by angelfromanotherpin »

The Draconomicon doesn't say, so I guess it's an open question. Probably like birds (or more specifically, like dinosaurs).

edit: I was referring to the (unsurprisingly) less useful 4e version of the book.
Last edited by angelfromanotherpin on Fri Apr 17, 2015 8:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
tussock
Prince
Posts: 2937
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 4:28 am
Location: Online
Contact:

Post by tussock »

OgreBattle wrote:Are the rules in D&D for breaking shit via strength checks or hitting things with hardness good, or do they need revision?

Generally I don't like the idea of breaking a stone wall and killing a stone golem to have different rules, as the wall has hardness while the golem has AC even though both are solid stone.
3e's are functional in their own way. Doors have no AC and much less HP than the monsters, so you full PA them to destruction immediately, adamant vault doors simply do not stand up to two-handed lance charges. The strength checks to break stuff is where you take two minutes and do that. So Conan can go anywhere and through anything from quite low level, as everything is butter to his adamant blade, except for magic force.

The Golem has DR 20/adamant, and the statue has Hardness 20 that you ignore with adamant, the difference is the Golem has a lot more hit points and also some AC by virtue of fighting back. Or it would work that way if the designers cared enough.

Now, break checks in combat time don't normally work, and monsters having to claw their way into your secure shelter can take a lot of rounds, so it's both insanely quick to get through things but also too slow for actual combat, and a thousand tiny men probably can't break open even an iron door while your Barbarian can. Locks (and traps) don't stop powerful people, they just make it obvious that you've been in, it takes a real sneak to get in and re-lock the door on the way out.


I guess you could rule that tunnelling through thick walls with a sword doesn't actually work, because you're not removing the collapsed wall, nor securing the load above, you don't have a tunnel speed. Most things should just collapse on your head for some megadamage and suffocation, so safer to drop them from a distance with artillery.


The bigger issue is that monsters can break your magic weapons as a weapon-user. A return to the 3.0 rule that you need a +2 weapon or better to damage a +2 weapon helps a little, at least only the boss giants can ruin you, but it's not a fun game event when the game no longer supports keeping a lot of backup weapons.
PC, SJW, anti-fascist, not being a dick, or working on it, he/him.
User avatar
Meikle641
Duke
Posts: 1314
Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 8:24 pm
Location: Ontario, Canada
Contact:

Post by Meikle641 »

re: lance charge vs door
I thought I remembered reading that piercing damage did reduced damage to some (most?) objects in 3e. Can't seem to find it in the SRD so far, so I could be wrong.
Official Discord: https://discord.gg/ZUc77F7
Twitter: @HrtBrkrPress
FB Page: htttp://facebook.com/HrtBrkrPress
My store page: https://heartbreaker-press.myshopify.co ... ctions/all
Book store: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/ ... aker-Press
TiaC
Knight-Baron
Posts: 968
Joined: Thu Jun 20, 2013 7:09 am

Post by TiaC »

Meikle641 wrote:re: lance charge vs door
I thought I remembered reading that piercing damage did reduced damage to some (most?) objects in 3e. Can't seem to find it in the SRD so far, so I could be wrong.
That would be a problem for pickaxes.
User avatar
Meikle641
Duke
Posts: 1314
Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 8:24 pm
Location: Ontario, Canada
Contact:

Post by Meikle641 »

Indeed, it was something that came up when I had a miner PC...
Official Discord: https://discord.gg/ZUc77F7
Twitter: @HrtBrkrPress
FB Page: htttp://facebook.com/HrtBrkrPress
My store page: https://heartbreaker-press.myshopify.co ... ctions/all
Book store: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/ ... aker-Press
User avatar
erik
King
Posts: 5861
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Post by erik »

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/specialAttacks.htm#sunder wrote:Sunder

You can use a melee attack with a slashing or bludgeoning weapon to strike a weapon or shield that your opponent is holding. If you’re attempting to sunder a weapon or shield, follow the steps outlined here. (Attacking held objects other than weapons or shields is covered below.)


It came up for me when I had a halfling spirited charger. When I wanted to break stuff I whipped out my longsword instead.
User avatar
OgreBattle
King
Posts: 6820
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2011 9:33 am

Post by OgreBattle »

erik wrote:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/specialAttacks.htm#sunder wrote:Sunder

You can use a melee attack with a slashing or bludgeoning weapon to strike a weapon or shield that your opponent is holding. If you’re attempting to sunder a weapon or shield, follow the steps outlined here. (Attacking held objects other than weapons or shields is covered below.)


