Realm of Veserix D&D 3.5-ish sandbox idea. Mostly freeform. LGBTQ+ Friendly

[WhatLiesAbove]

REALM OF VESERIX

A long, long time ago (19 years) in a galaxy far, far away (Florida) I first came across a game that I instantly fell in love with. It was based off of the game-play for D&D version 3.5, and it was called "Neverwinter Nights". It was a computer game, and it was my introduction into MMO's. The multiplayer server I found was one that I would end up playing on for years...almost a decade (until it ended up shutting down). It was a terrific game, but it was not without it's very obvious faults and flaws.

Recently, I have begun thinking more and more about it, and how much I miss playing on it (the server, I still have the old computer game that I play every now and then). So, I decided to see what kind of adventurous souls we have here on E, and see if it sounds interesting to anyone. The basic premise is a "sky is the limit" character creation, playing as a citizen of one of 3 cities (or even 1 village). There will be mayhem, there will be adventure, there will be smut, and there will be politics. Everything a good campaign needs!

Tell me what you think!



Somewhere between here and the rest of the multiverse lays the realm of Veserix. For centuries there has been warring between the three main factions: The lawful, welcoming people of Anaricia, the rangers of Sturtace, and the spartan, hedonistic people of Tennet. Only the last few years have seen a tenuous peace last between them. However, that peace is on the brink of falling to ashes forever.

Throughout Veserix are more than just the three cities. The village of Blackwell stands as a safe-haven for all who visit it. It stands at the crossroads for all three cities, protected by powerful magics to always stay neutral. Even still, the buildings and people of Blackwell show the scars of battles past. Because of this they have created their own militia...one that will maintain it's neutrality, but will not allow it's people to be terrorized like in the past.

Only time will tell if one of these three great kingdoms will be able to help keep the peace, or if destruction is imminent for them all. This is a wild land, a land where anything can happen, and often does. Do YOU have what it takes to brave this savage world, Adventurer? Can you help keep the peace? Or can you help your city in gaining dominion over the realm entirely? The future is only what we make it. Your actions can determine the fate of all.



Hopefully this has caught your attention! Yay if you have read this far!

So the way I see this going is...believe it or not...dice free. There will be battle, but it will be turn-based, and if its character-on-character then hopefully everyone is adult enough to figure out who wins and who loses. When doing quests, actions should be potential hits, but the GM will be directing with the NPC's you fight against. Don't worry, I'm not out to try and kill anyone's character. Promise!

Character creation: the sky is the limit. FC can be either art or real life, though real life is preferred (just my own personal preference, really). Your character can have whatever features they want...wings, tails, horns. They can be just about any race...as mentioned above, or think up something of your own! All ideas will be carefully considered. The one thing that I have to stress is that nobody can make a G-d like character. It just won't be allowed.

So come on...who's in? I have a rough outline of things that is constantly changing and being updated here. If you think this could be of interest to you, I urge you to speak up! I'd love to hear from you...ideas, criticism, adulations. Whatever your heart desires! What do you think, E?


CHARACTER SHEET

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[float=left][img height=200 padding=10]IMAGE GOES HERE[/img][/float]
[b]NAME:[/b] Character Name
[b]AGE:[/b] Humans 18+, Elves 120+
[b]SEXUALITY:[/b] Straight? Bi? Pan? None? Any?
[b]SPECIES:[/b] Limit to 4
[b]CLASS:[/b] Limit to 3
[b]LEVEL:[/b] All new characters start at level 12
[b]ALIGNMENT:[/b]
[b]CITY ALLEGIANCE:[/b]

[center][size=12pt][b]Character Creation[/b][/size][/center]
Maximum start of 28 points
[b]Strength:[/b] How strong you are
[b]Dexterity:[/b] How nimble you are
[b]Constitution:[/b] How hard a hit you can take
[b]Wisdom:[/b] Common Sense and Willpower
[b]Intelligence:[/b] Book Smarts
[b]Charisma:[/b] How good looking you are

