Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 dbay Jul 27, 2009 17:08:16	I realised that it seems like a lot of the threads that pop up are asking a fairly basic rules question that can easily be answered in a post or two. I've decided to take a page (literally) out of the D&D charops forum in order to reduce clutter. From the original thread: The purpose of this thread is to serve as a catch-all for minor questions or mundane rules queries that don't really warrant a new thread here at the CharOp boards (and thus in a way, hopefully reduce the clutter of redundant threads on the board). If you have a more detailed question about a character build or certain rulesets, etc, then I suggest posting a new thread in the appropriate forum to get a more proper response. All newcomers and regulars alike are welcome to ask questions, and I encourage all the CO residents to do their best to answer them (because you have to admit, we're all pretty much the resident rule monkeys here at the D&D boards). For those anwering questions, maybe quote the question (or number) so it's easier to follow. edit: quick posting guidelines, just to make reading the thread easier When asking a question, preface it with a Q## where ## is the next number according to whatever the last question was. When answering a question, preface it was A##, which obviously corresponds to the appropriate question you're answering.
#2 malbur Jul 28, 2009 16:56:53	I like this idea a lot, so in an effort to help keep it going, lets see if i can answer any of these questions: A1: (is this a D20 future piece of equipment?) err... I got nothing. A2: On page 162, it says that a vehicles defense is adjusted based on the speed that it is travelling at. This is also changed based on the way the vehicle is being driven, if it is being driven either Defensively or Total Defense, an additional modifier is added. A3: What could be attempted is alternative attacks such as trip attacks or stunning the target first. Also, if you buy armor piercing ammunition (may not be found in the core rulebook), you have an added bonus to attack rolls. A4: If you have access to D20 Apocalypse, there are rules on page 36 which affect the driving checks required for driving a vehicle. On the following page there are rules for reducing speed based on road type and the environment.
#3 narukagami Jul 28, 2009 17:35:27	Unfortunately there are no such things as "simple answers" when it comes to d20 Modern. :P I'll take a crack though. A1) I believe the vest increases your strength by +2 for sake of figuring out your encumbrance, but the vest itself can only have 40lbs of equipment stored in/on the vest. As in,you recalculate your light, medium, and heavy loads as if your strength was two higher, but regardless of what those numbers are, the vest itself can only have 40lbs of equipment stowed in/on it. Think of those 40lbs as the "pocket space" of the vest. A2) You are thinking of mecha rules from Future, otherwise see malbur's answer. A3) There are no ways to subtract from your AC to add to damage, or similar effects in the core rules. But you have the advantage of running up to enemies to take advantage of Point Blank Shot without worry. A4) Yes.
#4 malbur Jul 28, 2009 17:40:57	My mistake, i thought you were taking from your attack rolls, not your AC. otherwise narukagami is correct on that point... Also, can't you expend action points to increase your attack rolls (separate question)?
#5 narukagami Jul 28, 2009 17:42:53	Also, can't you expend action points to increase your attack rolls (separate question)? Yes.
#6 dbay Jul 29, 2009 20:53:32	Awesome! thanks guys Also, unrelated: Q6: What are some things typical for a military base? In our campaign, we just recolonized earth a hundred-ish years after a nuke apocalypse, and are setting up our colony base. Tech is strictly modern, and our enemies are so far limited to semi-shot guns (with the occasional autofire) and non-military helicopters (so no jet planes, and don't really need to worry about artillery or bombs). We're wide open for attack. We have the capability to build just about anything, so long as it's fairly simple.
#7 malbur Jul 29, 2009 23:24:57	Q7: Is there a feat to allow for people to cast basic 0 and or possibly 1st level spells? I know there's a psionic affinity feat to cast that level of psionic stuff, is there something for spells specifically?
