Post/Author/DateTime	Post
lordtiberiusfoxx 01-22-07, 12:00 AM	Two questions that may not sit well with people... but I'm going to ask anyway. 1. If I'm running a game (likely a DM's Mark) and an NPC has the heroic spirit feat, does the NPC's action points run off MY campaign cards? Call me cruel, but I would love to see the looks on some faces if I say, "The villain will use Back to the Wall." 2. Xen'drik is a strange and uncharted place with many hidden secrets. Should I place a circumstance penalty on identification knowledge checks on "never before seen creatures"? Secrets of Xen'drik actually advises having encounters with creatures like this. For example, let's say I take an eel (Stormwrack), increase its HD to five, terrestrial adapt it (Stormwrack), and give it the winged template (Savage Species). I then describe it as a snakelike creature 7 feet in lenth with six rows of teeth with two limbs that look like a cross between wings and fins. It ambushes prey around reef systems, using its wings to glide after leaping from the water, usually to feed on the fire-breathing purple parrots that also perplex the PCs. Now I ask, should a DC 12 (10+the original HD value) knowledge check identify this creature? I think that this would ruin the mystique. What do you guys think on this? Tiberius Foxx
Morgen 01-22-07, 12:52 AM	1.) Those should be just for the player's to my knowledge. They are /player/ rewards cards after all. I wasn't even aware NPCs could use action points at all for that matter....weird. 2.) You normally shouldn't ad-hoc penalties to knowledge checks on characters. Every encounter where the PC fights something other then like a goblin requires knowledge checks. They have no clue what they're fighting half the time as it is. They'd be able to identify it as a weird snake-eel thing with that DC 12 Knowledge Nature check, just because you give it a lot of templates doesn’t mean that it's not a eel, it's just a flying eel that's out of water briefly. That'd be like a Squirrel being a DC 11 but a Flying Squirrel being 21 because it can fly. Both are very obviously squirrels, one's just a little different. Plus we get into the whole, well what constitutes rare? Demons aren’t too common, or how about since you’re not from around here the locals are like that. Yuck, please just don't do it. Your also assuming success. Your party might not even have a character with Knowledge Nature, or if you do they could miss a low roll, seen it happen quite often. Short of a druid or maybe a ranger anyone who'd actually be challenged by that flying eel should be reasonably challenged by the check to identify it. I'm assuming that's just your example monster too, so apply that to whatever. If you want to make it harder to identify, just raise it's HD somehow. Dire Flying Eel out of water, etc. Templates that change the HD of a creature tend to change it in significant ways that make it harder to identify, or change it's type so it has to be identified with a different check. (Oooh, that's the kind of flying eel that inhabits the 3rd layer of Heck.) I shouldn't be typing this, it's late. Tired-nyo.
lordtiberiusfoxx 01-22-07, 01:24 AM	NPCs can have action points if they have the Heroic Spirit feat and only if they have the feat. As to the templating, I did that as an example of how I constructed the monster, not as an end. The question really comes down to if a PC should have a penalty on the basis that they have never seen nor heard of a particular creature before. Secrets of Xen'drik encourages DMs writing encounters in Xen'drik to come up with bizarre creatures to demonstrate the exotic setting. A knowledge skill when used to identify monsters represents that the character has studied the field of lore, and/or has heard stories on the subject. I would seriously doubt a PC should be able to say, "Why that is a Frexkia Tree Frog! It has poison glands under its eyelids! Good thing I'm psychic and know that information on first contact!" I *could* however, see the following, to continue that example: "How in Mabar should I know what it is? I think that pourous skin looks akin to the amphibious life forms we see back home, and I wouldn't touch what is foaming under those fusha eyelids... who knows what it will do to us. I'm just getting used to the spacial warps here... let alone giant purple toad things that swing on vines!" That's why I'm wondering about the penalty. Tiberius Foxx
smerwin29 01-22-07, 07:56 AM	NPCs can have action points if they have the Heroic Spirit feat and only if they have the feat. No Player Reward cards for NPCs with action points. As fun as it might be to drop that Feign Surprise on the PCs after they do it for three straight combats, it's not legal. The question really comes down to if a PC should have a penalty on the basis that they have never seen nor heard of a particular creature before. Secrets of Xen'drik encourages DMs writing encounters in Xen'drik to come up with bizarre creatures to demonstrate the exotic setting. Basically, the rules are clear on this, so even though it may not make perfect sense, you need to run it straight. The Knowledge skills become less useful (and in some cases useless) if you start throwing around penalties for not having seen something before. It is reasonable to assume that PCs with those knowledge skills have read about things or talked about things with experts, and thus gained the ranks in the skill. Even though they may not know a name of a creature or the exact name of a template, they can look at the details and make educated guesses. Shawn
heirodule 01-22-07, 08:04 AM	No Player Reward cards for NPCs with action points. As fun as it might be to drop that Feign Surprise on the PCs after they do it for three straight combats, it's not legal. Give 'em Jungle Fighting from Secrets of Xen'Drik. Then they can not only act on the suprise round, but add 1d6 to the initiative roll!
smerwin29 01-22-07, 08:13 AM	I would only do that for the girallon with rogue levels.
clem 01-22-07, 12:15 PM	I would only do that for the girallon with rogue levels. With or without the vampire template?
lordtiberiusfoxx 01-22-07, 12:27 PM	No Player Reward cards for NPCs with action points. As fun as it might be to drop that Feign Surprise on the PCs after they do it for three straight combats, it's not legal. Basically, the rules are clear on this, so even though it may not make perfect sense, you need to run it straight. The Knowledge skills become less useful (and in some cases useless) if you start throwing around penalties for not having seen something before. It is reasonable to assume that PCs with those knowledge skills have read about things or talked about things with experts, and thus gained the ranks in the skill. Even though they may not know a name of a creature or the exact name of a template, they can look at the details and make educated guesses. Shawn Okay, is cool. :cool: I'd rather ask here than DM's Best Friend a -2 penalty at a table and have them get ticked off at me. Tiberius Foxx
smerwin29 01-22-07, 12:28 PM	With or without the vampire template? Duh! :D