Running the Realms (3.5 D&D system)

Started by Tagan, April 03, 2010, 12:40:59 PM

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Tagan

I' m planning on running a dungeons and dragon's system game.  3.5 edition rules, based off the SRD.

It's set in the Forgotten Realms before the Spellplague, and starts in the Dalelands. 

Characters will be 3rd level, with up two 2 LA allowed.  (IE, Drow, with a single character level)

Attributes will be 38 pointbuy, base gold for third level, and only the SRD for a source unless I approve something. (Give me a good reason and I may approve nearly any book.  I'm just giving myself reason to cut any min/maxing I don't think is balanced.)

I expect regular posting.  Once a day will keep me happy.  Every other day on a bad week will keep you in the game.  Give me warning of an absense, and I will run your character, and not drop you.  Miss too often and your character will 'take one for the team.'

I'm accepting 4-6 good players.

Applications should be like this.

Name:
Race:
Class(es)
Appearance:
Background:
Sheet link: (I suggest mythweavers, but any good sheet will be sufficent.)

Try to keep the Background between 2 good paragraphs and a page.

The game will revolve around one small adventuring group's encounters with the larger world around it.  It will be an interactive world, not module based, but focused on the plots of several major people in the world, both heros and villians, who's plans may interact with the players, depending on the players choices, sooner, or much later.  It's plotted from 3rd to about 14th level. (Though reaching that point will take a few years.)

RubySlippers

I'd love to play but don't just want to send in a character willy nilly after all a decent party needs some balance. So anyone really want to play certain classes and class combinations.

All is the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting being used? Any other of the realms specific books like the Magic of Faerun for me it matters if I decide on a spell user of any sort. And in the former case there are special cases like Druid/Rangers of the goddess Mielikki can use all their ranger arms and armor rules without the Druid class limiting them. As an example.

No use doing all the work first without knowing what people are doing. I am thinking of a CG Human Cleric 1/Rogue 1/Wizard 1 should be able to fight decently and use many kinds of magic just ,er, be less potent in one sort of magic. Being a city streetwise sort picked up Rogue first so she can get around.

Tagan

To answer your questions, I will allow Forgotten Realms PrC's and rules on a case by case basis.  And if a specific slot is not taken by a player, a NPC will handle it.  (I don't anticipate this being a problem.)

RubySlippers

Ok, I'll do a Human then and multiclass, most likely. I'll get a character done tonight asap.  ;D

TheGlyphstone

#4
How do you feel about the Dread Necromancer class from Heroes of Horror? It is effectively necromancer-in-a-box, with a few nifty class features to make up for its narrowed versatility.

Failing that, Libris Mortis: The Book of Bad Latin, and its Corpsecrafter feat chain?

Tagan

The class from HoH is much more likely to be approved, as it's a concrete and fairly balanced class, IMO.  I'll take a look to be certain.

TheGlyphstone

Noted..though I had another idea, mainly sparked by the fact that I'm looking to get Dem Bones up and rattling as soon as I can...would you consider the Skeletal Minion alternate class feature (normally taken in place of a wizard's familiar) to be an acceptable trade for a Clerical Domain power (Death or Deathbound probably), or if necessary, an entire Domain? I've got the skeleton, pun intended, of a character in my head already - an acolyte necromancer from Thay, who could either be a cleric (preferably of someone higher on the totem pole than Velsharoon, but he's the only one with Necromancy in his portfolio) or a specialist wizard in the Red Wizard tradition. The benefit of being a divine caster is getting Animate Dead 2 levels sooner, speeding up the the character matching its image in my head, but having a bony buddy around since level 1 would be nice, especially since I'm also looking at the Cloistered Cleric variant ( Proper scholars don't get their hands dirty, that's what undead minions are for).

Tagan

Dread Necromancer yes.  Skel familiar yes.  Evil Cleric no. Red Wizard (renagade) yes. Necro spells from Spell Compendium, yes.

TheGlyphstone

#8
So, what Good or Neutral god would have undeath/undead in their portfolio aside from Velsharoon? I'm not entirely up-to-date on how Faerun handles its ninety million deities...in normal rules, you could have a cleric one step removed from their god's alignment (so, a True Neutral cleric of a Neutral Evil god), but that might not apply for Faerun.

And assuming I find a candidate, you said Yes to the Skeleton Minion....would it cost me a Domain Power, or an entire Domain? Libris Mortis has the Deathbound domain specifically about animating the dead, but I don't know if it was reprinted from a Faerun source.

