[Information] House Rules, New Classes, New Races

[mountainbound]

NEW CLASS

POXHUNTER

Poxhunters are a new breed of adventurer on the world of Akash. These men and women usually stand out in some way from among the many villagers whose lives have been destroyed or made miserable by a poxland.

The original poxhunters: The Party of the Roving Crow, known by poxhunters as the First Seven, figured out the secret of permanently healing the scarred lands with Alethi'en crystal. Alethi'en crystal is better than gold to a poxhunter; they often trade or barter in the stone that can mean life or death to them.

Poxhunters are a rough and diverse breed, sharing a hatred for poxspawn, but sometimes little else. They commonly range in pairs or in units of up to 10.

Poxhunters may multi-class with other classes, typically Fighter or Ranger, though Barbarian, Druid, Sorcerer, and Psychic Warrior also fit well. They may not multi-class as a Wizard. The life of disciplined study required of a mage is not suited to the harsh day-to-day trials faced by a poxhunter.

The poxhunter uses good BAB, good Fort save, and good Ref save.

Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d8.

Class Skills
The poxhunter's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Poxlands) (Int), Knowledge (geography) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str), and Use Rope (Dex).

Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Table: The Poxhunter

Level Special
1 Poxspawn as favored enemy, Bonus Feat
2 Poxsense
3 Planar Banishment
4 Bonus Feat
5 2nd favored enemy
6 Improved Poxsense
7 Bonus Feat
8 Evasion
9
10 3rd favored enemy
11 Bonus Feat
12
13 Camouflage
14 Bonus Feat
15 4th favored enemy
16
17 Bonus Feat
18
19
20 5th favored enemy, Bonus Feat

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the poxhunter.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A poxhunter is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, and with light and medium armor and shields (except tower shields).
Bonus Feat: The poxhunter may choose a feat from the Bonus Fighter Feat list, (feats from the PHBII, or Complete Warrior are acceptable, but please send the DM a request first).
Favored Enemy: The poxhunter gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival checks when using these skills against pox creatures. Likewise, he gets a +2 bonus on weapon damage rolls against such creatures. A successful Knowledge (Poxlands) check must be made to determine whether the creature is actually a creature from a Pox.
At 5th level and every five levels thereafter (10th, 15th, and 20th level), the poxhunter may select an additional favored enemy just as a ranger does. In addition, at each such interval, the bonus against any one favored enemy (including the one just selected, if so desired) increases by 2.
Poxsense grants a poxhunter an intuitive ability to sense the heart of the pox. The character gains a +2 insight bonus on Knowledge (Poxlands) checks when specifically trying to locate the poxheart. A poxhunter must be able to locate the poxheart in order to properly use Alethi'en.
Planar Banishment is gained at 3rd level. This ability allows Poxhunters wielding Alethi'en crystal to banish or destroy evil outsiders as a cleric of two levels lower.
Improved Poxsense grants a character an additional +2 insight bonus on Knowledge (Poxlands) checks, and a +2 bonus on Knowledge (the Planes) checks.

New Skill:
Knowledge (Poxlands) [Int]: Use this skill to determine the general nature of a poxland, whether you are actually in a poxland, where its heart is, and to identify a pox denizen. Skill synergy: Any poxhunter with 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (Nature) gets a +2 to Knowledge (Poxlands) rolls.

Healing a Poxland
A few years ago, it was a relatively simple matter for someone trained in using Alethi'en to heal a poxland. Now that the crystal's potency is diminished, the task is far more difficult, with no guarantee of success. To make an attempt at healing a pox:
1. A poxhunter (this is an ability specific to the Poxhunter character class alone) must locate the heart of a poxland with a successful Knowledge (Poxlands) check. The DC varies from pox to pox. Many times, the pox heart is not easily accessible (under ground, high above, moving).
2. The poxhunter must have a piece of Alethi'en in hand, and walk directly into the pox heart, "speaking" for the stone in a special way and investing it with his own power.
3. The player makes an Ability Score-based (CHA) skill check, modified by his Poxhunter class level. I.e., a 5th level poxhunter with a 12 CHA (+1 modifier) rolls d20+6. You cannot take 20, and there is no re-try, though other poxhunters may also make an attempt. DCs typically range from 20-40. "Charged" Alethi'en can also provide an additional bonus.

What you know as poxhunters:
Most poxlands are anywhere from 80-30 years old.

