Author Topic: Ravenloft: The Realm of Dread (NC-Exotic DnD 3.0/ 3.5 Game) (Read 8522 times)

Idej · « **on:** August 05, 2009, 01:21:52 am »

The Mists of Ravenloft can travel to every corner of every material plane. Everyone can be a potential target for the mists to take to the Realm of Dread.

Vampires, Knights, Wizards, Thieves, and everything else exist in the Realm and are at the whims and fancies of the Dreadlords of the many territories that exist in Ravenloft. And the Dreadlords are at the whims and fancies of the very powers that have created Ravenloft.

You are one of the many adventuring heroes (villains) that has been surrounded by the heavy mists and have arrived in the country of Barovia not knowing what awaits you during your stay in Ravenloft...

For those don't know what Ravenloft is, Ravenloft is a world that revolves around, fear, horror, and most of all dread. It is a gothic world where even the mightiest of heroes and villains can feel the dread and horror of their worst nightmares. Sometimes people are only there for a few days if they are lucky, but most of the time you are there for many years. And when all is done you will come back to your native a deeply changed person.

It is a gothic world that is separated by several territories each with their own Darklord. While each Darklord has dominion over their respective domains they themselves can not pass the borders of their own realms. Each territory of Ravenloft is surrounded by mists travelling through the mists is a sure means of turmoil. Only designated portals, and gateways through the mists are the only means of safe travel between the territories and even then they can be dreadful.

Okay then, here are the rules and guidelines that have for now.

Who's the DM: That would be me of course

What Books are Allowed: Any just provide me a source if I don't have it I'll ask for you to describe to me what you are using via PM. Note you don't have to any of the Ravenloft books this game is about newcomers entering the Realm of Dread so it will be a learning experience for both you and your characters.

Here is the list of books that I have available to me

Arms and Equipments Guide
Book of Erotic Fantasy
Book of Exalted Deeds
Book of Vile Darkness
Cityscape/ Dungeonscape
All of the Completes
Deities and Demigods
Draconomicon
Dragon Magic
Drow of the Underdark
DMG I and II
Elder Evils
Enemies and Allies
Exemplars of Evil
Fiend Folio
Fiendish Codex I and II
Frostburn/ Sandstorm/ Stormwrack
Ghostwalk
Heroes of Battle and Horror
Libris Mortis
Living Greyhawk Gazetteer
Lords of Madness
Magic Item Compendium
Magic of Incarnum
Miniatures Handbook
Monster Manual I, II, III, IV, and V
Oriental Adventures
Planar Handbook
Player's Handbook I and II
All of the Races
Rules Compendium
Savage Species
Spell Compendium
Stronghold Builder's Guide
Tome of Battle and Tome of Magic
Unearthed Arcana
Weapons of Legacy

That is just the basic stuff...

Forgotten Realms Books
Champions of Ruin and Valor
City of Splendors
Faiths and Pantheons
Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide
Lords of Darkness
Lost Empires of Faerun
Magic of Faerun
Monsters of Faerun
Player's Guide to Faerun
Serpent Kingdoms
Shining South
Silver Marches
Unapproachable East
Underdark

Eberron
Dragonmarked
Dragons of Eberron
Eberron Campaign Setting
Explorer's Handbook
Faiths of Eberron
Five Nations
Magic of Eberron
Player's Guide to Eberron
Races of Eberron
Secrets of Sarlona
Secrets of Xen'drik
Sharn: City of Towers
The Forge of War

Dragonlance
Age of Mortals
Bestiary of Krynn
Dragonlance Campaign Guide
Dragons of Krynn
Holy Orders of the Stars
Knightly Orders of Ansalon
Legends of the Twins
Races of Ansalon
Towers of High Sorcery
War of the Lance

Ravenloft
Ravenloft Player's Handbook
Ravenloft Dungeon Master's Guide
Expedition to Castle Ravenloft
Secrets of the Dread Realms
Denizen's of Darkness

You may also use any book that is not made by Wizards of the Coast provided you give me the source and provide me the information of what you want to use.

(Ex. So-and-so wants to be from Dragonlance and has some books which are produced by Sovereign Press, so-and-so can do so.)

Character Creation

36-Point Buy

Level 8 (1,000 EXP for creating items)

Hit Points: Max at first and reroll any ones

Races: All races are allowed just provide me the stats of said race if I don't have the book that has the description of the race.

No Flaws or Traits: They can be gained at a later time just not at the moment

Money: 27,000 gp no more than half can be spent on one item

If you have any other questions feel free to ask or PM me. :)

Here is the OOC Thread and the Character Sheet Thread

Muse · « **Reply #1 on:** August 05, 2009, 01:33:24 am »

Glee!

I am definatly game, I just have 3 other charecters to finish first!

Transgirlenstein · « **Reply #2 on:** August 05, 2009, 06:17:06 am »

I love Ravenloft! Count me in

GrinningHound · « **Reply #3 on:** August 05, 2009, 03:12:39 pm »

I wanna play!