[b]Weapons:[/b] Do you carry a bow? A sword? Maybe a staff or wand?
[b]Armor:[/b] Note: magic users can't use plate-mail

[b]Skills:[/b] Not going off the book here. Choose about 5 things you are particularly good at

[b]Flaws:[/b] Nobody is perfect, even if elves try to be. At least 3

[b]History:[/b] Tell a story. Let us know your background. Minimum of 1 full paragraph

[b]Faceclaim:[/b] If it's artwork, lets give a shoutout to the artist. If live person, just throw down a name

[keyotess]

Interested in playing a female elven bladesinger! :)   

[WhatLiesAbove]

That could definitely be cool!

[Hatless]

I've had Baldur's Gate 3 sitting in my Steam library for like a year ever since a friend bought it for me as a birthday present. I'm waiting for it to get finished before I touch it but it's a struggle. :P

Anyway, could you elaborate a bit more on the setting and intended focus? Is the game meant to take place in Blackwell or is it meant to be spread across the world? Are you looking for adventurers? Townsfolk? Political figures?

[mjrbatou]

I've always wanted to play a Master of Many Forms (3.5 shifter) more for the extra rp possibilities so I'm pretty sure I can play normally without any risk of becoming a supreme being.

As for a face claim (I assume that's what FC stands for) I think I'll use a tiefling-like girl

clothed, sorta

I had/have a real life pic but it either didn't take or was blocked so I'll leave it until the game starts

I haven't played dice free before but I'm pretty sure my character would lose a lot more often than not...

[FlowerMagnolia]

WLA,

this sounds too good to be true! Right up my street. Definitely count me in xx

[WhatLiesAbove]

Squee! This is starting to build up better than I had hoped! I'm happy that people are taking an interest! Welcome!

I've always wanted to play a Master of Many Forms (3.5 shifter) more for the extra rp possibilities so I'm pretty sure I can play normally without any risk of becoming a supreme being.

As for a face claim (I assume that's what FC stands for) I think I'll use a tiefling-like girl

clothed, sorta

I had/have a real life pic but it either didn't take or was blocked so I'll leave it until the game starts

I haven't played dice free before but I'm pretty sure my character would lose a lot more often than not...

That sounds like it could be an awesome character concept, mjrbatou!

[greypsychman]

I am interested. I was thinking perhaps a human cavalier.

[WhatLiesAbove]

I've had Baldur's Gate 3 sitting in my Steam library for like a year ever since a friend bought it for me as a birthday present. I'm waiting for it to get finished before I touch it but it's a struggle. :P

Anyway, could you elaborate a bit more on the setting and intended focus? Is the game meant to take place in Blackwell or is it meant to be spread across the world? Are you looking for adventurers? Townsfolk? Political figures?

Hey Hatless!!

In a word…yes! More likely than not, a bulk of the RP will be happening in and around Blackwell. However, there will be places of note in the other three cities, as well as quests popping up on a battlefield-esque thread. I have NPC’s already for the heads of each three cities, but there are still openings for other positions…generals, advisors, emissaries, etc.

[mjrbatou]

I just spent the day comparing the 3.0 shifter to the 3.5 master of many forms and looking over the best similar options for pathfinder and what could be considered anywhere close for 5e.

At least I have a list of viable forms (non specific levels for now) though it could grow substantially if certain templates are allowed for creatures...and I think they are?  It's primarily half dragon but I might come across 1 or 2 more as I continue poking around my old books and pdf files.

[FlowerMagnolia]

Been thinking about this...

Would a badass female warrior-fairy do? Maybe even the empress of Tennet if you are willing to give out those roles? Just been burning with muse. :D

[mjrbatou]

An alternative would be a highly charismatic dread necromancer, but she'd have so many followers, cohorts, and minions that a freeform may not be able to keep track of...not to mention potentially being undead herself.

My old ideas for a cleric and wizard are similar, just a little too complex to keep track of without bookkeeping being involved.

