Dark Storms Gather OOC (D&D, e3.5)

[rhoenix]

:: Character List ::
Volans Dracias - Draconan Mage (Comrade Tortoise)
Doran Patience - Human(Aberration) Druidic Avenger (Academia Nut)
Sylvandor - Elven Fighter/Swashbuckler (Jason Firewalker)
Edward Barslow - Halfling Rogue (Haizu)
Gror Hammerbammer - Dwarven Paladin (Rogue9)

Alright, I'm thinking of running my own D&D game here. I'll be making up my own plot and such here, but I've a few rules I'll impose:

1. No evil characters.
Good and Neutral characters are okay, but evil characters would simply be too difficult to rope into playing with others without being really ham-handed.

2. Psionics are biomancy.
Therefore, the spells Detect Magic, Dispel Magic, and such work on Psionics as well. An anti-magic field will prevent the use of psionics as well. This makes spells and effects that specifically target psionics redundant, and simply affect magic instead.

3. Stats are generated with each stat starting at 8, with with 36 points to spend. Raising a stat from 14 to 15, and 15 to 16 costs 2 points per increment. Raising a stat from 16 to 17 or 17 to 18 costs 3 points per increment.

4. I'm mostly using the Crystal Keep summaries, but I may not allow everything; I'll take it on a case-by-case basis.

5. Your characters will begin as 5th level characters, with 10,000 gold to buy equipment. Race and feats you'll have to clear with me, particularly with some of the nastier ones added to the CrystalKeep lists.

6. This likely will be an overarching greater-than-the-participants quest that should accommodate a wide variety of characters.

(EDIT oct27/08: fixed character list description for accuracy)
(EDIT jan18/09: fixed character/player list for accuracy)

[Jason_Firewalker]

I would be more then interested. I will post a character later tonight and clear my stuff with you online in a couple of seconds

[LadyTevar]

I'm in too many games right now :sad:

[rhoenix]

I'm in too many games right now :sad:

Many of which move along rather slowly.

[Academia Nut]

Hmmm... the chance to play D&D instead of GM it for once? What is this feeling in my chest, this lightness of the soul? Is that hope and joy? Is that the emotion I do so love to crush in others?

Hmmm... but yes, I do have a couple of character concepts I want to kick around. Would you particularly mind if I dreamed up something unusual? What is allowed?

[rhoenix]

Hmmm... the chance to play D&D instead of GM it for once? What is this feeling in my chest, this lightness of the soul? Is that hope and joy? Is that the emotion I do so love to crush in others?

That explains the sick twisted schadenfreude I felt when I made the initial post.

Heh.

Hmmm... but yes, I do have a couple of character concepts I want to kick around. Would you particularly mind if I dreamed up something unusual? What is allowed?

Go for it. If it's too silly, I'll make specific critiques and suggestions for fixing. ComradeTortoise certainly has a weird character in progress, and I say the more interesting variety we get, the easier a job there is on me as the storyteller.

[Academia Nut]

Ah... let's see here. There's the aberration druid (Lords of Madness), the communist necromancer (mostly from Libris Mortis), or maybe something like a binder (Tome of Magic), or... ooooh... the dervish (Complete Warrior) looks really nice or...

Can you tell I haven't been able to make a character in forever?

[rhoenix]

Ah... let's see here. There's the aberration druid (Lords of Madness), the communist necromancer (mostly from Libris Mortis), or maybe something like a binder (Tome of Magic), or... ooooh... the dervish (Complete Warrior) looks really nice or...

Can you tell I haven't been able to make a character in forever?

Dude, the whole reason I started this is because I saw all the new feats for monks in 3.5, and started drooling - this is the next best thing.

Besides, the last game I DM'ed apparently lasted a while, so I'll give it another shot.

