some precisions from Dark Duo on MotRD

[Joël of the FoS]

Phounix, one the S&S board, posted this:

Posted: Tue Nov 09

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Like many people on these boards I had some questions and needed some clarifications of some sort. So I send a mail with questions. And this are the questions + the answers (He responded very fast) I got from Jackie Cassada, Ravenloft co-developer. He also said they are very busy and do not always have the time to follow what happens on the boards. So I promised him that I would put the questions + answers on to the boards. And here they are.

1) pg 59: Metaphysician. The Metaphysician gains sill focus Knowledge (Science at first level and every 5 levels there after???? Does he get bonus feats every 5 levels (if so from which list) or does he get bonus skill focus feats every 5 level? (the only thing that is specified is that he doesn’t get the bonus metamagic feats).

RESPONSE: The Metaphysician is a variant class of the Adept class (p. 54). With the variant classes, we mainly discuss the DIFFERENCES between them and the parent class. Every five levels, the Metaphysician gets the Skill Focus (Knowledge [Science]) feat in a different a different science specialty. This is because metaphysicians see magic as a science and their spells, to them, are scientific in nature.

EXAMPLE 5th Level Metaphysician: At fist level I take the Skill Focus feat for Knowledge (Science [Chemistry], and at 5th level I take the Skill Focus feat for Knowledge (Science [Mathematics].

2) pg 61: Occultist. He gets bonus feats (at 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th level), but from which list?

RESPONSE: The Occultist should get a bonus feat from the metamagic spell list.

3) pg 62: Athlete. Is Jump not a class skill for athletic characters?

RESPONSE: Jump should have been included in the class skills. Feel free to alter the class skills if you feel they need to be altered. You may find a reason to include a skill that seems logical to you. In this case, we omitted Jump by mistake.

4) pg 74-82: Mystic Class. I understand the 2+1 (+1 = domain spell) that are represented in the spells per day table. But what about the first number in the spell per day list (the 2 in the example above). My question is simple: do I use the spell list of the Cleric or Druid for the first number in the spell per day list??

RESPONSE: Since their are not cleric or druid classes, there are no "cleric" or "druid" spells. There are lists of domain spells beginning on page 160. Each mystic decides for herself which domain is most appropriate for her. She must progress from minor to major access in a domain before adding a domain or else she cannot get major access to the first domain. You are correct in that the explanation of domains is not as clear as it should have been. As I see it, all mystics begin with the All domain. She should also select a special "domain" that relates to her mystic philosophy.

EXAMPLE: Angelique, a mystic, begins with minor access to the All domain. She feels an affinity for nature so she also takes minor access to the Plant domain. As she advances in level, she chooses whether or not to stay with the Plant domain or change to another one. If she abandons the Plant domain before she gains major access to its spells, she may not return to that domain to learn major spells. She may continue to cast the spells she already knows. So, Angelique starts out with All and Plants. At 1st level, she has 3 0-level spells and one 1st level spell from All and one from Plant (her domain). At 2nd level, she has 4 0-level spells and 2+1 first level spells. This means that she can have three 1st level spells if one of those spells is from the Plant domain.
If you still have questions, please ask again and I may refer you to someone who is better at explaining than I am.

5) pg 88: Tradesman. Related Professions or craft: a trades man gains an additional related profession or craft as a bonus skill (i.e. no experience point cost). The first part is explained but what do you mean with “i.e. no experience point cost”?

RESPONSE: Other classes must pay experience to gain a new craft or profession. The Tradesman receives a bonus craft or profession as if it were a bonus feat, i.e., without paying anything for it. It's a result of advancing a level.

6) pg 88: Tradesman. Where can I find (book, pg if possible) the rules to spend Experience points to gain an additional related profession or craft skill as a bonus skill. Or can you just say how it works (rules + Experience point cost).

RESPONSE: If the profession or craft is a class skill, you use Skill points to buy them, just as in D&D. If it is a cross-class skill, you spend twice as many Skill points, just as in D&D. You don't spend Experience points to gain an additional class, you spend Skill points. I don't know if I can say this more clearly, but if it is still unclear, please tell me how it is unclear and I'll try again.

7) pg 95 Exorcist. If I am correct an exorcist can also turn Demons, because this is one of the things exorcists are know for. But noting in their class features reflects this????

RESPONSE: The Exorcist receives extra turning as well as the ability to cast dismissal as he progresses in the class. Masque of the Red Death uses the term "spirit" for all evil ethereal creatures, be they ghost or demon.

