ACKS Version 17 Rules Feedback
As a precursor to my feedback I would like to provide my gaming experience. I started in 1983 with the Mentzer Basic Box Set and proceeded through playing versions of 1e, 2e, 3/3.5e, Pathfinder and 4e. I have played one version of the game or another for 28 years now so I have quite a bit of experience with the systems out there. Many of these years were spent DMing.
My group consists of three players who started in 1e, one player from 2e, and one from 3e.
While this knowledge doesn’t make me an expert (nor do I claim to be), it has given me the ability to see the layouts of a lot of rules - both what has been and what hasn’t been successful in the industry.
All my feedback is intended to improve the ACKS product as I am passionate about the game (and I only just got into it). The main goal for this set of feedback is to offer the feelings and impressions that someone who is new to this product has experienced while not necessarily new to the worlds greatest game. This critique is slanted towards improvements in information presentation thereby making the end user experience more rewarding regardless of whether a total newb looks at the product or a veteran looks at the product. After 17 versions, I suspect that the designers know the material inside out making it difficult to see some of the challenges in the presentation.
Also being new to ACKS I wanted to mention that I have not been privy to any past design decisions that may render some of my feedback as useless so please keep this in mind!
Without further adieu here is my feedback:
Several times within the beginning text it talks about the Auran Empire as the implied setting. I assume this will be in a separate Gazateer, and if so, I would suggest explicitly saying that the Auran Empire info will be in a separate product. For my own info, is this something available to review now or is this not yet released to contributors?
Section 1 Feedback
I would like to suggest a bit of a rewrite to Page 6, specifically to the How to Use This Book Section. This section contains a great deal of information, and with an improved layout, could be one of the most commonly referenced pages in the whole book. Ideally, you want to read a section title and know exactly the type of info in that section so you can flip to it and find the relevant info. After the first character creation session with my group, both myself and my players found we were flipping through the document trying to remember where we read something (such as adjusting a stat down by 2 and the prime req up 1). As a result here are a number of suggestions:
• Rename Chapter 1 - Introduction, to How To Play ACKS or even ACKS Core Rules - The reality is this section has the core rules/explanations of the game. This is a much stronger title than Introduction.
• Rename Chapter 2 - Player Character Information, to Making Characters - Reasons for this are explained a little further down as I suggest a lot of improvements for this section.
• Chapter 3 - Keep as is.
• Chapter 4 - Weapons and Equipment. The reason for this to be Chapter 4 is that EVERY class has to pick these options and this should be a section unto itself. This is also something that is routinely looked up and as of this moment its not clear where to find in the book especially at a later time during play.
• Chapter 5 - Spells (Just changed the chapter number but otherwise the same)
• Chapter 6 - Adventures (Just changed the chapter number but otherwise the same)
• Chapter 7 - Encounters and Combat (Just changed the chapter number but otherwise the same)
• Chapter 8 - Campaigns (Just changed the chapter number but otherwise the same)
• Chapter 9 - Monsters (Just changed the chapter number but otherwise the same)
• Chapter 10 - Treasure (Just changed the chapter number but otherwise the same)
• Chapter 11 - Gamemaster Info (Just changed the chapter number but otherwise the same)
Finally, I would suggest adding a page number at the end of the section description. For example - Section 3, Proficiencies, details the various proficiencies that characters may acquire, along with information on the game mechanics of all proficiencies. Pg XX. Again, this makes the book far more useful in finding the information you are looking for.
Section 2 Feedback
I like very much that this section starts with a Creating a Character page. However, this page could give out so much more info (referencing page numbers, etc) to make the process so much more user friendly. The end result would be almost like a flowchart for getting to the more in depth rules if one requires it. Using step 2 as an example, if all I need to know is how to roll ability scores then I have all the info I need. But if I want to reference the ability score adjustments table then it should point me to that page. If I want to adjust a stat it should point me to that too.