No new poxlands have sprung up in the past ten years, since the Party of the Roving Crow learned to use Alethi'en and healed the fundamental poxland, located in the capital city of Trin'Usal.

Most poxspawn are not destroyed when in contact with Alethi'en. The crystal can burn them, but usually does not kill them outright. Swords work much better. However, healing a poxland usually destroys its native creatures.

Even though Alethi'en does not work as well as it did ten years ago, it can still be used to heal a poxland. There is no guarantee of success.

To heal a poxland, you must first identify the heart of the pox. This is done with a successful Knowledge (Poxlands) check. The DC varies from pox to pox. Many times, the pox heart is not easily accessible (under ground, high above, moving)... this process is described above.

Remember that poxhunters get favored enemy bonuses against poxspawn, and may attempt to banish poxspawn as a cleric turns undead.

Rank
In the Poxhunter army, characters that have chosen Poxhunter as their class are considered to have been formally trained, and dedicated their careers to the army. They are Commissioned Soldiers, as opposed to characters who have signed up for the army but have never gone through formal training. These non-trained poxhunters are considered Enlisted Personnel. Characters in the General's army can be promoted and rise through the ranks -- separate from XP advancement. As a rule, Commissioned Soldiers always outrank Enlisted Personnel when at the same ranking level.

Commissioned Soldier / Enlisted Personnel Rank Equivalents
Third Lieutenant / Private
Second Lieutenant / First Class Private
Lieutenant / Corporal
Captain / Sergeant
Major / Staff Sergeant
Lieutenant Colonel / First Class Sergeant
Colonel / Sergeant Major
Brigadier General / none
Major General / Command Sergeant Major
Lieutenant General / none

[mountainbound]

NEW RACES

-Norovi
-Akash Elf
-Forest Wildling

NOROVI

Think Native American crossed with Gypsy culture

The Norovi are a race of very large and peace-loving humans with sun bronzed skin. It's said they migrated south from the Ringshades mountains centuries ago, and the blood of the wise giants who dwell in the north flows in their veins. Others say that the Norovi are the true humans, and that the smaller, more common humans in the lands south of the Ringshades are actually the ones with mixed or impure blood. Whatever the case, the Norovi used to travel in tribes, which have been reduced to small caravans. Their peaceful nature exploited long ago, most were taken and enslaved when they began to "trespass" through the petty kingdoms of the north.

Norovi and the elves of Akash stand eye-to-eye in height. Both races can tower up almost 8', though they average a little over 7'. Unlike the elves, they are powerfully built, with incredible appetites (though they usually decline to eat the flesh of animals). It's said that their society beyond the Ringshades never knew war, living in harmony with the giants. Norovi still disdain violence, but have in many ways adapted to the brutal ways of their smaller human cousins.

+2 Strength, -2 Charisma (they are often unsure how to act among humans and their reserved reticence is typically mistaken)

Medium: As Medium creatures, Norovi have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.(there is a 1 in 6 chance that a PC Norovi reaches 8', in which case he/she is treated as a large creature and gets the corresponding modifiers and an automatic +1 to STR.)

Norovi do not get the 4 extra skill points at 1st level and 1 extra skill point at each additional level as humans do; but they do gain an extra feat at first level as humans.

Base land speed (for Medium Norovi) is 30 feet.

+2 racial bonus on Climb, Jump, Listen, and Move Silently checks.

Automatic Languages: Common. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Wild Halfling, and Sylvan.

Common classes: They favor Ranger, Druid, Cleric, and Fighter. Norovi are also commonly Poxhunters. They seldom practice arcane magic, and few if any are true psions. Their are never barbarians. When determining whether a multiclass Norovi takes an experience point penalty, his or her highest-level class does not count, just like humans.

Alignment note: Due to their passive, impartial nature, Norovi are as a rule neutral aligned, though often lean toward NG.

AKASH ELF

The Ank'Severn
Elves of Akash are very tall and thin. Their skin is jet black, and often has a subtle colored sheen to it, like oil in the sun. Their eyes are an opal, plum or deep azure, and their dark hair typically matches their eye color. They stand 6' 6" to 7' 6" high, though they move with remarkable grace and resolve. Elves keep to the forests in the south east of Akash, though after the last poxwar, they are seen more commonly in the "civilized" human lands. The elves are rumored to have built a complex series of underground channels that are used to bypass the human kingdoms. The name for elves in the ancient Solar tongue is Ank'Severn.

