INTEREST CHECK: City of the Drow (reboot) 3.5 DnD [14/?? spots filled]

[PaleEnchantress]

the only way to do tha tis via cleric or favored soul..nice. kind of funny isn't it? the best/favored class for drow females is one their ability scores don't really helpl. (they don't ge ta nifty +2 wis which ALL divine spells are derived. ..for whatever reason. Sure cha affects FS's times/day but wis always affects DC's)

and no Pale, just theorizingon it. I"m making a matron as a "abackup" char in case things go sideways on me for some reason.

You could do the divine bard variant, archivist, or shugenja.

[Zaer Darkwail]

As note I would say no to Shugenja as it is oriental class and we aren't rokugan drows .

[Karasu]

@Karasu: That'd be really cool sometime :)

Just hit me up whenever Krayz ^^

[PaleEnchantress]

As note I would say no to Shugenja as it is oriental class and we aren't rokugan drows .

Ah, I was just thinking it would be easy enough to just keep the elemental theme without making it overtly oriental. A way to quell someone who wants something different, but you are the boss ^_^.

[Krayz]

*sighs*

It's a mindset thing. The characters as individual creations are becoming more important than the game itself, for me.

[Zaer Darkwail]

Ahaa, now it makes more sense. Characthers becoming more bigger/important the game indeed can affect from you joining in.

But note; all these chars we work with we try also form a close ties together how they connect with the setting. First are matron mothers who run their houses and cadre of PC's each who help run house businesses which are connected to local surroundings in Erelhei-Cinlu. Yeah, they have been tooled and may be more unique than the cannon official npc's in the drows of the underdark book but that's the whole point; chars are expectional invinduals all own right.

Also they start 12th level but they are far from ground shakers as leading house matron mother is a epic level drow. I may even beef up some local figures so they are not schmuks either (but I do not need much as even in ghetto of the dead there is lich and vampire who both plan overtake the city and both are powerful).

The how much chars stand out depends on how GM presents them to the world and how world is presented to them :).

[PaleEnchantress]

the only way to do tha tis via cleric or favored soul..nice. kind of funny isn't it? the best/favored class for drow females is one their ability scores don't really helpl. (they don't ge ta nifty +2 wis which ALL divine spells are derived. ..for whatever reason. Sure cha affects FS's times/day but wis always affects DC's)

Again on this topic im rather happy with how much different from each other our 3 matrons turned out to be. Lird'yl is the weakest of the matrons in terms of magic but she has a plethora of skills and seems to really embody a cunning drow who can strike from the shadows. Pitty anyone who falls into one of her traps.

Phardril embodies everything that adventurers fear in a drow priestess in that she has no weaknesses and many strengths. She is the least "skilled" of the 3 matrons, but has the most robust defences as well as the second strongest magic.

Abduxuel comes in as the most mage like of the three. Like Lird'yl he uses others to do his dirty work for him, but tends to rely on magically manipulated creatures, summons and undead rather then raw trickery.

[Krayz]

Hmmm.

Well, I guess I might as well stick with it and try at least.

But I'm going to go with my new idea of the fey'ri mindbender (while the typical fey'ri is descended from sun elves with succubi, my dude is drow-descended). Does using the "Races of Faerun" template, only switching the alter self ability with the one described in "Monsters of Faerun" work for you, Zaer?

[Zaer Darkwail]

It works for me Krayz :). Also sounds interesting concept. I assume your fey'ri is kind of contractor somesort? Or does he/she work as house mage to our two other matrons?

[Krayz]

Independent contractor (for the time being, at least).

He'll likely be a sorcerer 5/mindbender 7. One thing is that he's going to be *very* skill-oriented. Like, this dude's going to be very weak, in terms of combat. He'll be pure manipulator.

[EbonyQueen]

I'm not talking about LITERALLY rare, Snake. I'm talking about the idea of digging through half a dozen sourcebooks to tweak your character sheet like a Nascar.

Hello, Krayz... everyone.

I have to admit that is a reason I dropped out back during the original incarnation as well. I was -terribly- excited about this game when Krayz came up with the original concept. The idea of playing a Matron was just simply -awesome-. I've always been a novice at 3.5. And when the source-books, the tooling, the extreme min-maxing started to show it's head I knew I couldn't wrap my mind around it. Even with the offers to 'build my character for me' just the lack of totally not understanding all of it would make it pretty useless, because even with a fully tricked-out character I'd have no clue how to actually use it.

The numbers and the tooling, and the tweaking began to just -dwarf- the roleplaying aspects, the aspects that I really -loved- about the idea. The characters, and the idea of my character began to quickly turn into little more than numbers on a page. And a blurb about abilities. That said, I am -very- happy that you all are having fun with it. I was just kinda sad to see the game turn into something I couldn't comprehend. And I hope -you- have fun too Krayz.

[ofDelusions]

Well my drow will be simple rogue 7 / master thrower 5. Originally a lowborn female who has risen to position of spy(master?) for one (or more) of the houses.

Or thats the rough outline at the moment. From crunch point of view, I am trying to find ways to deal with undeads/constructs and way to boost my will save or something (Spies need way to deal with all of those pesky divinations /compulsions.

