D20 Rule Differences

Setting Specifics

Alignment

Eternia and Etheria are worlds emphasizing heroic Good battling wicked Evil, with little gray area. Creatures with intelligence of at least 3 cannot be neutral with respect to good and evil. (Some exceptions include creatures influenced by some mind-affecting enchantments, and Zodac.)

Player characters cannot be evil.

Significantly relaxed alignment and race restrictions for all classes.

The characters of Eternia have always preferred subduing an opponent rather than wounding him or her. You can use any weapon or effect that deals hit point damage to deal nonlethal damage instead at no penalty.

Hero points

Player characters (and some NPCs) gain a limited pool of Hero Points, equal to 3+ECL/2 (rounded down). You can spend 1 hero point in a round to add a bonus to a d20 roll. Some classes, feats, or racial features allow you to spend hero points to gain or activate specific abilities.

When you spend a hero point to increase a d20 roll, add 1d6 to the roll. At ECL 8 or above, instead roll 2d6 and add the better of the two rolls. At ECL 15 or above, roll 3d6 and add the best of the three. You can declare that you are spending a hero point after you have already rolled the d20, but you must do so before learning the outcome of your roll.

Clerics and Domains

There is no deity worship as such in the cartoons, but some characters are clearly devoted to certain ideals. Each race has a list of (usually 8) associated domains; a Cleric of that race must choose her domains from this list, or one or both domains of her alignment. The racial domain lists describe the predominant values, virtues, and vices of the culture.

See here for some new domains unique to the setting.

Favored Enemy / Bane Targets

A Ranger can choose favored enemies from the following list. This list includes creature Types and Subtypes. When more than one favored enemy category applies, use the one with the highest bonus.

• Aberration
• Alien
• Animal & Vermin
• Construct (magical & living)
• Dragon
• Fey
• Humanoid (avian)
• Humanoid (Earthling)
• Humanoid (elf)
• Humanoid (Eternian)
• Humanoid (Etherian)
• Humanoid (feline)
• Humanoid (reptilian)
• Immortal (evil)
• Immortal (good)
• Magical Beast
• Monster
• Ooze & Plant
• Spirit
• (Aquatic)
• (Giant)
• (Incorporeal)
• (Mechanical)
• (Psionic)
• (Shapechanger)
• (Swarm)
• (Undead)

Skills

With only rare exceptions, every creature capable of language speaks Common (and only Common). Creatures with Intelligence of 14 or better gain Smatterings as a bonus feat.

The Knowledge skill has several changes:

Knowledge Points: Any character with an Intelligence of 3 or better gains a knowledge point at every level (or 4 at first level), in addition to her normal skill points. Knowledge points are just like skill points, but they can only be spent in Knowledge, Craft, or Profession skills.

Spell and Item Names

The historical Greyhawk figures, of course, never existed on Eternia. Here is a list of renames:

Miscellaneous

Eternia is a high-fantasy world of both powerful sorcery and advanced technology. To reflect the latter, some classes, feats, and other rule mechanics are incorporated from the D20 Modern system. However, gunpowder does not exist (but see Eternium), and ray guns almost always have a special effect (such as stunning, freezing, etc) rather than directly inflicting damage.

32 point ability buy. Every four levels, you can raise two different ability scores, instead of just one.

Take “half rounded up” plus Con modifier for hit points for every hit die, including first, but add your constitution score to your maximum hit point total at first level. (You can roll hit dice instead if you really want.)

The cosmology of Eternia

Mechanical Changes

Favored Save

Instead of a favored class, each race has a favored save. Multiclass penalties work as usual, but every class with a Strong save progression that matches the race’s favored save is considered a favored class for that race.

Additionally, if racial substitution levels exist for a certain race/class combination, a member of that race may consider that class a favored class if he has taken at least one substitution level for the class, and he has not taken any standard levels of the class at which a racial substitution level was available.

Magic

Full psionics/magic transparency. “Magic” is a general term that includes arcane and divine spells, psionic powers, as well as spell-like, psi-like, and supernatural abilities. Psionic manifesters can qualify for many spellcasting prestige classes.

The effects of Empower and Maximize stack, rather than applying separately. (That is a silly rule.)

Spellcasters gain the effect of Heighten Spell automatically. A spell cast using a daily spell slot of a higher level than necessary is treated as if it really were a spell that many levels higher. (For example, an empowered fireball is considered a third-level spell and takes a fifth-level spell slot to cast. If it were instead cast using a seventh-level spell slot, it would be treated as a fifth-level spell in all ways.) However, this effect of Heighten Spell is not considered a metamagic effect and the level adjustment cannot be reduced.

Spells which only target humanoids are modified. (Also see the Amorphous Spell feat.) Instead, these spells target the same type of creature as the caster. For example, an Etherian wizard’s enlarge person still targets one humanoid, but a twigget wizard’s enlarge person targets one fey, even if the twigget had prepared from the Etherian’s spellbook (as it is the same spell). The twigget and Etherian wizards would create identical scrolls (since scrolls use the spell completion activation method, the effect is determined by whoever uses the scroll), but different wands and potions (their effect is determined by the crafter of the item).

Skills

New condition: Frozen

A frozen creature is encased in a solid block of ice. She is considered paralyzed but is shielded by the ice from attacks. Depending on the effect description, a creature usually suffers both initial and ongoing non-lethal cold damage when frozen.

A frozen creature can be freed by destroying or melting the ice. Unless otherwise specified, the ice block has thickness in inches equal to twice the caster level of the effect. (Ice has 3 hit points per inch and hardness 0. As an object, it takes half damage from most attacks, but it is immune to cold effects and takes full damage from fire effects.) When the ice block is destroyed, any excess damage from the attack or spell is inflicted to the frozen creature.

