DnD Splitoff Campaign

[The Argent Lord]

New first post is here!

Plot: You were in a coastal land for reason to be explained by you, and managed to piss off the lord who rules there. Again, how that happened is to be explained by you. In any case, you were pursued by his personal guard, and only just managed to escape on a ship. (Stolen? Borrowed from an associate? Again, explained by you. You may be seeing a pattern here.) In any case, you have two real choices. First, you could head back to the shore at some point. This is dangerous because you think the lord has probably called out a bounty on you. The other option is heading out to sea. You know there are other lands there, but they're not well charted. You have supplies for a decent journey, but you'd be shooting in the dark trying to find civilization.

Level: 5
Starting gold: 9000
Alignment: Any
Books: Core Rulebooks allowed, others at my discretion.
Method: Play-by-post
Character Sheets: Preferably hosted on Myth Weavers (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/).

Current players:
Mac
Mr. Bookworm*
PhoenixFlame (http://forum.nuklearpower.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=6768&d=1230064146)*
Menarker (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=97957)*
Attila the Pun
secretskull (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=99987)*
Megaman FTW*

Linked if the character sheet is in, starred if the person has confirmed they're playing.

[Daimo Mac, The Blue Light of Hope]

I'll have my sheet up late tomorrow

[Mr.Bookworm]

As in the other thread, I want in.

Could you do a background/available books/relevant info fact-sheet?

[The Argent Lord]

They've got five players already, there's only four in this one, so you should probably join up here. Explanation of the campaign premise:
All right, so I think I'm gonna make my campaign a bit more serious that Attila's. So far what I have is, you pissed off the lord of the countryside you were adventuring in. A lot. He put a fairly large bounty on your heads. So various unsavory characters were after you, and your only way out without dying was to steal a ship and set out to sea. Problem now is, you're fairly sure he'll send word down the coastline for you to be apprehended if you put into port. So you either need to find a way to sneak back to land without being noticed, or head out into the uncharted ocean in hopes of finding another landmass, preferably inhabited.

This will be a pretty open-ended sort of thing, kind of a Darths and Droids DMing style. Basically, if you make up in-character details about the world, I'll incorporate them. I'd like a decent amount of roleplaying, too, with fleshed-out backstories for characters and such.

Available books, I'd prefer you stay as core as possible. I do have access to all the 3.5 books, but I'd like you to run anything non-core by me before use.

[PhoenixFlame]

Complete anything?

Level 1? Point Buy? Rolled? Starting Gold?

[Menarker]

Apparently the layout is level 5, Rolled and 9000 gold to start.

[The Argent Lord]

Yep, sorry. I forgot to mention that for simplicity's sake, I'll use the same setup Atilla is using.

As to Complete books, like I said, just run it past me. It's mostly just so I don't have to worry about someone doing something later and I go "Wait, what? How'd he do that?"

[PhoenixFlame]

I'm just wondering if I can take the jummy feats like Flick of the Wrist (So concealed weapons mean something) and dipping swashbuckler so my intelligence means something more than mere skillpoints, since I won't be dipping wizard.

Oh, and so I can get weapon finesse without mysteriously being a sniper for 2 levels before suddenly learning how to flourish a rapier. XD

[The Argent Lord]

That should be fine.

[Mr.Bookworm]

Yep, sorry. I forgot to mention that for simplicity's sake, I'll use the same setup Atilla is using.

As to Complete books, like I said, just run it past me. It's mostly just so I don't have to worry about someone doing something later and I go "Wait, what? How'd he do that?"

Could I go Swordsage? I just got ToB, and I really want to try it out.

If not, howabout Beguiler?

...

That may quite possibly be the best roll I've ever had in my life. (invisiblecastle.com/stats/view/19324/)

Usually I get like 9, 9, 12, 15, 10, 12.

[The Argent Lord]

Grrr. You and your damn alternate base classes. If you have to play Beguiler, you can. I'd really prefer something core, though.

[Mr.Bookworm]

...No Swordsage? =(

Ah, well.

So, why only-core preferably?

[The Argent Lord]

Swordsage is worse in that I also have to keep track of all the ToB abilities.

Basically, preferably core-only mostly to make it easier on me because this is my first time DMing.

[Mr.Bookworm]

Swordsage is worse in that I also have to keep track of all the ToB abilities.