To expand on the ideas in the previous chapter, each step (where appropriate) should reference an expanded rules section that gives further depth for that step. For example, step 2 (rolling ability scores) tells me exactly what I need to do to roll ability scores. However, it should also point me to the pages for Ability Descriptions, Classes and Ability Scores and Ability Prime Requisites if I need that info. If I already know about that stuff then I won’t need to turn to that page but if I don’t it precisely tells me which pages to find it on.
With this theory in mind, here is the adjustments I would make to Creating a Character Page.
• Step 1 - Leave as is.
• Step 2 - Reference the page for Ability Descriptions, Classes and Ability Scores and Ability Prime Requisites.
• Step 3 - Add one of the following two options. 1 - List the pages for each class in this step or 2 - List the page the first class starts on (which is currently Pg 14)
• Step 4, 5 - Leave as is.
• Step 6 - Reference the HP section.
• Step 7 - Absorb this step into step 4. Just tack on the description to the end of step 4.
• Step 8 - Becomes step 7. Reference the page for Proficiencies and Spells.
• Step 9 - Becomes step 8. Reference the page for Weapon and Equipment section.
• Step 10 - Becomes step 9 and should reference the Alignment section. The alignment section should also be moved from pg 29 to just before the classes like all other referenced material that may be needed to generate a character.
Pg 11, Creating a Character section, step 9, currently tells a player to reference the Weapon and Equipment section - There is no such chapter. At the very least, put the page number it should be referenced to here or better yet, create a chapter for this information.
Pg 12 - I would suggest removing the lines that read “Str/Int/Wis/Dex is the prime requisite for…”. This is largely irrelevant info at this point. I don’t think anyone refers to this page for that info. Instead they will refer to the class to determine the prime reqs. Optionally, you could create a chart that lists all the prime req’s for each class.
Pg 12 - Underneath intelligence it talks about languages. I think its worth having a section talking briefly about languages or at least expanding on languages in this area. A list of the humanoid languages would be good. Also, does each monster have its own language? Are there ways to learn new languages? Can you learn common later on even if your Int is low? I can see this being useful for characters that get to become kings and still can’t read.
Classes Feedback
Each class lists followers that they could gain (usually at 9th level). Ideally, it should explain how to generate the levels of the followers. Roll level for each follower or as a whole? Also it lacks consistency for displaying the number of followers. Under the fighter it shows 5d10 followers and under the mage it shows 2-12 which should be 2d6. The cleric is different again first displaying 50-300 soldiers and then including the dice in brackets. Rest of the classes should be checked for consistency.
Pg 29 - Move Alignment chart to before the classes. Suggest moving the Money and Coins to the Weapons and Equipment chapter or section. It does not make sense to look for money conversions in the character creation section.
Pg 30 - Move Weapons and Equipment to its own chapter. Personally I don’t think it makes sense to be part of the character chapter.
Proficiency Feedback
The proficiency’s that allow for “feeding himself automatically” should be explicitly stated for non-urban settings only. All my players were thinking of taking these proficiencies so they could avoid buying rations… 
Pg 78 - Move the Carrying Capacity and Encumbrance to the Weapon and Equipment section. Also it seems a little odd that Str does not affect the Stones that can be carried. A person with Str 8 and Str 18 get encumbered at the same rate.
Pg 90 - Character Advancement should be moved under Chapter 2 perhaps with a reference to the XP section. I’d put it in the section at the end of classes or just before the classes.
Pg 94 - Underneath the Initiative section it states that people with the same initiative number act at the same time. How exactly is this done? What happens if a monster and a PC go at the same time? How is this resolved? This is really the only rule that is not intuitive to me. An example explanation should be provided. Additionally, a chart of actions that must be declared prior to initiative would be great. Its not clear if move defensively is a specific action or if it encompasses a bunch of actions.
Combat Charts
I find charts are a great way to present information. A listing of bonuses/penalties to attack throws would be great. For example the vision and light section throws out blind/darkness/invisible or 3 types of modifiers to attack rolls. a consolidated list would be great.
