Goodman Games

I post a semi-regular series of feats and spells on the board for my FLGS. Thought I’d share a few of them with everyone here, as I spent the time to write them and want as many people to get use out of them as possible. Feel free to use them in your home game.

If this inappropriate to your board, Mr. Goodman, I apologize, and my feelings won’t be hurt if you bounce them.

SECOND SMITE [General]
You can gain another smite attack by giving up some of your Lay on Hands ability for the day.
Prerequisite: Lay on Hands ability, Smite ability, paladin.
Benefit: By using two times your paladin class level in Lay on Hands points you can fuel another Smite Evil attack. Activating the Second Smite ability is a free action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. You may use Second Smite a maximum number of times per day equal to the number of Smite Evil attacks you normally have.
Example: Dergotta the 15th level paladin has 4 Smite Evil attacks per day. She may use the Second Smite ability 4 times per day (as long as she has enough Lay on Hand points to pay for the extra Smite Evil attacks).


QUICK HOLSTER [General, Fighter]

Your dagger is out of its sheath, into your opponent’s stomach, then back into its sheath before your foe can even draw his.
Prerequisite: Quick Draw
Benefit: You can holster/sheath/store any light weapon (or pistol) as a free action.
If you are sheathing a single or two-handed weapon, it becomes a move-equivalent action that you can freely combine with another move action (such as standing from prone, or moving 20 feet, etc.)
Normal: Stowing a weapon is a move-equivalent action.
Special: Fighters may choose this feat as one of their bonus feats.


Curdle
[Transmutation]
Level: Sor/Wiz 0, Brd 0
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 20 ft.
Target: Special
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates
Spell Resistance: No

This spell spoils all food within 20 feet of the caster giving it a horrible taste (though not robbing it of a nutritional value).
Normally a harmless prank, the caster can concentrate on one food item within 20 feet (even in the stomach of an enemy) and change the food to the point where it becomes rotten instead of spoiled. This rotten food makes the imbiber nauseated for one round. (For the effects of a nauseated character see pg. 310 of the PHB)
Only creatures with living anatomies will become nauseated after eating rotten food. Unless the creature is currently imbibing the rotten food there is a 20% chance that there is not enough food in its stomach to make them sick. This spell does not work on any creature with a total Fortitude save of +6 or higher. All other living creatures get a one time Fortitude save to ignore the effects of Curdle.
Once this spell has been used to spoil the food within a certain area (or make a single food source rotten) it will not work on the same food a second time.


I'll post more if I get a positive response (I.E. they are gone from the board next time I log in LOL).

hey, it's still here, and they're letting me comment on it this time

interesting feats...

one thing on second smite, though...

the use of lay on hands restricts your number of uses to 1/2 your charisma modifier rounded down (since you get your level times charisma modifier points) and a paladin gets smite attacks every five levels

the double uses restriction will never be hit by a player bexause it takes 16 levels to get enough ability score bonuses to improve the charisma bonus enough to allow for more uses (assuming all ability score increases go to charisma)

i would suggest either changing the number of points used to a fixed number or removing the restriction of using it a number of times equal to the nurmal number of smite attacks

you might also want to add a minimum level or base attack bonus to take the feat

though, there is already a feat that grants any class with a smite ability extra smite attempts per day (req. base attack +4, grants two extra uses/day)

I also can't think of any reason I would want to holster a light weapon as a free action, but that's probably just becasue of the kind of character I play *shrug*

still, great ideas, like the Curdle spell

Holstering a light weapon comes from a gun heavy game that I play. Was tired of dropping the pistol once I fired the shot (and there by losing the expensive little bugger.) As to the restriction on the Second Smite, I included the double restriction because I had also written another feat that gives a paladin more lay on hands points pre day, and I did not want my players (well ONE player actually, I bet everyone here knows the type) breaking it out six ways from Sunday.

