The Favored Enemy for the Sanity Points Variant system [Archive] - Wizards Community

The Favored Enemy for the Sanity Points Variant system [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Hell_Bane
11-20-04, 12:13 PM Hi everyone,

I just wanted to share an idea I had for the Sanity Points system (a la Call of Cthulluh) presented in UA. It seemed logical to me that anyone with a Favored Enemy should get his Favored Enemy bonus as a Sanity Resistance when it comes to that particular enemy. Why? Well, because having a Favored Enemy means that you have studied such an enemy and are used to it, at least to a certain point. Thus, it makes sense that a specialist against, for example, Magical Beasts, will be better equiped to deal with such a menace than another member of the party, not only when dealing damage, but also when dealing with sanity.

I suggest that you do not mix this rule with neither of the two other forms of Sanity Resistance presented in Ua though, because if you do that odds are the character won't be affected at all by such creatures, which would go against the mood of the Sanity Points system. IMO the two forms of Sanity Resistance presented in UA make Sanity Loss so rare an occasion that if you use them you probably shouldn't even bother with using the Sanity Points system at all. (I'm talking about using your character level as sanity resistance or your Wisdom ability score as Sanity Resistance. These two ways of doing it make most sanity loss meaningless, since 1d6 of Sanity loss won't affect a 6th level character or even someone with 8 in Wisdom. Maybe using your Wisdom bonus as Sanity Resistance instead of the Wisdom score itself could work better though.)

So, for example, if a Ranger has Favored Enemy: Undead +2, and he sees a Ghoul (1d6 points of Sanity Loss), he will loose 1d6-2 Sanity Points instead.

This also makes characters consider Favored Enemies who are usually useless to take in normal campaigns, such as Undead or Constructs, since the bonus doesn't count for the damage the player inflicts upon the enemy (In 'Masters of the Wild' they have some Variant rules for such enemies though). Undead, as an example, will probably (but not necessarily) appear a lot in a Campaign with Sanity Points in it, making it an interesting option as a Favored Enemy.
Dunelord
11-20-04, 01:03 PM In 3.5 Rangers get there damage to all creatures.
Hell_Bane
11-20-04, 02:25 PM In 3.5 Rangers get there damage to all creatures.

No, they only do extra damage if the creature in question isn't immune to critical hits.
Dracoulis The Phyrexian
11-20-04, 05:50 PM No, they only do extra damage if the creature in question isn't immune to critical hits.

Not anymore. The damage bonus is just a damage bonus, much like anything else. It's no longer precision damage (which is preventable by immunity to criticals). Favored enemy away!
Dunelord
11-20-04, 06:36 PM No, they only do extra damage if the creature in question isn't immune to critical hits.

PHB 3.5 page 47
"Favored Enemy (Ex): At 1st level, a ranger may select a type of creature from among those given on table 3-14: Ranger Favored Enemy Enemies. Due to his extensive study of his chosen type of foe and tranining in the proper techniques for combatin such creatures, the ranger gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sence Motive, Spot, and Survival checks when using these skills against creatures of this type. Likewise he gets a +2 bonus on weapon damage rolls against such creatures.

At 5th level and every five levels thereafter (10th, 15th, and 20th level), the ranger may select an additional favored enemy from those given on the table. In addition, at each such interval, the bonus against any one favored enemy (includeing the one just selected, if so desired) increases by 2. For example a 5th level ranger has two favored enemies, aginst one he gains a +4 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sence Motive, Spot, and Survival checks and weapon damage rolls, and against the other he has a +2 bonus. At 10th level, he has three favored enemies, and he gains an additional +2 bonus, which he can allocate to the bonus aginst any one of his three favored enemies. Thus, his bonus could be either +4, +4, +2 or +6, +2, +2.

If the ranger chooses humanoids or outsiders as a favored enemy, he must also choice a associated subtype, as indicated on the table. If a specific creature falls into more the one catagory of favored enemy (for instance, devils are both evil outsiders and lawful outsiders), the ranger bonuses do not stack; he simply uses whichever bonus is higher. See the Monster Manual for more information on types of creatures."

No where does it even imply the old rule from 3.0 that it is persion damage is an issue. No where does it mention this under the description of sneak attack, nor does it come up in any other 3.5 book that I know of. It is also not in the Errtta or the FAQ.

