Differences, Rules, and Protocols

[Malazek]

Differences between D&D & Pathfinder ...

Combat Maneuvers.
Trip, sunder, grapple, bull rush, disarm, overrun, and other maneuvers have been streamlined. They now rely on CMA and CMD, instead of BAB plus mods. This makes maneuvers easier to calculate and faster to resolve. Both are described on pages 198-199.

Favored Class
Whenever you gain a level in your favored class (which should be always, since we aren’t allowing multi-classing) you gain either an extra hit point or an extra skill rank. See page 31.

Item Creation
Magic item creation no longer carries XP costs … it’s all gold, now.

Feat
Feats are now gained at every odd level. Many feats have also been simplified or amped up.

Skills

• The skill list has been given a make-over. Several skills have been combined. For example, hide and move silently have been combined into “Stealth” … search, listen, and spot have all been combined into “Perception.”
• You no longer get 4 times as many skill ranks at first level; just the same amount you get every level.
• But you gain a +3 bonus when rolling a class skill that you have ranks in.
• You no longer have to pay 2 ranks for 1 rank in a cross-class skill. They cost the same, but don’t get the extra +3.
• Your maximum skill ranks is now equal to your hit dice (level)
• Changes to your permanent INT mod now have a retroactive effect on skill ranks
• Diplomacy is now ineffective in combat or against anyone who intends to harm you immediately.

Classes
All classes have been given more oomph and several mechanics have been streamlined.

Aid
The aid rules have been cleaned up and are now subject to more DM fiat (which will be liberally applied). In many cases, the help won’t be beneficial or only a limited number of characters can help at once. Furthermore, you can’t provide assistance on any task your character is incapable of performing (DM’s judgment). Additional restrictions will be imposed on a case-by-case basis, as dictated by story and role-playing. In other words, describe how you character is helping and the DM will decide what kind of bonus (if any) applies. I cannot stress this enough: Do not assume your assistance will automatically grant a +2 bonus … because, in many cases, it won’t.

Aiding in melee combat, by distracting or interfering with an opponent, now grants either a +2 to hit OR a +2 to AC. Your character still needs to hit an AC of 10 to make this happen. It can also be used in other ways, when appropriate to the situation. Remember, aiding is a standard action. See page 197.

Other Rules...

Haggling
The “haggling” house rule is being revoked; it was too easily broken and didn’t always make sense. Plus, the merchants in this campaign are weary of haggling, because their guilds generally frown on under-cutting and price-gauging, alike. That being said, they ARE in the business of making money and may make exceptions when story and role-playing dictate (such as selling in bulk) … but such situations will be handled on a case-by-case basis, not with a standardized equation.

Critical Threats
In the past, we have generally treated all critical threats as critical hits, while the canon game required you to “confirm” the threat with another roll (a confirmation roll that was the same as the attack roll, with a “hit” verifying the critical and a “miss” meaning it was just regular hit). We WILL be requiring confirmation rolls in this game, because Pathfinder hangs too many other mechanics on that rule to simply ignore it. A natural 20 still always hits, even if it’s not a critical success. This is all described on page 184.

Experience and Treasure Awards
Due to the nature of playing online, experience points will be figured slightly differently. You will still gain experience for overcoming challenges … but story and role-playing will have greater emphasis than in the standard game. Furthermore, we will not be adhering to the standard treasure tables, but will instead let the story dictate what treasures are found.

[Malazek]

Table Rules and Forum Protocol...

All Forum Rules Apply
That pretty much means the unusual: no profanity, no harassment, no social taboos, and no discrimination of any kind.  You can’t use the site to make money, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera …

OOC Chatter
All out-of-character discussion should be italicized and preceded by “OOC:”
-- Example 1: OOC: Did everyone have a good holiday?
-- Example 2: OOC: Does anyone know page that rule is on?

Dialogue
Dialogue should be put in quotes and in color. Choose a READABLE color and use it for your character’s dialogue (but not yellow or red). Choose a color that nobody else is using (so that your character’s dialogue is instantly recognizable). If your chosen color proves to be un-readable, we may have to change it.
-- Example 1: “Hail, friend! Who goes there?”
-- Example 2: He replies, “That is indeed a fine horse … how much do you want for it?”
Do not choose yellow or red; those are reserved for the DM.
Do not choose orange; it is reserved for NPC dialogue.

Break Down Combat Actions
Actions are described on pages 181-189. Most of the time, your character gets a standard action and a move action, or just a single full-round action. In addition, he gets a single swift action and one or more free actions. There are, however, quote a few situations that can alter this arrangement. Please, be descriptive with your actions … but also break them down into specific rules.
-- Example:

Hogarth rushes into the fray, sword drawn and looking for vengeance. He shouts, “For the Vicereine!!”
Move: to H9
Standard: Attack the bandit at H8.
Attack Roll = 15 (rolled a 9, +2 attack, +2 flank), Damage = 5 (+2 more if SA applies)
Swift: n/a
Free: Shouts.

Post Regularly
Try to post every day. It usually takes only a few minutes (especially at lower levels).

Rolling
If you have dice, feel free to use them. If you don’t, feel free to use Invisible Castle, or any other dice-rolling program you prefer … but, you do NOT need to link the rolls.

The DM reserves the right to make any rolls he deems appropriate, in the interest of good play. This should always include situations where the player shouldn't know whether or not the character was successful, such as with stealth, knowledges, perception, and the like. This will also include most initiative rolls and possibly some saving throws.

DM Edits
The DM reserves the right to edit or modify any post, in order to improve clarity, remove forum violations, correct mistakes, or any reason. Such edits will almost always include notation, explaining why the edit was made.

[Malazek]

Summoning
We have been treating the casting time of Summon Monster and Summon Nature's Ally as a full-round action (instead of as an entire round of casting). This was mainly due to misreading the the casting time in the spell's stat block; but instead of correcting the error, we'll just house rule that this is how it works. It's probably a little more powerful this way, but it will be somewhat balanced by the fact that the bad guy's summoning spells will work the same way. Note that the spell's duration still starts when the casting is finished.

Normally, you'd spend the first round casting, the creature would appear and act in the second round, and (if you had a two round duration) would act in the third round before vanishing. The way we're doing it, you need a full round action to cast it in the first round, but the monster would appear immediately and act, and then it would act in round 2 before vanishing. The summonsed creature gets the same number of actions/rounds in both scenarios, but in the house-ruled version they all occur a round earlier than they would in the canon.

Note, too, that the original misread was my own fault. Swift originally stated that the spell works exactly the way the book says it does.

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