D20 Advanced Adventure Role Playing Game

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game

John Pennisi Additional Contributions

Interior Art

Cameron Mount ─ “Kerian”

Andre Campbell ─ Tyran Eades ─ John Pennisi

Cover

Layout

John Pennisi

John Pennisi

Additional Editing Cameron Mount ─ Abbi Unger

Playtesters Trevor Bancroft ─ Aaron Killeen ─ Tina Hays ─ Cameron Mount Ben Nelson ─ David O'Loughlin ─ R. Padraic Springuel ─ Abbi Unger “Kerian” ─ “SapphireMagic” ─ “zachol” Designation of Product Identity: The following items are hereby designated as Product Identity in accordance with Section 1(e) of the Open Game License, version 1.0a: Any and all Jackelope Crossing Games logos and identifying marks and trade dress; any specific characters and places; capitalized names and original names of persons, places, or things; any and all stories, storylines, histories, plots, thematic elements, and dialogue; and all artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, illustrations, maps, and cartography, likenesses, poses, logos, or graphic designs, except such elements that already appear in final or draft versions of the d20 System Reference Document or as Open Game Content below and are already open by virtue of appearing there. The above Product Identity is not Open Game Content. Designation of Open Content: The following items are hereby designated as Open Content: Chapters I – XII. ©2008 Jackelope Crossing Games.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game

Introduction Gary Gygax died today. It's a strange feeling, to know that someone in your little niche in the world has passed on. For people who weren't gamers, the passing of Gary Gygax probably went unnoticed, but to gamers, it really did mark the end of an era. Gaming changed a lot during Gary's lifetime. He and his friends oversaw the development of the first true roleplaying games from old-fashioned wargames, and with the publishing of a little box set for a game in 1974, they changed the world of gaming forever when they introduced the notion that the miniatures on the table were more than just representations of soldiers in a battlefield, but characters in an adventure that was unfolding between the players of the game. Things have changed since the old days, but that one basic premise remains the same: roleplaying games are meant to be ways that players can create characters and take them on amazing adventures together. Since then, that basic concept has been applied in different ways, as some gamers have put more emphasis on using roleplaying games as a collaborative way to tell captivating stories about their characters and the world they're gaming in. Some players did more of this, some did less, but that was the beauty of roleplaying games: there's no wrong way to play. But that's not to say that the disagreements on what counted as fun to different gamers out there weren't informative. In many ways, the disagreements and discussions about different playstyles were incredibly informative. And it was reading comments from Gary and gamers like him that really helped to crystallize my own gaming philosophy, and that's the philosophy that led me to create d20 Advanced. In many ways, d20 Advanced is designed to be a departure from older systems, such as the ones Gary worked so hard on throughout his life. The game lacks endless subsystems, instead having only a few main methods of conflict resolutions which are designed to encompass a wide variety of similar challenges. It enables a lot of customization on the front end with character design, and it's made to be flexible enough that groups can quickly and easily adjust the game to their liking. When I set off on this journey almost three years ago to come up with a system I could use to play a fantasy world with airships, I had no idea that I'd wind up with an entirely new game system. By making d20 Advanced as open and as boiled down to its essential elements as possible, I've tried to provide a firm foundation for a new generation of gamers to play the game the way they want. My goal with d20 Advanced was to create a toolbox for gamers to create their game, to create their vision of how the

game should play. The beauty of roleplaying games is that there are so many ways to get it right, for the game to be fun for the individual group. Not everything needs to work the same way for every group. There's room for lots of options at the table, and d20 Advanced strives to make them all work within the framework of a single gaming system. And yeah, this is a little different than they did things in Gary's day. More emphasis is placed on making unique and interesting characters with lots of options, and the social contract between players and the GM is more clearly stated. But the principle's still the same: get a group together and use the game to put your characters through adventures. d20 Advanced presents more options in the end for developing characters as points of interest to the game by themselves, to help players invest more in their own characters than they would if these characters were mere game pieces. But at the end of the day, the option is yours entirely. That's what I've tried to create with d20 Advanced: a system that gives you the tools to make the game your own, so that it plays just the way your group needs for your game. It's been a labor of love, written on my laptop (with two big dull spots worn into the paint on the keyboard from where I rest my hands while typing) in bits and pieces over the past three years. I can still remember sitting in the student center at my college when I was just starting on this project, back when it was just going to be an alternate magic system for a fantasy game with airships, and I was just poking away at it in between classes. Now, three years later, I can finally give you the finished product. The artwork is pretty sparse, since the budget for this book was in direct competition with other pressing needs, like tuition and groceries, but I had help from some good friends to assemble it. In 1974, Gary Gygax published a game that came in a little white box, with three little booklets inside, and he changed the world of gaming forever. With the advent of .pdf publishing and online stores and graphics programs, I'm publishing d20 Advanced in much the same way. I doubt this game will ever have anything near to the influence or success that Gary Gygax's creations have had, but if d20 Advanced can help gamers to create worlds of adventure, to help give a group somewhere a set of rules that are flexible and robust enough to support their game, then that's enough of a success for me. So go out there and start gaming. Don't forget to roll a 20 for Gary. - John Pennisi (AKA Jackelope King)

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game

Table of Contents Credits.................................................iii Introduction..........................................ii Table of Contents..................................i Thanks..................................................i

Part I: Characters....................1 Chapter I: The Basics..........................2 Gameplay...........................................4 Hero Dice...........................................7 Character Points..............................10 Details & Characteristics.................12 Drawbacks.......................................15 Chapter II: Abilities.............................19 The Abilities......................................19 Altering Ability Scores......................20 Movement........................................21 Size..................................................22 Chapter III: Skills...............................24 How Skills Work...............................24 Skill Descriptions.............................28 Creating Skills..................................51 Chapter IV: Feats...............................52 Feat Descriptions.............................52 Fighting Styles.................................62 Creating Feats.................................64 Chapter V: FX....................................65 FX Components...............................65 FX Types.........................................68 Using FX..........................................69 Noticing FX......................................74 Countering FX.................................74 FX Descriptions...............................75 FX Feats........................................116

FX Modifiers...................................119 Extras.............................................119 Flaws.............................................124 FX Drawbacks...............................127 FX Structures................................129 Creating FX...................................133 Improving and Adding FX.............136 Chapter VI: Gear..............................138 Equipment.....................................138 General Equipment.......................140 Weapons.......................................142 Armor............................................145 Vehicles.........................................146 Structures......................................148 Devices.........................................150 Constructs.....................................153 Wealth...........................................154

Part II: Action.......................155 Chapter VII: Combat........................156 Combat Statistics...........................156 Actions...........................................159 Action Descriptions........................160 Damage & Injury............................162 Tactical Movement and Options....165 Combat Advantage........................168 Attacks of Opportunity...................170 Maneuvers.....................................171 Chapter VIII: Environments.............175 Zones.............................................175 Terrain Effects................................179 Climate Effects..............................186 Conditions.....................................191

Chapter IX: Dramatic Interactions...195 Dramatic Interactions.....................195 Interaction Types...........................197 Reputation.....................................198 Mental Strain.................................200 Taint...............................................201 Examples of Taint..........................202

Part III: Running the Game.208 Chapter X: Gamemastering.............209 The Three Commandments of Gamemastering.............................209 Overseeing Character Creation.....212 Running the Game........................214 Creating the Adventure..................218 Chapter XI: Campaign Building.......223 Campaign Era................................222 Campaign Feel..............................227 Realism..........................................229 Power Level & Character Points....233 Genre.............................................234 Creating PC Templates.................239 Selecting Options..........................241 Designing Worlds of Adventure....243 Chapter XII: Stock Characters.........246 NPC Guidelines.............................246 Creating an Encounter...................248 NPC Archetypes............................250 NPC Templates..............................262 Appendix I: Creating a Character....268 Appendix II: Sample Session...........270 Index................................................277

Special Thanks To Andre and the guys at Heritage Comics HSQ for the help getting art assembled for the book. To Jim and Becca for hosting d20 Advanced, and to the community at Dragon Avenue for all their help in developing the game. To Steve Kenson for the ideas and the Open Gaming Content from his game that provided so many of the ideas that inspired this work.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I

Part I: Characters Chapter II: Abilities

The fundamental unit of any story is the character, and roleplaying games are no different. This section of the book details everything you need to know to create your character, from the basic abilities to more advanced special FX to the gear used. Part I of d20A details everything you need to design a character for almost any genre of gameplay.

The second chapter covers the basic ability scores a character has, as well as the other attributes characters have which are derived from these abilities. They include Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. The chapter also details how characters purchase these abilities. This chapter is essential for designing characters.

For the Player

Chapter III: Skills

Part I is important for games where you design your own character from the ground up. If your GM's game has character archetypes already created, you only need to familiarize yourself with Chapter I to be ready to game. More experienced players might want to dive in and create a character from the ground up, which requires details from the rest of Part I.

Chapter III lays out the basic system governing mundane character skills in a wide variety of tasks. It includes several methods for resolving tasks which require skill on the part of the characters, and a number of skills characters can choose from. It also details with different ways to purchase skills. This chapter is essential for designing characters.

For the GM

Chapter IV: Feats

If you've chosen to run d20A, Part I details information more necessary for the players, but it does include rules for resolving many tasks. Be familiar with Chapter I, and understand the resolution systems for certain abilities in Chapter II and for skills in Chapter III. The rest of the information in this section is important for reviewing potential characters and designing NPCs, but isn't as important for actually running the game.

Beyond simple abilities and skills, feats are slightly more powerful but situational abilities that players can choose for their characters. The feats are organized in such a way that a GM can quickly and easily select which ones are a good fit for a specific game. This chapter is essential for designing characters.

Chapter V: FX

What's in This Part

Far above the mundane abilities of ordinary people, FX are a set of powers which can be purchased to represent certain superhuman or supernatural capabilities characters might have. These are not for every game, and for many genres are restricted by the GM. This chapter is important for designing character with supernatural powers.

Part I of d20A covers all the essential information to create a character and the basic rules for playing the game. All players and GMs should be familiar with the information in these sections.

Chapter I: The Basics

Chapter VI: Gear

In Chapter I, the very basics of the d20 Advanced system are laid out, explaining the roles of the players and the GM, the basic task resolution system, and explaining the important terms that are used throughout the book. Chapter I also covers the fundamentals of character creation by explaining how abilities are limited by Power Level and how characters are created using Character Points. This chapter is a must-read for all players and GMs.

Characters often rely on different types of gear to perform up to their full capabilities. Chapter VI details how equipment and devices are purchased with character points, as well as showing sample pieces of equipment (ranging from weapons to vehicles to structures) and outlining an optional Wealth system for buying gear. This chapter is important in many games with characters who lack FX.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I

Chapter I: The Basics Who hasn't wanted to be the hero at one time or another? Whether that hero is crossing blades with evil monsters and battling dark sorcerers in the bowels of some horrible dungeon, soaring across the sky in a fancy costume and cape with fantastic powers, or maybe traveling through space in a futuristic spaceship, all types of heroes exist in fiction. d20 Advanced is a game dedicated to making it possible for you to play that hero in a game fueled by the imaginations of yourself and your friends.

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What is a Roleplaying Game? A roleplaying game, or RPG for short, is a game of the imagination, where you and some friends get together and create fictional characters, then play out their adventures around a tabletop. One player takes the role of Gamemaster (or GM) and describes the setting and the challenges your characters encounter. The GM plays the supporting characters and villains in the story. The GM also acts as referee to adjudicate the rules of the game and make sure everything's handled fairly.

A master swordsman, a warrior of renown. A great sorcerer who wields fantastic magic. A cunning thief who survives on his wits alone. A superhero from straight out of a comic book. An explorer who doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty. The pilot of an experimental futuristic space ship. One of the last survivors on Earth after a zombie apocalypse, armed with only a crowbar and a shotgun against the undead. A brilliant scientist whose brain is his greatest weapon. A strange monster or alien from some far-off place. A timid seeker of knowledge man was not meant to know. A mighty psychic whose mind holds vast power. A martial artist who has mastered unarmed combat. A zany cartoon character ready for hijinx. Or anything else that you can imagine!

What You Need to Play Here’s what you need to start playing the d20 Advanced Roleplaying Game:

Your imagination is the only thing limiting the sorts of adventures you can have, since you and your friends create the world, the characters, and the adventures. It's like writing your own story, with your characters as the heroes! All of the action takes place in your imagination, and the story can go on for as long as you want, with one exciting adventure after another.

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This book, which contains all the rules to create a hero and play the game. A copy of the character sheet (found at the back of this book). A pencil and some scratch paper. At least one twenty-sided die (d20). You may want to have one die for each player, or you can share dice.

What is d20 Advanced?

Dice

In the d20 Advanced RPG, you take on the role of a character in any number of wonderful worlds. Whatever you can imagine, you can be, and any sort of game world you would want to play in, you can create. This book contains all the information you need to play the game. This Basics chapter provides a quick overview of how the game works. After you read it, flip through the rest of the book and see the various options for creating character. Then you can read through the following chapters thoroughly to see which options appeal to you the most.

d20 Advanced uses (and takes its name from) a twenty-sided die— available at game and hobby stores—to resolve actions during the game. References to “a die” or “the die” refer to a twenty-sided die unless stated otherwise. The die is often abbreviated “d20” (for twenty-sided die) or “1d20” (for one twenty-sided die). So a rule asking you to “roll d20” means, “roll a twenty-sided die.”

Modifiers Sometimes modifiers to the die roll are specified like this: “d20+2,” meaning “roll the twenty-sided die and add two to the number rolled.” An abbreviation of “d20–4” means, “roll the die and subtract four from the result.”

Characters The characters you create to play d20 Advanced are like the heroes of their own comic book series, television show, or movie. Your character might be...

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I

Using this Book The best way to read this book depends on whether you plan to be a player or Gamemaster in your d20 Advanced game. The GM creates the world in which the characters live and controls all nonplayer characters (NPCs) such as thugs, bystanders, and evil villains, as well as the supporting cast. Each player controls a character of his or her creation, interacting with other player characters as well as with the world and stories created by the GM.

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Social Rules: This icon points out rules which are used to resolve social interactions, which you might not find appropriate for your style of play.

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Tactical Complexity: This icon is used to point out rules which might be problematic because of increased tactical complexity during combat.

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Warning: This icon alerts you to mechanics which might prove problematic for your game because they might be too powerful for your game.

Gamemasters If you plan to be a d20 Advanced Gamemaster, you should familiarize yourself with the whole book. Start by looking over the character creation (Part I: Characters) and Chapter X: Gamemastering. Then read through Chapter VII: Combat, and familiarize yourself with those rules. You may want to run a few sample combats using the character archetypes in the book, just to get a feel for things. Then you can decide what sort of game you want to run by reading Chapter XI: Campaign Building.

The Basics d20 Advanced provides a framework for your imagination. It has rules to help you decide what happens in your stories and to resolve conflicts between characters and the challenges they face. With it, you can experience adventure as just about any sort of character possible. Any adventure you can imagine is possible.

Players If you’re creating a hero for a d20 Advanced game, Part I: Characters contain all the information you need to create your own character. You may want to consult with your GM before creating a character to find out what sort of campaign your GM is interested in running.

Rule Number One The first, and most important, rule of d20 Advanced is: do whatever is the most fun for your game! While we’ve made every effort to ensure d20A is as complete a game system as possible, no system can cover every situation an imaginative group of players may encounter. From time to time, the rules may give you strange or undesirable results. Ignore them! Modify the outcome of die rolls and other events in the game as you see fit to make it fun and enjoyable for everyone. It’s your game, so play it the way you want!

Notifications This book uses numerous icons to quickly draw your eye to suggestions, options, and potentially problematic areas.

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Cinematic: This icon is meant to show you rules which make a game especially cinematic, and to make the PCs much larger-than-life.

The Core Mechanic d20 Advanced uses a standard, or core, mechanic to resolve actions. Whenever a character attempts an action with a chance of failure, do the following:

Examining the Mechanics: This graphic highlights some of the design principles used in certain areas of the game, so you can better understand how to make such choices for your own game.

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Gritty: This icon represents an option which will make your game grimmer and grittier, and make the PCs smaller and even more vulnerable.

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Options: This icon denotes optional guidelines for other ways to handle a rule, or how changing it can affect your game.

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Rule of Thumb: This icon shows helpful suggestions for how to quickly resolve a question without resorting to flipping through the rules.

1. Roll a twenty-sided die (or d20) 2. Add any relevant modifiers (skills, abilities, powers, or conditions) 3. Compare the total to a number called a Difficulty Class. If the result equals or exceeds the Difficulty Class (set by the GM based on the circumstances), your character succeeds. If the result is lower than the Difficulty Class, your character fails. This simple mechanic is used for nearly everything in d20 Advanced, with variations based on what modifiers are made to the roll, what determines the Difficulty Class, and the exact effects of success and failure.

The Gamemaster One of the players in a d20 Advanced game takes the role of Gamemaster or GM. The GM is responsible for running the game, a combination of writer, director, and referee. The GM creates the

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I

adventures for the characters, portrays the villains and supporting characters, describes the world to the players, and decides the outcome of the characters’ actions based on the guidelines given in the rules. It’s a big job, but also a rewarding one, since the GM gets to create the whole world and all the characters in it, as well as inventing fun and exciting stories. If you’re going to be the GM, you should read through this whole book carefully, particularly Part III: Running the Game, which talks about how to run d20 Advanced games and how to create your own game settings for adventures. You should also have a firm grasp of how the rules of the game work, since you’re expected to interpret them for the players to decide what happens in the game.

climb faster and with more confidence than someone who isn’t trained, for example. Skills are measured in ranks, reflecting how much training a character has in the skill. As well, skills determine your combat abilities - how accurate your attacks are, how well you can dodge attacks against you, and how well you can resist damage from attacks that successfully hit you. You choose the skills your character knows and how well trained the character is in them.

Feats Feats are special abilities—talents or knacks. A feat allows your character to do something other characters can’t normally do, or makes your character better at doing certain things. They give the character an advantage over others. You select your character’s feats based on what you want your character to be able to do well relative to others.

The Characters The other players in a d20 Advanced game create characters for their own adventures, like an ongoing story or television show. As a player, you create your character following the guidelines in this book along with the guidance of your GM. There are several components to creating a character, described in detail in Part I: Characters, and outlined here.

FX FX are special abilities beyond those of ordinary human beings. They’re like feats, only more so. Whereas a feat might give your character a minor special ability, FX grant truly superhuman abilities. You choose the FX you want your character to have. Chapter V: FX presents a wide range of FX, along with FX modifiers and FX feats, allowing you to mix and match to create nearly any ability you desire.

Abilities All characters have certain basic abilities. These are Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. They each have a numeric ability score averaging +0 for a normally capable human being. Higher ability scores grant bonuses while lower ability scores impose penalties. As part of creating your character, you decide how strong, smart, and tough your character is by choosing the appropriate ability scores.

Drawbacks Finally, characters often have challenges to overcome. They have drawbacks. Overcoming these drawbacks is part of what makes a real hero. Drawbacks range from physical disabilities to unusual weaknesses or vulnerabilities. You choose your character’s drawbacks, allowing you to define the sorts of challenges your character must overcome in the game.

Skills Skills represent training or ability in a particular sort of task, everything from complex acrobatics to performing surgery, programming computers, or piloting a plane. A skill acts as a bonus for actions involving those tasks. Someone trained in climbing can

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I

Gameplay

roll a check total of 15 or better to succeed. In some cases, the results of a check vary based on how much higher or lower the result is than the DC.

A session of d20 Advanced resembles a small part of a story, ranging from a chapter of a book to an episode of a television program to an issue of a comic book. The GM and the players get together and tell a story by playing the game. The length of the game session can vary, from just a couple hours to several hours or more. Some adventures may be completed in a single session while others may take multiple sessions, just as some stories are told in one short book, while others span whole series. The episodic nature of the game allows you to choose when to stop playing and allows you to start up again at any time at which you and your friends agree.

TABLE 1.1: CHECK EXAMPLES Task Simplistic Easy Average Challenging Difficult Very Difficult Formidable Heroic Epic Legendary Mythical

Just like any other story, a d20 Advanced adventure consists of a series of interrelated scenes or encounters. Some scenes are fairly straightforward, with the characters interacting with each other and the supporting cast. In these cases the GM generally just asks the players to describe what their characters are doing and in turn describes how the other characters react and what they do. When the action starts happening, such as when the characters are staving off a disaster or fighting villains, time becomes more crucial and is broken down into rounds, each six seconds long, and the players generally have to make die rolls to see how their heroes do.

Impossible

Example Follow a mob in broad daylight Climb a knotted rope against a wall Hear an approaching guard Repair an alarm clock Swim in stormy water Pick the lock to a house front door Leap across a 30-foot chasm Track a ninja across hard ground Hack the Pentagon mainframe Locate a master spy in a metropolis Open the vault at Fort Knox Perform open-heart surgery on yourself with a pen knife in the dark

DC 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55+

Opposed Checks

Die Rolls

Some checks are opposed. They are made against a randomized number, usually another character’s check result. Whoever gets the higher result wins. An example is trying to bluff someone. You roll a Persuasion check, while the GM rolls a Perception check for your target. If you beat the target’s Perception check result, you succeed. For ties on opposed checks, the character with the higher bonus wins. If the bonuses are the same, roll d20. On a 1–10 one character wins and on 11–20 victory goes to the other character; decide which character is “high” and which is “low” before rolling. Alternately, you can just flip a coin to see who wins.

There are a number of different die rolls in d20 Advanced, although they all follow the core mechanic of a 20-sided die + modifiers vs. a Difficulty Class.

Dice Pools Some abilities grant characters access to dice pools, which grant the player the option to try again on a failed check by rolling multiple dice at once and then taking the best result from all of those dice. After using a dice pool in this way, the player loses one die from the dice pool.

Trying Again In general, you can try a check again if you fail, and keep trying indefinitely. Some tasks, however, have consequences for failure. For example, failing an Athletics check to climb a building may mean the character falls, which makes it difficult to try again. Some tasks can’t be attempted again once a check has failed. For most tasks, when you have succeeded once, additional successes are meaningless. (Once you’ve discovered a room’s only secret door using the Perception skill, for instance, there’s no further benefit to be gained from additional Perception checks.)

Negative Dice Pools There are also some statuses which are meant to represent the buildup of harmful things, such as taint. In these examples, players roll their dice pools and select the lowest result. They don't lose one die from the dice pool for using it (since it's usually unwanted anyway), but they might be able to lower these problematic dice pools through other means.

If a task carries no penalty for failure, you can take 20 and assume the character goes at it long enough to succeed, or at least determines the task is impossible at the character's level of ability.

Checks To make a check, roll d20 and add any modifiers for traits (abilities, skills, or FX) relevant to the check. The higher the total, the better the outcome.

Condition Modifiers Some situations make a check easier or harder, resulting in a bonus or penalty to the modifier for the check or the check’s Difficulty Class.

Check = d20 + modifiers vs. Difficulty Class

Difficulty Class

The GM can change the odds of success in four ways:

Some checks are made against a Difficulty Class (DC). The DC is a number set by the GM which your check must meet or exceed in order for you to succeed. So for a task with a DC of 15 you must

1. Grant a +2 or +5 bonus to represent conditions improving performance. 2. Impose a –2 or -5 penalty to represent conditions hampering

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I performance. 3. Reduce the DC by 2 or 5 to represent circumstances making the task easier. 4. Increase the DC by 2 or 5 to represent circumstances making the task harder.

failure, you can take 20. Instead of rolling the check, calculate your result as if you had rolled a 20. Taking 20 means you keep trying until you get it right. Taking 20 takes twenty times longer than a single check, or about 2 minutes for a task requiring a round or less. If there are penalties or consequences for failing the check, such as setting off an alarm or slipping and falling, you cannot take 20 on that check.

Bonuses to the check and reduction in the check's DC have the same result: they create a better chance of success. But they represent different circumstances, and sometimes that difference is important. GMs should feel free to take account of very favorable and unfavorable circumstances with bonuses or penalties or DC modifications greater than +2 or -2 (as a rule of thumb, from about +5/-5 up to about a total of +10/-10).

Comparison Checks In cases where a check is a simple test of one character’s ability against another, with no luck involved, the character with the higher score wins automatically. Just as you wouldn’t make a “height check” to see who’s taller, you don’t need to make a Strength check to see who’s stronger. When two characters arm wrestle, for example, the stronger character wins. If two flying characters race, the faster character wins, and so forth. Note this does not include the use of Hero Dice to temporarily increase a character’s score, which can affect the outcome of a comparison check. In the case of identical bonuses or scores, each character has an equal chance of winning. Roll a die: on a 1–10, the first character wins, on an 11– 20, the second character does.

Tools Some tasks require tools. If tools are needed, the specific items are mentioned in the description of the task or skill. If you don’t have the appropriate tools, you can still attempt the task, but at a –5 penalty on your check. A character may be able to put together impromptu tools to make the check. If the GM allows this, reduce the penalty to –2 (instead of –5). It usually takes some time (several minutes to an hour or more) to collect or create a set of impromptu tools, and it may require an additional check as well. Characters with the Improvised Tools feat suffer no penalty for not having the proper tools to perform a task. They can make do with whatever is at hand.

Aiding Another Sometimes characters work together and help each other out. In this case, one character (usually the one with the highest bonus) is considered the leader of the effort and makes the check normally, while each helper makes the same check against DC 10 (and can’t take 10 on this check). Success grants the leader a +2 bonus for favorable conditions. For every 10 full points the helper’s check exceeds the DC, increase the bonus by +1, so a result of 20–29 grants a +3 bonus, 30–39 a +4, and so forth. In many cases, outside help isn’t beneficial, or only a limited number of helpers can aid someone at once. The GM limits aid as he sees fit for the task and conditions.

Checks Without Rolls A check represents performing a task under a certain amount of pressure. When the situation is less demanding, you can achieve more reliable results. Applying these rules can speed up checks under routine circumstances, cutting down the number of rolls players need to make.

Taking 1

Types of Checks

If your total bonus on a check is equal to or greater than the DC minus 1, you will succeed regardless of what you roll on the die, even under pressure. In this case, the GM might not require you to roll and just assume you succeed, since the task is a trivial effort for someone of your skill. If the check has varying levels of success, you’re assumed to achieve the minimum possible (as if you’d rolled a 1). You can choose to make a roll to achieve a greater level of success, or the GM may assume a greater level of success, depending on the circumstances.

You use two main traits for checks: skills and FX:

Taking 10 When you are not under any pressure to perform a task, you may choose to take 10. Instead of rolling the check, calculate your result as if you had rolled a 10. For average (DC 10) tasks, taking 10 allows you to succeed automatically with a modifier of +0 or greater. You cannot take 10 if distracted or under pressure (such as in a combat situation). The GM decides when this is the case. Characters with Skill Mastery can take 10 with some skills even while under pressure.

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Skill Checks: A skill check determines what you can accomplish with a particular skill. It is a roll of d20 + your rank in the skill and the key ability score of the skill against a Difficulty Class. Skill checks sometimes have gradations of success and failure based on how much your total roll is above or below the DC. For example, if you fail an Athletics check, you don’t make any progress, and if you fail by 5 or more, you lose your grip and fall.

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FX Checks: An FX check uses one of your hero's FX as its modifier. It is a measure of what the hero can accomplish with that FX. It is a roll of d20 + the FX’s rank, which measures how strong the FX is, against a Difficulty Class. Some FX do not require FX checks; they just work automatically, while other FX have some automatic aspects and others require checks.

Attack Rolls An attack roll, whether through a Weapon Group skill or an FX determines whether or not you hit an opponent in combat. It is a d20 roll + your Weapon Group skill for that weapon. The Difficulty

Taking 20 When you have plenty of time and the task carries no penalty for

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I Class is your target's Defense, which measures their ability to avoid attacks. If you equal or exceed your target's Defense, your attack hits. Otherwise, you miss. A natural 20 on an attack roll (where the die comes up 20) always hits and may be a critical hit. A natural 1 on an attack roll (where the die comes up 1) always misses.

a condition each round.

Check Condition Track Characters often find themselves suffering from conditions which affect their ability to use their skills normally. The check condition track monitors how much of a penalty you may be suffering to certain checks, and which skills are being penalized. It is normally a free action to attempt to recover from such a condition each round.

Resistances Resistances are efforts to avoid different forms of danger, ranging from damage and injury to traps, poisons, and various powers. A resistance is a static DC based on:

Movement Condition Track

10 + the appropriate ability modifier + resistance ranks + any bonuses for feats or FX

Finally, some conditions might affect your character's ability to move freely. The movement condition track checks to see how mobile your character is. It is normally a free action to attempt to recover from such a condition each round.

Constitution is the ability modifier for Fortitude, and Charisma is the ability modifier for Will. Unlike the other resistances, defense and toughness are not modified by any ability score.

The Combat Round

Since Resistances are skill checks, there are sometimes gradations to a Resistance. For example, a Toughness resistance against damage results in no damage at all if your opponent's damage roll fails to beat the your Toughness resistance. But if his damage roll exceeds your Toughness, results could vary as widely as a glancing blow, a stunning blow, or an immediate knockout, depending on how much your Toughness resistance is exceeded by.

When things really start happening in a d20 Advanced game, time is broken down into six-second segments called rounds. A round isn’t very much time. Think of it like a panel in a comic book, just long enough for a hero to do something. During a round you are entitled to two actions. You can perform as many free actions and reactions in a round as you wish, although the GM may choose to limit them to a reasonable number to keep the game moving.

Condition Tracks

One Action

Your character's status is noted across a small number of condition tracks. These tracks are separate, but also work in conjunction with one another, especially those involving FX like Inflict (Condition). As you are afflicted, injured, or otherwise disabled, or when you begin to recover and heal, you note these changes on your various condition tracks.

One action generally involves acting upon something, whether it's an attack or using an FX to affect something. You can also use one action to move, or things like drawing weapons, standing up from being prone, and picking up objects. You can take an action to move before or after you take your other action, so you can attack then move, or move then attack. You cannot normally split your action to move before and after your other action, however.

Injury Condition Track The injury condition track is used to monitor your character's health. Taking damage from attacks will tend to lower your character's status on the injury condition track, while rest and medical care will improve your character's status on the injury condition track.

Two Actions Two actions occupy all your attention for the round, meaning you can't do anything else. Full actions include a full-speed charge at an opponent which ends in an attack, or spending the whole round moving as quickly as you can. Certain powers or maneuvers require a full action to perform, as do some skills.

Combat Advantage Track

Free Actions

A track to follow what advantages your foes might hold over you in combat, the combat advantage track shows how vulnerable you are at any given moment to different sorts of attacks. Enemies with Combat Advantage over you have an easier time attacking you. You must often spend an action and make an opposed check to reclaim combat advantage.

A free action is something so comparatively minor it doesn't take a significant amount of time. You can perform as many free actions in a round as the GM considers reasonable. Free actions include things like talking (heroes and villains always find time to say a lot during a fight), dropping something, ending the use of a power, activating some powers, and so forth.

Action Condition Track

Reactions

In order to track how able your character is to move and fight normally, the action condition track monitors how many actions your character is alloted in a given round. Effects which alter the flow of time or disorient your character might deny him actions, and recovering from those effects is the only way to regain those normal actions. It is normally a free action to attempt to recover from such

A reaction is something you do in response to something else. A reaction doesn't take any time, like a free action. The difference is you might react when it's not even your turn, in response to something else happening during the round.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I

Rapid Counter

Hero Dice

You may spend a Hero Die to attempt to counter an FX, as if you had readied an action to do so.

Characters in d20 Advanced have a dice pool of hero dice which players can spend to improve the characters' abilities in various ways. You can spend a hero dice to push an ability or FX beyond its normal capabilities, bounce back from being hurt, and achieve various other effects. In addition, you can use your hero dice pool to re-roll any check.

Recover As a free action, you may spend a Hero Die to gain a free recovery attempt against a condition. You may make an immediate recovery check as a free action. If you succeed, you lose the condition as normal. If you fail, reduce the severity of the condition by one step on the condition track. If you are injured, spending a Hero Point allows you an immediate recovery check for two actions. The condition turns out to be not as bad as it first seemed, and you are able to act more normally.

Uses of Hero Dice Creative Control A player may, at times, want to provide his own input into a scene. He may ask for a hint for how to progress, or he might "edit in" something to a scene.

Surge You gain an additional action on your turn. You may use this action to attack, move, make a skill check, use an FX, or any other activity which takes one action.

A player asking for a hint is akin to having a burst of inspiration, a "eureka!" moment, if you will. The player pays a Hero Die and receives a hint or a clue as to how to proceed. The GM should try not to make the help too great so as to completely negate a challenge (and fun), but should also keep in mind that a player is giving up a significant resource for this hint, so it should be likewise significant.

Survive If a character would be killed, or is at risk of dying from bleeding out, you may spend a Hero Die to stabilize. You aren't able to rejoin the fight immediately, but your character is no longer at risk to die from that condition. Note that subsequent attacks could still kill a fallen character, requiring another expenditure of Hero Dice.

Similarly, a player who wishes to "edit something in" may spend a Hero Die to do so. Someone might be fighting bandits raiding the town near a fireplace, and lacking a weapon, yank a red-hot poker out of the fire. The GM might not have mentioned it before, but by spending a Hero Die, the option is on-hand for the character.

Earning Hero Dice

This use of Hero Dice is intended to allow players input into the direction the game is taking and a degree of creative control. A GM should feel free to veto a use of Hero Dice in this way, but should only do so if such an "edit" would significantly disrupt the game (such as finding a rocket launcher under the table in a schoolhouse, or an alien death ray in a fantasy setting). If it's a reasonable request which doesn't give the player undue advantage or disrupt the feel of the game overall, then it's probably okay to allow.

All characters start each game session with a single Hero Die. Characters can earn Hero Dice for any number of things during a game. For the most part, players should be rewarded Hero Dice when unforeseen complications arise to make things considerably more difficult for them.

Setbacks

Reroll

Setbacks are when things just aren’t going the character’s way. When a character suffers a significant failure, the player gets a hero die. Generally, a “significant failure” is a failed skill check or suffering with the worst possible result of an attack: an Athletics check where the character falls, a Damage Roll where the

At any time, you may reroll any check with your Hero Dice Pool. Roll the entire pool of dice at once and select the highest result. Use that result in place of your original check. After rerolling in this way, you lose one Hero Die from your Hero Dice pool.

Reroll and Resistances You may also use the reroll ability as a reaction to having an opponent overcome one of your resistances. You may roll your Hero Dice Pool and select the highest result to add to your Defense total.

Option: Removing Hero Dice You may decide that the cinematic edge that Hero Points give characters is inappropriate for your game. If you choose to remove Hero Dice from your game, you should understand that combat will tend to become more random and risky to the PCs, as a lucky damage roll from their opponents could leave them unconscious on the first attack very easily. You may consider increasing the base Toughness resistance from 5 to 10 to help alleviate the difficulty of being unable to spend a hero die to temporarily increase a character's Toughness resistance.

Gain Feat By spending one Hero Die, you may gain the benefits of any one feat you don't have (including FX feats, which could allow you to use an entirely new Alternate FX). You may use this option to gain any feat except for Fortune feats (which require Hero Dice to function already).

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I character is knocked out, an effect which successfully mindcontrols the character, and so forth. The GM decides if a particular failure is significant or not. Generally, routine failures, like missing an attack roll or suffering some lesser effect from an attack, is not significant enough to count as a setback and earn a hero die.

Hero Die when it puts you in a bind or on the horns of a moral dilemma.

A newly acquired hero die cannot be used to eliminate the setback that granted it. So you can’t suffer a significant failure and then spend the hero die you get to avoid failing, and you can’t get knocked out by a tough Damage Roll and spend the hero die immediately to try and wake up. You can spend hero dice you already have, but if you overcome a setback by spending a hero die you don’t gain a hero die for that setback, since it isn’t really a setback!

Setbacks and Genre Awarding hero dice for setbacks isn't appropriate (nor should it be the same) for all genres of play. While it works well for four-color adventures where heroes are expected to bounce back after facing hardships to save the day, grimmer adventures might not reward characters suffering hardship with hero dice, since that's the whole point of grim and gritty adventures! Or the GM may only grant hero dice when a setback is particularly terrible (like losing a limb).

•

Obsession: You’re obsessed with a particular subject and pursue it to the exclusion of all else, which can create some complications.

•

Phobia: You’re irrationally afraid of something. When confronted with it you have to fight to control your fear, causing you to hesitate or act irrationally (and earning a hero die).

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Prejudice: You are part of a minority group subject to the prejudices of others. Some Gamemasters and gaming groups may prefer not to deal with issues of prejudice in their games, in which case the GM is free to ban this complication.

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Reputation: You have a bad reputation, affecting what others think of you (whether you deserve it or not). Having someone adopt a bad attitude toward you because of your reputation is a complication.

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Responsibility: You have various demands on your time and attention. Responsibilities include family obligations, professional duties, and similar things. Failing to live up to your responsibilities can mean loss of relationships, employment, and other problems.

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Rivalry: You feel a strong sense of competition with a person or group and have to do your best to outdo your rival at every opportunity.

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Secret: You have something potentially damaging or embarrassing you’re hiding from the world. Occasionally, something (or someone) may threaten to reveal your secret.

•

Temper: Certain things just set you off. When you lose your temper you lash out at whatever provoked you.

Complications Complications are essentially setbacks players choose for their characters in advance. If a particular complication causes a significant setback for a character, it’s worth a hero die award. Possible complications, and their uses in adventures, include: •

•

Accident: You cause or suffer some sort of accident. Perhaps during a battle, you cause significant collateral damage or injure innocent bystanders. The GM decides the effects of an accident, but they should be troublesome. Accidents can lead to further complications; perhaps the character develops a guilt-complex, obsession, or phobia involving the accident (see Madness).

You get a hero die for each encounter where a complication comes into play. The GM decides when a particular complication comes up, although you can offer suggestions on suitable opportunities. You should choose one or two regular complications for your character, and feel free to suggest others to the Gamemaster during play. The GM decides what complications are appropriate and can overrule any particular complication, depending on the needs of the story. Keep in mind the adventure needs to have room for all the characters’ complications, so individual ones can only come up so often.

Addiction: You need something, whether for physical or psychological reasons. You’ll go out of your way to satisfy your addiction, and being unable to satisfy it may lead to a temporary weakness drawback. When your addiction causes you a setback, that’s a complication, and it earns you a Hero Die.

•

Enemy: You have an enemy, or enemies, trying to do you harm. The GM can have your enemy show up to cause you trouble, and adventures involving your enemy tend to be more complicated for you; even personal grudge-matches, if the enmity goes both ways. When having an enemy causes a particular problem for you (such as your enemy abducting a loved on), you get a Hero Die.

•

Fame: You’re a public figure, known almost everywhere you go, hounded by the media, swamped by fans and well-wishers, and similar problems.

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Hatred: You have an irrational hatred of something, leading you to actively oppose the object of your dislike in some way, no matter the consequences.

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Honor: You have a strong personal code of honor. Generally this means you won’t take unfair advantage of opponents or use trickery, but you can define the exact terms of your code with the GM. Honor is only a complication that earns you a

Complications can (and generally should) change over the course of a campaign: old enemies die or are put away for life, rivalries and psychological issues are resolved, new romances and relationships begin, and so forth. Work with the GM to come up with new complications for your character as old ones are resolved. The Gamemaster may set limits on how many ongoing complications your hero can have in play at any given time.

Nature Often, a character's Nature can cause setbacks for the character. A hopeful character might be faced with crushing despair, causing him to crumble, or an overzealous character must come to grips with other people's differences. When a character acts according to his nature (and especially when such an action causes the character a setback), then the character should be given a hero die award.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I

Memorable Moments

Spending Character Points

There are just some times when a character says something so perfect or does something so unbelievably awesome that the whole table starts cheering. When players come together to create moments that really excite everyone, or just do such a great job at making the game fun for everyone, they should be rewarded with hero dice for their hard work. The point of the game is to have fun, after all, so you should reward players who make the game more fun!

Each trait costs a certain number of power points. You “spend” or allocate your power points to give your character different traits. Once spent, power points cannot be re-allocated without the use of a particular power or the GM’s permission. The basic costs of various traits are given on the Basic Trait Costs table, with specific costs for FX given in Chapter V: FX, and specific values for drawbacks given at the end of this chapter.

TABLE 1.2: BASIC TRAIT COSTS

Fiat

Trait Ability Score Skills FX Drawbacks

Lastly, players earn hero dice when the Gamemaster “bends” the rules of the game in favor of the bad guys. The GM essentially gets to use a hero die on behalf of the villain(s), but the heroes get hero dice themselves when this happens. Some uses for GM Fiat include: • •

•

• •

Giving a non-player character the benefit of a hero die. Allowing a villain to escape an encounter automatically. Circumstances conspire to allow the villain to get away scotfree: debris blocks pursuit, the villain goes missing in an explosion or falls to a mysterious “death,” and so forth. Have a character automatically suffer the worst possible effect from a particular hazard, like a villain’s trap, to help further the game. Have the characters automatically surprised by an opponent at the start of an encounter. Cause some additional problem for the characters. Essentially, bringing a complication into play can be seen a use of GM Fiat.

Power Level Power Level is an overall measure of effectiveness and power, primarily combat ability, but also generally what sort of tasks a character can be expected to accomplish on a regular basis, assuming the ability to take 10 and take 20. A higher-level character is more capable of changing the world around him. Power level is a value set by the GM for the campaign. It places certain limits on where and how players can spend points when creating characters. Power level affects the following things:

A good rule of thumb with Gamemaster Fiat is any time the GM effectively grants a non-player character the benefits of a hero die or the equivalent, the affected character or characters get a hero die in exchange. This is important, since only the characters have and earn hero dice. NPCs make use of GM Fiat as the Gamemaster sees fit. The Gamemaster should make an effort to use both GM Fiat and the authority to award hero dice fairly, to make the adventure more fun and exciting. See Part III: Running the Game for more information on awarding hero dice and using Gamemaster Fiat.

•

Attack: Your character's total Attack Bonus cannot exceed the campaign's power level.

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Defense / Toughness Resistance: Your character's total Defense and Toughness resistance modifiers cannot exceed the campaign's power level.

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Effect Modifier: Your character's total Effect Modifier cannot exceed the campaign's power level.

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Defenses: Your hero's total Fortitude and Will resistance modifiers cannot exceed the campaign's power level +5.

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Ability Scores: Ability scores are limited to a bonus no greater than the campaign's power level +5. Strength is restricted by the effect Modifier limit to a bonus no higher than the campaign's power level, as is Constitution by the maximum Toughness limit. This means a limit of the campaign's power level for Strength and Constitution instead of the campaign's power level +5 for other ability scores. The Strength and Constitution limits may be raised with an attack/defense tradeoff.

•

Skill Rank: A character cannot have more ranks in a skill than the campaign’s power level +5. So in a PL 10 campaign, a player character cannot have more than 15 ranks in any one skill (10 + 5).

Character Points You create your d20 Advanced character by spending character points on different traits. Each ability, skill, feat, power, and other trait has a character point cost, while drawbacks give you additional character points to spend.

Starting Character Points The campaign’s power level provides a guideline for how many character points you get to create your character (15 character points per power level), as shown on the Starting Character Points table. The GM can vary the starting character points as desired to suit the campaign. You can find more on this in Chapter X: Gamemastering.

Cost in Character Points 2 per ability score point above +0 1 per 1 skill rank base cost × rank –1 or more points

Types of Power Level Limits There are a few different ways to limit different abilities in d20 Advanced based on Power Level. Depending on the style of game you're going to play, you might chose to limit certain abilities more than others.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I TABLE 1.3: POWER LEVEL Power Level

Character Points

Max Atk

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 135 150 165 180 195 210 225 240 255 270 285 300

+1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +10 +11 +12 +13 +14 +15 +16 +17 +18 +19 +20

Max Defense / Toughness Resistance +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +10 +11 +12 +13 +14 +15 +16 +17 +18 +19 +20

Max Effect Modifier

Max Fort / Will Resistance

Max Skill Rank

+1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +10 +11 +12 +13 +14 +15 +16 +17 +18 +19 +20

+6 +7 +8 +9 +10 +11 +12 +13 +14 +15 +16 +17 +18 +19 +20 +21 +22 +23 +24 +25

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 +25

Caps

any restricted traits, though you may consider restricting abilities which you want to be present but reduced in focus or potency in your game.

Caps designate what can modify a trait, and whether those modifiers count towards the power level limits. •

•

Hard Cap: A trait that is hard-capped has its total modifier limited by power level, regardless of where the bonuses come from. By default, resistances like Fortitude and Will are hardcapped in d20 Advanced.

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Banned: Traits which are inappropriate for a game might be banned, with their total modifier set at zero.

•

Required: Alternatively, PCs might be required to spend at least a certain number of points in a given trait. In a wuxia game for example, all the PCs might be required to have at least 1 rank in Enhanced Movement (leaping). The GM might wave the cost for required traits and award them as a bonus to all PCs.

Soft Cap: One the other hand, a trait that is soft-capped only has its ranks limited by power level, and its other modifiers (usually just the ability scores.

Limits

Combining Caps and Limits

A power level's limits tell you how many ranks you can buy in a given trait. •

Unlimited: There is no limit to the number of ranks you can invest in a given trait. By default, FX which don't target a character's resistances (especially movement FX, like Enhanced Movement and Speed) are unlimited in d20 Advanced.

By combining caps and limits, you can quickly determine just how many points you can invest in a trait, and determine how high the bonus can go. For instance, by default, the Acrobatics skill is soft capped high, which means that the total ranks in the skill are limited to the campaign's power level + 5, and that your Dexterity score can improve your skill modifier beyond that. And an Inflict (Condition) FX is hard capped PL, so you can only have a total modifier for that FX equal to the campaign's power level.

•

High: High traits have their ranks limited at 5 + the campaign's power level. Non-combat skills (like Might and Acrobatics) are high-limit traits by default.

Attack and Defense Trade-Offs

•

PL: Normal traits have their ranks limited at a value equal to the campaign's power level. Combat skills like Defense and Toughness are PL-limit traits.

•

Restricted: Traits with ranks limited to half the campaign's current power level. By default, d20 Advanced does not have

Although the campaign's power level defines certain limits, there is some flexibility to them. Players can choose to lower one power level limit on a character to raise another related limit. You can adjust power level limits in the following ways: •

Attack & Effect Modifier: You can trade-off an Attack Bonus

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I for an Effect Modifier on a one-to-one basis. So a PL 10 hero could have a +8 Attack Bonus in order to have a +12 Effect Modifier, for example, or a hero that has chosen to have a +15 Attack Bonus is limited to a +5 Effect Modifier. This modification does not apply to powers that do not require attack rolls; they remain limited by the campaign’s normal PL limit on Effect Modifiers. Strength is considered an "attack" for purposes of this trade-off, so lowering your Attack Bonus limit increases your Strength bonus limit. •

Defense & Toughness: You can trade-off defense for Toughness bonus on a one-to-one basis. So a PL 10 character with a +7 Defense could have a +13 Toughness. Conversely a character in the same campaign who has a +15 Defense is limited to a +5 Toughness.

No limit can be reduced to less than 0 in this way and the GM must approve all such trade-offs. Attack/defense trade-offs allow for some variety in combat-related bonuses while maintaining power level balance among the characters overall. A good rule of thumb is to limit trade-offs to +5/-5 to keep things at a relatively manageable level.

Power Level and NPCs While the GM should keep the power level guidelines and suggested starting power points of the campaign in mind while creating villains and members of the supporting cast, such nonplayer characters are not restricted by the campaign's power level and may have as many character points as the GM wants to give them. Instead, determine an NPC's power level based on the character's highest appropriate trait(s). This power level is simply an approximation to show what level of challenge that NPC offers, and is not necessarily related to the NPC's character point total, which may be greater than or less than the recommended starting power points for that power level. NPCs are often designed to fill a particular niche in the campaign and do not need to be as well rounded or balanced as characters. Likewise, NPCs may have whatever traits the GM wishes to assign them. In fact, some non-player characters are better treated as plot devices; giving them game stats may limit them too much! For example, an omnipotent cosmic entity doesn’t need a comprehensive list of traits; neither does a mysterious alien artifact with vast and unknown powers. They serve whatever dramatic needs the GM wishes. You can find more about creating non-player characters and plot devices in Chapter X: Gamemastering.

Re-Allocating Character Points Normally a character's traits are relatively fixed. Once character points are spent on traits, they remain there. In some cases, however, the GM may allow players to re-allocate their characters' points, changing their traits within the limits of the campaign's power level, perhaps even losing some traits and gaining entirely new ones. This change may come about as the result of events in the game, such as a character encountering something that alters her abilities (intense radiation, mutagenic chemicals, magic energy, and so forth). It's up to the GM when these character-altering events occur, but they should be fairly rare unless their effects are intended to be strictly temporary complications. Very few players enjoy changes to their characters made without their consent, so GMs should be very careful when implementing this type of change.

Power Level and Character Growth As the characters earn additional character points through adventuring, the GM may wish to increase the campaign's power level, allowing players to spend some of their earned character points to improve traits already at the campaign's limit. Not raising the power level forces player characters to diversify, improving their less powerful or effective traits, and acquiring new ones, but it can make the players feel constrained and the characters to start looking the same if it isn't raised occasionally. Increasing power level by one for every 15 earned character points is a good rule of thumb, depending on how quickly the GM wants the player characters to improve in overall power.

Bigger Guns and Power Level There is one problem with Power Level limits: what do you do when you want your character to run over and grab the big gun that a higher-PL NPC enemy just dropped? Is there some magic barrier which prevents you from using it until you're at a higher PL? Do they all suddenly malfunction and stop working? Should the GM even allow the looting of corpses and the like? It really depends on the genre of the game and the intent of the players. For fantasy games, where killing things and taking their stuff is a staple of the genre (and has been literally since the birth of roleplaying games), this is probably something you want to allow. If, on the other hand, you're running a four-color superheroes game, looting a fallen enemy for profit is stealing, something no righteous

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I do-gooder would ever stoop to. You also want to be aware of whether or not the player is picking up the gear just for one fight because he needs it to stay alive, or if he wants to add it to his cache of weapons permanently. There are a few different, relatively simple ways to handle grabbing the bigger gun: •

The Recoil is Unbelievable: The piece of gear is unwieldy for the character, whether because of massive recoil from the giant gun, or a strange balance on the two-handed sword, or simply because the character hasn't attuned properly to the magic in the wand. The character can use the item at full effect, but in order to do so, the character takes a penalty to attack, as if using a trade-off to allow for use of the device normally. So if a PL 6 PC with a +6 attack bonus with guns picks up a gun which does +8 Damage, then his attack bonus with that exceptionally heavy gun is only +4 (essentially a +2 Effect Modifier/-2 Attack trade-off).

•

Paying Up-Front: Alternatively, you may want to charge the player one hero die for each scene the character uses the item in. It's not easy to wrestle an ancient, cursed sword under your control instantly, so it takes a little luck and a whole lot of guts to use it.

•

If You Didn't Pay, You Can't Play: Finally, whether for a specific instance or just in general, the GM might rule that a particular item is just too advanced or unwieldy or bizarre for a PC to use effectively, at least until he's spent the character points to buy it normally (representing training to use the item, or maybe undergoing a ritual to magically attune oneself to the mana flowing through it).

Details & Characteristics

Age How old is your character? Characters tend to range from their teens to middle age, but some characters are older, depending on a character's background, possibly much older. Consider the effects of age on the characters. A teenager on her first adventure away from home isn't likely to have the same views as a mature adult. A character's age may influence the choice of certain traits. Older characters are likely to have lower physical ability scores, for example, while younger characters may have fewer skills (having had less time to train in them).

Appearance What does your character look like? Consider things like the character's race, sex, and other factors in appearance. Is the character short or tall? What about hair and eye color? Does the character have any distinguishing marks or unique features? What sort of wardrobe does the character prefer?

Personality How would you describe your character's personality? While characters tend to share a desire to use their powers for good and uphold the law, they show a diverse range of attitudes. One character may be dedicated to the ideals of truth, justice, and equality, while another is willing to break the rules in order to ensure things get done. Some character are forthright and cheerful while others are grim and unrelenting. Consider your character's attitudes and personality traits, particularly in light of the character's nature.

Nature

A lot of details go into making your character more than just a collection of numbers, things like name, gender, age, appearance, and so forth help to define who he or she is. Take a moment, if you haven’t already, to consider the following things about your d20 Advanced character.

Name What is your character's name? You can give your character any name you like, based on a real-world name, one from fiction, or a name entirely of your own creation. Appropriate names depend on the kind of character and the type of story you’re telling, so consult with your group and your GM.

Gender Is your character male or female? There's no requirement to play a character of the same gender as you. In fact, you may find it interesting to play a character of a different gender, to experience a little of what life is like from another perspective.

All intelligent creatures make moral choices, to live according to their better nature or to give in to immoral impulses. Many walk a difficult line between the two. Each character in d20 Advanced has a particular nature, which is made up of a virtue and a vice. During character creation, select a virtue and a vice to decide your character's nature. A list of examples is given below, but you can make up your own virtues and vices with the GM's permission. The key is to give your character one good quality (virtue) and one bad quality (vice).

Changing Nature Generally speaking, a person's nature is fixed. Virtue and vice are deep-seated facets of the character's personality; some might say the halves of the soul. So changing one's true nature is difficult. At the GM's discretion, certain major events in a character's life can lead to a change in nature (either virtue or vice or both), but these events are largely beyond the players' control. The GM shouldn't allow changes in nature to happen lightly; they're pivotal events in an individual's life.

Allegiance Characters' beliefs and motivations are at least as important as their amazing abilities. These are reflected by their allegiances.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I TABLE 1.4: VICES AND VIRTUES Vice Virtue Cowardly Courageous Indecisive Compromising Treacherous Stalwart Agitated Calm Cruel Humble Pessimistic Optimistic Careless Careful Stagnant Free-spirited Despondent Compassionate Cold Dispassionate Insensitive Perceptive Boastful Bold Petty Exacting Arbitrary Logical Hysterical Emotional Standoffish Affable Inhibited Gregarious Apathetic Ambitious Remorseful Hopeful Cold Dispassionate Nostalgic Reflective Deluded Practical Stubborn Daring Peevish Carefree Depressed Joyful Deceptive Expressive Manipulative Charismatic Capricious Devoted A character may have up to three allegiances, listed in order from most to least important. These allegiances are indications of what the character values. A character may have fewer allegiances, no allegiances (being either a free spirit or a loner), or may change allegiances over time. Also, just because the character fits into a certain category of people doesn't mean that category is necessarily an allegiance. Allegiances are things toward which a character feels an especially strong devotion. If a character acts against an allegiance, the GM may choose to strip the character of that allegiance and assign one more suitable to those actions. A character's allegiance can take the form of loyalty to a person, organization, belief system, nation, or an ethical or moral philosophy. Having an allegiance implies the ability to make moral or ethical choices. As a result, characters must have Intelligence and Wisdom scores of -4 or higher in order to have allegiances. Creatures with lower scores—such as animals— have no allegiances. Allegiances include, but are not limited to, the following: •

Person or Group: This includes a leader or superior, a family, a team or group, and so forth.

•

Organization: This may be a company or corporation, a gathering of like-minded individuals, a fraternal brotherhood, a secret society, a branch of the armed forces, a local, state, or national government, a university, an employer, or an otherwise

Vice Reactionary Overzealous Pugnacious Slothful Dour Complacent Apprehensive Reckless Sluggish Domineering Obsessive Idle Jaded Self-righteous Greedy Narrow-minded Sloppy Miserly Hopeless Envious Impatient Mercenary Fearful Intolerant Wasteful Hasty Suspicious Sneaky established authority.

Virtue Thoughtful Enthusiastic Conciliatory Industrious Merry Competitive Confident Adventurous Witty Diplomatic Moderate Resolute Curious Honest Generous Judicious Meticulous Forward-thinking Hopeful Magnanimous Patient Dedicated Appreciative Open-minded Thrifty Inquisitive Nurturing Resourceful

•

Nation: This may be the nation of the character's birth or an adopted nation. Patriotic characters typically have an allegiance to their nation (although not necessarily their nation’s government).

•

Belief System: This is usually a particular faith or religion, but can also be a specific philosophy or school of thought. Belief systems also include political beliefs or philosophical outlooks.

•

Ethical Philosophy: This describes how one feels about order, as represented by law and chaos. An individual with a lawful outlook tends to tell the truth, keep his or her word, respect authority, and honor tradition, and expects others to do likewise. An individual with a chaotic outlook tends to follow instincts and whims, favor new ideas and experiences, and behave in a subjective and open manner in dealings with others.

•

Moral Philosophy: This describes one's attitude toward others, as represented by good and evil. An individual with a good allegiance tends to protect innocent life. This belief implies altruism, respect for life, and a concern for the dignity of other creatures. An evil allegiance shows a willingness to hurt, oppress, and kill others, and to debase or destroy innocent life. A good allegiance is especially common among heroic characters.

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Allegiances and Influence

bottom line. Greed is a huge incentive in fantasy games especially ("Kill it! Loot it!"), but there's no reason a superhero or modern game couldn't include a hero kneeling in front of big business, slapping ads on his costume like a walking billboard.

An allegiance can create an empathic bond with others of the same allegiance. With the GM's permission, the character gains a +2 bonus for positive conditions on interaction skill checks when dealing with someone of the same allegiance. Similarly, the character may suffer a –2 penalty when dealing with characters of an opposing allegiance. The character must have some interaction with other characters to bring these modifiers into play.

•

Justice: Characters motivated by justice walk a thin line between obsessive judgmental maniac with weapons or superpowers and heroic knight in shining armor defending the weak and punishing the guilty. Some campaigns are built around just such a line - it's up to the characters to decide where they fall, and Heaven help you, if they fall on the obsessive side of the line.

•

Recognition: "Look at me!" is a pretty obvious cry for attention, right? Some people want nothing more than the sweet feeling of the spotlight. Characters motivated by a need to stand up and be recognized are often shallower than a puddle, but are nonetheless usually useful members of the team. Of course, that doesn't mean they're easily-tolerated members of the team, and a glory-hound can get on the nerves of the rest of the group pretty quickly.

•

Responsibility: Some people feel a deep sense of satisfaction from using their super-abilities or mastery of magic, swords, or whatever they might have, responsibly. These poor foo...er...these fine, upstanding citizens are usually fairly moral about what they do. However, rare characters who do what they do because they must also exist - these people are usually driven by some sort of geas, curse, or mind control or obligation, rather than a moral urge.

•

Thrills: Extreme action! Extreme danger! Extreme adrenaline! The only call these characters feel is the call to ACTION! Thrilling adventurers, battles, and dangers to get their hearts beating, these characters care nothing for the other motivations - they're in it for the sheer joy of the heart-pumping excitement. While they might be looked down upon by slightly more upstanding characters with more moral motives, nobody can dissuade the thrill-seekers from their cause - to get their blood boiling like never before!

Allegiances could also influence how NPCs view a character's Reputation.

Allegiances as Descriptors At the GM's option allegiances can function as descriptors for FX, allowing character to have an FX affecting only subjects of a particular allegiance, for example, or the ability to detect characters with a particular allegiance (see Enhanced Senses). Gamemasters should be careful when applying power modifiers based on allegiance. An attack power affecting only "evil" targets, for example, is useless against inanimate objects, constructs, and animals (and other creatures or things with Int or Wis below -4). It also doesn't affect characters without a specific allegiance to evil (such as selfish mercenaries, violent vigilantes, or despots devoted solely to order, but not evil per se).

Allegiances in Conflict Characters with different allegiances may find them in conflict. Such conflicts provide roleplaying opportunities and complications for players and story hooks for the Gamemaster. For example, a character with allegiances to America, Truth, and Justice may discover a secret government agency acting against the interests of justice in the world. What is stronger, the hero’s patriotism or the desire to see the truth known and justice done? Some conflicts and complications may result in characters abandoning or changing allegiances, or reordering their priorities (and therefore allegiances).

Motivation One of the biggest parts of creating a character is the why. It's the fell swoop that defines you - whether you're a hero or a villain, good or bad, and more importantly, why you do what you do. Motivation, therefore, is something that's well worth contemplating as you create your character, wondering just who this character is, anyway. It can change the tone of your character dramatically. •

Acceptance: You're different. Like a teenager going through puberty, all you want is for somebody to understand you. To that end, you'll adventure, you'll fight the good fight, and you'll do whatever it takes...so long as somebody likes you!

•

Goodness: You're a boy scout. Never mind the merit badges, all you want to do is help the weak, heal the sick, and do whatever it takes to make the bad guys learn their lesson. Whether you were raised to be a sucker... er, a good guy, or you have a mentor or inspiration, everyone agrees that there's nobody as upright as you.

•

Greed: Money, cash, credit, gold. Nothing gets people off their butts like the promise of big bucks. Whether you're hunting down bad guys with a bounty hunting vengeance or prostrating yourself before a corporate altar, all you care about is the

Goals Finally, what are your character's goals? All characters want things like peace and justice to one degree or another, but what other things does your character want? One character may want to find his long-lost family while another may want to avenge a terrible wrong done to her in the past. A monstrous or alien character may seek acceptance and a new home among humans, while a younger character may want to live up to the legacy of a mentor or ancestor. Giving your character a goal beyond simply "doing good" or "making money: can help give the character more depth and provide opportunities for roleplaying and complications during the game. Don't overlook it.

Drawbacks Drawbacks are weaknesses for characters to overcome. They’re the flip side of a character’s skills, feats, and FX. Drawbacks serve two main purposes. First, they provide characters with additional depth and a degree of vulnerability, which can be important for character able to move mountains or catch bullets. Second, drawbacks give you additional character points during character creation to spend on improving your character’s traits. The maximum number of points you can get from drawbacks is

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I generally equal to the campaign’s power level, as set by the GM.

based on the context of the character and the campaign as a whole.

Drawback Value A drawback’s character point value is based on two things: its frequency (how often the drawback affects your character) and its intensity (how seriously the drawback affects your character). The more frequent and intense the drawback, the more points it’s worth. Drawbacks generally range in value from 1 character point for something that comes up rarely and has little effect to 5 character points for a drawback that comes up all the time and seriously weakens the character.

Frequency Drawbacks have three levels of frequency: uncommon, common, and very common. Uncommon drawbacks show up about a quarter of the time, every four adventures or so. Common drawbacks show up about half the time, and very common drawbacks show up three-quarters of the time or more. Each level has a frequency check associated with it, which is a simple d20 roll with no modifiers against a DC (15, 10, or 5). A GM who wants to randomly check a drawback makes a frequency check to see if it shows up in the adventure. Otherwise, the GM can simply choose to bring a drawback into play based on its frequency. Note that frequency represents how often the drawback comes up during the game, not necessarily how common it is in the campaign setting. Even if holy relics are extraordinarily rare in the setting, if they show up every other adventure, they’re still common in frequency.

Intensity The intensity of a drawback measures how much impact it has on the character. There are three levels of intensity: minor, moderate, and major. Minor drawbacks have a slight impact or are not difficult to overcome. Moderate drawbacks impose some limits, but can be overcome about half of the time. Major drawbacks impose serious limits and are quite difficult to overcome.

FX Drawbacks Some drawbacks are FX Drawbacks, meaning they apply to a particular FX rather than necessarily to the character. You can think of FX drawbacks as the reverse of FX feats: minor limits on the FX. An FX can have a total value in drawbacks equal to 1 point less than its total cost (so the FX must cost at least 1 character point, regardless of how many drawbacks it has).

Fitting Drawbacks to the Campaign Although suggested values are given for various drawbacks in the following sections, the value of any drawback is based largely on its effect. So drawback values can vary from one campaign to another. For example a common Vulnerability in one setting may be uncommon in another and non-existent in a third (making it worthless as a drawback). The Gamemaster must judge the frequency and intensity—and therefore value—of each drawback

One important guideline for Gamemasters is to ensure that drawbacks actually limit or hinder characters in some way. A drawback that doesn't do so isn't really a drawback at all and isn't worth any points. Beware of players trying to create such drawbacks to give their characters the most points for the least actual limitation. If need be, you can disallow certain drawbacks entirely, if they are unsuited to the campaign.

Eliminating Drawbacks Players can remove a drawback from a character by paying earned character points equal to the drawback’s value. The GM should also arrange for suitable events in the story to eliminate the drawback. So a disabled character might be healed in some way, a novice learns to better control her abilities (eliminating the Full Power drawback), a special treatment eliminates the character's Weakness, and so forth.

Drawback Descriptions Each entry here describes the drawback's game effect and its suggested value. Gamemasters should feel free to expand or modify this list of drawbacks as desired to suit the campaign.

ACTION

-1 POINT/STEP

An FX requiring longer than two actions to use is considered a drawback. Each step up the Time and Value Progression Table is a 1 point drawback. The drawback cannot equal or exceed the value of the associated FX. So a FX costing 10 points cannot have more than 9 points in this drawback (and meaning the FX takes three months to use!). This drawback can also apply to the time needed to switch between Alternate FX in an Array: 1 point if a one action is required, 2 points if two actions are required, each step up the Time and Value Progression Table thereafter is an additional 1 point drawback. In this case the drawback’s value cannot equal or exceed the FX’s total Alternate FX feats, so a FX with three Alternate FX can only get 2 points out of this drawback (requiring two actions to switch between them).

DISABILITY

-1 TO -5 POINTS

You lack a particular ability most people have. The frequency of the drawback is based on how often this lack limits you, while the intensity represents how serious a limitation it is. Some examples include blindness (very common, major, 5 points), deafness (very common, moderate, 4 points), one arm (very common, moderate, 4 points), mute (very common, moderate, 4 points), paraplegic (common, major, 4 points), one eye (–4 with ranged attacks, common, moderate, 3 points), and illiterate (uncommon, minor, 1 point). Note characters with certain powers may have this drawback at a lesser value. Being blind is an uncommon, minor drawback for a character with Blind Sight, for example, just as being mute is an uncommon, minor drawback for a character with Mental

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I Communication, since the drawback comes into play less often and is less trouble for the character in general.

FULL POWER

-1 POINT

You have less than full control over an FX. FX subject to this drawback must be used at full rank or intensity, or not at all. This means you cannot pull punches with an attack, move at less than full speed, and so forth, depending on the FX to which this drawback is assigned. You can still turn the FX on and off as you wish (it is neither Permanent nor Uncontrolled), you just can’t finetune it, it’s either on at full intensity or off entirely. You can’t have the Precise feat for any FX with this drawback. Full Power is an uncommon, minor drawback, worth 1 point.

FX LOSS

-1 TO -3 POINTS

You lose the use of a FX with this drawback under certain conditions. Examples include when exposed to a particular substance, when immersed in water, when unable to speak, and so forth. You can also suffer FX loss from a failure to do something, like not recharging a FX, breaking an oath, not taking a pill, and so forth. FX Loss is minor intensity, with frequency based on how often you encounter the conditions, giving it a value of 1–3 points. You regain use of the FX when the condition that triggered the loss no longer affects you. The loss of Devices and Equipment is not covered by this drawback. Losing Device and Equipment powers due to theft is a part of those traits and factored into their cost. So characters cannot take FX Loss with the condition “when devices or equipment are removed.”

INVOLUNTARY TRANSFORMATION

-1 TO -6 POINTS

You have two or more forms or identities you sometimes change between against your will. The value of the drawback is based on how often you change (frequency) and how difficult it is for you to resist the change (intensity). If you cannot resist the change, no matter what, the intensity value is 3 points. If you involuntarily switch between super-powered and normal human forms, you also have the Normal Identity drawback.

NORMAL IDENTITY

-3 TO -5 POINTS

You have two identities: an empowered one and a normal one. This is not the same as having a secret identity (although you may have that, too, especially in games of the superhero genre). The difference is your normal identity has none of the FX or extraordinary abilities of your empowered self. So in your normal identity you might be an average teenager, businessman, or other everyday person. Characters with Devices may have this drawback, but not necessarily. For example, a character who wears a suit of magic armor might have a Normal Identity while he’s out of the armor, but someone who wields a magic ring doesn’t have a Normal Identity unless he can’t wear or have the ring with him in his normal identity for some reason. To qualify for this drawback there must be some reasonable means

of preventing you from changing from your normal to your empowered identity. For example, you might require access to a Device (which can be stolen or disabled), you might need to speak a magic word or incantation (blocked by an Auditory Obscure, a gag, or a simple chokehold), you might need to take a particular pill or formula, and so forth. The GM decides whether or not a particular condition qualifies for this drawback. If you can switch between a normal and empowered identity at will and nothing can prevent it, you don’t qualify for this drawback. If you can’t always control switching between identities, you also have the Involuntary Transformation drawback. You define the traits of your Normal Identity. Your Normal Identity cannot have any FX by definition, and the GM may restrict the application of feats and ability scores above 20. Your Normal Identity must also be built on fewer points than your super-identity (how many fewer is up to the GM, but no more than half is a good rule of thumb). The simplest Normal Identity has the same traits as your super identity, minus any FX. Your two identities may have different appearances. The intensity of this drawback is major (since you lose access to all your FX). The frequency depends on how difficult it is for you to assume your super-identity. If it takes a free action, then it's uncommon (2 points). If it takes a full-round action, it’s common (3 points), and if it takes longer than a full-round action it’s very common (4 points).

NOTICEABLE

-1 POINT

A passive FX with this drawback is noticeable in some way (active FX are noticeable by default, see Noticing FX). Choose a noticeable FX of the FX. For example Noticeable Mind Control might cause the subject’s eyes to glow or skin to change color. Noticeable Enhanced Toughness may take the form of armored plates or a tough, leathery-looking hide. Noticeable is an uncommon, minor drawback, worth 1 point.

ONE-WAY TRANSFORMATION

-3 TO -5 POINTS

When you transform through the use of a FX such as Metamorph or due to the Normal Identity or Involuntary Transformation drawbacks, it takes some time for you to return to “normal.” This may be due to a need to “bleed off” excess energy, letting the transformation lapse slowly, or a requirement to reset certain mechanical system parameters. Whatever the case, undoing your transformation is involved. One-Way Transformation is a very common drawback (less if you don’t transform every adventure). Its intensity is minor if it takes a matter of hours for you to return to normal. It’s moderate if it takes hours plus certain resources (a lab, workshop, special equipment or components, and so forth). It’s major if it takes a matter of days or longer.

REDUCED RANGE

-1 TO -2 POINTS

This drawback reduces the number of range increments of a ranged FX, which normally has a maximum range of ten increments. For –1 point, it reduces the FX to half that, or five increments (the same as throwing range). For –2 points, it reduces the FX to two increments. A greater reduction should be handled by

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I WEAKNESS Option: Drawbacks as Complications

You suffer harm from something normally harmless to others. It may be a vampire’s weakness to sunlight or holy water or a hero’s weakness when exposed to glowing meteorites. Alternately it may be the lack of something, like a vampire’s need for blood, an addict’s need for a drug, an amphibian’s need for water, and so forth. Frequency is based on how often you encounter your weakness. Intensity is based on the effect the weakness has on you.

Instead of granting a character additional character points, you can instead choose to treat drawbacks like complications, which will grant the character bonus Hero Dice instead. If you choose this option, ignore the frequency value for drawbacks: calculate a drawback's value only according to its intensity. When the drawback comes up in play, up to once per encounter, the drawback provides grants the character a number of bonus Hero Dice equal to the drawback's intensity. In this way, while the character is at a disadvantage during an encounter which exploits his or her drawbacks, but gains a little extra edge in the form of additional Hero Dice for the fight. If you use this option, you also have the choice of only granting those bonus Hero Dice for the length of the encounter itself (that is, they are lost at the end of the encounter if not used). In this way, the bonus applies only to the encounter in which the drawback arises, and does not carry through to other encounters later in the session. This is another option you can use to customize your game. making the FX touch range, possibly with some measure of the Extended Reach feat, if necessary.

TEMPORARY DISABILITY

-1 TO -6 POINTS

•

Minor: cumulative –1 on checks, attack bonus, or defense bonus.

•

Moderate: cumulative –1 penalty to all checks, attack rolls, and Defense, or a –1 cumulative drain on an ability score.

•

Major: cumulative –1 drain on all ability scores.

The base time before a weakness affects you is 20 minutes. Increase the drawback’s value by 1 for each step up the Time and Value Progression Table and decrease it by 1 for each step down. So a weakness that affects you each round is +4 points while one that only affects you once a day is –3 points. If your weakness is an Instant rather than a continuing effect, like an attack, it has a time modifier of +0. If your weakness affects your Constitution score (and therefore might kill you) add +1 to its value.

WEAK POINT

-1 TO -4 POINTS

You suffer a disability in conjunction with the use of a FX. For example, if your arms transform into wings in order for you to fly (leaving you without the use of your arms and hands while flying) then you have the disability of no arms, normally very common and major (5 points) but reduced to common in frequency, since the disability only applies when you’re flying. If you possessed prehensile feet (able to use them as substitute hands while flying) you would have no real disability at all, and thus no drawback.

-1 POINT

This drawback makes a defense FX that provides a Toughness resistance vulnerable to critical hits. A critical hit completely bypasses the FX, ignoring its bonus to Toughness saves when the target saves against the attack’s damage. This is in addition to the normal FX of a critical hit (+5 damage). Weak Point is a 1-point drawback.

This drawback doesn’t apply to implied disabilities of an FX: for example, having an attack FX require the use of one hand when you use it (to wield a weapon or to strike) isn’t a disability, it’s just how such FX work. The GM should approve any temporary disabilities caused by FX to ensure they actually are disabilities and are appropriate for the campaign.

VULNERABLE

-1 TO -6 POINTS

You’re vulnerable to a particular type of attack. Frequency is based on how often you encounter your vulnerability. Intensity measures how vulnerable you are; minor vulnerabilities add +1 to effect modifier DC. Moderate vulnerabilities increase the modifier to the save DC by 50% (× 1.5, round up). Major vulnerabilities increase the save DC modifier by 100% (× 2). So, for example, an attack doing +7 damage normally does +8 damage to someone with a minor vulnerability (7+1), +11 to someone with a moderate vulnerability (7 × 1.5 = 10.5, rounded up), and +14 to someone with a major vulnerability (7 × 2).

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I

Chapter II: Abilities Buying Ability Scores

Ability Scores Modifying Checks

You choose your character's ability scores by spending character points on them. Two character points increase an ability score by 1, so putting two character points into Strength, for example, raises it from +0 to +1. Remember a score of +0 is average, +1 to +2 is a fair amount of talent or natural ability, +3 is exceptional, +4 is extraordinary, and so forth. (See the Ability Benchmarks)

Reducing Ability Scores You can also lower one or more of your character's ability scores from the starting value of +0. Each point you lower a score gives you two additional character points to spend elsewhere. You cannot lower an ability score below -5.

Each ability score modifies certain tasks associated with it, based on how above or below average it is. The ability score is added to die rolls when your character does something related to that ability. For example, your Strength score affects the amount of melee damage you do. Your Intelligence score comes into play when you roll skills based on Intelligence, and so forth. Sometimes your modifier is used to calculate another value, such as when you use your Dexterity score to help determine how good you are at reacting quickly (your Reflex). The maximum score you can have with an ability is equal to the campaign’s power level +5. A power level 10 character, for example, cannot have an ability score greater than +15 modifier. Unlike the other ability scores, Strength is affected by the power level limits on damage (see Power Level).

If you reduce an ability score to -5 (for -10 points), you lack that ability entirely (see Nonexistent Ability Scores).

The Abilities

Ability Cost = Base score of 0. 2 character points per +1 to an ability score. Gain 2 bonus character points per -1 to an ability score.

STRENGTH

STR, Physical

Strength measures sheer muscle power and the ability to apply it. Your Strength modifier applies to Athletics and Might checks. It also applies to damage dealt by your melee or thrown weapon attacks.

DEXTERITY

DEX, Physical

Dexterity is a measure of coordination, agility, speed, manual dexterity, and balance. It's particularly useful for characters relying more on speed and agility than sheer strength and toughness. Your Dexterity modifier applies to Acrobatics, Infiltration, Reflex, and Vehicles checks.

CONSTITUTION

CON, Physical

Constitution is endurance, health, and overall physical resilience. Constitution is important because it affects a character’s ability to resist most forms of sickness and toxins. Your Constitution modifier applies to Endurance, Fortitude, and Recovery.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I INTELLIGENCE

INT, Mental

Intelligence covers reasoning ability and learning. It adds to your Knowledge for all skills. Intelligence is important for characters with a lot of skills like Academics, Science, and Technology.

WISDOM

WIS, Mental

While Intelligence covers reasoning, Wisdom describes awareness, common sense, intuition, and perception. A character with a high Intelligence and a low Wisdom may be an “absent-minded professor” type, smart but not always aware of what’s going on. On the other hand, a not so bright (low Intelligence) character may have great common sense (high Wisdom). Your Wisdom modifier applies to Expertise, Perception, and Survival checks.

CHARISMA

CHA, Mental

entirely natural. The key differences between Enhanced Abilities and normal ability scores are Enhanced Abilities can be nullified (normal abilities cannot, see Nullify) and Enhanced Abilities can have FX feats and be used for FX stunts with extra effort (normal abilities cannot). Enhanced Abilities and normal abilities have the same cost (2 character points per ability score point). The player decides if a character’s ability score is normal or enhanced and, if it is enhanced, how much of it is enhanced. Enhanced Abilities are noted with the normal ability score in parentheses after them, such as 20 (3), indicating if the character’s Enhanced Ability is nullified, the character still has a score of 3 in that ability. Enhanced physical abilities often represent capabilities that aren’t quite obvious at first appearance. A person with a small school girl’s build and musculature, but is able to lift a city bus probably has Enhanced Strength rather than a high Strength score. Similarly, a seemingly frail, lanky man who is actually tougher than steel and at the peak of human health would probably be benefiting from Enhanced Constitution.

Altering Ability Scores

Charisma is force of personality, persuasiveness, leadership ability and (to a lesser degree) physical attractiveness. Charisma is useful for heroes who intend to be leaders as well as those who strike fear into the hearts of enemies with their presence. Your Charisma modifier applies to Art, Persuasion, and Will.

Over the course of play, your character's ability scores may change for the following reasons:

Ability Benchmarks The Ability Benchmarks table (Table 2.1) provides guidelines on where a given ability score falls relative to the general population.

Enhanced Abilities Some ability scores may be acquired as Enhanced Abilities, as described in Chapter V: FX. Enhanced Abilities are FX rather than

TABLE 2.1: ABILITY SCORE BENCHMARKS Ability Score -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 +0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +10 +15 +20

Description Completely inept or disabled Weak; infant Younger child Child, elderly, impaired Below average; young teenager Average adult Above average Well above average Gifted Highly gifted, best in the city Best in a nation Best in the world Best ever; peak of human achievement Low superhuman Moderate superhuman High superhuman Very high superhuman Cosmic/Divine

•

Some FX temporarily raise or lower ability scores.

•

You can improve your ability scores permanently by spending earned character points on them, but not above the limits set by the campaign's power level.

Whenever an ability score changes, all traits associated with the ability change as well. So if you increase your character's Dexterity and gain a higher bonus, his Dexterity-based skills. Likewise, if the character's Dexterity bonus decreases, his Dexterity-based skills suffer. An easier way to track these changes is just to apply the bonus from the increased ability score directly to applicable checks. A +2 to Dexterity, for instance, is best noted as a +2 bonus to all Dexterity-related checks.

Debilitated Ability Scores If one of your character's ability scores drops below -5 for any reason, that score is said to be debilitated and the character suffers more serious effects. Debilitated Strength means the character collapses, helpless and unable to move. Debilitated Dexterity means the character is paralyzed and helpless. Debilitated Constitution means the character is dying and cannot stabilize (and suffers a –5 modifier on Recovery checks to avoid death due to the low score). Debilitated Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma means the hero is unconscious and incapable of waking until the score is restored to at least -5. Debilitated ability scores usually result from an FX affecting your character. An ability score lowered below -5 during character creation is actually nonexistent; characters only suffer the effects of debilitated abilities if an ability score is lowered to 0 during play. Abilities scores cannot be lowered below -5. Traits based on ability modifiers, such as resistances and skill bonuses, can be lowered to –5, but no lower.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I TABLE 2.2: FORTITUDE/WILL BENCHMARKS Resistance Bonus 0-2 3-4 5-6 7-9 10-12 13-15 16+

Option: Ability Checks

Description Average pedestrian Above average pedestrian Low superhuman Moderate superhuman High superhuman Very high superhuman Cosmic/Divine

By default, d20 Advanced assumes that all checks are covered between skill or FX checks. However, if you choose, you can also make use of the raw ability scores themselves for checks. An ability check is like a skill check, but measures raw ability, without any skill, like strength, endurance, or intellect. It is a roll of d20 + your ability modifier against a Difficulty Class. Ability checks tend to be all or nothing (you can either accomplish the task or you can’t) although there are sometimes gradations like skill checks. Attempting a skill without training (in other words, without ranks in the skill) is an ability check. In general, ability check DCs should be about 5 or 10 ranks lower than an equivalent skill check (since ability scores won't have the ranks from skills to add to the check.

TABLE 2.3: TOUGHNESS BENCHMARKS Resistance Bonus 0 1-4 5-7 8-10 11-13 14-16 17-19 20+

Description Average unarmored pedestrian Above average, light armor or tougher than normal Low superhuman, moderate armor (Kevlar) Moderate superhuman, high-end armor (Ceramic) High superhuman, extreme hi-tech armor Very high superhuman, sci-fi power armor Ultra high superhuman, extreme sci-fi power armor Cosmic/Divine

Nonexistent Ability Scores Rather than having a score of -5 in a given ability, some things or creatures in d20 Advanced actually lack an ability score. The effect of lacking an ability score is as follows: •

Strength: Any creature capable of physically manipulating other objects has at least a -5 Strength score. A creature with no Strength score is incapable of exerting any physical force, possibly because it has no physical form (like an incorporeal ghost). The creature automatically fails Strength checks.

•

Dexterity: Any creature capable of movement has at least a -5 of Dexterity. A creature with no Dexterity cannot move (like most plants) and hence cannot make physical attacks. It automatically fails Dexterity checks.

•

•

Constitution: Any living creature has at least a -5 Constitution score. A creature with no Constitution has no physical body (like a ghost) or is not alive (like a robot, zombie or other construct). The creature always fails Constitution checks. This includes checks to avoid dying and to recover from injury, so creatures with no Constitution do not recover from damage naturally. They must be repaired in some fashion. The same is true of objects. Creatures with no Constitution are immune to fatigue but cannot exert extra effort. Creatures with no Constitution are often—but not necessarily—immune to many of the things affecting living beings (see Immunity).

• • • • •

Strength: Breaking a board Dexterity: Tying a rope Constitution: Holding your breath Wisdom: Trusting a gut feeling Charisma: Getting noticed in a crowd

•

Wisdom: Any creature aware of its environment has at least a -5 Wisdom score. Anything with no Wisdom also has no Charisma. It is an inanimate object, not a creature. Objects are immune to mental effects, interaction skills, and automatically fail Wisdom checks.

•

Charisma: Any creature capable of interacting with other creatures has at least a -5 Charisma score. Creatures without Charisma are immune to interaction checks and automatically fail Charisma checks.

Inanimate objects have no scores other than their Toughness. Animate, but nonliving, Constructs such as robots or zombies have Strength and Dexterity, and may have Wisdom and Charisma (if aware of their environment and capable of interaction). They may have Intelligence (if capable of thought), but have no Constitution (since they are not living things).

Movement The GM moderates the pace of a game session, and determines when movement is important enough to be worth measuring. During casual scenes, you usually won’t have to worry about movement rates. If a character arrives somewhere and takes a stroll around to get a feel for the place, or is flying around town on patrol, there’s no need to know exactly how fast the character goes.

Movement Pace Characters generally move at a normal, accelerated, or all out pace. A normal person’s base movement speed is 30 feet, meaning a character can walk 30 feet as one action. The following movement paces modify your base speed:

Intelligence: Any creature that can think, learn, or remember has at least a -5 Intelligence score. A creature with no Intelligence is an automaton, lacking free will and operating on simple instinct or programmed instructions. Anything with no Intelligence is immune to mental effects, interaction skills, and automatically fails Intelligence checks.

•

Normal: A normal pace represents unhurried but purposeful movement at your speed, 30 feet per round for a normal unencumbered human.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I TABLE 2.5: SIZE Cost

Size

Might

Combat Modifier

Infiltration Modifier

Intimidation Modifier

20

Minuscule

-5

+12

+15

-10

16 12 8 4 0 12 24

Fine Diminutive Tiny Small Medium Large Huge

-4 -3 -2 -1 +0 +1 +2

+8 +4 +2 +1 +0 –1 –2

+12 +9 +6 +3 +0 -3 -6

-8 -6 -4 -2 +0 +2 +4

36

Gargantuan

+3

–4

-9

+6

48

Colossal

+4

–8

-12

+8

60

Awesome

+5

–12

-15

+10

•

Accelerated: An accelerated pace is twice your speed, 60 feet per round for a normal unencumbered human. Taking two actions to move in a round is accelerated movement.

•

All Out: Moving four times your speed is an all out pace, the equivalent of running or sprinting, 120 feet per round for a normal unencumbered human. All out movement takes two actions, and you lose your defense bonus, since you can't easily avoid attacks. However, if you're using a movement FX you gain a +2 bonus to Defense per rank in that power; so a character with Enhanced Movement (Flight) 5 moving all out gets a +10 Defense bonus for his speed (it's harder to hit a fast-moving target).

You can move all out for one minute. After that you must succeed at an Endurance check (DC 10) to continue moving all out. You must check again each minute, and the DC increases by +1 each check. Characters with movement FX have a normal speed granted by their rank. Accelerated movement doubles that speed. All out movement quadruples it.

Hampered Movement Obstructions, bad surface conditions, and poor visibility hamper movement. The GM determines the category into which a specific condition falls (see the Hampered Movement Table). When movement is hampered, multiply movement speed by the penalty (a fraction). For example, a character that normally could cover 60 feet with an accelerated move can cover only 30 feet while moving through thick undergrowth.

TABLE 2.4: HAMPERED MOVEMENT Condition Examples Movement Penalty Moderate obstruction Undergrowth x¾ Heavy obstruction Thick undergrowth x½ Bad surface Steep slope or mud x½ Very bad surface Deep snow x¼ Poor visibility Darkness or fog x½

Height

Weight

3 in. or 1 oz. or less less 3 in.-6 in. 0.09-0.1 lb. 6 in.-1 ft. 0.25-1 lb. 1-2 ft. 1-8 lbs. 2-4 ft. 8-60 lbs. 60-500 lbs. 4-8 ft. 8-16 ft. 500-4K lbs. 16-32 ft. 4K –32K lbs. 32K –250K 32-64 ft. lbs. 250K- 2 mil 64-128 ft. lbs. 128 ft.+ 2 mil lbs.+

Space Reach 3 in.

0 ft.

6 in. 1 ft. 2.5 ft. 5 ft. 5 ft. 10 ft. 15 ft.

0 ft. 0 ft. 0 ft. 5 ft. 5 ft. 10 ft. 10 ft.

20 ft.

15 ft.

30 ft.

15 ft.

40 ft.

20 ft.

If more than one condition applies, multiply speed by all appropriate movement penalty fractions. For instance, a character that normally could cover 60 feet with an accelerated move covers only 15 feet moving through thick undergrowth in heavy fog (one-half times onehalf, or one-quarter his accelerated move speed).

Jumping Jumping is a special type of movement, based on your Athletics check. A jump is one action. Distance moved by jumping counts as part of your normal movement in a round. You can make a running long jump equal in feet to the amount your Athletics check result beats a DC of 10. A standing long jump covers half that distance, and a high (vertical) jump of a quarter that distance. Round all distances down to the nearest foot. Extra effort doubles your jumping distance for one jump. The Leaping FX greatly increases the distance you can jump. If you make a long jump and fail to clear the distance by your height or less, you can make a Reflex check (DC 15) to grab the far edge of a gap. You end your movement grasping the far edge. If this leaves you dangling over a chasm or gap, getting up requires one action and an Athletics check to climb up (DC 15).

Size While characters come in all sizes and shapes, most are generally within the human norms of size, ranging between four and eight feet tall or so (Medium-sized). Some heroes have the ability to alter their size using the Growth and Shrinking FX. Others are normally a different size, either larger or smaller. These characters have ranks of either Growth or Shrinking with a Permanent duration. A character’s size affects certain qualities. Modifications for size are shown on the Table 2.5: Size. Permanent size modifiers count toward campaign power level limits.

Stealth Modifier Larger characters have a harder time sneaking around, while

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I smaller characters have an easier time remaining unseen and unheard. Apply this modifier to Stealth checks made at this size.

Might

Intimidation Modifier

Larger characters can lift and carry more, while smaller characters can lift and carry less. Larger characters gain a bonus to their ranks in Might, while smaller characters suffer and effective penalty to it. In essence, each size category above Medium grants a +1 bonus to Might. Smaller characters suffer a -1 penalty to Might checks.

Larger characters are more imposing, while smaller characters are less. Apply this modifier to Intimidation checks made at this size. Like Attack and Defense modifiers, they cancel out against opponents of the same size.

Reach A normal (Medium-sized) character has a 5 ft. reach, which means the character can make a melee attack at any target up to 5 ft. away. Larger and smaller characters have a longer or shorter reach, as shown on the Size Table.

Space A normal (Medium-sized) character is assumed to occupy a roughly 5-ft.-by-5-ft. space. Larger and smaller characters occupy more or less space, as shown on the Size Table.

Attack Area If you are three size categories or more larger than your opponent, you have a chance to hit an opponent even if you miss your attack roll! If your attack roll misses due to your size modifier, your attack is considered an area attack filling the fighting space of an opponent three size categories smaller than you. So a Gargantuan attacker has a 5-ft area attack against Medium or smaller opponents. A Medium attacker has a 1-ft. “area” attack against Diminutive or smaller opponents, and so forth. If you roll a successful attack, it has the normal effect. If you miss, but would have hit if not for your size modifier, then the attack still hits, but the target only suffers half the usual effect (or none, if the target has Evasion). Other targets in the area of your attack are also hit by a normal area effect.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I

Chapter III: Skills Skill Basics Option: More Skills, Fewer Skills

Skills are learned abilities acquired through a combination of training (the skill) and natural talent (an ability score). Each skill has a rank, used as a bonus to the die roll when using the skill. To use a skill roll:

Abstract Versus Particulate Skills If a GM wishes to stress skills more than normal in a game, it may be wise to break up the existing skills. Rather, make each sub-use of a skill an option during character creation, so that each skill is purchased individually at 4 skill ranks per character point.

d20 + skill rank + ability modifier + miscellaneous modifiers The higher the roll, the better the result. You’re usually looking for a total that equals or exceeds a particular Difficulty Class (DC) or another character’s check total. •

Skill Rank: Your rank in a skill is based on the number of points you have invested in skills. If you have ranks in a skill you’re considered trained in that skill. You can use skills even if you don’t have any ranks in them, known as using a skill untrained.

•

Ability Modifier: Each skill has a key ability, the ability modifier applied to the skill’s checks. Each skill’s key ability is noted in its description and on the Skills table.

•

Miscellaneous Modifiers: Miscellaneous modifiers to skill checks include situational modifiers for favorable or unfavorable conditions, bonuses from feats or powers, or penalties for not having proper tools, among others.

Removing Skills: As still another option, a GM may not wish to use skills at all. In that case, relying entirely on ability checks may be the best way to go. The GM is encouraged to apply circumstance modifiers on these ability checks to represent a situation a character would be well-trained or highly skilled at, such as a nimble gymnast attempting to jump between buildings. In this situation, all characters at character creation should choose a single ability score as their prime ability score. All checks made with this ability score are made with a +5 bonus (to represent training and experience with applications of this ability score). Characters also gain a bonus equal to one-half their PL, which lets the GM keep skill check DCs at similar levels to those described in this chapter. Skill feats (in Chapter IV: Feats) should also be removed, or reworked to account for becoming ability checks. Consider which skill feats would still fit in the game carefully: some may function better as a simple ability score check (like Inventor). For specific areas in which a character is especially talented, the GM should allow players to choose the Talented feat.

Acquiring Skills Characters gain skill ranks by spending character points at the cost of 1 skill rank per character point. Skill ranks do not all need to be assigned to the same skill. Characters can perform some tasks without any training, using only raw talent (as defined by their ability scores), but skilled characters are better at such things. Characters with the right skills and feats can even hold their own against opponents wielding supernatural powers.

Skill Cost = 1 character point per skill rank.

How Skills Work When you use a skill, make a skill check to see how you do. Based on the circumstances, your result must match or beat a particular number to use the skill successfully. The harder the task, the higher the number you need to roll. (See Checks)

Combat Skills Unlike other types of skills, Combat skills are not modified by any

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I are aimed at dealing with others through social interaction. Interaction skills allow you to influence the attitudes of others and get them to cooperate with you in one way or another. Since interaction skills are intended for dealing with others socially, they have certain requirements.

Option: Simple Skill Check DCs The skill check DCs listed in the different entries of this chapter are meant to be used as suggestion for setting check DCs in your game. However, at the GM's option, the following table may be used in place of those check DCs. This simpler method of determining skill check DCs helps the game can move more quickly and less time is spent flipping through the book in search of the DC to achieve a certain effect with the skill.

First, you must be able to interact with the subjects of the skill. The subjects must be aware of you and able to understand you. If you don’t speak the same language, or they can’t hear you for some reason, that’s the same as working without the proper tools, a –4 on your skill check. Interaction skills work best on intelligent subjects, ones with an Int score of 3 or better. You can use them on creatures with Int -5, but with a –8 penalty; they’re just too dumb to get the subtleties of your point. You can’t use interaction skills at all on subjects lacking one or more mental ability scores. (Try convincing a rock to be your friend—or to be afraid of you— sometime.) The Immunity FX can also render some characters immune to interaction skills.

Note, however, that this method does rely more heavily on GM judgment-calls, and puts more of the work-load onto the GM's shoulders. The GM is encouraged to work with the group to get a feel for where everyone is most comfortable placing skill check DCs. Players are encouraged to avoid arguments such as these with the GM if they feel the DCs are unreasonable, at least until after the game is over. Also note that the DCs given on this table are based on skill check DCs given for individual skills later in this chapter. That is to give GMs a firm baseline for determining where different skill check DCs should fall.

You can use interaction skills on groups of subjects at once, but only to achieve the same result for all. So you can attempt to use Persuasion to convince a group of something, but you can’t try to convince some individuals of one thing and the rest of another, or to intimidate some people and not others. The GM decides if a particular use of an interaction skill is effective against a group, and may apply modifiers depending on the situation. The general rules for interaction still apply: everyone in the group must be able to hear and understand you, for example, or you suffer a -4 on your skill check against them. Mindless subjects are unaffected.

GMs may also wish to use a mixture of DCs, some based off the figures from this table, some straight from the DCs given in the skill entries themselves. This is a perfectly acceptable approach, so long as the group is comfortable and having fun. TABLE 3.1: BASIC SKILL CHECK BASE DCs Task Example Simplistic Follow a mob in broad daylight Easy Climb a knotted rope against a wall Average Hear an approaching guard Challenging Repair an alarm clock Difficult Swim in stormy water Very Pick the lock to a house front door Difficult Formidable Leap across a 30-foot chasm Heroic Track a ninja across hard ground Epic Hack the Pentagon mainframe Legendary Locate a master spy in a metropolis Mythical Open the vault at Fort Knox Perform open-heart surgery on yourself with a Impossible pen knife in the dark

Knowledge

DC 0 5 10 15 20

Many skills include the ability to make Knowledge checks to remember or know important pieces of information related to that skill. Some skills (like Academics) are applied to a broad swathe of potential knowledges, while others (such as Athletics) might only apply to memorizing a smaller number of things. Use your base ranks in the applicable skill for the check, but instead of using the normal ability score to modify the check, use your Intelligence score. For example, a check to remember who won the 1992 World Series might use Athletics, but instead of using your Strength score to modify the check, use your Intelligence modifier.

25 30 35 40 45 50

The DC is 10 for easy questions, 15 for basic questions, and 20 to 30 for difficult questions. The GM may make a the roll for you, so you don’t know whether or not your information is accurate.

55+

Manipulation Skills ability score. The types of Combat Skills are Weapon Group which governs your attacks, Defense which governs whether you get hit by an attack or not, and Toughness which governs how much, if any, damage you receive from an enemy's successful attack. For more on Combat Skills in general and how they are overcome, see the Skill Descriptions later in this chapter or Chapter VII: Combat.

Some skills, called manipulation skills, require a degree of fine physical manipulation. You need prehensile limbs and a Strength score or some suitable substitute (such as a Precise Move Object FX) to use manipulation skills effectively. Characters lacking the ability to use manipulation skills can still have ranks in them and use them to oversee the work of others (granting an aid bonus).

Resistances Interactions Certain skills, called interaction skills (mostly the Persuasion skill),

Generally, when subject to an attack or hazard, your relevant Resistance is what protects you from falling victim to it. The types of Resistances are Defense (to dodge out of the way of attacks and explosions), Fortitude (to resist internal bodily harm, like poisons

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I and diseases), Perception (to notice threats or feints), Toughness (to avoid external wounds and attacks) and Will. For more on Resistances in general and how they are overcome, see the Skill Descriptions in this chapter or Chapter VII: Combat.

TABLE 3.2: EXTENDED SKILL CHECKS Successes Complexity 2 or 3 Slight 4 to 6 Ordinary

Specialty Skills

7 to 9

Good

Some skills, such as Expertise, Survival, or Weapon Group, cover a wide range of knowledge or techniques. These skills are actually groups of similar skills, called specialty skills. When putting ranks into one of these skills, you must choose a specialty, a particular aspect of the skill your character knows. For example, you might choose the physical sciences specialty of Knowledge or the mechanical specialty of Craft. Skill ranks in one specialty of a skill do not imply training in the skill’s other specialties.

10 or more

Amazing

Untrained Skill Checks Generally, if you attempt a task requiring a skill you don’t have, you make a skill check as normal. Your skill modifier doesn’t have a skill rank added in because you don’t have any ranks in the skill. You do get other modifiers, though, such as the ability modifier for the skill’s key ability.

Non-Proficient Skill Checks Alternatively, you might run across a situation where you lack a skill which your background and other abilities seem to suggest you should have some proficiency with. For example, in a fantasy game, a hard-bitten, well-traveled woodsman might have 6 ranks in Survival, only to realize that he doesn't have any ranks in Athletics to climb a tree! By all rights, a woodsman who has spent his whole adult life in the forest should have some idea how to scramble up a tree at night. In this case, with the GM's permission, he can make a non-proficient Survival check to climb a tree. In order to make a non-proficient check, you may use half of your ranks in the relevant substitute skill check for the purpose of the check (rounded down). So the woodsman described above can use 3 ranks from Survival (the substitute skill) to make a non-proficient check to climb. Instead of using the substitute skill's normal ability modifier (Wisdom for Survival), use the non-proficient skill's ability (Strength for Athletics). Non-proficient skill checks are also very appropriate for characters making attack rolls with weapons which they lack training with, allowing characters to have great skill with a single type of weapon without being clueless about other forms of combat.

In an extended skill check, a specific number of successful skills checks must be achieved to complete the task. The complexity of the task is reflected in the DC of the required check, the number of successful rolls required to complete the task, and the maximum number of failed rolls that can occur before the attempt fails. In most cases, one or two failed rolls do not mean an extended skill check has failed; however, if three failed rolls occur before the character makes the required number of successful rolls, the attempt fails. Although three failures is a common baseline, GMs are encouraged to change the number if the situation warrants it. The GM can also apply a penalty to future rolls in the extended check if the player rolls one or more failures. For instance, an intricate negotiation requiring an extended Diplomacy check might assess a –2 penalty on checks for each failed check made as part of the extended check for poor conditions. The Difficulty Class of an extended skill check should usually be 5 to 10 less than a standard skill check to allow for the number of additional successful checks required and the possibility of failure. So a normally formidable task (DC 25) should only be DC 15–20 for an extended check.

Trying Again Extended skill checks can usually be retried. However, like normal skill checks, some extended skill checks have consequences and those consequences must be taken into account. For example, a trap that requires an extended Infiltration check to disarm is triggered if the attempt fails, just as with a normal trap and a normal Infiltration check. Some skills are virtually useless for a particular task once an attempt has failed, and this includes extended skill checks. The Extended Skill Use section describes which skills can be used in extended skill checks and which allow retries after failed attempts. Like skill checks, ability checks and even FX checks can also be complex. Extended skill checks are rarely used in situations calling for opposed checks.

Extended Skill Checks With most skill checks, a single die roll immediately determines whether or not a character succeeds. If a character wants to make something or recall a specific fact, success or failure is apparent after a single skill check. For complicated and time-consuming tasks (such as disabling a complex device or researching an obscure bit of knowledge), or at times when the GM wants to build tension and suspense, you can use the extended skill check variant described here.

Example Training a horse (Survival) Making a piece of artwork (Art) Bypassing a fiendishly complex trap (Infiltration) Figuring out an alien device (Technology)

Interrupting an Extended Check Most extended skill checks can be interrupted without adversely affecting the outcome of the check. However, the Gamemaster is free to decide that an interruption affects the outcome. An interruption can count as one failed roll in the check's progression or it can mean the extended check fails altogether.

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Timed Extended Checks The previous rules for extended checks assume time is not a factor; the process goes on until the character accumulates enough successful checks to complete the task or accumulates enough failed checks to fail. However, some extended checks may also feature a time-limit, such as disabling a device before it goes off, or fixing a starship's engines before it crashes into the sun. The GM can use a time-limit as an additional source of tension for an extended check.

Option: Under Pressure If a character is under pressure or stress during an extended skill check (trying to disarm a bomb as the timer ticks down, performing a complex magical rite in the midst of a roaring battle, deciphering the combination to unlock a door before a guard discovers her, etc.), you can require an Expertise check for the relevant specialty at each stage of the extended check with the same DC as the skill check for that stage. If the Expertise check succeeds, the character can attempt the skill check normally, if the Expertise check fails, the character suffers a –4 penalty on the skill check, making it more likely to fail.

If the time involved is as long or longer than the required number of successes plus three, then it isn't relevant, since the character will either have succeeded or failed before the time runs out. If you want to stretch this out, remove the automatic failure for three failed skill checks.

Optionally, a certain number of failed Expertise checks (three or more) may result in failure with the entire extended task, forcing the character to start over again from the beginning. Conversely, a higher level of success with the Expertise check might apply a bonus to the corresponding skill check, like a use of aid (+1 bonus per 5 points the Expertise check result exceeds the required DC).

Skill Challenges Challenges reflect a capable character’s ability to perform some tasks with superior panache and efficiency. They allow heroes to achieve greater results by making already difficult checks harder.

To really pile on the pressure, you can also require Endurance or Will checks during especially stressful extended checks to avoid suffering fatigue from the effort involved, with the DC of the save rising as the extended check progresses.

Aid and Extended Checks You can aid another as normal with an extended skill check. Characters aiding the one making the attempt must roll their aid attempts each time the character makes a new roll as part of the extended skill check, and only apply the aid bonus to those rolls they're available to aid. Assisting characters don’t have to aid the entire extended check unless the GM rules otherwise.

Taking 10 and 20 You can take 10 on any die roll during an extended skill check in any situation where you could normally take 10 on a check using that skill. You can't take 20 when making an extended skill check. Taking 20 represents making the same check repeatedly until you succeed, but each successful roll in an extended skill check represents only a portion of the success you must achieve to complete the task.

Combined Effort and Extended Checks

To take a challenge, increase a check’s Difficulty Class by 5 or suffer a –5 penalty to the check result. In return, you gain an extra benefit in addition to the normal effects of a successful check. If you fail due to the penalty or increased DC, however, you suffer the normal results of failure. Note that, if failing by more than a certain margin imposes a particular outcome, you suffer that outcome as normal if you fail to meet your newly increased Difficulty Class. So, for example, a character who misses an Infiltration check to disable a trap by 10 or more accidentally sets off the device. If the standard Difficulty is 20 and your challenge increases it to 25, then you accidentally set off the device with a skill check result of 15 or less, instead of the usual 10 or less. You can accept more than on challenge to a check. In some cases, you can take a challenge more than once to gain its benefits multiple times. These are noted in the challenge descriptions. Generally, challenges allow you to gain added benefits when you face a relatively low DC and have a high modifier. You can also use challenges to attempt heroic actions, even when faced with a high DC. In these cases, spending a hero die can help ensure success with all the added benefits of the successful challenge.

Standard Challenges The challenges in this section apply to any ability or skill check. The Gamemaster has final say whether a challenge applies to a specific situation. Each challenge imposes either a +5 modifier to a check's DC or a –5 penalty to the check result.

At the GM's discretion, some extended checks can allow multiple characters to combine their effects. All the participating characters make the check and combine their successes toward the requirements of the extended check. For example, a group of four characters combine their effort to work on a project requiring six successful checks. Each makes the necessary check, adding up the results. The goal is still the same—to accumulate six successful checks before three failures. If a group achieves the number of successes it needs at the same time it gets three or more failures, the extended check is considered a success.

1. Fast Task: You reduce the time needed to complete the check. If the check is normally a full-round action, it becomes a standard action. A standard action becomes a move action, while a move action becomes a free action. For checks requiring time in rounds, minutes, or longer, reduce the time needed by 25 percent per challenge. You cannot make a check as a free action via challenges if it normally requires a standard action or longer. 2. Calculated Risk: You can take a calculated risk on one check to make a follow-up check easier. For example, you could use Disable Device to overcome an initial safeguard to make disarming the whole trap easier. If you succeed at this challenge, you gain a bonus on the second check

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TABLE 3.3: SKILL BENCMARKS Bonus 0

Skill Level Untrained

1-4

Basic

5-8

Skilled

9-12

Professional

13-16

Master

17-20

Prodigy

21-24

Legend

25+

Godlike

Example No real background, training or experience. Any degree of success is pretty much luck and luck only. A newbie. Some training, some experience, or possibly just a glimmer of natural talent. You can perform routine tasks without trouble, and difficult tasks with effort (or luck). A fair amount of training, experience, or natural talent. You can easily perform routine tasks and even difficult ones (most of the time). The character is well-versed in this skill or possesses exceptional natural talent. He performs difficult tasks without great effort and can instruct or manage others in this skill. Difficult tasks in this skill are performed routinely, and unusual or cutting-edge applications are adapted without great effort. One of the best in the world with this skill, routinely accomplishing tasks that give lesser masters difficulty, and developing the cutting edges that others follow. One of the greatest masters of this skill that has ever lived. You push boundaries, and perform the “impossible” with disturbing regularity. This person’s ability almost defies rational belief, seeming to appear akin to magic, and regularly cowing even experienced masters. This person doesn’t just push boundaries: he redefines them for the entire conception of the skill.

equal to the total penalty you accepted on the first. The two checks must be related and the first, penalized, check must carry some consequence for failure (that is, it cannot be a check where you can take 20). 3. Simultaneous Tasks: You can accept a challenge in order to perform two checks simultaneously. To attempt simultaneous checks, make the challenge check, followed by a second check using the same or a different trait. Your secondary check suffers a –10 penalty or a +10 increase in Difficulty. The combined task requires the same time as the longest normal task, so if both tasks require a standard action, you accomplish the simultaneous use in a single standard action rather than two. In addition to these standard challenges, various skills have specific challenges associated with them, described in the following section.

Team Checks Sometimes an entire team performs a task as a unit and individual success is irrelevant. In this case, the GM may call for a team check for the task. A team check works just like a normal check, except only one character makes the check for the entire team. The situation at hand determines the character who makes the check, as follows: •

If only one character must succeed for the entire team to gain the benefits (e.g., one character can make a Persuasion check and inform others of what he finds), the character with the highest relevant bonus makes the check.

it normally. Also, a character with the Leadership feat can spend a Hero Die on a team check, even if he is not the character making the check, so long as he’s a part of the team making the check, and able to interact with the character making it (to offer direction and encouragement).

Skill Descriptions This section describes the skills available to d20 Advanced characters, including their common uses and modifiers. Characters may be able to use skills for tasks other than those given here. The GM sets the DC and decides the results in those cases. The format for skill descriptions is given here. Not all items apply for all skills. Items that do not apply are omitted from the skill’s description. However, if a use for a certain skill arises that is not covered in these rules, do not hesitate to add it for your own game: it’s often easier to hijack an existing skill for a new purpose than it is to create a totally new skill from scratch, especially when you have a player tapping his foot waiting to find out if he can defuse a bomb or not! Note that if a GM chooses not to use the options for Extended Skill checks or Challenges in the game, those sections may be omitted.

NAME

KEY ABILITY, INTERACTION, MANIPULATION, SPECIALTY, RESISTANCE, REQUIRES TOOLS

The skill name line contains the following information:

If every member of the team must succeed to gain the benefits of the check (e.g., every member of the team must succeed on an Infiltration check to slip past a sentry), the character with the lowest relevant bonus makes the check. In either case, if two or more characters qualify to make the check, the team can jointly choose which of them makes it. If a character goes solo, then the character is no longer a part of the team for purposes of the team check (good reason for the stealthy character to scout ahead, for example, making Stealth checks independent of the rest of the team).

•

Skill Name: What the skill is called. GMs may feel free to change the names of some skills to better suit the style of their game.

•

Key Ability: The ability modifier applied to the skill check.

•

Interaction: If "Interaction" is included next to the skill's name, it is an interaction skill.

•

Manipulation: If "Manipulation" is included next to the skill's name, it is a manipulation skill.

•

Specialty: If "Specialty" is included next to the skill’s name, you must choose a specialty for the skill.

•

Resistance If "Resistance" is next to the skill's name, you will

•

The character making the team skill check may spend Hero Dice on

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I often use this skill passively to resist certain ill effects. You are assumed to be taking 10 on your resistances. •

TABLE 3.4: CLIMB DC 0 5

Requires Tools: If "Requires Tools" is included next to the skill's name, you need to have the proper tools to use the skill. Not having the proper tools results in a –5 penalty to the skill check. See Chapter VI: Gear for more details on tools.

10

The skill name line is followed by a brief description of the skill and four other categories: •

Check: How to make a check for the skill, what the results are, and the Difficulty Class.

•

Try Again: Conditions on retrying a check with the skill. If this section is omitted, the skill can be retried an unlimited number of times.

•

15

20

Action: The number of actions required to use the skill, how long it takes. As a general rule, if a skill takes a minute or longer to use, you can halve the time required by taking a –5 penalty on the check.

25 25

•

Special: Any extra information about the skill or its use.

—

•

Extended: Certain skills might have applications as Extended Checks with more than one success required to accomplish a certain task.

-10

•

Challenges: Skill Challenges available with this skill.

-5 +5

Strength ATHLETICS

Example Wall Or Surface Or Task A slope too steep to walk up. A ladder. A knotted rope with a wall to brace against. A rope with a wall to brace against. A knotted rope. A surface with sizable ledges to hold on to and stand on, such as a rugged cliff-face. Any surface with adequate handholds and footholds (natural or artificial), such as a rough natural rock surface, a tree, or a chain-link fence. An unknotted rope. Pulling yourself up when dangling by your hands. An uneven surface with just a few narrow handholds and footholds, such as a coarse masonry wall or a sheer cliff face with a few crevices and small toeholds. A rough surface with no real handholds or footholds, such as a brick wall. Overhang or ceiling with handholds but no footholds. A perfectly smooth, flat, vertical surface can’t be climbed without the Wall-Crawling Enhanced Movement FX. Climbing inside an air duct, chimney, or other location where you can brace against two opposite walls (reduces normal DC by 10). Climbing a corner where you can brace against perpendicular walls (reduces normal DC by 5). Surface is slippery (increases normal DC by 5).

Fighting While Climbing

STR

You’re skilled at climbing, swimming, jumping, and performing other feats of athleticism.

Since you can’t easily move to avoid an attack, you lose your dodge bonus while climbing. Any time you take damage while climbing, make an immediate Climb check against the DC of the slope or wall. Failure means you fall and sustain the appropriate falling damage.

Use

Accelerated Movement

Climb, Jump, Swim.

You can try to climb faster than normal. You can move your full speed, but take a –5 penalty on your Climb check. Moving twice your speed requires two checks at –5, one for each move action.

Climb With each successful Athletics check, you can move up, down, or across a slope, wall, or other steep incline (even a ceiling with handholds). A slope is any incline of less than 60 degrees; a wall is any incline of 60 degrees or steeper. A failed Athletics check indicates you make no progress, and failure by 5 or more means you fall from whatever height you already attained (unless you are secured with some kind of harness or other equipment). Make a Climb check to catch yourself (DC equal to wall’s DC + 20). A slope is easier to catch on (DC equal to slope’s DC + 10). It’s somewhat easier to catch someone else who falls, assuming they are within arm’s reach. Make an Athletics check (DC equal to wall’s DC +10) to do so. A slope is easier (DC equal to the slope’s DC +5). If you fail the check, you do not catch the other person. If you fail by 5 or more, you fall as well. The DC of the check depends on the conditions of the climb. If the climb is less than 10 feet, reduce the DC by 5.

Jumping You can make an Athletics check to extend the distance you can jump by 1 foot per point your check exceeds DC 15.

Swimming A successful Athletics check allows you to swim one-quarter your speed as one action or half your speed as two actions. If the check fails, you make no progress through the water. If the check fails by 5 or more, you go underwater. If you are underwater you must hold your breath to avoid drowning. The DC for the Athletics check depends on the condition of the water. Each hour you swim, make an Athletics check (DC 20). If the check fails, you suffer from fatigue. Unconscious characters go underwater and immediately begin to drown.

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TABLE 3.5: SWIMMING Condition Calm Water Rough water Stormy Water

MIGHT

DC 10 15 20

Rescuing Rescuing another character who can’t swim (for whatever reason) increases the DC of your Swim check by +5.

STR

Your physical prowess is even more formidable than might otherwise be apparent. You're capable of extreme feats of strength involving sustained application of force, such as lifting, bursting bonds, or holding something fast.

Use

Break Through, Burst Bonds, Lifting and Carrying.

Action Climbing one-half your speed is two actions. Moving half that fast (one-fourth your speed) is one action. Accelerated climbing, allowing you to climb at full speed, is two actions action. You can move half that far (one-half your speed) as one action.

Break Through

Special

Sustained force can be used to achieve impressive results in terms of breaking down a stuck door or even bending iron bars. For two actions, you may attempt to use Might to damage an inanimate object or a helpless creature through the sheer force your muscles can exert. Essentially, you automatically hit on your attack against the target and may use your Might check in place of your normal unarmed damage roll. See Damaging Objects for details on destroying objects.

At the GM’s discretion, certain kinds of climbing attempts might require tools like ropes, pitons, harness, and so forth. Attempting such a climb without tools incurs a –4 penalty.

Burst Bonds

Challenges

A common trick for extremely strong characters is to simply break free of the bonds holding them, rather than trying to slip away. You can use your Might check to recover from any effect which binds you in place, such as an Inflict FX that reduces you movement with magic chains.

Swimming is either one or two actions, as described above.

The following Challenge is appropriate for Athletics checks:

Accelerated Swim

Lifting and Carrying

For a +5 DC increase, you increase your swimming speed by onequarter your normal speed. You can take this challenge up to three times to increase your swimming speed up to your normal speed. You suffer the normal effects of failing your Swim check.

Rather than a certain strength enabling you to lift a certain load, different objects require a Mighty Check to lift and move. Essentially, an object’s weight is abstracted to a Might Check DC. Rolls 1d20 + Might. How easily a character can move an object is determined by how well he or she rolls. Sample DCs for lifting and carrying objects is given on Table 3.7. The examples given are most fitting for a modern game, but they serve as good benchmarks for estimating the weights of objects in future or past games as well (as people are inherently more familiar with modern objects, after all).

Accelerated Climb You can try to climb more quickly than normal. By accepting a +5 DC modifier to your check, you can move half your speed instead of one-quarter your speed while climbing. You can accept this challenge twice, for a total DC modifier of +10, to move at your normal speed while climbing.

TABLE 3.6: LIFTING AND CARRYING Might Check... Succeeds

Fighting Climb By accepting a +5 DC modifier to a Climb check, you can maintain your Defense bonus while climbing.

Secured Climb If you take a +5 DC modifier to your Climb check, you do not have to make a Climb check to maintain your position if you take damage. You climb in such a way as to brace yourself for any attacks.

Fails

Load Light load Medium load

Defense Penalty 0 -2

Fails by 5 or Heavy load -5 more Fails by 10 Extreme Denied or more load Defense Fails by 15 Cannot be — or more moved

Check All-Out Speed Penalty Move 0 Normal x4 -2

2/3

x4

-5

2/3

x2

—

5ft Step

—

—

—

—

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TABLE 3.7: LIFTING AND CARRYING DC Weight 15 16

200 300

17

400

18

500

19

700

20 21 22 23 24 25

800 1000 1300 1800 2600 3500

Example

DC Weight

Example

Manhole Cover, Adult Male Small Piano, Heavy Adult Piano, Full drum of oil, Bear, Gorilla, Lion, Tiger Empty dumpster, Alligator, Crocodile, Grizzly Bear

38 39

80k 95k

Bull dozer, Fire truck Fully-Loaded Wide-Load Trailer

40

110k

Tank

41

170k

Crane, Typical water tower 125' tall

Racing Motorcycle

42

Space shuttle, 200’ Radio Tower, Locomotive Engine, Full railroad Boxcar 43 360k Empty giant mining dump-truck 44 450k Large plane, Titan II rocket, Statue of Liberty 45 800k Hydro-electric generator, Trawler, Full giant mining truck 46 1.3mil Giant crane, Full water tower, 1000' Radio tower 47 1.6mil Giant mining excavator 48 1.7mil Drilling rig 240k

Motorcycle Telephone pole Sailboat Moving trailer Medium missile, Full dumpster Empty 20' propane tank, Car, Large missile Granite monument, Rhinoceros, Small 26 5000 forklift, Empty 20' metal cargo container, 49 2mil — Large meteor 27 6000 10' Jersey Barrier 50 3.5mil Small bridge 28 7000 Truck, Limo, Hippopotamus 51 4mil — 29 9000 Empty 40' metal cargo container 52 5.5mil — Elephant, Small jet, Combat helicopter, 30 13k 53 7mil Military tugboat School bus, Empty semi trailer Howitzer, 'Twinkie' Travel trailer, Semi tractor, 31 17k 54 10mil — Full 20’ propane tanker 32 26k Empty armored car, Jet fighter, Subway car 55 14mil Eiffel tower, Destroyer, Large submarine 33 30k Motor Home RV, Full armored car 56 20mil Battleship 34 40k Mobile home, City bus, Blue whale 57 27.5mil Freighter (unloaded) Infantry fighting vehicle, Full 20' metal cargo 35 55k 58 30mil Naval Command Ship container Empty railroad boxcar, Full 40' metal cargo 36 63k 59 45mil Amphibious Transport Dock Ship container, Full semi trailer 37 70k Full 7-Axel Semi-Trailer 60 55mil Freighter (loaded), Cruiser, Large bridge The DC to stop a falling object is +5 The DC to stop a moving object is +1 for every rank of speed it is using The DC to push or drag an object is reduced by -2, -5 if the object has wheels or rollers

Throwing Characters can throw any object they can lift, up to a heavy load. (You cannot throw an extreme load, only drop it adjacent to you.) Picking up an object is a one action, while throwing it is one action, so it’s possible to pick up and throw an object in one round.

Option: Might and Human Characters The increased ability to lift heavy objects and overpower others is usually covered well by simply having an improved Strength score, which adds to Might checks. Might, like Toughness and Recovery, are really meant to represent strength and durability which are just beyond normal human capability. For most games, it is appropriate that ranks in these skills only be available if bought via the Enhanced (Trait) FX.

The distance you can throw an object is based on its weight. You can throw your heavy load 5 feet without any check. To throw an object farther, make a ranged attack. Light loads have a range increment of 20 feet. Medium loads have a range increment of 10 feet. Heavy loads have a range increment of 5 feet. Extreme loads cannot be thrown. If your ranged attack roll misses, your thrown object falls short of the target.

Pushing or Dragging

Action

If you are only attempting to push or drag an object, you gain a +2 bonus to your Might check to move it.

Breaking through takes two actions. Bursting bonds usually takes one action, though it might vary depending on the effect causing it

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Special

fall. Subtract the amount your roll exceeds the DC from the distance of a fall in feet before determining damage. So an Acrobatics check of 20 (15 more than the DC) reduces the effective distance of a fall by 15 feet. A fall reduced to 0 distance does no damage and you land on your feet. You can reduce knockback damage in the same way.

By default, you cannot purchase ranks in Might directly. Instead, character need to purchase ranks in the Enhanced (Trait) FX.

You can make an Acrobatics check (DC 20) to stand from a prone position as a free action rather than a move action.

Dexterity

Performance DEX

ACROBATICS

Instant Up

You can use Acrobatics as a Perform skill to impress an audience.

You can flip, dive, roll, tumble, contort, and perform other acrobatic maneuvers, and you’re also adept at keeping your balance under difficult circumstances.

Use

Escape Artist You can use Acrobatics to squeeze through tight spaces.

TABLE 3.9: RESTRAINTS

Balance, Escape Artist, Falling, Perform, Tumbling.

Maneuver Ropes Tight space

Tumble Make an Acrobatics check (DC 25) to move through a space occupied by an opponent or obstacle (moving over, under, or around). A failed roll means you don’t get past the obstacle.

Balancing You can walk on a precarious surface. A successful check lets you move at half your speed along the surface as a move action. A failure indicates you spend your move action just keeping your balance and do not move. A failure by 5 or more means you fall. The difficulty varies with the conditions of the surface. While balancing, you lose your dodge bonus to Defense unless you have 5 or more ranks in Acrobatics. If you take damage while balancing, make an immediate Acrobatics check to avoid falling.

Tight Spaces For a tight space, a check is only called for if your head fits but your shoulders don’t. If the space is longer than your height, such as in an airshaft, the GM may call for multiple checks. You can’t fit through a space your head doesn’t fit through. You can also reach through a tight space your hand fits through but your arm normally does not by making an Acrobatics check.

Avoiding Combat Advantage You can make an Acrobatics check as your opposed Maneuver check to avoid or escape being grabbed, or to avoid being tripped. Doing so is one action.

TABLE 3.8: BALANCE Surface More than 12 in. wide 7-12 in. wide 2-6 in. wide Less than 2 in. wide Uneven or angled Slippery

DC Opponent's Check +10 30

Try Again

DC 5 10 15 20 +5 +5

No for most checks. Yes to escape from grapple.

Action

Accelerated Movement You can try to move faster than normal while balancing. You can move your full speed, but take a –5 penalty on your Acrobatics check. Moving twice your speed requires two checks, one for each move action.

Falling

Free. If you actually move as part of your Acrobatics check, then it counts as part of your move action. Making a check to escape from ropes or other restraints requires one minute. Escaping a grapple is one action. Escaping a snare takes two actions. Squeezing or reaching through a tight space takes at least one minute, maybe longer, depending on the distance.

Special You can take 10 on an Acrobatics check. You can take 20 if you are not actively opposed, such as when being grappled.

You can make an Acrobatics check (DC 5) to lessen damage from a

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Extended

Stealth

A few specific situations might call for an extended Escape Artist check. An obvious example is a long, narrow passage only wide enough to let a character wiggle through. In this case, each successful roll represents navigating a portion of the passage, and a failed roll means the character is stuck for a moment. Escaping from involved restraints (such as being bound in a straitjacket and chains, upside-down in a tank rapidly filling with water) may also be an extended check.

Your Infiltration check is opposed by the Perception check of anyone who might detect you. While using Infiltration, you can move up to half your normal speed at no penalty. At more than half and up to your full speed, you take a –5 penalty. It’s practically impossible (–20 penalty) to use Infiltration while attacking, moving all out, or charging for stealth.

Size Modifiers Apply the modifier from your size category to your Infiltration checks to represent the relative ease of noticing smaller and larger targets.

Challenges All of the following Challenges are appropriate for Acrobatics:

Hiding

Accelerated Acrobatics You can try to cross a precarious surface faster than normal. If you increase the Difficulty Class by 5, you can move your full speed at one action. Moving twice your speed in a round requires the penalty plus two skill checks, one for each move action. You can also accept this penalty to charge across a precarious surface; this requires one skill check per multiple of your speed (or fraction thereof) that you charge.

If others have spotted you, you can't use Infiltration to remain unseen. You can run around a corner so you are out of sight and then use Infiltration to hide, but others then know which way you went. You can’t hide at all if you have absolutely no cover or concealment, since that means you're standing out in plain sight. Of course, if someone isn't looking directly at you (you're sneaking up from behind, for example), then you have concealment relative to that person. Characters with the Hide In Plain Sight feat can make Infiltration checks without the need for cover or concealment.

Conceal Efforts

Creating a Diversion to Hide

In exchange for a +5 to the DC, you can conceal your efforts to escape. Anyone who inspects your bindings must make a Perception check with a Difficulty Class equal to your Acrobatics check result. If the Perception check fails, they do not notice your efforts to escape. So, for example, you could leave your bonds seemingly intact so a villain doesn’t realize that you’re actually free.

A successful Persuasion check can give you the momentary diversion needed to make a Infiltration check while people are aware of you. When others turn their attention from you, you can make a Infiltration check if you can reach cover or concealment of some kind. (As a general guideline, any cover has to be within 1 foot for every rank you have in Infiltration.) This check, however, is at a –5 penalty because you have to move quickly.

Perfect Balance In return for increasing the Difficulty Class by 5, you move with such grace and agility that you maintain your dodge bonus to defense while balancing.

Perilous Balance You can shake or disturb the surface on which you are balancing (e.g., swaying on a tightrope). If your check succeeds after increasing the Difficulty Class by 5, you keep your balance and impose a +5 modifier on the Difficulty Classes of all Acrobatics checks that others must make on the surface until the next round.

INFILTRATION

DEX, REQUIRES TOOLS, MANIPULATION

Through combinations of stealth and capabilities for getting locks open and security disabled, you are skilled at getting into places where you probably shouldn't be.

Sniping If you’re successfully hidden at least one Perception range increment away from a subject (usually 10 feet), then you can make a ranged attack and immediately hide again, but you suffer a –20 penalty to your Infiltration check.

Tailing You can use Infiltration to tail someone at your normal speed. This assumes you have some cover or concealment (crowds of people, shadows, fog, etc.). If the subject is worried about being followed, he can make a Perception check (opposed by your Infiltration check) every time he changes course (goes around a street corner, exits a building, and so on). If he is unsuspecting, he only gets a Perception check after each hour of being tailed. If the subject notices you, you can make a Persuasion check, opposed by Perception. If you succeed, you manage to pass off your presence as coincidence and can continue tailing. A failed Persuasion check, or being noticed a second time, means the subject knows something is up.

Use Disable Security, Open Lock, Stealth

Open Lock You can pick conventional locks, finesse combination locks, and

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Action

TABLE 3.10: DISABLE LOCKS Lock Type Cheap Average High quality High security Ultra-high security

Example Briefcase lock Home deadbolt Business deadbolt Branch bank vault Bank headquarters vault

DC 20 25 30 40 50

Disabling a simple device takes two action. Intricate or complex devices require multiple rounds. Reducing a multi-round task to one round increases the DC by +20. Stealth is one action.

Special

bypass electronic locks. You must have a lockpick set (for a mechanical lock) or an electronic tool kit (for an electronic lock). The DC depends on the quality of the lock.

You can take 10 when making an Infiltration check to disable a device. You can take 20 to open a lock or disable a security device, unless you are trying to prevent your tampering from being noticed.

Disable Security Device

Extended

You can disable a security device, such as an electric fence, motion sensor, or security camera. You must be able to reach the actual device. If the device is monitored, your attempt to disable it will probably be noticed. When disabling a monitored device, you can prevent your tampering from being noticed. Doing so requires 10 minutes and an electronics tool kit, and increases the DC by +10.

Infiltration for stealth doesn’t normally lend itself to extended checks. However, the GM might call for an extended Infiltration check to simulate navigating through an area, such as a crowded urban environment, without being noticed (and without needing to make opposed checks for every single person the character might encounter). Nearly any device can require an extended Infiltration check to disable rather than a simple one. A device requiring an extended check may have a lower Difficulty Class (say between 5 and 10 lower) to represent the additional work required. Extended Infiltration checks to disable devices are especially useful for heroes with skill bonuses unable to reach the highest DCs; they trade off time for a better chance of success in the long run.

TABLE 3.9: DISABLE SECURITY Device Type Cheap Average High quality High security Ultra-high security

Example Home door alarm Store security camera Art museum motion detector Bank vault alarm Motion detector at Fort Knox

DC 20 25 30 35 40

Challenges The following Challenges are appropriate for Infiltration checks:

Traps and Sabotage Disabling a simple mechanical device is DC 10. More intricate and complex devices have higher DCs. You can use Infiltration to defuse explosives like the Technology skill, but at a -5 nonproficiency penalty (since Infiltration represents training with security devices and traps, not explosives specifically). If the check succeeds, you disable the device. If the check fails by 4 or less, you have failed but can try again. If you fail by 5 or more, something goes wrong. If it’s a trap or explosive, you set it off. If it’s some sort of sabotage, you think the device is disabled, but it still works normally. When you sabotage simple devices, you can rig them to work normally for a while and then fail some time later, if you choose.

Disable Technology At the GM’s discretion, you can disable any technological device (see Chapter VI: Gear) with a DC 30 skill check. You can also disable technological creatures, like androids or robots, with the same check, but the subject must be helpless for you to make the check.

Try Again Yes, though you must be aware you have failed in order to try again. You may not try again to hide tampering after the fact without retrying the entire check (see Challenges, below).

Accelerated Stealth You can move up to your normal speed in exchange for a –5 penalty to your Infiltration check to use stealth. In return for a –20 penalty to your check, you can move faster than your normal speed, such as by running or charging.

Hide Tampering If you add +5 to your Difficulty Class, you can conceal any tampering with a device. Anyone who inspects the device must make a Perception check against your Infiltration check result to notice your tampering. On a failed check, it goes unnoticed.

Slip Between Cover You can make an Infiltration check at a penalty to quickly cross an area lacking cover or concealment without automatically revealing yourself. For every 5 feet of open space you cross, you take a –5 penalty to your Infiltration check. You also take the normal penalties to your check for moving faster than half your normal speed and such. For example, you could slip past a 5-foot open doorway without being seen, or duck from shadow to shadow. Characters with the Hide In Plain Sight feat don’t need cover or concealment to hide, so these rules do not apply to them. The same is true for characters with the Concealment FX, since they’re capable of making their own concealment.

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Vanishing

VEHICLES

Stealthy characters in fiction regularly "disappear" when no one is watching them. This is essentially a use of Infiltration to hide when the character has some concealment or a distraction (no one looking directly at him, essentially). It requires a Infiltration check with a –5 penalty, and the character must be within a normal move action of an exit, or some cover or concealment (a window, skylight, ventilation duct, etc.). A successful check means the character seems to disappear; an observer looks only to discover he is gone. Characters can use Persuasion to gain the momentary distraction needed to vanish in this way. Characters with the Hide In Plain Sight feat do not need this challenge.

REFLEX

DEX, MANIPULATION

Use this skill to pilot or drive vehicles, such as cars, planes, boats, and even mounts.

TABLE 3.10: VEHICLE MANUEVERS Maneuver Easy Average Difficult

Example Low-speed turn Sudden reverse, dodging obstacles, full gallop Tight turns, use mount as cover Loop, barrel roll, bootlegger reverse, mount as at Challenging no action High-speed maneuvers, canyon runs, jumping Formidable obstacles

DEX

Your ability to react quickly to danger or in response to another event, or to outrun an equally-fast runner.

DC 5 10 15 20 25

Use Drive, Pilot, Ride.

Use Initiative, Movement, React. The DC to overcome your Reflex is 10 + your ranks in Reflex + your Dexterity score.

Routine tasks, such as ordinary movement, don’t require a skill check. Make a check only when traveling in a dramatic situation (being chased or attacked, for example, or trying to reach a destination in time). While piloting a vehicle, you can attempt simple maneuvers or stunts.

Initiative

Try Again

Your initiative in combat is determined by your Reflex check.

Movement

Most Vehicles checks have consequences for failure that make trying again impossible.

In any sort of foot-race with a character or creature with the same ranks in the Speed FX as you, you can make an opposed Reflex check to eek out a little extra speed and outrun your opponent.

Action A vehicles check is one action.

React

Special

In any situation where you must react quickly (such as to catch a falling object, shutting your eyes before a medusa catches you with her gaze, etc.), you compare your Reflex result to the DC. If your Reflex check is greater than or equal to the DC, you are quick enough to react in time.

At the Gamemaster’s option, Vehicles may be further broken down into more detailed categories requiring specialization, such as airplanes, cars, motorcycles, boats, or mounts.

Try Again

Challenges

You cannot retry a Reflex check, as by its very nature, a Reflex check is meant to represent reacting to a situation at a moment's notice.

Action A Reflex check is made as a reaction. You can spend one hero die using its result in place of the 10, but you must do so before learning the results of your Reflex check. If you choose to spend a hero die this way, you must use its result, even it makes your Reflex check worse.

The following Challenge is appropriate for Vehicles checks:

One Hand on the Wheel By taking a +5 Difficulty increase to your Vehicles check, you can perform another action in the same round as your Vehicles check with no penalty.

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Constitution Your stamina and ability to maintain activity for long periods of time.

Constitution checks. If you fail again, or if you fail by 5 or more, you move down an additional step down the Check Condition chart, suffering a -5 penalty to Strength and Constitution checks. If you fail a third time, or if you fail by 10 or more, you fall unconscious and helpless. It takes a good night's sleep (at least 8 hours) to recover from fatigue due to staying up for prolonged periods (no check required).

Use

Hold Your Breath

ENDURANCE

CON

Brave the Elements, Extreme Activity, Forgo Food and Drink, Forgo Sleep, Hold Your Breath, Prolonged Activity. The time frames given in these examples uses are guidelines. The GM should feel free to adjust the time needed between Endurance checks to best suit the game and that particular challenge.

Extreme Activity Each minute you spend engaged in intense activity, like running allout or actively swimming, you must make a DC 10 Endurance check (+2 for each additional minute beyond the first). If you succeed, you are in good shape to continue. If you fail, you move one step down the Check Condition Track, suffering a -2 penalty to future Strength and Constitution checks. If you fail again, or if you fail by 5 or more, you move down an additional step down the Check Condition chart, suffering a -5 penalty to Strength and Constitution checks. If you fail a third time, or if you fail by 10 or more, you fall unconscious and helpless. It takes an ten minutes of rest to recovery from any conditions you may have suffered from extreme activity (DC = 10 + 2 for each minute the activity lasted).

Forgo Food and Drink Characters must eat and drink every day to stay healthy. If you go for more than a day without eating or drinking, you must make a DC 10 Endurance check (+5 for each additional day beyond the first). If you succeed, you are in good shape to continue. If you fail, each of your physical ability scores is drained by 1 point. Note that if your Strength or Dexterity are reduced below -5, you are unable to move under your own power, and if your Constitution drops below -5, you could die! You can only attempt to recover your drained ability scores if you have nutritious food and drink. The recovery DC is equal to 10 + 5 for each day you went without food.

Each round you spend holding your breath beyond your Constitution score requires a DC 10 Endurance check (+2 for each additional round beyond the first). If you succeed, you are in good shape to continue. If you fail, you move one step down the Check Condition Track, suffering a -2 penalty to future Strength and Constitution checks. If you fail again, or if you fail by 5 or more, you move down an additional step down the Check Condition chart, suffering a -5 penalty to Strength and Constitution checks. If you fail a third time, or if you fail by 10 or more, you fall unconscious and helpless (and you begin breathing normally again, which may be dangerous if you are surrounded by a dangerous substance or submerged in water). It takes one action of rest to recover from any conditions you may have suffered from holding your breath (DC = 10 + 2 for each round you held your breath).

Prolonged Activity Each hour you spend engaged in prolonged activity (such as a forced march, treading water, etc.), you must make a DC 10 Endurance check (+2 for each additional hour beyond the first). If you succeed, you are in good shape to continue. If you fail, you move one step down the Check Condition Track, suffering a -2 penalty to future Strength and Constitution checks. If you fail again, or if you fail by 5 or more, you move down an additional step down the Check Condition chart, suffering a -5 penalty to Strength and Constitution checks. If you fail a third time, or if you fail by 10 or more, you fall unconscious and helpless. It takes an hour of rest to recovery from any conditions you may have suffered from prolonged activity (DC = 10 + 2 for each hour the activity lasted).

Brave the Elements

Alternatively, since most creatures need to consume much more water than they do food, you can track each requirement separately. For more realistic games, thirst should be checked about two or three times as often as starvation. For thirst, to be more realistic, you should check about three times a day. However, it is up to the GM to determine when and how often to make these checks.

If caught in inclement weather (such as extreme heat or cold, or in particularly heavy rain or wind), you must make a DC 10 Endurance check (+2 for each additional hour beyond the first). If you succeed, you are in good shape to continue. If you fail, you move one step down the Check Condition Track, suffering a -2 penalty to future Strength and Constitution checks. If you fail again, or if you fail by 5 or more, you move down an additional step down the Check Condition chart, suffering a -5 penalty to Strength and Constitution checks. If you fail a third time, or if you fail by 10 or more, you fall unconscious and helpless. It takes an hour of rest to recovery from any conditions you may have suffered from inclement weather (DC = 10 + 2 for each hour you were exposed to the weather).

Forgo Sleep

Action

Characters must sleep for about eight hours every day to stay fighting fit. If you go for more than a day without sleeping, you must make a DC 10 Endurance check (+5 for each additional day beyond the first). If you succeed, you are in good shape to continue without sleep. If you fail, you move one step down the Check Condition Track, suffering a -2 penalty to future Strength and

Endurance checks are generally only required after an extended period of activity, usually outside of combat. When called for, Endurance checks don't require any action themselves.

Realistic Thirst

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FORTITUDE

the check fails, the character can make another in one hour, with a +1 bonus for each failed check.

CON, RESISTANCE

Your ability to resist attacks against your vitality and health such as poison and disease.

Use Resistance. The DC to overcome your Fortitude is 10 + your ranks in Fortitude + your Constitution score.

Unconscious Once per minute, characters can make a Recovery check (DC 10). If successful, they erase the Unconscious damage box. If the check fails, the character can make another in one minute, with a +1 bonus for each failed check. Dying characters must first stabilize before they can recover from unconsciousness.

Try Again

Degrees of Success Certain effects might cause additional conditions if they exceed your Fortitude by 5 or more. See the individual effects for further information.

Try Again

You cannot retry a failed Recovery check until the specified time period elapses.

Action A Recovery check is usually made as a free action.

You cannot retry a Fortitude check.

Special

Action A Fortitude check is made as a reaction. You can spend one hero die using its result in place of the 10, but you must do so before learning the results of your Fortitude check. If you choose to spend a hero die this way, you must use its result, even it makes your Fortitude check worse.

RECOVERY

By default, you cannot purchase ranks in Recovery directly. Instead, character need to purchase ranks in the Enhanced (Trait) FX.

Option: Recovery and Human Characters The increased ability to recover from injury within normal human limits is usually covered well by simply having an improved Constitution score, which adds to Recovery checks. Recovery, like Toughness and Might, are really meant to represent strength and durability which are just beyond normal human capability. For most games, it is appropriate that ranks in these skills only be available if bought via the Enhanced (Trait) FX.

CON

Your ability to recover from injuries and ailments after succumbing to wounds and fatigue.

Use

Intelligence

Recovery. With rest, characters can make Recovery checks (DC 10) to recover from their damage conditions. The frequency of the checks is based on the severity of the condition. The Regeneration FX speeds up a character's recovery checks.

ACADEMICS

INT, REQUIRES TOOLS

You are well-educated and can use your broad knowledge to quickly answer questions or to analyze clues.

Injured Once per hour of rest, characters can make a Recovery check (DC 10). If successful, they erase one injured condition. If the check fails, the character can make another in one hour, with a +1 bonus for each failed check. All characters recover at least one injured condition per day.

Use Investigate, Knowledges.

Investigate You generally use Perception to find clues and Academics to analyze them. If you have access to a crime lab, use the Academics skill to collect and prepare samples for the lab.

Staggered Once per hour of rest, characters can make a Recovery check (DC 10). If successful, they erase the Staggered damage condition. If

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TABLE 3.11: INVESTIGATE MODIFIERS Circumstances Every day since event (max modifier +10) Scene is outdoors Scene slightly disturbed Scene moderately disturbed Scene extremely disturbed

Modifier +2 +5 +2 +4 +6

Analyze Clue You can make an Academics check to apply forensic knowledge to a clue. This function of the Academics skill does not give you clues where none exist. It simply allows you to extract information from a clue you have found. The base DC to analyze a clue is 15. It is modified by the time elapsed since the clue was left, and whether or not the scene was disturbed. Success gives you information based on the clue (as determined by the GM).

Collect Evidence You can collect and prepare evidence for a lab. This use of Academics requires an evidence kit. To collect a piece of evidence, make an Academics check (DC 15). If the check succeeds, the evidence is usable by a crime lab. If the check fails, a crime lab analysis can be done, but the lab takes a –5 penalty on any necessary check. If the check fails by 5 or more, the lab analysis simply cannot be done. On the other hand, if the check succeeds by 10 or more, the lab gains a +2 bonus on its checks to analyze the material. This function of Academics does not provide you with evidence. It simply allows you to collect evidence you have already found in a manner that best aids in its analysis later.

