Author: fineyoungmisanthrope

Daily Punch 5-7-19 Vigor spell for DnD 5e

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How about a spell that prevents exhaustion?

 

Vigor
4th-level abjuration

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S
Duration: 8 hours

You touch a creature and fill them with boundless energy.

The first time the target would gain a level of exhaustion as a result of a failed save, the subject gains a reroll on the saving throw, and the spell ends.

If the spell is still in effect when the target is subjected to an effect that would cause a level of exhaustion instantly, that effect is instead negated against the target, and the spell ends.

 

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 5-6-19 Tireless feat for DnD 5e

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I want to play with exhaustion, so let’s make it harder to get tired!

 

Tireless

You’ve trained your body beyond the normal limits to not out beat the competition, but outwork them as well. You gain the following benefits:

  • You have advantage on any save where failure would result in you gaining a level of exhaustion.
  • You gain one extra level of on the exhaustion track.  This first level results in no penalties if you gain a level of exhaustion.  Each level after this first one acts as normal on your new exhaustion track.

 

Thoughts?

Ring Side Report- Castles & Crusades Players Handbook

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Product– Castles & Crusades Players Handbook, 7th ed.

System-Castles & Crusades

Producer–Troll Lord Games

Price– $20 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/105322/Castles–Crusades-Players-Handbook-7th-Printing?affiliate_id=658618

TL; DR– An interesting mix of old and new. 86 %

Basics-Onwards to adventure!  Castles and Crusades is an Old School game through and through in its seventh edition.  Let’s walk through to see all this game has to offer!

Basic Rolls-Castles and Crusades uses the d20 system at its core.  Attacks are D20 rolls plus an attack bonus and an attribute.  Skills are d20 plus an attribute and possible additional bonuses.  If you’ve played any basic d20 system you can hop right into this game.

Skills, saves, and the Siege System-When you do something in Castles and Crusades, you roll as discussed above, but you sometimes get to add your levels.  If the thing you are doing is something your class could do, you add your level. If you would not be trained because this isn’t something you would know how to do, you don’t add your level.  The gamemaster sets the number you need to roll based on two factors-attribute and challenge level. Here is the crux of the Siege system. During character generation, you get primary attributes from your race and your class.  If the thing you are trying to do or the save you are trying to make is based on a primary attribute, then the number you need to roll starts at 12. If it’s a secondary attribute, then the number starts at an 18. Next the GM adds the challenge level.  This is a number representing how hard the thing you are doing is. Open a one tumbler lock might be a challenge level 1, but the king’s personal bank vault might be an 8. So, different characters have different required rolls based on their primary abilities.

Everything else-From here on, if you have played Pathfinder or DnD 3.5, you’re in solid hands.  AC, rounds, and spells all function pretty much like you expect. If not, then the book gives you a solid introduction to the system

Mechanics or Crunch– Overall, this is a decently put together system, but the Siege system has some significant bumps in the road.  I have lived through 3.5e to 5e DnD and watched wild swings in how much control a GM has at the table regarding the number required to roll for PCs to get things done.  This game is solidly old school as lots left up to the GM, and I feel that hurts this a bit. This game really needs a list of skills and what classes get what skills, if any.  Its OK for the rogue to be the a skill monkey and have tons of skills, but often some things just are left up to the GMs discretion. Saves are even left up to the GM! There is a chart of what attribute you roll for each save with different spell and monster effect requiring different attribute saves.  All of this falls into the basics of the Siege system with a fighter who didn’t choose dexterity in a worse place compared to the rogue when the fireball goes off or he sneaks around in the dark. It’s not bad, but GM and the players have to really work together to run this game as some things are too complex to run on autopilot like simple roll to dodge a blow.  Solid, but some needlessly complex things mar the system. 4/5

Theme or Fluff-.Solid old school fantasy.  The book doesn’t have a world per se, but it does have world building with discussions on the nature of magic and character classes.  Even each class has a bit of fluff to make you understand who they are and if you want to be them. It’s light, but for building a generic fantasy RPG, it’s doing its job well.  5/5

Execution–  PDF?  Check!  Hyperlinked?  CHECK! Tables that lay things out well?  Well here is where things break down. This game is solidly in the OSR crowd.  That’s not bad as the old school has some great advice for the young, but some things just need a new touch!  Things like laying classes out better in tables and saying what I get at each level instead of having me read the complete class entry to see if and when I get different abilities.  Spells suffer from the same issue as challenge levels where much interpretation is needed to determine what kind of spell is being cast instead of just leaving me with what I have to roll.and More often that not, I’m left making a call on what I’m doing or what kind of save I have to make.  And for some things, I just want to add things up some numbers and see if I succeed. It feels a bit like homework. It does read easily, but modern RPG design elements would really help make this book that much more easier to read and run. 4/5