Basically, preferably core-only mostly to make it easier on me because this is my first time DMing.

Ooooooooooh.

Okay, then.

I'll go Ranger, then.

[The Argent Lord]

Thankee kindly. :)

[Mr.Bookworm]

Also, is Horizon Walker okay for sixth level?

What are the alignment restrictions?

[The Argent Lord]

Yeah, that's fine. And no alignment restrictions.

[Mr.Bookworm]

Sorry to keep bugging you, but are there any hints on what we'll be fighting? Favored Enemy can be kind of useless if you pick, say, Undead, and your DM starts throwing Dragons at you.

[The Argent Lord]

Not really. I don't even know yet... <_< >_> Kinda depends on where you choose to go with the stolen boat and such. You're not on a "save the world from the necromancers" quest or anything like that, so there probably isn't really one specific enemy type you'll be facing a ridiculous amount of. Although if you head back to where you came from, human bounty hunters and guards would be a safe bet.

[PhoenixFlame]

Used bookworm's site

http://invisiblecastle.com/stats/view/19325/

Giving me S11/D17/C11/I16/W9/C15

Will do my sheet sometime tomorrow morning, I'm thinking Swashbuckler 3/Rogue 2

Edit: Sheet's up, haven't had time to fine-tune the background, but she's an dispossessed noble turned rogue/hawker after her house was coup'd. Her mentor is ironically, the man involved in systematically murdering her family. Mechanics wise, I didn't like the idea of always carrying a silly bow. You can't hide silly bows! It's kinda hard to carry a lot of knives, but I found the dart entry in the core SRD that gives me Sakuya Izayoi capabilities without over encumbering myself horribly.

Level 5, 9000 gold, yes? I think that was it.

Edit2: I noticed that, if I rearranged my feats it's actually possible to reach Invisible Blade by sixth level, yet I doubt you'd actually let me do that. However, I quite like daggers, even if they are fairly subpar weapons in general. ((At least it isn't Battle Sorceror 6, Dragonslayer 1, Raumathari Battlemage 1, Spellsword 3, Elditch Knight 9, right? >_> Right?))

[The Argent Lord]

I assume the lack of other character sheets is due to Christmas, just wanted to let everyone know I do plan on running this as soon as everyone has characters in.

[secretskull]

I tried signing up in the original thread, (quite a while ago), and the answer wasn't so definite. So I'm wondering if you wouldn't mind one more character?

[Pip Boy]

I have some questions and some helpful suggestions. I guess I'll start with the questions. First, do you have room for one more? I've been looking for a group to play with for ages, and am interested in trying out a sorceror/rogue combo, something I've never done before.

Questions two, do casters get sneak attack damage on spells against helpless/flat-footed enemies? I've heard of some DM's allowing that, but I don't know if it is part of normal D&D rules or if that was just a house rule at that one place.

Third, how are you planning on running the game? Are you using Play-by-post or other means? If you haven't used it before, I would suggest you have a look at Maptool, which is a freeware program availible at this place here (http://rptools.net/doku.php).

Last, a suggestion. Following the thread makes it a little unclear who is doing what as we prepare, and there are lots of iffy answers to things, so can you get up a game info post and just update it as we go so we know for sure who is playing, what classes they are playing, if they've gotten their characters in already etc? If we use maptool you can use this post to get up information about when we'll be having play sessions.

EDIT: I don't check into this subforum often, and actually did just recently specifically to find a D&D group, so if you want me in the group and have answers to these questions, you should probably PM or I'll never find your post. Thanks.

ANOTHER EDIT: If you do want me to join, you should probably tell me what format you want my character sheet in. I can scan in a written character sheet, fill in a fillable sheet, make a text file with all the basic necessary info, or I can whip up a Character Tool file.

[The Argent Lord]

Since people aren't showing up, you guys are welcome here. Anyone who is playing, please come back and post to reconfirm, and I'll do what Megaman FTW suggested, and update the main post.

[Pip Boy]

Well, I'll try and get a character rolled up soon, but I don't know how long it will take. I will need to find the eBooks I got for 3.5 (legal because I owned the actual manuals when I downloaded them), but now the real ones have been worn from use and thrown away and I don't know if I still have the 3.5 eBooks.

EDIT: I'd like to suggest a reason for the group to be together and piss of warlord, get on boat, etc.

