Topic: OOC/Info: Shadows of Terramar PbP Fantasy Campaign (D&D 3.5+)

[Caliban]

I'm setting up several games on this site, and one of them is a fantasy game -- essentially Dungeons & Dragons -- called "Shadows of Terramar."  It has strong plotlines and I ask each player to commit to posting at least twice per week, at least three weeks per month.

It's a system game in the sense that the characters' capabilities -- how far they can jump, what spells they can cast, what sort of creatures they can defeat in a fight -- will be determined by the rules of the system, but I expect almost all actions to be handled through storytelling (by the players as much as they want, by the GM when necessary) rather than by rolling dice.  Certainly the important thing will be the story and if you aren't familiar with the mechanics of the rules don't worry, I'm happy to help.

My roleplaying games (in person as well as online) always emphasize characterization, description, setting, and plot; for rules, I'm using D&D 3.5 (with variant rules from Unearthed Arcana) because it's the best-known and most popular, although my first choice is GURPS and I'm happy to let individual players use either GURPS or FUDGE as alternatives.

My style owes a lot to Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series, although of course I'm not as good as he is.  :-/ 

Characters can be *from* anywhere in the multiverse before entering my game.  They do not have to be from a roleplaying game-world; they can be from any world in fantasy literature, or an original setting.  (In my tabletop games I currently have characters from Faerun, Greyhawk, Ravenloft, Westeros, Azeroth, Sanctuary (Diablo), Sanctuary (Thieves' World), the Young Kingdoms, Viriconium and Gormenghast!)

I strongly encourage people to play whatever character they will enjoy the most, even if it doesn't isn't defined by the normal rules of the game; and I also recommend that the character be from whatever setting is their favorite, or whichever setting they know the most about.

However, while I allow characters from anywhere into my game, I generally only run my own original settings, with a few exceptions.  Therefore, a character's background/history should include an explanation of how they got from their homeworld to wherever they are at the start of play.

I run my game in several different settings or "adventure locations" including:

1. Ravenloft.
The original gothic-horror setting for D&D (where "gothic" is defined as "classic," and "classic" is defined as "old ghost stories, and black-and-white and Hammer films").

2. The Tower of the Fool: an interdimensional tower belonging to Balo the Trickster, Jester of the Gods.

The "bouncing tower" travels across the Multiverse, and often beyond, to places (or non-places) like the Far Realm.  Balo is a deity of high weirdness and low comedy, so there's never a dull moment, and you'll die laughing.  Perhaps literally...

3. The Plane of Shadow.  Two centuries ago it barely existed; now it's one of the most important planes in the Multiverse, and the gateway to alternate worlds.

I have run plenty of stories/adventures set or based in the Plane of Shadow, particularly in the city of Obsidian.

4. The Crystal Caverns, and the Adventuring Academy.
In a fantasy-medieval society, there would be institutions of learning inspired by Plato's Academy (where philosophers gathered in ancient Greece) and medieval-renaissance universities that taught the trivium and the quadrivium.  Such institutions would also teach thaumaturgy and goetics along with rhetoric, logic, geometry and astronomy, and the nobility and merchants would send their children to be educated in the liberal arts and practical spellcraft.

And when you have fantasy-medieval versions of frat boys and computer magick geeks, you just know they wanna adventure!

And when there are some caverns beneath the Dwarven settlement just a few miles away . . . Via Itineris!  (That's dog-Latin for "road trip.")

5. My original fantasy setting, the world of Terramar, an ancient, peaceful, and rather decadent land, with somewhat of an oriental or "eastern" feel.

6. The interdimensional city of Nexus, where travelers from all times and places can meet.

Please post a reply and/or send me a PM if you're interested in playing.  If you have any questions before you decide, of course I'm happy to answer them.

[Caliban]

The fantasy game is a "system" game but I always emphasize roleplaying and storytelling over rules.  If you'd like to play and your primary concern is that you don't know the rules, don't worry about it, and please contact me!

Almost all scenes and actions will be handled by storytelling without any actual die-rolling.  Instead, the point of using a "system" is to provide some idea for the capabilities of the characters -- how far they can jump, what spells they can cast, and so forth.

Characters can be built using either D&D rules, or GURPS, or FUDGE (since I have extensive conversion rules); all of these are available online for free.  For the rest of this post I'm going to assume D&D as the default.

I'm using D&D 3.5 (available online at the d20 System Reference Document hypertext with several variant rules from Unearthed Arcana as follows:

1. Armor absorbs damage; it does not make you harder to hit.  Armor, Natural Armor, and their Enhancement Bonuses do not improve your AC; instead, you get half their total bonus (rounded down) as Damage Reduction, and half (rounded up) as Damage Conversion. 

For example, if you have a breastplate that would normally give you +5 to your AC, it gives you DR 2 and Damage Conversion 3 instead.

Dexterity, Dodge, Deflection, and Shields all work normally.

2. Spell point magic system.  Casting more than half their spells will fatigue the caster; casting all their spells will exhaust the caster.

3. When you reach 0 hit points you're Disabled.   For every 2 hit points below 0, you are at -1 to all rolls including attacks, damage, skills, and saving throws.

When you reach -[Your Constitution] points you're Dying, and when you reach -2x[Your Constitution] points you're Dead.

If you take more than your Constitution points of damage from a single blow, you must make a Fortitude Save of DC 10+[damage done]/5.  If you fail, you're Disabled; if you fail by 10 or more you're Dying.

5. Action Points, a/k/a Luck Points, Hero Points, or Story Points, which can be used to provide bonuses to your actions or otherwise alter the flow of the story.

[Caliban]

As I said, I'm assuming D&D 3.5 rules by default; if you prefer to build your character with GURPS or FUDGE rules, that's fine.  Also, if you want to use anything from outside the core rulebooks, please check with me first.

Characters are created with a 32-point buy per the DMG.
All characters have 1,000 experience points.
Players who are experienced D&D players get an additional 7,000 points.
Characters who have a detailed character background (meaning at least as much information as provided in the Character Background Questionnaire in the Hero Builder's Guidebook) get an additional 7,000 points.

This means that you can start with up to 15,000 XP, which will put you up to 6th level, but . . .

If you want any magic items or other "non-standard" equipment you have to deduct the cost (in gold pieces) from your starting XP.  Specifically, you have to pay for any magic items; alchemical items; "special materials" such as silver, cold iron, mithril, or adamantine; wealth (coins, gems, artwork, etc.), and mounts and vehicles.  All other items are free, even Masterwork items, but must be listed on the character sheet and the encumbrance must be calculated.

Hit Points: All characters have standardized hit points, plus Con bonus: assume you roll (max/2)+1 on every hit die.  Barbarians get 7; Fighters, Rangers and Paladins get 6; Clerics and Druids get 5; Bards, Rogues and Monks get 4; and Wizards and Sorcerers get 3.  (For characters starting above first level, I do not give max hp for the first hit die.)