A couple months ago I mentioned that I had created counter-intelligence guidelines for the Gather Information skill. Confanity had mentioned that he was intrigued by them, and I promised to get them posted sooner rather than later. For certain definitions of “sooner” and “later”, I suppose that this has now been accomplished.

Counter-Intelligence: A character can attempt to detect other characters gathering information about a particular subject in the area by making a Gather Information check. The DC of the counter-intelligence check is opposed by the original Gather Information check made in the attempt to gather the information.

Avoiding Suspicion: If a character is attempting to avoid suspicion, it becomes more difficult to detect them. Although the character suffers a -10 penalty on their Gather Information check for the purposes of collecting the information they seek, they gain a +10 bonus to their Gather Information check for the purposes of opposing the counter-intelligence check.

In addition, cautious characters can voluntarily increase the penalty on their original Gather Information check, granting an equal bonus for the purposes of opposing the counter-intelligence check. (For example a character could decide to be extra cautious and apply a -15 penalty to their Gather Information check. Their unmodified check result is 30, which is modified to 15 (30 – 15) for the purposes of determining what information they actually glean. But if another character attempts to detect their presence, they would have to make a DC 45 (30 + 15) counter-intelligence check to do so.)

Modifiers: Apply a -2 penalty to counter-intelligence checks for every week that has passed since the original Gather Information check.

USING THE GUIDELINES

For PCs, these guidelines aren’t only useful to find out if someone is asking questions about them. In fact, they’re generally more useful for identifying competing interests. Who else in town is trying to find out information about the Vault of the Dwarven Kings? Or investigating the Baker’s Street Gang?

Resolving these types of checks requires the GM to know two things:

(1) Who else is looking for that information?

(2) What should the DC of the check be?

The answer to the former question, of course, is situational. For the latter you could either set simple, static DCs as you would for any other Gather Information check, or you could actually resolve the opposed check.

FACTION

I generally find it useful to know what kind of information-gathering capacity factions have in my campaigns. For smaller factions (like an opposing group of adventurers or a small gang of bad guys), this is as simple as looking at the highest (or most appropriate) Gather Information skill modifier in the group.

For larger factions, I simply assign a Gather Information modifier to the group. (This number is essentially arbitrary, although I base it on the size, nature, and resources of the group in question.)

When trying to figure out how suspicious a particular group is (i.e., whether they’re performing counter-intelligence to make sure anyone is asking questions about them) or how pervasive their surveillance is (i.e., how often they’re making counter-intelligence checks), I’ve generally just relied on common sense to make a ruling whenever the question needs to be answered. But if you’re running a campaign where intelligence and counter-intelligence is likely to be fairly common (for example, a modern espionage campaign), then codifying those factors might be useful.

(For example, a Paranoid group might check 1/day; a Suspicious group every 1d6 days; a Cautious group once every 3d10 days; a Naive group might never check. In other words, if the PCs investigate a Suspicious group then there would be a counter-intelligence check made 1d6 days later.)

Last year my one-page dungeon The Halls of the Mad Mage, inspired by the twisted landscapes of M.C. Escher, won Best Geometry in the One Page Dungeon Contest. The deluxe version of the One Page Dungeon Codex 2009, which collects all of the winners, has now been released as a FREE e-book from Tabletop Adventures.

I believe the 2010 contest has also concluded (I didn’t enter this year).

THE HALLS OF THE MAD MAGE

If you like The Halls of the Mad Mage, while you’re at RPGNow for the Codex, you might also want to check out some of my other adventure supplements:

Inspired by the “Shields Shall Be Splintered!” houserule at Trollsmyth, I’ve been thinking about how such a mechanic could be used to make sword-and-boarding a more interesting and flavorful mechanical choice. And maybe address some of the balance issues that make them so much less appealing than wielding a two-handed weapon.

