Post by Aegir on Jan 9, 2006 0:32:34 GMT -5
Server: DungeonOnline
Room: Shadows of Netheril
Password: SoN123 (Note caps)
<----->
I'm piecing together a campaign based around the city of Shade in Forgotten Realms, where the PCs will be low-ranking Shadovar likely starting as artifact hunters, and expanding from there. The campaign will be high-powered and heavily skewed towards magic (and shadow weave magic in particular), and as such has a collection of house rules, as follows:
* Ability scores will be generated using Auspician's generation system. For those of you unfamiliar with this, it works as follows:
"Stat rolling method is generous, 2 stats 3d6 no rerolls, 2 stats 4d6 reroll ones keep all, 2 stats 5d6 reroll ones keep all, so this is bound to generate powerful characters with a weakness or two."
When you decide you wish to create a character for this campaign, IM or PM me, and I'll supply you with your stat array, which you can place however you'd like. HPs are max for first two levels and roll for HPs after that.
* Most any race will be considered (case-by-case), but the Shadovar are fairly xenophobic humans, and tend to view non-Shadovar (to say nothing of non-humans) as little more than slaves. There are exceptions, but be aware of this if you want to choose something else. There is a blurb regarding the Shadovar and abducting Faerunians with Netherese heritage to test for magical aptitude (See Lords of Darkness, p86), so take this under consideration when considering a non-Shadovar PC.
* Players will start at Lv 3 with standard starting cash for that Level. Given acceptable performance, PCs will be gaining the shade template in later levels (with no increase in LA for XP purposes), and as per Shadovar tradition, if you are deemed worthy there will be no IC choice whether you become a shade. If you don't wish to become a Shade, you may spend those 4 "free" LA points on another template or race (on a case-by-case basis), just keep in mind that if you do this it prohibits you from becoming a shade, and as such will likely restrict you from gaining any real rank in the Shadovar (you will likely be considered little more than a slave under the command of the group captain). You may opt to choose a race/template of up to +2 LA as normal (again, case-by-case), foregoing starting levels in the process.
* While weave magic will be largely unchanged, shadow weave magic (those who choose the shadow weave magic feat) will be using the UA variant spell system. If you prefer not to use this system, then I suggest you plan your character accordingly. Much as the above stipulation, weave users will be seen as below the status of a comparably-levelled shadow weave user, and while it won't prohibit you from becoming a shade, you may be required to do more to prove yourself.
* The standard sorcerer doesn't exist in this campaign, replaced by the UA variant Battle Sorcerer (renamed Shadovar Soldier) and Sean K. Reynolds' sorcerer variant located at www.seankreynolds.com/rpgfiles/opinions/opinions3p5chap123.html. The UA variant is more aimed at melee and works best as a compliment to front-line types, while the other slots into the standard sorcerer position.
It should also be mentioned; Shadovar value magic above all else, and tend to view those with no magical ability as lesser beings. You are free to create pure melee characters, but be aware that this may hold your advancement in the Shadovar back considerably. It is suggested that, if you wish to make a fighter, that you consider giving them levels in something like Shadovar Soldier or Warmage. Both gain abilities to wear armor with no arcane spell failure, which would allow you to negate some of the usual drawbacks of a mage/fighter hybrid.
* Any character whose submitted background has them being a human born and raised in Shade will have their background evaluated against all other PCs meeting the same requirements, and the best one will be assigned as group captain. While all backgrounds will grant their PC an XP bonus, the captain will instead receive an extra level. This benefit does however carry a significant potential drawback; the successes or failures of the group will reflect directly on the captain. This can be a good or bad thing depending on the act, but keep in mind we're talking about an evil organization that doesn't tolerate failure or insubordination.
I'm wanting to keep the PC ranks fairly small for this, no more than 6 at the outside most. If you're interested, IM or PM me and I'll send you your stat array, and you can build your character from there.
Update: Since its been asked; I'll allow one flaw and one trait per character, if you so choose.
Update: Under the UA spell system, pearls of power will restore the base number of points that a spell of that level uses, meaning a pearl of power I restores 1 point, II restores 3, III restores 5, etc.
Rings of wizardry still double your spell slots for the given level, and they give bonus spell points equal to the base cost of a spell of that level x the number of bonus slots. So someone with 4 Lv 1 slots who wears a ring of wizardry I will get 4 extra slots and 4 bonus points.
