Rule 0

• Please remember that the DM has the ultimate say whether a rule is enforced or not. Sometimes it is necessary to bend or break a rule to make the game play more exciting or to build the storyline. Also please remember that this is a roleplaying game and not a combat simulation, so the rules only take you so far....

Critical Hits and Fumbles

• are not exactly as stated in the Players Handbook.
• A critical hit potential roll of a 20 may cause additional damage beyond the regular critical hit according to my tables. Example critical hits are causing additional damage to opponents armor, stunning your opponent, etc.
• A Fumble potential occurs on a roll of a "1" and the character fumbles the attack if they fail a reflex save vs. 10. Fumbles are rolled out on my tables, and are normally not severe. Example fumbles are losing your weapon, losing an action adjusting your weapon grip, or losing your footing.

Losing a Level...

• Whether you lose a level through death, level draining, or disease, it is never a fun process. I personally believe that keeping all those records of past levels is a tedious process. As a result, I am instituting the following new rules to handle level loss:

  • When you lose a level, you suffer the identical effects of a negative energy level for that lost level until you pay off the lost experience required to attain the next level.
  • For example, a ninth level character losing a level basically loses the experience he earned from level 8 to level 9 (a total of 8000 exp.) This character is still level 9, although his abilities are reduced as if he had a permanent negative energy level, and his experience is reduced by 8000 exp.. When the character earns enough experience to restore him to level 9, he then removes the negative level. If the character suffers from multiple lost levels, he restores each level as soon as he qualifies enough experience for each new level.

Hero Points, Fate Points, and Interventions...

There are three types of awards given to the player outside of the standard game experience:

• Hero Points are given as a reward for entertainment, prmoting teamwork, as well as bringing in food or drink for the group, and helping the group dynamic in a noticable way. A hero Point allows you to do any of the following (please note that you can stack effects from multiple Hero Points.)

  • Die Bump - You alter the roll of a die you cast to be one higher than what you previously rolled. You may make a 5 a 6 or a 6-sided die, but not a 7 (since it is not possible to roll a 7 on the die.) This can make a 19 a 20 and as a result a potential critical on an attack, and can avert a fumble by making a natural roll of a 1 a 2 before you confirm the fumble. With percentile dice, you add 5% to your roll. You may not spend a Die Bump to negate the effects of another die bump used by an opponent to meet a contested roll.
  • Assist - You can add 1d6 to any d20 die roll before the die is cast to help you meet or exceed the target number for the die roll.
  • Additional 5' Base Move - You can make your base move an additional 5'.

• Fate Points are given as a reward for ROLEPLAYING exceptionally well, including playing up faults and weaknesses of your character. It should not be uncommon for a player to accumulate one or two such coins in a single game session. A Fate Point allows you to do everything a Hero Point allows, as well as any of the following:

  • Fortune - You may roll two dice instead of one before the original die is cast, and choose the best result.
  • Take 10 - You can "take 10" on a roll you would not normally be able to take 10 with, such as an attack roll, or a skill check in a crunch...
  • First aid-You immediately gain 1d6 hit points for each two hit dice you have worth of damage at any time. You may not heal up past your maximum hit points. You may take this out of turn. When played immediately against damage you have just received, it first reduces the damage you have taken, which may prevent you from dying or from a massive damage roll.
  • Experience - You gain 100 experience.

• Intervention Points are given as an exceptional reward. Playing an intervention gives the player the opportunity to influence any die roll, not just their own, and at any time during game play. Interventions allow you to do the following:

  • Experience - You gain 500 experience
  • Blessing of the gods- Force any result to succeed or miss before the roll is cast. This will not critical or fumble an attack.
  • Heal - You grant all the benefits of the Heal spell to the target character. Note that if positive energy normally harms that creature, then this effect would be considered negative energy.

You may exchange two hero points for the effects of a fate point during the course of the game, with the exception of gaining experience. You may exchange three Fate Points for the effects of an Intervention. You may only retain 3 of these certificates or coins from session to session.

The game master may also employ hero or fate points to for the purposes of gaining luck or healing to villains. This is usually to progress a plot line or make a combat more interesting, rather then to punish the players. When the game master spends such points, the player directly involved receives a fate point. For instance, if a villain uses a Fate Point to heal wounds, the player who dealt the last damage before the villain healed gains a Fate Point. The game master begins each session with 3 fate points.

Experience and Roleplaying...

• Conduct during the game is important both for enjoyment of the game and for earning experience. I will tolerate out-of-character comments as long as they are not overly distracting, and have some purpose. "Where are the Cheetoes and Mountain Dew" is perfectly acceptable. Having prolonged discussions out-of-character will cost you experience, as it brings down everyones ability to play their roles. Also, bringing in food for everyone, or doing anything that helps build the group dynamic will not earn you experience, but can earn you Hero Points, etc.

• Experience is based on the tables in the Dungeon Masters Guide, with the suggestions for role-playing included. I will award additional experience to individuals dealing with encounters if they are 2 or more levels lower then the average party level. Since the individual experience awards are a bit too extreme, I will instead grant up to a 10% bonus on experience if the encounter was particularly difficult for them (for instance a challenge rating3 higher then their level).

Damage to Equipment from Combat (taken from Wizards Message Boards)

• The damage is applied after the battle not during. It does make sense that the damage is applied after a PC hits his/her target. It also makes sense that the weapon too may get damaged as a result of striking the armor. But it will slow down the game. So I believe damage applied after the battle as a representation of general wear and tear upon equipment. Doing it after the battle will also help remind players and the DM to do it, it wouldbecome part of the rounding out the end of the combat procedure. Differing amounts of damage would have to be applied to the PCs depending on their role in the battle. thus...
  
  After battle roll for each piece of equipment in use, modified by DEX bonus
  DC 18 for the Melee fighters to avoid damage. Melee fighters are those who spent majority of the combat in melee. 1d20 Damage
  DC 15 for Projectile fighters to avoid damage. Projectile fighters are those who hang at the back firing or throwing 1d10 damage.
  DC 10 for Magic users. Magic users Those who hang at back throwing spells. 1d4 damage (general wear and tear on the robes).
  
  Perhaps roll damage for each piece of equipment used. (it wouldn't make sense for a projectile fighter to have had damage to his/her shield when he/she never actually got it off the horse).
  BTW any one using hardness/Hitpoint values for armor that seem to be working out
  
  ASSUMING
  Full Plate High Hardness Relatively low Hitpoints
  Chain Moderate Hardness Moderate Hit Points
  Leather Low Hardness Higher HitPoints
  
  Not To say that Full Plate wouldn't have as high if not more hits that Leather but not as higher as you may think.
  I would think Full plate would be harder to Damage But once damaged easier to Stuff it up. (very picky, the design of full plate)
  
  

• The Whetstone? It is listed but isn't described. Used to remove damage from a weapon using the craft skill I would think GOOD money sink equipment repair too....