Candlekeep Mysteries | DND 5e (Gestalt & Now Seeking Players)

[PhantomPistoleer]

THE CANDLEKEEP MYSTERIES
/ / / A DND 5e GAME



GM'S Foreword
This is meant to be a stylistic, improvisational game set in a huge library of magic.  The characters are unusually powerful inside of pocket dimensions.  This game is weirdly influenced by Persona 5.



1.  SETTING

a.  Module Synopsis
Candlekeep Mysteries is a collection of seventeen short, stand-alone D&D adventures designed for characters of levels 1–16. Each adventure begins with the discovery of a book, and each book is the key to a door behind which danger and glory await.

b.  Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons (commonly abbreviated as D&D or DnD) is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.  In Candlelight Mysteries, we will use modified fifth edition rules.  This game is beginner-friendly, and players do not need to possess a deep understanding of the system to play.

c.  The Forgotten Realms
The Forgotten Realms is a fantasy world setting, described as a world of strange lands, dangerous creatures, and mighty deities, where magic and supernatural phenomena are quite real. The premise is that, long ago, planet Earth and the world of the Forgotten Realms were more closely connected. As time passed, the inhabitants of Earth had mostly forgotten about the existence of that other world – hence the name Forgotten Realms.

d.  Candlekeep
Candlekeep was the famous library-fortress that stood proud as a bastion of enlightenment and knowledge on the Sword Coast for many centuries. It housed a magnificent collection of books and scrolls of lore, considered the greatest collection of the writings in all of Faerûn. The keep was the home of the Avowed, a group of renowned scholars and people of learning, that revered great seer Alaundo and his collection of prophecies that foresaw many great events that passed throughout the ongoing history of the Realms.

2.  RULES

a.  Initiative
There will never be a call for initiative.  PCs will either ambush or be ambushed; it will be a rare occurrence for combat to commence with all parties on even footing.  More often than not, PCs will be the ones ambushing the enemy.

b.  One More!
PCs can deny the enemy their action if they:
(1) successfully damage each enemy in combat; and,
(2) post within one 24-hour cycle.

c.  Mastermind
PCs are used to acting quickly and decisively without formulating much of a plan.  Thus, as long as the PCs don't formulate a plan, and merely act, they will obtain a mastermind bonus.  The bonus is equal to a general knowledge check plus level, divided by 5.  The bonus is applied to every check.  PCs lose the bonus as soon as they stop improvising and begin formulating a plan.

d.  Chatterbox
PCs can easily contact each other over vast distances using a chatterbox, an artifact that looks like a cellular phone.  They can either call each other or message each other.  This artifact only works at Candlekeep, and, oddly enough, dimensions entered at Candlekeep.

e.  Shut up!
PCs can usually utter about 20 to 30 words in a round of combat and still be understood by others.

f.  Method of Play (Day Time/Night Time Phase)
Generally speaking, the game is divided into two phases: daytime and night time.  Daytime is filled with the minutiae of being a student at Candlekeep.  You rest, you study, you attend classes, you eat, and you prepare for night time.  Night time is filled with action as PCs explore pocket dimensions found in magical books.

g.  Cost of Magic Items
Common: 75gp
Uncommon: 300gp
Rare:  2,500gp
Very rare:  25,000gp
Legendary: 50,000gp

3.  CHARACTER CREATION

a.  Role
You have recently graduated from a magical or bardic college, and you are now working on your dissertation at Candlekeep.  Generally speaking, PCs are the equivalent of 18-19 year old humans (though age varies between the races).

a.a.  The Cryptozoological Book Club
PCs belong to the Cryptozoological Book Club, which is a nice way of saying that the club is focused mainly on understanding "monstrous" books of magic.

a.b.  Style
PCs lead double lives: in their day-to-day life, they are just students, but at night, they are dimension-hopping adventurers.

b.  Stats
PCs begin with the following stats: 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15.  They may assign stats in whatever manner they wish.  Stats may go above 20.