Knowledge Make an Academics check to answer a question in one of the following fields (which are mostly liberal arts): •

Art: Fine arts and graphic arts, including art history and artistic techniques. Antiques, modern art, photography, and performance art forms such as music and dance, among others.

•

Business: Business procedures, investment strategies, and corporate structures. Bureaucratic procedures and how to navigate them.

•

Civics: Law, legislation, litigation, and legal rights and obligations. Political and governmental institutions and processes.

•

Current Events: Recent happenings in the news, sports, politics, entertainment, and foreign affairs.

•

History: Events, personalities, and cultures of the past. Archeology and antiquities.

•

Theology and Philosophy: Liberal arts, ethics, philosophical concepts, and the study of religious faith, practice, and experience.

The DC is 10 for easy questions, 15 for basic questions, and 20 to 30 for difficult questions. The GM may make a Academics roll for you, so you don’t know whether or not your information is accurate.

Try Again Generally, analyzing a clue again doesn’t add new insight unless another clue is introduced. Evidence collected cannot be recollected, unless there is more of it to take. For Knowledge, you cannot retry an Academics check. The check represents what a character knows, and thinking about a topic a second time doesn’t let you know something you didn’t know before. The GM may allow another Academics check if a character gets access to a better source of information. For example, a character who doesn’t know the answer to a particular question offhand might get another check with access to a library or online database (and could take 10 on that check, depending on the circumstances).

Action Analyzing a clue takes two actions. Collecting evidence generally takes at least a minute. Knowledge can be a reaction, but otherwise requires two actions.

Special You can take 10 when making an Academics check for Knowledge. You can take 20 on Knowledge with rigorous research and access to the materials and time necessary to search out information in such a manner.

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SCIENCE

INT, REQUIRES TOOLS

You have training in one or more scientific disciplines, and you can use your knowledge for ends such as inventing or treating the sick and injured.

•

Diagnosis (DC 10): You can diagnose injuries and ailments with an eye toward treatment. At the GM’s discretion, a successful diagnosis provides a +2 bonus on Medicine checks for treatment.

•

Provide Care (DC 15): Providing care means treating a wounded person for a day or more or providing routine medical treatment. If successful, the patient adds your Medicine rank to any recovery checks. You can tend up to your skill rank in patients at one time.

•

Revive (DC 15): You can remove the dazed, stunned, or unconscious conditions from a character. This check takes two action. A successful check removes one condition. You can’t revive a dying character without stabilizing him first.

•

Stabilize (DC 15): For one action, a successful Medicine check stabilizes a dying character.

•

Treat Disease (DC 15): You can tend a character infected with a disease. Every time the diseased character makes a recovery check against disease effects (after the initial contamination), you make a Medicine check requiring 10 minutes. If your check succeeds, you provide a bonus on the character’s recovery check equal to your Science rank.

•

Treat Poison (DC 15): You can tend a poisoned character. When a poisoned character makes a recovery check against a poison’s secondary effect, you make a Medicine check as a standard action. If the check succeeds, you provide a bonus on the character’s recovery check equal to your Science rank.

•

Surgery (DC 15-30): You can perform surgical operations. The DC ranges from 15 for routine procedures to 30 or more for tricky operations like heart or brain surgery.

Use Craft, Knowledges, Medicine.

Craft You can mix chemicals to create acids, drugs, explosives, poisons, and so forth. To craft something effectively, you must have an appropriate set of tools. The difficulty and time required to make a particular item depends on its complexity. If your campaign uses the optional rules for Wealth and Purchasing Equipment, you will have to make a Wealth Check with a Difficulty Class 10 less than the Craft DC to acquire the necessary materials. If your Craft check succeeds, you have made the item. If the Craft check fails, you did not produce a usable end result, and any materials are wasted.

Demolitions Characters can use Science to make explosives. The detonator mechanism, however, requires a Technology check to create.

TABLE 3.12: CRAFT TO CREATE CHEMICALS Complexity

Craft DC

Time

Simple

15

1 hour

Moderate

20

12 hours

Complex

25

24 hours

Advanced

30

60 hours

Examples

Try Again

Aspirin, simple painkillers, simple experiments Drugs, complex experiments Advanced medicines or poisons, difficult experiments Cutting-edge chemicals, groundbreaking experiments

For crafting, you may try again, although it may require new materials.

Knowledge Make a Science check to answer a question in one of the following fields: • • • •

Behavioral Sciences: Psychology, sociology, and criminology. Earth Sciences: Geology, geography, oceanography, and paleontology. Life Sciences: Biology, botany, genetics, medicine, and forensics. Physical Sciences: Astronomy, chemistry, mathematics, physics, and engineering.

The DC is 10 for easy questions, 15 for basic questions, and 20 to 30 for difficult questions. The GM may make a Science roll for you, so you don’t know whether or not your information is accurate.

For Knowledge, you cannot retry a Science check. The check represents what a character knows, and thinking about a topic a second time doesn’t let you know something you didn’t know before. The GM may allow another Science check if a character gets access to a better source of information. For example, a character who doesn’t know the answer to a particular question offhand might get another check with access to a library or online database (and could take 10 on that check, depending on the circumstances). For medicine checks to revive dazed, stunned, or unconscious characters, and stabilizing dying characters, you may try again.

Action The time to make something varies according on its complexity. The Gamemaster may increase or decrease the time for a particular project as necessary. You can cut the time for making or repairing an item in half by taking a –5 penalty (see Challenges, below). Knowledge can be a reaction, but otherwise requires two actions. Medicine checks take time based on the task, as described above.

Medicine The DC and effect depend on the task.

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Special

TABLE 3.14: SECURITY MODIFIERS Modifier Security -10 Epic -5 Excellent -2 Very Good +0 Good +2 Fair +5 Poor +10 None

You can take 10 when crafting, but can’t take 20 since doing so represents multiple attempts, and you use up raw materials with each attempt. If you don’t have the proper tools, you take a –5 penalty on Craft checks. You can take 10 when making an Science check for Knowledge. You can take 20 on Knowledge with rigorous research and access to the materials and time necessary to search out information in such a manner. You can take 10 when making a Science check for Medicine. You can take 20 only when giving long-term care or attempting to revive dazed, stunned, or unconscious characters. If you do not have the appropriate medical equipment, you take a – 5 penalty on your Science check for Medicine. You can use the Science skill on yourself only to diagnose, provide care, or treat disease or poison with Medicine. You take a –5 penalty on checks when treating yourself.

Difficulty Almost impossible to hack or reprogram Very difficult to hack or reprogram Challenging to hack or reprogram Average difficulty to hack or reprogram Relatively easy to hack or reprogram Easy to hack or reprogram Simplistic to hack or reprogram

TECHNOLOGY

INT, REQUIRES TOOLS

You understand technology and electronics, like computers, machines, and similar complicated devices.

Use Computers, Craft, Knowledges.

Extended Normal use of Science for crafting resembles an extended check in many ways. If you want, you can replace the standard crafting rules with an extended check. In this case, a single failed check doesn’t ruin the project; instead, rolling three failures before achieving the requisite number of successes does. The GM might require an extended Science skill check to treat a particularly virulent disease or similar complex medical condition with Medicine.

Computers Most normal computer operations—using software, getting your email—don’t require a Technology check and can be done untrained. However, searching an unfamiliar network for a particular file, writing programs, altering existing programs to perform differently, and breaking computer security all require skill checks (and training).

Craft

Challenges

TABLE 3.15: CRAFT TO CREATE ITEMS

The following Challenge appropriate for Science checks:

Fast Work You may add +5 or +10 to the indicated Difficulty Class to craft something. This increase allows you to make the item faster than usual, reducing the time to half or one-quarter normal, respectively.

Complexity

Craft DC

Time

Simple

15

1 hour

Moderate

20

12 hours

Complex

25

24 hours

Advanced

30

60 hours

Examples Electronic timer or detonator, tripwire trap, bookcase Radio direction finder, lock, engine component, shed, furniture Cell phone, combustion engine, bunker Computer, jet engine, building

TABLE 3.13: COMPUTER MODIFIERS Modifier -10 -5 +0 +5

+10

Action

Possible Options The device cannot function in this way Difficult normally (Detonate a security camera) The device doesn’t usually work this way. Challenging (Fill a radio with static to deafen the enemy) The device can work this way, but not well. Average (Hack a network with a PDA) The device can function fairly well in this Easy way. (Activate automated guns in the base to fire on the enemy) The device is designed to function in exactly Simplistic this way. (Turn on automatic lights in a room)

You can build electronic items or mechanical items. To craft effectively, you must have an appropriate set of tools. The difficulty and time required to make a particular item depends on its complexity. If your campaign uses the optional rules for Wealth and Purchasing Equipment, you will have to make a Wealth Check with a Difficulty Class 10 less than the Craft DC to acquire the necessary materials . If your Technology check succeeds, you have made the item. If the Technology check fails, you did not produce a usable end result, and any materials are wasted.

Repairing Items You can use the Technology skills to repair damaged electronic or mechanical items. The GM sets the DC. In general, simple repairs have a DC of 10 to 15 and require no more than a few minutes.

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Action

TABLE 3.16: CRAFT TO REPAIR ITEMS Simple

Craft DC 10

Moderate

15

Complex

20

Advanced

25

Complexity

Time

Examples

Technology requires at least two actions action to work a computer. The GM may determine some tasks require several rounds, a few minutes, or longer, as described above.

1 minute

Tool, simple weapon Mechanical or electronic 10 minutes component 1 hour Mechanical or electronic device Cutting-edge mechanical or 10 hours electronic device

The time to make something varies according on its complexity. The Gamemaster may increase or decrease the time for a particular project as necessary. You can cut the time for making or repairing an item in half by taking a –5 penalty (see Challenges, below). Knowledge can be a reaction, but otherwise requires two actions.

More complex repair work has a DC of 20 or higher and can require an hour or more.

Jury-Rigging You can also attempt jury-rigged, or temporary, repairs. Doing this reduces the DC by 5 from that of a regular repair, and allows you to make the check for two actions. However, a jury-rigged repair can only fix a single problem, and the repair only lasts until the end of the current encounter. The jury-rigged item must be fully repaired after, and cannot be jury-rigged again until it is fully repaired. You can also use jury-rigging to hot-wire a car or jump-start an engine or electronic device. The DC for this is at least 15, and can be higher depending on the presence of security devices.

Demolitions Creating the explosive itself is a Science check, but it requires a Technology check to prepare it for actual detonation. Setting a simple explosive to blow up at a certain spot doesn’t require a check, but connecting and setting a detonator does. Also, placing an explosive for maximum effect against a structure calls for a check, as does disarming an explosive device. Most explosives require a detonator to go off (which requires a Technology check DC 10 to attach)). Failure means the explosive fails to go off as planned. Failure by 10 or more means the explosive goes off as the detonator is being installed. You can make an explosive more difficult to disarm. To do so, choose the disarm DC before making your check to set the detonator (it must be higher than 10). Your DC to set the detonator is equal to the disarm DC. Disarming an explosive requires a Technology check. The DC is usually 10, unless the person who set the detonator chose a higher disarm DC. If you fail the check, you do not disarm the explosive. If you fail by 5 or more, the explosive goes off. Setting or disarming a detonator is two actions. Carefully placing an explosive against a fixed structure can maximize the damage by exploiting vulnerabilities in the construction. This requires at least a minute and a Technology check. The GM makes the check (so you don’t know exactly how well you have done until the explosive goes off). On a result of 15 or higher, the explosive deals +5 damage to the structure. On a result of 25 or higher, it deals +10 damage. In all cases, it deals normal damage to all other targets within its blast radius.

Knowledge Make a Technology check to answer a question about electronic or mechanical devices. The DC is 10 for easy questions, 15 for basic questions, and 20 to 30 for difficult questions. The GM may make a Technology roll for you, so you don’t know whether or not your information is accurate.

Try Again So long as you have access to the system, you can (in theory) try Technology checks for computers again indefinitely. However, many systems defend against repeated intrusions by increasing security. Your GM may increase the penalty from security modifiers to represent this. For crafting, you may try again, although it may require new materials. For Knowledge, you cannot retry a Science check. The check represents what a character knows, and thinking about a topic a second time doesn’t let you know something you didn’t know before. The GM may allow another Science check if a character gets access to a better source of information. For example, a character who doesn’t know the answer to a particular question offhand might get another check with access to a library or online database (and could take 10 on that check, depending on the circumstances).

Extended The GM might simulate long and involved programming or hacks for an extended period of time with an extended Technology check. Normal use of Technology to craft something resembles an extended check in many ways. If you want, you can replace the standard craft rules with an extended check. In this case, a single failed check doesn’t ruin the project; instead, rolling three failures before achieving the requisite number of successes does.

Special You can take 10 when using the Technology skill to work with computers. You can take 20 in some cases, but not those involving a penalty for failure. (You cannot take 20 to defeat computer security or defend security, for example.) You can take 10 when using Technology to craft something, but can’t take 20 since doing so represents multiple attempts, and you use up raw materials with each attempt. You can take 10 or 20 on repair checks. If you don’t have the proper tools, you take a –5 penalty on Technology checks to craft something. You can take 10 when making an Technology check for Knowledge. You can take 20 on Knowledge with rigorous research and access to the materials and time necessary to search out information in such a manner.

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Challenges

TABLE 3.17: CONCENTRATION Distraction Damaged during the action

The following Challenge appropriate for Technology checks:

Fast Work

Taking continuous damage during the action

You may add +5 or +10 to the indicated Difficulty Class to craft something. This increase allows you to make the item faster than usual, reducing the time to half or one-quarter normal, respectively.

Maintain a Concentration FX as one action Maintain a Sustained FX as a reaction Vigorous motion (bouncy vehicle ride, small boat in rough water, below decks in a storm-tossed ship, riding a horse) Violent motion (very rough vehicle ride, small boat in rapids, on deck of storm-tossed ship, galloping horse) Extraordinarily violent motion (earthquake) Entangled (such as by a snare) Bound, grappling, or pinned Weather is a high wind carrying blinding rain or sleet Weather is wind-driven hail, dust, or debris

Wisdom EXPERTISE

WIS, SPECIALIZATION

You have some familiarity with things that other people might call “impossible” or “supernatural”, knowledge you most certainly didn’t gain in a traditional school.

Use Concentration, Identify FX, Knowledges. Expertise is used to identify and analyze FX of a certain relatively broad descriptor. It is a catch-all term for general experience and familiarity of a field which really doesn’t exist in a world without such FX. Some examples include: •

Extra-Terrestrial: Alien technology, species, abilities. You are familiar with visitors from other planets and their capabilities.

•

Magic: Necromancy, enchantment, fae. You are able to differentiate between types of magic and identify spells, as well as different magical creatures.

•

Martial Arts: Sword-fighting, kung-fu, karate, fencing. You can identify different moves and styles.

•

Occult: Incantations, otherworldly monsters, forbidden lore. You know the supernatural, and can recognize creatures not of his world and eldritch secrets man was not meant to know.

•

Psionics: Telekinesis, telepathy, clairsentience. You are familiar with different psychic disciplines and the powers they wield.

Identify FX On your next turn after another creature utilizes an FX with one of the above descriptors, you may use Expertise to identify the FX. You must have been able to perceive the FX in some way (so FX which have the subtle FX feat require a Perception check to identify, and FX with two ranks of subtle might require a specialized sense to be able to perceive. The DC to identify an FX is equal to 10 + the FX’s rank. If you succeed on the check, you can glean some useful information.

10

15 20 15 20 5 10

Succeed By 5 or More If your result exceeds the DC by 5 or more, you can identify how many ranks the FX has.

Succeed By 10 or More If your result exceeds the DC by 10 or more, you know the full capabilities of the FX, including other Extras, Flaws, Drawbacks, or FX feats it might have.

Informed Combatant If you have the Informed Combatant feat, you can grant yourself and your allies bonuses against FX which you have identified.

Concentration Make an Expertise check to concentrate whenever you might be distracted (by taking damage, by harsh weather, and so on) while engaged in some action requiring your full attention, maintaining an FX with a Concentration or Sustained duration. If the check succeeds, you may continue with the action. If the check fails, the action fails. The DC depends on the nature of the distraction. You may only use Expertise from one specialty to apply to checks involving that specialty. So a martial artist can use Expertise to maintain concentration during intense melee combat, or a wizard with Expertise (magic) can do so to maintain magical FX, but the martial artist couldn't use Expertise (Martial Arts) to maintain a magical spell (though he could use the skill for such a purpose nonproficiently).

Succeed If your result exceeds the DC, you can identify the type of FX (including all FX components Linked in the FX), including extra descriptors (if not already obvious). This does not tell you about how powerful the FX is in terms of how many ranks it has.

DC damage continuous damage last dealt 10 + FX rank 10 + FX rank

Knowledge Make an Expertise check to answer a question about a descriptor you’ve specialized in. The DC is 10 for easy questions, 15 for basic questions, and 20 to 30 for difficult questions. The GM may make an Expertise roll for you, so you don’t know whether or not your

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solid wall. While you’re asleep, hearing something well enough to wake up is +10 DC.

Try Again

Spot (visual)

You cannot retry an Expertise check. The check represents what a character knows, and thinking about a topic a second time doesn’t let you know something you didn’t know before. The GM may allowanother Expertise check if a character gets access to a better source of information, or for Identifying and FX, seeing that FX used again. For example, a character who doesn’t know what a particular magic spell is off-hand might get another check after seeing it cast a few more times, or after being able to study some more arcane lore. You may retry your check to Concentrate, although a success doesn’t cancel the effects of a previous failure, such as the disruption of an action you were concentrating on.

Make a check against a DC based on how visible the object is or against an opposed Infiltration check. Spot is also used to detect someone in disguise, or to notice a concealed object.

Other Senses You can make Perception checks involving other sense types as well as various special senses (see Enhanced Senses). Noticing something obvious to a sense is DC 0. Less obvious things are DC 10 or so, hidden things DC 20 or more, and making out details requires you to exceed the DC by 10 or more.

Search

Action Identifying an FX takes one action, and can only be used on the round after an FX was used. Knowledge can be a reaction, but otherwise requires two actions. Making a check to Concentrate doesn’t require an action; it is either a reaction (when attempted in response to a distraction) or a free action (when attempted actively).

You must be within 10 feet (one range increment) of the area. You can examine a 5-foot-by-5-foot area or a volume of goods 5 feet on a side with a single check. Search can turn up things like footprints, but does not allow you to follow tracks (see Tracking).

TABLE 3.18: SEARCH

Special

Task Ransack an area to find a certain object. Notice a secret compartment, a simple trap, or an obscure clue. Find a well-hidden secret compartment or trap, or an extremely obscure clue.

You can take 10 when making an Expertise check for Knowledge, but not to Identify an FX.

PERCEPTION

WIS, RESISTANCE

Use this skill to notice and find things, whether hearing at a great distance, finding half-buried under a bed, or in the honeyed words of an enemy.

Use

Notice Make a skill check to notice something. Perception checks generally suffer a penalty of –1 per 10 feet between you and the thing you’re trying to notice. If you’re distracted, you take a –5 penalty on Perception checks. Making out details—such as clearly hearing conversation or reading text—requires you to exceed the DC by 10 or more.

Listen (auditory) Make a check against a DC based on how loud the noise is or against an opposed Infiltration check. A normal conversation is DC 0, a quiet noise DC 10. Listening through a door is +5 DC, +15 for a

20 25+

Finding Concealed Objects The DC to search for a concealed object is usually based on the Stealth or Slight of Hand check of the character who hid it. The GM can assume characters with the time take 20 on their check to conceal an object.

Notice (Each Sense), Search, Sense Motive. The DC to overcome your Perception Resistance is 10 + your ranks in Perception + your Wisdom score.

DC 10

Surveillance You can use Search to set up surveillance of a particular area, watching from a stationary location. The DC of the subject’s Infiltration check to evade your notice is equal to the result of your Search check.

Extended Searches Certain FX—notably ESP, Quickness, and Enhanced Senses— greatly extend the area you can search at once. When searching for something over an extended area, use the following guidelines. Determine the area’s approximate diameter. For each step up the Extended Range Table (starting at 10 feet for twice the normal Search area), move the time required to search the area one step up the Time and Value Progression Table (starting at one minute, the interval above a full round). You can reduce the time required for an extended search by increasing the DC of the Search check: each step down the Time and Value Progression Table, to a

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Sense Motive A successful Sense Motive check allows you to avoid the effects of some interaction skills. You can also use the skill to tell when someone is behaving oddly or to assess their trustworthiness.

takes at least 1 minute.

Special When several characters try to notice the same thing, the GM can make a single d20 roll and use it for all the characters’ skill checks. Various sensory effects provide modifiers on Notice checks (see Enhanced Senses). Taking 20 on a Notice check means you spend 1 minute attempting to notice something that may or may not be there.

Evaluate You can use this skill to make an assessment of a social situation. With a successful check (DC 20), you can get a feeling when something is wrong. You can also tell if someone is trustworthy and honorable (or not) with an opposed Perception and Persuasion check.

Notice Influence

Extended Most uses of Sense Motive are simple checks, but the GM can allow extended checks in situations similar to those described for Persuasion. Certain hidden items might require an extended Search check, particularly if they are obscured with layers of concealment. An extended Search can also represent searching a large area for something.

You can make a Sense Motive check to notice someone acting under the influence of a mental FX. The DC is 10 + the FX’s rank.

Notice Innuendo

Challenges The following Challenges are appropriate for Perception checks:

You can use Sense Motive to detect a hidden message transmitted via the Persuasion skill (DC equal to the check result). If your check result beats the DC, you understand the secret message. If your check fails by 5 or more, you misinterpret the message in some fashion. If you are not the intended recipient of the message, your DC increases by 5.

Accurate In return for a –5 penalty to your Perception check, you can treat a normally inaccurate sense (such as hearing) as accurate for one round. A successful check tells you the exact spot a subject occupies. A failed check means you don’t notice anything.

Resist Interaction Make a Sense Motive check to resist or ignore the effects of certain interaction skills, such as Persuasion. If the result of your check exceeds your opponent’s check result, you are unaffected.

Try Again You can make a Notice check every time you have the opportunity to notice something new. As a move action, you can attempt to notice something you failed (or believe you failed) to notice previously. For Sense Motive, you cannot try again, though you can make a Perception check for each interaction attempt against you.

Action A Notice check is either a reaction (if called for by the GM) or one action (if you take the time to try and notice something). A Search check takes two actions. A Sense Motive check may be made as a reaction to notice or resist something. (When that’s the case, the GM may roll the Sense Motive check in secret, so you don’t know if there’s something to notice or not.) Using Sense Motive to evaluate a person or situation

Lip Reading By careful observation of the movements of someone’s mouth and lips, you can tell what he is saying. Lip reading is a +5 increase to the DC of your Perception check. You must be within three Notice range increments of the speaker and be able to accurately see him speak. You must also be able to understand the speaker’s language. You have to concentrate on reading lips for a full minute before making the check, and can’t perform some other action during this time. You can move at half speed but not any faster, and must maintain a line of sight to the lips being read. If the check succeeds, you understand the general content of a minute’s worth of speech, but may still miss certain details. If the check fails, you can’t read the speaker’s lips. If the check fails by 5 or more, you draw some incorrect conclusion about the speech. The GM rolls the Perception check so you don’t know whether you succeeded or failed and therefore don’t know whether or not any information you picked up is accurate. You can spend a hero die to re-roll a lip reading attempt, but you do so “blind,” not knowing what the original die roll result was (and therefore whether or not you can do better). You can retry a failed attempt at lip reading once per minute.

Read Situation For every +5 you increase the DC of your Perception check to Sense Motive, you learn one fact about the situation at hand when

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I evaluating a situation. The GM may tell you things like someone’s apparent goal(s), the nature of an interaction, and so forth.

SURVIVAL

TABLE 3.19: NAVIGATION Task Get along in an area. Move up to half your overland speed while hunting and foraging (no food or water supplies needed). You can provide food and water for one other person for every 2 points your check result exceeds 10. Gain a +2 bonus on Fortitude against severe weather while moving up to half your speed, or a +4 bonus if stationary. You may grant the same bonus to one other character for every point your check result exceeds 15. Avoid getting lost and avoid hazards, such as quicksand or gangs.

WIS, SPECIALIZATION

You are experienced in traveling, living, navigating, and generally surviving in a particular type of environment.

Use Get By, Knowledges, Navigate, Reconnaissance.

DC 10

15

20

You can get by in a particular environment. You may use Survival in that type of environment to sustain yourself, and to navigate the environment. Choose one of the following environments: •

Aquatic: Coastal communities, underwater, ship-board.

•

Desert: Areas of excessive heat and little moisture.

•

Forest: Woodlands with thick tree growth.

•

Marsh: Wetlands with growth and decay.

•

Mountains: High elevations and steep inclines.

•

Plains: Long stretches of flat, level land.

•

Rural: Sparsely populated communities.

•

Underground: Sewers, caverns, and catacombs.

•

Urban: Cities and large population centers.

Reconnaissance Survival can be used to gather information about an area or a person/creature in the area. This may include checking for tracks, watching the weather, bar-hopping to get information, or getting in on the gossip at the hair dresser's.

Get By Survival can be used to cover a wide number of different checks in an environment. Someone skilled at mountain survival is probably experienced at climbing, for instance, and someone in who understands underground survival or spelunking is probably fair as squeezing through small spaces. Survival is very useful for accomplishing tasks normally covered by other skills in your favored environment. However, as described earlier in the section, these are considered non-proficient skill attempts, so you may use only half your ranks in these checks.

Knowledge

General information concerns local happenings, rumors, gossip, and the like. Specific information usually relates to a particular question. Restricted information isn’t generally known and requires you to locate someone with access to the information. Protected information is even harder to come by and might involve some danger, either for the one asking the questions or the one providing the answers. There’s a chance someone takes note of anyone asking about restricted or protected information. The GM decides when this is the case. In some situations, opposed Survival checks are appropriate to see if someone else notices your inquiries (and you notice theirs). If you accept a –20 modifier on your check total, your inquiries avoid any notice.

Finding Subjects You can use Survival to track down someone or something. Make a Survival check to pick up your target’s trail and another for each hour you search, or when the trail becomes difficult to follow, such as when it moves to a different area of town. The DC and number of Survival checks required to find your target depend on the size of the community, as given on the table. For every 5 points you

Make a Survival check to answer a question about an area you’ve specialized in. This may include questions about what food is edible in the wild, where to sleep in a bad part of town, or legends about the haunted house on the hill in suburbia. The DC is 10 for easy questions, 15 for basic questions, and 20 to 30 for difficult questions. The GM may make a Survival roll for you, so you don’t know whether or not your information is accurate.

TABLE 3.20: RECONNAISSANCE Type of Information General Specific Restricted Protected

DC 10 15 20 25

TABLE 3.21: FINDING PEOPLE

Navigate You can use Survival to navigate and avoid hazards. The DC is 10 if you have the proper tools (a map, a compass, or GPS), 15 if you have no tools, and 20 if you are also avoiding environmental hazards (quicksand, gullies, reefs, gangs, etc.).

Community Size Village Town City Metropolis

Checks Required 1 2 3 4

DC 5 10 15 20

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I exceed the DC, you reduce the required number of checks by one, to a minimum of one. So a Survival result of 35 allows you to locate anyone in a vast metropolis in an hour’s time. The DCs on the table assume the subject isn’t making any special effort to hide. People trying not to be found add Survival or Infiltration bonus to the DC to find them so long as they keep a low profile.

Try Again Each additional Reconnaissance check requires additional time for each check, and you may draw attention to yourself if you repeatedly pursue a certain type of information. For Knowledge, you cannot retry a Survival check. The check represents what a character knows, and thinking about a topic a second time doesn’t let you know something you didn’t know before. The GM may allow another Survival check if a character gets access to a better source of information. For example, a character who doesn’t know the answer to a particular question offhand might get another check with access to a library or online database (and could take 10 on that check, depending on the circumstances).

clues about the information you seek. If your check fails, you may be detected as normal, but you still avoid spreading clues about what you were trying to find.

Gossip When asking around for some needed information, you are willing to delve into the not-always-true world of the gossip-hounds. You may retry a gather information check as a free action (rather than the normal time) at a -5 penalty to your check. The GM may choose to roll this for you to keep the result secret. If the check is successful, you gain the needed information. If it fails, you instead game some false information. You generally can’t use Sense Motive to determine whether or not this information is false, since gossip tends to get unintentionally distorted through each retelling.

Charisma ART

CHA

You can create art, whether it be a physical piece like a sculpture or a painting, or a performance, such as music or acting.

Action Knowledge can be a reaction, but otherwise requires two actions. Reconnaissance takes at least an hour, possibly several, at the GM’s discretion. You can cut the time for a Reconnaissance check in half by taking a –5 penalty.

Use Creating Art, Disguise.

TABLE 3.22: ARTISTIC WORK

Special

Work Amateur work. Audience appreciates your art, but isn’t impressed. Routine work. Audience enjoys your art, but it isn’t exceptional. Great work. Audience impressed. Memorable work. Audience enthusiastic. Masterful work. Audience awed.

You can take 10 when making an Survival check for any use, but you cannot take 20.

Extended Reconnaissance allows characters to get a general impression of the news or find the answer to a specific question. As long as the character only has a few questions or rumors to follow up on, a simple skill check should be used. In situations where heroes are following a half dozen or more leads, the GM might want to use one extended skill check to resolve the information-gathering attempt. In this case, the number of successes required equals the number of leads or questions pursued, and the GM determines the number of failures that can ruin the extended check. In an extended Survival check for Reconnaissance, each die roll represents 2 hours spent pursuing the investigation.

Check Result 10 15 20 25 30

Creating Art The quality of your work depends on your check result. Your art may include:

An extended Survival check might be required for long-term survival in a particular climate or terrain.

Challenges

•

Acting: You can perform drama, comedy, or action-oriented roles with some level of skill.

•

Comedy: You are a comedian, capable of performing a standup routine for an audience.

•

Drawing: You can use a pen or pencil and paper to create art.

•

Dance: You are a dancer, capable of performing rhythmic and patterned movements to music.

•

Keyboards: You can play keyboard instruments, such as piano, organ, and synthesizer.

•

Oratory: You can deliver effective speeches and monologues.

•

Painting: You can use oil and watercolor to create paintings.

•

Percussion Instruments: You can play percussion instruments, such as drums, cymbals, triangle, xylophone, and tambourine.

The following Challenges are appropriate for Survival checks:

Discrete Inquiry While looking for news and information, you keep a low profile. You increase your Survival check DC by +5, but you avoid leaving any

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Sculpture: You can shape clay, stone, or wood into works of art.

•

Singing: You can sing with some level of skill.

•

Stringed Instruments: You can play stringed instruments, such as banjo, guitar, harp, and violin.

•

Wind Instruments: You can play wind instruments, such as flute, bugle, trumpet, tuba, bagpipes, and trombone.

Action An Art check usually requires at least several minutes to an hour or more. Disguising requires at least 10 minutes of preparation. The GM makes Perception checks for those who encounter you immediately upon meeting you and again each hour or day thereafter, depending on circumstances.

Disguise Many actors and artists are quite skilled at changing their appearance. Your check result determines the effectiveness of the disguise. It is opposed by others’ Perception check results. Make one Art check even if several people make Perception checks. The GM makes the check secretly so you are not sure how well your disguise will hold up under scrutiny. If you don’t draw any attention to yourself, others don’t get to make Perception checks. If you come to the attention of people who are suspicious, they get to make a Perception check. (The GM can assume suspicious observers take 10 on their Perception checks if they have time to observe you.) The effectiveness of your disguise depends in part on how much you attempt to change your appearance.

TABLE 3.23: DISGUISE MODIFIERS Disguise Minor details only Appropriate uniform or costume Disguised as different sex Disguised as a different race Disguised as different age category

Modifier +5 +2 -2 -2 -2

You can take 10 when making an Art check, but can’t take 20. Performances requiring musical instruments are manipulation skills. If you don’t have an appropriate instrument you automatically fail any check requiring it. At the GM’s discretion, impromptu instruments may be employed, but you take a –5 penalty on the check. You can take 10 or take 20 when assuming a disguise. If you don’t have a disguise kit you take a –5 penalty on the check. You can help someone else create a disguise, treating it as an aid attempt.

Challenges The following Challenges are appropriate for Art checks:

Face in the Crowd

If you are impersonating a particular individual, those who know the subject automatically get to make Perception checks. Furthermore, they get a bonus on the check.

TABLE 3.24: FAMILIARITY MODIFIERS Familiarity Recognizes on sight Friend or associate Close friend Intimate

Special

Bonus +4 +6 +8 +10

With a –5 penalty to your check result, you can craft a disguise that is less likely to draw attention. Only people who specifically single you out and try to notice your deception receive Perception checks to do so. Guards and other passive observers take no special notice of you unless you draw attention to yourself or interact directly with them.

Quick Change

Usually, an individual makes a Perception check to detect a disguise immediately upon meeting you and each hour thereafter. If you casually meet many different people, each for a short time, the GM checks once per day or hour, using an average Perception modifier for the group (assuming they take 10). This check includes convincing others that you are, in fact, the person you say you are, through acting and performance. However, for actually trying to persuade other characters, a persuasion check is required.

You can adopt a disguise as a full-round action by taking a –5 penalty to your check. However, anyone who comes within one visual range increment of you (usually 10 feet) automatically sees through your disguise due to its hurried and makeshift nature.

PERSUASION

CHA

You know how to convince others to see things your way.

Try Again You may not for the same artistic work and audience, nor may you try again on a disguise. You can assume the same disguise again at a later time. If others saw through the previous disguise, they are automatically treated as suspicious if you assume the same disguise again.

Use Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate. You can convince an NPC to accept a proposal of yours, depending on just how beneficial (or detrimental) the proposal is for the NPC and how the NPC views you to begin with. The better the proposal

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I and the better your relationship with the NPC, the more likely the NPC is to accept your offer. Make a persuasion check opposed by your opponent’s Perception or Will (whichever is higher). If you succeed, the NPC accepts your offer.

Diversion You can use Bluff to help you hide. A successful Persuasion check gives you the momentary diversion needed to attempt an Infiltration check while people are aware of you.

TABLE 3.25: PROPOSAL MODIFIERS

Trick

Modifier Proposal -10 -5 +0 +5

+10

Possible Actions There is no way for the NPC to benefit at all Horrible from this offer; Outlandish lie (Dust bunny for a car) Too much risk for too little gain; Hard to Poor believe lie (Flirt your way into a secure area) No real risk or reward; a reasonably believable Even bluff (Ask for public knowledge) Good reward, tolerable risk; The target wants Good to believe your bluff (Offer good money to use the employee bathroom) Great reward, minimal risk; Very reasonable Fantastic lie backed up by “evidence” (The keys to your sports car for a candy bar)

You can use Bluff to mislead an opponent in combat so he can't avoid your attacks as effectively. If your Persuasion check succeeds, you might be able to Gain Combat Advantage.

Innuendo You can use Bluff to send secret messages while apparently talking about other things. The DC for a basic message is 10. Complex messages or messages trying to communicate new information have DCs of 15 or 20, respectively. The recipient of the message must make a Perception check against the same DC to understand it. Anyone listening in on a secret message can also attempt a Perception check. If successful, the eavesdropper realizes a secret message is contained in the communication. If the eavesdropper beats the DC by 5 or more, he understands the secret message. Whether trying to send or pick up a message, a failure by 5 or more means the receiver misinterprets the message in some fashion.

TABLE 3.26: INTERACTION MODIFIERS Modifier Attitude -10

Nemesis

-5

Hostile

-2

Unfriendly

+0

Indifferent

+2

Friendly

+5

Helpful

+10

Fanatic

Possible Actions Will do anything to hurt you (Fight to the death or obsess over hurting you) Will take risks to hurt or avoid you (Attack, interfere, berate, flee) Wishes you ill (Mislead, gossip, avoid, watch suspiciously, insult) Doesn’t much care (Act as socially expected) Wishes you well (Chat, advise, offer limited help, advocate) Will take risks to help you (Protect, back up, heal, aid) Will do anything for you (Fight to the death under overwhelming odds)

Trick You can use Bluff to mislead an opponent into taking a potentially unwise action, such as trying to hit you while you are standing in front of an electrical junction box or at the edge of a precipice. If your Bluff check succeeds, your opponent is heedless of the potential danger and may hit the junction box or lose his balance and fall, if his attack against you fails. (On the other hand, if the attack succeeds, it might slam you into the junction box or send you flying off the edge.)

Intimidate

Bluff Bluff is opposed by the target’s Perception check when trying to con or mislead. Favorable and unfavorable circumstances weigh heavily on the outcome of a bluff. Two circumstances can work against you: the bluff is hard to believe, or the action the bluff requires goes against the target’s self-interest, nature, personality, orders, or allegiance. If it’s important, the GM can distinguish between a bluff that fails because the target doesn’t believe it and one that fails because it asks too much. For instance, if the target gets a +10 bonus because the bluff demands something risky, and the Perception check succeeds by 10 or less, then the target didn’t so much see through the bluff as prove reluctant to go along with it. If the target’s Perception check succeeds by 11 or more, he has seen through the bluff, and would have succeeded even if it had not placed unusual demand on him (that is, even without the +10 bonus). A successful Perception check indicates the target reacts as you want, at least for a short time (usually 1 round or less), or believes what you say.

Make an Intimidate check, opposed by the target’s Perception check or Will resistance (whichever has the highest bonus). If your check succeeds, you may treat the target as friendly, but only for actions taken in your presence. (That is, the target retains his normal attitude, but will talk, advise, offer limited help, or advocate on your behalf while intimidated.) The target cooperates, but won’t necessarily obey your every command or do anything that would directly endanger him. If you perform some action that makes you more imposing, you gain a +2 bonus on your Persuasion check. If your target clearly has a superior position, you suffer a –2 penalty on your Intimidate check. Fanatics get a +20 bonus on checks to resist being intimidated. If your Intimidate check fails by 5 or more, the target may actually do the opposite of what you want.

Demoralizing in Combat You can use Intimidate in combat to demoralize an opponent, shaking their confidence. Make an Intimidate check as one action. If it succeeds, your target is shaken (–2 on all attack rolls and checks) for one round.

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Interrogation You can use Intimidate to get people to tell you things. If your check succeeds, the target spills the information.

to bluff, setting the DC at 25 and requiring five successful rolls before rolling three failures. This is sufficient for the character to infiltrate the gang, but the GM decides to play out the character's meeting with the gang leader, since he’s a more important character.

Intimidating Groups You can intimidate a group of people—who can all see and hear you—with a single check. If the group clearly has you at a disadvantage, you suffer the usual –2 penalty on your Persuasion check. Each member of the group rolls separately, although the GM may choose to roll once for groups of minions. Compare your check result against each check result from the group. You cannot demoralize a group.

Try Again Generally, trying again doesn’t work. Even if the initial check succeeds, the other character can only be persuaded so far. If the initial check fails, the other character has probably become more firmly committed to his position, and trying again is futile. At the GM’s discretion, you can try again when the situation changes in some way: you find a new approach to your argument, new evidence appears, the circumstances change in your favor and so forth. When feinting or tricking in combat, you can try again freely, but targets get a cumulative +1 bonus to resist each time you try to bluff them in combat after the first. You can Intimidate in combat freely until you fail, after which the target is no longer intimidated by you. Each time you demoralize an opponent in combat, he gains a +1 bonus to resist additional attempts in that encounter.

Action Persuading is usually at least two actions. The GM may determine some negotiations require longer (perhaps much longer). A bluff normally takes at least two actions but can take longer if you try something elaborate. Using Bluff to feint or trick in combat is a standard action, as is using Bluff to create a diversion to hide. You can feint, trick, or create a diversion as a move action by taking a – 5 penalty on your check. Intimidate is two actions. Demoralizing in combat is one action.

Challenges The following Challenges are appropriate for Persuade checks:

Combat Diplomacy You can make a Diplomacy check in combat as a full-round action by accepting a +10 modifier to the Difficulty Class. Opponents in combat with you are considered at least hostile. An unfriendly opponent doesn’t attack you unless you give him reason to do so. An indifferent foe stops fighting altogether, while a helpful one actually joins your side, even turning against former allies.

Conversational Paralysis In return for a –5 penalty to your Bluff check, a successful check dazes your target for one round. Your claims are so strange or outlandish that the target can do nothing but sputter or reel in confusion. This skill challenge does not work in combat situations (for that, see the Distract feat). Each additional –5 check penalty you accept increases the duration of the effect by one round.

Durable Lie In return for a –5 penalty on your check, your target believes your bluff longer than usual. The target continues to act as you wish for an additional round. You can apply another –5 penalty to extend this to two rounds. This skill challenge does not work with the feint use of Bluff.

Forceful Intimidation By taking a –5 penalty on your Intimidate check, you can force your subject to take an action that is against his interests (but not lifethreatening).

Special

Mass Intimidation

You add a +2 bonus to Intimidate for every size category you are larger than your target. Conversely, you take a –2 penalty to your check for every size category you are smaller than your target (see Size).

You can attempt to intimidate more than one subject at a time. You suffer a –2 penalty to your check per opponent beyond the first (instead of the usual -5 penalty for a skill challenge).

Powerful Intimidation

Extended The GM might simulate long and involved negotiations for an extended period of time with an extended Persuade check. Almost all uses of Bluff require only a single check to indicate success or failure. However, in certain complex situations, the GM might want to use an extended Bluff check in place of several simple checks. For example, a character spends several days undercover trying to infiltrate a criminal gang. Rather than play out the entire series of interactions, the GM decides to use an extended Persuade check

In return for a –5 penalty to your Intimidate check, you can either increase the penalty you inflict for demoralizing a foe by –1. You can take this challenge multiple times to increase the penalty.

WILL

CHA, RESISTANCE

Your resistance to mental influence and domination as well as certain FX.

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Use

Combat

Resistance.

DEFENSE

The DC to overcome your Will is 10 + your ranks in Will + your Charisma score.

COM, RESISTANCE

Your ability to avoid attacks and harm.

Degrees of Success

Use

Certain effects might cause additional conditions if they exceed your Will by 5 or more. See the individual effects for further information.

Resistance. The DC to overcome your Defense is 10 + your ranks in Defense.

Try Again

Defense Bonus

You cannot retry a Will check.

Action A Will check is made as a reaction. You can spend one hero die using its result in place of the 10, but you must do so before learning the results of your Will check. If you choose to spend a hero die this way, you must use its result, even it makes your Will check worse.

Your bonus from the Defense skill is lost under certain circumstances, such as when you are stunned, flat-footed, surpriseattacked, or otherwise unable to defend yourself normally. Other circumstances—such as when you are helpless—cause you to lose your entire defense bonus, and may apply additional penalties to your defense. Specific circumstances are discussed in Chapter VII: Combat.

Uncanny Dodge The Uncanny Dodge feat allows you to retain one point of your Defense bonus per rank when stunned, flat-footed, or would otherwise lose your Defense bonus.

TOUGHNESS

COM, RESISTANCE

Your ability to resist physical punishment and direct damage.

Use Resistance. The DC to overcome your Toughness is 10 + your ranks in Toughness.

Degrees of Success If an effect exceeds your Toughness, you may suffer additional debilitating conditions:

Succeed If an effect exceeds your Toughness, you are injured, suffering a -1 penalty to his Toughness.

Succeed By 5 or More If an effect exceeds your Toughness by 5 or more, you are dazed and injured, losing one action on your next turn.

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Option: Toughness and Human Characters The increased ability to withstand damage within normal human limits is usually covered well by taking ranks in the Tough feat (which is limited by your Constitution score). Toughness, like Recovery and Might, are really meant to represent strength and durability which are just beyond normal human capability. For most games, it is appropriate that ranks in these skills only be available if bought via the Enhanced (Trait) FX.

Succeed By 10 or More If an effect exceeds your Toughness by 10 or more, you are staggered, allowing you only a single action each round. A character who is staggered is automatically rendered unconscious if an opponent damages him again.

Toughness checks are made as reactions. You can spend one Hero Dice to use your Hero Dice Pool result in place of the 10, but you must do so before learning the results of your Toughness check. If you choose to spend a hero die this way, you must use its result, even it makes your Toughness check worse.

Special By default, you cannot purchase ranks in Toughness directly. Instead, character need to purchase ranks in Enhanced (Trait) or the Tough feat.

Your training and skill with a specific type of weapons.

Use Attack. Choose a type of weapon from the list below. You may make a Weapon Group check to attack with weapons from that weapons group:

Cudgels: Maces, clubs, staves.

•

Bows: Longbows, shortbows, recurve bows.

Heavy Weapons: Machine guns, flame throwers, missile launchers.

•

Light Blades: Daggers, stilettos, throwing knives.

•

Longarms: Rifles, sub-machine guns, shotguns.

•

Pistols: Pistols, revolvers, machine pistols.

•

Polearms: Spears, pikes, halberds.

•

Unarmed: Punches, kicks, brass knuckles.

Action Most attacks require a Weapon Group check as one action. Some attacks might require two actions.

Creating Skills While the skills in d20 Advanced cover most situations, you may wish to add a new skill to the game for different reasons. First, a new skill may combine tasks normally handled by two or more different skills under a single heading, allowing characters to be skilled solely in that aspect without any training or ability in the other skills. Second, a new skill may be useful with certain rules options or new systems (including those detailed in this book). Lastly, a new skill can provide additional detail or may be important in a particular sub-genre or style of campaign. When should you create a new skill and when should you create a new use for an existing skill? It's largely a matter of taste. Generally, adding a new use to a skill is easier in terms of game structure and balance; you don't have to worry about adding another skill to existing characters who ought to have it, or retroactively redesigning any characters to fit the new skill. Instead, it just becomes a less-often used aspect of an existing skill. It's easier to integrate new uses for skills into an ongoing game than it is to add new skills.

COM , SPECIALIZATION

•

•

You may use your ranks in any Weapon Group specialization as a non-proficient skill check for attack rolls with weapons in other Weapon Groups.

Action

Axes: Hatchets, battleaxes, tomahawks.

Heavy Blades: Long swords, bastard swords, claymores.

Special

You cannot retry Toughness checks.

•

•

You cannot retry a Weapon Group check.

Try Again

WEAPON GROUP

FX: FX with a particular descriptor, such as Electricity, Fire, or Magic.

Try Again

Succeed By 15 or More If an effect exceeds your Toughness by 15 or more, you are unconscious.

•

If you want to create a new use for an existing skill, but don't necessarily want everyone trained in that skill to have access to it, you can create a feat that grants access. This is a good middle ground between creating a new skill and a new use for an existing skill, plus it becomes something characters lacking the feat can still do occasionally, if they’re willing to spend a hero die to emulate the feat. Another middle-ground option is the Skill Challenge system section

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I of this chapter, which allows certain "advanced" uses of skills at a penalty to the skill check or Difficulty Class. This ties in with the previously mentioned feat option if there are also feats for performing certain skill challenges without penalty. Still, there may be cases when you want to create an entirely new skill. This is especially so for esoteric or unusual skills that don't match up with any existing skill and aren't suitable as new aspects of a skill, even with an enabling feat. You might be setting a game in an era where existing skills wouldn't be as applicable (such as the Technology skill in medieval times). In this case, there are a few things to keep in mind. You should try to keep the number and utility of each of the skills available to a given ability score roughly in-tact. Too many skills in one ability makes it too attractive, and too few makes players more likely to use it as a "dump stat" and avoid investing points in it.

Think of ways to translate the utility of an existing skill to a new one if you mean to replace it. For example, for a fantasy game, the Science and Technology skills probably aren't as useful or genreappropriate. These two skills are knowledge-heavy and have numerous craft applications. Technology in particular gives you more options for interacting with technological devices. So to translate these concepts to a more fantasy game, you might consider recasting them as Alchemy and Magical Items, with Alchemy being focused on brewing potions and analyzing spell components, while Magic Items would allow a character to build and use magical Devices. If you choose to create new skills from the ground up, keep in mind that most skills have about four or five specific applications, and are generally broad enough to apply to other unforeseen circumstances too. Apply the skills to an appropriate ability score and you're good to go.

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Chapter IV: Feats Characters are more than just skilled, they’re capable of amazing feats, often far beyond the abilities of ordinary people. In d20 Advanced, a feat is a particular special ability. Feats often allow heroes to “break the rules,” doing things most people cannot. Feats are not actually classified as FX. Those are covered in Chapter V: FX.

Acquiring Feats

•

Fortune feats require and enhance the use of hero dice. GMs running games which do not use hero dice, or who run less heroic and grittier games may wish to restrict access or ban the use of Fortune feats.

General feats provide special abilities or bonuses not covered by the other categories. FX Feats are a special seventh type of feat, related to FX and described in Chapter V: FX. •

Feat Descriptions

Feats are rated in ranks and bought with character points, just like skills and FX. Feats cost 1 character point per rank.

Each feat is listed by name, type, and if the feat is available in multiple ranks, followed by a description of the feat’s benefits. The effects of additional ranks of the feat (if any) are noted in the text of each feat. In some cases a feat’s description mentions the normal conditions for characters who do not have the feat for comparison.

Feat Cost = 1 character point per feat rank

Feat Descriptions Each feat's description explains the benefit it provides. It also says if the feat can be acquired in ranks and what the effects are of doing so. If a feat's description does not specifically say it can be acquired multiple times, then it can only be taken once by a character. Ranks in a feat are noted with a number after the feat's name, such as "Defensive Roll 2" (for a character who has taken two ranks in the Defensive Roll feat), just like skill and FX ranks.

NAME

FEAT TYPE, RANKED

The feat name line contains the following information: •

Feat Name: What the feat is called. GMs may feel free to change the names of some skills to better suit e style of their game.

•

Feat Type: What type of feat this feat is.

• Ranked: Whether or not you can buy multiple ranks of the feat. Below the feat name line is a description of what the feat grants a character in game-terms.

Types of Feats Feats are categorized as one of six types: •

Combat feats are useful in combat and often modify how combat maneuvers are performed. For games where combat is especially dangerous or deadly, GMs may wish to restrict access to Combat feats.

•

Opportunity feats take advantage of risky moves taken by foes in battle. In games where tactical movement and attacks of opportunity are not used, GMs should not allow characters to select Opportunity feats.

•

Reputation feats are used to determine how well-known a character is. Games which do not use the Reputation rules should similarly not allow Reputation feats.

•

Skill feats offer bonuses or modifications to skill use. Games which abstract skills or downplay the importance of the skills might be better with Skill feats restricted or removed.

Combat Feats ACCURATE ATTACK

COMBAT, RANKED

When you make an attack you can take a penalty of up to –2 on the effect modifier and add the same number (up to +2) to your attack bonus. Your effect modifier cannot be reduced below +0 and your attack bonus cannot more than double. The changes to attack and effect modifier are declared before you make the attack roll and last until your next round. Each additional rank you take in this feat allows you increase both the penalty and the bonus you gain from this feat by 1, to a maximum of -5/+5.

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COMBAT, RANKED

When you make an attack you can take a penalty of up to –2 on your defense bonus and add the same number (up to +2) to your attack bonus. Your defense bonus cannot be reduced below +0 and your attack bonus cannot more than double. The changes to attack and defense bonus are declared before you make the attack roll and last until your next round. Each additional rank you take in this feat allows you increase both the penalty and the bonus you gain from this feat by 1, to a maximum of -5/+5.

ATTACK SPECIALIZATION

DEFENSIVE ROLL

COMBAT

In melee combat, you suffer a smaller attack penalty due to concealment. You suffer a -1 penalty to attack foes with partial concealment and a -2 penalty to attack foes with total concealment. If you spend a hero die before attacking, you automatically ignore penalties from concealment that attack. You take only half the usual penalty to speed for being unable to see; darkness and poor visibility reduce your speed to three-quarters rather than half.

You can evade damage through agility and "rolling" with an attack. You receive a +2 bonus to your Toughness resistance for each rank you take, but lose your Defensive Roll bonus whenever you lose your defense bonus or unable to take a free action unless you are able to succeed on a Concentration check (DC based on circumstances).

DEFENSIVE STRIKE

COMBAT

Make an Infiltration check against your opponent's Perception check at one action. If you win, you gain partial concealment from sight until your next round. If you make the check for two actions, you gain total concealment. This is based on Concealment (visual) with the flaws Partial and Action, for a cost of 1 character point per 2 ranks.

COMBAT EXPERT

COMBAT, RANKED

You gain a +2 bonus to skill checks to perform special Maneuvers in combat. Choose which maneuver the bonus applies to. Your total bonus on checks for Maneuvers is still limited by the campaign's PL limit on attack bonuses. Each additional rank you take in this feat allows you apply the bonus either a new maneuver check, or to one you have already applied this feat to.

CRITICAL STRIKE

COMBAT

You can score critical hits normally on favored opponents with Immunity (critical hits). You must have the Favored Opponent feat in order to make a critical strike against that type of opponent.

DEFENSIVE ATTACK

COMBAT, RANKED

When you make an attack you can take a penalty of up to –2 on your attack bonus and add the same number (up to +2) as a defense bonus. Your attack bonus cannot be reduced below +0 and your defense bonus cannot more than double. The changes to attack and defense bonus last until your next action.

COMBAT

If an opponent attacks you in melee combat and misses, you gain Combat Advantage over your foe, as if he was vulnerable. You gain no bonus against opponents who do not attack you or who attack and hit you successfully (whether or not the attack has any effect).

DEFLECT ARROWS

COMBAT, RANKED

You can make block rolls to deflect thrown weapons and projectiles like arrows with an effective attack bonus of +1 per rank. This is 1 rank of the Deflect FX.

ELUSIVE TARGET COMBAT CONCEALMENT

COMBAT, RANKED

COMBAT, RANKED

You have a +2 bonus with a specific attack or weapon per rank in this feat. Choose the attack when you acquire the feat. Your total attack bonus is limited by the campaign’s power level.

BLIND-FIGHT

Each additional rank you take in this feat allows you increase both the penalty and the bonus you gain from this feat by 1, to a maximum of -5/+5.

COMBAT

While you are fighting an opponent in melee combat, others attempting to target you with ranged attacks are at a –10 penalty rather than the usual –5 penalty for shooting into melee combat.

EVASION

COMBAT, RANKED

If an attack roll to hit you with an area effect misses, you suffer no damage. If you have two ranks in this feat, you only take half damage from an area effect even if you are hit, and no damage if the attacker misses.

FAVORED ENVIRONMENT

COMBAT, RANKED

You have an environment you're especially suited for fighting in. Examples include in the air, underwater, in space, in extreme heat or cold, in jungles or woodlands, and so forth. While in your favored environment, you gain either a +1 bonus to attack or a +1 bonus to defense. Choose at the start of each round whether your bonus applies to attack or defense. Your maximum attack and defense bonus is limited by the campaign's power level.

FAVORED OPPONENT

COMBAT, RANKED

You have a particular type of opponent you’ve studied or are especially effective against. It may be a type of creature (aliens, animals, constructs, mutants, undead, etc.), a profession (soldiers, police officers, Yakuza, etc.) or any other category the GM approves. Especially broad categories like "humans" or "evil creatures" are not permitted. You gain a +1 bonus on Persuasion, Perception, and Survival checks dealing with your Favored

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I Opponent as well as +1 damage on all attacks against them. You may take this feat multiple times, either choosing a different opponent or increasing your existing bonus by +1, to a maximum of +5. Your maximum damage bonus is limited by the campaign’s power level.

FIRST STRIKE

COMBAT, RANKED

When you make an attack against a flat-footed opponent who hasn't yet acted in combat (whose initiative is lower than yours), increase your attack's damage bonus by +2. Opponents immune to critical hits suffer no additional damage. Additional ranks increase your First Strike damage bonus by +1, to a maximum of +5. First Strike damage stacks with the Sneak Attack feat. Your total damage bonus is limited by the campaign’s power level.

IMPROVED BLOCK

POWER ATTACK

COMBAT, RANKED

When you make an attack you can take a penalty of up to –2 on your attack bonus and add the same number (up to +2) to your attack’s effect modifier. Your attack bonus cannot be reduced below +0 and your effect modifier cannot more than double. The changes to attack and effect modifier are decided before you make your attack roll and last until your next round. This feat does not apply to effects requiring no attack roll or allowing no resistance. Each additional rank you take in this feat allows you increase both the penalty and the bonus you gain from this feat by 1, to a maximum of -5/+5.

COMBAT, RANKED

You have a +2 bonus on attack rolls to block melee attacks). If you can block ranged attacks (using the Deflect FX), your Improved Block bonus does not apply to those block rolls, which are improved separately by adding FX ranks.

IMPROVED CRITICAL

COMBAT, RANKED

Your critical threat range with a particular attack (chosen when you acquire this feat) is increased, allowing you to score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20. Only a natural 20 is an automatic hit, however, and an attack that misses is not a critical. Each additional rank applies to a different attack or increases your threat range with an existing attack by one more.

IMPROVED INITIATIVE

COMBAT, RANKED

You have a +5 bonus to your initiative checks per rank in this feat.

MARTIAL STRIKE

COMBAT, RANKED

Your unarmed attacks inflict additional damage: +1 per rank in this feat. Your maximum damage is still limited by the campaign’s power level, and the GM may set an additional limit on the number of ranks you can have in this feat based on things like fighting style and other campaign limits.

MOVE-BY ACTION

COMBAT

When taking an action to move and an action to do something else (such as attack) you can move both before and after the other action, provided the total distance isn't greater than your movement speed.

OATHBOUND

COMBAT

Your strong devotion to your allegiance gives you an additional +1 modifier on aid another actions for allies who share your allegiance (providing a +3 bonus rather than a +2 bonus). You also gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls against opponents with an allegiance opposed to your own.

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makes a new attack roll with the same modifiers as the first against the new target.

COMBAT, RANKED

When you make ranged attacks on an opponent engaged in melee with your allies, you reduce the attack roll penalty by 5. This eliminates the normal –5 penalty, and reduces the penalty for Elusive Target to –5. A second rank ignores the defense bonus for anything less than total cover and the miss chance from anything less than total concealment. It also completely negates the penalty for the Elusive Target feat.

PRONE FIGHTING

SNEAK ATTACK

COMBAT, RANKED

You can draw or load a weapon as a free action, rather than one action. You can only do one of these things as a free action each round; the others remain one action as normal. So you could draw a weapon as a free action, then load it as one action, for example, but not draw and load it as a free action. Quick Draw 2 allows you to both draw and load a weapon in the same round as free actions.

RAGE

COMBAT, RANKED

You can fly into a berserk rage as a free action, gaining +2 Strength, +2 to your Fortitude and Will resistances, and a –2 penalty to Defense. While raging you can't use skills or FX requiring concentration (with a duration of Concentration or Sustained), and you can't take 10 or 20 on checks. Your rage lasts for five rounds, after which you are fatigued for five rounds, suffering a -2 penalty to Strength- and Constitution-related checks. Each additional rank gives you +1 Strength and a +1 Fortitude and Will resistance bonus to a maximum of +5 Strength and +5 to resistances total at 4 ranks (the –2 penalty to Defense and other effects remain the same). Your maximum Strength and resistance bonuses are limited by the campaign's power level. Instead of increasing your Rage benefits, a rank in this feat can extend the duration by 5 rounds. This extends the duration of your post-rage fatigue by the same amount.

RANGED PIN

REDIRECT

SPEED OF THOUGHT

If you successfully trick an opponent to Gain Combat Advantage with Persuasion, you can redirect a missed attack against you from that opponent at another target as a reaction. The new target must be adjacent to you and within range of the attack. The attacker

COMBAT

You can use your Intelligence rather than your Dexterity when making initiative checks. Other initiative modifiers stack with your Intelligence normally.

STUNNING ATTACK

COMBAT

When you make a damaging melee attack, you can choose not to inflict normal damage. Instead, target your foe's Fortitude resistance (at 10 + your target's Fortitude bonus, not 5 + Fortitude, as if you were damaging your foe). If you overcome your foe's resistance, your target is dazed and loses one action. Success by 5 or more means the target loses both of his or her actions for the round, and success by 10 or more means the target is unconscious and helpless.

SUNDER

COMBAT

You have a +2 bonus to attack rolls to hit an object held by another character.

SWEEPING STRIKE

COMBAT

COMBAT, RANKED

When you make an attack on a foe you have Combat Advantage against, increase your attack's damage bonus by +2. You cannot sneak attack an opponent you cannot accurately perceive (due to concealment) and opponents immune to critical hits suffer no additional damage. Additional ranks increase your Sneak Attack damage bonus by +1, to a maximum of +5. Your total damage bonus is limited by the campaign's power level.

COMBAT

You can use a ranged weapon to pin an opponent to a nearby surface. The target must be within 5 feet of a wall, tree, or similar surface. Make a normal attack roll against the target. If your attack is successful, the target makes a Reflex check against your attack roll result. Failure means the target is entangled and immobile. To break free, the victim must take one action and make a successful Might or Acrobatics check to slip free (DC 15). A skill bonus greater than the DC allows the target to escape as a free action.

COMBAT

You can transfer the benefits of Combat Advantage to a teammate, even if your opponent isn't flat-footed. For example, you can feint and allow your ally to make the Combat Advantage against that opponent. The Maneuver to Gain Combat Advantage requires its normal time and skill check.

COMBAT

Opponents do not gain Combat Advantage over you while you are prone or seated. You can crawl at half your speed rather than the usual 5-feet per action.

QUICK DRAW

SET-UP

COMBAT

When you make a successful unarmed attack against an opponent, you can split your damage bonus between damaging your opponent and a free and immediate trip attack to Gain Combat Advantage. So, for example, if you have a +4 unarmed damage bonus, you can inflict +1 damage and make a Maneuver with a +3 bonus in place of your normal maneuver check, or +2 damage and +2 maneuver, or any such combination. You must assign at least a +1 bonus each to damage and the maneuver to use Sweeping Strike. The maneuver is resolved normally.

TAKEDOWN ATTACK

COMBAT, RANKED

If you knock out or disable an opponent with a melee attack, you

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I get an immediate extra attack against another opponent within range and within 5 feet of where the previous target was when attacked. You can’t move before making this extra attack. The extra attack is with the same attack and attack bonus as the first. You can use this feat once per round, except when fighting minions, where you can use it an unlimited number of times, until you miss or there are no more opponents within range of your attack or your last target. You can take this feat a second time, allowing you to move up to 5 feet between each attack you make, but you still cannot move more than your total speed, regardless of the number of attacks you make.

THROWING MASTERY

COMBAT, RANKED

You have a +1 damage bonus with thrown weapons per rank in this feat. You can also throw normally harmless objects—playing cards, pens, paper clips, and so forth—as weapons with a damage bonus equal to your rank, a range increment of 10 feet, and a maximum range of 50 feet. Your maximum damage bonus with this feat is limited by power level.

UNCANNY DODGE

COMBAT, RANKED

For each rank in this feat, you retain one 1 point of your Defense when stunned, flat-footed, or are otherwise denied it. Your total Defense is limited by the campaign's power level. Uncanny Dodge must belong to a particular sense type. Opponents with total concealment from that sense type can surprise attack you normally. You can apply additional ranks of Uncanny Dodge to different sense types, if you wish (making it harder to overcome, but less potent overall).

WEAPON BIND

BEGINNER’S LUCK

By spending a hero die, you gain 5 ranks in any skill in which you currently have 4 or fewer ranks, including skills you have no ranks in, even if they can’t be used untrained. These temporary skill ranks last for the duration of the encounter and grant you their normal benefits.

CAPABLE

WEAPON BREAK

INFORMED COMBATANT

COMBAT

If you successfully block an armed melee attack, you can make an attack against the blocked weapon immediately as a free action. This requires an attack roll and inflicts normal damage to the weapon if it hits.

ABLE LEARNER

FORTUNE

You are very well-educated and highly trained, allowing you to soak up information and knowledge more quickly than most, and giving you an edge when you try to apply that knowledge. You may spend Hero Dice in your Intelligence Dice Pool (if you have ranks in the Capable feat for that ability) for checks involving any non-combat, non-resistance skill.

FORTUNE

Your expertise in a particular area may pay off by allowing you to spot weaknesses your enemies present. If you have ranks in the appropriate Expertise specialty, you may attempt to study a foe an find weaknesses. Make an Expertise check, opposed by your opponent's Will resistance, appropriate Expertise skill, or appropriate Weapon Group skill (whichever is highest). If you succeed on this check, you may spend an action to direct others, granting your ally an additional hero die for Combat Skills on his next turn. Alternatively, you may spend your own Hero Dice in your Wisdom dice pool (if you have the Capable feat for that ability) on Combat skills for one round. Doing so requires you shift your tactics, spending one action doing so.

INSPIRE

Fortune Feats

FORTUNE, RANKED

You are even more able than your ability scores alone might suggest. Choose any one ability score. You gain one additional Hero Die at the start of every adventure for use only with actions, checks or stunts associated with that ability. Any Hero Dice can be added to your normal Hero Dice Pool for rolls involving that ability. If you use these bonus Hero Dice in this way for an activity related to your chosen ability score, they are subtracted before your normal Hero Dice are. For example, You may purchase this feat multiple times. Each time you take it, you gain an additional bonus Hero Die in your Dice Pool for checks with the chosen ability, up to a maximum number equal to that ability score. Note that this means that a character with an ability score of 0 or less cannot gain bonus Hero Dice in this way. Alternatively, rather than increasing an existing Hero Dice pool associated with one ability, you may assign a new Hero Dice pool to a new ability in which you are especially capable. One rank adds one Hero Die, and further ranks function normally, allowing you to add Hero Dice up to the normal maximum of your associated ability score value. Dice in this pool cannot be combined with another ability score's associated dice pool, since they only grant their benefits to activities associated with their assigned ability score.

COMBAT

If you successfully block an armed melee attack, you can make a disarm attempt immediately as a free action. The disarm attempt is carried out normally.

FORTUNE

FORTUNE, RANKED

You can inspire your allies to greatness. You must be able to interact and you can affect a number of allies equal to your Charisma bonus. By taking two actions and spending a hero die, your allies gain a +1 bonus on all attack rolls, resistances, and checks for the following round. Each additional time you take this feat increases the bonus by +1, to a maximum of +5. You do not gain the inspiration bonus, only your allies do. The inspiration bonus can exceed power level limits, like other uses of hero dice. Multiple uses of inspiration do not stack, only the highest bonus applies.

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FORTUNE

Your presence can reassure and lend courage to allies. For one action, you can spend a hero die to move an ally with whom you can interact one step up on a condition track. The condition must be the result of a descriptor which the character can be talked out of (such as emotional or fear effects) or one which the character can be guided out of (such as avoiding being out-flanked and granting an enemy Combat Advantage). Your Leadership cannot remove damage (although it may alleviate some of its effects) nor can it remove other conditions, including unconsciousness.

SEIZE INITIATIVE

FORTUNE

You can spend a hero die to go first in the initiative order, without having to roll for initiative. You may only do so when you would normally roll initiative. If more than one character uses this feat, they roll for initiative normally and act in order of their initiative result, followed by all the other characters involved in the combat.

ULTIMATE EFFORT

FORTUNE, RANKED

When spending a hero die on a particular task, you treat the roll as a 20 (meaning you don’t need to roll the die at all, just apply a result of 20 to your modifier). This is not a natural 20, but is treated as a roll of 20 in all other respects. You choose the particular action the feat applies to when you acquire it and the GM must approve it. You can take Ultimate Effort multiple times, each time, it applies to a different action.

ally, a rank in this feat can move your total number of allies of the same point total one step up the Time and Value Progression Table, so one additional rank gives you two allies, two additional ranks give you five, and so forth. The GM may limit the number of allies a character can have to keep things from becoming unmanageable during play.

AMBIDEXTERITY

You are equally adept at using either hand. You ignore off-hand penalties to checks and attack rolls. Without this feat, characters suffer a –5 penalty when using their off-hand. Note this does not give you any additional attacks, it merely allows you to use either hand equally well. If you have more than two hands, this feat applies to all of them.

ASSESSMENT

The following are potential Ultimate Efforts. The GM is free to add any others suitable to the campaign. •

•

Ultimate Resistance: You can spend a hero die to apply a 20 result to a resistance roll with one type of resistance (Toughness, Fortitude, Reflex, or Will). Ultimate Skill: You can spend a hero die to apply a 20 result to checks with a particular skill.

General Feats ALLY

GENERAL, RANKED

You have another character serving as your partner and aide. Create your ally as an independent character with (rank × 5) character points, and subject to the campaign's power level limits. An ally's character point total must be less than yours. Your ally is an NPC, but automatically fanatically loyal to you (provided you treat your ally fairly and well). Gamemasters should generally allow you to control your sidekick, although allies remain NPCs and the GM has final say in their actions. Allies do not earn character points. Instead, you must spend earned character points to increase your rank in Ally to improve the ally's character point total and traits; each point you spend to increase your rank in Ally grants the ally 5 additional character points. Ally also do not have hero dice, but you can spend your own hero dice on the ally's behalf with the usual benefits. Allies are not minions, but full-fledged characters, so they are not subject to the minion rules. Rather than increasing the character points available to create your

GENERAL

You're able to size up someone's combat capabilities. For one action, choose a target you can accurately perceive and make an Expertise check opposed by the target's Persuasion check result. If you succeed, the GM tells you the target's Attack and Defense relative to yours (lower, higher, or equal). You don't know the target's exact bonus unless it equals your own, only a rough estimate of relative ability. In cases of a 5-point or greater difference, the GM may choose to tell you the target's bonus is considerably more or less than yours. If you lose the opposed roll, the GM should over- or under-estimate the target's bonus.

BENEFIT Sample Ultimate Efforts

GENERAL

GENERAL, RANKED

You have some significant perquisite or fringe benefit. The exact nature of the benefit is for you and the Gamemaster to determine. As a rule of thumb it should not exceed the benefits of any other feat, or an FX costing 1 point. It should also be significant enough to cost at least 1 point. An example is Diplomatic Immunity (see Sample Benefits). A license to practice law or medicine, on the other hand, should not be considered a benefit; it’s simply a part of having enough ranks in the appropriate Profession skill and has no significant game effect. Benefits may come in ranks for improved levels of the same benefit. The GM is the final arbiter as to what does and does not constitute a Benefit in the campaign. Keep in mind some qualities may constitute Benefits in some campaigns, but not in others, depending on whether or not they have any real impact on the game.

Sample Benefits The following are some potential Benefits. The GM is free to choose any suitable Benefit for the campaign. •

Alternate Identity: You have an alternate identity, complete with legal paperwork (driver’s license, birth certificate, etc.). This is different from a costumed identity, which doesn’t necessarily have any legal status.

•

Diplomatic Immunity: By dint of your diplomatic status, you cannot be prosecuted for crimes in nations other than your own. All another nation can do is deport you to your home nation.

•

Security Clearance: You have access to classified government information, installations, and maybe equipment or personnel.

•

Wealth: You have greater than average wealth or resources. Increase your Wealth bonus by +4 per rank.

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ENVIRONMENTAL ADAPTATION

GENERAL, RANKED

Choose a specific Challenge. You can pick a standard challenge or a particular skill challenge. For standard challenges, the challenge only applies to a specific task. So, for example, if you choose the Fast Task challenge, you need to specify a task, such as the feint application of Persuasion, or making an item with Technology. If you take Calculated Risk, you need to specify the two checks (and the skills used for them) and if you take Simultaneous Tasks, you need to specify the two tasks. Once specified, these things do not change. You can perform the challenge chosen under this feat with a 5point lesser modifier than usual. So, for challenges with a –5 penalty or a +5 DC, you perform them like normal checks. For challenges with a greater modifier, reduce the modifier accordingly. So a hero with Fast Feint, for example, can feint in combat as a move action with no Bluff check modifier (since the normal modifier is –5). You can take this feat multiple times. Each time, it applies to a different challenge or reduces the penalty with an existing challenge by 5 more.

DEDICATION

DIEHARD

EQUIPMENT

GENERAL

GENERAL

GENERAL, RANKED

You have 5 points to spend on equipment per rank in this feat. See Chapter VI: Gear for details on Equipment.

EXTRA LIMB

GENERAL

You have an additional limb, like a prehensile tail. This feat is likely only available at character creation (1 point of the Additional Limbs FX).

FEARLESS

When your condition is reduced to dying you automatically stabilize on the following round without any need for a Recovery check, although further damage can still kill you.

DIRECTION SENSE

You’re adapted to a particular environment, such as underwater, zero gravity, and so forth. You suffer none of the normal die roll or movement penalties associated with that environment, moving and acting normally. You are still affected by environmental hazards like suffocation, exposure, and so forth. You need Immunity for resistance to these effects.

GENERAL

Your dedication to your allegiance makes it very difficult to sway you. You receive a +5 bonus on Will resistance and Perception checks for any effect causing you to act against your allegiance. Your total ranks in these skills may not exceed the campaign's power level limits.

GENERAL

GENERAL

You are immune to fear effects of all sorts. You automatically succeed on any resistances against a fear effect. This is the equivalent of the FX Immunity 1 (fear effects).

FEARSOME PRESENCE

GENERAL, RANKED

You can inspire fear in others. Take one action to strike a suitably fearsome pose or utter an intimidating threat; anyone within (feat rank × 5) feet able to interact with you. Make a check with your ranks in Fearsome Presence against your target's Will resistance. If you succeed, the subject suffers a -2 penalty to all attacks and noncombat, non-resistance checks. If you succeed by 5 or more, the penalties increase to -5. If you succeed by 10 or more, the subject feints or cowers in terror, falling helpless. Your Fearsome Presence rank cannot exceed your bonus to Persuasion for Intimidation.

You have an innate sense of direction. You always know which way is north and can retrace your steps through any place you’ve been (1 rank of Enhanced Senses).

IMMUNITY TO DISEASE

EAGLE EYES

You are unaffected by diseases and pathogens. Other 1-point Immunities (such as aging, fatigue, fear, or poison) may also be suitable as feats.

GENERAL

Exceptionally sharp-eyed, your visual Perception checks have a range increment of 100 feet rather than 10 feet. This is 1 rank of Enhanced Senses (extended vision).

EIDETIC MEMORY

INSTANT UP

GENERAL

GENERAL

You can stand up from a prone position as a free action. GENERAL

You have perfect recall of everything you’ve experienced. You have a +5 bonus on checks to remember things, including resistances against effects that alter or erase memories. You can make any Knowledge skill check untrained, meaning you can answer questions involving difficult or obscure knowledge without ranks in the skill.

INTERPOSE

GENERAL

Once per round, when an ally adjacent to you is targeted by an attack, you can choose to trade places with that ally as a reaction, making you the target of the attack instead. If the attack hits, you suffer the effects normally. If the attack misses you, it also misses your ally. You must declare your intention to trade places with an ally before the attack roll is made. You cannot use Interpose if you lost both of your actions, are flat-footed, or otherwise incapable of taking free actions.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I LIGHT SLEEPER

GENERAL

You do not suffer the +10 DC modifier to Perception checks for being asleep. This means you’re much less likely to be caught by surprise while sleeping. You can also act immediately upon waking.

LIGHTNING CALCULATOR

GENERAL

You can perform mathematical functions in your head ten times faster than normal, like a human calculator. This feat is 3 ranks of Quickness, limited to doing calculations (a –2 modifier) for a total cost of 1 point for 3 ranks using the guidelines for fractional costs under FX Modifiers. You can use it as the basis for similar feats allowing for quick performance of certain routine tasks.

LOW-LIGHT VISION

GENERAL

You can see twice as far in low-light conditions as normal (1 rank of Enhanced Senses).

MASTER PLAN

GENERAL

If you have the opportunity to prepare for an encounter you can formulate a plan. This requires at least a few minutes, longer at the Gamemaster's discretion. Make an Expertise check (DC 20). If successful, you and your allies gain a bonus on all skill checks and attack rolls in the encounter depending on the result of your roll: +1 for a roll of 20-24, +2 for 25-30, and +3 for 30 or higher. This bonus is not subject to power level limits. You choose when during the encounter to initiate your master plan. The bonus lasts for 3 rounds, then begins decreasing at a rate of 1 per round until it is gone. You can only use this feat when you have the opportunity to prepare for an encounter in advance, not when dealing with sudden or unexpected encounters.

MINIONS

RAPID HEALING

SECOND CHANCE

You can change clothes—such as changing into your costume or your secret identity—as a free action. Normally, changing clothes requires at least a minute (10 rounds). If you take this feat a second

GENERAL, RANKED

Choose a particular hazard, such as falling, being tripped, triggering traps, being mind controlled (or affected by another specific power, such as Blast with the fire descriptor) or a particular skill with consequences for failure. If your resistance against that hazard or a check fails, you can make another roll immediately and use the better of the two results. Unlike Hero Dice, you do not roll a dice pool. You only get one second chance for any given effect or task, and the GM decides if a particular hazard or skill is an appropriate focus for this feat. Each additional rank in this feat applies to a different hazard or skill.

SPEAK WITH (ANIMAL)

GENERAL

You can speak and understand the language of a particular type of animal, such as birds, cetaceans, equines, and so forth. This is a 1point version of the Comprehend FX.

TEAMWORK

GENERAL, RANKED

You’re more effective at helping out friends. When you use the aid action, you grant a bonus 1 higher than usual for each rank in this feat, up to a maximum of 3 ranks (for an additional +3 bonus).

TIME SENSE

GENERAL, RANKED

GENERAL

Your body possesses amazing powers of physical recovery. You make a check to recover from being disabled once every 5 hours rather than once a day (1 rank of Regeneration).

GENERAL, RANKED

You have a follower or minion. This minion is an independent character with a character point total of (rank × 15). Minions are subject to the normal power level limits, and cannot have minions themselves. Your minions automatically have a helpful attitude toward you. If you double the cost of this feat (2 points per rank) your minions are fanatical. They are subject to the normal rules for minions. Rather than increasing the character points available to create your minion, a rank in this feat can move your total number of minions of the same type one step up the Time and Value Progression Table. So Minions 5 can give you one 75-point minion, or two 60-point minions, or five 45-point minions, or ten 30-point minions, and so forth. Your minions don’t have to be identical, but should be generally of the same type (human agents, infernal demons, zombies, etc.). Any lost minions are replaced in between adventures with other followers with similar abilities at the Gamemaster's discretion.

QUICK CHANGE

time, you can change into any outfit at will. This allows you to use the Art skill to disguise yourself as one action rather than taking the usual time.

GENERAL

You always know what time it is and have an accurate idea of the passage of time (1 rank of Enhanced Senses).

TOUGH

GENERAL, RANKED

You have a +1 bonus on your Toughness resistance per rank in this feat. This is the same as 1 rank of the Enhanced (Toughness) FX. You may not have more ranks in this feat than you have points in your Constitution score.

TRANCE

GENERAL

Through breathing and bodily control, you can slip into a deep trance. It takes a minute of uninterrupted meditation and a DC 15 Expertise check in an appropriate mysticism or arcane discipline to concentrate. While in the trance you add your Expertise instead of Endurance to determine how long you can hold your breath and you make Expertise checks rather than Endurance checks to avoid suffocation. Poison and disease effects are suspended for the duration of the trance. It requires a Perception check with a DC

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I DEFENSIVE THROW Option: Opportunity Feats and Combat Advantage

If an opponent attacks you in melee combat and misses, you can make an immediate Maneuver check against them as a free action to Gain Combat Advantage. This counts towards your Attacks of Opportunity for that round.

If you like the flavor and option that some of these feats provide, but do not want to make use of Attacks of Opportunity in your game, you can still make use of them without using attacks of opportunity. If a feat says that it counts towards your allotment of attacks of opportunity in a round, use of this feat will instead grant your opponent Combat Advantage over you if your attempt fails (leaving you vulnerable for one round).

FOLLOW-UP STRIKE

equal to your Expertise check result to determine you're not dead. You are aware of your surroundings while in trance and can come out of the trance at any time at will. You cannot take any actions while in the trance.

Opportunity Feats

OPPORTUNITY

When you successfully block a melee attack while unarmed you can make an immediate Maneuver check to Gain Combat Advantage against your attacker as a free action, grabbing and holding your foe. This counts towards your normal allotment of Attacks of Opportunity for the round.

OPPORTUNITY, RANKED

The maximum number of Attacks of Opportunity you can make each round is increased by your rank in this feat. You can still only make one attack of opportunity against a single opponent. You can also make attacks of opportunity when flat-footed. A character without this feat can make only one attack of opportunity per round and can’t make attacks of opportunity while flat-footed.

COUNTERATTACK

OPPORTUNITY

If you score a critical hit with a melee attack, you can make an additional melee attack against the same opponent immediately as a free action, with the same attack bonus as the attack that scored the critical hit. This counts towards your normal allotment of Attacks of Opportunity for the round.

GRAPPLING BLOCK

COMBAT REFLEXES

OPPORTUNITY

OPPORTUNITY

If an opponent attacks you in melee combat and misses, you get an immediate melee attack against that opponent as a free action at your full attack bonus. This counts toward your Attacks of Opportunity for that round.

IMPROVED OPPORTUNITY

OPPORTUNITY

When you make an attack of opportunity, you receive a +2 bonus on your attack roll. This bonus only applies to attacks of opportunity; it doesn't count for other attacks such as surprise attacks or situations where your opponent is flat-footed.

MOBILITY

OPPORTUNITY

You get a +5 bonus to defense against Attacks of Opportunity provoked when you move at full speed through an opponent's threatened space.

OPPORTUNIST

OPPORTUNITY

When an ally successfully attacks an opponent in an area you threaten, you get an immediate attack of opportunity against that opponent. This counts against your normal attacks of opportunity for the round. A successful attack is one that hits and which overcomes the target's resistance. (Thus a successful Inflict (Condition) or Drain attack would count for purposes of this feat.)

SIDESTEP

OPPORTUNITY

When you are eligible to take an attack of opportunity, you can instead choose to take a 5-foot step without provoking an attack of opportunity. This counts toward your attacks of opportunity for the round.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I CONTACTS

Reputation Feats

SKILL

You’re less well known than your capabilities would suggest. Lower your reputation bonus by 3 for each rank in this feat.

You have such extensive and well-informed contacts you can make a Survival check for reconnaissance (in the appropriate area, usually urban or suburban) in only one minute, assuming you have some means of getting in touch with your contacts. You can take 10 or take 20 on this check (taking 20 requires 20 minutes rather than 1). Further checks on the same subject require the normal length of time.

RENOWN

DISTRACT

LOW-PROFILE

REPUTATION, RANKED

REPUTATION, RANKED

Your reputation precedes you. For each rank in this feat, increase your reputation bonus by +3.

Skill Feats ANIMAL EMPATHY

You can make a Persuasion check to cause an opponent to hesitate in combat. Take one action and make a skill check against your target's opposing check (the same skill, Perception, or Will, whichever has the highest bonus). If you succeed, your target loses one action. Targets gain a +1 bonus on checks to resist Distract per attempt against them in the same encounter.

SKILL

You have a special connection with animals. You can use the Survival skill like Persuasion to change the attitude of an animal by interacting with it. Unlike a normal use of Persuasion, you do not have to speak a language the animal understands, and Animal Empathy affects creatures with an Intelligence of -5. You don't actually need to speak to the animals; you communicate your intent through gestures and body language and learn things by studying animal behavior. The GM may allow other forms of this feat for interacting with other unusual creatures, such as Machine Empathy, Plant Empathy, Spirit Empathy, Undead Empathy, etc. The specifics of using interaction skills with any unusual subjects are left up to the Gamemaster.

ARTIFICER

SKILL

You can use the Expertise (in an appropriate mystical discipline) and Art skills to create temporary magical devices. See Chapter VI: Gear, for details.

FASCINATE

SKILL, RANKED

You’re particularly attractive, giving you a +5 bonus per rank on Persuasion checks to deceive, seduce, or change the attitude of anyone who might find you appealing. This bonus cannot increase your total effective skill rank higher than the campaign's power level limit.

CONNECTED

SKILL, RANKED

One of your interaction skills is so effective you can capture and hold someone's attention with it. Choose Persuasion or Art when you acquire this feat. You are subject to the normal guidelines for interaction skills, and combat or other immediate danger makes this feat ineffective. Take one action and make your skill check against your target's opposing check (the same skill, Perception, or Will resistance, whichever has the highest bonus). If you succeed, the target becomes fascinated and suffers a -2 penalty to all Wisdom and Intelligence-related checks. If you succeed by 5 or more, your opponent's penalty increases to -5. You can maintain the effect (requiring one action each round). The fascination ends when you stop or the target overcomes it. You may take this feat more than once. Each time, it applies to a different interaction skill. Like all interaction skills, you can use Fascinate on a group, but you must affect everyone in the group equally.

HIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT ATTRACTIVE

SKILL, RANKED

SKILL

You can make Infiltration checks to hide even while being observed and even if you do not have cover or concealment. Characters normally must have cover or concealment to hide and cannot make Infiltration checks while being observed.

IMPROVISED TOOLS

SKILL

You ignore the –5 penalty for using skills without proper tools, since you can improvise sufficient tools with whatever is at hand.

SKILL

You know people who can help you out from time to time. You can call in favors by making a Persuasion check. It might be advice, information, help with a legal matter, or access to resources. The GM sets the DC of the Persuasion check, based on the aid required. A simple favor is DC 10, ranging up to DC 25 or higher for especially difficult, dangerous, or expensive favors. You can spend a hero die to automatically secure the favor. The GM has the right to veto any request if it is too involved or likely to spoil the plot of the adventure. Use of this feat always requires at least a few minutes (and often much longer) and the means to contact your allies.

INVENTOR

SKILL

You can use the Technology and Science skills to create inventions and temporary devices. See inventing (Chapter VI: Gear) for details.

PROFESSION

SKILL, RANKED

You gain a +5 bonus per rank to any checks involved with your

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I work in a given field. This bonus also applies to checks to increase your wealth score if you are using the optional Wealth rules. This bonus cannot increase your total effective skill rank higher than the campaign's power level limit.

RITUALIST

Option: Talented and Granular Skills At the GM's option, you may be allowed to distribute the +5 bonus from Talented among different skills. This gives you the ability to customize your character's skills even more than usual. This is a fair half-way point for GMs who don't want to use a more granular skill system with skills costing fractions of a point each.

SKILL

You can use the Expertise skill in the appropriate mystic specialty to create and cast arcane rituals (see Chapter VI: Gear for details).

SKILL MASTERY

TRACK

SKILL, RANKED

Choose four skills. When making checks with those skills, you can take 10 even when distracted or under pressure. This feat does not allow you to take 10 with skills that do not normally allow you to do so. Each additional rank applies Skill Mastery to four more skills.

SLEIGHT OF HAND

SKILL

When you select this feat, choose Acrobatics, Infiltration, or Perform. You gain a new use of that skill: the ability to pick pockets or to make small objects vanish. A check against DC 10 lets you palm a coin-sized object. Minor feats of sleight of hand, such as making a coin disappear, also have a DC of 10 unless an observer is concentrating on noticing what you are doing. When you perform this skill under close observation, your check is opposed by the observer’s Perception check. The observer’s check doesn’t prevent you from performing the action, just from doing it unnoticed. To try to take something from another person, your opponent makes a Perception check. To obtain an object, you must get a result of 20 or higher, regardless of the opponent’s check result. The opponent notices the attempt if his check result beats yours, whether you take the object or not. You can also use this feat to plant an object on a target, with the same difficulty (you need a result of at least 20 to plant it, regardless of the opponent's check result). Using sleight of hand takes one action.

STATUS

TALENTED

You can use the Survival skill to visually follow tracks like the Tracking enhanced sense.

WELL-INFORMED

SKILL

You are especially adept at a certain type of activity. You have a +5 bonus with one use of a non-combat, non-resistance skill. This bonus cannot increase your total effective skill rank higher than the campaign’s power level limit. You cannot use Talented to improve one use of a skill with only one use (such as the Recovery skill) in this way.

SKILL

You are exceptionally well-informed. When encountering an individual, group, or organization for the first time, you can make an immediate Survival check for reconnaissance as a reaction to see if your character has heard something about the subject. This takes the place of a normal knowledge check (if any). Use the guidelines for reconnaissance checks to determine the level of information you gain, and the guidelines for Knowledge checks for the sorts of questions you can answer. You receive only one check per subject, although the GM may allow another upon encountering the subject again once significant time has passed.

Fighting Styles d20 Advanced, like other games, presents the idea of using various collections of feats to duplicate different fighting styles, including various styles of martial arts. This section expands upon that idea and offers some suggestions for creating your own fighting styles.

Unarmed vs. Weapon Styles

SKILL, RANKED

You are a member in high standing of a certain group. This may make you a public official, an officer in a military group, or some form of titled noble. You gain a +5 bonus on Persuasion checks to intimidate and Survival checks for reconnaissance when interacting with people you outrank. You may also gain other benefits fitting your status. Additional ranks may be purchased to make the group of people you can "pull rank" on broader, usually by increasing your status. Alternatively, additional ranks may be purchased which grant you an additional +5 bonus on your skill checks.

SKILL

Some fighting styles focus on fighting unarmed, others with a particular weapon or weapons, and a few with both. The distinction between unarmed and armed fighting styles is largely one of flavor and description. Combat feats work the same whether you’re using them unarmed, armed, or with super-human powers. The GM may choose to apply certain situational modifiers based on a style’s usual weapons as needed.

Skills and Styles Some fighting styles teach particular skills in addition to feats. A true expert in the style is likely to have at least some training in these associated skills although, like the style’s feats, you can choose how many points (if any) to invest in them. The most common skills for fighting styles are Acrobatics, Persuasion (primarily aimed at feinting and demoralizing an enemy in combat), and Perception (primarily aimed at detecting and avoiding the previous two effects). Some styles also make use of Might and Reflex as well, and most styles can benefit from appropriate ranks in Expertise (such as martial arts).

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Attack and Defense Styles Note that none of the fighting styles in this section have any specific bonuses to attack or defense other than those granted by their feats. You might also decide that a particular fighting style calls for the Attack Specialization feat for a particular type of attack associated with the style. Like other ranked feats associated with a fighting style, these feats are available in multiple ranks, up to the campaign’s normal power level limit.

style, and use them as models for creating new fighting styles of your own. A note to real-world students of these and other martial arts: the material here isn’t intended for a detailed simulation of martial arts combat, but a general set of fighting styles usable in an RPG. Feel free to modify these styles as you like and to create your own, but keep in mind they’re intended to provide a useful shorthand for collections of fighting feats.

AIKIDO

Creating Fighting Styles Creating a fighting style is a simple matter of building a list of the style’s feats, plus any associated skills and weapon elements (if that option is in use). Characters trained in a style invest power points into its traits. They don’t have to take all of them at once; indeed, most students do not gain complete mastery of a fighting style all at once. Generally speaking, a complete style should consist of between a half dozen and a dozen or so feats; fewer usually isn’t enough to constitute a coherent style, while more tends to represent branching out to master multiple styles of combat, unless you want to create a “master style” or secret martial art for your game encompassing every combat feat (true masters of such a style should be rare indeed!).

Option: Weapon Elements If you want a more detailed way of defining what weapons or attacks are usable with what fighting styles, you can use the following guidelines. Each fighting style gets one "weapon element," an attack it’s intended to work with, automatically at no cost. So an unarmed style works automatically with unarmed attacks. An armed style must choose a particular weapon (or narrow category of weapons, like blades, at the GM's discretion). Adding another weapon element to the style is a feat (called Weapon Element), allowing you to use that style with an additional type of attack. Example: The kung fu style is defined as unarmed, so all of its feats are usable with unarmed attacks automatically. However, various types of kung fu also teach the use of weapons, including nunchaku, swords, and staves. Each of these types of weapons is considered a Weapon Element feat for the style. A character must have the feat in order to use the style’s combat feats in conjunction with those weapons. Note that characters can spend a hero die to emulate the Weapon Element feat like any other feat, granting a one-time use of a different attack in conjunction with a particular fighting style when the character doesn’t have that attack as a standard weapon element. This option is best for fairly realistic games where it's important to differentiate between otherwise similar martial artists. For more general settings, it's probably more detail than the setting or characters require.

FIGHTING STYLE, 7 CP

Aikido is a Japanese martial art school founded by Sensei Morihei Uyeshiba in the 1920s. It is the epitome of a "soft" martial arts style, strongly focusing on "flowing" with an attack and using the attacker's momentum against him. Aikido emphasizes throws and evading attacks, along with a few holds for "guiding" an attacker to the ground. Feats: Attack Specialization (Unarmed), Defensive Attack, Combat Expert (Gain Combat Advantage [Grab]), Evasion, Grappling Block, Improved Block, Uncanny Dodge

BOXING

FIGHTING STYLE, 9 CP

Called "the sweet science" by some, modern boxing is a fairly brutal and direct fighting style involving powerful punches and evasive footwork, usually close in with an opponent. Feinting is a common skill, used to get an opponent to lower his guard for a devastating attack. Skills: Persuasion 1, Perception 1 Feats: All-Out Attack, Attack Specialization (unarmed), Defensive Attack, Elusive Target, Improved Block, Power Attack, Takedown Attack

CAPOEIRA

FIGHTING STYLE, 7 CP

The national martial art of Brazil, capoeira originated with ritual dancing among African slaves. When these slaves rebelled, they developed an unarmed fighting style and disguised it as folk dancing. Capoeira involves many handstand moves, allowing practitioners to use it while their hands were bound or chained. It’s usually practiced to music like a dance form. Skills: Acrobatics 1 Feats: Combat Expert (Gain Combat Advantage [Trip]), Instant Up, Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Talented, Uncanny Dodge (Sight)

ESCRIMA

FIGHTING STYLE, 7 CP

This Philippine stick-fighting style typically uses a pair of short batons, but is also practiced with a balisong knife or unarmed (and may include either as a weapon element at the GM’s discretion). It focuses on deflecting or blocking attacks and fast strikes to the body. Feats: Accurate Attack, Combat Expert (Disarm), Defensive Attack, Improved Block, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Stunning Attack

Sample Fighting Styles

FENCING

A number of sample fighting styles are presented here. You can use them in your game as-is, modify them to suit your own view of the

FIGHTING STYLE, 7 CP

"Fencing" is used here to describe western sword-fighting styles in general. Traditional fencing uses a slim, slight sword like a foil, but

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I characters in d20A can fence with whatever sort of sword the GM approves. Fencing focuses on speed, with a combination of defensive blocks and offensive strikes and thrusts, along with feints to fake-out your opponent. The more "swashbuckling" style of fencing also involves Acrobatics. Feats: Accurate Attack, Attack Specialization (rapier), Combat Expert 2 (Disarm, Gain Combat Advantage [Feint]), Defensive Attack, Improved Block, Improved Initiative, Power Attack

JUJUTSU (JUDO)

MUAY THAI

FIGHTING STYLE, 6 CP

This style, also known as judo, grew out of a number of Japanese fighting styles over hundreds of years, and spread to the western world in the 19th and 20th centuries. Its primary techniques focus on throws and holds to put an opponent on the ground and keep him there. There are hundreds of modern sub-styles teaching variant feats in it. Feats: Accurate Attack, Attack Specialization (Unarmed), Combat Expert 2 (Disarm, Gain Combat Advantage [Grab]), Defensive Attack, Stunning Attack

KARATE

FIGHTING STYLE, 6 CP

Karate originated on the Okinawa Islands. When Japanese conquerors forbade the natives from carrying weapons, they focused on this style of unarmed combat. Karate incorporated various farming tools that could be discretely carried as weapons, including the staff, nunchaku (threshing flail), kama (sickle), rope or chain, and tonfa (mill-wheel handle). Modern karate tends to focus on unarmed techniques. It spread widely to the west after American soldiers learned it in Japan after World War II. Karate is a “hard” style focusing on powerful punches and kicks. A karate teacher is called sensei and the practice hall or school is a dojo. Feats: All-out Attack, Combat Expert (Disarm), Improved Block, Instant Up, Power Attack, Stunning Attack

KRAV MAGA

FIGHTING STYLE, 6 CP

Krav Maga developed about 40 years ago for use by the Israeli Defense Forces (and later Israeli police and Mossad intelligence agents). It's a highly practical style borrowing moves from many different fighting styles and focused entirely on quickly and efficiently disabling an opponent. It lacks the "forms" of other fighting styles, since it's intended solely for fighting, not for show. This fighting style can be used for other modern, constructed styles taught to commandos and military personnel. Feats: All-Out Attack, Combat Expert 2 (Disarm, Gain Combat Advantage [Grab]), Improved Block, Power Attack, Uncanny Dodge (Sight)

KUNG FU

Leopard, Mantis, Monkey, Snake, and Tiger, to name some). A kung fu teacher is called a sifu and the practice hall is called a kwoon. Skills: Expertise (Martial Arts) 1 Feats: Combat Expert (Gain Combat Advantage [Trip]), Defensive Attack, Improved Block, Improved Critical, Instant Up, Power Attack, Sunder, Talented (Persuasion [Intimidate])

FIGHTING STYLE, 9 CP

Kung fu means, essentially, "hard work" or "great skill." It is the common name of an ancient Chinese style of martial arts dating back a thousand years or more. It's most famously associated with the Shaolin Temple, where it was taught beginning in the sixth century AD. It spread to the west with Chinese immigration in the 1800s, but did not become popular among westerners until the mid-1900s. There are hundreds of kung fu variants and styles, many based on the movements of animals (Crane, Dragon,

FIGHTING STYLE, 6 CP

Also known as Thai kickboxing, Muay Thai is a brutal fighting style of kicks, knee- and elbow-strikes, and punches. It relies on blocks for defense and has no holds or throws, the intention being to beat an opponent to a pulp as quickly as possible. Feats: All-out Attack, Improved Block, Improved Critical, Power Attack, Stunning Attack, Takedown Attack

NINJUTSU

FIGHTING STYLE, 10 CP

Not a "fighting style" per se, ninjutsu is associated with Japanese ninja and similar stealthy assassins. The ninja fighting style is technically called taijutsu, but the style here assumes the broad range of "ninja" training. It does not include whatever superhuman capabilities the GM wishes to grant ninja; those are better acquired as powers. Skills: Acrobatics 1, Infiltration 1 Feats: Blind-Fight, Evasion, Hide In Plain Sight, Sneak Attack, Stunning Attack, Takedown Attack, Talented (Persuasion [Intimidate]), Uncanny Dodge (Sight)

SUMO

FIGHTING STYLE, 4 CP

Sumo wrestling is a Japanese martial art, usually practiced by large, heavy fighters. The object of a match is to push the opponent out of the fighting ring or pin him down within the ring. Sumo matches tend to be short, but involve a great deal of lengthy ritual. Unlike most Asian martial arts, sumo focuses heavily on strength and size. Skills: Might 1 Feats: Combat Expert (Gain Combat Advantage [Grab]), Power Attack, Stunning Attack

TAE KWAN DO

FIGHTING STYLE, 5 CP

The name of this Korean martial art means “the way of kicking and punching.” It’s a forceful fighting style, widely taught in schools throughout the world. As its name implies, tae kwan do relies on both powerful strikes and various types of kicks, including side and flying kicks. Feats: All-out Attack, Defensive Roll, Improved Block, Power Attack, Takedown Attack

TAIDO

FIGHTING STYLE, 7 CP

Taido was derived fro Okinawan Karate to focus heavily on acrobatics and quick movement, spinning on a different axis of the body to achieve a different effect. It relies on speed, balance, and coordination in order to devastate enemies, and to shift instantly from a defensive motion to an offensive one.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I Skills: Acrobatics 1 Feats: All-out Attack, Combat Expert (Gain Combat Advantage [Acrobatic Feint]), Defensive Roll, Defensive Attack, Power Attack, Sneak Attack

ways (as with Seize Initiative and Ultimate Effort). Some of the things new feats should not (or need not) do include:

Creating Feats Players and Gamemasters may want to expand the list of feats in d20 Advanced by coming up with their own. Some general guidelines for new feats include: •

A feat improving common die rolls should only add a +2 bonus.

•

A feat improving a narrowly defined or uncommon die roll can add up to a +5 bonus.

•

A feat improving a single skill should generally add +5, while feats improving two skills should add +2 to each. Such skill bonuses count against the power level limit on skill ranks.

•

A feat cannot apply a bonus to a roll more than once for any given roll.

•

A feat can negate up to a –5 penalty from an action. This includes things like the various challenges.

•

A feat can allow a character to ignore some of the restrictions on an action (such as Blind-Fight).

•

A feat can allow a character a bonus action by succeeding at some other action (such as downing an opponent with Takedown Attack). The bonus action should be specified rather than an open-ended "free" action.

•

A feat can allow a character to substitute one skill check for another in certain circumstances.

•

A fortune feat allows characters to spend Hero Dice in different

•

Provide a general bonus to an ability score, skill, attack bonus, defense bonus, or resistance. Characters can already acquire these by spending additional character points on those traits.

•

Provide a variable bonus based on another trait, such as adding the character's Intelligence bonus to attack rolls or Wisdom bonus to Defense. This grants a potentially huge bonus to some for a bargain price (1 point). (A feat where one trait substitutes for another is more acceptable, provided the two traits are roughly equivalent.)

• Grant a benefit greater than another similar trait for less cost. As always, the Gamemaster has the final say whether or not a particular feat is suitable, and may veto any proposed feat, or request the player modify it to make it acceptable.

FX as Feats At the GM's discretion, an FX with a final cost of 1 character point can be made into a feat. The difference is primarily stylistic, since it doesn't affect the trait's cost or usage whether it's called a feat or a power. The key difference is the new feat cannot be nullified, but also can't be used in conjunction with extra effort; it's a permanent capability—a feat and not an actual "FX." It also has different descriptors, which can affect interaction with other traits. Players and Gamemasters can use various minor FX to create new feats, particularly if the GM has decided to restrict the availability of FX in the campaign. In fact, for a low-powered action-hero game of d20 Advanced, the Gamemaster may choose to allow only 1-point FX, treating them all as feats (some of which characters may be able to acquire in ranks) and disallowing all other FX.

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Chapter V: FX Just about anything that could be called magical, supernatural, super high-tech, or otherwise beyond normal human capability falls into a catch-all category of abilities referred to as FX. FX can be used individually to represent a special ability, or can be combined to create a single, unified whole. This chapter looks at the various types of FX available in d20 Advanced. These effects are the basic “building blocks” of all unusual abilities in the game; with them, you can create virtually any power, magical spell, or anything else.

FX Components FX in d20A are made up of certain basic components: each power includes one or more effects and one or more descriptors of those effects and their source. A power may also include one or more modifiers—FX extras or flaws—that change how the basic effect works, one or more FX feats, particular stunts available to the FX, and one or more FX drawbacks, specific limitations or restrictions on the FX. All these components are assembled in a particular structure to create the FX.

FX The basic component of a supernatural ability is what the FX actually does. FX are defined in game terms with little or no regard for the actual cause of the effect, what it looks like, or how it is described. The actual mechanics—what the effect does in the game—is the important thing. This means one game-system FX may encompass a wide number of "actual" effects. For example, the Damage FX is used for anything that causes damage, which includes a tremendous variety of damaging attacks, from more powerful unarmed strikes to melee weapons, physical projectiles, harmful energy emissions, chemicals, and so forth.

Modifiers Modifiers, much as you might expect, change the way basic FX work. They customize an FX, retaining most of how it works and adjusting a few things to suit a particular idea. For example, a modifier might change an FX’s default range, either improving it (allowing a normally touch range FX to work at a distance) or limiting it (forcing a ranged FX to only work by touch). Modifiers that enhance FX are called extras and increase an FX’s cost along with its capabilities. Modifiers that limit effects are called flaws and decrease the FX’s cost as well as its capabilities. Modifiers are

permanent changes to an FX, essentially creating an all-new effect out of the base FX. So a FX that needs an FX both with and without a modifier has to pay for two different FX rather than just one.

Feats Just as characters can have particular feats so can FX have FX feats; stunts or special capabilities of a particular FX. FX feats work much like regular feats in that they are optional, things an FX can do, but which the user can choose to use or not, as desired. FX feats tend to be less comprehensive and sweeping than modifiers, since they don’t entirely change how the FX works. Instead, they provide more options or small benefits that aren’t significant enough to qualify as modifiers, or that are optional and better handled as feats or “stunts” of an FX. FX feats are also significant because characters can use extra effort to acquire them temporarily as FX stunts.

Drawbacks Also just as characters may have drawbacks, some FX have drawbacks of their own. These are minor limitations on an FX, usually things that aren’t always a concern. Like FX feats, FX drawbacks tend to be things that aren’t significant enough to qualify as modifiers but still affect the FX’s use. A drawback reduces an FX’s cost by a particular amount, but usually not as much as a flaw.

Structure An FX’s components are put together in a particular structure, a way of assembling them to “build” a FX. The normal FX structure is simple: add up the value of the FX’s components and extras, subtract the value of its flaws to arrive at its cost per rank. Multiply by the desired rank. Add the cost of its power feats, and subtract the value of its power drawbacks to arrive at the final cost: FX cost = (base cost per rank + extras – flaws) x rank + (feats – drawbacks) The normal FX structure is used for most FX in d20A to one degree or another. However, the game also offers other FX structures that provide more flexibility, particularly the ability to reconfigure a FX during play, at the expense of certain disadvantages, additional

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I

Sample Descriptors

character point cost, or both: Array structures have a common “pool” of character points that are shared among a number of different FX the user can switch between from round to round. Essentially, the FX has a number of distinct “settings” that can be used one at a time. Arrays provide a way to build FX with a great deal of flexibility without a huge increase in cost. Container structures group a number of FX together into a single FX and affect how flaws and other overall modifiers apply to them. They’re best suited for lots of FX grouped into a single FX and usable (or at least accessible) all at once. Variable structures provide a “pool” of points much like Arrays, except those points can apply to any FX of a particular descriptor, but with a greater cost than a comparable Array. Variable structures provide the ultimate in versatility with a commensurate cost, useful for building FX with highly variable effects (often dependent on circumstances).

FX Descriptors The rules in this chapter explain what the various FX do, that is, what their game effects are, but it is left up to the player and Gamemaster to apply descriptors to define exactly what a FX is and what it looks (and sounds, and feels) like to observers. An FX's descriptors are primarily for color. It’s more interesting to say a character has a “Flame Blast” or “Lightning Bolt” FX than a generic “Blast.” “Flame” and “lightning” are descriptors of the Blast FX. Descriptors do have some impact on the game since some FX work only on or with FX of a particular descriptor. A character may be immune to fire and heat, for example, so any effect with the “fire” or “heat” descriptor doesn’t affect that character. The different sense types are descriptors pertaining to sensory and concealment FX. Different allegiances may also be descriptors. Generally speaking, a descriptor is part of what a FX is called beyond its game system name. For example, a weather-controlling witch has the following FX: Damage, Environmental Control, and Obscure. Her Damage is the ability to throw lightning bolts, so it has the descriptor "lightning." If a foe can absorb electricity, then his FX works against the witch's damage (since lightning is electrical in nature). Her Environmental Control is the power to control the weather, giving it the descriptor "weather." Obscure creates thick banks of fog, giving it the "fog" or "mist" descriptor. If an opponent transforms into mist, with the ability to regenerate in clouds or fog, he can regenerate inside the witch's Obscure area. If the witch’s power comes from a pact with demons, it may also have the descriptor "infernal" or "magical." On the other hand, if it comes from her mutant genetic structure, then it has the descriptor "mutant." The number of FX descriptors is virtually limitless. The players and Gamemaster should cooperate to apply the appropriate descriptors to characters’ FX and use common sense when dealing with how the different descriptors interact. Just because one character throws “lightning” and an opponent can absorb “electricity” doesn’t mean the villain’s absorption doesn’t work because it’s not the exact same descriptor. Lightning is a form of electricity. A certain amount of flexibility is built into descriptors, allowing them to cover the full range of possible FX. As in all things, the GM is the final arbitrator and should be consistent when ruling on whether or not a particular descriptor is appropriate and how all FX and descriptors interact in the campaign. The FX in this chapter provide additional examples of descriptors. Feel free to create as many of your own as desired.

•

Allegiances: Anarchy, Chaos, Evil, Good, Justice, Law, Liberty, Tyranny

•

Elements: Air, Earth, Fire, Plant, Water, Weather

•

Energy: Acid, Chemical, Cold, Cosmic, Darkness, Electricity, Gravity, Heat, Kinetic, Light, Magnetic, Radiation, Sonic, Vibration

•

Phenomena: Colors, Dimensions, Dreams, Entropy, Ideas, Luck, Memes, Mind, Quantum Forces, Space, Thought, Time

•

Sources: Alien, Biological, Chi, Divine, Magic, Mystic, Mutant, Preternatural, Psionic, Psychic, Skill, Technology, Training

Types of Descriptors Descriptors come in many different forms. The breakdown in this section is inexact, and deliberately so; some descriptors fall into more than one category, while others might not fall into any of these categories, being unique to that particular character or power. Still, the following are the major types of descriptors suited to d20 Advanced FX, and things to consider when creating or choosing FX for a character.

Origin A descriptor may relate to the origin of an FX, where it comes from or what granted it to the character. For example, did he gain Speed in a scientific accident or from years of focused meditation at a secret temple to the God of Speed? An FX's origin may determine how it interacts with other FX. Some FX with the same origin might be better suited to counter each other, for example, or to work in conjunction, combining their benefits. Examples of origin descriptors include: •

Accidental FX are the result of random chance or accident: being struck by lightning, doused in chemicals, exposed to exotic radiation, and so forth. The circumstances of an accidental origin may or may not be something others can duplicate (although some are sure to try).

•

Bestowed FX are granted by an outside agency of some sort, such as a deity, a technology, an alien race, or another superhuman. The process that bestows the FX can be as transitive as a Boost effect or the Empowerment power or effectively permanent, barring some sort of plot device or GMcreated setback.

•

Invented FX are designed and created by someone, either the inventor of a particular piece of technology or the designer of a technique or technology for bestowing FX on others.

•

Mutant FX are inborn, but not natural to the character’s race or species. They are the result of a genetic mutation of some sort, possibly due to environmental influences like chemical mutagens or radiation. Since they involve a change in the subject’s DNA, mutant FX—or at least the potential for them— are inheritable.

•

Training FX are gained from study and practice. While many training FX are “super-skills” or esoteric abilities learned from trained masters, this origin covers any power that is learned rather than acquired in another way. It’s not necessarily limited to “skill-based” FX or feat-like traits. For example, a Magic FX might be acquired through training and study.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I be defined in the setting. Typically, there is some sort of “magical energy” in existence that magicians and magical creatures draw upon for their FX and effects. Note that FX with a magical source are not necessarily “spells,” although they might be; a dragon’s breath might use magic to power it, or it might be biological, depending on the descriptors applied to it (in other words, how it’s defined in terms of the setting).

Source An FX's source differs from its origin in that the origin is where the potential or ability to use the power comes from (where the character got the FX in the first place), while source is where the FX’s effect comes from, or where the FX draws its energy. Comic book style superpowers answer this question with vague descriptors, since the kind of real-world energy required for many FX is staggering, requiring all super-humans to be living fusion reactors! While this may well be the case in your own setting, the assumption is that FX source is just another descriptor in most d20 Advanced games. Source descriptors influence the effects of certain FX, such as Nullify Magic FX, which can counter FX with a magical source, whether or not their effects are magical. Examples of FX sources include: •

Biological FX come from the user’s own physiology, drawing power from stores of bio-chemical energy or perhaps from specialized organs or biological functions, like a squid’s ink or a skunk’s musk, which are generated biologically.

•

Cosmic FX draw upon the fabric of the universe itself or “cosmic” power sources like quasars, white holes, or the background radiation of the Big Bang. Cosmic FX are close to divine in many respects (see the following) in that they transcend earthly sources of power.

•

Divine FX come from a higher being, essentially a god or gods. Divine power is generally limited to the god(s) areas of influence and may be morally aligned, available only to wielders with an allegiance to that divinity.

•

Extradimensional FX originate outside the home dimension of the setting, from other planes or dimensions of existence. Some extradimensional FX are scientific while others are downright mystical, or even beyond into realms “man was not meant to know.”

•

Magical FX draw upon magical energies, however they might

•

Moral FX come from an abstract morality or ideal, essentially from an allegiance to that ideal. Whether or not the moral FX is aware and capable of interaction is up to the GM and the specifications of the setting; it’s the character’s belief in that ideal that matters so far as the FX is concerned. “Good” and “evil” are common abstract moral sources of FX, but others may include chaos, law, anarchy, order, justice, balance, neutrality, reason, and so forth.

•

Psionic FX are effects of the mind, coming from the psyche of the wielder (or perhaps from the Collective Unconscious, which acts as a “wellspring” of psionic power). This source is associated with classic “mental” FX like Telepathy and Telekinesis, although those FX can also come from other sources.

•

Technological FX are the result of technology, machines and technological devices. Although technological power sources often involve Devices or Equipment, they don’t necessary have to; a technological FX may be a permanent implant, for example, without the limitations of a Device, but still technological (and affected by things keyed to the technological descriptor).

Medium An FX’s medium is what the FX uses to accomplish its effect(s). Often, an FX’s source and medium are one and the same: a psionic FX uses psionic energy to power and accomplish its effects, likewise, a divine FX often uses divine energy to power and accomplish its effects. In some cases, however, source and medium may differ and the distinction may be significant. For example, the ability to throw fireballs granted by the God of Fire is a bestowed origin, divine source, and uses fire as the medium to cause its Damage effect. Medium descriptors generally fall into either material or energy: material mediums are substances, ranging from things like air (or other gases), water (or other liquids), and earth (soil, rock, sand, etc.) through to biological materials like acids, blood, and so forth. Energy mediums are different forms of energy, from electromagnetic (electricity, light, radio, radiation, etc.) to gravity, kinetic energy, or an exotic source like divine, magical, or psionic energy (given under Origin descriptors).

Result Lastly, an FX’s result is what occurs when the FX is used beyond just the game mechanics of its effect. For example, the rules of a Snare effect describe the penalties suffered by the entangled or helpless target, but they don’t describe the result, the nature of the snare itself. Is it glowing bonds of energy, chains of ice, the target sinking into rapidly hardening quicksand, or any number of other things? Result descriptors tend to be fairly broad, given the potential range of results available to effects in the game. Some FX may not have or need result descriptors; after all, “Mind Control” is a pretty clear description of a result. However, “an induced trance where the human brain becomes capable of accepting neurolinguistic programming inputs” is also a valid result for that same effect.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I Like medium descriptors, result descriptors may or may not match others the FX already has. Take a taser-like weapon able to stun the nervous system of its target: it has an invented origin (someone designed and built it), a technological source (it’s a technological device with a battery), uses a energy medium (an electrical shock), and results in an electrical overload of the target’s nervous system (the result descriptor for its Stun effect). This tells us a lot about that particular FX and reasonable ways it might interact with other effects.

Applying Descriptors Applying descriptors to a FX is as simple as describing what the FX is and how it works: “The divinely-granted ability to heal through a laying-on of hands,” for example, “or the mutant power to control magnetic fields to move ferrous metal objects.” Considerably more evocative and descriptive than “Healing effect” or “Move Object, Limited to Ferrous Metals,” aren’t they? Generally, you should feel free to apply whatever descriptors seem appropriate and necessary to describe your character’s FX, so long as they don’t significantly change how they work in game terms. This is the key element. While descriptors may imply certain interactions or minor benefits or drawbacks, they shouldn’t significantly change how an effect works, that’s the role of FX feats, modifiers, and drawbacks. So, for example, “area” is not a descriptor, it is an extra you apply to allow an FX to affect an area rather than a single target.

Applying Descriptors in Play While descriptors are generally applied to FX when those FX are acquired (that is, when a character is created), in some cases, certain descriptors may be left unspecified, to be defined during play. This can either be because nobody thought to define the descriptor in advance, or it was deliberately left vague, to be filledin later. So, for example, a particular character might not know the origin or source of her FX, and her player doesn’t want to know, leaving them a mystery for later development in the game. The GM agrees and so the character's FX have no origin or source descriptors. Instead, the GM chooses them, which isn’t known until the character is subject to an anti-magical field and discovers her FX don’t work! The GM awards the player a hero die for the unexpected setback and now the source of the character's FX is known, although their origin still remains a mystery... Applying descriptors in play gives you a lot of flexibility, letting you handle certain things “on the fly” rather than having to describe every aspect of a character in excruciating detail beforehand. The key tool for handling the application of descriptors in play is the use of hero dice. If applying a new descriptor is a setback for the character, then award the player a hero die, just like any other setback. If the new descriptor is chosen by the player and gives the character a minor advantage, you might ask the player to pay a hero die for the privilege, although you can balance this with an immediate hero die award for the clever idea, if you want (making the hero die a token expenditure). If it’s neither, then there’s no hero dice cost, just apply the descriptor.

Sometimes this takes the form of discovering that a descriptor the character thought applied actually does not, such as a character discovering his “magical” FX are actually the mutant ability to manipulate reality in certain ways. So long as the change doesn’t contradict any previously introduced information, this is no different than applying a descriptor in play, and should be handled in the same way. On the other hand, if other effects previously worked on the character as if his FX were magical, then some sort of explanation is required. The Gamemaster may wish to limit or ban “discovering” a descriptor that has already been established, although it might still be changed. Changing descriptors is best handled as a plot device, much like reallocating character points and redesigning characters. If exposure to strange magical forces changes a character’s FX source from biological to magical, for example, that’s something for the GM to decide in the context of the game. Like with defining descriptors in play, if a change in descriptors through GM Fiat constitutes a setback, the GM should award the player a hero die. Changes that provide an advantage don’t cost, however, since the GM chooses when and where they occur. Temporarily changing a descriptor can be a use of extra effort, like any other FX stunt. For example, a character might change the result of an electrical Damage effect to a magnetic Move Object effect for one use. This is like any other FX stunt and the changed or additional descriptors are an important part of the stunt. Sometimes an FX stunt may change nothing but an effect’s descriptor(s), such as changing a Damage effect from laser-light to a gamma-ray “graser” or from heat to cold. The GM decides what constitutes a reasonable change in descriptors for an FX stunt, based on the FX’s existing descriptors and effects.

Required Descriptors In some campaign settings, the Gamemaster may require certain descriptors for all FX. Usually, a required descriptor reflects some common element of the campaign. For example, if all characters with FX are mutants, then all FX have the “mutant” descriptor, unless the player comes up with a good explanation why they shouldn’t. If all superhumans are psychic mutants, then all FX have both the “psychic” and “mutant” descriptors. Likewise, if all FX derive from quantum forces in some way, “quantum” might be a required descriptor. The GM sets the rules as far as what descriptors are required (or restricted) in the campaign.

“Natural” FX FX in d20A refer to all extraordinary traits other than ability scores, skills, and feats. Whether a character with FX is “super-human” or not is largely a matter of opinion. For example, there are lots of fictional characters with superhuman traits still considered “normal” humans. Their amazing FX come from talent, training, selfdiscipline, devices, or some similar source, with appropriate descriptors. They’re still FX in game terms, but they don’t necessarily mean the character is something other than human. Ultimately it’s up to the GM to decide if having certain effects makes a character something “other than human,” (and what, if anything, that means) depending on the nature of FX in the campaign setting.

Changing Descriptors in Play On some occasions, you or a player may wish to change a particular descriptor during the course of the game, removing an existing descriptor and possibly replacing it with another one.

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Sense Types

FX Types FX fall into certain categories or types. FX of the same type follow similar rules This section discusses the different FX types and the rules governing them.

Senses are grouped into sense types, descriptors for how different sensory effects work. The different sense types, and the senses included in them, are: •

Visual: normal sight, darkvision, detect, infravision, low-light vision, microscopic vision, ultravision, X-Ray vision

Alteration

•

Auditory: normal hearing, detect, sonar, ultrasonic hearing

•

Olfactory: normal smell and taste, detect, scent

Alteration FX change or transform in some way. Most alteration FX work on their user, but can be modified to work on others as well. Alteration FX targeting others require a standard action and an attack roll as a default and always offer a resistance.

•

Tactile: normal tremorsense

•

Radio: detect, microwaves, radar, radio

•

Mental: detect, mental Precognition, Postcognition

Attack

touch,

blindsight

(vibration),

awareness,

Mind

detect,

Reading,

Mental FX

Attack FX are used offensively in combat. They generally require an attack roll and can damage, hinder, or otherwise harm their target in some way. Attack FX require a standard action by default and always offer a resistance. Their duration is usually instant although their results—whether damage or hindrance—may linger until the target recovers from them.

Mental senses are a special case for sensory FX that work on unwilling subjects: the subject must have an Intelligence score of at least -5 in order for the effect to work. Non-intelligent subjects are mindless and therefore unaffected. These sensory FX are noted as “(mental)” after their type.

Defense

Trait

Defense FX protect in various ways, typically offering a bonus to resistances, or granting immunity (automatic success on a resistance) against particular FX or conditions. Most defense FX work only on the user. Defense FX tend to be passive in nature, functioning at all times.

Trait effects influence a target’s traits: abilities, resistances, skills, powers, and so forth. Most trait effects are touch range, require one action, and allow a resistance. Trait effects don’t work on traits with the Innate FX feat, since they cannot be altered.

Trait Types

General General FX don’t fit into any other particular category. They’re not governed by any special rules other than those given in the FX’s description.

Traits are grouped into trait types, descriptors for how different trait effects work. The different trait types, and the traits included in them, are: • •

Movement Movement FX allow characters to get around in various ways. There are three types of movement: normal move, accelerated move, and all out movement. A normal move is one action and allows you to move your speed. An accelerated move takes two actions) and doubles your speed. All out movement is also two actions and quadruples your speed. You lose your dodge bonus while moving all out but gain a Defense bonus based on your speed. Movement FX always require at least a move action to use, but the move action is counted as part of the character’s normal movement.

Sensory Sensory FX enhance, alter, or work via the senses. Some sensory FX improve the user’s senses while others grant new senses or influence the senses in some way. Sensory FX that improve the user’s senses are typically passive and continuous or permanent in duration, requiring no action to use apart from that required to make the necessary skill checks (usually Perception). Sensory FX that work on unwilling subjects are active, require a standard action as a default, and allow a resistance.

• •

Abilities: all ability scores and resistances Skills: all skills, attack bonus, and defense bonus (including limited, but permanent, skill, attack, and defense bonuses) Feats: all feats FX: each FX type is considered a separate trait type. Alternately, all FX of a particular descriptor (regardless of type) may be considered a single trait type, such as all magical effects or all fire effects.

Using FX The whole point of having amazing superhuman abilities is using them. While the previous section looked at the basic components of FX, this section discusses how to use those FX in play. For many FX, which have only one component, this is the same thing, for others, it can make a difference since a FX’s various components can have different requirements in terms of action, duration, result, and so forth. For example, a laser light FX might be scattered by prisms or thick banks of fog or mist. This isn’t a FX drawback per se, simply a consequence of the FX’s descriptors.

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Active and Passive FX

Two Actions

FX can be defined as active or passive: active FX require an action to use, and often an attack roll or check. Active abilities normally only work when the user wishes them to do so, unless they are out of the user’s control. Active FX are noticeable by default, having some kind of display associated with them. Examples of active abilities include attack effects (Damage, Inflict (Condition), etc.), movement FX (Speed, etc.), and some sensory FX (Concealment, Illusion, Obscure, etc.). Passive FX do not require an action to use or maintain: this means they must have an action of reaction or none, and continuous or permanent duration. They work automatically (whether the user wants them to or not, if they’re permanent). Passive FX are unnoticeable by default, having no particular outward display unless otherwise dictated by the power’s descriptor in which case, the Noticeable FX drawback applies. Examples of passive abilities include most defense FX (Immovable, Immunity, etc.) and some sensory FX (like Enhanced Senses).

Activating and Deactivating FX

The FX requires a full-round of two actions to use. Some FX require even longer than two actions to use, as given in their descriptions, although generally this is only the case for FX modified with flaws and FX drawbacks. FX modifiers may change the action a FX requires. If you’re unable to take the required two actions, then you cannot activate the FX. You can activate a two action FX by taking one action at the end of one round and another action at the start of the following round, but the second action must be your first action that round, or else the activation fails. Generally, so long as you’re able to take the required action unhindered, the FX activates. In some circumstances, the GM may require an Expertise check to concentration to successfully activate an FX, but this is usually reserved for maintaining an FX under difficult circumstances. Note that you can only activate or deactivate an FX in a round, not both. This is an important consideration for a variety of tricks, including deactivating a defensive FX like Insubstantial (free action), making an attack (one action), and becoming insubstantial again (free action), not normally an option.

Multiple Activations

Activating or deactivating an FX takes a particular amount of time, with the type of action determined by the effect: none, reaction, free, one, or two actions:

None The FX does not require an action to use; it is always in operation. Effects like this are always passive and have either a continuous or permanent duration.

Reaction The FX operates automatically in response to some other circumstance, such as an attack. This is much like a ready action except it requires no effort on the character’s part and does not count as an action (meaning a reaction is possible even if the character is stunned or otherwise unable to take actions). The circumstance that activates a reaction FX should be defined when the FX is acquired and must be approved by the GM. A reaction can occur outside of a character’s normal place in the initiative order, and does not affect the initiative order.

Activating FX is limited by your available actions, which usually means you can only activate two one-action FX or one two-action FX in a round, along with as many free action FX as you wish (and the GM sees fit to allow). A set of Linked FX may all be activated as a single FX with a single action (indeed, they must be activated this way). Container structures can also be activated all at once, although their FX can also be used individually. The additional action granted by a surge use of a hero die can also be used to activate an FX, up to and including using it in conjunction with your normal action to activate a two action FX in the same round as another action.

FX Checks In some cases, you may be required to make an FX check to determine how well an FX works. An FX check is just like any other check: d20, plus the FX’s rank, plus any applicable modifiers, against a Difficulty Class set by the Gamemaster. Unlike skill checks, ability modifiers are not added to FX checks. The results of various FX checks are described in this chapter.

Free

Power Check = d20 + power rank + modifiers vs. Difficulty Class

The FX requires a free action to use or activate. Once an FX is activated or deactivated, it remains so until your next round. As with all free actions, the GM may limit the total number of FX a character can turn on or off in a single round.

Taking 10 or 20 on FX Checks

One Action The FX requires a standard one action to use. Since characters are limited to two actions per round, this generally means you can only use one FX per round if you also wish to move, but if you choose to stand your ground and fight, you can generally mange two one action FX in a round.

You can take 10 on an FX check if you are not under pressure, the same as with a skill check. You can take 20 on an FX check if you are not under pressure, there is no penalty for failure, and you can take approximately twenty times the normal time required, also the same as a skill check. If an FX requires extra effort to retry (see the following), and imposes a penalty for failure, you cannot take 20 with checks involving that FX.

Retrying FX Checks Retrying an FX check is sometimes more difficult than just retrying an ability or skill check. Some FX require extra effort in order to

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I retry them against the same target in the same encounter or scene. This does not usually apply to FX checks in response to something else, such as the opposed FX check to avoid having an FX countered or nullified. Specific instances of retrying FX checks are detailed in the various effect descriptions. When you have failed to successfully use an FX that requires extra effort to retry, you must either expend the necessary fatigue (possibly using a hero die to offset it) or you have to wait until the conditions change before trying again. Generally, this means until the current scene is over, however long that might be. The GM decides the exact amount of time that must pass in order to retry an FX without extra effort, according to the circumstances of the scene and the adventure. FX checks for passive FX (if any) are never subject to extra effort for trying again. Likewise, rolls and checks other than FX checks are not subject to fatigue from trying again, such as attack rolls with a particular FX, or skill checks involving an enhanced skill (which is also usually a passive FX, and already exempt).

Opposed FX Checks In some cases, usually when one FX is used directly against another, an opposed FX check is called for. If a contest is entirely a matter of whose FX is greater, a comparison check may apply: the character with the higher FX rank wins automatically. For a particular use of opposed FX checks, see Countering FX later in this section.

Touch-Perception A touch-perception range power lets you automatically use an FX on any target within arm’s reach. You can’t actually target a foe father away than you could with a touch range FX, but you do not need an attack roll to use the FX successfully.

Ranged A ranged FX works at a distance with a range increment of (rank x 10 feet) and a maximum range of (rank x 100 feet), normally ten increments. So a ranged rank 10 effect has a range increment of 100 feet and a maximum range of 1,000 feet. A ranged FX suffers a –2 penalty to attack rolls for every range increment past the first, to –18 at maximum range. The Progression FX feat can increase an FX’s maximum range, while the Improved Range FX feat can increase its range increment. So one Progression (range) FX feat moves the FX’s maximum range from 10 increments to 25 increments (then 50, 100, etc.). One Improved Range feat moves range increment from 10 feet to 25 feet, then 50, 100, and so forth on the Time and Value Progression Table. For FX without increased maximum range, this reduces the total number of increments the FX has; if range increment and maximum range are the same (the effect has only one range increment) then it takes no penalties for range out to its maximum distance.

Perception

FX Checks vs. Resistance Some FX require compare the result of an FX check against the result of the target’s resistance to determine the result of the FX. The opposed check is made immediately when the FX is used.

FX vs. Skill Checks

A perception range FX works on any target you can perceive with an accurate sense—usually sight—without any need for an attack roll. If the target has total cover or concealment from all your accurate senses, your perception range FX cannot affect it. The GM may require a Notice check to determine if you can perceive the target accurately enough to affect it. Since perception range FX do not require attack rolls, they cannot score critical hits, nor benefit from traits that modify attack rolls, such as Power Attack.

On occasion an FX may be opposed by a skill or vice versa. This is a normal opposed check, comparing the FX’s check result against the skill’s check result.

Duration Each FX lasts for a particular amount of time, which may be changed by power modifiers. FX durations are instant, concentration, sustained, continuous, and permanent.

Range Each FX has a default range at which it functions, that can be changed using modifiers. FX ranges are: personal, touch, touchperception, ranged, and perception.

Instant An instant FX occurs and ends instantly, although its results may linger. Most attack FX are instant; the attack happens immediately, although it may take time for the target to recover from it.

Personal A personal range FX works only on you, the user. Personal FX are therefore usually beneficial in nature. For a personal range FX that works on others, apply the Affects Others extra to the base FX.

Touch A touch range FX works on anyone or anything you can touch (which usually includes yourself). Touching an unwilling subject within reach requires a melee attack roll against the subject’s Defense, like an unarmed attack. Successfully touching the target allows the FX to occur, although a normal resistance against the FX is permitted (if there is one).

Concentration A concentration FX lasts as long as you concentrate on maintaining it. Concentration takes one action and distractions may cause your concentration to lapse. If your concentration lapses, the FX stops. Failing to take the necessary action to concentrate means your concentration lapses automatically. Make a Concentration check (DC 10 + power rank) each round you maintain the FX. A failed check means the FX lapses.

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Sustained A sustained FX lasts as long as you take a free action each round to maintain it. Since you are capable of taking as many free actions as you wish, you can generally maintain any number of sustained FX, limited only by the Gamemaster’s judgment. If you are incapable of taking free actions (stunned or unconscious, for example) then the FX lapses. You can maintain a sustained FX as a reaction (allowing you to attempt to maintain it if you are stunned, for example) for one round with a Concentration check (DC 10 + power rank). Make the resistance each round you maintain the FX as a reaction. A failed check means the FX lapses.

An FX with the Uncontrolled flaw is never under your control! Although it may sometimes do something useful, an Uncontrolled FX is always under the Gamemaster’s control and is considered a passive FX. Among other things, this means someone usurping control of your FX doesn’t gain any more control over it than you have. It also means the FX may operate even when you’re normally incapable of using other FX, if the GM sees fit. An Unreliable FX, on the other hand, just doesn’t work sometimes. When you fail a reliability check, treat it as an involuntary deactivation of the FX: it stops working immediately (if it was active) and can’t be reactivated until you recover the FX in some way.

Resistance Against FX

Continuous A continuous FX lasts as long as you wish, without any effort on your part. Once activated, it stays that way until you choose to deactivate it, even if you are stunned or unconscious. Continuous FX can still generally be countered or nullified to stop them from working.

Permanent

Active FX that work on other characters must overcome that character's resistance against the FX. The type of resistance (Toughness, Fortitude, or Will) depends on the FX and its modifiers. The DC to overcome a resistance is 10 + resistance modifier. Add your FX's rank to a d20 roll to see if you overcome the resistance. So the DC to overcome a character's +9 Fortitude resistance is 19 (10 + 9). Toughness resistances have a DC of 5 + the character's Toughness modifier. If you succeed in overcoming the target's resistance, the FX works.

A permanent FX is always active and cannot be turned off, even if you want to. Permanent FX can only counter other FX at the GM’s discretion, although they may sometimes be countered and can be nullified unless they also have the Innate FX feat.

Difficulty Class to Overcome a Resistance = 10 + Resistance rank (5 + rank for Toughness)

Harmless FX

Involuntarily Deactivation There are a number of ways in which characters may lose the ability to maintain an FX: damage, distraction, or interference of some kind or another. If conditions cause involuntary deactivation of an FX, it occurs immediately, not on the user’s next action. So, for example, if you’re stunned by an opponent’s attack (and don’t successfully make an Expertise check to conentrate), then any concentration or sustained FX immediately stop working. Lasting FX remain, but they’re no longer under your control. Once an active FX is deactivated (voluntarily or not) it must be reactivated normally once you’re capable of doing so. This is trivial for a free action FX, but can be significant for FX requiring longer actions, particularly ones with flaws adding other activation requirements.

Some FX are listed as "(harmless)" after the resistance type, meaning the FX is usually beneficial, but recipients may resist it, if they wish. Successfully resisting against a harmless FX means the FX doesn’t work. This particularly comes into play with passive resistance bonuses, like Immunity.

Staged FX Some FX are listed as "(staged)" after the resistance type, meaning the amount by which the check to overcome the character's resistance determines the outcome of the FX. The exact results of the success are given in the FX’s description.

Forgoing Resistance

Losing Control In addition to losing the ability to maintain an FX, it’s possible to lose the ability to control it, which is not necessarily the same thing. An out of control FX may deactivate, but could do other things as well. A subject under Mind Control can be ordered to activate, deactivate, or use any FX under his control. So you can order a mind-controlled thrall to lower his Force Field, for example, or stop maintaining any other FX. Targets may be strongly opposed to certain FX-related actions: turning off your Force Field is one thing, shutting off your Enhanced Movement (Flight) FX while high in the air is another! You can’t use Mind Control to command a target to do something he can’t normally do, like turn off Enhanced (Trait) (or any other permanent effect) or exert active control over a passive FX. Likewise, Mind Control doesn’t abrogate any modifiers on the target’s FX: if they don’t work at night, for example, then your control isn’t going to change that.

Willing characters can forgo their resistance against an FX, if they wish. The player declares the intention to do so before the FX is used. This includes characters that think they’re receiving the benefit of a harmless FX, even if they’re not! You can’t forgo Toughness resistance and there’s no such thing as a “harmless” Toughness FX.

Immunity The Immunity FX allows characters to automatically resist certain FX. Moreover, since Immunity is normally permanent, the character cannot choose to forgo resistance, even if the FX is harmless. Characters with continuous or sustained Immunity can choose to turn the FX off in order to forgo their resistance and receive the benefit of harmless FX, if desired. Even in those cases, you can’t forgo the resistance while Immunity is active, and it requires a free action to voluntarily lower your Immunity.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I TABLE 5.1: TIME AND VALUE PROGRESSION Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Mundane Cinematic Time Time 3 seconds (1 3 seconds (1 action) action) 6 seconds (1 6 seconds (1 round) round) 30 seconds (5 1 minute (10 rounds) rounds) 1 minute (10 5 minutes rounds) 5 minutes 30 minutes 10 minutes 1 hour 30 minutes 6 hours 1 hour 1 day 6 hours 1 week 12 hours 1 month 1 day 3 months

Mundane Value

Cinematic Value

Epic Value

Range

Area

1

1

1

10 feet

5 ft. radius

2

2

5

100 feet

10 ft. radius

3

5

10

1,000 feet

25 ft. radius

10 minutes

5

10

50

1 mile

50 ft. radius

1 hour 6 hours 12 hours 1 week 1 month 1 year 10 years

10 15 20 30 40 60 100

25 50 100 250 500 1,000 2,500

100 500 1,000 5,000 10,000 50,000 100,000

5 miles 20 miles 200 miles 2,000 miles 20,000 miles 200,000 miles 2 million miles 20 million miles 200 million miles

100 ft. radius 250 ft. radius 500 ft. radius 1,000 ft. radius 2,500 ft. radius 1 mile radius 2 mile radius

Epic Time 3 seconds (1 action) 6 seconds (1 round) 1 minute (10 rounds)

12

3 days

1 year

50 years

150

5,000

500,000

13

1 week

5 years

500 years

200

10,000

1 million

14

1 month

10 years (decade)

1,000 years (millennium)

300

25,000

5 million

15

3 months

50 years

10,000 years

500

50,000

10 million

16

6 months

100 years (century)

50,000 years

750

100,000

50 million

17

1 year

500 years

100,000 years

1,000

250,000

100 million

18

2 years

1,000 years (millennium)

1 million years

1,500

500,000

500 million Same galaxy

19

5 years

5,000 years

1 billion years

2,500

1 million

1 billion

20

10 years (decade)

10,000 years

5 billion years (age of the earth)

3,500

2.5 million

5 billion

Result

5 mile radius 10 mile radius

42 billion miles 25 mile radius Same solar system Nearby star systems Distant star systems

Nearby galaxies Anywhere in the universe

50 mile radius 100 mile radius 250 mile radius 500 mile radius 1,000 mile radius 2,500 mile

creation or can move mountains.

The result of any given FX is given in the FX’s description, but FX results share certain common terms and systems, described here.

Using the Time and Value Progression Table

Progression

An effect’s description will generally say something like, “the FX begins at a value of X and each rank moves it one step up the Progression Table,” where X is the starting value of the FX’s result. So, for example, the Enhanced Movement FX for Flight starts out with a speed of 10 miles per hour (100 feet per move action) at rank 1. Each rank moves speed one step up the Progression Table. Since the value after 10 on the table is 25, 2 is 25 MPH, 3 is 50 MPH, and so forth. Note that not all FX start their progression at the rank 1 on the table; many start off with a higher base value and progress from there. If necessary, you can extend the Progression Table by following the same progression.

Many FX are measured in time, distance, area, mass affected, and so forth. The Time and Value Progression Table handles these measurements for effects in d20 Advanced. Uses of the table are referenced in the individual FX and modifier descriptions in this chapter. The table includes value progressions for different playstyles, from lower-powered games to epic games. •

Mundane Value: For games where FX are less potent, such as in more street-level or true-to-life settings, use the Realistic value column.

•

Cinematic Value: For more cinematic games where the FX a character wields are more powerful and more potent, the heroic value column is an appropriate choice.

•

Epic Value: In games where characters might be wielding godlike or cosmic power able to stretch across the whole of

Extended Range or Area An extended range FX works at a particular distance (or over a

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I particular area) determined by its rank, as shown on the Extended Range Table. Because the FX’s range or area is determined by rank, it cannot be changed using Range or Area modifiers. To alter range or area, increase or decrease the effect’s rank instead. If an FX does not have area based on rank, it uses the Area extra to work over an area. Technically, extended range FX are personal, in that they affect the user, but their “reach” is given on the Extended Range Table. So, for example, ESP is a personal FX, in that it only modifies the user’s senses, but the distance you can displace your point of perception with it is based on the Extended Range Table. Likewise, Teleport is a personal FX—it allows you to move instantly from place to place—but the distance covered is based on its rank and the Extended Range Table. Extended area FX are generally not personal, the FX covering a particular area, either radiating from you (if the FX is touch range) or that you can center on a point within range (if the FX is ranged).

Noticing FX The ability to notice FX follows certain basic guidelines:

Lasting Results An FX with “(lasting)” listed after its duration means the target must recover from the FX by making additional recovery checks, with a cumulative +1 bonus per previous check. A successful check eliminates the lingering FX (and the need for further check). An instant duration lasting FX allows a new recovery check each round on the initiative count when the FX occurred. So an instant lasting FX that takes place on initiative count 12 of a round offers a new recovery check at initiative count 12 on the following round, even if the FX-user or the target’s place in the initiative order changes. A concentration duration lasting FX allows a new check for each interval on the Time Table, starting one minute after the FX occurs (then 5 minutes, 20 minutes, and so on). The FX lasts until the target successfully recovers or the user stops concentrating whichever comes first. If you stop concentrating, the subject gains a new check every round (like an instant lasting FX), with a +1 bonus per check, until the FX is eliminated. Once you stop concentrating on the FX, you can’t start again without an entirely new use of the FX. A sustained duration lasting FX allows a new check for each interval on the Time Table, the same as with concentration duration, but does not require an action to maintain; its FX continue until the target successfully recovers. If you concentrate during an entire time interval (taking a standard action each round), the subject does not gain the cumulative +1 check bonus for that interval. Once you stop concentrating on a sustained lasting FX, you cannot start concentrating on it again without an entirely new use of the FX. A continuous duration lasting FX does not allow new checks at all; if the initial effect succeeds, the FX lasts until countered or reversed in some way. The GM should carefully regulate sustained and continuous lasting FX in the game. Generally, there should be some reasonable way to reverse a continuous lasting FX other than countering or nullifying it, such as a medical treatment, folk remedy, other FX, or the like. The GM decides what’s reasonable for any given FX. It should be noted that there is no such thing as a “permanent lasting” FX; continuous is as close as it gets, and the Permanent flaw does not apply to the duration of lasting FX. No FX in d20A should be completely irreversible unless it is a plot device controlled by the GM, and even then Gamemasters should consider carefully whether or not such an absolute effect is fair.

