Post by Pikachu on Dec 23, 2008 4:52:22 GMT -5
I have a game that I can guarantee I can run in one to two shots with fairly little prep and a story that hopefully you will all enjoy. It's up to you guys when you want to play through it... but we can do it this holiday season if you're up for it. There is a caveat: It will be 3.0, but with 3.5 haste and boots of flying. I have an extremely good reason for reverting back to 3.x, and will not be able to compromise for 4E on this one (hint, hint).
If you want in, post here. The requirements, if you want to roll a character on your own, are as follows:
Level 13
DMG Starting Gold
Roll two sets of 5d6 stats (keeping the three highest dice), keep the one you want (EDIT!!!! Reroll 1's)
Any Wizards of the Coast book is kosher for powers, equipment, or class, but no savage/monster races
Must be some alignment of good
HP EDIT - Hit points are done in the traditional matter: roll two of the pertinent dice, keep higher value.
House rules:
1. I discourage psionics, and pure Druids. Weak shit will hurt you.
2. The following gayness are banned: Detect alignment spells, Wish, Hide Life
EDIT - While browsing through the shit I have at my disposal, I need to allow the potential use of Wish for fairness. What I will allow is any use of Wish that is explicitly explained and guaranteed to function in the Player's Handbook, as well as being a solution to negative effects put onto a player.
3. 3.5 Haste, Time Stop, Heal, Harm.
4. You may negotiate with me if you want 4th Edition Encounter Powers as a feat if you are a melee character. This is all gray area, so I have nothing concrete for this. I'm doing this to make melee fun.
5. This party needs one wizard and one cleric. You may not cross arcane and divine magic. Doing so summons the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, and is an illegal occurence in this universe, as is Febreze.
6. Free +5 knowledge skill to one of your choosing, unless you choose something too obscure, which is something I will judge.
7. Role-playable skills such as Intimidate, Innuendo, and that kind of stuff do not exist. Your success is as good as your performance.
8. I encourage prestige classes. Break your character or be broken.
Second Edit - Character creation backgrounds
You can be poor, rich, or whatever. It will not affect starting gold. Powerful mentors are available, guilds with access to bling exist. However you want your background to link to a result, and that's your existence of being an adventurer. Now, adventurers in this world tend to sign up in a loose network where huge opportunities come to them if they show themselves to be qualified. What this means is that your characters have previous knowledge of each others' existences, but to what degree of familiarity will be up to you all. Each player character has some degree of notoriety within some circles in this world. This is a necessary facet to the plot as well as your success, so if you want to play a character that exists as a complete loner in the shadows, this isn't the game to do it in.
A little more on the cleric role: The cleric does have to choose between Heironeous, Wee Jas, or Corellon Larethian. I'm sorry I chose such weak shit clerics
but this is also a setting necessity. I promise this will be made up to you.
So, what's the world setting like? What's the background? My first hints here: All of you, at the start of this game, will be in New Chendl, 400 years after the death of Ashardelon. Yeah, you motherfucking heard.
Third Edit - If a feat requires ranks in a skill like Intimidate, etc... just forget it exists. I'll err on the side of brokeness for this one. However, if a class requirement asks for it, then you will have to invest in it all the same.
EDIT - Spoilers (not of the rice rocket type)
Interesting world tidbits here, just to keep the interest going, but not enough to ruin anything:
1. There are a chain of Morton Maester shops in this world. Each has a Morton Maester in it.
2. "Dolf" is no longer a legal name or word to speak in this society. Speaking this name is worse than saying "Voldemort". If you must mention this bag of shit, acceptable monikers are, "The Betrayer", "The Broken Paladin", or "The Lungren", which in an ancient language means, "The Unrepentant Asshole".
3. Most General Stores are called The Shop of Goudy's (Get it?). Each contains a Mr. Goudy.
4. Transportation between major cities can be accomodated by Air Barges. Rides cost 30 - 50 silver for economy, 1 - 2 gp for first class, depending on the route. These are not Air Barges as per the DMG. No, being a terrorist on board these Air Barges is a bad fucking idea.
5. Money occurs in paper form. They can be exchanged for coin form in banks if you need to adventure in places that do not recognize bills.
