Dungeons and Dragons. Can you help?

Question

I am currently setting up a campaign and I need a few things to know before I place my friends in it.

How big should my continents be in terms of miles (like one inch = ??? miles)?

I want them to be large enough for me to hide some secrets and unknown places in it, but not so large that it takes the guys 10 years to get from on side to the other. I don't know how long it took for people in middle ages to get from place to place so i need to know how long it took em to get from one city to another

Unbalanced fighting?

I noticed at higher levels that the base attack bonus of a average char is high enough that in order for a person to not want to be hit, they need a lot of gear, items, feats and be in total defense to even have a chance to avoid. (around a 7+ roll) And even then I haven't figured in attack bonuses from feats, magic and such.

So I was thinking of adding a AC bonus to all classes that scales with base attack bonuses (around 1AC for every 3 BAB) or should I leave it

Answer 1

As far as a defensive character goes... what are you looking for?

I designed a character concept that i made after the Spartan Hoplite.  Basically just a Spear and Shield Fighter and by 24th level i had an AC of about 60... and thats a really low end AC for that level (but i wasnt trying to out do my players)

Having an AC of 100+ isnt that terribally hard at levels 24+  But its really all according to what your trying to go for and what levels your wanting to be at.

As an Example

+5 Adamantine Breastplate (i just like the breastplate even though full plate is superior)

+5 Amulet of natural Armor

+5 Adamantine Defending Weapon

+5 Shield with +5 Defending Shield Spikes

+5 Ring of Protection

Thats an AC of 45 not counting things like Feats and DEX modifiers.  With That you could reasonablly get it another 10+ points higher with out trying to hard.

Dodge, Armor Specialization, Armor Focus, Greater Armor Specialization, Greater Armor Focus, Heavy Armor Specialization, Greater Heavy Armor Specialization, Shield Specialization etc, etc, etc.  With Gloves of DEX and you now have an AC of around 57

And all doable with a fighter.  Add in a few feats for combat ability, and while you arent a "Heavy Hitter" you will rarely ever get hit... i believe a Great Wyrm Gold Dragon needs like a 18+ to actually hit you (Something 7 challenge ratings higher than this 20th level character)

But yes your going to need gear and the correct feats to build a defensive character, just like you need the gear and feats to build a character that deals out 400+ damage a round.

Thats the balancing factor fo the game

Answer 2

My guess is that you should place your campaign in a content roughly the size of Australia. With horses it would take a couple of months to get from place to place, but not years. Or, you could make it bigger but have a magical teleportation system from one major city to another in a few key places.

As for the AC bonus, my son (a veteran GM) recommends upping the hit points rather than messing with the AC. He feels altering the AC opens too big a can of worms, but hit points are a relatively minor adjustment.

Answer 3

If you look at the rules on Overland Movement, a person on a riding horse can cover 32 miles in a day on clear terrain, allowing an unhampered journey in a month of nearly 1,000 miles.  Of course, most folks couldn't afford a horse, and they walked (D&D averages 24 miles a day for walking on clear terrain).  Anyhow, spacing your towns a few days apart should work fine.

As for adjusting the combat, the game designers have numbers setup like this for a reason.  It is assumed that at higher levels you WILL have better gear and more access to spells/items that will protect you.  Further, higher hit points allow folks of comparable levels to remain in the fray longer, offsetting concerns they may drop from one hit.

To clarify, you ARE going to get hit at times, no matter your gear, and higher level opponents are going to find a weakness in your armor more often than lower levels.  There are classes out there that focus solely on increasing armor class, but then again, armor class is only one facet of not getting harmed.  Wizards and many creatures can completely bypass armor class with spells, incorporeality, etc.  

I'd leave the system alone.

Good luck with your game.

Answer 4

Yeah sure I can help. I've been a self tought DM for awhile now. I'm also what you would call a professional RPG map drawer. Usually continents can be anywhere from an inch=4 miles or an inch=5 miles it really just depends on what you want for your campaign. But you are right, you dont want to make it to big or your player's will get bored. If you need anymore assistance feel free to email me at [e-mail]

In answer to your "unbalanced fighting" if you're the DM then YOU ARE IN CONTROL. U decide what happens and how it goes. For example if your players are getting the c**p beat out of them and they go unconcious, you can have them captured instead of dying. Or if you have any NPC's with them the NPC's can finish the enemy off while your guys are down.

Answer 5

I don't alway recommend trying to make really detailed maps. All you really need is a rough idea of the lay of the land. As the players explore you can detail the areas you need.

Trust me, if you map out one area, your players will likely head off in an unknown direction anyway.

It is also very likely that adventurers will be starting near the frontiers of civilization anyway. With uncharted territory only a few days ride away.

As for changing the core rules, I would highly recommend against it unless your are very experienced with making your own rules. Especially, when it comes to a very basic mechanism like AC.

I've seen too many times that these 'fixes' require more and more 'fixes' to help mitigate unexpected consequences.

Yes, as you go up in levels your AC doesn't always keep up (unless you build for a high AC), but now you have a huge amount of hit points as well. AC in this case just keeps the second, third, or fourth iterative attacks from hitting, which is not a small effect.