[Academia Nut]

But yes, here are possible character ideas for you to decide upon as you see fit:

Lords of Madness has the aberration blood feats, one of which is the ability to use the druid's wild shape ability to assume the form of an aberration. So the character would be an outcast taken in by a druid and raised in the natural world as a slightly unnatural creature. Would have a skewed look on things

Then there's a character I would love to play but it would be... problematic. The basic idea is to play as a necromancer with the intent of eventually taking the True Necromancer prestige class. The thing is of course that that class is all about the making of undead. The character however wouldn't be evil, just feeling that the world is a messed up place and that life should be for living and death should be for working. And why do people get so upset when a zombie is raised? The body is already dead, the soul isn't doing anything with it, and it can be put to so many useful tasks! Think of what could be accomplished if everyone was undeadified when they passed on? We could feed the world and create a system of equity for all! Yes, a communist necromancer.

Then there's a binder. Binders are just cool, but I especially like Paimon. A cultured soul destroyed by the jealousy of others. I like the idea of a binder character who just sort of wanders about, attempting to keep his true nature hidden from others but still wanting to do the right thing.

Dervish... I just want to become a walking cuisinart, okay?

So which of these ideas would fit the best into your campaign. Admittedly, only one idea would be realized at level 5 (druid needs to wait until 6 to pick up a feat, true necromancer can only be taken at 7th level at the earliest, and dervish can only be taken at 6th). That's actually why I let everyone start at 6 in my campaign: it would give them a chance to have already started a lot of prestige classes.

[rhoenix]

Lords of Madness has the aberration blood feats, one of which is the ability to use the druid's wild shape ability to assume the form of an aberration. So the character would be an outcast taken in by a druid and raised in the natural world as a slightly unnatural creature. Would have a skewed look on things.

This could definitely work, as long as I see write-ups of those feats somewhere.

Then there's a character I would love to play but it would be... problematic. The basic idea is to play as a necromancer with the intent of eventually taking the True Necromancer prestige class. The thing is of course that that class is all about the making of undead. The character however wouldn't be evil, just feeling that the world is a messed up place and that life should be for living and death should be for working. And why do people get so upset when a zombie is raised? The body is already dead, the soul isn't doing anything with it, and it can be put to so many useful tasks! Think of what could be accomplished if everyone was undeadified when they passed on? We could feed the world and create a system of equity for all! Yes, a communist necromancer.

That's hilarious, but might not be capable of lasting with the other classes, would be my worry. There is going to be combat about half the time in this game.

Then there's a binder. Binders are just cool, but I especially like Paimon. A cultured soul destroyed by the jealousy of others. I like the idea of a binder character who just sort of wanders about, attempting to keep his true nature hidden from others but still wanting to do the right thing.

That could fuck with party cohesion too much, but if played well, could work well.

Dervish... I just want to become a walking cuisinart, okay?

Can't say I blame you.

So which of these ideas would fit the best into your campaign. Admittedly, only one idea would be realized at level 5 (druid needs to wait until 6 to pick up a feat, true necromancer can only be taken at 7th level at the earliest, and dervish can only be taken at 6th). That's actually why I let everyone start at 6 in my campaign: it would give them a chance to have already started a lot of prestige classes.

I'm starting here at level 5 for all characters deliberately to be before any fun prestige classes, but after the tedium of "I suck help me" at early levels.

All characters will be gaining their prestige classes and most of their things through gameplay, so don't worry too much about that.

As for which character would help most, I'm aiming for 6 active PC's. CT's covering an arcane spellcaster (big surprise), but the party will need other aspects too, for certain.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Dear god... I like the idea of a communist sorcerer.

"Down the Burgoise! Death to the Aristocrats!" *spell thematics: hammer and sickle magic missiles*

[Academia Nut]

This could definitely work, as long as I see write-ups of those feats somewhere.

They're in Lords of Madness, and the rules are a bit complicated in that the feats interact with one another in a few ways, some of them more specifically then others. The aberrant feats I would pick at 5th level would be Aberration Blood, Scavenging Gullet, and Waterspawn, with Aberration Wild Shape at 6th level.

Summary: For every aberrant feat you have, you take a -1 penalty to Diplomacy, Disguise, Gather Information, Handle Animal, and wild empathy checks.

Aberration Blood is the starter for the tree, and it lets you pick from a list of bonuses via the way of physical changes to the body. For this build I would go with the webbed fingers that give +4 to swim.

Scavenging Gullet lets you eat anything vaguely organic and gain sustenance from it, while also giving a +4 bonus to resist ingested poisons or diseases.