[Zaer Darkwail]

Yeah, sad to see you could not participate EbonyQueen :/.

OfDelusions, if you want deal with undead there are few ways; one of them is by using bracers which allows bypass any sneak attack immunity for few times a day. But more reliable one (even vs constructs) is using weapon augment crystals which cost lot but less than enchant your daggers with said qualities. Altough with throwing weapons not sure is it cheaper or not . But benefits are nice; one greater augment crystal vs undead gives +1d6 extra dmg, ghost touch quality and able critical hit and sneak attack undead. Construct one allows +1d6 more dmg, treats weapon as admantium to bypass DR and do sneak/crits on constructs.

Good part mostly is that you can change augment crystals when needed. Also to use greater crystals you need either way +3 base enchant weapon anyway.

Vs divinations there is head item called Hat of anonymity for 12,500gp. Gives +5 to hide, constant nondetection (CL 22 check from diviner spot you) and also cool hat design for looks :).

[Kunoichi]

Er, given the '9/13 spots filled' in the thread title, is there still room for someone to join this game? ^^; I've got a character concept for a half-drow sorceress, as well as a basic build and a picture of her that I drew myself, so...

[Zaer Darkwail]

Yeah, there is still room. There is applicants over the max limit but I add names to front pages based on ready made charsheets and start the game in two weeks (so everyone got plenty time make the chars done before I start the game). It's not first done/served but I likely need choose last two based on quality and variety (and feel of the players).

Or if given encouragment and cookies may run more than 13 but would need then someone be co-GM as 20 or more players start be crazy nuts.

[Kunoichi]

Ah, I see.  I'll try to get an appropriately-leveled character sheet finished soon, then. ^^

Would any of the three houses be interested in having a 'blunt instrument' spellcaster at their disposal?  Probably someone carefully indoctrinated or brainwashed for unswerving loyalty to the house and a generally Lawful Evil alignment?

[Kunoichi]

Alright, sorry to double-post, but I've got my first set of questions. ^^;

First off, for this game, are you making use of the errata for Races of Faerun that takes away the Half-Drows' darkvision, and replaces it with low-light vision?

Second, there's some Dragon Magazine material that I'd need to use to fit my build.  Specifically, from Dragon 351, I'm making use of the Blood of Siberys variant Sorcerer, which trades in the familiar for an extra effective +4 Charisma for the purposes of spells per day, and more importantly, Knowledge (The Planes) and Diplomacy as class skills.

The latter of those two skills doesn't matter, but the former is something I need to qualify for a prestige class, Fiend-Blooded, from the book Heroes of Horror.  I'm still working out what to take after that, though.

[Chloe Milev]

Well, a level 12 cleric doesn't have a lot of weird abilities, but still has solid defenses and varied spells.  Though some people have fun playing with options (myself included), the basics are still solid.

And I'm sure once the game begins, characterization will come to the fore.  Right now we're mostly working alone.  And I always find the mechanical characterization leads me to interesting roleplaying characterization, finding out how and why these feats and class abilities came from, and how the character will act in the future.

[esclavage]

Exciting to have so many people wanting to get involved.     Welcome to Kunoichi and ofDelusions!  As for a small plug, of course the House d'Szeossen is always recruiting.  Though I figure I should let some of the other Matrons also have their pick of PCs since I already have three in my House. 

Though I will note that for the Houses, d'Szeossen tends to be more secular due to the Matron's influences so it is more fitting of a place for social outcasts and misfits in the city.  As noted by the fact that the house mage was self-taught and not of noble blood and the Matron's current favorite is a half-drow Daring Outlaw who serves as her primary cat's paw.  So there is room for advancement, to a point, in the House which undoubtedly sharply contrasts with Lice-Drilloth who are fanatically dogmatic.  At least that's what I'm guessing on how Medical has designed her sheet.   

Oh, and I did tweak my followers listing to hopefully more accurately reflect the diverse walks of life that the House has.  And I have begun redesigning the floors to the House Layout as well though the biggest floors, 3rd through 5th are still largely untouched.

Also, I think it'll be important to have a neutral meeting location in the city for the Matrons.  This will allow for our interactions between the different Houses and RPing without having to worry about being vulnerable or not.  So if Zaer could make a suggestion/designate a place or if any of our independents was interested in hosting that area, it'd make for some good interactions.

[PaleEnchantress]

House Archwinter


House Archwinter had been one of the more successful merchant houses for centuries. They maintained working relationships, through intermediaries, with several outposts on the surface even through out the frozen north. The plotting of the past several generations have elevated house Archwinter into the eschelons of true nobility. Their workforce is augmented with numerous undead, something they now deal in specifically. Most of the Archwinter bloodline are known for having a talent for magic and ice blue eyes.


