Feats for Feet!

Here are some feats for characters who are light on their feet! (The text in this post is released under the Open Game License and it may be reproduced in accordance with its terms. Copyright 2020 Steve Miller.)

… BUT DON'T FALL DOWN [General]
You're hard to knock and keep off your feet..
   Prerequisite: Dexterity 15
   Benefit: If you fail an attribute check to resist a trip attempt, you may roll a Reflex saving throw (DC14) to avoid being tripped. Further, standing up from a prone position is a free action. 
   Normal: Standing is normally a move-equivalent action.

BACKWARDS AND IN HEELS [Ninja Cutie, Sister of Bastet]

Not only do high heels not slow you down, they make you deadlier!
   Prerequisite: 3rd level, Dex 14, Cha 14
   Benefit: When wearing high heels, except for stiletto heels, the character gains a +2 bonus to all the following skills: Balance, Bluff, Climb, Jump, Move Silently, and Perform (dance).

BACKWARDS AND IN STILETTO HEELS [Ninja Cutie, Sister of Bastet]
Whether you have them on your feet or in your hands, you make stiletto-heeled shoes as dangerous as the knife they are named for.
   Prerequisite: Backwards and in Heels feat
   Benefit: When wearing stilettos, you gain a +2 bonus to Diplomacy and Intimidation skill checks. Additionally, you wield a stiletto as a melee weapon that deals a based damage of 1d6 points.

   Special: When this feat is selected, the character automatically gains Exotic Melee Weapon Proficiency (stiletto heel shoe) as a bonus feat. Additionally, the character can wield two stiletto-heeled shoes at once without any penalties if she possesses the Two-Weapons Fighting feat.

DANCING QUEEN [Fast Hero, Bard, Fighter, Rogue]

You can dance, you can fight!

   Prerequisite: Perform [dance] 2 ranks

   Benefit: The character practices mixed martial arts. Add 1/2 of the character's ranks (round down) in the Perform [dance] skill to all melee attack rolls.

FEETS DON'T FAIL ME NOW [General]
Running away is something you're good at.
   Prerequisite: Run, Dexterity 13
   Benefit: You are not subject to attacks of opportunity, nor flanking attacks, nor loss of Dexterity bonuses, when retreating from melee combat or other situations where they might occur, so long as you are moving at your base speed or higher.

(Thanks to L.L. Hundal for these!)

A new release, now at DriveThruRPG!

It's been a while since we've produced an actual product. That changes today! For A Song and a Dance is now available at DriveThruRPG, and it can be yours for... well, whatever you feel like paying for it.

The content of the product was all inspired by popular music and Christmas songs. Much of it originally appeared here on the blog, but it has been revised to a greater or lesser degree based on feedback from readers or the players in L.L. Hundal's game group.

Here's a list of the songs and artists that inspired the material in For a Song and a Dance, along with the type and amount of content they gave rise to:

Clothes of the Dead by Bongos, Bass, and Bob: Radom Tables to Generate Clothes Found in Thrift Stores.
Daddy Cool by Boney M: One Talent Tree (Five Talents)
Dancing Queen by Abba: One Feat
Dude Looks Like a Lady by Aerosmith: One Feat
I'll Be There by The Escape Club: One Character Template
Jingle Bells: One Magic Item
Little Drummer Boy: One Artifact, Two Magic Items
Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley: One Talent Tree (Four Talents)
Safety Dance by Men Without Hats: Two Feats
Sharped Dressed Man by ZZ Top: Six Artifacts
Simply Irresistible by Robert Palmer: One Feat
We Three Kings: One Feat, One Magic Item

And, just because, here are videos for some of those great songs that we've not yet featured here on the blog...

Aerosmith's "Dude Looks Like a Lady":

Robert Palmer's "Simply Irresistible":


and finally...

The Escape Club's immortal "I'll Be There":

Please check out For a Song and a Dance at DriveThruRPG... and let us know what you think of it. We'll be here.

