Third Edition Dungeons in Dragons is an exciting improvement over the earlier versions of the game. However, as should be expected, nothing is perfect. These optional rules are designed to redress a few imbalances (at least from my perspective) in the new system. Feel free to take them or leave them, according to your own tastes. Click on the links below:
Rules
Alternate Multiclass System
Alternate Damage System
Armor and Head Protection
Automatic Hits and Applying Feats
Darkness and Ambient Light
Energy and Ability Drain
Ranged/Thrown Weapons and Movement
Ready Action and Intercepting an Opponent
Selling Items
Spears
Spellcasting and Haste
Variant Classes: Sorcerer-Magician and Ranger-Warrior
Others
New Feats (including original feats found nowhere
else)
Using the standard D&D rules, having multiple classes slows down the rate of improvement in each to such an extent that evenly dividing levels between multiple classes is usually not worth doing. This alternate rule provides an option in Third Edition for multiclassing similar to how it was done in Second Edition. It does not replace the standard multiclass rules (which work well if the character merely wants to have one multiclass level or add a few multiclass levels later); instead, it is an option that players may choose for their characters only during character creation. Using this alternate rule, the character begins at 1st level in each class. Experience points are divided equally between each class, so that the character advances levels in each class at the same time (e.g., a fighter-wizard who has earned 7,000 XP has 3,500 in each class and is 3rd level in both). Use the guidelines below to determine character class features.
· Character Level: For determining XPs based on CR/EL, the “character level” is equivalent to his normal full total of XP (e.g., a 3rd level fighter-wizard-cleric with 4,000 XP in each actually has 12,000 XP total and is 5th character level).
· Feats and Ability Increases: The character gains the standard new feats and ability increases based on his overall “character level” (as above). He gains them when he next advances in his “class levels” after achieving sufficient “character level” (he does not get them simply as soon as he has enough total experience). For example, a 5th-level wizard-rogue with 14,000 XP in each class has 28,000 XP total and CL 8, enough to qualify for the second ability increase; however, the character does not actually get the increase until he next advances in his class levels (after earning another 2,000 XP).
· Hit Points and Skill Points: At 1st level and every level thereafter, the character receives these points as normal for each class, divided by the number of classes (round down). For example, a 1st-level fighter-bard rolls 1d10 and 1d6 for Hit Points, dividing the total by 2; he would also receive a base of 12 starting skill points (the fighter’s 8 plus the bard’s 16, divided by 2). Bonus points for CON, INT, and the character’s race are added to the final total and are not divided. The character may spend the total skill points on ranks for class skills for any of his classes at the normal 1-for-1 cost.
· BAB and Saves: At 1st-level and every level thereafter, the character uses the single best value from among his multiple classes—he does not add all the values together (e.g., a 4th-level ranger-rogue has +4 BAB, +4 Fort, +4 Ref, +1 Will).
· Class Abilities: The character gains all abilities for each of his classes as normal based on his level for each class (e.g., a 6th-level fighter-rogue has all the special abilities of the rogue class up through 6th level in addition to the four bonus feats of the fighter class up through 6th level). If an ability is level dependent, it uses the class level (not the “character level”).
· Spells: The character gains spells for each class as normal based on his level for each spell-casting class (e.g., an 8th-level cleric-wizard receives the full amount of spells of both an 8th-level cleric and an 8th-level wizard as normal).
· Class Restrictions: Using this alternate system, the “favored class” of each race does not apply (however, the DM may decide to limit three-class characters to their races’ “favored class” plus two others). Paladins and monks have their own special restrictions and may not be selected using this multiclass system.
· Advantages and Disadvantages: The chief advantage of this alternate multiclass system is that it allows a character to advance more quickly in multiple classes with level-dependent powers (especially spellcasting). Using the standard rules, a character with 45,000 XP is 10th level, and at best he could be a 5th-level wizard and a 5th-level rogue—not very good in either class, with powers lagging too far behind single-class characters. With this optional system, however, at CL 10 the same character would have 22,500 XP in each class and would be a 7th-level wizard/rogue. Normally, a CL 16 character with 120,000 XP could only be an 8th-level fighter and an 8th-level cleric, but with this optional system he would have 60,000 XP in each class and would be an 11th-level fighter/cleric. The chief disadvantage of this alternate multiclass system is that the character tends to have fewer hit points and skill points and lower saving throws and BAB, since he averages the points between his class levels and only uses the one best score for his BAB and saves.