Downloadable Character Sheet
There are a few areas on the sheet that are not intuitive. They are:
Role of
Where does one find climb and stealth movement? Is this for thieves only?
Actions - Is this for things like listening at doors? If so, a chart in the rules book listing all the standard actions and throw numbers should be listed underneath the adventuring section.
Final Comments
Overall the system is pretty robust. However, I think the book needs to have a bit more blatant statement somewhere of what ACKS is - as new players or potential customers may not initially grasp why one would want this sytem. The initial roleplaying dialogue at the beginning is a start but it does not go far enough. Somewhere it should make a statement of what ACKS is and what truly separates ACKS from other systems (and perhaps its as simple as the game expects players to turn their loot into other physical benefits along with the idea that more money = more problems). The blog on the site does a good job of explaining the ideas that are ACKS, but not the rulebook itself. The name of the system gives the impression of what is supposed to happen - that is the transition from adventurer to conquerer to king however, what is the default time frame for when these transitions happen? Obviously it differs from campaign to campaign but there are certain assumptions made. For example at level 9, players start working on bigger things (strongholds, etc) and things grow organically from there.
I hope this feedback helps…
One other suggestion, classes should be listed in alphabetical order. Easier to find where the class is when you randomly flip open to some page within that chapter.
Magical Research
What happens on a failure? This should be explicitly explained…
Pg 119, Keeping the Peace
Rebellion and defiant realms lose xd10 families. Every other category has the words “per thousand” after it so I suspect rebellion and defiant need that as well.
Strongholds Questions
Are there any benefits to building domains of chaos? If not, why would a chaotic ruler do that if he has the choice to still have a human/demi-human domain?
The rules don’t seem to be clear for thieves (assassins and nightblades included in this), and bards. It seems they both have to build a stronghold (but there are no minimum requirements) and in my mind it doesn’t make sense to use the “establishing the stronghold” options which seem to be more clearly oriented towards castles. I wouldn’t think a thief would want to build a hideout in the woods, but rather in an existing city. In that case, he would likely look at only spending a moderate amount of money - weighing the need for secrecy vs the need to house his people vs the need for multiple getaways. I am having a hard time understanding the intent of these sections.
The same can be said for a Mage’s Sanctum - what are the rules here? Can they build them in a town. Are they forced to build them in the wilderness somewhere? Then on top of this the Wizard has to spend money on the Dungeon (using the Establishing the Stronghold section) but only one thing there applies to the dungeon - the corridor. What about rooms? I think this section would benefit from being fleshed out some more.
Further info on the demi human strongholds would be good as well.
I have been giving some thought to player character relationships at this level. While the characters are low level there is a dependancy on roles. Fighters lead and protect others; clerics heal and aids allies; thieves break into things, steals things and discovers things; and wizards researches things and discovers arcane knowledge. As the games grows into the domain management level it should strive to keep these interdependancies and looking at it from this perspective I think would help the design philosophy for the classes in the upper levels. For example, Fighter characters would establish a castle stronghold thereby attracting followers. The Cleric establishes the state religion (or one of many if multiple clerics in the campaign). The Thief establishes the black market and acts as the information broker both internal and external to the kingdom and the wizard continues to discover unknown knowledge for himself and for the offense/defense of the domain. The biggest challenge to this design philosophy is that classes reach the domain building level at different times and what would one do if a thief establishes a hideout before the fighter creates the domain? I think the best way around that is to allow players to move their power base (effectively selling their assets in one domain and buying them in another) once a a PC domain is established. This creates a a bunch of roleplaying opportunities and could create enmity with the original NPC Lord. Furthermore, player groups without certain classes would create even more interesting roleplaying opportunities. For example, say a group has no Fighter. This would mean the players would have to now answer to an NPC Fighter that established a domain and they would have to negotiate the services they could bring to that domain (and could ultimately be negotiated between multiple rulers thus creating goodwill/enmity from nearby Lords). Same thing with a group lacking a thief. The players need to learn some info on what is going on with another domain - well now they have to negotiate with an existing thief for this type of info or perhaps an NPC illegaly set up a syndicate branch in the PCs domain. I can see an endless array of roleplaying possibilities with this method and it keeps the tight relationship that is required by the characters at low levels.