It came up for me when I had a halfling spirited charger. When I wanted to break stuff I whipped out my longsword instead.
So this means that a lance charge from horseback will never shatter anyone's shield...
User avatar
OgreBattle
King
Posts: 6820
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2011 9:33 am

Post by OgreBattle »

How does D&D 3.PF or Shadowrun handle different limbs being restrained? Like....

-Tying a person's hands together in front of them, but their hands are still free to say, hold a sword.
-Like above, but their hands are tied behind their back.

-Legs tied together (but arms are free)
-One leg stuck (say in a bear trap)
Zaranthan
Knight-Baron
Posts: 628
Joined: Tue May 29, 2012 3:08 pm

Post by Zaranthan »

I don't have my SR books handy, but for D&D:
OgreBattle wrote:-Tying a person's hands together in front of them, but their hands are still free to say, hold a sword.
-Legs tied together (but arms are free)
I think your best reference there is the entangled condition. -2 to hit, -4 to Dex, Concentration check (DC 15 + Spell Level) to cast spells, half movement speed, cannot run or charge. For the arms, I'd only apply the numeric penalties and concentration check. For legs, I'd only apply the movement penalties.
-Like above, but their hands are tied behind their back.
You really can't do anything with your hands behind your back, that's why cops handcuff you like that. Either a moderate Escape Artist check to get your hands in front of you (see above), make some unarmed strikes with your legs (no penalty, throw the monk a bone), or attack with armor spikes if you've got them.
-One leg stuck (say in a bear trap)
Immobilized. No penalties, but you can't leave the square you're standing in without disabling the trap or teleporting.
User avatar
Prak
Serious Badass
Posts: 17340
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Post by Prak »

'Nother question on OGL- I know that slaad and mind flayers are PI. I think there's something about OGL not allowing printing of leveling rules? What are the specifics on that? If I do up a DM's notebook with reference pages in the back, can I include the charts for XP rewards and Encounter Numbers?
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.
Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.
FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.

You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.
Eikre
Knight-Baron
Posts: 571
Joined: Mon Aug 03, 2009 5:41 am

Post by Eikre »

d20srd.org FAQ wrote: The d20 license restricts some information from being included. Specifically…

"No Covered Product may contain rules or instructions of any kind that:

Describe a process for Creating a Character
Describe a process for Applying the Effects of Experience to a Character"
I don't know why Pathfinder apparently gets to disregard this caveat, outside of the mere fact that their EXP table uses different numbers than the 3E one. THAT'S an annoying game question I would like answered.
Last edited by Eikre on Fri Apr 24, 2015 8:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
tussock
Prince
Posts: 2937
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 4:28 am
Location: Online
Contact:

Post by tussock »

The "d20 system license" lets you put a "d20" trademark logo on your product. It carries many restrictions on product content. No one uses it any more.

The "open gaming license" lets you reprint any "open content" from any OGL-using product in your own product, but you must include the licence, mark the copied stuff as "open content" and also clearly describe your "open content" as distinct from "closed content" such as product identidy, trade dress, trademarks, characterisation, and so on.

A handful of monsters from 3e, and the original XP and levelling rules, are not open content. But Pathfinder has them anyway, because they just made similar monsters with similar names instead. One reason pathfinder uses a different rate of feat gain is to make their level table clearly different from the 3e one that they're not really allowed to copy (they are, because it's a game rule, but getting sued sucks so you be careful).

You can read the OGL in the back of most rpg books sold in the last 15 years, while d20 sort of tanked after they excluded the Book of Erotic Fantasy and everyone noticed you didn't have to bother with it after all (also, 3.5 kinda screwed the market).
PC, SJW, anti-fascist, not being a dick, or working on it, he/him.
User avatar
rasmuswagner
Knight-Baron
Posts: 705
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 9:37 am
Location: Danmark

Post by rasmuswagner »

OgreBattle wrote:How does D&D 3.PF or Shadowrun handle different limbs being restrained? Like....

-Tying a person's hands together in front of them, but their hands are still free to say, hold a sword.
-Like above, but their hands are tied behind their back.

