Author Topic: [3.5] Everything Trying To Kill You  (Read 27363 times)

Offline dither

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[3.5] Everything Trying To Kill You
« on: August 07, 2014, 04:08:49 PM »
I'm gauging interest for a play-by-post campaign.

Pretty much everyone here plays some variation of 3.5 and that's okay with me. 4e is more my thing but nobody likes it, so I won't make a fuss.

Please just don't... Don't talk to me about Pathfinder.

---
The game:

I want to run what is basically a hex crawl. I don't care about your character's background. I wouldn't care about your character's name either, it's just the easiest way to refer to a character.

Everyone starts at 1st level. I will try to kill you. But not in a cheap way, because that's dumb.

I'm going to try and run the game as close to "Rules As Written" as I can, "interpreting" and "ruling" as little as possible. Call it a personal goal.

Beyond that, it's pretty much an "anything goes" kind of deal. Break the rules however you want, it's your game. I have no story to tell.

I don't care how many people play or when they add/drop. I'll run for one if that's who's interested.

---
Here's the deal:

I have two things.

1. I don't much care for Third Party material, setting-specific material, or Web Enhancements. I own most of the basic 3.5 library. Why isn't that enough? If you want Psionics or Incarnum or whatever, I have you covered. I don't want to read Eberron this, Toril that. You want hirelings? Great. You want the Leadership feat? Fantastic. You want to create your own magic items? It's in the DMG. You want Aberrant feats? Lords of Madness.

I understand this is a bit of a "personal" thing, but I have a pretty good handle on the basic WotC material -- even the weirder stuff. I'm going to go out of my way to kill you -- but to not screw you. And that gets more difficult when I'm less familiar with the material. I just never cared that much about FR/Eberron. The basic stuff I've practically read to death. You want to play a Hellborn? Knock yourself out.

Scrolls of Amn? Go for it. Warblade? Got you covered. Vow of Poverty Monk? ...Well, only if you insist. How about that Evil Halfling Subrace from BoVD?

2. I'm not going to award XP. Nope. Here's what we're going to do instead: you trade GP for XP on a 1:1 basis. Does that mean the game breaks when you can use magic to fabricate GP? Maybe. We'll cross that bridge if and when we come to it. There will necessarily be some math changes in calculating XP on a per-level basis; XP costs for spells will become GP costs, and the 1/25 XP cost of magic items will change.

Not sure yet, haven't decided.

edit: Upon review, I realized there is no reason to change the values of pretty much anything. XP cost per level is per normal. GP cost for item creation is per normal. Just ignore the XP component for item creation because you're technically buying magic items out of your XP already. Spells with XP components instead cost GP for the same reason.

---
Thoughts? Questions? Comments?


--Dither
« Last Edit: August 07, 2014, 06:16:46 PM by dither »
"Stuck between a rogue and a bard place."

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Offline McPoyo

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Re: [3.5] Everything Trying To Kill You
« Reply #1 on: August 07, 2014, 04:16:13 PM »
Clarification request: hex crawl?

Offline dither

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Re: [3.5] Everything Trying To Kill You
« Reply #2 on: August 07, 2014, 04:19:14 PM »
Clarification request: hex crawl?

Imagine the group is playing adventurers in Settlers of Catan. Towns! Settlements! Wood and ore!

In all seriousness, I just don't really "plan" to plan anything, and the game will move in whatever direction the party feels like.

A traditional hex crawl has a world map made of hexagons, which you fill it in as the party travels.


--Dither
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Offline McPoyo

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Re: [3.5] Everything Trying To Kill You
« Reply #3 on: August 07, 2014, 04:33:03 PM »
Okay, that makes more sense. Then inside each hex we may reveal a dungeon or some other type encounter deal?

Offline dither

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Re: [3.5] Everything Trying To Kill You
« Reply #4 on: August 07, 2014, 04:44:00 PM »
Pretty much.

I'll do some theme stuff, come up with a name for the area -- kind of like zones in an MMO. E.g. if there's an area called the "Demon Swamp" I'll put some demon-themed things in there.

For the sake of expediency, I'll leave a lot of things transparent. Communication on the Internet is hard enough as it is, I don't need to keep that many secrets.