Just some thoughts I had. Might be a bit radical but might be worth exploring.
As a precursor to my feedback I would like to provide my gaming experience. I started in 1983 with the Mentzer Basic Box Set and proceeded through playing versions of 1e, 2e, 3/3.5e, Pathfinder and 4e. I have played one version of the game or another for 28 years now so I have quite a bit of experience with the systems out there. Many of these years were spent DMing.
ALEX: Thanks for sharing your expertise with us! I’ve responded to your feedback below.
Several times within the beginning text it talks about the Auran Empire as the implied setting. I assume this will be in a separate Gazateer, and if so, I would suggest explicitly saying that the Auran Empire info will be in a separate product. For my own info, is this something available to review now or is this not yet released to contributors?
ALEX: It’s not yet released. TBD!
Finally, I would suggest adding a page number at the end of the section description. For example - Section 3, Proficiencies, details the various proficiencies that characters may acquire, along with information on the game mechanics of all proficiencies. Pg XX. Again, this makes the book far more useful in finding the information you are looking for.
ALEX: Pagination is being left until the end of the editing process, so we haven’t included any references to them.
Pg 12 - Underneath intelligence it talks about languages. I think its worth having a section talking briefly about languages or at least expanding on languages in this area. A list of the humanoid languages would be good. Also, does each monster have its own language? Are there ways to learn new languages? Can you learn common later on even if your Int is low? I can see this being useful for characters that get to become kings and still can’t read.
ALEX: Good stuff. Learning a language later is handled with proficiencies…
Classes Feedback
Each class lists followers that they could gain (usually at 9th level). Ideally, it should explain how to generate the levels of the followers. Roll level for each follower or as a whole? Also it lacks consistency for displaying the number of followers. Under the fighter it shows 5d10 followers and under the mage it shows 2-12 which should be 2d6. The cleric is different again first displaying 50-300 soldiers and then including the dice in brackets. Rest of the classes should be checked for consistency.
ALEX: Thanks. I’ve been trying to fix these inconsistencies, but they keep cropping up.
Pg 29 - Move Alignment chart to before the classes. Suggest moving the Money and Coins to the Weapons and Equipment chapter or section. It does not make sense to look for money conversions in the character creation section.
Pg 30 - Move Weapons and Equipment to its own chapter. Personally I don’t think it makes sense to be part of the character chapter.
ALEX: The Equipment is in the Making Character section because that’s how B/X did it… It seems like a lot of people want to see it as its own section.
Proficiency Feedback
The proficiency’s that allow for “feeding himself automatically” should be explicitly stated for non-urban settings only. All my players were thinking of taking these proficiencies so they could avoid buying rations…
ALEX: I think a good Forager probably COULD feed himself in an urban setting. In any event, if characters want to take these proficiencies to avoid buying rations, I’d let them…that’s a modest gain.
Pg 78 - Move the Carrying Capacity and Encumbrance to the Weapon and Equipment section. Also it seems a little odd that Str does not affect the Stones that can be carried. A person with Str 8 and Str 18 get encumbered at the same rate.
ALEX: Strength affects your maximum total carrying capacity. “Encumbrance is calculated by adding up the total of all stones carried and referring to the Character Movement and Encumbrance Table below. The maximum any character can carry is 20 stones, plus their Strength adjustment. A character’s speed will be affected based on encumbrance.” By design, STR does not affect your movement rate at 5 stones/7 stones/10 stones encumbrance – the only penalty armor imposes is its weight, and if high Strength lets you ignore that, then plate armor becomes like a jogging suit. We’ve instead built the system such that characters who are geared-up and weighed down still move slower regardless of Strength, but stronger characters can at the end of the day still carry more.
