<span style="font-weight: bold">REVISED VORE RULES, round one (comprehensive)</span><br/><br/>To swallow a target whole, the 'pred' must be involved in a grapple with him/her. Swallowing is a standard action, and works the same as a grapple check, except it's opposed by the prey's Fort instead of Reflex.<br/><br/><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">It doesn't matter who initiated the grapple, though the initiator can end the grapple as a free action on his/her turn, while the initial target must make an escape check.</span><span style="font-weight: bold">Rule revision: Only the one who initiated the grapple can attempt to swallow, unless they have a certain feat, and even then there's a small penalty. Being predatory is no longer more likely to get you swallowed than your target.</span>Incidentally, on rereading the rules I realized that I wasn't handling it exactly right. Escaping from a grapple (or a stomach) always involves a skill check, as described on Pg 288 of the players handbook. The operative skills are Athletics or Acrobatics. Acrobatics will always be opposed by the pred's Reflex defense, and Athletics will always be opposed by the Fortitude defense.<br/><br/>When a swallowed creature escapes from the predator's stomach, they reappear in any square adjacent to the pred, but remain grappled until they can make another escape check. Since escape checks are a move action, two can be made per round.<br/><br/>However, note that due to the quasi-magical nature of vore in this game, attacking  a predator from the inside doesn't really work. The throat and stomach of a living creature are much stronger than any other part of the body and very difficult to cut. Blunt weapons do no damage at all. Edged and piercing weapons can be used to attack from the inside (substituting the pred's fort defense if AC would normally be used), but all stomachs have a 'hardness' of 10 against all physical attacks and force damage, increasing even more at paragon tier or with certain feats.<br/><br/>Energy attacks are slightly more effective: the stomach interior only has a 'hardness' of 5 against fire, cold, radiant, or necrotic damage. Acid damage, obviously, isn't very effective and contends with a hardness of 20. Any damage to a pred's interior is applied to their hit points normally. However,<span style="font-style: italic">a swallowed character cannot get free solely by damaging the stomach</span>, unless it reduces the predator to 0 hit points.<br/><br/>Also, note that status effects which would release a character from a grapple (stun, daze, immobilization, etc) DO NOT allow a prey to exit the stomach without an escape roll.<br/><br/>The only attack which a pred can use on the target in their stomach is digestion, a standard action that does a default of 1d8 + strength or constitution acid damage. Stomach acid does not damage metal, stone, glass, or other inorganic substances. Armor, weapons and jewelry remain in the stomach and are coughed up later if their original owner digests. Digestion attacks always target the Prey's Fort unless otherwise noted. Any turn on which a predator uses a standard action to digest gives the prey a -2 on escape rolls until the beginning of the pred's next turn, even if the digest attack doesn't hit.<br/><br/>As a move action, the predator may choose to 'rest'. This involves totally disengaging from the battle around them to lie down and focus on the prey in their bellies. A 'resting' pred cannot move and is considered helpless, making them vulnerable to Coup de Graces, and they cannot make opportunity attacks. The only standard action that can be taken in the same round as a predator rests is digestion. The only abilities targeting others (besides the prey) that can be used are minor actions. If a pred decides to stop resting, he or she must take a move action to stand up. Resting gives the prey an additional -4 penalty to escape checks that stacks with the -2 from active digestion.<br/><br/>"Digestion of Opportunity": Prey should be wary about fighting too fiercely, as the more they struggle, the more acids the stomach will produce.<span style="font-style: italic">Prey can only take a single standard OR move action in a round safely.</span>Taking two moves or a move and a standard provokes an attack of opportunity, using digestion damage.<br/><br/>Stuffing: Although the humanoids of Gespinium are much more capable of moving and fighting while carrying a creature as heavy (or heavier!) than themselves in their belly than non-magical beings would be, it's still quite an inconvenience, especially if the prey is still fighting. As long as there is a resisting opponent in their stomach, preds suffer a -4 penalty to armor class and Reflex defense (EXCEPT against the target in their stomach), and a -3 penalty to move speed. After the prey has succumbed, but before the pred is over halfway done with digestion (i.e., 3 hours of standard activity or 1.5 hours of rest), these penalties are reduced to -2 AC and Ref, and -2 move speed. Swallowing more than one same-sized creature at a time isn't wise or healthy. There are limits to the capacity of even the unnaturally strong and elastic guts of this world's preds, and if a predator somehow manages it, they will be essentially helpless until they've digested most of their meal and probably won't enjoy the experience much.<br/><br/>Bloodied Targets: Bloodied players or monsters suffer a -2 to all defenses, for the purposes of resisting grapples, resisting being swallowed, and resisting digest attacks.