(Stats are exactly as listed in the PHB, though favored class is Psion)

FOREST WILDLING (AKASH HALFLING)

The halflings of Akash were always a savagely carefree breed, but since the Mad War when their villages were attacked by the humans, they've withdrawn into the forests and have grown wilder still. They're more magical than other races, and are sometimes referred to as Wildlings, Woodscreamers (for their uncanny ability to mimic shrill bird calls), Forestfolk, and Green Children. Their pale, almost translucent skin gleams in the moonlight, and their eyes are emerald or gold, with wild manes of hair flaring around their childish faces. They largely keep their distance from man, though as with elves and dwarves, they can sometimes set aside their disgust with men to fight against poxspawn.

(Stats are exactly as listed in the PHB, though favored class is both Sorcerer and Rogue)

[mountainbound]

3d6 Bell Curve (Instead of d20)
Please substitute 3d6 instead of d20 for all rolls requiring a d20 roll (Skills, Saves, and Attacks).

Because it’s no longer possible to roll a natural 19 or 20, the threat ranges of weapons change in the bell curve variant. Refer to the following table.

With the bell curve variant, the narrowest threat range becomes slightly more narrow (4.6% rather than 5%), and the new 14-18 range (16%) falls between the old 18-20 and 17-20 ranges. But because the Improved Critical feat and the keen edge spell double threat ranges, characters still improve their weapons in every case, despite the flat spot on the table.

Gaining HPs per Level
When you gain a level, you may either roll your character's HP the traditional way (say 1d8+CON bonus for a cleric); or take a static gain like this: 1/2 your character's hit die +1 + CON bonus. So for a cleric, this would work out to 4+1+CON bonus.

Enemy Status
Cumulative damage against any enemy is listed in the Combat Notes at the bottom of a post. To give players an idea of how badly wounded a creature is, without giving away its total max HP, I use the following descriptions:
Undamaged... creature is at max HP.
Wounded... creature has been damaged, but is still above 30% max HP.
Seriously Wounded... creature is close to or has dropped below 30% max HP.
Dead (or Destroyed)... creature is either dead or so close to dead that it no longer poses a serious threat to the party.

Initiative
No need to roll initiative. It is assumed the party has initiative unless the enemy attacks first.

Armor Check Penalties
In an effort to keep things simpler (and not all players recognize this rule anyway), I do not enforce armor check penalties.

Spells and Powers
If you're casting a spell (or manifesting a power), you don't have to mention it by name in your actual description. However, please box it out at the end of your post so I know what exactly you're character is doing with it, like this:

Spell Casting Magic Missile. 2 Missiles aimed at the Ogre Shaman, and 1 at the kobold.

Skill Checks
To cut down on "hand-holding" and give characters freedom to investigate things on their own, players are invited to make 1-3 skill checks per post, or whenever they see fit. All "mandatory" skill checks will be provided by the DM. The DM will usually note places where players should play close attention and follow up with their own skill checks.

Critical Hits
No need to confirm. Rolling a 20 (or threatening a critical) is rare enough. If your first roll makes a critical, then simply roll damage for the critical. However, this is only so because the players in this game are all skilled role-players. If you roll a 1, it is assumed that you will role-play a scene that corresponds to the opposite of a perfect 20.

... ... ...

[mountainbound]

New Feats in the Ringlabor Campaign

Aleithi'en Proficiency
Prerequisite: Knowledge (Poxlands) 3 ranks, 3rd level character.
Benefit: This ability allows any character wielding Alethi'en crystal to banish or destroy poxspawn as though they were a Poxhunter. Characters with this feat may also heal poxlands as though they were a Poxhunter of two levels lower than their total character level.

Improved Planar Banishment
Prerequisite: 5th level Poxhunter.
Benefit: Banish or destroy poxspawn without level restriction and gain one additional banishment check per day.
Normal: Banish or destroy poxspawn as a cleric of two levels lower than your poxhunter class level.

Alethi'en Attunement
Prerequisite: Alethi'en Proficiency or 3rd level Poxhunter.
Benefit: Gain +1 enhancement bonus to Planar Banishment checks. Gain a +1 enhancement bonus when rolling to heal a poxland. In addition, you may choose either your CON or CHA bonus as your modifier when using Aleith'en.
Normal: Characters must use their CHA modifier for banishment and heal poxland checks.