Pg 90 - Character Advancement should be moved under Chapter 2 perhaps with a reference to the XP section. I’d put it in the section at the end of classes or just before the classes.
ALEX: I like the idea of Character Advancement being at the end of the Adventure section, as you advance at the end of an adventure.
Pg 94 - Underneath the Initiative section it states that people with the same initiative number act at the same time. How exactly is this done? What happens if a monster and a PC go at the same time? How is this resolved? This is really the only rule that is not intuitive to me. An example explanation should be provided.
ALEX: The actions are resolved one at a time, but they are deemed to occur at the same time. So two fighters might slay each other.
Additionally, a chart of actions that must be declared prior to initiative would be great. Its not clear if move defensively is a specific action or if it encompasses a bunch of actions.
ALEX: For a definition of Defensive Movement, see the section marked “Defensive Movement” with the two types of defensive movement, “fighting withdrawal” and “full retreat”.
Combat Charts
I find charts are a great way to present information. A listing of bonuses/penalties to attack throws would be great. For example the vision and light section throws out blind/darkness/invisible or 3 types of modifiers to attack rolls. a consolidated list would be great.
ALEX: OK, good note
Downloadable Character Sheet
There are a few areas on the sheet that are not intuitive. They are:
Role of
ALEX: That was something specific to our GENCON demo.
Where does one find climb and stealth movement? Is this for thieves only?
ALEX: It’s for thieves only. Annnnd it’s not listed anywhere in the rules right now. Thanks for catching this.
Actions - Is this for things like listening at doors? If so, a chart in the rules book listing all the standard actions and throw numbers should be listed underneath the adventuring section.
ALEX: Yes, it’s supposed to be for these 4 actions: Hear Noise, Detect Secret Door, Open Door, and Spot Trap.
Final Comments
Overall the system is pretty robust. However, I think the book needs to have a bit more blatant statement somewhere of what ACKS is - as new players or potential customers may not initially grasp why one would want this sytem.
ALEX: No one can be told what the ACKS is. You have to play it for yourself. (just kidding!)
One other suggestion, classes should be listed in alphabetical order. Easier to find where the class is when you randomly flip open to some page within that chapter.
ALEX: The classes are introduced in a very specific order. Fighter, because it’s the easiest. Then Mage, because it adds spellcasting and is the weakest melee type. Cleric is next, which has spellcasting and turning undead and is in between in fighting strength. Then Thief, which has the most unique class powers.
Then we go to Assassin, which is based on Thief and Fighter; Bladedancer, based on Cleric; Bard, based on Mage and Thief; and Explorer, based on Fighter. None of those classes make sense unless you understand their baseline classes. We didn’t want to put Assassin and Bladedancer ahead of Fighter and Cleric.
Same for the Racial Classes.
Magical Research
What happens on a failure? This should be explicitly explained…
ALEX: Your time and money is wasted.
Rebellion and defiant realms lose xd10 families. Every other category has the words “per thousand” after it so I suspect rebellion and defiant need that as well.
ALEX: Thanks, good catch!
Strongholds Questions
Are there any benefits to building domains of chaos? If not, why would a chaotic ruler do that if he has the choice to still have a human/demi-human domain?
ALEX: The benefit would be tapping into a supply of manpower that breeds faster and is usually better in combat than normal men. Being chaotic has other advantages as well, such as the ability to power divine magic with blood-sacrifice, use undead, etc.
The rules don’t seem to be clear for thieves (assassins and nightblades included in this), and bards. It seems they both have to build a stronghold (but there are no minimum requirements) and in my mind it doesn’t make sense to use the “establishing the stronghold” options which seem to be more clearly oriented towards castles. I wouldn’t think a thief would want to build a hideout in the woods, but rather in an existing city. In that case, he would likely look at only spending a moderate amount of money - weighing the need for secrecy vs the need to house his people vs the need for multiple getaways. I am having a hard time understanding the intent of these sections.