Christopher28

I am interested in playing in this.  Not sure what my character will be, but I'll think on it for awhile.

Tagan

#10
The Realm God of Death at the moment is the NG Kelvimor(sp?) his Clerics get rebuke and healing spells.  (They usually use the Rebuke to tell the nearest Undead to destroy it's buddies and then itself....) They destroy intelegent Undead on principle, but often use lesser Undead Minions.  (When they do so, it is not considered and evil act, unless used to evil purpose.)

The cost of a Skel familiar?  Feat for Cleric, (plus ritual and 100 gold) Free for Sorc/Wizard, (Plus ritual and 100 gold)

RubySlippers

I will note Red Wizareds don't HAVE to be evil there is a solid merchanting mage class rising and many typical Thayans are pretty much neutral so a classic LN Red Wizard is quite logical. Remember Kossuth is LN and he is a very popular diety.

So renegade not necessarily just avoiding the bullshit in Thay for the time being.

TheGlyphstone

Funny, I had been under the impression that Kelemvor and anyone associated with him was virulently anti-undead, since it violates the whole natural order of death and all that. But I'll go with that.

Did you happen to look at Libris Mortis? There's still a few specific items I haven't gotten an up/down on: The Corpsecrafter feat and its subsidiaries, as boosts to the undead I'll eventually be able to animate, and the Deathbound domain, for the same.

Tagan

Quote from: RubySlippers on April 03, 2010, 08:12:25 PM
I will note Red Wizareds don't HAVE to be evil there is a solid merchanting mage class rising and many typical Thayans are pretty much neutral so a classic LN Red Wizard is quite logical. Remember Kossuth is LN and he is a very popular diety.

So renegade not necessarily just avoiding the bullshit in Thay for the time being.

Please don't confuse things.  I said renagade Red Wizard for my own purposes.  It's not a debatable issue.

Glyphstone, my gods and the 'classic' Realms Gods are not precisely identical, as this is a bit of a mix of the Classic Realms and my own notions.  Don't expect the recent history to match exactly, as things, expecially on the local scale, have changed a bit from what's in the FR books. (Not a ton, but with some significant changes.). I do this to keep people from saying, "Oh, let's go visit Eliminster!  He'll know what to do!"

(Not that that isn't an option, but you know what they say about wizards!)

Tagan

Oh, as for Libra Mortis?  I'll take a look.  The main reason that I am going for a largely SRD game is that to access my library of books takes a lot of sweat and effort, and I can't keep them out, so each time I have to reference one, I have to go through the whole process again.  A class or PrC is alright, as I only have to look it up each time you level, but a feat that helps each undead... I need to either memorize it, or get the book out each time, look up the feat, then put it away again... every time the feat is used.

Anyway.  I'll go dig up Libra Mortis in the morning.

TheGlyphstone

It's not actually that big of a change...it adds a +4 Strength bonus and +2 HP/HD to created undead, basically a watered-down version of Augment Summoning for created undead. Most of its followups are minor things to...+Dex and speed increase (Nimble Bones), a extra die of cold damage on attacks, +1 natural armor, minor bonuses like that. Stuff like Destructive Retribution (undead you make explode when killed) are the stuff I'll try to avoid specifically because of the extra bookkeeping you mentioned.

The Great Triangle

So, I'm interested in playing a venurable Orcish wizard.  Is that going to be workable in a game like this, or should I pick a more viable character concept?

(I'm planning on tilting my stats more towards physical than mental, and likely giving myself a level or two of fighter.  Basically, he's a footsoldier who came to wizarding late in life, and now journeys in his waning years to understand things about the world he once scorned.) 
Meow!  I'm a kitty; made of fire.

Ons and Offs

PhantomPistoleer

I am interested!

Would it be possible to play as a Crusader from the Book of Nine Swords?
Always seeking 5E games.
O/O

Tagan

I have every intention of learning how the tome of battle works, but I have not yet have the time.  So, no.  Not this game, sorry.

Tagan

#19
Quote from: The Great Triangle on April 04, 2010, 06:45:28 AM
So, I'm interested in playing a venurable Orcish wizard.  Is that going to be workable in a game like this, or should I pick a more viable character concept?

(I'm planning on tilting my stats more towards physical than mental, and likely giving myself a level or two of fighter.  Basically, he's a footsoldier who came to wizarding late in life, and now journeys in his waning years to understand things about the world he once scorned.)

