Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Circon 01-25-08, 04:46 AM	After hearing the titular line repeatedly, I eventually decided that Ackbar Sense needed to be a skill. Here's the first draft: Elric suddenly froze, looking about quickly. "There's something wrong here. It's like the birds suddenly stopped singing." "Elric, we're on a high mountain trail." said his companion. "There are no birds here." Elric continued looking about suspiciously. "Whatever. It just doesn't feel right. We should take another route." Paranoia (Wis, Trained Only) Using this skill allows you to sense the presence of danger nearby, such as a trap or a group of orcs lying in ambush. The usual DC for this check is 15 + the Intelligence modifier of whoever set the trap. For natural hazards, the DC is instead 20. If there is no immediate danger present, a DC 25 check reveals that you are relatively safe for the moment. If you fail the check and roll a natural 1, you get the opposite impression of what is the case. If you simply fail the check but do not get a natural 1, you get no impression. The DM makes this check secretly, so that you don't know whether you've suceeded. A successful check does not reveal the exact nature or location of danger. Paranoia is a class skill for all classes. Of course, this is no substitute for Search (traps), Sense Motive (people), or Survival (natural hazards), since it says "danger somewhere" instead of "spear about to come out from the left wall if you walk down the hallway". However, it may still be useful enough that you back off and send in a decoy first or the like. The skill was explicitly called "Ackbar Sense" in development. I'm still not happy with "Paranoia". Suggestions?
Someone 01-25-08, 01:33 PM	"It's a traaap!!" "We cannot repel Power Attack of that magnitude!" Ahem. I think this would be better off as a feat, rather than a "skill". A simple Wisdom check to get the feeling "something's not right", with a successful roll allowing the character a bonus to AC, Reflex saves, or something related to surprise attacks or traps.
Stardust 01-25-08, 01:50 PM	Maybe a feat that allows you to use Sense Motive for a few things, such as this and related abilities. It doesn't make much sense that the skill is trained only, though. This sort of 'danger sense' makes the most sense when it's some kind of innate ability or intuition.
BigGus 01-25-08, 03:16 PM	I'd say make it a feat, make the check a Wisdom check, and decrease the DCs by 5 (because you can't add skill ranks). On a successful check, allow a bonus to Spot/ Listen checks to avoid being surprised. Other than that, I think the mechanics of it look good. I'd just call it "Danger Sense". PS Why "Ackbar Sense"?
Orenmir 01-25-08, 04:52 PM	PS Why "Ackbar Sense"? Indeed. If Ackbar would have only sensed there was a trap, the rebels could have destroyed the second Death Star! Oh, wait a minute.
BigGus 01-25-08, 06:25 PM	Ah, I wondered if it was that Ackbar.
StevenO 01-25-08, 07:43 PM	Isn't this part of what the Spot skill already covers? Hey, Spot is a WIS based skill so just use it instead. I do find it hard to believe that is easier to "sense" a covered pit trap created by crafty Kobolds (INT 12 means DC 16) that it would be to "sense" that open sinkhole in front of you (natural hazard, DC 20.)
BigGus 01-26-08, 10:59 AM	Isn't this part of what the Spot skill already covers? Hey, Spot is a WIS based skill so just use it instead. Not necessarily. Paranoia could be used to warn against enemies/ hazards which are out of visual range or have no visual identifier, eg a trap set round a corner or where the ambushers are completely hidden behind large rocks, or quicksand which looks just like the other sand around it. I do find it hard to believe that is easier to "sense" a covered pit trap created by crafty Kobolds (INT 12 means DC 16) that it would be to "sense" that open sinkhole in front of you (natural hazard, DC 20.) This is a good point. Perhaps the DC for natual hazards needs to be variable.
Eikre 01-28-08, 08:10 AM	I don't think so, because the spot check on that same manhole is low enough such that nobody should need to be paranoid of it unless something prevents them from spotting it. A blind person, for example, would be less likely to realize that there's a manhole open in front of her, because she's been down streets many times before and she knows that it's nearly unheard of that a manhole would be open if there aren't people around who might alert her to the fact if she's about to fall in. That same blind person, if she happens to be an adventurer (we'll call her... Toph?) would be more receptive to a trap explicitly created to hurt her, traps most commonly being found in hostile areas, set up by hostile people. If there happens to be an open manhole in a dungeon, though, and a pit trap set up in the open city street, then I have nothing to say.
Circon 01-28-08, 04:38 PM	Yeah, good point on the variable DC for natural hazards. I was thinking things like loose rock hammers that fall if you walk too close, not obvious things like sinkholes. Feat... no, paranoia can be finely honed to epic levels, so I think it's better as a skill.