b.a.  Hit Points
PCs get max hit points every level.

c.  Gestalt
PCs begin as level 1 gestalt characters.  One class must be a full spell-casting class.

d.  Fusions
PCs will be able to summon fusions to assist them in combat.  They will look a lot like the binder's vestiges from 3.5.  When a fusion is invoked, it has the following characteristics:

--  Sign:  When a PC summons their fusion, the PC adopts a garish outfit (essentially a noble's outfit), which includes a mask. This "sign" is real, not an illusory or shapechanging effect, and someone using true seeing perceives it just as it is. You can hide a sign by mundane or magical means without penalty.

--  Race:  While fused, PCs enjoy all of the benefits of the fusion's race.  The HD of the creature fused must be equal to the PC's level.  The PC doesn't ever become the fusion, but rather, the fusion empowers the PC.

--  Spell:  While fused, PCs may cast one 1st level spell at will.

e.  Starting Gold
PCs will start with 1,000 gp.  You will have dormitories at Candlekeep, and you will also have access to one main study room that serves as your club room.

f.  Cursed
Mjrbatou had this amazing curse table in one of his games and I want to incorporate it into this campaign.

The premise began as follows:

The world is kinkier than normal with clothing and armor favoring more skin exposed among humanoids.  Minor enchantments on armor provide the normal defensive bonuses at no additional cost.

Characters roll on a curse chart to determine any quirks they may have.  The least number of curses/quirks on a character is 1 randomly rolled or picked (excluding multi curses, lucky, blessed, perfect body, and no curse) from the list.  The most can range from 7-14 depending on what the picks and random rolls are.

In this game, fusions cause PCs to want to live vicariously and rebel against daily life.  As such, PCs are cursed!  While fused, PCs have two random curses on the shared curse chart, and one random curse on the gendered curse chart.  Special note!  If you're not feeling the curse, you can roll again.

Shared Curse Chart, random
1-2 - No Curse
3-5 - Slut, cannot refuse sex of any kind (subject to player preferences)
6-8 - Heat, experience uncontrollable urge to mate 1/month (always fertile)
9-13 - Meat/Pain Slut, crave having a body part harvested/hurt such as breasts or cock.  regenerates after a short rest if seriously hurt.
14-16 - Carnivore, gets sick if you eat anything other than meat.  additional vore option allows you to swallow a creature up to your size 1/week for nourishment
17-19 - Blessed by __, You gain a boon granted by your deity
20-24 - Cursed by __, you must satisfy your deity each day or suffer a punishment.
25-27 - Bound Familiar, another creature has made you into their pet.  they can appear at will and use you in any way they want
28-32 - Race Fetish, uncontrollably aroused when around chosen race (when any sense can detect chosen race, as Ranger favored enemy list)
33-35 - Powerful Orgasms, you cum so strongly you're completely helpless for 1 minute
36-38 - Random Orgasms, you cum without any stimulation 1d20 times each day
39-41 - Nudist, wearing any kind of body covering subjects you to intense heat (con save each hour)
42-44 - Helping Hand, cannot orgasm by yourself another must be stimulating you
45-46 - lucky, increases chances of positive outcomes, reduces bad
47-49 - Unlucky, reduces chance of positive outcomes, increases bad
50-54 - Pheromones, members of a chosen race are uncontrollably aroused in your presence (may choose 1 gender rather than all)
55-56 - Perfect Body, permanent sustenance effect (do not eat, drink, defecate, urinate, etc) and control fertility (sterile to guaranteed conception, 0-100%)
57-59 - Magic Focus, must wear an extra, normally optional item to use magic and supernatural abilities.  Can be a second plug/egg, nipple clamps, cock ring/sheath, etc.
60-62 - Milker, breasts/balls produce enough to make them swell and burst if not milked regularly - or just constantly leak if not emptied more often
63-65 - Increased Libido, sex is so important to your body that it's similar to sleeping (can lead to death if not satisfied daily)
66-68 - Enlarged/Reduced, you have been afflicted by a randomized growth and reduction effect causing you to change size uncontrollably.  You can end up anywhere from Tiny to Huge after sleeping (or trancing if an elf).
69-71 - Pretty face, Empty head, also termed Bimbo/Himbo.  you have disadvantage on intelligence based checks and saves but your body is much more sexually attractive (larger breasts/cock)
72-74 - Nightmares, you dream of things that frighten or make you uncomfortable every night - unless you're an extreme masochist
75-77 - Stretchy, your body is resilient and accommodating to every kind of sexual penetration (including inflation/cumflation)
78-80 - Shared Senses, you forge a sensory link with the last person you had sex with that persists until you have sex with someone else.
Pros - double the fun of having sex, can do things to your partner without risking yourself
81-88 - Gender Curse, roll on the gender table appropriate for your character
89-92 - Dual Curse, roll twice and take both results
93-94 - Player Choice, character chooses 1 curse
95-96 - Dual Player Choice, character chooses 2 curses
97-100 - GM Choice, characters will have their curse(s) chosen by the GM