#8 narukagami Jul 29, 2009 23:49:38	Awesome! thanks guys Also, unrelated: Q6: What are some things typical for a military base? In our campaign, we just recolonized earth a hundred-ish years after a nuke apocalypse, and are setting up our colony base. Tech is strictly modern, and our enemies are so far limited to semi-shot guns (with the occasional autofire) and non-military helicopters (so no jet planes, and don't really need to worry about artillery or bombs). We're wide open for attack. We have the capability to build just about anything, so long as it's fairly simple. A lot, really. This is something that might be better having its own thread to shoot ideas around in. Q7: Is there a feat to allow for people to cast basic 0 and or possibly 1st level spells? I know there's a psionic affinity feat to cast that level of psionic stuff, is there something for spells specifically? I believe there is one each for arcane and divine spells in Urban Arcana.
#9 dbay Jul 30, 2009 0:45:36	Q7: Is there a feat to allow for people to cast basic 0 and or possibly 1st level spells? I know there's a psionic affinity feat to cast that level of psionic stuff, is there something for spells specifically? The feats you are looking for are Diving Heritage and Magical Heritage, from Urban Arcana. Only lets you cast 0th level spells, though.
#10 backstabbist Jul 30, 2009 1:30:47	Q6: What are some things typical for a military base? In our campaign, we just recolonized earth a hundred-ish years after a nuke apocalypse....... check the Showers & Decay of Infrastructure thread, we discussed some good apoc base stuff in that thread, along with the psychology involved with a military postapoc society. VanDeGraff defense fields, steam driven rotary cannon, zombie treadmill generators, etc
#11 malbur Jul 30, 2009 13:22:34	A6: Armory, motorpool, barracks, landing pad... stuff of that sort...
#12 dbay Jul 31, 2009 17:32:22	Q8 Can you fire a semiauto gun (like a typical handgun) without a magazine, but with bullets? Like, single-load them.
#13 Master_Vega Jul 31, 2009 18:22:53	A8: Kind of... I believe it depends on the gun. It'd be a much more annoying and complicated process than firing a weapon designed for single-shot fire, though. That's for certain. One of the gun nuts could probably elaborate.
#14 malbur Jul 31, 2009 20:13:35	Q9 Under the friends and foes section of the CRB it has the creature factory. Here it provides all you need for creating creatures but does not provide a challenge rating for them. How do you determine challenge ratings for creatures you create yourself?
#15 narukagami Jul 31, 2009 20:33:17	Q8 Can you fire a semiauto gun (like a typical handgun) without a magazine, but with bullets? Like, single-load them. I believe so. Though I actually don't really know if the safety kicks in if there is no magazine. I would think that varies per gun. Q9 Under the friends and foes section of the CRB it has the creature factory. Here it provides all you need for creating creatures but does not provide a challenge rating for them. How do you determine challenge ratings for creatures you create yourself? Challenge Rating has never been formulaic. Even Wizards applied it arbitrarily. You pretty much just have to eyeball it.
#16 dbay Jul 31, 2009 21:59:32	Q9 Under the friends and foes section of the CRB it has the creature factory. Here it provides all you need for creating creatures but does not provide a challenge rating for them. How do you determine challenge ratings for creatures you create yourself? Compare it to a similar creature- like, if you are making a melee smasher type, compare it to an ogre or a troll or something, and see which one's better. it's CR should be around the same as the power of a character of the same level- a CR 6 should be about as powerful as a level 6 fast hero, for example. If you have time, you can try a few test fights.
#17 malbur Aug 13, 2009 17:09:35	I seem to be using this the most...... Q10: When using cover in gun fights, is the cover from being behind a concrete wall any better or merely equal to the cover received from being behind a couch? I'm not sure whether being behind a couch would provide concealment rather than a cover save. Q11: When using cover in general, does squatting down chance the cover value of the item providing the cover? If a character flips over a couch and gets down on their knees do they suddenly get 3/4 cover instead of 1/2 cover?
