Topic: D&D Wizarding School: Interest Check (Room for one more)

[Skynet]

Redhurst Academy of Magic

Wizard's Castle, by artificialguy of Deviantart.

An in-game Player's Guide to Redhurst

Optional system-neutral character sheet

Congratulations!  You’ve been accepted into the Redhurst Acdemy of Magic.  Redhurst is an interdimensional wizard’s school dedicated to training the best minds from across the multiverse.  For 1-5 years, students will study under the best magicians of the realms, learning the fundamental building blocks of the eight schools of magic in both theory and practice.  Our courses range the gamut from herbalism, multidimensional summoning, ethical use of enchantment and necromancy, protective spells, and a variety of other fields!  Students will find our school a welcome respite of academic freedom; you're encouraged to pick subjects which they find of interest or will be vital in future careers.  During your stay you will witness many interesting places and have the opportunity to participate in an active campus life.  The Academy travels to many planes of existence as part of exciting field trips, and our Spellflag sports team is second to none! We also have many celebrated local traditions, some of which the entire school participates in as a fun diversion from study!

Regardless of the paths of magic you take or your length of staying, it is guaranteed that your years at Redhurst will impart valuable lessons and strong bonds of friendship that will persist with you for the rest of your life and beyond!

General Notes:

Game is Pathfinder Dungeons & Dragons.  Lords, Ladies, and Lieges are all welcome.

So I'm kind of going for a hybrid game of sorts.  It's heavily inspired by Harry Potter.  In addition to typical high school drama of romance and relationships, there will also be elements of exploring the unknown and wonders of magic and the multiverse (field trips to the Outer Planes, exploring the forgotten catacombs of the Academy), as well as conflict in the form of a rumored spy among the Academy seeking to bring the school to ruins for the benefit of vile patrons.  Oops, did I say that last part out loud?

The game will be quite social, where the PCs engage in personal struggles and I build from that.  Additionally I'll present some adventures in an episodic format, where a conflict comes up and the players must act to solve it.  One week a summoned monster might go rogue and hide among the Academy; while another week might pit Redhurst's Spellflag team against a rival school.  Maybe it's on a more personal level, such as concealing a scandalous affair with one of your teachers or finding a good secret spot for a wild party out of the prying eyes of Redhurst teachers and staff.

I'm sort of going for a balance between a more light-hearted game and one with dark themes.  Friendly competition, hijinks, romance, and general adolescent mischief provide a good contrast against the many dangers of magic, issues of coming-of-age personal identity, and the turmoils of teenage angst.  Rival students, both in Redhurst and in other schools, may resent your talents and/or background.  There are many who distrust and fear wizards, and magicians who hurt and oppress others further this prejudice.  Will you define yourself as a magician first and foremost?  What of the balance between ethical use of magic and societal expectations, versus challenging established traditions?

The Nitty-Gritty Rules

Game uses the Dungeons & Dragons Pathfinder ruleset.  Most 1st-party material can be found on this site.

Target number of players is 4-5.

Characters can be Wizards, Witches, Magus, or another arcane spellcaster class.

25 point buy Pathfinder style, starts at 1st level.

In lieu of point buy, you can roll for ability scores instead: roll 4d6, take best 3, reroll any 1s.

Characters gain an additional 2 skill points per level (including 1st level).

Player characters can be 2nd or 3rd Years.  Typical ages by Year are 14-15 for 1st Years, 15-16 for 2nd Years, 16-17 for 3rd Years, 17-18 for 4th Years, and 18-19 for 5th Years.  I want to have enough potential time for the characters to grow to love Redhurst, if the story progresses over time.  There might be underage 1st and 2nd Year NPCs, but nothing sexual will happen around them or to them.  It can still be your first visit to Redhurst, it's assumed that you studied magic at another academy.

The Player's Guide to Redhurst is an in-game manual provided for free to all students.

Due to Redhurst's dimension-hopping, characters can come from any number of campaign settings.  You could be a Silvanesti Elf from the world of Krynn, a dragonmarked gnome scion from Eberron, or even from your own created world!

I'm open to 3rd party material, provided I can legally access it or own a book for it.

Game Pacing: I want to move the plot forward, so if one person lags behind or goes on hiatus, we'll move forward.  In some cases I (or a trusted partner) can determine character actions in things like combat.  Otherwise the PC will be on "pilot mode" and remain passive.

Tagging: For easily determining time of day and adventures,  I was thinking of using a "tag" system.  Sample below:

Name: The PC's name.
Time of Day:  Time of day.  It's assumed that almost all planes operate on the same 24-hour clock.
Location:  Self-descriptive.
Tagged: PCs participating in the scene.  "Open" indicates that others can join in.

If you're interested and want to reserve a space, feel free to respond in this thread or PM me, whichever's most comfortable for you!

[AndyZ]

Leaving open an idea box in my head for this in order to see what falls inside.