8 ) pg 105: Skill specialization. Can you specialize in more than one field or do you have to take them separately? If you have specialized, do you know also general knowledge of the basic skill (example: Knowledge Science [chemistry], so you are specialized in chemistry but can you still answer Mathematics questions?)?

RESPONSE: You must take each Skill specialization separately. If you have a specialization, you can still answer questions in related skills. The DC is up to the DM.

9) pg 108: First Aid: Do you stabilize a character with Fisrt Aid or with the profession Doctor skill??

RESPONSE: First Aid is a skill that anyone can take as either a class or cross class skill. Anyone with First Aid can attempt to stabilize a mortally wounded character. Doctors and nurses receive +2 bonuses on their First Aid checks.

10) pg 114: Called Shot. Does this feat exist for melee combat to, if so ..?

RESPONSE: Called Shot is a feat that applies specifically to firearms. If you want it to apply to melee combat, you could do so, but I would suggest that you make each a specific feat (Called Shot: Firearms and Called Shot: Melee) since each uses different skills. You don't place a bullet the same way you place a sword strike.

11) pg 152: Melee weapons. I can’t find the statistics for the melee weapons in the whole book. I found a lot of statistics in the other books, but the following weapons need clarification: Sabre, Bayonet, Bowie knife, Bolo, Pocket knife, Lasso, and Tomahawk?

RESPONSE: You should use the damage tables from the Players Handbook for equivalent weapons. Our weapons table is admittedly small. We wish we could have made it bigger, but we had to pack a lot of information into the space we had available.

12) pg 152-155: Mysticism. How do you gain another domain (feat???)?

RESPOONSE: You choose another domain when you advance a level, but if you do not have major access in the old domain when you choose the new one, you cannot go back and receive higher level spells in your old domain. Mystics do not have nearly as many choice in Red Death as in regular Ravenloft or D&D. Magic is just plain harder. And more dangerous.

13) pg 152-155: Mysticism. How do you gain Major Access? I think it is by advancing in level, but what happens if you become lets say 8th level Mystic (you already have major access for the All Domain from 7the level) and I want to abandon the All domain to start studying the Chaos domain. If I’m correct then you stop advancing in the all domain. But you start in the Chaos domain. Do I get all the domain spells of the Chaos domain up to 8the level??

RESPONSE: FIrst, I think it's a little too restrictive to limit starting mystics to JUST the All domain. (See question 4 above.) If you choose a new domain at 8th level, you would receive the list up to 4th level spells (the level spell you can cast at 8th level). You cannot, however, gain access to higher level spells from your 1st domain.

[Jester of the FoS]

Great job Joël!
To the Errata thread!!

[Jester of the FoS]

5) pg 88: Tradesman. Related Professions or craft: a trades man gains an additional related profession or craft as a bonus skill (i.e. no experience point cost). The first part is explained but what do you mean with “i.e. no experience point cost”?

RESPONSE: Other classes must pay experience to gain a new craft or profession. The Tradesman receives a bonus craft or profession as if it were a bonus feat, i.e., without paying anything for it. It's a result of advancing a level.

I'm really curious about this one. I've looked all over the book and it doesn't mention what the other classes must pay.

[Guest]

5) ... RESPONSE: Other classes must pay experience to gain a new craft or profession.

6) ... RESPONSE: If the profession or craft is a class skill, you use Skill points to buy them, just as in D&D. If it is a cross-class skill, you spend twice as many Skill points, just as in D&D. You don't spend Experience points to gain an additional class, you spend Skill points.

Okay, clear as mud. If I get a new craft or profession skill, what determines the ranks if I'm getting it for free?!

[Wiccy of the Fraternity]

Okay, clear as mud. If I get a new craft or profession skill, what determines the ranks if I'm getting it for free?!

The ranks are determined by however many ranks you put into it when you go up a level, just like any other skill.

[ScS of the Fraternity]

But I think our guest wants to know if you get any free ranks to start with - my guess is no.

[YokoburiKinura]

You get the first rank for free, but that's all. In the example, they take a tradesman with Profession (Silversmith) and say that at 3rd level he can get, among other things, Profession (Jeweler) 1. That says to me one free rank in a new skill, which to me seems to have limited usefulness.

[Coan]

Could we have a copy of this Errata put on the Errata Thread (if not linked to already) and in the Salon?

With all this talk on the reviews for MotRD calling for errata, this is important information.

[Klaus]

Okay, here's what I'd like to know:

So, say this shaman begins play with Minor Access to All and Plant. The she reaches 2nd level. If she choose to increase Plant to Major Access, does she forfeits the chance to increase All?

