Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 AlanBruce Oct 23, 2009 19:16:24	Greetings. I'm currently playing a 3.5 FR campaign. Our DM has mostly been DMing 2nd edition, so this is a fresh new system for him. He, however, made us roll on a table which I'm not sure if it was present in 2nd ed. called Inborn and Childhood. It's basically a percentile roll which refers you to a long list of bonuses and flaws. Transferring some of them to 3.5 was quite simple, however there was one "flaw" if you will that I'm having trouble putting a mechanic to. In essence, my PC is deathly afraid of spiders due to a traumatic childhood accident. I'm fine with that flaw. I actually find it has a lot of RP potential, but as many things in 2nd. ed, it's very open ended and has no specific rule as to how it works mechanically. I thought about compiling a list of DCs based on the size of the spider (or spider-like monsters like a Drider or Bebilith) and having appropriate effects applied if I fail a Will save (conditions like frightened and panicked came to mind).  Naturally, the smaller the spider, the lower the DC, but if anyone could give me ideas on what to start the Dcs at? Or maybe effects others than the ones mentioned above? I would appreciate your imput very much.   Thank you in advance.   P.S. After our first session, it's pretty obvious we'll be facing Drow, so I expect to be referrencing this table quite often.
#2 kouk Oct 24, 2009 1:15:34	You may be afraid of spiders but you're still an adventurer aren't you? As far as I know, people with phobias don't want to be near the source of their fear, but they can usually observe it from a decent distance (which is how certain therapies work, exposure over time that gradually increases). I would go with something like a low DC Will Save once per fight where there are spiders present, maybe a DC equal to the highest level "spider" present, or just a flat DC 12 or 13 for creatures up to level 10. Don't go imposing severe penalties on your character, you'll just make the other party members wonder why they brought you if you are rarely able to contribute, or even run away screaming from time to time (which can get them all killed by the attention). Something like a -2 to attacks against the spiders, or at most the Shaken condition: Shaken A shaken character takes a -2 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks. Shaken is a less severe state of fear than frightened or panicked.   If your friends can give you resistance or immunity to fear, then you're obviously not afraid. Wouldn't make sense for a Paladin though.   EDIT: And the flaws system was probably from Unearthed Arcana. The 3.5 version of it can be found here: www.d20srd.org/indexes/variantBuildingCh... Flaws usually result in a bonus feat, but the tradeoff is normally not balanced because characters choose weaknesses that don't affect them as much.
#3 AlanBruce Oct 24, 2009 2:27:12	Thank you. That's a good idea on the shaken aspect. The list my DM used was either from 2nd edition, or one he wrote when he played 2nd. Apart from that spider phobia I was somehow proficient with any weapon I chose. Being a cleric of Kelemvor at 1st level with a free EWP (bastard sword)  feat was a nice trade off.
#4 AlanBruce Oct 24, 2009 11:22:43	I figured a way to simplify the list i was thinking of and applying the Shaken effect. DC= 10 + 1/2 spider's HD + Cha modifier (the Charisma bonus applies if the spider's Intelligence is above 3) Of course I know that many spiders are vermin, lacking an intelligence score, but due to sheer HD  the DC can escalate rather fast, not to mention spider-like monsters that have good intelligence and charisma scores, like the Drider, Aranea, Bebilith, etc. This shaken condition would apply only to the spiders present in the encounter, of course. I hope my DM will allow me to ignore the Shaken effect vs. any other non-spider enemies in the same encounter, but who knows. Let me know what you think!
#5 gagnrath Oct 24, 2009 17:19:39	I don't care for the way you did your save calc as it can make for an impossible save at 3rd-6th level when in FR a character could conceivably be making his first underdark trip against massive numbers of spiders.  The way you have it a drider and a pair of swordspiders would basically be impossible for you to make at 6th level.  I'd go with 10 + 1/4 of the hit die of the highest cr spider +1 per spider creature outside of the main one there.
#6 kouk Oct 24, 2009 18:15:23	Well, what class are you? How's your Will save?
#7 gagnrath Oct 24, 2009 19:19:57	He's a cleric so should have a good will save, however it also sorta sounds like he's coming up for a basc mechanic for this to work in his game so it should be a will save that fighters can have some hope of making as well.
#8 AlanBruce Oct 24, 2009 21:20:51	He's a cleric so should have a good will save, however it also sorta sounds like he's coming up for a basc mechanic for this to work in his game so it should be a will save that fighters can have some hope of making as well. I´m a 2nd level human cleric of Kelemvor. My wisdom score is 16, so now my Will save is + 6. The spider phobia affects me only because of list my DM made us roll on. Other players at my table got different things, like miscellaneous bonuses to skills they would normally not have access to (one even has a free auto succeed reflex vs. dragon breath 1/day). I was considering on being automatically shaken upon seeing a spider, plus rolling a will save to avoid further effects.
#9 beowuuf Oct 26, 2009 17:44:31	Seems to me the easiest way to lay it is you are automatically shaken when in LOS of a spider, and you need to make a successful intimidate check against the spider in question to remove the shaken affect for that combat from your character.
#10 gagnrath Oct 26, 2009 20:32:23	You can intimidate vermin without an intelegence score?