I'll also take "requests" (within reason) if a player really wants to get eaten by a mind flayer or something. ;)

-- For the purpose of requests, it'd be really handy to get book references.

As I said, I have a pretty good handle on the basic 3.5 stuff but I couldn't tell you off hand which book Initiate of the Seven Veils is in -- see, I think it's in Complete Arcane but I don't remember precisely. If someone wants to bump into a faun, it would help if they could just remind me that it's in Deities & Demigods so I don't have to look for it.

I'm fuzzier on MM3/MM4/MM5, but we can do Mind Flayers of Thoon if that's what people want.


--Dither
« Last Edit: August 07, 2014, 04:45:39 PM by dither »
"Stuck between a rogue and a bard place."

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Offline McPoyo

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Re: [3.5] Everything Trying To Kill You
« Reply #5 on: August 07, 2014, 04:58:57 PM »
Well, color me interested.

Offline dither

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Re: [3.5] Everything Trying To Kill You
« Reply #6 on: August 07, 2014, 05:10:10 PM »
Okay, I'll PM a mod post in the forum request thread about a sub-forum.

A couple quick questions:
1.) 25 point-buy is pretty standard on the Internet right? You can always get wishes later.

2.) Any race/class combination you're interested in outside the PHB I can look it up now?

3.) Is there something you want to fight/loot right off the bat I can look up now?

4.) Do you want to go to a town first, or to a dungeon? (Or something else?)

I can flip a coin if you don't have a preference. ;)


--Dither
« Last Edit: August 07, 2014, 05:16:26 PM by dither »
"Stuck between a rogue and a bard place."

Home of my game design blog and webcomic:
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Offline McPoyo

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Re: [3.5] Everything Trying To Kill You
« Reply #7 on: August 07, 2014, 05:25:01 PM »
No preferences, gotta decide what I want to play, first.

Powerful, yet survivable...hmm.

Offline dither

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Re: [3.5] Everything Trying To Kill You
« Reply #8 on: August 07, 2014, 05:28:13 PM »
No preferences, gotta decide what I want to play, first.

Powerful, yet survivable...hmm.

Hireling, Trained (source: PHB)
(standard array; PHB races; NPC classes; assume a week's pay in advance)
The amount given is the typical daily wage for mercenary warriors, masons, craftsmen, scribes, teamsters, and other trained hirelings. This value (3 sp per day) represents a minimum wage; many such hirelings require significantly higher pay.

---
Play will begin in an area called the "Sparkrise Fens," a marsh known for its Shocker Lizards (CR 2) and the occasional Will-O'-Wisp (CR 6).

One or more settlements may be nearby.


--Dither
« Last Edit: August 07, 2014, 05:36:31 PM by dither »
"Stuck between a rogue and a bard place."

Home of my game design blog and webcomic:
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Offline dither

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Re: [3.5] Everything Trying To Kill You
« Reply #9 on: August 07, 2014, 05:42:06 PM »
Your ability to anticipate and improvise ("wicked cunning") will probably serve you a lot better than any particular build.

I've always wanted to play a straight-up Dwarf Binder (ToM).

If you decide to invest GP in your hirelings, I'll let you level them up.

Be warned that if anyone dies, Raise Dead is 5k.

A player who doesn't have any hirelings or followers to fall back on can always roll up a new PC. Otherwise, you have to hire and pay those guys.


--Dither
"Stuck between a rogue and a bard place."

Home of my game design blog and webcomic:
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Offline sirpercival

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Re: [3.5] Everything Trying To Kill You
« Reply #10 on: August 07, 2014, 06:19:41 PM »
Hm, too bad. I'd totally run some homebrew through this kind of thing, but you're not interested. Oh well, have fun everyone! :)
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Offline dither

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Re: [3.5] Everything Trying To Kill You
« Reply #11 on: August 07, 2014, 06:27:04 PM »
I'd totally run some homebrew through this kind of thing...

I'm not one to turn away potential players without discussion, and I'm not allergic to change -- I just want to keep variables to a minimum.

Talk to me: what kind of homebrew are we talking about?

Before you answer, let me say I would consider "one" piece of homebrew at a time.

Like, one new race. Or one new class. But not a battery of feats or new spells. Otherwise, what would be the point of the new material? You can hardly test the effectiveness of a given rule unless you isolate it from other changes. It's the scientific method, yo.