House Motto: L' shar miren szeoussen olathur t'yin jala rendan

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

The mind holds secrets darker then any abyss

Center of Influence: Ghetto of the Dead

Leadership 25

Followers: 1350 (1st level), 130 (2nd level) 70 (3rd level) 40 (4th level) 20 (5th level) 20 (6th level) (Based off 25 for Leadership

score, using the Drow Matron feat)

Level 1: 50 Kobolds (25 Experts 25 Warriors), 200 Goblins (100 commoners, 50 Adeprts, 50 experts), 700 Orcs (650 Warriors, 50 Adepts),

250 Humans  (150 warriors, 50 commoners, 40 experts, 10 adepts), 100 Elves (50 warriors, 25 experts, 25 adepts), 50 dwarves (25 warriors

25 experts),

Level 2:  50 Orcs (20 Barbarians, 10 Dragon Shamans, 5 Druids, 15 Fighters), 50 Humans (10 Artificiers, 10 Marshals, 10 Monks, 5

Warmages, 15 Rogues) 5 Dwarves (3 rogues 2 fighters), 10 Hobgoblins (5 barbarians 5 marshals), 15 Elves (5 rangers. 5 Bards, 5 fighters)

Level 3: 10 Drow Bards, 5 Drow Rogues, 10 Drow Wizards, 10 Drow Clerics, 15 Drow Dread Necromancers, 20 Drow Artificiers,

Level 4: 10 Marshals, 5 Artificers, 10 Clerics, 5 Dread Necromancers, 5 Wizards, 5 Psions

Level 5: 5 Artificiers, 5 Clerics, 3 Wizards, 3 Paladins of slaughter, 2 Dragon Shamans, 2 Psychic Warriors

Level 6: 3 Bards, 3 Artificiers, 3 Clerics, 3 Wizards, 2 Dread Necromancers -  2 Centaurs, 1 Human Artificier, 1 Wild Elf Barbarian, 2 Human Barbarians.

Business:
Corpsecrafting (Primary): Major Skill: Intimidate, Support Skills: Knowledge Local, Heal - Resources: High, Risk: High

Shipping Industry (Secondary): Major Skill: Profession (Merchant), Support Skills: Diplomacy, Appraise - Resources: High, Risk: High

Religeous Academy (Secondary) Major Skill: Knowledge (Religeon), Support Skills: Diplomacy, Profession (Teacher) - Resources: Medium, Risk: Low

[Kunoichi]

*just lost her entire post, in which she had typed up a basic character backstory and reasoning for which house she'd be a good fit in*

...Ugh. ><; Okay, starting over...  This is Antimony('s character sheet).  There are still some things that need to be approved, before I can actually use her, but the basic idea is that she was first brought into whichever house is going to be taking her as part of the complicated political games that drow houses play, a pawn to be used to humiliate and discredit a rival, and then be disposed of.

The discovery of some rather exceptional arcane talent extended her life and promoted her from pawn to knight, but she's still little more than a tool for whoever she winds up with, to be made use of in whichever manner you'd find most fitting.

Given their definite magic focus and apparent lack of members, I'm thinking Antimony would probably fit best as a member of House Archwinter, at the moment... ^^;

[Zaer Darkwail]

Kunoichi: Good job so far with charsheet but note though; I am not approving the sorcerer of siberys variant but I know the pain enter the PrC where sorcerer lacks proper knowlegde skill. So I allow Blood of the Fiends give you K:Planes as class skill if you do not have it already. Second; No flaws allowed so need rework your charsheet. But otherwise it's fine to be a half-drow in the house even if your considered lowest rug in social ladder wise . Also take familiar off (if not plan use it like my char does) for metamagic specialist in PHB II (no need full round action use metamagic feats helps a lot). Also checking from fiendish sorcery you do know you could pick cleric or any spell list the spells for there? One my favorites is to steal flame strike from cleric list . Anyways we use the half-drows who have darkvision and not low-light vision.

PaleEnchantress: Looks good, altough some odd lines here and there which jump odd times to next line. Also I would say corpsecrafting (I assume production of undead minions to buyers) key skill is K:Arcana followed by Diplomacy and K:Religion.

Shipping Industry I would say is medium risk than high risk. I understand expense can be high as it takes lot of gold fund the vessels to travel to other cities and back. But the risks of underdark travel are indeed risky but not high enough warrant risky. But feel free argue about it .

Anyways note&advice regarding businesses; At most single PC can either devote lots of time (+40 hours) to single business or run two business same time but unable to get +40 hour mark (but nor get penalty to profession roll to do so). So assign a cohort and some long standing PC or follower to run the third (or both secondary) business.

esclavage: Yeah, I do plan there to be somesort ancient 'palace of the matrons' where strongest houses do gather and meet in social settings. By rule you can bring retinue but no greater than ten personal soldiers (usually top cream of your house) to stand as honor guard during the gathering and watch for intruders (most unwilling cooperate with each other if not pulled together by strong charismatic leader albeit all are in cease fire cooperation contract).

Inside the palace only matron mothers and two chosen attendants are present. It usually means matron's left and right hands from her house or matron's favorite pet slave and then right hand man (usually a male consort).

[Kunoichi]

Alright, changes made.  And I know I could have chosen from a wider number of lists.  I'm pretty satisfied with the choices I've made, though. ^^

[Zaer Darkwail]

Nice to hear :). Anyways your charsheet is now done?

[Kunoichi]

As done as it's going to be, yes.