SHIELDS: Once per round a character can use their shield to block (or partially block) an incoming attack. Both the shield and the shield’s wielder suffer the full damage of the attack, but the shield’s wielder can subtract a number of points of damage equal to their Base Attack Bonus. A shield cannot be used to block a touch attacks or attacks that bypass armor in any way.

A shield can be used to block damage from any effect which requires an attack roll (such as a scorching ray).

A shield can also be used to block damage from any effect which allows a Reflex save (such as a fireball). If the character makes a Reflex save for half damage, the damage blocked by the shield is subtracted before being halved.

A character who is flat-footed or unaware of an attack cannot use a shield block.

THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS

(1) There are quite a few possibilities here for feats to extend this basic capability: For example, allowing characters to block up to twice their BAB in damage. Or a feat similar to Combat Reflexes that would allow a character to make a number of shield blocks equal to their Dexterity bonus. Should the “blocking spells and other effects” be relegated to a feat, as well? Is it too useful straight out of the box?

(2) Instead of making this a 1/round ability, should it be an immediate action?

(3) Is this useful enough that the normal AC bonus from a shield should be eliminated?

And, of course, the big question is: Does it work? Is it balanced? As the title of the post suggests, I’ve given this zero playtesting. It’s just a nifty idea that tickled the hind-quarters of my brain. It undoubtedly needs some tweaking at the very least.

My brother, who plays the mage Ranthir in the In the Shadow of the Spire campaign, requested a D20-statting of the spell seen in this video from Guild Wars 2:

FLAME OF THE PHOENIX
Evocation [Fire]
Level: Drd 2, Sor/Wiz 2
Components: V, S, M/DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Medium (100 feet + 10 feet/level)
Effect: Medium size phoenix of flame
Duration: 1 round (see text)
Saving Throw: Reflex half or negates (see text)
Spell Resistance: Yes

A bright flame in the shape of a winged phoenix appears before you. With a screeching caw you can command it to attack any creature within range. The flame phoenix will fly in a straight line to that target. If it passes through the space of any other creature in its flight, that creature must make a Reflex saving throw or suffer 1d4 points of fire damage per every two caster levels (maximum 5d4).

Once the flame phoenix reaches its target, it stops moving for the round. In a burst of flaming feathers, the flame phoenix deals 1d6/level points of fire damage to the target (Reflex save for half damage, maximum of 10d6). If the target creature moves, the flame phoenix will follow it up to the limit of the spell’s range.

At the end of your next turn, the flame phoenix flies back to you in a straight line. If it passes through the space of any other creature in its flight, that creature must make a Reflex saving throw or suffer 1d4 points of fire damage per every two caster levels (maximum 5d4).

More startling even than that diabolic chuckle was the scream that rose at my very elbow from the salt-compounded sand – the scream of a woman possessed by some atrocious agony, or helpless in the grip of devils. Turning, I beheld a veritable Venus, naked in a white perfection that could fear no scrutiny, but immersed to her navel in the sand. Her terror-widened eyes implored me and her lotus hands reached out with beseeching gesture.

The Abominations of Yondo, Clark Ashton Smith

The honeytrap is a roper-like creature which relies on deceit and camouflage to trap its prey. The upper half of its body bears the appearance of a beautiful young maiden, but this beauty is wrapped around a mass of tentacular horror. The honeytrap’s favored tactic is to secrete a corrosive chemical capable of rendering even solid rock into a quicksand-like liquiesence.  When its prey draws near, the honeytrap will cry in terror and plead for their aid. It will wait until they are at their most vulnerable before striking: Its sternum will part into a ravenous maw, exuding a half dozen coiled tentacles which will burst forth and wrap themselves lethally around the honeytrap’s would-be saviors.

The honeytrap prefers to lure its victims into a danerous mixture of complacency and chivalry before striking, but those seeking to flee a ravenous honeytrap may be shocked as it wrenches itself free from its muck-ridden hunting grounds and pursues them with great speed upon a second tumultuous mass of tentacles extruding from its “maiden” waist.