Using the standard D&D rules, injuries are numeric and
openly tracked by the players. While very straightforward and easily
managed, this system removes some of the risk of combat by allowing players to
track the precise condition of their characters. Using this optional
rule, only the DM knows the numeric values of damage and current hit
points. Players are informed of damage and current hit points only within
a framework of descriptive terms. This lets the players know the relative
status of character injuries but not the precise number, increasing the risks
and tension of combat role-playing.
|
Current Hit Points |
Condition |
Injury Descriptions |
|
at least 3/4 of maximum HP |
Slightly Injured |
glancing blow, near-hit, grazed, clipped, winded, bruised |
|
at least 1/2, but less than 3/4 |
Lightly Wounded |
flesh wound, cut (slashing/piercing), battered, hammered (bludgeoning) |
|
at least 1/4, but less than 1/2 |
Heavily Wounded |
painful or serious laceration, puncture, or fracture |
|
less than 1/4, but at least 1 HP |
Severely Wounded |
brutal or severe laceration, puncture, or fracture |
|
0 HP or less |
Mortally Wounded |
crippling or mortal laceration, puncture, or fracture |
All wounds are relative. A blow from a mace inflicting 8 points of damage against a low-level character would probably be a "brutal fracture" that might leave the victim "severely wounded" even if he were previously uninjured, but that very same blow against a high-level character would probably be just a "glancing blow" that would leave him "slightly injured" at the worst. In other words, a high-level character does not develop the ability to suffer a greater number of serious blows (which is implied when numeric damage is used) but rather becomes increasingly better at minimizing the hits he suffers.
All metal armor comes with protective head gear included in
the price:
|
Head Gear |
Comes With |
Type |
Weight |
|
armored cap |
chain shirt |
Light |
5 lb. |
|
open-face helmet |
scale mail |
Medium |
6 lb. |
|
closed-face helm |
all Heavy armor |
Heavy |
8 lb. |
The appropriate head gear is already included in the Armor Bonus and the armor's weight. If the head gear is removed for any reason, the Armor Bonus is reduced by 1 for Light and Medium armors or 2 for Heavy armors, but the Maximum Dex Bonus and Armor Check Penalty are improved by 1, the Arcane Spell Failure is reduced by 5%, and the armor's weight is reduced by the head gear's weight. There is no advantage gained from wearing heavier head gear (for example, wearing a closed-face helm with scale mail), except that some head gear may be magical and grant extra powers. Proficiency with a type of armor automatically includes head gear of that type as well; if you wear a type of head gear with which you are not proficient, you suffer a -1 Armor Check Penalty on attack rolls and on all skills that involve moving, including Ride. Wearing head gear with no armor or with armor that does not include head gear (hide armor and all Light armor except the chain shirt) does not provide any Armor Bonus, but the wearer does suffer a -1 Armor Check Penalty and a 5% Arcane Spell Failure (helmets with magical properties may ignore the penalty or grant extra powers).
Automatic Hits and Applying Feats
In Third Edition a natural attack roll of 20 always hits, regardless of the target’s AC. This can be abused by characters with feats like Power Attack or Expertise, because you might as well apply them in full if you need a natural 20 to hit regardless. Using this optional rule, a character automatically hits on a natural 20 only if he does not use any feat to modify his attack roll (including attacking with two weapons or a shield bash).
Low-light vision doubles the effective range of a light
source. Sometimes, however, characters do not have their own direct light
source and need to rely on ambient light (moonlight, starlight, wall torches,
etc.). Darkness acts as concealment (Player's Handbook, p.