•

Active FX are noticeable in some way: a visible display, an audible noise, a powerful vibration, and so forth. The exact display associated with the FX depends on the descriptors, approved by the GM.

•

Passive FX are unnoticeable, although they can be noticeable, if you wish (with the application of the Noticeable FX drawback).

•

If a passive FX’s duration is changed, it becomes noticeable, unless the Subtle FX feat is applied. This includes passive FX added to an active Container structure. Active FX remain noticeable, even if their duration is changed, unless the Subtle FX feat is applied to them.

•

Sensory FX are by definition noticeable to the sense(s) they affect. So a sight-dependent FX is noticeable visually, and so forth. This means mental sensory FX are noticeable only to mental senses. The Subtle FX feat can conceal the source of a sensory effect, but not its actual effect on the senses. A Subtle Visual Dazzle, for example, might use an undetectable medium to cause temporary blindness, but victims of the effect still know they’re unable to see. Likewise, the Concealment effect is “noticeable” in that concealed subjects actually “disappear” from the affected sense, but they do not otherwise call attention to themselves.

Noticeable FX Noticeable FX are automatically detected by whatever senses are appropriate, depending on their descriptors. Normally, no Perception check is required, but the GM can ask for one if the circumstances wouldn’t allow observers to take 10. The DC of the Perception check is 10 (since observers can normally take 10 to automatically succeed).

Sensory FX Sensory FX like Illusion and Obscure can conceal other effects just as they do anything else. So the flash of an energy blast is concealed by a Visual Obscure FX just like an ordinary flashbulb would be. Concealment hides personal range FX, but not others, so an invisible character’s force field cannot be seen, but his force blast can, unless it’s Subtle.

Mental FX Mental sensory FX are noticeable only to those directly affected by them (who sense them automatically) and to observers with a ranged mental sense, such as Mental Awareness. Unnoticeable FX become noticeable with an application of the Noticeable FX drawback.

Subtle FX Subtle FX are either noticeable only with a Perception check (DC 20) or automatically with a specialized sense other than the standard visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, and mental senses. This usually means Enhanced Senses based in a different sense type. For example, an FX based on invisible radiation is noticeable to a detect radiation sense (or perhaps to infravision or ultravision, if it’s

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I the right wavelength), but unnoticeable to other senses. Noticeable FX can be made subtle with the application of one rank of the Subtle FX feat.

Unnoticeable FX Unnoticeable FX are truly undetectable by any sense, although their consequences may still be noticeable. So, for example, a protection effect (which is permanent) is normally unnoticeable: you can’t tell by looking at or even touching someone with protection whether or not they have an increased Toughness resistance. However, you can certainly see (or at least surmise) that someone has Impervious Toughness when you see bullets bouncing off them! Likewise, although a Subtle Mental Damage may be completely undetectable, the FX’s victim still knows he’s hurt (if the attack damaged him), as do others if the attack does enough damage to visibly daze the target or worse (although neither will necessarily know the cause of the damage). Noticeable FX can be made unnoticeable with the application of two ranks of the Subtle FX feat.

Instant Countering You can spend a hero die to counter another FX as a reaction using an FX that normally requires one or fewer actions without the need to ready an action to do so.

FX Descriptions This section describes various FX available in d20 Advanced. Here is the format for FX descriptions.

FX NAME Type: The FX’s type.

Range: The FX’s range.

Countering FX In some circumstances one FX may counter another, negating it. Generally for two FX to counter each other they must have opposed descriptors. For example, light and darkness FX can counter each other as can heat and cold, water and fire, and so forth. In some cases FX of the same descriptor can also counter each other. The GM is the final arbiter as to whether or not an FX of a particular descriptor can counter another. The Nullify FX can counter any FX of a particular descriptor (or even any FX at all) depending on how it is configured.

Action: The action required to use the FX. Passive FX have “(passive)” listed after their action, while active FX have “(active)” listed after it. Duration: The FX’s duration. FX with lasting results have “(lasting)” listed after their duration.

Resistance: The resistance the Cost: How many character FX targets. Harmless FX have points the FX costs (per rank, if it “(harmless)” listed after the resistance type. Staged FX have is available in ranks). “(staged)” listed after.

Extras This section describes extras relevant to the FX.

How Countering Works

Flaws

To counter an FX, take a ready action. In doing so, you wait to complete your action until your opponent tries to use an FX. You may still take another action, since ready is only one action. You must be able to use the countering FX as one or fewer actions to ready it. FX usable as a reaction do not require a ready action; you can use them to counter at any time. FX requiring two actions or longer cannot counter another FX in combat, although they may potentially counter ongoing FX. If an opponent attempts to use an FX you are able to counter, use your countering FX as your readied action. You and the opposing character make FX checks (d20 + FX rank). If you win, your two FX cancel each other out and there is no FX from either. If the opposing character wins, your attempt to counter is unsuccessful. The opposing FX works normally.

This section describes flaws relevant to the FX.

Countering Ongoing FX You can also counter a maintained or lasting FX, or the lingering results of an instant FX (like flames ignited by fiery Damage). This requires a normal use of the countering FX and an opposed FX check, as above. If you are successful, you negate the FX (although the opposing character can re-establish it normally). If countering a lingering FX no longer under the user’s control, the countering character makes an FX check as usual, but the DC is simply 10 plus the rank of the FX, since there’s no opposition.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I

Drawbacks

capable of surprise attacks.

Extras

This section describes power drawbacks relevant to the FX.

Associated Effects This section describes other FX commonly associated with the FZ and how they may work together. If any of these later entries do not apply, they are omitted. So if an FX has no particular extras associated with it, for example, the Extras entry is omitted. In various parts of an FX’s description, certain circumstances may require multiplying the effect’s normal rank by a fraction (one- half, two-thirds, and so forth). Unless specified otherwise, round the results of all such fractions down to the nearest whole number.

In general, FX modifiers affecting attacks (e.g. Affects Corporeal, Area, Penetrating, etc.) should apply to the Strength of a character with Additional Limbs rather than to the Additional Limbs effect itself. Such modifiers applied to Strength affect all of the character’s limbs. •

Duration: Additional Limbs can be made sustained in duration for a net +0 modifier. This reflects the type of FX a character can turn on or off (growing or forming the additional limbs and then making them disappear just as easily). This is also the case for Additional Limbs made continuous (a +1 modifier) except the extra limbs remain until you choose to eliminate them, even if you are stunned or unconscious.

•

Projection (+1): Your Additional Limbs are merely a projection of your power rather than an extension of you. Therefore, they are not vulnerable to attack on their own; any attacks specifically against your Additional Limb(s) have no effect. So, for example, one of your additional limbs could reach into a container of acid to pull out an object without any risk of harm. The GM may require Additional Limbs with this extra to modify their duration to continuous or sustained, but this is not essential. It’s likely that Additional Limbs with this extra are not eligible for the Innate FX feat.

You have one or more additional limbs, such as arms, legs, tentacles, or a prehensile tail (among others). You have one extra limb at rank 1. Each additional rank moves your number of extra limbs one step up the Time and Value Progression Table: two at rank 2, five at rank 3, and so forth. In-between numbers of additional limbs should be considered the nearest higher rank. So four extra limbs, for example, is considered rank 3. Additional Limbs do not allow you to take extra actions in a round. All additional limbs except your dominant limb are considered your "off-hand." If you have the Ambidexterity feat, you have no off-hand penalties with any of your limbs. If you apply all of your Additional Limbs to an opposed Maneuver check with Might (rather than leave some of them free), you gain a +1 bonus per rank in Additional Limbs (though this bonus is still capped by the campaign's power level.

•

Range: Like the Extended Reach feat, this modifier does not improve the “reach” of the Additional Limbs themselves. For that, use the Elongation FX.

FX Feats

•

FX Descriptions ADDITIONAL LIMBS Type: Alteration Range: Personal Resistance: None

Action: None (passive) Duration: Permanent Cost: 2 points per rank

•

Extended Reach: Since Additional Limbs is a personal range effect this FX feat does not affect it. To extend the reach of your limbs (additional or otherwise), use the Elongation FX.

•

Innate: Additional Limbs are often innate qualities of a character or creature’s physiology, making this FX feat appropriate.

•

Split Attack: While Additional Limbs do not grant any additional attacks, applying this FX feat to the character’s unarmed attacks can reflect the ability of multiple limbs to strike at different targets.

•

Flaws •

Distracting (–1): Coordinating the actions of multiple limbs may be distracting indeed, applying this flaw to the Additional Limbs effect results in the character losing any defense bonus while applying any extra limbs to an action. This flaw should generally not apply to any creature that has Innate Additional Limbs, especially if they are part of its natural physiology.

Drawbacks Noticeable: As noted under Subtle, Additional Limbs are noticeable by default and probably shouldn’t have this drawback unless they’re a Projection or something truly unusual.

Associated FX Additional Limbs assumes the limbs are usable as arms or legs (or both). Other sorts of limbs—wings, for example—are better handled by other traits, such as Enhanced Movement. Common FX associated with Additional Limbs include:

Subtle: The "effect" of Additional Limbs—namely having additional limbs—is not Subtle, an exception to the normal guidelines on passive effects. At the GM’s discretion, this FX feat can give a character “invisible” Additional Limbs, detectable only by certain unusual senses (rank 1) or not at all (rank 2). This works well in conjunction with the Projection extra (see the following) and may make the Additional Limbs

•

Elongation: Additional Limbs often take the form of tentacles, pseudopods, or prehensile hair with unusual stretching properties, making Elongation an appropriate additional effect. It is often Limited solely to the Additional Limbs, the rest of the character’s body unable to elongate.

•

Enhanced Strength: Additional Limbs may come with Enhanced Strength, particularly mechanical or grafted-on limbs. As with Elongation, these effects may be Limited solely

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Duration extra.

Damage: A character’s Additional Limbs might have natural weapons such as claws or simply greater striking power, providing this bonus to melee damage. Note that Limited to Additional Limbs is generally not a suitable flaw for Damage, although the GM may approve an FX Loss drawback for Damage if the characters extra limbs are easier to restrain or avoid than normal limbs.

•

Range: An Anatomic Separation Attack can have this extra, allowing it to work at normal range. A +2 extra extends it to perception range.

•

Variable Split (+1): You can choose how you separate when you use the effect. So at rank 1, you can choose to detach any individual body part.

Flaws

ANATOMIC SEPARATION Type: Alteration Range: Personal Resistance: None

Action: One (active) Duration: Continuous Cost: 2 points per rank

You can split off parts of your body and keep all of them functioning (relatively) normally. The process of separation causes you no harm, although it can be disconcerting to watch. You can split off a number of segments equal to your power rank; so rank 1 might allow you to detach a hand, arm, or foot (or even your head). Rank 5 could allow you to detach all your limbs (including your head), and so forth. You choose how you separate when you acquire the effect and it cannot be changed. Separating or reassembling your segments requires a move action. Your separate parts remain fully functional, so you can see out of a separated eye, manipulate things with a separated hand, and so forth. Separated parts are limited to whatever movement their form allows, so a hand can crawl and a leg can hop, for example, an eyeball can even roll, but a separated head or torso isn’t capable of much movement. You can use movement FX (such as Enhanced Movement) in conjunction with your separated parts. Separate parts have modifiers based on their size and retain your FX, so long as they’re related to that body part. Each segment gets a one action each round, but you can only take one other action among them, regardless of how many segments you break into. You may use up to two of those actions to attack (with an attack of Maneuver check), leaving other actions restricted to non-combat skill uses or movement. The GM assesses any suitable modifiers to your actions based on your current state of disassembly. Separated parts have your normal Toughness resistance, but any successful damaging attack leaves a separated part staggered. A second successful attack leaves the separate part immobile. When the damaged part is reattached, remove its damage and add an injured condition to your character’s damage track. Your recover from this damage normally.

Extras •

Affects Others: With this modifier, you can use this FX on others, separating the body parts of another willing character. To affect an unwilling subject, you need the Attack modifier (see the following).

•

Attack: An Anatomic Separation Attack allows you to forcibly remove someone’s body parts! However, the target retains control of any separated body parts, like a normal use of the Anatomic Separation effect. Although you control which part(s) separate, the target still controls them. For the ability to control body parts you separate from the target, increase the extra to +1 to represent the addition of a Linked Mind Control effect, Limited to the target’s separated body parts. This control has a concentration duration, independent from the Anatomic Separation Attack, which can be increased normally with the

•

Action: With this flaw, separating your parts takes longer than a one action.

•

Permanent: If applied to Anatomic Separation, the Permanent flaw means you cannot re-combine your body into a whole; you are always separated into a number of segments equal to the FX’s rank. You cannot have the Variable Split extra, and maintaining any sort of secret identity is difficult, to say the least.

Drawbacks •

Involuntary Transformation: If you have circumstances where you lose control of your Anatomic Separation and literally “go to pieces,” apply this drawback.

•

One-Way Transformation: If you can freely separate your segments, but reattaching or reuniting them is more involved, requiring special tools or extra time, for example, apply this drawback.

BOOST Type: Trait Range: Touch Resistance: Fortitude (harmless)

Action: One (active) Duration: Instant Cost: 1-5 points per rank

You can improve a trait or traits temporarily. You can boost yourself or others by touch. Take one action to use Boost. Each rank improves the targeted trait by 1 character point. These temporary points fade at a rate of 1 per round until they are gone and the trait returns to its normal value (this rate can be slowed using the Slow Fade FX feat). Temporary character points that restore a trait back to its normal starting value do not fade. You can boost the trait again before the temporary character points have faded, but you cannot add more than your Boost rank in character points to a trait. Boosts are not cumulative; only the highest-ranked one applies to any given trait at any given time. So combining Boost 3 and Boost 8 results in an increase of 8 character points, not 11, and applying Boost 10 to a trait after 5 character points have faded raises the temporary character points back to 10, not 15. The cost per rank determines the effect of Boost: •

1 point: Boost improves a single trait, chosen when the effect is acquired (such as Strength, the Damage FX, etc.). If the subject does not have the targeted trait they may gain it temporarily, at the GM’s discretion. To affect a list of specific traits, one at a time, acquire different Boosts as Alternate FX feats.

•

2 points: Boost can affect any trait suiting your descriptors,

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I one at a time. If the subject does not have the targeted trait they may gain it temporarily, at the GM’s discretion.

response to an emotion, apply the Action extra to reduce it to a reaction instead; this flaw does not apply (since reactions are already limited by circumstance).

3 points: Boost affects all of a group of traits at once (ability scores, skills, feats, or FX of a particular type or descriptor). Each affected trait gains the benefits of the Boost. The subject must have the targeted trait(s). • 4 points: Boost affects all of the subject’s FX at once. • 5 points: Boost affects all of the subject’s traits at once. You cannot Boost permanent or innate FX. Boosted traits must generally remain within the campaign’s power level limits, although the GM should feel free to waive or modify this requirement as best suits the needs of the game. •

•

Fades: This flaw is already a part of the Boost FX and cannot be applied to it (or removed from it).

•

Others Only (–1): You can Boost other characters, but not yourself.

•

Permanent: Since Boost’s duration cannot be altered this flaw cannot apply to it.

•

Personal (–1): Your Boost is personal range and affects only you.

•

Restorative (–1): A Boost effect with this flaw only improves traits up to their normal (purchased) values and is therefore only good for restoring character points lost to some other effect, like Drain. Traits restored to their normal value do not fade, just as with a normal use of Boost.

•

Tiring: A Boost may represent some sort of superhuman effort. In this case, the Tiring flaw is appropriate.

FX Feats •

Slow Fade: This FX feat reduces the rate at which boosted traits fade. The GM may set a limit on ranks in Slow Fade to prevent abuse (such as boosts that take days or even longer to fade).

•

Subtle: Boost is not Subtle by default and requires this FX feat for its effects to go unnoticed.

•

Triggered: This FX feat allows you to set a trigger for Boost under a particular circumstance. Note that a Triggered Boost is only good for one use before the trigger must be reset. For a triggered type Boost usable over and over when circumstances recur, change the FX’s action to a reaction with the Action modifier (see the following).

Note: Boost can be disruptive to the game when bought to high ranks (boosting all traits at once) when combined with the Total Fade extra and/or multiple ranks in the Slow Fade feat. For the cost of 6 points per rank or less, you can essentially bring all of your relevant traits up to the Power Level cap for the extent of an entire encounter for a fraction of the usual cost. While a player might suggest that this sort of FX would be useful to represent a character who needs to focus his power to access his powers, and otherwise walks around like a relatively ordinary (or at least weaker) person. For a character who is not always combat-ready, the Normal Identity drawback or have ability associated with a Container structure.

Extras •

Action: Boost usable as a reaction can occur automatically in response to a particular circumstance, such as when you become angry or suffer damage, for example. Choose the circumstance when you apply the modifier.

•

Affects Others: Boost Affects Others by default. If it only Affects Others, then it has a flaw (see Flaws, following).

•

Alternate Resistance: You can change Boost’s resistance to Will to reflect a more mental-based effect.

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Duration: Boost’s duration can only be changed with the Slow Fade FX feat and the Total Fade extra. For long-lasting enhancements to traits, see the Enhanced (Trait) FX.

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Range: Boost is normally touch range. A +1 extra enhances it to ranged, while a +2 extra makes it perception range. Personal range Boost has a flaw.

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Selective Attack: An Area Boost can have his extra, which is quite useful in ensuring only the user’s allies receive the benefits of the Boost.

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Total Fade: A Boost FX with this modifier does not fade slowly, but all at once when its normal duration is up. This is useful for "binary" Boosts that are on/off rather than fading slowly; one moment the Boost is full-strength, then it’s gone.

Flaws •

Emotional (–1): Your Boost is limited to either when you are feeling a particular strong emotion or when others around you are, such as only when you as particularly angry, or only when you are surrounded by love, fear, or such. Among other things, this means your Boost effect may be countered (or enabled) by FX which alter mood. If your Boost activates automatically in

COMMUNICATION Type: Sensory Range: Extended Resistance: None

Action: One (active) Duration: Sustained Cost: 1 point per rank

You can communicate over a distance using a medium other than your normal voice. Choose a sense type as the medium for your communication (see the list of examples). You may also use a special sense type (neutrinos, gravitons, magical sendings, and so forth) noticeable only to an appropriate form of the detect Enhanced Senses. The following are some types of communication associated with particular sense types. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and the Gamemaster is free to allow other sorts of Communication, as best suits the character and the setting. • Visual: laser or fiber optic link. • Auditory: ultrasonic or infrasonic beam, “ventriloquism.” • Olfactory: pheromones or chemical markers. • Tactile: vibratory carrier wave. • Radio: AM, FM, and short-wave radio bands, microwaves. • Mental: telepathic transmission, psychic link, mystical sending. Base range for Communication is 10 feet at rank 1. Each additional rank increases range as shown on the Extended Range Table. Communication is instantaneous with any subject within your range. The recipient of your communication must be within range and

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I have a means of receiving your transmission (enhanced sense, or a receiver of some sort; a score of 1 or more in all mental abilities is all that’s needed to “receive” Mental Communication). You can receive Communication of the same medium as your own. Receivers can choose to ignore your Communication, if they wish. Communication is language-dependent; you and the subject must share a common language (see Comprehend to communicate across language barriers). Your Communication is point-to-point (sent to a single receiver within your range). Activating your Communication effect is a free action. Communicating, however, takes the normal amount of time. You can apply the Rapid FX feat to speed things up, provided your recipient is capable of receiving communication at that speed. Others with an acute sense able to detect your Communication medium can “tap into” your transmissions with a Perception check (DC 15 + your Communication rank). The eavesdropper must be within normal sensory range of you or the receiver. Your Communication can be blocked or “jammed” by sensory effects such as Dazzle or Obscure affecting your transmission medium.

Communication effects may require greater focus, making them concentration duration (and essentially limiting the user to move and free actions while communicating). •

Distracting: Communication use may be distracting, particularly if it requires a degree of concentration to maintain (see Duration, previously).

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Limited: Communication may be limited to only members of a particular group, such as a species, family, members of an organization, and so forth. This is in addition to limitations imposed by medium (that is, requiring subjects to have a means of picking up on the Communication). Particularly limited groups may qualify for a greater flaw (–2 or more) as the GM sees fit.

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Sense-Dependent: Communication itself is already sensedependent (in that the subject(s) must be able to sense your communication medium to pick up your transmissions) and so cannot have this flaw. However, other perception range effects can be Communication-Dependent, meaning you must be in communication with your subject for them to work (using your Communication medium as a “carrier” for the other effect). If your Communication is blocked in any way, the other effect doesn’t work. An example is a mental FX that is Mental Communication Dependent.

FX Feats •

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Affects Insubstantial: As a sensory effect, Communication does not need this power feat for insubstantial subjects to perceive it. Dimensional: Communication with this power feat can bridge dimensional barriers, reaching into other dimensions and planes of existence. The Communication effect still has its proximate range, and the GM may rule certain subjects “out of range” of the effect, depending on their relative position in the other dimension.

Associated FX

Rapid: Your communication occurs 10 times faster than normal speech. Each additional rank of this feat increases communication speed by a factor of 10. This is useful for highspeed computer links, “deep sharing” psychic rapports, and so forth. Selective: If you have the Area extra, you can choose which receiver(s) within range get your Communication, excluding everyone else. This allows you to go from a single receiver (point-to-point) to all potential receivers in range (omnidirectional) or anywhere in between. Subtle: Your Communication cannot be “overheard” (it is encrypted, scrambled, or otherwise protected). If you apply the feat twice, your Communication cannot even be detected (that is, no one can even tell you are transmitting, much less what you’re saying).

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ESP: Communication is often Linked with ESP, allowing for “two-way” reception: the user can both send messages and perceive the subject’s replies (assuming the subject does not also have Communication). Communication may also be linked to ESP to allow the user to both perceive a distant area and communicate with those present there.

Type: Sensory Range: Personal Resistance: None

Action: None (passive) Duration: Continuous Cost: 2 points per rank

You can comprehend different forms of communication; even communicate with subjects normally incapable of doing so. Each rank allows you to choose one of the following options:

Area: You can broadcast omni-directionally to every receiver within your maximum Communication range at once. Note this extra is only strictly necessary to communicate with everyone over a wide area at once; since using and maintaining Communication are free actions, the GM may allow a communicator to establish and maintain contact with multiple discrete receivers—such as the members of the same team— all in the same round.

Flaws •

Comprehend: Since Communication isn’t much use if the person on the other end can’t understand you, or you can’t understand them, Comprehend Languages is a common effect associated with Communication.

COMPREHEND

Extras •

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Duration: As a default, Communication requires only a modicum of attention to maintain, making it sustained. Some

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Animals: You can either speak to or comprehend animals (creatures with Int -5). You can ask questions and receive answers, although animals are not any more friendly or cooperative than normal. Furthermore, wary and cunning animals are likely to be terse and evasive, while especially stupid ones tend to make inane comments. If an animal is friendly toward you, it may do some favor or service for you. For two ranks you can both speak to and understand animals.

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Codes: You can decode various codes or ciphers automatically, understanding them as if they were written or spoken in your native language.

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Electronics: You can verbally communicate with electronic devices. Most are limited by their programming and peripherals in terms of what they “know,” and may not be able to answer some inquiries. Machines tend to be cold and mechanical, and may not be cooperative. At the GM’s discretion, you can use

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I the Technology skill in place of Persuasion when speaking with machines. For two ranks you can both speak to machines and understand their replies. •

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circumstances if its duration is reduced, such as when dealing with a babble of conversation all at once.

Languages: For one rank you can either speak or understand the language of any intelligent creature. You can speak only one language at a time, although you can understand several languages at once. For two ranks anyone able to hear you can understand what you’re saying, regardless of language (you can effectively “speak” multiple languages at once). For three ranks you can both speak and understand all languages at once. Being able to read any language requires one more rank. This effect does not enable you to communicate with creatures that don’t possess a language; see the other Comprehend effects for that. Objects: You can communicate with inanimate objects (other than plants and electronics), granting them the ability to speak to you or simply “reading” impressions from them. This requires two Comprehend ranks. Objects only “know” about events directly affecting them or occurring in their immediate area. Gamemasters can apply the guidelines for Postcognition to this effect.

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Plants: You can either comprehend or communicate with plants, both normal plants and plant creatures. You can ask questions of and receive answers from plants. A plant’s sense of its surroundings is limited, so it won’t be able to give (or recognize) detailed descriptions or answer questions about events outside its immediate vicinity. For two ranks you can both speak to and understand plants.

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Spirits: You can communicate with incorporeal and normally invisible and inaudible spirit beings, such as ghosts or certain extradimensional entities, depending on what beings exist in the context of the setting. One rank essentially allows you to function as a “medium” of sorts, speaking to spirits and comprehending their replies. However, you do not gain any ability to summon or compel spirits. At the GM’s discretion, this effect may extend to undead creatures, demons, or other supernatural entities, depending on the setting.

Extras •

Affects Others: Comprehend only includes the ability to speak or understand the languages of others. If you wish to grant others the ability to do the same (speak and understand your language, for example, or give two others the ability to understand each other without you acting as a translator) then apply this modifier, usually at the +1 level to apply to yourself and others.

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Area: Comprehend that Affects Others can have this modifier to grant its benefits to everyone in the affected area. Area Comprehend can also have the Selective FX feat to allow you to “filter out” who does and does not gain its benefits.

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Limited: You can only comprehend a broad type of subject (only elves, canines, avians, or sea creatures, for example) as a –1 flaw. You can only comprehend a narrow type of subject (dogs, falcons, or dolphins, for example) as a –2 flaw.

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Permanent: Permanent duration is not considered a flaw for Comprehend, given its effects. It does not apply.

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Unreliable: At the GM’s discretion, an Unreliable Comprehend effect may provide an incorrect or misleading translation on a failed roll rather than simply not working at all.

CONCEALMENT Type: Sensory Range: Personal Resistance: None

Action: Free (active) Duration: Sustained Cost: 2 points per rank

Using this effect, you gain total concealment from a particular sense—usually sight or hearing—although you are still detectable to other senses (even other senses of the same sense type). Each additional rank gives you concealment from another sense; two ranks give you concealment for an entire sense type. Concealment from visual senses costs double (2 ranks for one visual sense, 4 ranks for all visual senses). You cannot have concealment from tactile senses, since that requires being incorporeal. So at rank 5, you can have total concealment from all visual senses (4 ranks) and normal hearing (1 rank), for example. At rank 10 Concealment you have total concealment from all sense types other than tactile. While concealed, you gain Combat Advantage over targets unaware of your presence. Attackers take a -5 penalty to attack rolls made against you, assuming they know where to attack at all! Attackers able to perceive you with an accurate sense suffer no penalties, and combat is resolved normally. Someone can sense the presence of a concealed character within three Perception range increments with an acute sense (see Enhanced Senses for details) and a DC 20 Perception check, such as using hearing to detect a character concealed from sight. The observer gains a hunch that "something’s there" but can’t accurately perceive it (suffering the normal miss chance, for example). A concealed character holding still is harder to notice (DC 30). A concealed inanimate object or completely immobile creature is very hard to notice at close range (DC 40). It’s practically impossible (+20 DC) to accurately pinpoint a concealed character’s location using an acute sense.

Flaws •

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Distracting: Since the use of Comprehend in combat may not be particularly important, the GM may wish to disallow this flaw, as appropriate for the setting. Duration: Comprehend is normally continuous. If it requires at least a modicum of focus to maintain, it may be sustained, if it requires considerable focus or effort to maintain, its duration may be lowered to concentration. The GM can require Concentration checks to maintain Comprehend under difficult

FX Feats •

Close Range: The "close range" where someone can sense your presence with an acute sense is adjacent (5 feet) rather than three perception range increments.

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Innate: This FX feat is appropriate for subjects with innate or natural concealment qualities that cannot be nullified.

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Selective: You can vary your Concealment at will (a free action): going from total to partial to no concealment, concealing some parts of you and not others, or anywhere inbetween. If your Concealment affects multiple senses, you can choose to affect some and not others with this feat as well. Concealment is normally all-or-nothing: either you are concealed or you’re not.

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Subtle: Concealment is Subtle by nature and does not require this power feat, since going unnoticed is part of its effect. It may also conceal the display of your personal range effects (see Noticing FX).

Extras •

Affects Others: The +1 level of this modifier allows others to benefit from your Concealment effect while you are touching them.

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Area: Concealment with Affects Others (previously) or Attack (immediately following) may have this extra, affecting all subjects in the area. To conceal an entire area, see the Obscure FX.

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Attack: Use this extra for a Concealment effect you can impose on others (whether they want to be concealed or not). An invisibility ray, for example, is a Visual Concealment Attack. A Concealment Attack allows a resistance, usually Will.

Flaws •

Blending (–1): You "blend" into the background. Your Concealment only functions as long as you move no faster than your normal pace, since your blending can’t adapt faster than that.

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Limited: Your Concealment only works under certain conditions, such as in fog, shadows, or in urban locales.

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Limited to Machines (–1): Your Concealment is Limited only to senses with a technological descriptor. This includes ordinary things like cameras and microphones as well as intelligent robots (if such things exist in the setting).

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Partial (–1): Your effect provides partial rather than total concealment. Characters attacking you suffer a -2 penalty to attack rolls made against you.

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Passive (–1): Your Concealment only lasts until you make an attack—defined as any action allowing resistance—at which point it stops working until you reactivate it, which you may do on the round after you attack.

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The target of this effect becomes confused, unable to independently determine his or her actions. If you overcome the target’s Will resistance, roll on the Confused Behavior Table at the beginning of the subject's first action each round to see what the subject does with that action. If you succeed by 5 or more, roll for both of the character's actions in the round. If you succeed by 10 or more, the target is so confused that he becomes totally helpless.

TABLE 5.4: CONFUSED BEHAVIOR TABLE d20 Roll 1-2 3-5 6-10 11-14 15-20

A confused character unable to carry out the indicated action does nothing (like a result of 6-10 on the table). Attackers are not at any special advantage when attacking a confused character. Any confused character who is attacked automatically attacks its attacker on its next turn, as long as it is still confused. The target gets a new Will check each round to shake off the Confuse effect, with a +1 bonus each round.

Customized Confuse Gamemasters may allow substitutions on the Confused Behavior Table to customize the effect, such as changing “Do nothing but babble incoherently” to “Sing and dance Broadway show-tunes” or making “Flee at top possible speed” into “Close eyes and mutter ‘go away, go away, go away,’” or the like. As a general rule of thumb, a 1–2 result should always be something detrimental to the FX- user, and 3–5 should remain “Act normally” but otherwise feel free to modify (or expand) the Confused Behavior Table as desired.

Phantasm (–1): Your Concealment is Limited to creatures with Intelligence 1 or greater; unintelligent creatures and machines (cameras, microphones, etc.) perceive you as if you were not concealed at all. This usually indicates Concealment that is some sort of mental or hallucinatory effect. This flaw does not apply to Mental Concealment (which is already so limited by definition).

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Sense Dependent: Concealment is already sense-dependent and cannot have this flaw.

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Resistance (–1): Your Concealment must penetrate a target's Resistance (Fortitude or Will, chosen when the flaw is applied) for anyone aware of your presence and actively looking for you. You must make a new FX check for each interval on the Time Table that passes. This flaw is often combined with Phantasm.

FX Feats •

Incurable: At the GM’s discretion, this power feat can simulate a Confuse effect that cannot be countered by other FX, only by time and the victim making a successful recovery check. It may be suitable for Confuse effects that are particularly powerful or unusual in nature.

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Reversible: You can reverse your Confuse FX at will as a free action.

Extras •

Alternate Resistance: Confuse may be based on Fortitude rather than Will to reflect a biochemical effect, such as a drug or pathogen. Such forms of Confuse are also often touch range and may also have the Disease or Poison modifiers.

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Contagious: A Contagious Confuse effect might represent some sort of “plague of madness” or “telepathic virus” that spreads from subject to subject.

CONFUSE Type: Sensory (mental) Range: Ranged Resistance: Will

Behavior Attack the user of the Confuse FX. Act normally. Do nothing but babble incoherently. Flee at top possible speed. Attack the nearest creature.

Action: One (active) Duration: Instant (lasting) Cost: 1 point per rank

Flaws •

Sense-Dependent: This flaw may reflect a Confuse FX

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I requiring eye contact or based on flashing lights, maddening music, or an inhaled psycho-chemical, for example, rather than affecting a target automatically. These version of Confuse must be Perception range.

CREATE OBJECTS Type: General Range: Ranged Resistance: See description

Action: One (active) Duration: Sustained Cost: 2 points per rank

Supporting Weight If a created object needs to support weight—created as a bridge or support a weakened structure, for example—treat the object’s effective Might as (Create Object rank x 5). More than a heavy load causes the object to collapse. You can “shore up” a created object by taking a two actions and concentrating, allowing it to support an extreme load for one round.

FX Feats

You can form solid objects essentially out of nowhere. They may be made of solidified energy, “hard” water or air, transmuted bulk matter, ice, stone, or something else entirely, depending on the FX’s descriptors. You can form any simple geometric shape or common object (such as a cube, sphere, dome, hammer, lens, disk, etc.). The GM has final say on whether or not a particular object is too complex for this effect. Generally, your objects can’t have any moving parts more complex than a hinge. They can be solid or hollow, opaque or transparent, as you choose when you use the effect. You can create an object up to one 5-foot cube in size per power rank with Toughness up to your power rank. Created objects can be damaged or broken like ordinary objects. They also vanish if you stop maintaining them. You can repair any damage to a created object at will by using your effect again (essentially “re-creating” the object).

Created Objects, Cover, and Concealment Created objects can provide cover or concealment (if the object is opaque) just like normal objects. Cover provided by a created object can block incoming attacks, but blocks outgoing attacks as well. Attacks hitting the covering object damage it normally. Indirect FX can bypass the cover a created object provides just like any other cover. Selective Create Object allows you to vary the cover and concealment the objects provide.

Trapping With Objects You can trap a target inside a large enough hollow object (a cage or bubble, for example). You must succeed at two attack rolls to trap a target: one to successfully target the creature, and a second to overcome his Defense resistance and trap him before he can react. A trapped character can break out of the object normally. Limiting the target’s mobility in addition to trapping them requires an Inflict (Condition) FX rather than Create Object. You may wish to place a Inflict in an Array with Create Object.

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Affects Insubstantial: Created Objects with this FX feat are also solid to insubstantial beings; half their normal Toughness for one rank, full normal Toughness for two. This allows a created object to block or entrap an incorporeal character, for example.

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Innate: Create Object with this feat makes objects that cannot be nullified, they’re essentially “real” objects for all intents and purposes (although the user can “unmake” them at will unless the effect is permanent).

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Precise: You can create more precise and detailed objects. The exact parameters of Precise Create Object are up to the GM, but generally, you can create objects with moving parts, and considerable detail. An Art skill check may be required in some cases to create an object properly, but this feat grants a +5 bonus on the check.

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Progression: Each time you apply this FX feat, the base size of your objects per FX rank increases one step on the Time and Value Progression Table (10-foot cube per rank, then 25feet, etc). Other attributes based on rank (such as Toughness and effect modifier) do not change.

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Selective: This feat allows you to make your created objects selectively “transparent” to attacks, blocking some while allowing others (yours and your allies’, for example) to pass through them harmlessly. You can also selectively make your objects solid to some creatures and incorporeal to others, such as allowing one person to walk through a created wall, while blocking another. It takes a free action to change the selective nature of an object; permanent created objects cannot have their selectivity changed once they are created.

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Stationary: Your created objects can hang immobile in the air. They resist being moved with a Strength bonus equal to your power rank. Unless you have the Tether feat or the Movable extra, you cannot move a stationary created object once it’s placed any more than anyone else can.

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Subtle: The Subtle feat either makes created objects not noticeable as such for 1 rank (they look just like real objects) or not noticeable at all for 2 ranks (such as objects composed of invisible force).

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Tether: Your created objects can move along with you at your normal movement speed, maintaining their position relative to yours.

Dropping Objects Dropping a created object on a target is treated like an area attack based on the object’s size. The object inflicts damage equal to its Toughness. A successful resistance results in no damage (rather than the usual half damage). While a created object can potentially be wielded as an improvised weapon, the Create Objects effect cannot otherwise create attacks or other effects; you must acquire these separately (as Linked FX or Alternate FX in an Array, for example).

Extras •

Area: The size and area of created objects is improved by power rank and the Progression feat. This extra therefore does not apply to Create Object.

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Duration: Continuous Create Object makes objects that remain until they are destroyed, nullified, or you choose to dismiss them.

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Impervious: Applied to Create Object, this extra makes the objects’ Toughness Impervious. As with Enhanced (Trait) and related effects, the GM may choose to limit Impervious Toughness to no greater than the campaign’s power level.

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Movable (+1): You can move your created objects around with a Move Object FX at your Create Object rank.

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Flaws •

Feedback: You may suffer damage when your created objects are damaged.

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Permanent: Permanent created objects last until destroyed or nullified. Unlike continuous Create Object, you cannot choose to dismiss such objects; they are truly permanent. You cannot repair permanent created objects or otherwise alter then once they’re created.

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Split Attack: This FX feat is commonly used with Damage FX to represent the ability to make a single “focused” attack or multiple smaller attacks against different targets and may suit characters with multiple clawed limbs, two- (or more) handed fighting styles, dual weapons, and so forth.

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Subtle: Damage with this FX feat may involve a medium that’s harder to notice: a near-invisible gas, for example, or an attack that occurs too quickly for the eye to follow. A Subtle Damage FX may be suitable for making surprise attacks under the right circumstances. To be most effective, Subtle Damage FX need to be normal or better range, since it’s considerably easier to know the source of touch range Damage (although, if the Damage is delayed in some way, perhaps not even then).

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Thrown: You can “throw” your Damage FX to hit a target at a distance, with a range increment of (Thrown feat rank x 10) feet and a maximum range of five increments (Thrown feat rank x 50 feet). This feat may represent a throwing weapon or the ability to “throw” a natural melee attack like quills or claws. If you have a Mighty Thrown Damage FX, you can add your Strength bonus to the damage, but no more than the rank of the Damage FX or the Mighty feat, whichever is greater. Once you have used Thrown with a Damage FX, you cannot use it again until you recover it. This may involve picking up a thrown weapon, re-growing a natural weapon, building up a sufficient charge, or the like. The exact circumstances are up to the GM, but it should usually be something you can do automatically at the end of a combat. For a “throwing attack” you can use every round, either because of unlimited ammunition or a weapon that automatically returns to you after it hits, apply the Range extra to make your Damage FX normal or perception range, possibly with the Reduced Range drawback.

DAMAGE Type: Attack Range: Touch Resistance: Toughness (staged)

Action: One (active) Duration: Instant Cost: 1 point per rank

You have a damaging attack. Make an attack roll to hit the target. The attack’s damage bonus equals your rank. Damage is a basic damaging effect, but has many possible variations using different power feats and modifiers.

Damage and Range The basic Damage effect is touch range, usable as a melee attack. It does not take the user’s Strength modifier into account unless the effect has the Mighty FX feat (see FX Feats, following), in which case the user’s Strength adds to the damage bonus. A ranged Damage effect is usable at either melee or normal (rank x 100 feet) range. A perception range Damage effect works at any range, without the need for an attack roll, so long as the user can accurately perceive the target. So a Damage effect usable at melee and normal range that adds the user’s Strength is a Mighty Ranged Damage effect. See the following power feats and modifiers for more information.

Extras •

Action: It’s recommended the GM not allow free action Damage FX, due to their potential to allow characters to make an overwhelming number of multiple attacks. Reaction Damage FX are best handled by the Aura extra although the GM may find other suitable applications of Reaction Damage FX, provided the circumstance doesn’t create an FX so useful as to be unbalancing.

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Alternate FX: Since Damage requires a Toughness resistance, this extra is a +1 modifier when changing that resistance to Fortitude or Will. A Fortitude Damage FX may involve direct damage to a target’s physiology, bypass normal physical protection, perhaps even an insidious physical degradation. Will Damage bypasses the body altogether to strike at the mind or even soul. In either case, the result of the resistance is the same, it’s just a different resistance that’s used, and damage is applied in the same manner, regardless of its source; characters don’t have separate tracks for “physical” and “mental” damage, for example.

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Area: This is a common extra for Damage involving explosions or spreading or engulfing attacks like gases, fiery clouds, and

FX Feats •

Accurate: This FX feat is functionally the same as the Attack Specialization feat, except it is a quality of the FX itself rather than a measure of the character’s skill or talent in using it.

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Affects Insubstantial: Depending on the descriptors, this FX feat can represent Damage attuned to a particular wavelength, dimensional phase, radiation band, or supernatural source, allowing it to affect insubstantial targets.

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Mighty: Damage FX with this FX feat stack with your normal Strength damage, allowing you to apply your muscle-power to enhance the FX. One rank of the Mighty feat is sufficient for a touch range Damage effect to stack with Strength (which is also touch range). For a normal range Damage FX, each rank of Mighty allows 1 point of Strength damage bonus to stack with the FX. So a character with +4 unarmed damage needs Mighty 4 to add his entire Str bonus to his ranged Damage FX. For perception range Damage FX, every 2 ranks of Mighty

allow 1 point of Strength damage bonus to stack. Strength over the amount allowed by the Mighty power feat rank doesn’t stack and doesn’t apply to the FX. The GM should decide on a case-by-case basis if ranged or perception Mighty feats are appropriate. Precise: A Damage FX with this feat may be capable of precision cutting, etching, welding, or the like, depending on its descriptors. Ranged Precise Damage FX also gain the benefits of the Precise Shot feat: ignoring the –5 penalty for allies in melee with a target.

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Drawbacks

so forth. •

Aura: Damage is a common basic FX for an Aura. It may represent a damaging energy surrounding you or some sort of automatic or reflexive counterattack against anyone who attacks you.

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Autofire: This extra is common for Damage FX, particularly Ranged Damage like an automatic weapon.

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Contagious: Contagious Damage remains so until the target recovers from it (including if the damage is treated with Healing or Regeneration). It may represent a damaging medium like a chemical agent coating the target. Depending on the FX and its descriptors, the GM may also allow certain other FX to counter a Contagious source of damage.

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Duration: Damage with a duration longer than instant continues to affect its target on succeeding rounds on the attacker’s initiative. This usually represents an ongoing damaging FX of some sort. This sort of Damage should have some reasonable means by which it can be countered, such as dousing or smothering fiery ongoing Damage. Penetrating: This extra allows Damage to overcome the effects of Impervious Toughness, especially appropriate for keen or super-sharp weapons. Range: The standard Damage FX is touch range. One application of this extra creates a damaging FX usable at normal range (although still useful at melee range as well), while a +2 extra gets you a perception range Damage FX.

Flaws •

Action: A two action Damage FX suits an attack requiring some preparation or additional “build-up.” For example, a “haymaker” punch might be a Two Action Mighty Damage FX. Generally speaking, Damage FX requiring longer than a fullround action are not useful in combat and tend to be better suited as plot devices, wherein a villain’s death-ray needs to charge up for a minute or two, for example, giving the heroes time to stop it before it’s too late.

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Distracting: A Distracting Damage FX is a bit of a trade-off in combat, requiring some risk. It’s good for things like attacks that need bracing (such as certain weapons) or require extra concentration (taking attention away from potential threats).

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Limited: Damage can be Limited in a number of ways. The most common include only certain targets (living creatures, machines, or supernatural beings, for example), or a reduced effectiveness against some targets. For the latter, apply the Limited flaw only to some of the FX’s ranks, such as Damage with half effect against targets wearing armor (meaning half its ranks have the Limited to Unarmored Targets flaw).

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Full Power: You can only use your Damage FX at its full damage bonus, meaning you can’t “pull” your attacks and use it at a lower rank to inflict lesser damage and you’re likely to cause more property damage or collateral effects. The GM decides when, and if, this drawback is truly a drawback for a Damage FX.

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Minimum Range: Your Ranged Damage FX cannot be used at close range. This is a 1-point drawback if you must use the FX at one-quarter its maximum range and 2 points for one-half maximum range. A Ranged Damage FX only usable at its maximum range has a Limited flaw.

DAZZLE Type: Sensory Range: Ranged Resistance: Fortitude

Action: One (active) Duration: Instant (lasting) Cost: 1-4 points per rank

You can overload a target's senses of a particular type—usually visual or auditory—rendering them temporarily useless. Make a ranged attack roll against the target. If you overcome the target's Fortitude resistance, that sense type is rendered useless. Each round thereafter the target makes a Fortitude check to recover from the Dazzle attack. The target gains a +1 bonus to the check each round after the first. A successful check allows the target to use the dazzled sense(s) again, but at –1 on all rolls involving them. The following round, the target's senses return to normal. Targets immune to Fortitude effects cannot be dazzled. You are immune to your own Dazzle FX. Dazzle costs 1 point per rank if it affects one sense type, 2 points per rank if it affects two sense types, 3 points per rank if it affects three sense types, and 4 points per rank if it affects all sense types. Visual senses count as two sense types, so a 3-point per rank Dazzle FX could affect visual and one other sense type, for example.

Range: Reducing the range of a Damage FX to personal is more than just a flaw: it converts the effect into more of a drawback, since the only one you can damage is yourself! For characters with some sort of inherent or automatic ability to damage themselves, consider an appropriate drawback instead. For example, minions that automatically self-destruct when they’re captured have a fairly severe Weakness, worth about 10 character points. Of course, for non-player characters, you can choose to just treat such things as plot devices and not worry about their point-values.

FX Feats •

Affects Insubstantial: As a sensory FX, Dazzle already works on insubstantial targets normally and doesn’t need this FX feat.

•

Incurable: A Dazzle FX with this FX feat cannot have its effects countered by another FX (such as Healing) without the Persistent FX feat.

•

Reversible: You can remove the lingering effect of your Dazzle from a victim at will as a free action.

•

Ricochet: Depending on the descriptors of your Dazzle FX, you may be able to use this feat to ricochet it off a different sort of surface, such as reflective surfaces for light-based dazzles, or resonant or echoing surfaces for sonic dazzles.

•

Subtle: This FX feat helps to obscure the source of the Dazzle FX. Obviously, a dazzled character is aware of the loss of a sense, but victims of Subtle Dazzle effects (and those witnessing the attack) are less likely to notice what caused it. This may be due to the FX using an unusual frequency or particularly subtle medium, for example.

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Extras

Melee Attacks

•

Alternate Resistance: Dazzle’s resistance may be changed to an alternate resistance. The resistance may be changed to Will to represent mental or spiritual effects. The FX's resistance cannot be changed to Toughness.

•

Area: Different types of area extras can reflect Dazzle FX that spread out or otherwise affect everyone in a given area. In particular, Burst (omni-directional bursts of light or other dazzling FX), Cone (for a cone of blinding light or deafening sound), Explosion (similar to a Burst, but weakening with distance), and Line (for a broad dazzling “beam”). Cone and Line FX effects may be touch range so the area originates with the user. The same may be true of Burst or Explosion Dazzle FX that radiate out from the user (e.g., the character becomes blindingly bright).

•

•

You can use any level of deflect in place of your normal melee block if your Deflect rank exceeds your normal melee attack bonus. Otherwise, there’s little reason to do so unless you have Deflect extras that make it more useful than your normal melee block.

Catching Weapons By taking a –5 penalty on your block roll you can catch an incoming physical weapon, including a projectile, when you successfully deflect it. You can wield a caught throwing weapon normally, up to and including throwing it back at your attacker with the normal required attack action.

Linked: Dazzle FX are often Linked to other FX to duplicate the side FX of certain attacks, such as a damaging laser that’s also blindingly bright, or a lightning bolt that’s immediately followed by a clap of deafening thunder. Selective Attack: This extra allows an Area Dazzle to affect only those targets you wish, excluding others in the area.

FX Feats •

Accurate: This FX feat does not apply to Deflect and does not grant a bonus on block rolls with Deflect, since that bonus is defined by the FX’s rank.

•

Extended Reach: Like other touch range FX, you can use this FX feat to extend the range at which you can deflect. It may involve a tool or weapon that extends your reach or the ability to move or contort in a way that does so, depending on your descriptors.

•

Homing: This FX feat does not normally apply to Deflect, however, the GM may allow it to apply to reflected or redirected attacks if applied to the Deflect FX as a whole. Also note that successfully deflecting a Homing attack is considered a “miss,” meaning the attack gets another chance on the next round. A reflected or redirected Homing attack that hits a different target is a “hit” and ends the attack.

•

Interpose: This feat may be acquired as an FX feat of Deflect, allowing you to interpose yourself between an adjacent character and an attack in order to deflect it.

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Precise: Deflect with this feat allows you to “catch” physical weapons without a penalty on your block roll; use your normal Deflect bonus instead. You do not gain the Precise Shot benefit when reflecting attacks; to do so, acquire Precise Shot separately.

•

Ricochet: Applied to Deflect, this feat allows you to ricochet reflected and redirected attacks as the GM allows (depending on the attack and its descriptors).

•

Subtle: Deflect with this FX feat may not be immediately apparent. While it is clear that attacks miss, it may be attributable to chance, near misses, and similar circumstances rather than any action on your part.

•

Triggered: This FX feat lets you set up a single use of Deflect in advance, usually enough to protect you from a one-shot surprise attack or the like. For an “automatic” Deflect effect usable an unlimited number of times, change the effect’s action to reaction.

Flaws •

Sense-Dependent: Dazzle is already sense-dependent and so cannot apply this flaw.

•

Side Effect: A possible side effect of Dazzle might be to dazzle yourself if you fail the attack roll (or your target successfully resists, for perception range Dazzle FX).

DEFLECT Type: Defense Range: Touch Resistance: None

Action: One (active) Duration: Instant Cost: 1-3 points per rank

You can block ranged attacks as well as melee attacks. This is like a melee block using your Deflect rank in place of your normal attack bonus. You can attempt to deflect any number of attacks in a round, but each attempt after the first imposes a cumulative –2 modifier on the block roll. If you take two actions to block, you take no penalty for deflecting multiple attacks. Once you fail a block roll you cannot deflect again until your next turn. Deflect rank is limited to the same value as your defense bonus by the campaign’s power level limits and your trade-offs. So if your Defense bonus limit is +12, for example, then you cannot have more than 12 ranks of Deflect.

Attack Types The types of attacks you can deflect determine the effect’s cost per rank. For 1 point per rank you can choose one of the following: slow projectiles (including thrown weapons and arrows), fast projectiles (like bullets), and energy attacks (like lasers and lightning bolts). For 2 points per rank, you can deflect any two. For 3 points per rank, you can deflect all ranged attacks. Deflect does not work against attacks that do not require an attack roll, such as perception range and area attacks. See the Nullify effect for a means of blocking such things.

Extras •

Action: You can reduce the action needed to block attacks. If you take an action one “step” higher than required to block that round, you take no penalty for blocking multiple attacks, otherwise you have the normal penalty. If you can use Deflect as a reaction you take no penalty for blocking multiple attacks

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FX Feats

and you can continue to deflect even if you miss a block roll. •

Area: With this extra you can make a single block roll for all potential targets in the affected area. The roll result essentially becomes the subjects’ new Defense, if higher than their normal Defense (of 10 + defense bonus). This lasts for one attack per target. You can make additional block rolls, with the usual penalty for multiple rolls in a round.

•

Automatic (+1): You can deflect even surprise attacks, but you must still be able to take the normal action required to use your Deflect FX.

•

Range: Ranged Deflect works against attacks made against any target within (power rank x 100 feet) range. You suffer a –2 penalty on your block roll per range increment of (rank x 10 feet) between you and the target. Perception range Deflect works against any attack you can accurately perceive. You must still make a successful block roll, however.

•

Reflection (+1): You can reflect a blocked attack back at the attacker as a reaction. Make a normal attack roll to hit with the reflected attack.

•

Redirection (+1): You can redirect a blocked attack at any target within the attack’s normal range, as Reflection, above. You must have the Reflection extra to take Redirection.

Affects Insubstantial: A character with Density may be able to apply this FX feat to Strength at the GM’s discretion as a reflection of increased density impeding the passage of insubstantial or incorporeal forms.

•

Buoyant: Your Density is such that you can still swim with Density activated. You do not automatically fail Athletics skill checks to swim, although additional Strength from your Density still does not add to your Swim bonus.

•

Innate: This FX feat is appropriate for beings that are inherently denser, making their Density part of their physical makeup. It should generally be coupled with the Permanent modifier on Continuous Density.

•

Subtle: Note that as an active effect Density is not Subtle by default; the character is assumed to take on some other form or outward manifestation of increased density (bulking up or transforming to a dense material like stone, for example). Density with the Subtle feat is less noticeable while 2 ranks of the feat allow you to maintain an outwardly normal appearance regardless of your relative density.

Extras

Flaws •

Action: Successfully deflecting may take up all your attention for the round, requiring two actions. In this case, you lose the ability to take two actions to deflect and overcome penalties for deflecting multiple attacks.

•

Distracting: Since Deflect essentially substitutes for Defense, it’s up to the GM whether or not this flaw can apply. For Deflect requiring at least a one action (and therefore limited in how often it can be used in a round), it should still constitute a flaw, but for Deflect usable as a free action or faster, it does not.

•

Duration: Deflect is an instant FX and its duration cannot be changed. For longer “lasting” versions of Deflect, improve the FX’s action.

•

Range: Deflect’s range cannot be decreased; this flaw does not apply.

DENSITY Type: Alteration Range: Personal Resistance: None

•

Action: Free (active) Duration: Sustained Cost: 3 points per rank

You can increase your mass, and therefore your Strength and Toughness. Every rank of Density active gives you +1 Strength. Every two ranks give you +1 Toughness with the Impervious extra (see Impervious under Enhanced (Trait)). Every three ranks give you a rank of Immovable and Might and move your mass one step up the Time and Value Progression Table: x2 at rank 3, x5 at rank 6, x10 at rank 9, and so forth. Additional Strength from Density does not improve your Strength-based skills or the distance you can jump, since your mass also increases. In fact, you automatically fail Athletics checks to swim while Density is active at 3 ranks or more, because of your negative buoyancy.

•

Attack: A Density Attack grants all of the FX’s benefits along with increased mass, and “Limited to Increasing Mass” is not a viable flaw for a Density Attack (since it actually makes it a more effective attack, not less).

•

Reflective: At the GM’s discretion, you can apply the Reflective extra of Enhanced (Toughness) to the ImperviousToughness gained from Density, representing extreme hardness or toughness and costing 1 power point per 3 Density ranks.

TABLE 5.5: DENSITY EFFECTS Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Str +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +10 +11 +12 +13 +14 +15 +16 +17 +18 +19 +20

Tough +0 +1 +1 +2 +2 +3 +3 +4 +4 +5 +5 +6 +6 +7 +7 +8 +8 +9 +9 +10

Immovable — — 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 6

Might — — +1 +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +3 +3 +3 +4 +4 +4 +5 +5 +5 +6 +6 +6

Mass x1.25 x1.5 x2 x3 x4 x5 x6 x8 x10 x12 x18 x25 x30 x40 x50 x60 x80 x100 x125 x150

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Flaws •

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Distracting: Since it’s reasonable for increased mass to make a character somewhat less quick and graceful, this flaw may apply to Density, causing you to lose your dodge bonus while at an increased level of mass. If it only applies to a certain level of Density (such as only after activating 6 ranks), apply the flaw only to the higher ranks.

•

Immobile (–1): When using Density, you are unable to move from where you stand when you activate the FX, although you can still take actions, so long as they don’t involve movement. If you are completely immobile (and helpless) while using Density, increase the flaw’s value to –3.

•

Permanent: Continuous Density may have this flaw, usually to reflect a character that’s always more dense and massive than normal. Permanent Density often has the Innate FX feat as well.

Associated FX •

Damage: Denser fists may be able to strike harder blows than even a dense character’s enhanced Strength, in which case Damage with the Mighty FX feat is an appropriate additional FX.

•

Insubstantial: This effect may be based on the ability to decrease mass and density, becoming less substantial. A character may have both Density and Insubstantial as Alternate FX in an Array structure.

•

Shrinking: For characters who become more dense without additional mass, essentially reducing the space between their existing molecules and therefore their overall size.

5 points: Drain reduces all traits at once. Gamemasters should carefully control, and may wish to limit access to, the 4- and 5point versions of Drain, since they are especially powerful.

Drain and Objects Drain normally has no effect on inanimate objects, only creatures. Drain with the Affects Objects extra can work on inanimate objects, and Drain can couple this with the Limited to Objects flaw to work only on inanimate objects as a +0 modifier. As a general rule, most inanimate objects have only one trait (their Toughness) and Drain Toughness can weaken the Toughness (and therefore structure) of objects. Objects do not get resistances against Drain; it has its full effect on the targeted object. At the GM’s discretion, held or carried objects may gain a Reflex check from their wielder to reduce the Drain’s effect, representing pulling the object out of harm’s way at the last moment. Devices must have their resistances overcome to be affected.

Drain and Devices Drain with the right descriptor(s) can lower the traits provided by a Device. For example, a Drain that affects all magical FX could potentially drain the FX of a magical device as well. Likewise a Drain affecting electrically powered equipment could drain an electrical device, and so on. This also applies to equipment, although it tends to have fewer traits to drain, and the GM should feel free to disallow any Device or equipment Drains that don’t suit the campaign or the FX concept. For example, just because a Drain Damage FX is possible doesn’t mean a character should be able to cause guns to do less damage; this sort of thing is better handled by an all-or-nothing FX like Nullify.

DRAIN (TRAIT) Type: Trait Range: Touch Resistance: Fortitude (staged)

Action: One (active) Duration: Instant Cost: 1-5 points per rank

FX Feats

You can temporarily lower one of a target’s traits: an ability, skill, feat, or FX, chosen when you acquire this FX. You must touch the target, making a normal melee attack roll, and roll to overcome the target's Fortitude resistance. If the roll succeeds, the target loses 1 character point from the affected trait(s) for each point you overcame the DC, up to a maximum of the Drain rank. Lost character points return at a rate of 1 per round, except for inanimate objects, which do not recover drained Toughness; they must be repaired. Drain’s cost per rank determines the affected trait(s): •

•

•

•

1 point: Drain affects a single trait (such as Strength score or Will resistance bonus), chosen when the effect is acquired. (To affect a list of traits, one at a time, use an Array of different 1point Drains, see the Array structure in this chapter.) 2 points: Drain affects any one trait suited to its descriptors, one at a time, such as any one ability score, skill, or feat at a time, or any one sensory effect, fire effect, or mental effect at a time. 3 points: Drain affects all traits of a single type (ability scores, skills, feats, one type of FX, or all FX of a particular type or descriptor) all at once (subtracting its rank in character points from each). 4 points: Drain reduces all FX at once.

•

Affects Insubstantial: Drain with this modifier can affect insubstantial targets, even if the user can’t normally touch them.

•

Extended Reach: A touch range Drain can benefit from the effects of this feat.

•

Incurable: Drain with this FX feat cannot have its effects countered by another FX (such as Boost, Healing, or other FX) without the Persistent FX feat; the target must recover from the Drain normally.

•

Reversible: You can restore character points you have drained from a subject at will as a free action rather than having to wait for them to recover over time.

•

Selective: A Drain FX capable of reducing more than one trait at once can have this FX feat, allowing you to choose which traits are affected, while not affecting others. Note this differs from the Selective Attack extra, which allows you to choose which subjects an Area Drain affects.

•

Slow Fade: This FX feat extends the time it takes for lost character points to return, one step up the Time and Value Progression Table per rank: 1 point per minute, 1 point per five minutes, and so forth.

•

Subtle: Drain FX with this FX feat are more difficult to detect. Since Drain is normally a touch range FX, and the actual FX (loss of character points) are usually apparent, a Drain

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until then. •

Extras •

Affects Corporeal: An incorporeal being needs this extra to use a Drain FX—like a "life-draining" Drain Constitution for a ghost—on a corporeal target.

•

Affects Objects: Drain with this modifier works on inanimate objects, although the effect can still only drain traits the objects possess. This is most often applied to Drain Toughness for an effect that can weaken both creatures and objects. As a +0 modifier, the FX only works on objects (things with no Constitution), and not creatures with a Constitution score.

•

Alternate Resistance: Certain Drains, particularly those affecting mental traits, may have Will as their resistance rather than Fortitude. This might also be the case for Drain FX designed as mental or mystic powers.

•

Aura: As a touch range FX, Drain can apply this extra, suitable for a character whose touch automatically causes a particular Drain FX.

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Contagious: This modifier suits a Drain FX based on a disease or similar contagion, or something like a draining substance that covers targets and can potentially affect anyone touching them as well. It’s often used in conjunction with the Disease modifier.

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Disease: Drain is the FX most commonly used for diseases, which typically weaken a victim’s abilities, and may affect other traits. A Disease Drain works like the guidelines given in Chapter VIII: Environments. Disease Drains are often comparatively low-ranked, the FX building up over time.

•

Poison: Like Disease, Poison is a common modifier for Drain, which is the basic FX of most toxins. Poison Drains tend to affect ability scores: Strength for weakness poisons, Dexterity for paralytic poisons, Constitution for lethal toxins, and mental ability scores for intoxicants, depressants, and similar neurochemicals. Poison Drains tend to be higher rank than Disease Drains simply because they act faster and take effect only twice.

•

Selective Attack: This extra can be applied to an Area Drain so it only affects some targets and not others. It can be combined with the Selective FX feat (previously), allowing you to use an Area Drain to selectively drain certain traits only from certain targets.

•

Total Fade: Traits reduced by a Total Fade Drain do not recover gradually. Instead, they remain at their reduced character point value until the entire trait would have normally recovered, at which point the trait returns to its normal value. So, for example, if a Total Fade Drain reduces a trait by 5 character points, the trait would normally recover 1 point per round until it returned to its normal value but instead remains at the lowered value for five rounds, then regains all 5 lost character points at once.

Side Effect: This flaw may represent a kind of Drain FX that “overloads” or even “feeds” on the user if it fails to drain the target! The side effect might be straightforward Damage, or a similar Drain FX against the attacker.

ELONGATION Type: Alteration Range: Personal Resistance: None

Action: One (active) Duration: Sustained Cost: 1 point per rank

You can elongate your body and limbs to extend your reach. You can elongate 5 feet at rank 1; each additional rank moves your maximum range (in feet) one step up the Time and Value Progression Table: 10 feet, 25 feet, 50 feet, and so on. Past rank 6, you can’t elongate your entire distance in a single action. You can elongate up to (rank x 50 feet) per action, up to your maximum distance. So at rank 10, for example, you can elongate 500 feet per action to a maximum of 5,000 feet, so it takes ten actions to reach your maximum extension. “Snapping back” to your normal shape is a free action, unless you elongate past rank 6, in which case retracting completely requires the same amount of time as elongating that distance. You can use Elongation to make melee attacks at a greater distance by elongating your limbs. It requires two actions to both elongate (one action) and attack (one action). Once elongated, you can make melee attacks within your new reach as a standard action. Your elongated attacks have a “range increment” of (FX rank x 10 feet), each increment beyond the first applies a –2 penalty to your attack rolls and checks, since it’s harder for you to coordinate your limbs at a distance. If you can’t accurately sense your target at all (around a corner, for example), apply the rules for concealment. The range increment is based on the distance between your target and your head (or wherever your accurate senses originate), so if you elongate your neck so your head is within one increment of your target, you suffer no range penalties, although you’ll be less aware of what’s going on around the rest of your body! You gain a bonus to Defense against attacks on your elongated limbs as if you were one size category smaller than usual. So the elongated limb of a medium character has a +1 Defense bonus (like a small character). Elongation gives you a bonus on Acrobatics checks to escape from bonds or grapples or to squeeze through tight spaces equal to your FX rank due to your greater flexibility and reach. At rank 3 or higher, you can move more quickly than normal by stretching out to a spot as one action and pulling the rest of your body in after you, or extending your limbs to give you a longer stride. The maximum distance you can move in this way is the amount you can elongate in a single action. You can take two actions to double the distance but you can’t move “all out” with Elongation.

FX Feats

Flaws •

Limited to Objects: Drain with Affects Objects and this flaw works only on inanimate objects with no Constitution score.

•

Requires Combat Advantage: You must Gain Combat Advantage over a target grab them in order to Drain them. The Drain FX can work once you have Combat Advantage, but not

•

Extended Reach: This feat does not apply to Elongation, which provides its own means of extending your reach.

•

Improved Range: This feat can improve the range increment of your elongated attacks.

•

Indirect: At the GM’s discretion, this FX feat can indicate a form of Elongation that “bypasses” normal spatial relationships

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whatever you like.

FX Feats •

Extras •

•

Projection (+1): Your elongated limb(s) are a projection of your FX rather than an actual extension of your body. Therefore, they are not vulnerable to attack on their own; any attacks specifically against your elongated segments have no effect. So, for example, an elongated “psychic hand” could reach into a container of acid to pull out an object without any risk of harm. This extra does not provide you with any additional protection for your normal body parts.

Flaws •

•

Extras •

Alternate Resistance: Emotion Control may be based on Fortitude to reflect a biochemical FX, such as a drug or control over various hormones.

•

Contagious: Contagious Emotion Control could be a contagious disease or toxin or some sort or a contagious psychic FX passed from one person to another.

Permanent: A character with a Permanent Elongation FX is stuck at maximum extension for the FX’s rank, so someone with Permanent Elongation 4, for example, has a 50-foot reach and can cover 50 feet with a single action.

Drawbacks Full Power: You can only Elongate out to your maximum extension or return to your normal shape; you can’t stop at any point in between. This is only a drawback for more than one rank of Elongation, and the GM should consider its value before allowing it.

Associated FX •

Enhanced Movement: The ability to elongate may provide certain Enhanced Movement traits, particularly swinging (by elongating your arms) or slithering (elongating your body like a snake).

•

Immunity: Elongation—and an elastic body—may also provide things like Immunity to falling damage (5 ranks).

•

Insubstantial: Elongation often implies or includes the ability to reshape your body in other ways. A truly elastic character should also have the first rank of Insubstantial, able to flow like a fluid.

•

Morph: Characters able to reshape their physical forms beyond just elongating their body and limbs should acquire the Morph effect at the appropriate level.

Mind Blank: Targets don’t remember time under your Emotion Control; their memory of that time is blank. Subtle: Subtle Emotion Control is tailor-made for true manipulators, leaving victims wondering why they are suffering such uncharacteristic bouts of emotion. Combined with a degree of finesse in choosing the right feelings to impose, the controller can escape notice altogether.

Flaws •

Limited to One Direction: You can only shift attitudes either up or down, causing targets to become more or less friendly. You can still control who the target feels these emotions for, though.

•

Limited to One Subject: You can only shift the attitudes of others regarding one subject, either yourself or others (but not both), chosen when you take this flaw.

•

Sense-Dependent: Your Emotion Control works through a target’s senses rather than as a strictly mental FX. Examples include eye contact (visual), voice or music (auditory), or pheromones (olfactory).

EMOTION CONTROL Type: Sensory (mental) Range: Perception Resistance: Will (staged)

Action: One (active) Duration: Sustained (lasting) Cost: 2 points per rank

You can instill different emotions in a target whose Will resistance you overcome. If you succeed, you can shift a target's attitude regarding anyone up one or down one steps (from indifferent to friendly or unfriendly, for example). If you succeed by 5 or more, you can shift a target's attitude up or down by two steps. If you succeed by 10 or more, you can change the target's attitude to

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Drawbacks •

Noticeable: Your Emotion Control FX has some noticeable element: your eyes or head glow, your subjects’ skin changes color, a particular scent fills the air (perhaps differing according to the emotion), and so forth. This drawback often occurs in conjunction with the Sense-Dependent flaw.

incoming energy of the attack, which you can use to improve your own traits! Applied to Impervious Toughness, this extra essentially gives you a Linked 1-point Boost that operates automatically when your Toughness stops damage. •

Affects Others: This changes the Enhanced Trait's range from personal to touch, allowing you to bestow the FX on someone else. As usual, the +0 version of this modifier means you can only grant the Enhanced Trait to others, the +1 version means you can grant it to someone else while still using it yourself. An Enhanced Trait that Affects Others generally cannot improve traits beyond power level limits, although the GM may modify this as desired.

•

Impervious (+1): Your Enhanced Toughness stops some damage cold. If an attack has a damage bonus less than your Toughness rank, it inflicts no damage (you automatically resist as with the Immunity FX). Penetrating damage ignores this modifier; you must resist it normally.

•

Reflective (+1/+2): Applied to Impervious Toughness, this extra "bounces" any damage blocked by your Impervious extra back at the attacker. This occurs automatically when the attack happens and the reflected damage automatically hits the attacker, who resists it normally. If the attacker has sufficient Impervious Toughness himself, the attack has no FX (and is not further reflected, if the attacker also has Reflective Toughness). As a +1 modifier, Reflective works against a limited group of damaging effects, either melee or ranged or a reasonably common descriptor (such as heat, light, or radiation, for example), as a +2 modifier, it applies to all damaging effects.

Associated FX •

Inflict (Condition): The ability to affect emotions may also involve the ability to affect someone’s sense of drive or cause disorientation, suited to the Inflict (Condition) FX.

•

Mind Reading: Mind Reading (possibly Limited to a subject’s emotional state) can be a useful ability to have when you intend to manipulate someone’s emotions.

ENHANCED (TRAIT) Type: Trait Range: Personal Resistance: None

Action: None (passive) Duration: Continuous Cost: Varies (see description)

You have an enhancement to a non-FX trait, such as an ability (including resistances) or skill (including attack or defense bonus). The Enhanced Trait has the same cost at the trait’s normal cost. Its “rank” is considered equal to the trait’s bonus or modifier. So 10 points of Enhanced Strength costs 20 points (since ability scores cost 2 characters point per ability score point) and is considered a rank 10 FX. Enhanced Traits can be nullified like other FX (and unlike normal traits), but you can also spend Hero Dice to them and include them in arrays, Devices, and so forth (also unlike normal traits). The GM approves any extra effort use in conjunction with your Enhanced Traits. Enhanced Traits also have appropriate descriptors, differentiating them from normal traits. You can freely mix normal and Enhanced Traits, and their benefits stack up to the limits of the campaign’s power level. So a character can have Dexterity 2 and Enhanced Dexterity 5 for a total Dexterity score of 7, so long as the total Dex score is within the power level limits. If the character’s Enhanced Dexterity is nullified, he drops down to a 2 Dex.

FX Feats •

Alternate FX: Unlike normal traits, an Enhanced Trait may be placed into an Array as a base or Alternate FX. The benefits of the Enhanced Trait only apply so long as that Alternate FX of the Array is active.

•

Innate: Enhanced Traits may be Innate, in which case they are unaffected by trait FX, including Nullify. Note, however, that enhancing FX like Boost also do not affect Innate traits.

•

Subtle: As a continuous FX, Enhanced Trait is subtle by default and does not require this FX feat. Enhanced Traits with noticeable FX can have the Noticeable FX drawback.

Extras •

Absorption (+3): In addition to helping you resist damage, your Enhanced Toughness actually "absorbs" some of the

Flaws •

Duration: An Enhanced Trait can have a sustained duration as a –1 flaw, meaning the trait must be activated and maintained as a free action, and stops working if you are unable to maintain it. Enhanced Traits cannot have an instant duration, nor may they apply the Permanent flaw.

•

Fades: For an Enhanced Trait that requires activation and fades over time, use the Boost FX rather than this flaw. An Enhanced Toughness ablates and chips away with successive attacks.

•

Limited (–1): Your Protection applies to only one of a broad type of damage (physical or energy). If your Protection applies to only one of a narrow type of damage (edged weapons, blunt weapons, electricity, fire, magic, etc.) it has a –3 modifier.

•

Permanent: The Permanent flaw does not apply to Enhanced Trait, because permanent Enhanced Traits aren’t sufficiently limited by it, and because normal permanent versions of the traits are already defined in game terms.

Drawbacks •

Noticeable: Your Enhanced Trait has some noticeable quality to it, such as a physical change (unusually large muscles or an enlarged head or brain, for example) or an effect accompanying use of the trait, such as glowing whenever you use your Enhanced Strength. The quality must be such that it gives some indication of what the Enhanced Trait is: merely looking odd doesn’t necessarily qualify for this drawback (it’s more of a social complication). Note that sustained duration Enhanced Traits cannot have this drawback, as sustained FX are already noticeable by default.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I raising and lowering yourself. For one rank, you can move upwards or downwards through the air at your normal speed. GMs may wish to limit your maximum ranks in the Speed FX for levitation to 4, to represent the limitations levitation presents.

ENHANCED MOVEMENT Type: Movement Range: Personal Resistance: None

Action: One (active) Duration: Sustained Cost: 2 points per rank •

Permeate: You can pass through solid objects as if they weren’t there. For one rank, you can move at one-quarter your speed through any physical object as a move action and half your speed as a full action. For two ranks, you can move at half your speed as a move action and your full speed as a full action. For three ranks, you can move at your normal speed through obstacles. You cannot breathe while inside a solid object, so you need Immunity to Suffocation or you have to hold your breath. You may also need Enhanced Senses (such as X-Ray Vision) to see where you’re going. Permeate is often Limited to a particular substance (like earth, ice, or metal, for example) as a –1 modifier (reducing base cost to 1 point per rank). Permeate provides no protection against attacks, even against materials you can pass through, although you do gain total cover while inside an object.

•

Slithering: You can move along the ground at your normal speed while prone instead of crawling at a rate of 5 feet per move action. You suffer no penalties for making attacks while prone. Slow Fall: As long as you are capable of action, you can fall any distance without harm. You can also stop your fall at any point so long as there is a handhold or projection for you to grab (such as a ledge, flagpole, branch, etc.). If you have the Wall-Crawling FX (see following), then any surface provides you with a handhold. Slow Fall assumes you are capable of reacting to your circumstances; for the ability to fall any distance without harm whether you are capable of action or not, take Immunity to Falling Damage for 5 points.

You have a special form of movement. For each rank in this FX, choose one of the following: •

Burrowing: You can burrow through the through soil and sand at one-half your normal ground speed, leaving a tunnel behind if you choose. You burrow at your normal speed. Burrowing through hard clay and packed earth requires two ranks. Burrowing through harder materials requires the Penetrating extra applied to your ranks in the Speed FX for burrowing (see below). The tunnel you leave behind is either permanent or collapses behind you immediately (your choice when you begin burrowing each new tunnel).

•

Dimensional Movement: You can move from one dimension to another. Dimensional Movement is instant duration. For one rank, you can move between your home dimension and one other. For two ranks you can move between any of a related group of dimensions (mystical dimensions, alien dimensions, etc). For three ranks you can travel to any dimension. You can carry up to 100 lbs. with you when you move. Each Progression FX feat moves this amount one step up the Time and Value Progression Table (250 lbs., 500 lbs., etc.). Since this effect can be extremely useful in some situations, the GM should carefully regulate its use, possibly requiring modifiers like Limited or Unreliable or even disallowing it for player characters altogether.

•

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Leaping: You can make prodigious leaps. For one rank, your jumping distances are doubled. Unlike other special forms of movement, the FX Speed doesn't actually make you leap faster, but instead allows you to leap greater distances, multiplying your jumping distances by speed's value at that rank. So Jumping with Speed rank 2 allows you to jump twenty-five times your normal distance. At Speed rank 4 (50 times normal distance), you are in the air for at least a full round before you land. Each additional rank adds another full round in the air. So a rank 9 leap (x1,000 your normal distance) lasts for six full rounds before you land. You can act normally during this time, as if you were flying, but you can’t change your speed or direction without using some other effect. Flight: You can soar through the air as easily as most people walk on the ground. Your flight is clumsy or may require a platform which carries you. If you suffer any knockback while flying or you are grappled by someone standing on the ground, you’re knocked off or pulled down and cannot fly. You can regain the use of your flying platform by reactivating your Flight FX (which may require a Expertise check to Concentrate, depending on circumstances). For one rank, you can fly at half your normal ground speed. For two ranks, you can fly at your full normal ground speed. You may buy an additional rank to fly with agility and not risk being knocked or pulled out of the sky.

•

Gliding: You're able to float, if not quite fly as if you were selfpropelled. For one rank, you can move through the air at your normal speed, but you lose altitude equal to half the distance you travel, meaning the maximum distance you can glide is twice the height you start from. While gliding, you cannot gain altitude without outside help, like updrafts and thermals (at the GM’s discretion). GMs may wish to limit your maximum ranks in the Speed FX for Gliding to 4, since gliders tend to lack selfpropulsion.

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Levitation: You're able to hover, but you cannot fly beyond

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Space Flight: For one rank, you're able to propel yourself through the vacuum of space at your normal ground speed, though you aren't protected against the hazards of space travel. For that, see the Immunity FX.

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Swinging: You can swing through the air at your normal ground movement speed, using a swing-line you provide or available lines and projections (tree limbs, flagpoles, vines, telephone- and power-lines, etc.).

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Swimming: You can move through the water or similar liquid with tremendous ease. You have a water speed equal to your normal ground speed with one rank.

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Sure-Footed: You’re better able to deal with obstacles and obstructions to movement. Reduce the speed penalty for hampered movement by one-quarter for each application of this effect. So heavy obstructions or a bad surface only reduce your speed by one-quarter rather than one-half, for example. If you reduce the movement penalty to 0 or less, you are unaffected by that condition and move at full normal speed.

•

Temporal Movement: You can move through time. Temporal Movement is instant duration. For one rank, you can move between the present and another fixed point in time (such as 100 years into the past, or 1,000 years into the future). For two ranks you can move to any point in either the past or any point in the future. For three ranks, you can travel to any point in time. You can carry up to 100 lbs. with you when you move. Each Progression FX feat moves this amount one step up the Time and Value Progression Table (250 lbs., 500 lbs., etc.). Temporal mechanics and the effects of time travel are left up to the GM. Since this is an extremely powerful ability, the GM should carefully regulate its use, possibly requiring modifiers like Limited or Unreliable or even disallowing it for player

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Trackless: You leave no trail and cannot be tracked using visual senses (although you can still be tracked using scent or other means). You step so lightly you can walk across the surface of soft sand or even snow without leaving tracks and you have total concealment from tremorsense (see Enhanced Senses). This FX may be Limited to particular types of terrain.

•

Wall-Crawling: You can climb walls and ceilings at half your normal speed with no chance of falling and no need for an Athletics skill check. You still lose your dodge bonus while climbing unless you have 5 or more ranks of Climb. An additional rank of Enhanced Movement applied to this effect means you climb at your full speed and retain your dodge bonus while climbing. A third rank in Wall-Crawling allows you to “stick” to surfaces with any part of your body, rather than just your hands and feet (so you could, for example, hang from a ceiling by the top of your head, or stick your back to a wall to leave your arms and legs free). Wall-Crawling may be Limited to particular kinds of surfaces (metal, stone, wood, etc.) as a – 1 flaw. It may also be Limited to only while moving.

•

Attack: Dimensional and Temporal Movement can apply this modifier, allowing you to send an unwilling target into another dimension or time! Since both options have relatively fixed costs, the GM may allow additional ranks in Dimensional or Temporal Attack to increase the FX’s resistance DC: 2 character points per additional rank. Like other FX with the Attack extra, these Attacks are touch range by default, making them ranged is a +1 extra and perception range is a +2 extra.

•

Duration: Continuous duration Enhanced Movement operates even when the character is stunned, unconscious, or otherwise unable to sustain it (once it has been activated, of course). The user may remaining hanging in space, or safely inside of an object she is permeating, or hanging from something he was swinging from. Alternatively, the character might be slowly and safely deposited on a surface capable of supporting him.

•

Penetrating: Some super-hard materials may be considered Impervious to Burrowing, in which case this extra allows you to dig through them, provided your Penetrating rank reduces the material’s Impervious Toughness to equal to your less than your Burrowing rank or your ranks in the Speed FX (whichever you choose to apply Penetrating to).

Water Walking: You can move or stand on the surface of water, quicksand, and other liquids without sinking. Water Walking may be Limited to only while moving (making it more “Water Running”).

Increasing Enhanced Movement Speed The default movement speed of most Enhanced Movement options is a character's "normal ground speed." To move at a speed greater than that, you must apply the Speed FX to your chosen form of movement. You must be able to to move at a speed at least equal to your normal ground speed to apply additional ranks of Speed to a form of Enhanced Movement (which for some forms of Enhanced movement might require more than one rank). At the GM's option, increasing you normal ground speed with the Speed FX also affects Enhanced Movement modes like Permeate, Slithering, Swinging, Wall-Crawling, and Water Walking just as it does normal ground movement. If this proves unbalancing, or in a setting where differentiated movement is more important, the GM may wish to have Speed apply separately to each form of movement; so a character would have ranks of Speed for normal ground movement and separate ranks for Enhanced Movement traits like Wall-Crawling and Water Walking.

Extras When applying modifiers to Enhanced Movement, you can apply the modifier(s) to just one rank of the FX, some of them, or all of them, depending on which movement mode(s) you want to modify. So it’s possible, for example, to make Dimensional Movement Unreliable while having Permeate Affect Others and applying no modifiers to Sure-Footed. The GM should approve any distribution of modifiers to Enhanced Movement. As usual, the total cost of the FX cannot be reduced below 1 character point. •

•

Affects Others: This extra, applied to one or more of your movement modes, allows you to take "passengers" along with you, granting them the benefits of your movement mode(s) so long as they are in close-contact with you (or within range, if you add the Range extra to the FX as well). This extra is particularly common for Dimensional and Temporal Movement (often Affects Others and Area).

Flaws •

Distracting: A clumsy or uncertain form of movement might suffer from this flaw, losing dodge bonus at all times while moving rather than just when moving all-out.

•

Duration: Concentration duration Enhanced Movement can represent an effect requiring additional focus or effort on the character’s part; you can fly or pass through matter, but can’t do much else at the same time. Since concentration requires a one action each round, it also means you can’t move a accelerated or all-out speeds, just the normal pace. A useful Enhanced Movement FX cannot have a duration less than concentration.

Drawbacks •

Forward Only: You cannot back up while using your Enhanced Movement; you can only move straight ahead.

•

Low Ceiling: If your movement enables you to leave the ground, you cannot gain much altitude, remaining fairly close to the ground. A ceiling (maximum altitude) of 30 feet is a 1-point drawback, 15 feet is worth 2 points, and 5 feet is worth 3 points. This drawback is suitable for "hovercraft" type flight and similar effects.

•

Minimum Speed: You must move no less than half your maximum speed or you "stall" and begin falling or get stuck. You can restart your Movement for one action unless circumstances prevent it (including other drawbacks). You can’t hover while in flight.

•

FX Loss: If your Movement is dependent on being able to flap your wings, a grappling swing-line which can jam, and so forth, you can apply this drawback to reflect conditions where your Enhanced Movement FX may not function. If your movement has limitations that render it inoperative about half the time, it should have the Limited flaw instead. Note that this differs from having your Movement countered in that you lose it automatically when your FX Loss occurs, with no opposed check.

•

Reduced Load: If you cannot carry more than a medium load while moving, you have a 1-point FX drawback. If you cannot

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Runway Required: Some flying effects might require a level runway to take off and land. You can’t take off or land vertically or hover.

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Wide Turns: You cannot execute a greater than 45 degree turn per action while flying, although you can slow your flying speed while turning in order to make tighter turns, if you wish. A combination of Minimum Speed and Wide Turns means you can only bank widely at best.

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Extended (1 rank): You have a sense that operates at greater than normal range. Your range increment with the sense is increased by a factor of 10. Each additional time you apply this option, your range increment increases by an additional factor of 10, so one increase makes the range increment 100, two makes it 1,000, and so on.

•

Penetrates Concealment (4 ranks): A sense with this trait is unaffected by concealment from obstacles (but not effects like Concealment, Illusion, or Obscure). So vision that Penetrates Concealment can see right through opaque objects, for example, and hearing that Penetrates Concealment is unaffected by sound-proofing or muffling materials, and so forth.

•

Radius (1–2 ranks): You can make Perception checks with a sense against any point around you. Subjects behind you cannot use Infiltration to hide from you without some other concealment. Auditory, olfactory, and tactile senses are normally radius for humans. Cost is 1 rank for use with one sense, 2 ranks for one sense type.

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Ranged (1 rank): You can use a sense that normally has no range (taste or touch in humans) to make Perception checks at a normal range increment (-1 per 10 feet). This can be enhanced with the Extended effect.

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Rapid (1 rank): You can read or take in information from a sense faster than normal: each rank increases your perception speed by a factor of 10 (x10, x100, etc.) with a single sense, double cost for an entire sense type. You can use rapid vision to speed-read, pick up on rapid flickering between frames of a film, watch video replays in fast-forward speeds, and such, rapid hearing to listen to time-compressed audio “blips,” and so forth. If your sense is rapid enough, the GM may allow you to take 20 with Perception checks using it as a full action or even faster. See Quickness for guidelines on this. (Rapid Sense is, in fact, essentially a version of Quickness limited to one or more of your senses.)

•

Tracking (1 rank): You can follow trails and track using a particular sense. Basic DC to follow a trail is 10, modified by circumstances, as the GM sees fit. You only move at half normal speed while tracking. For 2 ranks, you can move at full normal speed while tracking. For 3 ranks, you can move all-out while tracking.

ENHANCED SENSES Type: Sensory Range: Personal Resistance: None

Action: None (passive) Duration: Continuous Cost: 1 point per rank

One or more of your senses are enhanced, or you have additional sensory abilities beyond the normal five senses. Allocate ranks in Enhanced Senses to the following FX. Some options require more than one rank, noted in their descriptions. Like all sensory FX, Enhanced Senses uses the sense types described in sense types.

Enhanced Senses The following effects enhance or improve existing senses, whether one of the five normal senses or the additional senses listed in the following section. •

Accurate (2 or 4 ranks): An accurate sense can pinpoint something’s exact location. You can use an accurate sense to target something in combat. Visual and tactile senses are normally accurate for humans. Cost is 2 ranks for one sense, 4 for an entire sense type.

•

Acute (1–2 ranks): You can sense fine details about anything you can detect with a particular sense, allowing you to distinguish between and identify different subjects. Visual, auditory, and tactile senses are normally acute for humans. Cost is 1 rank for one sense, 2 for an entire sense type.

•

Analytical (1–2 ranks): Beyond even acute, you can perceive specific details about anything you can detect with an analytical sense, such as chemical composition, exact dimensions or mass, frequency of sounds and energy wavelengths, and so forth. You can only apply this effect to an acute sense. Normal senses are not analytical. Cost is 1 rank for one sense, 2 for an entire sense type.

Additional Senses The FX here grant additional sensory capabilities or senses beyond the normal five senses.

•

Counters Concealment (2 ranks): A sense type with this trait ignores the Concealment effect; you sense the subject of the effect normally, as if the Concealment wasn’t even there. So if you have vision that Counters Concealment, for example, then invisible beings are visible to you. Concealed subjects seem slightly “off” to you, enough to know they are concealed to others. This trait does not affect other sources of concealment, such as obstacles or other effects (like Obscure).

•

Communication Link (1 rank): You have a link with a particular individual chosen when you acquire this option, who must also have this ability. The two of you can communicate over any distance like a use of the Communication FX. Choose a sense type as a communication medium when you select this option; mental is common for psychic or empathic links. If you apply the Dimensional FX feat to your Communication Link, it extends to other dimensions as well.

•

Counters Illusion (2 ranks): A sense type with this trait ignores the Illusion effect; you automatically succeed on your saving throw against the illusion if it affects your sense type, realizing that it isn’t real.

•

•

Counters Obscure (2 or 5 ranks): For 2 ranks, a sense type with this trait ignores the Obscure effect of a particular descriptor, such as darkness, fog/mist, or smoke, for visual Obscure. For 5 ranks, the sense type ignores all Obscure effects, regardless of descriptor.

Danger Sense (1 rank): When you would normally be surprised in combat, make a Perception check (DC 15). Success means you are not surprised and may act during the surprise round (if any). Failure means you are surprised (although, if you have Uncanny Dodge, you retain your Defense bonus). The GM may raise the DC of the Danger Sense check in some circumstances. Choose a sense type for your Danger Sense. Sensory effects targeting that sense also affect your Danger Sense ability and may “blind” it.

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future. Your precognitive visions last as long as you concentrate. Precognition does not apply to mental effects like Mind Reading or any other ability requiring interaction with the future.

(Descriptor) Awareness (1 rank): You can sense the use of effects of a particular descriptor with a successful Perception check (DC 10, –1 per 10 feet range). Examples include Cosmic Awareness, Divine Awareness, Magical Awareness, Mental Awareness, and so forth. You can apply enhanced sense traits to your Awareness to modify it. Choose the sense type for your Awareness; it is often a mental sense, but doesn’t have to be. Awareness counts as an “exotic sense” for noticing effects with the first rank of the Subtle FX feat. Detect (1–2 ranks): You can sense a particular item or effect by touch with a Perception check. Detect has no range and only indicates the presence or absence of something (being neither acute nor accurate). Choose what sense type your Detect falls under (often mental). For 2 ranks you can detect things at a normal range increment (–1 per 10 feet). Direction Sense (1 rank): You always know what direction north lies in and can retrace your steps through any place you’ve been. can

accurately

Radio (1 rank): You can “hear” radio frequencies including AM, FM, television, cellular, police bands, and so forth. This allows you to pick up on Radio Communication. This is the base sense of the radio sense type. It’s ranged, radius, and accurate by default.

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Time Sense (1 rank): You always know what time it is and can time events as if you had an accurate stopwatch.

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Ultra-Hearing (1 rank): You can hear very high and low frequency sounds, like dog whistles or ultrasonic signals.

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Ultravision (1 rank): You can see ultraviolet light, allowing you to see normally at night by the light of the stars or other UV light sources.

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Uncanny Dodge (1 rank): This feat may also be a feature of Enhanced Senses rather than training or talent. Choose a sense type for your Uncanny Dodge; sensory FX of that type may overcome it.

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Distance Sense (1 rank): automatically judge distances.

•

(FX) Awareness (1 rank): This works like Descriptor Awareness (previously) but applies only to one FX regardless of descriptor(s). Examples include Concealment Awareness, Mind Control Awareness, Teleport Awareness, and so forth.

Sample Enhanced Senses

•

Infravision (1 rank): You can see in the infrared portion of the spectrum, allowing you to see heat patterns. Darkness does not provide concealment for objects differing in temperature from their surroundings. If you have the Track ability, you can track warm creatures by the faint heat trails they leave behind.

Listed here are some examples of Enhanced Senses using the enhanced and additional senses listed previously. Players should feel free to take these pre-fabricated examples as abilities of Enhanced Senses and to use them as models for creating their own unique Enhanced Senses.

•

Microscopic Vision (1–4 ranks): You can view extremely small things. You can make Perception checks to see tiny things in your own area. Cost is 1 rank for dust-sized objects, 2 ranks for cellular-sized, 3 ranks for DNA and complex molecules, 4 ranks for atomic- sized. The GM may require a knowledge skill check, particularly Science to interpret what you see.

•

Postcognition (4 ranks): Your senses extend into the past, allowing you to perceive events that took place previously. You can make Perception checks to pick up on past information in an area or from a subject. The Gamemaster sets the DC for these checks based on how obscure and distant in the past the information is, from DC 15 (for a vague vision that may or may not be accurate) to DC 30 (for near complete knowledge of a particular past event as if you were actually present). Your normal (present-day) senses don’t work while you’re using Postcognition; your awareness is focused on the past. Your postcogntive visions last for as long as you concentrate. Postcognition does not apply to mental effects like Mind Reading or any other ability requiring interaction with the past. Postcognition may be Limited to past events connected to your own “past lives” or ancestors, reducing cost to 2 ranks.

•

You

•

and

Precognition (4 ranks): Your senses extend into the future, allowing you to perceive events that may happen. Your precognitive visions represent possible futures. If circumstances change, then the vision may not come to pass. When you use this ability, the Gamemaster chooses what information to impart. Your visions may be obscure and cryptic, open to interpretation. The Gamemaster may require appropriate Perception skill checks for you to pick up on particularly detailed information, with a DC ranging from 15 to 30 or more. The GM can also activate your Precognition to impart specific information to you as an adventure hook or plot device. Your normal (present-day) senses don’t work while you’re using Precognition; your awareness is focused on the

•

Aura Reading (5 ranks): You can “read” the invisible psychic auras that surround all creatures, showing their mood, physical condition, and any outside psychic influences affecting them. Aura Reading is a mental sense, although the information (the auras) is perceived as visual. Detect Mood and Physical Condition (both ranged), Psychic Awareness.

•

Cosmic Awareness (2 ranks): You are innately “plugged in” to cosmic forces, able to sense them at work in the universe. You sense cosmic effects in your local area, plus you may pick up on universe-affecting forces at a much greater distance (at the GM’s discretion). Apply the Extended option to expand this sense’s range. Additionally, you can spend a character die to ask “the Universe” (the Gamemaster) a direct question and get an answer (essentially a specialized use of the inspiration aspect of spending character points). Cosmic Awareness and Benefit (directed inspiration).

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Darkvision (2 ranks): You can see normally in the dark, even darkness created by an Obscure FX (although other Obscure descriptors, such as fog or blinding light, affect you normally). Vision Counters Obscure (darkness).

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Detect Magic (2 ranks): You can make Perception checks to detect the presence of magical effects, creatures, and items, with a normal modifier of –1 per 10 feet distance. Mental Detect (magic), Ranged.

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Detect Weakness (4 ranks): You can pick up on any potential weaknesses a target may have. A successful Perception check (opposed by Persuasion, Perception, Infiltration (for stealth), or a trait of the GM’s choice) gives you insight into the subject’s drawbacks, flaws, and similar weaknesses. The Assessment feat may be added to Detect Weakness for an additional rank. Detect Weaknesses, Ranged, Acute, Analyze.

•

Ladar (3 ranks): By emitting infrared lasers that bounce off solid surfaces, you can build an accurate picture of your surroundings, even when you cannot normally see them.

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Low-Light Vision (1 rank): You can see twice as far in lowlight conditions as normal. Vision Counters Obscure (darkness), Limited.

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Radar (4 ranks): By sending out radiowave emissions that bounce off solid surfaces, you can build an accurate picture of your surroundings. Accurate, Radius, Ranged Radio Sense.

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Scent (1 rank): You can differentiate and identify individuals by scent alone, although you cannot determine things like exact location (since your sense of smell is not necessarily accurate). Acute Scent.

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See Invisible (2 ranks): You can see anything hidden by a Concealment FX as it were not concealed. Vision Counters Concealment.

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Sonar (3 ranks): By sending out ultrasonic emissions that bounce off solid surfaces, you can build an accurate picture of your surroundings. Accurate Ultrasonic Hearing.

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Spatial Awareness (4 points): You are mentally aware of your surroundings, even when you cannot see them. Accurate, Radius, Ranged Mental Sense.

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Trace Teleport (1 rank): You can “track” another teleporter, provided your Teleport range is at least equal to theirs. Make a Perception check, DC 10, +1 per round since the target teleported (+10 DC per minute) and –1 to your check result per 10 feet between you and the departure point (no modifier if you are on the same spot). If the check succeeds you teleport to the place where your target went (or the closest open space, if that point is occupied). If the check fails, you don’t go anywhere; you can’t get an accurate “lock.” You only get one attempt to track a particular teleport, and you can’t take 10 or 20 on the Perception check. Track Teleport.

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between them as desired. Note that this may represent a cost savings for a wide range of Enhanced Senses, but those senses will not all be available at the same time, so the character may miss certain things or not have the right sense(s) active at the right time to avoid a particular hazard or pick up on an important piece of information. Dimensional: This FX feat allows you to extend your senses into other dimensions. It’s assumed to apply to all your senses, allowing you to sense your proximate location in the other dimension(s). For a more extended range, use ESP with this feat.

•

Extended Reach: This FX feat does not apply to Enhanced Senses; they have their own options (notably the Extended feature) for enhancing their “reach.”

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Improved Range: Likewise, this FX feat does not apply to Enhanced Senses; use options like Extended instead.

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Innate: The Enhanced Sense abilities of many creatures, particularly aliens or constructs like robots, may be Innate, although this does not prevent sensory effects like Dazzle or Obscure from disabling them (which is different from countering or nullifying them).

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Subtle: As passive FX, Enhanced Senses are Subtle by default and do not require this FX feat.

Extras Enhanced Senses often take advantage of the partial modifiers rule when applying extras and flaws so they affect only particular ranks (and therefore senses). See the information under EnhancedMovement on applying modifiers to individual ranks of the FX.

Tremorsense (3 ranks): You can accurately feel the location of moving objects in contact with the same surface as you (such as the ground). If used underwater, you can feel objects moving through the water all around you, like a normal radius sense. Accurate Ranged Touch. True Sight (10 ranks): You automatically see through any Concealment, Illusion, or Obscure FX, see the true form of any disguised creature (including traits that grant a bonus to Art checks to disguise, like Morph), and see any deliberately hidden or concealed item (secret door, hidden panel, etc.), although the GM may require a Perception check to detect the latter. Vision Counters Concealment, Counters Illusion, Counters Obscure (all), Detect Hidden. X-Ray Vision (4 ranks): You can see through solid objects as if they weren’t there (such objects provide no concealment to you). You have to define one reasonably common substance you can’t see through, such as lead, gold, iron, wood, or such. A subject with no concealment relative to you cannot use Concealment to hide from you without a feat like Hide In Plain Sight or an FX like Concealment. X-Ray Vision may be Limited to particular substances (natural earth, for example), reducing cost to 2 ranks. It is a commonly associated effect of the Permeate ability of Enhanced Movement, allowing you to see where you’re going as you pass through a solid object. Vision Penetrates Concealment.

FX Feats •

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Alternate FX: At the Gamemaster’s discretion, a “sensory array” is an option if all the senses included are sustained or continuous in duration, allowing the character to switch

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Affects Others: With this extra, you can grant the benefits of one or more Enhanced Senses to another character. Apply Affects Others only to the ranks of the chosen sense(s).

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Attack: This extra does not apply to Enhanced Senses. For sense-affecting attacks, use other sensory FX like Dazzle, Illusion, and Obscure.

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Area: The Area modifier only applies to Enhanced Senses which affect others, and only to extend their benefits to everyone in an area. Apply the Selective FX feat for the ability to choose who in your area does and does not benefit from the Enhanced Senses. To affect the area of a sense, use the Extended and Radius traits of the Enhanced Senses FX.

•

Range: Likewise, the Range extra only applies to Enhanced Senses that affect others, extending the range at which you can grant their benefits. To extend a sense’s range, use the Extended, Radius, and Ranged traits of the Enhanced Senses effect.

Flaws •

Distracting: Using some Enhanced Senses may prove distracting compared to one’s normal senses, in which case this modifier applies. It is best reserved for Enhanced Senses intended to be used outside of combat, and shouldn’t apply to senses that help users avoid surprise or overcome concealment, since it takes away much of their utility (robbing the user of dodge bonus as surely as those conditions).

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Duration: The duration of Enhanced Senses cannot be changed, although the action required to use them may be, at the GM’s discretion (see the Action drawback in the following section for details).

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I Limited: Some Enhanced Senses may be Limited to only sensing certain things or only under certain circumstances. As usual, the sense must lose about half its utility to qualify for this flaw, less than that is more likely a particular descriptor associated with the sense and may constitute a complication at the GM’s discretion when it comes up in play.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL

•

Permanent: This flaw does not apply to Enhanced Senses; the inability to turn them on and off is generally a complication at best rather than an actual flaw in the FX.

•

Sense-Dependent: Enhanced Senses are, naturally, already sense-dependent and so cannot have this flaw.

•

Unreliable: Some Enhanced Senses may be unreliable; the GM makes checks for reliability when the sense is used. Two variations of this flaw may apply: in the first, the Enhanced Senses effect is unreliable, when it doesn’t work, the character perceives nothing with that sense. In the second, the character’s perceptions are unreliable, the sense appears to work, but the should make all reliability checks for Enhanced Senses in secret, just informing the player of what the character does (or does not) notice.

You can change the environmental conditions in an area: altering the temperature, creating light, causing rain, and so forth. Each of the following is a separate Environmental Control FX. If you have one you can acquire others as Alternate FX in an Array, but you can then only use and maintain one at a time. To use or maintain multiple Environmental Control FX simultaneously, add their costs together for the FX’s total cost per rank (or see the Mixand-Match Environments option, following).

•

Type: General Range: Ranged Resistance: See description

Drawbacks •

•

•

Action: Enhanced Senses normally don’t require an action apart from that of the normal Perception check. However, this FX drawback makes using Enhanced Senses more of an effort. The value of the drawback depends on the action required: 1 point for one action, and 2 points for two actions. Further time requirements move one step up the Time and Value Progression Table per point, although the GM should decide of such constitutes a desirable drawback (Enhanced Senses taking a minute or more aren’t particularly useful in most settings). As with all drawbacks, this one must have a point value less than the total cost of the Enhanced Senses FX. Disability: Some comic book characters with Enhanced Senses also lack one of their normal senses, such as blind characters with “radar sense” or deaf-mute characters with Mental Communication. Keep in mind that the value of the Disability drawback—like all other drawbacks—is situational and based on how much of a drawback it is for that particular character; A drawback that doesn’t inconvenience a character isn’t much of a drawback. Thus blindness is less of a drawback for a character with another accurate sense (and a radius one, at that), worth only a point or two at most for the hindrance it imposes. Noticeable: Enhanced Senses with this drawback are particularly noticeable in some way: your eyes may glow, for example, or you may emit a noticeable sound, vibration, energy, or the like for use as a sensor.

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Vulnerable: Characters with Enhanced Senses may be vulnerable to certain sensory effects, making resistance against things like Dazzle FX more difficult, for example. The default assumption is that Enhanced Senses carry no automatic vulnerability to such FX, but in realistic setting they make sense unless the character has some specific ability to “filter out” unwanted or dangerous sensory input.

•

Weakness: Likewise, Enhanced Senses may imply a weakness caused by increased sensitivity. A character with darkvision might be dazzled or blinded by bright light, for example, while a character with super-sensitive hearing could be deafened or stunned by the noise of a crowded city at rushhour. This type of Weakness could be in conjunction with a Vulnerable to Dazzle FX drawback.

•

•

Action: One (active) Duration: Sustained Cost: 1-2 points per rank

Cold: You can lower the temperature in the area. For 1 point per rank, you create intense cold; for 2 points per rank, you create extreme cold. Distraction: You can create conditions to distract anyone attempting to concentrate with an Expertise check, such as driving rain, hail, dust storms, and so forth. For 1 point per rank the distraction is DC 5, for 2 points per rank it’s DC 10, and for 3 points per rank it’s DC 15.

•

Gravity: For 2 points per rank, you can create a low-gravity or high-gravity environment. You can acquire the other effect as an Alternate FX. The attack roll penalty for low-gravity does not affect characters with a three-dimensional movement effect like Enhanced Movement (air walking, wall-crawling, etc.). The attack penalty for high-gravity does not affect characters with effective Strength scores greater than 10.

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Hamper Movement: You can hamper movement through the area with high winds, icy or wet surfaces, or similar effects. For 1 point per rank, you halve movement speed through the area; for 2 points per rank, you reduce it to one-quarter.

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Heat: You can raise the temperature in the area. For 1 point per rank, you create intense heat, for 2 points per rank; you create extreme heat.

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Light: You can raise the light level in the area, countering the concealment of darkness, but not other forms of concealment. For 1 point per rank, you can shed enough light to reduce total concealment to partial and partial concealment to none. For 2 points per rank, you can shed light as bright as a sunlit day, eliminating all concealment provided by natural darkness. Obscure effects with the darkness descriptor may be countered with a successful power check.

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Radiation: You can irradiate an area, exposing everyone to harmful levels of radiation. For 1 point per rank you can lightly irradiate. For 2 points, you can moderately irradiate an area.

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Visibility: You can reduce visibility in the affected area, imposing a –5 modifier on Perception checks. For more significant obscuring of senses (via darkness, fog, etc.) use the Obscure effect. Your Environmental Control has a 5-foot radius at rank 1. Each additional rank moves the maximum radius one step up the Progression Table (with a radius of approximately 2,000 miles at rank 20, sufficient to alter the environment of an entire continent!).

FX Feats •

Slow Fade: Environmental Control with the Fades modifier (see the following) may have this FX feat to extend the time interval before the FX fades, although the GM should carefully consider any such extensions.

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FX Feats Option: Mix-and-Match Environments For especially broad Environmental Control FX, like the power to command the weather, the GM may wish to apply the following optional rule. Rather than having a set list of FX the user can create, Environmental Control divides its cost for any given use among FX with appropriate descriptors, making it a limited sort of Variable structure. So, for example, an Environmental Control FX costing 4 points per rank can distribute those 4 points among different FX as the user sees fit. So one use it might be intense cold (1 point), a DC 10 distraction (2 points), and hamper movement to one-half speed (1 point) for a blizzard. The next use could be extreme heat (2 points) and hampering movement to one-quarter (2 points) for desert-like heat, and so forth.

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Dimensional: This FX feat allows you to extend your ESP into other dimensions with range proximate to your location in that dimension. One rank of Dimensional allows you to sense into a single other dimension, two for a group of related dimensions, and three for any dimension in the setting suitable to your ESP’s descriptors. Dimensional ESP for an accurate sense is especially useful for targeting other Dimension FX.

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Subtle: ESP already has a degree of subtlety. Applying one rank of Subtle to ESP increases the DC to notice the FX to 20 + rank or makes it noticeable only to a particular unusual sense (with the usual DC 10 + rank notice check). Two ranks of Subtle make ESP completely unnoticeable, as usual.

Extras •

No Conduit (+1): You are not affected by sensory FX targeted where you have displaced your senses, but neither can you use perception range FX via your ESP. Despite the built-in limitation, this is an extra, since it allows you to use your ESP to observe subjects in relative safety.

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Simultaneous (+1): You can use both ESP and your normal senses at the same time, perceiving two locales like “translucent” overlays of each other. This means you’re more capable of taking physical action while also using your ESP, although the FX still requires its normal duration to maintain. The GM may occasionally require a Perception skill check to sort out the layered sensory information you receive.

Extras •

Area: As Environmental Control already affects an area, it cannot have (nor does it require) this extra.

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Independent: Environmental Control can use this modifier where the FX’s area diminishes once it is established, the FX no longer under the control of the user. So, for example, a character might have Environmental Control where a change is made and then diminishes over time until it is gone or the effect is countered (by the original user or someone else).

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Selective Attack: Since hostile environments may provoke resistances or otherwise hinder targets, Environmental Control is considered an “attack” for purposes of modifiers. With this extra you can vary the environment within your affected area, affecting some while not affecting others, or even mixing and matching different environments (making part of the area cold and another hot, for example).

Flaws •

Distracting: Since it overrides your normal senses, ESP already has aspects of this flaw, so it cannot be applied. If you normally retain an accurate sense of your surroundings while using ESP (for example, your ESP pertains to hearing and doesn’t override your vision), then the Distracting flaw may be allowed with GM permission. This flaw may also be appropriate if your ESP has the Simultaneous extra (see previous).

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Feedback: With this flaw, damaging attacks directed at where you displaced your senses can affect you. Your sensory-point is considered to have partial concealment from attacks (with the usual 20% miss chance) and you use your ESP rank as your Toughness resistance bonus against any successful attack. The feedback may be psychosomatic in nature or due to some sort of disruption caused by an assault on the point where you have redirected your senses. Note that sensory FX already work on you via ESP and this flaw doesn’t apply to them.

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Medium: You require a medium for your ESP, such as shadows, flames, mirrors, open water, television screens, and so forth. You can only perceive locations where your chosen medium exists.

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Sense-Dependent: ESP is already Sense-Dependent and cannot apply this flaw. At the GM’s option another FX can have the flaw ESP-Dependent, working only through the “link” of ESP, regardless of the sense(s) involved. Since SenseDependent FX already work on ESP users displacing the FX’s targeted sense(s), the modifier is of limited use, but may apply to some unusual mental or magical FX aimed specifically at remote viewers.

ESP Type: Sensory Range: Extended Resistance: None

Action: One (active) Duration: Concentration Cost: 1-4 points per rank

You can displace one or more of your senses over a distance, perceiving as if you were at that location, up to 10 feet away. Each additional rank increases your range, as shown on the Extended Range Table. ESP overrides your normal sense(s) while you are using it. Subjects observed via ESP can sense it with a Perception check (DC 10 + rank). You can make Perception checks normally using your displaced senses. To search a large area for someone or something, use the extended search guidelines given in the description of the Perception skill. ESP costs 1 point per rank for one sense type, 2 points per rank for two sense types, 3 points per rank for three, and 4 points per rank for all of your senses. Visual senses count as two sense types (so visual ESP is 2 points per rank). You can use perception range sensory effects via ESP if your ESP applies to their sense type and an accurate sense (usually sight). Sensory FX targeted on the spot where you have displaced your senses affect you normally.

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Drawbacks •

Noticeable: ESP with this drawback has an easily noticeable display, like a glowing set of eyes or a phantom image of your face, head, or body at the location you are observing. This manifestation cannot be used for communication, however.

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Iron Stomach: You can eat anything that’s not toxic without ill effects: spoiled or unpleasant food, for example. You get a +5 bonus on Survival checks involving feeding yourself.

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Mimicry: You can imitate almost any sound you’ve heard, giving you a +10 bonus to Persuasion or Art checks to convince others your mimicked sounds are real.

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Special Effect: You have some special effect, like a gust of wind at the right dramatic moment, or ideal spotlighting, or personal theme music. The GM may give you a +2 bonus for favorable circumstances when your special effect is likely to impress people or otherwise aid you.

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Temporal Inertia: You are somehow uniquely “anchored” in the space-time continuum, making you immune to changes in history. You recall the “true” version of historical events, even if no one else does.

Associated FX •

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Concealment: At the Gamemaster’s discretion, the Concealment FX can treat ESP as a “sense” regardless of what sense(s) ESP affects. So Concealment 1 can be configured as “Concealment from ESP,” preventing someone using ESP from perceiving the user, without affecting other senses. This suits certain sorts of magical “spells to ward against scrying” or mental shields that block out the questing minds of other psychics. Likewise, the GM can allow Dazzle, Obscure, and other sensory FX to treat ESP as a single sense, allowing for FX that temporarily “blind” or block out the effect. Sensory FX that work against a particular sense also affect that sense displaced by ESP. So a Visual Dazzle, for example, can blind a Visual ESP user. Communication: ESP is the power to sense things going on in a distant location. To send information, you need the Communication FX, often associated or linked with ESP. This allows two-way interchanges between distant points, where the FX user can sense what is going on some distance away and also relay information to those present able to receive Communication.

FEATURES Type: General Range: Personal Resistance: None (see description)

Action: None (passive) Duration: Permanent (see description) Cost: 1 point per rank

You have one or more minor features or effects that grant you an occasionally useful ability worth about 1 character point. This effect is essentially a version of the Benefit feat but an FX rather than a virtue of skill, talent, or social background. For example, diplomatic immunity or wealth are Benefits; fur, the ability to mimic any sound, or a hidden compartment in your hollow leg, are Features. It’s up to the GM what capabilities qualify as Features; generally if something has no real game effect, it’s just a descriptor. If it has an actual game benefit, it may be a feature. There’s no need to define every possible feature a character may have down to the last detail.

Sample Features

Flaws •

GROWTH Type: Alteration Range: Personal Resistance: None

Environmental Adaptation: This feat may also be a Feature for some characters, depending on its descriptors and origin.

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Insulating Fur: You have a layer of fur that protects you from sunburn and cold, giving you immunity to those environments.

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Internal Compartment: You can carry a objects inside you body! You have a pouch or compartment of some sort, able to hold objects no larger than about one-fifth your own size and weighing no more than your light load.

Action: Free (active) Duration: Sustained Cost: 3 points per rank

You can increase your size, and therefore your strength and durability. Every rank of Growth activated increases your Strength by +1. Every other rank increases your Toughness by +1. The additional Strength does not improve your Athletics checks, however, since your mass also increases. Every four ranks of Growth active increase your size category by one full level. So a medium creature with Growth at 4 ranks is large, at 8 ranks is huge, at 12 ranks is gargantuan, at 16 ranks is colossal, and at 20 ranks is awesome-sized. You gain all the benefits and drawbacks of your new size category. Your base movement speed increases by 5 feet per size category you enlarge. Intermediate ranks of Growth also increase size, but not necessarily size category. See the Increased Size Table for a character’s approximate size at any given rank of Growth.

FX Feats •

Alternate FX: If you have Growth, you can acquire Shrinking as an Alternate FX feat.

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Growth Strike: You can add the momentum of increasing in size to your melee attacks, literally enlarging under an opponent’s jaw, for example. This gives you a +1 damage bonus per size category you enlarge until you reach your opponent’s size and only works on opponents at least one size category larger than you. So growing from medium to awesome size as part of an attack does +5 damage, for example.

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Innate: Your size, or ability to change size, are an innate part of your nature and cannot be countered or nullified. Innate is particularly common for permanent Growth that reflects the natural size of larger creatures.

Some examples of possible Features include the following: •

Duration: Some Features may be sustained duration rather than permanent with no change in cost. This suits active Features a character has to use and maintain rather than having them as passive traits requiring no effort whatsoever.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I TABLE 5.7: INCREASED SIZE

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Combat Modifier

Infiltration Modifier

Intimidation Modifier

Height

+0

+0

+0

+0

6 ft.

+1 +2 +3

+0 +1 +1

— — —

— — —

— — —

6 1/2 ft. 7 ft. 7 1/2 ft.

+1

+4

+2

–1

–3

+2

8 ft.

— — —

— — —

+5 +6 +7

+2 +3 +3

— — —

— — —

— — —

10 ft. 12 ft. 14 ft.

8

Huge

+2

+8

+4

–2

–6

+4

16 ft.

9 10 11

— — —

— — —

+9 +10 +11

+4 +5 +5

— — —

— — —

— — —

20 ft. 24 ft. 28 ft.

12

Gargantuan

+3

+12

+6

–4

–9

+6

32 ft.

13 14 15

— — —

— — —

+13 +14 +15

+6 +7 +7

— — —

— — —

— — —

40 ft. 48 ft. 56 ft.

16

Colossal

+4

+16

+8

–8

–12

+8

64 ft.

17 18 19 20

— — — Awesome

— — — +5

+17 +18 +19 +20

+8 +9 +9 +10

— — — –12

— — — –15

— — — +10

80 ft. 96 ft. 112 ft. 128 ft.+

Growth Rank

Size

0

Medium

+0

+0

1 2 3

— — —

— — —

4

Large

5 6 7

Might Str Tough

Macroverse: If you have Growth 20, you can enlarge past awesome size, to the point where you cross a dimensional barrier and enter a “macroverse” (which may or may not really exist at the superatomic level, where our universe exists within a single atom). Entering or leaving a macroverse is one action. In the macroverse, you lose your Growth effect, but gain Shrinking equal to your Growth rank (and when you shrink smaller than minuscule size, you leave the macroverse and return to the normal universe at awesome size, where your powers return to normal). This feat is only available if the GM determines a macroverse exists in the setting.

Extras •

Affects Others: You can grant the benefits of Growth to someone else by touch, enlarging them up to your maximum rank. As a +1 extra, both you and one other you are touching can increase in size.

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Attack: A Growth Attack increases the size of an unwilling target. While this grants the target all the benefits of increased size, it also imposes all the drawbacks; being 30 feet tall can be very inconvenient, especially if you have a secret identity to maintain!

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Weight 60-500 lbs. — — — 500-4K lbs. — — — 4K–32K lbs. — — — 32K–250K lbs. — — — 250K-2 mil lbs. — — — 2 mil lbs.+

Space

Reach

5 ft.

5 ft.

— — —

— — —

10 ft.

10 ft.

— — —

— — —

15 ft.

10 ft.

— — —

— — —

20 ft.

15 ft.

— — —

— — —

30 ft.

15 ft.

— — — 40 ft.

— — — 20 ft.

Flaws •

Action: This flaw does not apply to Growth; it is a power drawback instead (see the following section).

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Dispersal (–2): You increase in size by dispersing your bodily mass in some fashion over a larger area. You do not gain the increased weight, Strength, Toughness, or Might associated with Growth or the increased resistance to knockback (since your mass doesn’t increase), although you do gain the other effects of your increased size. This flaw is most often associated with growing characters that also become Insubstantial, turning into mist, for example, in which case Growth may be Linked to that effect, although it is not required.

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Permanent: You are permanently at the maximum size for your Growth rank. You gain all the benefits and drawbacks of your size, but cannot turn off your Growth to achieve a smaller size. Permanent Growth is often also Innate to reflect the natural size of larger creatures.

Drawbacks •

Duration: Continuous Growth allows you to remain at whatever size you set for yourself until you choose to change it or your effect is countered.

Action: Generally, requiring longer than a free action to change your size is a drawback rather than an Action flaw, simply because it doesn’t limit the use of Growth much once you’ve assumed a particular size. Taking one action to grow is a 1-point drawback and two actions is 2 points, with each additional step on the Time and Value Progression Table

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I adding 1 point to the drawback (if the GM allows a longer Action drawback). •

Full Power: A character with this drawback can only grow to maximum size permitted by Growth rank and return to normal size. You cannot “stop” at any intermediate size or size category. This may limit the benefits of Growth in enclosed spaces or other situations where attaining full size would be problematic. It should only be applied to Growth greater than 4 ranks, since anything less doesn’t result in any significant disadvantage.

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lost or destroyed organs and limbs to regenerate as well. Reversible: Note that this FX feat does not apply to Healing, since it restores subjects rather than imposing a condition from which they can recover.

Extras •

Action: This extra reduces the action required for you to use Healing, but does not affect the recovery action required of the subject. You cannot use Healing more than once per round regardless. To heal multiple subjects at once, apply the Area modifier.

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Affects Objects (+1): Your Healing can also “heal” damage to non-living subjects without a Constitution score or Immune to Fortitude effects. The recovery check is made normally, using your Healing rank as the bonus, since the subject has no Con score. If you are limited solely to repairing objects, this is a +0 modifier. If you can heal or repair as needed, it is a +1 modifier.

You can heal damage conditions by touch. With two actions, you can do any one of the following:

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Grant a character an immediate recovery check for the subject’s worst damage condition, with a bonus on the check equal to your Healing rank (instead of the target's normal bonus to Recovery). Injured conditional heal automatically with no check required.

Area: Healing with this extra grants the same benefit to all subjects in the affected area. Area Empathic Healing is an unwise combination, as the healer takes on all of the damage conditions of the affected subjects!

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Contagious: Since Healing is an instant effect that removes conditions (restoring subjects to the normal condition) rather than imposing them, it cannot be Contagious.

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Duration: Healing’s duration cannot be changed from instant. For a more long-term or “perpetual” Healing effect lower the action required for Healing or use Regeneration.

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Range: Healing with this extra can affect subjects at normal range, requiring a ranged attack roll to successfully “touch” the subject with the Healing effect. The GM may waive the required attack roll for a willing subject holding completely still (or a helpless subject unable to move), but the subject is also treated as helpless against other attacks that round, making it an unwise decision in the midst of combat. Healing with two applications of this extra is usable at perception range and does not require an attack roll to “touch” the subject.

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Remove Affliction (+1): Your Healing FX can help a subject recover from afflictions caused by the Inflict (Condition) FX. The subject you touch gains an additional check to recover from the condition, as a free action, using your ranks in Healing as the bonus to the recovery check.

•

Restoration (+1): Your Healing FX can restore character points lost to traits from effects like Drain with the appropriate descriptors, such as injury, disease, or poison. You restore 1 character point per Healing rank to the affected trait(s). If you can only restore ability points, this is a +0 modifier.

•

Resurrection (+1): You can restore life to the dead! If the subject has been dead for fewer minutes than your FX rank, the subject makes a DC 20 Con check with a bonus equal to your FX rank. If successful, the patient’s condition becomes disabled and unconscious. If the check fails, you can’t try again. If you apply the Progression feat, move the maximum amount of time a subject can be dead one step up the Time and Value Progression Table (from FX rank minutes to FX rank x 5 minutes, then FX rank x 20 minutes, FX rank hours, and so forth).

•

Selective Attack: Area Healing may have this extra, allowing you to choose who in the area does and does not gain the FX’s benefits.

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Total (+1): You can heal multiple damage conditions with one use of Healing. For every 5 points the recovery check

HEALING Type: Alteration Range: Touch Resistance: Fortitude (harmless)

•

•

Action: Two (active) Duration: Instant Cost: 2 points per rank

Grant a bonus on resistances equal to your Healing rank against FX with disease or poison descriptors (or, in most cases, the Disease or Poison extras). The bonus applies to the subject’s next check against the FX.

• Stabilize a dying character with a DC 10 Healing check. If the FX check fails, you must wait the normal recovery time for that condition or spend a hero die in order to try again. If it is successful, you can use Healing again normally. You must maintain contact with the target for the entire action required for the Healing effect to occur. The subject must take two actions to recover, like using a hero die to recover. The subject must also fail the resistance against the FX. Willing and unconscious subjects are assumed to do both automatically. You can use Healing on yourself. You can’t cure your own dazed, staggered, or unconscious conditions or stabilize yourself (since you have to be able to take two actions to use your Healing FX). Your own recover action is part of the two actions required to use Healing. If the recovery check is successful, you suffer no ill effects. If it is not, however, your condition worsens to dying. If you can use Healing as a reaction, it can cure any of your conditions and its use is not considered strenuous. Since Healing allows Fortitude resistance, it does not work on subjects Immune to Fortitude effects since they are assumed to resist, and your attempt automatically fails. It also doesn’t work on subjects with no Constitution score, since they are, by definition, not living.

FX Feats •

Stabilize: If you have this FX feat, you don’t need to make a Healing FX check to stabilize a dying character, your Healing FX does so automatically, although it still requires the normal action to use. You still cannot stabilize yourself unless your Healing is usable as a reaction.

•

Persistent: You can heal Incurable damage.

•

Regrowth: When healing a disabled condition, you cause any

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Illusion Area Your illusion occupies an area 5 feet in radius by default. To increase the size of the illusion you can create, apply the Progression FX feat).

Illusionary Effects

Flaws •

Empathic (–1): When you successfully cure someone else of a condition, you acquire the condition yourself and must recover from it normally. You can use Healing and Regeneration to cure conditions you acquire in this way. You can have the Resurrection modifier for Healing, but if you successfully use it, you die! This may not be as bad as it seems if you have Regeneration ranks applied to Resurrection, allowing you to return to life.

Illusions have no substance and cannot have any real-world effect. So illusions cannot provide illumination, nutrition, warmth, or the like (although they can provide the sensations of these things). Likewise, an illusory wall only prevents people from moving through an area so long as they believe it’s real, and an illusory bridge or floor is revealed as false as soon as someone tries to walk across it, and falls through it!

•

Faith (–1): You can only use Healing on subjects with the same allegiance as your own. This may represent a Healing FX limited to those of the same faith or beliefs, such as one bestowed by a patron deity. If your Healing works on everyone but those of an opposing allegiance, this is a 1-point FX Loss drawback (if that, depending on the GM’s judgment).

Disbelieving Illusions

•

Limited to Others (–1): You can only use Healing on others, not yourself.

•

Personal (–1): You can only use Healing on yourself and not others. Your Healing is reduced to personal range. Restorative: Healing is by nature restorative and therefore cannot apply this flaw.

• •

•

Temporary (–1): The benefits of your Healing are temporary, lasting for a short time, after which the subject’s damage returns. The Healing benefits last for one hour, then the subject regains any damage conditions you healed. These conditions stack with any others the subject acquired since the initial healing, which may result in more severe injuries or even death. If your Healing is even more temporary than an hour, apply a 1-point FX drawback for each step down the Time Table (20 minutes, 5 minutes, 1 minute, etc.) to a minimum of a full round, keeping in mind the effect must have a final cost of at least 1 character point. Tiring: The effects of this flaw are in addition to the Energizing and Empathic modifiers. So using Tiring Energizing Healing to restore fatigue is doubly fatiguing for you.

Characters encountering an illusion do not resist it or recognize it as illusory until they interact with it in some fashion. A character must make a successful Perception check (DC 10 + ranks in Illusion) against an illusion to reveal it as false. A failed check means the character fails to notice anything amiss. A character faced with clear proof an illusion isn’t real needs no check (such as falling into a pit covered by an illusory floor). Enhanced Senses with the Counters Illusion trait automatically detect illusions as well. If any viewer successfully uncovers an illusion and communicates this fact to others, they gain another Perception check with a +5 bonus. Circumstances may grant additional modifiers to the Perception check to uncover an illusion, depending on how convincing it is.

Maintaining Illusions Maintaining an active illusion (such as a fighting creature) requires concentration, but maintaining a static illusion (one that doesn’t move or interact) is only a free action, effectively a sustained duration.

FX Feats •

Progression: Each time you apply this FX feat, your Illusion’s area moves one step up the Time and Value Progression Table (10-ft. radius, 25 feet, 50 feet, and so forth). You can create a smaller illusion than your maximum area, as usual.

•

Subtle: Illusion is a Subtle effect by default, since it wouldn’t be much use otherwise. Therefore, Illusion doesn’t require—and cannot apply—this FX feat.

ILLUSION Type: Sensory Range: Perception Resistance: Perception, see text

Action: One (active) Duration: Concentration (see description) Cost: 1-4 points per rank

You can create false sensory impressions. This ranges from visual images to phantom sounds, smells, or even radar or mental images. For 1 point per rank, you can create an illusion affecting a single sense type. For 2 points per rank, you can affect two sense types. For three points per rank, you can affect three sense types. At 4 points per rank, you can affect all sense types. Visual senses count as two sense types. Your rank determines how convincing your illusion is, including the DC for the Perception check (10 + rank).

Extras •

Damaging (+3): Your Illusion is so realistic it can actually inflict psychosomatic harm on anyone fooled by it. Your illusions are capable of making attacks, which automatically hit (since your illusions are as “skilled” as you choose to imagine) and inflict damage up to your Illusion rank, or the damage normally inflicted by whatever you’re creating an illusion of, whichever is less. Anyone who successfully overcomes your illusion cannot be harmed by it and immediately recovers any damage inflicted by it. This extra is essentially the same as a Linked Damage

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I effect with perception range, so the GM may allow you to apply other modifiers directly to the Damaging extra like an independent effect. •

•

Duration (+1): Reducing Illusion’s duration affects the type of action required to maintain an active illusion. Sustained Illusion allows you to maintain an active illusion as a free action each round. Continuous Illusion allows you to create illusions that continue to exist (even interacting) until you choose to dismiss them.

Flaws •

Action: Changing the action to use Immovable can create an effect that requires some preparation: you have to “brace” yourself, at least initially. This makes Immovable somewhat less useful against surprise attacks or unexpected circumstances.

•

Duration: Immovable’s duration cannot be changed; to change the effort it requires, change its required action instead.

Selective Attack (+1): With this extra, you choose who perceives your Illusion and who doesn’t.

Flaws •

including the damage from a slam attack, allowing you to slam Immovable opponents for more damage than usual. You cannot reduce an opponent’s effective Immovable rank below 0.

Feedback (–1): Although Illusion does not have a physical “manifestation” per se, it can apply this flaw, in which case a successful damaging attack on one of your illusions causes you to suffer damage, using the guidelines given in the description of the Feedback flaw.

•

Limited to One Subject (–1): Only a single subject at a time can perceive your Illusion.

•

Phantasm (–1): Only creatures with Int 1 or more can perceive your Illusions, making them a mental sensory FX. They are undetectable to machines like cameras and microphones. This flaw is commonly combined with Selective Attack, making your phantasms detectable only to those intelligent beings you choose.

•

Range: It is left to the GM’s discretion whether or not Illusion’s range can be reduced at all, since being able to perceive the affected area is important in creating and directing the illusion. If Illusion is touch range, the character is only able to alter the appearance of subjects in physical contact. In order to solely alter your own appearance, see the Morph FX, possibly with the Phantasm flaw.

•

Sense-Dependent: Illusion is already sense-dependent and so cannot have this flaw.

IMMUNITY Type: Defense Range: Personal Resistance: None

Action: None (passive) Duration: Permanent Cost: 1 point per rank

You are immune to certain effects, automatically succeeding on any resistance or check against them. You assign ranks of Immunity to various effects to gain immunity to them (with more extensive effects requiring more ranks). These assignments are permanent:

IMMOVABLE Type: Defense Range: Personal Resistance: None

Action: Reaction (passive) Duration: Permanent Cost: 1 point per rank

You’re especially resistant to being moved by attacks. You gain a +2 bonus per rank to Might against all attempts to Gain Combat Advantage over you by pushing you, tripping you, throwing you, or otherwise moving you. You also reduce the distance you are knocked back by an attack, reducing the damage modifier of an attack by your immovable rank for the purposes of calculating knockback. To gain the benefits of this effect, you cannot move more than your normal speed in a round. If you move at accelerated speed (two actions), your Immovable rank is halved. If you move all out, you lose the benefit of Immovable for the round.

Extras •

Unstoppable (+1): Your speed has no effect on your immovability; you can move all out while retaining your full effect rank. You also subtract your Immovable rank from an opponent’s Immovable rank before determining its effect,

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I 1 rank: aging, disease, poison, one environmental condition (cold, heat, high pressure, radiation, or vacuum), one type of suffocation (breathe normally underwater or in an alien atmosphere, for example), starvation and thirst, need for sleep, or a rare FX descriptor (such as your own FX, a close sibling’s FX, etc.). • 2 ranks: critical hits, suffocation effects (no need to breathe at all), or an uncommon FX descriptor (such as chemical, gravitic, necromantic, etc.). • 5 ranks: alteration effects, dazzle effects, emotion effects, entrapment (grappling, snares, or bonds), fatigue effects, interaction skills, trait effects, or a particular Damage descriptor (such as bullets, cold, electricity, falling, fire, magic, radiation, sonic, etc.) • 9 ranks: life support (includes immunity to disease, poison, all environmental conditions, and suffocation) • 10 ranks: a common FX descriptor (such as all effects with cold, electricity, fire, radiation, or weather descriptors, for example). • 20 ranks: a very common power descriptor. • 30 ranks: Any effect targeting a particular resistance— Fortitude or Will—regardless of descriptors. • 40 ranks: All physical damage, all energy damage. So for example at Immunity 11, you could have life support (9 ranks) plus Immunity to critical hits (2 more ranks), or life support plus Immunity to aging (1 rank) and a rare power descriptor (1 rank), or any other combination adding up to 11 ranks.

protective abilities requiring a modicum of concentration. It is a net +0 modifier from Immunity’s base permanent duration.

•

Degrees of Immunity Some Immunity FX are a matter of degree. For example, “immunity to cold” can range from the environmental effects of cold to cold damage, to complete immunity to all effects with the “cold” descriptor. The first requires only 1 rank, and provides no resistance to other sorts of cold effects. The second requires 5 ranks and only provides immunity to cold Damage effects (even those with resisted by resistances other than Toughness). The third requires 10 ranks and provides complete immunity to all effects with the “cold” descriptor—whether Damage, Inflict (Condition), Drain, or what have you.

FX Feats •

Selective: This feat gives you the ability to “lower” your Immunity and allow harmless effects you’d normally resist automatically to work on you. If you have the Affects Others and Area modifiers, you can use this feat to choose who benefits from your Immunity and who does not.

Extras •

Affects Others (+1): This extra allows you to grant the benefits of your Immunity to others by touch. It’s most commonly used with life support, such as for projected force fields or constructs able to maintain a safe environment.

•

Area: This extra is most commonly used in conjunction with Affects Others, allowing you to spread your Immunity among those in the affected area. For example, Area Immunity 9 (life support) Affects Others, provides normal life support in a 45foot radius around you.

•

•

Range: Immunity that Affects Others may have this extra, allowing it to grant its benefits at normal or perception range.

Flaws •

Limited (–1): You suffer half the normal effect rather than being entirely immune to it. For environmental effects, you only make checks half as often. For other effects, halve the effect’s rank before the roll is made to overcome your resistance. Alternately, if your immunity is to an effect causing lethal damage, it can cause non-lethal damage instead.

INFLICT (CONDITION) Type: Attack Action: One (active) Range: Touch Duration: Instant (lasting) Resistance: See Below (staged) Cost: 1 point per rank You can inflict a harmful condition on a target. Choose one of the following types of affliction, and which resistance your opponent uses to resist (Fortitude or Will; if Defense resists, see "Flaws" below). You cannot change the condition you inflict once you select this FX: All Attacks. Any one Resistance (Defense, Fortitude, Toughness, Will). All Non-Combat, Non-Resistance Skill checks. Any one Ability Score (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma). • All forms of Movement. • One allowed action each round. On a successful attack with this FX, you inflict a -2 penalty to all checks involving that attribute. If you selected Movement as one of the attributes targeted, the target moves at half of his normal speed. If you selected Action as one of the attributes targeted, the target loses one action each round. If you exceed your target's resistance by 5 or more, you inflict a -5 penalty to all checks involving the affected attributes. If you selected Movement as one of the attributes targeted, the target is completely immobilized and cannot move from that spot (though he can still defend himself normally). If you selected Action as one of the attributes targeted, the target loses both of his actions each round. If you exceed your target's resistance by 10 or more, the target is rendered helpless. This may be because the target is held completely still, or has fallen on the ground screaming in terror, or is simply unconscious now. The target gets a check each round to recover from a condition with the same resistance skill used to resist the initial FX, with a +1 bonus per previous check. The DC to recover is equal to 10 + your ranks in Inflict (Condition). For suggestions as to how you can use this FX to create different, distinct conditions, see conditions for inspiration. • • • •

FX Feats •

Duration: Sustained duration Immunity may be suitable for certain types of powers, particularly force fields or similar

Progression: If your Inflict Condition FX has a duration of Continuous, each rank of this FX feat which you take increases the duration of the FX by one step on the Time and Value Progression Table.

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Reversible: You can reverse the effect of your Inflict Condition FX at will, removing any conditions caused by it.

•

Sedation: Once you have rendered someone unconscious, you can keep them unconscious.

(see the Array structure in this chapter). You can switch between normal and Insubstantial form at will as a free action once per round. •

Rank 1: You become fluid. You can flow through any sort of opening, under (or around) doors, through keyholes and pipes, and so forth. You cannot pass through watertight seals. You can automatically flow out of any restraint—such as a snare or grapple—that is not watertight. You automatically succeed on Acrobatics checks to escape from bonds or tight spaces. So you cannot flow out of a bubble completely enclosing you, for example, but anything less cannot hold you. You can exert your normal Strength and can still carry objects, although your manual dexterity may be limited (at the GM’s discretion). A fluid character may attempt to catch a falling person or object, cushioning the fall with the character’s flexible form. This requires one action, and reduces the falling damage by the cushioning character’s Toughness bonus (representing flexibility in this case). Both characters suffer any remaining damage. Higher rank insubstantial forms—lacking physical Strength—cannot attempt this.

•

Rank 2: You become a cloud of gas or fine particles. You have no effective Strength in gaseous form, but you are immune to physical damage. Energy and area attacks still affect you normally. You can flow through any opening that is not airtight. You can use your various other effects normally.

•

Rank 3: You become coherent energy. You have no effective Strength, but you are immune to physical damage. Energy attacks (other than the energy making up your form) damage you normally. You can pass through solid objects permeable to your type of energy, but energy resistant barriers, like heavy shielding or force fields, block your movement.

Extras •

•

•

Additional Affliction (+1): Each time you select this extra, your Inflict (Condition) FX targets one additional Attribute. The resistance does not change. Duration: A target cannot make recovery checks to recover from a Concentration duration FX until you allow your concentration to lapse (by failing to take an action to maintain the FX). If your FX is sustained duration, you can deny the target a recovery check indefinitely so long as you're able to take a free action. If your FX is Continuous in duration, then the target is unable to make a recovery check ever unless you allow it!

Gain Combat Advantage (+1): If your game uses the Combat Advantage option, your Inflict FX allows you to gain combat advantage over your foe. If you overcome your target's resistance, in addition to the normal penalties your FX inflicts, he is off-balance. If you overcome your target's resistance by 5 or more, he is vulnerable. If you overcome your target's resistance by 10 or more, he is flat-footed.

•

Sleep: This +0 modifier leaves targets rendered unconscious by your FX in a deep sleep instead, well suited for "sleep enchantments" or certain psychic FX.

•

Wracking (+1): Your affliction is especially painful or harmful. Each round beyond the first that the victim fails to recover, your affliction deals half of its ranks in damage (rounded down). This could represent a burning, agonizing poison or a snare that constricts and tightens around the target.

Flaws •

Defense Resists (-1): Your Inflict (Condition) FX is resisted with a Defense Resistance instead of a Fortitude or Will Resistance.

•

Instantaneous (-1): Your Inflict (Condition) FX is not a lasting condition, and the target automatically recovers after one turn (suffering the effects for only a single round).

•

Minimal (–1): Your Inflict (Condition) FX cannot inflict more than the minimal result.

•

Permanent: Permanent is not an appropriate flaw for Inflict (Condition). For conditions which can linger for an extended period of time, use the Progression FX feat.

INSUBSTANTIAL Type: Alteration Range: Personal Resistance: None

Action: Free (active) Duration: Sustained Cost: 5 points per rank

You can assume a less solid form, with each Insubstantial rank becoming progressively less solid. You do not gain the ability to assume lower-ranked Insubstantial forms, but you can acquire a lower-ranked form as an Alternate Power of a higher-ranked one

Rank 4: You become incorporeal. You can pass through solid matter at your normal speed and you are unaffected by physical and energy attacks. Sensory effects still work on you, as do effects with the Affects Insubstantial FX feat. Choose one other reasonably common effect that works on you while you are incorporeal. You have no Strength and cannot affect the physical world with other effects unless you apply the Affects Corporeal modifier. Your sensory effects work normally. Unless you have Immunity to suffocation, you must hold your breath while passing through a solid object, and you can suffocate normally. If you revert to solid form while inside a solid object for any reason, you suffer Fortitude-based lethal damage equal to the object’s Toughness. If you are not knocked unconscious by the damage, you’re immediately ejected from the object into the nearest open space. If you are knocked unconscious, you’re trapped inside the object and your condition worsens to dying on the following round. •

FX Feats •

Innate: Use this feat if your character's form is naturally or innately Insubstantial, particularly if the FX is permanent in duration.

•

Selective: This feat allows you to selectively make some portions of your body insubstantial while keeping others substantial (or vice versa). This allows you to do things like reach through a wall, solidify your hand to pick up an object or tap someone on the shoulder (or punch them in the face), and become incorporeal again to withdraw it on the following round.

•

Subtle: This feat makes your Insubstantial nature less noticeable to observers. One rank requires a Perception check (DC 20) to detect that you are Insubstantial, while two ranks

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I mean you look entirely normal in Insubstantial form (which may cause opponents to waste effort on you, not knowing that you’re immune to their attacks, for example).

•

Dispersal: Liquid and gaseous forms might have Growth with the Dispersal flaw.

•

Disruption Attack: A common book trick of incorporeal characters is the ability to pass an incorporeal hand or limb through a target and partially solidify, creating a painful molecular disruption. This is an Affects Corporeal Penetrating Damage FX. It costs 3 power points per rank.

•

Drain: Some insubstantial forms have an Affects Corporeal Drain attack, like the life-draining touch of a ghost or toxin carried in a liquid or gaseous form.

•

Enhanced Movement: Gaseous, energy, and incorporeal forms are often lighter than air, allowing the character to move three-dimensionally. Flight effects associated with gaseous forms tend to be slow (low-ranked). Incorporeal forms may slowly float or fly at great speed.

•

Immunity: An insubstantial form may grant Immunity to certain effects or conditions. In particular, life support is a common effect of an insubstantial (and essentially non-human) form.

•

Nullify Electronics: The passage of some incorporeal or energy forms disrupts electronics. This is an Affects Corporeal Nullify Electronics FX with the Touch range flaw.

Extras •

•

•

•

•

•

Action: Becoming Insubstantial is normally a free action, meaning you can’t switch to an Insubstantial form when surprised, beaten on initiative, or otherwise unable to take action. At the GM’s option, applying the Action extra to use Insubstantial as a reaction allows you to switch forms “reflexively” in response to such hazards, even if it is not your turn, so long as you are still capable of taking action. Affects Corporeal: This extra is required for any FX that works on corporeal targets while you are insubstantial at rank 2 or greater. Affects Others: This modifier allows you to extend your Insubstantial FX to another character by touch, taking them Insubstantial with you. If you ever withdraw the FX while someone is inside a solid object, see the FX’s description for the unpleasant results. Attack: Applied to Insubstantial, this extra makes it into a touch range FX able to turn targets Insubstantial. This is most effective for ranks 2 through 4, since the victim loses some or all ability to interact with the physical world. You need to grab a target in order to drag them inside a solid object unless the target is already helpless. Duration: Extending the FX’s duration to continuous allows you to remain Insubstantial until you choose to return to your corporeal form. Progressive (+0): You can assume lower ranked forms of Insubstantial, but you must progress through them in order to reach higher-ranked ones. For example if you have Progressive Insubstantial 3, you can assume fluid, gaseous, or energy forms, but to assume energy form, you must first progress through fluid and gaseous, becoming less and less substantial. Since you can only activate the FX once per round, it takes you three rounds of activating your FX to achieve.