...though playing with a sprite familiar is a big plus for the arcane (might be thinking of pathfinder here, not certain anymore).

[WhatLiesAbove]

Been thinking about this...

Would a badass female warrior-fairy do? Maybe even the empress of Tennet if you are willing to give out those roles? Just been burning with muse. :D

A badass female warrior-fairy would be pretty gnarly, for sure! At this time however, the leaders of the city will be NPC's. That does not mean that you can't hold a government position if you are so inclined!

[WhatLiesAbove]

An alternative would be a highly charismatic dread necromancer, but she'd have so many followers, cohorts, and minions that a freeform may not be able to keep track of...not to mention potentially being undead herself.

My old ideas for a cleric and wizard are similar, just a little too complex to keep track of without bookkeeping being involved.

...though playing with a sprite familiar is a big plus for the arcane (might be thinking of pathfinder here, not certain anymore).

I'd just be careful about having a character that has large followings. That's not to say you can't have a mage or cleric or necromancer that could end up being a head mage or high priest/ess.

Also, don't feel like you have to stick to purely D&D lore in order to make a character. From what I could find (and granted, it's been a hot minute since I've DM'd a game) it doesn't seem like 3.5 has rules for players who want to play things like seraphims, pixies, harpies, etc. The original D&D lore seemed to push for characters to be alignments that shied away from evil traits (couldn't be a drow or demon). This game that I'm developing...and I'm working on character development at the moment...would allow nearly any type of character and any type of alignment.

A little something for everyone to think on, too.

Anaricia: more towards the lawful and good alignment

Sturtace: remains on the neutral alignment

Tennet: more towards the evil alignment


Chaotic alignments will of course be allowed, since they do bring a bit of spice to any game. Just remember to respect each other!

[FlowerMagnolia]

A badass female warrior-fairy would be pretty gnarly, for sure! At this time however, the leaders of the city will be NPC's. That does not mean that you can't hold a government position if you are so inclined!

Yay! Understood :) Looking forward to this.

Oh also - how will OOC work? Discord or E thread?

[WhatLiesAbove]

Both!

[Isengrad]

This looks very interesting. 3.5 was a fun system if a little complicated for it's own good. Certainly planting a flag of interest as a few ideas are running around in my head.

Would a badass female warrior-fairy do? Maybe even the empress of Tennet if you are willing to give out those roles? Just been burning with muse. :D

Haha, this reminded me of one of my Favorite off sterotype(for me) characters. I usually go for big and bad Melee attackers, but in 4th edition I made a Pixie War-mage that was just fantastic. Might end up running a fae folk again.

[WhatLiesAbove]

Welcome, Isengrad!!!

For those that are interested, I have decided to open up a discord channel HERE. I invite you to come see it. It will allow for an easier flow of questions and ideas!

Also, I'll be working on a Character Sheet outline. I've outlined character creation in the World Building thread, so please feel free to check it out!

[mjrbatou]

Welcome, Isengrad!!!

For those that are interested, I have decided to open up a discord channel HERE. I invite you to come see it. It will allow for an easier flow of questions and ideas!

Also, I'll be working on a Character Sheet outline. I've outlined character creation in the World Building thread, so please feel free to check it out!

I think your server is set to private or you deleted all the text channels?  I couldn't connect to it either way.

[WhatLiesAbove]

DISCORD

Gonna try again!

[WhatLiesAbove]

Character sheet is up! Please feel free to post them here!!

[Carly]

is discord a must for players ?

[WhatLiesAbove]

is discord a must for players ?

Not necessarily! Once I get a few character sheets I will be opening an OOC for the game.