133). Twilight or early dawn ambient light is moderate
darkness/one-quarter concealment (10% miss chance); a typical moonlit evening
with clear skies is heavy darkness/one-half concealment (20% miss chance); a
cloudy or moonless night is near-total darkness/nine-tenths concealment (40%
miss chance). In ambient light, Low-light vision reduces the darkness
level by one step (one-half concealment becomes one-quarter, one-quarter
concealment is ignored, etc.). Darkvision completely ignores concealment
associated with darkness within its listed range; outside that range,
concealment does apply.
Although these rules are much improved in Third Edition from previous versions of the game, they are still threatening enough to inhibit their use (which is a shame, because life-draining undead make wonderful opponents otherwise). With this optional rule, level drain is never permanent. Instead, each 24-hour period after accruing negative levels the character must make the listed Fortitude saving throw (DMG, p. 76). Changing the rule as written, the character now makes only one saving throw (regardless of the number of negative levels accrued). One (and only one) negative level goes away if the saving throw succeeds, none if it fails (although the character makes one new saving throw every 24 hours thereafter until all negative levels are gone). Failing a saving throw never causes the loss of experience points.
Keep the rule as written for recovering points lost to temporary ability
damage (DMG, p. 72). Change the rule as written for permanent ability
drain. Instead, each 24-hour period after suffering ability drain the
character must make a single Fortitude saving throw (regardless of the number
of ability points lost); the DC is 10 + one-half the attacker's hit dice + the
attacker's Charisma modifier. If the saving throw succeeds, the character
recovers one (and only one) ability point (choose randomly among abilities if
more than one has suffered point drain); the characters recovers no points if
it fails (although the character makes one new saving throw every 24 hours
thereafter until all ability points are recovered). No point loss is ever
permanent.
A character attacking with a ranged or thrown weapon may use
his five-foot step option to advance less than five feet, technically moving
slightly closer to his target but still remaining within his original five-foot
square. The character must use his five-foot step before making the
attack roll, and he may not use any remaining movement after the attack.
So long as the character's original five-foot square is not within the
immediate threat range of any opponent, doing this does not provoke an attack
of opportunity. For example, a rogue preparing to throw a dagger is
separated from his orc opponent by one five-foot square between them
(indicating a standard distance of ten feet from the attacker to the
target). Since the dagger's range increment is ten feet, the rogue
technically would suffer a -2 penalty to his attack roll. However, the
rogue sacrifices his five-foot step before making the attack roll, allowing him
to move one foot closer to the orc (now at a distance of nine feet)--the rogue
does not provoke an attack of opportunity from the orc because he remains
within his original five-foot square, and he does not suffer a range increment
penalty because he is now technically less than ten feet away. The rogue
cannot use the remaining four feet of his five-foot step after throwing his
dagger.
A character who readies a single attack (partial action) to
intercept an opponent may use either his five-foot step or the remainder of his
normal movement to close within reach as soon as any opponent (specified in the
readied action) moves into range. No more than one-half of the
character's normal movement may be reserved for use when making the readied
attack; the five-foot step may be taken in place of remaining normal movement,
but not added onto it. Movement in this manner can be used with a ranged
or thrown weapon as well. Movement used as part of a readied action
provokes attacks of opportunity as normal. No movement may be taken after
making the readied attack. The character's initiative result is changed
as normal (Player's Handbook, p. 134). For example, a fighter with
a normal movement of 30 feet advances 10 feet and readies an action to
intercept the first opponent who attempts to rush past him and reach the door
he is guarding. He has 20 feet remaining in his normal movement, but he
can only actually reserve 15 feet (one-half of his normal movement). An
orc begins to move his way, hoping to slip around the fighter and reach the
door. As soon as the orc moves close enough so that the fighter can
attack him by advancing 15 feet, the fighter interrupts the orc's action and
carries out his readied attack.