Which book is the increased smite ability you mentioned in?

most recently, Complete Warrior, though it was also in Defenders of the Faith, and posssibly other books (not that i can recall off-hand)

Hey, this is A-OK by me. Some cool ideas, too. One of the fighters in my campaign was constantly dropping weapons all over the place instead of sheathing them... he could have used Quick Holster.

Thank you for letting me do this, Mr Goodman. And here is another one...

Disguise Scent

Illusion
Level: Drd 2, Rgr 1
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: One round
Range: Touch
Target: One creature/two levels
Duration: Ten minutes/level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

Disguise Scent covers the scent of the creatures touched with the most prominent smells of the area. This makes it impossible to use the scent ability to track those affected by this spell.
Material Component: A small piece of local floral or fauna from the area the caster wants to disguise himself against. This piece of the local flora is mixed with the pungent scent of garlic, in order to throw off the scent even more.

nice spell

i would say, though, that the material component should be a specific, pungent, herb (after all, what if i want to use it inside of a city or cavern/dungeon?)

i'd suggest perppermint oil, but that would not be easily attainable in wilderness settings (and pretty expensive in a mideval setting, i'd imagine)

but it should be something strong, like what's used in scent bombs (a scent bomb is just a vial of some really strong scent that will over-power any trail it's poured over, and usually used to stop tracking dogs)

--edit--

i would suggest garlic, because it's very strong, AND garlic in particular is known for having warding properties, which seems appropriate for this spell

Wizard’s Instant Hospital

Evocation [force]
Level: Sor/Wiz 6
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 20 ft.
Effect: 20-ft.-radius sphere centered on your location
Duration: 2 hours/level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

You create a small hut filled with six beds and a supply of 6 one use healing kits. These badages can only be used inside the hut. They cannot be taken outside of the hut unless they are in active use (I.E. on a person’s wound.)
While in the Wizard's Instant Hospital all heal checks made to recover from wounds gain a +10 circumstance bonus (with a further +2 from the healing kits for a total of +12). Hit points gained through sleep while in the instant hospital are doubled and (meaning trippled with a successful Heal check).
This spell in every other way duplicates the tiny hut spell.
Material Component: Bandages soaked in a 25 gp. vial of holy water.

JURDANITE
This prestige class is based on the order of clergymen who follow the deity named Jurdan, god of all the seas. This class is also available to any cleric that worships a deity of the sea (or the sea itself). They gain the ability to be at one with the sea. This makes them excellent navigators and an essential member of any crew that will be at sea for any length of time.

Hit Die: d8

Requirements
Qualification requirements for the Jurdanite class.
Skills: Balance 5+ ranks, Climb 5+ ranks, Craft (carpentry) 3+ ranks, and Use rope 3+ ranks.
Spell Casting: Ability to cast divine spells of 3rd level or higher.

Skills
Class skills (and the key ability for the skill) for the Jurdanite are as follows: Balance (Dex), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int) and Use Rope (Dex).

Each Level Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier.

Features
Jurdanite class features.
Unless otherwise noted any special ability of the Jurdanite that replicates a spell is cast at the Jurdanite’s total caster level and uses his Wisdom modifier for any save DC.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The Jurdanite gains no new weapon or armor proficiencies.

Spells: At 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 8th, and 9th level the Jurdanite gains an increase to his spell casting ability in the class that gave him entry into this prestige class. This +1 level of existing class counts for spells known and spells per day only. It does not give him access to other abilities that the spell casting class would gain at higher levels.

Rigging Master (Ex): The Jurdanite gains his class level as a bonus to any Climb check made to traverse the ship rigging and for any Use Rope checks he makes.

Ship’s Carpenter (Ex): The Jurdanite gains his class level as a bonus to any Craft (carpentry) check made when he is repairing/building a ship.

Jolly Rodger (Ex): By making an Intelligence check versus a DC of 10 the Jurdanite can recognize and identify the colors of any ship on the ocean.

