I'd prefer the guidelines with some solid examples.

I don't see why not, but you definitely want to watch the players to make sure they're not trying to min-max stats without some sort of idea.

That way you can still have your half-drow half wild elf type mixes.

I'd also allow Unarmed Resistance to work against natural attacks given that's the proficiency you require as a player to be able to use them without penalty.

I think this would work for me. Natural Resistance and Unarmed Resistance both applying to Natural Attacks seems like a sensible approach and one I can sell to my players

Thanks for the responses.

This was another one we used before we settled on the teeth/edged deal as a group. But, you have to keep track of things if you use both, in case they go for both resistances on their armor.

If that's possible, mind you I don't have my book on me at the moment.

But the question is: in the manual it's written that the fumbles "must not handicap who did the fumble but add complications to the fight".
I could really use some examples from your games!

To me, activating fumbles are to make the PC's life complicated. You don't screw over the PC, but find a way in the story to make their life suddenly that much harder. Granted, I likely get away with doing more, because my groups all knew anything I did to them they could do back to me. And often did.

One example was a charging lancer who tried to behead an orc standing next to a hut. Rolled a 1. Ran right by the orc, but left his sword imbedded in the hut right an inch above the orc's head and had to circle around to come back and get his sword.

Had another player fighting in a forest essentially do the same thing, and have to spend an action and athletics roll to try and yank the sword free.

The one I mentioned earlier who got disarmed, we rolled on the deviation chart and his blade got tossed 3 hexes behind the enemy. He had to get tricky in order to get it back.

I had one player who had taken so much damage that the group decided the blood loosened his grip and he threw his axe instead of swinging it at the bad guy. Granted, that was a group decision, not just me being an evil GM.

Ares is right in that they're their own category, as per RAW.

In my game, though, we classified them by whatever style they were. Teeth/Claw = edged, slams = blunt, etc.

On the Wiltweevil, if he was stuck and unable to move, he should've also been unable to attack (rend, slam, whatever). Not sure if that's how you handled it, but by description that's how I would've gone.

On the soldier... my question would be either: Why didn't you try to get it back? And why don't you have a backup weapon? If he couldn't answer either of those, then I would smile and go "Better luck next game." I ran into this problem in my game, soldier who was superbad ass with an axe, and a little wimp without one. Cried when I disarmed him, and then couldn't answer me when I asked him why he didn't have a dagger or even a handaxe as a backup weapon just in case that happened.

I wonder if C_P/C_A ever jump on the boards, read our posts and just shake their head and say, "I.. I don't even know anymore.."

Remind me never to look at this forum in a school lab again.

Def been doing that part wrong then. Oops.

XP isn't calculated off threat level

Party gets xp equal to NPC cost x threat level. That's what I'm asking, not how much the NPC is worth as a stat block.

This is likely answered somewhere, but question. If you have a Threat Level 5 npc with 2 levels of Veteran.. do you give XP as a TL5 char or a TL7?

I now DM a game in which one of my players is a Giant, wielding a cannon, and riding a Triceratops. So I'm very lucky to have been introduced

...*gets the paranoid Koala look*  How could you post something like that?!  Don't you know other players read this?!  What have done, man!     Next thing you know, we'll have ghost eyed pechs riding sleighs of Prairie dogs while wielding moltav cocktails and manticore skin whips!  ...Oh god.. now what have *I* done!     LOL

Too late.

Usually I figure out what class the group needs most (this would be more for D&D/Pathfinder, since I've only run SC/FC).

Once I know what the party needs, or if the party doesn't need anything, I come up with a concept. Figure out what I want to play.

Second: I'll figure out what class(es) best fits that, then what origins best fit my idea.

Third: I'll figure out the feats.

Fourth: I'll work out the skills.

Pretty much the way it compliments other characters in their selection. Between the skills and the ability to pick other classes abilities, you can fill holes that are there, or make the whole better than the sum.

I wouldn't bother statting it as an NPC myself. I would make it an artifact that the PCs can use and then stat it up as a magic item.

Which means it doesn't work with magic missile. Damn.