Characters can try to sell their used items or recovered treasures to NPCs in most any kind of settlement. For each individual item (or collection of related itmes, such as "arrows"), the character doing the selling makes one Charisma ability check to attract an NPC buyer. Alternatively, the character may make a Diplomacy skill check instead (or even a Bluff or Intimidate skill check if the character is willing to resort to illegal deception or extortion to get a good price for the item). The character may only make one roll per item per visit to the same settlement: the roll represents several hours of work and his "best effort" at finding an acceptable buyer. Regardless of the character's skill ranks, if the d20 yields a roll of 1 then the character finds no interested buyer at all during that visit; this failure range increases to 1-2 if the object's listed cost or value is at least double the settlement's listed GP Limit, 1-3 if it is triple, 1-4 if it is four-times the limit, etc. (in other words, the item is too fancy and expensive for the locals to afford).
Used items (normal weapons, armor, and equipment) sell for 60% of
their listed cost, modified by the ability or skill check; objects d'art,
gems, and most magic items sell for 75% of their listed
value, modified by the check. The DC of the ability or skill check
depends on the size of the settlement (Metropolis = 10;
Coins may be exchanged in a settlement, within the limits of its
"ready cash" assets. At any one time, 50-80% (1d4+4 x 10) of
the settlement's "ready cash" will be in gold pieces. One-half
of the remainder will be in silver; one-fourth, in copper; the rest, in
electrum or platinum (as the DM decides). In most settlements, there is a
10% off-the-top fee to exchange coins.
Once again, the D&D designers have classified the spear
as mainly a two-handed weapon. This is not historically realistic.
Instead, treat the halfspear as a Small weapon, the shortspear as a Medium
weapon, and only the longspear as a Large weapon. Any spear can be used
in melee with two hands even if the size does not require it, although no spear
(regardless of size) can be thrown with two hands. The longspear normally
cannot be thrown at all (except by a very big creature).
The HASTE spell grants the recipient an extra partial action every round. In normal Third Edition rules this means that a hasted spellcaster can cast two one-action spells every round (an abusive change from Second Edition). The result is that HASTE becomes absolutely essential for PC spellcasters, spellcaster enemies always must have HASTE in order to compete, and spellcasting in general becomes vastly more powerful than it already is. Using this optional rule, regardless of HASTE or any other effect no character can ever personally cast more than one spell in any single round. However, a magical device such as a wand, scroll, or potion can be used with the extra partial action. Additionally, a hasted spellcaster can give up the extra partial action to cast a full-round spell as a one-action spell.
As written, the Sorcerer class features flexible
spellcasting and a greater number of spells per day in exchange for a smaller
selection of spells and slower spell-level advancement. In many types of
campaigns, this trade-off is of questionable value. The Sorcerer-Magician
is a variant class that, instead of granting the standard increased number of
spells per day, offers a much broader selection of spells while still keeping
the Sorcerer's flexible spellcasting without preparation.
Characteristics: Sorcerer-Magicians cast arcane
spells through innate power, although they learn to channel this power through
study like wizards do. They cast fewer spells per day than other
spellcasters, but they can compile a wide selection of spells and can use this
magic spontaneously. They learn spells through the act of scribing a
spellbook like a wizard, but they have no need to select and prepare them ahead
of time. Thus, they go through less rigorous training than wizards do and
have more time to learn fighting skills. Sorcerer-Magicians cannot
specialize in schools of magic.
Background: Sorcerer-Magicians begin their careers
like normal sorcerers. After their powers manifest during puberty,
however, they receive some formal training. They always come under the
care of an older, more experienced spellcaster (at least for a time), which is
what differentiates Sorcerer-Magicians from normal Sorcerers. The
Sorcerer-Magicians may or may not claim dragon ancestry like the normal
Sorcerer.
GAME RULE INFORMATION
Level advancement for Base Attack Bonus, Saving
Throws, and Special are as the standard Sorcerer.
Abilities: Charisma determines how powerful a spell a
Sorcerer-Magician can cast, how hard they are to resist, and the bonus spells
per day he can cast.
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d4.
Class Skills: As the standard Sorcerer.
Skill Points: As the standard Sorcerer.
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: All simple weapons;
not proficient with any type of armor or with shields.