ALEX: You are right that there’s not a minimum spend required for Hideouts. There should be, and I’ll address that. Hideouts don’t attract peasants/domains - they instead allow you to send your followers on various Hijinks of crime and fortune-seeking. The intent is to allow thieves to run a thieves’ guild. This area is still under some development, though…
The same can be said for a Mage’s Sanctum - what are the rules here? Can they build them in a town. Are they forced to build them in the wilderness somewhere? Then on top of this the Wizard has to spend money on the Dungeon (using the Establishing the Stronghold section) but only one thing there applies to the dungeon - the corridor. What about rooms? I think this section would benefit from being fleshed out some more.
ALEX: A Mage can build his sanctum anywhere he’d like. A Mage who builds a sanctum can attract peasants as a domain - I may need to make this more explicit. Rooms in a dungeon are just large corridors, plus doors, stairs, etc. If there are specific things we should add, let me know!
I have been giving some thought to player character relationships at this level. While the characters are low level there is a dependancy on roles. Fighters lead and protect others; clerics heal and aids allies; thieves break into things, steals things and discovers things; and wizards researches things and discovers arcane knowledge. As the games grows into the domain management level it should strive to keep these interdependancies and looking at it from this perspective I think would help the design philosophy for the classes in the upper levels. For example, Fighter characters would establish a castle stronghold thereby attracting followers. The Cleric establishes the state religion (or one of many if multiple clerics in the campaign). The Thief establishes the black market and acts as the information broker both internal and external to the kingdom and the wizard continues to discover unknown knowledge for himself and for the offense/defense of the domain. The biggest challenge to this design philosophy is that classes reach the domain building level at different times and what would one do if a thief establishes a hideout before the fighter creates the domain? I think the best way around that is to allow players to move their power base (effectively selling their assets in one domain and buying them in another) once a a PC domain is established. This creates a a bunch of roleplaying opportunities and could create enmity with the original NPC Lord. Furthermore, player groups without certain classes would create even more interesting roleplaying opportunities. For example, say a group has no Fighter. This would mean the players would have to now answer to an NPC Fighter that established a domain and they would have to negotiate the services they could bring to that domain (and could ultimately be negotiated between multiple rulers thus creating goodwill/enmity from nearby Lords). Same thing with a group lacking a thief. The players need to learn some info on what is going on with another domain - well now they have to negotiate with an existing thief for this type of info or perhaps an NPC illegaly set up a syndicate branch in the PCs domain. I can see an endless array of roleplaying possibilities with this method and it keeps the tight relationship that is required by the characters at low levels.
Just some thoughts I had. Might be a bit radical but might be worth exploring.
ALEX: This is not far from what the rules currently provide for.
- Fighters create domains and rule them.
- Clerics create domains and rule them. (Think of the Crusader Kingdoms, Teutonic Knights, etc.) They also concern themselves with religion and congregations and can use divine power to make items.
- Mages create sanctums. They can have domains. They can also have dungeons, which attract monsters, for use as monster parts.
- Thieves create syndicates. Syndicates can be used to find treasure maps, spy on enemies, carouse for rumors, or steal for goods.
Duskreign: Pg 94 - Underneath the Initiative section it states that people with the same initiative number act at the same time. How exactly is this done? What happens if a monster and a PC go at the same time? How is this resolved? This is really the only rule that is not intuitive to me. An example explanation should be provided.
ALEX: The actions are resolved one at a time, but they are deemed to occur at the same time. So two fighters might slay each other.
So what happens in this case. Fighter A wants to charge (or maybe just attack) Monster A who goes on the same initiative. Monster A wants to move to and attack Wizard A. Neither have engaged each other as they are about 15’ apart. The wizard is 5’ in front of the fighter and only 10’ from Monster A. Is this mostly handled by DM fiat as to what the results would be if it happens at the same time?
