[D&D] Deicide

Started by Jeramiahh, May 26, 2008, 03:20:17 AM

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Jeramiahh

"I imagine you're wondering why I've called all of you here, today?" He looks around the room, at some of the more powerful people on Solith. Heroes and villains, champions, scoundrels, sell-swords, even a few some might consider monsters. An unlikely crowd. 'For an unlikely purpose,' he thinks to himself.

"The truth of the matter is, I've brought you here because I have a plan. A plan... to kill a god."


Throughout the years of playing fantasy games, you've no doubt faced dozens of the most iconic monsters; dragons, giants, demons and devils... all the famous threats to existence. But, what if someone offered you an opportunity, a chance, to do something no mere mortal has ever accomplished? What if you were offered the opportunity to bring down a god?

This is that chance. However, unlike some games which attempt to pull this off, pulling out the incredible statistics of the nigh-invulnerable deities, this plan is to take a different approach, which will be the basis of the entire campaign. Working under the assumption that a god is strengthened by the faith of his followers, by the very power of belief, is it not logical to assume, then, that, were a god to lose all of his followers, through a systematic, organized campaign brought about by a large group of highly skilled individuals... would he not lose his power? Perhaps even his godhood?

This will, unquestionably, be an unusual game, for a number of reasons.
First, the central focus will not, necessarily, be combat. Converting followers, blackmail, subterfuge, all possible, and viable, solutions to weaken the faith of followers, without having to resort to killing them. The campaign will follow only a small group of the force summoned to accomplish this task; throughout, you may encounter allies on the same mission as you... potentially causing conflicts, in some areas.
Second, in the spirit of celebrating the end of 3rd edition, and the ushering in of 4th, I will be allowing, and even encouraging, the use of all books available for 3rd edition, barring the one or two I don't own.
Finally, I will be encouraging the use of unusual characters; don't play what you think is best, or most powerful, think of the character you've always wanted to play. As this will be a roleplaying focused game, the burden of optimizing for combat is lifted; only the set goal of taking down a god , through eliminating his followers, remains.

Now, on to the mechanics, the hard stuff that the players are always demanding:

  • ECL 11 characters, any alignment, pretty much any type of creature, if you want to play non-standard races.

  • There will be a temporary truce established, at the outset... though, of course, one is always free to break it...

  • 32-point buy, standard wealth (66,000gp); no more than 1/3 of your wealth may exist as a single item.

  • Virtually any non-campaign specific book, published by WotC, for 3.0 or 3.5, is allowed. I think I'm missing one or two of the very most recent ones.

  • Be prepared for combat-light; it won't be free of fighting, but it also won't be the main focus.

  • In regards to a background, have some motivation to take down this guy, be it revenge, glory, justice, or a simple desire to be a godslayer. The chosen 'victim' god will be a god dedicated to death; not necessarily evil, but something everyone can have a reason to hate.

I'm looking for 3-6 players, at most, preferably all with high posting rates, around 4-7 or more posts a week, and a solid knowledge of the D&D rules. If you have any questions, comments, or want to know something from a book you don't have, feel free to ask here, or send me a PM.
I'm not shy. I'm silently stalking my prey.
There are two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not quite sure about the first one.

Muse

Hm... 

I'm intrested, but may be too busy, just chiming in to say that, and to ask what section of the boards you mean to put the game in. 

One thought is, might the enemy followers (of the livng sort) be seduced away?  How about through charm magic or bondage? 
A link for all of us who ever had a shouting match with our muse: http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html

How to set this Muse ablaze (O/Os)

When the little angel won't appear no matter how many plum blossoms you swirl:  https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=135346.msg16474321#msg16474321 (Major update 5/10/2023)

Jeramiahh

I hadn't really decided where I wanted to put it; my original thought was 'no content'... but I've since changed my mind, and am leaving it open.

As to the latter question, undoubtedly. Of course... it must be noted that not all of them will be 'enemy'... a significant portion will simply be hapless innocents, adding a bit of challenge to it.
I'm not shy. I'm silently stalking my prey.
There are two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not quite sure about the first one.