Flaws •

•

No Effective Strength (–1): This flaw applies only to rank 1 Insubstantial and removes your effective Strength while in that form, leaving you with limited ability to affect the physical world like the higher ranks of the effect. Permanent (–1): This flaw locks you in your insubstantial form; you cannot assume solid form. At the GM’s discretion, you can apply a +1 extra allowing you to revert to solid form as a free action and a sustained duration. If you’re unable to take the free action required, you automatically revert to your insubstantial form.

Associated FX The following Insubstantial. •

are

some

FX

commonly

associated

LUCK CONTROL Type: General Range: Perception Resistance: None

You can use Hero Dice to affect others in various ways. For each rank you have in the FX, choose one of the following capabilities: • •

You can spend a hero die on another character’s behalf, with the normal benefits. You can bestow your hero dice on others. You can grant only one hero die to any given character in a round, but the recipient may use the bestowed hero die normally.

•

You can spend one of your hero dice to negate someone else’s use of a hero die or a use of Gamemaster fiat. This also eliminates the setback of the fiat, so no hero dice are awarded for it.

•

You can spend a hero die to force someone else to re-roll a die roll and take the worse of the two rolls. The target of this last effect may spend a hero die to avoid having to re-roll. GM fiat may do the same (earning you a hero die).

•

You gain an additional hero die at the start of each game. These are not hero dice which are tied to a given ability, such as with the Capable feat, but are instead free to be used for any purpose. You may take this option multiple times, but the maximum number of bonus hero dice you can gain from this option is equal to half the campaign's power level.

Extras •

Area: Your Luck Control FX works equally on all targets in the affected area. You spend only one hero die, although the subjects are each affected individually. You must apply the same FX to all subjects at once.

•

Duration: Luck Control’s duration cannot be changed from instant, since none of its effects last more than an instant regardless.

•

Selective Attack: This extra, applied to Area Luck Control,

with

Damage Aura: An energy form may have a Damage Aura effect with the appropriate descriptor: electricity, fire, radiation, and so forth. A liquid or gaseous form might also be corrosive or poisonous, giving it a Damage Aura or another FX (like Drain) with the Aura modifier.

Action: Reaction (passive) Duration: Instant Cost: 3 points per rank

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Multiple Thralls

allows you to choose who in the area of affect is or is not affected by it.

Flaws •

Action: If the action required for Luck Control is increased beyond a reaction, it is only usable during your turn each round, which limits its usefulness in responding to the actions of others.

•

Range: Luck Control normally requires no attack roll; if reduced below perception range, it does, either ranged or a melee attack for touch range Luck Control.

•

Resistance (–1): Targets of your Luck Control get a resistance —usually Will—to avoid its effects. The Progression feat can increase the effect modifier by +1 per rank.

•

Side Effect: As a particular side effect of Luck Control, if your effort to alter luck fails, you suffer a setback without earning a hero die. Effectively the GM gains a “free” use of GM Fiat against you.

Range: Perception Resistance: Will

Noticing Mind Control As a mental FX Mind Control has a degree of subtlety; noticing that someone is under its influence requires a Perception check (DC 10 + Mind Control rank).

FX Feats •

MIND CONTROL Type: Sensory (mental)

You can establish control over as many thralls as the action and duration of your Mind Control allow. At the default of one action and concentration, this is only one thrall (or two if you choose not to move). If your Mind Control is sustained, you can establish control over one thrall, then attempt to control another on the following round, and so forth. The GM may set a limit on the number of thralls you can control at once (just like the limit on the number of free actions you can perform during a round).

Action: One (active) Duration: Concentration (lasting) Cost: 2 points per rank

•

You can control another character’s mind, and therefore actions. To use Mind Control, make an FX check against the target’s Will resistance. If you succeed, you control the actions of the subject, or "thrall", as long as you maintain the FX. If you fail, there is no effect. You can try again, but the target gets a cumulative +1 bonus to Will resistance against Mind Control for each successive attempt in the same encounter. The thrall's consciousness is largely suppressed while controlled, meaning the subject cannot say or do anything without direction, and has no memory of being controlled when the effect ends.

Extras •

Area: You can control everyone in the affected area: make a single Mind Control check, opposed by the Will resistances of all potential targets. Compare the results individually against each Will resistance to determine the effect. In the case of minions or large groups of relatively undifferentiated subjects (random crowds, etc.) the GM may choose to make a single Will resistance for the entire group and compare it against your Mind Control check result. Issuing commands to a group of thralls still takes a one action per command, so it’s easier to give a group of thralls the same command (“attack!”) than it is to issue specific commands to each one.

•

Conscious (+1): Your thralls are conscious and aware, but completely obedient, effectively fanatically loyal. This means the subject can be commanded to relate knowledge or use skills based on mental abilities. Thralls are aware of being controlled once the Mind Control ends, unless the effect is Subtle, in which case subjects have no explanation for their unusual behavior or simply no memory of it (your choice when you end the control).

•

Effortless (+1): Additional Mind Control attempts against the same subject in the same scene or encounter do not require extra effort for you; you can try again as often as you like.

•

Instant Command (+1): You can issue commands to your thralls as a free action. You must have the Mental Link feat to apply this extra, since verbal commands cannot be issued this quickly.

•

Sensory Link (+1): You can perceive everything one of your thralls does, like an ESP FX. Your own senses are inactive while using your sensory link and you can only perceive through the senses of one thrall at a time.

Issuing Commands Issuing a command is one action—separate from the action needed to establish control (so doing both takes up a full round). If the thrall has no means of understanding you, you can only issue simple commands that can be conveyed with gestures (like “come here” or “stop”). Roll a new opposed check of Mind Control vs. Will resistance for each interval on the Time and Value Progression Table that passes, starting at one minute, with the thrall getting a cumulative +1 bonus per check. A thrall can also use a hero die at any time to gain a new opposed check to try and break free. Thralls commanded to carry out an action strongly against their nature get a new opposed check immediately, with a +1 to +5 bonus on top of the cumulative bonus, depending on the type of command. Success breaks your control. These opposed checks do not require additional effort from you. Obviously self-destructive commands are automatically ignored, but do not break your control. Potentially self-destructive commands, however, are not, although they may entail a new opposed check. So, for example, you cannot simply command a thrall to walk off a cliff, but you could walk him into a deathtrap or other potentially (but not obviously) dangerous situation.

Mental Link: You can give commands to your thralls mentally over any distance (with no need to speak). Issuing a command is still one action, however. Subtle: Mind Control already has a degree of subtlety: only targets of the effect and those with the appropriate sense (such as Mental Awareness) detect its use. A rank of Subtle makes it a DC 20 Perception check for either to detect a use of Mind Control, while two ranks make the effect completely undetectable.

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Flaws •

Distracting: Mind Control may well be distracting for the user, imposing this flaw while you are controlling one or more thralls.

•

Limited to One Command (–1): You can give targets only one command, like “sing and dance” or “live out your repressed desires.” This command is chosen when you acquire the FX and can’t be changed.

•

Sense-Dependent: Your Mind Control works through a target’s senses to reach the mind. Examples include eye contact (Sight-Dependent), hypnotic music (Hearing-Dependent), and pheromones (Scent-Dependent), etc.

Drawbacks •

two actions and roll your Mind Reading against the target's Will resistance. If you win, you can essentially ask any one question and receive the answer from the target’s mind. If the target doesn’t know the answer, then you know that. Especially personal or guarded information grants the target a +1 to +5 bonus on the Will resistance, while information the subject doesn’t consciously know (subconscious or forgotten due to amnesia, for example) grants a +5 to +10 bonus on the Will resistance and the target can’t choose to forego the resistance. You can continue to ask questions, one per round, for as long as you maintain your mind probe, requiring two actions each round. The target gets an additional opposed Will check to break free for each interval that passes on the Time and Value Progression Table, with a cumulative +1 bonus per check. If you fail your FX check, you cannot probe the target’s mind. You can try again the following round, but the renewed attempt grants the target a cumulative +1 bonus on his Will resistance per attempt.

Noticeable: The FX of your Mind Control are noticeable by means other than Awareness and Perception: perhaps your thralls’ eyes glow, their skin changes color, or an unusual scent like flowers or brimstone hangs in the air around them.

FX Feats •

Associated FX •

Mental Transform: For long-term mental conditioning or brainwashing, see the Transform FX, particularly the mental version of it.

•

Mind Reading: The ability to control minds often goes with the ability to read minds and vice versa.

Subtle: As a mental sensory effect, Mind Reading has a degree of subtlety, only noticeable to the subject or to characters with an appropriate enhanced sense, such as Mental Awareness. Subtle Mind Reading is less detectable, requiring a DC 20 Perception check for either type of character to sense it, while two ranks of the Subtle FX feat makes Mind Reading completely undetectable.

MIND READING Type: Sensory (mental)

Action: One/Two (active) Duration: Concentration Range: Perception (lasting) Resistance: Will Cost: 1 point per rank You can read another character’s thoughts. To use Mind Reading, make an FX check against the target’s Will resistance. If successful, you can read the target’s surface thoughts (meaning whatever the target is presently thinking). Mind Reading transcends language; you comprehend the target’s thoughts whether or not you share a common language. The target gets a Will check (DC 10 + Mind Reading rank) for each interval that passes on the Time and Value Progression Table, with a cumulative +1 bonus per check. If you fail your attempt, you cannot read the target’s thoughts. You can try again the following round, but the renewed attempt grants the target a cumulative +1 bonus on the Will checks per attempt in that encounter.

Bluff and Mind Reading If you can interact with your subject, a successful Persuasion check against the target’s Perception check result causes the subject to think about a particular piece of information you’re looking for, such as a password or name, allowing you to pluck it from the subject’s surface thoughts.

Mind Probe You can also mentally probe a target’s mind for information. Take

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Extras •

Action: Applying this extra to Mind Reading lowers the action required for both reading surface thoughts and mental probes, so a +1 Action extra moves those actions down to free and one, respectively.

•

Area: With this extra, you can read the surface thoughts of anyone within the affected area; make a single Mind Reading FX check and compare the result to the Will resistances of all potential subjects in the area. Retries and further opposed FX checks are the same as for reading a single subject. You can only use the mind probe aspect of Mind Reading on a single subject at a time; the Area modifier does not apply to it.

•

Sensory Link (+1): You can “tap into” the senses of your subjects, perceiving what they perceive while reading their minds like an ESP FX. Your own senses are inactive while you are using your sensory link and you can only perceive through the senses of one subject at a time.

You can alter your appearance to that of other creatures or even objects of the same mass. Your traits do not change; your new form is merely a cosmetic change. You gain a +5 bonus to Art checks to disguise yourself per rank when using Morph to assume a different form. For 1 point per rank you can assume a single other appearance. For 2 points per rank you can assume any form from a broad group like humanoids, animals, machines, and so forth. For 3 points per rank you can assume any form of the same mass. For the ability to change size as well as appearance see the Growth and Shrinking FX. To take on the other traits of forms you assume, see the Metamorph FX feat in the following section.

FX Feats •

Flaws •

Feedback: You suffer Feedback if a subject you are reading is harmed, using your Mind Reading rank as the resistance bonus against the non-lethal damage. Additionally, you may suffer Feedback at the GM’s discretion from reading or experiencing particularly traumatic or emotionally-charged thoughts of memories from the subject (a kind of Side Effect flaw).

•

Limited by Language (–1): You can only understand the subject’s thoughts or memories if you share a common language.

•

Limited to Emotions (–1): You can only read or probe for emotions and emotional associations, not coherent surface thoughts or memories.

•

Limited to Mind Probe (–1): You can only perform mind probes (taking the usual two actions) and cannot read surface thoughts.

•

Limited to Sensory Link (–1): If you have the Sensory Link extra and this flaw, you can only tap into a subject’s senses, you cannot read their thoughts or probe their memories.

•

Limited to Surface Thoughts (–1): You can only read surface thoughts and cannot probe for information.

•

Range: Ranged Mind Reading FX require a ranged attack roll in addition to the effect’s normal resistance. Mind Reading limited to touch range requires a melee attack roll against an unwilling target and physical contact throughout the FX’s duration; breaking contact ends the FX.

•

Sense-Dependent: Your Mind Reading is dependent on a sense other than just having to accurately sense the target, such as needing to see his expressions (Sight-Dependent), hear him speak (Hearing-Dependent), smell his changes in biochemistry (Scent-Dependent), and so forth. Alternately, it may be dependent on being in Mental Communication with the target (see Communication).

MORPH Type: Alteration Range: Personal Resistance: None

Metamorph: Morph only changes your appearance; you have all the traits of your normal form. This feat allows you to have an alternate set of traits, essentially a complete alternate character you change into. You can switch between sets of traits at will, once per round, as a free action. Your other form(s) must have the same point total as you and are subject to the same power level limits. They must also have traits suitable to your Morph FX. For example, if you can only Morph into humanoid forms, then your alternate forms have to be humanoid. All of your forms must have your Morph FX and Metamorph feat(s). The GM may require certain additional common traits for all of your forms. Each additional rank of this feat gives you another set of traits you can change into. Metamorph is best suited to characters with a defined list of alternate traits. For a character able to transform into numerous forms with various traits, see the Variable structure.

Extras •

Attack: A Morph Attack imposes a different appearance on the target creature. Unlike a Transform FX, a Morph Attack is entirely cosmetic: you can’t change the target’s actual traits.

Flaws •

Phantasm (–1): Your Morph FX is a mental illusion; only intelligent (Int 1+) creatures perceive it. It cannot fool machines like cameras or non-intelligent robots.

•

Resistance (–1): Observers who have reason to believe your assumed form is not real can make a Will check to penetrate your disguise (DC 10 + Morph rank). A successful check reveals your assumed form as false, and anyone who communicates that information to others gives them a +5 bonus on their Will check or Perception check.

Associated FX •

Polymorph: For a “polymorph,” able to assume a wide range of forms with different traits (poly = many, morph = shape) see the Variable structure in this chapter.

MOVE OBJECT Action: Free (active) Duration: Sustained Cost: 1-3 points per rank

Type: General Range: Ranged Resistance: None

Action: One (active) Duration: Sustained Cost: 2 points per rank

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I You can move objects at a distance without touching them. Move Object has no action/reaction; a moving object cannot drag the character “holding on” to it, for example. This effect is also not considered “physical contact” or “touch” for effects requiring it. Your effective Might for lifting and moving objects with this FX is equal to your FX rank. By taking two actions and concentrating you can increase this to two times your FX rank for as long as you concentrate, taking one action each round to do so. This FX can move objects, but cannot perform tasks of fine manipulation (like untying knots, typing, or manipulating controls) without the Precise FX feat. Objects equaling a heavy load or more move at a rate of 5 feet per round. Lighter objects move a distance each round like they were thrown with your effective Strength. Objects thrown as attacks base their damage off your FX rank as if it were your Strength bonus. Move Object cannot inflict damage directly; you can’t “punch” or “crush” objects with it. You can use it to make disarm and trip attacks to Gain Combat Advantage. Using Move Object to “grab” a creature is an attack similar to a grapple with a Might bonus equal to your FX rank. The target cannot grapple you and you cannot inflict damage, only pin and hold the target immobile. You can move a pinned target like you would any other object, so long as the target remains pinned. Using Move Object to grapple requires one action. You can throw a pinned target as one action.

FX Feats •

Subtle: Note that Move Object is not Subtle by default (as some forms of telekinesis or psychokinesis are). The standard version of this FX involves some noticeable manifestation like a “tractor beam,” a glow around your head or hands (along with a corresponding glow around the affected object), big glowing hands, blazing “energy talons,” or the like. Apply the Subtle feat for a less noticeable Move Object FX.

Extras •

•

•

concentration. Move Object with an instant duration is only useful for throwing objects with a single burst of force, not holding or moving them. •

Limited Direction (–1): You can only move objects in a particular direction or path, such as only up and down (towards and away from the ground), only directly towards or away from you (attraction and repulsion), and so forth.

•

Limited Material (–1): You can only move a particular type of object or material, such as only metals, water, rock, plants, and so forth. The GM may allow a –2 flaw for a particularly limited type of material (such as only precious metals or sand).

•

Range: Since the Move Object FX works on things at a distance by definition, it cannot generally be reduced to touch range. At the GM’s discretion, a touch range Move Object FX may represent “tactile telekinesis” or a supernatural influence over objects you are able to touch, but such things are usually better represented by the Enhanced Strength FX and the Might skill.

NULLIFY Type: Trait Range: Ranged Resistance: Will

Nullify can counter particular FX, or perhaps even any FX . You can’t nullify innate FX. Make a ranged attack roll to hit the target. If you overcome the target's Will resistance or the FX’s rank +10 (whichever is higher), you successfully nullify the FX. If you are targeting the subject of an effect rather than the effect’s user, make your check against the FX's rank + 10, not the user's Will. If you win, the targeted FX turns off, although the user can re-activate it normally. If you fail, you do not Nullify the FX and trying again against the same subject increases the target's resistance by +1 per attempt. The cost per rank determines what you can counter: •

Damaging (+1): Your Move Object FX can inflict damage, like an application of normal Strength with a Strength bonus equal to its rank (not its lifting Strength of rank x 5). This includes damaging targets in grapples and making ranged “strike” attacks. Duration: Move Object generally cannot have a continuous duration, since it is an active FX and requires at least a modicum of attention to maintain. The GM may allow Continuous Move Object as a variation that is not disrupted when you are stunned, but that still requires your conscious attention (still an active FX). There’s no change in the cost of the Duration extra, this is just a limitation of the Move Object FX. Range: Perception range Move Object can affect any object you can accurately perceive, with no need for an attack roll.

Flaws •

Distracting: Move Object may require sufficient focus that you are distracted from other things, imposing this modifier. This makes the FX less useful in combat situations.

•

Duration: Concentration duration Move Object requires more of your attention to maintain. You cannot concentrate to double your lifting capacity with Move Object that requires

Action: One (active) Duration: Instant Cost: 1-3 points per rank

•

•

1 point: Counter any one FX of a particular descriptor at a time (fire FX, magical FX, mental FX, etc.) or a single FX of any descriptor (Mind Control, Snare, Teleport, etc.). Choose the affected descriptor or FX when you acquire the FX. 2 points: Counter all FX of a particular descriptor (such as fire or magic) or type (like attack or sensory FX) at once. Choose the affected descriptor or type when you acquire the FX. 3 points: Counter all FX at once. This level of Nullify is available only with the Gamemaster’s permission and may depend on the nature of FX in the setting.

FX Feats •

Affects Insubstantial: Nullify does not require this FX feat to affect insubstantial targets, or the Insubstantial FX itself. You can attempt to nullify the FX of insubstantial targets normally.

•

Selective: If you can Nullify multiple FX at once, this FX feat allows you to choose which are nullified and which are not.

Extras •

Alternate Resistance: Nullify may require a Fortitude rather than a Will resistance to represent an effect resisted by the subject’s physical fortitude rather than strength of will.

•

Area: An Area Nullify effect works on all targets in the area.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I Make a single FX check and compare the result against the opposed FX checks or Will resistances of the targets. Targets lacking any FX you can nullify are, naturally, unaffected. •

•

• •

Duration: If Nullify’s duration is increased above instant, any countered FX is suppressed and cannot be re-activated until the duration expires. The user of the countered FX may spend a hero die to gain a Will check to recover use of the ability. If successful, the FX can be re-activated. Effortless (+1): Trying again does not grant your opponent a bonus to subsequent attempts. You can retry a Nullify attempt an unlimited number of times. No Resistance: You automatically Nullify FX with a rank equal to or less than your Nullify rank with no opposed check. Nullifying Field (+0): Rather than targeting a specific individual, you can Nullify FX in a radius of (rank x 5) feet around you as one action. This is a combination of the Touch range (–1) and Burst Area (+1) modifiers. Some characters have a Nullifying Field as an Alternate FX of Nullify. Some Nullifying Fields also have the Duration extra.

•

Randomize (+0): Rather than being countered, the effect(s) targeted by your Nullify acquire the Uncontrolled flaw and go out of control (as dictated by the GM).

•

Selective Attack: If you have an Area Nullify effect, this extra allows you to choose who in the area is and is not affected by it, nullifying some targets and not others.

Obscure Examples •

Visual: darkness, fog, smoke, blinding light, clouds of small particles (dust, sand, insects).

•

Auditory: counter vibration, sound-dampening field, ultra “white noise,” ultrasonics.

•

Olfactory: chemical neutralizer, odor-absorbing overpowering (but not nauseating) smell.

•

Mental: mental “null field,” psionic static, ward against scrying.

•

Sensory FX: scrying ward vs. ESP, detect, or another specific sensory FX.

FX Feats •

Affects Insubstantial: As a sensory FX, Obscure already affects insubstantial subjects with no need for this FX feat.

•

Subtle: Obscure by definition cannot be Subtle for those subject to its FX; they’re automatically aware of the obscuring of their affected sense(s). However, Obscure may be Subtle for those outside its FX, such as a Visual Obscure effect that leaves everyone in the area blind, but makes it appear to anyone outside the area that there’s simply “nothing there,” obscuring the true area and its contents, but not obviously so. The GM should adjudicate any applications of Subtle to Obscure FX.

Flaws •

Extras

Side Effect: If you fail to nullify an FX, you might suffer some kind of “backlash” or similar side effect.

OBSCURE Type: Sensory Range: Ranged Resistance: None

•

Duration: Continuous Obscure FX remain in place until they are countered in some fashion.

•

Independent: The Obscure effect requires no maintenance from you, but fades by 1 character point of effectiveness per round until it is gone. You cannot turn off an Independent Obscure effect yourself unless you have the Reversible FX feat.

•

Selective Attack: You can choose who is and is not affected by your Obscure FX. Those unaffected perceive normally, as if the Obscure were not in FX.

Action: One (active) Duration: Sustained Cost: 1-4 points per rank

You can create total concealment in an area. Obscure costs 1 point per rank if it affects one sense type, 2 points per rank if it affects two sense types, 3 points per rank if it affects three sense types, and 4 points per rank if it affects all sense types. Visual senses count as two sense types, so a 3-points per rank Obscure FX could affect visual and one other sense type, for example. An Obscure FX can be centered on you or created at a distance as one action. It does not move once created, although you can reposition an existing Obscure FX as one action. Characters suffer the effects of total concealment when unable to perceive an opponent and may suffer other hindrances as the GM sees fit. Your Obscure covers an area 5 feet in radius at rank 1. Each additional rank moves the radius one step up the Time and Value Progression Table.

Obscuring Sensory FX At the Gamemaster's discretion, you can have an Obscure that works against a particular sensory FX, such as ESP or Mind Reading, suitable for certain psionic or magical abilities that block out those FX. You can't have a general "Obscure enhanced senses" FX, since various Enhanced Senses are assigned to particular sense types.

mist,

Flaws •

Limited to One Sense (–1): Obscure normally works against an entire sense type, Obscure with this flaw works only against a particular sense of that type, leaving the others unaffected. This is most common for Obscure that only affects normal vision but not other visual senses.

•

Partial (–1): Your Obscure FX provides only partial rather than total concealment. Phantasm: Your Obscure FX is mental in nature; only creatures with Intelligence -4 or greater are affected. Machines and other non-intelligent entities or devices are immune.

•

•

Resistance (+1): You must roll an FX check against the resistance (usually Will) of characters in the area of your obscure to affect them. They gain a Will check to shake off the obscure for each step up the Time and Value Progression Table, starting at one minute.

•

Sense-Dependent: Obscure is already Sense-Dependent by nature and cannot have this flaw.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I following extras) to affect an area. Everyone in the area is affected equally and you must apply the same effect of Probability Control to everyone, so you can’t provide Fortune for some while Jinxing others, for example. You’ll most likely also want the Selective Attack extra, allowing you to exclude your foes from Fortune FX and your allies from a Jinx.

PROBABILITY CONTROL Type: Alteration Range: Personal Resistance: None

Action: Reaction (passive) Duration: Instant Cost: 4 points per rank

You have some control over the otherwise random whims of chance. Each round, you can make your Probability Control rank the minimum result of any one die roll you make. If the die comes up with a lower result, use your FX rank instead. So if you have Probability Control 12, you can choose a die roll and be ensured a minimum result of 12 on the die, treating any roll of less than a 12 as a 12. A 20 on the die roll acquired through Probability Control is not considered a “natural 20.” At rank 1, Probability Control only ensures a natural 1 on an attack roll is not an automatic miss, if the total attack roll would still hit the target’s Defense. Higher ranks increasingly ensure reliably good outcomes (or at least a degree of immunity to poor ones) while the highest ranks ensure the character can regularly accomplish amazing things. Probability Control’s maximum rank is the campaign’s power level or 20 (whichever is less).

•

Fortune (+1): You can grant the benefits of your Probability Control to someone else by touch. This is the Affects Others extra for Probability Control.

•

Jinx (+1): You can afflict someone else with bad luck by touch (requiring a successful melee attack roll for an unwilling subject). The target gets a Will resistance to avoid the FX. If it fails, on one of the subject’s die rolls for the next round (chosen by you), a roll equal to or less than your Probability Control rank is treated as a 1, or any other number up to your FX rank (so having 6 ranks would allow you to declare any roll of between 1 and 6). A 1 on the die roll caused by Probability Control is not a “natural 1.”

•

Range (+1): You can use Fortune and/or Jinx at normal range as a +1 extra. For a +2 extra, you can use either at perception range. You must have the Fortune or Jinx extra(s) to benefit from this extra.

Split Probability Control At the Gamemaster’s discretion, you can split your Probability Control among multiple die rolls in the same round, having a lesser effect. So, for example, you could split Probability Control 12 into two minimum die rolls of 6, for example, or any other combination adding up to 12. In this case, the GM may wish to allow Probability Control ranks greater than 20, but with no more than 20 ranks assigned to any particular die roll in a round. The GM may wish to require the Split Attack FX feat for this rather than making it a default capability of Probability Control.

Flaws •

Limited to Fortune (–1): You can only use the Fortune ability of Probability Control; the FX doesn’t benefit you. You must have the Fortune extra to take this flaw.

•

Limited to Jinx (–1): You can only use the Jinx ability of Probability Control; the FX doesn’t affect you. You must have the Jinx extra to take this flaw.

•

Side Effect: If an outcome you’re trying to alter occurs in spite of your Probability Control, you suffer the FX of a Jinx on your next action! Alternately, for a –2 flaw, every time you grant a Fortune effect (including to yourself) you or an ally suffer a Jinx FX on the following round as the scales of fortune try to balance themselves.

Alternate FX Probability Control may become the base FX for an Array of probability influencing FX. Generally, such effects should be perception range, affecting anyone the user can accurately target. Also note the Probability Control base FX is not available while an Alternate Power is in use. To be able to use both, acquire the Probability Array separately. The following are some examples of suitable Alternate FX: •

Damage: As one action, you can cause a damaging “accident” to befall someone: a load of bricks falls on them, they’re hit by a car, or by a bolt of lightning out of the blue; anything you can reasonably justify to the GM as possible (if highly improbable). This is a Perception Range Penetrating Damage FX with a rank equal to your Probability Control.

•

Deflect: Attacks just seem to miss you. This is Deflect (all attacks), Free Action, with a rank equal to your Probability Control.

•

Move Object: The forces of chance help you out from time to time, moving things out of your way (or into someone else’s way), creating a Perception Range Move Object FX at your Probability Control rank. This FX is useful for making trip attacks, among other things.

Extras •

Area: You can extend your Fortune or Jinx extras (see the

QUICKNESS Type: General Range: Personal Resistance: None

Action: Free (passive) Duration: Continuous Cost: 1 point per rank

You can perform routine tasks quickly. For purposes of this effect a “routine task” is one where you can take 20 on the check. At rank 1 you perform such tasks at twice normal speed (x2). Each additional rank moves your speed one step up the Time and Value Progression Table (x5, x10, x25, and so forth). At rank 20, you perform routine tasks at 5 million times normal speed! Tasks where you cannot take 20 (including combat actions) are unaffected by Quickness, nor is movement speed. You can take 10 and take 20 normally using Quickness and, if your FX rank is high enough, you may be able to take 20 on a task in a single action (3 seconds) or less. If you can perform a task in less than a second, the GM may choose to treat that task as a free action for you (although the GM can still limit the number of free actions you can accomplish in a round as usual). Among other things, this allows you to do things like take 20 on an Infiltration check to disable a lock check by trying all possible combinations of a lock at great speed, or take 20 on a knowledge check by reading all available research materials in an instant.

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Extras •

Affects Others: You can give someone else the benefits of your Quickness by touch. For a +1 extra, both you and one other can benefit from the F at the same time. This is useful for helping an ally “keep up” with your quick handling of certain tasks. Use the Progression feat to increase the number of subjects you can affect at once.

•

TABLE 5.8: REGENERATION RECOVERY RATES

One Type (–1): Your Quickness applies to only physical or mental tasks, not both. One Task (–2): Your Quickness applies to only one particular task, such as reading, mathematical calculations, and so forth.

REGENERATION Type: Alteration Range: Personal Resistance: Fortitude (harmless)

Action: None (passive) Duration: Permanent Cost: 1 point per rank

You make Recovery checks to recover from a particular damage condition faster than normal. Each rank moves the rest time required to make a recovery check for that condition one step down the Time and Value Progression Table. So, for example, characters normally get one check per hour of rest to recover from being staggered. One Regeneration rank reduces that time to 30 minutes, two to 5 minutes, three to 1 minute, and so forth. If the time is brought below one action (3 seconds), the character gets a recovery check for that condition once per round with no need for a recover action. Each damage condition (Injured, Unconscious, and Staggered) requires a separate application of Regeneration ranks, as follows: •

•

•

•

•

1 2

1 round one action

Injured/ Staggered 30 minutes 5 minutes

3

no action

1 minute

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

— — — — — — —

1 round one action no action — — — —

Rank Unconscious

Flaws •

Total Regeneration—the ability to make a damage recovery check, including resurrection, every round without taking recover actions— requires 25 ranks, not including ranks allocated to recovery check bonus. If you also recover 1 point of ability damage per round, increase cost to 33 ranks.

Injured: One rank allows a recovery check once per 30 minutes, two ranks per 5 minutes, three ranks per minute, and four ranks per round, five ranks per standard action, and six ranks per round with no recover action. Unconscious: One rank allows a recovery check after one round, two ranks per action, three ranks once per round with no recover action. Staggered: One rank allows a recovery check once per 30 minutes, two ranks per 5 minutes, three ranks per minute, and four ranks per round, five ranks per standard action, and six ranks per round with no recover action. Ability Damage: One Regeneration rank allows you to recover a point of ability damage per 6 hours, two ranks per hour, three ranks per 30 minutes, four ranks per 5 minutes, five ranks per minute, six ranks per round, seven ranks one action, and eight ranks per round without a recover action. Resurrection: You can recover from death! If you die, make a DC 10 recovery check a week later. If successful, your condition becomes unconscious and disabled (from which you recover normally). You must specify a reasonably common effect (or set of uncommon effects) that keeps you from recovering from death, such as beheading, cremation, a stake through the heart, and so forth. You can increase the rate you make recovery checks from death with additional ranks, separately from your normal recovery rate. At nine ranks you can check to recover from death each round. At ten ranks, you get a recovery check instantly whenever your condition becomes dead. If successful, you don’t die.

Ability

Resurrection

5 hours 1 hour 20 minutes 5 minutes 1 minutes 1 round one action no action — —

1 week 1 day 6 hours 1 hour 30 minutes 5 minutes 1 minute 1 round one action no action

Regeneration and No Constitution Characters lacking a Constitution score automatically fail recovery checks and cannot recover from damage (as they are nonliving beings). The Affects Objects extra allows such characters to make Recovery checks, starting at –5. If you want a better chance of recovering, you need to invest points in the Recovery skill.

FX Feats •

Diehard: When your condition becomes dying you automatically stabilize on the following round, your condition shifting to disabled and unconscious, from which you can recover (and regenerate) normally. This is the same as the Diehard feat only as an FX feat.

•

Persistent: You can regenerate Incurable damage (see the Incurable FX feat).

•

Regrowth: When you recover from being disabled (whether normally or at an accelerated rate), you re-grow any severed or crippled limbs and organs as well.

•

Reincarnation: You must have Regeneration ranks applied to Resurrection to take this FX feat. When you make a successful check to recover from death, you can “return” in a completely different form! Re-allocate your characters points to different traits as you see fit, limited only by your descriptors, the campaign’s power level limits, and the GM’s approval. The new form doesn’t even have to be “human,” but choose carefully, since once you return to life, your new form’s traits are fixed, unless you die again!

Extras •

Action: Regeneration does not require an action, so its action cannot be changed through modifiers. The Action modifier can

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I change the one action required Regeneration, at the GM’s discretion.

for

Affects

Others

•

Affects Objects (+1): Your Affects Others Regeneration can repair (regenerate) non-living subjects with no Constitution score. Reduce the normal recovery bonus granted by your FX by 5; the subject makes recovery checks normally. If your Regeneration only affects objects, this is a +0 modifier.

•

Affects Others (+1): You grant another character the ability to regenerate by touch as a one action. The FX occurs at your normal regeneration recovery rate, so it can be quite slow unless you have a lot of ranks of Regeneration. Regeneration that Affects Others does not work on subjects with no Constitution score unless the Affects Objects extra is also applied. For “regeneration” that only affects others, see the Healing FX instead.

•

Area (+1): Affects Others Regeneration can have this extra, allowing it to affect everyone in a given area. Use the Selective FX feat for the ability to choose who does and does not benefit from the FX.

•

True Resurrection (+1): When this extra is applied to your Resurrection ranks of Regeneration (and only those ranks) you do not have to specify a circumstance that prevents your Resurrection; so long as your body is not suffering further damage, you can continue making checks to recover from death. Continuous damage—such as at the bottom of the ocean or in a live volcano—prevents you from recovering fully, since you are damaged as fast as you can recover, unless you are immune to that source of damage.

SHRINKING Type: Alteration Range: Personal Resistance: None

You can reduce your size. Every other rank of Shrinking reduces your Strength by 1 (to a minimum of Str -5). Additionally, every four ranks reduce your size category and Toughness by one. So a medium-sized creature is small and –1 Toughness at rank 4, tiny and –2 Toughness at rank 8, diminutive and –3 Toughness at rank 12, fine and –4 Toughness at rank 16, and minuscule and –5 Toughness at rank 20. You gain all the benefits and drawbacks of your new size. Multiply your movement rates by the carrying capacity multiplier shown on the Reduced Size table.

FX Feats •

Alternate FX: If you have Shrinking, you can acquire Growth as an Alternate FX feat.

•

Atomic Size: If you have Shrinking 20, you can shrink down past minuscule size to the atomic scale, allowing you to pass through solid objects by slipping between their atoms. You’re effectively immune to attacks at a higher scale, although the GM decides the effect of any given attack or hazard while you are at atomic size. Growth Strike: You can add the momentum of increasing size to your melee attacks, literally enlarging under an opponent’s jaw, for example. This gives you a +1 damage bonus per size category you enlarge until you reach your opponent’s size against opponents larger than you. So growing from minuscule to medium size as part of an attack does +5 damage. Innate: This FX feat suits creatures and characters that are naturally smaller than medium-sized when applied to permanent Shrinking of the appropriate rank.

•

Flaws •

Duration: Regeneration’s duration cannot be modified, since the allocation of its ranks determines how fast it operates.

•

Source (–1): Your Regeneration only works when you have access to a particular source, such as blood, electricity, natural earth, scrap metal, sunlight, and so forth. Without this source, your effect doesn’t work and you recover at normal speed. At the GM’s discretion, a weaker form of the source means you recover slower (your effective Regeneration rank is lower, in other words, generally at least halved).

•

Uncontrolled Reincarnation (–1): This works like the Reincarnation FX feat except you don’t get to decide the traits of your new form, the Gamemaster does! Again, the GM is limited by your descriptors and the campaign’s power level limits, and your new form must be built on the same number of character points as your old one. Otherwise, the GM is free to tinker with things like appearance, traits, and so forth, although personality and memories remain intact. You must have Resurrection to have this flaw, which applies only to Regeneration ranks assigned to Resurrection. It is often coupled with True Resurrection (or “True Reincarnation” in this case).

•

•

FX Loss: If there’s a form of damage you can’t regenerate, that may be considered an FX loss drawback, with the value based on how common the damage is. If damage is common enough to make your Regeneration only about half as useful (you don’t regenerate bludgeoning damage, for example) it may constitute a Limited flaw, at the GM’s discretion.

Microverse: If you have Shrinking 20, you can shrink down past minuscule size, to the point where you cross a dimensional barrier and enter a “microverse” (which may or may not really exist at the subatomic level, GM's option). Entering or leaving a microverse is a move action. In the microverse, you lose your Shrinking, but gain Growth equal to your Shrinking rank (and when you grow larger than awesome size, you leave the microverse and return to the normal universe where your powers return to normal).

Extras •

Compression (+3): You must have the Normal Strength and Normal Toughness extras (see both, following) to apply this extra. You shrink by compressing your mass into a smaller form, causing you to become stronger and tougher rather than more delicate. You have Density as a Linked FX of your Shrinking: each rank of Shrinking also applies a rank of Density to your traits: your weight and carrying capacity modifier remain the same regardless of size, but you gain Strength and Constitution from your increased density.

•

Normal Abilities (+3): You retain your normal Strength and Toughness scores and your normal movement speed when you shrink, regardless of your size category. This extra includes all three of the following modifiers, which can also be applied individually.

Drawbacks •

Action: Free (active) Duration: Sustained Cost: 1 point per rank

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I TABLE 5.9: REDUCED SIZE Rank

Size

Might

Combat Modifier

Infiltration Modifier

Intimidation Modifier

0

Medium

+0

+0

+0

+0

1 2 3

Small Tiny Diminutive

-1 -2 -3

+1 +2 +4

+3 +6 +9

-2 -4 -6

60-500 lbs. 2-4 ft. 1-2 ft. 6 in.-1 ft.

4

Fine

-4

+8

+12

-8

3 in.-6 in.

5

Minuscule

-5

+12

+15

-10

3 in. or less

•

Normal Movement (+1): You retain your normal movement speed when you shrink.

•

Normal Strength (+1): You suffer no reduction in Strength or carrying capacity when you shrink.

•

Normal Toughness (+1): You suffer no reduction in Toughness when you shrink.

Permanent: Your Shrinking effect cannot be turned off and you are permanently “stuck” at your smallest size (for your Shrinking rank), so Permanent Shrinking 12 means you’re permanently diminutive (between six inches and a foot tall). You can have any power feats or modifiers associated with Shrinking, so long as they don’t depend on the ability to change your size (such as Growth Strike).

Drawbacks •

Full Power: You can only shrink down to minimum size for your rank and return to normal size, unable to assume any of the size categories in between. This drawback does not apply to characters with 4 or fewer ranks of shrinking, as there is no significant disadvantage associated with it.

Associated FX The following FX may be associated with Shrinking: •

Gliding: Given their reduced weight at smaller sizes, shrinking characters may be able to glide along wind currents, acquiring ranks in Enhanced Movement.

•

Internal Attack: A shrinking character with the Atomic Size FX feat can potentially pass into another character, then enlarge, causing a damaging molecular disruption while ejecting from the target’s body. This is a touch range Penetrating Damage FX (since it bypasses Impervious Toughness) and usually requires one action to reach your target, unless you start out in close contact when you make the attack.

•

•

Leaping: Smaller characters with the Normal Strength extra may not only be able to leap their normal distance, but even greater distances, propelling their reduced weight with their proportionately greater strength, acquiring ranks in Leaping Linked to Shrinking. Transmit: A particular trick of shrinking characters with the Atomic Size FX feat is to “ride” telephone transmissions

Weight

Space Reach

4-8 ft.

5 ft.

5 ft.

8-60 lbs. 1-8 lbs. 0.25-1 lb. 0.09-0.1 lb. 1 oz. or less

5 ft. 2.5 ft. 1 ft.

5 ft. 0 ft. 0 ft.

6 in.

0 ft.

3 in.

0 ft.

through wires to their destination. This is a Teleport FX with the Medium (telephone wires) flaw. Although it technically requires the ability to shrink at the same time, the GM may allow it as an Alternate FX feat of Shrinking so long as the character starts and ends the trip at normal size, the “shrinking” in between being nothing more than a descriptor of the Teleport FX. If the character wants to enter or emerge from a transmission at less than full size, however, the Transmit power should be acquired separately.

Flaws •

Height

SPEED Type: Movement Range: Personal Resistance: None

Action: One Duration: Sustained Cost: 1 point per rank

You can move faster than normal. One form of movement you already possess (walking/running for most creatures, but some other creatures might be natural swimmers or fliers) has a base speed of 10 MPH (about 100 feet per round) at rank 1. Each additional rank moves your speed one step up the Time and Value Progression Table. At rank 19, you can reach anywhere on Earth in a single action. At rank 20, you can accelerate to near the speed of light! Speed per rank is shown on the Speed Movement table. You can carry up to a light load with no reduction in speed. A medium or heavy load reduces your speed to two-thirds normal while a heavy load also reduces your all-out speed to half normal. You cannot use Speed while carrying more than a heavy load. Speed increases how quickly you can move with any form of movement. However, Flight requires the Fast Flight extra (see below).

Extras •

Affects Others: You can share your Speed with another character you are touching, allowing them to travel at the same speed as you. Note this isn’t the same as simply carrying someone along with you while you move using your Speed, it is granting them the same Speed movement as yours.

•

Attack: This extra does not apply to Speed. For a “momentum attack” that flings targets into things at high speed, use Move Object with the Knockback extra instead.

•

Duration: Speed generally cannot be continuous duration, given the limitations on using it: a stunned or unconscious character can’t move, quickly or otherwise.

•

Fast Flight (+1): With this extra, you can increase the speed of your Flight movement.

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Flaws •

Action: Like other movement FX, Speed cannot have its action reduced below one, since it requires a one action to use the FX.

•

Duration: Concentration duration Speed can represent an FX requiring additional focus or effort on your part; you can move at high speeds, but can’t do much else at the same time. Since concentration requires a standard action each round, it also means you can’t move at accelerated or all-out speeds, just the normal pace of your Speed rank.

TABLE 5.10: SPEED MOVEMENT Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Speed 10 MPH 25 MPH 50 MPH 100 MPH 250 MPH 500 MPH 1,000 MPH 2,500 MPH 5,000 MPH 10,000 MPH 25,000 MPH 50,000 MPH 100,000 MPH 250,000 MPH 500,000 MPH 1,000,000 MPH 2,500,000 MPH 5,000,000 MPH 10,000,000 MPH Near light-speed

appears in the nearest open space beside you. You always have the same minion unless you apply power modifiers allowing you to summon different minions. Your minion automatically has a helpful attitude and does its best to aid you and obey your commands. Unconscious and dead minions disappear. Defeated minions recover normally except they recover from death as if they were disabled. You cannot summon a defeated minion until it has completely recovered. Your summoned minions also vanish if your FX is turned off, countered, or nullified.

FX Feats •

Mental Link: You have a mental link with your minions, allowing you to communicate with them over any distance.

•

Mob: Rather than gaining a set number of minions, this feat allows you to summon a huge mob of minions, who taken together count as a single, massive creature. This feat grants your mob a bonus to Attack Rolls, Might, and Toughness. Further, you treat all attacks you make as having one rank in the Autofire extra. You must have the Additional Minion (at least one iteration) Extras and Horde Extras to take this feat. One rank in Mob adds the mob bonuses to your own character. Two ranks allows you to treat the Mob as a separate creature, attacking and acting on its own, separately from you. If you choose to use this feat, you can only summon a single mob regardless of how many minions you can summon normally. See Chapter VII: Combat for information on mobs.

•

Sacrifice: When you are hit with an FX requiring a resistance, you can spend a hero die to shift it to one of your minions instead. The minion must be within range of the attack and a viable target. Needless to say, this is not a particularly heroic feat. The Gamemaster may wish to restrict it to villains or nonplayer characters (in which case a hero earns a hero die when a villain uses this feat to avoid an effect by sacrificing a minion).

Extras •

Additional Minion (+1): Each time you apply this extra, move your total number of minions one step up the Time and Value Progression Table (2, 5, 10, etc.). Each minion is created with (rank x 15) character points. You can still only summon one minion per action.

•

Fanatical (+1): Your summoned minions have a fanatical attitude and devotion to you.

•

Heroic (+1): Creatures you summon are not subject to the minion rules, but treated like normal non-player characters. Gamemasters should be particularly cautious about allowing this extra for Summon FX used by player characters, especially ones summoning more than one minion.

•

Horde (+1): You can summon up to your maximum number of minions with one standard action. You must have Progression (see this effect’s power feats) to take this extra.

•

Type (+1/+2): Minions are normally identical in terms of traits. It’s a +1 modifier to summon minions of a general type (elementals, birds, fish, etc.), +2 to summon minions of a broad type (animals, demons, humanoids, etc.).

Associated FX •

Quickness: While the Speed FX covers moving quickly, the Quickness FX handles performing tasks faster, and the two often go together.

•

Enhanced Movement: The ability to move at high speeds may also provide some Enhanced Movement FX, particularly Water Walking or Wall-Crawling, Limited to only while moving at high speed.

SUMMON (MINION) Type: General Range: Touch Resistance: None

Action: One (active) Duration: Sustained Cost: 2 points per rank

You can call upon another creature—a minion—to aid you. This creature is created as an independent character with (Summon rank x 15) character points. Summoned minions are subject to the normal power level limits, and cannot have minions themselves. You can summon your minion to you automatically as one action; it

Flaws •

Attitude (–1): Your summoned minions are less than

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TELEPORT Type: Movement Range: Personal Resistance: Reflex (harmless)

area. You can choose to leave behind physical objects not in anyone’s possession whether or not you have Selective (so you don’t automatically teleport all the assorted junk in the area). •

Attack: A Teleport Attack is one action and only teleports the target the effect’s normal, rather than extended, range. You must overcome the target's Will resistance to successfully teleport them, assuming the attack hits. At the GM’s option, you may be able to make an “extended” Teleport Attack; this requires two actions and you lose your dodge bonus for one round after making the attack. The target is transported up to the FX’s extended range and disoriented (no dodge bonus) for one round after arrival. Gamemasters should view Teleport Attacks with caution, due to their ability to quickly remove opponents from an encounter.

•

Castling (+0): You and a willing subject within your Teleport range must “trade places” for you to teleport. You appear in the subject’s location and the subject appears in yours. The subject of a Castling attempt is basically aware of who you are (if they’re familiar with you), where you are (roughly), and of your desire to trade places. If they agree (as a reaction) the FX occurs. If they refuse, nothing happens. This means you cannot castle with unconscious subjects. Castling often has some type of Communication, possibly Limited only to potential Teleport subjects, as an associated FX. If you can castle with unwilling subjects, you have a Teleport Attack Linked to your Teleport instead.

•

Portal (+2): You open a portal or gateway between two points as a free action. The portal is 5 feet-by-5 feet in size. Anyone stepping through (one action) is transported. The portal remains open as long as you concentrate. You can apply Progression feats to increase the size of your portal.

•

Selective Attack: An Area Teleport Attack with this extra can teleport some targets without affecting others, as you choose.

Action: One (active) Duration: Instant Cost: 2 points per rank

You can move instantly from place to place without crossing the distance in between. You can teleport yourself and carry up to 100 lbs. of additional mass a distance of (power rank x 100) feet as a move action. At rank 3 and above, you can also take two actions and teleport the distance shown on the Extended Range Table instead, but you lose your defense bonus for one round after you arrive at your destination due to disorientation. You can only teleport to places you can accurately sense or know especially well (in the GM’s judgment). You retain your facing and relative velocity when you teleport. So if you are falling, for example, when you teleport, you are still falling at the same speed when you arrive at your destination.

FX Feats •

Change Direction: You can change your direction or orientation after a teleport.

•

Change Velocity: You can teleport “at rest” to your destination. Among other things, this means you can teleport out of a fall and suffer no damage.

•

Easy: You are not disoriented when making two action teleports; you retain your dodge bonus after doing so.

•

Progression: You increase the mass you can carry with you when you teleport. Each additional time you take this stunt, it moves your maximum “cargo” one step up the Time and Value Progression Table (x 2, x 5, x 10, etc.).

•

Turnabout: You can teleport, take one action, and teleport again as a two actions, so long as the total distance doesn’t exceed your short Teleport range (rank x 100 feet). This is Teleport’s version of the Move-By Action feat.

Flaws •

Anchor (–1): You are limited to teleporting either to a single specific place or to the location of a single specific object, either of which is considered “known especially well” to you. Choose one option when you apply this flaw. You can change the location of your anchor-point either by physically visiting and attuning yourself to a new site for one minute or by moving your anchor object to a new location. If you have an anchor object and it’s moved without your knowledge, you still teleport to its location (which can potentially cause problems if your foes discover your anchor and move it).

•

Long-Range (–1): You can only teleport up to extended range distance as two actions. You can’t make short-range teleports as one action and you can’t have the Easy or Turnabout FX feats.

•

Medium (–1): You require a medium for your teleportation, such as electrical or telephone wires, root structures, waterways, doorways, shadows, flames, mirrors, and so forth. You can only teleport from and to locations where your medium exists.

•

Short-Range (–1): You can’t make extended range teleports, only short-range teleports as a one action.

Extras •

•

•

Accurate (+1): You don’t need to accurately sense your destination to teleport there, just be able to generally describe it, such as “inside the capitol building lobby” or “atop the Goodman Building’s roof.” If you can’t accurately describe your destination or have no idea where it is, you still can’t teleport there. At the GM’s discretion, Dazzle and Obscure (Accurate Teleport) can temporarily block this extra like any other mental sense. This allows, among other things, for sites “shielded” against Accurate teleporters. Affects Others: This extra allows you to grant a subject the ability to teleport—either with you or alone—by touch. Note that Affects Others is voluntary, so anyone not wishing to be teleported is unaffected. To teleport unwilling targets see the Attack extra. Area: Applied to Affects Others Teleport, this extra allows you to teleport everyone in the affected area. Apply the Selective FX feat if you can choose who is and is not taken along on the jaunt, otherwise, you automatically teleport everyone in the

Associated FX •

ESP: The ability to perceive distant locations is quite useful in

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Inflict (Condition): Teleportation often has disorienting side effects on passengers other than those of extended range teleports, allowing teleporters to, for example, grab an opponent and “jaunt,” inflicting disorientation or nausea. This is a Linked Inflict (Condition) FX and requires two actions to grab the opponent and make the jump to inflict the FX. Note that if you can choose not to inflict this effect on your passengers, the Linked modifier is +1 rather than +0.

•

Nullify Teleport: “Teleport nullifiers” of one sort or another are fairly common in the comics, from mystic wards blocking the passage of spells of teleportation to super-science force fields. This is usually a Nullifying Field, preventing anyone from teleporting into or out of the affected area, although things like Nullifying Devices applied directly (headbands, collars, manacles, etc.) are also common.

•

Rend: You can grab a target and teleport away with just part of them, inflicting damage! This is a touch range Penetrating Damage FX Linked to Teleport as a +1 modifier (since you presumably have the ability not to rend a passenger teleporting with you).

•

Teleport Awareness: Characters with Teleport or related powers may acquire the Awareness Enhanced Sense, attuned to detecting uses of Teleport by picking up on “spatial distortions” or similar effects when someone arrives or departs via a Teleport effect. Also note that descriptor-based forms of Awareness can detect teleports involving that descriptor (Mental Awareness sensing the arrival of a psionic teleporter, for example).

TRANSFORM Type: Alteration Range: Ranged Resistance: Fortitude

Action: One (active) Duration: Sustained (lasting) Cost: 3-6 points per rank

You can change a target into something else. Make an attack roll to hit your target, and then roll against your target's Fortitude resistance. If the check succeeds, the target transforms. Inanimate targets transform automatically, so long as you can affect their mass. Roll to overcome the target's Fortitude for any worn or held object. You can transform 1 pound of inanimate mass at rank 1. Each additional rank moves this one step up the Time and Value Progression Table. The transformation lasts as long as you continue sustaining it. When you stop, the target reverts to normal. What you can transform affects cost per rank:

you to add traits to the subject).

Transforming Devices and Equipment Transforming someone’s devices or equipment requires targeting them first, as given under attacking objects: a held object has a Defense of the holder’s Defense + the object’s size modifier + 5, while a worn or carried object has a Defense of the holder’s Defense + the object’s size modifier. So transforming a held weapon like a gun requires an attack roll against the holder’s Defense + 9 (+5 base +4 for a diminutive-sized object), targeting a worn suit of armor is an attack against the holder’s Defense (with no modifier for a medium-sized object). Equipment is transformed automatically so long as the FX has sufficient rank to encompass its entire mass. The holder or wearer of a Device uses his or her Fortitude resistance to avoid having the gear transformed; a successful check means it is transformed. Transform is merely another way of “removing” a Device or equipment, considered a part of the discount that they offer, although transformed Devices should eventually be restored or replaced.

Mental Transform Transformed targets normally retain their mental traits and personality, although animate targets made inanimate are effectively rendered unconscious. A Transform FX with the Will resistance modifier can change targets mentally as well as physically. A mental transformation is considered a separate FX; apply modifiers and FX stunts to it separately. To transform a target both mentally and physically at once, link the two Transforms together. The type of mental transformation determines cost per rank: •

2 point: Change the target’s memories or recollections, making the target forget something, or remember things differently.

•

3 point: Change around the target’s mental traits.

•

4 points: Completely alter the target’s mind, effectively creating an entirely new personality. You can change around their mental traits as desired, so long as their point value remains the same or less.

FX Feats

•

3 points: Transform one thing into one other thing (flesh into stone, people into frogs, metal into wood, broken objects into repaired ones, etc.).

•

Affects Insubstantial: Transform needs this FX feat to affect incorporeal targets, but works normally on subjects with lower ranks of Insubstantial.

•

4 points: Transform a narrow group of targets into one of a narrow group of results (animals into humanoids, or vice versa, one type of metal into any other, etc.). Transform targets of a broad group into one result or a single target into any of a broad group.

•

Reversible: Transform FX are generally reversible and do not require this feat.

•

Subtle: While a Transform FX is not itself Subtle in that the target is clearly transformed, this FX feat can help conceal the source of the FX, making it less noticeable or not noticeable at all.

•

5 points: Transform targets of a broad group into one of a broad group of results (inanimate objects or living creatures).

6 points: Transform anything into anything else. You can change around a transformed target’s physical traits, so long as their point total remains the same or less. Adding new traits (such as giving a target wings) can be paid for by adding drawbacks or reducing other traits to compensate (or by Linking an Affects Others Variable structure to Transform, allowing

Extras

•

•

Alternate Resistance: Transform based on Will is a Mental Transform FX.

•

Area: An Area Transform FX changes all of the targets in the

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•

Duration: Continuous transformations last until you choose to reverse them (or they are nullified). The GM can require that a Continuous Transform FX have some other reasonable way of undoing it, from a kiss from royalty to soaking in water, depending on the FX’s descriptors. Selective Attack: An Area Transform with this extra can transform only those subjects you choose, excluding others.

Flaws •

Duration: Transform with a duration of concentration requires constant attention (and one action each round) to maintain. Transform cannot have an instant duration.

•

Limited: Transform FX limited to particular subjects or results should have their base cost adjusted as given in the FX’s description rather than applying this flaw. Transform effects limited in other ways may still have the Limited flaw.

Dice expenditure, temporarily reconfiguring an existing FX.

DIMENSIONAL

FX, RANKED

This feat allows an FX to work on targets in another dimension (if any exist in the campaign). You affect your proximate location in the other dimension as if you were actually there, figuring range modifiers from that point. You can take this feat multiple times. If you take it a second time, your FX can reach into any of a related group of dimensions (mythic dimensions, mystic dimensions, fiendish planes, and so forth). If you take it a third time, it can reach into any other dimension in the setting. For many FX, you may need a Dimensional ESP FX to target them. Otherwise, targets have total concealment from you, and any attack has a 50% miss chance, assuming it’s targeted in the right area at all.

EXTENDED REACH

FX, RANKED

•

Permanent: This flaw does not apply to Transform, since permanent transformations are generally more of an advantage, and Continuous Transform is as close to permanent as the FX gets.

Each time you apply this feat to a touch or perception-touch range FX, you extend the power’s reach by 5 feet. This may represent a short-ranged attack or an FX with a somewhat greater reach, like a whip or similar weapon.

•

Range: Touch range Transform requires a successful melee attack roll to touch the subject. Transform cannot be personal range and does not work on you; to transform yourself in various ways see Morph and the Variable FX structure.

FAST ESCALATION

FX Feats FX feats expand an effect’s utility in various ways. Acquiring an FX feat costs 1 character point, just like a normal feat, and characters can use extra effort to temporarily acquire an FX feat they don’t already have. FX feats are options for an FX; you can generally decide to use them or not when you use the FX itself.

ACCURATE

FX, RANKED

An FX with this feat is especially accurate; you get +2 on attack rolls made with it. This FX feat can be applied multiple times, each time it grants an additional +2 on attack rolls. The campaign’s power level limits maximum attack bonus with any given FX. The GM may choose to waive this limit for Accurate feats acquired via Hero Dice expenditure (given their temporary nature).

AFFECTS INSUBSTANTIAL

FX, RANKED

An FX with this feat works on insubstantial targets, in addition to having its normal effect on corporeal targets. One application of Affects Insubstantial allows the FX to work at half its normal rank against insubstantial targets; two applications allow it to function at its full rank against them. Sensory FX do not require this feat, since they already affect insubstantial targets.

ALTERNATE FX

FX

This feat provides an additional Alternate FX for an Array, a different way in which it can be used. Alternate FX is also usable via Hero

FX, RANKED

An FX which Escalates with each activation or round of use does so faster with this FX feat. Each application of this feat improves the rate by 1 character point. Note that this FX feat also decreases the time it takes for an FX to “burn out.”

HOMING

FX, RANKED

This feat grants an FX an additional opportunity to hit. If an attack roll with a Homing FX fails, it attempts to hit again on the following round on your initiative, requiring only a free action to maintain and leaving you free to take other actions, including making another attack. The Homing FX uses the same accurate sense as the original attack, so concealment effective against that sense may confuse the Homing attack and cause it to miss. If a Homing attack misses due to concealment, it has lost its “lock” on the target and does not get any further chances to hit. You can buy Enhanced Senses Linked to the Homing FX, if desired (to create things like radarguided or heat-seeking missiles, for example). If a Homing attack is countered before it hits, it loses any remaining chances to hit. You can apply this feat multiple times, each time moves the number of additional chances to hit one step up the Time and Value Progression Table, but the FX still only gets one attack roll per round.

IMPROVED RANGE

FX, RANKED

This feat improves the range increment of a ranged FX, moving the base increment (FX rank x 10 feet) one step up the Time and Value Progression Table. So Improved Range 1 makes a ranged FX’s increment (rank x 25) feet, then (rank x 50), and so forth. This does not increase the FX’s maximum range.

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The damage caused by an FX with this feat cannot be healed by FX such as Healing and Regeneration; the target must recover at the normal rate. FX with the Persistent feat can heal Incurable damage.

Move Object to type or pick a lock, Precise Environmental Control to match a particular temperature exactly, and so forth. The GM has final say as to what tasks can be performed with a Precise FX and may require an FX, skill, or ability check to determine the degree of precision with any given task. A ranged attack FX with the Precise modifier gains the benefits of the Precise Shot feat, which is essentially the same thing.

INDIRECT

PROGRESSION

INCURABLE

FX

FX, RANKED

An FX with this feat can originate from a point other than the user, ignoring cover between the user and the target, such as walls and other intervening barriers, so long as they do not provide cover between the FX’s origin point and the target. The range modifier is based on the distance from the attacker to the target, regardless of where the FX originates. An Indirect FX normally originates from a fixed point directed away from you. In some cases, an Indirect FX may count as a surprise attack. If you apply this feat a second time, the power’s FX can come from any point directed away from you, including behind you. If you apply it three times, the effect can also be directed toward you (hitting a target in front of you from behind, for example).

INNATE

FX

An FX with this feat is an innate part of your nature. Trait FX, such as Boost, Drain, or Nullify, cannot alter it. Gamemasters should exercise caution in allowing the application of this feat; the FX must be a truly innate trait, such as an elephant’s size or a ghost’s incorporeal nature. If the FX is not something normal to the character’s species or type, it probably isn’t innate. Unlike other FX feats, the use of innate is not optional: you cannot choose not to apply the feat’s benefits. Since Innate is essentially the same as a very limited Immunity to Trait FX applied to a particular FX, and complete Immunity to Trait FX is 5 ranks of Immunity, the Gamemaster may choose to allow characters requiring 4 or more instances of the Innate feat to simply take 4 ranks of it and apply to as many of the character’s FX as desired.

KNOCKBACK

FX, RANKED

Applied to an FX that causes knockback, this ranked power feat adds +1 per rank to the FX’s rank when determining knockback. So a rank 5 Damage FX with rank 3 Knockback is treated as Damage 8 for determining its knockback FX. Generally, this feat is limited to no more ranks than the rank of the FX, but the GM may modify this as desired.

MOVING FEINT

Each time you apply this feat, move the area, range, mass, subjects, or other trait of the FX one step up the Time and Value Progression Table. See the FX and modifier descriptions for details on specific applications of Progression.

REVERSIBLE

FX

You can remove the lingering results of an FX with this feat at will as a free action, so long as the subject is within the FX’s range. Examples include removing the damage conditions from a Damage FX, repairing damage done by Drain Toughness, or removing a Dazzle or Inflict (Condition) FX instantly. Normally, you have no control over the lingering results of such FX.

RICOCHET

FX

You can ricochet, or bounce, an attack FX with this feat off of a solid surface once to change its direction. This allows you to attack around corners, overcome cover and possibly gain a surprise attack against an opponent. It does not allow you to affect multiple targets. The “bounce” has no effect apart from changing the attack’s direction. You must be able to define a clear path for your attack, which must follow a straight line between each ricochet. You can take this feat multiple times; each time allows you to ricochet the attack an additional time before it hits. In some cases, a Ricochet FX may count as a surprise attack.

SEDATION

FX

An FX able to cause unconsciousness can, with this feat, keep an unconscious subject from regaining consciousness as a sustained lasting FX. The subject gets a recovery check from unconsciousness for each interval on the Time and Value Progression Table rather than each minute, starting at one minute. If you concentrate during the time interval, the subject gains no bonus to the resistance to recover from that interval (as with a normal sustained lasting FX).

FX

You can substitute twice the FX rank of a movement FX with this FX feat for your Persuasion check modifier when making a check to feint in combat. You must use the FX to move during the round in which you feint, making the attempt two actions (one action to move plus another action for the feint check).

PRECISE

FX, RANKED

SELECTIVE

FX, RANKED

An FX with this feat is discriminating, allowing you to decide what is and is not affected. This is most useful for area attacks. You must be able to accurately perceive a target in order to decide whether or not to affect it. If the FX requires an attack roll or allows a resistance, then Selective is an extra instead of an FX feat.

FX

FX with this feat are especially precise. You can use a Precise FX to perform tasks requiring delicacy and fine control, such as using Precise Ranged Damage to spot-weld or carve your initials, Precise

SLOW FADE

FX, RANKED

An FX that fades over time—such as a trait FX or an FX with the Fades modifier—does so slower with this FX feat. Each application

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FX Modifiers

moves the time interval one step down the Time and Value Progression Table: from one round to five rounds to one minute (10 rounds), and so forth.

SPLIT ATTACK

FX, RANKED

With this feat, an FX normally affecting one target can split its FX between two targets. The attacker chooses how many ranks to apply to each target up to the FX’s total rank. So a rank 10 power could be split 5/5, 4/6, 2/8, or any other total adding up to 10 (whole numbers only). If an attack roll is required, the attacker makes one roll, comparing the results against each target. The FX affects the target normally at its reduced rank. Each additional application of this feat allows the FX to split an additional time, so two applications of this feat allows an effect to split among three targets, then four, and so forth. An FX cannot split to less than one rank per target, and cannot apply more than one split to the same target.

SUBTLE

FX, RANKED

Subtle FX are not as noticeable. A subtle FX may be used to catch a target unaware and may in some cases qualify for surprise attack. One application of this feat makes an FX difficult to notice; a DC 20 Perception check is required, or the FX is noticeable only to certain exotic senses (at the GM’s discretion). A second application makes the FX completely undetectable.

TRIGGERED

FX, RANKED

An instant duration FX with this feat can be “set” to activate under particular circumstances, such as in response to a particular danger, after a set amount of time has passed, in response to a particular event, and so forth. The circumstances must be detectable by your senses. You can acquire Enhanced Senses Limited to Triggered FX, if desired. Setting the FX requires the same action as using it normally. Any necessary rolls are made when you set the FX’s trigger. Setting the FX requires the same action as using it normally. A Triggered FX lying in wait may be detected with a Perception check (DC 10 + FX rank) and in some cases disarmed with a successful Infiltration check or appropriate FX check (such as Nullify or another countering FX) with a DC of (10 + FX rank). A Triggered FX is good for one use, an instant duration. You can apply the Duration modifier to the FX as a whole to extend the trigger’s duration, allowing the FX to go off multiple times, so long as its duration lasts (this usually requires a continuous duration). This does not affect the normal duration of the triggered FX itself. If you apply this feat a second time, you can change the trigger condition each time you set it.

VARIABLE DESCRIPTOR

FX, RANKED

You can change the descriptors of an FX with this FX feat, varying them as a free action once per round. For one rank with this feat, you can apply any of a closely related group of descriptors, such as weather, electromagnetic, so forth. For two ranks, you can apply any of a broad group of descriptors, such as any mental, magical, or technological descriptor. The GM decides if any given descriptor is appropriate for use with a particular FX and this feat.

FX modifiers enhance or weaken FX in various ways, sometimes significantly changing how they work.

Applying Modifiers Modifiers are permanent changes to how FX work. Positive modifiers, called extras, increase an FX’s cost per rank by 1. Negative modifiers, called flaws, reduce an FX’s cost per rank by 1. To determine the final cost, add the FX’s base cost per rank, plus the total positive modifiers, minus the total negative modifiers. If the result is a positive number, that’s the FX’s new cost per rank. So an FX costing 2 points per rank with modifiers of +3 and –1 has a final cost per rank of 4 points (2 + 3 – 1 = 4).

Fractional FX Cost If modifiers reduce an FX’s cost to less than 1 power point per rank, each additional –1 modifier beyond that adds to the number of ranks you get by spending 1 character point on a 1-to-1 basis. So 1-point FX with a –1 modifier, rather than dropping to a cost of 0 points per rank instead gets 2 ranks for 1 character point. An FX’s cost can be expressed as the ratio of character points per rank (PP:R). So an FX costing 3 character points per rank is 3:1. If that FX has a total of –2 in modifiers, it costs 1:1, or 1 character point per rank. Applying another –1 modifier adds to the second part of the ratio, making it 1:2, or 1 character point per two ranks, and so forth. Continue the progression for further reductions. Gamemasters may wish to limit the final modified cost ratio of any FX in the campaign (to 1:1, 1:2, 1:4, or whatever figure is appropriate). As a general rule, 1:5 (five FX ranks per power point) should be the lowest modified cost for an FX in d20 Advanced, but the GM sets the limit (if any).

Partial Modifiers You can apply a modifier to only some of an FX’s ranks and not others in order to fine-tune the FX. A modifier must apply to at least one rank, and may apply to as many ranks as the FX has. The change in cost and FX applies only to the ranks with the modifier; the unmodified ranks have their normal cost and FX.

Extras Unless specified otherwise, the following extras increase an FX’s cost per rank by 1 point per application of the extra.

ACTION

+1 MODIFIER/STEP

Using an FX requires one of the following types of actions: reaction, free, one, or two actions. Reducing the action required to use an FX is a +1 modifier per step (two actions to one action, for example). An FX’s required action cannot be reduced to none unless the FX is permanent (in which case it is generally automatic). Gamemasters should be cautious about allowing this extra for attack FX. Movement FX cannot take this extra, since the one action required to use a movement FX is part of the character’s normal movement.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I AFFECTS OBJECTS

+0/+1 MODIFIER

A Fortitude FX with this modifier works on non-living objects (those with no Constitution score). Generally, this extra applies to FX that heal or weaken living creatures, such as Boost, Drain, Healing, and Regeneration, allowing them to work on objects in the same way. If the FX works only on objects, and not living creatures, this is a +0 modifier.

AFFECTS OTHERS

+0/+1 MODIFIER

This extra allows you to give someone else use of a personal FX. You must touch the subject as one action, and they have control over their use of the FX, although you can withdraw it when you wish. If you are unable to maintain the FX, it stops working, even if someone else is using it. Both you and your subject(s) can use the FX simultaneously. If the FX only affects others, and not you, there’s no change in cost (a +0 modifier), essentially a combination of Affects Others and Limited (only others). You can increase the number of characters you can grant the FX to simultaneously with the Progression FX feat.

ALTERNATE RESISTANCE

•

Cloud: The FX fills a sphere 5-feet in diameter (not radius) per rank and lingers in that area for one round after its duration expires (affecting any targets in the area normally during the additional round). Clouds on level surfaces (like the ground) create hemispheres (rank x 5 feet) in diameter and half that distance in height.

•

Cone: The FX fills a cone with a final length, width, and height of 10 feet per rank, spreading out from the FX’s starting point. Cones on a level surface halve their final height.

•

Cylinder: The FX fills a cylinder with a total radius and height of 5 feet per rank. So, for example, a rank 10 Cylinder Area could have a 20-foot radius and a height of 30 feet, a 10-foot radius and a height of 40 feet, or any other combination adding up to 50 feet (10 ranks x 5 feet).

•

Line: The FX fills a path 5 feet wide and 10 feet per rank long in a straight line.

•

Perception: The FX works on anyone able to perceive the target point with a particular sense, chosen when you apply this extra, like a Sense-Dependent FX (see the SenseDependent modifier). Targets get a Reflex resistance, as usual, but if the resistance is successful suffer no effect (rather than half). Concealment that prevents a target from perceiving the FX also blocks it. Perception Area FX must be General, and cannot be Targeted. This modifier includes the SenseDependent flaw so it cannot be applied again. If it is applied to an already Sense-Dependent FX, it is a +2 extra rather than +1.

•

Shapeable: The FX fills a 5-foot square cube per rank, and you may arrange the area’s volume in any shape you wish, so long as all of the cubes are touching. Each application of the Progression FX feat increases the number of cubes per rank (2, 5, 10, and so forth).

•

Trail: The FX fills a line up to 10 feet per rank behind you as you move, affecting anyone in the area you’ve moved through. Note the action required to use the FX does not change unless you also apply an Action modifier. So as a default, you have to take one action each round to use a Trail Area attack FX.

+0/+1 MODIFIER

An FX with this modifier targets a different resistance than usual. The FX and modifier remain the same, only the resistance differs. This is particularly important for Toughness resistance FX, which have a base resistance of 5 + rank, rather than 10 + rank. If you change an FX with a Toughness resistance to another resistance, its resistance remains 5 + rank. When applied to FX requiring a Toughness resistance, Alternate Resistance is a +1 modifier and can only make the FX's resistance Fortitude or Will. Fortitude generally represents a toxic FX like a poison, while Will represents a mental or spiritual attack. In either case the FX only works on targets with the appropriate resistance: Fortitude only affects living targets with a Constitution score. Will only affects creatures with all three mental ability scores. Neither works on inanimate objects. Applied to FX requiring some other resistance, this modifier does not change an FX's cost (it is a +0 modifier). The GM may choose to add a modifier if the alternate resistance grants a significant advantage in the campaign, but usually the differences in utility against various targets even out.

AREA

+1 MODIFIER

This extra allows an FX that normally works on a single target to affect an entire area. Area FX are defined as targeted or general, by their shape, and by their interaction with FX range and duration. FX that already affect a given area cannot apply this modifier; their area is defined by the FX’s rank and the use of the Progression FX feat.

Area FX Shape

Enlarging and Reducing Area You may affect a smaller area than your maximum by lowering the FX’s rank (reducing its effectiveness as well). So a rank 8 burst area has a radius of 40 feet (8 x 5 feet). If you lower the FX’s rank to 4, you reduce the radius to 20 feet. FX with the Full Power drawback cannot adjust their area, since you cannot voluntarily lower the FX’s rank. The Progression FX feat increases the size of an Area effect, moving its base distance one step up the Time and Value Progression Table. Since FX feat use is optional, you can choose not to use extra area provided by Progression without lowering the FX’s rank. The Progression feat can also reduce the size of an Area FX: each feat acquired for this purpose lowers the FX’s effective rank by one to a minimum of one rank. This is a separate application of Progression and is likewise optional, you choose how much to reduce the area’s size, or if you reduce it at all.

Choose one of the following options: •

Burst: The FX fills a sphere with a 5-foot radius per rank. Bursts on level surfaces (like the ground) create hemispheres (rank x 5 feet) in radius and height.

Area and Range The Area modifier interacts with different ranges as follows:

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I •

Touch: An FX must be at least touch range in order to apply the Area extra (personal range effects work only on the user by definition). A Touch Area FX originates from the user and fills the affected area; the user is not affected by it. So, for example, a touch range Burst Area Damage FX does not damage the user. This immunity does not extend to anyone else: for that, apply the Selective Attack extra.

•

Ranged: A ranged Area FX’s area can be placed anywhere within the FX’s range, extending to fill the area’s volume.

•

Perception: A perception range area FX can be placed anywhere the user can accurately perceive. Neither General nor Targeted Perception Area FX require an attack roll to reduce their effects, although targets still get a normal resistance against the FX. General Perception Areas are blocked by concealment: if the attacker can’t accurately perceive a target in the area, it is unaffected. Thus even heavy smoke or darkness can block a General Perception Area effect. Cover that does not provide concealment does not block a General Perception Area FX. Targeted Perception Area FX are blocked by cover, much like conventional explosions: solid barriers can interfere with the FX, even if they are transparent, and the FX ignores concealment like darkness, shadows, or smoke. Only targets behind complete cover are unaffected.

Area and Duration If the Area effect has a duration longer than instant, choose one of the following options (with no change in cost): •

Stationary: A stationary Area FX remains where it is placed for as long as the FX lasts. Anyone in the area (or entering the area) is affected for as long as they remain. Anyone leaving the area is no longer affected.

•

Attached: An attached Area effect remains with the targets it initially affects for as long as the FX lasts, even if those targets leave the initial area. Others who enter the area after the initial FX are not affected by it, only the initial targets.

ATTACK

+0 MODIFIER

This extra applies to personal range FX, making them into attack FX. Examples include Shrinking and Teleport, creating attacks that cause a target to shrink or teleport away. Unlike most extras, the FX’s cost does not change, although it does work differently. The FX no longer works on you, so a Teleport Attack can’t be used to teleport yourself. It affects one creature of any size or 100 lbs. of inanimate mass. You can increase affected mass with the Progression FX feat. The FX has touch range and requires one action and a melee attack roll to touch the subject. Its ranged can be improved with the Range extra. Its required action can be changed with the Action modifier. The attack must overcome the character's resistances, determined when the FX is purchased. Generally Will resistance is the most appropriate. You must define reasonably common defenses that negate an Attack FX entirely, such as force fields or the ability to teleport blocking a Teleport Attack. You control the FX, and maintain it, if it has a duration longer than instant. If you want both versions of an Attack FX, such as being able to Teleport yourself and Teleport others as an attack, take both as configurations of an Array structure. For the ability to use both options simultaneously—to teleport a target and yourself at the same time, for example—apply a +1 modifier.

AURA

+1 MODIFIER

A touch range sustained duration FX with this extra automatically affects anyone touching you, including anyone who strikes or grapples you unarmed, as well as anyone you touch or grapple. To apply this extra, first modify the FX’s range and duration, if they are not already touch and sustained, then apply the Aura modifier. So a Damage FX (which is touch range and instant duration) would need a +2 Duration modifier along with the +1 Aura modifier. You can turn your aura on or off as a free action and it is sustained in duration (the FX itself has its normal duration, so an Inflict (Condition) Aura’s effect is still instant in duration and lasting). You can change your aura FX’s duration with Duration modifiers. You can apply the Selective feat to change what parts of your body the aura covers as a free action; it normally surrounds you completely. Any attacker who makes a successful unarmed attack or a successful attack roll to begin a grapple is automatically affected by your Aura. This includes those attacks which you successfully block in such a manner that the attacker comes into contact with your Aura. The attacker gets a normal resistance against the Aura’s FX. An attacker using a melee weapon does not come into direct contact with your Aura and therefore is generally not affected by it, although the Aura may affect the weapon itself. Descriptors can also affect this; for example, an Electrical Damage Aura could conduct through a metal weapon, affecting the wielder, while leaving the weapon itself largely undamaged. The Gamemaster should adjudicate these on a case-by-case basis. If you make an unarmed attack while your Aura is active, a Damage Aura stacks with your melee damage, while targets resist other Aura FX separately. The total damage modifier may not exceed the campaign's power level. You can also inflict your Aura effect on anyone you successfully touch (including many attempts to Gain Combat Advantage; you only need to make a successful attack roll to touch someone. The FX occurs whether or not you win the opposed Maneuver check. The maneuver must still involve you directly touching your target. It occurs again each round on your action so long as you hold the target, which is likely to encourage your opponent to escape as soon as possible. If you activate your Aura while being held, it affects anyone grabbing you automatically (and, again, will likely encourage them to let go). An Aura FX does not provide any protection against attacks (beyond dissuading opponents from attacking you unarmed); use an appropriate defense FX like Endurance for that.

Mental Aura Optionally, an Aura may be set up as a Mental Aura, “surrounding” your mind rather than your body. This has the same cost and requirements as a regular Aura FX. In this case, the Aura affects anyone “touching” your mind with an FX like Mind Reading or Mind Control. Otherwise, it works essentially the same: you immediately damage the aggressor during the Mental Aura FX and must do so again on each of your actions so long as mental contact is maintained.

BARRAGE

+1 MODIFIER

One of your attacks is unleashed in a fusillade, a dangerous onslaught that can score many hits in quick succession, dealing heavy damage. A barrage allows you to build up a dice pool which is used to roll for the attack's effect. If you hit a target with an attack

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I which has this extra, make an attack roll again. If that second attack roll hits, add one die to the dice pool, and then roll to attack again. You can build up a dice pool of up to two bonus dice using this extra. Roll your attack's effect with your normal one die plus this dice pool, and take the highest result for determining the attack's effect. You can take this extra a second time to represent an even more furious attack. Your dice pool can reach up to five dice instead of just two.

CONTAGIOUS

+1 MODIFIER

Contagious FX work on both the target and anyone coming into contact with the target. New targets resist the FX normally. They also become contagious, and the FX lingers until all traces have been eliminated. A Contagious FX is also eliminated if you stop maintaining it, although Continuous Contagious FX remain without need for maintenance. Examples of FX with this extra include “sticky” snares trapping anyone touching them, Contagious Disease Drains, or even a Nullify FX spreading from one victim to another.

DISEASE

+2 MODIFIER

This extra causes an instant duration FX to work like a disease. If you overcome the target's resistance, the target is infected, but the Disease FX does not work immediately. Instead, on the following day, the target makes a check with the same resistance. If that check fails, the FX occurs. If the check succeeds, there is no FX that day. The target makes another check each day. Two successful checks in a row eliminate the Disease FX from the target’s system; otherwise it continues to occur each day. The target cannot recover from the Disease FX until it is cured. A Healing FX can counter a Disease effect with a (DC 10 + FX rank) check.

DURATION

+1 MODIFIER/STEP

An FX has one of the following durations: Instant, Concentration, Sustained, or Continuous. Increasing duration one step (from instant to concentration, for example) is a +1 modifier. Permanent duration is a flaw applied to Continuous FX.

EXPLOSION

+1 MODIFIER

The FX with this modifier radiates out 10 feet per rank from a center point, much like a Burst Area, except it loses one rank of effectiveness per 10 feet after the first (having its full effect in the first 10-foot radius, then minus 1 rank, minus 2, and so forth). You are affected by the FX if you’re within it’s area, unless it’s a touch range or you have Immunity to the FX.

IMPERVIOUS

+1 MODIFIER

A resistance with this modifier is especially resistant. Any FX with an effect modifier less than the Impervious resistance's bonus is resisted automatically (that is, the resistance automatically succeeds). So, for example, Impervious Toughness 8 automatically resists any Damage with a bonus of +7 or less. Penetrating FX can overcome some or all of an Impervious resistance. Impervious is primarily intended for Toughness resistances, to handle characters immune to a certain threshold of damage, but it

can be applied to other resistances with the GM’s permission, to reflect characters with certain reliable capabilities in terms of resisting particular FX or hazards.

INDEPENDENT

+0 MODIFIER

Applied to a sustained FX, this modifier makes its duration independent of the user and based instead on the number of character points in the FX. The FX occurs normally and then fades at a rate of 1 character point of effectiveness per round until it is gone. While it lasts, it requires no attention or maintenance from the user, like a continuous duration FX, although it can still be countered or nullified (also like a continuous FX). This is like a combination of the Duration (continuous) and Fades modifiers. An Independent Alternate FX continues to function even when the Array is switched to a different configuration. If an effect is not sustained, modify its duration before applying this modifier. Independent is useful for FX like Create Objects (for objects that fade or melt away), Environmental Control (for changes to the environment that slowly return to normal), or Obscure (for obscured areas that slowly shrink and disappear, like the FX of a smoke or gas grenade). The Slow Fade FX feat can modify the rate at which the Independent FX fades, and the Total Fade modifier can keep it at full strength until its duration runs out, although the GM should approve any increases in the fade duration as best suits the FX and the game.

INSIDIOUS

+1 MODIFIER

This modifier is similar to the Subtle FX feat, except Insidious makes the result of an FX harder to detect rather than the FX itself. For example, a target suffering from Insidious Damage isn’t even aware he’s been damaged, someone affected by an Insidious Drain feels fine until some deficiency becomes obvious, and so forth. A target of an Insidious FX may remain unaware of any danger until it’s too late! An Insidious FX is detectable either by a DC 20 skill check (usually Perception, although skills like Knowledge, or Science may apply in other cases as the GM sees fit) or a particular unusual sense, such as an Insidious magical FX noticeable by detect magic or magical awareness. Note that Insidious does not make the FX itself harder to notice; apply the Subtle FX feat for that. So it is possible for an active Insidious FX to be noticeable: the target can perceive the FX, but not its results: for example, the FX appears “harmless” or doesn’t seem to “do anything” since the target cannot detect the results.

KNOCKBACK

+1 MODIFIER

When applied to a non-Damage FX, this extra causes it to inflict knockback like a Damage FX. This is best suited to attack FX, naturally, although the GM should adjudicate applications of the modifier.

LINKED

+0 MODIFIER

This modifier applies to two or more FX, linking them together so they only work in conjunction as a single FX. The Linked FX must have the same range (modify their ranges so they match). The action required to use the combined FX is the longest of its components and they use a single attack roll (if one is

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I required) and roll to overcome effect resistance (if both FX use the same type of resistance). If the FX use different resistances, roll to overcome the target's resistances with each separately. Different Alternate FX in an Array cannot be Linked to each other, since they can’t be used at the same time, although they can be Linked to other FX outside the Array structure. Generally the same FX cannot be Linked to itself to “multiply” the results of a failed resistance (such as two Linked Damage FX causing “double damage” on a successful attack). This modifier does not change the cost of the component FX; simply add their costs together to get the new FX’s cost. If you can use the Linked FX either separately or together, increase the cost of all but the most expensive power by +1 per rank (if the FX all have the same cost, choose one), or acquire non-Linked versions as Alternate FX in an Array.

MAGICAL

MAGICAL STRAIN (STAGED) Fail

Strained

Fail by 5

Strained + Dazed Strained + Dazed + Unconscious Recovery

Recovery

Option: With GM permission, you may be permitted to substitute an alternate resistance or even skill check in place of the required Will check to represent other types of magic. For instance, different skill checks might be appropriate for different types or schools of magic.

+1 MODIFIER

When applied to the base FX of an Array of Alternate FX, this modifier provides an additional 2 character points per FX rank to distribute among the FX of the array, which represent a mystical energy source you can channel, such as mana, magical essence, raw magic, and so on. No FX can have more character points allocated to it than the base FX’s total cost without the Magical modifier, but points can be shared among the Dynamic Alternate FX of the array. You can apply Magical as a partial modifier to fine-tune the number of additional character points it grants. Unlike other Arrays, a character must make a Will check (DC 10 + number of ranks of the Magical Extra the player wishes to use) while re-allocating his Array points. On a failed Will check, the attempt to change the Array fails, and depending on how much the check fails by, the character may suffer progressively worse conditions (see the condition table below).

Fail by 10

All Magical FX with a Sustained duration have the Independent modifier applied to them at no cost. Note that at any given time, you are not required to “tap” into all or even any of the bonus power points provided by the Magical extra. If you choose to use none of the bonus character points granted by this extra, no Will check is needed, and if you choose to use fewer than the total ranks in Magical, your Will check DC is similarly lowered.

CONDITION -2 to future Will checks to use a Magical FX -1 actions Helpless

MENTAL

+0 MODIFIER

Applied to a perception range FX with a Will resistance, this modifier makes it a mental sensory FX. If necessary, first modify the FX’s range and resistance before apply this modifier. It is similar to the Sense-Dependent flaw but is a +0 modifier because, unlike Sense-Dependent, a Mental FX is less limited. Mental FX are noticeable only to the subject and those observers with the appropriate mental senses. They only work on creatures with mental ability scores. Other sensory FX may interfere with or block mental sensory FX.

NO RESISTANCE

+2 MODIFIER

An FX that normally needs to overcome a target's resistances does not do so with the application of this modifier. Essentially, the target is assumed to automatically fail to resist the FX. If applied to a staged effect, the user must roll to overcome resistance as normal, but the FX has its minimum possible effect (that of succeeding by 1) even if the roll would normally fail. Immunity (and any other FX where a character automatically resists) trumps this modifier; targets immune to an FX are equally immune to No Resistance versions of that FX.

10 minutes check Note: No Resistance can be potentially unbalancing when used by players, as it allows them to automatically overcome the resistances of even the most potent enemies. It is strongly recommended that No Resistance be used sparingly, even for NPCs.

PENETRATING

+1 MODIFIER

This extra allows an attack FX to overcome the resistance afforded by the Impervious modifiers. Reduce the ranks of the Impervious modifier by the ranks of Penetrating FX. So Penetrating Damage 7 reduces the Imperviousness of a target’s Toughness by 7. So Impervious Toughness 11 would be treated as +11 Toughness with only 4 ranks of Impervious (11 – 7). Any remaining Impervious Toughness is applied normally against the attack, so if the Penetrating modifier does not reduce the Impervious modifier below the attack’s damage bonus, the attack still has no effect. Like Impervious, Penetrating is primarily intended for a Damage FX to overcome Impervious Toughness resistance, to handle

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I characters immune to a certain threshold of damage, but it can be applied to other attacks with the GM’s permission, to reflect characters able to break through even the hardiest resistances.

POISON

+1 MODIFIER

This extra, when applied to an FX allowing a resistance, causes it to work like a toxin. If the attack succeeds, the FX occurs. One minute later, roll to overcome the target's resistances again. If you succeed again, the target suffers the FX a second time. Then the FX stops. A Healing FX can counter a Poison FX with a (DC 10 + FX rank) check.

RANGE

+1 MODIFIER

An instant FX with this modifier affects the target once immediately (when the FX is used) and then affects the target again on the following round, on the same initiative count as the initial attack. Roll to overcome the target's resistance with the secondary effect, which is treated as lasting, meaning it occurs without any effort on the part of the attacker, even if the attacker is incapacitated or switches to a different Alternate FX or Variable FX configuration. Secondary Effects don’t stack, so if you attack a target with your Secondary Effect on the round after a successful hit, it doesn’t affect the target twice; it simply delays the second FX for a round. You can attack the target with a different FX, however. So, for example, if you hit a target with a Secondary Effect Damage then, on the following round, hit with an Inflict (Condition) attack, the target suffers both the Inflict and the Secondary Effect of the Damage.

SELECTIVE ATTACK

+1 MODIFIER

An attack FX with this extra is discriminating, allowing you to decide who is and is not affected. This is most useful for Area FX. You must be able to accurately perceive a target in order to decide whether or not to affect it. This modifier is for FX which would normally allow resistance. For other area FX, use the Selective FX feat.

SLEEP

TOTAL FADE

+1 MODIFIER

FX with this extra don’t fade gradually, at the normal at a rate of 1 character point per round. Instead, when the total fade time is up, the trait returns to its normal level. For example, an ability score receives an adjustment of 10 points. This would normally fade in a minute, or ten rounds (at a rate of 1 point per round). With total fade, the ability score retains the 10-point adjustment for one minute, and then loses the entire amount at once, back to its original value.

+1 MODIFIER/STEP

An FX has a range of touch, touch-perception, ranged, or perception. Increasing range one step (from touch to ranged, for example) is a +1 modifier. Going from touch or ranged to touchperception or perception is also a +1 modifier. Going from personal to touch range requires the Affects Others or Attack extras, not this extra. Extended range FX cannot have this modifier; their range determined by FX rank. To change the FX’s range, increase or decrease its rank.

SECONDARY EFFECT

character automatically. A sleeping character that takes damage automatically wakes up.

+0 MODIFIER

When this modifier is applied to an FX that causes unconsciousness (such as Damage or Inflict (Condition)), the FX puts targets into a deep sleep whenever it would normally render them unconscious. The target makes a recovery check to wake up only once per hour rather than once per minute, but may be awoken by loud noise (make a Perception check for the subject with a –10 modifier, a successful check means the subject wakes up). Someone taking an aid action can awaken a sleeping

Note: Gamemasters should be cautious about allowing this modifier in conjunction with more than one or two ranks of the Slow Fade FX feat; it can be an easy way to create long-lasting FX requiring no effort from the user.

VAMPIRIC

+1 MODIFIER

When you successfully damage a target with an attack FX with this extra, you can make an immediate recovery check for the same damage condition you inflict (or a lesser condition, if you wish). You get a bonus on the check equal to your attack’s damage bonus. So, if you inflict a staggered result on a target with a vampiric attack, you can make an immediate recovery check if you are staggered. If you are not staggered, only injured, you can still make the check. That would not be the case if you inflicted an injured result with a vampiric attack and were staggered; an injured condition is less than a staggered condition, so you don’t get a check to recover from it.

WIDE

+1 MODIFIER

When applied to the base FX of an Array of Alternate FX, this modifier provides an additional 2 character points per FX rank to distribute among the FX of the array. No FX can have more character points allocated to it than the base FX’s total cost without the Wide modifier, but points can be shared among the Dynamic Alternate FX of the array. You can apply the Wide modifier multiple times; each time, it increases the number of character points available to the array by 2 per rank in the base FX. You can apply Wide as a partial modifier to fine-tune the number of additional character points it grants.

Note: Wide used by itself is a potentially unbalancing ability that can essentially grant a character tremendous number of "free" character points for a dynamic array. Be wary of players attempting to find point breaks with this ability. You may wish to encourage them to use the Magical extra, which uses a similar concept with some additional restrictions to help even the benefit out more.

Flaws Unless specified otherwise, the following flaws reduce an effect’s cost per rank by 1 point per application. A good rule of thumb for

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I deciding whether a particular limitation on an FX should suffer a flaw or only a drawback is to look at how often the limitation will come into play. If a limitation cuts the utility to power of an FX by half, then it qualifies as a flaw. If it hampers an FX by less than that, it probably only qualifies for a drawback.

•

ACTION

Note: The GM is encouraged to set the check difficulty high enough that a character still has an reasonable chance of failure (around 50%), especially characters with very high skill check modifiers. Generally speaking, the player shouldn't be getting more points back for taking the Check Required flaw and still automatically succeeding on the check than the player spends on improving the appropriate skill. Keep in mind the broad utility of skills, and that taking high ranks in skills is often to the benefit of characters even without this flaw.

-1 MODIFIER/STEP

Using an FX requires one of the following types of actions: reaction, free, one, or two actions. Increasing the required action one step (one to two actions, for example) is a –1 modifier. After two actions, each step up the Time and Value Progression Table (two actions to one minute, then five minutes, etc.) is a 1-character FX drawback.

ADDITIONAL RESISTANCE

-1 MODIFIER

DISTRACTING

An FX with this flaw must overcome two resistances rather than just one, if either resistance succeeds, then the target avoids the FX. It only applies to FX that targets a resistance. The additional resistance can be the same type as the first or a different resistance; choose when the modifier is applied. The resistances are assumed to occur simultaneously. For example, a Damage Aura FX might involve whirling blades an attacker can avoid with good Reflexes, preventing the Damage from ever having a chance to pierce his toughness.

CHECK REQUIRED

-1 MODIFIER

An FX with this flaw requires a check of some sort (usually a skill check) with a Difficulty of (15 + FX rank) in order to work normally. If the check fails, the FX doesn’t work, although the action required to use it is expended (so attempting to activate an FX that takes one action takes one action whether the check is successful or not). The check occurs as part of the action to use the FX and provides no benefit other than helping to activate it. Normal modifiers apply to the check, however, and if you are unable to make the required check for any reason, then the FX doesn’t work. This check must be in addition to any check(s) normally required for the FX. So, for example, the normal Perception check made in conjunction with a sensory FX does not count as an application of this flaw, and applying it means an additional check is required before the FX’s normally required check(s).

Check Examples Skill checks an FX may require include: •

Acrobatics: Suitable for FX requiring a measure coordination, athletics, or complex maneuvering.

•

Art: Good for FX requiring a Will resistance, including sensory and alteration FX like Morph, Illusion, and Mind Control.

•

Infiltration: Best Concealment.

•

Knowledge: A Knowledge skill check might represent having to know something about the subject of the FX (such as a sciences Knowledge) or having to know something about the FX itself (such as arcane lore or technology). Operating a complex device may also require a Knowledge check.

•

suited

to

Science: Works well for biological FX like Healing or others requiring a Fortitude resistance or involving the body and medicine.

sensory

FX,

of

particularly

Persuasion: Good for FX intended to deceive, particularly sensory FX like Concealment or Illusion.

-1 MODIFIER

Using a Distracting FX requires more concentration than usual, causing you to lose your Defense bonus on any round the FX is used or maintained. Traits allowing you to retain your Defense bonus (such as the Uncanny Dodge feat) do not apply to Distracting FX.

DURATION

-1 MODIFIER/STEP

An FX has one of the following durations: instant, concentration, sustained, or continuous. Reducing duration one step (sustained to concentration, for example) is a –1 modifier. An FX’s duration cannot be decreased below instant, and many FX become virtually useless if their duration is decreased below concentration.

ESCALATES

-1 MODIFIER/STEP

FX to which the Fades flaw can be applied may instead escalate to represent a “ramping up” FX. Each round or use of the FX adds 1 character point, starting at 1 character point. Once the FX reaches its maximum number of character points, it “burns out,” and needs to be recovered in the same fashion as a faded FX.

FADES

-1 MODIFIER

Each time you use an FX with this flaw, it loses 1 character point (not rank) and a commensurate amount of effectiveness. For FX with a duration longer than instant, each round is considered “one use.” Once the FX reaches 0 points (or below the minimum cost for one rank), it stops working. A faded FX can be “recovered” in some fashion, such as recharging, rest, repair, reloading, and so forth. The GM decides when and how a faded FX recovers, but it should generally occur outside of combat and take at least an hour’s time. The GM may allow a character to recover a faded FX immediately and completely by spending a hero die. The Slow Fade extra reduces the rate at which an FX fades.

FEEDBACK

-1 MODIFIER

You suffer pain when a manifestation of your FX is damaged. This flaw only applies to FX with physical (or apparently physical) manifestations, such as Create Objects, Illusion, or Summon (Minion), for example. If your FX’s manifestation is damaged, the attacker rolls to overcome your resistance, using the

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I manifestation’s Toughness resistance bonus or FX rank in place of your own. For example, if you create a Toughness 12 object and it is attacked for +15 damage, your opponent rolls a damage check with a +15 modifier against a Toughness resistance of 22 (the object’s Toughness in place of your normal Toughness resistance).

LIMITED

-1 MODIFIER

An FX with this flaw is not effective all the time. Limited FX generally break down into two types: those usable only in certain situations and those usable only on certain things. For example Only Usable While Singing Loudly, Only Usable While Flying, Only Usable on Men (or Women), Only Usable Against Fire, Not Usable on Yellow Things, and so forth. As a general rule, the FX must lose about half its usefulness to qualify for this modifier. A great many other modifiers can be seen as variations on the Limited flaw (such as Unreliable, which also makes an FX ineffective about half the time), a number of examples are provided throughout these rules, but players and GMs should feel free to come up with their own.

Partially Limited If your FX is only somewhat effective in particular circumstances, then apply the flaw to only some of its ranks. For example, an attack FX that does half damage against targets with Enhanced Toughness (to represent a diminished ability to penetrate armor, for example) applies the Limited flaw to only half of its ranks.

PERMANENT

-1 MODIFIER

A continuous FX with this flaw cannot be turned off; it is always on by default. If some outside force turns it off—usually a Nullify FX—it turns back on automatically as a reaction at the earliest opportunity. Additionally, you cannot improve a Permanent FX using Hero Dice. This includes adding temporary FX feats. Permanent FX may be rather inconvenient at times (including things like being permanently incorporeal or 30 feet tall); this is included in the value of the Permanent flaw. Permanent FX that are not inconvenient in any way generally don’t qualify for this flaw, and the Gamemaster should control the application of the Permanent flaw to ensure it is actually a flaw.

PHANTASM

-1 MODIFIER

This flaw applies to FX like Concealment, Illusion, Morph, Obscure, and others that alter how things appear. A phantasmal FX controls how others perceive things rather than creating an actual, physical, FX. A phantasm has no effect on a mindless subject (like most machines) and must overcome a target's Will resistance to have effect if an observer has any reason to believe it isn't what it appears (just like detecting an illusion). Phantasm includes a measure of the Resistance Allowed flaw, so it doesn’t apply, although Additional Resistance may.

RANGE

-1 MODIFIER/STEP

An FX has a range of touch, touch-perception, ranged, or perception. Decreasing an FX’s range by one step (from ranged to touch, for example) is a –1 modifier. Decreasing a perception or touch-perception to ranged or touch is also a -1 modifier. Extended

range FX have their range determined by FX rank. To change the FX’s range, increase or decrease its rank; this flaw does not apply. Touch range FX cannot usually decrease their range, since it limits the FX to the user, which generally makes the FX more of a drawback than anything. In cases where it’s allowed, moving a touch range FX to personal is also a –1 flaw.

REQUIRES COMBAT ADVANTAGE

-1 MODIFIER

An FX with this flaw is a surprise attack, which requires you to have Combat Advantage against a target before using the FX. This generally applies to an FX that is usable against others, since you can only use it against a foe who is more vulnerable than normal. If you do not gain combat advantage, you cannot use the FX.

RESISTANCE ALLOWED

-1 MODIFIER

When applied to an FX that doesn’t normally allow resistance, this flaw gives allows one, generally Fortitude or Will. If an FX already allows resistance (even if the FX is harmless), this flaw does not apply. Instead, use the Additional Resistance flaw. Since FX that work on others allow resistance by definition, this flaw nearly always applies to personal FX that allow someone interacting with them to circumvent the FX with a successful resistance. For example, an Enhanced Defense FX might reflect a subconscious psychic broadcast that makes it difficult for opponents to attack you. However, it may allow Will resistance to avoid the FX, denying you the Defense bonus against that opponent (and applying this flaw to the FX). Likewise, your Concealment FX might be illusory, permitting a Will resistance for someone to deny it.

RESTORATIVE

-1 MODIFIER

A trait FX with this flaw only restores traits to their normal values and cannot raise or lower them above or below that level. Traits restored to their normal values do not fade, as normal.

SENSE-DEPENDENT

-1 MODIFIER

A perception range FX with this flaw works through the target's senses rather yours. So a Sight-Dependent FX requires the target to see you, Hearing-Dependent to hear you, and so forth. Opponents aware of a Sense-Dependent FX can also deliberately block the targeted sense: looking away, covering ears, etc. as a free action on their turns. This gives you partial concealment from that sense but your Sense-Dependent FX has a -5 penalty to its effect modifier for the purpose of targeting that opponent. An opponent unable to sense you at all (blind, deaf, etc.) is immune to the FX. Opponents can do this by closing their eyes, wearing earor nose-plugs, or using another FX like Obscure or a Concealment Attack on you. This gives you total concealment from that sense. Note a Sense-Dependent FX based on the sense of touch is essentially the same as touch range, since you still need to touch the target. This modifier isn’t required; reduce the FX’s range to touch instead. Ranged Touch-Dependent FX aren’t allowed.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I SIDE EFFECT

-1/-2 MODIFIER

Failing to successfully use an FX with this flaw causes some problematic side effect. Failure includes missing an attack roll, or failing to overcome the target's resistance. If the side effect always occurs when you use the FX, it is a –2 modifier. The exact nature of the side effect is for you and the Gamemaster to determine. As a general guideline, it should be an FX about the same in value as the FX with this flaw, not including the cost reduction for the flaw. So an FX with a cost of 20 points should have a 20-point side effect. Typical side effects include Damage, Drain, and Inflict (Condition), or the same FX as the FX (it essentially rebounds and affects you). The Side Effect does not require an attack roll and only affects you, although the GM may permit some Side Effects with the Area modifier on a case-by-case basis. Some “side effects” of FX may actually be Temporary Disabilities.

TIRING

Drawback Value A drawback’s power point value is based on two things: its frequency (how often the drawback affects your character) and its intensity (how seriously the drawback affects your character). The more frequent and intense the drawback, the more points it’s worth. Drawbacks generally range in value from 1 character point for something that comes up rarely and has little effect to 5 character points for a drawback that comes up all the time and seriously weakens the character.

-1 MODIFIER

You have no control over an FX with this flaw. Instead, the Gamemaster decides when and how the FX works. This flaw is best suited for mysterious FX out of the characters’ direct control or FX the GM feels more comfortable having under direct, rather than player, control.

UNRELIABLE

Rule of Thumb: A good rule of thumb for deciding whether a particular limitation on an FX should suffer a flaw or only a drawback is to look at how often the limitation will come into play. If a limitation cuts the utility to power of an FX by half, then it qualifies as a flaw. If it hampers an FX by less than that, it probably only qualifies for a drawback.

-1 MODIFIER

An FX with this flaw causes you to suffer a level of fatigue when you use it. If you use such an FX once, you suffer a -2 penalty to all Strength- and Constitution-related checks. If you use it a second time, you suffer a -5 penalty to Strength- and Constitution-related checks. If you use it a third time, you fall unconscious. You recover from this fatigue normally, and can use Hero Dice to overcome it.

UNCONTROLLED

important for things like Array and Variable structures, which are limited by the number of character points they have to allocate. So an FX with 20 points worth of FX (including modifications from extras and flaws), an FX feat, and a –2 point FX drawback has a total cost of 19 points (20 + 1 – 2), meaning, among other things, it fits “inside” a 20-point Array or Container.

-1 MODIFIER

An Unreliable FX doesn’t work all the time. Roll a die each round before you use or maintain the FX. On a roll of 10 or less, it doesn't work this turn, but you’ve still used the action the FX requires. You can check again on the following round to see if it works, although you must take the normal action needed to activate the FX again. Spending a hero die on your reliability roll allows you to succeed automatically (since the roll is then at least an 11). Alternately, instead of having a reliability roll, you can choose to have five uses where your FX works normally, then it stops working until you can “recover” it in some way (see the Fades flaw for more on this). The GM may allow you to spend a hero die to automatically recover a spent Unreliable FX. FX that are only occasionally unreliable (less than about 50% of the time) are better handled as complications.

FX Drawbacks Some drawbacks are FX drawbacks, meaning they apply to a particular FX rather than necessarily to the character. You can think of FX drawbacks as the reverse of FX feats: minor limits on the FX. An FX can have a total value in drawbacks equal to 1 point less than its total cost (so the FX must cost at least 1 character point, regardless of how many drawbacks it has). FX drawbacks decrease the actual cost and value of a FX. This is

Frequency Drawbacks have three levels of frequency: uncommon, common, and very common. Uncommon drawbacks show up about a quarter of the time, every four adventures or so. Common drawbacks show up about half the time, and very common drawbacks show up three-quarters of the time or more. Each level has a frequency check associated with it, which is a simple d20 roll with no modifiers against a DC (15, 10, or 5). A GM who wants to randomly check a drawback makes a frequency

Option: Drawbacks as Complications As introduced in Chapter I: The Basics, Drawbacks don't necessarily need to grant a character additional character points. Instead of granting a character additional character points, you can instead choose to treat drawbacks like complications, which will grant the character bonus Hero Dice instead. If you choose this option, ignore the frequency value for drawbacks: calculate a drawback's value only according to its intensity. When the drawback comes up in play, up to once per encounter, the drawback provides grants the character a number of bonus Hero Dice equal to the drawback's intensity. In this way, while the character is at a disadvantage during an encounter which exploits his or her drawbacks, but gains a little extra edge in the form of additional Hero Dice for the fight. If you use this option, you also have the choice of only granting those bonus Hero Dice for the length of the encounter itself (that is, they are lost at the end of the encounter if not used). In this way, the bonus applies only to the encounter in which the drawback arises, and does not carry through to other encounters later in the session. This is another option you can use to customize your game.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I TABLE 5.13: DRAWBACK VALUE

FULL POWER

Value Frequency: How Often Does The Drawback Come Up? +0 Uncommon (every few adventures. DC 15) +1 Common (every other adventure, DC 10) +2 Very Common (once per adventure, DC 5) Intensity: How Seriously Does The Drawback Affect Value You? Minor: DC 5 to overcome, less capable than the character, +1 or slight limitation. Moderate: DC 10 to overcome, as capable as character, or +2 modest limitation Major: DC 15 to overcome, more capable than the +3 character, or major limitation

You have less than full control over an FX. FX subject to this drawback must be used at full rank or intensity, or not at all. This means you cannot pull punches with an attack, move at less than full speed, and so forth, depending on the FX to which this drawback is assigned. You can still turn the FX on and off as you wish (it is neither Permanent nor Uncontrolled), you just can’t finetune it, it’s either on at full intensity or off entirely. You can’t have the Precise feat for any FX with this drawback. Full Power is an uncommon, minor drawback, worth 1 point.

FX LOSS

check to see if it shows up in the adventure. Otherwise, the GM can simply choose to bring a drawback into play based on its frequency. Note that frequency represents how often the drawback comes up during the game, not necessarily how common it is in the campaign setting. Even if glowing meteors are extraordinarily rare in the setting, if they show up every other adventure, they’re still common in frequency.

Intensity The intensity of a drawback measures how much impact it has on the character. There are three levels of intensity: minor, moderate, and major. Minor drawbacks have a slight impact or are not difficult to overcome. Moderate drawbacks impose some limits, but can be overcome about half of the time. Major drawbacks impose serious limits and are quite difficult to overcome.

Drawback Descriptions Each entry here describes the drawback’s game effect and its suggested value(s). Gamemasters should feel free to expand or modify this list of drawbacks to suit the campaign, using the existing examples as guidelines in terms of mechanics and point values.

ACTION

-1 POINT

-1 TO -3 POINTS

You lose the use of a FX with this drawback under certain conditions. Examples include when exposed to a particular substance, when immersed in water, when unable to speak, and so forth. You can also suffer FX loss from a failure to do something, like not recharging a FX, breaking an oath, not taking a pill, and so forth. FX Loss is minor intensity, with frequency based on how often you encounter the conditions, giving it a value of 1–3 points. You regain use of the FX when the condition that triggered the loss no longer affects you. The loss of Devices and Equipment is not covered by this drawback. Losing Device and Equipment powers due to theft is a part of those traits and factored into their cost. So characters cannot take FX Loss with the condition “when devices or equipment are removed.”

INVOLUNTARY TRANSFORMATION

-1 TO -6 POINTS

You have two or more forms or identities you sometimes change between against your will. The value of the drawback is based on how often you change (frequency) and how difficult it is for you to resist the change (intensity). If you cannot resist the change, no matter what, the intensity value is 3 points. If you involuntarily switch between powered and normal forms, you also have the Normal Identity drawback.

-1 POINT/STEP

An FX requiring longer than two actions to use is considered a drawback. Each step up the Time and Value Progression Table is a 1 point drawback. The drawback cannot equal or exceed the value of the associated FX. So a FX costing 10 points cannot have more than 9 points in this drawback (and meaning the FX takes three months to use!). This drawback can also apply to the time needed to switch between Alternate FX in an Array: 1 point if a one action is required, 2 points if two actions are required, each step up the Time and Value Progression Table thereafter is an additional 1 point drawback. In this case the drawback’s value cannot equal or exceed the FX’s total Alternate FX feats, so a FX with three Alternate FX can only get 2 points out of this drawback (requiring two actions to switch between them).

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I NORMAL IDENTITY

-3 TO -5 POINTS

You have two identities: an empowered one and a normal one. This is not the same as having a secret identity (although you may have that, too, especially in games of the superhero genre). The difference is your normal identity has none of the FX or extraordinary abilities of your empowered self. So in your normal identity you might be an average teenager, businessman, or other everyday person. Characters with Devices may have this drawback, but not necessarily. For example, a character who wears a suit of magic armor might have a Normal Identity while he’s out of the armor, but someone who wields a magic ring doesn’t have a Normal Identity unless he can’t wear or have the ring with him in his normal identity for some reason. To qualify for this drawback there must be some reasonable means of preventing you from changing from your normal to your empowered identity. For example, you might require access to a Device (which can be stolen or disabled), you might need to speak a magic word or incantation (blocked by an Auditory Obscure, a gag, or a simple chokehold), you might need to take a particular pill or formula, and so forth. The GM decides whether or not a particular condition qualifies for this drawback. If you can switch between a normal and empowered identity at will and nothing can prevent it, you don’t qualify for this drawback. If you can’t always control switching between identities, you also have the Involuntary Transformation drawback. You define the traits of your Normal Identity. Your Normal Identity cannot have any FX by definition, and the GM may restrict the application of feats and ability scores above 20. Your Normal Identity must also be built on fewer points than your super-identity (how many fewer is up to the GM, but no more than half is a good rule of thumb). The simplest Normal Identity has the same traits as your super identity, minus any FX. Your two identities may have different appearances. The intensity of this drawback is major (since you lose access to all your FX). The frequency depends on how difficult it is for you to assume your super-identity. If it takes a free action, then it's uncommon (2 points). If it takes a full-round action, it’s common (3 points), and if it takes longer than a full-round action it’s very common (4 points).

NOTICEABLE

REDUCED RANGE

-1 TO -2 POINTS

This drawback reduces the number of range increments of a ranged FX, which normally has a maximum range of ten increments. For –1 point, it reduces the FX to half that, or five increments (the same as throwing range). For –2 points, it reduces the FX to two increments. A greater reduction should be handled by making the FX touch range, possibly with some measure of the Extended Reach feat, if necessary.

TEMPORARY DISABILITY

-1 TO -4 POINTS

You suffer a disability in conjunction with the use of a FX. For example, if your arms transform into wings in order for you to fly (leaving you without the use of your arms and hands while flying) then you have the disability of no arms, normally very common and major (5 points) but reduced to common in frequency, since the disability only applies when you’re flying. If you possessed prehensile feet (able to use them as substitute hands while flying) you would have no real disability at all, and thus no drawback. This drawback doesn’t apply to implied disabilities of an FX: for example, having an attack FX require the use of one hand when you use it (to wield a weapon or to strike) isn’t a disability, it’s just how such FX work. The GM should approve any temporary disabilities caused by FX to ensure they actually are disabilities and are appropriate for the campaign.

WEAK POINT

-1 POINT

This drawback makes a defense FX that provides a Toughness resistance vulnerable to critical hits. A critical hit completely bypasses the FX, ignoring its bonus to Toughness resistances when the target resistances against the attack’s damage. This is in addition to the normal FX of a critical hit (+5 damage). Weak Point is a 1-point drawback.

-1 POINT

A passive FX with this drawback is noticeable in some way (active FX are noticeable by default, see Noticing FX). Choose a noticeable FX of the FX. For example Noticeable Mind Control might cause the subject’s eyes to glow or skin to change color. Noticeable Enhanced Toughness may take the form of armored plates or a tough, leathery-looking hide. Noticeable is an uncommon, minor drawback, worth 1 point.

ONE-WAY TRANSFORMATION

hours plus certain resources (a lab, workshop, special equipment or components, and so forth). It’s major if it takes a matter of days or longer.

FX Structures A structure is how a supernatural ability is put together from a combination of FX, modifiers, feats, and possibly drawbacks. The normal FX structure described in the Introduction is: FX cost = (components + extras – flaws) x rank + (feats – drawbacks)

-3 TO -5 POINTS

When you transform through the use of a FX such as Metamorph or due to the Normal Identity or Involuntary Transformation drawbacks, it takes some time for you to return to “normal.” This may be due to a need to “bleed off” excess energy, letting the transformation lapse slowly, or a requirement to reset certain mechanical system parameters. Whatever the case, undoing your transformation is involved. One-Way Transformation is a very common drawback (less if you don’t transform every adventure). Its intensity is minor if it takes a matter of hours for you to return to normal. It’s moderate if it takes

The minimum FX cost for this and all other structures is 1 character point (although in some cases, 1 character point may provide more than one FX rank, see Fractional FX Costs.)

ARRAY

FX STRUCTURE

You have a collection or Array of (Array rank x 2) character points you can use to duplicate other FX, which share the descriptors and the points available to the Array. You can allocate your Array points once per round as a free action to any of the FX of your Array. Your

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I Array also has one “default” FX where it can apply its points; choose this when you create the structure. Essentially, an Array is a collection of FX, each structured in the standard way, but sharing the same “pool” of character points. Each possible “setting” or configuration of an Array is called an Alternate FX. A particular Alternate FX includes all FX, FX feats, modifiers, and drawbacks included in that particular FX. So if your Array gives you 20 character points to allocate, and you have an Alternate FX that is a 4 points per rank FX with two FX feats, then you have 4 ranks in that FX (for 16 character points) plus the two feats for a total cost of 18 points. Any “leftover” Array points not allocated to an Alternate FX don’t do anything. Each Alternate FX of your Array requires an Alternate FX feat. So being able to apply your Array points to the Damage FX is one FX feat. To apply them to Damage with the Area extra is another FX feat, to apply them to Enhanced Senses is a third feat, and so forth.

Alternate FX Power Level Limits

Some FX feats apply to the Array structure itself rather than to any of its Alternate FX. These feats are “outside” and apply equally to all Alternate FX. The GM should carefully scrutinize any such overall feats, ensuring they do in fact apply to the Array as a whole. Array points do not need to be applied to these FX feats. way, but sharing the same “pool” of character points. Each possible “setting” or configuration of an Array is called an Alternate FX. Array points do not need to be applied to these FX feats. •

Accurate: This FX feat can be applied to the Array as a whole, granting its benefits to all of the Array’s FX requiring attack rolls, since the Array can be considered a single FX (albeit one with multiple applications).

•

Alternate FX: This feat adds an additional Alternate FX to the Array, another way in which its character points may be applied, subject to the normal guidelines for Alternate FX, given in the FX’s description.

•

Dynamic: Applied to one of the Array’s Alternate FX, this feat makes that Alternate FX dynamic, allowing it to share Array character points with other Dynamic Alternate FX. Making the default FX of an Array dynamic also requires an application of this feat. Usually, an Array needs at least two Dynamic configurations for this feat to be useful, although it can also be handy for Arrays where one Alternate FX requires fewer points than the Array provides (allowing those “wasted” points to be applied elsewhere). The total point value of Dynamic Alternate FX in use still cannot exceed the Array’s available character points and the Array’s configuration can still only change once per round.

Alternate FX are subject to the normal power level limits on FX. So, even if you have sufficient Array points to acquire a rank 20 Damage FX, for example, you’re still limited to whatever the campaign’s power level limit is on damage. This may result in “wasted points” for some Alternate FX, as previously described, but is generally more than compensated for by the flexibility an Array provides. Non-player characters are limited in the same way to whatever power level the GM sets for them.

Using Alternate FX Each Alternate FX available to your Array is usable individually. While one Alternate FX is in use, none of the others are available. So if you have an Array with Damage, Dazzle, Enhanced (Trait), and Enhanced Movement Alternate FX, for example, you can only use one of these each round, the others don’t work and aren’t considered in FX. The Dynamic FX feat (see Array’s FX feats, following) changes this, allowing you to “mix-and-match” Alternate FX.

Multiple FX in an Alternate FX An Alternate FX can contain more than one FX and you can use all the FX of that Alternate FX normally, requiring their usual actions. FX in the same Alternate FX need not be Linked, although they can be. For example, a rank 10 Array with 20 character points can have an Alternate FX that has Enhanced Movement 5 (10 points) and Enhanced Toughness 10 (10 points), both usable at the same time. Indeed, FX in the same Alternate FX must have points allocated to them at the same time and in the same proportion in order to use them at all, although they don’t have to be activated at the same time unless they are Linked.

Extras Generally, extras are applied to the various FX in an Array’s Alternate FX rather than to the Array itself. If a particular extra applies to all of an Array’s Alternate FX equally, the GM may wish to note it as applying to the Array itself for simplicity. The extra “floats,” applying to whatever Alternate FX is in use at the time. Example: An Array of gas cloud attacks might all have the Cloud Area extra, in which case you can increase the cost of the Array from 2 points to 3 points per rank and apply 2 character points per rank to each Alternate FX without the need to apply points to the Cloud Area extra each time; it applies to all of the Alternate FX at no “cost” (since the cost is already covered by the increased cost of the Array). •

Action: Note that the free action required to change an Array’s configuration may only be reduced to a reaction at the GM’s discretion to suit a particular concept (an Array that changes automatically as a reaction to a particular circumstance). Even in this case, the Gamemaster should be wary of allowing an Array to reconfigure more than once per round.

•

Affects Others: An Array may have this modifier, allowing you to grant the use of the Array and its Alternate FX to someone else. The subject granted the use of the Array controls its configuration from round to round (although you retain the ability to withdraw use of the Array altogether when you wish).

•

Linked: FX in the same Alternate FX are not linked by default, but may have this modifier, if they’re intended solely for use simultaneously. So, for example, an Alternate FX can have two independent FX (such as Enhanced Movement and Concealment), but they are not Linked, and must be activated separately unless the Linked modifier is applied to them.

•

Range: An Array with the Affects Others modifier may have the Range extra to improve the range at which you can grant the Array to another. This does not alter the ranges of the Array’s

FX Feats FX feats within a particular Alternate FX are considered part of it and not feats of the Array itself. Thus points for the Array must be assigned to those feats in order to make that Alternate FX active, whether the feats are in use or not.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I various Alternate FX. To do so, apply the Range modifier to the FX(s) within a particular Alternate FX.

•

Distracting: An Array that is distracting to reconfigure is a drawback rather than a flaw. The Array’s individual Alternate FX may also be distracting to use, in which case the flaw is applied individually to them, rather than the Array as a whole. If all the Alternate FX of the Array are distracting, then the flaw may apply to the entire Array structure but then does not apply to its Alternate FX when figuring their cost. Uncontrolled: If this flaw is applied to the Array structure (rather than one or more of its Alternate FX) then the Gamemaster controls when the Array’s configuration changes and which one it changes to when it does. If the Array has Dynamic Alternate FX, the GM also decides where its character points are allocated. Uncontrolled applied to a particular Alternate FX has its normal FX when that Alternate FX is in use.

•

Unreliable: If this flaw is applied to the Array as a whole (rather than one or more of its Alternate FX), then changing the Array’s configuration becomes Unreliable. The player must roll a die when changing the Array, on a 10 or less the Array is “stuck” on its current Alternate FX and doesn’t change.

Flaws Alternate FX can have their own individual flaws, which reduce the cost of the Alternate FX (and the number of Array character points that must be allocated to it) normally. If a particular flaw applies to all the configurations of an Array, then it may apply to the Array as a whole, the same as with extras. •

Action: Modifying the action required to change an Array’s configuration is a drawback rather than a flaw.

•

Duration: Note that an Array has a “special” duration, which cannot be modified. The Alternate FX of the Array use their individual durations while in use. Switching Alternate FX counts as no longer maintaining that Alternate FX FX(s). Lasting FX persist even when they’re not maintained, however. This remains the case if those lasting FX are part of an Array.

Drawbacks Option: Toning Down Array Versatility For some games, Alternate FX might provide too much versatility for too little price. While they are meant to represent different settings of the same FX, they can indeed be problematic for certain styles of gameplay. You might also simply want to represent different levels of mastery or capability with FX (so that not all new abilities in an array start of immediately as powerful as the base FX). You have a few options in this area which can help you to better tune Alternate FX and arrays to your liking for your game. In both cases, it is recommended that the GM allow players to use the normal Alternate FX feat when using Hero Dice to stunt a novel application of an FX, as there is very incentive in spending a hero die to use a significantly weaker ability. The downside to using these options is that players will tend to stick to their more powerful abilities in combat anyway favoring the more powerful, restricted set of abilities than the weaker, more versatile ones. Half-Power Each iteration of the Alternate FX feat allows an FX only half the pool of character points that the base FX has (so it costs two character points to use the full pool of base character points for an alternate FX, three to make it dynamic). This works especially well for games with very distinct levels of mastery of different abilities, particularly games with spellcasters, where the first application of Alternate FX buys the "apprentice"-level "spell", the second makes it a "journeyman"-level, and the third makes it truly the "master"-level spell. This option tends to make versatility nominally more expensive, and gives the GM the option to veto increases to arrays which threaten to grow too unwieldy. Five-For-One Alternatively, you can arrange it so that each application of the Alternate FX feat buys only five character points worth of the base FX back. Under this option, it would take four applications of the Alternate FX feat to buy a new FX in an array It still encourages characters to stick to stay with similar abilities, offering a five-fold decrease in price, but it forces characters to work much harder and be much more selective about how they build up their versatility.

As noted previously, drawbacks applying to particular Alternate FX of an Array are considered part of that Alternate FX and not the Array structure as a whole. Some drawbacks may apply to the Array structure overall, in which case they also apply equally to all of the Array’s Alternate FX. •

Action: An Action drawback applied to an Array increases the time required to change its configuration: each point of the Action drawback increases the time one step on the Time and Value Progression Table, from a free to one action, then two actions, one minute, and so forth. This can represent an Array requiring “recalibration” or some other involved effort to reconfigure. As usual, the drawback cannot have a value greater than or equal to the total value of the Array.

•

Distracting: If changing the Array’s configuration is distracting —causing you to lose your dodge bonus during the round you reconfigure—this is a 2-point FX drawback for the Array.

•

FX Loss: An Array may have circumstances where it is ineffective or stops functioning, in which case all of the Array’s FX become unavailable. Otherwise, the FX Loss drawback applies to Array like any other FX.

CONTAINER

FX STRUCTURE

A Container places a group of FX, modifiers, feats, and drawbacks sharing common descriptors together in a structure that can be modified as a whole FX by “outside” modifiers and feats affecting the accessibility and use of the Container’s traits. A Container costs 5 points per rank and grants a pool of (rank x 5) character points you can use to acquire certain traits that are all part of a common “meta-trait” or overall FX, an example of this is the Alternate Form FX; a group of traits all connected to assuming a different form. While the form’s FX may have their own individual modifiers, durations, and so forth, the Alternate Form also has its own qualities. Activating the Container structure brings all of its FX “on-line” at once and likewise deactivating the structure makes all of its FX “off-line” or inactive. As you can see, at the default level, a Container has the same cost as acquiring the traits independently (5 points per rank providing 5 character points per rank to spend on traits). The difference comes

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I into play when modifiers are applied to the Container itself, and when the Container’s own action and duration are considered.

Action A Container as a whole is considered either active or passive, just like an FX and this determines, and is determined by, the Container’s action and duration: An active Container requires a free action to make the Container’s FX usable. This free action can also activate any FX in the Container that also requires a free action or less to use at the same time. An example is Alternate Form: a free action shifts the character into the other form and activates any of its free action FX. A passive Container does not require an action (it has an action of none). Its FX are always available, although not necessarily always active and it may require different actions to activate them individually. An example is a Device, an item that contains various FX. The Device is a passive Container for those FX, which are always available, so long as the wielder has the Device, although they may require activation on their own. The Container’s required action does not affect the required actions of its FX: they remain the same unless modified with extras or flaws. So a Container that holds a Damage, Enhanced Movement, and Enhanced (Trait) FX, for example, has an action of free or none, by its FX still require one, one, and none actions, respectively, to use. You can change a Container’s action with extras and flaws like an FX. This modifies the cost of the Container structure itself: so changing an active Container’s action from free to one, for example (a –1 modifier), changes the structure’s cost from 5 points per rank to 4 points per rank (but the Container still grants 5 character points per rank to apply to its FX).

Duration An active Container has a default duration of sustained: the Container’s FX remain accessible so long as you maintain the Container’s activation each round as a free action. If you’re unable to maintain the Container, you also lose access to its FX. If a character in an alternate form is unable to maintain that FX, he reverts to normal form. A passive Container has a default duration of permanent: the Container’s FX are always available and, in fact, cannot be made unavailable unless some other modifier comes into play. Take a suit of armor as a Device: it is a real, permanent item with certain traits that don’t go away unless you take off the armor, which is a particular flaw of Devices. Like action, a Container’s duration does not affect the durations of the FX it contains, with one exception: permanent duration FX in a sustained or continuous duration Container do stop working if the Container is deactivated. While active, these FX still have the limitations of being permanent (no using Hero Dice to improve it, no countering other FX) and you can’t switch them off selectively; you have to deactivate the entire Container. So, for example, a character who turns into solid stone has an active Container with (among other things) the Enhanced Toughness FX to reflect his rock-hard skin. Enhanced Toughness is a permanent FX, meaning the character can’t improve it using Hero Dice. He also can’t just choose to turn off his Toughness to allow a hypodermic to penetrate his skin, for example. He needs to turn off his entire Alternate Form Container, along with all its other FX. In some cases, the GM may decide a permanent duration doesn’t constitute a significant flaw when applied to an FX in a Container

you can turn on and off, in which case the FX may have to have its duration modified. You can change a Container’s default duration with extras and flaws just like an FX, which modifies the cost of the Container structure: so changing an active Container’s default duration to continuous (a +1 modifier), changes the cost of the structure from 5 points per rank to 6 points per rank (although the Container still grants 5 character points per rank to apply to its FX).

Containers and Modifiers In addition to the Action and Duration modifiers, certain other modifiers may apply to a Container structure at the Gamemaster’s discretion. As a general rule, a modifier must affect the ability to activate, access, or maintain a Container in order to apply to it rather than to its individual FX. The following are some guidelines on applying other modifiers to Container structures: •

Action: An active Container can apply an Action flaw to take longer to than a free action to activate.

•

Affects Others: You can bestow a Container with this extra on someone else. With the +0 version, you can only grant the Container and its FX to others; with the +1 version, you can grant the Container’s FX while also using them your- self. Note that you can only grant all of a Container or none of it. The GM may allow selective granting of FX for an additional +1 extra (like the Selective Attack extra).

•

Duration: A Container can apply a Duration flaw to change its default duration.

•

Limited: Certain Limited flaws—concerned with activation or maintenance—may apply to Containers, such as only being able to activate a Container at night. The flaws applied to the Device structure are essentially particular Limited flaws.

•

Range: Container structures are personal range by default and cannot apply this extra unless they first have Affects Others (which makes a Container touch range). One application allows you to grant a Container’s FX at range, while two allow you to grant them at perception range.

•

Side Effect: This flaw can apply to Containers with Unreliable or similar conditions that make their activation uncertain, in which case the Side-Effect applies when the activation fails. If the Side-Effect always applies, then no roll is required.

•

Tiring: If activating an active Container causes fatigue, this flaw can apply. It does not mean using the Container’s FX are tiring, only activating the Container itself.

•

Unreliable: If applied to an active Container, it means it doesn’t always activate when you want it to. You need to make a reliability roll each time, with the Container activating on a roll of 11 or higher.

VARIABLE

FX STRUCTURE

A Variable structure contains every trait of an appropriate type or descriptor! Variable structures approach the level of plot devices and are about as close as the Gamemaster should let player characters get to those sorts of FX. Variable structures are generally used for creating FX with highly situational or indeterminate FX, where a set list of FX just won’t cover everything the FX is supposed to be able to do. However, they come with their own drawbacks, including both complexity and cost. With a Variable structure, you have a pool of (rank x 5) character points you can use to acquire certain other traits. No trait can have

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I a rank or bonus greater than your Variable structure rank. The cost per rank determines what types of traits you can acquire:

•

4 points: One trait of a particular type (ability scores, skills, feats, or FX of a particular type or descriptor) at a time. Thus you could acquire any one skill at a time, for example, or any one FX.

Dynamic: Likewise, a Variable structure is already dynamic in the allocation of its character points and does not need this FX feat.

•

Innate: A Variable structure may be Innate at the GM’s discretion, in which case all of its configurations are Innate as well. Individual configurations cannot be Innate; the entire Variable structure must be Innate. Gamemasters should be cautious about allowing Innate Variable structures.

•

•

5 points: Any one trait at a time.

•

6 points: Multiple traits of a particular type (ability scores, skills, feats, or FX of a particular type or descriptor), so long as the total traits do not add up to more than (rank x 5) character points.

•

7 points: Multiple FX of any type or descriptor at once, so long as the total traits do not add up to more than (rank x 5) character points.

8 points: Any combination of traits adding up to (rank x 5) total character points. It takes one action to change the configuration of your Variable structure’s points. The allocation of those points is sustained, so if you stop maintaining your Variable structure for any reason (failing a Expertise check to concentrate, for example), your allocated points “reset” to a “null” value: you lose any acquired traits and you must take the action to reconfigure your Variable points again to regain them. Any Variable points you are unable to spend due to your FX’s limitations are “wasted” and not usable. So, for example, a character with Variable 1 (any one skill, 4 points/rank) can acquire 1 rank in any one skill at a time (since the trait is limited to the FX’s rank). This costs only a fourth of a character point, but the remaining points can’t be allocated to anything, since the FX is limited to one skill at a time. The same is true with feats and some low-cost FX. Variable structures simply pay a premium for them. You must also place a particular descriptor on your Variable structure, limiting its scope to traits suited to that descriptor. For example, a Variable structure that mimics other’s traits is limited to the traits its subject(s) possess, a Variable structure providing adaptations is limited to the stimulus to which it adapts, and so forth. This descriptor does not reduce the cost of a Variable structure unless it’s particularly narrow, and the GM is the final arbiter of what constitutes a suitable Variable descriptor and what descriptors are narrow enough to be considered flaws. •

FX Feats FX feats within a particular Variable structure configuration are considered part of it and not feats of the FX itself. Thus character points from the Variable structure must be assigned to those feats. Some FX feats apply to the Variable structure rather than any of its configurations. These feats are “outside” the FX’s character point pool and apply equally to all of its configurations. The GM should carefully scrutinize any such overall feats, ensuring they do in fact apply to the Variable structure as a whole. The FX’s character points do not need to be applied to these FX feats. •

•

Accurate: The GM may permit this FX feat to apply to a Variable structure as a whole, granting its benefits to all of the FX requiring attack rolls for its various configurations, since the FX can be considered a single FX (albeit one with a wide range of applications). However, the GM may choose to limit this feat to suitably focused Variable structures. Alternate FX: A Variable structure essentially contains all possible Alternate FX for its point value and descriptors, so it does not require this FX feat to add new configurations, just the permission of the Gamemaster.

Extras Generally, extras are applied to the various FX in a Variable structure’s configurations rather than to the FX itself. If a particular extra applies to all of a Variable structure’s configurations equally, the GM may wish to note it as applying to the FX itself for simplicity. This should be limited solely to extras that always apply; given how this is rarely the case with any set of FX, it shouldn’t be often. Some FX extras also apply specifically to the Variable structure itself, rather than any of its configurations: •

Action: You can change the configuration of your Variable structure more quickly, although it still cannot change more often than once per round. Gamemasters should exercise caution with Variable structures that can be reconfigured as a free action or reaction: they not only grant tremendous flexibility, they can also slow down game play as the player considers virtually infinite possibilities for each action using the Variable structure.

•

Affects Others: While individual configurations may have this modifier, a Variable structure can also Affect Others as a whole, allowing you to grant the use of the FX and its configurations to someone else. The subject granted the use of the Variable structure controls its configuration from round to round (although you retain the ability to withdraw use of the FX altogether whenever you wish).

•

Duration: A Continuous Variable structure holds its current configuration until you choose to change it, even if you are stunned, knocked out, or the FX is nullified.

•

Linked: FX in the same configuration of a Variable structure are not linked by default, but may have this modifier, if they’re intended solely for use simultaneously.

•

Range: A Variable structure with Affects Others may have the Range extra to improve the range at which you can grant the FX to another. This does not alter the ranges of the FX’s various configurations. To do so, apply the Range modifier to the FX(s) within a particular configuration.

Flaws Variable configurations can have their own individual flaws, which reduce the cost of the configuration (and the number of character points that must be allocated to it from the Variable structure’s pool) normally. If a particular flaw applies to all of a Variable structure’s configurations, the GM may allow it to reduce the cost of the Variable structure rather than the points applied to a particular configuration. •

Action: A Variable structure that requires a two actions to reconfigure has a –1 flaw. Further increases in configuration time apply the Action FX drawback.

•

Duration: A concentration duration Variable structure only maintains its configuration as long as you concentrate. This significantly limits the FX’s usefulness, since you have to make

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I Expertise check to concentrate checks to use any configuration requiring more than a move action, juggling both the Variable structure and any others you wish to use. A Variable structure cannot have an instant duration. •

•

•

Distracting: A Variable structure that is distracting to reconfigure is a drawback rather than a flaw. The FX’s individual configurations may also be Distracting, in which case the flaw is applied individually to them, rather than the Array as a whole. If all the configurations of a Variable structure are distracting, then the flaw may apply to the entire Variable structure and does reduce the cost of its configurations. Uncontrolled: If this flaw is applied to a Variable structure (rather than one or more of its configurations) then the Gamemaster either controls when the FX’s configuration changes and what it changes to, or all of the FX’s configurations are considered Uncontrolled (but the user gets to choose how the FX is configured). Uncontrolled applied to a particular configuration has its normal FX when that configuration is in use.

a viable source in your campaign, make sure the players know this up-front before they start designing magicians, spirits, or enchanted golem heroes. Likewise, make sure the FX’s source suits its theme and effects and vice versa. See the following section, Available Power Sources, for details. •

Structure: Consider the FX’s structure: most FX have a standard structure of one or more basic effects, but some FX call for something more involved like an Array, Container, or Variable structure. If a different structure suits the FX, consider what effects it should include. Try to limit the use of Container and Variable structures solely to FX that really call for them and carefully scrutinize player-designed FX using them. Ask yourself: does the FX really need this structure, or is it just a means of making the FX more effective in the game for less cost?

•

FX: What effects should the FX include? While most FX only have one or two effects, other structures call for more, perhaps many more. Arrays can have a list of suitable Alternate FX, Containers a list of suitable effects they may contain, and Variables lists of effects to which they can apply their points. Keep in mind to always limit Variable structures to a particular range of effects rather than any effect (or any random group of effects a player happens to want). Effects should suit the theme and source of the FX. Also consider what effects the FX can include, if you’ve chosen to limit access to some FX, or ban them altogether, in your game.

•

Modifiers: Look at the FX’s modifiers—both extras and flaws— as well as any FX feats and drawbacks (either applied or potential). Make sure modifiers are applied correctly to all of a FX’s effects according to the guidelines for its structure. Beware of the application of “spurious” flaws intended solely to lower a FX’s cost without really reducing its capabilities, and of frivolous extras applied solely for an in-game advantage or to use up “free” character points available to an Alternate FX, whether the extra is appropriate or not.

•

Influence: Lastly, consider the FX’s influence on your game. Is it potentially problematic? Will it require special countermeasures or capabilities on the parts of NPCs to deal with it? Does it have too great a scope for the setting you have in mind? For example, if you’re planning to restrict your campaign to Earth, never venturing out into space, then interplanetary ranges are too big, effects like Space Travel are effectively worthless, and you’re better off telling your players not to create FX with them. If a FX looks likely to have an unwanted influence on your game, scale it back, working with the player to do so, if necessary.

Unreliable: If this flaw is applied to the Variable structure as a whole, then changing its configuration becomes Unreliable. The player must roll a die when changing the Variable structure, on a 10 or less it remains “stuck” on its current configuration and doesn’t change.

Drawbacks •

Action: A Variable structure that takes longer than two actions to reconfigure has this FX drawback. Each step up the Time and Value Progression Table is a –1 point drawback; one minute, five minutes, thirty minute, etc. The GM may set any reasonable limit on the Action drawback for Variable structures (beyond the standard limit of 1 point less than the FX’s total cost).

•

Distracting: If it is distracting to reconfigure a Variable structure (rather than using any FX derived from it), then the FX has a 2-point FX drawback.

Creating FX The components in this chapter allow you to create a tremendous range of FX. This section looks at a few guidelines to keep in mind when coming up with new FX for your d20A game.

FX Creation Checklist

Available Sources

Whether you’re the Gamemaster creating a new FX for your d20A game, or you’re approving a player-designed FX, consider the following items:

What sources are available for FX, both in the setting, and to the characters? You can have a single source, multiple sources, or any of the sources given in this book (and perhaps others of your own creation). Each approach has its pros and cons. Available sources influence the availability of various FX, and their improvement, in a campaign.

•

•

Theme: First, is the theme of the FX appropriate for the setting? A FX like Radiation Control might be just fine in a postnuclear era setting, but not necessarily in campaigns set before the atom was split, much less a medieval fantasy world! Does the FX’s theme overwhelm those of other FX? An “Energy Control” FX that combines everything every “Control” FX in this book can do is a bit over-effective for a player character trait, for example. Encourage players to choose appropriate themes for their characters' FX and stick with them. Source: Make sure the FX’s source fits the setting. Decide in advance whether or not certain FX sources are available, limited solely to NPCs, or banned altogether. So, if magic isn’t

One Source A single source lends a degree of predictability to the nature of FX in the setting. It doesn’t mean all FX are the same, just that they derive from the same source. It also doesn’t mean everyone has the same origin or acquires FX the same way, but their FX are similar on a fundamental level.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I One immediate effect of having one source is it becomes easier to counter or nullify FX. Any countermeasures associated with source descriptor work on all FX in the setting. For example, if the setting’s only source is magical, then nobody’s FX work in a Nullify Magic area, magical counter-spells affect everyone’s FX equally. Similar things occur in other settings where FX all come from one source. This has advantages and disadvantages; you can more easily set up countermeasures against others’ FX, but they can more easily counter yours as well. Since countermeasures for other sources may be limited in such a setting, anyone with another source–such as a psionic in a setting where all other FX are magical–has a significant advantage (and may need to have one or more ranks of the Benefit feat, at the GM’s discretion). One source for FX may also limit the availability of things like origins and FX, depending on the source. For example, psionic FX tend to be very broad, but if divine is the only source, then the availability of FX is entirely dictated by the gods, and certain FX may be restricted to certain divine patrons depending on their portfolios. One source settings are the most consistent, if not the most realistic, simply because FX all have a single, consistent source. Therefore, one source tends to be best for more realistic settings.

Multiple Sources Multiple sources may co-exist in the same setting. This can be anywhere from two (possibly opposed) sources to as many as all of them. Multiple sources allow for more variety in terms of FX and origins, but also require more in terms of planning, preparation, and overall effects on the setting. For example, if anti-magical defenses have no effect on the divine FX wielded by the gods’ champions, or the psionic FX of a race of mysterious psychics, then it is difficult to create a complete defense against all FX. Likewise, no source has a “monopoly” in the setting: if the magically gifted become a problem, the divinely empowered can help keep them in line (and vice versa). FX of different sources can oppose one another to a degree, just not directly. So the magically empowered are not helpless against psionics, who are not helpless against those wielding mutant FX, and so forth. While multiple sources allow for variety in character creation, you should consider the possibility of individuals wielding more than one type of FX. Can someone have both magical and mutant FX, for example? Are divine and psionic FX compatible? If the GM decides certain sources are mutually exclusive, this does not count as a flaw or drawback; it is merely a feature of the setting. The assumption is the character simply trades access to one power source for another.

Any Source Finally, some settings allow FX from any source. Comic book settings in particular tend to allow virtually any source, and individuals may even have more than one. For example, a psionic mutant may have cybernetic implants and use sorcery, or an alien chosen as a champion by divine cosmic forces may wield certain elemental FX. The primary challenge of any source settings is their unpredictability. With all the power sources in play, it becomes almost impossible to plan and prepare for them all. Only the highest level of Nullify has the ability to counter or overcome any other FX; most other countermeasures are only partially effective.

Any source settings also tend to be the least realistic by definition, but they are the most similar to four-color comics. After all, they are worlds where cosmic, divine, magical, psionic, and super-science abilities all coexist! Still, the four-color comics aren’t particularly noted for their realism, so this may not be an issue for some groups playing in this genre.

