Tests of Skill errata

[Geoff]

At the start of Ch.2 (I don't have the book in front of me so I will edit this if I got this mixed up) The second paragraph is split across two collumns and when I first read this, I got confused how the text was supposed to flow.

[Skirmisher]

Alzrius, I am in the process of implementing these changes to the updated Tests layouts and had a few questions for you about your stat block corrections:

Invee, page 15: HD 4d4+7, hp 17; BAB +2, Grp -4; club +1 (1d4-2); SV Fort +2, Ref +6, Will +7; Bluff +8 (+6*)

...

Bluff 4 ranks (+2 Cha)

Based on the number of ranks she has in Bluff, shouldn't her skill modifier be +6 (+4*)?

Dr. Fantastiko ... hp 21.

Is there any reason he can't have the original 25 hp we listed for him? I know the 21 is the average, which is typically used, but is there a rule saying this has to be the case for an NPC?

Dr. Fantastiko ... Appraise +7 (+7 for alchemical items and illusion apparatuses) ... Appraise 5 ranks (+2 Int, +2 synergy (Craft) when appraising alchemical items and illusion apparatuses)

Should this be "+9 for alchemical items and illusion apparatuses"?

Dr. Fantastiko ... Add in one more feat.

I went ahead and gave him your new Artful Legerdemain feat, which I thought was especially appropriate for this character. I do have a question about it, however, which I will post with it.

Orcish Warriors ... hp 5

Do they need to have hp 5 rather than the 8 that were originally listed? Isn't it legitmate to give them non-average hit points if the encounter calls for them to be a littl tougher than the norm?

Wolf Spider ... hp 22

As per the above query, couldn't this monster have the 28 hp originally assigned to it?

Suigenerix ... 98 skill points

I am only counting 93 points in your breakdown. Please check this and, if it is off, let me know where you would put the missing points.

[Alzrius]

Alzrius, I am in the process of implementing these changes to the updated Tests layouts and had a few questions for you about your stat block corrections:

Invee, page 15: HD 4d4+7, hp 17; BAB +2, Grp -4; club +1 (1d4-2); SV Fort +2, Ref +6, Will +7; Bluff +8 (+6*)

...

Bluff 4 ranks (+2 Cha)

Based on the number of ranks she has in Bluff, shouldn't her skill modifier be +6 (+4*)?

No. According to the text from the scenario, she normally has a Charisma of 18, which has a +4 bonus, but it's been lowered to 14 (+2 bonus) from the stench of where she's trapped. Hence, she has 4 ranks in Bluff, and normally as a total Bluff modifier of +8 at her normal Charisma, but is now at +6.

However, I'm glad you brought this up. Looking over her skill points that I assigned to her, I overspent her by 1 point - she should have only 21 skill points, but I gave her 22. Lower her Spellcraft skill to 2 ranks, which with her +1 Intelligence bonus, gives her a total Spellcraft modifier of +3.

Dr. Fantastiko ... hp 21.

Is there any reason he can't have the original 25 hp we listed for him? I know the 21 is the average, which is typically used, but is there a rule saying this has to be the case for an NPC?

Strictly speaking, there's no hard and fast reason why you can't. It's just how I've always seen it done, and it usually seems best not to deviate from what players and DM's have come to expect. But there's no reason why you can't give him slightly higher hit points.

Dr. Fantastiko ... Appraise +7 (+7 for alchemical items and illusion apparatuses) ... Appraise 5 ranks (+2 Int, +2 synergy (Craft) when appraising alchemical items and illusion apparatuses)

Should this be "+9 for alchemical items and illusion apparatuses"?

You're right. I spelled it out clearly in the breakdown, but forgot to increase that synergy bonus in the actual correction I wrote for that portion of his stat block. It should be +9 for alchemical items and illusion apparatuses.

Dr. Fantastiko ... Add in one more feat.

I went ahead and gave him your new Artful Legerdemain feat, which I thought was especially appropriate for this character. I do have a question about it, however, which I will post with it.

I'll be looking for it.

Orcish Warriors ... hp 5

Do they need to have hp 5 rather than the 8 that were originally listed? Isn't it legitmate to give them non-average hit points if the encounter calls for them to be a littl tougher than the norm?

Wolf Spider ... hp 22

As per the above query, couldn't this monster have the 28 hp originally assigned to it?

Same as above - I made those exactly the average to fit with the conventions regarding NPCs and monsters. I don't suppose there's anything really wrong with using slightly more randomized numbers, but those who pay attention to such things (which will be, most likely, very few people) may wonder about it.

Suigenerix ... 98 skill points

I am only counting 93 points in your breakdown. Please check this and, if it is off, let me know where you would put the missing points.

I counted several times, but I keep coming up with 98. Are you making sure to note which skills are cross-class skills? The parenthetical notations for those can be hard to keep up with sometimes; they threw my count off a few times.