I gotta think of a sweet character.

Katina Tarask · « **Reply #4 on:** August 05, 2009, 04:28:58 pm »

Oh~ Ravenloft! I've always wanted a chance to play in Ravenloft. Yay! Are sources a full grab bag?

WyzardWhately · « **Reply #5 on:** August 05, 2009, 09:02:34 pm »

I, too, have always wanted to play a Ravenloft game. I'll probably end up playing some flavor of arcane spellcaster.

Although, on reflection, that will NOT be any flavor of necromancer. Playing a True Necromancer or Dread Necromancer in the 'loft is not a path to great success, I imagine.

Katina Tarask · « **Reply #6 on:** August 05, 2009, 11:05:43 pm »

Playing a True Necromancer at all is not the path to great success. It's one of the worst classes in the game.

WyzardWhately · « **Reply #7 on:** August 05, 2009, 11:15:28 pm »

I think you've got that backwards...The True Necromancer I'm referring to is an arcane/divine hybrid PrC in the Libris Mortis. It's not astoundingly badass, but it did see some play in the CharOp forums. There are ways to do cool things with it. It's utility is debatable, because you sacrifice raw spellcasting levels to get both Arcane & Divine magic, but I think it's far from fair to describe it as one of the worst classes in the game. I'd reserve that for, well, almost any non-casting class.

The Dread Necromancer, on the other hand, is a class from Heroes of Horror that isn't really very good, but has tons of flavor and a really different structure.

Katina Tarask · « **Reply #8 on:** August 05, 2009, 11:29:45 pm »

I'm aware of what's what. True Necromancer is garbage precisely because it sacrifices caster levels, and you have to sacrifice caster levels to begin with to get in. Just by taking a single level, you're already four divine levels behind and three arcane. Unless it's gestalt, you're going to gimp yourself just to qualify. If you take it to level 20, you've given up five levels on both sides. You don't even get ninth-level spells. In fact, if you take more than one level of it, you can't even get ninth-level spells pre-epic unless you're using Ur-Priest. In return, you get +4 to your caster level with necromancy (a real slap in the face after giving up five caster levels), and mostly some spell-likes. Woo.

Its applications outside of gestalt border on theoretical optimization. In general, if you want a necromancer, you'd be better of with a Cleric, Archivist, or Dread Necromancer.

Meanwhile, Dread Necromancer may not be great, but it actually works at what it's designed to do pretty well.

Idej · « **Reply #9 on:** August 06, 2009, 12:29:28 am »

Made a slight clarification on what sources are allowed. All books are allowed I just wanted to clarify one item so that it will give everyone some more books that they can choose from if they have them.

schnookums · « **Reply #10 on:** August 06, 2009, 06:51:04 am »

Ooh! If there's space in here I'd love to play

Transgirlenstein · « **Reply #11 on:** August 06, 2009, 06:58:21 am »

I wish I had my copy of Heroes of Horror here as I think I want to play something from that. Can someone list those classes in there for me?

Also, Dread Necromancer is quiet a good class actually. It starts out pretty shit but the fact you can drop some of the more powerful spells in the game at will makes it handy plus your armor and weapon you can wield improve.

kongming · « **Reply #12 on:** August 06, 2009, 07:10:35 am »

Dread Necromancer is a pretty cool class. True Necromancer is the awful prestige class.

Anyway, HoH introduces two new core classes: Dread Necromancer, and the Archivist.
It also has a few prestige classes (what doesn't?) and also allows for dream-focused magic, which is an immensely cool concept.

I'm pondering joining but I'm not sure. What kind of post rate are you looking for, and what kind of content do you think there will be?

Transgirlenstein · « **Reply #13 on:** August 06, 2009, 07:59:26 am »

I love the archivist. In fact, I think thats what I will play. Does anyone have a chart of their abilities/what they get? All my books are at my parents house in America so I don't have access to anything outside the SRD.

Possibly a gnome archivist in fact.
Or maybe just a gnome cleric. Might be easier to make since I don't have the SRD.

Transgirlenstein · « **Reply #14 on:** August 06, 2009, 08:11:56 am »

I was curious, if I paly a gnome cleric, could I use the Dwarven Defender prestige class as a "Gnomish" Defender prestige class?

kongming · « **Reply #15 on:** August 06, 2009, 08:23:13 am »

Archivist:
d6 hit die, Poor BAB, Good Fort and Ref, 4+Int skills

Level:	Abilities:
1	Dark Knowledge (Tactics) 3/day, Scribe Scroll
2	Lore Mastery
3	Dark Knowledge 4/day
4	Still Mind
5	Dark Knowledge (Puissance)
6	Dark Knowledge 5/day
7	Lore Mastery
8	Dark Knowledge (Foe)
9	Dark Knowledge 6/day
10	Bonus Feat

Spells per day at 5th level: 4/4/3/2
At 8th level: 4/5/4/4/3

Still Mind: +2 on saves vs Enchantments
Bonus Feat: any Skill Focus (any Knowledge), Spell Focus, Item Creation or Metamagic
Lore Mastery: first time is +2 to Decipher Script and any 1 knowledge, after that it's just +2 to another Knowledge each time.
Dark Knowledge: provides different effects based on the ability used, usually just giving a small bonus against the relevant creature type. You need a DC 15 Knowledge check to make it work (the specific knowledge depends on the creature type).