6. Maldorian, Telmar, and Brendeis (the final roster of the party) have died. Aethrion passed away.
7. Orcus is a deity.
8. Reports of a massive bronze dragon flying distantly overhead in the vicinity of New and Old Chendl, Brinninford, and surrounding forest areas pop up once in a blue moon. These are dismissed as rumors since most eyewitnesses are farmers, children, or people suffering from psychosis. The government, while recognizing the reality of bronze dragons existing, neither confirm or deny the presence of such a creature in the area.
9. Greyhawk has been pwned in the face.
10. New Chendl is home to the main headquarters of the Adventurer's Guild. Most transactions for high level gear occur here.
11. Brinninford is home to the Arcadian Academy, where mages come from. The Shield and Shingle still stands after many centuries, and is one of the fanciest resorts in the region. Locals have another name for the Shield and Shingle, however.
12. Old Chendl is home to the Bardic School, founded by Raythorn, the legendary storyteller. A cemetary dedicated to heroes of past is also located here.
13. The Vespy Forest, a vast woodland that seperates Old and New Chendl, still teems with elves, beasts, and evil druids.
14. Terrus, the subterranean domain beneath the Chendlian region, is the soverign territory of the Desmodu. Its primary entrance from the surface is the Gulthias Tunnel.
15. Mount Clangedes, to the northwest of New Chendl, is where the Dwarves have their gheysecks.
16. Recent events in the region: The Dawnreaver has exposed a Desmodu human trafficking black market and dealt with the offenders in usual fashion - complete asskicking. A rogue necromancer attempted to re-raise the Nightfang Spire and bring the vampire Gulthias to life. An odd pair of adventurers "reminded" the necromancer what a terrible idea this was.
More to come later?
Final Edit - D&D Game Post-Mortem:
So I've been meaning to lay out some of the details of the game that may or may not have come out.
One of the missed opportunities involved a series ofunfortunate events in Sigil that were meant to be totally chaotic, yet useful in nature. I wanted there to be a sense of a lot of whack shit going on while maintaining a purposeful search for answers, kind of in the spirit of Slayers. Of course, it didn't quite go down this way, and I found myself ad libbing a lot of the answers to be found through research.
The Aethrion bit wasn't ad-libbed, in case anyone was wondering. This was very intentional and I wanted the party to be able to have this meeting to confirm suspicions of what was going on.
There were some other locales that I originally intended to get the party to go to, but I decided to save those ideas for another time. My motivation for this was to have pieces of trivia about what happened to our original characters scattered about for everyone to find, but it was a little too hard to incorporate it into the game because of all the imminent danger in New Chendl. I didn't think anyone would bother faffing about to look.
Telmar - I had some other places/sources that would provide details of Telmar getting hunted by Solars because of the nature of information he was poking around in. Hunt might be a strong word here... pursue is more accurate. What ultimately happens to him is to be left to the players' imagination, but further investigation of the matter would have hinted towards a far less grisly fate than...
Maldorian - Perhaps the most Howard Dean ending of all, Maldorian traded his soul for knowledge in an area deities considered most sensitive.
Aethrion - Being human, the implication here is that he didn't stick around as a mortal long enough to see Telmar, Maldorian, and Brendeis resort to more extreme means to fashion their solution to undo what Imperagon did. To express this, I had Aethrion's fate be the clearest and open, whereas his party members were hush-hush in the world. At the same time, Aethrion is privy to his comrades' intent, so despite his isolation in the afterlife, I thought it'd make sense that he'd be able to help the party put two and two together.
Brendeis - Brendeis' fate, at face value, was obvious, but having an avatar of Wee Jas showing up at his funeral was meant as an ominous sign for all the adventurers... had the big picture been put together.
The idea behind my choosing of these results was based on the final adventure we had against Ashardelon. I wanted to push the idea of dabbling into souls and unborn because it was dangerous to do so and forbidden. Remember that even deities were not to touch this particular portfolio... but it was never explicitly stated that mortals weren't allowed to influence these outcomes.