Female Curse Table
- Spit Muffin, thinking of or actually inserting sharp/pointy objects in your orifices turns you on/gets you off stronger and faster than anything else...it may be the only thing that gets you off
- Size Queen, can only orgasm when stuffed with objects made for creatures larger than yourself
- Cum Addiction, semen is something you cannot live without
- Tasty Milk, whenever you lactate your milk tastes like something else like chocolate, strawberries, honey, etc.  It may have the same consistency as well.
- Broodmother, your gestation time is reduced to 1 hour per month and just 1 drop of sperm impregnates you.
(humans give birth after 9 hours instead of 9 months)
- Litter Bearer, every pregnancy is guaranteed to have multiple children

Male Curse Table
- Enhanced Cum, you cum harder and longer than ever.  you do not need to rest between sexual encounters and can cumflate females if you use her enough times
- Tasty Cum, your ejaculate becomes something appealing to most, like chocolate, honey, or anything else desired.
- Size King, your penis is 1 size larger than normal (length or girth).  your precum allows you to safely fuck females of your size (if girth chosen) or impale smaller females on your cock (if length chosen)
- Freaky Cock, your penis is not normal for your race (horse or tentacle(s) for example)

Futa Curse Table
- Spit Muffin, thinking of or actually inserting sharp/pointy objects in your pussy turns you on/gets you off stronger and faster than anything else...it may be the only thing that gets you off
- Size Queen, can only orgasm when stuffed with objects made for creatures larger than yourself
your penis is 1 size larger than normal (length or girth).  your precum allows you to safely fuck females of your size (if girth chosen) or impale smaller females on your cock (if length chosen)
your cock is also large enough to fuck yourself with and is just thick enough to feel good
- Enhanced Cum, you cum harder and longer than ever.  you do not need to rest between sexual encounters and can cumflate females if you use her enough times
- Delicious Milk, your breast milk and cum taste like something else
- Freaky Cock, your penis is not normal for your race (horse or tentacle(s) for example)
- Broodmother, your gestation time is reduced to 1 hour per month and just 1 drop of sperm impregnates you.
(humans give birth after 9 hours instead of 9 months)
- Litter Bearer, every pregnancy is guaranteed to have multiple children

4.  CHARACTER SUBMISSION

Admission shall be rolling.  Please use the following code when submitting a character.