Waterspawn basically makes you amphibious, giving a swim speed equal to the land speed, +8 racial bonus to swim checks, ability to take 10 on Swim under any circumstances, ability to use the run action while swimming, the ability to breathe air or water equally well, and cold resistance 5 to help deal with the icy depths.

Aberration Wild Shape essentially adds the aberration type to the list of things you can use wild shape to turn into, with all of the regular restrictions of wild shape.

The character idea I have right now is of a human child who was outcast for having a freakish appearance, but was taken in by a kindly druid who raised the child in the swamp where the murky waters hid the aberrant form. But now X (where X is defined by the campaign/DM) has forced the druid out of the comfortable swamp and into the life of an adventurer.

Also, I would be totally willing to take a flaw to gain another aberrant feat. I was thinking murky eyed or inattentive to represent the character's senses being maladapted to seeing in air and water as they try and do both, but obviously the use of flaws is DM dependent, but I just thought I would swing the thought past you.

---

The communist necromancer probably wouldn't work simply because such a character would essentially be a minion creator and director and would probably have all sorts of paladins and clerics harrying the party non-stop. Still, wanted to run the idea past you.

---

The binder I could play, although yeah, such a character would be a potential disruption to party cohesiveness, although I could play the character as a sort of aloof rogue such that hopefully the other characters would dismiss the binder going missing for a few minutes each day as simply 'one of those things'

---

The dervish is currently in the back-up file because while being a living blender is cool, I haven't really thought up a good character background yet.

---

Oh, and Comrade Tortoise, I can one up one. Communist ranger, dual wielding a hammer and sickle and with an attitude somewhere between the mythological Robin Hood and Lenin.

[Jason_Firewalker]

Name: Bhesame
Race: Human
Class: Monk of Bahamut
Level: 5

Str 12
Dex 16
Con 11
Int 10
Wis 16
Cha 15

HP: Total is total listed from dice roll at end of post

Feats:
Sacred Vow
Vow Of Poverty
Improved Grapple
Improved Disarm
Nymph's Kiss (+1 Skill Points Starting at the lvl taken, +1 to saves vs spells and +2 on all charisma checks)
Weapon Finesse
Servant Of The Heavens

AC: 21

Special:
Flurry Of Blows
Monk Unarmed Strike (1d8)
Evasion
Still Mind
Ki Strike Magic
Slow Fall (20 Ft)
Purity Of Body
Endure Elements
Sustenance
Exalted Strike +1 (Magic)

Fort: +5
Ref: +7
Will: +7

Attacks:
Unarmed Strike:
To-Hit: +7
Damage: 1d8+2

Flurry Of Blows:
To Hit: +6/+6
Damage: 1d8+2

Equipment:
3 worn travelers outfits
1 Backpack
1 Quarterstaff (never used as weapon but as a walking stick)

Skills:
Hide: 11 = 3+8
Move Silently: 11 = 3+8
Diplomacy: 14 =2+8+2+2
Tumble: 11 = 3+8
Listen: 11 = 3+8
Spot: 7 = 3+4



Edit: Reroll with GM permission
Edit: Fixing stats and rerolling HP again due to Snafu with fricking point spending and skillpoints

[Comrade Tortoise]

Oh, and Comrade Tortoise, I can one up one. Communist ranger, dual wielding a hammer and sickle and with an attitude somewhere between the mythological Robin Hood and Lenin.

I can do better

A burly priest of dialectic materialism who duel wields a war hammer and sickle, who specializes in the use of enchantments that do two things

1) inspire bravery and love for the motherland
2) terrify

has the leadership feat, and one of his followers is a druid who focuses on plants...

[rhoenix]

Ok, can we move past the "I can make a better Communist character than you can" thing now?

[Comrade Tortoise]

http://www.libriumarcana.com/RPG/public ... .php?id=22

But communism is fun...

I mean, in the soviet union, you dont find party, party finds you...

