1. Infravision
This will appear in every entry.
A character with infravision can see in darkness as clearly as they can in normal light, within 60 feet. It’s simple and overpowered, which is perfect for the mine-happy Dwarf; this is exactly who I’d expect would be able to see in a lightless dungeon. Whether this is appropriate for every demihuman is debatable.
There’s always the option to make this straight-up Predator vision, which is what I think of when I hear the word “infravision”. As cool and classic as the name is, it does feel a bit science-y. The change to “Darkvision” in 3e was a good call, and as loathe as I am to jettison something very AD&Dish, I’ll do so here.
2. Saving Throw Bonuses
They get a bonus to Rod, Staff, or Wand, Spells, and Poison, equal to +1 per 3½ points of Constitution. It’s a great buff and a terrible method for determining said buff. 2e gives you a table after this rule, so I don’t know why they even hand you that fraction.
This can map to the new Saving Throw categories of Magic and Death. Sure, they’re now getting a bonus against death magic, but they also lose the Rod, Staff, or Wand trio, so it’s a fair trade. A bonus against Death also work thematically for Dwarves. As far as determining the bonus, I’ll obviously ditch the fraction. The table will work just fine.
3. Magical Item Failure
This is the only negative feature listed within any of the individual descriptions of the demihumans. The Gnome also gets this, because they’re a copy/paste job. In short (haha), it’s a 1/5 chance of magical items 'malfunctioning,' with no indication of what that means aside from just not working. There are a few exceptions for the type of magical stuff a Dwarf would carry, and for Dwarven Clerics using priest stuff. It also lets them detect if an item is cursed when it malfunctions, which is a neat upside to a downside.
I like the addition of a unique nerf which is specific to a particular demihuman; I’d prefer to extend that to all of them, though that may be a bridge too far.
This seems like the exact type of bookkeeping that would be conveniently forgotten during play. As with any fiddly bit, if we want to keep it, then it should go on the character sheet. Based on the core of these rules, this means a roll-under score on a d20, which would be 16.
The exceptions are annoying, but they stay without a better idea.
4. Ancestral Enemies
They’re better at hitting the humanoids they don’t like and better at avoiding the hits of the very big humanoids they also don’t like. It’s a simple +1 to-hit/-4 to enemy attack rolls, which needs to be converted to the system outlined in Roll-Under Mechanics. That becomes a +1 to the target’s AC, along with a –4 to the PC’s AC when facing these particular enemies.
The bonuses are limited to melee, which is oddly restricting. I think we can let the Dwarf with the crossbow have a bit of fun, too.
We’ve got another list of things to keep track of: these bonuses only apply against nine specific humanoids. Again, without an alternative, they’ll need to stick around. My preference would be to categorize these enemies within their entry in the inevitable monster book (e.g., goblinoids), and then just call out these categories in the Dwarven trait, but the Dwarves’ breadth of natural enemies might make this a bit difficult. That and the Gnomes’ derivative version, which has different enemies.
5. Miner Skills
A wild d6 skill check appears! This trait lets Dwarves determine slopes, dungeon construction, stonework traps, depth underground, etc. The chances range from 50% to 83.33%.
As with magical item malfunctions, I’m in favor of flattening this to a roll-under score that I can throw on the sheet. If I take the higher of that range and make it work with a d20, that’ll land us at 80%, which again brings a score of 16. That’ll suit for any standard stonework checks, such as slope and passage information. For the tougher stuff, like depth or deadfalls, we can drop a –6 modifier for the DM’s use.
This could be rolled into an overall skill system, which is the plan for Rogue skills and the nonweapon proficiency system. But that’s a much later post.
6. The Hacked Dwarf
Dwarves are short, strong, gruff, and brave. They prize metals, gems, and good stonework. They dwell in hills and mountains and are well suited to life underground.
Dwarves have the following traits:
Darkvision: Can see in darkness as though it were light, up to 60 ft
Constitution Score
Saving Throw Bonus
4 – 6
+1
7 – 10
+2
11 – 13
+3
14 – 17
+4
18+
+5
Hard to Kill: Bonus to Death Saving Throw Score as shown in table above.
Nonmagical: Bonus to Magic Saving Throw Score as shown in table above. Cannot cast Spells. Gains Magic Malfunction Score of 16, which must be tested whenever using a magical item (except weapons, armor, shields, gauntlets, girdles and Cleric items); failure means the item does not work as intended. Cursed items reveal their nature when malfunctioning.
Ancestral Enemies: +1 ATTAC (Addition to Target AC) against orcs, goblins, and hobgoblins. –4 AC against ogres, trolls, giants, and titans.
Underground Native: Gains Dungeon Sense Score of 16, which can be tested to gain information about stonework and subterranean areas, including floor slope, shifting architecture, and age of construction. Can be tested to find stonework traps and depth underground with a -6 penalty to the score.
7. Final Note
I’ve casually introduced the idea of ATTAC: Addition to Target AC. It’s the same system outlined here, but I figured it needed a name, ala THAC0. It’s not quite as classic, but it’s a five letter acronym that does what it says, and that’s as close as I can get at the moment.
I’ve removed a few edge cases in the Dwarf’s rules. Half-orcs are cut from the list of enemies, because I have thoughts on “half” creatures which we’ll get to eventually. The ogre magi is cut because I think we can lump those into the ogres.
Overall, this is the succinctness I’m looking for in the demihuman descriptions. Let’s see if we can apply this to Elves.
No comments:
Post a Comment