Who Killed the Young Housewife?

Hannah Brymann had seemed to all to be the perfect wife--happily staying at home and hosting gatherings for the friends and neighbors. Everyone claims to have loved her... but someone must be lying, because someone murdered her.

It's been a while, but here's another one of our Random Murder Mysteries. The idea is that you roll an eight-sided die against the tables below to randomly generate the outline of a murder mystery for the player characters in your roleplaying game campaign to solve. Some of the main results have sub-results that must also be generated. (If some results don't seem to match, you can either re-roll, or use them to deepen the mystery... or make the murderer seem more insane or evil.

WHERE WAS SHE FOUND?

   1. In the backyard.
   2. In the master bedroom.
   3. In the dining room.
   4. In the kitchen.
   5. In the garage.
   6. In the bathroom.
   7. In the trunk of her car.
   8. Stuffed into the yard waste recycling bin.


HOW WAS SHE DRESSED?
   1-2. What she commonly wore around the house.
   3-4. Exercise clothes.
   5-6. Clothes for working in the yard.
   7. Underwear and dressing gown..
   8. A bath towel.


HOW WAS SHE KILLED?
   1. Hanged.
   2. Drowned in the bath tub (1-6); in the pool (7-8).
   3. Strangled with a power cord (1-2); blinds cord (3-4); scarf (5-7); bed sheet (8).
   4. Head bashed in with a (1-3) meat tenderizer; (4-6) hammer; (7-8) silver candlestick.
   5. Suffocated with a throw pillow.
   6. Throat slit.
   7. Run over with her car.
   8. Stabbed 1-8 times.


WHO KILLED HER?
   1. Her Husband.
   2. Her Mother-in-Law.
   3. The Postman.
   4. The Poolboy
   5. The Pastor.
   6. The Police Officer.
   7. Her Ex (1-4) Boyfriend; (5-6) Girlfriend; (7-8) Husband.
   8. Her Estranged Step-Sister.


WHY WAS SHE KILLED?
   1. Revenge. (Roll on the Dark Secrets table.)
   2. Jealousy.
   3. So she wouldn't reveal killer's secret. (Roll on Dark Secrets table.)
   4. So her soul could be married to a demon in a paranormal shotgun-style wedding.
   5. She rebuffed the murderer's sexual advances.
   6. She was the latest victim of a serial killer. Another victim will die in 1-8 days.
   7. Revenge for her husband's betraying a (1-3) drug cartel; (4-5) demonic cult; (6-8) secret assassins guild.
   8. She was blackmailing the killer with pictures of kinky sex acts. (If the Husband was indicated as the killer, he is being framed by the actual killer. Roll again on the Who Killed Her table to see who it is. Ignore and reroll additional results of 1.)


WHAT IS THE DARK SECRET?
   1-3. The Young Housewife had been given a new identity after testifying against a mob hitman who was sent to prison for the rest of his life. She was recognized by the killer, and he killed her for the bounty the mob put on her.
   4-5. The killer and the Young Housewife were members of the same cult devoted to serving and worshipping a demonic entity. She wanted to leave the cult behind.
   6-7. The Young Housewife and the killer were con-artist partners, and she was supposed to rob her husband of all his money. She truly fell in love with him, and she wanted nothing more to do with the killer. (If the Husband is the killer, he murdered her in a fit of rage, and is framing her partner for her death. Roll on the Who Killed Her table to determine who the partner in the con was.)
   8. The Young Housewife was raised and trained to be an assassin and agent for an international cabal, but she wanted to leave that life behind. The killer was sent to eliminate her... and will target investigators when they start snooping around.

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If you found this post useful and entertaining, check out Murder Most Random, a collection of 12 random murder mystery outline generators. Sales will encourage us to make more... as would comments on this post. For example, is there a generic type of person you'd like to see made a murder victim? Let us know!