#18 narukagami Aug 13, 2009 17:20:00	I seem to be using this the most...... Q10: When using cover in gun fights, is the cover from being behind a concrete wall any better or merely equal to the cover received from being behind a couch? I'm not sure whether being behind a couch would provide concealment rather than a cover save. By RAW, there is no difference between being behind a concrete barricade, a 5ft thick wall of steel, and a quarter inch of particle board. The rule of thumb I use is if you feel that you should be able to shoot through an object easily, treat it as concealment, if its something that could potentially be used as a bullet stopper, but not that reliably, treat it as a lesser degree of cover. Q11: When using cover in general, does squatting down chance the cover value of the item providing the cover? If a character flips over a couch and gets down on their knees do they suddenly get 3/4 cover instead of 1/2 cover? Yes, cover is also determined by how much of the body is exposed.
#19 TheRealOrion Aug 13, 2009 18:53:06	The rule of thumb I use is if you feel that you should be able to shoot through an object easily, treat it as concealment, if its something that could potentially be used as a bullet stopper, but not that reliably, treat it as a lesser degree of cover. I agree. I think this is the implication of the cover/concealment rules from 3.5e (if not the explicit statement...?), so I'm happy to backport them into d20M.
#20 dbay Aug 13, 2009 23:19:09	The way I run weak cover is it gives the same bonus to AC as strong cover, but if the attacker misses by less than the amount the cover is worth, it hits what you're hiding behind and it's hp is deducted from damage. Eg. Prince Charming is hiding behind drywall, which has hardness 2 and 5hp. He has 1/2 cover, giving him +4 AC to a total of 18 (from 14). FacelessMook shoots him, and rolls a 17. 17 is less than 4 less than 18, so the bullet hits the drywall. It does 11 damage, 7 of which the wall absorbs, so Prince Charming takes 4 damage total. I assumed everyone did it that way.
#21 malbur Aug 13, 2009 23:24:01	Eg. Prince Charming is hiding behind drywall, which has hardness 2 and 5hp. He has 1/2 cover, giving him +4 AC to a total of 18 (from 14). FacelessMook shoots him, and rolls a 17. 17 is less than 4 less than 18, so the bullet hits the drywall. It does 11 damage, 7 of which the wall absorbs, so Prince Charming takes 4 damage total. I was thinking about that, if I should use the hardness of the object that is in between the shooter and shootee...
#22 TheRealOrion Aug 14, 2009 0:21:30	Certainly more realistic, also a lot more complicated. Choose your poison, really.
#23 cheomesh Aug 14, 2009 0:55:21	I have two. 12) I have been reading through the core rule book and "Blood and Fist" in preparation for an upcoming "kung fu" style campaign. I've seen a few things that suggest that a "kick" attack deals 1d6 damage (opposed to a punch's 1d3). Is this true? I read the 1d6 part in "Blood and Fist" as part of a few feats, so it might not be in the core at all. 13) Also, in "Blood and Fist", are the martial art styles (like Kendo) and stances (like Angry Monkey) taken as feats, just like the actual manuvers (like kidney punch)? Or are they replacements for talents? The martial arts part is *very* key to my setting, and I want to make sure I get it right. Thanks! M.
#24 backstabbist Aug 14, 2009 1:09:04	dbay- "drywall, which has hardness 2 and 5hp" Welcome the the joys of interfacing logic with RAW. Consider what happens when you shoot a rimfire 22lr pistol at a drywall wall in reality. Now consider what happens whne your character shoots a 2d4 22lr pistol at a Hard2 5HP sheet of drywall. How frequently is a 22 slug stopped by a sheet of drywall? 94% of the time in game (all rolls except 4-4 on 2d4), 0% of the time in reality. A punch with your fist does 1d3, drywall is drywall takes 7, plain folks cant put thier fist thru drywall (in game)
#25 malbur Aug 14, 2009 1:19:33	just an FYI we're trying to keep the numbers in order (yours would be 12 and 13) to keep an idea of who's answering what... sorry to be a nuisance but it makes it easier also to put A# before responses to get an idea of which goes to which post... the same problem came up with backstabbist's last post
#26 cheomesh Aug 14, 2009 1:38:26	Sorry about that, fixed. M.