HONEYTRAP                                                     CR 8
CE Large Magical Beast
Senses: darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Listen +13, Spot +13
Init: +5 (+1 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative)
Languages: Common, Elven

AC: 24, touch 10, flat-footed 23 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +14 natural)
Hit Points: 85        HD: 10d10+30
Fort +10, Ref +8, Will +8

Speed: 40 ft.
Melee: bite +13 (1d6+6)
Ranged: 6 strands +11 ranged touch (drag and weakness)
Space: 5 ft.            Reach: 5 ft. (30 ft. with strand)
Base Atk: +10      Grapple: +14
Special Actions: quicksand liquiesence
Metamagic Feats: (spontaneous casters only)

Str 19, Dex 13, Con 17, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 17
Special Qualities: darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision
Feats: Alertness, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Weapon Focus (strand)
Skills: Climb +12, Hide +10*, Listen +13, Spot +13
Treasure: Standard
Advancement: 11-15 HD (Medium); 16-30 (Large)
Level Adjustment: —

Drag (Ex): If a honeytrap hits with a strand attack, the strand latches onto the opponent’s body. This deals no damage, but drags the struck opponent 5 feet closer each subsequent round (provoking no attack of opportunity) unless that creature breaks free, which requires an Escape Artist check (DC 23) or a Strength check (DC 19). (The DCs are Strength-based, and the Escape Artist check includes a +4 racial bonus.)

Drag and Bite: A honeytrap can draw a creature within 5 feet of itself and bite with a +4 attack bonus in the same round. A strand has 10 hit points and can be attacked by making a successful sunder attempt. However, attacking a honeytrap’s strand does not provoke an attack of opportunity. If the strand is currently attached to a target, the roper takes a -4 penalty on its opposed attack roll to resist the sunder attempt. Severing a strand deals no damager to the honeytrap.

Drag and Drown: A honeytrap who has drawn a victim into its quicksand will often try to drown them. A honeytrap can draw a creature 5 feet and attempt to drown them by making an opposed grapple check. If the check succeeds, the victim is pushed below the surface of the quicksand.

Strands (Ex): A honeytrap can extrude up to six strands at once, and they can strike up to 30 feet away (no range increment). If a strand is severed, a honeytrap can extrude a new one on its next turn as a free action.

Quicksand Liquiesence (Ex): A honeytrap can turn a 10 ft. radius of earth, dirt, or stone into quicksand in 1d4 minutes by excreting a powerful, acidic chemical. If a honeytrap is slain, moves, or stops excreting the chemical, the ground will re-solidify within 1d4 hours.

Quicksand requires a Survival check (DC 8′) to spot. The momentum of a running or charging character will carry them 1d2x5 feet into the quicksand. Characters in quicksand must make a Swim check (DC 10) every round to simply tread water in place, or a DC 15 check to move 5 feet in whatever direction desired. If a trapped character fails this check by 5 or more, he sinks below the surface and begins to drown whenever he can no longer hold his breath (see Swim skill). Characters below the surface of a bog may swim back to the surface with a successful Swim check (DC 15, +1 per consecutive round of being under the surface).

Pulling a trapped character out of quicksand often requires a branch, spear haft, rope, or similar tool to reach the victim with one end of it. The character performing the rescue must make a Strength check (DC 15) to pull the victim out, while the victim must succeed at a Strength check (DC 10) to hold onto the branch, pole, or rope. If the victim fails to hold on, he must immediately make a Swim check (DC 15) to remain above the surface. If both checks succeed, the victim is pulled 5 feet closer to safety.

Weakness (Ex): A honeytrap’s strands sap an opponent’s strength. Anyone grabbed by a strand must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 18) or take 1d8 points of Strength damage. The DC is Constitution-based.

Skills: *Honeytraps have a +8 racial bonus to Hide checks if they are submerged in quicksand or similarly concealed.

This material is covered by the Open Gaming License.