Let’s face it, playing a Fighter level after level can get a little boring. A good DM will include some pretty interesting magical items, but aside from that it’s likely that your strategy in battle tends to be “attack the nearest enemy.” A few things have been tried in the history of D&D to make the Fighter a little more interesting and give them something to look forward to.

Fighter Combat Options seem to have been a combined attempt at codifying the kinds of maneuvers that characters can make in a board game-like battle, and to give fighters a couple of extra moves so they can do something besides roll 1d20 in a fight.

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Nunchucku – 1d6 – (F,C,T,E,D,H,My) Small, 2-handed weapon that doesn’t lose initiative. Can be used to give +1 in wrestling for choking.

Tetsubo – 1d8 – (F,C,E,D,My,Dr) – Large, 2-handed weapon that loses initiative; pole arm rules.

Sode Garami – 1d4 – (F,E,My,Dr) Large, 2-handed weapon that loses initiative. Can be used to catch the sleeves of the opponent; opponent gets save vs. paraysis.

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With 4th edition just around the corner, I thought I’d give my impression of 3rd Edition and the d20 system.

Good Ideas

The d20 system has several good ideas that make it easier to understand and more easy to play.

• Positive AC. A larger AC is better than a smaller one makes more sense.
• Magic. I like the idea of the effectiveness of saving throws being based on spell level. This makes more powerful magic inherently harder to avoid than less powerful magic, and it makes a lot of sense. I never liked the way a sixth level spell like Death could be simply shrugged off by a Save vs Death Ray, the easiest saving throw to make.
• Saving Throws. Having saving throws based on “reflex” or other descriptions of how a character may actually avoid a situation is clearer.

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The Color of Magic was an excellent article from Dragon Magazine issue no. 200 by Dan Joyce. I particularly liked it because it showed how the real game isn’t about rules and dice rolling–it’s about story and wonder. It explained how the mechanics of various spells (do damage, heal, improve AC, etc.) are really all the same, it’s how the spells are perceived that make the real difference. Additionally, I have found it a useful technique to tweak certain spells that seem “broken” for a particular campaign.

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First of all, this system may seem a little complex at first, but try to read it and see where it’s going. If it’s too much, simplify to suit your needs, but try to keep game balance (either through the rules, or through who obtains chi powers).

Chi (Ki) Powers

Chi powers increase by (level – level_you_learned_power)/2

Chi powers is an ability added for OD&D, providing much of the same kinds of ideas that psionics/sorcerors do. As psionics in D&D3, chi powers are considered to be equivalent of magic and are subject to similar restrictions (dispelled by dispel magic, cancelled by anti-magic, blocked by anti-magic shell, etc).

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First Level

1. Charm Person (MU 1)
2. Detect Magic (MU 1)
3. Light (MU 1)
4. Locate (Druid 1)
5. Predict Weather (Druid 1)
6. Read Languages (MU 1)
7. Read Magic (MU 1)

Second Level

1. Continual Light (MU 2)
2. Detect Evil (MU 2)
3. Entangle (MU 2)
4. ESP (MU 2)
5. Locate Object (MU 2)
6. Obscure (Druid 2)
7. Warp Wood (Druid 2)

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by BAHUMUTH

Duch Year: 982

The huge saber crashed against the center of the iron sword, throwing its holder back a few steps, and then again in an overhand strike. The tall, plate-mailed knight brought down his steel broadsword down with all his might. The muscular, dark-skinned island-man threw his crude sword to parry, catching the broadsword at its hilt.

The Kikapa island-man, although naked, was very seasoned with his hilt less sword. Comparatively, the knight, mailed in white satin-draped field plate, definitely held the advantage. The Kikapa allowed the knight to come in at him and then fell back against the weight of the knight, causing the knight to lose his balance. He then used this advantage by stopping the collapse of the armor on himself with his leg and then swiped his sword hard against the knight’s head.

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Originally published by February 2001, the Wizard’s Codex contains a collection of custom spells created by authors at Heroes Only. All of these spells have been used and tested within the gaming environment, but of course you should consider their effects on your own campaign before adopting them.

This list of spells is updated from time to time, with the “last modified” timestamp appearing at the end of the article. (more…)

This is based on the idea that players and the DM will build characters for a story line, not just to suit their gaming needs. In other words, characters should have some panache or style of their own. This means the items below are not rules but rather suggestions on how one might play his own character. The player should be able to freely choose to do this, these are not rule changes. The DM may want to offer “rewards” (some are described below, if you look closely). These rewards are not experience rewards, etc. but instead take the form of some sort of reward in the story, or “good luck.” For example, one reward for being an elf and not using your power to the fullest potential (as a ranger) is that you always seem to find food in the wilderness, you are able to befriend animals more easily (not attacked by bears), and you have a faithful pet (such as a dire wolf). And such rewards can increase as you go up level, because it’s one thing to start out as a “ranger” and then not keep up with it, but someone who has been a ranger for 9 levels should at least have a dire wolf to help him. Again, this is not a rule change.

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Notes:

• 1 in 20 chance of being cursed
• Hold Person on hit: operates just like the spell, but there is no -2 penalty to save
• Flame and lightning arrows turn into a bolt of flame or lightning when fired,doing 2d6 dmg.
• Leech arrows do 1 hp/round after the initial strike until the arrow is removed or healing is applied.
• Light/darkness on impact: if a creature is hit, he is the victim of the spell, and must save or be blinded.