Navigation Skilled (Su): Gained at 2nd level as long as the Jurdanite is aboard the vessel, any navigation checks made by the crew gain a bonus equal to the Jurdanite’s Wisdom modifier.

First Mate Trained (Su): The Jurdanite gains this ability at 2nd level. Despite the name, he does not become the First mate; instead he has been trained to take the place of any crewmember from the first mate on down. This means he can fill the ranks of a fallen crewmember, and keep the ship underway. The Jurdanite can replace (do the duties for) as many crewmembers as his Wisdom modifier (maximum of 7).

Clear Weather Ahead (Sp): At 3rd level the Jurdanite gains the ability to predict the weather to come. By concentrating on the horizon and reading the signs the Jurdanite can predict the weather to come for the next day. In game terms this means he can find the best winds and weather for the ship with only slight changes in course. This gives the ship a percent increase in traveling speed equal to the Jurdanite’s class level times his Wisdom modifier (Maximum of 50%). The Jurdanite must have a positive Wisdom modifier to use this ability.
He may use this ability once per day and takes ten minutes to activate.

Thick Fog (Sp): Gained at 4th level, this ability clears naturally occurring foggy weather within 20 feet per class level of the Jurdanite. When used in this manner Thick Fog lasts for one hour.
The second use of this ability is as a counter spell against any spell that has fog or cloud in the title. The Jurdanite must make a Spellcraft check as with a normal Counter spell attempt. He may use it against Divine or Arcane spells.
He may use only one Thick Fog ability per day and is a standard action to activate.

Crow’s Nest (Ex): At 4th level the Jurdanite can take ten as a standard action during Spot checks made from the crow’s nest.

Sea Worthy (Sp): At 5th level the Jurdanite can spontaneously cast ‘cure’ spells that magically repair damage to the ship. This ability works as the normal clerical ability to spontaneously cast Cure spells, except he ‘cures’ damage to the ship instead. The Jurdanite can use this ability once per day for every two-class levels he has.

Any Port (Sp): Gained at 6th level, this ability exactly duplicates the Control Weather spell. He may use this ability once per day and takes 10 minutes to activate.

Empty Galley (Sp): At 7th level the Jurdanite can Create Food and Water as the spell once per day. This ability creates only enough food to feed the crew. It is a standard action to use this ability.

Quell Mutiny (Su): Gained at 8th level this ability works as the Calm Emotions spell except it can only be used to derail the tension that is leading up to (or has currently started) a mutiny and the crew does not gain a save to resist it. The Jurdanite may only use this ability once during any voyage and is a free action to activate.

Ride the Wind (Sp): Gained at 9th level, this ability exactly replicates the Control Wind spell. The Jurdanite may use this ability once per day and requires great effort on his part. The Jurdanite takes ten points of damage every round that he increases or decreases the wind. Its is a full round action to activate this ability.

Ghost Crew (Sp): At 10th level the Jurdanite can summon forth a ghostly crew to man a ship that has lost at least 50% of its crew since the voyage began. The crewmembers go about their duties in silence and are basically unseen servants as per the spell (except that they have a 6 strength score and do not need to be given instructions as they are extensions of the caster.)
To create the crew the Jurdanite must expend one spell slot for each crewmember he needs to create (first level or higher spells only) as if he had cast the spell. The crew stay in service for twenty-four hours before the Jurdanite needs to replace them again.


The Jurdanite

Because of the inability of placing a table/chart on the forums I was forced to break the table into two separate halves.

ANIMAL FRIEND [General]

You have a natural way about you that attracts more powerful animals.
Prerequisite: Druid
Benefit: Every time you take this feat you are considered one level higher when consulting the animal companion table to determine its powers and abilities.
Furthermore, your animal can learn one more trick.
Special: You can take this feat multiple times, its effects stack.