So what would the result be, if a bunch of epic adventurers began to poke around in the multiverse for something this sensitive? On one hand, Telmar, Aethrion, Maldorian, and Brendeis did nothing wrong - and in fact, did their part for good. At the same time, tampering with souls a second time through was an activity I thought should not have escaped cosmic attention. Thus, I decided on fates that were quite final and undoable. No punishments, but certainly no borrowed time to meddle around (especially for Brendeis). Hopefully, everyone's deaths didn't just make sense, but were also characteristic fates that would mirror an aspect of the respective RL players.
If you want in, post here. The requirements, if you want to roll a character on your own, are as follows:
Level 13
DMG Starting Gold
Roll two sets of 5d6 stats (keeping the three highest dice), keep the one you want (EDIT!!!! Reroll 1's)
Any Wizards of the Coast book is kosher for powers, equipment, or class, but no savage/monster races
Must be some alignment of good
HP EDIT - Hit points are done in the traditional matter: roll two of the pertinent dice, keep higher value.
House rules:
1. I discourage psionics, and pure Druids. Weak shit will hurt you.
2. The following gayness are banned: Detect alignment spells, Wish, Hide Life
EDIT - While browsing through the shit I have at my disposal, I need to allow the potential use of Wish for fairness. What I will allow is any use of Wish that is explicitly explained and guaranteed to function in the Player's Handbook, as well as being a solution to negative effects put onto a player.
3. 3.5 Haste, Time Stop, Heal, Harm.
4. You may negotiate with me if you want 4th Edition Encounter Powers as a feat if you are a melee character. This is all gray area, so I have nothing concrete for this. I'm doing this to make melee fun.
5. This party needs one wizard and one cleric. You may not cross arcane and divine magic. Doing so summons the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, and is an illegal occurence in this universe, as is Febreze.
6. Free +5 knowledge skill to one of your choosing, unless you choose something too obscure, which is something I will judge.
7. Role-playable skills such as Intimidate, Innuendo, and that kind of stuff do not exist. Your success is as good as your performance.
8. I encourage prestige classes. Break your character or be broken.
Second Edit - Character creation backgrounds
You can be poor, rich, or whatever. It will not affect starting gold. Powerful mentors are available, guilds with access to bling exist. However you want your background to link to a result, and that's your existence of being an adventurer. Now, adventurers in this world tend to sign up in a loose network where huge opportunities come to them if they show themselves to be qualified. What this means is that your characters have previous knowledge of each others' existences, but to what degree of familiarity will be up to you all. Each player character has some degree of notoriety within some circles in this world. This is a necessary facet to the plot as well as your success, so if you want to play a character that exists as a complete loner in the shadows, this isn't the game to do it in.
A little more on the cleric role: The cleric does have to choose between Heironeous, Wee Jas, or Corellon Larethian. I'm sorry I chose such weak shit clerics
but this is also a setting necessity. I promise this will be made up to you.So, what's the world setting like? What's the background? My first hints here: All of you, at the start of this game, will be in New Chendl, 400 years after the death of Ashardelon. Yeah, you motherfucking heard.
Third Edit - If a feat requires ranks in a skill like Intimidate, etc... just forget it exists. I'll err on the side of brokeness for this one. However, if a class requirement asks for it, then you will have to invest in it all the same.
EDIT - Spoilers (not of the rice rocket type)
Interesting world tidbits here, just to keep the interest going, but not enough to ruin anything:
1. There are a chain of Morton Maester shops in this world. Each has a Morton Maester in it.
2. "Dolf" is no longer a legal name or word to speak in this society. Speaking this name is worse than saying "Voldemort". If you must mention this bag of shit, acceptable monikers are, "The Betrayer", "The Broken Paladin", or "The Lungren", which in an ancient language means, "The Unrepentant Asshole".
3. Most General Stores are called The Shop of Goudy's (Get it?). Each contains a Mr. Goudy.
4. Transportation between major cities can be accomodated by Air Barges. Rides cost 30 - 50 silver for economy, 1 - 2 gp for first class, depending on the route. These are not Air Barges as per the DMG. No, being a terrorist on board these Air Barges is a bad fucking idea.
5. Money occurs in paper form. They can be exchanged for coin form in banks if you need to adventure in places that do not recognize bills.