Alaric Conri, the character that I will be playing, was a rogue through most of his life that stole by necessity to survive. In his late youth, he discovered that he had a natural gift for magic, and decided to explore the possibilities of his powers, hoping they would bring him a new way of life. He began travelling on something much like a journey of self discoverey, on his way meeting a captain who had use for his magical skills onboard his ship. He ventured with this captain along the coast line over the years, helping to defend his vessel from pirates and learning to sail. Eventually the captain died from illness and he continued his wandering into a valley ruled by a powerful warlord. Alaric lived a normal life here for a time until he was sought out for his extraordinary skills, and went to work for the warlord as a personal assistant. This worked out well for Alaric until he found a creative use of his high charisma score involving the warlord's daughter, and he was sentenced to death. Being the clever rogue that he was, however, Alaric escaped and found a group of the warlord's enemy's, hoping to find safety in numbers. Together they plotted to steal the warlord's favorite boat, and hauled their scurvey asses out to sea.

Believable yet fantastic, and leaves things open enough that each player can still think of their own personal way to piss off Sir Henry Motherf**ker. Yays? Nays?

[Menarker]

Still willing and waiting with my Wizzie. :3

[Pip Boy]

One last note, I'd like to warn my teammates that I am personally somewhat inexperienced with playing a caster. My only previous experience with casters has been when I was playing a fighter, monk, or barbarian, and in one case a favored soul and watching over a caster's shoulder while they played. While this may be a bit of a detriment to the team in battle, I think it will help me role play well because my own inexperience with casters will thus be reflected in the actions of my character, who has a very limited knowledge of his own powers himself. He isn't some studious mage locked up in his tower all day, he is a rogue that discovered he had magical powers and went, "Mage-chucks yo."

[Mr.Bookworm]

I'm still in.

I really need to work on my Ranger, though.

[PhoenixFlame]

Still here.

[secretskull]

I'm in. Argent, would it be all right if I played a Warlock? It's not a Core class, but I'm hoping it isn't too much.

If it's a problem then I've got some ideas for a Paladin I've been wanting to try out.

[Pip Boy]

Awesome! Looks like we've got a good 1:1 caster to non-caster ratio. This could turn interesting. I wonder if there is any way we can make our boat faster than theirs so that we can just lob fire spells at them and then run away while they burn to death.

EDIT: Argent, do we have to roll our hp past level 1 or can we just take the average from our class hit die?

RAAAAGE: Just found out my brother deleted all my edition 3.5 Ebooks. I'll need to get somemore sometime when I have a more stable connection. This will mean I won't be able to join right away.

[The Argent Lord]

First post updated. And secretskull, I'll tell you the same thing I told Bookie. If you really must, you can, but as a new DM I'd rather not have to deal with it.

[Pip Boy]

Guys, anyone know where I can get a new set of 3.5 E-books fast? Any way I can get them is probably legal since I've already gone and purchased all of them twice up to this point. My brother decided to delete them without asking me during a moment of retardation while attempting to clear room on the harddrive for warcraft III.

[The Argent Lord]

You can roll them. And I could possibly direct you towards a method of acquiring your most definitely legal D&D eBooks...

[Pip Boy]

Good news and bad news.

The good news is that I've gotten a D&D ed 3.5 core rulebooks torrent going and will soon have the books I need.

The bad news is that "soon" is a relative term, and if my internet keeps up it's current break-neck pace of .2 Kilobites per second, I will have the download finished in 18 weeks, 3 days, 17 hours, and 34 minutes from now.

[secretskull]

Ok, my stats didn't come out so suitable for a Paladin, so I'm going with a cleric instead.

http://invisiblecastle.com/stats/view/19410

Just switching around the Strength and Charisma, I forgot to do it before I saved the stats. I have:
Strength 11 Dextirity 11, Constitution 11, Intelligence 11, Wisdom 17, Charisma 14.

Not amazing, but it isn't too hard to play a cleric in any case. Character sheet will be up soon.

[Pip Boy]

Just putting in my ability scores (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1876191/). I'll be finishing my character sheet soon and then updating it unto this post.

[secretskull]

Well, I'm nearly done just a few more kinks to work out and I'll post the completed sheet.

Argent, I've got a few feats I might be interested in taking along with a few items, I wanted to get your permission for them first.

