"Bending" the rules (how much is too much)? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTimePost
AlphaSquirell

04-16-06, 11:45 PM
Okay, my party bends the rules on a REGULAR basis. A few examples:

~Minor things (torches, who carries them, basic materials such as bedrolls, rations, and even smaller spell components) "are taken care of". (they only come into play when absolutely needed, such as when a strong wind would blow the torches out, or when half your gear is stolen by a group of forrest elves, or something like that)

~"Dead" is below 0 HP. This goes for ALL creatures that aren't "boss-like" (specific creatures, named and such; or tougher creatures that could cause a problem later) will come back if not reduced to -10HP. (*hints are given such as "your sword sinks into his skull, and he passes out, but continues to breathe in a labored manner)

~Ability point once every 3 levels. (just because, no real reason other than I want to)

~Double feats every 3 levels. (toned down from last campaigns "horrific" feat-per-level, but still a good dose of feats)



Here are some things I would like to change, but I don't know how much I can get away with without seeming to change things "just because I can" or "just to help someone out". (I want this to seem as fair and logical as possible, instead of seeming like I'm bending the rules to help someone else or to make the entire game easier; like bending the rules without ruining the "stability" of the game)


Situation #1
We've got a CN Favored Soul. Rest of party ranges from LG Samurai to NG Cleric and Scout to CG Warmage. There's also a CN Ninja, but he's almost 100% CG, and just started as CN, so if this all works out, I'll get him to switch to CG. (he RP's CG more than CN anyway)

He wants to be a Storm Lord. His patron diety MUST be Telos. (Talos? CE diety from FR mentioned in Storm Lord PrC of Complete Divine) So he is CN so he can get his PrC and travel with the party. Frankly, I'd rather him be CG, but he can't and still keep his patron diety. Saying "you can be CG with a CE diety" will seem like "cheating" to my group. So that's not an option.

So, anyone know of a good "Storm" diety that could replace Telos/Talos/whoever-the-crap-he-is? One that is perferably good or neutral? (thus, he could stay within one step of the alignment AND be good, which he currently cannot do)


Situation #2
I've got a NG Cleric of Pelor. He wants to be a Radiant Servant of Pelor. He wants to do this because he is the party healer. He wants NO extra benifit from the PrC. (he doesn't want greater turning and has only turned undead twice so far, and one was because that's how you open a door in the Sunless Citadel....)

What I need is a new PrC for him that drops the other bonuses of RSoP and keeps the healing. I mean, he chose Sun and Healing domains, and feels like he wasted a domain because he doesn't want or plan to use the Sun domain. (he needs it for his PrC) He wanted a different domain, but never thought about it because he "needed" the Sun domain. He was looking at Protection, Strength, Travel, and War domains. (more at Strength and War than anything else)

Anyone know of another good "healing" diety that I can tweak the RSoP to reflect? (I KNOW there's a good NG diety in the Draconomicon, but I don't have access to that right now....) How can I go about this without bending things to the point it looks like I'm making new rules JUST FOR HIM? (I'm tempted to create a new PrC that he would like, and have him recieve healing from this guy in town or something, so he can go "Ooo! I'd like to be like him instead of a Radiant Servant of Pelor!")

Any ideas?

Situation #3 (not as much "bending the rules" as it is "how can I help him?")
I've got a Scout (Elf, CG) who is specializing in Archery. He currently has the HIGHEST chance to hit on any single attack. (he has an 18 in Dex with his Elf bonus of +2 to Dex, giving him an overall of +5 to attack with his bow; better than the rest of the party) Problem is, he is getting outshined by the melee fighters. He also cannot decide on a PrC. (now, for our campaign it is almost unheard of to NOT have a PrC. That's just how my PC's think and flow. EVERYONE gets a PrC of some sort, and usually create a character with a PrC in mind)

The Favored Soul says "Be an Arcane Archer, they rock!" But frankly, I'd rather him be something with a little more "Archer" and a little less "Arcane". The FS says "Arcane Archer!" because he thinks they are powerful, and because NOTHING else matters to him. (he wouldn't play a bard if I gave him 3x the EXP for EACH ENCOUNTER, because he thinks they are weak; correction, he WOULD, and he would find a way to become an uber fighter that just happens to have the Bard class instead)

In other words, the Favored Soul is pushing him into something, and I don't want that JUST because of the FS's mindset. (more AC and damage and crits are what make a character in his mind; whereas the Scout would rather be a precision archer that picks off opponents from behind the others, safely eliminating extra threats by providing cover fire)

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance for any help and for putting up with my posts.