[Carly]

NAME:  Arya, Prietess of Mira
AGE: 20
GENDER: Hermaphrodite
SEXUALITY: Pansexual
HEIGHT: 6 feet
WEIGHT: 120 lbs
SPECIES: Special
CLASS: Cleric
LEVEL: 12
ALIGNMENT: Neutral Good
STARTING CITY: Anaricia

Character Creation

Strength: 10
Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 10
Wisdom: 16
Intelligence: 10
Charisma: 16

Weapons: Masterwork adamantite one-handed light war-hammer and enchanted returning throwing dagger.
Armor: A set of masterwork adamantite chain mail and matching masterwork adamantite shield.
Additional Items: A gold pouch, a gem pouch and a Magical *Satchel of Holding containing her adventuring equipment and supplies. (*The magical satchel of holding has a shoulder strap to be worn diagonally across the torso resting the satchel on the opposite hip)
Skills: Healing magic, restoration magic, buff magic, sexual performance and persuasion
Flaws: Below average fighting skills for a cleric, intolerant of people that are selfish at the expense of others, Arya tends to assume the best in people at the point of being quite gullible.
History:

Lady Arya was a result of a breeding program created by an Anaricia cult to try and gather favor of Mira, an almost forgotten Hermaphrodite Goddess of Beauty and Pleasure. The reasoning behind this was that following of some of the old good gods were almost lost forever, and that re-accepting them all could give Anaricia an edge where evil forces of Tennet use any advantage they can, even poisons.

The nature of her creation involved considerable divine magic and cost the cult considerable sums of treasure. However Arya was born with all the known traits of the lost Goddess. Arya looked exactly like how the ancient texts described the Goddess, was naturally good willed towards people and had strong aversions to evil. Furthermore she excelled at healing and restoration magic as well as displayed aptitude at keeping a cool and level head during melee training. For better or for worse the cult was disbanded after Arya's training at the age of sixteen, their purpose for-filled but they left Arya, gold, weapons, armor and a magical satchel of holding full of adventuring supplies to see her start her life ushering in more of Mia's nature into the land.

Since then Arya has adventured with several groups that generally were led by paladins that knew of her nature. She was a boon to any party as although she wasn't a good fighter herself, her buffing spells, protection and healing magic saved many a day for those brave enough to test their mettle cleansing places corrupted by evil.

Currently Arya has found herself in the village of Blackwell and has taken to its neutrality in the war between the kingdoms with an open heart. A sanctuary away from war between people was very welcome, as to Arya, true endeavors should be towards more important ideals.

Faceclaim: https://whisperingworlds.com/image-gallery/fantasywomen.php

[greypsychman]

NAME: Erik van Brekkan
AGE: Humans 30
SEXUALITY: Straight
SPECIES: Human
CLASS: Fighter
LEVEL: 12
Alignment: Chaotic Good
City Allegiance: Anaricia

Character Creation

Maximum start of 28 points
Strength: 14 (above average)
Dexterity: 14 (above average)
Constitution: 14 (above average) level ability increase
Wisdom: 10 ( low side of average)
Intelligence: 13 (above average) level ability increase
Charisma: 14 (above average) level ability increase

Weapons: Enchanted Bastard Sword, Throwing Axe, Dagger
Armor: Splint Mail and Large Steel Shield

Skills: Erik is trained in fighting with sword (bastard sword) and shield)
                    Erik is trained in the throwing axe
                    Erik is trained in mounted combat
                    Erik is charismatic, persuasive, somewhat diplomatic, and a person soldiers look to
                     as their leader
                    Erik enjoys singing drinking songs and ballads

Flaws: Erik is naive. He sees the best in people and can be deceived more easily than
                     most
                     Erik has self-doubt. He rarely feels what he has done was good enough and could
                     probably have been done better. He has difficulty accepting compliments.
                     Erik follows a Code of Honor- Defend women and children, Do no further damage
                     to an injured opponent unable to fight, and don’t take  advantage of anyone

History: When Erik  was born a comet appeared in the sky. His  birth had complications, which almost killed his mother and people believe was related to the appearance of the comet. His parents have always viewed Erik as somewhat unlucky.  He  grew up in a hilly, tundra region near Anaricia. Erik’s family is middle class tavern owners. His family consists of his parents and three older sisters, Juli, Karin, and Dana. His sisters are now married and have families of their own.  Erik  had a worriless childhood and was exposed to a wide variety of races and personalities displayed by patrons of the tavern. During this time, Erik's forgiving attitude surfaced, and influenced the way people looked at him. Most local’s appreciated him but many viewed him as naïve and an easy target to dupe.