Summary-This game is a solid entry in the Old School Revolution that is embracing the advances of d20 system, at least for the mechanics.  Adding at most two numbers and hoping is easier that thac0 or other previous system, at least for new players. But this book didn’t take enough from modern systems and layout.  Listing skills and just saying what attribute to roll for every spell and most common effect will really help me play and enjoy the game. Now, this game is absolutely playable and fun out of the box day one with the basic mechanics being tried, true, and tested, but more specifically, fun.  It’s old school fantasy RPG with some new additions that build on and preserve the original author’s vision. However, some things could be done much better to really help me play and teach this RPG. 86%

Daily Punch 5-2-19 Corpse Healer domain for Cleric in DnD 5e

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The Lore Podcast (https://www.lorepodcast.com/ ) just did an episode about healing with corpses.  Let’s do that for clerics!

 

Corpse Healer Domain

The dead hold gateways for the living.  Hangmen long ago learned that corpses still held life and they could wield that life to heal the sick.  Your god guides you to use the dead to save the living.  Some see your rites and religion as profane casting you out to the outskirts of society, but when your detractors become ill, they all come to see you no matter how much they detest you.

Table: Corpse Healer Domain Spells
Cleric Level Spells
1st inflict Wounds, cure wounds
3rd lesser restoration, gentle repose
5th remove curse, revivify
7th death ward, raise dead
9th mass cure wounds, raise dead

Disciple of Life

Starting at 1st level, you learn to channel the powers of life to heal your friends through use of blood.  If you use blood as a material component of a creature that died in the last hour as you cast a healing spell, you heal the target a number of extra hit points equal to the challenge rating the creature had.  A creature has a number of doses of blood equal to its size category with tiny having 1 and gargantuan having six doses.

Channel Divinity: Hand of Glory

Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to enhance your allies.

As an action, you present a severed hand of a hanged craftsman or warrior who fell in battle. Any allies within 30 feet of you, gains a 1d4 to their next skill checks or attacks chosen by you, for the next minute.

Sympathetic healing

Beginning at 6th level, the dead begin to take the injuries of the living.  As an action, you can use body of a recently living creature, no undead or fiends, to cast remover curse or lesser restoration.  At level 12, you can use a body to cast dispel evil and good or greater restoration.  Each corpse may be used once in such a way.

Divine Strike

At 8th level, you learn from your headsman forebears and gain the sneak attack ability of a rogue half your level if you wield an ax of any kind.

Wages of Sin

Starting at 17th level, you can use the body of any creature that died in the last minute as a material to cast true resurrection on any creature that also died in the last minute.  If you do so, you do not need to have prepared the spell, the spell does not cost any additional material components, and the casting time drops to one minute. Killing a creature solely to fuel this ability may be seen as an evil act and may cause your god to reject the spell.

Daily Punch 5-1-19 Brisk Beast feat for DnD 5e

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Continuing with the druid theme for this week, let’s talk 5e and rapid transformations.

 

Brisk Beast

Prerequisite: druid

You revel in close-quarters combat and blood shed in battle. You gain the following benefits:

  • You can your wild shape ability as a reaction or a bonus action.
  • On your first round after turning into a beast until the start of your next turn, you gain advantage on all attacks and saves.

 

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 4-29-19 Rapid Transformation feat for Pathfinder

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Something my wife loves to do whenever anything bad happens with her druids-SCREW THIS I’M OUT!

 

Rapid Transformation (Combat)

You shift shape to avoid or ready yourself for an attack.

Prerequisite: Wild Shape ability.

Benefit: When you are the subject of an attack or spell you can use your wild shape as a immediate action.  The attack targets and is resisted by the statistics of the animal you changed into.

 

 

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 4-26-19 Hostile Negotaitions feat for Pathfinder

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Pathfinder fun from my home game for this final one for the week.

Hosile Negotiations

Benefit: You may make an intimidate check in place of a diplomacy check, but if you fail, the foes attitude instantly moves one step worse.

Normal: You may not use an intimidate skill in place of diplomacy and you only worsen someone attitude by one step if you fail by five or more.

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 4-25-19 Surge cleric spell for Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG

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I want a cleric to get some offence.  Let’s build one!