Code Select Expand

[float=left][img width=300 padding=5]https://previews.123rf.com/images/dilendom/dilendom1805/dilendom180500020/100517385-incognito-unknown-person-silhouette-of-man-on-white-background-.jpg[/img][/float][font=impact][color=red][size=18pt]CODENAME[/size][/color][/font]
[b]Name:[/b]  John/Jane Doe
[b]Race:[/b]  Unknown
[b]Classes:[/b]  Unknown

[b]Brief History:[/b]  Unknown


5.  CONVENTIONS

a.  Influences
This game is heavily influenced by Persona 5 by Atlus.  Familiarity with the game is not necessary.  But the game is a stylistic romp through pocket dimensions that's jazzy and swashbuckle-y.

b.  Post Length
Post length can run the gamut, however, I strongly dislike when players "hide" their actions in large blocks of text.  If a player needs the GM to make a call, please do something to make the GM aware that a call needs to be made.

6.  CHARACTER SHEET

Code Select Expand


[font=impact][color=red][size=18pt]NAME[/size][/color][/font]
[i]Size race class #1/class #2 gestalt (background), alignment[/i]
[hr]
[b]Armor Class:[/b]
[b]Hit Points:[/b]
[b]Speed:[/b]
[hr]

[b]STR[/b] [b]| DEX[/b]  [b]| CON[/b]
[b]INT[/b] [b]| WIS[/b] [b]| CHA[/b]

[hr]

[b]Armor:[/b]
[b]Weapons:[/b]
[b]Skills:[/b] 
[b]Tool Proficiencies:[/b] 
[b]Senses:[/b] 
[b]Saves:[/b] 
[b]Languages:[/b]

[hr]

[b]Traits:[/b]

[hr]

[b]Features:[/b]

[b]Spellcasting:[/b]

[hr]

[b]Actions:[/b]
[hr]

[b]Equipment:[/b]

[hr]

[b]Curses:[/b]


[PhantomPistoleer]

1.  ANNOUNCEMENTS

2.  LINKS

3.  ACCEPTED PCs

[PhantomPistoleer]

Example:

BANDIT
Name:  Curudir "Cur" Aendryr
Race:  Half-Elf
Classes:  Sorcerer/Rogue

Brief History:  Cur is a charter member of the Cryptozoological Book Club at Candlemere.  A reluctant scholar with a rebel's heart, Cur despises the monotony of elven life, the elegance of magical learning, and the occultism of knowledge.  His fusion is WILD HEART, the spirit of a ranger who died during the Second Sundering.



BANDIT
Medium half-elf sorcerer/rogue gestalt (wildspacer), chaotic good

Armor Class: 18
Hit Points: 14 hit points (1d8+CON+Toughness+Draconic Bloodline)
Speed: 30 ft.


STR 15 16 | DEX 20 21 | CON 16 17
INT 20 21| WIS 18 19| CHA 20 21



Armor: Light armor
Weapons: Simple weapons, light crossbows, hand crossbows, longswords, rapiers, shortswords
Skills:  Arcana +6, Athletics +5, Acrobatics +7, Deception +7, Insight +6, Perception +6, Persuasion +7, Sleight of Hand* +14, Stealth +7, Survival +6
Tool Proficiencies:  Navigator's Tools, Thieves’ tools*, Vehicles (space)
Senses:  Darkvision (60 ft.); Passive 17
Saves:  Dexterity +6, Constitution +5, Intelligence +7, Charisma +7
Languages: Common, Draconic, Elven, Primordial, Thieves' Cant



Traits:
-- Fey Ancestry:  You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.
-- Close Encounter:  You had a harrowing encounter with one of Wildspace’s many terrors. You escaped with your life, but the encounter left you with a scar or two, or perhaps a recurring nightmare.  (Vampirate)



Features:
-- Wildspace Adaptation:  You gain the Tough feat from the Player’s Handbook. In addition, you learned how to adapt to zero gravity. Being weightless doesn’t give you disadvantage on any of your melee attack rolls.
-- Expertise: Choose two of your skill proficiencies, or one of your skill proficiencies and your proficiency with thieves’ tools. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses either of the chosen proficiencies.
-- Sneak Attack:  Beginning at 1st level, you know how to strike subtly and exploit a foe’s distraction. Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.
-- Draconic Resilience (Silver Dragon):  As magic flows through your body, it causes physical traits of your dragon ancestors to emerge. At 1st level, your hit point maximum increases by 1 and increases by 1 again whenever you gain a level in this class.  Additionally, parts of your skin are covered by a thin sheen of dragon-like scales. When you aren’t wearing armor, your AC equals 13 + your Dexterity modifier.