1. Intuitive Attack: From the book of Exalted Deeds. This would let me use my Wisdom bonus instead of my Strength bonus to hit with simple weapons.

2. Holy Symbol of an Ideal: From Complete Divine. The books give the guidelines for creating Holy Symbols for ideals and Domains. Basing it off the examples in the book, I would like a Mysticism symbol, that grants +1 caster level for transmutation and Mysticism domain spells.

3. "Special Magic Item": My stats are mostly 11s so I was hoping I could put them to good use and get a magic item that grants a +1 to stats. The Magic Item creation rules put the cost at 1000 GP (Bonus squared *1000). I won't be taking more then one or two of these.

Is all this all right with you, (at least I'm not asking for Dynamic Priest)?

[The Argent Lord]

1 and 3 seem okay. I can't find the rules for the second one in Complete Divine, though. Where would those be?

[secretskull]

Oops, my mistake that. It's in Complete Champion, page 135. I based my symbol on the Vanguard of Kord on the same page.

[The Argent Lord]

Okay. That seems fine, then.

[Pip Boy]

Alright, I've done most of my character sheet (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=99528). There may be some stuff to go finish up later. This is one of the first casters I've actually played (I've almost always favored martial classes before) so if we have any experienced caster players who have time, it'd be swell if you could look over my character and tell me if you think there is anything that should be fixed.

Question to DM: Will a phylactery of faithfulness have any effect if the diety my character worships is entirely fictional, even in the D&D setting?

[The Argent Lord]

Assuming there are some precept the character feels he should follow, I don't see why not.

[Mr.Bookworm]

So, I'm building my Ranger, and decided I didn't like either of the two Combat Styles for this particular character. Could I take the Piscator alternate combat style? Here, at page 100. (http://www.crystalkeep.com/d20/rules/DnD3.5Index-Classes-Base.pdf)

Basically, for now, that would just give me Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Net).

Works really well for the character, too, fluffwise.

Also, do you have any idea what type of humanoids are prominent in the area?

[The Argent Lord]

Sure, why not? As to humanoids, which area? Like I said, you guys are pretty much choosing the path of this campaign. There will be different encounters based on what you decide to do. The lord you pissed off will probably send humans after you, though.

[Mr.Bookworm]

Sure, why not? As to humanoids, which area? Like I said, you guys are pretty much choosing the path of this campaign. There will be different encounters based on what you decide to do. The lord you pissed off will probably send humans after you, though.

The coastal area, and I suppose sort of the bigger area in general. Like 500 mile radius area.

[The Argent Lord]

Um... coastal area has a lot of humans and halflings, and lesser numbers of half-orcs and half-elves. Other races are pretty rare in the cities, and generally keep to their own communities, which are more inland. Basically, anything in the PHB that starts with an H is a decent bet. As to out in the ocean, it's pretty much uncharted. Normal sailors' tales of monsters, mermaids, and savages.

[Pip Boy]

We should probably pool our remaining resources to get a Bottle of Air or Pearl of Sirens since I just realized that I forgot to take swim.

Argent Lord, if we ever do get to a civilized area, how much leeway are we likely to get in the use of magical talents (creative uses of charm person, disguise, bluff, silent image, and ghost sound) for purposes of scamming silly NPC's for all of their shiny loot?

[The Argent Lord]

We should probably pool our remaining resources to get a Bottle of Air or Pearl of Sirens since I just realized that I forgot to take swim.

Argent Lord, if we ever do get to a civilized area, how much leeway are we likely to get in the use of magical talents (creative uses of charm person, disguise, bluff, silent image, and ghost sound) for purposes of scamming silly NPC's for all of their shiny loot?

The amount of magical protection a merchant employs is directly proportional to the value of his merchandise.

[Mr.Bookworm]

The amount of magical protection a merchant employs is directly proportional to the value of his merchandise.

Or to take the easy approach, we could just beat him up and take his stuff. =P

EDIT: Apologies for continued bugging, but could I use a Maul? Martial 2-hander, 1d10 bashing, x3 crit, 15 gp, 20 pounds. From Complete Warrior.

EDIT2: Could I also bypass the usual percentage-of-wealth-you're-allowed-to-spend-on-one-item rule? So I can make it an adamantine maul? I've got the rest of my equipment done, and I've got the gold leftover. It could come in handy. (Any good hammerman knows that a hammer is just a really big set of lockpicks.)