-Legs tied together (but arms are free)
-One leg stuck (say in a bear trap)
I think there was a chapter on that in the Book of Erotic Fantasy. Or did I write that myself?
Every time you play in a "low magic world" with D&D rules (or derivates), a unicorn steps on a kitten and an orphan drops his ice cream cone.
Koumei
Serious Badass
Posts: 13871
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm
Location: South Ausfailia

Post by Koumei »

rasmuswagner wrote:I think there was a chapter on that in the Book of Erotic Fantasy. Or did I write that myself?
I'd believe it. At the very least, they have a spell that makes peoples' pants fall down and IIRC (I am not going to look it up, fuck you) that makes them Entangled.

So for the D&D game I'll be running tabletop, we'll be using minis - the players requested it, because brightly coloured toys make everything more fun. Now I have a variety of things that will generally work (goblins, wolves, various undead, werewolves, humans and elves equipped in various ways), and we also have access to the stuff in Descent. I think I even still have the big Black Dragon mini I bought a hundred years ago that is the perfect size to fit a halfling mini in its mouth. But I have a few Tyranid minis remaining, so obviously they need use.

I figure a Termagant...
Image
...could just be any kind of Medium Giant Bug. Or Formian or whatever. In a pinch I could even call it a velociraptor.

What about a Carnifex...
Image
(Between Large and Huge size, mostly green and bone coloured)

or a Tervigon?
Image
(Between Huge and Gargantuan)

Given the big egg sac thing, I could perhaps use the Tervie as that walking swarm hive thing?
Count Arioch the 28th wrote:There is NOTHING better than lesbians. Lesbians make everything better.
Grek
Prince
Posts: 3114
Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:37 pm

Post by Grek »

Ankhegs?
Chamomile wrote:Grek is a national treasure.
Zaranthan
Knight-Baron
Posts: 628
Joined: Tue May 29, 2012 3:08 pm

Post by Zaranthan »

They can also pass for a Bebilith or Retriever demon.

Bebilith
Image
Retriever
Image
User avatar
Meikle641
Duke
Posts: 1314
Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 8:24 pm
Location: Ontario, Canada
Contact:

Post by Meikle641 »

So, about healing magic. Should healing simply be something multiple types of magic can do, flavoured/done in different ways, or should it remain locked to a specific type?

Necromancy: Power over life and death. Probably leaves scars.
Transmutation: You transform the body into an undamaged state.
Conjuration: You conjure undamaged tissue into the wounds.
Thaumaturgy: Miracles all up in this shit.
Time Magic: Reverting entropy?

This has come up since I was going to alter magic in my ongoing project, and sometimes certain effects fit under multiple schools. Healing being one example. So I guess the real question is, how much overlap should there be with magical schools? Avoiding the 3e Transmutation bloat would be good.
Official Discord: https://discord.gg/ZUc77F7
Twitter: @HrtBrkrPress
FB Page: htttp://facebook.com/HrtBrkrPress
My store page: https://heartbreaker-press.myshopify.co ... ctions/all
Book store: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/ ... aker-Press
Zaranthan
Knight-Baron
Posts: 628
Joined: Tue May 29, 2012 3:08 pm

Post by Zaranthan »

The availability of healing magic "should" be according to your encounter design. If the party is meant to be at full hp for every encounter, then five-ten minute healing should be plentiful, possibly even available to all classes. If you want the cleric looking between his last poultice and his holy symbol, then saying "maybe we should turn back", then healing should be a desperately scarce resource, with most classes having no alternative to limping back to the tavern and even dedicated healers having no more than a few "don't die just yet" abilities per day.

Regardless of your resource management, combat healing should probably be both scarce and powerful. If a player is going to spend their turn doing nothing but negating monster actions (after all, many monster turns are just "it claws the nearest PC. Again."), it should be a come-from-behind moment that doesn't happen often, not a fight-prolonging moment that happens three times every battle. Despite how cool it sounds, nobody's actually impressed by the pro wrestling matches that end with seventeen dudes rolling around on the mat.
User avatar
OgreBattle
King
Posts: 6820
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2011 9:33 am

Post by OgreBattle »

Meikle641 wrote:So, about healing magic. Should healing simply be something multiple types of magic can do, flavoured/done in different ways, or should it remain locked to a specific type?

Necromancy: Power over life and death. Probably leaves scars.
Transmutation: You transform the body into an undamaged state.
Conjuration: You conjure undamaged tissue into the wounds.
Thaumaturgy: Miracles all up in this shit.
Time Magic: Reverting entropy?