Spellcasting:

-- Spells Known:  Absorb Elements, Ice Knife
-- Spells/Day:  2x 1st level;
-- Cantrips Known:  Frostbite, Minor Illusion, Prestidigitation, Ray of Frost
-- Spells At Will:  Animal Friendship



Actions:


Equipment:
-- Gloves of Thievery (Worn)
-- Bag of Holding (Container)
-- Pearl of Power (Gear)
-- Dagger 2x
-- Light Crossbow
00-- A belaying pin (club)
00-- A set of traveler’s clothes
00-- A grappling hook
00-- 50 feet of hempen rope
00-- Thieves' Tools
00-- Scholar’s Pack: a book of lore, a bottle of ink, an ink pen, 10 sheets of parchment, a little bag of sand, and a small knife.
00-- Burglar’s Pack:  a bag of 1,000 ball bearings,, 10 feet of string, a bell, 5 candles, a crowbar, a hammer, 10 pitons, a hooded lantern, 2 flasks of oil, 5 days rations, a tinderbox, and a waterskin.
00-- Pouch containing 5 gp



Curses:
-- Result: 21, 91, 99, 87,
-- Cursed by ____
-- Slut
-- Enhanced cum
-- Size King

[Lilybi]

This sound very interesting I would love to play this game will send the character later (as it's going to take a bit to make) and also wanted to bump this up a bit to see if others have a interest I will most likely be a Female Wizard/cleric if its fine going two full casters but might also change one of the classes for something else
if you have a interest but unsure about the rules I can help you out so don't hesitate to show your interest!

[PhantomPistoleer]

This sound very interesting I would love to play this game will send the character later (as it's going to take a bit to make) and also wanted to bump this up a bit to see if others have a interest I will most likely be a Female Wizard/cleric if its fine going two full casters but might also change one of the classes for something else
if you have a interest but unsure about the rules I can help you out so don't hesitate to show your interest!

About the rules...  I think I have to simplify them.  LOL.  I kind of wanted to do a Persona 5-esque thing, and it's kind of a weird JRPG from the jump.

[Miroque]

@PhantomP: If you want to run "rule light" system game, which have low/none combat... 5e is not the way to go.. Just saying.

[PhantomPistoleer]

@PhantomP: If you want to run "rule light" system game, which have low/none combat... 5e is not the way to go.. Just saying.

Oh, I didn't mean that I would run a rules lite SYSTEM, but rather... character creation rules.

[Daril]

I am interested though I am wondering how you feel about me participating given the issues that cropped up the last time I played a character in one of your RPGs.  I can probably manage more or less daily posts if they're short and simple, but not if they are very long or complex.

That being said this offers some interesting possibilities.  I've been toying with the idea of playing a dragon who ended up in humanoid form, the main problem being that the best art I found portrayed a shrinking violet rather then the bold and curious character I was thinking of playing.  But it might work rather well for something like a shy bookworm or a proud elf who ends up fused with a horny dragon.

Would it be possible to simply pick traits from the list that fit well with the character concept we want to play?  There's some traits that I think would fit my character concept very well.  In particular I feel like the "wearing any clothing subjects you to intense heat" aspect of the nudist trait would be a great fit for the character I want play.

Sample Pic 1 (NSFW)
Sample Pic 2 (NSFW)

[PhantomPistoleer]

I am interested though I am wondering how you feel about me participating given the issues that cropped up the last time I played a character in one of your RPGs.  I can probably manage more or less daily posts if they're short and simple, but not if they are very long or complex.