[Skynet]

First response already?  That was quick!

Added more leeway for years.  Telling people they had to be 2nd years is quite restrictive.

Player characters can be 2nd or 3rd Years.  Typical ages by Year are 14-15 for 1st Years, 15-16 for 2nd Years, 16-17 for 3rd Years, 17-18 for 4th Years, and 18-19 for 5th Years.  I want to have enough potential time for the characters to grow to love and know Redhurst, if the story progresses over time.  There might be underage 1st and 2nd Year NPCs, but nothing sexual will happen around them or to them.  It can still be your first visit to Redhurst, it's assumed that you studied magic at another academy.

[Sara Nilsson]

oO looks interesting sadly i know nothing of pathfinder

[Skynet]

oO looks interesting sadly i know nothing of pathfinder

Have you played 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons?  It's pretty much a house-ruled version of that.  It's got a lot of the same concepts as the other Editions (classes, races, ability scores), but with additional things such as skills, feats, and alternate class features.

[RubySlippers]

No sorcerers that sucks they can use magic to as can summoners. 

[Skynet]

No sorcerers that sucks they can use magic to as can summoners. 

I'd be willing to make an exception.   They're more guidelines than rules.

Redhurst can be a generic magical academy, then, for all practitioners of the arcane arts.  No biggie.

[eBadger]

I'm interested, will try to come up with a concept tonight. 

[ShadowFox89]

 Could you perhaps bump the point buy for those of us who have to deal with multiple-ability dependency a bit more.... like the Magus? >.>

[Sara Nilsson]

Have you played 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons?  It's pretty much a house-ruled version of that.  It's got a lot of the same concepts as the other Editions (classes, races, ability scores), but with additional things such as skills, feats, and alternate class features.

Gmed 2nd ed to death and played 3rd quite a bit.. ok ill take a snooping look at pathfinder and see :)

[Skynet]

Could you perhaps bump the point buy for those of us who have to deal with multiple-ability dependency a bit more.... like the Magus? >.>

25 point buy in Pathfinder is quite a bit different than standard D&D.  You could get 3 15s, a 13, 12, and 10, for example.  A Magus could put the 15s in Strength, Constitution, and Intelligence to be a good melee caster.

[ShadowFox89]

 Eh, I s'pose so. I guess I'm just used to higher power set games.

[Skynet]

Well, there are options to gain additional points by reducing an ability score below 10 (the default score is at 10).  Dexterity or Wisdom for a Magus, for example.

I'm sort of reluctant in upping the point buy, as it's quite powerful as is.  But if it's an issue for you I'd be willing to negotiate.

[ShadowFox89]

 What about rolling? 4d6 best 3, rerolling 1's.

[Skynet]

That's fine with me. 

Players can do this or the 25 Point Buy.

[ShadowFox89]

STR 13, DEX 15, CON 15, INT 16, WIS 13, CHA 14

[RubySlippers]

Tosses hat into play a Summoner, not sure about race.

[Sara Nilsson]

STR 13, DEX 15, CON 15, INT 16, WIS 13, CHA 14

why dont you use the die rolling here? just seems fairer if we all use that as it cant be cheated with. not that i accuse you of that, it just.. a pet peeve of mine :)

[ShadowFox89]

 You can track the character used on invisible castle

 Plus, the dice roller here is a cheating bastard.... six 1's in a roll on a d20

[Sara Nilsson]

You can track the character used on invisible castle

 Plus, the dice roller here is a cheating bastard.... six 1's in a roll on a d20

LOL!!!!! cheating bastard is a good reason for me :)

[Skynet]

You can track the character used on invisible castle

 Plus, the dice roller here is a cheating bastard.... six 1's in a roll on a d20

How do I track stuff on Invisible Castle?  Is it just like posting a link up to the results like you did?

[ShadowFox89]

 I've always used invisible castle, it's just a much neater way of keeping track. E's roller tends to be clunky at time.

 I plan on going a dex focused elf magus using the dervish feat and the kensai archtype.... now if only I could convince someone to run this style of game using the Legend system >.>

 *runs off to work on sheet*

How do I track stuff on Invisible Castle?  Is it just like posting a link up to the results like you did?

 Yep. Then click on link to character, and it will show all rolls made with that character's name.

[Skynet]

I'm sort of leery about Invisible Castle's Privacy Policy.  I think I'll stick with the Elliquiy die roller.

[Skynet]

Generic Images Thread.  A repository for common Redhurst characters, symbols, maps, and other stuff.  May add more to it over time.

"Redhurst Symbol"

"Map of School, 46 is a corner tower south of 45 and 47"

"Graduate Students"

"Headmaster Anderlin"

"Aegis School of Abjuration"

[ShadowFox89]

 Eh, I'm using an email address with them that's been dead for years.

 I'd prefer to have my character around the age of 18, though being an elf... She's more likely to be around 118 >.>