ALEX: Strength affects your maximum total carrying capacity. “Encumbrance is calculated by adding up the total of all stones carried and referring to the Character Movement and Encumbrance Table below. The maximum any character can carry is 20 stones, plus their Strength adjustment. A character’s speed will be affected based on encumbrance.” By design, STR does not affect your movement rate at 5 stones/7 stones/10 stones encumbrance – the only penalty armor imposes is its weight, and if high Strength lets you ignore that, then plate armor becomes like a jogging suit. We’ve instead built the system such that characters who are geared-up and weighed down still move slower regardless of Strength, but stronger characters can at the end of the day still carry more.
I can see where you are coming from. I was just picturing something to the effect of the following: Characters with high str (16+) become encumbered 1 stone higher than the chart displays. Instead of 5/7/10 it becomes 6/8/11.
ALEX: No one can be told what the ACKS is. You have to play it for yourself. (just kidding!)
Nice!
Magical Research
What happens on a failure? This should be explicitly explained…
ALEX: Your time and money is wasted.
I think this really should be added in as general statement somewhere about failures in general. I really don’t think its clear what happens.
ALEX: This is not far from what the rules currently provide for.
- Fighters create domains and rule them.
- Clerics create domains and rule them. (Think of the Crusader Kingdoms, Teutonic Knights, etc.) They also concern themselves with religion and congregations and can use divine power to make items.
- Mages create sanctums. They can have domains. They can also have dungeons, which attract monsters, for use as monster parts.
- Thieves create syndicates. Syndicates can be used to find treasure maps, spy on enemies, carouse for rumors, or steal for goods.
This is a good summary and I think it would be good to make this explicit in the book. Most gamers understand how adventuring works, however few games deal with domains and domain management and I can see this area having a lot of questions. The current layout, while informative from a player perspective leaves a GM with many questions. How is the typical game supposed work at this level? Are the PCs expected to be part of one domain or each have their own domain? What are the expected challenges for each style (one domain for the group or multiple domains for the group)?
Also, are strongholds meant to be built only in empty hexes or can one build a stronhold in a city? Strongholds seem to imply both as castles and such make sense to be built upon their own land, but hideouts make sense to be built within an existing city - thieves guilds aren’t run in the middle of nowhere after all. For me, terming castles and hideouts with the same term makes it difficult to discern the intent of strongholds (and I know that hideouts are something still under design).
ALEX: A Mage can build his sanctum anywhere he’d like. A Mage who builds a sanctum can attract peasants as a domain - I may need to make this more explicit. Rooms in a dungeon are just large corridors, plus doors, stairs, etc. If there are specific things we should add, let me know
So how would one make a room that is 50’x50’ (10’ high)? Or 30’x70’? Would it be possible to just make a formula for room creation for dungeons? If that existed, a multiplier could then be added to adjust the room to its type of construction. For example, say a 50’ x 50’ room cost $3000gp. If it had rough cavern walls it would have a 0.8 multiplier making it actually cost $2400. If it was dwarven crafted it would be 1.5x or $4500 gold.
Lastly, this comment is to all the admins - THANKS for taking the time to answer all the questions on the forum! I’m sure this can be a tireless and thankless job at times!
2 More questions on Proficiencies
Acrobatics indicates a +2 if you are behind someone. Is it achievable to get behind someone without this skill? If so, it should be listed in a chart of possible attack throw bonuses.
Also, as written, it seems like a very risky chance to use this ability at low levels. Even on level 5 you only have a 25% chance of success. By 14th level you get a 70% chance. If this is intentional that is cool. However, it could be optionally written as starting out as 15+ and is reduced by 1 for every 2 levels gained so that at 14th level you have 8+ which is a 60% chance. This makes it a bit more likely to succeed at lower levels and less likely to succeed at higher levels but overall I think a better option more most players to use the proficiency. There are many other ways of writing this but my point is - the odds seem pretty low for using up a prof. slot.
Lip Reading makes it automatic to read lips. Shouldn’t there be a chance, however small (say 25% to 50%) for failure. This could create some interesting role playing situations when its discovered he misread the lips.