WyzardWhately · « **Reply #16 on:** August 06, 2009, 09:22:05 am »

IIRC, there's a number of feats based on the Dark Knowledge ability.

Transgirlenstein · « **Reply #17 on:** August 06, 2009, 09:27:11 am »

Yeah, think I might just play a cleric. I love the archivist but it'll be easier for me to build a character with just the SRD.

kongming · « **Reply #18 on:** August 06, 2009, 09:45:40 am »

That's true.

Idej · « **Reply #19 on:** August 06, 2009, 11:04:06 am »

Quote from: Queentrippingserpent on August 06, 2009, 08:11:56 am

I was curious, if I paly a gnome cleric, could I use the Dwarven Defender prestige class as a "Gnomish" Defender prestige class?

Unfortunately I'll say to no to that.

Quote from: schnookums on August 06, 2009, 06:51:04 am

Ooh! If there's space in here I'd love to play

Of course there is plenty of space.

I intend to keep the party's 5-6 players so if I get more than that I'll make a second group.

Quote from: kongming on August 06, 2009, 07:10:35 am

What kind of post rate are you looking for, and what kind of content do you think there will be?

It will be semi-even mix of roleplay, game mechanics, and combat. During non-combat posts I want at least once every few days, combat should be at least once a day.

What this game details is dread and horror. Your characters will endure several fears and horrors. I listed the game as Non-Consensual Exotic to allow many of these fears and horrors to come to life without having to go to the extreme category.

Katina Tarask · « **Reply #20 on:** August 06, 2009, 11:33:00 am »

You could well be fine with Archivst, anyways, Queen. The Archivist is part of Wizards' free Heroes of Horror sample, so just bookmark it right next to the SRD and you're good to go.

Other free base classes from WotC:
Marshal (Miniatures Handbook)
Spellthief (Complete Adventurer)
Psychic Rogue (The Mind's Eye, a web supplement)
Totemist (Magic of Incarnum, and I don't think incarnum would be usable from just the sample)
Knight (Player's Handbook II)
Warblade (Tome of Battle, though again, not really usable from the sample alone)

And, the excerpt archive itself has lots of cool, free, legal stuff you can use.

Also legal, the game Neverwinter Nights 2 is based on 3.5, and some of the classes in the game are non-core and close enough to use in tabletop, if the DM permits. And those classes are, for the more or less loyal two...
Favored Soul
Swashbuckler
And for the more modified, more difficult-to-use two...
Spirit Shaman
Warlock

Know your freebies, folks. They're really handy when you're away from your books.

Transgirlenstein · « **Reply #21 on:** August 06, 2009, 04:25:19 pm »

Hm I will have to do some thinking on what I want to play

GrinningHound · « **Reply #22 on:** August 06, 2009, 04:34:28 pm »

Hmmm...I've just started a cleric in my tabletop game, played a Rogue recently too, but I could try another style.

I'd kinda like to be a melee meatball, or maybe an archer.

Sword and board Paladin with high charisma and strength and huge armor?

Maybe Crusader....

Transgirlenstein · « **Reply #23 on:** August 06, 2009, 04:37:03 pm »

I'm leaning heavily toward the Archivist now that I can see it there. That or something tribal/feral like. Maybe a barbarian...decisions!

kongming · « **Reply #24 on:** August 06, 2009, 09:47:11 pm »

I'm leaning towards the idea of a Human Cleric 5/Elemental Archon 3 of Kossuth.
EA is from Faiths and Pantheons, and Kossuth is a FR god (Fire, Renewal, Suffering and... some other domain as well). I'd like to take a small handful of feats and spells and a weapon from ~~It's Hot Outside~~ Sandstorm to make her sort of desert-wanderer themed.

The Elemental Archon gains a triad of Mephit followers (a harem of Small-sized elemental cute girls), but seeing as a few Caster Levels (the most valuable resource in the world) are lost over the course of the class, I was wondering if the Mephits could be toughened up so that they're relevant - giving them hit dice equal to my own character level (so that a single spell doesn't make them all explode on the spot, and they can actually hit enemies) and possibly adding another appropriate Spell-like Ability each (Fire: Parboil or Fireball, Steam: Acid Fog (replaced with Fire damage), Glass/Magma: Incendiary Slime)?

And to add another little cutie to the coterie, I'd also like to take Leadership to add a six-HD Sulphur Mephit as a Cohort. One priestess, and four naked female elemental groupies.

Do these sound okay?