Because if you plan on having Major Access to All, that forces you to choose a domain you're not interested in for your second domain at first level, knowing you'll give up on it when you reach 2nd level...

Or could these two domains be an exception, where you could choose to increase, say, Plant to Major at 2nd and All to Major at 3rd (but if you add any other Minor domain you forfeit your advancement chances...)

[Coan]

By the rules given it seems that you forfeit to major in one of those two once you make your decision. No mention of an exception is given (is it? I dont recall it saying so).

Any deviation would be up to the DM.

[Wiccy of the Fraternity]

For what it is worth, I am yet to get my head around how mystic spellcasters gain domains and progress in them

[Coan]

Think of it as the old 2nd Edition domains/spheres.

You need to have the domain to cast spells listed in that domain (the tables in the book show what spells you can cast if you have minor as well as major spheres of that domain). There is no bonus domain spell and no massive list allowing you to choose whatever spell you so wish as there is in 3rd (total the +1 on the tables for mystics and its subsidiarys -they just cast the number; 1+1 becomes 2 spells of that level, there aren't bonus domain spells). You must pick your spells from the list under whatever domains you have.

You begin with 'all', each level up you gain a domain slot. You can increase a minor domain to major (thereby allowing you to cast high power spells when your level allows you to cast them, say 6th level spells). Or you can choose any other domain and get a minor sphere in it.

If you 'abandon' a sphere to which you already have a minor in (so say you have a minor in 'all' then once you reach level 2 decide for a minor in 'death' instead of majoring in the 'all' domain) you cannot major in that abandoned sphere ever again. (Continuing the example: you couldn't major in 'all' once you reach level 3 [because you minored in 'death'] but you could major in the 'death' or pick another minor in say the 'knowledge' sphere).

I like it better than the cleric rules.

[Wiccy of the Fraternity]

Thanks Coan, that makes about 50 ties more sense than the rules as the yare presented in the book. You should have written that portion of the book, as I think the descriptive work appears to be as tangible as the journal on Astrology as written by a 7 year old.

However, I am still wondering how many spells you have access to in regard to each spell level in a domain. And what do you mean by abandon? do you lose that domain completely, or just can;t gain further advancement in it? also, how high a spell level can you attain with minor access in a domain?

Trust me when I say I have now read this p[ortion of the book 5 times and it makes zero sense to me, it is utter gibberish.

[Klaus]

When you choose Minor Access to a sphere, you immediately add all spells of level 1-3 from that Sphere to your spell list. If you later gain Major Access to it, you add all spells of levels 4-9 to your spell list.

There is no base list. You start with a blank list and you add the spells from the Spheres you have access to.

(This part is stolen from 2e):
You begin play with two Sphere "picks", one of which must be devoted to the All Sphere (granting Minor Access to it).

Your second pick can either be used to gain Minor Access to another Sphere (say, Plant) or you can spend it on the All Sphere again.

If you choose the first option, you'll begin play with Minor Access in two Spheres. If you choose the second one, you'll begin play with Major Access to the All Sphere.

Every time you go up a level, you get another "pick". If you spend it on a Sphere to which you already have Minor Access, you gain Major Access to it.

If you spend it on a new Sphere, you gain Minor Access to it.

If you have Minor Access to a Sphere, and you don't pick it for Major Access (in favor of getting a new Sphere), you can never expand your knowledge in that sphere again (although you do not lose spells you already had added to your list).

Example: Anna is a 1st level character. She gets two picks, and she spends both in the All sphere, gaining Major Access to it. Although she has very few spells for the moment (she can only prepare spells from the all sphere), she will be able to prepare high-level spells from the All sphere when she gains enough levels. At 2nd level, Anna gets another pick, and she chooses the Animal domain. She now has Major Access to All and Minor Access to Animal. At 3rd level, Anna gets another pick. She can either spend it on Animal (increasing it to Major Access) or she can spend it on a new domain. She decides to spend it to gain Minor Access to Plant. Now she has Major Access to All and Minor Access to Animal and Plant. Since she gave up on Animal before gaining Major Access to it, Anna will never be able to gain Major Access to it. At 4th level, her options are either gain Major Access to Plant or gain Minor Access to a new domain.

[Wiccy of the Fraternity]

Coan and Klaus, thank you You finally helped me get my head around Mysticism, I never had the 2E version of MotRD, but seeing it like this makes alot more sense than the book did

Cheers guys.

Oh, and for your helpfulness, Dru says you can each for a Doll Golem as a late X-mas pressie