Ner-Abhul’s Convolution of the Undead

[Necromancy]
Level: Sor/Wiz 6
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: One round
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./ 2 levels)
Target: One dead creature and one object
Duration: Permanent

This spell is a combination of animate dead and animate object. When cast upon a Medium sized dead creature it merges with a nearby Large non-magical object (of the caster’s choice.) This hybrid of undead is tougher than a normal undead in many ways. First, its size category becomes large. Second, the undead gains a toughness value of 5 (as an object). Third, the convoluted undead also gain +2 hp per hit die.

If combined with a vehicle (wagon, cart, boat, etc.) the undead gains the locomotive power and speed of that vehicle. Carts/chariots grafted to the undead have a speed of 60 ft., wagons and boats have a 30 ft. speed. Furthermore, any undead grafted to a wagon with at least four wheels gains the Improved Overrun feat.

Ner-Abhul used to create chariots with skeletons on the back for his own twisted version of gladitorial games.

The number of undead that can be created in this fashion is the same as if with the animate dead spell and count against the caster’s total he can control (see Player’s Handbook, animate dead, for rules on the number of undead a caster can have.)
Material Component: The undead and the object that the undead is to be bonded to.

THUNDERING CHARGE [General, Fighter]

Your skill while charging on the horse is such that even a trained veteran cannot prepare enough to stop you.
Prerequisite: Mounted Combat, Ride 6+ ranks.
Benefit: When making a charge attack from horseback you can neutralize some of the devasting effect of an attack from a spear man who has set to receive your charge. This works only against opponents who have readied an action to set against a charge with a weapon that does more damage when set to receive (such as a longspear). The attack roll is made as normal, but it does not yield the extra damage for being set against a charge.
Special: Because of the special training required (and years of practice that the warrior clans have put into it to perfect it) this ability only works on horseback. It will not work for those who ride exotic animals (such as dogs or Pegasus).

i think that last one is too powerful as written, considering that it has no limit or skill check, and very low pre-requisites

i like the Animal Friend feat. that's clever and useful without being at all overpowering.

-c

I guess i figured that since it would so rarely come into play that it was not too over-powerful. Because over the course of a year I had maybe two NPC's set to recieve a charge from a horse rider and if I remember correctly only one even hit before this feat was made.

Would an increase to the required ride skill to 10+ balance it out?

hmm...

i'd say a check versus the opponent's possible attack roll

as it's written, it's pretty vague, i mean, did you intend 'negate' to mean that no attack roll occurs, or did you mean it to be like deflect arrows in that you use it after an attack roll would have been successful

i would suggest limiting it to negating one readied attack per round, having it function as deflect arrows, and making it a ride check at -5 versus the opponent's attack roll
(really, this would be simaler to using the mounted combat feat to negate a hit to your mount, except applied to the rider instead of the horse)

as for frequency of use, how often do your players use mounts in combat? how about your NPCs?

i would say that an NPC that appears once with this feat will probably spend an entire combat making mounted charges, and a PC with this feat would make mounted charges whenever possible

it also doesn't make sence to me that the feat is available only to riders on horses, i would think that it should apply to any mount that ride-by and mounted combat feats can apply to

(it occurs to me that, in balancing the feat by changing what it does, it may ruin the original intent of the feat... could you say what you had in mind as far as how the feat negated the readied attack?)

I think I see why you saw it is as unbalanced. It was initially supposed to defeat the extra damage from attacks with weapons that do more when set to receive charge (like long spears), not all attacks that are readied. My mistake, I should have clarified it better. Please read the edited version.

As for the reason it is for horseback only, it was for three reasons. One was for it to act as another limiting factor, almost like a built in prereq. Two, I was trying to give something special to give the PC that chooses to use an actual horse (instead of the Pegasus or whatever else they my players drive me crazy with because they can’t be happy with the norm). Third, has to do with my campaign and a warrior clan that uses horses.

This is one that I created to have a little fun at the expense of a Player who plays a bard in my campaign. He made a comment about being forced to rhyme while he talked, and so i made him take this feat.