[Academia Nut]

Third pass character sheet:

Doran of Patience, 5th level NG human male druidic avenger

Ability Score Cost Modifier
Str 14 6 2
Dex 12 4 1
Con 16 10 3
Int 10 2 0
Wis 18 13 4
Cha 9 1 -1

Wisdom +1 at 4th level

Feats
Aberration Blood [webbed fingers] (+4 to swim)
Scavenging Gullet (eat anything, +4 to saves vs. ingested poisons, diseases)
Waterspawn (cold resistance 5, swim speed, +8 swim, breathe in water or air)

Skills Ranks Ability Modifier Total
Concentration 5 3 0 8
Craft (leatherworking) 2 0 0 2
Intimidate 4 -1 0 3
Knowledge (nature) 8 0 2 10
Spellcraft 5 0 0 5
Survival 8 4 2 14
Swim (includes penalty) 8 2 8 18

Possessions
Dragoncraft black scale armour 6200
Masterwork shortspear 302
+1 large wooden shield 1157
Cloak of resistance +1 1000
Wand of cure moderate wounds (5 charges) 450
Wand of cure light wounds 525
Masterwork sling 300
66gp lef over

Abilities
Fast movement
Rage 1/day
Nature sense
Wild empathy (-3 modifier)
Woodland stride
Trackless step
Resist Nature's Lure
Wild shape 1/day, 5HD, small, medium

AC 18
HP 41
BAB 3
Fort 8 +4 vs ingested poisons, diseases
Ref 3
Will 9 +4 vs fey spell-like abilities

Weapons Masterwork shortspear 6 1d6+2 x2
Masterwork sling 5 1d4+2 x2

Spells
5 orisons Cure minor wounds
Cure minor wounds
Detect magic
Light
Guidance
4 1st Cure light wounds
Cure light wounds
Entangle
Produce flame
3 2nd Fog cloud
Soften earth and stone
Summon swarm
2 3rd Summon nature's ally
Cure moderate wounds


HP

[Academia Nut]

Attempting a reroll of hp because the DM told me to.

[Jason_Firewalker]

Academia, whats your alignment?

[SirNitram]

VoP?

Yea, this'll end in a pillar of fire.

[Haizu]

Name: Edward "Eddie" Barslow
Race: Halfling
Class: Rogue (Halfling Substitute)
Lvl: 5

BAB: +3
Attack Melee: +4
Attack Missile: +9
Str: 11
Dex: 20
Con: 14
Int: 12
Wis: 10
Cha: 14
Initiative: +5
Speed: 20
HP: 25 (Used HP from Char Gen, unable to find dice value for Halfling)
Fort: +4
Ref: +10
Will: +2
+2 vs Fear

AC: 18
Touch AC: 16

Feats
Quick Draw
Stealthy

Special
Ranged Sneak Attack: 4d6
Melee Sneak Attack: 2d6
Trapfinding
Evasion
Thief's Luck 1/Day
Uncanny Dodge

Skills
Balance: 7
Bluff: 10
Climb: 2
Diplomacy: 4
Disable Device: 9
Gather Info: 10
Hide: 19
Jump: -2
Kno Local: 5
Listen: 2
Move Silently: 17
Open Lock: 13
Search: 5
Sleight Of Hand: 11
Spot: 4
Tumble: 13
Languages: Common, Elven, Halfling

Gear
Short Spear [1d4, Crit x2, Range 20ft, 3 lbs, 1H, P] x2
Rapier [1d4, Crit 18-20/x2, 1 lbs, 1H, P]
Nightscale [+2 AC, +10 Max Dex, 0 ACP, 5% AF]
Standard Adventurers Kit: Backpack, Belt Pouch, Bedroll, Flint and Steel, Hempen Rope, Sunrods, Trail Rations x10, Waterskin
Thieves' Tools
Hooded Lantern
Oil Flask x2
Signal Whistle
Spyglass
Whetstone

[rhoenix]

After getting home this morning, I just came to a conclusion. I don't feel like changing everything around due to Jason's Vow of Poverty feat. So, Jason, sorry - but you can't have that feat.

[Cynical Cat]

After getting home this morning, I just came to a conclusion. I don't feel like changing everything around due to Jason's Vow of Poverty feat. So, Jason, sorry - but you can't have that feat.

No DM should ever apologize for disallowing Vow of Poverty.

[Jason_Firewalker]

I totally understamd and will post a new character soon...



Edit: fixed spelling error

[Cynical Cat]

Sorry, wrong thread.