BK Geno

#3
I would definitely be interested in playing this game. Do you want us to PM you a character sheet, with equipment and whatnot?

Thinking of digging out my CN necromancer for this game because he is crazy enough to try, or perhaps... Oh, that might be fun...

*runs off to begin plotting a new character*
Panic is ALWAYS an appropriate answer!

Jefepato

I have some posting to catch up on, but I might be interested if I can find the time.

Jeramiahh

Sure, if you build a character, go ahead and drop me a line. It's definitely going to be a different game than what I normally run, but I want some experience branching out. I'll return to my normal hack-and-slash heavy games in a few weeks when I plan to run a 4e campaign on here.
I'm not shy. I'm silently stalking my prey.
There are two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not quite sure about the first one.

BK Geno

Do we also get the +1 from levels 4 and 8? Might make a big difference if we do in what skills we get.
Panic is ALWAYS an appropriate answer!

Jeramiahh

As per the standard rules, you gain a stat point at 4 and 8 HD.
I'm not shy. I'm silently stalking my prey.
There are two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not quite sure about the first one.

kongming

Ooh! Me! Mememe!

Ahem. And yes, I could certainly get my postrate back to what it used to be, with "daily or more". I think that over my time here, I've generally been pretty good with posting, and only had the odd few weeks here and there of not feeling like it.

*glee* An excuse to go through my cool ideas (and then play with numbers and choices based on those ideas).

I guarantee that my idea will be awesome (to me at least), and not a male human cleric with a cursed leg of pain who needs a walking stick and is addicted to Cure Moderate Wounds potions, constantly detecting other people's ailments not with detect spells but with immoral/illegal tests and methods, always checking to see if it's Lupus.
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.

I have a catapult. Give me all the money, or I will fling an enormous rock at your head.

Ons/Offs:
https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=9536.msg338515

Paradox

I'd love to join. I'm also interested in that 4e you mentioned, once my books arrive.

I'd like to play a male cleric...none of that kongming craziness though.

Probably an LN cleric. Any word on specific deities in your campaign setting?


"More than ever, the creation of the ridiculous is almost impossible because of the competition it receives from reality."-Robert A. Baker

Jeramiahh

"High Priest Gregorium Housh! We need your help, immediately!"

I'm definitely looking for interesting characters; this is the last hurrah of 3rd edition, so make it a good one.

It'll be a little while after my books arrive; I have a campaign outline, but I need to see when certain abilities come into play. No sense in having a fortress that's weak to air and teleport if the players have fly and dimension door by the time they get there, right?

Deities will be the standard pantheon of the Forgotten Realms/Greyhawk, plus a few, extra, minor deities; in this case, a pair specifically for the campaign: Skarthul, the 'victim' god, and Nebulos, an 'allied' god... I've yet to determine their portfolios, though. Both are true neutral, and I wouldn't recommend following the former, just as a tip. *grin*

In general, my campaign world is, essentially, a renamed Greyhawk, with a little more of a technology level. Firearms exist, but they're unpredictable and unreliable, and most technology is in the hands of the gnomes. Still ask, but, unless stated otherwise, follow the generic campaign setting of Greyhawk for campaign particulars.
I'm not shy. I'm silently stalking my prey.
There are two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not quite sure about the first one.

Jefepato

Can you say more about the particular god who we're trying to kill?

Jeramiahh

Unfortunately... not really, which is bad, since its the premise of the backstories, after all. That's been the point that's been annoying me the most, throughout the design of this; I can't seem to get the image I want. I will put down what I do have, however.

In short, though, Skarthul is only known and worshiped in one region of this one plane; he is a god associated with death and dying. The religion is a fairly morbid one, and one of the major tenants, and a source of much conflict, is that followers are not allowed to do anything to aid or hinder a creature on death's door; if something is dying, they are not allowed to care for it, heal it, comfort it, or kill it... to do so would be to interfere in their god's domain. While relatively small, they have a strong influence over several large areas, though only minor influence outside of there.
I'm not shy. I'm silently stalking my prey.
There are two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not quite sure about the first one.