Teleportation effects can free a frozen creature; the ice block immediately crumbles apart if no creature is encased within.

When a creature becomes frozen, any smaller creature sharing one of its squares must succeed on a Reflex save to avoid being frozen as well.

New condition: Unnerved

An unnerved character takes a −1 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks, and an additional −4 penalty on saving throws against fear effects.

Unnerved is a less severe state of fear than shaken. An unnerved character who is made unnerved again becomes shaken. A character who is already shaken, frightened, or panicked takes no further penalties if he would become unnerved, but the duration of the current fear effect increases to the duration of the unnerving effect, if it is longer.

Categorization

The following feats are considered [Multiclass]:

• Ascetic Hunter
• Ascetic Knight
• Ascetic Mage
• Ascetic Psion
• Ascetic Rogue
• Ascetic Stalker
• Daring Outlaw
• Daring Warrior
• Devoted Inquisitor
• Devoted Performer
• Devoted Tracker
• Initiate of Milil
• Martial Stalker
• Master Spellthief
• Psiotheurgist
• Practiced Manifester
• Practiced Spellcaster
• Swift Ambusher
• Swift Hunter
• Sword of the Arcane Order
• Tashalatora

New spell descriptor: Time-affecting. This applies to the following powers and spells, as well as any spells based on their effects:

• anticipatory strike
• arcane spellsurge
• celerity
• deceleration
• haste
• quintessence
• slow
• synchronicity
• temporal acceleration
• temporal reiteration
• time hop
• timeless body
• time regression
• time stop

New subschool of Abjuration and Psychokinesis: Cancellation. This applies to the following powers and spells, as well as any spells based on their effects:

• antimagic field
• arcane turmoil
• aura against flame
• break enchantment
• chain dispel
• dispelling breath
• dispelling buffer
• dispelling screen
• dispelling touch
• dispel magic/psionics
• dispel ward
• dispel water
• Eldor’s disjunction
• reaving dispel
• remove curse
• resurgence
• slashing dispel
• spell theft
• spurn the supernatural
• suppress glyph
• suppressing field
• suppress magic
• suppress schism
• tenacious dispelling
• wall of dispel magic

Creature Types

Alien

An alien is a sentient living being from a far-off planet. For instance, Silaxians and Trollans are aliens, but Etherians and Eternians are not. (Earthlings are one notable humanoid exception.)

d8 racial hit dice, strong Will saves, average BAB, and 4 skill points per hit die (plus Int).

Aliens can be raised, reincarnated, or resurrected normally. Unless otherwise noted, they eat, breathe, and sleep.

Aliens are only proficient with weapons and armor noted in the creature’s entry, or by character class.

Construct

The construct type has three subtypes that indicate kind:

• living (e.g. Warforged)
• magical (e.g. Stone Golem)
• mechanical (e.g. Clockwork Spider)

.

Giant

Giant is a subtype of any type, often monster or humanoid. (An Eternian mountain troll has the monster type and giant subtype.)

Adding the giant subtype increases a creature’s racial hit dice by one size if they are smaller than d10, and usually gives a strong Fortitude saving throw for those hit dice.

Immortal

Demons, devils, and demi-gods are immortals. (In general, any outsider with an alignment subtype in D&D instead is categorized as an immortal.)

d12 racial hit dice, all strong saves and BAB, and 8 skill points per hit die (plus Int).

Immortals do not age. If slain, an immortal cannot be raised or resurrected normally.

Immunity to sleep effects, poison, and non-supernatural disease.

Darkvision 60 ft.

Proficient with all simple and martial weapons, as well as any weapons and armor noted in the creature’s entry.

Unless otherwise noted, immortals do not eat, sleep, or breathe (but may do so if they wish).

Monster

d10 racial hit dice, strong Fort and Ref saves, full BAB, and 2 skill points per hit die (plus Int).

Darkvision 60 ft.

Proficient with any weapons and armor noted in the creature’s entry. A monster is proficient with all simple weapons if any manufactured weapon is noted in the creature’s entry, and proficient with shields if it is proficient with any armor.

Spirit

A spirit is a creature which embodies the essence of a thing, place, or concept. Spirits are often incorporeal beings, but many are quite solid.

d6 racial hit dice, average BAB, and 4 skill points per hit die (plus Int), and at least one strong saving throw (any) depending on the spirit’s type. (Earth spirits have strong Fortitude saves; Air spirits have strong Reflex.)

Undead

Undead is a subtype of any type, usually depending on the type of the creature before its death. (A human zombie is humanoid (undead); a skeleton is aberration (undead); a ghost is spirit (undead).)

The undead subtype changes all current and future hit dice to d20. The creature no longer has a Constitution score and adds neither its con modifier nor con score to its hitpoint total.

Vehicle

Material	Hit Die	Special
Coridite	d10	Strong Reflex save
Eternal Bronze	d8	Strong Will save, SR equal to 11 + number of Eternal bronze hit dice
Photanium	d12	Strong Fort save
Steel	d10
Stone	d8
Wood	d6
Bone	d6	DR 5/bludgeoning

Vehicles are not creatures. They have no charisma score, and often have no intelligence score.

All vehicles have the Mechanical subtype.

Vehicle hit dice are usually: d10, Weak BAB, no strong saving throws, no skill points. This can vary if the vehicle is made substantially of special materials, see below.

Removed types

Outsiders are retyped as immortals, aliens, or humanoids.

Elementals are retyped as spirits.

Monstrous humanoids are retyped as monsters or humanoids.