Absolutely.  That would work quite well.  Incidentally, I play Wild Magic with the older rules, with it's own spells, and much larger range of effects.  Wild Mages are like specialists, who add up to their class level to the percentile chart when rolling wild surges, get an extra wild mage spell of every spell level, exc.  If your interested, I'll get you a spell list.

Chris, don't comment.  :p 

Tagan

#20
Quote from: TheGlyphstone on April 03, 2010, 09:03:19 PM
It's not actually that big of a change...it adds a +4 Strength bonus and +2 HP/HD to created undead, basically a watered-down version of Augment Summoning for created undead. Most of its followups are minor things to...+Dex and speed increase (Nimble Bones), a extra die of cold damage on attacks, +1 natural armor, minor bonuses like that. Stuff like Destructive Retribution (undead you make explode when killed) are the stuff I'll try to avoid specifically because of the extra bookkeeping you mentioned.

I'm inclined to allow these.  (Note, nearly anything that takes a feat for such an advantage makes perfect sense to me.  Just list the feat and it's effects on your sheet.) As for the exploding skeletons...  Well, isn't there a spell that does the same thing?

So, Deathbound Domain, allowed.  Corpsecrafter feats, allowed, even Destructive Retribution, if you take 5 Other corpsecrafter feats first.

RubySlippers

#21
Anyone not play ing a freaky character?  ;) (just joking)

As for the undead sort couldn't he take Azuth he is the Lord of All Magic and that must include Necromancers and their kind and he is LN? Just an out of the box idea that might work since he covers as followers "wizards, mages, spellcasters in general". Another option for a non-evil character might be Set he is LE so could allow a LN cleric sort if he must go that way under the one shift rule in alignment. If the class is a wizard then you could ne neutral in either case if your devoted to your research and magic. Just some ideas.

I mean we have to deal with folks an orc wizard and necromancer sort is not going to be all that inviting. I've decided on a nice normal CN Cleric of Sharess (you know the goddess of cats, festhalls, sensual delights and well fun stuff). I might do another class but just a cleric is fine if nothing else they are self-contained very dangerous class in their own right but I'm considering a 1 level of Expert what she did before choosing to be a cleric maybe a courtesan build. (Someone needs to be ,well, the kindly face of the group that can talk and I don't want to take a Bard or Rogue.) And come on someone has to play the hot babe in the group.  ;D

Human.

Oh are you allowing traits from the Unearthed Arcana you know those little things that add a little flavor to the character.

Tagan

I will allow one trait, and one flaw from UA, if desired.  But I tend to take advantage of flaws, so fair warning.

sleepingferret

RE: Spells from the Spell Compendium

Just as a general question, are spells from this source approved on a case by case basis or is the itself book approved for use? 

Also, although a tad early to be planning this far ahead, what about say Reserve Magic Feats from the Complete Mage, the Practiced Spellcaster Feat from the Complete Arcane, and the Ultimate Magus PrC from the Complete Mage (well PrC planning, one can never plan too far ahead, PrCs make for interesting characters).

Also what about using PHB 2 options to change class features, swapping one class feature for an alternative class feature as presented by the PHB 2 (or other sources as well).

And as for a general PrC feasibility question, if we get approval for X PrC from Y source by you we're set then right?

I have a few character ideas, so I'm just trying to get a general feel for what options are open so I can toss a die out and have it decide for me which one to actually play. (random chart will be based upon option availability)

TheGlyphstone

Okay, one True Neutral Human Cloistered Cleric of Kelemvor (Deathbound, Travel, Knowledge), coming up. Sporting Corpsecrafter, Skeletal Minion, and Hardened Flesh (+2 NA). I'll be a bit pathetic, but my bony buddy should be a decent powerhouse/guardian even with his .5 BAB...which I'd like to end up improving at some point in the future, maybe with the Warrior Skeleton template out of LM, but that can wait for later after the campaign actually gets off the ground. The Murky-Eyed flaw'll give a good reflection of being nearsighted, probably with a pair of big, thick glasses as a cosmetic fix...what do you mean, it's creepy to have glasses with bone framing? :), so I can spend my trait slot on Absent-Minded.

There's only 6 total corpsemaking feats, though. Corpsecrafter, Bolster Resistance, Hardened Flesh, Nimble Bones, Deadly Chill, and Destructive Retribution, and I've already taken the two good ones.