From FX to Cause The most commonly heard question about new FX in d20 Advanced starts off with, “How do I...” and ends with every- thing from, “...create an indestructible magical throwing weapon” to “...make a character who can do anything he can imagine?” The answer to those (and many other) questions about creating FX depends on the ability to go from the FX’s effects (what it does) to its cause (what the FX is or is called). As you can see in this chapter, FX in d20 Advanced are “effectsbased,” that is, the game system deals with what the FX actually does, the effect that it has, and leaves the details of what it looks like, what it’s called, and where it comes from to descriptors, which can vary from one FX to another. It’s how d20A can encompass the near-limitless range of amazing abilities in a single set of rules: a great many diverse FX actually have very similar effects. The FX to magnetically move metals isn’t actually all that different from the FX to mystically move stone, or to telekinetically move objects; it’s all moving things, the differences are largely in how they’re described and what (if anything) they’re limited to moving. All of the previous FX are based on the Move Object FX, even though they are different and distinct traits. So the first step in creating a new FX in the game is asking yourself: What does this FX do? In some cases, it will be fairly obvious, in others, it may be somewhat complicated, and may involve a list of many different things the FX can do (which may suggest a FX structure like an Array).

PC vs. NPC FX Not all FX are created equal. In fact, some FX can be quite problematic simply because they are extremely useful in overcoming certain challenges, challenges you as Gamemaster might want to put in the characters' path! Some FX in fictional sources sometimes don’t translate well to a roleplaying game because characters in a comic, novel, or film always do exactly what the writer wants, never using their FX to circumvent an interesting scene. Characters in RPGs, on the other hand, virtually always use their FX in the most efficient manner possible, which can cause real headaches for the GM, who doesn’t have the same creative control as an author. While GM Fiat is one means of dealing with this it is sometimes not enough. You may wish to restrict access to certain problematic FX to non-player characters, banning them for the players’ characters. While this may not seem fair on the face of it, non-player characters already have an “advantage” in that they can have whatever capabilities are required for the story, up to and including plot devices, which are already reserved only for them. The idea is to keep the characters on a relatively even playing field and ensure there are sufficient challenges for them. For example, you might decide that Precognition is just too potentially problematic to allow any player character hero to have it. So you decide to restrict it solely to NPCs. This means you can have a precognitive supporting character show up from time to time to offer the character cryptic hints about the future, but you control exactly what information they receive and can always have the NPC precog mutter something about how the timelines are

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I unusually muddled or the like whenever you prefer to keep certain information out of the characters’ hands. It’s up to the GM whether or not there is an in-game reason why such FX are prohibited. It can be as simple as saying “these effects or FX are unavailable to player characters,” but some may prefer to have another reason behind it. Perhaps certain effects are connected to certain origins or sources unavailable to PCs. For example, Mind Control is an FX granted only by certain evil supernatural being, but not their good counterparts (who provide the Healing FX the evil ones cannot). Maybe some FX require (or cause) particular drawbacks, discouraging players from taking them. The optional Taint rules are a useful tool in making certain effects less attractive. The same guideline goes for FX modifiers, feats, drawbacks, and even FX structures. If any of these are too much of a hassle to deal with you can ban them from your game entirely or just limit them to non-player characters. The GM may choose to restrict some extras to NPCs, or require the PCs to labor under certain flaws NPCs do not have. A middle ground between allowing all effects and restricting some to NPCs is to require the Uncontrolled flaw on certain problematic FX, placing them under the GM’s control. This ensures they remain under control while still being available to players who want them (and at a discount, since they aren’t getting the effect’s full utility). In the previous example, the GM may decide Precognition is just fine for PCs, so long as it is Uncontrolled and the GM decides when and how the character receives precognitive visions. Give some thought to what traits may be restricted in your game well in advance. With options like FX stunts and variable FX structures, d20 Advanced characters all have a potentially wide range of FX. Even if it isn’t on a character's sheet, that doesn’t mean the player won’t give it a try eventually! If the ground rules are clearly established from the beginning, there’s likely to be less disagreement when the situation arises in play.

Strict Power Level One solution to the problem of buffing FX improving characters beyond the power level limits is to strictly enforce the limits in play: so while Force Field Lass’ FX may grant her a +10 Impervious Toughness bonus, it does nothing for her teammate Rock-Man, who is already at the campaign’s power level limit for Toughness. While this sometimes makes sense, it often does not—why shouldn’t one character’s super-weapon do the same damage in someone else’s hands, after all? While it may enforce gamebalance, it won’t necessarily do anything for the players’ suspension of disbelief.

Unlimited FX Buffing Alternately, you can ignore the power level limits for situational bonuses like these, applying them as best suits the situation. This allows buffing FX to work as they should: improving traits equally across the board. However, it generally requires an agreement between the GM and the players not to abuse the privilege by creating buffing characters focused solely on boosting their teammates or relying too heavily on trait-boosting tactics, which may require players to forgo some obvious avenues of success in favor of sticking with the spirit of the game.

Buffing FX One type of FX the d20A power level system can only cover to a degree is the “buffing” FX, that is, a FX that augments or improves the traits of another character. These FX can be problematic in play and the GM should give special attention to them. Examples of buffing FX include Boost, along with many effects with the Affects Others extra, allowing characters to “lend” FX to their allies. The problem with buffing FX is twofold: first, they can easily exceed the power level limits of the campaign. For example, a character with Strength 0 and Boost Strength 5 is no problem in a power level 10 game: the character's maximum Strength is 10, which is right at the campaign limit. However, when the character uses the same Boost FX on a teammate with Str 13 (thanks to a trade-off), you get a character with a 23 Strength! The same is true for effects like an Affects Others Enhanced Toughness "Force Field"", which, stacked on top of an ally’s already high Toughness, can make him nighinvulnerable, especially if both defenses are Impervious. The problem is compounded when players create “buffing” characters or use tactics where one or more character exist primarily to enhance the traits of their teammates while remaining out of harm’s way and letting their boosted allies do the heavy lifting. If all Force Field Lass does is grant her teammates huge Toughness bonuses and make Expertise checks to concentrate to maintain them, letting the other characters roll right over the opposition, there’s a problem.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I

FX Buffing Premium

Improvement Through Study

An option in between strict enforcement of the power level limits and free use of buffing effects is to require the expenditure of a hero die for a buffing FX to improve a trait beyond the campaign’s power level limits. This allows for the occasional “FX buff” to reach truly impressive levels, but applies a premium to the cost so players can’t rely on them too heavily or use them too often.

Study and practice with an FX may improve the ability to use it and might also improve the FX’s effectiveness over time. If an FX is based wholly or partially on the user’s knowledge or understanding, then study may help to improve it. If the FX’s effectiveness is based primarily on use, then practice can help improve the FX. The GM should decide what areas of improvement are possible through study and practice. For some, only the ranks of an FX improve, representing greater skill with the FX. In other cases, the GM may allow practicing an FX to improve the FX’s other traits: adding extras, removing flaws, and so forth. Having a teacher may be helpful in learning to improve some FX, although only in particular areas. A teacher may be able to help a student overcome an FX’s flaws, removing flaws, or adding extras. A particular area where improvement through study or practice may apply is in regard to FX feats, which are often learned applications of a particular FX. The GM can require, for example, a certain amount of practice in order for a character to acquire the Precise feat with an FX (with a number of failed attempts along the way!). Likewise, you can require a character use a new FX feat a certain number of times through Hero Dice expenditure before spending character points to acquire it permanently.

Limited FX Buffing Another option between strict enforcement and unlimited buffing is to allowing buffing FX to improve traits past the power level limit, but to reduce their effectiveness when doing so. For example, a buffing FX can improve traits up to the campaign’s power level limits as normal, but past that limit applies only half its usual benefit. So, for example, a character at the PL limit receiving a Boost to that trait gains only half the usual increase because the trait goes over the limit. You can extend this idea to “pro-rate” a FX buff in relation to the power level limit, such as: over the limit is half effect, more than 150% of the limit is one-quarter effect, and 200% of the limit is the maximum, with no further effect beyond that. This helps keep buffing FX under control but is a bit more complex as the effect will vary from subject to subject and require some calculation on the fly to figure out.

Improving and Adding FX An FX’s origin not only affects when and how it is acquired but may also affect efforts to improve the FX later on. Power source may come into play here, too, particularly if the FX comes from an outside source. In such cases, improving the FX may depend heavily on the wielder’s relationship with its source!

Transformation FX are sometimes improved through transformation: character are exposed to conditions similar to an origin, granting new levels of power or new FX altogether! Some transformations may be brought about through training, or by stressful situations. For example, a character pushes his FX to the limit in an adventure. The GM and player agree this triggers a transformation, allowing the player to spend accumulated character points to improve the character’s FX. Some transformations are subtle and gradual, others quite dramatic. In the latter case, the GM may even allow players to completely redesign their characters, provided they keep the same point total.

Types of Improvement

Methods of Improvement Consider the following methods of FX improvement and which are appropriate to which FX your game. Along with the methods of improving FX, consider the different types of improvements available: to existing FX, adding new effects to existing FX, adding or removing modifiers, and acquiring entirely new FX.

Improvement Through Adventure The GM decides what FX (if any) can be improved simply by spending earned character points on them. This may include existing FX, adding extras, removing flaws, or adding entirely new effects or FX. Some or all of these improvements may have certain requirements. For example, characters may need training in order to improve their existing FX, and the GM might ban adding entirely new effects or FX without some sort of special training or even transformation first. Players can spend earned characters points on whatever improvements the GM allows, so long as any prerequisites are met.

FX can improve in a number of different ways: you can add ranks to existing FX or entirely new FX, add extras, remove flaws, add FX feats, remove drawbacks, or even add entirely new FX. Some or all of these improvements may be limited according to the setting and the nature of FX in that setting.

Improving FX FX available in ranks can be improved. The GM may wish to set limits on the maximum ranks in certain FX beyond just the normal power level limits. Gamemasters should also consider whether or not to occasionally raise the campaign’s power level limit to allow for improvement in FX and other traits already at the limit.

Adding Effects to an FX A common improvement is to add new effects to an FX, expanding its scope. These FX may initially be FX stunts mastered over time so the wielder can use them at will. Alternately, they might be entirely new facets of the FX the user has “discovered” or developed. New FX may require instruction (from a teacher with the FX) or even transformation, opening up the potential for the ability. The GM can require the player to have enough character points to

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I pay for the entire new FX before the character can use it, or can allow the player to pay in “installments,” devoting earned character points to paying off the new FX’s cost (this is useful for FX acquired during adventures). As another type of “installment plan,” the new FX can initially have flaws that reduce its cost. The player can then devote earned points to removing these flaws, eventually granting full and unrestricted use of the FX.

Adding Extras Like new FX, players can add extras to existing FX. Extras are added separately to each effect in an FX; so if you want the Area extra on your Damage FX, for example, you have to apply the Area extra again if you want it to apply to your Inflict (Condition) FX or to an entirely different effect of the FX. At the GM’s discretion, extras may be easier to add to extras than entirely new FX, since they use existing FX in different ways. Note that extras, once applied, are always in effect; a Damage FX that acquires the Area extra always affects an area, for example. For adding alternative versions of an FX, use the Alternate FX feat instead.

Removing Flaws Training and experience may help overcome certain flaws on FX, particularly flaws representing inexperience or lack of control. The GM decides what, if any, flaws can be removed and how it is done. Some flaws require nothing but time and effort (and the appropriate expenditure of character points). Other flaws may need the assistance of a qualified instructor or some sort of “breakthrough” experience to allow the character to overcome them. Finally, some flaws may be permanent, barring a dramatic transformation, and perhaps not even then, if the flaw is simply part of the nature of FX in the setting.

Adding New FX It may be possible to acquire entirely new FX during a game. It’s up to the GM to decide not only if this is possible, but under what conditions. Can you gain new FX solely by training and experience, such as a telepath learning ESP or a mage with fire control learning to command cold as well? Sometimes closely related FX may be learned, although you should distinguish between adding effects to an existing FX and developing a completely new FX. In other settings, acquiring new FX takes instruction, or even some

sort of transformation. For example, supers often acquire new effects or extras for their existing FX, but entirely new FX require some major event, equivalent to a new origin. A character might be exposed to a mutagen, encounter a new power source, invent a new device, or even die and return to life with an entirely new FX! The GM can choose to restrict new FX solely to transformations. Players can request a new FX, but it’s up to the Game Master when and how they occur. Regardless of how they are acquired, new FX should follow the guidelines set down for FX in general in the campaign, unless the GM specifically chooses to bend the rules for some reason.

Availability of Improvement How and when can FX be improved, and to what degree? Improvement through adventure and study place control over FX improvement largely in the hands of the players, although in the latter case the GM can limit access to teachers for some things. Improvement via transformation generally limits control over improvement to the Gamemaster, who decides where and when transformations occur. This is particularly appropriate for FX gained from an outside agency such as a deity or cosmic patron, who decides if and when the wielder is worthy of additional FX. Different types of FX may have different methods of improvement. For example, perhaps magical FX can be improved through study while divine FX are only improved through transformation (granted by the divine). Generally speaking, if any FX can be improved through adventuring (with earned character points), then they all should be, or some players get an unfair advantage. Likewise consider the types of FX improvement available. Again, this may vary from one FX to another. Some FX might allow only the improvement of existing FX, others may permit the adding of new FX. The GM decides whether or not characters can acquire entirely new FX during play, as opposed to simply adding new effects and modifiers to existing FX. Finally, you can regulate certain combinations of methods and types of improvement. For example, anyone can improve FX ranks or add FX feats through study and training, but it requires a teacher to add extras and new FX or remove flaws, and entirely new FX are available only through transformation (ie, by GM fiat), allowing the GM to control the introduction of these FX into the game.

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Chapter VI: Gear The gear a character carries is (usually) more than just a fashion statement. Gear can provide many abilities and advantages to a character, whether it’s a sword that helps a character injure enemies, armor that keeps a character safe during a fight, or a toolbox that helps a character do his job. Gear covers everything from the simplest wooden club from the Stone Age to the impossibly advanced anti-gravity force field belts of the distant future. Gear need not be the focus for a character, but no matter what genre of gameplay or era your game falls in, equipment is going to be available to characters.

Equipment Characters often make use of various pieces of mundane equipment—ordinary things found in the real world—ranging from a simple set of tools to cell phones, laptop computers, and even common appliances. These items are called equipment. Tools allow a character to use a particular skill properly.

Equipment Cost Equipment is acquired with points from the Equipment. Each piece of equipment has a cost in points. The character pays the item’s cost out of the points from the Equipment feat and it becomes part of the character’s regular equipment.

Equipment FX and Features

to have a particular item of equipment “on-hand” at a particular time. This is essentially a one-time use of the item for one encounter, and the Gamemaster rules whether or not having a particular item on-hand is possible. For example, a hero out for an evening in his secret identity might have something like a concealed weapon or other small item on-hand, but it’s unlikely the character is carrying a large weapon or item unless he has some means of concealing it.

Restricted Equipment The Gamemaster may rule some equipment is simply not available to characters or they must pay for an additional feature (or more) in order to have it. This may include certain kinds of weapons, vehicles, and anything else the GM feels should be limited in the campaign.

Masterwork Equipment Some items are especially well-made, custom-built, or otherwise superior to normal equipment. These masterwork items grant a bonus greater than a normal item, usually a +1 with an attack roll or +2 with a check made with the item. Masterwork quality is considered an additional feature for the item of equipment. At the GM’s discretion, superior masterwork items may grant higher bonuses for additional features.

Concealed Items

An item’s equipment cost is based on its FX and features. FX cost the same as corresponding FX, so a ranged weapon costs the same as a ranged Damage FX. Features are particular minor things equipment can do, similar to feats. Generally, each feature costs 1 equipment point, although some features are more expensive (or actually involve multiple features). Various equipment features are described in this chapter.

On-Hand Items Characters may not necessarily carry all their equipment with them at all times. The GM may allow players to spend a hero die in order

Characters may attempt to conceal items on their person. It’s assumed the character is wearing clothing offering places to conceal things. To conceal a weapon or other object, make an Infiltration check. If you conceal an object before heading out into public you can usually take 10 unless you are rushed, trying to conceal it when others might see, or under other unusual constraints. Equipment with the Subtle feat is automatically difficult to notice for what it is. You might have a delicate fan that is actually a powerful weapon, or a sword hidden in your cane, or an undercover camera that looks like a hat. It takes a DC 20 Perception check to realize that your seemingly innocuous piece of equipment is actually something else.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I it each time it is damaged. These penalties are eliminated once the item is repaired.

TABLE 6.1: CONCEALING WEAPONS AND OBJECTS Condition

Infiltration Modifier

Size of Weapon or Object Minuscule Fine Diminutive Tiny Small Medium-size Large Huge or larger can’t conceal Clothing is tight or small (such as a skintight costume) Clothing is especially loose or bulky Clothing is specifically modified for concealing object Weapon in a concealed holster Weapon can be drawn normally Weapon can be drawn as free action with Quick Draw feat

Repairing and Replacing Equipment

+16 +12 +8 +4 +0 –4 –8

Repairing an item requires a skill check (often Science or Technology. You can also affect jury-rigged repairs to temporarily restore the item to normal. Replacing damaged or destroyed equipment requires only time, although the GM has the final say as to how much time. It’s easy to replace a lost item when the store is right around the corner, harder when it’s the middle of the night or you’re out in the middle of nowhere. Gamemasters can allow players to spend a hero die to have a replacement for a piece of equipment as an on-hand item.

–4

The Limits of Equipment

+2

While equipment is useful it does have its limits, particularly when compared to powers or devices. Equipment is less expensive—it’s cheaper to have a handgun than a ranged Damage FX or even a super-science blaster weapon—but equipment is also more limited. Keep the following limitations of equipment in mind.

+2 +4 –2 –4

Technological Limits

Size and Concealment The object’s size affects the check result, as shown on the Concealing Weapons and Objects Table. The type of holster used or clothing worn, and any attempt to make a weapon easier to draw, can also affect the check.

Equipment includes only items and technology commonly available in the campaign setting. The GM decides what is “commonly available,” but as a rule of thumb assume equipment only includes things from the real world, not battlesuits, anti-gravity devices, shrink rays, and so forth. Those are all Devices.

Availability

Noticing Concealed Objects Detecting a concealed weapon or other object requires a Perception check. The DC varies: If the target made a roll when concealing an object, the DC of the check is the target’s Infiltration check total. An observer attempting to Notice a concealed object receives a –1 penalty for every 10 feet distance to the target, and a –5 penalty if distracted. Patting someone down for a concealed object requires a similar check. The searcher gets a +5 bonus for the hands-on act of frisking the target. Searchers typically take 10 or take 20 for patdown searches. Some equipment may also offer bonuses under certain circumstances (a metal detector offers a bonus to Perception checks to find metal objects, for example).

Noticing Concealed Armor Concealable armor can be worn under clothing if the wearer wants it to go unnoticed. Don’t use the modifiers from the Concealing Weapons and Objects Table when wearing concealable armor. Instead, anyone attempting to notice the armor must make a Perception check (DC 20).

Ownership of some equipment is restricted and the GM decides what equipment is available to characters in the campaign. For example, guns may require permits, licenses, waiting periods, and so forth. Also, equipment can be bulky and difficult to carry around. Gamemasters are encouraged to enforce the limitations of carrying a lot of equipment at once. Players who want to have an unusual item of equipment on-hand must either remember to bring it along or use the guidelines for on-hand items. Devices are not so limited and characters are assumed to have an easy means of carrying and transporting them.

Damage and Loss Equipment is vulnerable to damage, malfunctions, and loss, moreso than devices. One use of a FX like Drain or Transform can turn a character’s equipment to dust, for example, and equipment tends to be delicate when it comes to super-powered attacks. Equipment may be lost or taken away from the character with impunity, and the GM may sometimes arrange circumstances to separate characters from their equipment as a GM fiat or setback.

Cost (Optional)

Damaging Equipment Most equipment can be damaged like other objects, based on its Toughness. Equipment suffering damage loses some effectiveness. The item loses 1 feature or suffers a –1 penalty on checks involving

Finally, equipment may have a monetary cost to acquire, maintain, and replace, if the campaign uses the optional Wealth rules.

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Electronics

General Equipment Equipment is described by a number of statistics, as shown on the General Equipment Table.

TABLE 6.2: GENERAL EQUIPMENT Item

Size

•

Camera: A digital or film camera for taking still images. Most cameras have a capacity of 24 or 36 images and you can use one in conjunction with the Art skill.

•

Cell Phone: A small hand-held or headset unit for communication. The battery lasts for approximately 24 hours before it needs to be recharged.

•

Commlink: A tiny button-sized device for radio communication with an effective range of about a mile (longer if patched into the cellular network or a similar network). Many teams use commlinks.

•

Computer: A computer includes keyboard, mouse, monitor, CD drive, printer, modem, and other standard peripherals, and may include things like a scanner at the GM’s discretion. You need a computer to make Technology skill checks and do things like searching the Internet (to take 20 on a Knowledge skill check). Masterwork computers represent upgrade packages with faster processors, better software, and so forth.

•

Digital Audio Recorder: These tiny recorders (about the size of a deck of playing cards) can record up to eight hours of audio and can be connected to a computer to download the digital recording. Digital audio recorders don’t have extremely sensitive microphones; they only pick up sounds within 10 feet.

•

PDA: Personal digital assistants or “palmtops” are handy tools for storing data. They can be linked to a notebook or desktop computer to move files back and forth, but can’t be used for Technology or Knowledge checks.

•

Video Camera: A hand-held camera that records video and audio on tape or digitally, with a capacity of about 6 hours of footage.

Cost

Electronics Camera Cell Phone Commlink Computer Desktop Laptop PDA Digital Audio Recorder Video Camera Criminal Gear Caltrops Handcuffs Lock release gun Surveillance Gear Binoculars Concealable Microphone Mini-Tracer Night Vision Goggles Parabolic Microphone Survival Gear Camo Clothing Flash Goggles Flashlight Gas Mask GPS Receiver Multi-tool Rebreather SCUBA Gear

Computers and electronics are common in the modern world. Gamemasters should note most of these devices are fairly delicate (Toughness 5 or less) and vulnerable to electricity, radiation, and powerful magnetic fields, which can short them out entirely.

Tiny Diminutive Minuscule

1 1 1

Large Med Tiny Tiny Small

1 1 1 1 2

Small Tiny Tiny

1 1 1

Small Minuscule Minuscule Small Small

1 1 1 1 1

Medium Tiny Tiny Small Tiny Tiny Tiny Large

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Criminal Gear This equipment is most often used by criminals or to catch criminals. •

Caltrops: Caltrops are four-pronged metal spikes designed so one prong points up when the caltrop rests on a surface. You can scatter caltrops on the ground to injure opponents, or at least slow them down. One bag of twenty-five caltrops covers up to a 5-ft.-by-5 ft. area. Each time someone moves through an area containing caltrops at any rate greater than half speed, or each round someone spends fighting in such an area, the caltrops make an attack roll (attack bonus +0). If hit, they deal +0 damage to the character. Any injury forces the character to move at half speed on foot until the damage is eliminated.

•

Handcuffs: Handcuffs are restraints designed to lock two limbs —normally the wrists—of a prisoner together. They fit any Medium or Small humanoid. Handcuffs can only be placed on a pinned, helpless, or unresisting target. Steel cuffs have Toughness 10 and require an Infiltration check (DC 25) or Acrobatics check (DC 35) to remove without the key.

•

Lock release gun: This small, pistol-like device automatically disables cheap and average mechanical locks operated by standard keys (no Infiltration check necessary). It does not affect other locks.

Size The size of a piece of equipment helps to determine how easy it is to conceal, and also indicates whether using the object requires one hand or two. In general, a character needs only one hand to use any objects of his size category or smaller.

Equipment Cost This is the number of equipment points the item costs. Masterwork equipment of the same type has an increased cost. 1 Character Point = 5 Equipment Points

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Surveillance Gear Characters often use surveillance gear to keep tabs on enemies and their activities. •

Binoculars: Standard binoculars reduce the range penalty for visual Perception checks to –1 for every 50 feet (instead of –1 for every 10 feet). Using binoculars for Perception checks takes five times as long as making the check unaided.

•

Concealable Microphone: A tiny receiver usable as a listening device. It has a broadcast range of about a mile. It requires a Perception check against the results of the Infiltration check used to conceal the microphone to find it (assume the hiding character took 20 on the check under most circumstances).

•

•

•

Mini-Tracer: A tiny radio transmitter with an adhesive backing. It requires a successful attack roll to plant a tracer on a target (or an Infiltration check to plant it without the target’s knowledge). Noticing the tracer is a DC 20 Perception check (or the results of the character’s Infiltration check, whichever is higher). The tracer has a transmission range of about 2 miles. Night Vision Goggles: Night vision goggles use passive light gathering to improve vision in near-dark conditions. They grant the user darkvision—but because of the restricted field of view and lack of depth perception these goggles provide, they impose a –5 penalty on all Perception checks made while wearing them. Night vision goggles must have at least a little light to operate. A cloudy night provides sufficient ambient light, but a pitch-black cave or a sealed room doesn’t. For situations of total darkness, the goggles come with an infrared illuminator that, when switched on, operates like a flashlight visible only to the wearer (or anyone else with IR vision). Parabolic Microphone: This apparatus has a gun-like microphone with an attached set of headphones. A parabolic mike reduces the range penalty for Perception checks to –1 for every 50 feet (instead of –1 for every 10 feet). Using a parabolic microphone for Perception checks takes five times as long as making the check unaided.

Survival Gear •

Camo Clothing: Clothing in the right camouflage pattern for the environment grants a +5 bonus on Infiltration checks to hide in that environment. Patterns include foliage, desert, urban, and arctic.

•

Flash Goggles: These tinted eye-coverings provide protection against blinding light, granting a +5 save bonus against visual Dazzle attacks involving bright light.

•

Flashlight: Flashlights negate penalties for darkness within their illuminated areas. The standard flashlight projects a beam 30 feet long and 15 feet across at its end.

•

Fire Extinguisher: This portable apparatus uses a chemical spray to extinguish small fires. The typical fire extinguisher ejects enough extinguishing chemicals to put out a fire in a 10by-10-foot area as a move action. It contains enough material for two such uses.

•

•

Gas Mask: This apparatus covers the face and connects to a chemical air filter canister to protect the lungs and eyes from toxic gases. It provides total immunity to eye and lung irritants. The filter canister lasts for 12 hours of use. Changing the filter is a one action. GPS Receiver: Global positioning system receivers use signals from GPS satellites to determine the receiver’s location to within a few dozen feet. A GPS receiver grants its user a +5

equipment bonus on Survival checks to navigate, but because the receiver must be able to pick up satellite signals, it only works outdoors. •

Multi-tool: This device contains several different screwdrivers, a knife blade or two, can opener, bottle opener, file, short ruler, scissors, tweezers, and wire cutters. The whole thing unfolds into a handy pair of pliers. A multi-tool can lessen the penalty for making Technology checks to craft without appropriate tools to –2 instead of the normal –5. The tool is useful for certain tasks, as determined by the GM, but may not be useful in all situations.

•

Rebreather: A small cylinder that fits over the mouth and provides two minutes (20 rounds) of oxygen, during which the character does not need to make Endurance checks to hold his breath.

•

SCUBA Gear: A back-mounted oxygen cylinder and facemask, used for diving. SCUBA (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) gear provides two hours of oxygen, and characters using it do not need to make checks for suffocation unless the gear is damaged or disabled.

Tools Various skills require tools. Infiltration to open locks and disable security requires lockpicking and electronics tools, for example, while Science for medical purposes requires a first aid or medical kit. Characters attempting a task without the proper tools have a –5 penalty on their skill check. The Gamemaster can generally assume characters have the right tools for skills requiring them—at no cost in equipment points—unless circumstances dictate otherwise (such as they’ve been captured and stripped of their equipment by a foe). Masterwork tools cost 1 equipment point and provide a +2 bonus on skill checks using them. In all other ways, tools are like ordinary equipment.

Utility Belt A common piece of equipment for costumed adventurers and espionage agents is the utility belt (or bag, pouch, backpack, etc.): a collection of useful tools and equipment in a compact carrying case. A utility belt is an array of Alternate FX bought as equipment (and with all the usual limitations of equipment). Some characters may have an array of devices instead, allowing for more unusual effects than run-of-the-mill equipment. Note that equipment with a cost of 1 equipment point doesn’t need to be acquired as an Alternate FX feat, since there’s no change in cost (an Alternate FX must cost at least 1 point). By spending Hero Dice you can temporarily add an Alternate FX feat to your utility belt, for those one-time pieces of equipment you may need in a pinch.

Sample Utility Belt Feel free to modify this example (adding or omitting items, for example) to create your own customized utility belts. •

Bolos: 1 point.

•

Boomerangs: 1 point.

•

Explosives: Equivalent to dynamite. 15 points.

•

Cutting Torch: Ranged Damage 1, Drain Toughness 1. 1 point.

•

Pepper Spray: 1 point.

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Power Knuckles: Damage 4 (Mighty). 1 point.

•

Sleep Gas Pellets: 1 point.

•

Smoke Pellets: 1 point.

•

Stun Pellets: 1 point.

•

Tear Gas Pellets: Lower rank to 3. 1 point.

hands, and if it’s a light weapon. A Medium or smaller weapon can be used one-handed or two-handed. A Large weapon requires two hands. •

• Throwing Blades: Ranged Damage 2. 1 point. The explosives, as the most expensive effect, have their full cost. The other Alternate FX feats cost 1 point each, making the total equipment point cost of the utility belt 25 equipment points, or 5 character points.

Weapons Weapons of various sorts are common for characters in almost any genre of gameplay. They range from melee weapons to ranged weapons like guns and bows and devices like shrink-rays, mindcontrol helmets and more. Characters who don’t have any offensive FX often rely on weapons to get the job done. Note that the traits presented for these weapons are just suggestions: if the group believes that the weapons should be more or less powerful, then they should be allowed to construct the devices as they feel is most appropriate for their game. Constructing a weapon is just like constructing an FX, only that it is done with equipment points instead of character points.

Simple Melee Weapons •

Brass knuckles: Pieces of molded metal fitting over the fingers, brass knuckles allow you to do +1 damage with your unarmed strikes. They include similar items like armored gauntlets.

•

Club: Any of a number of blunt weapons used to strike, including nightsticks, batons, light maces, and similar bludgeoning weapons.

•

Knife: A bladed weapon with a length less than 18 inches or so. This includes daggers, stilettos, sais, switchblades, bowie knives, and hunting knives, among others.

•

Pepper spray: A liquid sprayed in a target’s face at close range to blind them. Pepper spray combines a visual Dazzle FX with an Inflict (Action) FX. If the attack roll hits, roll to overcome the target's Fortitude resistance. Success means the target is blinded. A blinded target makes a Fortitude save (DC 15) each round to recover, with a +1 bonus per save. A target blinded by pepper spray may lose one or more actions. On a success, the target loses one action each round. If you succeed by 5 or more, the target loses both of his actions in a round. If you succeed by 10 or more, the target is helpless. The Fortitude check to recover from being blinded is also used to recover from the stun FX.

•

Quarterstaff: A fighting staff between four and six feet long, including the bo staff used in martial arts.

•

Sap: A bludgeoning weapon intended to knock out targets without permanently injuring them.

•

Stun gun: A stun gun hits its target with a powerful charge of electricity, requiring a Fortitude save (DC 17) to avoid an Inflict (Action) FX.

•

Tonfa: Police officers often carry and use a tonfa to subdue criminals. It’s also a common martial arts weapon.

Melee Weapons Melee weapons work like the Damage FX adding the wielder’s Strength bonus to the damage. Ordinary melee weapons are limited by their Toughness in terms of the amount of Strength bonus they can add. If a wielder’s Strength bonus exceeds the weapon’s Toughness (4 for wooden weapons, 7 or 8 for metal weapons), the weapon breaks when it is used. Melee weapons have the following traits: •

Category: Melee weapons are categorized as simple, archaic, and exotic.

•

Damage Bonus: The weapon’s damage bonus on a successful hit. Melee weapons add the wielder’s Strength score to their damage (the Mighty FX feat), costing a base 1 point. Each point of damage bonus costs 1 point.

•

Critical: The threat range for a critical hit with the weapon. Some weapons have a larger threat range than others. Increasing a weapon’s threat range by 1 costs 1 point.

•

•

•

Damage Descriptor: Melee weapon damage is classified as bludgeoning (weapons with a blunt striking surface, like a club), piercing (weapons with a sharp point), and slashing (weapons with a sharp edge). Some characters may be resistant or immune to some types of damage. Range Increment: Melee weapons designed for throwing can also be used to make ranged attacks. This costs 1 point. Thrown weapons have a range increment just as other ranged weapons do—but the maximum range for a thrown weapon is five range increments. Any attack at less than the given range increment is not penalized for range. However, each full range increment causes a cumulative –2 penalty on the attack roll.

Equipment Cost: This is the weapon’s cost in points. Characters pay this cost from their equipment points to have a weapon of this type as part of their regular equipment.

Archaic Melee Weapons •

Battleaxe: A heavy-bladed axe that can be used with one or two hands.

•

Sword: A blade between 18 and 30 or more inches in length, single or double-edged. It includes longswords, katanas, sabers, scimitars, and similar weapons.

•

Spear: A bladed pole-arm. Most spears can also be thrown.

•

Warhammer: A heavy hammer or mace that can be wielded with one or two hands. Warhammers can also be thrown.

Size: Size categories for weapons and other objects are defined differently from the size categories for creatures. The relationship between a weapon’s size and its wielder’s size defines whether it can be used one-handed, if it requires two

Exotic Melee Weapons Chain: You can wield a weighted chain to strike a target up to 10 ft. away. You can use it to make trip attacks and to disarm opponents with a +2 bonus, like the Combat Expert (Gain Combat Advantage [Trip]) and Combat Expert (Disarm) feats (and its benefits stack if you already have those feats).

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I TABLE 6.3: MELEE WEAPONS Weapon Simple Weapons Brass knuckles Club Knife Pepper spray Quarterstaff Sap Stun gun Tonfa Archaic Weapons Battleaxe Sword Spear Warhammer Exotic Weapons Chain Chainsaw Nunchaku Whip

Damage Bonus

Critical Damage Descriptor

+1 20 +2 20 +1 19-20 Dazzle + Inflict (Action) 5 — +2 20 +2 20 Inflict (Action) 7 — +1 20

Range Increment

Size

Equipment Cost

Bludgeoning Bludgeoning Piercing Chemical Bludgeoning Bludgeoning Electricity Bludgeoning

— 10 ft. 10 ft. — 10 ft. — — —

Tiny Med Tiny Tiny Large Small Tiny Med

2 4 3 15 4 3 14 2

+3 +3 +3 +3

20 19-20 19-20 20

Slashing Slashing Piercing Bludgeoning

— — 20 ft. 10 ft.

Med Med Large Med

4 5 7 5

+2 +6 +2 +0

20 20 20 20

Bludgeoning Slashing Bludgeoning Bludgeoning

10 ft. — — 15 ft.

Large Large Small Small

7 6 3 5

Range Increment

Size

Equipment Cost

TABLE 6.4: RANGED WEAPONS Weapon Damage Bonus Projectile Weapons (Firearms) Hold-out pistol +2 Light pistol +3 Heavy pistol +4 Machine pistol +3 Submachine gun +4 Shotgun +5/+6* Assault rifle +5 Sniper rifle +5 Energy Weapons (Firearms) Blaster pistol +5 Blaster rifle +8 Heavy Weapons (Exotic) Flamethrower +6 Grenade launcher +5 Rocket launcher* +10 Other Ranged Weapons Bolos Inflict (Movement) 4 Boomerang +2 Bow (Archaic) +3* Crossbow (Simple) +3 Javelin (Simple)* +2 Shuriken (Archaic) +1* Taser (Simple) Inflict (Action) 5

Critical Damage Descriptor 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 19-20

Ballistic Ballistic Ballistic Ballistic, Autofire Ballistic, Autofire Ballistic Ballistic, Autofire Ballistic

20 ft. 30 ft. 40 ft. 30 ft. 40 ft. 40 ft. 50 ft. 250 ft.

Tiny Small Medium Medium Medium Large Large Large

4 6 8 9 12 11 16 13

20 20

Energy Energy

50 ft. 80 ft.

Small Large

10 16

— — —

Fire Explosive Explosive

— 70 ft. 150 ft.

Large Large Large

18 15* 30

— 20 20 19-20 20 20 —

— Bludgeoning Piercing Piercing Piercing Piercing, Autofire Electricity

40 ft. 20 ft. 40 ft. 40 ft. 30 ft. 10 ft. 5 ft.

Small Small Large Medium Medium Tiny Small

8 6 9 7 6 3 12

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Light pistol: A common handgun, found in the hands of police officers and criminals alike.

•

Heavy pistol: A high-caliber handgun, usually used by those who want a lot of stopping power.

•

Machine pistol: A small automatic weapon, usable in one hand. Machine pistols are Autofire weapons.

•

Submachine gun: Compact automatic weapons that fire pistol ammunition, submachine guns are common military weapons, also used by criminals with access to more serious firepower. Submachine guns are Autofire weapons.

•

Shotgun: A shotgun can fire shot, which does +5 damage with a +2 bonus to hit due to the spread, but it does only +3 damage against targets with any increase in their natural Toughness save bonus. It can also load solid slugs, which inflict +6 damage.

•

Assault rifle: Rifles designed for military-use with both singlefire and autofire options.

•

Sniper rifle: Rifles designed for long-range use, typically in conjunction with a powerful scope or targeting system.

Energy Weapon •

Chainsaw: A tool that sometimes sees use as a weapon, particularly against zombies and other slasher-flick monsters. You do not add your Strength bonus to a chainsaw’s damage.

•

Nunchaku: A popular martial arts weapon, made of two wooden shafts connected by a short length or rope or chain.

•

Whip: A whip can strike targets up to 15 ft. away. You can use it to make trip attacks and to disarm opponents with a +2 bonus, like the Combat Expert (Gain Combat Advantage [Trip]) and Combat Expert (Disarm) feats (and its benefits stack if you already have those feats).

Ranged Weapons

•

Blaster pistol: A pistol that fires a coherent bolt of energy.

•

Blaster rifle: A larger rifle-sized weapon that fires a more powerful bolt of energy.

Heavy Weapons •

Flame-thrower: A flame-thrower shoots a stream of fire 5 feet wide and 25 feet long in front of the attacker as an area attack.

•

Grenade launcher: A grenade launcher fires various types of grenades, generally fragmentation grenades. Increase cost by +1 for each additional type of grenade carried.

•

Rocket launcher: A rocket-launcher is generally an anti-tank weapon, although they also make useful anti-superhero weapons as well. It has the Explosion extra. Most rocket launchers can fire only one or two shots before they must be reloaded for two actions.

Ranged weapons include both thrown and projectile weapons. Thrown weapons add the wielder’s Strength bonus to their damage. A thrown weapon has a maximum range of five increments. Projectile weapons include bows, crossbows, and guns as well as energy weapons like lasers and blasters.

Projectile Weapons •

Holdout pistol: A low-caliber, easily concealed pistol, typically used as a back-up or secondary weapon.

Other Ranged Weapons •

Bolos: A set of weighted cords intended to entangle an opponent like an Inflict (Movement).

•

Boomerang: A common throwing weapon for heroes, a thrown boomerang returns to the thrower’s hand, ready to be thrown again on the next round. Boomerang wielders often acquire the

TABLE 6.5: GRENADES AND EXPLOSIVES Weapon Effect Grenades Fragmentation Damage Explosion 5 Smoke Obscure (visual) Flash-bang Dazzle Burst 4 Sleep gas Inflict (Strength and Constitution) Explosion 4 Tear gas Dazzle 4 + Inflict (Attack and Action) Explosion 4 Explosives Dynamite Damage Explosion 5* Plastic explosive Damage Explosion 10*

Radius Reflex DC Size Equipment Cost 50 ft. 10 ft. 20 ft. 40 ft. 40 ft.

15 — 14 14 14

Tiny Small Tiny Tiny Small

15 4 16 12 18

50 ft. 100 ft.

15 20

Tiny Small

15 30

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Armor

Ricochet feat, allowing them to throw their weapon so it hits the target on the return arc as a surprise attack. •

Bow: Although outdated, some characters favor the bow as a weapon and it can be quite effective in the right hands. Bows add the wielder’s Strength bonus to their damage (although most bows are only designed to add up to a +5 Str bonus at best). A bowwielding character may have various “trick” arrows with different powers; such bows and arrows should be treated as Devices.

•

Crossbow: Similar to a bow, and used for the same reasons. A crossbow does not add the user’s Strength to its damage.

•

Javelin: Light, flexible spears intended to be thrown. Javelins can also be used in melee combat.

•

Shuriken: Flat metal stars or spikes for throwing. Shuriken can be thrown in groups. Although they are thrown weapons, shuriken do not add the thrower’s Strength bonus to damage.

•

Taser: A compressed-air weapon firing a pair of darts. On impact they release a powerful electrical charge, causing the Inflict (Action) FX on the target (+5 effect modifier to overcome Fortitude resistance.

Weapon Accessories The following accessories can be added to the projectile weapons in this section. Each is considered a feature, which costs 1 equipment point. •

Laser Sight: A laser sight projects a non-damaging laser beam showing where the weapon is aimed. This grants a +1 bonus on attack rolls with that weapon.

•

Stun Ammo: Ballistic weapons can fire rubber bullets while bows can fire blunt-tipped arrows or quarrels. This ammunition is intended to inflict nonlethal rather than lethal damage. Switching between ammo types is a one action (or a free action for a character with the Quick Draw feat).

•

Suppressor: A suppressor muffles the noise of a ballistic weapon, giving it the Subtle FX feat and making it difficult for normal hearing to detect it.

•

Fragmentation grenade: A common military grenade that sprays shrapnel in all directions.

•

Smoke grenade: A smoke grenade fills an area with thick smoke (colored as desired) providing total concealment to all visual senses except for X-ray vision.

•

•

•

•

•

Flash-bang grenade: A flash-bang grenade gives off a bright flash and a loud bang that can render targets temporarily blind and deaf (roll to overcome the targets' Fortitude resistance with a Dazzle 4 FX). Sleep gas grenade: This grenade fills a 40-ft. area with a Inflict (Strength and Constitution) FX (+4 effect modifier to overcome the targets' Fortitude Resistance).

With so many weapons and powerful attacks around, characters may need armor to protect them. Some characters are innately tough enough to stand up to a lot of punishment, while others rely on their high Defense. Others choose to wear armor, ranging from ancient metal armors to modern composites or ultra-modern battlesuits. All armor is based on the Enhanced (Toughness) FX, providing a bonus to your Toughness resistance. It stacks with bonuses from your feats (like the Tough feat) and FX like Enhanced (Toughness).

Archaic Armor Depending on your setting, ancient or archaic armor might be common for characters. If you want realistic archaic armor, halve the armor’s Toughness bonus against modern weapons (especially firearms) and ignore it altogether for futuristic weapons like lasers or blaster bolts. •

Leather: Heavy leather plates covering the torso and other vital areas.

•

Chain-mail: A shirt of heavy metal chain, often with a hauberk (hood) to cover the wearer’s head.

•

Plate-mail: This is chain-mail augmented with a metal breastplate, greaves (leg-guards) and arm-guards.

•

Full plate: A full (and heavy!) suit of articulated metal plates, like that worn by medieval knights.

TABLE 6.6: ARMOR AND SHIELDS Toughness Bonus

Other Traits

Equipment Cost

+1 +3 +5 +6

— — — —

1 3 5 6

+1

—

1

+2

Subtle

3

+3

Subtle

4

+4

—

4

+3

—

3

Shield

Defense

Deflect

Equipment Cost

Small

+1

Medium

+2

Large

+3

Wood or metal Composite

— —

Armor Archaic Armor Leather Chain-mail Plate-mail Full plate Modern Armor Leather jacket Undercover shirt Undercover vest Tactical vest Armored jumpsuit

Tear gas grenade: This type of grenade releases a cloud of gas that irritates the eyes and lungs, causing temporarily blindness and nausea (visual Dazzle plus Inflict (Attack and Action), Fortitude resists, effect modifier +4). Dynamite: A common explosive. The damage on the table is for a single stick of dynamite. Each increase of the amount of explosive on the Time and Value Progression Table increases damage by +1. Plastic explosive: Another common explosive, which can be worked into different shapes. The damage listed is for a 1-lb block. Each increase of the amount of explosive on the Time and Value Progression Table increases damage by +1.

+1 on block rolls +2 on block rolls +4 on block rolls slow projectiles fast projectiles

2 4 7 — +1/2/4

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Shields

TABLE 6.8: VEHICLE SIZE CATEGORIES

Shields provide a dodge bonus to Defense, much like the bonus provided by cover, since shields are basically mobile forms of cover. Additionally, shields provide some measure of the Deflect FX, allowing the wielder to block ranged attacks. The dodge bonus is based on the size of the shield, while the Deflect FX is based on the shield’s size and material composition (what sort of attacks it can resist, and therefore deflect).

Vehicle Size

Modifier

Awesome

–12

128-25 Space transport 25 0 ft.

15

-2

Colossal

–8

64-128 Passenger jet ft.

20

13

2

Gargantuan

–4

32-64 ft.

Semi, yacht, fighter jet

15

11

6

Huge

–2

16-32 ft.

Stretch limo, SUV, tank

10

9

8

Large

–1

8-16 ft.

Car, truck

5

7

9

Vehicles Sometimes characters make use of various vehicles to get around. Vehicles are used primarily for transportation, although they may come with additional capabilities—including weapons—making them useful in other situations as well. Vehicles are considered equipment and purchased with equipment points. The vehicle tables list two costs; the one before the slash is the equipment point cost and the one after the slash is the vehicle’s power point cost. “Vehicles” with limbs, manipulative capabilities, and other humanoid characteristics (such as giant, piloted robots) should be created as constructs rather than vehicles.

A vehicle’s Strength, much like a character’s, determines its carrying capacity. Vehicles have a base Strength of +0 and buy up their Strength in increments of 2 for 1 character point each. A vehicle can move at normal speed carrying up to its medium load, 2/3 speed with a heavy load. It can also pull up to five times itsheavy load at 1/2 speed (up to ten times, if equipped with the proper hauling equipment and given an unobstructed area in which to move). Each increase in size category increases a vehicle’s Strength by +0 at no additional cost.

TABLE 6.7: VEHICLE TRAIT COST Starting Value +0 0 5 Medium — —

Examples

Str Toughness Defense

costs 1 power point for +1 Toughness. Each increase in size category also increases a vehicle’s Toughness by +2 at no cost.

Size

A vehicle’s size is measured like that of a character, as shown on the Vehicle Size Categories Table. Vehicle’s start out at Medium size and each increase in size category costs 1 power point.

Features

Strength

Strength Speed Toughness Size Features FX

Size

Equipment Cost 1 point per +2 Strength movement FX cost 1 point per +5 Toughness 1 point per size category 1 point per feature base cost times rank

Certain features are considered “standard” on any vehicle. These include seating, headlights, safety harnesses or seat belts, air bags, heating and air-conditioning, radio receiver, and similar things. The following features are “optional extras” for vehicles and cost 1 point each. The GM can determine if other features are included in the vehicle or cost points. Some “features” are actually FX, described in the following section. •

Alarm: The vehicle has an alarm system that goes off when an unauthorized access or activation attempt is made. An Infiltration check (DC 20) overcomes the alarm. For each additional equipment point, the DC increases by 5.

•

Caltrops: A vehicle may be equipped with a dispenser for caltrops. Activating the dispenser is one action. Caltrops automatically blow the tires of ordinary vehicles that run over them (consider such vehicles “minions”). Heroic characters can make Toughness saving throws for their vehicles; tires are Toughness 3, and the caltrops' effect modifier is +0. An injured result halves the vehicle’s movement while a staggered result brings the vehicle to a stop.

•

Hidden Compartments: The vehicle has hidden compartments or cargo areas holding up to a tenth of the vehicle’s medium load in cargo. A Perception check (DC 20) allows the searcher to find the hidden compartment. For each additional equipment point, the DC increases by 5.

•

Navigation System: The vehicle has the equivalent of the direction sense Enhanced Sense, granting a +5 bonus on all skill checks related to navigation. This can be increased by +5 per additional equipment point to a maximum of +20.

•

Oil Slick: The vehicle can release an oil slick, covering a 20-ft. by 20-ft. area and forcing the driver of a pursuing vehicle to make a Vehicles check (DC 15) to retain control of the vehicle. Releasing the oil slick is a one action.

•

Remote Control: The vehicle’s owner can operate it remotely using a transmitter and control device. Remotely controlling a vehicle requires the same kind of action (usually one action) as if you were actually behind the wheel of the vehicle.

•

Smokescreen: The vehicle can generate a smoke screen,

Speed

A vehicle buys the appropriate movement power(s) for its movement speed, paying the normal cost. Vehicles with multiple modes of movement (air, ground, and water, for example) can pay full cost for one and acquire the others as Alternate FX.

Defense A vehicle’s Defense is 10 + its size modifier.

Toughness This is the vehicle’s Toughness rating, which starts out at 5 and

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I visually obscuring an area behind it 10 feet wide and up to 50feet long. Activating the smoke cloud is one action.

FX A vehicle can have various FX of its own, usually reflecting the vehicle’s systems. Attack effects are suitable for vehicle-mounted weapons, while defense effects protect the vehicle (and often the passengers) from harm. Vehicle powers have their normal power point cost for the vehicle (meaning they cost one-fifth the normal amount for the vehicle’s owner, since the effects are incorporated into the vehicle and not always available). •

Armor: Armor provides Toughness for a vehicle in addition to its normal Toughness, possibly including Impervious Protection. Ablative armor (Enhanced (Toughness) with the Fades modifier) is also common for vehicles.

•

Cloaking Device: A vehicle may have a “cloaking device” granting Concealment from visual senses. Some vehicles may also have Concealment from auditory senses or things such as radar, giving them a “stealth mode.”

•

•

Immunity: While vehicles are immune to many environmental conditions, they may also provide immunity to their passengers. Immunity (life support) is necessary for vehicles that travel in space or underwater.

Tanks are heavily armed and armored vehicles. The standard tank comes equipped with a cannon (Damage 10, Ranged Explosion) and a heavy machine gun (Damage 6, Ranged Autofire). It takes a full-round action to get into or out of a tank, and another full-round action to start it up. Half of a tank’s Toughness (or 6) is Impervious. APCs or Armored Personnel Carriers, are designed for carrying troops. They come with a smaller cannon (Damage 6, Ranged Explosion), and are set up so soldiers on board can fire their personal weapons from behind the cover of the APC’s armor. Onethird of an APCs Toughness (or 4) is Impervious.

Water Vehicles Water vehicles range from small boats and outboards to massive seagoing ships. •

Cutters are used by the Coast Guard and the Navy. They’re often equipped with light machine guns (Ranged Damage 6, Autofire).

•

Destroyers are main naval ships, carrying heavy guns (Ranged Damage 10, Explosion).

•

Battleships have massive gun batteries (Ranged Damage 13, Explosion) and heavy armor.

•

Submarines are equipped with torpedoes (Ranged Damage 8, Explosion) and often ballistic missiles (Ranged Damage 15, Explosion, higher if the missile has a nuclear warhead).

Weapons: Vehicle weapons are based on attack FX, particularly Damage with various modifiers. Vehicles may mount versions of some of the weapons listed in this chapter.

TABLE 6.10: WATER VEHICLES

Ground Vehicles

Vehicle

Most cars include such standard features as air conditioning, air bags, antilock brakes, cruise control, keyless entry, and an AM/FM radio with CD player. Luxury (masterwork) vehicles often also include extras such as leather upholstery and a sunroof.

TABLE 6.9: GROUND VEHICLES Vehicle

Strength Speed Defense Toughness

Size

EP Cost

Motorcycle

3

5

10

8

Medium

9

Compact Car

10

5

9

8

Large

9

Midsize Car

10

5

8

9

Huge

7

Full-size Car

13

5

8

9

Huge

8

Sports Car

8

5

9

8

Large

8

Limousine

13

5

8

9

Huge

8

Pickup Truck

15

5

8

9

Huge

9

SUV

13

5

8

9

Huge

8

Van

13

5

8

9

Huge

8

Small Truck

15

5

8

9

Huge

9

Bus

18

4

6

11

Gargantuan

8

Strength

Water Defense Toughness Speed

Size

EP Cost

Jet-Ski

3

4

10

5

Medium

5

Speedboat

13

5

8

9

Huge

8

Yacht

20

4

6

11

Gargantuan

7

Cutter*

25

4

6

12

Gargantuan

26

Destroyer*

33

4

2

15

Colossal

45

Battleship*

45

3

-2

18

Awesome

58

Submarine*

30

3

2

13

Colossal

42

* = See individual descriptions for more information

Air Vehicles Air vehicles are all capable of flight, some of them at very high speeds. Military helicopters are equipped with machine guns (Ranged Damage 6, Autofire) and rockets (Ranged Damage 9, Explosion). Fighter jets have machine guns (Ranged Damage 6, Autofire) and air-to-air missiles (Ranged Damage 11, Explosion, Homing).

TABLE 6.11: AIR VEHICLES Vehicle

Strength

Fight Defense Toughness Speed

Size

EP Cost

Semi

18

4

6

11

Gargantuan

8

Armored Car

Helicopter

10

5

6

9

Huge

12

13

5

8

12

Huge

11

15

7

6

11

Gargantuan

32

Police Cruiser

Military helicopter*

10

5

8

9

Huge

7

Private Jet

15

7

6

11

Gargantuan

17

Tank*

20

Jumbo-jet

23

6

5

13

Colossal

17

APC*

18

Fighter Jet*

20

9

6

11

Gargantuan

78

Bomber*

28

8

2

13

Colossal

59

3

8

12

Huge

64

4

8

12

Huge

32

* = See individual descriptions for more information

* = See individual descriptions for more information

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Strength

Space Fight Speed

Space Shuttle

30

10

2

Space Fighter*

20

12

Space Cruiser*

45

Space Battleship*

70

Size

EP Cost

13

Colossal

28

6

11

Gargantuan

49

12

2

15

Colossal

89

14

-2

18

Awesome

115

Defense Toughness

especially large vehicle may serve as a kind of mobile headquarters, and the GM may allow characters to install some headquarters features into vehicles of Gargantuan or greater size. A character can even have multiple bases of operation. This is more common for villains, who have back-up plans and secret bases they can retreat to when their plans are defeated. If a character’s headquarters is destroyed, the character can choose to rebuild it or build a new headquarters with different features. Villains often go through a succession of different headquarters. At the Gamemaster’s option, characters can have additional headquarters as “Alternate FX” feats of the first, since they aren’t likely to be used all at once.

* = See individual descriptions for more information

Headquarters Traits

TABLE 6.13: SPECIAL VEHICLES Vehicle

Strength Speed Defense Toughness

Size

EP Cost

6

13

Gargantuan

13

Headquarters have two main traits—Toughness and size—and a number of possible features. Each of these costs equipment points to improve.

TABLE 6.14: HEADQUARTERS TRAIT COST

Mole Machine

25

4 (burrow )

Time Machine*

—

—

9

8

Large

3

Dimension Hopper*

—

—

9

8

Large

3

Toughness Size Features

* = See individual descriptions for more information

Bombers may have machine guns and missiles, but also have powerful bombs (Ranged Damage 12 or higher, Explosion) they can drop on targets. Bombers are also capable of carrying nuclear weapons and similar payloads.

Space Vehicles Space vehicles are intended for use outside the atmosphere, some of them for interplanetary or even interstellar travel. Generally space vehicles are found in the possession of alien civilizations, although the GM may choose to allow some organizations and individuals on Earth to have space vehicles. Space fighters are armed with blaster cannons (Ranged Damage 10). Space cruisers have larger beam weapons (Ranged Damage 12) and often energy torpedoes (Ranged Damage 12, Explosion, Homing). Space battleships have the biggest weapons: blaster cannons (Ranged Damage 15) and high-energy torpedoes (Ranged Damage 15, Explosion, Homing).

Equipment Cost 1 point per +5 Toughness 1 point per size category 1 point per feature

Toughness A headquarters’ Toughness indicates the strength of its structural materials, particularly its outer structure (walls, ceiling, etc.). Toughness 5 is typical for most wooden structures, Toughness 10 for steel-reinforced or concrete structures, and Toughness 15 or more for special alloys or armored structures. A structure’s Toughness may be higher if its walls are especially thick. See Damaging Objects for more information. A structure starts out with Toughness 5 for 0 points. +5 Toughness costs 1 equipment point.

TABLE 6.15: STRUCTURE SIZE CATEGORIES

Special Vehicles These are unique vehicles, most likely found in the possession of extradimensional warlords, aliens, or eccentric inventors.

Structures Whether it’s an underground cave, the top floors of a skyscraper, a satellite in orbit, or a base on the Moon, many heroes and villains maintain their own secret (or not so secret) headquarters. Teams of characters also may even pool their equipment points to have a headquarters they share, with the Gamemaster’s approval. A headquarters is unlike other “equipment” in that it is fixed and serves as a home base, not something normally carried around. An

Starting Value 5 Small —

Structure Size Awesome

Character Size —

Colossal

—

Gargantuan

—

Huge

Size

Examples Small town City block, private estate

—

5,000+ ft. 2,000-5,000 ft. 1,000-2,000 ft. 500-1,000 ft.

Large

—

250-500 ft.

Medium Small Tiny Diminutive Fine Minuscule

Awesome Colossal Gargantuan Huge Large Medium

128-250 ft. 64-128 ft. 32-64 ft. 16-32 ft. 8-16 ft. 4-8 ft.

Skyscraper Castle Mansion, cave complex Warehouse House Townhouse Apartment Loft Room

Size A structure’s size is measured similar to that of a character or vehicle, and gives a general idea of the overall space it occupies

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I and how much space is available inside it. Structures are measured on a different scale, however. See the Structure Size Categories Table for guidelines. A headquarters starts out at Small size for 0 points. Each increase in size category costs 1 point, each decrease in size category gives you an additional point to spend elsewhere on your headquarters.

Features A headquarters may have a number of features, chosen from the list below. A headquarters automatically has the basic structural amenities like doors and windows, power outlets, utilities, and so forth at no cost. Each feature costs 1 equipment point.

Combat Simulator A combat simulator or “danger room” is a special room equipped with various devices intended to test characters’ powers and skills and allow them to train in realistic combat situations. Generally, a combat simulator has a suite of devices that can simulate any appropriate attack effect at a rank up to equal to the campaign’s power level. A combat simulator normally has safety interlocks so its attacks are always nonlethal damage, but these can be disengaged so the simulator’s attacks do lethal damage. For an additional feature, the combat simulator also can project realistic illusions, allowing it to recreate or simulate almost any environment. Combat simulators are useful for training and short “war games” (pitting the characters against each other or simulated opponents). Clever characters also can try to lure intruders into the combat simulator or an intruder might override the simulator’s control systems and trap the characters in it, turning it into a deathtrap.

Communications A communications system allows the headquarters to receive and transmit on a wide range of radio and TV bands, monitor police and emergency channels, coordinate communications between members of a team, and so forth. It includes communications equipment, consoles, and monitors. The system’s access to restricted communication bands depends on the clearance and skills of the user. Heroes often have access to special government channels, while a successful Technology skill check (DC 25) can grant a user illegal access to restricted systems.

Defense System A defense system consists of various weapon emplacements defending the exterior and interior of the headquarters. A defense system can have any attack effect with a rank no greater than the campaign’s power level. These attack devices try to disable or restrain anyone approaching or invading the headquarters. Their attack bonus is equal to the campaign’s power level.

Dock A dock houses water vehicles and includes access to a nearby waterway, an airlock or lock system for moving vehicles in and out of the dock, and dry-dock facilities for repairing and maintaining water vehicles. The GM may require the headquarters be located within reasonable distance of a body of water in order to have this feature.

Fire Prevention System The headquarters is equipped with an automatic system for detecting and extinguishing fires. Any large open flame sets the system off (beware, fire using characters!). It functions like the Nullify FX at rank 5 against fire. A computer-controlled fire prevention system can be programmed to ignore certain sources of fire or the system can be placed on manual control (requiring someone to throw a switch in order to activate it).

FX A headquarters can be given any appropriate FX as a feature with the Gamemaster’s approval. The FX cannot have a total cost greater than twice the campaign’s power level or a rank greater than the power level. FX are assumed to affect either the headquarters itself or its occupants, if they do both, they count as two features.

Garage A garage houses ground vehicles and includes a ramp or other access to move vehicles in and out, facilities for repairing and maintaining vehicles, and a sliding access door.

Gym

Computer A state-of-the-art computer system serving the entire headquarters (a mainframe or mini-frame system). This allows characters to make full use of the Computers skill and the computer can be programmed to handle routine base functions (including monitoring communications channels and controlling defensive systems). For an artificially intelligent computer system, see Constructs.

Concealed The headquarters is hidden from the outside world in some way. It may be camouflaged behind a false façade, buried underground, and so forth. Note this is in addition to the Isolated Location feature, if any. An isolated headquarters is difficult to reach, while a concealed headquarters is difficult to find in the first place. Skill checks to locate the headquarters (Perception, Knowledge, etc.) have their DC increased by +10. Each additional feature applied to this increases the DC +5.

A gym consists of weight-training and other exercise machines, space for working out, stretching, and similar exercises, and all the necessary amenities (lockers, showers, etc.). Some HQs may incorporate the gym feature into the combat simulator, for a multipurpose training room.

Hangar A hangar houses air and space vehicles. It includes a hatch and/or runway for the vehicles to launch and facilities for repairing and maintaining flying vehicles. For some HQs the launch facilities of the hangar may require a long tunnel or other access to the outside.

Holding Cells These are cells for holding prisoners, usually temporarily, although

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I some headquarters might have more permanent holding facilities. The cells are equipped with Nullify devices (ranked at the campaign’s power level) or their basic Toughness is increased by 50%, which option should be agreed upon by both player and GM (both options for two features).

Infirmary An infirmary consists of hospital beds and equipment for the full use of the Science skill for medical care. An infirmary can provide treatment for a number of characters equal to the base’s power level at one time and it can be assumed to have the necessary facilities to handle any unusual physiology of the base’s owner(s).

Isolated Headquarters with this feature are situated somewhere out of the way like the Antarctic, the bottom of the ocean, on top of a lonely mountain peak, even in orbit or on the Moon. The base’s owner doesn’t have to worry about things like door-to-door salesmen or other unwanted visitors but the headquarters is also far from civilization (which can be limiting for heroes unable to travel fast). The headquarters is assumed to provide all the necessary lifesupport for its location, but it doesn’t provide characters with the means to get to the base or travel back. They need the appropriate powers or a vehicle.

Laboratory

Power System A power system makes the headquarters completely independent of outside power. It has its own generators (which may be solar, geothermal, nuclear, or anything else the designer wants). They provide for all the base’s power needs. The headquarters also has emergency back-up power should the generators fail. This generally lasts for a number of hours equal to the HQ’s power level.

Security System Various locks and alarms protect the headquarters from unauthorized access. An Infiltration check (DC 20) overcomes these systems. Each additional feature increases the DC by +5. The security system may be tied into a defense system (if the headquarters is equipped with that feature), so triggering an alarm activates the defense system to disable or restrain the intruder(s).

Workshop A workshop has all the facilities for use of various Science and Technology skills. It includes tools, workbenches, supplies, and so forth. The Gamemaster may rule certain Craft skills cannot be used in a workshop, or require a workshop of their own (which is an additional feature). For example, a workshop can easily handle woodworking, metalworking, and machining, but might not be suitable for creating magical inventions, which require a separate dedicated workshop.

Devices

A laboratory is a facility for the use of Knowledge skills in performing scientific tests or experiments. It contains all the necessary scientific equipment, including dedicated computers, if the headquarters doesn’t have its own computer system. Characters can use the laboratory to perform research, study unusual phenomena, and so forth.

A device is an item that provides a particular FX (see the Container FX Structure). If the character doesn’t have the device, he doesn’t have access to those powers. The cost for devices is given below:

Library

Device Cost = 3 cp/rank (easy to lose); 4 cp/rank (hard to lose)

A library allows for use of various Knowledge skills and research. A library may consist of printed matter (books and periodicals), microfilm, computer databases, or a combination of all three. A library allows characters to take 20 on most Knowledge skill checks unless the information they’re looking for is particularly obscure (in the GM’s judgment).

Living Space The headquarters includes all the necessary amenities for people to live there full-time. This is usually a number of people equal to the HQ’s power level (possibly more, at the GM’s discretion). It includes bedrooms or private suites, kitchen facilities, dining area, and common living areas. Characters can live in a headquarters lacking this feature short-term, but they’re not likely to be very comfortable.

Pool The headquarters has a large heated pool, which may be part of a gym area. At the owner’s discretion, the pool can provide access to an outside body of water (connected to a lake, river, or even to the ocean), to the base’s dock, or both at no additional cost.

While devices are typically creations of advanced science, they don’t have to be. Many characters have magical devices such as enchanted weapons and armor, magical talismans, wands and staves of power, and so forth. Some devices are products of alien technology so advanced they might as well be magical, or focuses of cosmic power beyond the understanding of both magic and science. All devices work the same way in game terms, regardless of their origin or descriptors. Just like other FX, devices cost character points. Characters who want to have and use a device on a regular basis have to pay power points to have it, just like having any other power. The device becomes a part of the character’s abilities. If the device is lost, stolen, or destroyed, the character can replace it, given time, since the device is considered a permanent part of the character. Only a re-allocation of character points will change this, and Gamemasters should allow characters to re-allocate character points spent on a Device if it is somehow permanently lost. In other cases, characters may make temporary use of a device. Most devices are usable by anyone able to operate them, in which case characters may loan devices to each other, or may pick up and use someone else’s device (or even steal a device away from someone in order to use it against them). The key concept here is the use of the device is temporary, something that happens during a single encounter or, at most, a single adventure. If the character wants to continue using the device beyond that, he must pay

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I character points to make the device part of his regular abilities. Otherwise the GM can simply rule that the device is lost, reclaimed by its owner, runs out of power, breaks down, or whatever, and is therefore no longer accessible. Characters with the Inventor and Artificer feats can also create temporary devices for use in an adventure. Gamemasters may require characters to spend a hero die to make temporary use of a device that doesn’t belong to them. This helps to limit the loaning and temporary use of devices.

Types of Devices Battlesuits A common staple of comic books is the battlesuit, also known as power armor. It is an advanced suit of technological armor, giving the wearer FX. Battlesuits commonly grant the following FX: •

Enhanced (Toughness): This is the foundation power for a battlesuit. Whether it is armor plating, metallic mesh, flexible ballistic material, or some combination of these and other cutting-edge technology, a battlesuit protects its wearer from damage. Some battlesuits provide a Force Field, either in place of or in addition to their Protection.

•

Immunity: A part of the protection a battlesuit offers is a sealed environment, offering Immunity to various conditions. Many battlesuits provide Immunity (life support). Some might have more extensive or specialized forms of Immunity.

•

Attacks: Battlesuits are typically equipped with some kind of weapon or weapons, based around various attack FX, particularly Ranged Damage. A battlesuit with an array of weapons may have a primary attack FX and several others as Alternate FX.

•

Might: A battlesuit might have servomotors or other mechanisms to magnify the wearer’s Strength. This is typically done with the Damage and Might allowing a normal-Strength wearer to strike for increased damage and lift tremendous weights. A battlesuit may also simply provide Enhanced (Strength), or some combination of the two options.

•

Movement: After defense and offense, battlesuits typically allow the wearer to get around, whether it’s hydraulic-assisted Leaping, bootjets or anti-gravity repulsion for Flight, turbines for Swimming, or some other movement effect.

•

Sensors: Finally, battlesuits often come equipped with a suite of sensors providing Enhanced Senses. Blindsight (radar or sonar), darkvision, direction sense (possibly from a GPS), infrared vision, radio, time sense (from a chronometer), and ultra-hearing are all common battlesuit sensors.

Weapons Weapons are common devices, ranging from super-powered versions of ordinary weapons like swords, bows, or guns to more exotic weapons like magic wands or alien power rings. A weapon device usually has one or more attack FX but may have virtually any FX the player wants to include. Weapon devices often have several different attacks as Alternate FX. One example is a set of magic rings, each with its own FX, but only usable one at a time.

Other Devices The full range of devices d20 Advanced characters can create and use is limited solely by your imagination. Essentially any item with a power is considered a device. Players and GMs may well come up with additional devices beyond those described here. Use the guidelines in this chapter and in Chapter V: FX to handle any new devices and their capabilities.

Plot Devices

Enhanced Equipment Some devices are otherwise normal equipment with special properties. Magical items, normal equipment imbued with magical properties, are examples. Magical weapons may have greater damage bonuses or grant attack roll bonuses while magical armor has no armor check penalties and provides greater protection. Such enchantments move archaic weapons and armor from the realm of mundane equipment to devices. The same is true of super-alloys, bulletproof cloth, and other wonders of super-science.

A plot device is an item or even character whose function is important to the story, but is not a part of a character’s regular abilities. Therefore the actual character point cost or sometimes even game statistics of a plot device are irrelevant, so long as the device fulfills its role in the story. Technically, nearly any character or device the character don’t directly interact with can be seen as a plot device, freeing the GM up from having to assign game stats to every single thing in the game world. For example, part of an adventure is planned to take place on board a vast alien city-ship. While the GM may want to know things like the Toughness of the city-ship’s walls or the game stats of the

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I alien soldiers the characters may fight, it’s not important to assign game statistics to the city-ship’s engines or it’s planet-busting main gun. They’re plot devices. It’s also not necessary to determine how much the ship costs in character points, unless the player characters are going to use it as their regular vehicle or base of operations. It’s sufficient to know the city-ship can get where it needs to go and its main gun will shatter any planet it’s fired at unless the heroes manage to stop it in time. Likewise, consider a cosmic device able to reshape reality at will. This is far beyond any of the FX in Chapter V: FX, so it’s best to simply treat it as a plot device: the wielder of the object can make anything happen, as called for in the adventure. Plot devices are best kept in the hands of the Gamemaster, since unlimited power in the hands of the players can quickly spoil everyone’s fun. If the characters aren’t wise enough to reject absolute power, the GM can come up with any number of reasons why a plot device no longer works once the characters get their hands on it. It may run out of power, be attuned only to particular users, or perhaps cosmic beings reclaim it. It’s fine to allow a characters to use a plot device occasionally, such as the character who takes the Cosmic Crown from a villain and uses it to undo all the damage the villain has done before casting the Crown into the heart of the sun (or something similar). But long-term use (and abuse) of plot devices can ruin a game, and the GM would be wise to have the Cosmic Crown disappear or have powerful entities reclaim it before characters to abuse its power.

Inventing Characters with the necessary Knowledge, Science and Technology skills and the Inventor feat can create inventions, temporary devices. To create an invention, the inventor defines its traits and its total cost in character points. This cost is used for the necessary skill checks, and determines the time required to create the invention. Inventions are subject to the same power level limits as other powers in the campaign.

Design Check First, the inventor must design the invention. This is a Technology or Science skill check. The DC is 10 + the invention’s character point cost. It requires an hour’s work per character point of the invention’s cost. The character can take 10 or 20 on the check. In the latter case, the design process takes 20 times longer (20 hours per character point). You can halve the design time by taking a –5 on the check. Design Check = DC 10 + invention’s point cost If the check is successful, you have a design for the invention. If the check fails, the design is flawed and you must start over. If the check fails by 10 or more, the character is not aware of the design flaw; the design seems correct, but the invention won’t function (or at least won’t function properly) when it’s used. For this reason, the GM should make the design check secretly and only inform the player whether or not the character appears to have succeeded.

Construction Check Once the design is in-hand, the character can construct the invention. This requires four hours work per character point of the invention’s cost, so an invention costing 10 points takes 40 hours (about a week’s work normally, or working two days straight without

rest) to construct. When the construction time is complete, make a Technology or Science skill check, using the Craft specialty appropriate to the invention (generally chemical, electronic, or mechanical). The DC is 10 + the invention’s power point cost. You can’t take 20 on this check, but you can take 10. You can halve the construction time by taking a –5 on the check. Construction Check = DC 10 + invention’s point cost Success means the invention is complete and functional. Failure means the invention doesn’t work. Failure by 10 or more may result in a mishap, at the GM’s discretion.

Using the Invention Once the invention is complete, it is good for use in one encounter, after which it breaks down or runs out of power. If the character wishes to use the invention again, there are two options. The first is to spend the necessary character points to acquire the Device for the price described at the beginning of this chapter and make the invention a part of the character’s regular traits; in this case, the new device can be used like any other. The other option is to spend a hero die to get another one-encounter use out of the invention. Each use costs an additional hero die, but doesn’t require any further skill checks. Although it’s possible to prepare certain one-use devices in advance, the GM should carefully enforce the guidelines for having items on-hand. If an inventor wants to have a particular previouslyconstructed invention on-hand during an adventure, the GM should require the player to spend a hero die.

Jury-Rigging Device An inventor can choose to spend a hero die to jury-rig a device and have it ready in a hurry. When jury-rigging a device, skip the design check and reduce the time of the construction check to one round per character point of the device’s cost, but increases the DC of the check by +5. The inventor makes the Craft check and, if successful, has use of the device for one encounter before it burns out, falls apart, blows up, or otherwise fails. You can’t take 10 or take 20 when jury-rigging an invention, nor can you speed up the process any further by taking a skill check penalty. You can jury-rig an invention again by spending another hero die.

Mishaps At the GM’s discretion, failure by 10 or more, or a natural roll of 1, on any required inventing skill check may result in some unexpected side-effect or mishap. Exactly what depends heavily on the invention. Inventing mishaps can become a source of adventure ideas and put the characters in some difficult situations. They may also be setbacks, suitable for hero die awards.

Magical Rituals Characters with the Ritualist feat and the Expertise (magic) skill can perform magical rituals. They are similar to inventions: one-time FX requiring some time and effort to set up. For rituals, substitute the Expertise (magic) skill for both the design and construction checks. The design portion of the ritual takes 4 hours per character point of the ritual’s cost (pouring over ancient scrolls and grimoires, drawing diagrams, casting horoscopes,

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part I meditating, and so forth). The performance of the actual ritual takes 10 minutes per point of the ritual’s cost. So a ritual costing 10 character points takes 40 hours to research and 100 minutes to perform. As with inventing, the ritual is good for one encounter. Failing the research check means the ritual isn’t usable and failure by 10 or more results in a mishap (at the GM’s discretion). “Jury-rigging” a magical ritual has the same effects as mentioned previously. This allows the ritualist to skip the design check and perform the ritual in a number of rounds equal to its cost. An Expertise (magic) check against a DC equal of (15 + the ritual’s cost) is needed to successfully perform the ritual.

Magical Inventions For magical inventions, use the normal inventing rules, but use the Expertise (magic) skill for the design check and the Art skill for the construction check.

Constructs Armored robots, humanlike androids, even magically-animated golems or zombies are all examples of constructs, non-living things capable of acting on their own to one degree or another, carrying out pre-programmed instructions, or even possessing real thought. Since they are capable of action on their own (rather than just improving their owner’s abilities), constructs are considered minions rather than devices or equipment and are acquired using the Minions feat. The Summon (Minion) FX can summon constructs to serve a character. Constructs are subject to the same power level limits as other characters and the Gamemaster should require constructs controlled by the players to observe these limits.

TABLE 6.16: CONSTRUCT TRAIT COST Trait Ability Score Resistances Attack Bonus Defense Bonus Skill Ranks Feats FX

Cost 2 points per +1 1 point per +1 2 points per +1 2 points per +1 1 point per 4 skill ranks 1 point per feat base cost × rank

Ability Scores

Constructs without Strength and Dexterity scores are immobile intellects, like an artificially intelligent computer or a sentient magic item. They cannot undertake physical actions on their own, although they may be able to control others. They cannot move or exert force, and automatically fail Strength and Dexterity checks. A construct can buy up one of its nonexistent ability scores from -5 by spending character points; +1 ability score point per 2 character points. This gives the construct the normal use of that ability. Note a construct with Intelligence but no Charisma is intelligent but nonsentient (not self-aware) and a construct needs at least a -5 in both Strength and Dexterity to be able to move and act physically. Constructs cannot buy Constitution, since creatures with Constitution are by definition living beings and not constructs.

Toughness Like inanimate objects, constructs have a Toughness score, which measures their ability to resist damage. A construct starts out at Toughness 0 and can increase its score by +1 for 1 character point.

Skills Constructs can have skills just like characters at the same cost (1 character point per rank). However, constructs cannot have skills based on abilities they lack. A construct with no Intelligence cannot have skills like Science or Technology. A construct with no Dexterity cannot have skills like Acrobatics or Vehicles, and so forth.

Feats Constructs can have feats at the same cost as other characters (1 character point per feat rank). Some feats are less useful or even useless to constructs.

FX Constructs can have various FX, just like characters do. Some FX are less useful or even useless to constructs. The GM has final say as to whether or not a particular FX can be assigned to a construct.

Size

Constructs have ability scores like characters do. They lack certain basic abilities, however. Constructs have no Constitution score, because they are not living beings. Constructs always fail Constitution checks. Constructs do not recover from damage; they must be repaired instead. Constructs are immune to effects targeting Fortitude resistances unless the effect works on inanimate objects. Constructs also have either no Intelligence and Charisma scores or no Strength and Dexterity scores. These qualities of constructs: lacking three ability scores (–30 points) and Immunity to effects requiring Fortitude resistances (30 points) average out to 0 points. Constructs without Intelligence and Charisma are automatons, operating on simple instinct or programmed instructions. They are immune to mental effects and interaction skills and automatically fail Intelligence and Charisma checks.

Constructs larger or smaller than Medium must pay power points for Permanent Growth or Shrinking, as shown on the Size Table. Larger constructs gain +2 Toughness per increase in size category above Medium (but do not gain the additional Constitution from Growth).

Commanding Constructs A construct’s owner can give it orders verbally or through any other means the construct understands. Commanding a construct is one action. Constructs follow orders to the best of their ability. Nonintelligent constructs do exactly as they’re told, without creativity or initiative, while intelligent constructs have the ability to interpret and improvise based on their Int score. An owner can also give a construct a series of basic orders for it to fulfill, such as “stay and guard this place and attack anyone who comes here other than me.” In the absence of new orders, constructs follow the last order they were given.

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Damaging and Repairing Constructs

DC. As a general guideline, the equipment purchase DC equals 10 + the equipment’s point cost. The GM sets the Wealth check DC for any particular purchase.

Constructs suffer damage like inanimate objects. Constructs do not heal or otherwise recover from damage. Instead, they must be repaired using the craft skills, such as Technology. Repairing the construct requires the same amount of time as a recovery check for its damage condition, and a skill check in place of the recovery check. A failed check means no progress. Attempting repairs without the proper tools is at the usual –5 penalty, and the GM may require special materials or facilities to repair a construct. A constructs with the Regeneration FX are self-repairing and can make recovery checks.

The Wealth Check

Wealth Every character has a Wealth bonus which reflects buying power— a composite of income, credit rating, and savings. A character’s Wealth bonus serves as the basis for a wealth check, used to purchase equipment and services.

A Wealth check is a d20 roll plus your current Wealth bonus plus the size of your Wealth Pool. Wealth bonus is static, but your Wealth Pool is fluid; it increases as you gain Wealth and decreases as you make purchases. If you succeed on the Wealth check, you purchase the item. If you fail, you can’t afford the item at this time. If your current Wealth bonus is equal to or greater than the DC, you automatically succeed. If you wish, you may use your Wealth Pool to reroll a failed Wealth check, taking the highest result of the pool, but you lose a Wealth die after the roll is made. This represents taking a worse deal or having to accept a bad offer to get something that you really need.

Try Again You can try again if you fail a Wealth check, but not until the character has spent an additional number of hours shopping equal to the purchase DC of the object or service.

Wealth Bonus

Taking 10 and Taking 20

A character’s base Wealth bonus is +8. The Benefit feat provides a +4 Wealth bonus per rank. The Profession feat grants a bonus to Wealth, +2 per rank. Decreases to base Wealth grant character points, like decreasing an ability score: 1 point for a Wealth bonus of +4, 2 points for a Wealth bonus of +0.

Wealth Pool Over the course of play, your Wealth bonus increases and decreases as you make and spend money. This is represented by your wealth pool. You gain bonus wealth dice as rewards, such as finding an ancient treasure, winning the lottery, or maybe just getting a big bonus from work. Whenever you gain such a windfall, you are rewarded with wealth dice. This represents a pool of disposable, fluid capital that you are able to mobilize and spend quickly. The downside is that it decreases when used just as quickly (see The Wealth Check).

You can take 10 or take 20 when making a Wealth check. Taking 20 requires 20 times as long as normal. (You’re shopping around for the best price.)

Shopping and Time Buying less common items generally takes a number of hours equal to the purchase DC of the item, reflecting the time needed to locate the item and close the deal. Getting a license or buying a legally restricted item also increase the time needed to make purchases.

TABLE 6.18: SAMPLE PURCHASE DIFFICULTIES

TABLE 6.17: WEALTH BONUS Wealth Bonus +0 +1 to +4 +5 to +10 +11 to +15 +16 to +20 +21 to +30 +31 or higher

Financial Condition Impoverished Struggling Middle class Affluent Wealthy Rich Filthy rich

Making Purchases

Item Flashlight Restaurant meal Common household item Casual clothing Cell phone Professional services Weapon Expensive clothing Tool kit Plane ticket New computer New automobile House Mansion

Purchase DC 4 4 4-5 8 9 10 + skill rank 10 + point cost 12-15 13 14 22 28 30 36

Wealth bonus reflects your buying power. Every item and service has a purchase Difficulty Class based on how expensive it is. To purchase something, make a Wealth check against the purchase

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Wealth and Inventing

Financial Aid You can make an aid attempt (DC 10) to help someone else purchase an item. If the attempt is successful, you provide the purchaser with a +2 bonus on the Wealth check. If you aid a Wealth check for an item with a purchase DC higher than your current Wealth bonus, it decreases as normal.

Gamemasters may wish to add a Wealth check to the inventing process. Once the inventor has come up with a design for the device, make a Wealth check to obtain the necessary components (DC = device’s point cost). A failed check means you can’t afford the materials. Spending a hero die to jury-rig the device out of materials at hand allows you to skip the Wealth check.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part II

Part II: Action Once you’ve got the characters together, you’ve got your actors. But without conflict, you don’t yet have a story. Part II of d20A details all the rules you need to create action-packed adventures. It includes the rules for combat and how to use environmental challenges to confound the characters, as well as systems for adjudicating other dramatic scenes, from car chases to interrogation to social duels.

To the Players Beginning players don’t need to worry too much about Part II. Part I gives beginners all the information they need to know about their character and what their character is capable of. More experienced players might want to familiarize themselves with the rules for combat and dramatic interactions in Chapter VII: Combat and Chapter IX: Dramatic Interactions, respectively, to make game play smoother.

To the GM While Part I was more directed to the players, Part II is more useful to the GM. Since part of the role of the GM is to create challenges for the players and adjudicate rules during game play, it is important for a GM to be familiar with the rules in these chapters. Chapter VIII: Environments is particularly useful for its rules on tracking conditions, and Chapter IX: Dramatic Interactions includes the rules needed to run many different dramatic interactions. Chapter IX also includes many different options for different games, including systems for reputation and taint.

What's in This Part Part II details all the rules you need to create and overcome challenges in-game, from characters engaged in delicate political struggles to overt battles with steel clashing against steel to struggles with Nature itself.

Chapter VII: Combat In Chapter VII, the basics of combat are detailed, including Damage, Saves, Movement, Attacking, and Actions. The Combat chapter also includes rules for more advanced Maneuvers, as well as an optional system for Attacks of Opportunity. This section is important for GMs to understand, but players who want game play to move more quickly might want to familiarize themselves with this chapter as well.

Chapter VIII: Environments While Chapter VII dealt with fighting other enemies, Chapter VIII deals with the hazards (and boons) the environment can contain. It details how GMs can create Zones in battlefields in much the same way that they design NPCs, as well as summaries of different environmental types and the different Conditions that are essential to d20A game play. GMs might find this whole chapter very useful, and players in particular might want to read the section on Conditions.

Chapter IX: Dramatic Interactions The action rules that round out game play, dramatic interactions in Chapter IX detail a method for resolving almost any kind of conflict or contest, including (but not limited) to chases, seduction, interrogation, and social duels. Chapter IX also details optional systems that may or may not be appropriate for different games, like Reputation, Mental Strain, and different examples of Taint. Players might want to read the section on Dramatic Interactions, and GMs should understand those rules and they should browse this chapter to decide if any of the optional rules are good fits for their games. A four-color superheroes game has no need for a Madness system, for instance.

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Chapter VII: Combat There are times when the best way to resolve a problem is simply by bashing an antagonist over and over with a hard metal object until your antagonist is either dead or dying. For that, you need to enter combat. In d20 Advanced, the rules for combat attempt to strike a balance between creating exciting and interesting battles with lots of options for players to use to perform different maneuvers while still keeping the rules simple and fast-paced and (most important of all) fun.

Combat Sequence Combat in d20 Advanced is cyclical. Everybody acts in turn in a regular cycle called a round. Generally, combat runs like this: 1. Each combatant starts the battle Flat-Footed. Once a combatant acts, he or she is no longer flat-footed. 2. The GM determines which characters are aware of their opponents at the start of the battle. If some but not all combatants are aware of their opponents, a surprise round happens before regular rounds begin. The combatants aware of their opponents can act in the surprise round, so they roll for initiative. In initiative order (highest to lowest), combatants who started the battle aware of their opponents each take a standard or move action—not both—during the surprise round. Unaware combatants do not get to act in the surprise round. If no one or everyone starts the battle aware, there is no surprise round. 3. Any remaining combatants roll initiative. All combatants are now ready to begin their first regular round. 4. Combatants act in initiative order, taking their normal allotment of actions. 5. When everyone has had a turn, the combatant with the highest initiative total acts again, and steps 4 and 5 repeat until the combat ends.

attack. When you make an attack roll, roll d20 and add your attack bonus. If your result equals or exceeds the target’s Defense, you hit and may deal damage. Various modifiers affect the attack roll, such as a –1 modifier if you are dazzled or a +1 modifier if you are on higher ground than your target. More modifiers are discussed in this chapter.

Automatic Hits and Misses A natural 1 (the d20 comes up 1) on the attack roll is always a miss. A natural 20 (the d20 comes up 20) is always a hit, regardless of the opponent’s Defense. A natural 20 is also a threat—a possible critical hit.

Attack Bonus Your attack bonus for an attack is: Weapon Group bonus + size modifier + miscellaneous modifiers – range penalty

Size Modifier The smaller you are, the bigger other opponents are relative to you. A human is a big target to an ant, just as an elephant is a big target to a human. Since the same size modifier applies to Defense, two opponents of the same size strike each other normally, regardless of size.

Miscellaneous Modifiers The circumstances of your attack may involve a modifier to your attack bonus.

Combat Statistics

Range Penalty

Several traits determine how well you do in combat: primarily your attack bonus, defense bonus, damage bonus, and saving throws. This section summarizes these traits and how to use them.

Attack

The range penalty with a ranged attack depends on the attack you’re using and the distance to the target. All ranged attacks have a range increment. This is typically (FX rank × 10 feet). Any attack at a distance up to one range increment carries no penalty for range, so ranged Damage 5 (range increment 50 feet) can strike at enemies up to 50 feet away with no penalty. However, each full range increment causes a cumulative –2 penalty to the attack roll.

An attack roll represents the attempt to strike a target with an

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Melee Damage Bonus = Strength modifier + weapon damage FX Damage Bonus = FX rank

TABLE 7.1: SIZE MODIFIERS TO ATTACK BONUS AND DEFENSE Size

Modifier

Awesome

–12

Colossal

–8

Gargantuan

–4

Huge

–2

Large

–1

Medium

0

Small

+1

Tiny

+2

Diminutive

+4

Fine

+8

Minuscule

+12

Strength Modifier Your Strength measures how hard you can hit, so your Strength modifier applies when you attack unarmed or with a melee or thrown weapon.

Weapon Damage Weapons have a damage modifier, showing how much damage they inflict. Ranged weapons have a fixed damage bonus. Melee and thrown weapons add the wielder’s Strength modifier to their damage.

FX Rank

For example, a character firing the same attack at a target 120 feet away suffers a –4 attack penalty (because 120 feet is at least two range increments, but less than three increments).

Defense Your Defense represents how hard it is for opponents to hit you, the Difficulty Class of an opponent’s attack roll. Your Defense is: 10 + defense bonus + size modifier + miscellaneous modifiers

Defense Bonus Your defense bonus represents your passive ability to avoid attacks. Your Defense bonus represents your ability to actively avoid attacks. If you can’t react to an attack, you can’t use your defense bonus. For example, you lose your defense bonus if you’re bound up in a snare, or when you’re caught flat-footed at the beginning of combat.

Size Modifiers

Your FX’s rank measures how much damage it inflicts, so it serves as the FX’s damage bonus. Individual FX descriptions provide more information on how much damage a particular FX inflicts.

Critical Hits When you make an attack roll and get a natural 20 (the d20 actually shows 20), you hit regardless of your target’s Defense, and you score a threat. The hit might be a critical hit (sometimes called a “crit”). To find out whether it’s a critical hit, determine if the attack roll total would have normally hit your opponent’s Defense. If so, then it is a critical hit. If not, the attack still hits, but as a normal attack, not a critical. A critical hit increases the attack’s damage bonus by 5. A critical hit against a minion allows no saving throw; the minion is automatically knocked out or killed. Increased Threat Range Characters with the Improved Critical feat can score a threat on a natural result less than 20, although they still automatically hit only on a natural 20. Any attack roll that doesn’t result in a hit is not a threat.

Resistances

The bigger a target, the easier it is to hit. The smaller it is, the harder it is to hit. Since this same modifier applies to attack rolls, opponents of the same size have no modifier to hit each other. So an ant (or an ant-sized person) rolls normally to hit another ant.

When you’re subjected to a potentially harmful effect, the attack must beat the DC established by your defense or resistance.

Miscellaneous Modifiers

Resistance Types

The circumstances may also apply miscellaneous modifiers to your Attack or Defense. See the Combat Modifiers Table for details.

The resistances are:

•

Damage

Defense: Your ability to avoid attacks and harm. The DC to overcome your Defense is 10 + your ranks in Defense.

•

When you hit with an attack, you may deal damage. Each attack has a damage bonus. For melee attacks, the damage bonus is your Strength bonus, plus any modifiers for powers like Strike. For ranged attacks the damage bonus is usually based on the attack’s FX rank.

Fortitude: Your ability to resist attacks against your vitality and health such as poison and disease. The DC to overcome your Fortitude is 10 + your ranks in Fortitude + your Constitution score.

•

Toughness: Your ability to resist physical punishment and direct damage. The DC to overcome your Toughness is 10 + your ranks in Toughness.

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•

Will: Your resistance to mental influence and domination as well as certain FX. The DC to overcome your Will is 10 + your ranks in Will + your Charisma score. The following skills also have some function as resistances:

• •

Perception: Your ability to spot danger or hidden threats. The DC to overcome your Perception is 10 + your ranks in Perception + your Wisdom score. Reflex: Your ability to react quickly to danger or in response to another event. The DC to overcome your Reflex is 10 + your ranks in Reflex + your Dexterity score.

Initiative Every round, each combatant gets to do something. The combatants’ initiative checks determine the order in which they act, from highest to lowest.

Initiative Checks At the start of a battle, each combatant makes an initiative check with their Reflex skills. The GM rolls for the villains while the players each roll for their characters. Your initiative in combat is determined by your Reflex score, including modifiers like the Improved Initiative feat. The GM finds out in what order characters act, counting down from highest total to lowest. Each character acts in turn for all rounds of the combat unless a character takes an action to change initiative. Usually, the GM writes the names of the characters down in initiative order so he can move quickly from one character to the next each round. If two combatants have the same initiative check result, they act in order of highest Dexterity first. If there is still a tie, roll a die, with the highest roll going first.

initiative checks for different groups of opponents or even for individual foes. For instance, the GM may make one initiative check for an evil overlord and another check for all of the villain’s minions.

Joining a Fight If characters enter a fight after it’s begun, they roll initiative and act whenever their turn comes up in the existing order.

Surprise When a combat starts, if you are not aware of your enemies but they are aware of you, you’re surprised. If you know about your opponents but they don’t know about you, you surprise them.

Determining Awareness Sometimes all combatants on a side are aware of their enemies; other times none are; and other times only some of them are. Sometimes a few combatants on either side are aware and other combatants are unaware. The GM determines who is aware of whom at the start of a battle. The GM may call for Perception checks, or other checks to see how aware the characters are of their opponents. Some examples:

•

The characters enter a seedy bar and immediately spot members of a notorious gang. The gang members notice the characters at the same time. Both sides are aware; neither is surprised. The characters and the gang-members make initiative checks, and the battle begins.

•

The characters are tracking a mysterious shape-shifting monster, which has fled down a dark alley. They follow, unaware the alien has assumed the form of an old crate, hidden among several others. When the monster springs out to attack, the characters are surprised and do not get to act in the surprise round.

•

The characters infiltrate a criminal mastermind’s headquarters wearing the uniforms of his men. When they reveal themselves and attack to prevent the mastermind from triggering his doomsday device, they surprise their opponents. The characters act during the surprise round, but the villains do not.

Flat-Footed At the start of a battle, before you have had a chance to act (specifically, before your first turn in the initiative order), you are flat-footed. You can’t use your dodge bonus while flat-footed. The Uncanny Dodge feat allows you to retain your dodge bonus to Defense while flat-footed. Surprise Attacks An attack may come from an unexpected quarter, especially when dealing with powerful opponents. An attack that catches the target off-guard in some way is called a surprise attack. To make a surprise attack, you must catch your target unawares. You can make a surprise attack in the following situations:

•

When you gain Combat Advantage over your enemy.

•

When you surprise a target at the beginning of combat.

The Surprise Round If some, but not all, of the combatants are aware of their opponents, a surprise round happens before regular rounds begin. The combatants aware of their opponents can act in the surprise round, so they roll for initiative. In initiative order (highest to lowest), combatants who started the battle aware of their opponents each take a standard or move action, not both. If no one or everyone is surprised, a surprise round doesn’t occur.

•

When you do something unexpected (in the GM’s judgment). The target of a surprise attack loses any Defense bonus against the attack (except for ranks shored up with the Uncanny Dodge feat) and suffers an additional –2 Defense penalty.

Opponent Initiative

Unaware Combatants Combatants unaware at the start of battle do not get to act in the surprise round. Unaware combatants are flat-footed because they have not acted yet. Because of this, they lose any bonus to Defense.

Typically, the GM makes a single initiative check for opponents. That way, each player gets a turn each round and the GM also gets one turn. At the GM’s option, however, he can make separate

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Minions

seconds, your character can do in 1 round.

Minions are minor characters subject to special rules in combat, and generally easier to defeat than normal characters. The following rules apply to minions:

•

Minions cannot score critical hits against non-minions.

•

Non-minions can take 10 on attack rolls against minions (attackers normally cannot take 10 on attack rolls).

•

If a minion fails a Toughness saving throw, the minion is dropped. Attackers can choose a lesser effect, if desired.

•

The Impossible Toughness Save rule (see at right) does not apply to minions.

•

Certain traits (like Takedown Attack) are more effective against minions.

Each round begins with the character with the highest initiative result and then proceeds, in descending order, from there. Each round uses the same initiative order. When a character’s turn comes up in the initiative order, that character performs his entire round’s worth of actions. For almost all purposes, there is no relevance to the end of a round or the beginning of a round. The term “round” works like the word “week.” A week can mean either a calendar week or a span of time from a day in one week to the same day the next week. In the same way, a round can be a segment of game time starting with the first character to act and ending with the last, but it usually means a span of time from one round to the same initiative number (initiative count) in the next round. Effects lasting a certain number of rounds end just before the same initiative number where they began. one round = span of time from one initiative count to the same initiative count in the next round

Mobs Mobs are groups of minor characters like minions who act as a single unit. A mob is treated as a single heroic character. The number of creatures in a mob determines its overall capabilities relative to the base creature. Compare the number of creatures in the mob to the progression value on the Time and Value Progression Table to determine the Mob Modifier.

Types of Actions The three types of actions are one, free, and reaction. In a normal round, you can perform two actions. You can also perform as many free and reactions actions as your GM allows. In some situations (such as in the surprise round) you may be limited to taking only one action.

•

Mobs add their Mob Modifier to their Attacks, Might, and Toughness.

•

Mobs treat all their attacks as having 1 rank in the Autofire extra.

One Action

•

Depending on the descriptors of the creatures making up the mobs, they are not affected by especially subtle, single-target FX, such as Mind Control or Inflict (Condition). At the GM's option, targeting important individuals within a mob (such as officers in a military unit) can affect the whole mob, but the mob gains a bonus on resistances to the FX ranging from +2 to +5.

One action allows you to do something. You can make an attack, use a skill, feat, or FX (unless it requires a two actions to perform; see below), move up to your speed, climb one-quarter of your speed, draw or stow a weapon or other object, stand up, pick up an object or perform other similar actions. During a combat round, you can take two actions total.

Area attacks which target a mob have a +2 bonus to their effect modifiers. Damage conditions affect a mob normally, though the descriptions might change. An injured mob might see some of its members fall, and a dazed mob might be disrupted and unable to coordinate its attacks as well. A staggered mob might see many of its numbers fall, teetering on the edge of total chaos, and an unconscious mob might dissolve as its members are either debilitated or fleeing for their lives. Descriptor-wise, single-target attacks against a mob are usually resolved as a series of attacks of the same type, such as a fierce unarmed onslaught that tears through the mob, sending dozens of creatures flying, or a barrage of gunfire. These types of attacks gain no special bonuses or penalties, and are assumed to be just as effective as usual.

If you move no actual distance in a round, you can take a 5-foot “step” before, during, or after the action. For example, you can stand up (one action), take a 5-foot step, and attack (one action).

Actions

Free actions consume very little time and, over the span of the round, their impact is so minor they are considered to take no real time at all. You can perform one or more free actions while taking another action. However, the GM puts reasonable limits on what you can do for free. A good rule of thumb is your Dexterity or Intelligence bonus +1 in free actions per round, with a minimum of one. For instance, dropping an object, dropping to a prone position, speaking a sentence or two, and ceasing to concentrate on maintaining a power are all free actions.

•

The things characters can do during combat are broken down into actions, described in this section.

The Combat Round

Two Actions (Full-Round Action) Actions which require two actions require all your attention during a round. The only movement you can take during such an action is a 5-foot step before, during, or after the action. Some full-round actions do not allow you to take a 5-foot step. You can also perform free actions (see below) as the GM allows.

Free Actions/No Actions

Each round represents about 6 seconds of time in the game world. In the real world, a round is an opportunity for each character to take an action. Anything a person could reasonably do in 6

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Reaction

AVOID RISK

A reaction is something that happens in response to something else, like a reflex. Like free actions, reactions take so little time they’re considered free. The difference between the two is a free action is a conscious choice made on the character’s turn to act. A reaction is a reflex or automatic response that can occur even when it’s not your turn to act. Characters can react even while unable to take normal actions, such as while stunned. A resistance is an example of a reaction, something you instinctively do to avoid danger. Some resistance and other traits are usable as reactions.

Action Descriptions The most common actions are described below.

ATTACK

ONE ACTION

With one action, you can make an attack against any opponent within the attack's range.

Ranged Attacks Into Melee If you make a ranged attack against an opponent engaged in melee with an ally, you take a –5 penalty on your attack roll because you have to aim carefully to avoid hitting your ally. Two characters are engaged in melee if they are opponents and adjacent to one another. (An unconscious or otherwise immobilized character is not considered engaged unless he or she is actually being attacked.) If the target is two or more size categories larger than any allies in melee, you ignore the –5 penalty.

Area Attacks Area attacks work similarly to single-target attacks. You make one attack roll with the area attack against all targets in the area and compare the result to the defense resistances of all the characters in the area of effect. All characters with a defense lower than your area attack's attack roll are affected. All characters with a defense higher than your attack roll take only half damage. Creatures with Evasion might not take any damage at all.

ONE ACTION

During a round in which you attempt an action which draws an attack of opportunity or one which would grant an enemy Combat Advantage, you may spend your other action to perform that action defensively. By spending this additional action, your other action does not grant your foe an attack of opportunity or combat advantage.

BEGIN/COMPLETE ACTION

ONE ACTION

This action lets you start an action which costs two actions at the end of your turn, or complete a full action by using a standard action at the beginning of your turn the round after starting the action. If you start a full action at the end of your turn, the next action you take must be to complete it.

BLOCK

ONE ACTION

Instead of attacking, you can choose to actively defend yourself against incoming melee attacks for the round. To block an attack, make an attack roll against your opponent’s attack roll. If your attack roll is higher, you block or deflect the attack. Each additional attack you block after the first in a round applies a cumulative –2 penalty on your attack roll.

Blocking Weapon Attacks Unarmed The default assumption is characters can block any sort of melee attack, whether armed with a weapon or not. Gamemasters wanting a greater level of realism may restrict unarmed characters from blocking armed attacks (it’s more difficult to block a sword blow with your bare hands than it is with a weapon or shield). Characters with a high enough Toughness save (say equal to the weapon’s damage bonus) may be able to block weapon attacks unarmed, at the GM’s discretion.

Blocking Ranged Attacks Characters with the Deflect FX can block certain types of ranged attacks; this includes Deflect granted by shields. Otherwise, characters cannot block ranged attacks.

Attacking Objects Objects are harder or easier to hit depending on several factors:

•

Held Objects: An object held by a character has a base Defense equal the holder’s Defense + 5 + the object’s size modifier.

•

Carried or Worn Objects: Objects carried or worn by a character have a base Defense equal the character’s Defense + the object’s size modifier.

•

Immobile Objects: Immobile objects have a Defense of 5 + the object’s size modifier. Adjacent attacks get a +4 bonus to hit immobile objects. (If you take an extra action to aim, you get an automatic hit with an adjacent attack, or a +5 bonus with a ranged attack.)

COMMAND

ONE ACTION

Issuing a command to a minion or a character under the influence of Mind Control requires one action. If you want to issue different commands to different groups of minions, each one requires another action (so you can issue two commands per round).

DROP AN ITEM

NO ACTION

Dropping a held item is a free action (although dropping or throwing an item with the intention of accurately hitting something is one action).

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FEAT

READY

VARIABLE

Certain feats allow you to take special actions in combat. Other feats are not actions in themselves, but grant a bonus when attempting something you can already do. Some feats aren’t meant to be used within the framework of combat. The individual feat descriptions tell you the action needed to use them.

FX

VARIABLE

The description of an FX provides the type of action required to use it.

MANIPULATE OBJECT

VARIABLE

Different combat maneuvers require different actions to complete, usually one or two actions.

MOVE

ONE ACTION

You may move your speed in one action. Many nonstandard modes of movement are also covered under this category, including climbing and swimming (up to one-quarter the character’s speed), crawling (up to 5 feet), and entering or exiting a vehicle. Various FX grant additional movement abilities, with speed determined by the FX’s rank.

MOVE ALL-OUT

Readying lets you prepare to take an action later, after you would normally act on your initiative, but before your initiative on your next turn. Readying is one action, so you can take another action as well in the round you readied. You can ready one action. To do so, specify the action you will take and the circumstances under which you will take it. Then, any time before your next action, you may take the readied action as a reaction to those circumstances. For the rest of the fight, your initiative result is the count on which you took the readied action. Your initiative result becomes the count on which you took the readied action. If you come to your next action and have not yet performed your readied action, you don’t get to take the readied action (though you can ready the same action again).

ONE ACTION

In most cases, moving or manipulating an object is on action. This includes drawing or holstering a weapon, retrieving or putting away a stored object, picking up an object, moving a heavy object, and opening a door.

MANEUVER

ONE ACTION

RECOVER

VARIABLE

The time required to recover from a given condition depends on the nature of the condition itself. See the description of the effect which bestowed the condition to determine the action it takes to recover from the condition. You can spend Hero Dice at a cost of two actions to recover from damage in combat.

REFOCUS

TWO ACTIONS

Refocus takes two actions during which you cannot move. You do nothing that round except refocus your attention and appraise the situation. On the following round, you move up in the initiative order and are positioned as though you rolled a 20 on your initiative check. The usual modifiers to Initiative checks apply to your new initiative total.

SKILL

VARIABLE

Most uses of skills in a combat situation take one action, but some might be two or more actions. The description of a skill provides the time required to use it.

TWO ACTIONS

You can move all-out for two actions. When you do so, you move up to four times your speed in a fairly straight line. You lose your Defense bonus while moving all-out, since you can’t easily avoid attacks. However, if you’re using a movement FX you gain a +2 bonus to Defense per rank in that FX; so a character with Speed 5 moving all out gets a +10 Defense bonus for his speed (it’s harder to hit a fast-moving target). Each minute you spend engaged in intense activity, like running allout or actively swimming, you must make a DC 10 Endurance check (+2 for each additional minute beyond the first). If you succeed, you are in good shape to continue. If you fail, you move one step down the Check Condition Track, suffering a -2 penalty to future Strength and Constitution checks. If you fail again, or if you fail by 5 or more, you move down an additional step down the Check Condition chart, suffering a -5 penalty to Strength and Constitution checks. If you fail a third time, or if you fail by 10 or more, you fall unconscious and helpless. It takes ten minutes of rest to recover from any conditions you may have suffered from extreme activity (DC = 10 + 2 for each minute the activity lasted).

SPEAK

NO ACTION

In general, speaking is a free action. Some GMs may limit the amount you can say during your turn, although characters can generally say quite a bit in the midst of combat in different genres (such as supervillains monologuing during a fight). Issuing orders to followers or minions in combat is one action.

STAND UP

ONE ACTION

Standing up from a prone, seated, or kneeling position requires one action.

SWITCH ARRAY

NO ACTION

You can switch between Alternate FX in an array, or reallocate points among dynamic Alternate FX, at no action once per round.

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TURN OFF FX

Injured

NO ACTION

You can deactivate an FX at no action cost. However, you can’t activate and deactivate the same FX in the same turn; the FX’s activation lasts until your next turn, when you can then deactivate it, if you choose. You can’t turn off Permanent FX.

Dazed

Damage & Injury Combat usually results in damage to one or both parties. The potential damage of an attack is represented by its damage bonus, with the target’s resistance to the damage represented by his Toughness skill. An overcome Toughness skill results in some amount of damage.

If your Toughness score is exceeded by 5 or more, in addition to the normal effects of the condition, the character is dazed, losing one action on his next turn. A character who suffers two or more dazed results loses both of his actions for the next turn and cannot act. This lasts until just before the attacker’s turn in the initiative order on the following round.

Staggered

Toughness An attacker who scores a successful hit on a target then rolls his damage and checks his result against his target's Toughness skill score. Consult the Toughness skill's Degrees of Success to determine the results of a damaging attack. See Damage Conditions below for more.

TABLE 7.2: INJURED (STAGED)

Injured means the character has been battered and bruised and is in less than top condition. Each injured condition imposes a –1 penalty to your Toughness score against nonlethal damage, putting the character closer to being taken out of the fight.

CONDITION

Succeed

Injured

–1 on future Toughness checks (ranked)

Succeed by 5

Dazed

lose one action on your next turn

Succeed by 10

Staggered

one action only, knocked unconscious if damaged again

Succeed by 15

Unconscious

knocked out, no defense

Recovery

Recovery

1 hour check (injured, staggered) / 1 minute check (unconscious)

A staggered character has been badly beaten, barely holding on to consciousness. He can only take a single action each round until he recovers.

Unconscious An unconscious character is knocked out and helpless. What befalls an unconscious character depends on the attack's descriptor and the tone of the game.

Option: Descriptor-Based Damage The default assumption in d20 Advanced is that characters who fall unconscious in battle are just that: unconscious. It's somewhat unrealistic, but it's appropriate for cinematic battles where the heroes survive impossible odds. Different attacks should do different kinds of damage. While a blow from a quarterstaff might only leave a character unconscious, dropping a foe with a slash from a sword could very well kill them. The only time when this matters is when a character is dropped. Check the descriptor of the attack: if the attack is believed to be a definitively lethal one, then the blow leaves the character bleeding and dying.

Pulling Your Punches Attackers can choose to use less than their maximum damage bonus with an attack. The attacker chooses how much of the damage bonus applies before making the attack roll. Attackers with the Full Power drawback cannot pull punches with that attack or power.

Critical Hits A critical hit increases an attack’s damage bonus by 5. A critical hit against a minion automatically knocks out or kills the minion, no Toughness resistance allowed.

Damage Conditions One or more of the following damage conditions apply to a damaged character.

Lethal Damage, Death, and Dying Characters who are dropped by a lethal attack are dying, and "bleed" for one point of Constitution drain every round. When a character’s Constitution dips below -5, then he is dead. It takes a DC 15 Science check for Medicine to stabilize a dying character. Each round, the character may attempt a Recovery check (DC 15) to stabilize as a free action (even if unconscious). A player may also spend a Hero Die to stabilize automatically (with no roll needed). Maiming, or "I'm Not Dead Yet!" Rather than killing a character off, you may want to keep them around. A character whose condition becomes dead may instead, at the player’s option (if this variant is available), become maimed instead, suffering a lasting injury in the form of a drawback (often variants of the Disability drawback). Depending on how bad the injury was, or the attack that did the lethal damage, the injury may be worth anywhere from 1 to 5 character points. It's up to the GM whether or not the character actually receives these bonus character points (as denying the points could represent a sort of "penalty" for the character almost dying).

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Recovery With rest, characters can make Recovery checks (DC 10) to recover from their damage conditions. The frequency of the checks is based on the severity of the condition. The Regeneration FX speeds up a character's recovery checks.

Injured Once per hour of rest, characters can make a Recovery check (DC 10). If successful, they erase one injured condition. If the check fails, the character can make another in one hour, with a +1 bonus for each failed check. All characters recover at least one injured condition per day.

Option: To Knockback or Not to Knockback Whether your use knockback in your game or not really is a matter of personal style and preference, and one which largely depends on genre. For more mundane games, knockback tends to be pretty over-the-top, when an ordinary punch from a relatively strong but decidedly human Strength of 3 can knock somebody back fifteen feet! Knockback works best for more epic games, where the characters are truly powerful and can really send one another flying with attacks. It also works best when you are tracking movement tactically. You have a few options concerning how (or how not!) to use knockback in your games:

•

Staggered Once per hour of rest, characters can make a Recovery check (DC 10). If successful, they erase the Staggered damage condition. If the check fails, the character can make another in one hour, with a +1 bonus for each failed check.

•

Unconscious Once per minute, characters can make a Recovery check (DC 10). If successful, they erase the Unconscious damage box. If the check fails, the character can make another in one minute, with a +1 bonus for each failed check. Dying characters must first stabilize before they can recover from unconsciousness.

•

•

Knockback Powerful attacks can send opponents flying. A character who is dazed (or worse) by an attack may be knocked back. The distance is based on the power of the attack. A character is knocked back a number of five-foot squares equal to the damage modifier of the attack he was struck with (minimum five feet). A character whose Toughness resistance is overcome by 10 or more (being Staggered, as above) is knocked back ten feet for every point of the damage modifier he was struck with instead of the normal 5. Characters with the immovable FX reduce an attacker's effective Damage modifier for each rank they have in immovability. FX with the knockback feat are treated as having a higher effective damage modifier for the purpose of determining knockback. A character knocked back into an obstacle (or another character) suffers damage equal to the Toughness of the obstacle or the Damage modifier of the attack that knocked him back (whichever is lower). The character deals damage to the obstacle equal to the Damage modifier of the attack. If this damage is enough to destroy the obstacle (or knock another character struck by the careening victim back), the character continues to move out to the maximum distance and then falls prone.

Mundane Knockback: A character who suffers knockback is moved 5 feet backwards, and no more. All attacks are considered to have a Damage modifier of 1 for the purpose of knockback. This modifier can be increased for truly powerful attacks like explosions with the knockback feat. Epic Knockback: For games where titans often clash, knockback can send people flying for hundreds if not thousands of feet! Rather than each point of a character's Damage modifier knocking someone back 5 feet, each point moves the distance a target is knocked back one step up the Time and Value Progression Table. If the character is staggered or worse by the attack, improve your knockback modifier by +2. Loosey-Goosey: Characters suffer knockback only in truly exciting fights when the knockback matters, when the additional difficulty of tracking the movement is more worth it. Note that under this option, characters with the Immovable or Density FX might feel short-changed if they are unable to use their abilities as much. The Bigger They Are...: Only characters who are larger than their targets can cause knockback. This is especially fitting in fantasy games where the characters must occasionally do battle with giants or huge dragon or the like, when the sheer difference in size becomes a major factor.

Cases where characters lose ability score points due to things like environmental conditions, illness, or similar effects is called ability damage. Ability damage is temporary; once the condition causing it is removed, the character recovers lost ability score points at a rate of 1 per day. The Healing FX can speed this recovery, as can ranks in Regeneration. If an ability score is lowered below -5, it is considered debilitated.

Damaging Objects Nonliving objects are affected by damage somewhat differently than characters. Each object has a Toughness score representing how well it resists damage. An object’s Toughness works like a character’s Toughness resistance bonus. To determine how much damage an object takes from an attack, roll against its Toughness resistance as normal.

Damage to Objects

Ability Damage Certain FX cause a temporary loss of ability score points. FX such as Drain specify how quickly characters recover from this loss, usually 1 point per round, modified by things like Slow Fade.

An “injured” object is damaged and suffers the normal –1 penalty per condition further Toughness resistances.

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Damaging Devices

TABLE 7.3: SUBSTANCE TOUGHNESS Substance

Toughness

Paper

0

Soil

0

Glass

1

Ice

1

Rope

1

Wood

3

Stone

5

Iron

8

Steel

10

Titanium

15

Super-Alloys

20+

Devices have a Toughness of 10 + the device’s rank for damage purposes.

Breaking Objects If you want to attack an object that you have in-hand or that no one is preventing you from attacking, such as smashing down a door, bending a metal bar, snapping bonds, or cutting through a wall with a Damage FX, you can apply force more effectively. This requires two actions. Instead of rolling, assume the object’s Toughness save result is equal to (5 + Toughness). Might adds +1 per rank to your normal Strength bonus for damaging objects in this way (and only in this way). If your damage bonus is equal to the object’s Toughness, you break it, 5 or more than the object’s Toughness, you destroy it automatically.

A “staggered” object is badly damaged. Staggered equipment and devices no longer function, while staggered barriers have holes punched through them, and other disabled objects may be bent, deformed, or otherwise damaged. An “unconscious” object is destroyed. Damaged objects can be repaired. It’s up to the GM whether or not a destroyed object is repairable; if it is, the difficulty of the check is the same as creating an entirely new item.

Ineffective Attacks The GM may decide certain attacks just can’t effectively damage certain objects. For example, it’s very difficult breaking down an iron door with a knife, or cutting a cable with a club. In these cases the GM may rule an attack inflicts no damage to the object at all (the object effectively has Immunity to that form of damage).

Condition Tracks Your character's status is noted across a small number of condition tracks. These tracks are separate, but also work in conjunction with one another, especially those involving FX like Inflict (Condition). Your injuries are monitored on one such track, as described above. Your other condition tracks are as follows:

Combat Advantage Track A track to follow what advantages your foes might hold over you in combat, the combat advantage track shows how vulnerable you are at any given moment to different sorts of attacks. Enemies with Combat Advantage over you have an easier time attacking you. You must often spend an action and make an opposed check to reclaim combat advantage.

COMBAT ADVANTAGE

CONDITION

Succeed

Off-Balance

The GM may likewise rule certain attacks are especially effective against some objects. For example, it’s easy to light a curtain on fire or rip a piece of cloth. In these cases the GM may increase your damage bonus against the object or simply say the object is automatically destroyed by a successful attack (the object effectively has a Vulnerability to that form of damage).

-2 Defense against your attacks, Susceptible to Your Surprise Attacks

Succeed by 5

Vulnerable

Lose Defense Bonus against your attacks, Susceptible to Your Surprise Attacks

Succeed by 10

Flat-Footed

Lose Defense Bonus against all attacks, Susceptible to everyone's Surprise Attacks

Heavy Objects

Recovery

Automatic

1 round

Effective Attacks

The Toughness scores given on the Substance Toughness Table are for approximately one inch of the material. Heavier objects lower their thresholds on the Toughness Resistance Table by 1 per increase in thickness on the Time and Value Progression Table. So one level of increase means the object is “disabled” if the check overcomes their resistance by 11 or more and destroyed if the check succeeds by 16 or more. So a foot-thick stone wall has Toughness 8, but the attack must succeed on a Toughness resistance by 13 or more to disable the object, 18 or more to be destroyed. This means heavy objects can generally suffer more hits and heavier damage before they’re disabled or destroyed.

For details on how you gain and lose combat advantage, see Combat Advantage.

Action Condition Track In order to track how able your character is to move and fight normally, the action condition track monitors how many actions your character is allotted in a given round. Effects which alter the flow of time or disorient your character might deny him actions, and recovering from those effects is the only way to regain those normal actions. It is normally a free action to attempt to recover from such a condition each round.

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INFLICT (ACTION)

Tactical Movement and Options

CONDITION

Succeed

-1 Action

Succeed by 5

-2 Actions

Succeed by 10

Helpless

Recovery

Same resistance, +1 cumulative

Sometimes a character in melee lets her guard down. In this case, combatants near her can take advantage of her lapse in defense to gain an advantage. This may come in the form of a free Attack of Opportunity or in the form of gaining Combat Advantage, or possibly both! This section presents tactical options for your game, if you are looking to make combat more tactically engaging and indepth.

For more on this condition track, see Inflict (Condition).

Check Condition Track Characters often find themselves suffering from conditions which affect their ability to use their skills normally. The check condition track monitors how much of a penalty you may be suffering to certain checks, and which skills are being penalized. It is normally a free action to attempt to recover from such a condition each round.

INFLICT (CHECK)

CONDITION

Succeed

-2 Penalty to Check

Succeed by 5

-5 Penalty to Check

Succeed by 10

Helpless

Recovery

Same resistance, +1 cumulative

Movement Condition Track Finally, some conditions might affect your character's ability to move freely. The movement condition track checks to see how mobile your character is. It is normally a free action to attempt to recover from such a condition each round. CONDITION

Succeed

1/2 Movement Speed

Succeed by 5

Immobile

Succeed by 10

Helpless

Recovery

Same resistance, +1 cumulative

For many groups, combat is the center of the game, and it deserves the lion's share of the attention, with use of miniatures or tokens to represent characters and enemies on a battle map of some sort, where players will be able to move their characters precisely across the battlefield and take control of strategic positions to win the day. Roleplaying games in general are derived from the older hobby of tabletop wargames, where players would maneuver whole squads of soldiers and warriors across tabletop battlefields, resolving attacks with dice and tables, to win the day (indeed, this hobby still has a healthy following). Battle maps are an option which you can use to take advantage of to grant combat and tactical movement that increased focus which it may deserve in your games. There are many different types of battle maps, and depending on your game and your preferences, you might choose different types of battle maps.

For more on this condition track, see Inflict (Condition).

INFLICT (MOVEMENT)

Battle Maps

Threatened Area You threaten all spaces into which you can make a melee attack, even when it is not your action. Generally, that means everything in all spaces adjacent to your space (including diagonally). Threatened spaces are treated as difficult terrain, only allowing you to move at half-speed through them (as you are hampered keeping your defenses up to protect yourself from your opponent). Note that a flat-footed combatant does not threaten any spaces. If an opponent tries to move through your threatened spaces at fullspeed, or attempts other risky actions, you may be able to take advantage of this.

For more on this condition track, see Inflict (Condition).

Reach Attacks Option: Tactical Movement This section represents a swathe of combat options which you may want to take advantage of in your game. They are intended to make combat more tactical, encouraging players to plan their movements and actions strategically. However, this sort of combat is not for everyone. Each of the following sections will have Option Boxes to discuss the implications of using these options or culling them from your game. The modularity of d20 Advanced will allow you to remove these options from your game without any major or far-reaching mechanical complications, but understanding what each option represents and what a game will look like with or without that option is important to deciding what is best for your particular game.

If your attack has an Extended Reach, you threaten any spaces that you can normally attack with the attack's reach.

Ranged Attacks If the range for an attack you have is Ranged or Perception, it does not count towards your threatened area. Only a weapon or FX with a range of Touch counts towards your threatened area.

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Square Grid A square grid uses a scale of 1 inch squares arranged in a grid, like a chess or checker board. At the typical scale, each 1" square is equal to 5 feet, and most medium-sized characters threaten all squares adjacent to then (eight squares in total). In the above example, Syphon's threatened area is depicted in blue. He can threaten the two rightmost cyborgs, but the leftmost one is too far away to threaten. He'll need to move if he wants to attack that cyborg.

Movement on a Square Grid Movement through a square is the equivalent of moving 5 feet. Moving on a diagonal costs 10 feet. Squares which count as difficult terrain cost 10 feet to move through (20 feet for a diagonal).

Attacking on a Square Grid Most characters threaten (and can make touch-range attacks into) squares immediately adjacent to the character (including immediately adjacent diagonal squares). Characters whose reach is greater than 5 feet can make touch-range attacks into a wider area.

Area Effects on a Square Grid

Calculating Ranges on a Square Grid

Area effects affect creatures in all the five-foot squares which fall completely in the radius of the attack.

On a square grid, you can determine if a target is within range for a Ranged attack by using the same method to calculate movement.

Uses of a Square Grid Battle maps using square grids are extremely useful for indoor encounters with straight walls, where walls can easily line up along the edges of squares. However, in open or irregular areas, other grids which allow for more accurate calculation of movement might be a better choice.

Hex Grid A hex grid uses a scale of 1"-diameter hexagons arranged in a grid, as shown above. At the typical scale, each 1" hex is equal to 5 feet, and most medium-sized characters threaten all hexes adjacent to then (six hexes in total). In the above example, Syphon's threatened area is depicted in blue. He can threaten the two rightmost cyborgs, but the leftmost one is too far away to threaten. He'll need to move if he wants to attack that cyborg.

Movement on a Hex Grid Movement through a hex is the equivalent of moving 5 feet. There is no penalty for moving in diagonal lines, as the distance on a hexagon doesn't change radically from straight to diagonal lines. Hexes which count as difficult terrain cost 10 feet to move through.

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Attacking on a Hex Grid Most characters threaten (and can make touch-range attacks into) hexes immediately adjacent to the character. Characters whose reach is greater than 5 feet can make touch-range attacks into a wider area.

Calculating Ranges on a Gridless Battle map On a gridless battle map, you can determine if a target is within range for a Ranged attack by using the same method to calculate movement.

Calculating Ranges on a Hex Grid

Area Effects on a Gridless Battle map

On a hex grid, you can determine if a target is within range for a Ranged attack by using the same method to calculate movement.

Area effects affect creatures who fall at least half within the radius of the attack.

Area Effects on a Hex Grid Area effects affect creatures in all the hexes which fall completely in the radius of the attack.

Uses of a Hex Grid Hexes make it difficult to draw straight lines on, which can make it troublesome to create indoor maps with straight walls. For outdoor areas, or for games with little exploration of mazes or the like, hexes are likely the better choice for a battle map.

Uses for Gridless Battle maps Gridless battle maps have the advantage of never being restricted in drawing any kind of terrain onto the map, and for movement being absolutely clear and straight-forward (measure and then move). On the downside, it's often difficult to determine threatened areas quickly and easily during combat, making attacks of opportunity very hard to resolve, and can make it more difficult to determine movement-based combat advantage.

Flight on a Battle map

Gridless A gridlesss battle map relies on rulers or range-finders, where 1" is equivalent to 5 feet at the typical scale. Most medium-sized characters threaten an area 1" around them. In the above example, Syphon's threatened area is depicted in blue. He can threaten the two rightmost cyborgs, but the leftmost one is too far away to threaten. He'll need to move if he wants to attack that cyborg.

While it might be difficult to resolve conceptually, a useful visual aid for denoting flight for a character would be to place a spare die next to that character's miniature or token and turning it to note how many spaces "above the board" he or she is. So on a square grid map, a character who is flying fifty feet above the ground would be 10 squares overhead, with a "10" showing on the die next to the character's miniature.

Movement on a Gridless Battlemap

Miniatures & Tokens

Moving 1" is the equivalent of moving 5 feet. Use a measuring tape, ruler, or range-finder to measure how far your character can move. Difficult terrain costs double the normal movement distance to move through it.

To represent a character on a battle map, you have numerous options. At the most basic, you need a token to represent the characters present, and can make do with something as simple as names taped to pennies. Some suggestions are limited below:

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Attacking on a Gridless Battle map Most characters threaten (and can make touch-range attacks into) the 1" area immediately adjacent to the character. Characters whose reach is greater than 5 feet can make touch-range attacks into a wider area.

Candy/Snacks: With something as common as candy or snacks, you can represent characters on a battle map. Pretzels (particularly the mini pretzels) are particularly good for this, as you can always bite off a piece of a pretzel to quickly distinguish different shapes for different characters. The difficulty of using candy/snacks is that players will almost invariably eat their pieces. And other people's

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Cut-Outs: Often available very cheaply, paper or card-stock cut-outs are another easy solution. You can usually purchase large packs of them with lots of options (making it easier for you to find one that will fit your character). Cut-outs also are made to stand upright, giving you many of the advantages of minis, though they aren't as durable as metal miniatures. Miniatures: Whether metal or plastic, miniatures are the classic solution for representing characters on a battle map. While there are countless options out there (both metal and plastic, pre-painted and not), it can be hard to find a mini that fits your character perfectly (especially for the GM who constantly needs to introduce new NPCs and monsters). But because miniatures stand up and are designed to fit on the battle map, they provide a durable and very easy means of quickly identifying characters in the fight.

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Poker Chips: Simple and widely available in large quantities, poker chips are easy to use and are usually a good size for most battle maps. By doing something as easy as taping a name to a poker chip (or a coin, or a glass bead), you can create a quick and relatively durable way to represent characters. It's also easy on the GM, who can use the different colors of even blank chips or beads to represent enemies.

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Printed Tokens: For the more artistic-minded gamers, you can create your own tokens by shrinking down character portraits and printing them out. To add durability to your tokens, you can usually paste them pretty easily to poker chips, like described above. Printed tokens are slightly harder to use than simple poker chips, but they make it easier to tell at a glance who is where, and it helps you personalize your game even more.

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Toys: Last but not least, you always have the option of using old plastic favorites from childhood. Most full-sized dolls and action-figures are too big to use on a battle map, but can be used in a pinch to show relative positions. However, the figures that come with plastic building bricks usually come with a wide variety of possibly accessories and are almost a perfect size, making them an excellent and easy-to-obtain solution for your game.

Combat Advantage Combat advantage is designed so that it can be of use in games with and without battlemaps. Since there are maneuvers which can allow a character to gain combat advantage over enemies, it provides a very convenient means to abstract what would all be different conditions with different modifiers to track. Combat advantage, on the other hand, allows you to resolve any interesting maneuver your players might come up with, and they would be resolved in similar ways (if with different descriptions).

Combat Advantage Combat Advantage is a catch-all term for holding an advantage over your foe in some way, whether because he left himself open to your attacks or because you took the initiative to seize the high ground or out-flank your enemy. The bigger your combat advantage, the more difficult it is for your enemy to defend himself successfully against your attacks. While you hold combat advantage over a foe, you might be able to make use of certain abilities which requires combat advantage.

Combat Advantage Condition If you succeed in a maneuver to Gain Combat Advantage by a wide margin, or if you are able to gain combat advantage from numerous sources at once (such as having high ground while your enemy moves through your threatened area at full-speed), your foe might be more vulnerable than usual.

Off-Balance If you succeed on an opposed maneuver check, or if you gain combat advantage against a foe once, your foe is off-balance, taking a -2 penalty to Defense against your attacks. In addition, you

Option: Using or Removing Battle maps Battle maps are presented as an option to allow for greater tactical precision in game play, as there is no question as to where characters are positioned during a fight. Movement and area of effect are very clear. And there's also something to be said for the tactile and visual sensation of holding your character's miniature. However, d20 Advanced does not require battle maps for game play, and indeed, battle maps might not work well for all genres. Game play still functions well if the battlefield is abstracted and left to the imaginations of the GM and players. If you decide to forgo battle maps, it's important to be very clear in your descriptions of the battlefield, making sure that the players are aware of everything going on around them. A battle map can take care of these concerns for you, with no worry about the ambiguity of whether or not someone is close enough to attack. However, there are two types of movement which battle maps in general do not handle well: extremely high speeds (such as in superhero games, where speedsters are common and able to run faster than cars) and three-dimensional movement (such as when creatures with flight are common enough that fights often take to the sky). Extreme speed is difficult because it largely makes the battle map itself inconsequential for the fast character, as that character can easily weave past any threatened areas and move around with impunity. Three-dimensional movement is also difficult to represent on a battle map, but can be accounted for (as shown above). If these issues are unlikely in your game, and if you wish to make combat an important part of your game, battle maps are a good choice. Battle maps are also very important if you wish to make use of attacks of opportunity, since precise movement tracking is needed to understand threatened spaces. If you wish to resolve combat more quickly or are content to leave a battlefield to your imagination, battle maps might not be necessary for your game. Combat advantage can still function well without a battle map, though it may be easier to simply not track threatened spaces for gaining combat advantage and only allow it through maneuvers or through positional advantage.

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Gaining Combat Advantage

may use Surprise Attacks against a foe you have combat advantage against which you couldn't otherwise use.

COMBAT ADVANTAGE

CONDITION

Succeed

Off-Balance

-2 Defense against your attacks, Susceptible to Your Surprise Attacks

Succeed by 5

Vulnerable

Lose Defense Bonus against your attacks, Susceptible to Your Surprise Attacks

Succeed by 10

Flat-Footed

Lose Defense Bonus against all attacks, Susceptible to everyone's Surprise Attacks

Recovery

Automatic

1 round

You can gain combat advantage over your foe in one of the following ways:

Vulnerable If you succeed by 5 or more on an opposed maneuver check, or if you gain combat advantage against a foe who you already hold combat advantage over from another source, your opponent is vulnerable, denying him his Defense bonus against attacks you make.

Flat-Footed If you succeed by 10 or more on a maneuver check, your opponent is flat-footed, denying him his Defense bonus against all attacks made against him, even from combatants other than yourself. A character can only be treated as flat-footed if another combatant succeeds by 10 or more on a maneuver check.

Recovery Recovery From a Maneuver Check If you are rendered off-balance or worse by an opposed maneuver check, you automatically recover after one round. If your opponent takes a -5 penalty to his maneuver check, he or she maintains combat advantage over you until you succeed at an opposed maneuver check. Recovery From Positional Advantage If your opponent has combat advantage from a positional advantage, such as flanking you or holding the high ground, he automatically loses combat advantage over you if you move out of his threatened area, or if he loses the high ground or the flank (such as by moving away or by climbing onto high ground yourself). Recovery From Movement or From a Risky Action If your opponent has combat advantage over you due to your moving through a threatened area at full-speed, or taking another risky action, that combat advantage lasts only until the start of your next turn.

Option: Removing Combat Advantage In the middle-ground of tactical complexity between basic d20 Advanced combat and attacks of opportunity, combat advantage provides a simple way to describe who has the upper-hand in battle, and how you can gain that edge through smart play (or lose it by making poor choices). Combat advantage is meant to provide a quick, easy-to-remember way to measure just how much of an edge you have over an opponent and unify the myriad of combat statuses into a simple, but robust system. However, the system may still put too much focus on tactical concerns for some groups or types of games. To that end, there are ways to trim down the complexity of combat advantage into something more palatable. Removing Triggers Removing these two triggers might seem necessary if a group chooses to play without a battle map of some kind, but it isn't necessarily true. Granting combat advantage over an enemy who charges past characters is meant to discourage the tactic of running past the tougher characters up front (the "tanks") to attack the more vulnerable characters in the back. You can keep this trigger without a battle map if you choose, but it will require additional GM judgment calls. The "Risky Actions" trigger is actually much easier to keep. If someone tries something other than a melee attack while in your melee range, they grant combat advantage. You don't need a battle map to know when someone is in melee with you. Removing these options works best when presented with a game where character types present make these triggers unreasonable. For example, in many anime/manga-themed games, using "magic" in melee combat is a very normal and very expected part of the game. In superheroes games, speedsters and flying characters make threatened areas almost irrelevant. If you choose to remove these two triggers, understand that you will make it easier for characters to "run past" defenders with impunity (and you should encourage characters who are setting against a charge to ready their attack actions). You should also understand that this will allow characters to do things like root around in their backpacks for a turn without fear of reprisal for losing focus on the battle. The other Combat Advantage triggers will still work absolutely fine without these two triggers. Removing Combat Advantage Completely If you simply do not wish to deal with the complexity of combat advantage, and wish instead to rule that smart tactics, taking the high ground, or striking a foe who takes a risky action can be abstracted to the result of the attack roll itself, this is perfectly fine. You might also simply grant characters a bonus to attacks which you feel are especially effective or interesting (such as with a +2 to hit). Be sure to extend this ruling to conditions like Concealment, which logically should be more difficult for a foe to defend against. Also be sure to remove the Requires Combat Advantage FX flaw and the Sneak Attack feat, both of which depend on combat advantage for resolution.

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Gain Combat Advantage Maneuver If you succeed at the Gain Combat Advantage maneuver, you will have combat advantage over your foe.

Positional Advantage

immediate action against that enemy (with the bonuses for combat advantage), as if you had readied an action against that enemy's action, but without actually needing to declare it. Resolve the reaction attack before your enemy's action is resolved (so if your foe tried to run past you to attack one of your allies and granted you combat advantage, you may spend a Hero Die to take an immediate attack against your enemy before he leaves your threatened area, which might stop him from ever reaching your ally).

If you manage to take a position on the battlefield which is advantageous over your foe, you can gain combat advantage so long as you can maintain that position. While there could be countless types of terrain or positions relative to your enemy which could be considered advantageous, the most common ones are listed below. Concealment If your foe cannot see you because you have concealment, you are treated as having combat advantage over that foe. Flanking

Attacks of Opportunity Attacks of opportunity are meant to resolve combat tactics in a more tactile and immediate way: poor decisions on the part of a character can grant nearby enemies additional immediate attacks. This option, though simpler on paper, is slightly more complex in actual play, as it allows characters to take more actions than otherwise possible. It is also slightly more realistic, in that it allows a character to immediately take advantage of an opening.

If you and another ally both threaten a common enemy, and you are on opposite sides of that enemy, you both gain combat advantage over that foe.

Provoking Attacks of Opportunity

High-Ground If you are on higher ground than your enemy (usually at least 3 feet, such as a few steps up a staircase, or atop a table), then you have combat advantage over all foes within your threatened area who are on lower ground.

Two kinds of actions can provoke attacks of opportunity: moving more than half speed in a threatened area or taking an action other than a melee attack in a threatened area. Any other action or excess movement requires you to drop your guard, thus provoking an attack of opportunity.

Moving Through Threatened Area Threatened squares are treated as difficult terrain, only allowing you to move at half-speed through them (as you are hampered keeping your defenses up to protect yourself from your opponent). You can, however, choose to move at your normal speed through threatened areas. If you choose to move at full-speed through a threatened area, you grant your foe combat advantage over you until the start of your next turn. In most cases, you can move into one threatened square or hex before provoking an attack. If you are fast, you might be able to pass an enemy safely. If you move through multiple creatures' threatened areas, your movement might grant multiple opponents combat advantage.

Risky Action FX with a range of touch (even if it has an Extended Reach) and combat maneuvers made with a range of touch count as melee attacks and do not grant combat advantage to the target. All other actions made within a threatened area grant that opponent combat advantage until the start of your next turn.

Attack FX with a range of touch (even if it has an Extended Reach) and combat maneuvers made with a range of touch count as melee attacks. All other actions provoke attacks of opportunity.

Moving Threatened squares are treated as difficult terrain, only allowing you to move at half-speed through them (as you are hampered keeping your defenses up to protect yourself from your opponent). You can, however, choose to move at your normal speed through threatened squares. If you choose to move at full-speed through a threatened square, you provoke an attack of opportunity. In most cases, you can move into one threatened square before provoking an attack. If you are fast, you might be able to pass an enemy safely. If you move through multiple creatures’ threatened areas, your movement might provoke an attack from one opponent but not the other.

Making Attacks of Opportunity

Reaction Attacks As an additional option when using combat advantage and Hero Dice, a character who gains combat advantage over an enemy during that enemy's turn may spend one Hero Die to take an

An attack of opportunity is a single melee attack, and you can make only one per round. You don’t have to make an attack of opportunity if you don’t want to. When you attack, you use the standard attack

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part II and condition maneuvers. Option: Removing Attacks of Opportunity Attacks of opportunity are presented as an option for groups who enjoy the tactical options available in combat, and a more realistic approach where a character can’t simply run through a line of enemies. However, in certain games, this additional consideration for realism or for the sake of tactical combat isn’t desired. Attacks of opportunity can be completely excised for such games. If you wish to remove attacks of opportunity from the game, you should also remove the Opportunity feats as a player option from Chapter IV: Feats. Combat advantage, especially when using the Reaction Attacks option, can fill the tactical role of attacks of opportunity quite nicely, without the additional complexity and while covering a wider range of conditions than attacks of opportunity do. action described above (but you don’t actually use up one action for the round; the attack of opportunity is treated as a reaction). You cannot use special attack maneuver, such as trips or disarms, as these require more time and focus than you normally have when making an attack of opportunity. An attack of opportunity “interrupts” the normal flow of actions in the round. If an attack of opportunity is provoked, immediately resolve it, then continue with the next character’s turn (or complete the current turn, if the attack of opportunity was provoked in the midst of a character’s turn). For example, a character may attempt to use a ranged FX, thereby provoking an attack of opportunity. If your attack stuns or knocks him unconscious, he would not be able to finish his action and activate the power.

Additional Attacks of Opportunity Some feats grant you bonus attacks of opportunity each round. These abilities generally do not let you make more than one attack for a given opportunity, but if the same opponent provokes two attacks of opportunity from you, you could make two separate ones (since each one represents a different opening). Each square a creature moves beyond one-half of its speed in your threatened area represents an additional opportunity against that opponent. All these attacks are at your full normal melee attack bonus.

Next you describe the maneuver. How do you attempt it? Do you use the terrain and combat situation to your advantage? What do you expect to happen if the maneuver succeeds? Think of the game as if it were a movie, and describe the scene as you put the maneuver into action. As part of this step, you must choose the mechanical effect you want to gain from the maneuver. Then choose which skill you wish to use to make the check with. You make this "maneuver check" opposed by your opponent’s maneuver check. If the maneuver check succeeds, you gain its benefits or your foe suffers its effects.

Maneuvers and Actions Listed next to the name of each maneuver is the action required to complete it. Most maneuvers require one action to complete, which means you can use the maneuver with one action and attack with the other. Fast Maneuver You might want to use a maneuver while both moving and attacking in a round. In this case, you can attempt a maneuver as a free action. You suffer a -5 penalty to your opposed maneuver check. Alternatively, if you are using Attack of Opportunity or Combat Advantage rules, you may instead provoke an Attack of Opportunity or grant Combat Advantage, in which case you do not suffer a -5 penalty to your opposed maneuver check. Combining Maneuvers If you wish, you may attempt to combine multiple maneuvers into a single check. For instance, you might combine an Affect Area maneuver with a Gain Combat Advantage maneuver to represent ripping the rug out from under a group of enemies and tripping them up. In this case, each component maneuver still has its normal action cost, but you only make one opposed maneuver check for all of the attempted maneuvers. If you attempt those maneuvers as fast maneuvers, you can attempt to combine more than two, but each maneuver imposes an additional -2 penalty on your opposed check.

Maneuvers and Skills

Maneuvers A maneuver is an action in combat that falls outside the normal bounds of the rules. These rules are a tool to help you come up with imaginative, clever, and exciting actions in combat. If you can imagine it, the maneuver rules allow you to attempt it. You might throw a fistful of sand in an opponent’s face to blind him, run along the narrow top of a wall to maneuver around a foe, or crack open a keg of beer to send a stream of liquid into an opponent’s face. Maneuvers reward you for coming up with interesting and visually engaging actions in combat.

Maneuver Mechanics The mechanics behind a maneuver are relatively simple. When you attempt a maneuver, first you pick out the effect you want to create. The following sections list several different possible results for a maneuver, broken down into two categories: trade-off maneuvers,

You may choose the skill you use to complete a maneuver, but the GM chooses the ability your opponent uses to oppose it. The GM may rule if a particular skill is inappropriate for a given maneuver.

Maneuvers or Zones? If you are using the rules for environmental Zones described in Chapter VIII: Environments, it may seem like some of these maneuvers step on the toes of those rules, allowing players to designate Zones in combat on the fly, making the two systems incompatible. This is not the case. Some maneuvers allow players to create effects similar to Zones on the fly during a fight. This helps to keep combat dynamic without requiring the GM to detail every last inch of a battlefield. By allowing the players the ability to interact with the environment on the fly in this way, it removes some of the burden for creating colorful combats from the GM and spreads it around to the whole group, so everyone can help make combat more exciting.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part II However, it should also be noted that both Maneuvers and Zones are capable of being used independently of one another. For GMs with less prep time, relying more heavily on the players to describe and interact with the environment using Maneuvers exclusively might be beneficial. Alternatively, for GMs who would really rather make designing battlefields and environments their exclusive domain, using Zones to the exclusion of Maneuvers (or at least certain Maneuvers) is a good way to accomplish this.