This has come up since I was going to alter magic in my ongoing project, and sometimes certain effects fit under multiple schools. Healing being one example. So I guess the real question is, how much overlap should there be with magical schools? Avoiding the 3e Transmutation bloat would be good.
"Kill you" is not exclusive to any school of magic, so "heal you" shouldn't be either.

I'd also put more emphasis on 'non casters' being able to heal via gathering herbs and mixing them together. If you're in a world where magical creatures lurk in the wilderness and can be stabbed by fighters, then magical herbs being picked and consumed by fighters isn't beyond the scope of the setting either.
User avatar
tussock
Prince
Posts: 2937
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 4:28 am
Location: Online
Contact:

Post by tussock »

Necromancy: Well, I know what killed this one, it'll make a useful minion.
Abjuration: Oh, yeah, that would've helped.
Conjuration: Can anyone remember if Lantern Archons can heal people?
Enchantment: You are not in pain any more. I am not in pain any more.
Illusion:
Transmutation: I'm not turning you into a troll until you get in the cage.
Divination: Oh, yeah, nah, it must be worse than it looks, sorry.
Evocation: Seriously? I can treat it with fire? Awesome! Everyone stand back.

In general, schools should give you tools, and you should do whatever is thematically appropriate with those tools. Don't jam effects into schools, take the tools and imagine what can be done.

If two schools end up overlapping a bunch of effects, you just give them to different classes, or chuck one of them out (illusions, gone). It's even better if everyone can just tell what school each effect comes from, and not just because of the special colours.

If you want everyone healed between fights, just do that. Take it out of a weekly pool or something to make players vary their tactics if someone gets hit a lot. Daily healing with slow regen, do that instead. Limited spike healing off one particular unit, do that.

If anything, classic D&D healing magic was paradox magic, undoing the past so that the Goblin didn't stab you after all, and then also making the poison not get in you, and then the level loss goes away because the Vampire didn't touch you that deeply.
PC, SJW, anti-fascist, not being a dick, or working on it, he/him.
User avatar
deaddmwalking
Prince
Posts: 3460
Joined: Mon May 21, 2012 11:33 am

Post by deaddmwalking »

I've been kicking around an alternate magic system in my mind that potentially involves rolling 5d6 and trying to make a 'poker hand' (ie, 2 pair, 3 or a kind, full house). Potentially this might include re-rolling up to 3 dice (draw poker).

Are there any systems that use a mechanic like this that you're familiar with (and if so, what is your general impression).

Is there any place that has calculated the odds of the various hands (including straight)?
TiaC
Knight-Baron
Posts: 968
Joined: Thu Jun 20, 2013 7:09 am

Post by TiaC »

deaddmwalking wrote:I've been kicking around an alternate magic system in my mind that potentially involves rolling 5d6 and trying to make a 'poker hand' (ie, 2 pair, 3 or a kind, full house). Potentially this might include re-rolling up to 3 dice (draw poker).

Are there any systems that use a mechanic like this that you're familiar with (and if so, what is your general impression).

Is there any place that has calculated the odds of the various hands (including straight)?
5 of a kind 6/7776
4 of a kind 150/7776
3 of a kind 1200/7776
2 of a kind 3600/7776
These are all assuming you don't count a 3oaK as also a 2oaK.

Full house 300/7776
Two pair 1800/7776

5 straight is 240/7776
4 straight is 960/7776

No flush.
Username17
Serious Badass
Posts: 29894
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Post by Username17 »

deaddmwalking wrote:I've been kicking around an alternate magic system in my mind that potentially involves rolling 5d6 and trying to make a 'poker hand' (ie, 2 pair, 3 or a kind, full house). Potentially this might include re-rolling up to 3 dice (draw poker).

Are there any systems that use a mechanic like this that you're familiar with (and if so, what is your general impression).

Is there any place that has calculated the odds of the various hands (including straight)?
Poker Dice is used in CthulhuTech, and it is terrible.

-Username17
User avatar
Prak
Serious Badass
Posts: 17340
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Post by Prak »

Is it just confirmation bias of my personal experience, or has anyone else noticed a weird tendency of women getting into gaming to mostly play rogues/thief types?
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.
Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.
FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.

You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.
Post Reply