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Rithaniel
2010-01-03, 06:52 AM
Anyone who has read Unearthed Arcana, knows about flaws, and how awesome they can make a character. Unfortunately, they also know about the tiny little list of flaws that Unearthed Arcana gives you to choose from. Lets correct this mistake, and think up some useful flaws that players could use in their games.

For example:


Dying

You are dying.
Effect: Any time you are healed, all hit points you recover are split in half (rounded down, minimum 1), regardless of what you are being healed by. Additionally, at the end of any resting period, flip a coin and call it, if you called it incorrectly, then, any hp you may have recovered from that resting period, you don't. Instead, you lose that much hp.

Chrono22
2010-01-03, 07:01 AM
Dredged this from an archived post of mine.


Claustrophobia
Prerequisite: Character level 1st.
Summary: You have an irrational fear of enclosed and confined spaces. Depending on the severity of the situation, you can be overcome by a sense of paranoia and nervousness, to outright panic.
Effect: Whenever you enter an enclosed area (buildings, small rooms, 10 ft. hallways), you must succeed a DC 10 will save or become shaken. The shaken condition remains until the source of your phobia is removed. Each hour you remain in an enclosed space, you must make an additional will save, of suffer the shaken condition. If you are already shaken, you instead become frightened. For each hour you remain in an enclosed space, the DC of the will save to resist your phobia increases by 1.
Whenever you attempt to enter a confined space (a closet, a narrow tunnel, a chest) you must succeed a DC 15 will save to enter. If you fail, you become shaken for 1d4+1 rounds. Even if you succeed, you become shaken and remain so until you leave the confined space. Each round you are in a confined space, you must succeed a DC 18 will save or become frightened. If you are already frightened, you instead become panicked.
Benefit: One bonus feat, chosen at first level.
Special: You cannot gain claustrophobia as a flaw if you are immune to fear.

Conditions Summary-
Shaken: A shaken character takes a -2 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks.
Frightened: A frightened creature flees from the source of its fear as best it can. If unable to flee, it may fight. A frightened creature takes a -2 penalty on all attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks. A frightened creature can use special abilities, including spells, to flee; indeed, the creature must use such means if they are the only way to escape.
Panicked: A panicked creature must drop anything it holds and flee at top speed from the source of its fear, as well as any other dangers it encounters, along a random path. It can’t take any other actions. In addition, the creature takes a -2 penalty on all saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks. If cornered, a panicked creature cowers. A panicked creature can use special abilities, including spells, to flee; indeed, the creature must use such means if they are the only way to escape.

Remove any clause that is specific to enclosed spaces as a source of fear, and you could turn this into a general mechanic for any type of phobia.

DracoDei
2010-01-03, 10:20 AM
Since you can't GAIN it (but are implied to KEEP it) if you are immune to fear, isn't there a loophole for paladins who don't get immunity to fear until 3rd level?

Also, I think there should be a minimum room dimension above which the flaw does not trigger.

Lappy9000
2010-01-03, 10:25 AM
Since you can't GAIN it (but are implied to KEEP it) if you are immune to fear, isn't there a loophole for paladins who don't get immunity to fear until 3rd level?

Also, I think there should be a minimum room dimension above which the flaw does not trigger.Well, paladins aren't immune to being afraid; just magical fear effects.

Flickerdart
2010-01-03, 11:42 AM
Inept
Prerequisite: Character Level 1st
Summary: You're not very good at doing things
Effect: You take a -4 competence penalty to two class skills

Fate's Chew Toy
Prerequisite: Character Level 1st
Summary: Luck isn't on your side
Effect: You may never Take 10 or 20, even if a class feature or feat explicitly allows you to do so

DracoDei
2010-01-03, 12:14 PM
Fate's Chew Toy is perhaps a bad idea... the primary purpose of taking 20 (and to a lesser degree taking 10) is to speed the game along. This just drags things out.

Zeta Kai
2010-01-03, 12:28 PM
Fate's Chew Toy
Prerequisite: Character Level 1st
Summary: Luck isn't on your side.
Effect: You may never get a critical hit or an automatic success on a check, even if a class feature or feat explicitly allows you to do so

Fixed it for you.

DracoDei
2010-01-03, 12:32 PM
Zeta Kai's fix could work, or they could be tweaked to be seperate flaws. A lot of classes can get away without ever really making a skill check... OTOH Batman wizard can get away with (almost) never making an attack roll that CAN critical (Dimensional Anchor can't crit for example).

deuxhero
2010-01-03, 02:11 PM
Monk
Effect:You may only take levels in the PHB Monk baseclass and may never multiclass, even with a prestige class.


No amount of feats would EVER make that worth it.

TabletopNuke
2010-01-04, 06:45 AM
[QUOTE=Flickerdart;7619735]Inept
Prerequisite: Character Level 1st
Summary: You're not very good at doing things
Effect: You take a -4 competence penalty to two class skills[QUOTE]

That one seems a little overpowered. Some skills are much more useful that others, and there are some skills a character may never use. The Inattentive flaw provides a -4 penalty to Listen and Spot, which are important skills for just about any character.