Maneuver Descriptions There are seven types of maneuvers. Some allow you to trade an action or a bonus in one area to gain a bonus or additional action elsewhere, and others allow you to gain an advantage over your foe more directly. All of them count as one action.

AFFECT AREA

ONE ACTION

You go all-out in an attempt to affect a larger number of foes than usual with your attack. You might perform a wild, sweeping strike backed by raw muscle power to cut through multiple enemies, or you might yank a rug out from under a group of guards to trip them. Make an opposed check, with a -1 penalty for each foe you wish to affect. Any of your opponents who fail fall into your affected area. Your next attack or maneuver affects all opponents who failed their opposed check against this maneuver. You must have a reasonable means of attacking multiple foes, such as all being within your reach, or positioned in such a way that a single attack could conceivably strike all of them in some other way.

Failure: If all of your opponents win their opposed check, you don’t affect any of them. However, even if only one of them fails their check, that opponent falls into your affected area. Examples: Use Might to cleave through four enemies with a single mighty blow. Use Acrobatics to perform a daring spin-move and slash at four enemies at once. Use Expertise (Tactics) to position your enemies just right on a staircase so sending one tumbling will knock all of them down. Use Persuasion] to cow your enemies into falling back and bunching together so you can drop a chandelier on them.

AID

ONE ACTION

You attempt to help an ally during battle. You might shove an enemy off-balance for a second, or disrupt his attack with a carefully-timed feint. Make an opposed check. If your opponent fails, you grant your ally a +2 bonus on attacks against the target, or a +2 bonus on opposed maneuver checks against that target. Alternatively, you may grant your ally a +2 bonus on Defense against attacks from the target. These bonuses last for one round, until the start of your next turn. Failure: If this maneuver fails, your ally does not gain the bonus. Examples: Use Might to knock a foe off-balance while your ally attacks. Use Acrobatics to nimbly draw a foe’s attention with attacks while your ally gets a better position. Use Expertise (Tactics) to time your attacks with an ally’s to maximize effect. Use Persuasion to trick your foe while he’s attempting to attack your ally.

Option: Other Maneuver Resolutions There are different ways to resolve maneuvers than the use of opposed skill checks presented above. You could, for example, just use ability scores to resolve the checks (such as using Strength vs. Dexterity to resolve being tripped, or Wisdom vs. Charisma to avoid a feint). You could also make all the maneuvers resolve exclusively off of opposed Weapon Group checks. And of course, if none of them are a good fit for your group, maneuvers are easily removed, with many of their effects still available through Zones if the GM likes to have tighter control over what options are on a given battlefield (see Chapter VIII: Environments for details). Ability Maneuvers Rather than using simply using skills, you may wish to have all Maneuver checks resolved as opposed ability checks. Understand that under this option, Dexterity and Strength can be used to justify most types of maneuvers, and might become more potent relative to the other maneuvers. Also be careful if someone tries to use the same attribute for every check (because there's only so many times that using Charisma to represent "Disarming Wit" works before you want to strangle the player for such a terrible pun). Combat Maneuvers Alternatively, you might view combat maneuvers as simple extensions of how good you are in a fight. Under this option, all maneuvers are resolved as opposed attack rolls with whichever attack you choose to perform the maneuver. This allows some flexibility, as a character can use his Weapon Group skill with a melee weapon for an up-close trip, and then later use a ranged Weapon Group to try to disarm an enemy from across the room. This lack of variety will, however, remove one means by which to encourage characters to invest in noncombat skills. Under this option, perception ranged attacks can be used, but they do not automatically succeed. A melee or ranged attack roll is still required. Take Your Pick This option combines one or more of the above options in any way you like. So you might allow characters to use their attack bonus or attributes, but not skills; or just skills and attack bonus but not attributes; or attributes and skills but not attack bonus. Pick and choose which are most appropriate for the game.

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CALLED SHOT

damage and minimize cross-fire. This may only be required for the "leader" of the combined attack, or for all the characters.

ONE ACTION

You swing high and try to drive your sword into your enemy's heart. You put the bead of your sniper rifle right between the eyes of your target.

Although a combined attack is similar to aiding someone, it is not the same, and bonuses applying to aid do not apply to combined attacks.

You gain a +2 bonus to your attack's critical threat range and a -2 on your attack roll. The adjustments apply to your next attack and last for a full round. This represents aiming at a smaller but more vulnerable area, like a foe's eyes or throat. You can take up to a -5 penalty on your attack roll for a total +5 bonus to your critical threat range. Make an opposed maneuver check. If you succeed, you take the trade-off successfully. On a successful critical hit, you may choose to instead inflict one of the following FX rather than deal +5 damage. Your attack still does normal damage in addition to the added FX. You must, however, declare which option you'd like to use in advance:

Examples: A team of mutants converge their various energyprojecting powers on a single nigh-invincible foe in hopes of taking him down. A squad of soldiers wait until everyone is in position to lay coordinated gunfire down on the incoming armored jeep. The flight of starship pilots swoop in together and concentrate their fire on a small area to punch through the alien mothership's shields.

•

Dazzle (Visual) 5: Attack the eyes. You strike at a foe's eyes and might be able to blind him.

•

Drain (Constitution) 10: Stab the heart. You sever a major artery, causing massive bleeding and severely weakening your enemy.

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Drain (Dexterity) 10: Knee shot. You smash at a foe's legs, making it difficult for him to move.

Make the attack roll normally, however, the attack does not go off. Instead, the attacker chooses to withhold the attack and “cover” the target. This is like someone with a gun pointing it at a target and shouting “freeze!” If the initial attack roll is successful, the attacker may use the readied attack at any time against the target with the normal result from the initial attack roll. If the initial attack roll was a critical hit, then the covering attack is also a critical hit, if it is made.

•

Drain (Strength) 10: Sever muscle. You cut at a joint, making it harder for your foe to bring to bare the full weight of his strength against you.

•

Inflict (Attack and Fortitude) 5: Sucker punch. You hit a foe in the stomach, inflicting little damage but wracking pain.

•

Inflict (Defense and Actions) 5: Head shot. You swing at your foe's head and literally knock him senseless. Failure: If this maneuver fails, you do not gain the bonus, but you still suffer the penalty. Examples: Use Might to deliver a painful sucker punch. Use Dexterity to place your knife right in your foe's heart. Use Science to use medical knowledge to stab at pressure points and strike for higher Damage.

COMBINED ATTACK

COVER

ONE ACTION

You hold a gun drawn on an opponent, or press a knife against their back, ready to strike in an instant.

If your opponent attempts an action, he must succeed at an opposed check to break the cover or the attack will go off. Failure: If this maneuver fails, your attack does not go off, or misses your opponent instead of hitting. Examples: Use Might to break away from a foe holding a knife to your throat. Use Infiltration to slip out of a sniper’s sights. Use Expertise (Tactics) to dodge behind moving cover at the perfect moment. Use Persuasion to trick an enemy into lowering his guard. Special: A Persuasion check to intimidate check made while covered suffers a –2 penalty (since the attacker is clearly in a superior position).

DISARM

ONE ACTION

You slam an opponent’s sword out of his hand, or blast an enemy’s gun away.

ONE ACTION

Multiple attackers can attempt to combine their attacks to overwhelm an opponent’s defenses, with a hail of gunfire or a convergence of mystic power.

Make an opposed maneuver check. If you succeed, you disarm a character of an easy to lose device or piece of equipment, dropping it to the floor.

The attackers must all delay to the same point in the initiative order (that of the slowest character). Each attacker makes a normal attack roll against the target. Take the largest save DC modifier of the attacks that hit, and for each other attack within 5 points of that attack's bonus that hits, add +2. The attacks must all target the same type of resistance in order to combine, for example attacks doing damage (targeting Toughness) can combine, but not with a Damage FX that targets a Will instead or an Inflict (Condition) FX calling for a Fortitude, which do not call for Toughness saves.

Failure: If this maneuver fails, the target holds onto his weapon.

Failure: If a character misses this attack roll, then that character does not add to the damage bonus of the combined attack.

You grab your foe and pull him into a headlock, or fling a handful of sand at his eyes to temporarily blind him. With a wide sweep-kick, you knock your foe to the ground. These are just examples of how you can gain combat advantage over your foe.

Special: Note that a combined attack does not require any maneuver check by default. At the GM's option and depending on the genre of the game, the GM may require a check such as Expertise to represent having the know-how to combine supernatural energies, or how to position troops to maximize

Examples: Use Might to smash a weapon out of your opponent’s hand, or use Acrobatics to grab someone's weapon and twist it away with a spin-move.

GAIN COMBAT ADVANTAGE

ONE ACTION

Make an opposed maneuver check. If you succeed, your foe is offbalance, taking a -2 penalty to Defense against your attacks. In addition, you may take certain actions against a foe you have

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part II combat advantage against which you couldn't otherwise use. If you succeed by 5 or more, your opponent is vulnerable, denying him his Defense bonus against attacks you make.

Examples: Use Might to grab a foe and pin him against the wall. Use Acrobatics to somersault over your enemy and stab him from behind. Use Persuasion to trick your enemy and catch him with a feint.

If you succeed by 10 or more, your opponent is flat-footed, denying him his Defense bonus against all attacks made against him.

COMBAT ADVANTAGE Succeed

Off-Balance

-2 Defense against your attacks, Susceptible to Your Surprise Attacks

Succeed by 5

Vulnerable

Lose Defense Bonus against your attacks, Susceptible to Your Surprise Attacks

Flat-Footed

Lose Defense Bonus against all attacks, Susceptible to everyone's Surprise Attacks

Succeed by 10 Recovery

Automatic

TRADE-OFF

CONDITION

ONE ACTION

You attempt a maneuver which trades-off your abilities in one area for another, bracing yourself for an attack, readying to dodge, or really leaning into an attack to deliver the most damage possible. Take a +2 on one of the following: Attack, Defense, Effect Modifier, or one of your Resistances and a -2 on one of the others. The adjustments apply to your next attack and last for a full round. Make an opposed maneuver check. If you succeed, you take the trade-off successfully. Failure: If this maneuver fails, you do not gain the bonus, but you still suffer the penalty.

1 round

Failure: If your opponent wins the opposed check, you do not gain any sort of combat advantage over that enemy. Special: If you take a -5 penalty to your opposed maneuver check, your opponent can only escape your combat advantage with a successful opposed check at the cost of one action. This can be used to represent pinning a foe with a grapple.

Examples: Use Might to punch an energy beam away before it can hurt you, gaining a bonus to Toughness at a penalty to Defense. Use Acrobatics to spring aside and gain a bonus to your Defense save at a penalty to your Toughness save when a grenade is tossed your way. Use Science and medical knowledge to stab at pressure points and strike for higher Damage. Use Perception to see through an opponent’s attack routine, taking a penalty to your Toughness to gain a bonus to Defense.

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Chapter VIII: Environments Not all of the hazards characters face comes from their enemies. Sometimes the environment itself can be a danger, particularly when foes try to use it to their advantage. Characters end up in a lot of dangerous places and deal with less than ideal conditions. This section details some of the hazards characters may face out in the world, how to create the different sorts of zones that characters might come across in their adventures.

Zones Zones are presented as an option for GMs to put extra tactical considerations into encounters for their players. These rules allow a GM to define in advance the various abilities and options which aspects of a battlefield characters might be able to take advantage of (or fall victim to). Swinging from a chandelier in a tavern to get across the room during a bar fight or tearing down power lines during a superhero brawl to electrocute an enemy are examples of zones.

Designing a Zone

Three Types of Zones There are three types of zones: condition zones, event zones, and action zones. A condition zone describes a specific ongoing effect in a given area of the battlefield. Characters who fight in the middle of the desert, for example, are likely to suffer from the heat continuously. An event zone, on the other hand, only takes effect when it has been activated. An event zone might occur without characters needing to do anything (such as a ruptured steam pipe that blasts out a searing cloud of steam every three rounds), or they might be a response to the characters' actions (such as stepping on a trap that unleashes a fusillade of darts). Action zones describe how characters can interact with the environment. These options are similar to Maneuvers (see Chapter VII: Combat for details), but use predefined aspects of the environment and not simply the characters' abilities. Most action zones offer benefits that are greater than or different from those offered in d20 Advanced’s maneuver rules. For example, a massive boulder perched at the edge of a steep slope might inflict more damage against a greater number of targets than the typical area attack maneuver.

The easiest way to design zones is to treat the entire battlefield environment as a single creature. For the most part, the environment is neutral, able to be used to the advantage of almost any characters fighting there. Admittedly, environments often "favor" NPC enemies, who are more likely to be able to choose the battlefields than the more reactive PC adventurers.

All types of zones use the same rules. In many cases, they draw on existing rules, such as the rules for weather, or the rules for various FX you’re already familiar with. The altar that blasts the characters with eldritch energy simply makes an attack roll to see if it strikes a character with the power of dark forces.

A good rule of thumb is to make environments two full power levels weaker than the PCs. Use trade-offs to vary the effects of the different zones in an environments. A huge boulder might hit hard, but it moves so slowly and is so large that it is easy to dodge. On the other hand, a set of light, automated guns might have sophisticated targeting programs, but don't do much damage. More dangerous environments might only be one PL lower than the PCs, and particularly deadly environments might be at or above the PCs' PL.

Condition Zones

Zones are built using Equipment Points, like Structures. Indeed, many of the zones described in this chapter can be used to define the area and defenses of a headquarters or base of operations, and can be bought as such. Larger environments tend to have more zones, and thus have a higher EP cost. Like other NPCs, the GM should not feel beholden to maintain environments below a certain cost.

Condition zones use the following stat block:

NAME

CONDITION ZONE, EP COST

FX rank (Extras: Burst Area, Concentration Duration)

Designing Condition Zones Building a condition zone requires careful balance. They effect everyone in the area constantly, round after round, and if made too powerful, they can make it impossible for characters to participate

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part II in the actual encounter itself! That's why it's recommended that condition zones, even moreso than other zones, be built at a lower power level than the PCs. A condition zone should be used to wear a character down or make things difficult, but not to be a major source of injury, so reduce the effective power level of the zone to at least 2 or 3 below the party's PL. Condition zones often need some sort of skill check every round to avoid falling to the zones' effects, such as using Acrobatics to remained balanced on a storm-tossed ship or using Expertise to concentrate in spite of a massive swarm of biting insects. Characters make these checks at the start of their turns to see if they suffer the zones' effects each round.

Condition Zone Effects Condition zones can do just about anything, from something as simple as damaging a character to knocking them prone to making them violently ill. Try to consider how an encounter will unfold with this effect taking place, and work backwards towards the actual FX you'll employ to achieve the effect. To describe powerful waves which threaten to send characters flying across the deck of a ship, you might use Move Object. For a dangerous poison gas leak, maybe you'll use the Inflict Condition FX to affect Attacks and Fortitude resistance. Luckily, these FX already detail what happens depending on how badly a character succumbs to them.

Class. For higher DCs, you might want to decrease the damage slightly, following the trade-off rules normally. This assumes that the characters suffer half damage on a successful resistance, as if it were an area attack. If they suffer no damage on a resistance (such as if they have the Evasion feat), you can increase the effect modifier of the zone. But be careful of trying to tailor your condition zone to the most competent member of the group in one area, as you can very quickly find yourself overwhelming the other characters in the group.

Other FX You can use almost any FX imaginable with a condition zone, as long as it makes sense within the context of the game. A volcanic tremor might knock the characters prone, while gouts of hot steam could cause temporary blindness. The table below lists some common FX and sources that could deliver them.

TABLE 8.1: ZONE FX

Resistances and Skill Check DCs Unlike attacks from enemies, condition zones tend to be constant, and benefit from active skill checks to avoid them (which make the players feel more in-control). Rather than attacking a specific resistance, you might simply want to add 10 to the effect's modifier and make it into the DC to resist the effect. If an FX describes what happens if the attack succeeds by 5 or 10, you should use those results if the character fails the skill check by 5 or 10, respectively. You can also make liberal use of the Alternate Resistance extra, enabling you to use other skills to resist the target besides the typical Defense, Fortitude, and Will. Acrobatics works well for effects that make the environment itself move, such as earthquake tremors. These are especially good for zones which will be constant. Traditional resistances, on the other hand, are more appropriate for zones which more directly "attack" characters. A storm-tossed ship is a general, widespread chance to knock combatants off-balance, but bursts of lava are usually more limited and could severely incapacitate a character. You can also treat normally active skills as Resistances for the purpose of condition zones if you wish to speed up game play, where the zone must roll its effect modifier against 10 + the skill modifier for the characters in the zone.

Zone FX

Sample Source

Dazzle (Blindness)

Dense fog, steam, flashing lights, illusions

Dazzle (Deafness)

Loud noises, a piercing shriek, other FX

Inflict (Strength and Constitution)

Intense heat, a life-draining magical effect

Inflict (Attack and Fortitude)

Noxious gas, a magical effect

Inflict (Attack and Movement)

Strange plant creatures, thick mud

Move Object

A powerful wind

Inflict (Movement and Combat Advantage)

Tremors, any effect that causes the ground to move

Try to avoid FX, such as Inflict (Action), that leave a character unable to act. Unlucky character, or those who have a particularly weak resistance, might find themselves unable to even take part in the encounter! A good condition zone is a challenge to overcome, but not one that will destroy the team. As a guideline, condition zones should have mild (but appreciable) effects, and not be so dangerous that they turn a winnable encounter into an unwinnable one. The list of FX is by no means comprehensive, but it should give you some ideas of how to use condition zones for things other than damage.

Event Zones

Attack A zone which uses an attack that a character could dodge away from or deflect with a shield or something similar likely uses an attack bonus. This also covers zones which a character can leap behind cover from. The attack bonus for the zone depends on its power level, just as the other effects do.

Event zones can be timed, which means they're activated on a certain schedule or just by chance, or triggered, and activated by actions which the characters take. Here are sample stat blocks for a timed event zone and a triggered event zone.

HOWLING IDOL

Damage A condition zone’s damage is tied to its power level. This damage assumes that you use the typical resistance or skill check Difficulty

TIMED EVENT ZONE, 16 EP

Inflict (Attack and Will) 6 (Extras: Burst Area, Perception Range; Flaws: Action; Drawbacks: Action 2 (5 rounds))

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SPEAR TRAP

cause damaged buildings to topple, sending debris plummeting down to crush anyone nearby. These event zones occur independently of the character’s actions.

TRIGGERED EVENT ZONE, 9 EP

Damage 8 (Extras: Burst Area; Flaws: Unreliable 2 (One Use); FX Feats: Accurate 4, Triggered (when a character steps on a pressure plate in the corridor))

Picture the zone and its effect. How does the zone interact with the characters? If the characters' actions can set off the zones, then treat them as triggered zones with the Triggered FX feat. Otherwise, it’s a timed event zone, and you should use the Action flaw and drawback or the Unreliable flaw to design the zone.

Event zones have their names, types, and cost included at the top, followed by a description of the FX they use.

Event Zone Effects

Triggered or Timed The stat block notes the zone’s type next to its name. If you're using a battlemap (see Chapter VII), you should note the zone's area on the map for yourself.

An event zone can do just about anything that a condition zone can do. The key difference is that event zones are far more limited in the number of times they'll hit a given character. Triggered zones, for instance, will probably only have one shot at a character. This means you can feel free to make them more dangerous and use more potent FX to build them then you might be comfortable doing with condition zones.

Effect Modifier Unlike condition zones, the one-off nature of event zones often means that they directly attack a character's resistances, especially for triggered zones. These zones will have an attack bonus for their effects. Timed zones are more likely allow characters a skill check to avoid the effect, since they are more constant and impersonal.

Resistance and Skill DCs As described above, event zones don't affect characters as often as condition zones do, so the skill DC to avoid them, or the modifier they'll use to overcome a character's resistances, can be higher. In general, the more often you expect an event zone to “go off”, the lower you should make its skill check DCs or effect modifiers.

FX Event zones inflict damage or other special states on the characters or cause other effects that require explanation. A bursting dam unleashes water which pushes the party along each round, while a rolling boulder crushes everything in its path. Pick FX which appropriately represent the effects.

Area An event zone affects an area or a single target. If it affects an area, the stat block notes the radius or otherwise describes how it targets the characters. Perception-range effects do not require any sort of attack roll, and instead either subject everyone in the zone to a skill check or target a given resistance.

Designing Event Zones Event zones can be triggered events or timed events. Triggered events activate in response to an action, such as a character pushing a button, and have the Triggered FX feat. Timed events happen on a schedule or in response to an event that the characters don’t control. These events are usually separated by an increased action (usually multiple rounds) with the Action drawback. A triggered event zone is basically a trap in the way it functions in the game. When a character enters the area with a trap’s trigger, the trap activates and either attacks him, such as by firing a laser blast at him, or causes an effect that needs to be resisted, such by as releasing tear gas or even a toxic nerve gas into the room. Event zones are similar. When a character ventures into the zone’s area, the zone activates and attacks or causes an effect. A timed event zone activates according to a schedule (or by random chance, if you prefer). For example, every few rounds, another section of the levy breaks and another area of the battlefield becomes flooded. An earthquake in the heart of the city might

Attacks Generally speaking, attacks which a character can block or dodge should make use of attack rolls rather than just a resistance or skill check. A zone’s attack bonus depends on its power level. You can trade-off the bonus up or down for a deadlier or less threatening zone. Note that the attack bonus for an event zone will usually be higher than that for a condition zone. Because an event zone usually has fewer chances to strike a character, it needs a better bonus to ensure that its attack poses a threat.

Skills Almost any skill might prove useful in avoiding an event zone. A Survival check allows an Army Ranger to notice that a patch of bushes has sharp, poisoned thorns. A Perception check lets a character uncover the ancient stone pressure plate before he steps on it and activates a mechanism that launches poison darts at him. When you create an event zone, determine whether a skill check replaces a resistance for avoiding its effects, or if a check allows a character to spot the danger before he stumbles into it. Perception fills this role in most cases, as they cover a character’s environmental awareness. Knowledge with a particular skill or Survival can also prove useful, as they indicate that a character has the training needed to realize he’s near an event zone. Zones which allow an “extra” skill check to avoid often have the Additional Resistance flaw. Feel free to add the Subtle FX feat to a zone which allows a skill check to avoid the zone, increasing the DC for Perception checks to 20, or possibly even requiring a specialized sense (such as a magical sense to realize that an oddly-shaped idol is actually cursed and ready to unleash a maddening scream).

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Damage Just like with other effects, the more often an event zone activates, the lower its Damage rank should be.

against a creature in the area, that creature suffers only half damage. An action zone’s stat block covers the following attributes:

Other Effects

Name

The advice for designing condition zones covers a few effects other than damage that you can hit the characters with. In addition, event zones can Drain characters' ability scores or use Inflict Condition to penalize Actions. These sorts of effects are usually too overwhelming to use constantly in a condition zone, but as part of a more-rarely-occurring event zone, they're much more appropriate.

The action zone’s name should be something descriptive, like “falling tree” or “chandelier swing”.

Area When you design an event zone, you must decide on its area of effect. In general, scale down the effect modifier for a zone which can affect a large number of people (especially if those targeted aren't the ones who triggered it). You don't need to scale it down very far: just by 1 or 2 ranks is often enough for larger areas.

Reusable or Nonreusable Some action zones can be used only once, and then they're gone forever. In a superhero showdown, someone might hurl an empty car at the supervillain, but once it's been thrown, the car is wrecked and destroyed, no longer useful. On the other hand, characters might upend a table in a bar to take cover behind during a tavern brawl. Doing so doesn't destroy the table, so even if it's righted later during the fight, someone else can just tip it over again. Indeed, even if the characters abandon their cover to join the fight, someone else can just hop in later and take their hiding place.

Traps A form of event zones which have been used since the beginning of RPGs, traps force characters to move cautiously and carefully while encouraging creative thinking for avoiding their often-deadly effects. Smart players have been using traps to their advantage for years. Some have even learned how to trick the enemy into falling victim to the traps, killing two birds with one stone! Generally a trap is a good addition to an encounter if the group's power level is 2 or more levels higher than the trap’s. Otherwise, the trap might be too dangerous to include in the encounter. If there's a trap door in the floor which dumps unsuspecting characters into a pit, not only are you damaging characters with the fall, but you're also removing an ally for the PCs as well. While the trapped character tries to climb out, the rest of the group might be overwhelmed by the enemies who remain.

Action Zones Action zones encourage GMs to design interesting battle sites. Rather than simply running a fight in a tavern where the tables, chairs, bar, and beer kegs block movement, you can create zones around each of those features that define how the player characters (and their enemies) can use them. When a character enters an action zone, she gains an ability which can only be used in that particular location. Think of an action zone as an object waiting for some combatant to run up and use it. A good example of this would be a nice rug in the parlor of a fancy house. Most of the time, it sits there uneventfully. But when a clever character decides to rip it out from under an enemy, it provides them with an opportunity to knock the enemy prone!

TIMBER!

Actions The stat block lists different actions available in the zone. Often times, a character must make a skill check (at the cost of one or more actions) to activate and make use of the zone.

Designing Action Zones Action zones are easy to create because you just need to come up with the effects the zone offers (often in the form of an FX or the temporary use of a feat or the like). But they're also difficult to design because they’re more free-form in nature. But because you can easily use them for more than injuring or incapacitating an enemy, you also have slightly less to worry about in terms of balance. Well-designed actions zones need to offer options to characters which they don't normally have. For instance, if the characters are all armed with guns, don't expect them to be excited for the opportunity to use an automatic ball pitcher from the batting cages against their enemies (since they already have potent ranged attacks). But if those same characters find themselves unable to successfully combat an ancient fire demon, they'll be extremely happy to learn that they can smash fire hydrants to soak and extinguish the demon. Action zones are also a nice way to help introduce your players to the concept of maneuvers, if they feel uncomfortable using those rules for themselves. If you set up specific opportunities using action zones, with concrete effects for the results, you can help them feel more comfortable with the idea of using the battlefield creatively to win fights. Just like when creating event or condition zones, start with the end result you want to see in play, then work backwards to the FX you'll use to realize this picture. Find FX in Chapter V that closely model the results and use them to guide you.

ACTION ZONE, 1 EP

Damage 4 (Extras: Cone Area; Flaws: Might Check Required, Unreliable 2 (One Use)) With a Might check, you can send a big tree crashing down on top of your enemies. Make a Might check. If you miss your attack roll

The description should specify the area of effect the zone uses. This area should correspond to the area that the object could physically cover (using a rough approximation, of course). A toppling tree is roughly cone-shaped, while a rolling boulder affects a line of targets.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part II If an action zone requires an attack of any sort, you need to hit your targets before the action has any sort of effect on them. In many cases, a touch-range attack works best for thrown objects and other large, bulky items. Use these rules of thumb:

•

attacks) and fire FX.

•

An item small enough to wield as a normal weapon requires a normal attack roll.

•

An item larger than the character wielding it is unwieldy, granting a bonus to damage but a penalty to attack. Beyond just making attacks, action zones offer characters the ability to move around the battlefield in interesting ways, or even to completely change the face of the battlefield. Maybe if the PCs break the levy, they can flood an area and make it difficult terrain, slowing anyone who tries to move through it. Especially when you first start using zones, get in the habit of explaining to your players in advance what zones are going to be available or active during a particular encounter, and letting them know what the zones will allow them to do. Since you want the players to use them, you also want to make sure that they know that they're there to use at all! As players learn more about them and know where to look for them during a fight, you might not need to prompt them as much or explain everything up-front.

Fire: Mundane fire does not burn underwater. FX with the fire descriptor are ineffective underwater unless the character makes a successful power check (DC 20). If the check succeeds, the FX creates a bubble of steam instead of its usual fiery effect, but otherwise the FX works as described. The surface of a body of water blocks line of effect for any fire FX. If the caster has made a power check to render the fire FX usable underwater, the surface still blocks the FX's line of effect.

Flowing Water Large, placid rivers move at only a few miles per hour, so they function as still water as far as the rules for the game are concerned. But some rivers and streams move faster.

SWEPT AWAY

EVENT ZONE, 5 EP

Move Object 5 (Flaws: Athletics check opposes)

Terrain Effects This section presents a variety of basic terrain types, such as desert and forest, along with some sample zones that correspond to the terrain types. Use this section as an encounter area toolbox. It provides dressing that you can use to spice up your game and make encounters more fun than two mobs of warriors lining up and smashing each other with their weapons.

Aquatic Terrain

Characters swept away by a fast-moving river must make Athletics checks (DC 20) every round to avoid going under. If a character gets a check result of 5 or more over the minimum result necessary, he stops his motion by catching a rock, tree limb, or bottom snag, and he's no longer being carried along by the flow of the water. Escaping the rapids by reaching the bank requires three Athletics checks (DC 20) in a row. Characters arrested by a rock, limb, or snag can't escape under their own power unless they strike out into the water and attempt to swim their way clear. Other characters can rescue them as if they were trapped in quicksand.

WATER DROWNING

Any character can wade in relatively calm water that isn’t over her head, with no check required. Similarly, swimming in calm water only requires Athletics skill checks with a Difficulty Class of 10. Rough water requires a DC 15 Athletics check, while stormy water requires a DC 20 Athletics check.

Drain 1 (Physical Ability Scores; Extras: No Resistance) It is possible to drown in substances other than water, such as sand, quicksand, fine dust, and silos full of grain.

Arctic Terrain

Underwater Combat Land-based creatures can have considerable difficulty when fighting in water. Water affects a creature's defense, attack rolls, damage, and movement. In some cases, a creature's opponents may get a bonus on attacks. These modifiers apply whenever a character is swimming, walking in chest-deep water, or walking along the bottom of a body of water.

•

•

CONDITION ZONE, 4 EP

Ranged Attacks Underwater: Thrown weapons prove ineffective underwater, even when launched from land. Attacks with other ranged weapons are made against characters in their threatened area as if they had partial cover. Attacks with other ranged weapons made against character in deep water (10+ feet), or who are outside of the normal reach of the attacker, are made as if the swimmer had improved cover. Attacks From Land: Characters swimming, floating, treading water on the surface, or wading in water at least chest deep have improved cover, imposing a -5 penalty on attack rolls from opponents on land. FX are unaffected except for those that require attack rolls (which are treated like any other

Adventures to the arctic, winters in the north, of journeys to worlds of perpetual cold can force characters to endure difficult terrain.

Ice Sheet Ice sheets count as difficult terrain, costing double the normal movement to move through. If a character fails any Strength- or Dexterity-based skill check, or any attack rolls while on an ice sheet, that character must make an Acrobatics check (DC 10) or fall off-balance, granting foes combat advantage. To represent a frozen-over lake with ice potentially too thin to support a character, use the following event zone:

THIN ICE

EVENT ZONE, 9 EP

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part II Damage 2 (Extras: Alternate Resistance (Fortitude), Linked (Drain), Sustained Duration; Flaws: Additional Resistance (Reflex); Power Feats: Triggered (when a character steps on a square of thin ice)); Drain 1 (Physical Ability Scores; Extras: Linked, No Resistance) On a failed save Reflex check, the character creates a hole in the ice big enough to cover his space. In addition to the normal effects of attempting to swim and drowning, a character in freezing water suffers the above damage and penalties to his physical ability scores. It takes a DC 10 Perception check to find the hole in the ice, and a DC 15 Athletics check to swim back out.

A foot of snow or more counts as difficult terrain, and it costs double the normal amount of movement to move through squares with such snow. Especially deep snow can slow characters even further.

EVENT ZONE, 5 EP

Inflict 5 (Movement; Extras: Alternate Resistance (Athletics)) On a failed Athletics check (DC 15), a character is unable to move easily through the thigh-high snow, and his movement rate is halved (in addition to the snow counting as difficult terrain). If the character fails by 5 or more, he's unable to move that turn, as the snow is just too deep. If the character fails by 10 or more, he falls and is helpless for one round. Smaller characters have an even more difficult time making their way through deep snow. They suffer a cumulative -2 penalty to their Athletics checks for every size category they are smaller than medium. Similarly, larger characters have an easier time as well. They gain a cumulative +2 bonus to their Athletics checks for every size category larger than medium they are.

Industrial Terrain This category covers some of the stranger and more dangerous hazards seen in modern industrial centers.

ACID VAT

CONDITION ZONE, 6 EP

Damage 5 (Extras: Concentration Duration; Flaws: Limited (Submerged Characters, 4 ranks)) Boiling water deals 1 fire damage per round of exposure, unless the character is fully immersed, in which case it deals 5 damage per round of exposure.

MOLTEN STEEL

Snow

DEEP SNOW

BOILING WATER

CONDITION ZONE, 21 EP

Damage 14 (Extras: Concentration Duration, Secondary FX (Half Ranks); Flaws: Limited (Submerged Characters, 10 ranks)) Molten metal or magma deals 5 fire damage per round of exposure, except in the case of total immersion (such as when a character falls into the crater of an active volcano), which deals 15 damage per round. Damage from magma continues for an additional round after exposure ceases, but this additional damage is only half of that dealt during actual contact or submersion. An immunity or resistance to fire serves as an immunity or resistance to lava or magma, too. However, a creature immune to fire might still drown if completely immersed in lava.

CHOKING SMOKE

CONDITION ZONE, 15 EP

Drain 5 (Physical Ability Scores; Extras: Linked (Obscure)) Obscure 5 (Olfactory, Visual Senses; Extras: Linked (Drain); Flaws: Partial Concealment, Touch Range) Choking clouds of smoke make it difficult to see. Further, characters suffering from smoke inhalation can suffocate, leaving them sick and weak.

Forest Terrain Many of the terrain features found in the forest also transfer well to other environments.

CONDITION ZONE, 36 EP

Trees

Damage 10 (Extras: Concentration Duration, Linked Drain; Flaws: Limited (Submerged Characters, 9 ranks)); Drain 10 (Extras: Concentration Duration, Linked Damage; Flaws: Limited (Submerged Characters, 9 ranks)) Inflict (Condition) 2 (Penalize Attacks, Penalize Fortitude; Fortitude Resists; Extras: Touch Perception Range, Additional Affliction) Corrosive acid deals 1 acid damage per round of exposure except in the case of total immersion (such as into a vat of acid), which deals 10 damage per round. The acid also eats away at a character's defenses, draining their toughness if the acid overcomes their Fortitude. The fumes from most acids are toxic if inhaled, which can sicken anyone adjacent to the acid pool. Creatures with any sort of acid resistance or immunity ignore this effect. Creatures immune to acid's caustic properties might still drown in it if totally immersed.

A creature standing in the same square as a tree gains a +5 bonus to defense due to cover. The presence of a tree doesn't otherwise affect a creature's fighting space, because it’s assumed that the creature is using the tree to its advantage when it can. The trunk of a typical tree has Toughness 7. An Athletics check (DC 15) is sufficient to climb a tree. Medium and dense forests have massive trees as well. These trees take up an entire square and provide cover to anyone behind them. They have Toughness 12. As with their smaller counterparts, it takes an Athletics check (DC 15) to climb them.

TIMBER!

ACTION ZONE, 1 EP

Damage 4 (Extras: Cone Area; Flaws: Might Check Required, Unreliable 2 (One Use))

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part II With a Might check, you can send a big dying, dead, or otherwise unsteady tree crashing down on top of your enemies. Make a Might check. If you miss your attack roll against a creature in the area, that creature suffers only half damage.

Undergrowth Vines, roots, and short bushes cover much of the ground in a forest. A space covered with light undergrowth costs two spaces of movement to move into, and it provides partial concealment with a -2 percent to attacks made against creatures in the space. Undergrowth increases the Difficulty Class of Acrobatics and Infiltration checks by 2 as leaves and branches get in the way. Heavy undergrowth increases the Difficulty Class of Acrobatics and Infiltration checks by 5. Running and charging are impossible. Spaces with undergrowth are often clustered together. Undergrowth and trees aren't mutually exclusive; it’s common for a 5-foot space to have both a tree and undergrowth.

Desert Terrain Intense heat can roast characters where they stand, and stand provides poor footing for combat. Sand dunes created by the wind can create slopes that make it difficult to navigate the battlefield and provide opportunities for gaining combat advantage by holding the high ground. One of the worst threats of a sandy desert are dangerous sandstorms.

RELENTLESS SANDSTORM

CONDITION ZONE, 11 EP

Damage 1; Obscure 5 (Visual) Driving sand creeps penetrates all but the most secure seals and seams, chafing skin and contaminating gear.

Jungle Terrain Steamy jungles and marshlands provide danger at every turn, whether from dangerous enemies or just from the treacherous terrain and diseases that brew there.

SWARM OF FLIES

water of about 1 foot in depth. It costs double the normal movement to move into a space with a shallow bog, and the Difficulty Class of Acrobatics checks in such a space increases by 2. A space that is part of a deep bog has roughly 4 feet of standing water. It costs Medium or larger creatures quadruple the normal movement to move into a space with a deep bog, or they can swim if they wish. Small or smaller creatures must swim to move through a deep bog. Acrobatics check DCs increase by 5 in a deep bog, The water in a deep bog provides cover for Medium or larger creatures. Smaller creatures gain improved cover. Medium or larger creatures can crouch for one action to gain this improved cover. Creatures with such improved cover take a –5 penalty on attacks against creatures that aren’t underwater. Both shallow and deep bogs impose a –2 penalty on all Infiltration checks, thanks to the loud, sloshing water and thick mud.

QUICKSAND

Inflict (Condition) 5 (Penalize Strength, Penalize Constitution; Extras: Concentration Duration, Linked to Drain; Flaws: Limited to creatures attempting Athletics checks); Drain 2 (Physical Ability Scores; Extras: Linked, No Resistance) Patches of quicksand present a deceptively solid appearance (looking like undergrowth or open land) that may trap unwary explorers. A character approaching a patch of quicksand at a normal pace is entitled to a Survival (Jungle) check (DC 10) to spot the danger before stepping in. Charging or running characters are not as lucky, and are not entitled a check prior to blundering into a patch of quicksand. A character's momentum can usually carry him about 5 feet into a pit of quicksand, which can be around 20 feet in diameter. Characters in quicksand must make an Athletics check (DC 10) every round to simply tread in place, or a DC 15 check to move 5 feet in whatever direction they desire. On a failure, the character is unable to move. A trapped character who fails this check by 5 or more sinks below the surface and begins to drown. Characters below the surface of quicksand may swim back up with a successful Athletics check (DC 15). Rescue: It takes a successful Might check (DC 15) to pull a character out of the quicksand, and usually requires finding a long and sturdy branch or using rope. If the rescuer fails by 5 or more, the branch could be dropped in the quicksand. If he fails by 10 or more, he's pulled in with the character he was trying to rescue!

Mountain and Hill Terrain

CONDITION ZONE, 10 EP

Inflict (Condition) 5 (Penalize Attacks, penalize Fortitude; Extras: Additional Affliction) This condition zone represents a large swarm of mosquitoes and other biting insects. These bugs are too small to inflict damage on a character, but their relentless bites prove distracting. The penalty represents the bugs' itching and painful bites. More serious conditions could represent catching a fast-acting disease from the insects.

Bogs If a square is part of a shallow bog, it has deep mud or standing

CONDITION ZONE, 30 EP

Mountains long marked the edge of civilization. Treacherous to cross and rife with dangers all their own, one long step in the mountains could send an unlucky traveler plunging to their doom.

Scree A field of loose rock and gravel, scree doesn't affect speed the way rubble would, but it can be treacherous in its own right. The Difficulty Class of Acrobatics checks increases by 2 for scree on a gradual slope and by 5 for scree on a steep slope, as footing becomes unsteady. Loose scree on a slope can also foil a character's attempts at stealth, imposing a -2 penalty on Infiltration checks. Daring characters may attempt to move quickly down a slope in a controlled fall using scree:

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REUSABLE ACTION ZONE, 1 EP

RIDING THE SCREE

Enhanced (Trait) 2 (All-Out Attack, Power Attack; Flaws: Side Effect (Grant enemy Combat Advantage on a failed Acrobatics check)

LIKE A ROLLING STONE

ACTION ZONE, 5 EP

Damage 8 (Extras: Line Area; Flaws: Might Check Required, Unreliable 2 (One Use); Power Feats: Mighty) With a Might check (DC 18), you can send a boulder rolling down a slope to smash into your enemies. Make a Might check. If successful, you may make an attack roll targeting all creatures within a line 5 feet wide. Creatures your attack misses suffer half damage.

Steep Slope A steep slope is defined as sharper than 30 degrees but shallow enough that characters don’t need to use the Athletics check to ascend. A character higher on a steep slope than an enemy gains Combat Advantage. Characters moving uphill (to an adjacent space with higher elevation) must spend double the normal movement to enter each space of steep slope, treating it as difficult terrain. Characters running or charging downhill (moving to an adjacent space of lower elevation) must succeed at an Acrobatics check (DC 10) upon entering the first steep slope space. Mounted characters make a Vehicles check (DC 10) instead. Characters who fail this check stumble and must end their movement 1 space later, but suffer no other penalty. Characters who fail by 5 or more stumble off-balance in the space where they end their movement, granting any foe in melee range Combat Advantage. A steep slope increases the Difficulty Class of Acrobatics checks by 2.

Urban and Interior Terrain Even in the relative safety of a city or town, the characters must watch out for more human (but no less dangerous) threats. Some enemies are at home when hidden among the vast mass of humanity. Urban zones cover some of the unique features that the characters must cope with in a city.

CRUSHING CROWD

CONDITION ZONE, 2 EP

Inflict (Condition) 4 (Penalize Movement, Might Resists; Extras: Concentration Duration; Flaws: Minimal Effect, Touch Range) This condition zone represents a large crowd, such as an audience gathered to hear a speech or watch a concert. A crowd counts as difficult terrain that blocks line of sight. While in a crowd, you can attack only adjacent opponents. The crowd does not block line of effect (only line of sight).

FALLING OBJECTS

TIMED EVENT ZONE, 4 EP

Damage 2 (Flaws: Unreliable; Power Feats: Accurate 3)

characters fight near an occupied building. Old masonry, garbage, and other materials could pose a threat.

NOT-SO QUIET RIOT

CONDITION ZONE, 6 EP

Inflict (Condition) 6 (Penalize Movement, Might Resists; Extras: Concentration Duration, Wracking; Flaws: Minimal Effect, Touch Range) This condition zone represents a general state of violence, rioting, and chaos in the streets. It simulates a packed crowd of panicked people who move and swarm along the streets seemingly at random. If caught up in the riot, you risk being mobbed and possibly trampled. You must make a Reflex Check and a Might Check to move while in a riot. Moving in the same direction as the riot adds a +5 bonus to the check. If the check succeeds, you can take your move action as normal.

Furnishings and Other Objects Plenty of action can take place indoors, where the opportunity to use everyday household furnishings in new and destructive ways abound. A banister can become a quick shortcut downstairs, a table a handy instant wall, and the possibilities for priceless chandeliers or ancient tapestries are simply endless. While hardly a comprehensive list, the following entries might serve to provide you with ideas for your own zones.

Falling objects are a potential hazard in a city, especially if the

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BANISTER SLIDE

BENCH TOSS

REUSABLE ACTION ZONE, 1 EP

REUSABLE ACTION ZONE, 3 EP

Enhanced (Trait) 2 (All-Out Attack, Power Attack; Flaws: Side Effect (Combat Advantage on a failed Acrobatics check))

Damage 2 (Flaws: Might Check Required; Power Feats: Mighty, Thrown)

A convenient shortcut down the stairs, and one that gives you plenty of momentum to boot!

You can pick up and throw a bench with a successful Might check (DC 12). This attack has a range of 10 feet. Make a melee attack roll for a thrown attack.

TRASH CAN ROLL

REUSABLE ACTION ZONE, 3 EP

Mobile Terrain

Damage 4 (Extras: Line Area; Flaws: Full-Round Action, Might Check Required; Power Feats: Mighty) You can kick a trash can or barrel onto its side and roll it toward your opponents, knocking them to the ground as the barrel careens over them. The can lands at the end of the line. A trash can fills the space it occupies. You can step on top of one with an Acrobatics check (DC 5) to gain high ground and combat advantage over a foe. You can use this quick way to gain high ground to represent jumping on a table or bar or similar feat.

CHANDELIER SWINGIN'

REUSABLE ACTION ZONE, 1 EP

Enhanced Movement 2 (Swinging; Flaws: Acrobatics Check Required; Power Feats: All-Out Attack, Power Attack) You leap through the air with a DC 12 Acrobatics check, then grab onto the chandelier, enabling you to swing across the room. The swing also affords you certain advantages for attacking a foe in melee as you lunge with some added momentum at your enemy. Additionally, a Chandelier Crash makes a good "alternate FX" for a Chandelier Swing.

CHANDELIER CRASHIN'

NONREUSABLE ACTION ZONE, 1 EP

Damage 8 (Extras: Burst Area; Flaws: Check Required (Break Chain (Toughness 5, Defense 10), Unreliable 2 (One Use)) The squares hit by a chandelier crash count as difficult terrain, littered with broken bits of glass and metal or wood. Obviously, once you destroy the chandelier, it's useless for any further swinging. The noise it makes when it lands is worth it, though.

UPENDED TABLE

REUSABLE ACTION ZONE, 3 EP

Create Objects 1 (Extras: Continuous Duration; Flaws: Might Check Required) With a Might check (DC 11) and one action, you flip a table over. The table covers the same spaces as before, but one side of that space now counts as a low wall, granting cover if you're standing or improved cover if you choose to crouch. You can switch the side that the wall runs along with another Might check (DC 11) as one action. Additionally, a Bench Toss makes a good "alternate FX" for a Table as Cover.

Mobile terrain adds unexpected twists to an encounter as it changes to the positions of the characters or their opponents constantly. If the characters don’t know where they'll wind up between the end of their turn and the beginning of their next, they could wind up in deep trouble. And some unlucky enemy might suddenly find himself and his bow and arrow with only ten feet separating him from the enemy.

Mobile Terrain in Combat The most important thing to consider when using mobile terrain during a battle is timing. Everyone is assumed to act almost simultaneously during a round in combat, but if a piece of mobile terrain moves on every character's turn, then some very strange actions can take place. Should a platform move whenever a character steps on it? If so, does that mean that the first person to jump on can move dozens of times if everyone else in the battle later steps on it? On the other hand, if the platform only moves once per round, does that mean that it is otherwise static terrain that anyone can just stroll across? The best way to represent this is to treat an area of mobile terrain like an action zone that might be able to change positions on the battlefield. If a character is careful and quick enough, she can use the mobile terrain to his advantage and move farther than normal or reach a normally unreachable area. When you enter moving terrain, make an Acrobatics check with a Difficulty Class determined by the terrain’s speed (a good rule of thumb would be a base DC of 10, with a +2 DC for every square the mobile terrain will move). Characters who fail this check risk falling (and granting any nearby enemy Combat Advantage). If you succeed, you can continue your movement. Treat the mobile terrain as filling all the space it's movement takes it along. So if the mobile terrain is a mine cart rolling down the rails, and it'll move 10 spaces this turn, your character can jump in and enter the cart along any of those 10 spaces, and then jump out again at any of those other spaces which are left down the rail in the cart's movement. If you fail your Acrobatics check to enter the moving terrain by 5 or more, you wind up vulnerable in a random square along the mobile terrain's path, losing your defense bonus against attacks from an enemy you land adjacent to. Mobile terrain also has the advantage of making you more difficult to hit. While you're riding on mobile terrain (and you don't simply hop right off on the same turn), you gain the benefits of partial concealment, with enemies suffering a -2 penalty on attacks against you. You also gain combat advantage against foes who you try to attack from mobile terrain (thanks to your increased speed), but you don't gain the ability to hide as you normally would from concealment.

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Climate Effects What follows are suggestions for how to handle different climate effects in the game. These are only suggestions for ways that the GM can handle these effects: if the GM chooses to use something like Drain to represent oxygen deprivation from thin atmosphere instead of an Inflict (Condition) FX, this is not a violation of the rules in any sense. Rather, that is how the GM felt was most thematically appropriate to handle the effect in a particular situation.

Weather Effects Weather offers just as many opportunities for interesting encounters as terrain does, and can vary widely depending on climate or region.

Precipitation THICK MIST

CONDITION ZONE, 5 EP

Obscure 5 (Visual; Flaws: Partial) Fog, light rain or snow, or other similar gentle precipitation can make it difficult for characters to see clearly, granting everyone in the area partial concealment.

impossible with a -10 penalty to ranged attacks and Perception checks to listen. Such winds are powerful enough to knock a character off-balance on a failed Might check (DC 12). Hurricaneforce winds increase the Might check DC to 15, and tornadoes increase the DC to 20.

Temperature A simple way to remind the player characters of their environment is to make it much colder or hotter than is comfortable. This section also covers the rules for catching on fire.

Extreme Heat and Cold Intense heat and cold wear down characters, while prolonged exposure to the elements can be extremely dangerous. If caught in inclement weather (such as extreme heat or cold, or in particularly heavy rain or wind), you must make a DC 10 Endurance check (+2 for each additional hour beyond the first). If you succeed, you are in good shape to continue. If you fail, you move one step down the Check Condition Track, suffering a -2 penalty to future Strength and Constitution checks. If you fail again, or if you fail by 5 or more, you move down an additional step down the Check Condition chart, suffering a -5 penalty to Strength and Constitution checks. If you fail a third time, or if you fail by 10 or more, you fall unconscious and helpless. It takes an hour of rest to recovery from any conditions you may have suffered from inclement weather (DC = 10 + 2 for each hour you were exposed to the weather).

Heavier precipitation or hail might be loud enough to penalize Perception checks to listen (-2 or -5). Particularly dousing rain or snow could act as a Nullify 2, while heavy sleet could even be represented with Nullify 5 effect against unprotected fires.

Wearing the proper clothing (with immunity to environmental heat or environmental cold, respectively), negates the need for such Endurance checks by the characters.

Wind

Combat in Darkness

Something as simple as wind can be a minor inconvenience or a dangerous challenge, depending on its intensity. Severe winds or greater can actually blow characters away, which could grant their enemies Combat Advantage over them.

MODERATE WIND

Darkness presents a major challenge for many characters who lack special senses. In the darkness, their ability to fight and react is greatly reduced, and insignificant challenges become quite serious indeed. A character who is unable to use an accurate sense because it has been Obscured or Dazzled (see Chapter V: FX) uses the rules below.

CONDITION ZONE, 2 EP

Finding and Attacking Targets

Nullify 2 (Fire) Moderately strong gusts of wind threaten to extinguish small, unprotected flames.

Creatures unable to see lose the ability to gain combat advantage over a foe. All opponents have total concealment from a blinded creature, so the blinded creature has a -5 penalty to attacks in combat.

STRONG WIND

A blinded character needs to pinpoint the location of an opponent if he wants to have any chance of hitting the enemy. If the blinded character attacks without pinpointing its foe, it attacks a random square within range. For ranged attacks against a foe whose location is not pinpointed, roll randomly to determine which adjacent space the blinded character is facing; it attacks the nearest target in that direction.

CONDITION ZONE, 9 EP

Nullify 5 (Fire; Extras: Linked (Inflict)) Inflict 1 (Attack and Non-Combat Skills; Extras: No Resistance; Flaws: Ranged Attacks and Perception Only) More powerful gusts of wind can extinguish even large flames, and impose a -2 penalty to ranged attacks and Perception checks to listen. Even more powerful winds could increase the penalties to ranged attacks and Perception checks to -5. Especially powerful wind storms could make ranged attacks all but

If an unseen foe strikes a blinded creature, the blinded character pinpoints the location of the creature that struck him (until the unseen creature moves, of course). The only exception is if the unseen creature has a reach greater than 5 feet (in which case the blinded character knows the location of the unseen opponent, but has not pinpointed him) or uses a ranged attack (in which case the

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part II blinded character knows the general direction of the foe, but not his location). A blinded creature loses its Defense bonus. It suffers a –5 penalty on Perception checks and most Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks, including any with an armor check penalty. A creature blinded by darkness automatically fails any skill check relying on vision. Creatures blinded by darkness cannot use gaze attacks and are immune to them.

Locating Without an Accurate Sense A character who is forced to rely on senses that aren't accurate in combat have a difficult ordeal. A character may use a sense which is only acute (such as hearing for human characters) to pinpoint an enemy. This is more difficult than simply using an accurate sense. During a fight, a character relying on such an acute sense must make a Perception check as a free action to locate an enemy. The base DC is 10, or the enemy's Infiltration check (if the enemy is actively attempting to be stealthy). If a character succeeds on this check, they are able to determine the general direction of the enemy (in front, behind, to the left, to the right), as well as if the target is close or far away. If the character succeeds by 10 or more on the Perception check (DC 20 for most fights), then he's able to pinpoint the enemy's space. The enemy still has total cover, but the character can attack (albeit at a -5 penalty). You suffer the normal penalties to your check based on the enemy's distance (-1 per 10 feet). Note that using a sense without range normally (such as groping blindly to find an enemy by touch) only succeeds if the enemy is within touch range. If the character reaches into the correct square, this is essentially an attack roll which deals no damage but pinpoints the enemy if the attack hits (counting in the -5 penalty for being blind).

Moving in the Dark Characters who are unable to see treat all terrain as difficult terrain, and move at half-speed through it. When moving, blinded characters might veer off in the wrong direction. A successful Perception check (DC 15) lets the character move along the desired path. With a failed check, the character veers off in one direction or another as the GM sees fit (randomly turning either left or right). The character continues in that direction until it uses its intended movement up or until it runs into an obstacle, immediately ending the character's movement. Characters fumbling about blindly are treated as flat-footed, granting all enemies combat advantage over them. For example, a blinded character could stumble into a pit that is normally easy to spot. These rules apply for any character who has lost access to its normally accurate senses (such as a bat losing its accurate hearing).

Combat in Outer Space It’s entirely possible that some games may take characters beyond the bounds of Earth, out into the great beyond. The following rules are useful for adjudicating different atmospheres and gravity conditions that could exist on other worlds.

Normal Gravity The force gravity exerts on a person determines their ability to perform certain actions. In addition, gravity affects the amount of damage a character takes from falling. Gravity may vary considerably from one environment to the next. For ease of play these rules present four simplified gravity environments: normal gravity, low gravity, high gravity, and zero gravity (0 G). The following sections summarize the game effects for each type of environment. "Normal gravity" equates to gravity on Earth. Environments with normal gravity impose no special modifiers on a character’s ability scores, attack rolls, or skill checks. Likewise, normal gravity does not modify a creature’s speed, carrying capacity, or the amount of damage it takes from a fall.

Low-Gravity In a low-gravity environment, the pull of gravity is significantly less than we experience on Earth. Although an object’s mass doesn’t change, it becomes effectively lighter. This means creatures bounce when they walk. It becomes easier to move and lift heavy objects as well as perform Strength-related tasks. In addition, creatures take less damage from falling. •

Speed: A creature’s speed increases by +5 feet in a low-gravity environment. This bonus applies to all of the creature’s modes of movement.

•

Checks: All creatures are treated as if their strength was 5 points higher than usual for all skill checks.

•

Movement: Creatures in a low-gravity environment gain an effective +10 bonus to acrobatics checks for jumping.

•

Attack Roll Penalty: Creatures take a –2 penalty on attack rolls in a low-gravity environment unless they are native to that environment or have the Environmental Adaptation feat.

•

Damage from Falling: Creatures do not fall as quickly in a low-gravity environment as they do in a normal- or high-gravity

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environment. Falling damage is halved. •

Long-Term Effects: Long-term exposure to low-gravity conditions can cause serious problems when returning to normal gravity. A creature that spends 120 hours or more in a low-gravity environment takes 1 point of temporary Strength damage upon returning to normal gravity, which recovers at a rate of 1 point per day.

High-Gravity In a high-gravity environment, the pull of gravity is significantly greater than we experience on Earth. Although an object’s mass doesn’t change, it becomes effectively heavier. It becomes harder to move and carry heavy objects as well as perform Strengthrelated tasks. In addition, creatures take more damage from falling. Even the simple task of walking or lifting one’s arms feels more laborious.

•

Speed: A creature's speed is halved in a high-gravity environment. This penalty applies to all of the creature's modes of movement.

•

Checks: Characters suffer a -5 penalty to Strength-related checks in a high-gravity environment.

•

Movement: Creatures in a high-gravity environment take a –5 penalty to acrobatics for jumping.

•

Attack Roll Penalty: Creatures take a –2 penalty on attack rolls in a high-gravity environment unless they are native to that environment or have the Environmental Adaptation feat.

•

Damage from Falling: Creatures fall more quickly in a highgravity environment than they do in a normal- or low-gravity environment. Falling damage is increased 50% in a highgravity environment.

•

Long-Term Effects: Long-term exposure to high-gravity conditions can cause serious problems when returning to normal gravity. A creature that spends 120 hours or more in a heavy-gravity environment takes 1 points of temporary Dexterity damage upon returning to normal gravity, which recovers at a rate of 1 point per day.

•

Checks: Creatures gain a +10 bonus to Strength checks in a zero gravity environment.

•

Attack Roll Penalty: Creatures take a –5 penalty on attack rolls and skill checks while operating in a zero-gravity environment unless they are native to that environment or have the Environmental Adaptation feat.

•

Knockback: All attacks which deal damage in zero gravity will knock characters back.

•

Long-Term Effects: Long-term exposure to zero gravity conditions can cause serious problems when returning to normal gravity. A creature that spends 120 hours or more in a zero gravity environment takes 4 points of temporary Strength damage upon returning to normal gravity, which recovers at a rate of 1 point per day.

Atmospheric Conditions As with variants in gravity, a change in atmospheric conditions can cause problems for characters. Unfortunately, not every planet has the same atmospheric density or chemical composition as Earth, meaning worlds otherwise hospitable to human life may not be ideal for humans born and raised on Earth. Various atmospheric conditions (and their effects) are presented here.

Corrosive Atmosphere Some atmospheres (breathable or not) contain corrosive chemicals and gases. Corrosive atmospheres slowly eat away at foreign equipment and can cause significant equipment failure. The corrosion can be particularly troublesome in atmospheres that demand special survival gear, as any breach in a protective environmental suit renders it useless. Unprotected equipment exposed to a corrosive atmosphere loses 1 point of Toughness per hour of exposure. Creatures not wearing protective gear in a corrosive atmosphere suffer +1 lethal damage with the Poison modifier per round of exposure.

Zero Gravity

Thin Atmosphere

Creatures in a zero gravity environment can move enormously heavy objects. As movement in zero gravity requires only the ability to grab onto or push away from larger objects, climbing and jumping no longer apply. Most creatures find zero gravity environments disorienting, taking penalties on their attack rolls and suffering the effects of Space Adaptation Syndrome (space sickness). In addition, creatures in zero gravity are easier to rush than in other gravity environments.

Planets with thin atmospheres have less oxygen than the standard Earth atmosphere. Many thin atmospheres are the equivalent of being at a high elevation on Earth, such as on top of a mountain or in the upper atmosphere. When dealing with thin atmosphere conditions, the character must make an Endurance check to see if he suffers any ill effects. Being under such conditions can be disorienting and can cause a character to become sluggish, slowly whittling the character down as the brain is deprived of normal levels of oxygen. Characters suffering from oxygen deprivation take a -2 penalty to attacks and all non-combat, non-resistance skills.

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Space Adaptation Syndrome: A creature exposed to weightlessness must make an Endurance check (DC 15) to avoid the effects of space sickness. Those who fail the check suffer a -2 penalty to attack rolls and all non-combat, nonresistance skill checks. Those who fail the check by 5 or more suffer a -5 penalty to attacks and all non-combat, nonresistance skill checks. The effects persist for 8 hours. A new check is required every 8 hours the creature remains in a zerog environment. Creatures with the Environmental Adaptation feat do not suffer the effects of space sickness. Speed: While in a zero-gravity environment, a creature gains a "flying" speed equal to its base land speed, or it retains its normal flying speed (whichever is greater). However, this "flying" movement is limited to straight lines only; a creature

Thick Atmosphere Thick atmospheres are those containing a more dense concentration of certain elements, like nitrogen, oxygen, or even carbon dioxide, than the standard Earth atmosphere. These dense atmospheres sometimes contain a different balance of elements, while others simply contain a higher number of gas particles in each breath. Regardless of the form, a thick atmosphere can be just as dangerous as a thin atmosphere over a long period of time. Though atmospheres that are slightly thicker than normal do not

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part II have as significant an effect as slightly thinner atmospheres, remaining in a thicker atmosphere causes the same drain on the body.

Toxic Atmosphere Some atmospheres (breathable or not) contain toxic gases that are debilitating or lethal to some or all forms of life. The atmosphere is treated as always containing a type of inhaled poison.

Falling Into Water Falls into water are handled somewhat differently. If the water is at least 10 feet deep, the first 20 feet of falling deal no damage. The next 20 feet together deal only +1 damage. Beyond that, falling damage is treated normally. Characters who deliberately dive into water take no damage on a successful Athletics check (DC 15) or Acrobatics check (DC 15), as long as the water is at least 10 feet deep for every 30 feet fallen. However, the Difficulty Class of the check increases by 5 for every 50 feet of the dive.

Vacuum The primary hazards of the vacuum of space are lack of air and exposure to unfiltered ionizing radiation. On the third round of exposure to vacuum, a creature must succeed on an Endurance check (DC 25) each round or suffer from aeroembolism ("the bends"). A failed save means excruciating pain as small air bubbles form in the creature's bloodstream; the creature is dazed and loses one action each round. If the character fails by 5 or more, the character is unable to take any actions, and remains stunned until returned to normal atmospheric pressure. A failure by 10 or more also causes unconsciousness. Unfiltered radiation bombards any character trapped in the vacuum of space without protective gear. A creature exposed to this ionizing radiation suffers from the effects of radiation exposure.

VACUUM

CONDITION ZONE, 20 EP

Falling Objects Just as characters take damage when they fall more than 10 feet, so too do they take damage when falling objects hit them. Objects that fall on characters deal damage based on their weight and the distance fallen. Use your discretion as the GM for situations not covered by the following rules. For each 200 lbs. of an object's weight, the object deals +1 damage, provided it falls at least 10 feet. Distance also comes into play, adding an extra +1 damage for every 10-foot increment it falls beyond the first (to a maximum of +20 points of damage). Objects smaller than 200 lbs. also deal damage when dropped, but they must fall farther to deal the same damage. Use the table below to see how far an object of a given weight must drop to deal +1 points of damage. For each additional increment an object falls, it deals an extra +1 damage. Objects weighing less than 1 lb. deal no damage to those they land upon, no matter how far they have fallen.

Drain 5 (Physical Ability Scores; Extras: Linked, No Resistance) Hard vacuum can cause a character to begin suffocating almost instantly.

TABLE 8.2: FALLING OBJECTS

Miscellaneous Climate and Environmental Effects Falling Damage Characters may suffer damage from falls of 10 feet or more. Characters with the Acrobatics skill can fall greater distances without risk of damage (see Chapter III: Skills). Falls have a damage bonus of +1 per 10 feet fallen. So the Toughness save against a fall of 50 feet would be DC 20 (15 + 1 per 10 feet fallen). The maximum damage bonus of a fall is +20 (at 200 feet) for a DC of 35. After that point the character reaches terminal velocity and doesn't fall any faster. Falling into or onto a dangerous surface may cause additional damage, at the GM's discretion. Catching a falling person or object requires a Reflex check (DC 10). Taking 10 on the check ensures success for most characters. If you successfully catch a falling object, subtract your Might modifier (if any) from the falling damage. Both you and the object suffer any remaining falling damage. So if a character with Might +6 catches someone falling 120 feet (a +12 damage bonus), subtract 6 from 12, and both characters suffer +6 damage. If the catcher is using a FX—such as Flight or Move Object to catch the falling object, the FX's rank can be substituted for Strength bonus at the GM's discretion.

Object Weight

Falling Distance

1–5 lbs.

70 feet

6–10 lbs.

60 feet

11–30 lbs.

50 feet

31–50 lbs.

40 feet

51–100 lbs.

30 feet

101–200 lbs.

20 feet

Starvation and Thirst Characters must eat and drink every day to stay healthy. If you go for more than a day without eating or drinking, you must make a DC 10 Endurance check (+5 for each additional day beyond the first). If you succeed, you are in good shape to continue. If you fail, each of your physical ability scores is drained by 1 point. Note that if your Strength or Dexterity are reduced below -5, you are unable to move under your own power, and if your Constitution drops below -5, you could die! You can only attempt to recover your drained ability scores if you have nutritious food and drink. The recovery DC is equal to 10 + 5 for each day you went without food. Characters with Immunity to Starvation can go an unlimited time without food or water.

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Chosen Conditions

Sleep Characters must sleep for about eight hours every day to stay fighting fit. If you go for more than a day without sleeping, you must make a DC 10 Endurance check (+5 for each additional day beyond the first). If you succeed, you are in good shape to continue without sleep. If you fail, you move one step down the Check Condition Track, suffering a -2 penalty to future Strength and Constitution checks. If you fail again, or if you fail by 5 or more, you move down an additional step down the Check Condition chart, suffering a -5 penalty to Strength and Constitution checks. If you fail a third time, or if you fail by 10 or more, you fall unconscious and helpless. It takes a good night's sleep (at least 8 hours) to recover from fatigue due to staying up for prolonged periods (no check required).

Chosen Conditions are usually brought about by the choice of the character in those conditions, whether by picking a specific position on the battlefield or changing how the character is working with teammates. They are usually positive conditions, or conditions which impart more beneficial bonuses than penalties.

Position & Teamwork Many simple advantages a character can gain on the battlefield, whether through strategic positioning or teamwork, can be easily represented by Combat Advantage.

Concealment

Poison A deadly toxin introduced through a scratch, or even in the air, may be able to fell the strongest hero. Poisons generally have one of several FX: Damage, Drain, or Inflict (Condition). Some poisons may have multiple linked FX. A poison FX has the Poison modifier. Heroes with the Immunity to Poison feat are completely unaffected by poisons. A Science skill check for medicine can substitute for a saving throw against poison if the skill check result is higher.

Concealment includes circumstances where nothing physically blocks an attack, but something interferes with the attacker’s accuracy. Typically, concealment is provided by things like fog, smoke, shadows, darkness, foliage, and so forth.

CONCEALMENT

Disease When heroes come into contact with a disease they must make a Fortitude saving throw against 10 + the disease's rank to avoid becoming infected. The method of infection depends on the disease: some are airborne while others require physical contact. Diseases generally have one of several effects: Damage, Drain, or Inflict (Condition). Some diseases may have multiple linked FX. A disease FX has the Disease modifier. Characters with Immunity to Disease automatically succeed on saving throws against disease. A Science skill check for medicine can substitute for a saving throw against disease.

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Radiation in fiction often causes mutations or triggers latent powers in those exposed to it rather than simply causing radiation sickness. Exposure to radiation (especially exotic or alien radiation) may be an opportunity for a complication. Otherwise the Gamemaster can treat radiation exposure like a disease. The environment uses the radiation’s intensity rank to overcome the character's Fortitude resistance. If successful, radiation drains all of an afflicted character's ability scores. At the GM's discretion, radiation exposure can lead to other effects, such as damage to a character's FX ranks (causing a temporary decrease in powers).

Conditions Generally speaking, any situational modifier created by the attacker’s position or tactics applies to the attack roll, while any situational modifier created by the defender’s position, state, or tactics applies to the defender’s Defense. The GM judges what bonuses and penalties apply, using the Combat Modifiers Table as a guideline.

Partial

-2 penalty to attack rolls against concealed character, can hide, Combat Advantage

Total

-5 penalty to attack rolls against concealed character, can hide, Combat Advantage

Concealment Attack Penalty: Partial concealment imposes a -2 penalty on attack rolls made against a concealed character. Multiple concealment conditions do not stack. Concealment and Infiltration Checks: You can use concealment to make an Infiltration check to avoid being seen. Without concealment, you usually need cover to make an Infiltration check. Combat Advantage: If you have concealment and your opponent is unable to perceive you clearly, you gain Combat Advantage over that opponent. Total Concealment: A target you cannot perceive with any of your accurate senses has total concealment from you. You can't directly attack an opponent with total concealment, though you can attack into the area you think he occupies. Any

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Radiation

CONDITION

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Option: Percent Miss Chance If you prefer, it is possible to replicate the difficulty of attacking a concealed foe with a flat percent chance to miss on a given attack rather than suffering a penalty to attack rolls. While the outcomes for these systems are mathematically very similar, this system includes an extra "blind" roll which does tend to help the feeling of "stumbling around in the dark" more than the above streamlined rules. You cannot use hero dice to reroll a miss chance. •

Partial Concealment: 20% miss chance (roll a 4 or lower on miss chance), can hide, Combat Advantage

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Total Concealment: 50% miss chance (roll a 10 or lower on miss chance), can hide, Combat Advantage

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attack made against a character’s space with total concealment is made at a -5 penalty. Concealment and Area Attacks: The attack penalty concealment imposes on attackers does not apply to their area attacks, which are made at no penalty. Ignoring Concealment: Concealment isn't always effective. A shadowy area or darkness doesn’t provide concealment against an opponent with darkvision. Smoke provides no concealment against a character with X-ray vision, and so forth. Characters with low-light vision can see clearly for a greater distance with the same light source than other characters. See Enhanced Senses for more information.

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Penalties to Checks

INFLICT (CHECK)

CONDITION

Light Cover (Bush, Fence, Weak Barrier)

-2 penalty to attack rolls against covered character, can hide

Heavy Cover (Stone Walls, Large Tree, Heavy Machinery)

-5 penalty to attack rolls against concealed character, can hide

Taking cover behind a wall, tree, or other obstacle provides some of the benefits of concealment (making you more difficult to hit by imposing a -2 penalty on attack rolls against you), but does not grant you Combat Advantage (though if you use cover to hide, you can gain combat advantage over foes who can't perceive you). Further, the penalty to attack cover imposes on your opponents applies to both normal and area attacks (since cover can shield you from explosions very well). Cover is measured relative to the attacker. For example, hiding behind a low wall provides no cover against an opponent hovering above you, but does provide cover against an opponent on the other side of the wall.

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Inflicted conditions tend to be conditions which a character did not choose. The different conditions the environment may inflict on characters, or that other characters might inflict on one another with their FX are all based off of the inflict FX. These conditions inflict penalties on different sorts of actions you might take. These could include penalties to checks, a reduction in your movement speed, or a loss of actions.

Penalties to checks are categorized by what sort of attributes they penalize.

Cover COVER

Inflicted Conditions

Cover and Infiltration Checks: You can use cover to make an Infiltration check to avoid being seen. Without cover, you need concealment to make an Infiltration check to hide. Total Cover: If you cannot draw a line between you and a target without intersecting cover, the target has total cover. You can’t make an attack against a target with total cover without using a Ricochet attack or an Indirect FX. Varying Degrees of Cover: In some cases, cover may impose a greater penalty on attack rolls. In such situations, characters attacking you suffer a -5 penalty to attack rolls. Striking Cover: If it ever becomes important to know whether the cover was actually hit by an incoming attack, the GM should determine if the attack roll would have hit the protected target without the cover. If the attack roll falls within a range low enough to miss the target with cover but high enough to hit the target if there had been no cover, the cover is hit. This can be particularly important to know in cases when a character uses another character as cover. In such a case, if the cover is struck and the attack roll exceeds the Defense of the covering character, the covering character takes the damage intended for the target. If the attack roll is lower than the Defense of the covering character, but higher than the Defense of the covered character, the original target is hit instead. The covering character avoided the attack and didn't provide cover after all! Covering characters can voluntarily lower defense bonus to ensure they provide cover.

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CONDITION

Succeed

-2 Penalty to Check

Succeed by 5

-5 Penalty to Check

Succeed by 10

Helpless

Recovery

Same resistance, +1 cumulative

All Attacks: Characters with their attacks penalized suffer this penalty to all checks involving their weapon group skill rolls, including attack rolls and (if the option is being used) opposed maneuver checks. This penalty is appropriate for combat inflictions which hamper your ability to swing or aim a weapon well, perhaps because of dizziness or a snare holding a character's arms. Any one Resistance: Includes Defense, Fortitude, Toughness, or Will. Characters suffer a penalty to these resistances, making it much easier for your opponents to successfully affect characters whose resistances have been penalized in this way. A penalty to Defense might be the result of being held and unable to react quickly to threats, while a penalty to Toughness could represent having something like a corrosive acid eating away at armor and flesh. A penalty to Fortitude could be a poison or disease which weakens the character's immune systems, and a penalty to Will could represent confusion. All Non-Combat, Non-Resistance Skill Checks: Representing being shaken and unable to focus in general, and being unable to perform activities as well as would normally be possible. You suffer this penalty to the active uses of all non-combat skills (including the active uses of skills like Perception, which have both active uses and passive resistances). This effect is useful for representing distracting conditions, such as itching sensations or strong winds. Any One Ability Score: Allows for any one of Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma to suffer penalties. This is similar to the above option to affect all non-combat and non-resistance distracting conditions, but it is more focused on penalizing a more related group of options. For an ability score like Charisma, for example, this option allows you to penalize both non-combat skills such as Persuasion as well as resistances like Will, representing something like a mystical doldrums that weaken the spirits of those who enter.

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Movement Penalties

sample conditions constructed from the Inflict (Condition) FX are described below.

Conditions can also hamper a character's movement. If such a condition overcomes a character's resistance, that character is reduced to moving at half speed with all forms of movement. If the condition overcomes the character's resistance by 5 or more, the character is instead immobile and cannot take any move actions. This could represent something as simple as sticky glue making it difficult for the character to move to something as fantastic as time itself being slowed down or stopped.

INFLICT (MOVEMENT)

Damage INJURED (STAGED)

CONDITION

Succeed

1/2 Movement Speed

Succeed by 5

Immobile

Succeed by 10

Helpless

Recovery

Same resistance, +1 cumulative

Action Penalties Conditions can even work to deny a character his or her normal allotment of actions in a round. Such conditions deny a character one action if the condition overcomes the character's resistance, or denies the character two actions if it overcomes the character's resistance by 5 or more. Conditions which deny a character actions are usually ones that represent a character being too disoriented to act coherently, or time slowing to prevent a character two actions.

INFLICT (ACTION) -1 Action

Succeed by 5

-2 Actions

Succeed by 10

Helpless

Recovery

Same resistance, +1 cumulative

CONDITION

Off-Balance

-2 Defense against your attacks, Susceptible to Your Surprise Attacks

Succeed by 5

Vulnerable

Lose Defense Bonus against your attacks, Susceptible to Your Surprise Attacks

Succeed by 10

Flat-Footed

Lose Defense Bonus against all attacks, Susceptible to everyone's Surprise Attacks

Recovery

Automatic

1 round

Succeed

Injured

–1 on future Toughness checks (ranked)

Succeed by 5

Dazed

lose one action on your next turn

Succeed by 10

Staggered

one action only, knocked unconscious if damaged again

Succeed by 15

Unconscious

knocked out, no defense

Recovery

Recovery

1 hour check (injured, staggered) / 1 minute check (unconscious)

One or more of the following damage conditions apply to a damaged character.

Injured

Dazed

Combat Advantage COMBAT ADVANTAGE

Succeed

Injured means the character has been battered and bruised and is in less than top condition. Each injured condition imposes a –1 penalty to your Toughness score against nonlethal damage, putting the character closer to being taken out of the fight.

CONDITION

Succeed

CONDITION

If your Toughness score is exceeded by 5 or more, in addition to the normal effects of the condition, the character is dazed, losing one action on his next turn. A character who suffers two or more dazed results loses both of his actions for the next turn and cannot act. This lasts until just before the attacker’s turn in the initiative order on the following round.

Staggered A staggered character has been badly beaten, barely holding on to consciousness. He can only take a single action each round until he recovers.

Unconscious An unconscious character is knocked out and helpless. What befalls an unconscious character depends on the attack's descriptor and the tone of the game.

For details, see Combat Advantage.

Recovery

Conditions in d20 Advanced

With rest, characters can make Recovery checks (DC 10) to recover from their damage conditions. The frequency of the checks is based on the severity of the condition. The Regeneration FX speeds up a character’s recovery checks.

Some conditions are already defined in d20 Advanced, such as damage, which is critical to the health and injury system. Other

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Other Sample Conditions

Injured Once per hour of rest, characters can make a Recovery check (DC 10). If successful, they erase one injured condition. If the check fails, the character can make another in one hour, with a +1 bonus for each failed check. All characters recover at least one injured condition per 10 hours.

Staggered Once per hour of rest, characters can make a Recovery check (DC 10). If successful, they erase the Staggered damage box. If the check fails, the character can make another in one hour, with a +1 bonus for each failed check.

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Fear: A character stricken with fear suffers a breakdown of reason and judgment, suffering a penalty to all attacks and all non-combat, non-resistance checks.

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Nausea: A nauseated character is sick and vulnerable, suffering a penalty to all attacks and his Fortitude resistance.

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Snare: A snare represents some physical object or force holding a character fast, penalizing a character's attack, defense, and mobility.

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Slow: Slow represents some sort of force that causes a character to move and act more slowly in battle, penalizing a character's actions and mobility.

Unconscious Once per minute, characters can make a Recovery check (DC 10). If successful, they erase the Unconscious damage box. If the check fails, the character can make another in one minute, with a +1 bonus for each failed check.

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Chapter IX: Dramatic Interactions A dark-hearted villain, twisted and corrupted by the hatred and vice that have saturated every fiber of his being, fills the head of a noble young hero with promises of power and glory if he forsakes his friends and his family and joins the enemies of freedom. The hero steels his heart against the painful accusations that his friends have betrayed him, that it is only right that he hate them. Each lash of the villain’s tongue is like the blow of a sword against the hero’s very soul, but he must endure lest he fall his own demons. Somewhere in the heart of a medieval city, a nimble young gypsy is running for his life from the guards. He ducks into an alleyway in an attempt to lose his pursuers, but before he can scurry over a low wall, they catch up to him, only to watch him slip onto the roof of one of the buildings along the waterfront. Soon the chase is resumed, this time with guards following the gypsy thief from rooftop to rooftop, daring death with each leap. The gypsy tries his best to lose his tormentors by overturning boxes and crates in their way, but they are still closing. How could filching one loaf of bread cause so many problems? Within the dimly-lit halls of the finest night club in the city, the rich and influential drink and dance in time to the thunderous bass of DJ Doc, save a small knot of pretty young women more interested in two handsome young men. With laughs and jovial tones, they exchange witticisms and wise-cracks back and forth. To the untrained eye, it would seem that they are good friends, able to laugh so at their own expense, but a wiser audience would see that their back-and-forth jabs of wit are actually a delicate struggle for supremacy. The winner will enjoy the company of some beautiful ladies, while the loser will go home alone with a bruised ego. All of these encounters are dramatic interactions. Non-combat but high-tension situations are filled with action and excitement, if not swords clashing and laser blasts sizzling through the air. The dramatic interaction system is designed as a sort of “virtual” combat system to abstract the entire concept of a somewhat extended contest between two or more individuals. Dramatic interaction uses dice pools as a measure of who has the edge, or advantage in a given encounter. Whoever has the edge has more options, and is closer to coming out victorious in the interaction.

Beginning a Dramatic Interaction Depending on the dramatic interaction in question, different checks are appropriate to determine the order of action in the subsequent rounds of dramatic interaction. Below is a short list of appropriate checks for various types of dramatic interaction: Chases and similar physical dramatic interactions are best started with an opposed initiative check, exactly like combat. • Social encounters of wit or battles of knowledge are best initiated with opposed sense motive checks. • Temptations and interrogations should almost always give the tempter/interrogator the first action, since the tempted/suspect almost by definition is entirely reactive in this type of dramatic interaction. The party with the highest check acts first in all subsequent rounds, and parties with lower results act in descending order from the highest result. •

Favorable or Unfavorable Starting Conditions At the start of a particular dramatic interaction, the GM may decide that circumstances significantly favor one party or the other, and award that party bonus edge dice. Favorable circumstances might include having a higher land speed in a dramatic chase interaction, engaging in a dramatic social interaction in a setting more friendly to one party than the other, and so on. Someone acting under favorable circumstances might gain additional Edge dice, or a circumstance bonus to checks during a dramatic interaction (usually +2 or +4).

Rounds Dramatic interaction is something like combat in that it is divided into rounds. The rounds are not particularly well defined in terms of

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part II length. The separation into rounds is a purely mechanical division to bring order to dramatic interaction. Each character may act once in each round. Unlike the well-defined actions in combat, an action during a dramatic interaction might take only a few seconds, or it might take several minutes. Thus a “round” in a dramatic interaction is nothing more than how long it takes all interested parties to finish reacting to one set of actions from one another.

Edge The advantage which one party may have over another in dramatic interaction of any sort is represented by dice pool of edge dice. The more edge dice a character has, the more options he has open to him. Characters may gain or lose edge dice as they and their opponent act during a dramatic interaction. Generally speaking, at the start of a dramatic interaction, each party involved gains five edge dice apiece, and the interaction ends when one party has all ten dice and the other party has none, though this could change depending on circumstances. Each dramatic interaction has different sorts of actions a character can take, depending on exactly what sort of dramatic interaction the characters are engaged in. In general, characters gain and lose the edge by “wagering” dice based on how big a risk they’re taking with their declared action.

Wagering Edge Dice Each round, the parties involved in the dramatic encounter announce actions in the order of initiative. The party with the highest initiative declares her action and which party she wishes to target (if there are multiple parties involved in the dramatic interaction, see below). Depending on the nature of the action, the GM decides which skill is most appropriate, and the player chooses how many dice to wager (more dice signifies a riskier, but potentially more rewarding, action). The opposing party makes his or her own wager, and then the player then makes an opposed check with the other party. A character may wager and roll any number of edge dice on a single action. The winner of this check takes both parties’ wagers. In the event of a tie, neither party gains or loses any edge dice: wagers are void. A party can always choose not to wager and take no proactive action on a given round, if they don’t see a way to take an advantage, or don’t want to risk losing more edge dice. However, if the other party makes a wager, then that wager must be opposed (even if only with one edge die). As a dice pool, there is a certain numerical advantage to rolling more dice than fewer. However, unlike other dice pools, a character risks losing all of his or her dice if the other parties roll well, so it’s riskier too. But having the edge in this way, with more dice than an enemy, enables a character to be more liberal with his or her actions, taking more chances and making riskier moves. Just as with any other skill checks, circumstances might modify skill checks in dramatic interactions. Favorable or unfavorable circumstances to individual types of checks might grant characters attempting to use those skills a bonus or penalty for that specific check, as circumstance dictates. For example, if during a chase, the thief being chased by the guards announces he wants to attempt to run across a sloped tile roof after a rain storm, both he and his pursuers suffer normal penalties to their Acrobatics checks for trying to cross such a precarious surface.

Outside Factors At points during the interaction, the GM might interject requests for different checks from the parties involved, representing factors outside of the control of the parties’ control. In a foot chase, for example, a GM might request an Endurance check from the parties after a certain number of rounds to see if either party is slowing down because of simple fatigue, while in a social interaction, the parties might have to contend with an audience member blurting something embarrassing out. These outside factors usually do not require the parties to wager Edge Dice, but might impose penalties on future checks. These outside factors need not affect both parties: it might only require a check from one of the involved parties.

Large Parties If one particular group in a particular dramatic interaction is made up of multiple parties (such as a mob of local citizen with flashlights and hunting rifles chasing an escaped criminal, or a noble and his sycophants hurling insults in the king’s court), have one member of that group be the leader (usually the one with the most ranks in appropriate skills). This character makes all the checks, while the rest of the party attempts to use that skill check to “aid another”, granting the leader a cumulative +2 bonus on his check for each other member of the group who succeeds on a DC 10 check in the appropriate skill. In these situations, track edge dice for the group as a whole. As a shortcut, GMs may wish to have characters who are classified as minions simply make one roll, with a +1 bonus to the roll for each member of the group of minions (assuming about half of the minions will succeed on the DC 10 check to aid the leader).

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Multiple Parties

the winner, but it’s not a total victory, and the results of the interaction are less certain.

Particularly in dramatic social interactions, there might be multiple sides to any given dramatic interaction. All parties involved track their edge dice individually, but must choose individual targets for each of their actions. Only that target must make a counter-wager and opposed check each round. Alternatively, the GM may allow one party to target multiple parties at once. In this case, all involved parties wager and make their opposed roll. If the party who initiated the action against one or more targets is victorious, that party collects all the wagered edge dice. If the other parties are instead successful, they split the loser’s wagered edge dice between one another (in the case of an uneven split, the party with the highest result gets the extra edge die). If one targeted party loses, but another succeeds in the opposed check, wagers are still exchanged. The parties that lost surrender their edge dice to the party who defeated them. For instance, in a social interaction, a young socialite may attempt to flirt with two other characters’ girlfriends. In the opposed check, he wagers three edge dice, and his opponents each wager one on opposed Persuasion checks. The flirt manages to best one of the boyfriends, but fails to defeat the other. In this situation, the boyfriend who lost the opposed check surrenders one edge die to the flirt, while the flirt loses three edge dice to the boyfriend who succeeded.

Passive Parties In the case of passive "opponents" in a dramatic interaction (such as searching out bombs hidden around a building), that party doesn't take any actions or make any active wagers. These types of opponents will only react to the characters' checks, making their counter-wager (usually just one die) with a smaller set of opposed checks (usually even just one skill).

Winning a Dramatic Interaction

Interaction Types What follows are examples of how to use the Dramatic Interaction rules for various different types of interactions, ranging from physical challenges like chases to emotional ones like interrogation to long-running interactions like weeks-long heist capers. These are intended to be suggestions and inspirations, and should not limit you from applying the Dramatic Interaction rules to other potential uses. Each entry includes suggestions for what sorts of outside factors might come into play, which skills might be most helpful in such an interaction, and how the GM can make the most of the interaction. Most interactions use the regular Dramatic Interaction rules, and are limited to the scope of a single encounter. These three sample Dramatic Interactions are intended to resolve a single challenge.

Chases A source of great excitement in an adventure, chases are a relatively simple Dramatic Interaction. One party is pursued, and the others are pursuing him or her. The interaction ends when the pursued character is either caught or cornered (provoking a combat encounter) or the pursued character escapes and gets away. Faster parties tend to have major advantages in chases. The more ranks of Speed a character has, the greater the edge he or she has. If one party has more ranks in the Speed FX than the other party, then the faster party gains a bonus Edge die. If the faster party has more than two extra ranks in speed (or their vehicle does, especially if the pursued character is faster), playing out a chase Dramatic Interaction usually isn't necessary.

Outside Factors

The dramatic interaction lasts until one character runs out of edge dice, in which case she “loses” the dramatic interaction. If it is a chase, her pursuers might corner her and force combat. In a social battle, she might be laughed out of the room. If it is a test against temptation, she might give in to her vice and succumb to her tempter’s will. On the other hand, if the character manages to force her opponent to run out of tokens, she prevails in the encounter. In the example of the chase dramatic interaction, for example, the character escapes from her pursuers. In a social battle, it is her opponent who leaves, flustered and disgraced. If it is a matter of temptation, the villain’s attempt to assert her will over the character is utterly thwarted. Note that there is always the option for one party to simply hand over his or her edge tokens and surrender.

After ten rounds of a foot chase (about 1 minute of game-time), fatigue can start to affect the characters involved in the chase. The GM can call for an Endurance check (DC 10, +2 for each additional check beyond the first) or risk suffering fatigue for all parties involved.

Skill Use •

Athletics: Being able to climb over a wall or swim across a narrow river in a hurry could mean the difference between the pursued getting away and getting caught.

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Might: It's common for characters in chases to knock heavy objects in the way of their opponents to slow them down or block off paths.

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Acrobatics: Running across uneven or perilous surfaces can allow you to gain ground.

Walking Away

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Infiltration: Sometimes the best way to escape a chase is just to hide from your pursuers.

There is also a chance in some interactions, especially in social interactions, for one party to simply walk away before any one party has all the edge dice. In a social interaction, this is the equivalent of leaving gracefully before anyone’s dignity is in tatters. It is up to the GM to decide if this is an acceptable end to the interaction. In this situation, the party with the most edge dice is declared to be

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Vehicles: Absolutely critical in mounted and car chases that involve a lot of maneuvering in obstacle-laden paths.

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Perception: If you can spot trouble down the road (like a snarl of slow-moving traffic or something else blocking the road) and prepare accordingly, you can be ready and react more quickly than your opponent.

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•

Survival (Local): Avoiding dangerous pitfalls or knowing where the shortcuts are in the area can help you to navigate and make better route choices than your foe.

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Persuasion: While actually negotiating on the run is likely difficult, you might be able to use it to feint your opponent and make him zig when he should have zagged.

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When the time comes to start running a chase, you need to work with the players to make the environment exciting and dynamic. Working with your players here means encouraging them to ask questions like, "Do I know any short-cuts around here I could use to head him off?" or "Is there any traffic up ahead that could slow someone down if they weren't ready for it?" You should also try to provide opportunities for them to try daring stunts to end the encounter in one fell swoop (such as hitting a ramp to jump their car from the surface streets up to the freeway, or leaping down onto a moving train before the bad guys can grab them). Encourage players to be creative, and be sure to give them lots of flavor and details about their surroundings so that they have a lot to work with.

Interrogations/Torture One of the more emotionally brutal Dramatic Interactions, interrogation or torture is an attempt to get a victim to reveal information. While some interrogations might be relatively calm and humane questionings, others might devolve into truly brutal, medieval torture sessions. If the victim wins, he holds out under pressure and refuses to divulge information. If the interrogator wins, the victim reveals the information that he desired.

Outside Factors Most of the time, interrogation takes place under controlled conditions, and most outside factors (like a commanding officer or lawyer calling in to interfere with the interrogation) will occur as the end of the encounter, not as something which will just disrupt it.

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Might: For the interrogator, knowing how to literally twist someone's arm can be useful.

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Endurance: Interrogation is both physically and emotionally draining for both the interrogator and the victim.

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Fortitude: Being able to resist drugs and poisons can be critical to surviving an interrogation session.

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Science: Some interrogators like to be able to make their own drugs to loosen their victims' lips.

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Toughness: When interrogation becomes brutal torture, being able to stand up to damage and injury for the victim is important.

Suggestions for the GM You need to tread carefully with interrogations. These are brutal interactions which are meant to pummel characters emotionally, but while you need to make this clear to the players, you don't want to torture them! Help your players understand what their characters are going through (whether they're doing the interrogation or they're on the receiving end), and make it descriptive, but not so much that your players aren't still engaged in the game.

Social Combat Humans are social animals, and social fights hold great sway in our lives. Social combat could involve jokes, bluster, displays of smarts and know-how, and just about anything else which could impress the crowd. Unlike other Dramatic Interactions, Social Combat almost invariably involves an audience which you are attempting to win over. You might just be trying to trash-talk a rival, or you might be trying to be the one to win the audience's favor for your own gain (such as seducing some companionship for the night before your rival does). Engaging in social combat with a "friendly audience" (such as a politician debating her rival in her campaign headquarters) gives the character an edge, warranting a bonus edge die.

Outside Factors Hecklers are often problematic in social situations, throwing out comments or questions which could disrupt the flow of the interaction. The heckler might direct his or her comments to one or both parties, and that party needs to react well or risk losing edge dice.

Skill Use

Skill Use

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Will: Resisting the affects of mind-altering drugs or even supernatural abilities could mean the difference between spilling the information and staying tight-lipped for a character being questioned.

Weapon Group (Firearms): A common trope in car chases is to try to "shoot his tires out", and even if you only cause your enemy to swerve, you might be able to gain the edge from that.

Suggestions for the GM

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Expertise (Torture): A good torturer knows how to cause pain and apply pressure (physical and emotional) to a victim to get what he wants.

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Knowledge: Being able to show off your smarts and knowledge could help you bolster your position in an argument.

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Perception: Being able to see through someone's rhetoric to their true motives can be important in winning in the social arena.

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Art (Perform): A skilled performer might be able to wow an audience with a stunning orration or just earn applause with a song.

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Persuasion: The heart of any social combat is persuasion, whether you're trying to convince your audience or your rival.

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Will: Being able to resist baiting or keep your cool is important to maintaining control in social situations.

Perception: When both interrogator and victim are bluffing and trying to deceive one another, being able to see through the deception becomes important.

Suggestions for the GM

Persuasion: As noted above, knowing how to deceive the other party, and prevent them from calling your bluff, is critical to both parties.

As discussed with Interaction Skills, you need to decide how roleplaying and the results of die rolls will come together in an encounter. Your players' words and roleplaying should matter, but

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part II so too should their characters' capabilities. Find a balance that works for your game.

Reputation This system models how well known a character is and how that reputation affects interaction with others. A good reputation can be a useful advantage, but a bad one can be a troublesome hindrance. Reputation affects non-combat interaction checks between characters by providing a modifier. Fame makes others more likely to favor and help the character, while infamy makes the character’s social entreaties less effective.

the private identity not benefit from it. Further, if the GM decides it’s appropriate, the public identity might benefit from the Renown reputation feat while the private identity instead has the Low-Profile feat.

Reputation Checks Most of the time, the character doesn’t decide to use reputation; instead, the GM decides when your reputation is relevant to the scene or encounter. When it becomes relevant, the GM makes a reputation check for an NPC that might be influenced in some fashion by your character’s notoriety. Reputation check = d20 + reputation bonus + the NPC’s Knowledge Modifier

Reputation Bonus All characters have a reputation bonus, which essentially makes it easier for other characters to recognize them. More charismatic character are more likely to be well-known. A character’s reputation bonus is: Reputation Bonus = Reputation Dice + Charisma + Feats Chapter IV: Feats describes two reputation feats. Renown makes it more likely that a character will be recognized, while Low-Profile makes it less likely that a character is going to be recognized.

Reputation Dice

The area in which the PC is well-known determines which skill's Knowledge to use. A magician, for example, might be recognized by a Knowledge check with Expertise (Mysticism), while a character who has made his reputation in the underworld as a second-story burglar might be known among thieves with the Infiltration skill. The standard DC for a reputation check is 30. If the NPC succeeds on the check, he recognizes the character. That recognition grants a bonus or penalty on subsequent interaction skill checks based on the NPC’s reaction. A character with a Reputation bonus of +29 or more is instantly recognizable and known to virtually everyone. Depending on the result, a character may be more or less easily recognized by an NPC. The table below shows the result of reputation checks:

REPUTATION

When characters begin to gain public attention, they gain reputation dice. These dice are a rough measure of how well-known a character is, and how much clout he has. Reputation dice serve two purposes. First, like other dice pools, reputation dice can be used to reroll certain checks, in this case, interaction skills. At any time, a player who isn’t satisfied with the result of a Persuasion check may reroll the check with his reputation dice pool, selecting the best result and then surrendering one die from the dice pool. However, unlike other dice pools, a reputation dice pool can only be used if an NPC successfully recognized a character. By using your reputation dice in this way, you are, in effect, reminding the person you’re interacting with just who you are and getting them to rethink their response in light of this information. In addition to this use, your reputation dice pool serves as a bonus to your reputation bonus. The ebb and flow of your reputation dice over the course of a game represent the fickle attention span of the public.

Succeed Fail Fail by 5 Fail by 10

On a successful reputation check, you are recognized on sight, which means that the NPC or NPCs need only see you to immediately recognize you. If the reputation check fails, then you are only recognized by name. This means that an NPC will only recognize you if he or she hears your name (or at least the name you use in public). If the reputation check fails by five or more, then you are only recognized with some prompting. After being reminded of who you are (by maybe mentioning some of your achievements), the NPC will recognize your character. If the reputation check fails by 10 or more, then your character is simply not recognized, which may be a good thing or a bad thing.

Reputation and Secret Identities Characters with secret identities effectively have two separate reputation bonuses: one for the costumed identity and another for the secret identity. The character should use whichever bonus is appropriate. One reason many heroes maintain secret identities is to leave their Reputation (and the recognition that comes with it) behind for a while to live a “normal” life. The “public” identity maintains the “public” reputation, while the “private” identity maintains the “private” reputation. If the public identity has the Renown reputation feat, it might be appropriate that

Recognized on sight Recognized by name Recognized with some prompting Not recognized

Skill Checks When an NPC with an Intelligence of -3 or higher has a positive opinion of your reputation, you may use your reputation dice pool to reroll Persuasion, Survival for reconnaissance, and Art checks for performances. As with other dice pools, you select the highest result from your rolls, and then lose one reputation die. This represents a character spending some of that hard-earned clout to really sway the opinion of someone, and as a result, having to earn that clout and popularity again through hard work.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part II When an NPC with an Intelligence of -3 or higher has a negative opinion of your reputation, you must roll all of your Persuasion, Survival for reconnaissance, and Art checks for performances with your dice pool. Instead of selecting the highest result, you must accept the lowest result you rolled. However, your reputation pool does not shrink with each use: interacting with people with poor opinions of you does not cause your reputation to decrease. Note that when dealing with NPCs who have a negative opinion of your reputation, you may still use your reputation dice pool in a positive way for Persuasion checks to intimidate a target. The bonus or penalty only applies when you are interacting outside of combat with an NPC who recognizes you and is therefore aware of your reputation. Those unaware of your reputation are unaffected by it either way.

NPC Reputations Players decide how their characters act. Sometimes, however, it’s appropriate for the GM to call for a skill check using an interaction skill affected by reputation. For example, an NPC might use Persuasion to lie to the characters, who, in turn, use Perception to detect the lie. If an NPC tries to intimidate a character, the GM can use the NPC's Persuasion check result to determine which characters see the NPC as intimidating and which don’t. Players may also want to know if their characters recognize a particular NPC. Reputation checks can be useful in these situations. The GM should make a reputation check in secret to see if players’ characters recognize an NPC. This prevents the players from using the results of reputation checks as a means of measuring the importance of every NPC they encounter. Modify the results of the NPC’s interaction skill checks by their reputation bonuses when they interact with characters who recognize them. Since NPCs generally don’t have any dice pools, a good rule of thumb is to give NPCs a reputation bonus equal to their Charisma modifier + reputation feats + ½ their Power Level, using modifiers of +2 for increasingly famous NPCs or penalties of -2 for more obscure NPCs.

Reputation Limits In general, a character cannot have more reputation dice than his Power Level total. So a PL 10 character’s pool of reputation dice cannot exceed 10. The GM may wish to vary starting reputation dice based on the needs of the game. For most games where the characters are starting from obscurity with no other real adventures to their names, then starting with no reputation dice is appropriate. However, if the characters are established in the setting with previous careers before the game began, for example, they may have greater reputations, perhaps 2 or 3 reputation dice apiece. If they are covert agents or otherwise out of the public eye, you may want to forego reputation altogether. Each rank in the Renown feat increases a character’s reputation by +3. Each rank in the Low-Profile feat reduced a character’s reputation by –3.

Event-Based Reputation Reputation also changes based on the things characters do... at least, the things other people know about. When a character performs some important action, the Gamemaster can award the

character one or more reputation die. This can range from 1 reputation die for acts of local fame (saving the city, rescuing a local celebrity, etc.) to 4 reputation dice or more for things like saving (or trying to take over) the world. Keep in mind that the Reputation bonus only measures how well known a character is, not how people feel.

Losing Reputation The GM can likewise decrease a character’s reputation dice pool for staying out of the limelight, lying low, and otherwise not attracting attention for a while. People move on and forget about old headlines. Still, a character with a significant Reputation usually has to be out of circulation for years before most people forget. A good rule of thumb is that it takes a number of weeks out of the spotlight equal to a character’s reputation modifier to lose one reputation die. So a character with 3 reputation dice and a +2 Charisma (and no Renown or Low-Profile feats) will take 5 weeks of obscurity to lose one reputation die. After that, it will take 4 weeks to lose another die, and 3 more weeks to lose the last reputation die, for a total of 12 weeks to lose all three reputation die.

Mental Strain Mental strain represents the psychological damage caused by terrible experiences: horror, violence, and trauma. When confronted by these things, some people collapse under the strain. This variant is most appropriate for very realistic settings where characters are expected to deal with terrible situations and their consequences. When confronted with a particularly stressful situation, characters make Will checks. The DC of the check depends on the circumstances.

TABLE 9.1: MENTAL STRAIN DC 10 15 20 25 30

Situation Witness a friend killed. Kill an enemy in the heat of battle. Witness a gruesome death or torture. Suffer torture. Witness a friend or loved one killed in a terrible manner. Commit murder. Commit cold-blooded murder. Witness death and destruction on a vast scale. Encounter a terrible horror of cosmic proportions.

Option: How To Use Mental Strain Mental strain and the options for Madness may seem very similar. Mental strain is meant to provide a very simple means of tracking strain for more realistic games, not a robust system where tracking your mental health becomes one of the key indicators for your character's wellbeing. This is a simple way to tell how much a given experience has shaken a character up. While mental strain does serve as a good initial way to determine whether or not an experience is maddening, and it does work well as part of the madness rules, mental strain by itself is likely not enough to truly invoke the feeling a horror game should be able to.

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If you succeed on the Will check, nothing happens; you manage to deal with the circumstances and move on. If you fail the check, then your character momentarily loses control. You, the player, have three choices: The character becomes panicked and attempts to flee as quickly as possible. If unable to do so, the character cowers, helpless. • The character becomes helpless, cowering, curled up in the fetal position, or just standing dumbstruck and unaware. • You spend a hero die and the character is dazed for one round, losing both of his actions, but defending normally. The character then shakes off the horror of the situation and acts normally. The first two effects last for the duration of the encounter (more or less at the GM’s discretion). Spending a hero die at any time during either effect allows the character to shake it off immediately.

•

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Mental Strain and Complications If desired, mental strain can have a long term impact as well as a short-term one. When a character fails a Will check, in addition to the normal effects, the character may develop a number of psychological complications equal to the check’s DC/10. So, a failed Will check vs. a DC of 20 results in two complications. The character suffers the effects of these complications but does not gain hero dice for them. The complications are permanent, although the GM can allow characters to eliminate them with time and psychological treatment; a minimum of one month per complication is recommended. The player and Gamemaster should cooperate to come up with complications suited to the nature of the mental strain that caused them.

Mental Strain and Taint

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Causes of Taint Any number of things can cause taint, but ultimately, taint in the game should be caused by the character’s choices in some way for it to be anything other than an arbitrary punishment. That is, taint should be a side-effect of a choice the player makes on behalf of the character. This makes taint into a mechanism to give that choice a definite consequence. So, for example, moral taint may result from the moral choices someone makes. If you choose to do evil, then you risk becoming tainted by that choice. Likewise, if someone does something psychologically scarring, then psychological taint may result. Even biological taint can occur as the result of a choice to use certain devices or abilities with mutational or toxic side-effects, or to go into an area filled with dangerous energies, for example. Of course, the choice to avoid taint isn’t always easy—characters may need to use those dangerous devices, go into that forbidden area, or bargain with evil forces—but it should still be a choice, in order to be meaningful. The only real occasion when taint should be imposed from without is in a horror-themed game, where a slow and inevitable progression into corruption and madness are important elements of the genre. There, taint can be used to emphasize feelings of helplessness and unfairness. In most d20A games, however, it’s best restricted to a matter of choice.

Acquiring Taint

If you’re using the Taint rules, a failed mental strain save can cause psychological (or even other forms) of taint (especially Madness).

Taint Some characters in fiction suffer from progressive problems, from some sort of taint, whether it’s the corruption of pure evil, uncontrolled mutation, chaos energy, insanity, or some sort of progressive disease. The optional rules in this section look at ways to model these and other kinds of taint in a d20A game.

Types of Taint “Taint” is just a general term for some imbalance or progressive problem a character faces. It can come in many different forms and it’s up to the Gamemaster which, if any, forms of taint exist in the campaign setting. Some possible types of taint include (but are not limited to) the following: •

Biological taint is some sort of mutation or transformation of the victim’s body. It can be anything from a rampant disease to a

kind of “mutation” toward some other form, something other than human. Moral taint is sometimes referred to as corruption. It is essentially the taint of evil on the character’s mind, heart, or soul (or all three). It represents an erosion of the character’s morals; moral taint paves the path to wickedness and villainy, whether willingly or unwittingly. Psychological taint is the touch of madness, a creeping lunacy intruding on the character’s psyche. The more it progresses, the more the individual’s grip on reality weakens, sliding down the slope toward complete and utter insanity.

Taint is measured, like most dice pools in d20A, in terms of dice. How do characters acquire taint dice? Once you’ve decided on the cause of a particular kind of taint, it may just happen. That is, if you make a choice that causes taint, you get a taint die automatically. This makes the consequences of that choice certain (at least in terms of taint). This may make some players especially cautious, however. If they know they’ll get taint from doing something, they can (and likely will) just avoid doing it. Alternately, doing something that causes taint may only lead to a possibility of acquiring a taint die. The best mechanic for this is a skill check (usually using a resistance): if the check succeeds, the character acquires no taint; if it fails the character acquires 1 (or more) taint die. The type of save—and the difficulty class—depends on the type of taint, and often the cause. Fortitude checks are best suited to biological taint affecting the character’s body and health. Will checks are better for taint that’s moral, psychological, or spiritual in nature, and can also be suited for biological taint caused by willful actions (such as the psychic feedback from a device causing biological taint). Other skills and resistances are generally less suited for taint. The Difficulty Class of the check is based on the cause of the taint. Did the character commit a minor infraction or a terrible, mortal,

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part II sin? Was it a small dose of mutagenic energy or a massive one? Was the action disturbing or sanity-shattering? As a general guideline, the DC for a taint check should be 10 + half the campaign’s power level on average, giving most characters a fair chance of success. Another good way for characters to acquire taint is through extra effort normally covered by spending Hero Dice. Some or all of the uses of extra effort, particularly those involving FX, may cause taint. So, for example, rather than spend a hero die to perform a power stunt or enhance a power, you may instead voluntarily incur taint. Players have a choice of spending a hero die or gaining a taint die. This keeps hero dice useful, but gives the edge to those willing to suffer taint.

Effects of Taint So what do taint points do once you’ve acquired them? Generally, taint imposes some sort of disadvantage (or, again, there would be no reason to avoid it). Taint may also provide some benefit, although it’s usually outweighed by the drawbacks.

Drawbacks The most common effect of taint is the imposition of drawbacks. These drawbacks may include things normally considered complications, like personality quirks, unusual appearance, addictions, and so forth. As a general rule, the drawbacks imposed by taint should have a character point value equal to the total taint dice. So a character with 3 dice in his taint pool has 3 character points’ worth of drawbacks. Note that characters don’t get any additional character points for these drawbacks, nor do they count as complications for awarding hero dice; they’re the price the character pays for having taint. It’s up to the GM whether or not characters have to acquire taintrelated drawbacks immediately, or if they can “defer” some taint and not acquire a drawback until their taint reaches a certain total. A good guideline is to allow the player to choose, but to require a drawback when taint reaches a total of 5 dice and to require the drawback to have a value equal to the unallocated taint dice. So, the longer you put off acquiring a taint-related drawback, the worse it becomes, going from an uncommon, minor (1-point) drawback to a very common, major (5-point) drawback. Gamemasters can also create particular structures for taint-related drawbacks, such as a “pyramid” structure, where the first drawback can be as little as 1 point, but each successive drawback must be worth 1 point more. So the second taint drawback must be 2 points, then 3 points, and so forth. The time between acquiring drawbacks increases, but so does their severity. The GM also decides what kinds of drawbacks are appropriate and may allow players to choose them, or impose them directly. Certain kinds of drawbacks suit particular kinds of taint, as shown in the Examples of Taint section.

Ability Loss A particular drawback of taint may be loss of ability score points. For example, a character may lose a point of Charisma (or some other ability) for every taint die acquired. This loss affects the character normally, and if a score is debilitated, the effects become more severe. This effect is best for taint representing a kind of disease or other slow erosion of the character’s physical or mental health.

Benefits Taint may also have some beneficial side-effects, although the drawbacks should generally outweigh them. The most common benefit, apart from the benefits encouraging characters to risk taint in the first place, is to make taint points a prerequisite for acquiring certain traits. For example, if you want to make magic a “forbidden power” if your campaign (perhaps including some other troublesome FX like Mind Control and Summon (Minion)), you can decide a character must have a certain level of moral or psychological taint before being able to invest character points in magical FX. This makes all sorcerers tainted by their arts, whatever their original intentions for learning magic might have been. This kind of “taint prerequisite” is an effective tool for controlling access to certain traits and creating the right feel for certain kinds of settings, particularly those where power (or certain kinds of power) comes at a price.

Taint Limits The Gamemaster should decide if there’s a limit to how much taint you can accumulate and, if so, what it is and what happens when you reach the limit. The effects of taint may create an inherent limit. For example, if each taint die results in the loss of a point of Constitution, then victims die when their Constitution scores drop below -5, so they can’t have more taint than their Constitution score, plus 6. On the other hand, some taint effects don’t have built-in limits. Theoretically, a character could continue accumulating taint-related drawbacks indefinitely, for example. It can be useful to set a maximum taint limit for two reasons. The first is to keep taint undesirable and give players reasons to avoid it. The other is to provide some dramatic tension as characters

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part II draw closer to an ultimate effect of accumulating taint. Whatever the exact effect of reaching the taint limit, the game system effect is the character is taken out of the player’s hands, becoming a non-player character. This can be due to permanent insanity, irredeemable corruption, total physical (or psychological) transformation, or even death. Where to set the taint limit depends on how soon you want characters to get there, but a limit of between 10 and 20 taint dice is a good guideline. A lower limit (around 10 dice) is best for settings where any taint is a serious concern and tainted characters often hover close to the limit. A higher limit is better for those campaigns where taint is a problem, but rarely gets so out of hand that a character succumbs to it completely.

Eliminating Taint Once you have taint, can you get rid of it and, if so, how? Generally, getting rid of taint should be possible, but difficult, and it should again be a choice made by players to do what’s necessary to rid their characters of their taint. The process of eliminating taint should be difficult enough for taint to remain a significant risk. If it were easy to get rid of, everyone would do it. Some possible means of eliminating taint include the following. •

Abstinence: The character must abstain from some activity to get rid of the taint, usually whatever caused the taint in the first place. For example, if using certain FX causes taint, then the character has to abstain from using those FX for a time (which may be an inconvenience). A minimum of a week per taint die is recommended, although it could be longer.

•

Penance: The character has to take some action to address the cause of the taint in order to get rid of it. For example, taint caused by wrongdoing might require the character redress those wrongs and seek forgiveness to remove the taint, while taint reflecting a character out of tune with his nature might require actions more in tune with the character’s true self to eliminate the problem.

•

Treatment: There is some treatment able to remove taint. Generally, it should be time-consuming, difficult, expensive, or all three. Physical taint might be treatable using medicine, and characters could remove psychological taint through therapy. The Gamemaster should decide the course of treatment, any check(s) required, and how much taint each treatment removes.

Examples of Taint Here are three examples of how taint can work. These are by no means the only ones, and Gamemasters should feel free to come up with their own variations. Any or all of these examples could coexist in a setting, providing multiple forms of taint that characters can incur!

Corruption In this application of taint, good and evil are more than just abstract moral concepts—or at least evil is, anyway. Those who do especially wicked deeds have a stain upon their souls. This darkness can eat away at the spirit, until there’s nothing left inside but emptiness and corruption.

Acquiring Corruption Characters acquire corruption by doing evil deeds. The exact definition of “evil” is left up to the Gamemaster, but generally means any deliberately harmful action undertaken for reasons other than the defense of one’s self or others. In some cases, you may want to limit the list of potential “sins.” For example, perhaps murder and torture are corrupting, while simple theft is not.

Effects of Corruption Corruption dice impose mental drawbacks associated with sociopathic or even psychopathic behavior. The more corruption the character accumulates, the worse (or more numerous) the drawbacks become, and the more likely the character is to acquire further corruption, continuing the cycle. A corrupt character also loses the ability to use FX with a holy or good descriptor; the character is simply too tainted. On the other hand, a corrupt character may gain the ability to use unholy or evil FX.

Eliminating Corruption Corruption is removed not only by refraining from doing evil deeds, but also by actively doing good deeds in an effort of redemption. A truly good and noble act removes a corruption die. Of course, any corruption-induced drawbacks will make it more difficult to stay on the straight and narrow; the player may need to spend hero points to allow the character to overcome the drawback long enough to do the right thing.

Madness The mind can only stand so much pressure before it breaks. There are things no one was meant to see, or do, or know, and they can bring on a creeping madness, leading to total insanity.

Acquiring Madness Characters suffer madness from exposure to traumatic events. These events require a Will check with the Difficulty Class of the save set by the intensity of the trauma, ranging from DC 10 (suffering a painful injury or receiving a sudden shock) to DC 30 or more (prolonged torture or witnessing Things Man Was Not Meant to Know). In a game where the supernatural is rare and utterly horrifying, most or all supernatural beings should have ranks in the Induce Madness FX in addition to their other abilities. A failed check results in a madness die or any number of other maladies. A successful check means there’s no effect this time.

TABLE 9.2: MADNESS DC DC 10 15 20 25 30

Situation Witness a friend killed. Kill an enemy in the heat of battle. Witness a gruesome death or torture. Suffer torture. Witness a friend or loved one killed in a terrible manner. Commit murder. Commit cold-blooded murder. Witness death and destruction on a vast scale. Encounter a terrible horror of cosmic proportions.

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MADNESS

CONDITION

Fail Fail by 5 Fail 10

TABLE 9.4: DERANGEMENTS Mild Derangements (2 Madness Dice Drawbacks) Avoidance Mania Depression Narcissism Fixation Phobia Inferiority Complex Suspicion Irrationality Vocalization Moderate Derangements (4 Madness Dice Drawbacks) Anxiety Melancholia Hysteria Obsessive Compulsion Megalomania Paranoia Severe Derangements (6 Madness Dice Drawbacks) Catatonia Multiple Personality Fugue Schizophrenia

-1 Action + Madness die -2 Actions + Madness die Helpless + Madness die

After acquiring your first madness die, you must make Will check against Madness using your madness dice pool. However, unlike other dice pools, you do not lose madness dice from rolling your madness pool, and you take the lowest result when you roll your madness dice pool, not the highest. This represents a character’s slipping grip on sanity.

Derangements Accumulated madness dice result in mental drawbacks with a point value equal to the total madness dice called derangements. The player and GM should choose these drawbacks to reflect the effects of the trauma(s) causing the madness: being attacked by a swarm of spiders may cause arachnophobia, for example. As madness dice accumulate, the character may acquire new drawbacks, or existing ones may become more severe. Derangements are triggered by different situations, and more stressful, important situations can be harder to resist than other such situations.

TABLE 9.3: DERANGEMENT DRAWBACK SAVE DC

Sample Derrangements Below are a set of example derangements. This should not be considered a comprehensive list, and GMs and players should feel free to add or modify derangements as suits their individual games or their characters.

Mild Derangements MILD DERANGEMENT

When brought to face a character or situation that you associate with trauma or bad feelings (an ex-lover, a long-standing rival, and area where you were mugged), you try to avoid the situation however possible. Make a Will check with your madness dice pool. On a failed check, you do everything in your power to avoid the situation, though you can still avoid harming yourself or others (sneaking away in disguise, walking the other way, or fleeing with great haste). If you are forced to confront (or cannot otherwise escape from) the situation, any checks made suffer a -5 penalty.

MILD DERANGEMENT

If you fail to accomplish some important goal, like passing an important exam or succeeding on a mission, or if you suffer a critical failure on a check, there is a chance that you might fall into depression for the remainder of the encounter. Make a Will check with your madness dice pool. On a failed check, you immediately lose a Hero Die, and are unable to use Hero Dice to make any rerolls during that scene.

FIXATION

DC Situation 10 Easily avoided, low stress, minor importance 15 Not easily avoided, mild stress, some importance 20 Tough to avoid, moderate stress, definite importance 25 Difficult to avoid, high stress, great importance 30 Impossible to avoid, extreme stress, tremendous importance

AVOIDANCE

DEPRESSION

MILD DERANGEMENT

After completing an important task (whether a success or a failure), you may become fixated on the action to the level of an unhealthy obsession. Make a Will check with your madness dice pool. If you fail, you remain fixated on the action or a person, place, or object associated with the action, for a number of scenes equal to your madness dice pool. You obsess over what caused you to fail or what allowed you to succeed, and the distraction causes you to suffer a -2 penalty to checks not associated with the fixation until the obsession has passed.

INFERIORITY COMPLEX

MILD DERANGEMENT

In situations of high tension where everything comes down to the result of a single check (such as while attempting to defuse a bomb, or while in delicate negotiations where one check will decide the outcome of the talks), you may begin to feel worthless or incapable. Make a Will check with your madness dice pool. If your roll fails, you are beset with self-doubt and insecurity, unable to perform to the best of your abilities. Once in this state, any checks made for the remainder of the encounter (including the stress-inducing check itself) suffer a -2 penalty. You are unable to use Hero Dice to make any rerolls during the encounter.

IRRATIONALITY

MILD DERANGEMENT

When threatened in some way or another (such as with a lawsuit, to have your secret identity exposed, or with a demand to know

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part II why you’re in a secure area), you might respond in a completely irrational way. Make a Will check with your madness dice pool. On a failed check, the GM determines how you react. You might begin to sing show tunes, or bark like a dog, or beat your chest constantly. You will not start a fight with the character threatening you, but you are able to react if you’re attacked. At the end of the encounter, or when the threatening character leaves or retreats, your behavior returns to normal.

MANIA

MILD DERANGEMENT

You are prone to extreme fits of hyperactivity, which are sometimes bound by good sense. In this respect, it is similar to Irrationality, in that your behavior isn’t always logical. In a high-stress situation, or during a traumatic experience, you may experience a manic upswing, in which you become extremely extroverted and hyperactive, sometimes against better judgment. Make a Will check with your madness dice pool. On a failed roll, you become more impulsive and have a greater difficulty resisting compulsions. You suffer a -2 penalty to Will checks while in a manic fit, and suffer a -5 penalty to Perception checks to sense another character's motive, as you are easily convinced to do things which you might avoid while of sound mind.

NARCISSISM

Moderate Derangements ANXIETY

MODERATE DERANGEMENT

As Inferiority Complex, but your general anxiety plagues your every day life to such an extent that you suffer a -2 penalty on all attacks, defense, checks, and resistances for the remainder of the scene, and you are unable to use Hero Dice to make any rerolls during the scene. MODERATE DERANGEMENT

This condition functions much like phobia, except that on a failed Will check with your madness dice pool, you are frightened enough that you flee from the source of the fear as fast as possible, though not in a way that otherwise endangers yourself or others. You will not, for example, jump off a high cliff to escape a spider.

MEGALOMANIA

MODERATE DERANGEMENT

MILD DERANGEMENT

You suffer an irrational fear of some person, object, situation, or environment (such as spiders, heights, or tight spaces). When exposed to the object of fear, make a Will check with your madness dice pool. On a failed check, you are shaken, suffering a -2 penalty on attacks, defense, checks, and resistances. You also avoid the object of fear if at all possible, not approaching it if reasonable.

An extreme form of Narcissism. Any time you fail at an opposed roll or in any form of contest or competition, you must make a Will check with your madness dice pool to avoid demanding a rematch (under more favorable conditions). You will not work with or aid (using the aid action) anyone who bested you for the remainder of the scene or encounter. You suffer a -10 penalty to Persuasion checks, and lose one hero die out of self-loathing and depression.

MELANCHOLIA SUSPICION

MILD DERANGEMENT

When faced with a difficult decision, you tend to vocalize your internal thought process. If faced with the choice between saving a bystander or attacking your hated enemy, you might debate the two choices aloud, or you may agonize loudly about which way to go in a maze. Make a Will check with your madness dice pool. On a failed check, you begin vocalizing your internal thought process. If another character points this out your vocalization, you can refrain from for only a few turns before you start vocalizing again. You suffer a -2 penalty to Persuasion checks with characters who witness your vocalization.

HYSTERIA

MILD DERANGEMENT

If you succeed at a difficult goal, such as diffusing a bomb or besting a strong foe in combat, you might be smitten with vanity. Make a Will check with your madness dice pool. On a failed check, you are unable to use the Aid action to help other characters with their actions or attacks. You also suffer a -5 to all Persuasion checks (as nobody wants to deal with an egotistical half-wit).

PHOBIA

VOCALIZATION

MODERATE DERANGEMENT

MILD DERANGEMENT

If you fail an important task because of the actions of another character, you might become suspicious of the motives of everyone around you (even if the other character was trying to help you). Combat doesn’t necessarily cause a character to become suspicious, unless this is the means which another character is preventing you from achieving your goal. Make a Will check with your madness dice pool. If you fail this check, you suffer a -5 penalty to Persuasion, as you are constantly questioning everyone else’s motives. However, you gain no special bonus to Perception checks to sense someone's motive to see through real deception.

A very severe form of Depression. In addition to the aforementioned effects of a failed Will check made with your madness dice pool, all attacks, defense, checks, and resistances you make suffer a -5 penalty.

OBSESSIVE COMPULSION

MODERATE DERANGEMENT

You become completely obsessed with repeating a certain action over and over again to the exclusion of everything else. This might include constantly cleaning something, rearranging books on shelf over and over, or trying to keep an area “clean” by refusing to allow certain (or any) individuals into it. Make a Will check with your madness dice pool. If you fail, you

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part II obsess about your compulsion to the point of simply ignoring everything else around you for the scene. You must succeed at the check to voluntarily break this obsession for an encounter. If forcibly prevented from obsessing, you might not be able to distinguish between friend and foe and attack indiscriminately.

PARANOIA

MODERATE DERANGEMENT

You believe that all your misfortune is not coincidence, but the malicious will of some person or group. You often obsess over conspiracies (real or imagined), and might attack anyone who you perceive to be a threat. You suffer a constant -5 penalty to Persuasion check, as your disturbed nature tends to make others uneasy around you. When faced with a suspicious individual, make a Will check with your madness dice pool. On a failed check, you either attack that individual (if you believe the character to be weaker than you are) or become frightened and flee as fast as possible.

Severe Derangements CATATONIA

SEVERE DERANGEMENT

INDUCE MADNESS

When entering a potentially traumatic situation, you risk simply going unresponsive and inert. Make a Will check with your madness dice pool. On a failed roll, you immediately fall unconscious and helpless. It might take minutes or even hours for you to return to normal (at the GM’s discretion).

FUGUE

SEVERE DERANGEMENT

When presented with a potential source of trauma, you can potentially black out and act as if on “autopilot”, and you seem to “sleep-walk” through an avoidance behavior. Make a Will check with your madness dice pool. On a failed check, you act as an NPC along a simple avoidance behavior under the control of the GM. You “wake up” after the encounter is complete, with no recollection of what happened after being introduced to the potential source of trauma. Unlike Multiple Personality, you don’t develop new personas: you merely act on a more instinctual level and black out the memories of those actions.

MULTIPLE PERSONALITY

SEVERE DERANGEMENT

After suffering severe trauma, you create different personalities to deal with (or escape from) the pain. An abused character might create a dominating, powerful personality, or possibly a psychopathic one willing to kill potentially threatening characters. The different personalities are rarely aware of one another. When presented with a potential source of trauma, make a Will check with your madness dice pool. On a failed check, your character becomes an NPC under the control of the GM, who may or may not act against your best interests. It might take some time for you to return to normal (at the GM’s discretion).

SCHIZOPHRENIA

SEVERE DERANGEMENT

Examining the Mechanics: Madness Note that unlike other offensive effects, Induce Madness does not have the maddening creature roll its effect modifier. Rather, it has the affected targets roll a check to preserve their own sanity. This essentially "reverses" their Will resistance and puts them in control of their own minds, so to speak. It also keeps the effects of this FX in line with the other events which could cause madness, so that the players always follow the same rules when sanity is at stake. This style of effect resolution is a good model to use if you want the players to really feel as if it's their character's ability, that is essential to see them through safely. You could use a similar mechanic for fighter pilots rolling their Defense check to evade incoming attacks. It's a little slower to resolve than the usual method, but it can add more emphasis as desired. The Induce Madness FX is built as a combination of the Immunity FX and a Triggered Inflict (Condition) FX with a Benefit that lets you use your ranks in this FX in place of a Madness Dice Pool for other FX.

Type: Sensory

Action: One (triggered)

Range: Perception (Burst area) Duration: Instant Resistance: Will (madness, see Cost: 5 points + 4 points per below) rank Your very presence is anathema to mortal minds, and your existence flies in the face of the very laws of reality itself. When you first appear to other characters, this effect triggers, forcing them to make a Will check against Madness (DC 10 + your ranks in this FX). If any creatures in an area of effect (rank x 5 feet) have a madness dice pool, they must check using that pool instead of a normal roll. You may also take one action to strike a suitably horrific pose or take a terrifying action to attempt to madden targets further. On a failed check, the target loses one action, unable to fully react to the unspeakable horror which it now perceives, and gains a madness die. If the target fails by five or more, in addition to gaining a madness die, the target loses both of his actions, completely unable to process the affront to logic your very being represents. If the target fails by 10 or more, in addition to gaining a madness die, the target is rendered unconscious, so overcome by the madness your visage brings that they feint. In addition, you are immune to madness, and never need to make a madness save. You may treat your ranks in your Induce Madness FX towards the madness dice totals needed to use certain FX with the Madness Required drawback.

MADNESS REQUIRED

-1 TO -10 POINTS

This FX is derived from knowledge or power that mortal minds were not meant to wield. You must have at least one madness die in your madness pool to use this FX. Each additional rank you take in this drawback increases the number of madness dice required by one (so an FX which requires a character have 5 madness dice has this drawback at -5 points). If you lack sufficient madness dice, then you are unable to activate or use an FX with this drawback.

You hear voices, suffer from inexplicable feelings, and believe

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part II yourself to be things which you aren’t (such as the Emperor of Antarctica). You are far removed from reality, and have difficulty connecting to it, even on a good day. You suffer a -5 penalty to all Persuasion checks. Further, on a failed Will check with your madness dice pool, you randomly attack or flee from any other character who brings potentially unpleasant news or begins making unwanted demands or requests of you.

Madness and FX In settings where madness is linked to certain FX (particularly psychic or magical FX) madness dice may increase a character’s level of power. For example, perhaps magical FX in the setting are only available to characters with madness dice and any individual FX can’t have a rank or point cost greater than the character’s madness dice total (or total times some multiplier like x2 or x5). In such games, FX with this limitation might have the Madness Required drawback. Further, in settings where the supernatural is terrifying and unnerving, many (if not all) supernatural creatures have ranks in the Induce Madness FX, which allows them to actively and passively drive mortal men insane.

Eliminating Madness Eliminating madness points takes time, rest, and usually some form of psychotherapy or psychological treatment. The Gamemaster can set an amount of time or treatment for characters to eliminate accumulated madness points, such as a month’s quiet rest, or a week (or more) of therapy. Depending on the style of the game, these times could be even longer, like months of therapy per madness point, with rest alone having no real effect. Any occasion where the patient has to make a Will check against madness again means no progress during that time.

Mutation

Acquiring Mutation Characters usually acquire mutation dice from exposure to mutagens like radiation or certain chemicals. In some settings exposure to things like “chaos energy” or certain FX may also cause mutations. Characters usually get a Fortitude check to avoid accumulating mutation dice, with the DC determined by the intensity of the mutagen: DC 10 for a fairly mild to 30 or more for especially intense mutagenic sources.

Effects of Mutation Mutations generally cause physical drawbacks equal in value to the accumulated mutation dice. Note that multiple mutations affecting appearance don’t count separately but are treated as a single more intense version of the same mutation (so long as their sole effect is the reaction others have to the character’s unusual appearance). Mutations might also grant new or additional FX, depending on their nature, although the character doesn’t usually get much say in the nature of these FX; they may come with certain flaws or FX Drawbacks like Side Effect, Uncontrolled, or Full Power. Exposure to mutagens can be the origin for a character’s abilities without necessarily accumulating any mutation dice. This is a plot device rather than an application of taint.

Eliminating Mutation Mutation dice are difficult to eliminate, since they are permanent changes in the character’s physical makeup. Short of the character getting an entirely new body, the only means of removing mutation dice may be extensive (and complex) gene therapy or the use of certain FX. Perhaps Healing with the Regrowth feat (or a customized FX feat or extra) can remove mutation dice on a 1-for-1 basis. In some settings there may be no way of eliminating mutation dice!

Life is impossibly complex, a galaxy of countless cells. It takes so little: just a small change in a DNA strand for things to alter. Such changes can spread, transforming an ordinary person into something … else. Something unnatural.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III

Part III: Running the Game So you know how to create characters and you know how to resolve all the action you could throw at them. But the question remains: how do you actually run the game? There’s an awful lot of time to fill between rolls of the dice, and it’s up to the GM to not just fill that time, but to help the players make it fun too. Part III seeks to help GMs create the game that ties all of the rules of d20 Advanced together.

What's in this Part Part III is rules-light, and is instead focused on providing tools to GMs to help them run their games. It provides guidance and advice rather than hard-and-fast rules.

Chapter X: Gamemastering

For the Player This part of the book details information that is largely unimportant for players, so it can be safely overlooked. However, if you're interested in how the game is put together, or perhaps in running a game of your own some day, then by all means browse Part III for advice on putting a game together! This part will also outline some guidelines and benchmarks the GM might use in helping to build your character.

Sometimes an art, sometimes a science, sometimes a major headache, Gamemastering is both challenging and rewarding all at once. Chapter X details how you can go about running a game for your group, what you need to consider, how to adjudicate player actions, and so on and so forth.

Chapter XI: Campaign Building The plethora of options in d20A can be intimidating, but Chapter XI is designed to help GMs sort through these options quickly and efficiently when starting a new game. It gives a GM all the tools he needs to create a game for nearly any genre with the d20A rules.

For the GM Part III was written with the GM in mind. It details how you actually run the game, how to adjudicate rules disputes, and how to keep things moving. It also provides guidance for combining the elements and options in d20A to create the game you want for your group, and extra tools that a GM might find useful for helping to keep the game running.

Chapter XII: Stock Characters In Chapter XII, a huge plethora of stock characters are presented, giving the GM some help in quickly populating his world and encounters with interesting and challenging enemies (or helpful and capable allies). This chapter helps to take some of the burden of creating large numbers of NPCs off of the shoulders of GMs.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III

Chapter X: Gamemastering Running a game is an art and a science. It's a tough job and a rewarding joy. A good GM must be part story-teller, part tactician, part stage-magician, and part referee with a dash of improvisational musician sprinkled on top. A GM needs to be everyone's friend and an impartial arbitrator all at once. Gamemastering means taking a book full of rules and numbers and breathing life into them, using those rules to create a vibrant, exciting world full of adventure for the players. It means making tough calls in the interest of keeping the game moving and making it fun for everyone involved. Running a game is a big responsibility, but it's also a rewarding one. It's the chance to show your players a fantastic world and to challenge them head-to-head. It's one-half a game of chess against a whole team of opponents and one-half improvisational storytelling with a group who can come up with some fantastic characters for that story.

The Three Commandments of Gamemastering

Learning to Say "No" Starting with character creation and continuing on throughout gameplay itself, a good GM needs to know how to say "no". As a toolbox game, where the rules are meant to represent concepts and ideas from countless genres, you as the GM must be prepared to tell someone when an idea they have threatens to disrupt the game. When it comes to character creation, understand that there are many character concepts which are completely legal according to the rules, but which have absolutely no place at a sane group's table. You need to learn how to inspect a character sheet and decide whether or not it will be problematic for you to run that character or if that character might not fit well with the other characters in the group. You don't want someone to bring a supercyborg gun-bunny to a game set in an ancient, magical world of swords and sorcery just like you don't want someone using a potentially overpowered character at the table either. More on this to follow under Overseeing Character Creation. Further, a good GM needs to know how to tell somebody that a certain action in game is not an acceptable option. Sometimes stunting a particular FX just isn't appropriate for the game (such as a fire-mage in a fantasy game trying to create nuclear reaction by splitting the trace amounts of helium with a flame spell).

The first step to being a good GM it to understand the very basics of running a game. You need to learn how to walk a fine line between running a dictatorship and total anarchy . The best way to learn it is by doing it, but before tossing you to the sharks, this chapter will start by giving you some advice on how to do the job.

It's Your Show (By Their Whim) When players and the GM sit down at the table, they enter into a sort of unspoken social contract. The GM runs things, arbitrates rules questions, and creates the world. At the end of any argument, the GM's word is final. If there's ever indecision or uncertainty at the table, it's up to the GM to resolve it. In d20 Advanced, the GM's job in this respect is even more essential. As a toolbox system, d20A relies heavily on a GM making smart judgment calls based on descriptors, how an action will be performed, or just a general idea about how a character usually acts.

Rule of Thumb: If a player is trying to sell you a Rube Goldberg Machine explanation for an idea, it's probably time to say "no". Rube Goldberg was a cartoonist who designed comically convoluted machines for handling various common household tasks, often involving countless inefficient steps arranged like a bizarre set of dominoes. Players sometimes like to use the descriptors on their FX with similar levels of convoluted mental gymnastics to justify their actions. The rule of thumb to keep in mind here is to question any idea which requires more than three "and then I can..."s, or any idea which requires knowledge which really isn't possible for the character to have (such as the infamous fantasy wizard "accidentally" inventing gunpowder by "accidentally" knocking all the ingredients together in the correct ratios and then "accidentally" testing it). But be careful: you don't want to penalize players for smart play. Learn to distinguish between good tactics and Rube Goldberg explanations, and you'll be well on your way to being a great GM.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III

The Player's Eye vs. the GM's Eye One of the most important things for the GM to remember is that almost by default, the GM has a very different view of the game than the players do. Players are generally fixed in their view to their own characters, or at best, the group of characters itself. The GM, on the other hand, holds more of an "overhead" view of the entire situation, remaining perfectly aware of things hidden to the players and their characters. Sometimes, especially if you haven't been a player in a long time, it's easy to forget how limited the players' point of view can be. What's obvious to the GM could be all but impossible for the players to even perceive. Try to get a feel for what the minimum threshold your players need to perceive something. Sometimes players are exceptionally sharp and will put things together even more quickly than you do. Other times, the clues and hints you provide just don't seem to be enough. When faced with this, you need to try to blind yourself to your own perspective and look at it from the players' point of view. Can they reasonably draw the conclusions you expect them to from the hints you've given them? Could you spot the pattern given the same information that they have? The other important point to remember is that when it comes to gaming, everyone wants a chance to shine. If they feel like their characters aren't getting the spotlight enough, the players are likely to be unhappy. As the GM, you have to remember that from the players' point of view, their characters are their favorite parts of the game. Everyone remembers the cool moments when their characters stole the scene and had everyone cheering. Players want a chance to show off, to be the heroes of the story. A good GM needs to know how to give everyone a chance to enjoy the spotlight, how to create exciting moments for the characters to really shine.

Depth is an Illusion As far as your players are concerned, all that exists in the world you're showing them is what is in front of their eyes. This is related to the above point about player viewpoint versus GM viewpoint. For example, if you design a dozen cities for your group to explore, but they only ever adventure in one of them, then the other eleven might as well not exist. Just like a movie set or a theater stage, the background of your world need only be realistic and detailed from the point of view of the audience (the characters). If the players only ever see one side of a four-sided building, you could really care less about detailing the other three sides (only so long as your players think that the other three sides are just as well detailed as the first one). The lesson is not to spend time detailing something which may well never come up. Similarly, you need to be able to think on your feet and be able to quickly fill in the gaps when your players start peeking around the corners into areas you hadn't detailed. Learn to get a feel for what your players consider important, so you know where to focus your attention in designing your adventures. Once you get the game rolling, learn to show the players enough that they believe their characters are adventuring in a fully fleshed-out, dynamic world, and your game will be better for it.

The Social Contract As described above, players and the gamemaster enter into an agreement when they sit down to game.

The Players The players come to the game with their characters and their characters only. They agree to come up with interesting and balanced characters to bring to the game. They agree to acquiesce to the GM's rulings during the game, and agree to wait until after the game to discuss rules disagreements. The players are also agreeing to give up control over aspects of the world beyond their characters and granting that control to the GM in the interest of creating an adventure. However, it is understood that the players reserve the right to remove a GM who is unsuccessful in upholding his or her end of the contract.

The Gamemaster By virtue of his or her duties, the GM holds proportionally more power in-game than the players do, but the GM agrees not to use this power unfairly against the players' characters. Further, the GM agrees to provide for the players an exciting and appropriate adventure for their characters. The GM is entitled to make rules decisions and use GM Fiat when necessary to make the game more fun. The GM also agrees that if s/he is unable to provide the game that the players with a good game, that s/he step down and turn over the reins to someone else. The GM's power only comes from this agreement with the players.

Use the Rules, Don't Let Them Use You The rules for d20A exist to provide a common ground for the players and the GM, a sort of skeleton for how the shared imaginary space which the characters and NPCs inhabit will behave. To a certain extent, the world will always behave in certain ways. Objects always fall downwards. Fire is always hot. Injury always affects the body in certain ways. For a roleplaying game, the rules exist to provide two things:

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III 1. A means with which to create different types of characters with varied capabilities

Ruleslawyers

2. A means by which those characters can interact with the world around them by resolving challenges (both from the world itself and from the people and objects within that world)

There are players out there who are going to want to play things right by the book, and who are uncomfortable with judgment calls and deviating from the rules as written. They prefer it when the game sticks to the rules they already know and are familiar with.

Beyond that, everything else is the responsibility of the players and the GM. The rules exist to facilitate creating the adventure, and they should never inhibit it. And no matter how well-designed a gaming system is, it can still cause problems and confusion. As the GM, it's your responsibility to know when to use the rules, and when to use your own judgment.

Guidelines The rules exist as guidelines to speed play. They're an aid, not a straight-jacket. In general, the rules are meant to follow common sense and allow for quick arbitration. If a player wants to resolve a task, it usually isn't too hard to decide which skill the player will need to roll, or what feat or FX the character needs. However, even if a specific use of a skill or FX isn't described in the rules, it's generally not a problem to decide that this particular application is acceptable. For example, the rules don't specifically state that you can use the Technology skill to recover data from a damaged DVD, but according to common sense, it works fine. The trick is to use the existing framework to guide your decisionmaking. To recover the data off that damaged DVD, you might tell the player to roll a number of four-sided dice equal to her ranks in the Technology skill, and count up the number of 4s she rolled, and that's how you'll determine success or failure. The problem is that the rules already provide a good framework for determining success or failure: roll a d20 and compare it to the DC for the task. The Technology skill even provides a more precise framework for determining the DC, based on what you want to do and how the system is designed. As they are written, the rules serve not only to answer questions directly, but also indirectly by providing a uniform set of guidelines for resolving questions.

Rule of Thumb: In general, you can use these guidelines to decide how to resolve a given action in-game: • If the task is mundane, or at the very least, not-supernatural, and could conceivably be accomplished by a trained individual in the real world, then it requires a skill check. Tasks which are dependent on your physical capabilities should use a Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution skill; those which are more mental should use Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma. •

•

If the task is directly dependent on the strength of supernatural abilities, it requires an FX check. (Note that you may use Expertise if you choose to represent skill and finesse with FX). If the task is an extended contest between two or more competing parties (such as a chase or an interrogation), then this is a dramatic interaction, and will be resolved through a series of opposed checks. Use this option especially when the task is a point of special interest in the adventure and requires additional focus.

In spite of the less-than-flattering name they are often branded with ("ruleslawyers"), these types of players can be a very good presence at the game table. They often have an excellent understanding of how the rules work, or at least are very quick at locating relevant rules in the book. Learn to use these sorts of players as a resource at the table to quickly and efficiently find rules you don't know off-hand, and let the player know that you appreciate his or her help. However, ruleslawyers can be disruptive to the game when they become argumentative and unwilling to accept your judgment as GM. The best way to overcome this is by developing trust with your players. Try to roll dice in the open along with the players (since you need to use GM Fiat to re-roll dice just as the players need to use Hero Dice). Try to discuss with your players (after the game, if they wish) how different NPCs you created were built, and how their abilities works. Also try to explain your reasoning for your judgment calls, especially in light of the other rules of the game. Do this after the game, or at least after the action during down-time. You're trying to establish with your players that you are a fair GM who is not looking to take advantage of the power the rules give you. This will go a long way towards easing the concerns of regular players and ruleslawyers alike, making them more comfortable with accepting your judgment calls.

Arbitrating, Not Ruling The GM is a referee and a judge, not a despot. As GM, you have a lot of power which is very easy to abuse. It's very easy to get into a "me versus them" mindset, which is a no-win situation. Within the context of the game itself, the GM is just infinitely more powerful than the players are, since you can simply create and introduce unbeatable foes and crush the players. That, however, can wreck a gaming group and drive the members apart. As the GM, it's your job to be the impartial, objective arbitrator of the rules, not the monarch passing judgment by whim. Your goal in all rules discussions is to be fair and to keep the game fun and exciting. That means that while you ideally want to keep rules discussions short (and preferably separate from actual game-time itself), you also don't want your players to think that their own input is inconsequential. But keep in mind that rules by committee are, in general, a bad idea. A good way to handle it is to ask your players when you're making a rules decision if they're okay with it. If most of the players are, you'll not only know their opinion on the matter and have backing from them with your decision, but it also shows that you value their opinions and want them to continue helping you. That's not to say that there aren't times when being heavy-handed is necessary. Sometimes, for the sake of moving the game along, you need to fudge the rules with GM Fiat. In these situations, you do what you need to do, but be sure to hand the players Hero Dice for their troubles.