Jeramiahh

Still looking for more players; if you're interested, let me know! I have two queued up and ready, looking for a couple more to round out a good party.
I'm not shy. I'm silently stalking my prey.
There are two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not quite sure about the first one.

Jefepato

What's the party got so far?

kongming

Well, there's me (me, ME, ME!), and while I can't speak for BKGeno, I can tell you what my character is:

In a nutshell: human Sorceress/Dragon Disciple. Not the shit DMG one, a modified one. The character has a minimal amount of casting capability, but on the other hand she's Large, can fly, and has a lot of natural weapons powered by immense strength.
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.

I have a catapult. Give me all the money, or I will fling an enormous rock at your head.

Ons/Offs:
https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=9536.msg338515

BK Geno

I am playing a Yuan-Ti halfblood, and will be the 'face' of the group.
Panic is ALWAYS an appropriate answer!

Sabetha

Oh!  I'd like to join.  This might be a campaign where I can play the Will-o-the-Wisp character of my dreams.  I'd like to tack on class levels, so would need help figuring out the level adjust...when I tried to build the character for my group, we set it as +1 or +2, I can't quite remember.

Tiberius Reign

Unfortunately, I'm recovering from the last campaign I was involved in, which the whole point was to get to epic levels and bring down Tiamat.

So good luck with this one.

kongming

Sabetha: I wouldn't actually give any Level Adjustment to a Will-O-Wisp.

They have 9 racial HD yet are only CR 6. So if they were played as level 9 characters, here's what you would get:
Natural flight
Natural invisibility
A weak-sauce touch attack
A kick-ass immunity (with exceedingly random weaknesses)

It's a defensive creature with almost no offence, and essentially no utility in other fields. So I couldn't realistically see it having any LA (subject to Jeramiahh's approval, of course), considering a different level 9 character (say, a human wizard or cleric) could do the following:

Turn into a large/huge dragon
Tell people to "just die already"
Turn anyone into a friend/slave instantly
Summon Efreeti and force them to grant wishes
Return people from the dead

And now, I shall vanish, so as not to cause trouble with my opinions on monsters-as-players and Wotc-being-total-crack-addicts.
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.

I have a catapult. Give me all the money, or I will fling an enormous rock at your head.

Ons/Offs:
https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=9536.msg338515

Sabetha

Kongming, I agree with your assessment of the comparative power of a Will-o-Wisp to a similar HD PC, but I think that you're forgetting the slight advantage built in to not being a humanoid; namely, not being subject to the charm/hold person spells.  Any truly evil GM laughs when his monstrous spell-casters use a spell against PC's several levels before they gain access to the equivalent that effects his/her baddie.

On the other hand, we assigned the +1 LA while in the midst of planning a campaign for level thirty characters with level-adjust buy-back rules, so it was effectively zero then too.

Jeramiahh

Of course, the wisp is already immune to Charm and the line, as per it's "immune to all (SR based) but two spells" I could definitely see it playable, though you're going to have a tough time adding many class levels to it... it can't cast spells without using Still, and it can't wield a weapon. But if you want to use it, I think we could go with no LA; 9 RHD is enough of a crippling factor, even if they ARE Outsider.
I'm not shy. I'm silently stalking my prey.
There are two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not quite sure about the first one.

kongming

I'd recommend choosing a class that can wok without hands, just as Jera said. I'll laugh if you pick something from "Book of Weeaboo Fightan Magic", because it'd be hilarious to see a glowing ball pick someone up and chokeslam them.
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.

I have a catapult. Give me all the money, or I will fling an enormous rock at your head.

Ons/Offs:
https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=9536.msg338515

BK Geno

Heh, you did not have that problem with my Yuan-Ti half blood. Only 7RHD, and no class levels, and still the mast dangerous MF in the group.
Panic is ALWAYS an appropriate answer!

Jeramiahh

Because you come with built in offensive abilities. The Wisp has, what, a touch attack for 2d8? That's it. That's all it can do.

And, uhh, you might wanna look at KM's build before commenting on your own... >_> =P I'll pas sit on when she sends me a final copy.
I'm not shy. I'm silently stalking my prey.
There are two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not quite sure about the first one.