D&D

Dungeons and Dragons has gone through many changes since I started gaming. The very first rpg I played was AD&D 2nd ed, and now it's gotten up 3.5. I do say I like the changes that have occured, making it easier to make a character, and allowing a lot of diversity with characters. The only main issue I have is that they do not give any suggestions on awarding exp outside of challenging encounters themselves... I remember there used to be awards for coming up with clever ideas that saved the party's lives, and for completeing quests... I'll try to make up some tables, or at least formulae, for awarding such exp (as it also encourages the players to follow your plots), but before then there are other area's to tackle.

Magic, and the abuses thereof...

How to win decisively in combat.

    Creating magic items is a wonderful aid to magic users; and the area game masters must be most wary of. A clever player can have their wizard create items that make him so powerful, that he can easily best entire armies, and only wizards more powerful than himself can possibly challenge him, or have their cleric create a vast army of undead that threaten to topple every mortal realm, all perfectly within the rules. How can they do this, you ask? Simple, they create items. The most powerful and useful item creation feat can be taken at only 3rd level; Craft Wondrous Item. It's not just for boots of speed. it's for any magical item that is not specifically a staff, ring, armor, weapon, scroll, or potion. Instead of making a wand of fireball, you can create an amulet of unlimted use fireballs. Statues, items of clothing, trinkets, an other inocuous items can all be made into incredibly potent items of power.   A key that lets you open any door you come across, and a bracelet that detects traps render rogues useless for your spellcaster.
     If you feel the cost for making unlimited use, command activated items is a little high, start comparing. Let's say you are a 6th level wizard, have the craft wondrous item, craft wand, craft scroll feats, and have the spell fireball. Making these items as powerful as you can, you find they can all cast a fireball doing 6d6 damage. You can only use the scroll once, and it costs 225gp and 18exp to make. The wand can be used 50 times, and costs 6,750gp and 540 to make. A command word activated statuette can be used any number of times, and costs 16,200gp and 1,296exp to make. Thing to keep in mind: 50 scrolls cost 11 250gp and 900exp to make... yes, it's cheaper to have a wand than 50 scrolls, a lot quicker to make, and also a lot lighter to carry. Even so, that wand can only be used 50 times, which means you're very careful about when you'll use it. If you think you might use a spell more than 100 times, then a wondrous item is the cheapest way to go... What's even more, don't forget that you can reduce an items cost by 30% by restricting it so that only a certain class or alignment can use it. That would make the statuette of level 6 fireball only cost 11,340gp and 908exp to make. In only 12 days, a wizard can drop any number fireballs dealing 6d6 damage in any number of encounters. He'll quickly be getting more kills than the rest of the group combined.
     But what if you aren't a wizard? Well, if you happen to be a Bard or Sorcerer, the book Tome and Blood privides a very useful feat; Arcane Casting. This allows one to prepare spells ahead of time, as a wizard does. Now, personally as a DM, I say that it can only be used to prepare spells you already know, but using metamagic feats so that you don't take longer in combat. However, if your DM allows, this could very well mean that you can prepare spells exactly like a wizard; spellbook and all. The limits there are that you have a high enough spell slot to store a spell in, and that your intelligence be high enough (as well as having learned the spell as a wizard must). This would allow any spellcaster, with a level of sorcerer or bard, to prepare arcane spells from the wizard/sorcere list. Didn't think that a cleric could cast fireball? Think again.
     Note to DMs: As I've said, the magic item creation feats can become so powerful, that they will unbalance the game. There are easy ways to limit this, but they require one important fact. YOU are the Game Master. If you don't like a rule, you can toss it out the window in your game (unless for some bizarre reason you're running an rpga game). If the players don't like that, politely remind them that you are the game master, and their characters are playing in the world that you are more than a god over. If you want to make sure magic items are carefully controlled, but want to allow them to play spellcasters, you can simply declare that aside from weapon and armor bonuses, all magic items have a limited number of uses. You could also create a list of items each spell requires to enchant into an item, and make it so that the characters have to go out and gather those specific materials, but that requires a lot of book-keeping that, unless the party is all or mostly composed of spellcasters all wanting to make items, will lessen the other players involvement of the game. Another thing you can always do, is throw what the characters make right back at them. If they make a statuette of unlimited use fireballs, either have someone steal it, or make one themselves, to use against the players. The Arcane Casting feat is not very game unbalancing, as even if you allow them to cast just like a wizard, they still have to learn the spells with successful spellcraft checks and keep a spellbook, just like a wizard. Remember, it's your game, and have fun.

    So you've read enough about magic, and want to bash some heads in? This segment is all about doing that as efficiently (or at least dramatically and painfully) as possible. Sadly there's not as much rule-bending as can be done with magic, but you can still turn that fighter into a walking death machine, and that's before he augments himself with magic gear.
     Just keep hitting, and hitting, and hitting... Two weapon fighting allows you to deliver more attacks per round than your companions. Finishing off this skill tree give you a total of three (3!) additional attacks a round. If you like double-ended weapons (like staffs and orc double axes), remember you add one and a half your strength modifier to each hit. Double weapons are held in both hands remember, so you'll deal as much damage on every single hit. The only problem with double weapons, is that they cannot do as much damage as most other two handed weapons. Enter: Monkey Grip. Yes, it has a funny name, but this feat introduced in Sword and Fist, you can "use one melee weapon that is one size larger than you in one hand". Grab hold of that mercurial greatsword (2d8 slashing) in your primary hand, and a bastard sword as your second weapon, and while you'll take some more penalties to hit, the damge you deal will be incredible. If the DM allows, and says "It says one weapon in one hand. Well, you have two hands, don't you?", then you could wield two (2!!) mercurial greatswords at the same time! True, you have a little harder time hitting, but when you do (which will still be often enough) the combat ends really fast. A fighter at level 20, with only strength ten, will have 7 attacks, dealing 2d8 damage each hit. Say he has a strength modifier, and make those swords magical, and you have one super blender in combat. Finish up with Great Cleave, and no monster can hope to live.
     Sadly, ranged combat doesn't have near the effectiveness in D&D as melee does, unless you are a spellcaster. Even then, you might not be able to keep up with those slogging through piles of orcs, leaving hills of dead in their wake (if you are a necromancer, however, then that fighter has just become your best friend, as he keeps 'recruiting' for you army).

Liches lost their phylacteries.

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