Update: A slight house rule regarding the UA spell system: I'm going to allow damage spells to auto-scale, so no paying +1 spell point for each dice over base.
Another thing is some rules regardnig spell creation and selling your unique spells:
For rules regarding creating spells, see DMG p198.
For selling your custom spells, the rules are (I reserve the right to alter these if they end up being broken or are badly abused by anyone):
A profession (Spellcaster) check against DC 15 + spell level will allow you to - with 1 one day downtime - locate a party interested in your scroll (which must be written beforehand). For every +10 over the DC, multiple buyers are found, but if you don't have the scrolls made to sell, the extra buyers are wasted. This will allow you to sell your scroll for its full market price.
The only exception to this is selling the first scroll. For selling the first scroll created, the same DC applies, but it sells for x1.5 market price, and that amount goes up for every +10 over the DC. +10 nets you x3, +20 x4, etc. You cannot sell multiple scrolls at this time, as offering multiples would destroy the uniqueness and negate the multiplier.
Update: I'm instituting a couple small house rules regarding bleeding and death: when dropped to between -1 and -9, each round on yuor turn you receive a Fort save to stabilize. DC 15 to start, +1 for every failure. So if you fail your first, the next round will be at DC 16.
If you should bleed out to -10, or are dropped to -10 or worse, you shall receive a Fort save chance DC 20 (or whatever the DC was up to from bleeding out, whichever is higher). A save means you stay alive for a single round, but continue to bleed, and the DC increases by 1 again.
Update: For scrolls costing less than 1,000gp to create, their crafting time can be broken down into hours. THe time will take roughly 1 hour for every 125gp of value, so Lv 1, 2 & 3 scrolls will take an hour per level, and it increases from there.
Update: Rules regarding recharging wands
Recharging Wands
Wands can be recharged by anyone capable of casting the spell the wand reproduces, at the same level. Recharging has a market value equal to 1/5 the market value of the wand. If the caster has the Craft Wand feat, the cost to recharge is one half of the market value, similar to normal item creation, and 10 charges are added. Without the feat, the cost is the same as the recharge market value, but only five charges are added. An XP cost equal to (money paid x2 /25) is incurred on any recharging.
Adding charges to a wand takes one day per 1000gp of the recharge market value (or 1 hour per 125gp of the recharge market value if under 1000gp), with a minimum of one hour. A wand may be charged multiple times, with cost and time for each group of charges calculated separately. The number of charges in a wand may not exceed its original capacity.
In all other ways, recharging follows the same rules as creating a wand.
Running out of Charges
If the last charge in a wand is expended, the wand must make a DC 20 Will Save, or it becomes useless and may not be recharged.
Books: Any are allowed, with the one exception being Lost Empires of Faerun, as its contents are being used as rewards over the course of the campaign.
Update: For those who may wish to sell off Netherese artifacts, auctioneers can be hired in Shade for a cost of 10% of the sell price per +10 of their Auctioneer bonus. A Profession (Auctioneer) roll with a DC of 15 sells a Netherese artifact for 1.5x its listed price, and that goes up for each +10 of the roll. a 25 or higher would get a x3, a 35 would get x4, etc.
UPDATE: Ring of Psionics: See Ring of Epic Psionics, located in the SRD, but this ring covers Lv 1-4 whre Epic Psionics is for 5-9. Prices are the same as its Ring of Wizardry counterpart, with the point bonuses as follows: Lv 1: 3pp, Lv 2: 7pp, Lv 3: 15pp, Lv 4: 27pp. Moderate (psionics I) or strong (psionics II-IV) psychokinesis; ML 11th (I), 14th (II), 17th (III), 20th (IV); Craft Universal Item; Price 20,000 gp (I), 40,000 gp (II), 70,000 gp (III), 100,000 gp (IV).
UPDATE - Polymorph: I briefly considered banning the polymorph spells entirely, but instead I've decided to leave them, with one particular change: you lose *all* abilities not granted by class abilities while altered/polymorphed, unless the ability is also given by the new form (so if your new form can see in magical darkness, you don't lose that if you're a Shade, otherwise you do). Basically, anything you're granted that pertains to your physical form is lost because, while altered, its not your physical form anymore.
UPDATE - Sudden mods: They seem balanced enough in normal games, but when dealing with Cha mods of 10+, they're just hopelessly broken. I'm not going to ban it entirely, but I am going to nerf it down to a use of 1/day. having a save based on reflex, with a DC as high as it gets in this game, with the effect it slaps on, its effectively a free save-or-die otherwise.