POET FIRST, BARD SECOND [General]

Songs are nice for those other bards, but for you, its all about the poetry.
Prerequisite: Bard 1st+ level.
Benefit: When reciting a sonnet, the character gains a +2 bonus to the DC of any of his music driven effects until the end of the encounter. The player (not just the character) must begin the first round of combat speaking in rhyme (during his first action), and must continue doing so until his next turn. If he does not speak in rhyme, he loses the +2 bonus and takes a penalty to the save DC for his musical effects of -2 until the combat ends. The character cannot avoid this by simply not speaking, he must make at least three rhymes before his next turn, or forfeit the benefit of this feat (and take the penalty as well.)

INSPIRE CONFUSION [General]
Some bards can sing a ballad that makes his friends work like a well oiled machine. But then there are the other bards, the ones like you. When you sing your songs, it is to make sure the enemy can’t get it out of their heads (and the distraction you cause usually means your opponents end up losing their heads before the end of the fight).
Prerequisite: Bardic music ability Inspire Courage.
Benefit: You affect your enemies so that they are distracted by your songs. Activation of this ability reqiures three of your bardic music ability uses for the day. The bard chooses from one of the two following affects. He may choose either one of the effects every time he activates this feat, but he may not change the type mid-song.
Type one: This distraction causes all enemies within thirty feet of the bard to take a –1 distraction penalty on all attack and weapon damage rolls. This penalty increases by –1 every six levels the bard has after the first (–2 seventh level, –3 thirteenth level, –4 nineteenth level). This lasts as long as the bard sings and for 3 rounds after he stops.
Type two: Any opponent who attempts to cast a spell that has a verbal component within the bard’s Inspire Confusion radius (thirty feet from the bard, in all directions) must make a Concentration check DC equal to an opposed Perform check by the bard. This check is made every time the enemy attempts to cast a spell. Success means the spell is cast as normal. Failure means the bard’s enemy has made a mistake and one of the following happens (determined randomly.)

1 – Duration of spell decreases by ½ (round down.) This will not affect instantaneous or permanent spells.
2 – Spell misfires (as if defensive Concentration check were missed.)
3 – Range of spell decreases one category (Long drops to Medium, Medium to Close, and Close to 10 ft.). Touch and spells that have a set range are unaffected.
4 – Spell requires full round to cast. If the spell already requires a full round, or if the caster has taken more than a 5 foot step during the round the spell is lost.
5 – Wrong spell is cast (randomly determine spell from the caster’s spell list.) Spell target(s) stay the same.
6 – Wrong target(s). The caster casts on friend if was supposed to cast on foe and casts of foe if supposed to cast on friend.
7 – Duration of spell becomes one round. This will not effect instantaneous spells but can effect permanent spells.
8 – Spell is cast as normal, but has secondary non-harmful side effect (such as trumpets blaring, or bird feathers falling all around the caster.

This lasts as long as the bard sings.
Special: Inspire Confusion is a mind-affecting language based ability.

EMPOWERED ITEMS [General]

In your hands a scroll is more than just words on a paper.
Prerequisite: Scribe Scroll (or Craft Wand).
Benefit: When casting a spell off of a scroll, you may use your caster level to determine the range and effect of the spell instead of the caster level the scroll was preset at.
Activating this ability is a free action (becoming part of the spell trigger/spell completion process of the item) and you must expend (as if you had cast) a spell of equal or higher level to the spell you are casting off of a scroll.
Normal: Scrolls have a set caster level that was determined during the item’s creation.
Special: You may use this ability in conjunction with activating a wand (following the same rules as above). You must have the Craft Wand feat to do so.