They also did away with the requirement that a fighter had to be with in 30 feet to use weapon spec.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Hell_Bane 11-20-04, 12:13 PM	Hi everyone, I just wanted to share an idea I had for the Sanity Points system (a la Call of Cthulluh) presented in UA. It seemed logical to me that anyone with a Favored Enemy should get his Favored Enemy bonus as a Sanity Resistance when it comes to that particular enemy. Why? Well, because having a Favored Enemy means that you have studied such an enemy and are used to it, at least to a certain point. Thus, it makes sense that a specialist against, for example, Magical Beasts, will be better equiped to deal with such a menace than another member of the party, not only when dealing damage, but also when dealing with sanity. I suggest that you do not mix this rule with neither of the two other forms of Sanity Resistance presented in Ua though, because if you do that odds are the character won't be affected at all by such creatures, which would go against the mood of the Sanity Points system. IMO the two forms of Sanity Resistance presented in UA make Sanity Loss so rare an occasion that if you use them you probably shouldn't even bother with using the Sanity Points system at all. (I'm talking about using your character level as sanity resistance or your Wisdom ability score as Sanity Resistance. These two ways of doing it make most sanity loss meaningless, since 1d6 of Sanity loss won't affect a 6th level character or even someone with 8 in Wisdom. Maybe using your Wisdom bonus as Sanity Resistance instead of the Wisdom score itself could work better though.) So, for example, if a Ranger has Favored Enemy: Undead +2, and he sees a Ghoul (1d6 points of Sanity Loss), he will loose 1d6-2 Sanity Points instead. This also makes characters consider Favored Enemies who are usually useless to take in normal campaigns, such as Undead or Constructs, since the bonus doesn't count for the damage the player inflicts upon the enemy (In 'Masters of the Wild' they have some Variant rules for such enemies though). Undead, as an example, will probably (but not necessarily) appear a lot in a Campaign with Sanity Points in it, making it an interesting option as a Favored Enemy.
Dunelord 11-20-04, 01:03 PM	In 3.5 Rangers get there damage to all creatures.
Hell_Bane 11-20-04, 02:25 PM	In 3.5 Rangers get there damage to all creatures. No, they only do extra damage if the creature in question isn't immune to critical hits.
Dracoulis The Phyrexian 11-20-04, 05:50 PM	No, they only do extra damage if the creature in question isn't immune to critical hits. Not anymore. The damage bonus is just a damage bonus, much like anything else. It's no longer precision damage (which is preventable by immunity to criticals). Favored enemy away!
Dunelord 11-20-04, 06:36 PM	No, they only do extra damage if the creature in question isn't immune to critical hits. PHB 3.5 page 47 "Favored Enemy (Ex): At 1st level, a ranger may select a type of creature from among those given on table 3-14: Ranger Favored Enemy Enemies. Due to his extensive study of his chosen type of foe and tranining in the proper techniques for combatin such creatures, the ranger gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sence Motive, Spot, and Survival checks when using these skills against creatures of this type. Likewise he gets a +2 bonus on weapon damage rolls against such creatures. At 5th level and every five levels thereafter (10th, 15th, and 20th level), the ranger may select an additional favored enemy from those given on the table. In addition, at each such interval, the bonus against any one favored enemy (includeing the one just selected, if so desired) increases by 2. For example a 5th level ranger has two favored enemies, aginst one he gains a +4 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sence Motive, Spot, and Survival checks and weapon damage rolls, and against the other he has a +2 bonus. At 10th level, he has three favored enemies, and he gains an additional +2 bonus, which he can allocate to the bonus aginst any one of his three favored enemies. Thus, his bonus could be either +4, +4, +2 or +6, +2, +2. If the ranger chooses humanoids or outsiders as a favored enemy, he must also choice a associated subtype, as indicated on the table. If a specific creature falls into more the one catagory of favored enemy (for instance, devils are both evil outsiders and lawful outsiders), the ranger bonuses do not stack; he simply uses whichever bonus is higher. See the Monster Manual for more information on types of creatures." No where does it even imply the old rule from 3.0 that it is persion damage is an issue. No where does it mention this under the description of sneak attack, nor does it come up in any other 3.5 book that I know of. It is also not in the Errtta or the FAQ. They also did away with the requirement that a fighter had to be with in 30 feet to use weapon spec.