Spells: A Sorcerer-Magician casts arcane spells,
using the same list as a standard Sorcerer. All the standard Sorcerer's
rules for spontaneous spellcasting, including minimum Charisma score, apply to
the Sorcerer-Magician. Sorcerer-Magicians do not prepare spells in
advance, but like a wizard they learn spells by scribing them into their
spellbook. Once scribed, however, they master the intuitive power to use
them spontaneously and do not need to study their spellbook to cast the
spells--although they still need a full night's rest and meditation, just like
a normal Sorcerer. The Sorcerer-Magician begins with a spellbook
containing six (plus his Intelligence bonus, if any) 0th-level spells and three
(plus his Intelligence bonus, if any) 1st-level spells; he automatically gains
two new spells each time he achieves a new level, as wizards do.
Sorcerer-Magicians learn additional spells in the same manner as wizards (see
PHB, page 155). They do not use Table 3-17: Sorcerer Spells Known.
Spells per Day: Do not use the listings for Sorcerers
on Table 3-16. Instead, adapt the listings for Wizards on Table 3-20.
0th-level spells remain as listed on Table 3-20. For every other spell
level 1st through 9th, change the first 2 entry to 1, the first 3 entry to 2,
and the first 4 entry to 3 (which means a Sorcerer-Magician does not get four
7th-level spells per day until 20th level and never gets four 8th-level or
9th-level spells per day). For example, a 6th-level Sorcerer-Magician can
cast four 0th-level spells, three 1st-level spells, two 2nd-level spells, and
one 3rd-level spell per day, plus bonus spells for Charisma.
Familiar: A Sorcerer-Magician can summon a familiar
in exactly the same manner as the standard Sorcerer.
As written, the Ranger class is probably the worst in Third Edition. It seems to be the only class that is actually weaker than in previous editions of D&D. The Ranger-Warrior is a variant class that expands upon the best aspects of the traditional class, allowing for heroic wilderness warriors more like Strider and Robin Hood.
Characteristics: Ranger-Warriors are experts at warfare in the wild. They are skilled at stalking opponents even in difficult terrain. Though they are men of the wilderness, they are not primitive or uncivilized. Unlike the traditional Ranger class, they do not cast divine spells.
Background: Ranger-Warriors are often trained as part of special military teams or itinerant companies. Many serve as trackers, scouts, and protectors of travelers. Others instead become master bandits or outlaw-captains.
GAME RULE INFORMATION
Level advancement for Base Attack Bonus and Saving Throws are as the standard Ranger.
Abilities:
As the standard Ranger, except Wisdom is less important (since Ranger-Warriors
do not cast spells).
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d10.
Class Skills: As the standard Ranger.
Skill Points: As the standard Ranger.
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: All simple and
martial weapons, light and medium armors, and shields.
Fighting with Two Weapons: When wearing light or no armor, the Ranger-Warrior can fight with two weapons as if he had the feats Ambidexterity and Two-Weapon Fighting. He loses this special bonus when fighting in medium or heavy armor, or when using a double-headed weapon (except the quarterstaff, which is allowed). The Ranger-Warrior may also gain the feat Improved Two-Weapon Fighting as the standard Ranger.
Track: The Ranger-Warrior gains Track as a bonus feat at 1st level.
Bonus Feats: At 5th, 10th,
15th, and 20th levels the Ranger-Warrior gains a bonus
feat, which must come from the following list: Alertness, Blind-Fight, Combat
Reflexes, Dodge (Mobility, Spring Attack), Expertise (Improved Disarm, Improved
Trip, Whirlwind Attack), Improved Initiative, Quick Draw, Run, Improved
Two-Weapon Fighting, and any bow-related ranged weapon feat (Point Blank Shot,
Weapon Focus with a bow, etc.).
Special Abilities: At 1st
level the Ranger-Warrior gains the special ability Bow Sneak Attack +1d6 damage
(bows only, same restrictions as the Rogue).
At 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and
20th levels the Ranger-Warrior chooses one of the following special
abilities: Woodland Stride (as the Druid), Uncanny Dodge (Dex bonus to AC, as
the Rogue), Evasion (as the Rogue), Fast Movement (as the Barbarian), Trackless
Step (as the Druid), or Bow Sneak Attack (+1d6 damage each time it is taken).