An attack roll of “1” is not an automatic miss. It is treated as a -10 for purposes of calculating the AC hit. Similarly, an attack roll of “20” is not an automatic hit. It is treated as a 30.
Special, rare ingredients can be substituted for XP for preparation of certain powerful spells.
Dispel Magic, Antimagic field, etc. do not affect psionic effects. Similarly, Dispel Psionics, Null Psionics Field, etc. do not affect spell magic effects.
When a character dies, instead of his/her XP being placed at the midway point of the previous level, they will lose 500 XP for each level below their current. As with the standard rule, first level characters lose 2 points of CON. The intent of this rule is to add consistency to an otherwise painful rule. It no longer punishes characters who are close to a new level when they die.
Example: Pavo is an 8th level Dwarven Fighter killed by a determined Frost Giant. Instead of being placed at 24,500 XP (midway between 7th and 8th), he will instead lose 3,500 XP (500 * (his level at death - 1)). If he was at the bottom of 8th level (28,000 XP), he would end up at the same point as the old rule (24,500 XP). However, if he was near the top of 8th level, he would remain 8th level.
Example: Pavo (F=12) would become disabled if his hit points dropped anywhere between 0 and -12. If he ends up at the midpoint of this range (-6 hp), he'd be able to execute (on average) 2 standard actions without entering the dying condition.
Just as described in the PHB, each character starts out with Common, their racial language(s), and a number of bonus languages equal to their INT modifier. Each language can be spoken fluently with no chance of significant misunderstanding.
However, the Common tongue is not the all-encompasing language the rules make it out to be. Instead, it is a rather limited trader's tongue. Simple conversation is possible, with special emphasis on the words and concepts relating to barter. However, advanced conversation is difficult and, in many cases, impossible. Additionally, many monsters and wilderness races do not speak Common in any useful way.
However, speaking without a common language is still possible, depending on the similarity of the languages known. Any two languages have points of similarity and with a successful Speak Languages roll, conversation is possible.
All spellcasters get a number of bonus 0-level spells equal to the number of bonus 1st-level spells that they qualify for.
Example: Allie, a 2nd level Favored Soul with a CHA of 20 can cast 8 0-level and 6 1st-level spells per day. The rules as written would be “only” 6/6.
As there is no love for the 4-sided die, it is acceptable to replace any d4+1 roll with a d6, instead. This same principle may be applied to any die roll – as long as the expected value of the new roll is the same as the old one, and that the die size does not change by more than one. This rule should be used sparingly and DM approval is required.
Example: Changing a d8+2 to a d10+1 is acceptable (as both have an expected value 6.5). However, changing to a d12 (also 6.5) is not allowed as it would change the d8 to a d12 – which is two “sizes” away.
Unlike most other skills, exercising a Knowledge Skill takes no time and doesn't represent a success/failure of some activity. Instead, it is simply a means to determine whether a character knows something or not.
Because of this, a character is not allowed to “Take 10” on a Knowledge Skill.