[secretskull]

We should probably pool our remaining resources to get a Bottle of Air or Pearl of Sirens since I just realized that I forgot to take swim.

I'm a cleric in full plate, sailing in the middle of the sea. I've got Water Walk prepared.

http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=99987

There you go Argent, not especially optimized, but a nice buffing cleric. Anyone who is so inclined can make suggestions for improvement freely.

Now that the pressure is off me to finish the sheet, I can work on writing out the backstory.

[The Argent Lord]

Yay, another sheet!

Or to take the easy approach, we could just beat him up and take his stuff. =P
That is a wonderful idea. Try that. I dare you. >:)
EDIT: Apologies for continued bugging, but could I use a Maul? Martial 2-hander, 1d10 bashing, x3 crit, 15 gp, 20 pounds. From Complete Warrior.

EDIT2: Could I also bypass the usual percentage-of-wealth-you're-allowed-to-spend-on-one-item rule? So I can make it an adamantine maul? I've got the rest of my equipment done, and I've got the gold leftover. It could come in handy. (Any good hammerman knows that a hammer is just a really big set of lockpicks.)Sure. Sounds fine.

[PhoenixFlame]

Or to take the easy approach, we could just beat him up and take his stuff. =P

(Any good hammerman knows that a hammer is just a really big set of lockpicks.)

Any amount of supernatural protection is often bypassed by the most natural (if clever) means.

Oh, you! You insult my lockpicking powers, and I just realised that I too forgot to take swim *facepalm*. Luckily, I don't sink quite so easily.

[Mr.Bookworm]

That is a wonderful idea. Try that. I dare you. >:)

Remember when I said the maul would come in handy? ;)

Sure. Sounds fine.

Thank you.

I wanted something a bit heavier than a mace, which is what I was thinking of using. A big ol' hammer should be enough for St. Cuthy.

Oh, you! You insult my lockpicking powers, and I just realised that I too forgot to take swim *facepalm*. Luckily, I don't sink quite so easily.

Who needs a rogue when you have a hammer? =P

I should probably remember to grab a few ranks of swim, too.

[Pip Boy]

Who needs a rogue when you have a hammer? =P

Who needs a hammer or a rogue when you have a sorcerror/rogue? My spell selection has all gone for mostly non-combat stuff, but stuff that will still be fun if applied creatively. There are almost unlimited ways simple illusion spells can be used to screw with people. Playing a rogue is normally fun, but then you're limited by physics, reality, and all those other arbitrary limitations. Rogue sorcerrors get to do all the fun crap.

Quick question, rogues get sneak attack on all attacks made under circumstances that permit sneak attacks, right? So if I get to make 2 attacks on a guy while he is flat flooted or flanked, I deal sneak attack twice? The reason I am asking is to find out if it will apply to certain spells specifically, as some specifically permit more than one touch attack as part of the spell Things like Scorching Ray, which would go from 4d6 per ray up to 5d6 per ray. Cuz I shoots em in their jewls.

EDIT: Anyone else but Bookworm running an evil character? If so, I'll switch to evil too so we can start a club and then backstab all the good people at the end. It'll be hilarious.

[Mr.Bookworm]

Rolled HP. (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1886175/)

Continuing my absolutely fan-fucking-tastic streak of good luck, I rolled a 6, 8, 7, and 8.

Hm. I rolled the last one near midnight, too. Maybe that has something to do with it.

[The Argent Lord]

Okay, so I'm looking to start this Thursday night. Please try to have your sheets done by then.

[Pip Boy]

Where'd everybody go?

[Mr.Bookworm]

*sigh*

I got bludgeoned over the head with another group of players, and I ended up DMing.

Unfortunately, I never actually got my sheet done, and with being busy with DMing, I don't think I'll be able to play.

Sorry, Argent. Sounded like fun. If you end up running it, maybe I can find a way in sometime later, when I don't have a lot of work to do.

[Pip Boy]

I'm kind of IN the group he got bludgeoned with DMing, so I'm probably out too, seeing as this thread is already starting to collect dust and cobwebs.

[The Argent Lord]

Nah. Not dusty or cobwebby, at least not really. I was kinda hoping to wait until one or the other of you finished a character sheet so we'd at least have a 4-person party, but didn't want to double-post. Although, I'm now also running a RL game, so trying to do this as well may be a bad idea. *shrug*