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"Arbitration" Doesn't Mean "Arbitrary" The rules are meant to be helpful guidelines, so discarding them whole-hog can lead to problems as well. If you rip the metaphorical rug out from under your players, leaving them stranded and blind as to how the world around them works. In such a situation, the game becomes one of "GM-May-I?" where the rules are inconsequential, and only the GM's whim matters. Rather than using dice to resolve a situation, the player essentially has to ask the GM's permission to resolve it. While some groups enjoy this style of gameplay, it's popularity isn't great, and for many players, it's frustrating for the GM to break the social contract by rendering their character's abilities inconsequential. Ideally, you don't want your game to devolve into "GM-May-I?", but you also don't want the rules to become detrimental to your game either. You have to find the balance that works best for you and your group.

It's All Fun and Games (Or It's a Waste of Time) The most important thing to remember: d20 Advanced is a game, and it should be fun for everyone involved. Keep this in mind any time you're considering a rules discussion. If a rule is giving your group headaches, or is taking too much time, or is just making the game less fun, then you as the GM have an important role to play. It's your job to take that rule, toss it to the curb, and figure out a rule that works better for your group and your game.

Watching the Clock Set a mental time-limit for yourself if a rules-discussion gets started at your table and threaten to slow the game down. Learn what sort of tolerance your group has for delays like this and be sure to step in and keep the game moving when it's necessary. When it doubt, use the guidelines described above to come up with a quick way to resolve the issue. On the other hand, if your group is laughing and enjoying themselves because one of your players just cracked a hilarious one-liner, or everyone wants to take a break to watch a favorite television show, you need to know when to sit back and let the game come second. If your players are having a good time, then you're doing your job right. There's a time and a place to cut down on frivolous chatter, and you need to learn what it is to keep the game moving. But you also need to know when it's time to join in the belly-laughter with the rest of the group because, hey, that was pretty funny.

When to Pass the Torch A roleplaying game is still a game, and if you or your players aren't having fun, then you need to reconsider your approach to GMing. Reassess how you run the game. Ask the players for feedback, and whether or not they'd change anything about how the game plays. It's not an open call to hand out goodies to their characters, but rather a chance to get honest feedback and opinions on how you can make the game better. You also need to learn how to sit back and let the players do their thing. As the GM, you might be in charge of the world around them, but the players still have control over their characters. When they're

enjoying some down-time chatting with one another, or when they're planning out their upcoming attack, you need to know when to sit back and let them do their job without you. If they need some help or want to talk to an NPC, they'll let you know. And the last thing to keep in mind: no matter how hard you try, sometimes you're just not going to be able to run a good game. It might just be a bad night, or the game might simply have run its course, and it's time to close up shop, make way for something new. Be willing to let other members of the group give GMing a go. Sometimes, switching things up and trying a new game is just what you need. Some time as a player might give you the opportunity to get some perspective on how you run games (plus it's a nice way to recharge your batteries and avoid GM burn-out). Don't take it as an insult if the players suggest a change of pace. It might just be what you need.

Overseeing Character Creation With a system as open as d20 Advanced, the role of the GM in ensuring that all the characters players bring to the table are appropriate for the game. Even characters built according to the rules could be unbalanced, and it's up to you to make sure that everyone's on a level playing field. Unfortunately, there aren't any hard-and-fast rules that will tell you precisely whether or not someone's character is too strong or too weak. This section also isn't a list of things you shouldn't allow a character to have. Rather, this section presents a series of guidelines to help you identify when a character's abilities might prove problematic for your playstyle.

Boosting Past PL Caps Boost is generally designed to let characters whose abilities are generally weak temporarily increase in power. Some players, however, might try to use it to break PL caps. In general, this should not be allowed. Note that there are some character concepts for which boosting beyond PL caps might be very acceptable, and which will not be abusing this sort of power. Generally speaking, any attempt to bring a character's bonuses above the campaign's PL without appropriate trade-offs should be met with skepticism.

Ignoring Ability Scores Especially in superheroes games, it's easy to design characters who have little or no use for the base ability scores and who simply invest most or all of their points into FX to represent their powers. Sometimes it is indeed appropriate for a character to be otherwise average in every way, but for the most part, a character with nothing but 0s in his or her ability scores is likely to be intentionally designed with mediocrity to shave points and boost up what the player sees as "more important" for gameplay (often powerful attack FX or unbeatable resistances). If you see signs of characters skimping on "essentials" like ability scores and skills, it should raise your suspicions about their other abilities.

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Extreme Trade-Offs Sometimes players will approach you requesting very high tradeoffs for their characters. While they are becoming more effective in one area at the expense of competence in another, you should be aware that this is a way in which players can create "unbeatable" attacks or resistances. In the interest of still keeping them within the realm of power of the campaign, you usually want to limit trade-offs to no more than plus or minus half the campaign's power level. That means that a PL 6 game shouldn't see trade-offs of more than +3/-3 and PL 10 games should be limited to trade-offs of +5/-5.

won't abuse it, and really benefits from having some illogical but appropriate limits (such as being unable to affect organic matter). •

"Cosmic Power": The fundamental energy of creation; the power over all the cosmos; the ability to control the essential whoozits of everything. This is just a fancy soft-sci-fi way of saying "magic". While it's a staple of cosmic-level comic books, you should be careful to come up with appropriate limits for any such "do-anything" descriptor (such as limiting the character to folding space, or reshaping matter, or wielding star-fire).

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"Divine Power": Power of the gods; demonic power. Unless you agree upon a specific and limited divine patron (such as a god of war or a shadow demon), godlike power can be overwhelming for the GM, especially when miracles of all sorts can do almost anything. Limiting such characters to specific aspects of nature is a good way to start, as are moral or ethical codes for more loosely-defined divine powers.

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"Magic": Sorcery; witchcraft; spellslicing; arcanum. There's a reason why a common excuse for continuity errors in fantasy is "a wizard did it". So long as it doesn't tread too far into the realm of science, magic is another one of those descriptors which can, in theory, justify almost anything, from turning invisible to shooting magical missiles of force to turning into a dragon to causing one's foes to dance uncontrollably. Magic especially benefits from deciding in advance on a specific type of magic and trying to stick to the tropes of that type of magic as best as possible. Some suggestions for types of magic include (but are by no means limited to) Elemental Magic (earth, fire, air, water), Enchantment (charms and suggestions), Necromancy (control over life and death energies), Nature Magic (controlling plants and animals), and Spirit Magic (controlling spirits of nature or the dead).

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"Psionics": Psychic powers; mental powers; mind tricks. Individual psychic disciplines, like mind-reading (telepathy) and moving objects (telekinesis) are perfectly fine and acceptable in most games, and even creating multiple arrays to include different types of psionic powers can be okay. But watch out for players who also want to add something like "telekinetically vibrating the water in their blood to cause heat-death" or "psychically re-arranging matter at the atomic level to change anything into anything".

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"Super Science": Advanced technology; super high-tech; alien technology. Arthur C. Clark noted that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Technology is a great descriptor for explaining many different kinds of FX, but be sure to work with players interested in using technology for their FX to arrive at a unified theme for what technology lets them do. Technology might be specialized for hunting or controlling electricity or perhaps just boosting strength and toughness. Follow the same guidelines you would with magic.

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"Time/Space Continuum": Warping time and space; time control; time/space distortion. Being able to control the flow of time can lead to many annoying paradoxes, and tends towards characters who can do no wrong, because they've already seen/lived through mistakes and can go back in time and correct them automatically. This is another example of a potentially great, flavorful descriptor for a character's abilities, but can result in a character not necessarily being able to do too much, but to be very disruptive to a game by virtue of the nature of his or her abilities. Time travel paradoxes are headaches for science-fiction writers the world over, and if you're not ready for them at your table, you might want to

Massive Arrays FX arrays are meant to represent different "settings" for a supernatural ability, like a superhero who can manipulate fire creating fireballs or walls of flame. The cheap flexibility which arrays represent can be abused in two ways:

Fat Base FX Some players like to invest heavily in the base FX for an array, slapping on countless extraneous extras and feats just in the interest of being able to afford lots of powerful alternate FX. If the cost of the base FX for an array is above 5x the campaign's PL, it's possible that the player is attempting to "fatten up" the array. Scrutinize the base power for unnecessary feats and extras (like penetrating on damaging FX or the like). Make sure players have a good justification for the modifiers on their FX before you allow them.

Sprawling Alternate FX Players also can get a little overzealous with the number of times they take the alternate FX feat. They might be stretching the bounds of what truly constitutes an "alternate setting" for a particular FX (such as including in a water-controlling array an FX which lets the user create tornadoes by virtue of the water vapor in the air), or simply including far too many alternate FX. If a player has more than five alternate FX, you might want to look over them again to make sure that the character isn't being made so versatile that he or she will intrude on the other characters' niches. And during play and the process of improving characters, you might want to limit players to only taking alternate FX for their characters which they've already stunted in the past.

Overly-Broad Descriptors Good descriptors for FX are essential, but some players may request descriptors which are just too broad for you to be able to work with them effectively, because those descriptors can just do too much. That's not to say that you can't allow characters with potentially wide descriptors, but that you should be careful to work with such players to ensure that their descriptors don't allow them to intrude on the niches of other characters. •

"Atomic Control": Control over atomic structure; power over matter at the atomic level. This can essentially allow a character to transform any material into anything else at will, allowing careless players to run rough-shod over your game as enemies are turned into frogs and bullets into steam. This sort of power can work well in the hands of a moral character who

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III approach these sorts of descriptors with caution.

Progression Overkill The Progression FX feat is really cheap for the benefit it provides. It's not quite good enough to be an extra (especially at lower ranks), and at higher ranks (when the numbers are increasing by greater and greater multiples), it's almost too good as an FX feat. Especially when applied to area of effect FX (such as fireballs or exploding bombs), you can quickly cover gigantic areas with the Progression feat. You should be careful to scrutinize any FX which has more than 3 applications of the Progression feat. Multiple applications of the feat can literally allow characters to destroy cities or move mountains.

Summoning an Army The Summon (Minion) FX is potentially dangerous in that it allows players to essentially gain additional actions from their minions. While it is expensive to buy multiple minions (thanks to it taking an extra to get additional minions), more than five minions can be extremely disruptive, taking up a lot of time at the game as one player has to decide each round precisely what to do. This problem is only made worse if the player also has minions of a broad type, so each creature could have vastly different abilities. In general, the Summon FX is meant to represent someone able to conjure up a very small number of powerful minions or to create a horde of weaker minions (which are easily dispatched). Be careful of players trying to use Summoning to buy huge numbers of minions or to buy a vastly more powerful "second character" at a discount (for example, a player's "main character" being a squire who has the "real character", the mighty knight, as a summon). Minions should generally be weaker than the character. If not, you need to ask why the minion isn't the master.

Tricky Transformations The Transform FX is left open-ended to fill in a lot of odds-and-ends associated with various genres of gameplay. Some simple levels really are appropriate for most games (such as replicating a medusa with Transform (Flesh to Stone) or the Midas Touch with Transform (Anything to Gold)). But the extreme end of Transform (anything to anything at 6 CP/Rank) can be difficult to deal with, when it becomes extremely difficult to predict what a player could do in any given round. Turning a door into steam so he can escape from jail? Turning the floor into lava to kill all the monsters in the room? Turning the air in the big bad evil guy's lungs into chlorine gas to instantly poison him? That's where things start breaking down. Be cautious in allowing character such a broad ability to manipulate the environment. As always, this doesn't mean that you should never allow it. In the hands of a good player with the right character, it could make the game better for everyone. But if you have reservations about this sort of flexibility, Transform is an important FX to keep an eye on.

Too Many Linked FX

with a single action or attack, it might be time to question the validity of such an FX. Generally speaking, two FX linked together is still quite acceptable, but beyond two linked FX, things start to get tricky. Again, this is entirely a matter of your preferences and your group's play style, but be careful to make sure that players aren't Damaging and Inflicting and Draining and Transforming and Dazzling an opponent with all one attack if you think that is inappropriate for your game.

Variable FX The Variable FX structure is included for versatile odds-and-ends which just aren't covered by the rest of the system. Some groups, for instance, might use the Variable structure to represent magic, and GMs often enjoy having an FX which is just perfect for enemies with very weird abilities that will allow them to adapt on the fly to the PCs. And while d20 Advanced does allow for great versatility, the Variable structure further allows for unpredictability. An array also allows for versatility relatively cheap, but it is also predictable: the player still only has a set list of options, and can't come up with something new for every encounter. Certainly Variable structures are useful, especially for characters such as shapeshifters or changelings, or even wizards or spellcasters, but you should be careful to make sure that these FX have definite limits, so you at least have some idea of what the players can cook up. For example, a shapeshifter might only be able to change into natural animals (like lions and birds), or a magician might always have to cast spells involving fire. These limits are up to you to decide upon with the player.

When a Flaw Isn't a Flaw A flaw is a good flaw when it limits the usefulness of an FX by about 50%. For example, being limited to only affecting men (or alternately, only women) with an FX is a valid flaw for most games. But if you're playing a game following a gendercide which wipes out all of the men on Earth, then it's not nearly as limiting as it could be in other games, and thus isn't a valid flaw (indeed, this is, at best, a complication). Similarly, an FX which is only used out-of-combat (such as a non-combat ability to open locked doors with a touch), and thus the number of actions it consumes is trivial, is unlikely to be balanced with an application of the Action flaw, increasing the number of actions it takes to use the FX to 2 actions each round. This doesn't make it any harder to use the FX in most cases. Instead, flaws such as these might instead be priced as Drawbacks rather than flaws, to keep things more balanced. A flaw which doesn't limit the FX enough just isn't a flaw, and shouldn't give the point-benefit of one.

Running the Game Once you understand the basics of keeping order and making sure that your players aren't going to try to pull a fast one on you with invincible or unbelievably powerful characters, you still need to know what to actually do when you start the game to make sure that it runs smoothly for everyone involved.

Most FX require two rolls to be successful, and take one action apiece. You need to overcome Defense to hit the enemy, and then you need to roll to overcome Fortitude or Will or Toughness for your FX to take effect. If a player is getting the benefit of too many FX

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Making the Dice Work for You There are ways to very quickly and easily make the game your own, even on the fly while running an adventure.

Determining Base Check DCs In general, the check DCs for almost all skills are given in multiples of 5, if for no other reason that it's easier to remember "5, 10, 15, 20..." than it is to remember "6, 13, 18, 27". Your goal when setting a check DC is both to keep it consistent with the world which you are presenting your players (i.e., Fort Knox might have DC 40 locks, but an average suburban home likely won't) while also making it an appropriate challenge for your players.

Modifiers to Checks

trivia game show has seen the phenomenon where a seemingly bright person becomes overwhelmingly, mind-numbingly stupid enough to fail to answer a simple question, such as identifying the Moon as bigger than an elephant. When under stress, even a competent person can seriously botch things up, and in d20 Advanced, this is often represented as a critical failure on a die roll. However, under calm, controlled circumstances, a character can avoid this chance for failure by taking 10 on any task in which he or she has skill ranks. It's important to remember that circumstances under which the characters are actually able to take 10 are going to be rare in many games, where action is the norm. You as the GM always have the final say over whether or not a situation is calm and controlled enough for a character to take 10. Taking 20, on the other hand, generally requires at least 2 minutes uninterrupted for even the simplest tasks, relegating taking 20 to almost exclusively non-combat scenarios (except for characters with FX like Quickness). The character attempting to take 20 must have the required amount of time to try the check 20 times, and the check in question must not have penalties for failure (such as setting off an alarm or falling while attempting to scale a wall).

Once you arrive at (or just look up) the base DC for a given check, you can further adjust this target DC by applying a simple modifier to the DC. The value of the modifier will depend on the circumstances surrounding the check. Worse conditions call for a higher DC, while better conditions will only need a lower DC to succeed.

It's up to you as the GM to decide when it's appropriate or not for characters to use these options. They're meant to help you quickly resolve trivial or time-consuming tasks, and should be used as such.

Taking 10 and 20

Sometimes, the dice are just uncooperative, and instead of producing an interesting and exciting story, they only result in an anticlimactic let-down. The NPCs keep rolling poorly on their attacks, and can't even hit the PCs, much less damage them (or alternatively, a mook threatening to completely wipe out your party with a lucky roll). While you need to be sparing in fudging results with GM Fiat, you shouldn't let the dice dictate to you a resolution which, quite simply, is no good for your game.

Another option you as the GM tend to have control over when it comes to many checks is when players are able to take 10 or take 20. To use a real-world example, anyone who has ever watched a

Rule of Thumb: One important guideline to keep in mind for setting skill DCs is that they're essentially a measure of how likely the characters are to succeed at the check. If a character needs to roll a 10 to succeed on the check, then the character will succeed on the check 50% of the time. If the character needs to roll more than a 10, then his chances of success drop below 50%. If the character needs only to roll below a 10, the character's chance of success increases above 50%. Further, each point you increase the check's DC by decreases the character's chances of success by 5%. If you know the character's bonus to a given check, you can very quickly estimate what the character's chance for success is.

Rule of Thumb: A simple way to handle modifiers is to make the values of most modifiers equal to 2, 5, and 10. A modifier of +2 might mean that the circumstances are slightly more challenging than usual (such as trying to climb a cliff slick with rainwater). A +5 modifier is even more difficult (such as trying to translate an ancient parchment which is badly burned and damaged in places). A +10 modifier represents making a check under almost impossible circumstances (like trying to hack a computer after the monitor has been destroyed and doing it entirely "by feel"). These modifiers can also be reversed to represent good, great, and terrific conditions respectively, though good, quiet conditions in which to work can also be represented by allowing a character to Take 10 or 20 (see below).

Fudging

Interaction Especially since d20 Advanced describes rules for resolving social interactions with interaction skills like Persuasion, it's very important for you as the GM to find a good balance between how much the dice count for and how much the player's words count for when it comes to social interaction. Some groups prefer it when it all comes down to roleplaying and eloquence on the part of the player (since it's a roleplaying game, after all), while other groups are happier when the dice matter more (as not every player out there is going to be as gifted a diplomat as his or her character with 5 Charisma and 10 ranks of Persuasion is). Is it better that everyone be able to play

Rule of Thumb: In general, if you are using fiat to benefit the players' enemies, then you owe them Hero Dice for it. The social contract which Hero Dice embody says that the GM can fudge things, but then the players gain the right to fudge them right back later. You want to award the Hero Dice only to the players most affected by the fiat (such as the warrior whose might blow was just negated by a fiated Toughness resistance roll). But if you're fudging things to benefit the players, then you certainly don't owe them Hero Dice for that, and you don't want to force them to "pay" for it with their own Hero Dice either.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III a silver-tongued swashbuckler at the price that masterful roleplaying can go unrewarded because of a poor die roll, or is it better that the players' roleplaying always comes first with the understanding that this makes interaction skills largely worthless? You need to make sure that you find a method of resolving this question that works well for your group. There are a few good compromises to help get you started: •

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Dice as the Cue: Before you start roleplaying out the interaction, you make your appropriate skill check. If you roll poorly, you should roleplay that result accordingly. For example, should you roll a natural 1 on your Persuasion check to talk your way out of arrest, you might accidentally commit a social taboo, or just stutter unconvincingly. The dice determine how you'll play out the scene, but they don't bar the opportunity to roleplay. They're just a cue, much in the way that hitting or missing on an attack would be in combat. Roleplaying as the Modifier: Another option is to use the player's roleplaying of the situation to provide a circumstance bonus or penalty to his or her roll. In this situation, you roleplay out the interaction first. If it's a good job, you might give the character a bonus to the check (with the modifier depending on just how good of a job the player did, ranging from +2 for a fairly convincing argument to a +10 for a near-perfect proposal). Similarly, you might assign a small -2 penalty for a poor argument, or a large -10 penalty for an attempt which consists entirely of "I lie to the guard". We Don't Need No Steenking Social Skills!: You might also decide that you'd rather not have the dice impact in social interactions at all. In that case, your group may simply want to remove the persuasion skill from the game. Or, going to an even greater extreme, you might even want to remove the whole Charisma ability, and instead assign the Art skill to Intelligence and the Will resistance to Wisdom. In this style of gameplay, the results of an interaction are entirely dependent on how well the GM judges a player's roleplaying of an argument to be. There remains a danger of the social aspects of the game becoming "GM-May-I?", so be cautious in such an extreme approach unless it's the direction your group prefers.

Common Mistakes GMs can and will make mistakes. There's nothing mystic about your title which makes you immune to human nature and fallibility. However, a little preparation and forewarning can help you to avoid making some of the more common mistakes which GMs can make.

The GM's Character (GMPC) Although the wise, powerful guide is a common trope in fiction, it's not often a fun one in practice. Players like being the heroes of the story, and it's not fun when they have someone there to show them up at every opportunity. Yes, the GM has the ability to always make characters more powerful and more capable than the players do. There's no challenge to it, and it threatens to steal the spotlight from the players, whose characters are supposed to be the protagonists anyway. While it's certainly likely that the players won't be the most powerful people in their particular world, or even the most powerful people on their side, it's important to make sure that they're the ones who get the spotlight. Having a pet character of your own might sound like a fun idea, but it can all too easily become nothing but an

annoyance for your players. You can still have powerful NPC allies for your players, but be sure to always reaffirm who gets the spotlight. Powerful NPCs might provide cover for the PCs to accomplish their mission, or might just be unsuited to a task (while the PCs are better suited for it). Or perhaps it's up to the PCs to rescue the more powerful NPC! So long as you keep it clear that the players' characters are the focus of the game, then you won't have to worry about an NPC becoming a GMPC.

Monty Haul Games Named for the host of the long-running gameshow Let's Make a Deal, a Monty Haul game is one of instant gratification, where the players can get whatever they want with little or no work. For example, every villain is an easy foe to triumph over, the heroes never suffer any risk at real injury or defeat, and all their rewards are far too big for the almost non-existent challenge. The danger in this sort of game is that the players will quickly become bored with a game in which they have no challenge, or in which they get whatever they want without needing to work for it. Half of the fun of the game is being able to cheer when accomplishing something great for the first time, or overcoming a real challenge even after taking some hard licks. While you don't want to make it impossible for your players to achieve anything, you also don't want to make it too easy either. You've got to find that special balance between too hard and too difficult which your group will keep coming back to the table for.

The Price of Failure It's also important to have an understanding with your players as to what might befall their characters should they be defeated. In some genres of gameplay, such as Horror or Swords & Sorcery face the very real threat of dying in any given encounter. In others, such as a more light-hearted Comedy game or a Four-Color Comic Book game, the only consequence of defeat might be getting knocked out (or at worst, captured). You need to be sure that you and your players know what's at stake when they go into battle. If you expect to be able to run a scenario where the characters are captured and the players think that every fight is a battle to the death, then you're very likely to be out of luck. Similarly, you need to be certain that the player's actions have consequences. If they go around attacking the local authorities, they're going to face reprisals. If they blow up a building filled with innocent people, then they're likely to be outlaws (or even worse) very soon. Players should have the freedom to do what they want, but they also should be prepared to face the consequences of their actions and choices.

Different Benchmarks One of the more easily-avoidable disruptions to your game is when the people at the table interpret the numbers on the character sheets to mean entirely different things. For example, does a 5 in Strength mean that a character is the strongest human in town? The strongest in the country? The world? You need to establish benchmarks with your players, so they know what it means when someone has eight ranks in a skill or a five in an ability score. The rules provide a few benchmarks throughout to help you with this task, but if you need more, or if they don't fit your

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III too-powerful item or character discovers that the source of that power is evil and dangerous, and it needs to be purged or destroyed for the good of all. This literally turns ridding the world of the unbalancing aspect into a success for the characters, and one they may even cheer when successful.

vision of what these benchmarks should be in your world, then you need to establish ones that work for you. Sharing them with your players will help them understand how to fit their ideas into the framework of the world they'll be a part of without jarring suspension of disbelief for anyone in the game.

Fixing Mistakes One of the most important lessons to learn about avoiding mistakes is learning that no matter what, you will not be able to avoid all of them. Even the best GMs still do things which they'll regret, and would like to take back if they could. The first thing to do when you make a mistake is to own up to it. Tell your players that giving them the all-powerful soul-sucking sword of doom at PL 4 was a mistake, and that you want to correct is so that the game can be better for them. This is part of establishing trust with your players, getting them to understand that in the end, you're going to strive for fairness with them. There are a few ways to go back and fix mistakes once they've been made: •

A Wizard Did It: A fancy way of saying "I'm changing it for no reason other than to keep the game moving" with a minimum of in-game justification. A magic reward the players had simply vanishes into thin air. An ally who they had been fighting alongside disappears in a puff of smoke. Rather than investigate these strange happenings, the characters shrug, write it off as "a wizard did it", and then continue on with the game as if nothing happened.

•

My Home Planet Needs Me: A slightly less-shaky way to remove a disruptive element (usually a character or NPC) from the game. The character suddenly announces a henceforth unknown responsibility (such as rescuing his home planet, even if nobody ever knew before that he was an alien) and then runs off and vanishes, never to be seen again. For disruptive items, this could also be something like "my rightful owner needs me". This is slightly more in-character than simply vanishing because "a wizard did it", but also probably not the best way to go about doing it.

•

The Retcon: Short for "retroactive continuity", a retcon refers to something which has been going on (presumably for some time) of which nobody had any knowledge, either in-character or out-of-character. A retcon is also sometimes known as "Wait, wait! I actually have an explanation this time!" In a way, "my home planet needs me" is a painfully simple retcon. Most other retcons go to greater lengths to make it seem as though the retcon had been planned that way from the beginning. An unbalanced magic sword is suddenly revealed to be the key ingredient for a ritual the characters must complete to save the day, and thus must be destroyed. A character who is too powerful discovers that one of his problematic abilities is starting to fade.

•

Smash and Kill: Alternately, "Steal and Maim". A problematic piece of gear is destroyed in the normal course of battle, or an unbalanced character is slain, letting the dice fix the problem neatly. If it happens during the course of battle, and the dice designate it as the correct outcome, it seems less jarring to many players (even if they're quite familiar with this tactic for editing out mistakes themselves from other games). An alternative to this, especially for gear, is to have a thief make off with the troublesome item, which could even spark a whole new adventure by itself.

•

You Must Right this Wrong: A more-robust retcon, the far-

Being straight-forward with your players about your reasons for using any of these methods for retroactively fixing a mistake is still the key, since it is the best way to get cooperation from the players on fixing the mistake. And working together to make a game into a great adventure is exactly what roleplaying games are all about.

Rewards So your players have been great, and their characters have some awesome accomplishments under their belts. They've saved the day, the world, the city, and just for good measure, the neighbor's cat too. Now they've really earned a reward or two. The question is, when should you reward them? After every encounter? Every night? After the latest adventure has run its course? There is no one right answer to this, just as there is no one type of reward. Each individual type of reward needs its own take, and its own approach. You need to find what works best.

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Hero Dice

character points represent experience and versatility, while power level represents overall potency and capability.

Probably the most common sort of reward, you can hand out hero dice quite often. This is an important area for you to control the flow of gameplay, by making the game easier or harder for the players to control. The more hero dice you hand out, the easier the game will be for the players, as their characters can use more stunts and recover more quickly (or just more easily avoid) injuries. In short, the more hero dice you award players, the more heroic and capable they'll be. If you hand out fewer hero dice (or simply excise them from your game altogether), then the game will be grittier, with the players having fewer options during gameplay, and fewer chances as well.

By increasing power level, you're allowing players to approach new heights of potency and power. They'll be tougher, stronger, and their abilities will be more all-around amazing. They'll be further removed from threats and challenges which might be troublesome for lower power level characters. At lower level, a thug with a gun might be a serious threat to a character's very life. As a character rises in power level, that thug with a gun will be less and less of a threat, to the point where even the gun pointed right at a character will be rightly scoffed at.

When it comes to hero dice, the players will provide you with ideas and hooks for when it's appropriate to award hero dice. They'll suggest complications for their characters, describe their natures, and their backgrounds in general. You'll never be in short supply for ideas, but it will still be up to you as to when you will bring those complications up in-game for the players to earn their awards. This is how you can control the number of hero dice which the players will have access to. For most games, you want to provide enough opportunities throughout the game so that players are earning about one hero die for each encounter throughout the adventure, which will give them a healthy pool of hero points by the time the adventure's climax arrives. You also want to make sure that, just as every character should get roughly equal spotlight time, so too should their chances to earn hero dice (especially through complications).

These rules suggest that the difference between different power levels are about 15 character points. This is a fair guideline for most games, but you don't need to follow it. It's perfectly valid for your game to remain at the same power level all the way through, or to only grow by two or three levels over the course of two years and hundreds of character points worth of gameplay. You can keep the game in your comfort zone indefinitely if you like. That's the beauty of having two distinct type of character-building rewards: you can pick and choose how to reward characters based on your view of their growth, what they've earned, and what you're more comfortable with running.

Other Rewards But beyond awards which your players can use directly to improve their characters, you're also able to reward them with benefits which they will able to enjoy purely in-game.

Character Points

Wealth

How and when to award character points is another important question. How you do it will determine in what ways characters will grow. If you award a small number (one or two) at the end of each session, then players are more likely to invest in lower-priced abilities, such as feats or skill. If, on the other hand, you tend to award more points at the end of a longer adventure arc (over the course of multiple smaller adventures), then characters are more likely to spend that bulk of points on more slowly-growing but expensive abilities, like FX. Players may choose to spend their character points as soon as they get them, or save them up to increase their abilities later on down the line. Both are absolutely fine. However, it's up to you as the GM to award the character points in the first place, and you should do so with the understanding that awarding more character points is going to increase the versatility of each character more and more. This isn't a bad thing, but it's something for which you must be prepared. At your option, you may also choose not to award character points for a particular adventure. Maybe the characters failed at their mission, or they decided to do something which conflicted with the game's genre (such as superheroes acting more like supervillains). You may also decide that they did particularly well, and thus deserve a bigger character point award. If you decide to do this, it's up to you to make sure the players understand why they received a different award than normal. The better they understand how they'll be rewarded, the better the players will understand what you as the GM see as appropriate for the game as a whole.

A classic reason for characters to go adventuring is for fabulous riches. Treasure hunters of all sorts have long gone on great adventures in search of wealth, from sunken ships to ancient tombs. It's also still a huge motivation for characters in crime and heist stories. Even truly good heroes might adventure to gain wealth, if only so that they can use it for good or just donate it. And it's a very easy reward for almost all players around the table to understand. If you are using the optional Wealth rules, it's easy to throw in the promise of a few more wealth dice for the players at the end of an adventure if they manage to complete the job. Especially after getting a wealth reward, it might be appropriate for players to invest some of their character point reward into the Benefit feat, to represent carefully investing their wealth, or just learning to be better with money so that it isn't so "easy come, easy go" and instead represents a more stable pool of capital which the player can draw on in later adventures.

Gear In fantasy games especially, a common interest for players is to be constantly looking for the next powerful weapon or suit of magical armor. In these games, while you should still require the players to invest character points in these areas normally, the actual acquisition of the new gear primarily comes when you decide it does, and is often a reward for defeating a foe or reaching the treasure room in a great maze.

Increasing Power Level You also always have the option of increasing the game's power level. As Chapter XI: Campaign Building explains in more detail,

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III This is less true in modern or future games, where most gear is technological, and thus is harder to justify being in the middle of a maze or only available after killing a monster and taking it's stuff. Sure, you might be able to rationalize it as a one-of-a-kind superscience item, or a master-craft precision instrument, but it's much harder to do than it is in fantasy games.

enough of a threat that they'll break their word and leave the PCs to rob the train on their own? Is the voodoo priest who warned the PCs not to venture into the swamp be waiting for them when they venture back out with his black magic? Did the alien menace lurking in the belly of the ship really perish in the fire? Consider who might come to help (or come to maim) the characters next, what those friends and foes are working towards themselves, or what they want, and how the characters might fit into their plans.

Fame and Honors For some character, renown and popularity are the biggest rewards. Indeed, in some genres of gameplay (especially games involving high school-aged characters or celebrities), it may be the most important reward. People will recognize the characters more on the street, and the public will really come to look up to them.

•

For games which use Reputation, fame and honors are easily tracked. Simply reward characters who grow in fame with additional reputation dice. This allows them to use their newfound fame to their advantage, and gives them the additional task of knowing when they need to call in favors or use their reputations to further their goals.

Creating the Adventure So you've got the players together, their characters are all ready for the game, you know how to run the game, and every thing's going great. Now it's time to actually get an adventure together for your players.

Even in the most episodic genres, there is still a certain amount of continuity between adventures, even if that continuity exists only thanks to the periodic growth of the characters' abilities. How much continuity and flow of story matters for your game depends entirely on how much your group likes to focus on the tale that's unfolding. When you get ready to create a new adventure, you need to look at where the players' characters are in relation to other possible challenges in your world, and not just in terms of distance ("Oh, there's the Cavern of the Wraith Lord just a mile away from them! That'll do!"). Look at the flow of time too, and consider how other events might be moving forward. Maybe the ambitious prince they met months ago has made his move and is now king, so he's ready to send the royal guardsmen after the meddling adventurers who foiled his plans before. Or maybe the characters will be stuck out in the wilderness on the night of the full moon, leaving them at the mercy of some forsaken beast. Things to consider while in this stage of planning:

•

You also want to consider what recent types of adventures you've run. If it's been awhile since you've had a good chase, maybe it's time for an exciting race through the twisting, narrow city streets. Or if you just wrapped up your second murder mystery in a month, maybe it's time to let the players just go splatter zombies for the night. Then again, if the players are clamoring for yet another mystery to solve, then so long as you can hack it, you shouldn't hesitate to run your third (jinkies!).

Starting a New Adventure

Continuity

•

What Time is It?: Not just morning, noon, or night. Is it winter? If so, maybe the characters will find themselves held up at the airport as snow is dumped on the runway, leaving them stranded with a terrorist who's threatened to blow up the whole terminal. Or is it approaching the summer solstice, and the characters have only three days before the dread serpent witch sacrifices the blacksmith's apprentice to her dark gods? Or maybe it's election time, and the heroes need to be on guard against assassins seeking to kill a candidate who is unpopular with the megacorporations? Think about what events are coming up in your world which might catch the interest of the players. Even something light and simple, like a Christmas adventure or a beach trip, can be appropriate and fun for the group.

Where Are They?: What part of the world did the last adventure leave the characters in? On a mystic island they just saved from a fierce dragon? In a hidden city beneath the surface of the moon? Still safely in their hometown? Think about what could happen to them next in their current location, or where they could go from there. Who Else is Near?: What allies or enemies (or new potential friends and foes) are in the area? What are those NPCs planning? Will the Godwin Gang risk crossing the Rio Grande to help the characters as promised, or will the Rangers be

So now you've got ideas percolating from where you left your players last time. How do you get the adventure rolling?

The Recap "Last time...". "Previously...". "When we last left our heroes...". Sum things up for the group. Help them remember what they did last time, and cue them as to what the mood was before everyone left the table after the last game. This is a good way to help hint at things that were important in previous games, which they should focus on and remember for this one. It's also a good time to help the players get into character by praising their accomplishments or reminding them of their failures. Keep this part of the game short, but be willing to answer questions. This is the time when players are likely to ask lastminute "Before we get started" questions, such as ideas for spending character points or clarifications as to who a certain NPC is.

Setting the Stage The gameworld as it is before the adventure starts. The players need to know where their characters are, and what NPCs are around who they can interact with. In certain genres (especially classic High Fantasy), it might be a time for the characters to go shopping and buy new gear. Regardless, this is the first glimpse at the world the PCs get in a given game session, so it's an excellent

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III

The Quest

opportunity to set the stage for the adventure.

The Hook Once the characters are immersed in the world, it's time to get things rolling. Bring in the hook to draw your group into the adventure you have planned. Designing a good hook, though, is easier said than done. It has to appeal not just to the players, but to their characters as well. The promise of gold in a nearby cavern might not excite a hermit wizard, but ancient tomes of knowledge might. And a group of ruthless space pirates are unlikely to be moved by the plight of a stranded ship of colonists who need to replace a part of their engine. With that in mind, you should be willing to come up with alternative hooks to get the characters interested. Know which characters (and which players!) you can motivate with promises of gold or loot, and which ones will be motivated to do it out of concern for others. Try to get a feel for how much of a hook you'll need for certain kinds of adventures. Your players might not need to know much more than one of their favorite NPCs is in trouble to go charging off to the rescue, but you might need to dangle a nice gold reward in front of the party to get them interested in order to convince them to do something they're less thrilled about.

The New Challenge While or shortly after introducing the hook, you'll be exposing your characters to the latest challenge they must face. In general, there are two kinds of challenges: the kind which come seeking the characters out, and the kind which the characters must venture out to find.

The Menace The first kind of adventure, where danger comes to them, is a staple of more modern or futuristic genres, especially superheroes (where some villain threatens the city every week) and space opera (where alien invaders threaten the ship/homeworld often), though it exists in all genres of gameplay (a rampaging goblin warband in a fantasy game, a covert attack on headquarters in a military game, a new gang riding into town in a western game, etc.). The characters don't need to do anything themselves: so long as they remain in position, the new menace will show up and cause problems for them, problems which they'll naturally need to fix if they want to maintain the status quo. Since the menace is often intruding, the menace will rarely bring with it an adventure site. Rather, the menace and the characters will be on roughly equal footing (except when the menace tries to attack the characters' base of operations, in which case the players' characters likely have the advantage). Keep this in mind when building battlefield zones and try to leave the battlefield open enough that both sides can take relatively equal advantage of zone areas if they try. The other thing to keep in mind with the menace is that victory is almost more likely to be achieved by driving off the menace than it is to wipe the menace out. Most intelligent menaces will retreat if they find more resistance than they expected, and even bestial menaces will run from unexpected pain. This may indeed lead to the characters chasing down the menace as part of a brand new quest (see below) to end its threat once and for all.

In the second kind of adventure, the characters go out to seek danger (whether to defeat that danger or for potential reward). For years, this all but defined most fantasy genres, where the heroes ventured forth into dark dungeons in search of riches, and is still very much a staple of that genre. It is still seen in practically every genre too (including soldiers being sent to another country on a search and destroy mission, a spaceship's crew landing on an uncharted planet to see if it's suitable for colonization, or occult investigators going globe-hoping in search of some ancient artifact to prevent the coming doom). In this scenario, unless the characters are motivated to venture forth and complete the adventure, the adventure may well never happen (though its consequences might). With the quest, it'll most often be the characters who are intruding, and will encounter foes more likely than not to be in their element, and thus even more of a threat. Traps and security systems are common features of this genre, especially when quests include infiltrating ancient temples or inhabited military complexes. It will likely be the enemy who has the environmental advantage, using zones against the characters to great effect (though you shouldn't expect the characters to ignore the environment either). Unlike menaces who come seeking out trouble, foes who the heroes will encounter on a quest are likely to be in their home, or at least their base of operations, and may fight fiercely to defend it from intruders. Wiping the enemy out (or at least capturing them) becomes more important and likely in this type of adventure. Some foes might flee (whether just down the hall to hide and recover from injuries, or to blast off in an escape pod to live to fight another day), but not as often as a wandering menace might.

The Flow of the Adventure Once the adventure is under way and the players have taken the hook, the rest of the adventure will call into practice all of the GMing skills you've developed so far. You need to arrange encounters in such a way that players will have plenty of room to exercise their discretion and planning to proceed through the adventure in the way they want to, without feeling like they're locked on a railroad for the duration of the adventure. It's a tough balance. You don't want to go in with no idea of how the adventure will progress, but you also don't want to force the heroes to follow one pre-determined path. Usually the best compromise is to allow for multiple different paths to reach any given encounter, and to accept that some of the encounters might never come up, depending on which path the characters take. Also consider making encounters in which the location is less important fluid enough that they can happen in multiple different areas. For example, if the characters in a horror game are exploring an old farm house where the family mysteriously went missing, you might have plans for an encounter where all the tools in the barn suddenly come to life to attack the heroes. But if the heroes avoid the barn and go to the kitchen instead, maybe the kitchen utensils can come to life instead! Same encounter, different environment.

The Encounters Generally speaking, there are three reasons for including a given encounter in an adventure:

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III 1. The encounter furthers the adventure's plot, providing an opportunity for the characters to learn more about their challenge and to move closer to overcoming it. 2. The encounter serves to flesh out the world itself, whether by providing insight into some outside NPC, event, or group, or by giving the characters themselves some time in the spotlight. 3. The encounter is what the game needs to be fun. Naturally, the best encounters incorporate all three elements to varying degrees. A great encounter will let the players have a good time, learn more about the world they're adventuring in, more about one another's characters, and move closer to completing the current adventure. Guidelines for creating individual encounters can be found in Chapter XII: Stock Characters. Within the context of the adventure itself, though, it's up to you. How will the adventure progress? Will the characters encounter greater and greater threats until they fight a final climactic battle with the enemy leader? Or will they be dealt a crushing blow right from the start and forced to spend the rest of the adventure catching up with the enemy? Regardless of your choice, there are a few basic tropes to keep in mind when laying out encounters:

New Enemies Are Stronger Than Old Enemies Put another way, an enemy (or a type of enemy) that you've never fought before is more likely to be a threat than one you've fought before a half-dozen times. To that end, an easy trick which a GM can use is to use creatures which would normally be minions in the adventure as normal NPC enemies the first time the players encounter them. New enemies should be big and bad and scary, even if later in the adventure, the PCs are going to be splattering them left and right.

Encounter Difficulty Increases as the Adventure Progresses While the individual enemies may not be any stronger in subsequent encounters (especially the ones who have been relegated to minion status after their first appearance), the overall difficulty of encounters generally increases steadily as the adventure goes on. That's not to say that there won't be outliers in difficulty in the game (such as an encounter with a lone hit-man late in an adventure). The idea is to build towards a big climax in the final encounter of the adventure, making each encounter more and more trying, and each one more and more exciting.

Unfold the Plot Slowly The players don't get to learn the whole story behind the adventure right away. However, each encounter and each scene, the characters should find out a little more about what's going on. They might learn another piece of the villain's plot to destroy the city, or the reason the orcs are raiding villages in the valley, or why the alien temple was really built in the first place. Let them learn it bit by bit, step by step. And most importantly, listen to their speculations and thoughts on the story so far. Who knows? They might come up with something even better than what you had planned, and you can steal it for yourself and claim that you had been planning it all along!

Connecting the Encounters While each encounter you create might be exciting, you also need to be sure that the encounters connect to each other logically. One encounter needs to flow into the next, providing a way for the characters to know how to progress. One good way to decide on how to connect different encounters is to look at it through the eyes of the enemy, and the enemy's plan. How will the enemy have things arranged? What's the goal? And more importantly, how will the characters try to disrupt it. Figure this out, and you'll have a good idea for how to lay out and connect the different encounters of the adventure. Another good way to look at it is from the layout of the adventure area. Especially for site-based quests, the characters might need to explore an entire maze, going from room to room, before they can finish the adventure, so the adventure site itself literally connects the encounters for you. Indeed, there's a reason that the first roleplaying games used labyrinthine dungeons and caverns as their primary (if not exclusive) adventuring sites!

The Climax As you approach the end of the adventure, you want the

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III encounters to lead to an exciting climax, in which the players finally finish the adventure and learn the whole story behind it, often while fighting the most exciting battle in the adventure. This might be the fight with the mastermind behind the adventure, the dragon in the depths of the cavern, or the showdown with the king of space pirates. The climax has to be big, and it has to be enough of a challenge to make the players sweat. This will likely be the one where the biggest opponent of all is accompanied by a squad of elite warriors and a few teams of weaker minions. The environment will probably be at its most important in this fight, and things will likely get hairy pretty quickly for the characters if they're not careful. This is the time when the PCs' actions will decide the difference between victory and defeat, if the bad guys will win, or if the characters will save the day. Be sure to emphasize this to the players by reiterating that everything comes down to this encounter, and that they need to be on the top of their game to win.

The Finishing Touches When the climax is complete, and the adventure is coming to a close, it's time to give the characters their well-earned rewards. Start with the in-game ones, especially any loot they might find after the climax (such as the dragon's hoard of gold). Give the players a little bit of time to rest on their laurels and enjoy their victory.

This is also the time to start preparing things for the next adventure, dropping hints or clues as to what's coming. You might have characters find an ancient, crinkled map in the pocket of the villain, or overhear the codename to some insidious operation that's coming. Whatever it is, it lets them know that while this adventure is over, there's still more to come. And of course, you want to use this time to tie up any other loose ends. The bad guys who the characters didn't defeat might have run away, or the medicine they recovered will be what's needed to heal their sick friend. This is when the characters get a little bit of extra incentive, whether from new adventure hooks, or from the pride of seeing their important mission accomplished.

The Cliffhanger And if you really want to make sure that the players come back hungry for more, you want to learn how to end the adventure on a high note, with a reveal that gets everyone excited for the next game. A good cliffhanger gives the players a glimpse at something awesome and shocking, a scene which they're eager to take part in. It gets them really pumped up for the next adventure, and helps give them something really memorable to keep in mind until the next game session.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III

Chapter XI: Campaign Building Campaign Era

"What makes a world?" It's a deceptively simple question, and the answer is different for every game and every group and every GM out there. For some, a world is nothing more than the rooms of a quickly-sketched dungeon. For others, it's a single mighty city, beyond which lies boredom. For others, it could be a vast and richly-detailed planet. And for still others, it could be countless worlds of adventure, tied together by starships or warp portals or any other fantastic form of transportation. In its purest form, a world in an RPG is an imaginary location (or series of locations, which may or may not have actual analogues in real life) controlled by the GM with which the players' characters can interact. The series of interactions which the players' characters have within this world is known as a campaign (a term which dates back to the early days of roleplaying, when concepts were still being modified from the wargames of the time into the playstyle we know today). But what makes for a good world, and a good campaign? And what makes a merely good world into a great one? That's the question which this chapter seeks to answer. You'll be guided step-by-step through the process of building a world, and how to use that world to play host to all the fantastic adventures in your campaign. You'll have all the tools you need to build exactly what you want.

TABLE 11.1: CAMPAIGN ERA Past

Modern

Future

Technology Level Stone Age Classical Medieval Renaissance Industrial Age Information Age Fusion Age Gravity Age Energy Age Cosmic Age

Time Period 10,000 BC - 3,500 BC 3,500 BC - 500 AD 500 AD - 1400 AD 1400 AD - 1800 AD 1800 AD - 1950 AD 1950 AD - 2050 AD 2050 AD - 2200 AD 2200 AD - 2500 AD 2500 AD - 3000 AD 3000 AD - Beyond

What time period you set your game in (or which time period's stylings you drape your game in) will tell you a lot about what sort of life characters will lead, and what sort of technology the characters will have access to. A game set during Medieval times will have some serious differences than one set in the Industrial Age, for example.

Stone Age The stone age was the beginning of humanity's use of technology and tools for the first time. While tool use has appeared in other animals (especially among the great apes), the widespread use of tools (including bone needles for sewing, simple stone blades for cutting meat and hide, and weapons for hunting) defines the beginning of the stone age for mankind. Anatomically modern humans were dominant during the stone age, having out-competed other hominids and successfully migrated out of Africa and across the planet. Thanks to the development of a bipedal posture in their evolutionary history, humans freed up their hands, only to fill them once again with tools during the stone age. Tools during the stone age were very simple and fragile, relying on constant honing to maintain an edge on a simple stone hand-axe, for example. The tools were most often carefully-shaped rocks, relying on chiseling to achieve the desired shape. Stone weapons and tools helped greatly in humanity's early role in hunter-gatherer societies, where the ability to successfully hunt and kill large game helped increase the protein intake of early humans, further promoting health and brain development. This wasn't humanity's only source of tools, though, as they often used animal hide (for clothing, etc.), bones, and ligaments. However, not all tools were difficult to shape: pottery was coming into widespread use, shaping and then baking clay to produce vessels of a desired size and shape. The next great leap forward was the move of humanity from a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle to a settled, farming lifestyle, made possible by the advents of farming and domestication. Essentially, by taking the prey that humans once hunted and the flora they once gathered and learning how to raise them, human beings were able to abandon the nomadic lifestyle and build the

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III first cities. Further, the ability for a few farmers to create a foodbase for an entire society spurred further advances by freeing up many members of the society to pursue other tasks (essentially allowing for specialization unheard of before the advent of farming). This opened the doors for the development of trade later. Art began to arise during this era as well, as the first humans began painting on walls and creating jewelery. Humans began to concern themselves with not just the utility of objects, but also their aesthetic qualities. Further, humans began to consider abstract concepts, such as religion, in an attempt to explain their activities. Ancient human epics (including the ur-story of Gilgamesh) tend to personify natural phenomenon to give them motive, which early humans could understand (such as blaming a poor growing season on a malevolent spirit or deity). The concept of an afterlife began very, very early in the stone age, as evidenced by prepared burials (also seen among Neanderthals). A game set during the stone age will likely be concerned with simple tasks, like survival. Characters will have a very rustic lifestyle, and acquiring goods will often be very challenging, requiring a huge effort and teamwork from the party to accomplish something as simple as getting a meal. Establishing and maintaining territory against rival humans or even wild beasts is essential in these games. A stone age era also is appropriate for post-apocalyptic games, where society has mostly broken down, and technology starts to fail. In such a variant, technology might still exist (such as old internal combustion engines or forges still working), but understanding of the technology may have faded. No new technology is being created, and being able to repair old technology is far beyond the capabilities of remaining humans. This type of setting might be more accurately referred to as "going back to the stone age".

first instances of writing during the Bronze Age came written historical records. This serves as the dividing line between "history" and what is colloquially known as "prehistory". Literacy, especially among the lower classes in these societies, was extremely rare. You might consider having PCs during such an era need to spend character points to become literate, but from an ease of play perspective, having illiterate characters leads to frustration when the group is used to modern assumptions (such as being able to read a map or a note). The growth of trade in the Aegean (and later the Mediterranean as a whole) helped to cultivate some of the world's first great powers, such as the Persian Empire, the Greek City-States (unified briefly by Alexander of Macedonia), and later Rome. These powers went on to establish trade routes and build roads that would be used two thousand years later. The Roman aqueducts and sewers served for the explosive growth of their cities, as large concentrations could still obtain clean water and clear their waste away safely and quickly. Continuing improvement in technology and expansion of trade routes led to steadily-increasing standards of living. Men and women in wealthier cities could find luxuries like hot and cold running water. For the first time, PCs can be expected to travel from one city to another along roads, and to find a reasonably comfortable life at either end in the cities. They'll also be able to purchase goods with coins, not barter, and will be able to sail to lands explored almost exclusively because of the explosive growth of trade.

Key Developments • • •

Key Developments • • •

Metalworking & Metallurgy Trade Writing

Medieval Age

Domestication & Farming Pottery Tools

Classical Age The Classical Age was the time of the first great empires, which were made possible by the development of strong metal tools thanks to the development of bronze-working (and later ironworking). Armed with stronger weapons and armor, bronze axes and curved bronze swords were the superweapons of their day, allowing an army equipped with such weapons a considerable advantage over under-equipped armies. But beyond their utility as weapons, bronze (and later iron) tools were simply better suited to farming, allowing greater concentrations of people to exist together in a small area, which led to the advent of urbanization (and the city-states themselves made for tempting targets for would-be warlords armed with bronze and later iron weapons). PCs during this age are likely to find their first instances of iron and bronze weapons (which can be represented as their steel counterparts with a -1 and -2 penalty to toughness, respectively). Iron and bronze armor will similarly be limited in effectiveness. The concentration of society into cities began to spur the development of a more organized and sophisticated set of trade routes, especially in the burgeoning societies around the Aegean Sea. In the near east, the earliest forms of writing began as what amounted to an invoice from one tradesman to another. With the

Following the fall of the Roman Empire, Western Europe began to reorganize itself, first around empires like the one built by the Carolingians, and then in the smaller feudal states, and later in the first period of true urbanization in the northern parts of Europe. Much of the knowledge from the Classical Age was preserved in the Byzantine Empire and in the expanding Muslim territories in the Middle East and North Africa. It was essentially a time when secular leaders and church leaders struggled for power in the post-Roman Europe, and while secular heads of state made important gains during this era, the power of the church would remain strong, though nascent nation-states began to develop across Europe. With the loss of many Roman roads to disrepair and banditry, travel once again became a very difficult and dangerous notion. Under feudalism, most serfs never left their homes (or at least never went very far if they did). People tended to live sedentary lives, bound to their land by their feudal obligations to their lords. Even at home, people lived with the threat of attack from bandits, or for coastal communities, Vikings. Their lives also tended to be slightly worse off than their counterparts during the Classical Era, as many of the technologies of convenience available in Rome failed to find their way to many areas of Northern Europe during the Medieval Age. Disease was also common (including the Black Plague), due in large part to lack of proper sanitation. In fact, one of the reasons beer, wine and liquor became so important across Europe during the Medieval Age: since clean water was largely unavailable, alcohol (which had been boiled as a part of fermentation) would be much safer to drink. The urbanization of Europe, fueled by the trade routes opened by

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III the Crusades (see below), was crowned with towering cathedrals and castles built in the Romanesque and later Gothic styles. The Gothic style in particular made use of great vaulted ceilings to open up the inside of structures and make the walls thinner than possible (also supported by flying buttresses). Some of the most beautiful and magnificent structures in Europe were built during this time, including Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. Militarily, the Medieval Age was defined by the consolidation of power of kings and of nation-states, as more and more powerful lords began to use their growing wealth to hire professional armies. European armies also found themselves thrown east into five Crusades. Although the Crusaders were unsuccessful in conquering Jerusalem, they did succeed in revitalizing trade throughout Europe and with the east. The trade routes across the Mediterranean (made possible thanks to improvements in navigation including the astrolabe and the compass) brought to Europe technology and classical knowledge which would change the course of Western history, including gunpowder and luxury goods from China and the preserved texts of classical scholars like Aristotle and Plato from the Middle East. This was the time of knights on horseback wearing chainmail and wielding broadswords, common tropes for fantasy games.

Key Developments • • •

Architecture (Romanesque, Gothic) Nation-States Navigation (Astrolabe, Compass)

Renaissance Following the influx of trade from the east after the Crusades, Southern Europe (and later Northern Europe) saw a cultural revival. The growing middle-class in Europe's new towns and cities with the disposable income and time invested in studying Classical scholarly pieces. Art inspired by by classical styles became increasingly popular, especially in the Italian Renaissance, where artists like Michaelangelo created some of the finest art of all times. The knowledge of the Renaissance was propagated thanks to the invention of the printing press in Germany. Coupled with the movement within the Protestant Reformation to translate the Bible into regional languages and the humanist leanings of the Northern Renaissance, literacy began to spread more rapidly throughout Europe during this era. It was during this spread of knowledge and literacy that major steps forward were taking in science. The scientific method was first formalized during this time, and modern physics was born with increasingly-accurate studies of the movement of the planets. Splits within the monolithic base of the Church in Europe helped to further spur the development of strong, independent nation-states with individual nationalist identities. The luxuries of everyday life from the Classical Age began to return to common people, thanks in large part to the humanistic pushes of the Northern Renaissance. Peoples' lives began improving, and soon they began to think of themselves in nationalistic terms. And these nationalistic leanings encouraged the further growth of trade and exploration, and later the colonization of new lands. Plate armor rose to prominence during this era, and fell out of favor on the battlefield with the rise of gunpowder weapons. Firearms began to see widespread use during this era for the first time, and were in many ways crucial to colonization efforts during the age, as guns and steel gave Europeans a serious edge over the indigenous

peoples of the Americas and other lands. Trade routes began to circle the world, with Europe at the center, and the main beneficiary, as the European states arose as the superpowers of the world, dominating first the Mediterranean and soon much of the world. These colonization attempts made under the mercantile system would pave the way for the imperialism which was so important during the Industrial Age.

Key Developments • • •

Firearms Printing Press Scientific Method

Industrial Age As technology pressed forward, techniques learned during Medieval and Renaissance eras in water- and wind-mills for the processing of grain were put to use on greater and greater scales for manufacturing purposes. Raw materials were coming in from materials all over the world, and the first attempt to make full use of them was in the textile manufacturing sector, as great looms worked by dozens of women allowed businessmen to produce far greater quantities of linen than ever before. It was a time of great wealth and great plenty, at least for those in the markets served by the growing industrial base. Manufacturing jobs became the norm for low-class families, which at the height of the Industrial Age employed men, women, and children alike. This base of unskilled labor was often taken advantage of by the wealthier owners of the manufacturing base, and it was these laborers who became the basis of the labor movement at the end of the Industrial Age. Firearm technology advanced rapidly during this time, fueled by upheaval after upheaval and war after war. From single shot muskets and rifles to breach-loading rifles and six-shooters to fullfledged automatic weapons, firearms quickly became not just the mainstay of battlefields, but also the dominant force by far. Artillery developed to the point where bombardments were essential to battle by World War I. Weapons technology advanced by leaps and bounds throughout the era, to the point where the close of the era left the world with the predecessors of truly modern firearms. This was also the era when mankind began using steam power to travel the world in river ships, railroads, and soon ocean steamships and even planes and zeppelins. These transportation technologies served to help "shrink" the world, by allowing people to travel more quickly and reliably than ever before, making possible the intertwining trade routes and military supply lines that were essential to the imperialism of the day. The need to find new colonies as sources of raw materials, strategic bases against other world powers, and even as markets for excess goods (though mercantilism had fallen out of favor by the time the Industrial Age was in full-swing). Armies sailed around the world to stake their claims, creating worldwide empires that would last throughout the age. By the close of the Industrial Age, manufacturing was turned heavily towards the production of consumer goods, vastly improving the quality of life of ordinary men and women during this era. Families began to push out to comfortable homes, and their growing wealth served to further fuel the growth of a consumeroriented manufacturing base. Characters during this era are finally able to start to buy mass-manufactured luxury items, including early electronics like phonographs and radios.

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Key Developments • • •

during this era, the affects of human activity on the planet prove to be a challenge for humans for many years.

Flight Manufacturing Steam Power

Towards the end of the Information Age, humanity is forced to find alternatives to the fossil fuels which fed the Industrial revolution, encouraging scientists to look into new fuel models which helps move the world into the next great era.

Information Age By the Information Age, the comforts and standard of living first seen during the Industrial Age have improved, but the key difference has been in the speed with which information travels. All people have the ability to broadcast information from just about anywhere, as telephones (and later on, mobile phones). This is also the age in which the Internet becomes ubiquitous, and the media becomes highly decentralized, and anyone can access (or transmit) information about almost everything from everywhere. Telecommunications are instantaneous, and the only limiting factor becomes the ability to physically transport goods and people. Barriers begin to come down, and the ability to digitize everything from books to music to video places new value on data. Traditional services, such as shopping and banking, began to move into the digital world. For adventurers, this instant communication is a huge boon. Rapid access to data and information on ever-smaller computing platforms. The earliest Internet-capable computers available to the average consumer were full-size desktop personal computers. Since then, the technology to access the Internet shrunk to the point where almost all mobile phones were web-capable, enabling adventurers instant-access to features like GPS anywhere in the world. In terms of weaponry, firearms remain similar to those which arose at the end of the Industrial Age, though the perfection of automatic fire weapons has enabled automatic weapons such as submachine guns and assault rifles to become the weapons of choice for military groups. Ground warfare has come to benefit from information-gathering devices and imaging technology, but the largest improvements have come in the form of "smart" weaponry, missiles and bombs which can literally be shot down a chimney. Because of the huge cost of such improvements, warfare becomes increasingly lopsided, as advanced weaponry forces smaller and less-funded forces to go underground and resort to guerrilla warfare and terrorism to combat a vastly superior military force. While such powerful weapons rarely fall into the hands of private citizens (and indeed are heavily restricted in most countries), they could prove extremely useful for any adventuring characters who could get their hands on them. The first early flight from the Industrial Age progresses at the beginning of the Information Age to exploratory space flight (usually unmanned) of the solar system. It also opens the doors for the satellites which allow for the near-instant worldwide telecommunications of the Information Age. Energy and propulsion systems are still too primitive to allow for truly commercial or widescale ventures into space. Science continues to push forward, and it is during this time that the human genome is first sequenced. The success of pharmaceutical companies in finding and manufacturing treatments for countless diseases and conditions has helped to extend the life-expectancy of people all over the world (combating increasingly-sedentary populations susceptible to obesity). Increasing understanding of human genetics and development leads to novel treatments for previously debilitating diseases by literally allowing doctors to grow new tissue for their patients, which are complimented by everimproving artificial organs. And while environmentalism arises

Key Developments • • •

Early Genetic Manipulation and Artificial Organs Smart Weaponry World-Wide Telecommunications

Fusion Age With the dwindling supplies of fossil fuels, humanity is forced to look elsewhere for its energy needs. Early pushes in this direction during the late Information Age came in the form of expansion into bio-fuels, including plant- and algal-derived fuel sources. Advances in engineering make it possible for the first time to rely on nuclear fusion (as opposed to nuclear fission) as a sustainable source of clean energy. These cleaner energies allow for the continued development and mobilization of electronics which was sparked in the Information Age with reduced environmental impact. Decentralization of data and programs, moving them from individual computers into "the cloud" forces traditional telecommunications companies to switch gears from providing the service directly to supporting the service as content providers, joining forces with the media moguls of old to maintain their viability in the new market. These advances in computing allow for ever-more impressive feats in the fields of science, including the development of truly practical proteonomic algorithms, which allow doctors to literally tailor a medication to a patient to absolutely minimize side-affects. Coupled with the ever-improving tissue therapies from the Information Age, these medical advances push the average human lifespan up ever higher each and every year. It is during the Fusion Age that the average human lifespan reaches over 100 years, and that the elderly enjoy lives with minimized consequences of aging. Advances in nanotechnology further not just human health, but also unprecedented flexibility and freedom in mobilization of computing technology. But the most impressive feats in science and technology come in the form of the first near-Earth sustainable communities, propelled into space on ever-more advanced and commercially-viable spacecraft. The first such communities during this age are almost exclusively orbital space stations designed to act as highlyspecialized orbiting manufacturing plants, which take advantage of the zero gravity environment to produce some of the more delicate and advanced materials needed to sustain the Fusion Age's growth, including the more advanced nanotechnology impossible to build in environments with gravitational pull. While near-Earth space-flight is increasingly viable, it is still more economical for workers in zero-gravity sectors to live full-time on the stations (where simple centrifugal forces are used to simulate gravity outside of the zero-gravity manufacturing areas). The sustainability of manufacturing becomes even more attractive to companies with high-efficiency solar panels (highly effective in space with no atmosphere to disrupt the harvest of sunlight) which can render space stations energy-independent almost instantly. In the area of warfare, the trend in most weaponry on conventional battlefields continues to be towards unmanned weapons systems, such as remote-controlled planes and rovers which can enter

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hostile areas and neutralize targets with minimal risk to the human operator. Improvements in unmanned weapons systems are fueled by ever-increasing sophistication of decision-making in artificial intelligence systems. Traditional firearms continue to be the weapon of choice for sheer practicality, though mounted weapon systems (made possible by ever-improving power sources) begin to utilize first high-energy kinetic weapons (such as railguns) and later beam weapons, allowing for previously-unheard of degrees of accuracy. Miniaturization and power restraints still prevent such weapons from being practical for man-sized weapons, but the first powered exo-armor moves from utility purposes to battlefield purposes, making the prospect almost viable by the end of the age.

Key Developments • • •

Fusion Energy Nanotechnology Near-Earth Habitation

Gravity Age The Gravity Age is heralded by unprecedented advances in field

and quantum physics. The first firm understandings of how gravity behaves at quantum levels confirms the existence of gravitons, which can be generated by accelerating masses to relativistic speeds. For the first time in human history, control of gravity is possible. The earliest gravity pumps are huge particle accelerators which divert the generated gravitons in a desired direction to cause fluctuations in time-space. Miniaturization allows for gravatic pumps to become gravatic induction drives in spacecraft, allowing for powerful bursts of acceleration by projecting gravitons forward as the spacecraft "slides" down the induced gravity well. As miniaturization of the technology improves, gravity pumps find use in escaping gravity in planetary environments and for generating it in extraplanetary ones. Gravity pumps become essential in overcoming the engineering limitations of building space ships reliant on centrifugal forces to maintain artificial gravity for passengers. Most importantly, gravatic induction drives allow for truly interplanetary travel, making colonization of near-Earth bodies (such as the Moon and Mars) feasible. The moon shares many of the advantages that orbital space stations do in terms of energy capture from solar sources coupled with the availability of materials for construction which could be harvested from beneath the surface of the Moon and Mars. Initial colonization of the Moon in particular is only viable thanks to gravity pumps, which enable colonists some

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III degree of protection from meteor bombardment. While gravatic induction drives allow for effective travel throughout the solar system, interstellar travel is still impossible, and travel beyond the asteroid belt simply doesn't seem practical, as colonization and harvesting of the bodies of the outer solar system is still unattractive. The miniaturization of power sources that allows for smaller and smaller gravity pumps also allows beam weapons systems previously restricted to being mounted on vehicles to be moved onto the now-common powered armor systems issued to soldiers. Projectiles have fallen out of favor, instead replaced by energy weapons which promise increased accuracy from the loss of recoil and the near-instant delivery of the beam's energy to the target. Early beam weapons require bulky power packs, but more advanced models only require such packs for periodic recharging.

Key Developments • • •

Beam weaponry Extra-Earth Colonization Gravity Pumps

Energy Age As gravity pumps became ubiquitous, a new energy source to supplement (and later replace) fusion technology arises from advanced understanding of piezoelectricity and zero-point energy. Piezoelectric principles allow for the mechanical distortion of matter (like quartz crystal) to generate an electric field. By the advent of the energy age, nano-level manufacturing is finally sophisticated enough to literally weave piezoelectric fibers into materials everywhere. Mankind becomes capable of generating energy with every step they take, and every surface becomes an energy generator, capturing power from footsteps, sound vibrations, and even the infinitesimal distortion of a surface being impacted by photons. This further improves the efficiency of gravity pumps, allowing the distortions of matter caused by graviton projections to be harvested. Energy waste and loss is reduced to almost nothing. This newfound and previously impossible energy efficiency is made all the more potent thanks to the ability to harness zero-point energy, letting humans literally produce energy from nothing. No longer is humanity limited by concerns of energy. Without such energy constraints, computing efficiency and power finally becomes high enough to allow truly sentient artificial intelligence. These systems are able to help push science even further. One such beneficiary of this enhanced computing is in advanced biology. Now able to literally design proteins and DNA sequences with exacting precision, humanity is able to custom-design entirely novel organisms for just about any environment. Using such technology, humans are able to begin the terraforming of worlds, making them suitable for human life outside of enclosed colonies. The Moon and Mars are the first such areas to be terraformed into habitable worlds, but soon moons of the gas giants in the outer solar system are made habitable. Thanks to the near-limitless supply of energy available in this age, even worlds distant from the sun can be heated to habitable temperatures. By the end of the Energy Age, most of the solar system has been colonized by human beings. The first spaceflight at relativistic speeds allows humans their first travel across interstellar distances, though sublight travel is still too slow to be suitable for much more than small expeditions. It will take another leap forward to allow for humanity to expand beyond the solar system in earnest.

Beam weapons become even more ubiquitous during this era, with the energy to generate more and more powerful blasts becoming even more readily available. These improvements in power also allow for concussive melee weaponry, which uses incredibly small gravity pumps to multiply the force of impact manifold. Armor and energy fields which are increasingly resistant to beam weaponry remains vulnerable to high-impact concussive weapons.

Key Developments • • •

Terraforming Sentient Artificial Intelligence Zero-Point Energy

Cosmic Age The ability to transverse interstellar distances with ease propels humanity out of the solar system and into the universe at large. In just a thousand years, humans went from simple wood-and-canvas planes with wooden propellers to being able to travel to distant corners of the galaxy with ease. The secret to humanity's emergence into interstellar travel lay in the answer to the unified field equations, allowing human spacecraft to generate worm holes in space and travel far faster than the speed of light. The earliest wormholes are created by linked series of rings in space between the planets within the solar system, allowing for near-instant transportation between two worlds within the solar system. Later expeditions to other star systems were made to construct new gates of this type, rapidly opening up new star systems to terraforming and colonization. Once humanity is able to build ring gates linked by wormholes, they become capable of slowly (but surely) spreading out across the galaxy, using construction crews sent at relativistic speeds to nearby star systems as an advanced party to build new ring gates to link to settled systems. The next great leap forward comes when humanity is able to generate wormholes in space between two points with the use of ring gates, allowing instant transportation between distant star systems with ease. Now an entire galaxy lies open to human exploration and inquiry, and without conventional limitations on energy or travel, all that remains is the ability to harvest resources from new worlds, which a rapidly-expanding human race has always proven skilled at. During this age, technology becomes advanced enough that it is nearly magical, allowing nearly anything. With the development of molecular assembly from advances in nanotechnology, humankind has the ability to create the first "Santa Claus Machines", which are able to break matter down to its constituent subatomic particles, and them reassemble them into just about any chemical structure desired. More advanced models can also assemble the created materials into just about anything on the spot. Anything the owner desires can be created. The Cosmic Age is marked by plenty.

Key Developments • •

Molecular assembly Ring gates

Campaign Feel Not quite the same thing as Realism, a campaign's feel determines

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III just how pleasant (or unpleasant!) day-to-day life is for a world's inhabitants. Do characters get up in the morning, see a bright blue sky with birds singing and all the inhabitants of their hometown tipping their hats and saying, "howdy, neighbor"? Or do they pull themselves out of the gutter under an overcast sky and spend the day dodging bullets while digging around for breakfast? A campaign's feel informs you on what sort of encounters the players' characters will have, what sort of lives they will lead, and what sort of direction their world is going in.

Utopian A Utopian setting is an idealistic, relentlessly-perfect world where conflict and danger are rare. The term was first used by Sir Thomas Moore to describe a mythical island in the Atlantic Ocean with what Moore conceived to be the ideal socio-politico-economic system, but it has since become synonymous with an ideal society. The PCs will at best be worshiped a great heroes and at worst be regarded as useless in their perfect society. In a Utopian setting, crime and threats are rare. Everything is as perfect (or as near-perfect as you can get), so threats really only arise from outsiders or from the occasional twisted madman within the society itself. Even more-so than in Four Color games, the PCs are going to be admired as heroes, and nothing can go wrong for them. At the end of the adventure, they'll still be living perfect lives and they'll be shining examples of all the best the world has to offer. Needless to say, Utopian settings often don't always make the best of campaign settings, other than Utopian societies on the brink of collapse or in danger from an outside force. If there's no conflict, there's no story! But it is one end of the spectrum, and one that can be very interesting for the players to explore.

Four-Color Also affectionately referred to as "Saturday Morning Cartoon" feel, Four-Color refers to the means by which old comic books of the Silver Age were printed, where things can be a little goofy at times, but are usually brightly-colored, relatively friendly (other than the villains), and where heroes where heroic twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Heroes didn't struggle with the moral question of whether or not it's right to kill a madman bent on ending the world, and they didn't have drug addictions to sort through. Certainly, the characters' world wasn't always perfect: it seemed to get itself in peril about once a month, usually thanks to the diabolical machinations of some fiendish villain. Most crime came in the form of one-off burglaries or heists. Organized crime tended to be very rare, and violent crime even rarer (except against the heroes). But the one thing you could count on Four-Color Feel for: at the end of the adventure, everything would be back where it started. None of the heroes were going to die, the major villains would be around to start trouble again the next time (even if they were captured). Characters had a certain amount of title protection, and the stories were all about the action heroes, not the secret identities. A Four-Color feel is most appropriate for games where danger is present, but it's assumed that the heroes are going to triumph, and that morality is going to be black and white, where the heroes are unambiguously heroes and the villains are clearly (but not too sinisterly) villains. The villains even seem to follow rules which prevent them from hurting helpless characters (especially children or pets). If you want it to be clear that, yes, this game will have

adventure, but you don't want to deal with thorny social or moral or ethical issues, and that you don't want people to take everything in the game so seriously, then this is the feel you want for your game.

Typical A game with a Typical feel be best exemplified by the phrase "The World Outside Your Window". It's very similar in many ways to the world we live in, where the good comes with the bad, where people can be wonderful and they can be jerks, and the world can be a great and horrible place all at once. The key with games at this level of feel is that neither one is overwhelming the other. The PCs won't have endless misery, just as they won't have endless joy. They'll have low-points and high-points, but nothing lasts forever. In a Typical world, crime is common, if rarely spectacular (most crime will likely be subtle and almost expected, like low-level corruption in government, scoff-laws, and the like). Violent crime becomes important for the first time in Typical worlds, and the big criminal events are often organized. People aren't always friendly, and while they might make an attempt to help one another, they're usually looking out for themselves and their close friends and family first. Disasters like train wrecks, mine collapses, hurricanes, and forest fires are common enough that people won't be surprised when they turn on the news and see these events. Most importantly, a game with a Typical feel is, in many ways, meant to provide a "realistic" feel, to make characters of all sorts behave the way they would in real life. Trouble happens, and heroes aren't always shining symbols: they're people too. They have to pay the rent and study for classes and come home to remember that they forgot to go grocery shopping, so it's Chinese take-out once again. Characters are expected to develop relationships (good and bad) with one another, and quite often, it's these relationships which propel the game forward. Characters can expect their complications to come up relatively often, and many of their complications will be logical outgrowths of who they are, not just their responsibility to saving the day. The PCs are people first. Yes, they're often the heroes too, but you can't neglect the person either.

Gritty In a game with a Gritty feel, life for the PCs can be nasty, brutish, and (if not approached intelligently) short. They'll have to suffer some unpleasantness that is often left unsaid in many adventure stories, such as contracting illnesses, struggling to find food, or having to deal with tragedy befalling their friends and loved-ones regularly. Everyone with half a brain has a means of self defense, whether that be a knife in your boot, a gun tucked into the back of your pants, a few rough-looking associates, or some supernatural capabilities. Those who don't take measures to protect themselves are going to wind up victims of crime (often violent crime) as everyone is struggling to make ends meet. These are literally the dark ages, where an inglorious end awaits everyone. Only those smart enough are going to have a home and food and a future, and only the truly cunning are ever going to escape their tenuous existence and achieve anything truly good in their lives. In a Gritty game, while characters might question the morality of certain actions, they're likely only going to do it after they've managed to save themselves and their enemy is already dead or dying. In these worlds, there's no time to philosophize when the only thing between you and the grave is doing something about the guy with a knife pointed at you and doing it right now.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III TABLE 11.2: CAMPAIGN FEEL Public Attitude

Feel Utopian

Typical Gritty Against All Odds Hopeless

Social Conditions

Global Conditions

Crime rare; Organized Crime Disasters rare Occasional Crime occasional; Organized Crime Disasters occasional Friendly Personal Troubles Rare rare Crime common; Organized Crime Disasters common Indifferent Personal trouble occasional occasional Crime daily; Organized Crime Disasters daily Unfriendly Personal trouble common common Characters considered villains, Crime constant; Organized Crime Disasters constant. Hostile though may still retain supporters daily Apocalypse imminent. Complete anarchy and the breakdown Rock-bottom. Characters Disasters constant. World in of the system. Back to caveman N/A considered a stain on history. Utter ruins or completely destroyed. times. failure. Helpful

Four-Color

Personal Conditions Characters revered and generally considered to be the authorities

One of the hallmarks of Gritty games is social commentary, where the worst of societies ills are put on display for all to see. The darkness looms high over the game at all times, often seeming allconsuming or inescapable. Tragedy and disasters can happen at any time, and they happen often. And whatever great power the PCs might have, they still find that they can't ever fix the world around them. They can't cure it: all they can do is treat the symptoms. And that's assuming they even aspire to such lofty ideals. Especially in mercenary or dark swords & sorcery games, it's equally likely that they're just trying to carve out a place for themselves in the world, and find a way to put bread on the table. There's no good and evil. People do what they have to do to survive first and foremost, and if they decide to do that at the expense of the PCs, then they shouldn't be surprised when the PCs retaliate to punish them. After all, they'd do the same thing if the PCs tried it on them.

Against All Odds Sometimes, the PCs aren't going to be the heroes: they'll be the villains! As far as the world around them is concerned in an Against All Odds campaign, they're the enemy. They might legitimately be villains or evil-doers, or they might just be part of a rebellion or resistance against the true villain, who currently is the one running the show. The end result is still the same: if the PCs show themselves in public, they're very likely to find themselves in grave danger. Danger literally lurks around every corner for the PCs. The omnipresent enemy could come smashing in at any time to destroy them, whether in the form of a police raid or the true heroes of the world coming in to stop the nefarious PCs. Any one of the people they must trust could betray them and drag them out of the shadows to their doom. The end for the PCs draws closer and closer every day, and every morning brings new disasters for their cause. Things aren't sliding towards oblivion: they're spiraling wildly out of control towards total disaster. No punches are pulled and no mercy is shown, because any hesitation on anyone's part (especially on the PCs' side) could mean game over. Safe havens are safe in name only, because no matter how many precautions the PCs take, their enemies need only get wind of their latest hideout to bring it crashing down on their heads. And as much as the PCs might want to take the fight right to their enemies, they do so at their own peril. Their enemy might be vastly more

powerful than they are, or their enemy might simply have the might of an entire city, or country, or world, or galaxy to throw against the PCs. If the PCs want to be successful, they'll need to be extraordinarily careful, and likely more than a little ruthless too. They have all the trouble and pain that characters in a Gritty game might suffer in addition to being forced to exist outside of society as public enemy number one.

Hopeless The world as we know it does not exist, and all that does exist is horrible dog-eat-dog land of madness. The tiny handful of people who cling to life in this world do so at the expense of one another, willing to kill for the slightest advantage. Humanity is practically feral at this point, vicious and remorseless. They might have been driven to this point in the wake of a world-wide apocalypse or after being trapped behind the lines of a ruthless and inhuman enemy who salted the earth and left nothing standing. Whatever the reason, the few remaining people must now put their lives on the line every day in order to hold onto what little they have. And as the human race speeds towards the abyss, its own actions help it along more than anything else. Those who remain are more than willing to slit one another's throats in a vain attempt to cling to life. The world in ruins as it is, there is nothing to rise above, nothing to achieve. All that the PCs can hope to achieve is survival, and perhaps dominance over some territory or other people. There's so little left that there is almost nothing worth aspiring to. These sorts of Hopeless games are an extreme which are hard to create adventures for, especially when the overarching theme for the game is just "survive to the next session". Part of the excitement of roleplaying games is seeing how the PCs grow in power and ability, and with nothing to strive towards in Hopeless games, players can become understandably frustrated. To that end, it's common in this sort of game for the GM to dangle a thin ray of hope before the PCs, to compel them to strive for something and to risk what little they have in the name of something greater.

Realism Just how far from real-world physics and ability is your game? Do

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These are questions of realism, which address just how extreme an effect characters can have on the world around them and on one another. Note, however, that it doesn't address whether strange things can happen (as magic and other FX are independent of this notion of realism), but how fantastic those FX can be.

In moderate-FX games, FX are usually limited to a single main type of "source" for the descriptors (such as "magic", "psioncs", "cybernetics", etc.). FX are still likely to be in the hands of enemies (especially supernatural ones), and they are likely to be more powerful than the FX which the PCs have access to. FX are not common at all, and they certainly aren't something which would be prevalent in society. Those who have access to supernatural FX are more likely to distance themselves from the public, whether for safety (of the public or themselves or possibly both) or for privacy away from curious onlookers or just out of needs which normal society simply can no longer fulfill.

FX in Your Game

Restricted-FX

FX represent supernatural abilities of one flavor or another. They could represent magic, mutant powers, psionic potential, divine power, or the products of super-science. The fundamental point is that they allow characters to do things which ordinary people simply cannot.

In a game with a Restricted-FX world, supernatural FX are relegated entirely to a secondary importance for the PCs by the rules themselves. Under this option, the power level limits for FX are cut in half, so FX are almost always going to be a less-potent option for the PCs than using their on whits and physical prowess and good old fashioned steel.

explosions send characters flying through the air to land miles away? Does magic allow its wielder to reshape mountains, or just move molehills? Can an ordinary human being take a direct hit from a Sherman tank and keep coming, or does a tank shell promise a swift and messy end?

How FX fit into your game is, in some way, a statement on the realism of your game. Can any character have fantastic powers in your game, or are FX more limited to only a few members of the group based on their choice of role in the world? Or are PCs all but banned from using the FX which enemies and monsters might use against them, relying entirely on equipment to provide abilities they wouldn't normally have? In answering this question, you'll be addressing just how much influence the supernatural or the fantastic has on your game, and how much of it is in the hands of the PCs.

The intent of such a restricted-FX game is to make FX available as a secondary ability, a sort of back-up, but not necessarily an especially attractive one, especially during battle. For utility purposes, FX can be extremely useful (usually less-showy ones, like ESP or Concealment), but they're likely only relegated to that. FX become a useful extra that very special characters like the PCs might have limited access to, but they still aren't a good substitute for mundane abilities. FX become a tool, not a crutch.

Gear-FX Only

High-FX In High-FX games, supernatural abilities are common enough that every PC is assumed to be able to use them (and indeed, the ones who can't are the ones who stand out). Most of their important enemies will have wide access to potent FX as well, and many of these characters will be quite dependent on these FX to contribute (and often just survive!) in combat.

When FX simply are not available to the PCs, and the closest they can get to FX is what comes in the form of gear. This option is common for realistic games, such as those in the war or action movie genres, where characters may be larger than life, but they aren't outside of the realm of human possibility. A Gear-FX Only game is meant to still allow characters to make use of equipment without necessarily giving them strange powers too.

High-FX games can be explained in numerous ways. One of the most common is for superheroes-style gaming, where the heroes and villains of note all have access to superpowers of some form or another. But this is also possible in fantasy games where magic is something that anyone can learn, and every adventurer knows at least some magic to help them in their chosen role. This also works for games where supernatural abilities themselves aren't widespread or well-known in the world (such as urban fantasy or modern supernatural, where creatures like vampires or werewolves might lurk in the shadows of our cities, or in "black-ops" games featuring government-engineered psychics doing battle with other government-engineered psychics). Descriptors for FX are likely to be very varied, but can be limited as well, if the GM decides that it would be more appropriate for the game.

In such a game, this doesn't mean that the NPCs are similarly barred from having FX. This is especially true in many types of swords & sorcery games, where the PCs might be simple thieves or warriors who must do battle against wielders of dark forces beyond and mere human comprehension. It's also quite true for occult Lovecraftian-horror games, where the PCs often take the role of investigators who are learning about terrible monsters of pure insanity and That Which Man Was Not Meant to Know. It leads to a feeling of desperation when the PCs are faced with someone doing the impossible and they are just ordinary people (who might have some extraordinary talent, of course), which is something games of these genres attempt to recreate.

Moderate-FX

And of course, the GM always has the option of simply saying that certain FX just aren't accessible for a given world. For example, in a fantasy world where trafficking in and dealing with summoned creatures is the most common means for magic, the GM might decide that these summons are also what mages use for spying (replacing the ESP FX) and for attempts at deception (allowing him to remove the Illusion FX too). You can remove FX for balance reasons as well as world-specific reasons. Just be sure to let your players know.

Moderate-FX games are ones in which supernatural FX might exist, but their role will be largely secondary to the characters' mundane gear and FX. Some characters will indeed still focus on supernatural FX, but these characters will be fewer and far between. In a group of PCs, maybe half of the characters would have access to varying degrees of supernatural FX. The others might be able to use FX, but only through special gear, like super high-tech guns or magical swords.

Excising Specific FX

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Realism Level Realism can be assigned to three rough levels: mundane, cinematic, and epic, with each level moving further and further from "real" towards the fantastic. Each entry includes a way to handle some of the more reality-bending abilities abilities available to characters to help make the game just as realistic as the group wants.

Mundane Might, Recovery & Toughness

How to handle skills which enable the characters to move mountains or survive blasts from tanks.

Since mundane games involve PCs who are definitely not superhuman, might, recovery and toughness can become problematic skills. After all, it will start to raise eyebrows when the heroes are regularly taking hits from sawed-off shotguns and then jumping right back up into the fray. To that end, it's suggested that these two skills in particular be limited in mundane games. Might should probably be restricted to a number of ranks equal to a character's strength score, and really should only be taken by characters who really are supposed to be big, strong bruisers. Similarly, Toughness should be limited to a character's ranks in Constitution (though unlike Might, shouldn't be as intenselymonitored for appropriate levels). Emphasize that most characters will probably be getting their Toughness resistance from armor, not from their skill itself (which will serve to help them conserve character points for their other abilities while simultaneously making the game more genre-appropriate). Recovery should really only be available through Enhanced (Trait).

Time & Value Progression

Mundane Hero Dice

Power Level Suggestions What power level range the a game at this realism level will best function in.

Might, Recovery & Toughness

How potent certain FX will be in the game.

Hero Dice in mundane things present a curious option. On one hand, large numbers of hero dice allow for gameplay where the ordinary protagonists can bungle through an adventure and survive entirely thanks to blind, dumb luck. On the other hand, you can run into the problem conceptually of seemingly unskilled PCs at lower power levels who begin to dominate in combat or in difficult situations thanks entirely to their large hero dice pools, which make their low skill ranks almost irrelevant. You have two main options when it comes to hero dice with mundane games:

Hero Dice Just how much control over the narrative the PCs should enjoy.

Mundane At a mundane level of realism, there isn't much to separate the PCs from the ordinary people you might know. They might be a little more capable and skilled than you or I (especially in areas of combat, if that's where their expertise lies), and they might have more amazing stories to tell than the rest of us (thanks to being the protagonists in a story). Certainly mundane PCs are capable enough to have some adventures, but they aren't action heroes. Mundane PCs are mostly ordinary joes who get into extraordinary situations (whether by choice or circumstance).

TABLE 11.3: MUNDAE TIME AND VALUE PROGRESSION

Mundane Power Level Suggestions Mundane games tend to take place around the lower tiers of power level, usually ranging from about PL 3 to PL 8. Below PL 3, you tend to get characters who simply don't have the points they need to distinguish themselves well without sacrificing capabilities in areas which could be critical to the game (such as combat skills if the game is going to feature fighting in any significant amount). Above PL 8, you start moving away from the street-level and towards the truly superhuman levels. PL 8 is appropriate for highlyskilled (but still realistically-talented) mundane professionals (such as decorated veteran special-ops soldiers or world-famous martial artists). If you plan to increase PL as the game goes on, you should consider starting the game around PL 4 or 5, as that allows a fair amount of room for growth.

Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Mundane Time 3 seconds (1 action) 6 seconds (1 round) 30 seconds (5 rounds) 1 minute (10 rounds) 5 minutes 10 minutes 30 minutes 1 hour 6 hours 12 hours 1 day 3 days 1 week 1 month 3 months 6 months 1 year 2 years 5 years 10 years (decade)

Mundane Value 1 2 3 5 10 15 20 30 40 60 100 150 200 300 500 750 1,000 1,500 2,500 3,500

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III Blind, Dumb Luck Appropriate for more light-hearted games, hero dice represent especially lucky heroes, not especially crafty or capable ones. The PCs enjoy a little extra luck, enabling them to survive even when facing more capable foes or dangerous situations. Make sure to describe uses of hero dice along the lines of "slipping at the last second under the sword-stroke" or "the clumsy shot ricocheting off a rock and into the villain's chest". These aren't skilled characters, so more often than not, a good result is thanks to being extremely lucky.

TABLE 11.4: CINEMATIC TIME AND VALUE PROGRESSION Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

No Remorse On the other end of the scale, where the characters are supposed to feel helpless and vulnerable, hero dice represent a control over the narrative that might not be appropriate for the players to have. An unlucky roll could mean death for a PC, but in grim, mundane games, death isn't an uncommon thing. If you do choose to allow hero dice in such a game, keep hero dice in short enough supply that the players aren't going to use them on something trivial. When they do spend hero dice, be sure to emphasize that they succeed by only a hair's breadth, sweaty and terrified and always right on the edge of oblivion. If the PCs think that hero dice are the only thing allowing them to cling to life, they'll be very judicious in their use of the resource.

Cinematic Moving up a notch, cinematic realism tries to keep one foot planted in recognizable reality, but has no problem stretching the definition of "real" to make it more "cool". Sure, real people might not be able to fight their way through a building full of terrorists with nothing but a pistol and a hunting knife, but cinematic action heroes do it all the time. And they do it in such a way that only bends expectations about "reality" in minor enough ways that we still believe that all of this is possible. Explosions are bigger, the fights are wilder, and the action is more intense. The goal behind this level of realism is to encourage the PCs to do cool things, to be larger than life but not so much so that they no longer seem to be a part of the world.

Cinematic Power Level Suggestions Most cinematic games have a power level range from about 5 to 14. Within this range, you start to move towards the superhuman levels of play at the middle of the scale, with the bottom of the scale tending towards "pretty good ordinary human" and the top of the scale tending towards "one of the most powerful creatures on Earth". This is a good scale as well for high-action games, especially traditional fantasy games where the heroes rise from "average" nobodies to renown champions over the course of the game. It's also an idea range for superhero games, with less powerful supers fitting in around PL 7-8 and really powerful ones topping out around PL 14.

Cinematic Might, Recovery & Toughness

Cinematic Time 3 seconds (1 action) 6 seconds (1 round) 1 minute (10 rounds) 5 minutes 30 minutes 1 hour 6 hours 1 day 1 week 1 month 3 months 1 year 5 years 10 years (decade) 50 years 100 years (century) 500 years 1,000 years (millennium) 5,000 years 10,000 years

Cinematic Value 1 2 5 10 25 50 100 250 500 1,000 2,500 5,000 10,000 25,000 50,000 100,000 250,000 500,000 1 million 2.5 million

decidedly superhuman areas, using Might to represent superstrength and toughness to represent superhuman durability is practically a no-brainer. Further, recovery is useful for representing super-regeneration. To that end, it is recommended that you stick to the guidelines given under mundane realism, where purely human characters have their toughness and might capped at their Constitution and Strength scores, respectively. Allow superhuman characters to purchase additional ranks, perhaps only through the Enhanced (Trait) FX. In this way, you can ensure that ordinary people have limits to just how much punishment they can take while simultaneously encouraging high-power level "regular" PCs to improve their defense higher than their toughness to capture the cinematic trope of heroes being really mobile and good at dodging. Alternatively, you might simply allow everyone to improve their toughness skill normally, to keep with the notion of how health scales with level in other sorts of games (especially if your players are more comfortable with this notion, having experience with those other games already).

Cinematic Hero Dice The standard rules and guidelines given for Hero Dice underscore how cinematic characters work and interact with their world quite nicely. The players will tend to earn more hero dice as the adventure goes on, and by the end of the adventure, they'll probably have the dice on hand that they need to really turn the tables on a tough enemy, even when they seem outmatched. In this way, hero dice can build normally and help bring the adventure to an exciting climax.

Once you start getting into cinematic realism, how to handle these skills becomes troublesome. On one hand, when you start getting

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III cooler. One man swinging his sword and sending a dozen lesser men flying with each stroke? Epic. A metahuman champion lifting up a planet and hurling it at another one? Epic. A space pilot with lasers blasting full-bore flies straight through the heart of a battle cruiser, blasting his way through bulkheads with absolutely zero room for error? Epic. Supernatural FX are going to be huge and earth-shattering, able to reach billions of years and miles through time and space.

Epic Power Level Suggestions When you're talking about epic gameplay, you're really looking at the top half of the power scale. PCs are likely to scale from about PL 10 to PL 18 or so. They're the best of the best, and they're only going to fight the best of the best. They're going to be able to do almost anything, so they're going to be very high power level with lots of Character Points to spend on abilities. These heroes are on the levels of mythic heroes like Gilgamesh, Hercules, and Achilles: only someone on their level is going to even come close to being a match for them. Lesser enemies might as well be fleas.

Epic Might, Recovery & Toughness

Epic Once you reach the level of epic realism, you've decided that there's nothing wrong with tossing reality out of the window and letting the dog bury it in the yard if it means that things will be

TABLE 11.5: EPIC TIME AND VALUE PROGRESSION Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Epic Time 3 seconds (1 action) 6 seconds (1 round) 1 minute (10 rounds) 10 minutes 1 hour 6 hours 12 hours 1 week 1 month 1 year 10 years 50 years 500 years 1,000 years (millennium) 10,000 years 50,000 years 100,000 years 1 million years 1 billion years 5 billion years (age of the earth)

Epic Value 1 5 10 50 100 500 1,000 5,000 10,000 50,000 100,000 500,000 1 million 5 million 10 million 50 million 100 million 500 million 1 billion 5 billion

Once you reach epic levels of realism, the line between human and superhuman is so blurred that there is no real need for a difference between human and superhuman. Can your epic PCs survive being slashed with a dozen sword strokes or a hail of gunfire from a machine gun and keep on coming? Perfect! That's what you should expect from epic PCs. They're going to be able to wrestle lions to the ground and be crushed under trucks without missing a beat. At epic realism levels, you can just go ahead and let the players put points directly into their toughness, recovery and might skills.

Epic Hero Dice At epic levels of realism, Hero Dice are going to be plentiful. Epic PCs can do nearly anything, with tremendous control over the world around them. As such, the players will likely want (and will be using) lots of hero dice, especially in huge battles against their equally-epic foes. Of course, their complications are going to be just as epic as they are, often involving whole countries or planets at a time. The scale at epic level is absolutely cosmic, so be sure to keep it that way when you're running things if you want to keep the game suitably epic.

Power Level & Character Points The sections thus far character point totals gameplay. This section GM to decide what PL like it to progress.

have touched on what power level and are appropriate for different styles of will delve further into it to allow you as the to start your game at, and how you would

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III TABLE 11.6: POWER LEVEL EXAMPLES PL Description 0 Helpless / Change Nothing 1-3 Bystander / Change a Family 4-6 Trained Professional / Change a Block 7-8 Influential Expert / Change a Neighborhood 9-10 Street-Level / Change a City 11-12 Low Super-Level / Change a Country 13-15 High Super-Level / Change a World 16-18 Cosmic-Level / Change a Galaxy 19-20 Divine-Level / Change a Universe

Example Child, Infirm Individual, Handicapped Individual Average Pedestrian, Poorly-Trained Professional Average Police, Doctor, Experienced Thug Well-Trained Soldier, Politician, Experienced Criminal Young Superhuman, Expert-Trained Professional Average Superhuman, Master-Trained Professional Powerful Superhuman, Legendary-Trained Professional Cosmic Superhuman, Forces of Nature, Greek/Norse Gods Abstract Beings, Fundamental Forces of the Universe

What Power Level Means Probably one of the most important steps to picking a game's power level is understanding what power level means. Fundamentally, power level is a measure of how effective a character is at changing the game world. The higher power level your characters are, the greater impact they'll have on the world. Below is a chart of examples of what characters at different power levels will be like.

But is there a level where versatility becomes problematic? Yes. To be specific, there are two points at which versatility becomes problematic. If a PC becomes so versatile that he starts to encroach on the niche/role of another character, that is problematic. It is also problematic if a PC becomes so versatile that the PC essentially removes all of his or her weaknesses, so that the character is equally capable in any given encounter. At these levels, a character is likely becoming too versatile.

Choosing a Starting Point

What Character Points Mean

Once you have an idea for how the different power levels and character point totals are represented in your world, you're ready to decide where your PCs are going to start their adventuring careers.

Unlike power level, character points are not directly tied to a character's overall power, but rather the character's versatility. Character points more closely represent a character's experience or level of training. More experienced characters tend to be more versatile. Since all of a character's abilities are limited by a power level cap, it really doesn't matter how many abilities a character has, especially when they are all limited to the same level of effectiveness. All the PCs in the group have the same power level cap anyway, and they all have the same access to the same level versatility if they choose to build their characters that way (since versatility is generally quite cheap).

Starting at lower power levels means that the PCs are going to start out seeming more like normal humans. They have lots of room to grow, but players might have a great deal of difficulty realizing their character's abilities until much later on in the game.

TABLE 11.7: CHARACTER POINT EXAMPLES

At more medium power levels, your players should have an easier time creating their characters early in the game. And at medium power levels, you don't need to allow for growth (either in power level or character point totals) as greatly as you would at a lower power level.

CP Description >45 below PL Inept 31-45 below Unprepared PL 16-30 below Inexperienced PL 1-15 below PL

Developing

at PL Experienced 1-15 above PL Seasoned 16-30 above Veteran PL 30-45 above Champion PL >45 above PL

Legend

Example Bumbling Newbie

Low Power Level

Medium Power Level

Complete Newbie

High Power Level

Rookie

At higher power levels, there's very little room for growth of characters, as they're already likely near the top of their range, limiting how far you might be willing (or capable) of taking the PCs. Further, high power level PCs are expensive, and they might be more difficult for players to put together.

Young Character with Some Experience Character with Fair Experience Character with Good Experience Character with Lots of Experience Character with Tons of Experience Character with Unequaled Experience

High Power Level, Low Character Points Since character points and power level can be independent of one another, you also have the option of starting characters out at high power levels but low character points. This is appropriate for games

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III where ordinary people wake up one day with strange abilities far beyond anything they could imagine. Their powers might be great, but they're still only human, and it will really have lots of time to "grow" to reach their full potential. Note that if you wish to represent great potential, it's not necessary to use this option. You can simply use GM-fiat to show FX that have vast potential exploding out beyond the characters' control from time to time.

Genre There are countless different genres of gameplay possible out there. Which type you want to run depends entirely on your tastes. d20 Advanced is built to be genre-neutral, allowing you to use it to play any sort of game you want with it. From fantasy games with knights fighting dragons to future games with lasers and starfighters to horror games with werewolves and vampires.

Plotting Out Growth The final question to consider is how much you're comfortable with letting the characters grow. Is there a certain power level beyond which you'd rather not take the PCs, since it will tend to change the feel of the game too much? Are PCs at a certain character point total just too versatile to design encounters for? You don't need to know this when you start designing your game, but as you get close to the limits of your comfort level, be aware of ways in which you can influence character growth.

Rate of Advancement How often do you want to hand out awards? Do you want to give the players character points after every session? At the end of each adventure or story arc? Once on the first Saturday of every month? After each encounter? You need to decide how often to hand out these awards. Understand that character points are such a great reward to hand out at the end of the session, because improving a character is something the players can do and enjoy away from the table, to "bring the fun home with them", so to speak. Players might get frustrated if they go too long without such an award, feeling restricted. Be sure to find a balance that gives them a chance to enjoy growing their characters' abilities but to also keep it manageable for you.

Increasing Power Level While increasing power level will tend to change the influence the PCs can have on the world, increasing power level will also generally encourage players to increase their combat abilities first and bring those up to the new power level cap, rather than increasing the versatility of their characters. They might wind up eventually crossing over to fight more and more dangerous enemies, and go on more high-powered adventures, but if you're okay with the style of the game changing a little, then this is a perfectly fine option.

Increasing Character Points On the other hand, if you choose to increase the characters' character points, you can keep them filling a similar role in the world for a longer time, as their power levels remain more or less static. They'll become more experienced and versatile, but so long as they don't intrude on one another's niches or roles within the party, and so long as you're comfortable making encounters for their remaining strengths and weaknesses, this is still a fine option. You might eventually still want to raise power level anyway.

Animated/Comedy A little-explored genre in roleplaying games, animated and comedy games share some characteristics, but are quite different in others. The slapstick comedy popular throughout the 20th century had its roots stretching back centuries to ancient Greece. Many of the genre conventions crystallized in Vaudeville, the traditions of which were heavily adopted by the characters in Looney Tunes (especially Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck), including pratfalls. The tradition was also explored by the physical comedy of teams such as Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, and The Three Stooges, all of which made heavy use of physical action as part of their comedic appeal.

Playing the Genre Slapstick games of this genre are often as episodic as their source material, and the characters are just as wacky. All that matters is getting a quick laugh, and players who manage to get a good oneliner in deserve Hero Dice for their efforts. The PL for these games are usually relatively low, but the characters are usually quite durable (as they can survive getting pianos and anvils dropped on them). Characters can generally use FX, but only for gags. Combat tends to be minimal, and the ability to get laughs is the most important thing. This genre of gameplay lends itself best to shorter, less-serious games which can work well for breaks from longer or more serious games.

Breaking the Fourth Wall More than in other genres, characters in animated or comedy games are likely to be aware that they're in a game. As such, at the cost of one hero die, a player can "break the fourth wall" and have their characters directly plead with the GM. This genre convention is illustrated masterfully in the Looney Tunes short Duck Amuck (1953), where Daffy Duck winds up in a sort of artistic and verbal sparring match with the animator, demanding all sorts of things and changes as things he didn't like in the short. You might use "breaking the fourth wall" as your descriptor for how hero dice work. Rather than just taking your reroll, your character might look at the GM, clear his throat, point to the anvil crushing his head, and say, "How about a little help here, Rembrandt?"

Genre Examples • • • •

Abbott and Costello Looney Tunes The Three Stooges Tom & Jerry

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III

Crime/Caper

Cyberspace Avatars

Games where the crooks are the heroes (or at least the protagonists) of the story can be extremely fun. Daring rebels who take what they want and who outsmart the law day in and day out excite audiences, who come to admire how they use their wits to survive. Beyond that, criminals who fail in their crimes and are captured or killed (or even better: a hapless rube getting what he has coming thanks to his own greed or hubris) is a satisfying turn of events. The former is often the case in more romanticized mafia movies (such as The Godfather or Goodfellas), while seeing the antagonist get his comeuppance is more popular in caper or heist films (especially The Sting or Ocean's 11).

If all of the PCs are capable of entering and functioning in cyberspace, and you intend to make cyberspace adventure a major part of the game, it might be a good idea to require all your players to build their characters as per the Normal Identity drawback, so they all have relatively normal (and weak) physical forms, but they become very powerful and potent in cyberspace. Check Required (Technology) is a common flaw for cyberspace avatar FX, but be certain to set the DC to activate an ability high enough to accommodate high Technology skill modifiers for the hacker characters (usually 15~20 + Skill Ranks).

Genre Examples Playing the Genre This genre tends to have very few (if any) FX, and the characters, while quite skilled, are rather mundane otherwise. A bullet from an ordinary gun is life-threatening, so avoiding combat (or at least ending it quickly) becomes important to characters in these games. If characters need a particular FX, they might need to steal a device that can do the job. Reputations and planning become very important, and this is reflected by keeping the PL of the game relatively low, so that the bonus from feats like Master Plan become critical in succeeding in particular jobs. And since the underworld is so dangerous a place where your image and your deeds might speak louder than your words, characters must often maintain good reputations to get what they need (or possibly just to stay alive).

Genre Examples • • • •

The Godfather Ocean's 11 The Sopranos The Sting

Cyberpunk A (usually dystopian) genre which was a response to the implications of ubiquitous information and data. Cyberpunk explores the implications of computers becoming common to the point of omnipresence, to the point where the difference between man and machine becomes blurred. Protagonists in cyberpunk are often rebels or social outsiders who become masters of not necessarily the physical world, but the digital world, thanks to their world-class hacking skills. Monolithic towers, the headquarters of megacorporations, loom over squalid, dirty city skylines. It's a fight for freedom and for individuality against cold, impersonal, greedy megacorporations and their puppets in the government.

• • • •

Gaslamp/Steampunk A more recent genre in the vein of Cyberpunk, though instead of focusing on the dehumanization of mankind through the expansion of computers and the online world, Gaslamp/Steampunk stories tend to replace "computers" with the emerging 19th- and very early 20th-century industrialization. Gritty streets are still gritty, though thanks not to pollution from cars and disregard, but from the smokestacks of Victorian mills and factories. Steam power was the cutting-edge technology of the day, and Steampunk tends to take this technology far beyond its real limits to create impossible steamdriven technology (such as the fantastic mechanical vehicles seen in the works of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, early science fiction writers). Even devices impossible with modern electronics are a part of the steam-and-clockwork world of Steampunk. The protagonists of Gaslamp or Steampunk games tend to populate a Victorian setting filled with weird science and usually a dash of supernatural monsters.

Playing the Genre Steampunk and Gaslamp games in particular lend themselves to accents, especially Cockney British accents. However, from a mechanical point of view, characters are often brilliant inventors or engineers, and the Inventor feat and Technology and Science skills are both very common for PCs. The ability to create a brilliant invention to save the day, or to repair and/or jury-rig a piece of captured technology is an important one, and a staple of the genre. Like in Cyberpunk, characters who understand the new technology, and who represent the geniuses of the "next generation" are common protagonists.

Playing the Genre While characters might be helpless or weak in their physical bodies, they're often very powerful in cyberspace. These hacker-type characters will usually have something like the Normal Identity drawback, where their physical body will be built on half the character points that their cyberspace avatar will be. More physically powerful individuals often make use of cybernetic implants to enhance themselves with otherwise-unavailable FX. Android constructs are common, both as PCs and as NPCs.

Bladerunner Ghost in the Shell The Matrix Neuromancer

Genre Examples • • • •

Girl Genius Last Exile The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen The Works of Jules Verne

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High Fantasy A genre of epic conflicts between the forces of good and evil, high fantasy trends towards the fantastic where its close cousin sword & sorcery trends towards the gritty and the weird. Popular ever since the works of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were first released, high fantasy is the convention that many fantasy roleplaying games favor, with powerful protagonists fighting the forces of evil. High fantasy stories tend to put more magic in the hands of the protagonists, and they are usually able to stand toe-to-toe with the worst the forces of evil can muster (or at least have a fighting chance). Characters might be human or some other fantastic race, but usually very close in appearance and mannerisms to human. The entire world has a faux-medieval or -renaissance dressing to it, with knights in shining armor, dragons, and wizards populating the land.

Playing the Genre FX in high fantasy are almost always magical in nature, whether they come from wizards' spells, the blessings of the gods, or ancient magical artifacts. PCs can be expected to have and use such FX in some way or another to remain active and influential in the game-world. In this genre especially, you should work out some racial packages for your PCs to use which help to establish the different common humanoid races they might choose from.

Looting While not as true in high fantasy literature or cinema, one of the hallmarks of fantasy roleplaying games is killing things and taking their stuff. For the most part, using the optional wealth system works well. Simply add a staged use of the Perception skill (or perhaps the Academics skill) as a way to determine how much loot (in the form of bonus Wealth Dice) the PCs can find after a given fight. For special magical items that enemies drop, there are a few ways you can handle it. A good idea is to require that characters train with new magical equipment before they can unlock all of its abilities.

Genre Examples • • • •

feelings, but in a roleplaying game, the PCs need to be able to do something to make enough progress to give their efforts meaning. So while the PCs might not be able to fight the Horror From Beyond Reality, they might be able to fight Its cultists. And maybe the zombie horde is unstoppable, but individual zombies can be killed, and maybe the horde can be slowed or delayed. The PCs need some victories, however small, to give them something to hang their hats on, to give them something to keep struggling on for. The rules for Mental Strain are appropriate for most horror games, and for more deeply psychological games, the Madness rules work even better.

Genre Examples • • • •

Alien Psycho The Works of HP Lovecraft The X-Files

Mechs While their origins reach back to the earliest science fiction, the genre of giant humanoid robots got its start in earnest in Japanese anime and manga. In these stories, young men and women climb into the cockpits of their mecha and do battle with other giant robots (or occasionally, giant monsters). The pilots in many ways represent a blend between modern fighter pilots and medieval armored knights. The pilots out of their mechs might be capable soldiers, but it's only in their mechs where they truly rise above.

Playing the Genre Similar to hackers in a cyberpunk game, mecha pilots are generally best built with the Normal Identity drawback. Their non-powered identities represent the pilots themselves outside of the cockpit, and their powered identities represent the mecha themselves (since pilots tend to have customized mecha). It's also a good choice for players to roll their defense themselves as an opposed check against enemy attacks, which makes it feel more like the mecha's ability to evade attacks depends on the pilot's skill.

Genre Examples

The Chronicles of Narnia The Lord of the Rings Record of Lodoss War The Wheel of Time

• • • •

Horror/Occult In a horror game, the protagonists are usually innocent bystanders, or at best mundane investigators with an interest in the weird. They rarely have any supernatural abilities, or if they do, their abilities are minor at best. Danger lurks in the shadows, against which the protagonists are likely to be more or less helpless. They rely on their wits to see them through, not power. If their horrific enemies capture them, it's the end, so they need to be ever-careful and ever-vigilant less the terror find them and destroy them.

Playing the Genre In the horror genre, helplessness and hopelessness are essential

Gundam Macross Mechwarrior Neon Genesis Evangelion

Pulp Action/Film Noir The cheap adventure magazines that predated comic books, pulp action comics were filled with mystery, action, excitement, and fantastic worlds. Pulp heroes are usually less powerful than modern heroes, relying on very human levels of skill and cunning to make their way through the world. Many of the old pulp heroes were explorers or detectives, who were often good brawlers to boot, had few if any powers (though some knew a few magic spells from time to time). This style of hardboiled detective found its way onto the big screen in the crime stories of film noir during the 1940s and 50s.

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Playing the Genre

Playing the Genre

The pulp genre is first and foremost about exciting action in fantastic places, usually with morally ambiguous undertones. PCs in such a genre are often at a lower power level (usually 5-8), but are quite potent for that power level. Globe-trotting adventuring is a very common plot-element in exploration pulp stories, so it should never be too difficult for PCs to travel from one adventure site to the next. "Random encounters" en route are extremely rare.

Suburban fantasy is all about exploration and bringing a child's sense of wonder and imagination to a hum-drum world. In this way, Hero Dice represent a child's implacable sense of imagination, and their FX (if they have any, which usually come from Devices of various sorts) are usually only limited to when they're away from jaded adults. Children tend to be very low power level, with low physical ability scores, relying on their mental ability scores and skill to weasel their way out of trouble with their parents (as often the biggest danger in suburban fantasy isn't getting killed, but getting grounded).

Genre Examples • • • •

The Adventures of Indiana Jones Casablanca The Maltese Falcon Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Genre Examples • • • •

Space Opera Adventures set entirely in space, usually in a future distant enough that it ventures far from what could be called "hard" science fiction. The characters usually wield fantastic technology (at least enough that they can battle easily in and travel almost effortless through space) and often have amazing abilities (usually psychic in nature). Alien species and robots do often exist in such stories, even if humans seem to be the center of the story. In many ways, space operas tend to be similar to High Fantasy set in space.

Playing the Genre Space opera heroes tend to be similar in power spread to high fantasy. However, the key difference is that in space operas, the steed of choice for battles between noble warriors is the starfighter. As such, you might consider using rules for characters and their starfighters similar to the rules for mecha pilots and their mecha, so pilots need to make opposed checks to avoid shots during dog fights.

Genre Examples • • • •

Battlestar Galactica Firefly Star Trek Star Wars

Calvin & Hobbes The Goonies Pan's Labyrinth The Sandlot

Superheroes The Golden Age of comics began with the publishing of Action Comics #1 featuring Superman, and colorfully-costumed comic book superheroes have been fighting for truth and justice ever since. Superheroes are just that: people with extraordinary powers who choose to don masks and fight crime and supervillains. In general, superheroes don't kill, and supervillains escape time and time again to threaten the heroes on and on forever. Even characters who have died frequently wind up coming back from the dead. Superheroes games tend to have examples of both solo heroes (like Superman or Spider-Man, who do have occasional team-ups) and teams of heroes (like the X-Men or the Avengers).

Playing the Genre The FX rules give you just about everything you need to make superheroes (usually making liberal use of the Enhanced (Trait) FX for superhuman strength and toughness). Using the knockback rules is also highly recommended, since superhero fights tend to involve a lot of bodies going flying from high-powered punches and explosions. Make use of the cinematic or epic Time and Value Progression Tables, depending on whether you want a more Modern or Silver Age feel for your game.

Genre Examples

Suburban Fantasy A smaller genre that explores the adventures of relatively ordinary children through worlds of imagination parallel to their ordinary lives. Most examples of this genre are rather whimsical and idealistic, hearkening back to seemingly simpler times. Suburban fantasy tries to explore the subjective nature of reality, where the imaginative perception of one group (the children) in stark contrast to the mundane world the adults occupy. A favorite toy might just be a doll to an adult, but a best friend to a child. An exception to this is the subgenre of a darker sort, where the escapism of imagination becomes conflated with madness (such as in Pan's Labyrinth).

• • • •

Heroes The Incredibles Superman X-Men

Sword & Sorcery The slightly-grittier cousin of high fantasy, sword & sorcery fantasy is less about epic battles between good and evil and the struggle of a few relatively ordinary people (often with extremely good fightingskills, admittedly) against their own demons. Once again, the world takes on a pseudo-medieval style, and tends to be more medieval than high fantasy (as their worlds tend to be darker and more

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III dangerous). While high fantasy tends to tell stories about great wizards or knights, sword & sorcery tends to tell stories about thieves and mercenaries and cursed souls who fight not necessarily for high ideals, but often just for survival (and they'd often just as soon run away and escape the fight altogether!).

Playing the Genre While the characters in sword & sorcery adventures tend to be lower power level than high fantasy heroes, and they tend to grow more slowly in power, the big differences between the two genres are how likely the PCs are to have FX and the use of taint rules. Sword & sorcery characters tend to have fewer (if any) FX than their high fantasy counterparts, and very few are spellcasters themselves (magic tends to be something in the hands of villains). If FX are in the hands of PCs, they often come at a very high price (like taint), or are in the form of cursed objects (like demonpossessed swords). Also consider making use of the Mental Strain rules, as sword & sorcery characters, while often quite jaded and hard-bitten, tend to encounter horrors much more frequently than their high fantasy counterparts.

The Black Company Conan the Barbarian Elric Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser

Urban Fantasy Where suburban fantasy is about journeying into imagination and contrasting perceptions, urban fantasy is about how the fantastic hides amongst us. Ordinary people with ordinary lives unknowingly brush elbows with supernatural creatures or aliens. They might hide themselves away from the world in secret hideaways or just in the apartment next door. Characters in an urban fantasy are either already members of a fantastic secret world who hide among us or ordinary people who are slowly drawn into that hidden world, where they often learn that many of the legends from the past are secretly true, and that the strange world that they are just discovering is the true explanation. Urban fantasy can be as light-hearted as fun as Men in Black or as dark and tormented as parts of The Vampire Chronicles.

Playing the Genre In urban fantasy, hiding one's true nature becomes a key facet of gameplay. The characters need to pretend to be ordinary people when in public, and they must master their supernatural abilities while dealing with other members of their secret circle. As such, interactions are very important, and fending off the queries of the curious or posturing with other members of the social group might require dramatic interactions. To make certain that characters face a serious concern about hiding their abilities, you might consider making Subtle into an extra rather than a feat, so as to put a premium on being able to use FX covertly even in public.

Genre Examples •

Harry Potter Men in Black The Vampire Chronicles

War Mankind is all at once repulsed and fascinated by war. While we tend to admire the heroes who rise above and who achieve greatness, risking their lives for their brothers in arms, and the ones who come into oppressed lands as great liberators and humanitarians, we are just as horrified by the sheer violence soldiers willingly throw themselves into. War stories tend to explore this dichotomy, all at once jarring us with the gore and the horror (and in films like Full Metal Jacket, using the emphasizing the senselessness of war) and showing examples of truly great humanity rising because of (or sometimes in spite of) the violence around them. The war genre tends to focus most heavily in recent years on World War II and the Vietnam War in the west.

Playing the Genre PCs in the war genre are weak enough that the horrors of the battlefield are indeed horrors: gunfire can be lethal to PCs at power levels between 4 and 7 or so, and the GM will often choose to use mundane-level realism to limit the PCs' to very human (and very vulnerable) levels of toughness. The PCs might be more potent in a tank or other vehicle, but on foot, the sight of a Panzer rolling their way should strike fear into their hearts: without a teamwork to set up the squad member with the bazooka, they whole squad might very well be killed. Teamwork and caution and careful play are the only way that the PCs will see the end of their tour of duty.

Genre Examples • • • •

• • •

Genre Examples • • • •

A Bridge Too Far Band of Brothers Full Metal Jacket Saving Private Ryan

Western The wild west has always held a certain romantic quality to it, when people had to step up and defend those who had no law to protect them otherwise. It was a time of pioneers, no-good thieves and robbers, heroes who came as law or just acted by their own consciences. The west was a place where you could go to start over, to take something raw and wild and forge it into a future for yourself. The promise of something fantastic coupled with the excitement of the unknown and untamed were embodied in the old west, and that is no doubt what keeps drawing us back to it.

Playing the Genre The west was all about chases, gunfights, and talking tough with the muscle to back up the names they made for themselves. Having a strong reputation with plenty of legendary deeds could win you fights without ever needing to draw your gun, as no smart man would ever draw on someone who's killed a dozen men already.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III The Gunslingers' Showdown One of the quintessential elements of westerns is the showdown between two highly skilled gunslingers. In the old west (or so the myths would have us believe) the law was pretty forgiving on shooting a man in self-defense, which meant that if you shot someone who went for their gun, you were in the clear. For such tests of nerves and speed, it can be appropriate to resolve Initiative in combat with a dramatic interaction, with Persuasion against Perception and Will to try to psych the other gunslinger out and gain the edge. It's also a particularly fitting way to represent the stare-down of two gunslingers in the street.

Creating PC Templates For many games, there are often prevalent or over-arcing abilities which can cover an entire profession, or even a whole race of creatures! And for other games, your players just may just prefer a more class-like system for creating characters than a point-buy one. This section offers help and guidelines for creating PC templates, which will go a long way to cutting down the workload for players trying to create characters which fit into your game's world.

Genre Examples • • • •

Racial Packages

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly The Magnificent Seven Unforgiven The Wild Wild West

Racial Packages are meant to represent what would be classified as "races" in other roleplaying games. Racial templates are useful in games where different kinds of non-human races are common, especially fantasy games (where elves, dwarves, and similar creatures might coexist with humans) and space opera games (where dozens of alien species could exist).

Wuxia Stories of martial artists of unparalleled skill from ancient China, wuxia is a genre which focuses on mastery above all else. Characters in wuxia stories display excellent martial arts skills with ordinary weapons (like the sword and spear) and unusual ones (like needles and musical instruments). The protagonists seek to master their art and do good for their land with their abilities. They don't necessarily bow their heads to the authorities, but they seek to use their martial arts skills to help those around them however they can. Combining these superhuman levels of skill in martial arts with qīnggōng (which allows users to seemingly defy gravity and walk on water), nèijìn to control the mystical internal qi energy to perform impossible feats of strength or endurance, and diǎnxué to strike at pressure points to produce amazing effects on a subject. All of this is greatly exaggerated in wuxia stories, but they're strongly associated with the genre in popular fiction.

Playing the Genre In wuxia, the kung fu skills (and often weapon skills) are as ubiquitous among characters as qīnggōng "wire-fu" is, wellrepresented by giving characters at least a few ranks in the Enhanced Movement (Leaping) FX. The most common descriptor for FX will usually be "Training", and some of the more mystic ones might add "qi" as a descriptor as well. Hero Dice represent not luck or good fortune, but simply fantastic to the point of the unreal levels of skill and ability.

Genre Examples • • • •

Curse of the Golden Flower Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Hero House of Flying Daggers

How Expensive Should a Racial Package Be? How pricey to make a template depends on how many special abilities a race might have and how important you want those abilities to be relative to the rest of the character's abilities. For creatures similar in ability overall to humans, a 5-10 character point racial package is relatively fair. More powerful creatures will have increasingly more powerful racial packages, to the point where a character of that race might have few abilities other than his or her racial abilities.

How to Balance Racial Packages Racial packages can be relatively easily balanced by comparing the creatures to "average" humans. Are they more dexterous, or tougher, or less charismatic? Is their eyesight better or are they blind? You have the option of "building in" drawbacks and negatives to racial packages to help balance them. For example, a race of elves might be nimble but frail (with a +1 bonus to Dexterity but a -1 penalty to Constitution, for a net cost of 0 character points), or a particularly bizarre-looking alien species might stick out enough in a crowd of mostly humanoid creatures that is warrants the Noticeable drawback (reducing the cost of the racial package by 1 character point). So long as you keep in mind that the average human on the street with 0s in all of his ability scores is the baseline average for d20 Advanced conceptually, you won't have a hard time creating racial packages.

Sample Racial Packages Below are two sample racial packages for popular fantasy races. Note that they are both relatively inexpensive packages, and are appropriate for characters even at low power levels.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III DWARF

RACIAL PACKAGE, 6 CP

Roles Instead of Point-Buy?

•

Ability Scores: +1 Constitution, -1 Charisma (0 cp)

•

Skills: Endurance +1, Survival (Mountains) +1, Weapon Group (Axes) +1 (3 cp)

•

Feats: Profession (Miner) (1 cp)

•

FX: Enhanced Senses (Darkness)) (2 cp)

ELF

(Vision

Counters

across multiple games with minimal conversion.

Obscure

RACIAL PACKAGE, 6 CP

•

Ability Scores: +1 Dexterity, -1 Constitution (0 cp)

•

Skills: Perception +1, Survival (Forest) +1, Weapon Group (Bows) +1 (3 cp)

•

FX: Comprehend 1 (Animals), Enhanced Senses 1 (Vision Counters Obscure (Darkness), Limited (Half)) (3 cp)

Roles Whereas racial packages would represent where a character started (his race, species, whatever), roles more represent what a character's place within the game-world is. For some games, this might be something like the character's profession (such as soldier, spy, knight, wizard, or reporter). More generally, it might just be the generic niche the character fits within the party (such as controller, defender, leader, or striker), and is largely genre-independent.

Roles as Professions Almost all genres include some fairly archetypal roles. Fantasy in particular has the traditional three-man group of the Warrior, the Thief, and the Mage. When trying to construct roles for your game in this way, it's important to decide just which roles are important to your setting, and which are relatively unimportant. Do you want to create a role for any of the dozens of possible profession adventure-seekers in your game might have, or would you prefer only a few generic-but-customizable professions the players can choose from? You may base your answer on how much or how little your players enjoy customization of their characters. If they'd rather just play a simple archetype, it might be best to have a wider number of options for the players to choose from for their roles. If you think they'd be happier with a little more customization, then going for more generic roles is probably your better bet. (Then again, if you don't feel strongly about enforcing archetypes and your players are eager to customize, then feel free to let them loose on the standard character creation system!)

Roles as Party Niches If you're playing a game where "adventuring roles" are less easily defined, or something you'd rather not enforce setting-specific roles within your game, you may instead offer your players the chance to use more generic roles that define how they act in the party, instead of how they fit into the world as a whole. In this way, these roles become applicable across many different genres, and can be used

Should you use roles as a starting-point from which your players can jump off to develop their characters as they see fit? Or should roles become the default by which character increase in ability ("leveling up" in their roles with each successive power level)? Which is a better fit for your group? The answer to this question lies again in how much your group likes customizing their characters, and how much your players enjoy improving their characters. Especially if coming from a game with levels and classes, restricting character development to only "leveling up" in roles is probably going to be well within your group's comfort level. Alternatively, you can provide the characters roles only to start, and allow them to spend character points normally from that point forward to improve their characters with the standard point-buy method. In this way, you can provide a solid starting-point for players (especially those new to character creation in d20 Advanced) from which they can explore the character creation system and get more comfortable with it. They might not be ready to use the more open, flexible point-buy system right from the getgo, but with a little bit more experience with the game, they might be willing to try for the second game, or when it comes time to make a new character for an existing game.

Constructing Roles Roles are actually relatively simple to construct. All that you really need to do is to provide enough structure that the roles are clearly defined while still allowing enough "wiggle room" for the players to make the roles their own. Ideally, for each power level you have in the role, you will spend 15 character points on abilities. The only exception to this is that at power level 1, those 15 points should go almost exclusively towards "background" things for the character, like racial package, ability scores, background feats, starting equipment, etc. The brief walk-through below will give the example of creating a woodsman or ranger role for a fantasy game.

Step 1: Trained Skills Each power level in a role will increase certain skills which are considered "trained" for that role. This includes both combat skills (such as a skill point in a specific weapon group, defense), resistances (like will and fortitude), and other non-combat skills. Which skills you select depend on the role itself. For the ranger, we probably want to make sure that the role has access to clearly "woodsman-y" skills, so we'll make the role trained in "Survival (Forest)", "Reflex" and "Athletics". We should also represent combat training with "Defense" and "Weapon Group (Bows)". For resistances, rangers are often supposed to be eagleeyed and hardy, so adding training in "Fortitude" and "Perception" are appropriate. This has already taken 7 of our 15 alloted points for any given power level.

Step 2: Proficient Skills If there are skills which a role should have training in, but isn't necessarily a defining feature in the role, you should consider

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III making some skills only "proficient", which implies that the role is good with the skill, but not great. Proficient skills increase most (but not all) levels. Ever four level, you skip increasing ranks in a proficient skill (and it is often at these power levels that the role gets other special abilities, see below). When considering our ranger, it might be fair to add "Endurance" as a proficient skill. Rangers won't be as good with endurance as hardier roles might be, but they're also quite good at it, overall. This means we've spent 8 of our alloted 15 character points (with one spot open every four levels).

For our ranger, we can describe the role as one of an ancient, distant organization dedicated to hunting and purging the woods on the fringes of civilization of monsters that would threaten innocent people. They've learned a little bit of nature magic over the years from their time as students of elven mages, but still mostly rely on their trusty bows to see them through fights. They're efficient and dangerous woodsmen, who are often unable to find a happy life within society but who still seek to protect the people of that society. So instead they live on the fringes and frontiers, helping to clear the way for the cities and towns and farmers they left behind, and patrolling the borders to keep them all safe.

Step 3: FX, Feats, and Special Abilities You should also decide if there are any special abilities which the role you are creating calls for. These would include consistentlyincreasing or periodically-increasing ranks in ranked feats or FX. You need not improve these abilities at every level, and it's okay to "underspend" at one power level in the role's progression to afford something at a later level. For our ranger, the first thing that comes to mind is some sort of loyal animal, which would be well-represented by gaining a rank in Ally every level. We have also been neglecting our ranger's woodsy-side. This might be a good time to grant our ranger a little bit of extra bite. One option would be to grant our ranger a rank in Favored Opponent every other level. This would increase the cost of our ranger to 10 character points every other level (and 9 at every even level). Opposite Favored Opponent at even levels, we could make our ranger more magical ranger and allow him to entangle an enemy with Inflict (Condition) (movement and attack, Defense resists) to represent undergrowth springing up to snare an enemy the ranger touches. This will not be the ranger's most powerful attack, but it will still be an option for him. Then, every four power levels, we can grant our ranger an Alternate FX for his snare as a small array of "nature magic" spell (perhaps including Concealment and Enhanced Senses). The cost for our ranger is now 10 character points per level.

Special Packages In addition to these options, you have another way in which you can help to control and provide guidance for the players in creating their characters which are more self-contained and work better with the standard point-buy system. Special packages allow you to supplement most approaches to character creation (including roles) with slightly more standardized abilities for players. This can be helpful in giving your players a starting point for creating their characters, or provide them with paths to follow in improving existing characters (which grant you additional balance oversight since you were the one who created these packages in the first place). Packages are built around specific themes (almost always tied to one or more features) using different numbers of character points to build them. Minor special packages are usually below 30 character points and don't constitute a major part of the characters' abilities. Moderate special packages are generally between 30-60 character points, are can be a significant part of the characters' overall abilities. Major special packages are going to be the focus of the character, or barring that, one of the single most important abilities the character has.

Selecting Options

Step 4: Feat Packages Since most feats are one-off abilities, it's generally a good idea to leave about 1/3 of a role's alloted character points "free" for the player to invest at each power level as he sees fit, such as dabbling in a skill which the role otherwise won't have ranks in. You should also consider listing feats which are a good thematic fit for the role but aren't granted automatically to the role. You might also want to recommend some additional skills which could make a good choice for the role. For our ranger, some good potential matches include (but are by no means limited to) Animal Empathy, Critical Strike, Favored Environment, Move-By Action, Precise Shot, Hide In Plain Sight, Ambidexterity, Direction Sense, and Track. In general, you want the feat package to include about two or three feats for every power level you plan on running the character through, to leave lots of choices.

Now you've learned how to help your players create characters, got some ideas for your world, and run the game. You've been given a whole toolbox of possibilities with these rules. But are you actually expected to use the whole darn book? Not at all. In fact, this section will help you fine-tune the options in your game to make it play just the way you want, and how to make sure that your game's rules won't trip your players up along the way.

Your World The first thing you need to decide is what sort of game you want to run for your group. What kind of world is it? How would you "sell" it to your group? What makes it exciting to play in, and what makes it different from other worlds they could be adventuring in?

Campaign Era

Step 5: The Finishing Touches Once you've decided on a progression for the role, now you need to clarify on how that role fits into your world. What kinds of people fill that role? What are they like? Why do people of this role go adventuring? How do they approach combat, or other important conflicts in your game? What is their purpose in your world?

Decide which era your game belongs in. If you're using an alternate world or alternate history, don't worry if the dates don't line up exactly. The goal with selecting a campaign era is to give your players an understanding for just what they can expect to come across in your game in terms of available technology and the lifestyle they'll be expected to live.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III • • • • • • • • • •

PC Templates

Stone Age Classical Age Medieval Age Renaissance Industrial Age Information Age Fusion Age Gravity Age Energy Age Cosmic Age

Are PC Templates available? Are they the only option, or can players use the normal point-buy method if they'd rather do that? Will characters advance using templates or point-buy?

Abilities This is a good time to make sure that players are clear on what are appropriate benchmarks for their character's abilities. For most games, a 10 Intelligence score does not mean "the smart kid in high-school", it means "a genius attributable only to supernatural ability".

Campaign Feel You should also select your campaign's feel to help your players better know what sort of game they're going to be playing. If they show up expecting something four-color and you want to run something gritty, you could have problems in terms of expectations and what sorts of characters they'll bring, so it's important to clear this up early as well. • • • • • •

Utopian Four-Color Typical Gritty Against All Odds Hopeless

Skills Are you adding any new skills to the game? Are there any particular specializations for skills like Survival or Expertise which the players should know about? How about skills like Toughness and Might? Are you removing skills from your game in favor of another option?

Feats Are new feats available to your players? Are there any groups of feats which you're disallowing for your game?

Realism

FX

Deciding just how realistic your game will be is also useful in helping your players understand what sorts of characters they'll be able to bring to it, though it isn't as essential as the other considerations in this section. It is necessary for some calculations they might need in character creation and during gameplay, though.

How are you going to allow FX in your game? Are you going to preconstruct FX templates for your players to buy? Are there any FX you're removing from the game? How many points should players be allowed to spend on their FX?

• • •

• • • • •

Mundane Cinematic Epic

Genre As a final bit of help in guiding your players' decisions, you want to make it clear what sort of genre your game is going to be. After all, you don't want a bunch of knights and wizards showing up for a futuristic space opera or a few plucky explorers for a spandex-andcapes superheroes games.

Gear Depending on what level technology has advanced to in your game, different levels of gear might be available. Are players allowed to make use of Devices or just Equipment? Can players purchase Vehicles or Structures? Will the optional Wealth rules be used in your game?

Character Creation You'll have to be clear with your players from the get-go exactly what sorts of options are available to their characters. As a rule, players like to run wild and scrounge up every option they can find in the rules for their characters. It's up to you to decide what is and what isn't appropriate for the game.

High-FX Moderate-FX Restricted-FX Gear-FX Only Excising Specific FX

Action Finally, you need to decide how you'll be handling the action in your games. How are players expected (and allowed) to deal with the challenges they'll face? What rules should they be expected to know?

Power Level & Character Points

Combat

Probably the first thing on your players' minds will be how many character points they start with, and what the game's starting power level will be. Set a starting number which you're comfortable with and decide how you want to allow for advancement.

Are you going to be making use of tactical options? Will you use a battlemat? Are you going to use the standard Combat Advantage, or do you prefer Attacks of Opportunity? Will you let characters make use of Maneuvers?

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III

Environment

a long-forgotten treasure). It needs to frame the encounter and support it, to give it foundation and to help the encounter be more significant.

Are you going to be making use of Zones during the game?

Dramatic Interactions

Designing a World

Are you going to make use of dramatic interactions How about Reputation? Will you use options like Mental Strain or Taint?

At its most basic level a world need only be similar to the old pulp adventure stories where the only thing connecting two exciting sites was a red line on a map. So long as it provides a way for the PCs to get from one adventure site to another, you have a world sufficient for an adventure game.

Designing Worlds of Adventure Building a World or a Place for Adventure? Just how big of a world do you need for players to have an adventure? Do you need to detail every city and town around the world, and know just what every NPC there is out there is going to be doing at any given time? If it's an alternate world and not simply set on Earth, do you also need to establish things like seasons, calendars, populate the world with flora and fauna andShort answer: no with a "but". When you settle in to actually put meat on the bones this chapter has been helping you construct, think like director arranging a set for a movie or play, or even a magician. The world only needs the illusion of depth for the players to believe that it is indeed deep and real. That means that the only perspective that the world needs to be deep from is the one your players will have. To that end, your job in creating your world becomes significantly easier. You're not going to need to worry what the inside of a grocery store looks like in your world if you don't think the PCs will be going grocery shopping any time soon. You're also not going to need to worry about land taxes if your medieval PCs are a band of wandering adventurers. And you're certainly not going to need to worry about what the engineering and chemical principles are behind the refinement process that makes mid-grade starship fuel in your space opera. What matters is that the players believe that the fictional space you've put their characters in feels real to them. And depending on the scope of your game, that fictional space might not need to be very big to create the illusion of a vast, deep, and exciting world.

To create more robust and engaging worlds, you need to provide more than sites of adventure: you must provide places where the characters can interact peacefully and calmly with NPCs, where they can stretch their legs and soak in the flavor of the world. You need to give them the ability to stroll through marketplaces and saunter into bars and taverns. You need to give your players a reason to fall in love with your world, to make them invest in it so that they care when it's in peril. Give the PCs time to spend with their loved ones, or have parties, or just laugh and enjoy themselves. If the players invest emotionally in your world and in the NPCs you introduce them to, and they'll find the experience all the richer for it. If you choose to take this next step, you need to find not just a way to give your players adventures, but for your world to be a place for the NPCs too. They need places to live and work, places that define them and give the players an understanding for who they are. Religious NPCs need temples and churches, farmers need crops to grow, sailors need oceans to sail, and reporters need media to broadcast their stories. When you design your world, if you start small, you need to ask yourself with every NPC you introduce, "Who is this person? Where do they belong in this world?" In a way, these characters become a reason for you to expand your world, to create places for them that fit into your setting. The first time the PCs might venture to a new town or city could be to meet a new NPC. As you grow more comfortable with world-building, you might start asking the bigger questions about your setting, like what the presence of supernatural abilities might change the way the world works. How will "ordinary" NPCs react if there are many people in the world with the strength and capabilities of the PCs? Just how well do the PCs really fit into the world? As your world grows, these are questions which the players will ask, and which you will have to answer. When these questions come, you'll have the opportunity to expand your world in wonderful ways, to draw your players' interest in and to make them excited enough to come back next time hungry to learn and explore more.

How Much Like the World We Know?

Designing an Adventure Site At the end of the day, your job is to give your players places for their characters to go on adventures. To that end, all your world needs to contain are numerous possible sites for those adventures. Everything in between is just window-dressing (which many of us happen to greatly like, to be sure, but not strictly necessary for all games out there). An adventure site needs to be exciting, either on its own merits (such as a rickety bridge over a pit of lava, or an ancient catacomb which descends into a bizarre subterranean world) or by virtue of what happens there (such as a climactic battle against some ancient evil, or the beginning of a race around the world to recover

The basic assumption when creating a world, whether for a game or for fiction, is that it is in some way like the world that we ourselves live in. That is the common ground which allows all the participants of the game to share the imaginary space in which their character exist. But these assumptions are only the foundation, and from there you must decide just how different your world is from this one.

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The World Outside Our Windows The first (and easiest) option is to simply set your game in our own Earth, starting with everything being exactly the same as it is today (or seemingly so, if characters in your game have supernatural abilities). Politics, languages, cities, and everything else are just like you and your players know them. The only differences are the characters who you introduce. This is the presumption of many works of fiction, though some GMs find that working with a world their players know too intimately constrains them, as they lose the ability to change it as easily. Certainly the GM is still able to replace figures with characters of his own creation, or present his own take on public figures, but in doing so, he runs the risk of disrupting his players' suspension of disbelief.

Like Earth, Except for Metropolis A common concession in fiction is to add or change cities from real ones to fictional ones, so there's more room for you to stretch without interfering with real-world facts. For example, there might not be a slum that was once a grand experiment in a self-sustaining metahuman living called Highgarden in New York, but it could exist in a city of your creation called Arcadia City. Under this method of world design, an existing city or place on our Earth is nudged aside for a fictional one in which the GM has greater freedom from pre-existing facts and history. This is especially common in superhero or urban fantasy games, where an alternate history needs to exist that allows for at least one such city over which the GM has complete creative control.

Alternate History Earth Like so many stories, an alternate history Earth is just like ours, except that there was a key moment in history where things took a different course. Maybe the Japanese never bombed Pearl Harbor, so World War II turned out much differently, or the Roman Empire never fell and is still strong today. The world might be a very different place, even if it still looks like our own Earth from space.

emphasize a particular aspect of Earth and make it global, are referred to as fantastic worlds. These worlds might be built entirely in the clouds, or be vast expanses of desert, or possibly even beneath the surface of a world. But beyond this strangeness, the world still follows Earth-like laws of physics and nature. Fantastic worlds like these are common in science fiction, where different planets the characters travel to are differentiated from one another by their over-arcing appearance and theme. They are also less commonly used in fantasy, where their strange features allow them to stand out from the norm.

Bizarre Worlds The further you get from the world we know, the more you choose to deviate from known natural laws. Bizarre worlds start to break from what would be common knowledge about how planets look or how they behave. These might lead to the creation of ringworlds, or places where the natural flora and fauna are so startlingly different from Earth that their very presence is jarring and unsettling. It becomes almost impossible to justify the nature of such worlds using common sense or our own natural laws. These sorts of bizarre worlds are sometimes used in fantasy and science fiction as brief stop-overs in an adventure, though occasionally they become the main setting themselves.

Nightmare Worlds And the far-end of world design are nightmare worlds, where the basic presumptions about reality, natural law, and causality are thrown out the window as you see fit. On such worlds, reality might be governed by thought or belief, or the entire world could be an endless flame out into infinity. Nightmare worlds are sometimes used in fantasy as dreamscapes or mindscapes. They are also sometimes used to represent abstract ideas or elemental planes. Some horror genres also used concepts such as this to describe non-Euclidean places of madness and insanity.

Populating the World

This is a common tool in fiction dealing with alternate universes or parallel worlds, as well as "What If?" stories.

Earth-Like World Under this option, the world a game takes place on isn't Earth: it has different landmasses, a different calendar, a different history, different stars overhead, and a different name. However, in spite of this, the world is very Earth-like. Leaves still fall in autumn, the sun still rises in the east, humans still populate the world, and waves still crash on beaches. In this scenario, the fundamentals of the world are still familiar to the players, but the history and details of the world are unique. Fantasy stories in particular often make use of Earth-like worlds with a different landscape. This offers the GM plenty of flexibility to create a unique world while leaving it familiar enough for his players to be able to get by and make realistic presumptions about how the world works.

Fantastic Worlds Worlds that are rather unlike our Earth in some overt way, or

Once you have an idea for what your world is going to be like, you need to populate it. The more like Earth it is, the easier your job will be. You need to decide what sorts of creatures and people inhabit your world, where they live, and what they're like. And most importantly, you need to decide how available they are to your players.

Races Especially in fantasy and space opera games, it is common for nonhuman but sentient species to co-exist alongside human beings. These might be alien species or fantasy races, but they are often very human-like (possibly even just "humans with funny ears"), or at least recognizably humanoid (with a head, torso, and limbs in a human template). You need to decide just how much these races are like humans, and how they're different from humans. They need to be different enough from humans and from one another to justify their existence, both mechanically and flavor-wise. And most importantly, they need a place in the world. Decide where these creatures hail

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III from, and how they fit in with the rest of the world and other races. Are they friendly? Violent? Isolated? How will the PCs meet them, or if one of the PCs is of this race, how will that PC meet the other characters? If you choose to make racial packages for these races, you need to be sure to price them so that the ones which are appropriate for PCs are available to them with their starting character points in mind, and the ones which are inappropriate for PCs are either designed to be mechanically unappealing or are simply too expensive. Of course, as the GM, which races are available to the PCs is a question that is up to you in the end, but you can make your job much easier by making certain options more or less attractive to your players.

Roles If you choose to make use of roles, you should decide which ones are common to your world (and more specifically, the segment of the world your game focuses on). Pilots might be more common in a world built in clouds, and in a game focused on organized crime, enforcers and fixers and face-men might be more common for the game than machine gunners and snipers and tank drivers. And if you choose to use these tools, be sure to use them to your advantage as well in designing NPCs.

advantages. It limits your workload at any given time, and it allows you to have the flexibility at any given time to come up with the best possible answer for that given situation. On the other hand, limiting yourself exclusively to this strategy can be problematic in terms of consistency (especially if you don't keep good notes about what you show in exposition). It also means that the players don't know about the world until they are motivated to find out about it, and when they are motivated, they might catch you off-guard and leave you scrambling for an answer to something you never considered.