I'd suggest increasing the penalty to affect 3 skills, and add a requirement that they must be class skills for the character. In addition, the penalty should be an untyped on, to prevent abuse of the stacking restrictions.

That said, I humbly present by own submission. It uses the Madness Feat (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=129960) system I'm working on.
Disturbed
Summary: You are mentally unstable.
Effect: Your Madness Score* increases by 1.

*You take a penalty on Will saves and all Wisdom-based skill checks equal to your Madness Score. In addition, you apply this score as a penalty on Diplomacy and Gather Information checks made to influence sane creatures, and on Disguise checks to impersonate sane creatures. You also gain a bonus equal to your Madness Score on Intimidate checks made to influence sane creatures.

Sane creatures are defined as creatures without madness feats, racial madness, such as that of beholders, derro, and howling dragons, or under the influence of an effect such as the insanity spell.

Milskidasith
2010-01-04, 08:00 AM
[QUOTE=Flickerdart;7619735]Inept
Prerequisite: Character Level 1st
Summary: You're not very good at doing things
Effect: You take a -4 competence penalty to two class skills[QUOTE]

That one seems a little overpowered. Some skills are much more useful that others, and there are some skills a character may never use. The Inattentive flaw provides a -4 penalty to Listen and Spot, which are important skills for just about any character.

I'd suggest increasing the penalty to affect 3 skills, and add a requirement that they must be class skills for the character. In addition, the penalty should be an untyped on, to prevent abuse of the stacking restrictions.

That said, I humbly present by own submission. It uses the Madness Feat (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=129960) system I'm working on.
Disturbed
Summary: You are mentally unstable.
Effect: Your Madness Score* increases by 1.

*You take a penalty on Will saves and all Wisdom-based skill checks equal to your Madness Score. In addition, you apply this score as a penalty on Diplomacy and Gather Information checks made to influence sane creatures, and on Disguise checks to impersonate sane creatures. You also gain a bonus equal to your Madness Score on Intimidate checks made to influence sane creatures.

Sane creatures are defined as creatures without madness feats, racial madness, such as that of beholders, derro, and howling dragons, or under the influence of an effect such as the insanity spell.

Class skills still lets you take any Profession: Drawing hillbillies dancing for the flaw.

TabletopNuke
2010-01-04, 06:53 PM
Class skills still lets you take any Profession: Drawing hillbillies dancing for the flaw.

You make make an excellent point.

Tim4488
2010-01-04, 10:31 PM
Fixed it for you.

I dunno, that seems a little brutal to me, even for a flaw. Not sure how I feel about Inept, for reasons people have already stated. The original Fate's Chew Toy actually is alright by me, personally. And Dying is way way way too harsh, even for a flaw. That'd be worth two feats, and then MAYBE I would take it.

Zexion
2010-01-05, 12:00 AM
Gullible
Summary: You are trusting of people that shouldn't be trusted.
Effect: You take a 2- penalty to Bluff & Sense Motive checks when you are not expecting the result, plus a 2- penalty to all checks if you have been betrayed in the last 1d20 hours.

Krazddndfreek
2010-01-05, 02:50 AM
These were created for a lycanthrope game I joined not too long ago:

Slow Tranformation [Flaw]
You take longer than normal to use your shapeshifting powers.

Prerequisite
Shapechanger subtype, Alternate Form ability

Effect
If your alternate form ability normally takes a free or swift action to use, it now requires a move action to use. A move action becomes a standard action, a standard action becomes full-round action, a full-round action takes one full minute, and longer transformation times are doubled.

Silver Vulnerability[Flaw]
You are especially vulnerable to silver, suffering burns at the mere touch of it.

Prerequisite
DR */silver

Effect
Whenever you are struck by a silver weapon, you take additional damage equal to half the value of the DR bypassed by the silver. In addition, if silver touches your exposed skin, you take lose 1 hit point per round of exposure.

The creator also mentioned that you could change the Silver Vulnerability flaw into vulnerabilities of other substances which bypass your DR.

And as for the claustrophobia flaw, on a personal level, I don't think that RP flaws are very sound. Simply because its easy to create loopholes in it as others mentioned earlier. If you want your character to be bothered by enclosed spaces, roleplay it.

Rithaniel
2010-01-05, 08:30 PM
Well, flaws are supposed to be harsh, otherwise they'd just be "Here, have a free feat"

Also, a good fix on inept would be:


Inept

You're not very good at doing anything.
Effect: You take a -2 competence penalty on all skills you have ranks in.

These are actually really good, we need to keep 'em coming.

Melatuis
2010-01-05, 08:45 PM
Inept

Why class skills? You are trained in them.
Why not all non class including untrained yes skills.
I can see player with higher untrained yes skills than class skills at 1st level.

or

All non class skills -2. This makes non-class skills harder for a player to get. Example: Ftr putting skill points into Spot would cost it 2 points to come up to the original untrained-yes skill modifier.

Krazddndfreek
2010-01-05, 11:25 PM
But fighters already never put ranks in spot, hide, move silently, search, survival, etc. That would really be giving him a free feat.

TabletopNuke
2010-01-06, 12:02 AM
That's why skill-based flaws are generally seen as a no-no.