Alcohol and Drinking
Arcane Magic – The Wizard:
Corwyn is intended to be a “low magic” setting. As such, the ability to study the arcane arts are tightly controlled. This does not impact sorcerers, who wield magic as a natural ability, but it directly impacts wizards, who have to study to learn spells.
Currently, there is some reconsidering – with the possibility of revamping – many of the rules that govern magic in the game, particularly the Wizard class. While we are not prepared to making the sweeping rule that the Wizard is no longer allowed as a player class, we would really prefer that it be relegated to the role of an NPC class. Further, we are exploring the possibility of making the Wizard’s use of spells be governed by the variant rules regarding Incantations. The biggest hurdle in this “exploration” is that it would almost certainly require that all spells be reviewed and “translated” into incantations. In simplest terms, however, casting an incantation takes a long time (longer than casting time cited in the SRD), requires costly and difficult to obtain material components, has a very significant chance of failure, and has very dire consequences when it does fail.
More to come on this.
Charging and Lances
Critical Hits/Fumble
After establishing a critical hit or fumble, consult the GameMastery® Critical Hit Deck or GameMastery® Critical Fumble Deck, as appropriate. For a double-crit/fumble, the DM draws two cards and lets the attacking player choose between the two.
Damage Reduction and Environment:
There is much debate regarding whether DR applies to environmental hazards, such as falling. The SRD says "A creature with this special quality ignores damage from most weapons and natural attacks." The consensus is that the spirit of the rule intends for DR to apply to damage in combat. As such, DR does not apply to environmental damage such as falling.
Death and Dying:
Under the standard d20 rules, unconsciousness and death are predictable states: When a character reaches negative hit points, he goes unconscious. When he reaches -10, he dies.
For our purposes, a character uses his Constitution score to determine how far into the negative he can go before dying. For example, a character with a Con of 18 can suffer up to -18 hp before expiring, while a character with 8 Con dies at -8 hp.
When a character is dying (negative hp but not dead yet, sometimes referred to as “bleeding out”), the character takes 1 hp of damage per round until stabilized. A stabilization check may be made every round until stable or dead. To make a stabilization check, the player rolls d%. A result equal to or less than the character's Constitution score means the character is stable - he remains negative until healed, but does not continue losing 1hp/round. A result greater than the character's Constitution means that the character continues to slip away losing another hit point. The stabilization roll can be made every round until the character is stable or reaches a negative hit point total equal to his Constitution score (i.e. until the character is dead)
Facing:
See SRD section on Variant Rules: Combat Facing
Jousting
Luck
Recovering Projectiles
Whether a projectile strikes its mark or not, there is a chance that it may not be usable again, either due to damage or inability to find it. If a player wishes to recover projectiles, he should make a d% with a 50% chance of recovery for each item. This must be stated or it is assumed that the character did not bother to recover the projectiles.
Sanity
See OGN d20PFSRD section on Variant Rules: Sanity
Miscellaneous:
There are several rules that we have ignored purely due to the tediousness of record keeping. Specifically, we have not kept track of material spell components, food and water consumption or encumbrance. This is fine under regular circumstances, but is always subject to DM judgment. Under extreme conditions (or at higher levels for spells) a DM may require that these game components be observed. (see Rule 0)
Rule 0:
The Dungeon Master can override any other rule in the interest of a good story and having fun.
This catchall does not need much clarifying. This rule supersedes every other rule.
We are mature (relatively speaking) adults, friends and even business associates. We have played together for years and we have played separately for many more years. We know the basic rules and we know the spirit of the rules even better. Sometimes there’s just that situation where you know there must be a rule to cover the situation, but it is in the better interest of the game to “make it up” and check it out later than stop and search through books. Or, for a story element, something just doesn’t work, or it just happens or whatever, regardless of rules or dice rolls. “No more Novel Garaint/Ornrik incidents.” Simply, if you don’t like a DM call, just trust that your friend has something fun and fair in mind. Either he’s saving your @$$ so the game can continue, or he’s making it a little extra tuff for fun’s sake. Either way, you aren’t being cheated.
Note that this does not mean that the DM is always right. As such, the DM may change his mind later, and even retroactively, as necessary. Just keep the faith that it’s all for the good and nobody is “out to get you.” Relax, and trust.