[Skirmisher]

Alzrius, thanks for your quick responses to my questions! Making very good progress here, as you will be able to see from how far down in the errata my next round of questions are, as follows:

* I am not seeing assignment of Defects to any of the existing NPCs (although I know you included them for at least one or two of the new ones that you wrote up). I had thought you were going to add these to maybe a third of them and would still like to do so. If you compiled a list of recommendations or ideas related to this, please either post it here or email it to me so that I can draw upon it when figuring our who to give Defects to and what they should be.

Kenvar ... Skills Bluff +1 ... Bluff 5 ranks (+1 Cha)

Shouldn't this give him a total modifier of Bluff +6?

[Alzrius]

Alzrius, thanks for your quick responses to my questions! Making very good progress here, as you will be able to see from how far down in the errata my next round of questions are, as follows:

* I am not seeing assignment of Defects to any of the existing NPCs (although I know you included them for at least one or two of the new ones that you wrote up). I had thought you were going to add these to maybe a third of them and would still like to do so. If you compiled a list of recommendations or ideas related to this, please either post it here or email it to me so that I can draw upon it when figuring our who to give Defects to and what they should be.

I emailed those to you a while back, and we did have a discussion regarding them. I'll repost them here:

Dr. Fantastiko, page 16: Defect: Delicate (hp 12). Feat: Dodge

Unmegan, page 23: Defect: Hateful. Feat: Lightning Reflexes (+2 Ref)

Captain Marellyn, page 27: Defect: Throws Like a Girl. Feat: Weapon Focus (longsword) (+1 to attacks with her longsword)

Maria, page 29: Defect: Wuss Spellcaster. Feat: Combat Casting

Krakelheur, page 33: Defect: Brittle Bones. Feat: Famine Survivor

Rockhew the Giant, page 38: Defect: Inept and Defect: Extremely Inept. Feats: Improved Overrun, Awesome Blow

Makrob, the Trollkeeper, page 47: Defect: Phobia (fire). Feat: Great Cleave

Tarnberg, page 48: Defect: Malodorous. Feat: Skill Focus (Survival) (+3 to Survival skill)

Marshal Cettmac Grimtooth, page 62: Defect: Peaked. Feat: Iron Will (+2 Will)

“Prester” Nevella, page 74: Defect: Selfless Counselor and Defect: Runs Like a Girl. Feats: Weapon Focus (heavy mace) (+1 to attacks with heavy mace) and Spell Penetration

Rune, page 74: Defect: Weak-Willed. Feat: Eschew Materials.

Willestorm, page 75: Defect: Mute. Feat: Overcome Defects

Kenvar ... Skills Bluff +1 ... Bluff 5 ranks (+1 Cha)

Shouldn't this give him a total modifier of Bluff +6?

Yes, it should. I think I just looked at the ability modifier there, and forgot to add in the actual ranks at that point. This is why it's always a good idea to have another pair of eyes look over something.

As a side note, sorry for the notation that I edited your post, above. That was an accident on my part, as I clicked the "modify" button on your post instead of the "quote" button. Being a moderator of a forum is new to me!

[Skirmisher]

Commander Valentinian ... Attack masterwork heavy crossbow +9 ranged (1d10/19-20)

Hornsplitter ... Atk +8 masterwork mighty composite longbow [+2] ranged (1d8+2/x3)

Alzrius, these characters and possibly a few others had originally had ranged attacked modifiers that were one place higher and the notation that they were using masterwork ammunition (e.g., "(1d10/x3, masterwork heavy crossbow and masterwork bolts)"). Did you lower their ranged attack modifers to reflect that you removed the reference to masterwork ammunition? And is it not proper for us to refer to it in the stat block if we want to draw the DM's attention to it?

[Alzrius]

I made that change because the enhancement bonus from masterwork ammunition does not stack with the bonus from masterwork ranged weapons, as laid out in the SRD:

Masterwork ammunition is damaged (effectively destroyed) when used. The enhancement bonus of masterwork ammunition does not stack with any enhancement bonus of the projectile weapon firing it.

Hence, I did lower the ranged attack bonus by 1 point to correct for that. Similarly, that made the listing of the type of ammunition in the stat block superfluous; particularly since masterwork ammunition is destroyed when used (mundane ammunition has a 50% chance of being usable again if it misses its target).

[Skirmisher]

I made that change because the enhancement bonus from masterwork ammunition does not stack with the bonus from masterwork ranged weapons, as laid out in the SRD:

Good catch! You're a step ahead of me on that.

In light of that, it really doesn't make sense for those characters to even carry masterwork ammunition with them, does it?

[Alzrius]

In light of that, it really doesn't make sense for those characters to even carry masterwork ammunition with them, does it?

Probably not. That's easy to fix though, by simply deleting the word "masterwork" in front of the ammunition in their Possessions listing.