That being said this offers some interesting possibilities.  I've been toying with the idea of playing a dragon who ended up in humanoid form, the main problem being that the best art I found portrayed a shrinking violet rather then the bold and curious character I was thinking of playing.  But it might work rather well for something like a shy bookworm or a proud elf who ends up fused with a horny dragon.

Would it be possible to simply pick traits from the list that fit well with the character concept we want to play?  There's some traits that I think would fit my character concept very well.  In particular I feel like the "wearing any clothing subjects you to intense heat" aspect of the nudist trait would be a great fit for the character I want play.

Sample Pic 1 (NSFW)
Sample Pic 2 (NSFW)

I actually don't know why you'd think I'd have a problem with you, Daril.  You are an exemplary player.

And the character creation rules...  well, they're up in the air right now.

[Daril]

I guess I may be projecting some concerns I had about how I was doing since it seems you aren't that concerned about how things went.

I'm a little surprised this hasn't received more interest but it might be the time of year with Christmas fast approaching.

[PhantomPistoleer]

I guess I may be projecting some concerns I had about how I was doing since it seems you aren't that concerned about how things went.

I'm a little surprised this hasn't received more interest but it might be the time of year with Christmas fast approaching.

It just has a lot of character creation rules.

And... well, I don't have a great record when it comes to GMing games.

They invariably always end early for some sort of reason.

[Lilybi]

This is just a small blurb about the character I though up for this campaign will flesh things out better when I got the time

Passion
Name:  Nyx
Race:  Tiefling
Classes:  Wizard/bard

Brief History:  From when she was young Nyx has always had a calling to learn about the world and ways to express herself, when she was well through her wizard studies she also found her aptitude to use her sword dancing to conjure magical effects and this put her down the path to learn the all ways of magic using the sword perusing the collage of the blade and the blade singer

[Hexed]

Couple of quick questions.

Does Warlock qualify as a full caster? Pact magic spell slots are a little odd but they do get 1-9 in spell levels.

Any restrictions on race? Been bouncing between some sort of Tiefling or the Simic Hybrid from Ravnica book.

[PhantomPistoleer]

Couple of quick questions.

Does Warlock qualify as a full caster? Pact magic spell slots are a little odd but they do get 1-9 in spell levels.

For the purposes of this game, I'd rule a warlock qualifies as a full-time caster.

Any restrictions on race? Been bouncing between some sort of Tiefling or the Simic Hybrid from Ravnica book.

For the purposes of this game, both a tiefling or a simic hybrid would be acceptable as races.

[Daril]

You were considering simplifying the rules weren't you?  One possible way you could simplify things would be by not making the base characters Gestalts since they'll essentially be getting an extra class through their fusions.  Granted there are pluses to the gestalt approach too.

Regarding my character specifically, I was thinking her fusion would be with some sort of dragon spirit.  Does that work for you lore wise?  Stats wise I was thinking I would use the stats for a dragonborne sorcerer to represent her fusion form.

Also is there any flexibility on the costume and mask requirement?  Because I was thinking she would have to strip naked when she takes on her dragon girl form.

If we can clarify things a bit I'll try to get a profile done up.

[PhantomPistoleer]

I just don't think there is enough interest.

[Daril]

I think its probably more the time of year and/or complexity that's the issue here more then the concept or your GMing (remember how I was worrying about my performance as a player when you had no problem with it?).  We probably can't do much if people are simply crazy busy right now but you could try simplifying the character rules and making it clear that you've made changes.  Maybe change the thread title to something like "Candlekeep Mysteries | DND 5E (Character fusions, now with simpler character creation)"  Clarifying the character rules might also help Nyx and I complete are profiles which might also help you generate some interest.

Alternately if you're really not into trying this right now you could try making a fresh start with a new thread sometimes next year.

[PhantomPistoleer]

Maybe I should just run a regular DND game.  Or maybe I should take a poll.

We shall see.