Erik applied to a guild of fighters and performed above average in his initiation ritual. Erik fought well on the first contract he received from the guild and received his first wound. It was a slash on his right shoulder that left a scar about 4 inches long. During his travels Erik van Brekkan fought in many battles in many places. One other serious wound he received in battle was to his abdomen. It left a 6 inch diagonal scar from his right beltline to just below his sternum. Erik’s performance over the years eventually led to him becoming a respected warrior and  leader of his own war band.

Faceclaim: Liam Garrigan

[WhatLiesAbove]

Welcome both of you!

Both those sheets look awesome! I’ll be setting up an OOC chat in the next day or so!

[Carly]

Cool.

I am glad you like her !

I wasn't sure how crazy we could go with magical items and possessions.

[FlowerMagnolia]

NAME: Brielle “Ironclaw” Bonnet
AGE: 34
SEXUALITY: Bisexual
SPECIES: Fairy, Human
CLASS: Sorcerer, Fighter
LEVEL: 12
ALIGNMENT: Lawful Evil
STARTING CITY: Tennet

Character Creation

Strength: 17
Dexterity: 11
Constitution: 12
Wisdom: 9
Intelligence: 10
Charisma: 12

Weapons: Medium Longsword and dagger
Armor: Scale mail

Skills: Balance, Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty), Concentration, Climb and Intimidate

Flaws: Lack of empathy, insularity, rude and aggressive

History:

Brielle comes from the poorest of the poor in Tennet, born into a working class family. Her father worked as a ship-building in the harbor, barely earning enough to feed his wife and his three children. Sometimes, he slept in the hall just to be there earlier to earn more money for his family. Brielle, being the oldest of three girls, had to watch her mother suffering from the strains of life. They were starving, living in one room with no other income other than what their father brought home. Thus, Brielle took matters in her own hands and began to steal from wealthier families. With a few failures at the start, eventually, the girl got better and managed to steal more without getting caught.

With fifteen, Brielle broke into a house of a nobleman. Climbing into a window, she was amazed at the wealth, gold and grandiosity of the mansion. She had wandered around, just admiring the beauty of it all when she saw a massive silver longsword hanging on a wall over the fireplace. The brunette had stood there, mouth hanging open and just staring at it, forgetting why she was there. It had caught her completely off guard when suddenly a hard hand gripped her arm tightly. She had reacted quickly, biting into the fingers before jumping up to grab the sword. However, there was no way out of there at that point. The owner of the house had threatened to hand her over to the authorities but Brielle had begged him not to, for her family was starving. Thus, he had taken her under his wing, promising her to teach her how to fight with the sword she had desired, if she promised never to steal again and leave her family behind. The better she fought, he would send more coins to her family.

Years passed by and she never stole again. Instead, she was trained well and hard, making that her new profession. Indeed, Gérald trained her to defend for herself – but also punishing her if she forgot a lesson. He was harsh with her, making sure that she would never take anything for granted. When she was of age, he sent her to the Emperor that she would learn how to protect the leaders of their city. And indeed, she proved herself worthy to join the royal guards. Not just because she was strong, focused and dutiful. But also because they discovered chaos magic in her.

Next to her training as a warrior, Brielle found that she could summon magic at her own will. She had no need for books or training, but she invested time into the discovery of her powers. She knew that she could kill if she wanted to… but had refused to test the limits yet of those powers. Instead, she found herself at the head of the royal guards and as the right-hand of King Horace. She is loyal and a strong supporter of the city’s superiority. She also believes that slavery is the way out of poverty for the population.