~Alpha





*You have now reached the end of this post:
~For those who read it, you just earned EXP equal to that of a CR 5 encounter!
~For those who just scrolled down, you just earned one negative level!
Arganis

04-17-06, 12:08 AM
Anyone know of another good "healing" diety that I can tweak the RSoP to reflect? (I KNOW there's a good NG diety in the Draconomicon, but I don't have access to that right now....) How can I go about this without bending things to the point it looks like I'm making new rules JUST FOR HIM? (I'm tempted to create a new PrC that he would like, and have him recieve healing from this guy in town or something, so he can go "Ooo! I'd like to be like him instead of a Radiant Servant of Pelor!")

You don't really need a new diety. Just call the new PrC something else, like... Healing Servant of Pelor. Also, you aren't making new rules for him, but you _are_ making a new PrC--there's no need to hide it.
Arganis

04-17-06, 12:21 AM
Situation #3 (not as much "bending the rules" as it is "how can I help him?")

How can you help him? Weigh in. Let him know your opinion. If he still wants to choose Arcane Archer, and you're not going to disallow the class, then let him.

I'm not real familiar with the Scout class because my group doesn't go that route, but I know for sure that a 20 ranger is way more powerful than a 10 ranger/10 arcane archer.

Also keep in mind that just because the arcane archer does more damage, it is not less of an opportunity to roleplay.
turtlemonkey

04-17-06, 12:28 AM
as far as 3 go... id check the huge PrC list they have in the prestige class board... and look for any with archer in their name. off hand the only one i can think of crag top archer (who specializes in long range attacks) though there are others, im not too familar with archers myself, but id say thats the best place to look. also if nothing else.. try to find any archers kinda prc's you can find and maybe twink them to something that suits him more. or just tell him to ignore the other guy and keep going with scout.
Vapthorne

04-17-06, 12:30 AM
Here's my two cents.

On Situation #1: I suggest you read the adaptation notes for the 'Storm Lord'. It may list Talos as it's required deity, but if you're (as a DM) willing to change it to another weather-based diety, then that's your call. There's Gesthai (from Complete Divine) or Obah-Hai; or he can be a cleric of storms (if you allow deity-less clerics).
Arganis

04-17-06, 12:33 AM
So, anyone know of a good "Storm" diety that could replace Telos/Talos/whoever-the-crap-he-is? One that is perferably good or neutral? (thus, he could stay within one step of the alignment AND be good, which he currently cannot do)

RPGA (Living Greyhawk) allows Stormlords that worship: Aerdrie Faenya, Hurakon, Osprem, Procan, Stronmaus, Tezcatlipoca (as Apocatequil), Velnius, and Vogan.

There's also:

Obad-Hai (N): Air, Animal, Earth, Fire, Ocean, Plant, Scalykind, Slime, Storm, Water
Telchur (CN): Air, Chaos, Storm, Strength
Vatun (CN): Air, Animal, Chaos, Storm, Strength
Xerbo (N): Animal, Knowledge, Ocean, Storm, Trade, Water
Tytalus

04-17-06, 12:53 AM
Situation #3 (not as much "bending the rules" as it is "how can I help him?")
[...]
The Favored Soul says "Be an Arcane Archer, they rock!" But frankly, I'd rather him be something with a little more "Archer" and a little less "Arcane". The FS says "Arcane Archer!" because he thinks they are powerful


Actually, that's a misconception: the AA is not a strong PrC. At all.

To solve the problem at hand, offer him other (non-arcane) archer PrCs. An excellent option is the 3.0 Deepwood Sniper(*) [MotW], which provides exactly what the player wants: precision archery, and a very "snipery" feel.

Another (3.0) option is the Peerless Archer [SilverMarches], which has the mechanically strong Power Shot feature, but is otherwise probably not what you are looking for.

The Order of the Bow Initiate [CW] is also ok, but mechanically weak (since their Ranged Precision ability only applies to one attack per round). Cragtop Archer has already been mentioned.

