Rules (Apath)

Unofficial rules compendium

Multi Classing

All abilities based on class level are instead based on character level. This applies to what the ability does, not to how you use it. This improves caster level as well as the power of many abilities that improve with levels. This keeps the utility of multiclass spells, animal companions, and such relevant over levels.

Not affected by this are hit points, base attack bonus, skill points, saving throw modifiers. Spells per day and spells known are always determined by class level. It will not change if you can use an ability, how many times you can use an ability, or what kind of action it is to use an ability.

Skills

Some skills have gained additional uses.

• Appraise
• Acrobatics
• Craft
• Linguistics

Skills can get critical success; on a roll of 20 you can roll again (much like when verifying a critical hit) and of the second roll would have been a success against the DC of the original task, it somehow succeeds spectacularly well.

Increasing Abilities by Level

• As long as you use your level-granted ability increase (normally gained at levels 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20) for an ability increase resulting in a score of 13 or less (before racial modifiers), you get two ability improvements, neither of which can give you an attribute score exceeding 13.
• Skill point bonuses are based on permanent, intrinsic Intelligence score. Permanent changes to Intelligence retroactively changes the number of skill points.

Metamagic

Forget the original metamagic rules except when creating magic items.

Applying metamagic is a free action for all classes, and it is never prepared in advance. You can apply metamagic that brings the effective spell level of a spell up to the highest spell level you can cast, for free. You can apply the same metamagic feat several times to the same spell, with cumulative effects.

Improved Critical Feat

The Improved Critical feat stacks with other effects that improve the crit range of a weapon, but other such effects do not stack with each other.

Falling Damage

Acrobatics can reduce damage by more than 1d6; each multiple of 15 on the Acrobatics roll removes another die of falling damage.

Falling damage scales with size; the normal d6s of damage are for a creature of medium size.

Size	Fine	Diminutive	Tiny	Small	Medium	Large	Huge	Gargantuan	Colossal
Falling damage die	1	1d2	1d3	1d4	1d6	1d8	2d6	2d8	4d6

Unofficial rules compendium

Flanking

Group Flanking

When an creature is flanked, all enemies striking that target get the flanking bonus, not just the those causing the creature to be flanked.

Flanking Oversize Opponents

When you are occupying the same square as another creature that is sufficently larger than yourself so that you can do so legally, you get some bonuses to flanking. As long as the creature is in the strike zone of any other creature, you count as flanking. Your presence does not let other creatures flank your opponent, unless they are also occupying the same space as the enemy.

Dodge

Out of Turn Dodge

Any time you are about to be attacked, you can give up your next turn to gain the bonus for full defense (usually a +4 dodge bonus to your AC). You must be able to apply your Dexterity bonus to AC against the attack (so you can't use it when flat-footed, for instance), and you declare this before the attack roll is made. Your initiative does not change; you simply do not take an action on your next turn. You gain this dodge bonus until the next time your initiative comes up.

When your next turn comes up, you can make a move action and a swift action, but no standard action and not a full-round action.

This rule gives a character the option of defending himself, providing an additional element to combat tactics. It also provides adventurers with additional tactical options, such as a "wolf pack" tactic: When a group attacks a single target, whoever the target retaliates against uses the out-of-turn dodge to aid his AC, while each of the others attacks the opponent on his or her turn.

Critical Hits

Extended Range of Creatures

Objects take critical hits and can suffer a coup-de-grace.

Improved Critical Feat

The Improved Critical feat stacks with other effects that improve the crit range of a weapon, but other such effects do not stack with each other.

Size in Combat

Overrun

If, after an overrun, you share the space of a smaller creature that creature is pushed to the free space of its choice closest to you.

Size and Range

The range increment of ranged weapons are affected by a character's size. The given range of each weapon is for a Small or Medium-size character. The following table give range multipliers for characters of different size.

Size Code	Range Multiple
Fine	x1/4
Diminutive	x1/3
Tiny	x1/2
Small	x1
Medium	x1
Large	x2
Huge	x3
Gargantuan	x4
Colossal	x6

First Combat Round

If both sides are aware of each other before the start of a combat, neither side is flat-footed. The mutual flatfootedness that is the default applies when two sides encounter each other without being prepared, such as after opening a dungeon door, moving around a bend in a forest, or when one side suddenly turns hostile. At any time when initiative could reasonably have been rolled beforehand and it was only by convenience that combat was started at this time, creatures are not flat-footed.