<br/><br/>Minions, Elites and Solos:<br/>Minions are easy prey; they don't need to be grappled. If you're in melee range, you can instantly make a swallow attack against them, and they cannot make escape attempts.<br/><br/>Elites, conversely, are much harder to bolt down. Elites cannot be targeted with a swallow attack unless they are bloodied, and they don't suffer the standard -2 to defenses.<br/><br/>Solo enemies are too big, tough, fast, or all three to make a meal out of in the middle of a fight. They can still be swallowed alive (and, indeed, a meal coming at the end of a hard battle is all the more satisfying), but they must have their hit points knocked down to 0 first, leaving them helpless (though not neccessarily unconscious).<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">New Rule: Nutrion potions</span><br/>Since consuming potions is a minor action, allowing people to instantly use nutrion potions can result in them having effectively free healing. Since using potions normally requires a move action (to get the potion out) and a minor action, I'm ruling that activating a nutrion potion requires a move action. Note that it does NOT also require a minor action, so they're still a bit better than normal potions.<br/><br/>------------<br/>Now, what you've all been waiting for: the feats. If one or more of these feats turn out to be game-breakingly overpowered, I may have to remove or nerf them, but I'll try to avoid doing so if at all possible. If I change a feat your character has, you can make any changes to the build that you feel are neccessary to compensate (everything except the changing of race, gender and other things which are integral to the characters identity).<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">Improved Acids</span><br/>Prereq. Str 13.<br/>Digestion damage die increased from a d8 to a d10.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">Rapid Digestion</span><br/>Prereq. Con 15.<br/>The character has a preternaturally rapid digestive system (more so than average, anyway). Digestion time is reduced to 2 hours of standard activity or one hour of rest.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">Fire-Eater</span><br/>Prereq. Wis 13.<br/>That's a spicy meat-a-ball! The character's stomach's hardness against fire, electric and radiant damage is increased to 15.<br/>(Note: Changed, added electric damage type)<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">Shadow-Eater</span><br/>Prereq. Cha 13<br/>Your belly is too warm and vibrant for the chill darkness to take effect. Stomach's resistance to cold, necrotic and poison damage is increased to 15. A character CANNOT have both Shadow-Eater and Fire-Eater.<br/>(Note: Changed and corrected recently, changed radiant to necrotic damage and added poison)<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">Steel Belly</span><br/>Prereq. Con 13, Str 13<br/>The stomach's resistance to physical and force attacks is increased to 20.<br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><br/>Dextrous/Cunning/Insightful/Alluring Predator</span><br/>These are four separate feats, but all work the same. For the purposes of vore, the character can substitute Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma in attack rolls. This applies to rolls to grapple the target, rolls to swallow the target, and attack rolls for digestion. Digestion damage, however, is still based on strength or con.<br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><br/>Squirmer</span><br/>No prereq.<br/>The character gains a +3 bonus on Athletics and Acrobatics rolls<span style="font-style: italic">for escape checks only</span>.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">Mobile Predator</span></span><br/>Prereq. Dex 15, Str 13<br/><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">The character is used to moving nimbly even with a belly full of some unfortunate enemy. As long as the predator wears leather or cloth armor, the stuffing penalties are reduced by one step: while the prey is still struggling, -2 to Ref and AC and -2 to move, and no penalties when the prey succumbs.</span><br/>On second thought this feat is a little too powerful. Removing it, pending revision.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><br/>Determined Predator</span><br/>Prereq. Int or Wis 13<br/>For the purposes of opposing escape checks only, the predator can substitute his/her Will defense for Reflex OR Fortitude. Which one the Will defense will be substituted for must be chosen when the feat is picked, and cannot be changed.<br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><br/>Tight Belly</span><br/>Prereq. Dex 13 or Str 13<br/>+2 to Reflex defense, for the purpose of opposing escape checks only.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">Elastic Belly</span><br/>No prereq.<br/>+2 to Fortitude defense, for the purpose of opposing escape checks only. A character cannot have both Tight Belly and Elastic Belly.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">New feat</span><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">Turnabout Predator</span><br/>You show that would-be predators should never get too confident. If you have been grappled, you may attempt to swallow the enemy as if you had initiated a grapple against them. Your first swallow check suffers a -2. Subsequent attempts do not, even if they take place on the same turn.<br/><br/>------------------------<br/><br/>If any of these feats seem egregiously over-or-under powered to you, feel free to comment. Otherwise, feel free to choose as many of them as you want, if you have the feat slots.