The Tome Of Drow Lore.pdf - RoseRed

Below are various actions a Noble House may take during
a given phase of the Game. Each action is presented in the
following format:
Name: The name of the action in question, used only for
reference.
Influence Requirement: The minimum Influence a Noble
House or other Player must have in order to take the
action.
Power Requirement: The minimum Power a Noble House
or other Player must have in order to take the action. While
two Houses of similar rank have a wide variety of options
available to them, the options are very different based on
whether the House is Influence-based or Power-based.
Cost: The cost of the action. This can have as many as
three distinct portions: the Power cost, the Influence Cost
and the actual cost. The Power and Influence costs indicate
the amount of time and type of resources the House must
devote to the action. These costs do not reduce the Power
or Influence of the House, but must be dedicated to the
action – they cannot be used for any other actions or any
defences during the course of the action. The actual cost is
typically in gold, though some may allow the substitution
of magical items or other forms of payment in place of hard
cash.
Time: The amount of time the action takes to
complete.
Skill DC: This is the skill needed to initiate
the action and, if necessary, needed to defend
against it, as well as the DC for the skill check.
The primary leader of the action
always makes this skill check and
may be assisted by the other
leaders or his staff (see below
for more information).
Success Result: If the
action succeeds, the results
are spelled out here. This
is normally related to the
amount by which the skill
check succeeded.
Failure Result: When
an action fails, there is
always a penalty of some sort,
even if the penalty is only the
temporary disposition of
resources towards a failed
effort. The results of a failure
are detailed here and, like the
Success Result, are often tied to
the degree of failure.
Assassination
An assassination attempt is very straightforward – you
choose a target and hire an assassin to take him out.
Regarded by many drow as a dangerous tactic due to the
risk of having their assassin captured and interrogated,
assassination is still a time-honoured tradition. This tool
is especially likely to be wielded by drow too impatient to
take their foe down through less violent means.
Influence Requirement: 500
Power Requirement: 100
Cost: 1,000 Influence per level or Hit Die of the target;
1,000gp per level or Hit Die of the target
Time: Two weeks
Skill DC: Gather Information (DC 20 + 1 per level or Hit
Die of the target), opposed check
Success Result: If the attacker’s Gather Information check
exceeds the defender’s by ten or more, the target is killed
outright. If the check succeeds by less than ten, the target is
entitles to a Reflex Saving Throw (DC 20) to avoid death.
If the save fails, the target is killed.
Failure Result: If the attacker’s Gather Information check
fails by ten or more, the assassin is captured and provides
a +10 bonus to the next Gather Information check made
by the target to determine where the attack came from. If
the attacker’s skill check fails by less than ten, the assassin
escapes but fails to close the deal, leaving the target
alarmed but alive. Failing by less than five indicates
the assassin did not make the attempt, because
the target was too well protected, not
where he was anticipated or was
otherwise inaccessible within the
assassination parameters.
Assault
Frontal assaults against a location
are rare in the Game of Bones,
but are sometimes used to
finish off a weakened opponent
or to severely weaken an
overly aggressive House. While
technically illegal in most drow
cultures, such assaults are rarely
carried out except by the most
powerful Houses, who can and
do flaunt the law at their whim,
much to the annoyance of the
priests of Nazrakoth. An
assault requires a significant
portion of the aggressor’s resources and is
difficult to succeed with unless the defender is
caught at a weak point.
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