(*) Not to be confused with the horrible 3.5 Darkwood Stalker [CW]
DM_Greatness

04-17-06, 01:05 AM
Bards are one of the best classes in the game. You all are missing out!
Vaelan

04-17-06, 01:07 AM
The Order of the Bow Initiate [CW] is also ok, but mechanically weak (since their Ranged Precision ability only applies to one attack per round). Cragtop Archer has already been mentioned.
Works well with Skirmish though, as it requires you to move 10 feet which normally precludes a full attack.

I'd suggest pointing the scout towards Greater Manyshot.
AlphaSquirell

04-17-06, 09:14 PM
Thanks for the extra dieties. Could anyone point me in the direction of finding them? (what book?)

Especially those CN ones. (he could be a CG Favored Soul with a CN diety, instead of a CN FS with a CE diety)



As far as the Cleric is concerned, I think creating a new PrC that is ALMOST the same might work. I could tweak it to become a "dual-PrC" like the Daggerspell, Shadowbane, and NightSong PrC's out of CA; you know, two variants for the same organization. Make a "Radiant *something that starts with "s" and relates to the Strength domain" Servant of Pelor", and maybe add a bonus to BOTH when doing "something" together. (maybe "aid another" check related to heal or knowledge (religion) or something gives a higher bonus, or healing spells are more effective on each other, or something)


The Scout doesn't know what PrC he wants. He is being PRESSURED into Arcane Archer. My question is what is a good option? (That, and "How can I keep him from screwing over his character by going Arcane Archer?)

The Manyshot and Greater Manyshot feats sound good. (and I think he's looked at them already) Where's Greater Manyshot at? I'm SURE we have the book it's in, and I can't find it....
Arganis

04-17-06, 09:18 PM
Many of these deities are in the Deities and Demigods book. As an alternative, you should be able to find plenty of basic information just by searching for them online.
shadowfox628

04-17-06, 09:35 PM
Situation #3:

There's an easy way out of it: If the Scout is, well, pure Scout, he can't become an Arcane Archer. To become an Arcane Archer, you must be able to cast Level 1 Arcane Spells (sorry to someone earlier, but a Ranger cannot become an Arcane Archer unless he/she also has levels in Sorcerer, Wizard, or Bard. Rangers are Divine Spellcasters). So, to the disappointment of the Favored Soul, the Scout cannot become an Arcane Archer.

Order of the Bow Initiate is perfect for archers. All (or at least most) of their special abilities have to do with archery. It's in the Complete Warrior, or, if you ever owned a copy and still have it, it's also in the 3.0 Sword and Fist, though I'm not sure if it was changed in the conversion or not. Their Percision attack is so-so at low levels, but it's worth it in high levels (damage-wise).

Cragtop Archer is great for distance. I don't know much about them, though.
Arakim

04-17-06, 09:41 PM
So, anyone know of a good "Storm" diety that could replace Telos/Talos/whoever-the-crap-he-is? One that is perferably good or neutral? (thus, he could stay within one step of the alignment AND be good, which he currently cannot do)

You can always go with Thor. Nice guy, God of Lightning, etc.

A lot of the problems you are having are just flavor problems. As long as they qualify with skill / level requirements, I say let them do their thing, as long as they fit the flavor of the campaign.

So you're not as much bending as adapting the deities / PrC's to your game.

For guy 3, well...

Show him a class where he can do more ranged damage than an Arcane Archer (since that seems to be his goal). If you want him to look at the Bard, make a Harper Bow that is tricked out, and only let it be used by Harper Bards...

He'll be River-Dancing in no time.
AlphaSquirell

04-18-06, 07:34 PM
Problems solved! Thanks for the help!


Favored Soul has decided to roleplay his character as CN. He thinks it will be more fun to try and be in a good party while making peace with an evil diety (thus, CN keeps the balance). Honestly, if he's willing to make it fun, I'll help him make it fun.


Cleric thinks having a "Steadfast Servant of Pelor" PrC will be so much fun that he will create it for me! (then, all I have to do is make sure it is more or less balanced with the standard Radiant Servant of Pelor, meaning that there are still good reasons to pick one over the other so the new one doesn't "replace" the other)


Scout is considering going all 20 levels as a Scout to boost Skirmish ability to the max. PrC problem solved!



Thanks again for all the help.
General_Ridley

04-18-06, 07:45 PM
Greater Manyshot is in the Expanded Psionics Handbook.
AlphaSquirell

04-18-06, 08:01 PM
Greater Manyshot is in the Expanded Psionics Handbook.

AHA!

Thanks! I couldn't find it ANYWHERE!