6. Maldorian, Telmar, and Brendeis (the final roster of the party) have died. Aethrion passed away.
7. Orcus is a deity.
8. Reports of a massive bronze dragon flying distantly overhead in the vicinity of New and Old Chendl, Brinninford, and surrounding forest areas pop up once in a blue moon. These are dismissed as rumors since most eyewitnesses are farmers, children, or people suffering from psychosis. The government, while recognizing the reality of bronze dragons existing, neither confirm or deny the presence of such a creature in the area.
9. Greyhawk has been pwned in the face.
10. New Chendl is home to the main headquarters of the Adventurer's Guild. Most transactions for high level gear occur here.
11. Brinninford is home to the Arcadian Academy, where mages come from. The Shield and Shingle still stands after many centuries, and is one of the fanciest resorts in the region. Locals have another name for the Shield and Shingle, however.
12. Old Chendl is home to the Bardic School, founded by Raythorn, the legendary storyteller. A cemetary dedicated to heroes of past is also located here.
13. The Vespy Forest, a vast woodland that seperates Old and New Chendl, still teems with elves, beasts, and evil druids.
14. Terrus, the subterranean domain beneath the Chendlian region, is the soverign territory of the Desmodu. Its primary entrance from the surface is the Gulthias Tunnel.
15. Mount Clangedes, to the northwest of New Chendl, is where the Dwarves have their gheysecks.
16. Recent events in the region: The Dawnreaver has exposed a Desmodu human trafficking black market and dealt with the offenders in usual fashion - complete asskicking. A rogue necromancer attempted to re-raise the Nightfang Spire and bring the vampire Gulthias to life. An odd pair of adventurers "reminded" the necromancer what a terrible idea this was.
More to come later?
Final Edit - D&D Game Post-Mortem:
So I've been meaning to lay out some of the details of the game that may or may not have come out.
One of the missed opportunities involved a series of
The Aethrion bit wasn't ad-libbed, in case anyone was wondering. This was very intentional and I wanted the party to be able to have this meeting to confirm suspicions of what was going on.
There were some other locales that I originally intended to get the party to go to, but I decided to save those ideas for another time. My motivation for this was to have pieces of trivia about what happened to our original characters scattered about for everyone to find, but it was a little too hard to incorporate it into the game because of all the imminent danger in New Chendl. I didn't think anyone would bother faffing about to look.
Telmar - I had some other places/sources that would provide details of Telmar getting hunted by Solars because of the nature of information he was poking around in. Hunt might be a strong word here... pursue is more accurate. What ultimately happens to him is to be left to the players' imagination, but further investigation of the matter would have hinted towards a far less grisly fate than...
Maldorian - Perhaps the most Howard Dean ending of all, Maldorian traded his soul for knowledge in an area deities considered most sensitive.
Aethrion - Being human, the implication here is that he didn't stick around as a mortal long enough to see Telmar, Maldorian, and Brendeis resort to more extreme means to fashion their solution to undo what Imperagon did. To express this, I had Aethrion's fate be the clearest and open, whereas his party members were hush-hush in the world. At the same time, Aethrion is privy to his comrades' intent, so despite his isolation in the afterlife, I thought it'd make sense that he'd be able to help the party put two and two together.
Brendeis - Brendeis' fate, at face value, was obvious, but having an avatar of Wee Jas showing up at his funeral was meant as an ominous sign for all the adventurers... had the big picture been put together.
The idea behind my choosing of these results was based on the final adventure we had against Ashardelon. I wanted to push the idea of dabbling into souls and unborn because it was dangerous to do so and forbidden. Remember that even deities were not to touch this particular portfolio... but it was never explicitly stated that mortals weren't allowed to influence these outcomes.
So what would the result be, if a bunch of epic adventurers began to poke around in the multiverse for something this sensitive? On one hand, Telmar, Aethrion, Maldorian, and Brendeis did nothing wrong - and in fact, did their part for good. At the same time, tampering with souls a second time through was an activity I thought should not have escaped cosmic attention. Thus, I decided on fates that were quite final and undoable. No punishments, but certainly no borrowed time to meddle around (especially for Brendeis). Hopefully, everyone's deaths didn't just make sense, but were also characteristic fates that would mirror an aspect of the respective RL players.