Faceclaim: Liu Yifei


(here she finally is! Is there a character thread yet? :) )

[Carly]

Awesome characters grey and flower !

A question concerning skills.

Do we include magic ability and fighting ability in skills ?

If we include them do we use different skill slots for different types of magic spells or fighting styles ?
Like bow and mounted combat and sword an shield use three slots in total ? Or restoration healing and buff magic uses three slots in total ?

Currently the characters posted are a mixture of how this is interpreted.

Or are skills other things other than those two core elements ?

[WhatLiesAbove]

Awesome characters grey and flower !

A question concerning skills.

Do we include magic ability and fighting ability in skills ?

If we include them do we use different skill slots for different types of magic spells or fighting styles ?
Like bow and mounted combat and sword an shield use three slots in total ? Or restoration healing and buff magic uses three slots in total ?

Currently the characters posted are a mixture of how this is interpreted.

Or are skills other things other than those two core elements ?

Great questions, Carly!

So there isn't a set amount of skill slots. However, if skills don't mesh with the overall character, they won't be accepted.

Example:

Mage has a martial skill of mounted combat using a Jousting lance. Well, we know that casting spells requires a mix of verbal words and hand motions. Such would not be possible if they were using a lance. Hence, jousting mages wouldn't be accepted for skillsets.

However, there could be exceptions!

Example:

Battle Cleric uses a quick-heal spell while firing off a bolt at an incoming enemy. Battle clerics or battle mages are known classes. They can't use heavy armor, and they can only use smaller weapons (short sword, small crossbow, dagger, etc.). One-handed weapons so that one hand is free to help cast spells. This would be acceptable.

Hope this clears up the confusion!

[Carly]

Ok.

Well my character is a cleric that uses plate mail and shield but she isnt that good at fighting in any regard, and relies on her armor more than her skills to keep herself alive.

Do you want me to rework my character or is she fine as she is ?

[Laughing Hyena]

I'm pretty sure there's a feat that makes it possible to cast whilst wielding a weapon. And the holy symbol can be supplanted into a shield to make it able to be wielded in a joust. I think.

[WhatLiesAbove]

Ok.

Well my character is a cleric that uses plate mail and shield but she isnt that good at fighting in any regard, and relies on her armor more than her skills to keep herself alive.

Do you want me to rework my character or is she fine as she is ?

I wouldn't use plate mail as a magic user. But other than that, she should be okay

[WhatLiesAbove]

Hey everyone! We have both an OOC and Approved Character list!

Approved Character List

Veserix OOC

Let the beginnings of the games begin!

[Carly]

I gave my character chain mail instead.

[Laughing Hyena]

With 3.5 ed Arcane Spell Failure is a thing and it will hamper any character with arcane magic. Unless a class feature changes that fact, there's a reason why wizards never use armor. But it only affects spells with somatic elements to them. So make sure you use the metamagic spell feat still spell to solve that.

[Carly]

Im a cleric though, not a sorcerer or warlock or wizard or anything.

my spells are divine. like a paladins spells.

Clerics and paladins can wear heavy armor and cast spells without arcane spell failure as they are not arcane spell casters. They are divine spell casters.

Right ?

[Laughing Hyena]

Correct. It doesn't affect Divine or Druidic Spellcasters. Only classes like wizards, sorcerers and other Arcane Spellcasters are affected in this way. After all its Arcane Spell Failure listed on armor. ^_^

[Carly]

Well this is dnd 3.5 ish which means that its similar to 3.5.

I assumed clerics could wear platemail and not have issues casting spells.

Still whatever custom rules for clerics are adopted here as determined by WhatLiesAbove I will go with it.

I want to wear the best armor I can though !

[mjrbatou]

So far my characters 'skills' are sex and linguistics.  I know they aren't really adventuring ones and I'm not sure I could have any that make sense.

Though if I continue with all natural things I think I can get more adventuring styled skills...perhaps a slight change to my source material is in order (but not character, I like Meri even if I haven't seen the last 2 animations).