#27 dbay Aug 14, 2009 1:47:22	dbay- "drywall, which has hardness 2 and 5hp" Welcome the the joys of interfacing logic with RAW. Consider what happens when you shoot a rimfire 22lr pistol at a drywall wall in reality. Now consider what happens whne your character shoots a 2d4 22lr pistol at a Hard2 5HP sheet of drywall. How frequently is a 22 slug stopped by a sheet of drywall? 94% of the time in game (all rolls except 4-4 on 2d4), 0% of the time in reality. A punch with your fist does 1d3, drywall is drywall takes 7, plain folks cant put thier fist thru drywall (in game) Those aren't the RAW numbers, I pulled them out of my bag of holding. It should probably be hardness 1 hp 1 or something. sort of A12 No, kick attacks are unarmed strikes same as punches, for 1d3, as far as I know. I haven't read blood and fist, but it is stated in a lot of places that an attack with any part of you is the same, unless you have a special ability that says otherwise. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful Q14what is blood and fist, anyways?
#28 TheRealOrion Aug 14, 2009 2:02:30	A14: The Blood and... books are a series of d20M products. Each one is a slim, inexpensive book that details rules for a particular genre or subgenre of the game. They actually do really good work. It's what I think d20M should have been the whole time.
#29 narukagami Aug 14, 2009 2:23:33	I prefer Ken Hood's Skills and Feats Martial Arts System. Its free, and has a lot more options than Blood and Fists. :P
#30 dbay Aug 14, 2009 2:23:57	A14: The Blood and... books are a series of d20M products. Each one is a slim, inexpensive book that details rules for a particular genre or subgenre of the game. They actually do really good work. It's what I think d20M should have been the whole time. Oh, cool! are they 3rd party or WotC? I should check these out
#31 cheomesh Aug 14, 2009 2:44:58	Naru, thanks, I will check that out too. I got blood and fist along side the d20 modern book, and I find it to my liking so far. I've played d20 games before, but d20 modern's a bit different (and enjoyable). Essentially, since d20 modern characters are by nature (before applying feats) not "trained" in unarmed attacks (provoke AOO every time, -4 to hit), and sinking feats into them is unwise in a regular d20 game, Blood and Fist tries to bring it forward. It doesn't seem as if it was supposed to be a full out counter guns with kung-fu so much as it was supposed to allow "kung fu" campaigns to be more in depth and interesting than the vanilla rules allow for. It's what inspired my setting, after all :p My only real complaint is that some areas show sketchy research -- kendo isn't a martial art so much as it is a sort version of kenjutsu, and there's very little in the way of Western martial arts. However, these are minor complaints as they give a basic guide on how to create new "styles". The book covers a variety of unarmed martial arts, from specific types (hapkido, jujutsu), to generic ones ("monkey", "crane", "boar", etc), and even the ever so fantastic ninjitsu. It even covers some armed ones, like escrima, kendo (which should simply be called kenjutsu), and naganatajutsu. One downside is that it seems to make a few other melee style builds (which coexist with these forms) sort of second hat, though regular core feats could probably spice them up a bit. I'm already considering adding in a form based off of Mair's cudgel plays. If anyone happens to find out if kicks are different from punches, let me know. Blood and fist makes them different kinds of unarmed attacks, but as far as I see, they're still the same damage die. Essentially, you can, by virtue of your style, be proficient in kicks but not punches, and vice versa. M. EDIT: Found it, apparently default punches and kicks are simply d3. Appears the example in the BaF manual was simply just that -- an example.
#32 rhialto Aug 15, 2009 12:29:50	kendo (which should simply be called kenjutsu), The kendo clubs I went to while in Japan would disagree with you.