Utilitarian Tricks

[Transmutation]
Level: Wiz 1
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 Minute
Range: 15 ft.
Duration: 1 hour/level
Saving Throw: Special
Spell Resistance: No

This spell is similar in nature to the Prestidigitation spell. It was created by more powerful students of the mage colleges to help them with their daily chores. The effects are designed to accent the caster’s life by handling mundane tasks (and impressing the underclassmen.) While the Utilitarian Tricks spell is active the caster may take a move action to have one of the following effects occur.

1) Any task that could be performed by the Prestidigitation spell.
2) Open or close a portal as per the Open/Close spell.
3) Move an object as per the Mage Hand spell.
4) Help the caster with a skill check (the magic steers the caster mentally to the best possible result or physically manipulates the caster/item). This gives the caster a +1 luck bonus to the check.
5) Keep from becoming lost as the Know Direction spell.
6) Repairs a ripped/broken item, as the Mending spell.
7) Sleep immunity. This, the final trick, was used by students needing to cram in an all night session of studying. This trick allows the caster to stay completely awake for one full hour. During that time he cannot sleep (magically or otherwise). If the caster goes the entire night with out sleep he follows the normal rules for fatigue.

This spell ends once it has preformed a number of tricks equal to the wizard's Intelligence modifier. The same effect can be chosen multiple times, but no effect can occur twice in the same round. Only one Utilitarian Tricks spell can be in effect on the caster at any given time (he must recast it once the duration ends or he uses the tricks up.) The range limits of this spell supercede those of the spells they duplicate.

looking at all the spells yours has the ability to duplicate, and the durration (assumably, any effect can be called forth as a move action, and you can call twice per round because a standard action can be sacrificed to perform a move action) it's much more powerful than a 1st level spell

that makes for ... (2*6*60*level) up to 720 calls per level
realisticaly, of course, there would be much fewer effect calls over the spell's durration

i'd say level 2, minimum

as opposed to raising the level, it could also be balanced by:

*having the caster pick one of the potential effects at the time of casting, and grant only that effect for the spell's durration
*allow activation as a move action once per round
*combine 1,2,3, and 6 into one ability, since they all run along the same vein (and are closely related to prestidigitation) (this is mainly so that all options are roughly equal in power instead of balance)
*limiting the sleep immunity effect to the normal durration of the spell, so as to avoid sneaky casters activating the effect before the main durration ends
*confine the ranged effects of the spell to the range of the spell, not thier original ranges

completely aside from that, i think you should add an option taht allows for the creation of light by mimicing any light producing 0 level spells (specifically; light and dancing lights)

--edit--

ah, bad me, i didn't properly read the last part of the spell description ^_^' you might want to consider using the caster level to modify the number of uses per casting...

I thought about using caster level at first, but i chose the lesser Int Modifier as it was sort of a built in balance.

Shelf Finder

[Enchantment]
Level: Sor/Wiz 1, Brd 1
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: One round
Range: Touch
Target: Book Touched
Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: Fort (item, harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (item)

This spell was created by sages and wizards to keep their studies clean and organized. The spell is cast on a non-magical tome as it sits on the shelf. From that moment on whenever the book is left unattended for more than one hour (and is within 100 ft of the shelf it was first on when the spell was cast) the book automatically returns to its proper place on the shelf. If the book is unable to return for any reason (the way is blocked, it is over 100 feet from the shelf, etc) then the spell is temporarily suspended until it can return.

When returning to the shelf, the book slowly floats through the air. If any item is placed on or in the book it will not return. If the book would strike another object in route it will take the safest way to the shelf. The book cannot weigh over one hundred pounds.

Material Component: A single Mage Hand scroll that is ripped up and the pieces put between the binding and the paper of the book.

any librarian would pay a fortune for a rod that can cast that spell at will

does a bookmark count as being something inside of the book?

does an unattended book close itself when it returns to it's place on the shelf?

a torn up mage hand scroll seems like a pretty expensive material component... (though definently appropriate)
personally, i think i'll substiture one of those cards that gets the date stamped on it that goes insode the cover of a book in some libraries, since it's a first level spell