Room: Shadows of Netheril
Password: SoN123 (Note caps)
<----->
I'm piecing together a campaign based around the city of Shade in Forgotten Realms, where the PCs will be low-ranking Shadovar likely starting as artifact hunters, and expanding from there. The campaign will be high-powered and heavily skewed towards magic (and shadow weave magic in particular), and as such has a collection of house rules, as follows:
* Ability scores will be generated using Auspician's generation system. For those of you unfamiliar with this, it works as follows:
"Stat rolling method is generous, 2 stats 3d6 no rerolls, 2 stats 4d6 reroll ones keep all, 2 stats 5d6 reroll ones keep all, so this is bound to generate powerful characters with a weakness or two."
When you decide you wish to create a character for this campaign, IM or PM me, and I'll supply you with your stat array, which you can place however you'd like. HPs are max for first two levels and roll for HPs after that.
* Most any race will be considered (case-by-case), but the Shadovar are fairly xenophobic humans, and tend to view non-Shadovar (to say nothing of non-humans) as little more than slaves. There are exceptions, but be aware of this if you want to choose something else. There is a blurb regarding the Shadovar and abducting Faerunians with Netherese heritage to test for magical aptitude (See Lords of Darkness, p86), so take this under consideration when considering a non-Shadovar PC.
* Players will start at Lv 3 with standard starting cash for that Level. Given acceptable performance, PCs will be gaining the shade template in later levels (with no increase in LA for XP purposes), and as per Shadovar tradition, if you are deemed worthy there will be no IC choice whether you become a shade. If you don't wish to become a Shade, you may spend those 4 "free" LA points on another template or race (on a case-by-case basis), just keep in mind that if you do this it prohibits you from becoming a shade, and as such will likely restrict you from gaining any real rank in the Shadovar (you will likely be considered little more than a slave under the command of the group captain). You may opt to choose a race/template of up to +2 LA as normal (again, case-by-case), foregoing starting levels in the process.
* While weave magic will be largely unchanged, shadow weave magic (those who choose the shadow weave magic feat) will be using the UA variant spell system. If you prefer not to use this system, then I suggest you plan your character accordingly. Much as the above stipulation, weave users will be seen as below the status of a comparably-levelled shadow weave user, and while it won't prohibit you from becoming a shade, you may be required to do more to prove yourself.
* The standard sorcerer doesn't exist in this campaign, replaced by the UA variant Battle Sorcerer (renamed Shadovar Soldier) and Sean K. Reynolds' sorcerer variant located at www.seankreynolds.com/rpgfiles/opinions/opinions3p5chap123.html. The UA variant is more aimed at melee and works best as a compliment to front-line types, while the other slots into the standard sorcerer position.
It should also be mentioned; Shadovar value magic above all else, and tend to view those with no magical ability as lesser beings. You are free to create pure melee characters, but be aware that this may hold your advancement in the Shadovar back considerably. It is suggested that, if you wish to make a fighter, that you consider giving them levels in something like Shadovar Soldier or Warmage. Both gain abilities to wear armor with no arcane spell failure, which would allow you to negate some of the usual drawbacks of a mage/fighter hybrid.
* Any character whose submitted background has them being a human born and raised in Shade will have their background evaluated against all other PCs meeting the same requirements, and the best one will be assigned as group captain. While all backgrounds will grant their PC an XP bonus, the captain will instead receive an extra level. This benefit does however carry a significant potential drawback; the successes or failures of the group will reflect directly on the captain. This can be a good or bad thing depending on the act, but keep in mind we're talking about an evil organization that doesn't tolerate failure or insubordination.
I'm wanting to keep the PC ranks fairly small for this, no more than 6 at the outside most. If you're interested, IM or PM me and I'll send you your stat array, and you can build your character from there.
Update: Since its been asked; I'll allow one flaw and one trait per character, if you so choose.
Update: Under the UA spell system, pearls of power will restore the base number of points that a spell of that level uses, meaning a pearl of power I restores 1 point, II restores 3, III restores 5, etc.
Rings of wizardry still double your spell slots for the given level, and they give bonus spell points equal to the base cost of a spell of that level x the number of bonus slots. So someone with 4 Lv 1 slots who wears a ring of wizardry I will get 4 extra slots and 4 bonus points.
Update: A slight house rule regarding the UA spell system: I'm going to allow damage spells to auto-scale, so no paying +1 spell point for each dice over base.