World Primer Another tool you can make use of is a world primer, a short one- or two-page document you can give to your players to pain in broad strokes what your world is like. You can give them key points of common knowledge that everyone would know (such as the name of the current ruler, some important current or recent events, or some information on important locations in the world). It doesn't spell out everything in the world, but it gives players a basic idea of what the world is like. Under this method, you'll still need to be able to answer additional questions through exposition (as above), but your players will have an idea of what the world is like thanks to your primers.

NPCs

Maps

Finally, once you've painted out the broad strokes of potential alternate races and archetypal roles for your world, you need to populate it with interesting NPCs. Again, focus on NPCs who the characters will interact with, whether they'll be friends or adversaries. Make them interesting enough that the players will be interested in investing their attention in. For help in designing NPCs, see Chapter XII: Stock Characters.

Informing the Players And now that you have your world all ready to go, you need to know how you'll inform your players about it. What do they need to know about the world to play in it? Should they come in completely blind, or should you tell them about some of it beforehand? Most importantly, how will you tell them?

In-Game Exposition By far the simplest and most common method is in-game exposition, by which NPCs (or possibly even the PCs themselves, with successful knowledge check. In this way, the GM tells the players what they need to know when it's relevant, or when the players ask about it. In this way, you limit yourself to only needing to give out information when it's relevant. This approach has two

Especially useful when the game is set in a fictional land or city, a map can help players feel more like they're a part of the world, and that they know what it's like and where they're going in the area, rather that traveling blindly through the area. Players like being able to look at a map and determine where they are and where they need to go. It allows them to make informed decisions about travel and movement as if they were actually familiar with the world, and it makes them feel as though their characters better belong in that world.

Campaign Guidebook Finally, for the truly dedicated GMs, you can create an entire guidebook to your campaign world, outlining everything in advance for your players (other than a few world-secrets). You let them know well in advance what they need to know about the world, and if they read through the entire thing (which is indeed unlikely for many players), they'll be able to answer many of the questions you might need to turn to exposition for either. This has the advantage of helping to ensure more consistency in the future. d20 Advanced was designed with campaign builders in mind, to give them all the tools needed to build exactly the game they want. It provides options to choose from in building your world, and building the player options and rules for your world.

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Chapter XII: Stock Characters NPC Guidelines So just what is an NPC? Yes, yes, I'm sure by now you know that "NPC" stands for "Non-Player Character". But within the context of your game, just what does that mean? What do NPCs do for your game that can't be accomplished otherwise? And more importantly, how do you use them? While the theme of Man Against Nature has been a truly timeless one, retold from the earliest ur-stories through to modern disaster movies, where the environment itself is the only true threat the heroes will ever face, they're not the norm for RPGs. For most games, especially longer-running games, NPCs are absolutely essential to flesh out the world and to give players a chance to really immerse themselves in the world.

NPCs Interact with PCs First and foremost, NPCs are there to challenge and assist the PCs in a wide variety of different ways. They're the ones the PCs go to to for information, or for a mission, or have to fight off when the battle starts. These are the most fundamental elements of how NPCs will help the PCs directly with their mission, a starting point for understanding how you can use different NPCs to accomplish different tasks.

The Artisan A mechanic. A smithy. A fearless sea captain. A snot-nosed kid with uncanny skills in hacking. A colleague at the university specialized in ancient linguistics. When you need help that requires more than just information, help that requires actual skill and training and expertise, you need an artisan. Artisans are less common than informants (who can literally be anyone) as artisans are often exceptionally skilled enough in their trade to have drawn the attention of the PCs to help fill a service. Some aren't always great helps (such as the drunk stagecoach driver who just so happens to be the only coach going to California for the next three weeks), but they're often the best the PCs can get with their current resources to resolve a certain challenge which they themselves lack a key skill for.

Artisans can be located with some reconnaissance, though lessthan-friendly artisans might require payment or persuasion to be convinced to help the PCs out. Artisans are the most-frequently bypassed NPC archetype, as the skill system allows the PCs to hammer out their own fortes in non-combat areas too. When the PCs do go to them for help, artisans are usually only useful for their narrow range of skill, not being much good at combat. In terms of their attitude, most informants will be Indifferent, but they frequently fall within the range of Unfriendly to Helpful.

The Informant A gossip. A keen-eared barkeep. A shady dock-side information broker. A para-military intelligence network. A wise old mountain sage. An internet connection and a search engine. When you need information about a mission, an area, or a particular person, and you don't know it yourself, it's probably time to look for a good informant. In theory, just about anyone can become an informant, able to provide the players with exposition without breaking the flow of the game too much. Any local who knows the story about the Haunted House on Greenbriar Hill can become a good informant, but to find out just what the extremist Brotherhood of Oblivion terrorist organization is up to, you'll probably need to find a better informant. Some artisans who are less skilled in a given area than a PC often fall into the realm of the informant, able to just provide a convenient means of exposition for the GM when the sometimesartisan's trade skills they can provide aren't needed. Informants can usually be accessed through two mechanical channels. More generic and widely-known information, such as local rumors or general current events, can be accessed with successful reconnaissance. These informants are probably very poorly defined and don't exist for the players as anything more than the rumor itself and no longer than it takes to deliver that piece of information. The other method of accessing an informant would be to seek out a specific NPC directly and attempt to persuade that NPC to divulge the relevant information. More helpful informants might give the information freely, but self-serving or antagonistic ones are likely to take some convincing. Informants can be bypassed as necessities when the PCs are suitably knowledgeable in a certain area (such as a PC passing a knowledge check to recall an actor's name before everyone has to go tramping around

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III town asking around). Like artisans, most informants will be Indifferent in attitude, but they frequently fall within the range of Unfriendly to Helpful.

The Questgiver A very important subset of informants are called "questgivers". These NPCs are the ones who bring to the PCs information that spurs on a new adventure or mission. They really are absolutely essential to most genres of gameplay. All but the most characterdriven games need these NPCs to give the game direction by providing the PCs with the first hints of what the coming adventure will be. Questgivers, like informants, can be nearly anyone: •

The Commanding Officer: Especially suitable for military games where an NPC assigns the PCs to different missions or assignments.

•

The Petitioner: An NPC who comes seeking out the PCs with a specific request for help, sometimes offering payment or other rewards.

•

The Rumor Mill: Sometimes the questgiver is nothing more than an average informant who just so happens to know a rumor that can spur on an adventure. These questgivers are especially common in fantasy games where they often relay legends that just so happen to be true.

•

The Signal in the Sky: Certain NPCs, especially in modern games, might have a very blatant and very obvious means of summoning or communicating with the PCs, sometimes literally with a signal in the sky or a trouble-alert system.

•

"While You're Here...": There are also NPCs who do little more than to sit around and wait until PCs show up to ask for a hand with something. The PCs just happen upon them, and the NPCs ask them to complete side-quests for them.

The Foe Unlike the other NPCs, the role of the foe is exclusively to bring harm to the PCs. Foes often do this directly by engaging them in whatever arena the PCs are currently engaged in. For most games, this means foes will try to start combat with the PCs with the hope of killing, capturing, or at least defeating the PCs enough to hamper them. In more political or intrigue-focused games, the foe might spread rumors or engaging in social sparring-matches with the PCs. Sometimes, it will be the PCs who have to seek out a foe and take the fight to the enemy! Finding a foe often comes in the form of reconnaissance in an area where the foe is believed to be, but more often than not, the foe will either seek the PCs out, or the PCs will just stumble upon their new foe and a battle will be joined. Once that happens, the combat skills are what take priority over everything else. While foes will vary from region to region and game to game, a majority of foes who the PCs encounter are disposable enough that they're considered expendable after use in a single encounter. And since they're the ones who are supposed to be doing actual harm to the PCs, their attitudes usually starts at Hostile and can range from Nemesis at worst to Unfriendly at best.

The Nemesis A special sort of foe is the nemesis, an NPC who becomes a longlasting foe for the party, often directing or manipulating lesser foes

and even friendlier NPCs in a coordinated effort against the PCs. Unlike lesser foes, a nemesis will likely be as capable or more powerful than the PCs, and will be skilled enough to survive (and often escape from) numerous encounters with the PCs. A nemesis will also likely be more intelligent than the more garden-variety foes. While you can build an encounter or even an adventure around a foe, you can build an entire campaign around a nemesis. A foe might be the vampire commanding a squad of zombies and skeletons, but the nemesis would be the dread necromancer who seeks nothing less than total world domination.

The Stalwart A noble squire. A rifleman assigned to the squad at the last minute. A sidekick who follows his hero into battle. A swordsman willing to put his life on the line to repay his debt to the heroes. While PCs seek out Artisans for their technical skill and talent and informants for bits of information, they turn to the Stalwart when they need a hand in a fight. Stalwarts might not even be as powerful as the PCs, but they're willing to march off to battle with them and put their lives on the line to help the cause the PCs are fighting for. Stalwarts sometimes provide that little extra "oomph" for the heroes to tackle an especially challenging battle. Stalwarts are usually Friendly or Helpful enough that they'll be willing to fight along side the PCs, risking life and limb. They're also usually skilled enough in combat to meet the caps for their power level. PCs rarely need to seek them out, though in a game where reputation rules are being used, stalwarts might seek out more famous or well-known PCs first.

NPCs Are the Supporting Cast There is a fine line between NPCs being interesting and engaging, and NPCs being overshadowing and annoying. Always remember that NPCs are expected to be there for the PCs. It's the PCs' show: they're the protagonists of the story, and the game should focus on them. An NPC should be intriguing enough that the PCs are willing to invest their attention and imagination into fully realizing them, but not so overbearing that they cross over into the land of “the GM's character” (or “GMPC”). NPCs set the scene and provide the supporting cast, but don't steal the show.

NPCs Populate the World Often at-odds with the above pieces of advice, you must remember that NPCs also serve to give the PCs perspective as to how the world around them works, and what their place is within that world. Thugs off the street are unlikely to be packing high-end military hardware (unless someone crooked is flooding the streets with this stuff for some reason), and there might be NPCs out there who are just plain stronger than the PCs. When the PCs meet a new NPC, in addition to getting some help or a new challenge, you also want to try to give them insight into the world that exists around the characters. These NPCs might act as examples for how characters behave or what characters are expected to do within the confines of the gameworld. For example, if every NPC the characters meet greets them with, "Good day, fine lords and ladies," you suggest a much different world than you would if most NPCs greeted the PCs with, "Yo, 'sup, dawg?" When you introduce an NPC, no matter how minor, try to consider

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III where that NPC came from, and why the PCs are encountering him. Is he a part of a new gang entering the ongoing turf war in their home town? Or maybe he's a professional hitman who's been hired to whack one of the more troublesome PCs? Perhaps he's just a kid out of his element who really needs a helping hand and a kind word instead of a punch in the gut. This will also help you to decide just how strong to make a given type of NPC. If it's just a random gang of kids, their power levels will likely be relatively low. If, on the other hand, they're part of an elite special ops team sent by the Joint Chiefs, they might have quite high power levels! Each time the PCs meet a new NPC, they should not just be moving the game forward, but furthering their understanding and perception of the gameworld.

use a myriad of different types of NPCs, who will be different sorts of threats and challenges to the PCs, without much issue.

Template NPC Templates, like the archetypes, serve to provide quick guidelines for customizing NPCs. Unlike archetypes, however, the templates serve more as the icing on the cake, or the flesh to stick onto those skeletal archetypes. They provide additional mechanical modifiers to help you further define your NPCs without taking a great deal of time on your part as the GM. If archetypes are NPC classes, then templates serve as NPC races.

Creating an Encounter

What Makes a Good NPC? So with all of that in mind, just what does it take to make a good NPC? The rest of this chapter will go into depth on how to quickly create useful and interesting NPCs. Consider the below to be a primer.

Concept First, try to consider what the NPCs' role will be within the world, and how they'll serve to interact with the PCs. Are they friends? Enemies? Frightening monsters? Ordinary people? Well-equipped? Are they there for bloodshed? For fun? For a challenge? To steal something? To ask for help? Knowing just who the PCs are meeting will help to guide the rest of the creation process.

Challenge Rank When creating an encounter, you'll need to decide just how powerful a given NPC is. The more powerful and capable an NPC is, the more of a threat he'll be to the party, and the less likely it will be that the PCs will be able to defeat that NPC.

While you might want to design each and every NPC your players come up against from the ground up, sometimes you simply don't have the time, or the players do something so unexpected that you need to come up with a brand new encounter right now. Look no further than the stock NPCs. Just follow these steps to build up an appropriate (and fun) encounter for your players to face. Note that these are guidelines, not hard-and-fast rules. At any point that you feel comfortable stepping away from these guidelines to create an NPC following the normal rules which PCs follow, then by all means do so! The additional detail can be extremely useful for creating a more exciting opponent for your players, but for less important encounters, it's not always needed. These steps can help you to very quickly assemble NPCs for an encounter, but you can always design an NPC with more detail.

Step 1: How Dangerous? Encounters in d20 Advanced are rated by how dangerous they are, or how difficult it will be for the players to overcome them (see Table 12:1: Encounter Danger Rank).

Archetype NPC Archetypes serve to provide a base from which an NPC can be built. It provides a simple skeleton, one that's immediately usable in play (especially for combat encounters) with the essential mechanical details already in place. The archetypes allow for you to

Step 2: Challenge Rank

Next, you need to figure out just how many NPCs to challenge your party with (and just how powerful to make them). Depending on how challenging you wish to make the encounter (see Step 1), you can have more or fewer NPCs of higher or lower power level. To

TABLE 12.1: ENCOUNTER DANGER RANK Danger Rank

Description No Danger; there is almost no possible way that the PCs could suffer injury, much less defeat Minimal Danger; the PCs have almost no chance of being defeated Modest Danger; the PCs stand to suffer some injuries if they're not careful Significant Danger; the PCs are likely to win the fight, but it will require smart play to come out on top Serious Danger; the PCs are going up against a real threat and could just as easily win as they could lose, and will need to play smart to win Severe Danger; the PCs are going to be severely outmatched and without very clever gameplay and teamwork, the PCs could be defeated Overwhelming Danger; the PCs are very likely to lose the encounter, and only tremendous luck or playing at the top of their game can see them through

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III determine this, you need to determine the total Challenge Rank for the encounter:

TABLE 12.3: MINION POWER LEVEL Minions' Power Level Party's PL - 1 or higher Party's PL - 2 Party's PL - 3 Party's PL - 4 Party's PL - 5 Party's PL - 6 Party PL - 7 Party's PL - 8 Party's PL – 9 or Lower

Encounter Challenge Rank = Danger Rank x Number of Party Members So if a group of four PCs is going to face an encounter of Serious Danger ( ), then the encounter will have a total Challenge Rank of 16.

Step 3: How Many NPCs? How Strong?

Number of Minions 1 Minion 2 Minions 3 Minions 4 Minions 6 Minions 8 Minions 12 Minions 16 Minions 20 Minions

The total Challenge Rank of an encounter can be distributed in any way you like among the enemies the PCs will face. You can divide the Challenge Ranks to many NPCs, or only a few. Depending on how many ranks you assign each enemy, it will change what Power Level that NPC is.

Another thing to keep in mind is how capable the PCs are of taking down large numbers of minions in a single round. If the characters have access to a large number of area attacks FX or feats like Takedown Attack, you may want to add additional minions (2 – 4 depending on how potent those area attacks are).

TABLE 12.2: NPC POWER LEVEL

As a general rule for keeping encounters balanced (and for the sake of your sanity as the GM!), you don't want to field so many minions that keeping track of them becomes a burden. While the minion rules are very convenient for handling large numbers of weaker enemies, in large numbers even minions can become unwieldy. The significant challenge of an encounter shouldn't come from minions: rather, it should come from normal NPCs. Minions should be used as “glass cannons”, who present a threat to the PCs in large numbers, but who will likely be destroyed quickly.

NPC's Challenge Rank Challenge Rank 1 Challenge Rank 2 Challenge Rank 3 Challenge Rank 4 Challenge Rank 5-7 Challenge Rank 8-10 Challenge Rank 11-14 Challenge Rank 15-21 Challenge Rank 22+

NPC's Power Level Party's PL -4 or lower Party's PL -2 or -3 Party's PL -1 Party's PL Party's PL + 1 Party's PL + 2 Party's PL + 3 Party's PL + 4 Party's PL + 5

So long as the total Challenge Ranks of all of the enemies put together are equal to the Danger Rank x the number of PCs in the party, you'll still have an appropriate encounter for that Danger Rank. A Challenge Rank 16 encounter for a party of four PL 10 PCs could consist of four PL 10 enemies, or two PL 12 enemies, or one PL 14 enemy, or two PL 10 enemies and one PL 12 enemy, or eight PL 7 enemies, or just about any other combination you want.

Simplifying A helpful aid for this stage, especially if you're trying it for the first time, is to put a stack of poker chips or pennies in front of you for each enemy's Challenge rank. As you add or subtract enemies, or increase or decrease their power level, you can track it easily with the tokens.

Step 4: Minions Minions follow slightly different rules, because of their frailties, and are usually fielded in greater numbers. Weaker minions can be fielded for a fraction of the normal cost for an NPC. Individual groups of minions always have a value of just 1 Challenge Rank, and depending on their power level relative to the party's, you may field more minions in a given group for only one Challenge Rank.

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Step 5: Environment

Resistance. This is typically at full PL for exceptionally hearty NPCs and at half PL for weaker NPCs.

You can also include environmental effects in place of an enemy. The whole environment counts as a single opponent, and has the same PL as the NPC the environmental effects are replacing. Environmental effects are bought as equipment (costing equipment points) as if they were part of a structure.

Step 6: Apply Archetypes As a further shortcut, you can use the NPC Archetypes to very quickly determine the capabilities of the NPC for a given PL. Choose the archetype and note the combat skills and other special abilities that archetype provides at the desired power level.

Step 7: Apply Templates If you are making use of racial or similar templates, apply their modifiers and abilities after selecting an archetype. An NPC template will often show not just modifiers appropriate for all archetypes, but special options you can select for archetypes.

Step 8: Finishing Touches Now for the final step in creating an NPC: making any finishing touches you need to make sure than the NPC does just what you want it to. If you need a particular NPC to be able to fly, for example, make sure you take ranks in the Enhanced Movement FX.

NPC Archetypes •

Name: The name of the NPC Archetype.

•

(Trade-Offs): The trade-offs (if any) an archetype uses. If really pressed for time, you can use this trade-off applied to the normal ability caps for that power level as a quick-and-dirty way to stat out an NPC.

•

Key Ability Score: The ability score listed here is the most important to this archetype. Treat this ability score as equal to half the NPC's power level as a rough rule of thumb. Other ability scores are unlikely to be increased, or may only increase by up to half this value (or one-quarter power level).

•

Will: The bonus the NPC gains to its Will Resistance. This is typically at full PL for more willful NPCs and at half PL for weak-willed NPCs.

•

Reflex: The bonus the NPC gains to its Reflex skill. This is typically at full PL for quick NPCs and at half-PL for slower NPCs.

•

Special: Any extra skills, feats, or FX that an archetype gains.

Grunt Peon. Cannon-fodder. Foot-slogger. Grunt. The simplest type of opponent you can throw out to fight against your PCs, there's nothing really special about grunts. They're the basic enemies representative of their particular type. In battle, they reach their caps in all the most basic combat areas, and you could say they're well-rounded, but they're mostly rounded around such a low power level anyway that it really isn't something to write home about. Often a grunt's biggest advantage isn't in the individual grunt, but rather in the sheer number of them which you can use at any given time. Grunts are usually sprinkled liberally into a fight, and while they can do little individually, they do tend to work well as a team. Ideally, you want to have them use options like Combined Attack to bring their damage up to a level that actually threatens the characters. In a fight, grunts are there to hold the line and take hits that would otherwise be damaging more important allies, especially dangerous-but-vulnerable allies like a Mastermind or Artillery. They'll be the first to go down, and they'll go down in droves, but in the meantime, they'll make the heroes look cool, and make their more powerful and potent allies really stand out and seem more special (and more dangerous). The grunts are going to go down even faster against opponents who can target their Fortitude or Will resistances, both of which are quite poor. Grunts are the most basic of any type of opponent, and they'll likely be the most numerous. They'll have the most basic armaments for their team, and likely the most basic protections. But they can become incredibly dangerous when backed up by an Enchanter, a Mastermind, or a Support ally, who can multiply their capabilities by impressive factors. In such situations, grunts are very dangerous. Also, all the other NPC charts are variations of the grunt's. All the NPCs which follow the same basic guidelines: hitting their caps at each PL in the combat skills (after trade-offs) who may or may not be more capable in other areas (like Fortitude and Will resistances, or their Reflex to determine initiative order in combat).

•

Power Level: The power level of the NPC.

•

Attack: The attack bonus for the NPC's main attack. Usually equal to PL (barring trade-offs). Other attacks can be made at half this value (treated as non-proficient with the attack).

•

Effect Modifier: The bonus the NPC uses for its attacks to overcome a target's Toughness, Fortitude, and Will Resistances. Usually equal to PL (barring trade-offs).

•

Defense: The bonus the NPC gains to its Defense Resistance. This bonus is lost while flat-footed unless otherwise noted. Usually equal to PL (barring trade-offs).

•

Toughness: The bonus the NPC gains to its Toughness Resistance. Usually equal to PL (barring trade-offs).

The artillery is above and beyond there to lay on the hurt from a range with a big, deadly weapon. Whether that weapon is a powerful gun or a deadly spell or just a massive rock. Sure, other minions in the fight might have ranged weapons of their own, whether bows and arrows or simple guns or even a little magic, the artillery is the one who really unleashes the hurt!

•

Fortitude: The bonus the NPC gains to its Fortitude

Artillery often also make use of the All-Out Attack feat, which allows

And unlike other NPCs, grunts don't have a key ability which is higher than their others. Instead, they tend to be all-around mediocre and more representative of their different groups.

Artillery

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III TABLE12.4: GRUNT N/A Power Level

Attack

Effect Modifier

Defense

Toughness

Fortitude

Will

Reflex

1

+1

+1

+1

+1

+0

+0

+0

2

+2

+2

+2

+2

+1

+1

+1

3

+3

+3

+3

+3

+1

+1

+1

4

+4

+4

+4

+4

+2

+2

+2

5

+5

+5

+5

+5

+2

+2

+2

6

+6

+6

+6

+6

+3

+3

+3

7

+7

+7

+7

+7

+3

+3

+3

8

+8

+8

+8

+8

+4

+4

+4

9

+9

+9

+9

+9

+4

+4

+4

10

+10

+10

+10

+10

+5

+5

+5

11

+11

+11

+11

+11

+5

+5

+5

12

+12

+12

+12

+12

+6

+6

+6

13

+13

+13

+13

+13

+6

+6

+6

14

+14

+14

+14

+14

+7

+7

+7

15

+15

+15

+15

+15

+7

+7

+7

16

+16

+16

+16

+16

+8

+8

+8

17

+17

+17

+17

+17

+8

+8

+8

18

+18

+18

+18

+18

+9

+9

+9

19

+19

+19

+19

+19

+9

+9

+9

20

+20

+20

+20

+20

+10

+10

+10

Special

TABLE 12.5: ARTILLERY (+5 EFFECT MODIFIER / -5 ATTACK) DEX Power Level

Attack

Effect Modifier

Defense

Toughness

Fortitude

Will

Reflex

1

+0

+2

+1

+1

+0

+0

+0

Special All-Out Attack

2

+1

+3

+2

+2

+1

+1

+1

All-Out Attack

3

+2

+4

+3

+3

+1

+1

+1

All-Out Attack

4

+3

+5

+4

+4

+2

+2

+2

All-Out Attack

5

+3

+7

+5

+5

+2

+2

+2

All-Out Attack

6

+4

+8

+6

+6

+3

+3

+3

All-Out Attack

7

+5

+9

+7

+7

+3

+3

+3

All-Out Attack, Improved Range 1

8

+6

+10

+8

+8

+4

+4

+4

All-Out Attack, Improved Range 1

9

+6

+12

+9

+9

+4

+4

+4

All-Out Attack, Improved Range 1

10

+7

+13

+10

+10

+5

+5

+5

All-Out Attack, Improved Range 1

11

+8

+14

+11

+11

+5

+5

+5

All-Out Attack, Improved Range 1

12

+9

+15

+12

+12

+6

+6

+6

All-Out Attack, Improved Range 1

13

+9

+17

+13

+13

+6

+6

+6

All-Out Attack, Improved Range 1

14

+10

+18

+14

+14

+7

+7

+7

All-Out Attack, Improved Range 2

15

+11

+19

+15

+15

+7

+7

+7

All-Out Attack, Improved Range 2

16

+12

+20

+16

+16

+8

+8

+8

All-Out Attack, Improved Range 2

17

+12

+22

+17

+17

+8

+8

+8

All-Out Attack, Improved Range 2

18

+13

+23

+18

+18

+9

+9

+9

All-Out Attack, Improved Range 2

19

+14

+24

+19

+19

+9

+9

+9

All-Out Attack, Improved Range 2

20

+15

+25

+20

+20

+10

+10

+10

All-Out Attack, Improved Range 2

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III them to even further drop their defenses to partially overcome their trade-off (which normally leaves them with poor aim). Their penetrating damage means they'll be a threat even to characters with lots of Impervious Toughness. Unfortunately, artillery often suffers from being a glass cannon, as wielding such a dangerous weapon means that it must often lower its defenses to attack. But that's why it's a ranged weapon: it can attack from range and do more serious damage while avoiding the drawback of losing its Defense Bonus for a round when it does so. And with Improved Range, the artillery can do just that from even further away, avoiding retaliation. When using artillery in a fight, keep in mind that every time they take a shoot, they'll be painting a huge bullseye on themselves, as smart PCs will quickly realize that they're a big threat and they'll move to neutralize that threat. Expect artillery to come under heavy fire after their first attack, when they'll likely be exposed from using their heavier weapons. Since they have great range, keep artillery behind melee-types or grunts, so that the PCs will have to work to reach them.

can regularly target their will resistances can probably take brutes out fairly quickly. This “glass jaw” in their will resistance means that brutes will probably want to keep enemies who can target their will resistances busy somehow, whether by going and smacking them around first, or by having an ally to draw their fire. In a fight, brutes tend to target “softer” enemies who may be capable of greater damage, since they can take the punishment and are capable of really affecting those with with poor toughness resistances quickly. Plus, those sorts of characters are also the most vulnerable to being grappled, which again plays to the brute's strengths. Since he's an up-close melee-type, the brute is best supported by weaker allies who can deal damage from a range (like the artillery) or an ally who can help him overcome his weaker attack bonus (like a flanker).

Common FX/Gear Damage (PL/2) (FX Feats: Mighty) (PL/2 + 1 cp)

Sample Brutes

Common FX/Gear Damage (PL) (Extras: Ranged, Penetrating; Flaws: Distracting) (2 x PL cp)

Sample Artillery • • • • •

Medieval hand-cannoneers Giants hurling boulders Soldiers with modern shoulder-mounted rocket-launchers Futuristic warriors with powerful laser cannons A monster with fire breath which can only be used infrequently and takes time to “charge”

Brute Big, strong, brutish thugs are a common occurrence in many types of fiction. They don't need the biggest gun because they only need to get close to you to really start causing some serious pain. Further, they're just so big and tough that they can take blows which would leave a lesser creature on the ground writhing in pain. They might come into the fray with a big weapon, like a huge sword or even just a massive club, or they just might need to get their big, grubby hands (or claws, or teeth) on you to deal their damage. Brutes are also wonderfully straight-forward in a fight: they move into melee range and start clobbering the enemy as hard as possible. They're tough enough to stick it out in melee against foes even more powerful than they are (which the heroes might very well be). Many brutes, especially monsters or animals, or just enemies who prefer to fight unarmed, will often try to initiate a grapple maneuver with an enemy, taking advantage of their high strength and lack of reliance on weapons or fancy FX to deal damage, instead using something a little simpler. But where the brute suffers is in accuracy and in defense. It's pretty easy to hit a brute, and a nimble character can be hard for a brute to fight on even terms. Brutes hit hard and can take punishment, but a lower defense means that their foes will have more chances to overcome their toughness resistance. Further, most brutes tend to have a very poor will resistance, meaning that a character who

• • • • •

Hulking armored knights with huge swords Surly mafia enforcers with baseball bats Monstrous, clawed, towering animals or monsters Huge, strong alien species who specialize in melee combat The biggest marine in a unit who wrestles the gun away from his enemy

Champion If there's an enemy who really stands out above the rest, who can essentially do it all and who never backs down, it's the champion. Champions are the best of the best, with no real weaknesses. They are, in a sense, the anti-grunts, capable at many things without being specialized, and lacking any true vulnerabilities. No trade-offs to reduce attacks, damage, defense, or toughness, high fortitude and will defenses, and the added bonus of being totally fearless means that the champion is a potent threat on the battlefield. Like the grunt, the champion also doesn't specialize in anything off the bat. Rather, the champion serves as an effective “base” from which to build the boss of an encounter, the Big Bad Evil Guy who will be the biggest threat to the PCs. Champions only really shine when they're customized further with additional FX, feats, or gear. But because of their excellent resistances, champions are par-none the best front-liners, able to mix it up with just about any PCs and remain relatively durable and safe while remaining a respectable threat. Some sample champions with different special abilities (and key ability scores) are suggested below.

Sample Champion Progressions The Juggernaut (STR) Unrivaled in physical strength, the juggernaut can simply plow through the enemy, dashing lesser foes aside with each blow. The juggernaut's incredible melee prowess comes through massive, imposing physical strength. The juggernaut gains Capable (Strength) at PL 4, and improves his rank by 1 every four levels thereafter.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III TABLE 12.6: BRUTE (+2 EFFECT MODIFIER / -2 ATTACK; +2 TOUGHNESS / - 2 DEFENSE) STR Power Level

Attack

Effect Modifier

Defense

Toughness

Fortitude

Will

Reflex

Special

1

+0

+1

+0

+1

+1

+0

+0

2

+1

+3

+1

+3

+2

+1

+1

Endurance 1

3

+1

+5

+1

+5

+3

+1

+1

Endurance 1

4

+2

+6

+2

+6

+4

+2

+2

Endurance 2

5

+3

+7

+3

+7

+5

+2

+2

Endurance 2

6

+4

+8

+4

+8

+6

+3

+3

Endurance 3

7

+5

+9

+5

+9

+7

+3

+3

Endurance 3

8

+6

+10

+6

+10

+8

+4

+4

Endurance 4

9

+7

+11

+7

+11

+9

+4

+4

Endurance 4

10

+8

+12

+8

+12

+10

+5

+5

Endurance 5

11

+9

+13

+9

+13

+11

+5

+5

Endurance 5

12

+10

+14

+10

+14

+12

+6

+6

Endurance 6

13

+11

+15

+11

+15

+13

+6

+6

Endurance 6

14

+12

+16

+12

+16

+14

+7

+7

Endurance 7

15

+13

+17

+13

+17

+15

+7

+7

Endurance 7

16

+14

+18

+14

+18

+16

+8

+8

Endurance 8

17

+15

+19

+15

+19

+17

+8

+8

Endurance 8

18

+16

+20

+16

+20

+18

+9

+9

Endurance 9

19

+17

+21

+17

+21

+19

+9

+9

Endurance 9

20

+18

+22

+18

+22

+20

+10

+10

Endurance 10

TABLE 12.7: CHAMPION ANY Power Level

Attack

Effect Modifier

Defense

Toughness

Fortitude

Will

Reflex

1

+1

+1

+1

+1

+1

+1

+0

Fearless, Special

2

+2

+2

+2

+2

+2

+2

+1

Fearless, Special

3

+3

+3

+3

+3

+3

+3

+1

Fearless, Special

4

+4

+4

+4

+4

+4

+4

+2

Fearless, Special

5

+5

+5

+5

+5

+5

+5

+2

Fearless, Special

6

+6

+6

+6

+6

+6

+6

+3

Fearless, Special

7

+7

+7

+7

+7

+7

+7

+3

Fearless, Special

8

+8

+8

+8

+8

+8

+8

+4

Fearless, Special

9

+9

+9

+9

+9

+9

+9

+4

Fearless, Special

10

+10

+10

+10

+10

+10

+10

+5

Fearless, Special

11

+11

+11

+11

+11

+11

+11

+5

Fearless, Special

12

+12

+12

+12

+12

+12

+12

+6

Fearless, Special

13

+13

+13

+13

+13

+13

+13

+6

Fearless, Special

14

+14

+14

+14

+14

+14

+14

+7

Fearless, Special

15

+15

+15

+15

+15

+15

+15

+7

Fearless, Special

16

+16

+16

+16

+16

+16

+16

+8

Fearless, Special

17

+17

+17

+17

+17

+17

+17

+8

Fearless, Special

18

+18

+18

+18

+18

+18

+18

+9

Fearless, Special

19

+19

+19

+19

+19

+19

+19

+9

Fearless, Special

20

+20

+20

+20

+20

+20

+20

+10

Fearless, Special

Special

257 Alfredo Sendin (order #1048782)

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III another associated NPC by taking blows that would otherwise debilitate them. Defenders are usually second-line warriors, despite their great toughness, because they need to stay close to more vulnerable (and usually more important) NPCs. They essentially give “softer” targets like artillery, enchanters, and masterminds an extra shield, allowing the “big guns” a measure of safety with which to act. Having someone like a defender around can drastically increase the life-expectancy of other NPCs in a fight, so long as the defender stays close to the NPC he's supposed to be guarding! What's more, while defenders have low Will resistances, having Second Chance (Mind Control) gives them the another opportunity to avoid a compulsion which might compromise his devotion. Thus most defenders have slightly better Will resistances against such things than you might otherwise expect. In a fight, a defender usually takes advantage of weapons with increased reach or ranged weapons, so that the defender can remain behind the front lines and protect his charge while still contributing to the fight in some way. Against more mobile PCs, the defender will more likely be carrying a melee weapon and will attempt to swat away anyone who gets too close to his charge, relying on his Interpose feat to protect his charge.

The Master Swordsman (DEX) Quick and daring, the master swordsman can slay you six times before you hit the ground. Few have ever mastered a sword (or knife, or martial arts, etc.) to the degree that the master swordsman has. The master swordsman starts out with Acrobatic Bluff at PL 1 and has a +2 Attack/-2 Effect Modifier trade-off and a +2 Defense/-2 Toughness trade-off. The master swordsman also adds the Barrage extra to his main attack.

A defender's biggest obvious weakness is an otherwise low will Resistance, which puts him at risk from other mind-affecting abilities. Beyond that, realize that a defender is going to be hit many more times than most other NPCs, and will be subject to more damage than others. In spite of a defender's high toughness, he'll simply be struck by attacks so many times that defenders rarely will remain standing for very long in a battle. Their loss won't lead to instant ruin for the NPCs, since defenders contribute little offensively, but it will open the “softer” NPCs to attacks that they'd likely prefer to avoid.

The Warrior-General (INT) A brilliant, determined leader of men with fantastic knowledge of tactics and warfare. And for all his mastery and genius, the warriorgeneral refuses to wait in the rear, choosing instead to charge fearlessly into the fray. The warrior-general gains Master Plan at PL 1, Leadership at PL 5, and Informed Combatant at PL 10. He also gains a bonus rank in Expertise at each even-numbered PL.

The Shining Knight (CHA) The greatest warrior of a land, the shining knight (or master samurai, or supreme soldier, etc.) is a fantastically capable warrior who can lead from the front. The shining knight's battle-cry can inspire greatness in his allies, spurring them on to true heroism. The shining knight gains Inspire at PL 4, and improves his rank by 1 every four levels thereafter.

Defender Be it a bodyguard, a tank, or a meat-shield, a defender is a common accomplice to many potent-but-vulnerable enemies heroes might face. Defenders are likely to be among among the most physically durable enemies on a battlefield, and they're the ones who put it to the best use. Unlike other NPC archetypes, the defender is more than capable of leaping to the rescue and taking a hit that might fell another ally. They tend to enhance the durability of

Common FX/Gear Damage (PL) (FX Feats: Extended Reach, Mighty) (PL + 2 cp)

Sample Defenders • • • •

Secret service agents The corrupt sorcerer's loyal thrall A mad scientist's mechanical bodyguard The extremely devoted second-in-command for the platoon

Enchanter While many warriors use raw power to blast their enemies from the battlefield, sometimes tricks and guile are all you really need. The enchanter relies almost exclusively on the latter, specializing in taking the enemy's attention and drawing it away while the enchanter's allies deal the heavier damage. An enchanter can represent many different types of enemy. Being skill-based, it's very easy to cast the enchanter as a non-magical distraction, someone who is capable of just drawing the attention of those around through pure skill. However, it works just as well for a more magical approach, as the fantasy name associated with this archetype suggests. Rather than just “distracting” or “inspiring”, the enchanter weaves spells to steal away someone's focus or to empower allies.

258 Alfredo Sendin (order #1048782)

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III TABLE 12.8: DEFENDER (+2 TOUGHNESS / -2 DEFENSE) CON Power Level

Attack

Effect Modifier

Defense

Toughness

Fortitude

Will

Reflex

Special

1

+1

+1

-1

+3

+1

+0

+0

Interpose

2

+2

+2

+0

+4

+2

+1

+1

Interpose

3

+3

+3

+1

+5

+3

+1

+1

Interpose

4

+4

+4

+2

+6

+4

+2

+2

Interpose

5

+5

+5

+3

+7

+5

+2

+2

Interpose, Second Chance (Mind Control)

6

+6

+6

+4

+8

+6

+3

+3

Interpose, Second Chance (Mind Control)

7

+7

+7

+5

+9

+7

+3

+3

Interpose, Second Chance (Mind Control)

8

+8

+8

+6

+10

+8

+4

+4

Interpose, Second Chance (Mind Control)

9

+9

+9

+7

+11

+9

+4

+4

Interpose, Second Chance (Mind Control)

10

+10

+10

+8

+12

+10

+5

+5

Interpose, Second Chance (Mind Control)

11

+11

+11

+9

+13

+11

+5

+5

Interpose, Second Chance (Mind Control)

12

+12

+12

+10

+14

+12

+6

+6

Interpose, Second Chance (Mind Control)

13

+13

+13

+11

+15

+13

+6

+6

Interpose, Second Chance (Mind Control)

14

+14

+14

+12

+16

+14

+7

+7

Interpose, Second Chance (Mind Control)

15

+15

+15

+13

+17

+15

+7

+7

Interpose, Second Chance (Mind Control)

16

+16

+16

+14

+18

+16

+8

+8

Interpose, Second Chance (Mind Control)

17

+17

+17

+15

+19

+17

+8

+8

Interpose, Second Chance (Mind Control)

18

+18

+18

+16

+20

+18

+9

+9

Interpose, Second Chance (Mind Control)

19

+19

+19

+17

+21

+19

+9

+9

Interpose, Second Chance (Mind Control)

20

+20

+20

+18

+22

+20

+10

+10

Interpose, Second Chance (Mind Control)

TABLE 12.9: ENCHANTER (+2 DEFENSE / -2 TOUGHNESS) CHA Power Level

Attack

Effect Modifier

Defense

Toughness

Fortitude

Will

Reflex

Special

1

+1

+1

+3

-1

+0

+1

+0

Distract

2

+2

+2

+4

+0

+1

+2

+1

Distract, Bluff 1

3

+3

+3

+5

+1

+1

+3

+1

Distract, Bluff 1

4

+4

+4

+6

+2

+2

+4

+2

Distract, Bluff 2, Inspire 1

5

+5

+5

+7

+3

+2

+5

+2

Distract, Bluff 2, Inspire 1

6

+6

+6

+8

+4

+3

+6

+3

Distract, Bluff 3, Inspire 1

7

+7

+7

+9

+5

+3

+7

+3

Distract, Bluff 3, Inspire 1

8

+8

+8

+10

+6

+4

+8

+4

Distract, Bluff 4, Inspire 2

9

+9

+9

+11

+7

+4

+9

+4

Distract, Bluff 4, Inspire 2

10

+10

+10

+12

+8

+5

+10

+5

Distract, Bluff 5, Inspire 2

11

+11

+11

+13

+9

+5

+11

+5

Distract, Bluff 5, Inspire 2

12

+12

+12

+14

+10

+6

+12

+6

Distract, Bluff 6, Inspire 3

13

+13

+13

+15

+11

+6

+13

+6

Distract, Bluff 6, Inspire 3

14

+14

+14

+16

+12

+7

+14

+7

Distract, Bluff 7, Inspire 3

15

+15

+15

+17

+13

+7

+15

+7

Distract, Bluff 7, Inspire 3

16

+16

+16

+18

+14

+8

+16

+8

Distract, Bluff 8, Inspire 4

17

+17

+17

+19

+15

+8

+17

+8

Distract, Bluff 8, Inspire 4

18

+18

+18

+20

+16

+9

+18

+9

Distract, Bluff 9, Inspire 4

19

+19

+19

+21

+17

+9

+19

+9

Distract, Bluff 9, Inspire 4

20

+20

+20

+22

+18

+10

+20

+10

Distract, Bluff 10, Inspire 5

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III During a fight, the enchanter is a very surgical archetype, which can be used to neutralize enemies with weak will resistances (who are often the enemies which pose the greatest immediate threat damage-wise), or leave them open with feints and distractions. Enchanters will also be careful to utilize their Inspire ability at the correct time to maximize benefit, and at lower PLs, when their Charisma scores are lower, to inspire the right allies (usually the ones whose resistances badly need bolstering, or who are having a difficult time striking an enemy due to a lower attack skill. Used properly, enchanters can turn the tide in a fight by systematically empowering allies and surgically weakening enemies to achieve victory. However, enchanters are usually somewhat fragile. They will be harder than normal to hit (thanks to being agile dancers, cunning flim-flam artists, spellcasters with magic defenses, etc.), but they remain vulnerable to direct hits, especially those which target their Fortitude resistance. Enchanters are not made to take blows: they're meant to keep at bay enemies who would otherwise be striking their allies through cunning use of their abilities. Enchanters work best when they are supported by enemies who can absorb the brunt of an attack for them (like brutes, defenders, or even grunts). When an enchanter is free to work its magic, its allies will benefit enormously from the disruption its abilities can wreak.

powerful characters often have little to fear directly from flankers themselves. Further, they suffer from poor Fortitude and Will resistances, making them prime targets for exotic attacks which target those two resistances. They are excellent support troops, but flankers are terrible front-liners. If they are not supported by more powerful and durable allies, they tend to be rather ineffective. Flankers really shine when they come into a fight-in-progress. While the enemy is tied up with other concerns, flankers can move into position and turn the tide of the fight with their unique skills, helping to threaten key enemies and help their most potent allies make the most of their abilities. They make a great “second wave” in this respect. However, one should keep their vulnerabilities in mind when deploying the flankers, since even light blows threaten to take them out of the fight. Flankers are not a solid line of defense, and neither are they a reliable source of damage. Rather, flankers are a convenient way to improve the capabilities of their allies. They can lend a hand, but don't expect them to carry the brunt of the load on their shoulders.

Common FX/Gear Damage (PL - 2) (FX Feats: Mighty) (PL - 1 cp)

Sample Flankers

Common FX/Gear Inflict (PL) (Attack, Defense) (PL x 2 cp)

• • • •

Sample Enchanters • • • • •

The colorfully-dressed bard with near-magical songs An alluring nymph with otherworldly beauty A psychic able to bend the will of enemies The monster who secretes mind-altering chemicals into the air A lithe and beautiful dancer whose movements are hypnotic

Swift-footed footsoldiers who disrupt enemy formations Light fighters who specialize in knocking away others' shields Distracting smaller monsters who interfere with attacks An expert martial artist who specializes in foot sweeps and throwing enemies off-balance

Hoser

Flanker Often the best way to contribute to a fight is not by directly attacking the enemy, but by using tactics carefully to give an ally the upperhand. This is the flanker's approach to battle: find an enemy who needs to be taken care of and help an ally bring that enemy down. Flankers tend to be more lightly-equipped than their allies, preferring more agile weapons for pin-point accurate feints. Besides, their role isn't to damage the enemy. Instead, they're responsible for getting the enemy into tough tactical positions and holding them there for the hammer blow from a more powerful ally. Flankers are especially useful thanks to their Set-Up feat. They'll move into position and harass an enemy, granting one of their allies combat advantage against a flat-footed foe (usually setting up a heavy-hitter like the brute or the artillery). Flankers also work wonderfully in melee to help an ally successfully hit a high-defense enemy with the Teamwork feat. This works especially well for enemies who have a high damage but low attack who benefit greatly from the much-improved bonus to attack. But as useful as they are, flankers by themselves are not much of a threat. Their attacks tend to be less damaging, meaning that more

In worlds where supernatural FX exist, the ability to counter or neutralize those abilities is essential to achieving victory. Enter the hoser: someone dedicated to nullifying key capabilities of the enemy. They could be sorcerers specialized in counterspelling in a world of magic, troops armed with anti-psionic weapons in a fight against mutant psychics, or even just footsoldiers for a supervillain carrying flame-retardant foam as part of a diabolical plan to neutralize a fire-projecting hero. More often than not, hosers are simply ordinary troops with special weapons, often tailored specifically to help disrupt the abilities of the enemy. Because of this, hosers are really only used after the PCs have established themselves, and potential enemies have learned about their capabilities, and what is needed to counter them. Hosers are almost never used immediately out of the gate, since it's hard to find a counter for an ability which you don't even know about. In a fight, hosers are relatively durable, but their main (and sometimes their only) threat is their Nullify ability. Against a team with like descriptors, hosers can be devastating. They are less frightening when set against a team with diverse abilities, but are still extremely important for their ability to quickly and easily neutralize the abilities of key players in a fight. Knowing how to draw an enemy out and then instantly strip the enemy of all of its defenses is a key strategy which you need to truly maximize the effectiveness of hosers.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III TABLE 12.10: FLANKER (+2 ATTACK / -2 EFFECT MODIFIER) DEX Power Level

Attack

Effect Modifier

Defense

Toughness

Fortitude

Will

Reflex

Special

1

+3

-1

+1

+1

+0

+0

+1

Set-Up

2

+4

+0

+2

+2

+1

+1

+2

Set-Up

3

+5

+1

+3

+3

+1

+1

+3

Set-Up

4

+6

+2

+4

+4

+2

+2

+4

Set-Up

5

+7

+3

+5

+5

+2

+2

+5

Set-Up, Teamwork 1

6

+8

+4

+6

+6

+3

+3

+6

Set-Up, Teamwork 1

7

+9

+5

+7

+7

+3

+3

+7

Set-Up, Teamwork 1

8

+10

+6

+8

+8

+4

+4

+8

Set-Up, Teamwork 1

9

+11

+7

+9

+9

+4

+4

+9

Set-Up, Teamwork 1

10

+12

+8

+10

+10

+5

+5

+10

Set-Up, Teamwork 2

11

+13

+9

+11

+11

+5

+5

+11

Set-Up, Teamwork 2

12

+14

+10

+12

+12

+6

+6

+12

Set-Up, Teamwork 2

13

+15

+11

+13

+13

+6

+6

+13

Set-Up, Teamwork 2

14

+16

+12

+14

+14

+7

+7

+14

Set-Up, Teamwork 2

15

+17

+13

+15

+15

+7

+7

+15

Set-Up, Teamwork 3

16

+18

+14

+16

+16

+8

+8

+16

Set-Up, Teamwork 3

17

+19

+15

+17

+17

+8

+8

+17

Set-Up, Teamwork 3

18

+20

+16

+18

+18

+9

+9

+18

Set-Up, Teamwork 3

19

+21

+17

+19

+19

+9

+9

+19

Set-Up, Teamwork 3

20

+22

+18

+20

+20

+10

+10

+20

Set-Up, Teamwork 3

TABLE 12.11: HOSER WIS Power Level

Attack

Effect Modifier

Defense

Toughness

Fortitude

Will

Reflex

1

+1

+1

+1

+1

+0

+1

+0

Nullify (One Effect Type) 1

2

+2

+2

+2

+2

+1

+2

+1

Nullify (One Effect Type) 2

3

+3

+3

+3

+3

+1

+3

+1

Nullify (One Effect Type) 3

4

+4

+4

+4

+4

+2

+4

+2

Nullify (One Effect Type) 4

5

+5

+5

+5

+5

+2

+5

+2

Nullify (One Effect Type) 5

6

+6

+6

+6

+6

+3

+6

+3

Nullify (One Effect Type) 6

7

+7

+7

+7

+7

+3

+7

+3

Nullify (One Effect Type) 7

8

+8

+8

+8

+8

+4

+8

+4

Nullify (One Effect Type) 8

9

+9

+9

+9

+9

+4

+9

+4

Nullify (One Effect Type) 9

10

+10

+10

+10

+10

+5

+10

+5

Nullify (One Effect Type) 10

11

+11

+11

+11

+11

+5

+11

+5

Nullify (One Effect Type) 11

12

+12

+12

+12

+12

+6

+12

+6

Nullify (One Effect Type) 12

13

+13

+13

+13

+13

+6

+13

+6

Nullify (One Effect Type) 13

14

+14

+14

+14

+14

+7

+14

+7

Nullify (One Effect Type) 14

15

+15

+15

+15

+15

+7

+15

+7

Nullify (One Effect Type) 15

16

+16

+16

+16

+16

+8

+16

+8

Nullify (One Effect Type) 16

17

+17

+17

+17

+17

+8

+17

+8

Nullify (One Effect Type) 17

18

+18

+18

+18

+18

+9

+18

+9

Nullify (One Effect Type) 18

19

+19

+19

+19

+19

+9

+19

+9

Nullify (One Effect Type) 19

20

+20

+20

+20

+20

+10

+20

+10

Nullify (One Effect Type) 20

Special

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Note: The hoser really is an archetype which benefits most from judicious use. Half of the fun of having special powers is being able to use them, and if constantly forced to face hosers, players might understandably be upset at losing those abilities. If used occasionally, they help to create exciting encounters. If used too often, they serve only to frustrate players at best, and infuriate them at worst.

lurkers are poor at holding the line or providing a defensive front, but especially if paired with the likes of the flanker, lurkers can be especially terrifying and potent to an unprepared group. Expect heroes to target lurkers as targets of opportunity early on, but further realize that attacks which destroy these potentially dangerous NPCs are not ones which are striking more consistently dangerous troops, such as artillery, the hoser, and the mastermind.

Common FX/Gear In general, hosers could stand to be protected, but not to the extent that more fragile archetypes need be. They benefit greatly from additional protection, and work best to selectively neutralize specific enemies and remove them very efficiently from a fight, either by stripping them of their offensive capabilities or by completely nullifying their defenses.

Common FX/Gear

Damage (PL x ¾) (FX Feats: Mighty) (¾ x PL + 1 cp)

Sample Lurkers • • • •

Nullify (PL) (One Effect Type) (PL cp)

A stealthy ninja assassin who strikes from the shadows A deadly marine sniper with a light rifle Savage orc archers and hunters Alien shadowdwellers capable of seeing even in pitch black Ruthless cut-throats who rely on the ambush to succeed

Sample Hosers • • • • •

Mages specialized in counterspelling Psion hunters with weapons that drain psychic energy Troopers armed with flame-retardant foam A monster which blots out magic in the area around it A holy warrior who can drain away unholy supernatural abilities

Lurker One of the biggest advantages which a force can enjoy is the element of surprise, and lurkers specialize in surprising foes. A lurker is designed to appear suddenly and strike for devastating damage, striking where the enemy is weak. Lurkers are usually less armored than most archetypes, so they usually need to be used with greater care than others. Further, they're very reliant on hitting unprepared foes in order to achieve their full damage: against foes who are aware of their presence, they are far less capable NPCs, both offensively and defensively. In a battle, lurkers can serve as priority targets for the enemy: they strike for impressive damage, but can be eliminated relatively easily once struck with a solid blow. Out of their element, lurkers are weak and vulnerable, but when they have the advantage, lurkers can be quite dangerous, especially with their ranks in Sneak Attack. And lurkers are quite capable of putting that sneak attack to good use. With ranks in Infiltration, lurkers excel at stealth and getting into secure areas, so they're able to strike from angles which might otherwise not be predicted by the enemy. Especially when in an environment which compliments stealth (such as a night-fight or combat in heavy cover or overgrowth), lurkers can be extremely dangerous foes. However, perceptive enemies are likely to expose and quickly eliminate lurkers and their dangerous damage potential. Lurkers are excellent support, but once exposed, they lose much of their bite. Without their sneak attack, the damage output lurkers are capable of drops off dramatically. Further, if a solid blow connects, lurkers just lack the toughness, fortitude, and will defenses to stay in the fight for long. They really shine when covered by tougher allies, or at least more numerous and obvious allies. On their own,

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III TABLE 12.12: LURKER (+2 DEFENSE / -2 TOUGHNESS) DEX Power Level

Attack

Effect Modifier

Defense

Toughness

Fortitude

Will

Reflex

Special

1

+1

+1

+3

-1

+0

+0

+1

2

+2

+2

+4

+0

+1

+1

+2

Infiltrate 1

3

+3

+3

+5

+1

+1

+1

+3

Infiltrate 1

4

+4

+4

+6

+2

+2

+2

+4

Infiltrate 2

5

+5

+5

+7

+3

+2

+2

+5

Infiltrate 2, Sneak Attack 1

6

+6

+6

+8

+4

+3

+3

+6

Infiltrate 3, Sneak Attack 1

7

+7

+7

+9

+5

+3

+3

+7

Infiltrate 3, Sneak Attack 1

8

+8

+8

+10

+6

+4

+4

+8

Infiltrate 4, Sneak Attack 1

9

+9

+9

+11

+7

+4

+4

+9

Infiltrate 4, Sneak Attack 2

10

+10

+10

+12

+8

+5

+5

+10

Infiltrate 5, Sneak Attack 2

11

+11

+11

+13

+9

+5

+5

+11

Infiltrate 5, Sneak Attack 2

12

+12

+12

+14

+10

+6

+6

+12

Infiltrate 6, Sneak Attack 2

13

+13

+13

+15

+11

+6

+6

+13

Infiltrate 6, Sneak Attack 3

14

+14

+14

+16

+12

+7

+7

+14

Infiltrate 7, Sneak Attack 3

15

+15

+15

+17

+13

+7

+7

+15

Infiltrate 7, Sneak Attack 3

16

+16

+16

+18

+14

+8

+8

+16

Infiltrate 8, Sneak Attack 3

17

+17

+17

+19

+15

+8

+8

+17

Infiltrate 8, Sneak Attack 4

18

+18

+18

+20

+16

+9

+9

+18

Infiltrate 9, Sneak Attack 4

19

+19

+19

+21

+17

+9

+9

+19

Infiltrate 9, Sneak Attack 4

20

+20

+20

+22

+18

+10

+10

+20

Infiltrate 10, Sneak Attack 4

TABLE 12.13: MASTERMIND (+5 DEFENSE / -5 TOUGHNESS) INT Power Level

Attack

Effect Modifier

Defense

Toughness

Fortitude

Will

Reflex

1

+1

+1

+2

+0

+0

+1

+0

Master Plan

2

+2

+2

+3

+1

+1

+2

+1

Master Plan

Special

3

+3

+3

+4

+2

+1

+3

+1

Master Plan

4

+4

+4

+5

+3

+2

+4

+2

Inspire 1, Master Plan

5

+5

+5

+7

+3

+2

+5

+2

Inspire 1, Master Plan, Leadership

6

+6

+6

+8

+4

+3

+6

+3

Inspire 1, Master Plan, Leadership

7

+7

+7

+9

+5

+3

+7

+3

Inspire 1, Master Plan, Leadership

8

+8

+8

+10

+6

+4

+8

+4

Inspire 2, Master Plan, Leadership

9

+9

+9

+12

+6

+4

+9

+4

Inspire 2, Master Plan, Leadership

10

+10

+10

+13

+7

+5

+10

+5

Inspire 2, Master Plan, Leadership

11

+11

+11

+14

+8

+5

+11

+5

Inspire 2, Master Plan, Leadership

12

+12

+12

+15

+9

+6

+12

+6

Inspire 3, Master Plan, Leadership

13

+13

+13

+17

+9

+6

+13

+6

Inspire 3, Master Plan, Leadership

14

+14

+14

+18

+10

+7

+14

+7

Inspire 3, Master Plan, Leadership

15

+15

+15

+19

+11

+7

+15

+7

Inspire 3, Master Plan, Leadership

16

+16

+16

+20

+12

+8

+16

+8

Inspire 4, Master Plan, Leadership

17

+17

+17

+22

+12

+8

+17

+8

Inspire 4, Master Plan, Leadership

18

+18

+18

+23

+13

+9

+18

+9

Inspire 4, Master Plan, Leadership

19

+19

+19

+24

+14

+9

+19

+9

Inspire 4, Master Plan, Leadership

20

+20

+20

+25

+15

+10

+20

+10

Inspire 5, Master Plan, Leadership

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III

Mastermind In spite of wisdom about “the best-laid plans of mice and men”, the mastermind is a staple of many types of fiction. The mastermind carefully arranges things beforehand so that a battle goes to his favor. A much more cerebral archetype, the mastermind relies on strategy and planning well in advance of a fight. They're likely to select battlefields which offer the best environment for their allies (and thus often make use of advantageous zones in the area). Most of a mastermind's contribution comes from before the fight with a Master Plan, often set up hours or even days in advance. However, the mastermind must still know when it's best to trigger the Master Plan so as to maximize its effect on the battle. During the battle-proper, though, the mastermind still has the ability to direct the troops, using Inspire to create strategies on-the-spot which can help to turn the tide. The ability to almost double the effectiveness of some allies during a fight can really change the face of a battle in the blink of an eye. However, the mastermind is supremely fragile on the battlefield. While often a capable enough fighter, masterminds simply are not very resilient physically, and will quickly crumble if a solid attack connects (especially one which targets their Toughness or Fortitude resistances). They almost invariably make use of underlings who can protect them during a fight, especially archetypes like the Defender or the Brute, which are capable of taking the hits that the mastermind can't. The mastermind also functions best when there are offensive allies to be bolstered. A mastermind is doing the most when the mastermind can significantly boost the chances for an artillery or other archetype to hit and deal high damage to the enemy. On the battlefield itself, the mastermind really functions best when he's able to stay out of the way of the fight, avoiding attacks without having to rely on a higher (possibly magically- or technologicallyenhanced) defense. A mastermind who can't avoid attacks is likely to be a mastermind whose career ends quite early. Instead, a wise mastermind will remove himself from a fight (often using a ranged weapon), positioning himself strategically to affect his allies with a well-timed inspire but still remaining back far enough to avoid actually getting hit himself.

Skirmisher Fast and light, skirmishers are very capable warriors offensivelyspeaking. The skirmisher benefits from mobility, getting into range and out-maneuvering the enemy to repeatedly deal fair damage. In many respects, skirmishers are similar to lurkers, in that they depend on catching an enemy off-guard to be most effective in battle. But unlike the lurkers, skirmishers are more reliable, able to actively and effectively strike for Sneak Attack damage. Skirmishers rely on their Acrobatics skill to twist and out-maneuver enemies, opening them up for sneak attacks. Unlike flankers, though, skirmishers are far worse team-players, unable to pass this benefit on to their allies. They do, however, benefit greatly from fighting alongside flankers who can set them up to strike for sneak attack damage. Skirmishers are usually melee warriors, and thus serve double-duty holding the line and striking for impressive damage. Even when unable to use Acrobatics to get the drop on their enemies, skirmishers are still somewhat passable, even if their offensive threat drops by about two PLs when they aren't making use of sneak attack. They go from great warriors to fair warriors in such occasions, but still have the defensive abilities to stay in melee with dangerous foes. But beyond their decent defense, skirmishers are definitely on the fragile side. They suffer from low Fortitude and Will resistances, as well as a reduced toughnesses. Skirmishers, while somewhat capable defensively, just lack the staying power in a prolonged fight, so they really benefit from having tougher allies like brutes in the fight and support troops who can bolster their weak saves. masterminds and enchanters are also extremely useful in this role of maximizing the survivability (and thus overall damage output) of the skirmishers. Skirmishers are best used at the front line, but not alone. They're at their best when used to compliment other allies, adding their often impressive damage to the mix, or in the worst-case scenario (when unable to feint an opponent), acting as ever-so-slightly better grunts to just hold the line as long as possible.

Common FX/Gear

Common FX/Gear Damage (PL) (Extras: Ranged; FX Feats: Mighty) (2 x PL + 1 cp)

Damage (PL x ¾) (FX Feats: Mighty) (PL/2 + 1 cp)

Sample Skirmishers

Sample Masterminds • • • • •

The wizened old battlefield general The mob overboss A cunning, brilliant, but wholly alien intellect A sentient and highly-upgraded robotic AI The relentless, almost legendary bandit king

• • • • •

A nimble swordsman armed with a rapier A wily street-fighter who fights dirty Futuristic warriors with powerful energy swords Fast and light monsters with amazing leaping ability A martial artist specialized in quick and accurate blows

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III TABLE 12.14: SKIRMISHER (-2 ATTACK / +2 EFFECT MODIFIER, +2 DEFENSE/-2 TOUGHNESS) DEX Power Level

Attack

Effect Modifier

Defense

Toughness

Fortitude

Will

Reflex

Special

1

-1

+3

+3

-1

+0

+0

+1

2

+0

+4

+4

+0

+1

+1

+2

Acrobatics 1

3

+1

+5

+5

+1

+1

+1

+3

Acrobatics 1

4

+2

+6

+6

+2

+2

+2

+4

Acrobatics 2, Sneak Attack 1

5

+3

+7

+7

+3

+2

+2

+5

Acrobatics 2, Sneak Attack 1

6

+4

+8

+8

+4

+3

+3

+6

Acrobatics 3, Sneak Attack 1

7

+5

+9

+9

+5

+3

+3

+7

Acrobatics 3, Sneak Attack 1

8

+6

+10

+10

+6

+4

+4

+8

Acrobatics 4, Sneak Attack 2

9

+7

+11

+11

+7

+4

+4

+9

Acrobatics 4, Sneak Attack 2

10

+8

+12

+12

+8

+5

+5

+10

Acrobatics 5, Sneak Attack 2

11

+9

+13

+13

+9

+5

+5

+11

Acrobatics 5, Sneak Attack 2

12

+10

+14

+14

+10

+6

+6

+12

Acrobatics 6, Sneak Attack 3

13

+11

+15

+15

+11

+6

+6

+13

Acrobatics 6, Sneak Attack 3

14

+12

+16

+16

+12

+7

+7

+14

Acrobatics 7, Sneak Attack 3

15

+13

+17

+17

+13

+7

+7

+15

Acrobatics 7, Sneak Attack 3

16

+14

+18

+18

+14

+8

+8

+16

Acrobatics 8, Sneak Attack 4

17

+15

+19

+19

+15

+8

+8

+17

Acrobatics 8, Sneak Attack 4

18

+16

+20

+20

+16

+9

+9

+18

Acrobatics 9, Sneak Attack 4

19

+17

+21

+21

+17

+9

+9

+19

Acrobatics 9, Sneak Attack 4

20

+18

+22

+22

+18

+10

+10

+20

Acrobatics 10, Sneak Attack 4

TABLE 12.15: SUPPORT WIS Power Level

Attack

Effect Modifier

Defense

Toughness

Fortitude

Will

Reflex

1

+1

+1

+1

+1

+0

+1

+0

Leadership

2

+2

+2

+2

+2

+1

+2

+1

Leadership, Healing 1

Special

3

+3

+3

+3

+3

+1

+3

+1

Leadership, Healing l 1

4

+4

+4

+4

+4

+2

+4

+2

Leadership, Healing 2, Inspire 1

5

+5

+5

+5

+5

+2

+5

+2

Leadership, Healing 2, Inspire 1

6

+6

+6

+6

+6

+3

+6

+3

Leadership, Healing 3, Inspire 1

7

+7

+7

+7

+7

+3

+7

+3

Leadership, Healing 3, Inspire 1

8

+8

+8

+8

+8

+4

+8

+4

Leadership, Healing 4, Inspire 2

9

+9

+9

+9

+9

+4

+9

+4

Leadership, Healing 4, Inspire 2

10

+10

+10

+10

+10

+5

+10

+5

Leadership, Healing 5,Inspire 2

11

+11

+11

+11

+11

+5

+11

+5

Leadership, Healing 5, Inspire 2

12

+12

+12

+12

+12

+6

+12

+6

Leadership, Healing 6, Inspire 3

13

+13

+13

+13

+13

+6

+13

+6

Leadership, Healing 6, Inspire 3

14

+14

+14

+14

+14

+7

+14

+7

Leadership, Healing 7, Inspire 3

15

+15

+15

+15

+15

+7

+15

+7

Leadership, Healing 7, Inspire 3

16

+16

+16

+16

+16

+8

+16

+8

Leadership, Healing 8, Inspire 4

17

+17

+17

+17

+17

+8

+17

+8

Leadership, Healing 8, Inspire 4

18

+18

+18

+18

+18

+9

+18

+9

Leadership, Healing 9, Inspire 4

19

+19

+19

+19

+19

+9

+19

+9

Leadership, Healing 9, Inspire 4

20

+20

+20

+20

+20

+10

+20

+10

Leadership, Healing 10, Inspire 5

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Support Everybody needs some help sometimes. Among the archetypes, nobody helps better than the support. Offensively, support is almost always lacking, with absolutely minimal attack options. However, the support more than makes up for it with the wide variety of options to buff up allies and to really extend their lifespan on the battlefield. The support has options seen with other archetypes (like the mastermind and the enchanter), but the support uses feats like leadership and inspire somewhat differently. They more represent propping up the weary and the wounded than improving the healthy and fighting-fit. Coupled with healing, the support can make even fragile archetypes last much longer than would otherwise be possible. Support are also fairly tough, with few real weaknesses (other than a poor fortitude resistance), meaning that they aren't easy targets at all. However, considering just how much support does and thus how big of a target it might become, protecting support from the sheer volume of hits they might otherwise draw is important to ensuring their long-term survival in a fight, and thus the long-term survival of all the other NPCs present. The most important thing with support is to make the descriptors for their feats and FX fitting with their theme. For example, an army medic is unlikely to be using magic healing touches, but bandages represented by the Healing FX and using doses of morphine to treat allies stunned by blows as the description for his Leadership feat are quite appropriate. On the other hand, a fantasy priest might use healing prayers while uplifting his allies' hearts with inspiring prayers. You can use support to represent many, many different types of NPCs, and all of them will be quite effective at aiding their allies on the battlefield.

Common FX/Gear Healing (PL/2) (PL/2 cp)

Sample Support •

A fantasy priest who calls upon the gods for healing magic

•

The crooked crime questionable drugs

•

Small helper-drones which can repair damage to a larger warrior robot

•

A mystic who can manipulate life energy itself

•

The combat medic for a unit of soldiers.

doctor

whose

treatments

include

Note: Like the hoser, support can be frustrating for players. The healing ability in particular can really annoy them when they watch the injury they finally dealt the big bad villain after several very hard-fought rounds just disappear when the support walks over. Be careful in not overusing support like this. Used sparingly, support makes for a great addition to fights.

NPC Archetypes The design of the NPC archetypes deserves special attention. Each archetype is meant to fill a very specific role in a group, and each role is meant to be unique enough that each will stand out in how it's used in battle, and to call for potentially different approaches in how they PCs fight them. And while they're generic, the archetypes are also complete enough to be usable right out of the book with no need to attach templates or modify them to use. All you need to do is alter the descriptors on the archetypes' abilities and you'll have what feels to the players like a brand new type of enemy who will even be an appropriate level of challenge for them. Since the NPC archetypes are already robust and complete as they are, it might seem at first blush that they'd be difficult to modify without throwing off their appropriate power levels, especially when adding on templates to represent different types of enemies. However, the NPC archetypes only define the final numbers, not how they are arrived at. So if you wanted to create an encounter against machines with great Strength and high Might checks, but you also don't want the machines to do extra damage, rather than giving them FX or gear which have ranks equal to their PL, simply reduce the ranks in their damaging FX by their (newly-improved) Strength modifier and add the Mighty FX feat. This will keep the NPCs' effect modifiers within the power level limits you have decided on for them while giving you the customization you need to make them capable of exactly what you want. You also shouldn't hesitate to give these sorts of NPCs new abilities which aren't otherwise covered by the archetypes themselves or other templates. If you need an encounter with NPCs who can fly, then give them Enhanced Movement, even if the archetypes themselves don't already have them. If you want to go about designing new archetypes, it's a pretty simple process. Start out by setting all of their bonuses Attack, Effect Modifier, Defense, and Toughness equal to the NPCs' power level, and their Fortitude, Will, and Reflex set at half of the NPCs' power level. Then decide if the archetype needs any tradeoffs to be effective. Lighter archetypes which rely on dodging and parrying tend to have higher Defenses and lower Toughness, and also sometimes have lower effect modifiers and higher attack bonuses (though that isn't universal). Heavier archetypes are usually just the opposite. The archetypes you design should be universal enough that you can think of ways to apply them across lots of different encounters, and one which can't be easily replicated by existing archetypes. For example, an archetype like “air support”, to describe aerial versions of NPCs, could be very useful if you make lots of use of NPCs who can fly while their comrades can't. On the other hand, an archetype like “radiation blaster” is probably less useful (since it's unlikely that radiation blasters are going to be common across many types of encounters) and the concept can be covered relatively easily with the artillery archetype, or possibly even just the grunt. As you use the archetypes more, you'll become more comfortable with them, how to use them, and what new ones you might need to help create the encounters you want.

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NPC Templates

• • • •

• •

CARNIVOROUS PLANT

Abilities: Modifiers to be applied to the template's normal ability scores. Skills: Bonus skill points you can apply to an NPC, raising them above and beyond the normal skills it would have. Feats: Any extra feats that a template has access to. Gear: If a template uses an FX thanks to devices or other gear, they are listed here. FX: If a template has the ability to use any specific FX (which generally include natural weapons or supernatural abilities to meet the Effect Modifier caps for damage and the like), they are listed here. Drawbacks: Templates which suffer any drawbacks are noted here. Template Variants: If a template has a particular take on different archetypes, whether with additional feats, FX, equipment, or skills, they will be listed here.

Note that the cp cost is included for your convenience only: NPCs are not limited to any set number of character points. You may find the costs useful in learning how to create characters yourself, hence their inclusion.

NPC Templates AGENT

AFX: Mind Reading (PL)

(1 + 4 x PL cp)

(CP COST)

NAME •

•

(7 + 3 X PL CP)

(27 + PL CP)

A giant, hungry, toothed mantrap rooted into the ground of some primeval jungle. It grabs at those who stumble too close with thick vines and pulls them in to be devoured. •

Abilities: Strength +8 (Growth), Dexterity -4, Intelligence --, Charisma -- (+28 cp)

•

Skills: Might +1 (Growth), Toughness +4 (Growth) (0 cp)

•

Feats: Combat Expert (Gain Combat Advantage (Grab)) (1 cp)

•

FX: Concealment 2 (Normal Vision; Flaws: Passive); Enhanced (Toughness) (PL); Growth 8 (Extras: Continuous; Flaws: Permanent); Immunity 30 (Will Resistances) (56 + PL cp)

•

Drawbacks: Disability (rooted, immobile) (+4 cp)

CULTIST

(5 + 3 X PL CP)

Adepts of occult mysteries who worship dead gods and want to bring about the end of the world always have to go and muck things up with dark magic. • • • •

Men in black suits with black ties and black sunglasses who do their jobs in secret. Agents usually work for the government (or for the shadow government) or as the secret enforcers for megacorporations.

Abilities: +1 Charisma (2 cp) Skills: Expertise (Magic) 2 (2 cp) Feats: Fearless (1 cp) FX: Occult Shield (Enhanced (Toughness) (PL) LINKED Enhanced (Defense) (PL); Sustained Duration), Occult Magic (PL) (3x PL) (Choose one): • Damage (PL) (Extras: Cone Area) •

Damage (PL) (Extras: Ranged)

•

Abilities: +1 Constitution (2 cp)

•

Inflict (Attacks and Will) (PL) (Will Resists)

•

Skills: Reflex 2, Perception 2 (4 cp)

•

Inflict (Defense and Movement) (PL) (Defense Resists)

•

Feats: Defensive Roll (PL/2 cp)

•

Gear: Twin Heavy Pistols (Damage (PL/2) (Extras: Barrage, Ranged, FX Feats: Split Attack); Body Armor (Enhanced (Toughness) (PL/2)) (1 + 2.5 x PL cp)

ALIEN INVADER

•

Abilities: +1 Intelligence, -1 Strength (0 cp)

•

Skills: Expertise (Outer Space) 2 (2 cp)

•

Gear: Death Ray (Damage (PL) (Extras: Ranged, Linked (Drain)), Drain (Toughness) (PL) (Extras: Ranged, Linked (Damage)); Armored Space Suit (Immunity (Life Support), Enhanced (Toughness) (PL)) (9 + 5 x PL ep)

(10 + 3 X PL CP)

A horrible creature born from the depths of hell •

Abilities: +4 Strength (Growth), +2 Constitution (Growth) (0 cp)

•

Skills: Persuasion +2 (2 cp)

•

FX: Damage (PL - 4) (Claws; Extras: Penetrating; FX Feats: Mighty); Damage (PL) (Hellfire; Extras: Ranged); Growth 4 (8 + 3 x PL cp)

(3 + 9 X PL CP, 9 + 5 X PL EP)

Gray-skinned, big-headed, ray-gun-totting invaders bent on destroying all humans, these aliens usually descend from flying saucers to complete their nefarious plans.

•

DEMON

Special Demon Variants

FX: Psychic blast (Damage (PL) (Extras: Perception Range, Alternate Resistance (Will))

•

Artillery: Add Area (Burst) to Damage (Hellfire) (+PL cp)

•

Enchanter: Add Enhanced Movement (Flight; Wings) 2 (+4 cp)

•

Mastermind: Add Transform (PL) (Anything to Anything; "Infernal Contract"; Flaws: Willing Targets Only) (+ 4 x PL cp)

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A huge, hungry carnivore straight out of the Cretaceous Period, stomping forward on two legs with spindly forelimbs and a maw full of razor-sharp teeth. •

Abilities: Strength +8 (Growth; Extras: Penetrating (Teeth)), Intelligence -4 (0 cp)

•

Skills: Might +1 (Growth), Survival (Prehistory) +2, Toughness +4 (Growth) (2 cp)

•

Feats: Fearsome Intimidate) (6 cp)

•

FX: Damage (PL - 8) (FX Feats: Mighty), Growth 8 (Extras: Duration (Continuous); Flaws: Permanent; FX Feats: Innate) (17 + PL cp)

Presence

5,

Special Variants

(25 + PL CP)

Talented

(Persuasion:

Special Variants

•

Artillery: Add Handcannon (Damage PL (Extras: Range (Ranged)) (2 x PL ep).

•

Brute: Add Rage 2 (2 cp).

•

Mastermind & Support: Add Stone Shaping (Create Objects (PL)) (2 x PL cp).

ELF

(6 CP, 3 X PL EP)

A lithe and graceful, almost otherworldly humanoid with pointed ears glides out of the woods, bow drawn. •

Ability Scores: +1 Dexterity, -1 Constitution (0 cp)

•

Skills: Perception +1, Survival (Forest) +1, Weapon Group (Bows) +1 (3 cp)

•

Brute (Sauropod): Increase Growth to 12 ranks, lose penetrating on Strength (+4 cp).

•

Gear: Longbow (Damage (PL) (Extras: Range (Ranged)); Studded Leather (Enhanced (Toughness) (PL)) (3 x PL ep)

•

Defender (Ankylosaurus): Add Density, lose penetrating on Strength (+3 x PL - 8 cp).

•

FX: Comprehend 1 (Animals), Enhanced Senses 1 (Vision Counters Obscure (Darkness), Limited (Half)) (3 cp)

•

Skirmisher (Raptor): Reduce Growth to 4 ranks (-8 cp).

GARGOYLE DRAGON

(24 + 2 X PL CP)

(3 + 2 X PL CP)

One moment, it's a statue with its face pulled into a hideous scowl. The next it's a winged monster, all teeth and fangs lunging at you.

A huge, winged, reptilian fire-breathing beast. For other "colors" of dragons (who breathe lightning or acid), simply change the descriptor on the dragon's breath.

•

Abilities: Strength +PL (Density) (0 cp)

•

Feats: Hide In Plain Sight, Talented (Infiltration, Hide) (2 cp)

•

Abilities: +8 Strength (Growth, Extras: Penetrating (Bite)) (8 cp)

•

FX: Density (PL) (3 x PL + 1 cp)

•

Skills: Might +1 (Growth), Toughness +4 (Growth) (0 cp)

•

AFX: Organic Container

•

Feats: Favored Environment (Airborne), Power Attack (2 cp)

•

Damage (PL) (Claws; FX Feats: Mighty)

•

FX: Damage (PL) (Fire Breath; Extras: Area (Cone)); Enhanced Movement 2 (Flight, Winged); Growth 8 (Extras: Continuous; Flaws: Permanent) (13 + 2 x PL cp)

DWARF

(6 CP, 2 X PL EP)

Squat, bearded little men who tunnel beneath mountains, dwarves are stalwart warriors who usually come to battle brandishing axes and warhammers. •

Ability Scores: +1 Constitution, -1 Charisma (0 cp)

•

Skills: Endurance +1, Survival (Mountains) +1, Weapon Group (Axes) +1 (3 cp)

•

Feats: Profession (Miner) (1 cp)

•

Gear: Battleaxe (Damage (PL) (FX Feats: Mighty)); Chainmail (Enhanced (Toughness) (PL)) (2 x PL ep)

•

FX: Enhanced Senses (Vision Counters Obscure (Darkness)) (2 cp)

•

Enhanced Movement (Flight) 2

GHOST

(41 + 5 X PL CP)

A dark apparition which hungers for life energy and the warmth of the living. It grasps with spectral fingers and pulls away strands of energy and life from its victims. •

Abilities: Strength --, Constitution -- (-20 cp)

•

FX: Damage (PL) (Extras: Affects Corporeal, Vampiric); Drain (Strength) (PL) (Extras: Affects Corporeal); Enhanced Movement (Flight) 1; Immunity 39 (Fortitude Resistances, Life Support); Insubstantial 4 (Vulnerable to Magic) (61 + 2 x PL cp)

GIANT

(14 + 2 X PL CP)

A lumbering brute carrying a massive club with scraggly hair, stomping across the land with the intent of using their sheer size to take what they want from smaller creatures. •

Abilities: Strength +8 (Growth), Constitution +2, Intelligence -1, Wisdom -1, Charisma -1 (-2 cp)

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III •

Skills: Might +2 (Growth), Toughness +4 (Growth) (0 cp)

•

Skills: Infiltration +1 (1 cp)

•

Feats: All-Out Attack (1 cp)

•

Feats: Throwing Mastery 2 (2 cp)

•

Gear: Club (Damage (PL - 8) (FX Feats: Mighty)); Hide Armor (Enhanced (Toughness) (PL)) (2 x PL - 8 ep)

•

Gear: Throwing Knife (Damage (PL) (FX Feats: Mighty, Thrown 5) (PL + 6 ep)

•

FX: Growth 8 (Extras: Continuous; Flaws: Permanent) (24 cp)

•

FX: Shrinking 4 (Extras: Duration (Continuous); Flaws: Permanent) (4 cp)

Special Variants •

Artillery: Add boulder (Damage (PL - 8) (FX Feats: Mighty, Thrown 5) (PL - 2 ep)

GOBLIN

(9 + 2 x PL CP)

Scampering, crafty little green-skinned, big-nosed monsters who make up what they lack in size with numbers.

LIZARDMAN

(4 + 2 X PL CP)

Scaly humanoids that lurk in swamps and jungles, lizardmen are brutal and cold-blooded monsters who have few qualms with butchering their enemies. •

Abilities: Strength +2, Dexterity -1, Constitution +2, Charisma -2 (2 cp)

•

Skills: Survival (Marshlands) +1 (1 cp)

•

Abilities: Strength -2 (Shrinking), Dexterity +1, Charisma -1 (0 cp)

•

Gear: Battleaxe (Damage (PL - 2) (FX Feats: Mighty) (PL - 1 cp)

•

Skills: Infiltration +1, Might -1 (Shrinking) (1 cp)

•

•

Feats: Sneak Attack (1 cp)

FX: Additional Limbs 1 (Tail; Extras: Continuous; Flaws: Permanent); Enhanced Senses 1 (Accurate Scent); Enhanced (Toughness) (PL) (Scaly hide) (2 + PL cp)

•

Gear: Shortspear (Damage (PL) (FX Feats: Mighty, Thrown 2)); Leather Armor (Enhanced (Toughness) (PL)) (2 x PL + 3 cp)

•

FX: Shrinking 4 (Extras: Continuous; Flaws: Permanent) (4 cp)

Special Variants •

Special Variants •

Enchanter, Mastermind: Add Confuse (PL) (PL cp).

GOLEM

Enchanter, Mastermind, Support: Add Inflict (Fear) (PL) (Will Resists; Penalize Attacks, Penalize Non-Combat, NonResistance checks) (2 x PL cp).

MOBSTER

(48 + PL CP)

A tromping automaton made from clay, stone, iron, or sometimes even flesh, golems are terrifyingly resilient and relentless foes. The Golem template can also be used for constructs such as robots.

(9 CP)

Tough men involved in organized crime who are the ones to enforce their boss' plans. Cracking knuckles, extorting money, and beating the bejezus out of anyone who refuses to pay are their specialties. •

Skills: Survival (Underworld) 2 (2 cp)

•

Abilities: Strength +10 (Density, Growth), Constitution --, Dexterity -1, Intelligence --, Charisma -- (-32 cp)

•

Feats: Combat Expert (Gain Combat Advantage (Grab), Talented (Persuasion: Intimidate) (2 cp)

•

Skills: Might +3 (Density, Growth), Toughness +5 (3 ranks Impervious, Density, Growth) (0 cp)

•

Equipment: Heavy Pistol (Damage (PL) (Extras: Ranged)), Baseball Bat (Damage (PL) (FX Feats: Mighty)) (2 x PL ep)

•

FX: Damage (PL - 10) (Hardened Fists; FX Feats: Mighty); Density 6 (Extras: Continuous; Flaws: Permanent); Growth 4 (Extras: Continuous; Flaws: Permanent); Immunity 60 (Fortitude and Will resistances) (80 + PL cp)

•

Trade-Offs: Golems always have a +5 Toughness / -5 Defense Trade-off, regardless of archetype.

HALFLING

Abilities: Strength -2 (Shrinking), Dexterity +1 (2 cp)

(5 X PL - 11 CP)

Skittering giant rats, huge venomous insects, or monstrous spiders the size of large dogs, all quite dangerous, and all quite toxic. • •

(15 + PL CP)

Short, nimble people of great courage and cheerful disposition, halflings are common in fantasy games as one of the classic humanoid races. •

MONSTROUS VERMIN

Abilities: Intelligence -4, Charisma -4 (+16 cp) FX: Damage (PL) (Extras: Secondary Effect, Linked (Inflict (Disease)); Inflict (Disease) (PL) (Fortitude Resists, Penalize Attacks, Penalize Fortitude; Extras: Poison) (5 x PL cp)

NINJA

(5 + 2 X PL CP)

Black-clad assassins and spies who strike from the shadows swiftly and without mercy. According to popular myth, if you can see a

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game: Part III ninja, then you're already dead.

•

Damage (PL + 1) (Extras: Ranged)

•

Abilities: Dexterity +1 (2 cp)

•

Inflict Fear (PL + 1) (Will Resists; Attack, Will)

•

Skills: Acrobatics +1, Infiltration +2 (3 cp)

•

Inflict Doubt (PL + 1) (Will Resists; Defense, Will)

•

Feats: Hide In Plain Sight, Sneak Attack (2 cp)

•

Dazzle (PL) (Visual)

•

Gear: Ninja-to (Damage (PL - 2) (FX Feats: Mighty)); Poisoned Needles (Inflict (Poison) (PL) (Fortitude Resists, Penalize Strength, Penalize Constitution; Extras: Poison)) (2 x PL - 2 ep)

Enchanter, Mastermind, Support: Add Obscure 5 (Visual, Shadow) (2 x PL cp).

OOZE

Orc Lurker: Add Shortspear (Damage (PL) (FX Feats: Mighty, Thrown)) (+2 cp)

POLICE

Special Variants •

•

(16 + PL CP)

Gelatinous masses of goo which slither blindly in search of their next meals. They dissolve organic matter with deadly, corrosive acid once they've grabbed their prey. •

Abilities: Intelligence --, Charisma -- (-20 cp)

•

Feats: Combat Expert (Gain Combat Advantage, (Grab)) (1 cp)

•

FX: Corrosive Acid (Drain (PL) (Constitution) (Extras: Linked (Drain); Flaws: Requires Combat Advantage); Drain (PL) (Toughness) (Extras: Linked (Drain); Flaws: Requires Combat Advantage))); Enhanced Movement 1 (Slithering); Immunity 30 (Will Resistances); Insubstantial 1 (PL + 37 cp)

(2 CP, 3 X PL EP)

Enforcers of law and order, men and women who serve as the thin blue line between criminals and honest citizens. Most beat cops carry a service pistol. •

Skills: Perception +1 (1 cp)

•

Feats: Status (1 cp)

•

Gear: Pistol (Damage (PL) (Extras: Range (Ranged))); Kevlar Vest (Enhanced (Toughness) (PL)) (3 x PL ep)

Special Variants •

Artillery (SWAT Sniper): Add one rank of Infiltration and change pistol to Sniper Rifle (Damage (PL) (Extras: Range (Ranged); FX Feats: Improved Critical 2, Improved Range 2) (4 cp)

•

Mastermind (Chief): Add two ranks of Status (2 cp).

SEA MONSTER

ORC

(33 CP)

(10 CP, 1 + 3 X PL EP)

Fierce and savage humanoids with porcine faces and green skin, orcs have been a staple of fantasy gaming since its inception.

A horrible marine beast large enough to threaten an entire sailing ship with ease. The leviathan is a terror to mariners the world over. •

Abilities: Strength +1, Constitution +1, Intelligence -1, Charisma -1 (0 pp)

Abilities: Strength +16 (Growth), Constitution +8, Intelligence -2 (12 cp)

•

Skills: Athletics +1 (1 cp)

•

Skills: Athletics 1, Survival (Homeland) 1 (3 cp)

•

•

Feats: Fearsome Intimidate) 1 (3 cp)

Feats: Environmental Adaptation Environment (Aquatic) 1 (2 cp)

•

•

FX: Enhanced Senses (Low-Light Vision, Scent) (2 cp)

FX: Enhanced Movement 1 (Swimming), Growth 16 (Extras: Duration (Continuous); Flaws: Permanent) (18 cp)

•

Gear: Battleaxe (Damage (PL) (Extras: Penetrating; FX Feats: Mighty)), Hide Armor (Enhanced (Toughness) (PL)) (1 + 3 x PL ep)

•

Trade-Offs: +1 Effect Modifier/-1 Attack

•

Presence

2,

Talented

(Persuasion:

(Aquatic),

Favored

Special Variants •

Brute (Kraken): Add 1 rank of Combat Expert (Gain Combat Advantage (Grab)) and 3 ranks of Additional Limbs with the Permanent flaw (4 cp).

Special Variants •

Orc Artillery: Add Perception 1 and Recurved Longbow (Damage (PL) (Extras: Ranged; FX Feats: Improved Range, Mighty) (+1 cp, 2 + 2 x PL ep)

•

Orc Brute: Add Rage (+1 cp)

•

Orc Enchanter: Add Shaman Staff (Damage (PL) (FX Feats: Mighty, Split Attack)), Shaman Magic (PL) (+1 + 2 x PL cp PL + 2 ep) (Choose two of the following): •

SOLDIER, MEDIEVAL

(1 CP, 2 X PL EP)

A conscript in chain armor carrying a spear strides across the battlefield, a bloody bandage tied around his forehead to staunch the bleeding. •

Feats: Teamwork (1 cp)

•

Gear: Spear (Damage (PL) (FX Feats: Extended Reach, Mighty)); Chainmail (Enhanced (Toughness) (PL)) (2 x PL + 2 ep)

Damage (PL + 1) (Extras: Cone Area)

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Special Variants •

Artillery: Replace Longspear with Crossbow (Damage (PL) (Extras: Range (Ranged); FX Feats: Improved Range, Mighty)) (+ PL ep).

SOLDIER, MODERN

(2 + 4 X PL CP)

A soldier wearing body armor beneath modern fatigues and sporting an automatic rifle, usually operating as part of a unified strike force. A modern soldier can also be used to represent heavily-armed police forces, like a SWAT officer. •

Skills: Athletics +1 (1 cp)

•

Feats: All-Out Attack, Teamwork (2 cp)

•

Gear: Assault Rifle (Damage (PL-2) (Extras: Barrage, Range (Ranged))); Body Armor (Enhanced (Toughness) (PL); NightVision Goggles (Enhanced Senses 1 (Low-Light Vision)) (4 x PL - 1 ep)

TERRORIST

(2 + 5 X PL CP)

A man in civilian clothing with an automatic rifle, fighting for what he believes in, and willing to target combatants and civilians indiscriminately. If it comes to it, a terrorist is willing to blow himself up to make his point. •

Skills: Infiltration +1 (1 cp)

•

Feats: Benefit (Second Identity) (1 cp)

•

Gear: AK-47 (Damage (PL - 2) (Extras: Barrage, Range (Ranged))); Body Armor (Enhanced (Toughness) (PL)); Explosives Vest (Damage (PL) (Extras: Area (Burst), Penetrating; Flaws: Side Effect (Always Damage Self, -2); FX Feats: Subtle, Triggered (On Death))) (5 x PL ep)

THIEF

•

Emotion Control (PL); Immunity Resistances) (31 + 4 x PL cp)

•

Drawbacks: Weakness (Sunlight; Every Round, Major); Weak Point (Heart) (+7 cp)

•

Skills: Acrobatics 1, Infiltration 2, Perception 1 (4 cp)

•

Gear: Masterwork Thief Tools, Twin Knives (Damage (PL - 2) (Extras: Barrage; FX Feats: Mighty, Split Attack) (1 + 2 x PL ep)

VAMPIRE

(31 + 4 X PL CP)

An almost human, but more entrancing, more hypnotic creature, whose pallor and cold skin are all but unnoticeable at first brush. •

Abilities: Strength +2, Dexterity +2, Constitution --, Intelligence +1, Charisma +2 (4 cp)

•

Skills: Persuasion 2 (2 cp)

•

Feats: Combat Expert (Gain Combat Advantage (Grab)) (1 cp)

•

FX: Bite (Drain (PL) (Constitution; Extras: Insidious, Flaws: Requires Combat Advantage)); Enhanced (Toughness) (PL);

Fortitude

(9 + 4 X PL CP)

What was once a man is now a scraggly, snarling beast with a lupine face, vicious teeth and claws, slavering as it stalks closer, hungry for the kill. •

Abilities: Strength +5, Dexterity Intelligence -1, Charisma -2 (22 cp)

•

Skills: Recovery +2 (2 cp)

•

FX: Damage (PL - 5) (Damage (FX Feats: Mighty)); Enhanced (Toughness) (PL) (Extras: Impervious; Drawbacks: Vulnerable (Major, Uncommon (Silvered Weapons)); Regeneration 6 (Injured 6 (No Action; Drawbacks: FX Loss (Damage from Silvered Weapons)) (3 + 3 x PL cp)

•

Drawbacks: Involuntary Transformation irresistible); Normal Identity (+7)

A crafty rogue who knows a thing or two about getting into places he shouldn't be able to and taking what doesn't belong to him. Abilities: Dexterity +1 (2 cp)

(Aging,

WEREWOLF

(6 CP, 1 + 2 X PL EP)

•

31

ZOMBIE

+4,

Constitution

+5,

(Full-Moon,

(29 + 5 X PL CP)

A shambling undead corpse staggered forward, mouth opened in a perpetual, wordless moan as its dead, glassy eyes fix directly on the nearest warm flesh in the air. •

Abilities: Constitution --, Intelligence --, Charisma -- (-30 cp)

•

FX: Bite ((Drain (PL) (Constitution; Extras: Linked (Damage); Flaws: Requires Combat Advantage)), (Damage (PL) (Extras: Linked (Drain); Flaws: (Requires Combat Advantage))); Enhanced (Toughness) (PL) (Extras: Impervious); Zombie Plague (Transform (PL/2) (Living Human into Zombie; Extras: Disease; FX Feats: Triggered (On a Bite that would reduce target below -5 Constitution)); Immunity 60 (Fortitude and Will Resistances) (60 + 5 x PL cp)

•

Drawbacks: Weak Point (Head Shot) (+1 cp)

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game

Appendix I: Creating a Character The d20 Advanced point-buy system for creating characters is incredibly flexible, but can be very intimidating to first-time players. This section is meant to provide a guide for character creation. These are not hard-and-fast rules, and every character needs to be approached a little differently, and every player should find the way that's most comfortable to work with. You should decide what works best for you.

Step 1: Concept Come up with a concept for your character. What sort of character do you want to play? Try to describe your character in a short phrase, like “gun-toting Amazon” or “cybernetic swordsman from the future” or “telepathic detective”. Start with something that conjures up exciting and has you wanting to play. Don't worry about starting generic either: you might just want a knight in shining armor, or a flying super-strong superhero, or a space pilot. Great! Start with the concept you want, and use the time you spend creating your character to move beyond your simple starting concept, so that you can create a character that's truly your own. Where did your character come from? What sorts of abilities does your character have? How will this character approach various tasks in-game, like combat? How does your character talk? What would your character do if he or she found a criminal in the act, or was asked to rescue someone from a burning building? When not on adventures, what does your character do? Does your character have a job, friends, or a family?

Step 2: Key Traits In general, you want to start building your character around the abilities which you consider to be the most essential. For a mage or a superhero or another character with lots of supernatural powers, you might want to start with your character's most important FX. For a more skill-oriented character, you'll obviously want to start with your character's essential skills. Since this is likely the place where you'll spend most of your character points, this is where you want to start (to make sure you have the points to spend in the first place).

Step 3: Combat Skills Next, you want to bring your character up to the game's power level caps for his or her combat skills. This is also the time to decide on trade-offs for your character. If your character is especially quick or tough, or hits especially hard, you should take the appropriate trade-offs (as described in Chapter I: The Basics).

How you reach your caps in these skills is another way you can define your character. If your character isn't trained in defending him or herself, maybe your character uses an FX like Enhanced Trait (Defense) to represent a shield of a preternatural awareness that makes your character nigh-untouchable. Your character's toughness might come from super-hard skin with Enhanced Trait, or it might be from armor, or just from natural toughness like the Tough feat, or possibly a combination of all three. How you reach your caps in different skills is what defines your character.

Step 4: Ability Scores Once you've established the essentials for your character, you need to start building up ability scores, which form the foundation to all of your character's non-combat skills. Decide how strong, how quick, how smart, and how charming your character is. Use the benchmarks for ability scores given in Chapter II to decide just how high to buy your character's scores. These scores will help you determine how much you need to invest in non-combat skills.

Step 5: Non-Combat Skills Now you need to decide on what non-combat skills your character needs, and at what levels. Unlike combat skills, you definitely don't need to buy these abilities up to cap. Rather, you should use the benchmarks in Chapter III: Skills to decide where you want to peg your character's various skills. You'll probably want to invest at least a few ranks in resistances like Fortitude, Will, and Notice (but don't feel like you need to max all of them out either: if your character doesn't have any weaknesses, the game can get very boring very quickly). Most other skills are optional and really should only be purchased if your character has some training in them. But if your character does have the training and experience, then definitely buy them up to an appropriate level. A general rule of thumb would be to keep ranks in skills that are secondary and aren't a focus for your character at or below half the campaign's power level, while more important skills should be near the campaign's power level. Truly important skills (such as a hacker's Technology skill) are the only ones which should really be maxed out.

Step 6: Feats Now that you've really started fleshing your character out, it's time to decide what else your character can do. Feat are useful for further customize your character. Combat feats are useful for

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game describing how your character fights, while skill feats give you new options or additional bonuses while using different types of skills. Fortune feats present new ways to gain and use Hero Dice. If your game is using the optional rules for reputation or tactical movement options, you might also take advantage of the Reputation or Opportunity feats. General feats are also useful to provide more options for your character which aren't necessarily skill- or combatbased.

Step 9: GM Approval Finally, you need to bring to your GM a copy of your character to make certain that the final product is one that the GM is comfortable running adventures for. If it is, you're ready to go! If not, you and your GM will work together to address and problems and to create a character that best fits both the game and your concept for the character.

Step 7: FX, Gear, and Other Abilities As you approach the home stretch, you might find yourself with extra character points left over. What other traits or gear might your character have? Maybe your character has an apartment, or a pet, or a side-job as a short-order cook. Or maybe in addition to your character's ability to fly and breathe fire, your character can teleport between fireplaces or bonfires. What other abilities or gear might be appropriate for your character? What else can someone with your character's capabilities potentially do? What is it that makes your cybernetic swordsman from the future different than the other cyborgs with swords?

Step 8: Details and Characteristics Once you've spent your allotment of character points, you an still work to develop your character further. Chapter I: The Basics has an entire section suggesting ways to customize your character, such as motivations, description of appearance and personality, and causes or beliefs to which your character pledges allegiance. You can define your character's very nature and outlook and history. It's with this step that you take your unique concept from numbers on a character sheet and bring them to life in the form of a fully-realized character.

What About Converting Characters? So do you want to convert a favorite character over from another game system? The principle for conversion is largely the same as the way you'd normally create a brand-new character: start with the concept and then work forward from there. The approach is a little bit different (as you'll likely already have abilities in-mind that fit for your character), but you'll still want to follow the steps outlined above, as well as these guidelines.

General Guidelines When converting a character or creature, you should understand that your goal shouldn't be to make a perfect copy, but to stay true to the spirit and concept of what you're converting. If the character or creature you're converting does a lot of damage for its level, or is especially hard to hit in another system, then give it a trade-off to reflect that. Special abilities should be covered with reasonable accuracy as FX or feats or a combination of both. The harder question is what power level to place a converted creature or character at. Again, use your judgment. In many cases, especially when converting a character, the GM will have already picked out an appropriate power level for the game. It's a little trickier for monsters and NPCs, but all the GM really needs to decide is just how much stronger (or weaker) than the PCs the creatures need to be. Chapter XII: Stock Characters is useful for determining just how powerful a creature needs to be to be a certain kind of threat to your characters.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game

Appendix II: Sample Session Below is a sample session of d20 Advanced, focused mainly around a single encounter (an attempt by the heroes to infiltrate a warehouse and capture the criminals using it as a base).

Singularity can fly up there, he can drop a rope down to the rest of us.” Singularity is a PL 8 character with a rank of Enhanced Movement (Flight) to represent his ability to lower his own gravity.

The Heroes Todd- GM Pete- Singularity, gravity manipulator Christine- Deadeye, tactician and gunslinger Eric- Titan, powerhouse Anna- Fae, faerie envoy from court of Oberon

“Well, I don't exactly have any rope,” Pete says. “And can Titan fit through the windows?” Eric asks Todd, who shakes his head “no”. Anna runs her finger down her character sheet. “Well, can Fae try making a rope if there's plants around?

Infiltrating “Okay, guys,” Todd says once everyone is seated. “Last time, you tracked down the gang behind the armored car heist to a warehouse off the interstate. The one you're looking for sits fourth in a row of six warehouses, labeled 'A' through 'F'. There's a large rolling garage-style door at the front of the pre-fab warehouse, as well as a lot of small, broken windows about forty feet up ringing most of the structure. From the outside, it looks pretty quiet.” “Well, hopefully that means they didn't see us pull up,” Christine muses. “Okay. We should fan out and look for other entrances.” Eric sighs. “Let's just have Titan lift up the door and everyone run inside and start beating them down.” “You know, not everyone can take a machinegun to the face like Titan can,” Pete reminds him as he rolls a die around in the palm of his hand. Titan, a PL 8 character, has Enhanced Toughness 12 with the Impervious extra (thanks to a trade-off with Defense). His Defense is only 4, but it takes a lot to hurt him. “Well, what if we tried to pretend we're the people they're waiting for?” Anna suggests. “Fae's pretty good at that kind of thing.” Fae is another PL 8 character. She has 8 ranks in Art, 4 ranks in Persuasion, a +4 Charisma, and a rank in Attractive, meaning she'd have a +12 bonus to checks to disguise herself and to lie to targets who find her attractive, which Anna is hoping includes the gang members inside. “I don't think that's such a good idea,” Christine says. “They probably know what their contacts look like, so it'd be really hard for us to trick them that way. What about those windows up there? If

Fae can use Create Objects, but only when she has plants to manipulate (essentially the Create Objects FX with the Limited flaw). “Sure,” Todd says. “Fae can do that. There's plenty of grass and weeds growing next to the paved driveway.” “And then we can have Titan break through the wall on the far side,” Christine says with a nod to Eric. “That way we'll have the gang in a pincer formation.” In addition to being nearly bulletproof, Titan is also massively strong, with lots of Enhanced Strength and Enhanced Might. “Sounds good to me,” Eric says, cracking his knuckles. “And Fae is going to go make that rope.” Anna then begins to describe Fae using her abilities. “She uses her magic to make the grass grow impossibly fast and weaves it around to make a nice, strong rope as she presents it to Singularity.” “So Singularity's going to fly up to the window, hopefully without the gang noticing him,” Pete says. “Okay. Give me an Infiltration check,” Todd says. Pete rolls his die. Singularity has some experience with breaking and entering, as he used to be a burglar. He has 3 ranks in Infiltration and +2 Dexterity, for a +5 bonus to his roll total. “I got a 16 on my roll, so that's a 21,” he reports to Todd. Todd double-checks the Perception bonuses for the gang members inside. The highest bonus is the gang leader's +10,

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game which gives him a 20 for his Perception resistance, and it's not enough to notice Singularity flying up. “Okay,” Todd says after a few seconds of checking his notes. “Singularity manages to fly up there and lower the rope down for Fae and Deadeye. And Titan is heading around to the other side of the warehouse?” “Yeah,” Eric confirms. “Can you guys give me Athletics checks to climb up?” “Singularity's flying,” Pete points out. Anne looks up. “And Fae's going to fly too. I keep almost forgetting her wings aren't just for show.” “So I just need the Athletics check from Deadeye,” Todd says, looking over at Christine. Deadeye isn't terribly strong (Strength +1), but she went through basic military training in her background. She has 4 ranks in Athletics, giving her a +5 bonus to her Athletics check. Climbing a rope with a wall to brace against is a fairly easy DC 10 check, so Christine only needs to roll a 5 to climb up successfully. “I got an 8,” she reports after rolling. “Is a 13 enough?” “Yeah,” Todd tells her. “You've got a rope and a wall to brace against, so a 13's fine. From the window, Fae, Deadeye, and Singularity can see the gang. It looks like there are eight of them, and they all have the shotguns they had used during the hijacking of the armored car, which is parked in the middle of the warehouse, among stacks and stacks of crates. One of them is a big guy, not quite as big as Titan, of course, but still pretty big and imposing.” He looks over the group. “You can take Perception checks to see whether or not you can make out what the gang members are saying. It's going to be hard, between the echo of the big warehouse and the way he's talking quietly, but you might be able to make something out.” The players roll. The characters suffer a -5 circumstance penalty to their Perception checks due to poor conditions and the gang leader talking quietly, and Todd sets the check DC at 10. The players roll, and Todd mentally tacks on the -5 penalty to their results. Todd can also just set the DC at 15 instead of 10 to make it simpler, or he can tell the players what the circumstance penalty to their checks are going to be. “Okay, so Deadeye can make it out,” Todd says after he's looked over the results. “It sounds like the gang leader is annoyed at their demolitions guy for tripping the alarm that clued you guys in. You can't make out their names.” “Do they know we tracked them down?” Christine asks. Todd shakes his head. “You can't tell. They're not talking about it.” “So now we attack, right?” Pete asks. “I'm gonna turn the gravity up on them and crush them so-” “No no!” Christine says. “Not yet! We're still hanging from the outside of the building! We're sitting ducks!” “We've still got the rope,” Anna offers. “We can swing it around to the other side and climb back down.” “You can do that,” Todd confirms. “Okay, so Deadeye will start pulling the rope up,” Christine reports. “And Singularity is going to get ready to attack if the gang tries anything,” Pete adds.

“Can Titan charge through the wall when he hears the fight start?” Eric asks. Todd nods. “You can take a Perception check to hear when the fight starts.” “Are we on the floor yet?” Christine asks. “You need to make Infiltration checks to get in without them noticing,” Todd says, “and then Christine, Deadeye needs another Athletics check to climb down safely.” Deadeye has +4 Dexterity and 6 ranks in Infiltration, thanks to her training in the Green Berets, giving her a +10 bonus on Infiltration checks. Fae has +3 Dexterity, but no ranks in Infiltrate. “24 for Singularity!” Pete cheers at his good luck so far. “Deadeye has a 26 for the Infiltration,” Christine reports. Anna frowns. “Um... Fae got a 4.” Todd grins. “Uh oh,” Pete says. “I know that look. That means something bad's about to happen!” “The last time he smiled like that he dropped a yatch on us,” Eric says. “I guess that means they noticed us?” Christine asks. “Thanks to the flutter of faerie wings, yep, they heard you guys,” Todd says. “The gang's leader cries out, 'They followed us! Get them!' The gang raises their weapons and level them at the heroes as they squeeze through the window.” “We're buying mufflers for Fae's wings after this,” Pete mutters to Anna, who sticks her tongue out at him.

The Fight “Okay, everyone, both sides are aware of each other, so both of you are going to need Reflex checks for initiative,” Todd says. Singularity has 4 ranks in Reflex with his +2 Dexterity. Deadeye has 8 ranks in Reflex with a +4 Dexterity. Fae has 2 ranks in Reflex and +3 Dexterity. Titan has no ranks in Reflex and a +0 Dexterity The six basic gang members have 3 ranks in Reflex and +0 Dexterity. The gang's leader has 4 ranks in Reflex and +0 Dexterity, while the brute of the gang also has 4 ranks in Reflex and +0 Dexterity. Todd decides to save time and have all of the basic gang members, who are minions, act on the same initiative count. After sorting out their results, Todd announces the initiative order. “Deadeye has a 24. The six regular gang members have a 17. Fae got a 16, the gang's leader has a 14 and Titan has a 10. Singularity has an 8, and last up is going to be the big gang member. So Deadeye is leading us off.” “Right,” Christine says. “Is Deadeye still on the rope?” “Yeah,” Todd confirms. “She's dangling 30 feet up in the window, but since she's moving down the rope, she can take a full move down with one action if you take a -10 penalty on the Athletics check, which will let her reach the floor.” “If I take a -5, can I make it halfway down with one action?” Christine asks.

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game Normally a character can only move ¼ his or her speed while climbing with Athletics in one action, but rappelling can be simulated using the Fast Climb challenge at a -5 penalty to move half speed, or full speed at -10 feet. Todd nods. “Well, I really don't want to be flat-footed when the gang starts shooting at me,” Christine reasons, “and since they're flat-footed at the start of the round, I'll get sneak attack against them.” The sneak attack feat grants characters a bonus to damage against foes who they have combat advantage against, such as those who are flat-footed at the start of combat. “So what are you going to do?” Todd asks her. “Deadeye is going to take a shot at one of the gang members with one action and then rappel down with the other. She can let go and fall for free. Falling 15 feet isn't too much damage.” “Since they're minions, you're going to hit the gang members,” Todd says, “so go ahead and roll for damage and then you'll need an Athletics check to climb down.” “Great! Deadeye's gun does +4 damage by itself, and since they're flat-footed, she'll get her sneak attack damage.” Christine rolls the die. Deadeye has 10 ranks in Weapon Group (Pistols). As a PL 8 character, she needed to take a trade-off with her Damage on her pistols. Since the basic gang members are minions, Deadeye can take 10 on attack rolls against them, and since they're flat-footed (they haven't acted yet in combat), that means that Deadeye will automatically hit them. To determine damage, Deadeye rolls using her weapon's damage bonus (+4 from the gun, +2 from sneak attack) and tries to overcome the target's Toughness resistance. The DC to overcome Toughness is 5 + the target's Toughness bonus. As minions, a result of Injured is enough to remove the minion from combat. The gang member has 6 ranks of Toughness from a bulletproof vest and the Tough feat (note that for most NPCs, it's not that important to stat out where every bonus comes from). With the minion's Toughness resistance of 6 and Deadeye's damage modifier of +6 total on this attack, she only needs a 5 to injure the minion (and take him out of the fight). “8, but with the +6, that's 14 for damage,” she reports. “That's enough to get him,” Ted tells her. “He's a minion, so he goes down. Now I need your Athletics check to climb down.” Christine rolls. “13, and with the -5 penalty that cancels out my Athletics bonus, it's just 13. Is that enough?” “That'll get you down half-way,” Todd tells her. “And it's Acrobatics to break your fall, right?” Christine rolls the die again. The DC to fall safely with Acrobatics is 5 + the distance a character needs to fall in feet. Deadeye has a +4 Dexterity and 6 ranks in Acrobatics, for a total bonus of +10 on this check. “6,” she reports, “so a 16.” “That means you can soak up eleven feet of the fall, and you only count four of them, but that's not enough to do damage.”

“Awesome!” Christine says. “Okay, so Deadeye goes rappelling down the rope, firing her handgun at one of the gang members. She drops after the last shot, tucks, and rolls, raising her gun immediately as she finds her feet.” “And now the gang members start their counter-attack,” Todd says. “Two are firing at Deadeye, two at Singularity, and one at Fae.” Todd rolls for the gang members. The minions have an attack bonus of +6 with their guns. Deadeye has 10 ranks in Defense (thanks to a trade-off with Toughness), while Singularity and Fae both have 8 ranks. However, Singularity and Fae haven't acted yet, so they're flat-footed and denied their Defense modifiers at the start of combat. Fae has two ranks of Uncanny Dodge, though, which means she retains 2 ranks of her Defense when caught flat-footed. This means that the minions need a 20 to hit Deadeye, a 12 to his Fae, and a 10 to hit Singularity. “Okay, we have one hit on Deadeye with a 24, one hit on Fae with a 13, and one hit on Singularity with a 19,” he announces as he rolls for damage. The minions have an damage bonus of +6 with their shotguns. Deadeye has a Toughness resistance of 6 between her armor and her Defensive Roll feat. Singularity and Fae have Toughness Resistances of 8 (Singularity's comes from his armored costume while Fae has natural faerie resistance to damage and a protective ward in place). Todd points at Christine. “Deadeye is taking 15 damage.” She checks her sheet. “Okay, so that's 4 more than 11, which means that Deadeye is only Injured.” Christine notes this on her sheet. An Injured character suffers a -1 penalty to Toughness resistance. He says to Anna, “And Fae is taking 11.” “So Fae's not even Injured by the shot,” she says with a smile. “Guess that faerie spell stopped it!” “And Singularity,” Todd finishes, “is getting hit for 19.” “19?” Pete sighs. “Man, that means that Singularity is Injured and Dazed.” An attack which overcomes a character's toughness by 5 or more both Injured and Dazed, taking a -1 penalty to Toughness and losing an action on his or her next turn. “Now it's Fae's turn,” Todd tells Anna. “Okay,” she says, looking over her character sheet. “How about Fae flies over them and uses a little faerie magic to give these guys vertigo?” “Does that FX have the Area extra?” Todd asks her. Anna cracks her knuckles. “It's faerie dust. Of course it has an area.” “You'll be able to attack all of the regular gang members, the ones who just opened fire,” Todd tells her. “You need to make an attack roll against them.”

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game One of Fae's FX is Inflict (Condition) with the Area Extra. Her Inflict targets Fortitude and the disorientation it causes targets within 80 feet to suffer a penalty to attacks. As an area attack, Fae needs to make a single attack roll against all targets in the area. Those who are hit suffer the full effects of the attack; those who aren't hit suffer the effect at half-modifier.

Titan has a +8 bonus to Strength and 5 ranks in Might, for a total bonus of +13. Steel has 10 ranks in toughness per inch, but the prefabricated walls are much thinner than an inch, so Todd decides that they have half that bonus (5 ranks in Toughness). He'll need to at least stagger the wall to break through it in one try, and that will take a damage result of at least 20.

She rolls her die. “Okay, so a 4 plus 8... that's only a twelve.” “So the gang members are only taking half of the faerie dust,” he responds. “Alright.” She rolls the die. “15 plus 4 gives me a 19.” “You beat their Fortitude by 5, so they're taking a -5 penalty to their attack rolls until they recover,” Todd says. “Ha!” Pete says. “Suck on pixie dust!” “Faerie dust,” Anna corrects him. “And now the gang leader's up. He starts yelling to the other members of the gang, 'Get up! Take them out! Get to the truck!' He draws his gun, but doesn't fire.” Gesturing to the group, he says, “Since he's using Inspire this round, he pays for it by giving each of you guys a Hero Die.”

“18,” Eric says. “Plus 13 from Might, minus 5 penalty. 26.” “That's enough to shred the wall,” Todd tells him, “and for Titan to take a normal move too. That'll mean he can attack next round, and that he's close to the gang after his movement.” “Then once he's done crashing through, he's going to say, 'Sorry for crashing the party'.” Everyone groans at Eric's joke. Pete picks up his die. “Okay, Singularity's up now, right? I want to crush the guys who Fae pixie-dusted last round.” “Faerie dusted,” Anna corrects him again. “Whatever. Since Singularity only gets one action this round, he's gonna just drop a gravity-crush on the gang. Let's crank up the gforces and smash some bad guys.” Pete rolls. Singularity has a Damage 8 FX with the Range and Area extras.

The gang leader has 2 ranks in the Inspire feat, has a Charisma of +2, so he can grant two of his allies a +2 bonus to all attack rolls, resistances, and skill checks for one round. Normally, this requires an expenditure of a Hero Die, but since NPCs don't get Hero Dice, they instead grant the PCs Hero Dice, as if the GM were using GM Fiat. The players let out a little cheer and collect their dice, adding the dice to their pools of Hero dice. “And now,” Todd says, “it's Titan. I need that Perception check to make sure that he could hear the fight starting.” Eric says, “It's about time,” as he rolls. Titan has 2 ranks in Perception and +0 Wisdom, so he only has +2 to his Perception check. However, to hear gunfire and shouting through a prefabricated wall is only DC 5. “6,” he says. “That's an 8 total on Perception.” “Titan can hear the gunfire and shouting inside the warehouse,” Todd tells Eric. “Awesome. Titan's gonna bust through that wall, then,” Eric says. “Can he break in and then run into the fight?” A character may use Might to break through an inanimate object for two actions. The GM may allow the player to use a skill challenge, taking a -5 penalty on the check to perform the action in half the usual time (one action instead of two). Since Titan's player wants Titan to both break through the wall and move, the GM can offer this option to the player. Todd nods. “But if you want to do both, your Might check is going to be at -5.” “That's fine,” Eric says as he rolls. “I'm pretty sure that Titan's strong enough for that. I mean, it's just sheet metal, right?” “Yeah,” Todd confirms. “Go ahead and roll.”

“Alright, a 17 total should hit them all.” He rolls again after Todd's confirmation. “And for damage, that's a 12. That should do it!” “Four of the gang members are going down,” Todd tells him, but remember that the gang's leader used Inspire last turn? 12 isn't quite enough to take down the last one of them.” “I still took down the most so far,” Pete reminds everyone quickly. “And the big gang member is going to cover his boss and hold his actions until next turn,” Todd says. The big gang member is readying both of his actions, so he can take them later. He's readying one action to follow the gang leader, and another to attack anyone who comes into his melee range. “So at the top of the round, Deadeye's up, right?” Christine asks. “Okay, so we've got one regular gang-member left, the gang's leader, and the big guy. And the leader said something about getting out of there, so... hmm. How about Deadeye uses Quickdraw to pull out her second pistol, and then opens fire at the minion and then on the gang leader with her second action?” Since characters get two actions each round, they may choose to make two attacks. Deadeye represents fighting with two pistols with the Barrage extra on their attacks, meaning that if she hits a target, she gets to roll again to try to build up a Dice Pool for damage. She can earn two extra bonus damage dice in this dice pool in this way. “Sure,” Todd tells her. “Go ahead and make your attack rolls.” Christine rolls. “Okay. 21 against the regular gang member.” “That hits,” Todd tells her, “so you get to roll again for the barrage.” Christine does so, rolling to hit two more times, her grin growing wider with each success. “And now for the damage,” she says as she rolls her pool of three dice. “The 18 is the highest, so Deadeye is dealing 22 damage to this guy.” Todd nods. “Got him. He's down. And for the gang's leader?” She rolls once more. “Ugh. 14.”

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game “That's not going to hit, unfortunately,” Todd tells her. The gang leader's has a defense of 20, thanks to a trade-off with Toughness. “Since the gang members are all down, Fae gets to go, right?” Anna asks, picking up her die. “How about she tries to distract the gang's leader and get Combat Advantage? Can she taunt him a little with Persuasion?” “Give it a shot,” Todd tells her. “He's going to be resisting with Perception.” Both of them roll. Fae is attempting a Maneuver to Gain Combat Advantage. She rolls her Persuasion (4 ranks + 4 Charisma + 4 bonus from Attractive for a +12 bonus overall), while the gang's leader rolls Perception (for which he has +12). If the gang leader succeeds, he is unaffected. If Fae succeeds, she'll gain Combat Advantage and her foe becomes Off-Balance, suffering a -2 penalty to defense against Fae's attacks. If Fae succeeds by 5 or more, he'll be Vulnerable, losing his Defense bonus against her attacks. If she succeeds by 10 or more, he'll be treated as flat-footed against everyone's attacks. “23,” Anna says. “And he's only got a 17, so he's Vulnerable.” Anna smiles. “Alright! Fae flutters around taunting him, going, 'You guys left a trail a mile wide, and now we're taking you down!', and when he's distracted, she's going to hit him with some a magic blast.” Fae's magic blast is Damage 8 with the Ranged extra. Since she has combat advantage over the gang's leader this round, she's very likely to hit. “And that's a 12... that still hits him while he's Vulnerable this round, I think.” “You got it,” Todd says. “Roll for damage for me.” Anna does so. “Oh come on! A natural 1, so that's only a 9.” Todd blinks. “Wow. He actually resists the damage, so no injury. And he's up, and the big guy is acting with him. They're going to make a run to get cover behind the armored car.” Characters with hard cover impose a -5 penalty on attack rolls made against them.

None of the players look very pleased. “That beats Deadeye's by 3,” Christine sighs, “so she's blind, taking a -2 to attacks, and loses an action?” “Yeah, he beat Singularity by 1, so same thing,” Pete reports. “I'm never going to get a full round of actions, am I?” “Um, I got a 10,” Anna says. “Blind, -5 to attacks, and you lose both your actions this round,” Todd tells her. “You'll get Fortitude checks on the next round to start trying to shake the gas off.” “Don't worry,” Eric says. “Titan's going to get these guys. I want to run at the gang's leader and then grab him and pound him.” “He'll resist with Acrobatics to try to slip away. You'll have to take your Might check at -5,” Todd warns Eric. “It worked for me last round,” Eric tells him as the two of them roll. Moving is one action, and attacking is another. A player can attempt to do both while still using a maneuver if the player takes a -5 penalty to the opposed Maneuver check. The gang's leader is not exactly an acrobat, with a +2 Dexterity and 2 ranks in Acrobatics for a total of +4. “I got a natural 1,” Eric groans. “Can I spend a Hero Die to reroll that?” “Sure,” Todd says. “You're going to have to beat a 15.” Titan has two Hero Dice, one from the start of the adventure, and one from the gang's leader using Inspire last round. He gets to roll two dice and then pick the best result to count for his opposed maneuver check. “6 and 11, so with the 11 that's a 19,” Eric says. “You've got him Off-Balance with the grab,” Todd tells him, “so his Defense is at -2 this round against your attack.” “Then I'll pound him.” Eric rolls again. “Natural 20! That's a critical hit!” A character scores a Critical Hit on a natural 20, gaining a +5 bonus to the modifier of the effect he or she is attacking with. In this case, Titan gains a +5 bonus to his damage. Thanks to his trade-off, the gang leader's toughness is only 6, so he's in trouble. “And for Damage... that's 8 from Strength plus 5 from the critical hit so that's a 19 for damage.” Eric looks pleased with himself. “He's Injured, Dazed, and Staggered,” Todd reports.

“Once they've got cover, the leader is lobbing a grenade,” Todd says as he rolls the die. “It's only going to be able to target Singularity, Deadeye, and Fae, since he can't hit Titan too.”

A staggered character is barely holding on, and only gets one action each round. Since he's also dazed, the gang leader doesn't get to act next turn, and the next time he's injured at all, he'll be knocked out.

The grenade contains a special tear gas that the gang leader synthesized himself. The grenade has the Area extra, and against targets it hits, the gas will attempt to overcome the targets' Fortitude to Dazzle them and Inflict a penalty to their attacks and actions, both at rank 8 (twice as potent as regular tear gas).

“So Titan grabs him and slams him against the truck. Boom!” Eric flexes. “You're not going anywhere, buddy.” Todd starts rolling again. “Wait, what's going on?” Christine asks, starting to get worried. “The big guy readied an action to attack if anyone came in melee range,” Todd tells her, “so he's taking a swing at Titan. But since he rolled a 2, that's a miss, even on Titan.” “He can't hit the broad side of anything,” Pete laughs.

“And the gang leader gets a 22 on his attack roll, so I think that gets all three of you.” Todd rolls for the effect. “And he's hitting for 19.”

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game “But Singularity's up, and he's still blind,” Todd tells him. Pete sighs. “Fine. Singularity is going to land so he doesn't crash or anything. And he probably wouldn't hit the big guy with him having cover even if he could see.” “And the big guy's up now,” Todd says. “He scowls at Titan and says, 'I ain't getting paid enough to deal with you people.' He reaches over, grabs the gang's leader, and then dives into the truck. You guys are all taking a Hero Die because they're escaping as he floors it and goes barreling out through the big rolling door at the main truck entrance to the warehouse.” “He's lucky he ran,” Eric says, pounding his fist into his palm. “Titan would've beat him into the ground.” “How long are we going to be blind?” Christine asks. “We need to start following them.” “We should look for clues about where they went,” Anna says. “I say we interrogate one of the guys who got left behind,” Pete says. “They might know something.”

Interrogation “Once you guys are recovered, after about a minute, you can find one of the gang members who's coming around,” Todd says. Rather than force the players to roll until they overcome a condition with a duration that makes it only really relevant in combat with short rounds, the GM simply chooses to hand-wave over the recovery and just assume that after 10 rounds, all of the characters are recovered from the effects of the gas. “Okay, I'm thinking that Titan should be the bad cop, and Fae should be the good cop,” Christine says. “That sounds good,” Eric says, cracking his knuckles. “Titan's better at intimidating anyway.” Titan has 2 ranks in Talented (Persuasion (Intimidate)), giving him a +10 bonus to Persuasion checks to Intimidate. This will be helpful in his role in the Dramatic Interaction. “And Singularity can help Titan seem scary,” Pete volunteers. “Deadeye and her heavy pistols can give a hand too,” Christine offers. Singularity and Deadeye are going to Aid Titan with his Persuasion checks to Intimidate. If they can succeed on DC 10 Persuasion checks themselves, they'll grant Titan a +2 bonus on his check. “Then let's start the interrogation,” Todd says. “Your side has 5 edge dice to start and so does the gang member. If he wins, he's not going to talk. If you guys win, he'll tell you where the gang is going. We'll start with you guys first.” “Got it,” Eric says. “Titan's going to walk over to the guy, crouch in front of him, and say, 'So it looks like it's just you and us, pal. Now where are your little buddies going?' while he cracks his knuckles.” “And Singularity is going to lean over Titan's shoulder and say, 'We can do this the easy way or the hard way,'” Pete pipes up. Christine extends a finger, as if pointing a gun. “Deadeye'll start polishing her gun next to Titan, glancing at the guy.” “Go ahead and roll your Persuasion checks to Intimidate, Pete and

Christine. Eric, how many edge dice do you want to wager?” Todd asks. “Um, I guess let's start with two,” Eric says as the other two players roll. “11 from Deadeye,” Christine says. “And 4 from Singularity,” Pete says. “So +2 total to Titan's check,” Todd tells him. “And the gang member is going to match your wager of two dice and he'll be resisting with Perception, to see if he can notice you guys wavering in your promises to hurt him.” The player making the check for the Dramatic Interaction rolls the wagered dice against the GM. The winner of the opposed check takes all the wagered edge dice. “10 from Talented plus 2 from Deadeye, so that's a 17,” Eric says, brushing aside two dice, one showing a 3 and one showing a 5. “And he's only got a 13, so you guys win this first round,” Todd tells him, sliding the players the wager. “The guy swallows hard. 'I don't know! The boss never told us where we were going!' he swears.” “I bet he's lying,” Anna says. “We should oppose with Perception to see if he's telling the truth,” Christine says. “I think Deadeye has the highest sense motive. Can they try to Aid Deadeye?” Todd shakes his head. “No, it's kind of hard for you guys to sit down and discuss with one another why you think he's lying.” He picks up one die. “He's only going to risk wagering one die on this one.” “Alright,” Christine says. “I'll match that.” They roll the dice. “Uh-oh,” Christine says. “That's only an 11.” “And he managed a 14 on that,” Todd says, collecting the wager. “He's got 4, you guys have 6, and it's your turn.” “Can Fae play 'good cop' now?” Anna asks. “Go for it,” Eric says, pushing the dice over to her. “Okay. How about Fae says, 'You know, they abandoned you. And if you help us, we'll make sure the police and the district attorney know. We're pretty good friends with the D.A., so we might even be able to get you a real nice plea bargain.' She gives him her sweetest smile.” Anna picks up two dice again. “It's a pretty tempting offer,” Todd admits, picking up only one die, “so he's going to oppose this one with Will to avoid giving in.” After a roll, Todd passes the wager to Anna. “He had a pretty bad Will anyway,” the GM admits. “Now you guys have 7 and he has 3. This time, the gang member looks over his fallen allies. 'How do I know you won't just leave me hanging when the police come?' he challenges them.” Anna says, “Fae is going to tell him, 'Would you rather we ask one of them to roll over on you?' as she points to the other unconscious gang members.” “So you're going to try Persuasion again while he's trying to gauge you with Perception?” Todd asks, picking up another die. Anna nods. “Yeah, so he trusts us,” she says, grabbing one die herself. The two of them roll, and Anna grins when she succeeds again. “He's starting to trust you,” Todd reports as he gives the players both wagered dice. “And now it's our turn?” Christine asks. “How about... can Deadeye use some of her Expertise in the criminal underworld to convince the guy that they know enough to put him away for a long time, and that they're his only chance?” “I'll let you use Expertise non-proficiently for Persuasion,” Todd tells

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game her. “And he'll resist with Will again.” He grabs two dice this time, and Christine grabs three. “I just hope one of them rolls high,” she says. Deadeye has 8 ranks in Expertise (Underworld) and +2 Wisdom, giving her a +10 bonus. However, since she's using Expertise non-proficiently to replicate Persuasion, she only gets to use half of the ranks (4) and her Charisma bonus instead of her Wisdom (+0). Two of Christine's dice roll low, but the third one rolls a natural 20. The group lets out a cheer. “24!” Christine says. “That got him,” Todd says. “And just barely, with the way he rolled.” He hands the players the last of the edge dice. “The guy shuts his eyes. 'Alright, alright. I'll talk,' the gang member says.” “Oh, I can't wait to track down that guy and give him a little gravity blast,” Pete says.

Todd continues, “He tells you guys about how the gang's leader supposedly has a safe-house upstate, where he's probably running to. And next time, you guys get to work on tracking him down again.” “And pounding him again,” Eric adds. “Yeah,” Todd laughs. “Next time, after you track down and deal with these guys, you'll be able to get your character point rewards, okay?” The GM decides that the players haven't quite earned bonus character points yet, and they just got some recently, so he wants to wait until the end of the adventure to give the players their reward. “Sounds good,” Christine agrees. “So when are we getting the next game in?”

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game

Index A Abilities ........................................19 ___Altering ..................................20 Able Learner ...............................57 Academics ..................................37 Accurate ....................................120 Accurate Attack ...........................53 Acrobatics ...................................37 Action ___Descriptions ........................161 ___Drawback ............................131 ___Extra ....................................123 ___Flaw ....................................128 ___In Combat ...........................165 Additional Limbs ..........................78 Additional Resistance ..............128 Affect Area ................................177 Affects Insubstantial ..................120 Affects Objects ..........................123 Affects Others ...........................123 Agent .........................................267 Aid .............................................177 Aikido ..........................................64 Alien Invader .............................267 All-Out Attack ..............................54 Ally ..............................................58 Alternate FX ..............................120 Alternate Resistance .................113 Ambidexterity ..............................58 Anatomic Separation ...................79 Animal Empathy ..........................62 Anxiety ......................................207 Area ___Attacks ................................165 ___Extra ....................................123 Armor ........................................149 Array .........................................133 Art ...............................................46 Artificer ........................................62 Artillery ......................................254 Assessment ................................58 Athletics ......................................29 Attack ........................................161 ___Bonus ..................................161 ___Extra ....................................124 ___Attack Specialization .............53 Attacks of Opportunity ...............175 Attractive .....................................60 Aura ..........................................124 Avoid Risk .................................164 Avoidance .................................206

B Basics ...........................................3 Barrage .....................................125 Begin/Complete Action ..............165 Beginner’s Luck ..........................57 Benefit .........................................58 Blind-Fight ...................................54 Block .........................................165

Boost ..........................................79 Boxing .........................................64 Brute .........................................256

C Called Shot ...............................178 Campaign Era ...........................225 Campaign Feel ..........................230 Capable .......................................57 Capoeira .....................................64 Carnivorous Plant .....................267 Catatonia ...................................208 Challenge ....................................59 Champion ..................................256 Character Points .........................10 Check Required ........................128 Climate Effects ..........................189 Combat Advantage ...................173 Combat Concealment .................54 Combat Expert ............................54 Combat Reflexes ........................61 Combat Statistics ......................161 Combined Attack .......................178 Command .................................165 Communication ...........................80 Comprehend ...............................81 Concealment ___Condition .............................193 ___FX .........................................82 Conditions .................................193 Confuse .......................................83 Connected ...................................62 Constructs .................................157 Contacts ......................................62 Contagious ................................125 Container ..................................135 Counterattack ..............................61 Cover ___Condition .............................194 ___Maneuver ............................178 Create Objects ............................84 Creating an Encounter ..............252 Creating the Adventure .............221 Critical Strike ...............................54 Critical Hit ..................................162 Cultist ........................................267

D Damage and Injury .............................167 FX ...........................................85 Dazzle .........................................86 Dedication ...................................59 Defender ...................................258 Defense .......................................50 Defensive Attack .........................54 Defensive Roll .............................54 Defensive Strike ..........................54 Defensive Throw .........................61

Deflect .........................................87 Deflect Arrows .............................54 Demon ......................................267 Density ........................................88 Depression ................................206 Details & Characteristics .............13 Devices .....................................155 Diehard .......................................59 Dimensional ..............................120 Dinosaur ....................................268 Direction Sense ...........................59 Disability ......................................16 Disarm .......................................178 Disease .....................................125 Distract ........................................59 Distracting .................................128 Dragon ......................................268 Drain ...........................................89 Drawbacks ..................................15 ___Descriptions ..........................16 Drop An Item .............................165 Duration ___Extra ....................................125 ___Flaw ....................................128 Dwarf .........................................268

E Eagle Eyes ..................................59 Eidetic Memory ...........................59 Elf ..............................................268 Elongation ...................................90 Elusive Target .............................54 Emotion Control ..........................91 Enchanter .................................258 Endurance ...................................36 Enhanced ___Movement .............................93 ___Senses ..................................95 ___Trait .......................................92 Environmental Adaptation ...........59 Environmental Control ................98 Equipment .................................148 ___Feat .......................................59 Escalates ..................................129 Escrima .......................................64 ESP .............................................99 Evasion .......................................54 Examples of Taint ......................205 Expertise .....................................42 Explosion ..................................125 Extended Range Table ................75 Extended Reach ......................120 Extra Limb ...................................59 Extras ........................................123

F

Favored Environment ..................54 Favored Opponent ......................54 Fearless ......................................59 Fearsome Presence ....................59 Feat .............................................53 ___Creating ................................66 ___Descriptions ..........................53 Features ....................................100 Feedback ..................................129 Fencing .......................................65 Fighting Styles ............................63 First Strike ...................................55 Fixation .....................................206 Flanker ......................................260 Flaws .........................................128 Follow-Up Strike ..........................61 Fortitude ......................................37 Fugue ........................................208 Full Power ...................................17 FX ...............................................67 ___Countering ............................77 ___Creating ..............................133 ___Descriptions ..........................77 ___Drawbacks ..........................127 ___Feats ...................................120 ___Improving and Adding .........140 ___Loss (Drawback) .................131 ___Modifiers ............................122 ___Noticing .................................76 ___Structures ............................133 ___Types ....................................71 ___Using .....................................71

G Gain Combat Advantage ...........178 Gameplay ......................................5 Gargoyle ...................................268 General Equipment ...................144 Genre ........................................238 Ghost ........................................268 Giant .........................................268 GM Fiat ......................................10 Goblin ........................................269 Golem .......................................269 Grappling Block ...........................61 Growth ......................................100 Grunt .........................................254

H Halfling ......................................269 Healing ......................................102 Hero Dice ......................................8 Hide In Plain Sight ......................62 Homing ......................................120 Hoser ........................................206 Hysteria .....................................207

Fades ........................................129 Fascinate ....................................62 Fast Escalation .........................120

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I Illusion .......................................103 Immovable ................................104 Immunity ...................................104 ___To Disease ............................59 Impervious ................................125 Improved Block ...........................55 Improved Critical .........................55 Improved Initiative .......................55 Improved Opportunity .................61 Improved Range .......................121 Improvised Tools .........................62 Incurable ...................................121 Independent ..............................125 Indirect ......................................121 Inferiority Complex ....................206 Infiltration ....................................33 Inflict (Condition) .......................105 Informed Combatant ...................56 Innate ........................................121 Insidious ....................................125 Inspire .........................................57 Instant Up ....................................59 Insubstantial ..............................106 Interaction Types .......................199 Interpose .....................................58 Inventor .......................................62 Involuntary Transformation .........17 Irrationality ................................206

J Jujutsu (Judo) .............................65

K Karate .........................................65 Knockback ................................168 ___Extra ....................................126 ___FX Feat ...............................121 Knowledge ..................................25 Krav Maga ...................................65 Kung Fu ......................................65

L Leadership ..................................57 Light Sleeper ...............................60 Lightning Calculator ....................60 Limited ......................................129 Linked .......................................126 Lizardman .................................269 Low-Light Vision ..........................60 Low-Profile ..................................62 Luck Control ..............................107 Lurker ........................................262

M Madness ...................................205 Magical ......................................126 Maneuvers ................................176 Mania ........................................207 Manipulate Object .....................166 Martial Strike ...............................55 Master Plan .................................60 Mastermind ...............................264 Megalomania ............................207 Melancholia ...............................207

Mental .......................................126 Mental Strain .............................202 Might ...........................................30 Mind Control ..............................108 Mind Reading ............................109 Minions ......................................164 ___Feat .......................................60 Mob ...........................................164 Mobility ........................................61 Mobster .....................................269 Monstrous Vermin .....................269 Morph ........................................110 Move-By Action ...........................55 Move Object ..............................111 Movement ...................................21 ___Action ..................................166 ___All-Out .................................166 Moving Feint .............................121 Muay Thai ...................................65 Multiple Personality ...................208

N NPC Archetypes ........................254 NPC Guidelines ........................250 NPC Templates .........................267 Narcissism ................................207 Ninja ..........................................270 Ninjutsu .......................................65 No Resistance ...........................126 Non-Proficient .............................26 Normal Identity ............................17 Noticeable ...................................17 Nullify .........................................111

O Oathbound ..................................55 Obscure .....................................112 Obsessive Compulsion .............207 One-Way Transformation ............17 Ooze .........................................270 Opportunist .................................61 Orc ............................................270

P Paranoia ....................................208 PC Templates ............................243 Penetrating ................................127 Perception ...................................43 Permanent ................................129 Persuasion ..................................47 Phantasm ..................................129 Phobia .......................................207 Poison .......................................127 Police ........................................270 Power Attack ...............................55 Power Level ................................10 Precipitation ..............................189 Precise ......................................121 Precise Shot ................................56 Probability Control .....................113 Profession ...................................62 Progression ...............................121 Prone Fighting .............................56

Q Quick Change .............................60

Quick Draw .................................56 Quickness .................................113

R Rage ...........................................56 Range .........................................73 ___Extra ....................................127 ___Flaw ....................................129 Ranged Pin .................................56 Rapid Healing .............................60 Ready ........................................166 Realism .....................................232 Recovery .....................................37 Redirect .......................................56 Reduced Range ........................132 Reflex ..........................................35 Refocus .....................................166 Regeneration .............................114 Renown .......................................62 Reputation .................................201 Requires Combat Advantage ....129 Resistance Allowed ...................129 Resistances ................................25 Restorative ................................129 Reversible .................................121 Ricochet ....................................121 Ritualist .......................................63

S Schizophrenia ...........................208 Science .......................................39 Sea Monster ..............................270 Second Chance ..........................60 Secondary Effect .......................127 Sedation ....................................122 Seize Initiative .............................56 Selecting Options ......................245 Selective ...................................122 Selective Attack .........................127 Sense-Dependent .....................130 Set-Up .........................................56 Shrinking ...................................115 Side Effect .................................130 Sidestep ......................................61 Size .............................................21 Skill .............................................24 ___Challenges ............................27 ___Combat .................................24 ___Creating ................................51 ___Descriptions ..........................28 ___Extended ...............................26 ___How Skills Work ....................24 ___Non-Proficient Use ................26 ___Team .....................................28 Skill Mastery ................................63 Skirmisher .................................264 Sleep .........................................127 Sleight of Hand ...........................63 Slow Fade .................................122 Sneak Attack ...............................56 Soldier ___Medieval ..............................270 ___Modern ................................270 Speak ........................................166 Speak With (Animal) ...................60 Speed ........................................116 Speed Of Thought .......................56 Split Attack ................................122 Stand Up ...................................166 Status ..........................................63

Structures ..................................152 Stunning Attack ...........................56 Subtle ........................................122 Summon (Minion) ......................117 Sumo ...........................................65 Sunder ........................................56 Support .....................................266 Survival .......................................45 Suspicion ..................................207 Sweeping Strike ..........................56 Switch Array ..............................166

T Tactical Movement ....................170 Tae Kwan Do ...............................65 Taido ...........................................66 Taint ..........................................203 Takedown Attack .........................56 Talented ......................................63 Teamwork ....................................60 Technology ..................................40 Teleport .....................................118 Temperature ..............................189 Temporary Disability ..................129 Terrain Effects ...........................184 Terrorist .....................................271 Thief ..........................................271 Throwing Mastery .......................57 Time Sense .................................60 Time and Value Progression ___Table .....................................75 Tiring .........................................130 Tools ..........................................145 Total Fade .................................127 Tough ..........................................60 Toughness ...................................50 Track ...........................................63 Trade-Off .....................................11 Trance .........................................60 Transform ..................................119 Triggered ...................................122 Turn Off FX ...............................167

U Ultimate Effort .............................58 Uncanny Dodge ..........................57 Uncontrolled ..............................130 Unreliable ..................................130

V Vampire .....................................271 Vampiric ....................................127 Variable .....................................136 Variable Descriptor ....................122 Vehicles .....................................150 ___Skill .......................................35 Vocalization ...............................207 Vulnerable ...................................18

W Weak Point ..................................18 Weakness ...................................18 Wealth .......................................158 Weapons ...................................146 ___Weapon Bind ........................57 ___Weapon Break ......................57

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d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game ___Weapon Group .....................51 Well-Informed .............................63 Werewolf ...................................271 Wide .........................................128 Will ..............................................49 Wind .........................................189

Z Zombie ......................................271 Zones ........................................180

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COPYRIGHT NOTICE Open Game License v 1.0 Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. System Reference Document, Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc., Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. Modern System Reference Document, Copyright 2002-2004, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Bill Slavicsek, Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman, Charles Ryan, Eric Cagle, David Noonan, Stan!, Christopher Perkins, Rodney Thompson, and JD Wiker, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Richard Baker, Peter Adkison, Bruce R. Cordell, John Tynes, Andy Collins, and JD Wiker. Mutants & Masterminds, Copyright 2002, Green Ronin Publishing; Author Steve Kenson. Advanced Player’s Manual, Copyright 2005, Green Ronin Publishing: Author Skip Williams. Silver Age Sentinels d20, Copyright 2002, Guardians of Order, Inc.; Authors Stephen Kenson, Mark C. Mackinnon, Jeff Mackintosh, Jesse Scoble. Mutants & Masterminds, Second Edition, Copyright 2005, Green Ronin Publishing; Author Steve Kenson. Mastermind's Manual, Copyright 2006, Green Ronin Publishing; Author Steve Kenson. Ultimate Power, Copyright 2006, Green Ronin Publishing; Author Steve Kenson. d20 Advanced Adventure Roleplaying Game, Copyright 2008, Jackelope Crossing Games; Author John Pennisi.

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