Surge
Level: 1
Range: 15′ Duration: Instantaneous Casting time: 1 action Save: Reflex vs. spell check DC
General The cleric rains down divine lightning from their fingertips.
Manifestation
roll 1d4: (1)the caster’s hands shoot purple lightning at the target. (2)lightning shoots down from the sky at the target. (3) electricity crackles all over the target. (4)the caster stomps the target and lighting surges up from the ground at the target.
1-11 failure
12-13
A single blast of electricity strikes one target within range for 1d2 points of damage.
14-17
Spell produces a blast of fire that electrocutes a single target within range for 1d5 points of damage.
18-19
Spell produces a blast of fire that electrocutes a single target within range for 1d5+CL points of damage.
20-23
Spell produces a surge of electricity that burns up to three targets within range for 1d5+CL points of damage. All targets must be within 10’ of one another.
24-27
Spell produces a surge of electricity that burns up to three targets within range for 1d10+CL points of damage. All targets must be within 10’ of one another.
28-29
Caster creates a single blast of lighting 10’ wide and 30’ long that does damage equal to 3d5+CL to all caught in the blast. He can pick individual targets to be safe from the blast.
30-31
Caster creates two blasts of lighting 10’ wide and 30’ long that does damage equal to 3d5+CL to all caught in the blast. Each can be directed within a 180° arc of his position. He can pick individual targets to be safe from the blast.
32+
Caster can blast pure lighting in a 360° arc outward from his body. He can pick individual targets to be safe from the blast. All creatures within the radius are immolated, taking damage equal to 4d5+CL damage.

Daily Punch 4-24-19 Geas spell for Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG

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Last night, I subjected a player that didn’t exist!  Welp, time to make it happen!

Geas
Level: 3
Range: 10′ Duration: Instantaneous Casting time: 1 action or special (see below) Save: Will vs. spell check DC
General A cleric calls upon the force of his god to send a individual or a creature on a quest.  This spell only works on intelligent creatures.  That creature must attempt to work toward completing the quest or face dire repercussions for their failure.

Clerics often cast this spell as part of another spell to force a character to do an act as part of another spell or action.  In this case the target must voluntarily fail the will save.
Manifestation roll 1d4: (1) an avatar of the god comes and scribes a mark into the targets forehead cutting the skin deeply.  (2)The room fills with light or darkness and whispers fill the room with the dead the target must do.  (3)a parchment with the task appears with written instructions in gold letters.  the parchment cannot be destroyed by mundane means. (4)the gods own words echo from the mouth of the cleric in a language no one except the target can comprehend.
1-15 Failure.
16-20 The target is given a quest they must complete by the cleric.  Every day the target does not work toward the quest, the target takes a -1 penalty to all rolls.
21-25 The target is given a quest they must complete by the cleric and the cleric is updated daily on the targets progress.  Every day the target does not work toward the quest, the target takes a -2 penalty to all rolls.  The cleric can always located the target as if casting the locate object spell and the cleric may always contact the target as if via the esp spell cast with the same result s the geas spell.
26-30 The target is given a quest they must complete by the cleric and the cleric is updated hourly on the targets progress.  Every day the target does not work toward the quest, the target takes a -5 penalty to all rolls.  The cleric can always located the target as if casting the locate object spell and the cleric may always contact the target as if via the esp spell cast with the same result s the geas spell.  In addition, the caster of the spell may at any time wrack the target with pain as if casting magic missile upon the target at any spell result up to the clerics spell casting result of geas spell.  The target of the spell may not be healed except by clerics of the same god that cast the original geas and those clerics know of the spell as soon as they begin any healing magic as well as knowing they gain disapproval for any actions they take to aid a character not advancing on their geas.
31-35 The target is given a quest they must complete by the cleric and the god of the cleric is updated contently on the targets progress.  Every day the target does not work toward the quest, the target takes a -5 penalty to all rolls.  The god can always located the target as if casting the locate object spell and the cleric may always contact the target as if via the esp spell cast with the same result s the geas spell.  In addition, the god may at any time wrack the target with pain as if casting magic missile upon the target at any spell result it chooses.  The target of the spell may not be healed except by god directly.  The cleric gains all the benefits of casting the spell at  spell result of 30 as well.
36+ The target is given a quest they must complete by the cleric and the god of the cleric is updated contently on the targets progress.  Every day the target does not work toward the quest, the target takes a -10 penalty to all rolls.  The god can instantly kill the target at will, no save, at any point to summon the creature before it.  The god also gains the benefit of casting the spell at spell check 35.  The cleric gains all the benefits of casting the spell at  spell result of 30 as well.

 

Thoughts?