Another thing is some rules regardnig spell creation and selling your unique spells:
For rules regarding creating spells, see DMG p198.
For selling your custom spells, the rules are (I reserve the right to alter these if they end up being broken or are badly abused by anyone):
A profession (Spellcaster) check against DC 15 + spell level will allow you to - with 1 one day downtime - locate a party interested in your scroll (which must be written beforehand). For every +10 over the DC, multiple buyers are found, but if you don't have the scrolls made to sell, the extra buyers are wasted. This will allow you to sell your scroll for its full market price.
The only exception to this is selling the first scroll. For selling the first scroll created, the same DC applies, but it sells for x1.5 market price, and that amount goes up for every +10 over the DC. +10 nets you x3, +20 x4, etc. You cannot sell multiple scrolls at this time, as offering multiples would destroy the uniqueness and negate the multiplier.
Update: I'm instituting a couple small house rules regarding bleeding and death: when dropped to between -1 and -9, each round on yuor turn you receive a Fort save to stabilize. DC 15 to start, +1 for every failure. So if you fail your first, the next round will be at DC 16.
If you should bleed out to -10, or are dropped to -10 or worse, you shall receive a Fort save chance DC 20 (or whatever the DC was up to from bleeding out, whichever is higher). A save means you stay alive for a single round, but continue to bleed, and the DC increases by 1 again.
Update: For scrolls costing less than 1,000gp to create, their crafting time can be broken down into hours. THe time will take roughly 1 hour for every 125gp of value, so Lv 1, 2 & 3 scrolls will take an hour per level, and it increases from there.
Update: Rules regarding recharging wands
Recharging Wands
Wands can be recharged by anyone capable of casting the spell the wand reproduces, at the same level. Recharging has a market value equal to 1/5 the market value of the wand. If the caster has the Craft Wand feat, the cost to recharge is one half of the market value, similar to normal item creation, and 10 charges are added. Without the feat, the cost is the same as the recharge market value, but only five charges are added. An XP cost equal to (money paid x2 /25) is incurred on any recharging.
Adding charges to a wand takes one day per 1000gp of the recharge market value (or 1 hour per 125gp of the recharge market value if under 1000gp), with a minimum of one hour. A wand may be charged multiple times, with cost and time for each group of charges calculated separately. The number of charges in a wand may not exceed its original capacity.
In all other ways, recharging follows the same rules as creating a wand.
Running out of Charges
If the last charge in a wand is expended, the wand must make a DC 20 Will Save, or it becomes useless and may not be recharged.
Books: Any are allowed, with the one exception being Lost Empires of Faerun, as its contents are being used as rewards over the course of the campaign.
Update: For those who may wish to sell off Netherese artifacts, auctioneers can be hired in Shade for a cost of 10% of the sell price per +10 of their Auctioneer bonus. A Profession (Auctioneer) roll with a DC of 15 sells a Netherese artifact for 1.5x its listed price, and that goes up for each +10 of the roll. a 25 or higher would get a x3, a 35 would get x4, etc.
UPDATE: Ring of Psionics: See Ring of Epic Psionics, located in the SRD, but this ring covers Lv 1-4 whre Epic Psionics is for 5-9. Prices are the same as its Ring of Wizardry counterpart, with the point bonuses as follows: Lv 1: 3pp, Lv 2: 7pp, Lv 3: 15pp, Lv 4: 27pp. Moderate (psionics I) or strong (psionics II-IV) psychokinesis; ML 11th (I), 14th (II), 17th (III), 20th (IV); Craft Universal Item; Price 20,000 gp (I), 40,000 gp (II), 70,000 gp (III), 100,000 gp (IV).
UPDATE - Polymorph: I briefly considered banning the polymorph spells entirely, but instead I've decided to leave them, with one particular change: you lose *all* abilities not granted by class abilities while altered/polymorphed, unless the ability is also given by the new form (so if your new form can see in magical darkness, you don't lose that if you're a Shade, otherwise you do). Basically, anything you're granted that pertains to your physical form is lost because, while altered, its not your physical form anymore.
UPDATE - Sudden mods: They seem balanced enough in normal games, but when dealing with Cha mods of 10+, they're just hopelessly broken. I'm not going to ban it entirely, but I am going to nerf it down to a use of 1/day. having a save based on reflex, with a DC as high as it gets in this game, with the effect it slaps on, its effectively a free save-or-die otherwise.