I don't think this is unreasonable. Let me know if you disagree.


--Dither
"Stuck between a rogue and a bard place."

Home of my game design blog and webcomic:
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Offline sirpercival

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Re: [3.5] Everything Trying To Kill You
« Reply #12 on: August 07, 2014, 06:30:14 PM »
Not unreasonable at all. I'm not sure it would work, since my homebrews tend to be new subsystems with lots of supporting stuff, but I'll take a look.
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Offline McPoyo

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Re: [3.5] Everything Trying To Kill You
« Reply #13 on: August 07, 2014, 06:35:05 PM »
I actually may end up using Incarnum, of all things. Let me think on this and get back with a build stub later.

Offline dither

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Re: [3.5] Everything Trying To Kill You
« Reply #14 on: August 07, 2014, 06:42:51 PM »
I'm considering this method for level advancement:

Game is divided into "chapters" which represent one instance or scene or whatever, essentially whenever the party "zones."

Since "time is money," you burn the cash and level up in that chapter. You can advance one level per chapter.

I actually may end up using Incarnum, of all things. Let me think on this and get back with a build stub later.

I love incarnum, crazy blue soulstuff that it is. Go for it.

Not unreasonable at all. I'm not sure it would work, since my homebrews tend to be new subsystems with lots of supporting stuff, but I'll take a look.

You could burn through a lot of homebrew if you die or retire lots of PCs.

The only potential issue I have is if you try and import a bazillion PCs into a given chapter or scene. It's like, "how am I supposed to keep track of all your homebrew stuff? I'm sure it's easy for you, since you made it."

As a general rule, you should probably give a thing enough time to play out before you decide if it's worth following or not. But I'm sure you get that. Looking at all the crazy stuff you've brewed, I would consider say a martial discipline as long as you put it on say, a standard ToB class. Crusader, Swordsage, Warblade. Whatever. If you decided to retrain it later, that's cool too.

But first, I think it'd be a good idea to try and play before deciding if you want to use homebrew material. I don't know, it's up to you. I'd hate for you to have these expectations for experimenting and then be disappointed because you have The Diplomancer and the party doesn't stay anywhere long enough for you to chat people up.

--Dither
"Stuck between a rogue and a bard place."

Home of my game design blog and webcomic:
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Offline sirpercival

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Re: [3.5] Everything Trying To Kill You
« Reply #15 on: August 07, 2014, 06:50:11 PM »
So how much are you willing to work with? Here are a few options at decreasing involvement levels; I have multiple classes at each one except the last, so if you pick a category I'll pay more attention to that.

Sage is kind of a warlock-y type, which would require checking out a (quite large) new subsystem with lots of new material. I'm guessing this is a no.

Astronomer is a spellcaster-y type, for which you'd need to vet the class, the constellations, the phenomena, and probably the feats.

Dragonmage is a sorcerer analogue, and actually uses published spells so you wouldn't have to vet those, but would require vetting the various ideals (and there are a lot of them). Similarly, Warcrafter is a martial adept but with 4 new disciplines.

Nullblade has a new mechanic, but doesn't require vetting anything besides the class (and maybe a few feats) because it's all built in.

Shadowcaster is just a fix of the ToM one, with slightly altered mechanics and no changes to the mysteries themselves.

Faux edit: I try very hard to balance my stuff, usually around tier 3 (though the ones that use published spells are higher tier since spells can break the game). No diplomancing from me :)

I don't really have a single standalone discipline... I would say Essence of Gaia, except that there's no published ToB class which has an animal companion (hm, maybe a Wild Cohort would work...). If that's where you want to put the involvement at, I can consider that.

I ask about homebrew because I've done so much of it that the published stuff is pretty boring to me anymore. Obviously not everyone feels the same.
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Offline dither

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Re: [3.5] Everything Trying To Kill You
« Reply #16 on: August 07, 2014, 07:05:54 PM »
So how much are you willing to work with?

Oh. My.

Okay, my brain started shutting down in self-defense. I tried to review material through several of your links... but you have to realize you basically just waved several books at me and asked "how would you like to buy one of these?"

Instead of tasking me with review, how about you try and sell me on just one thing. Maybe one of the ones in the middle, I don't know. Talk me through it like you want me to actually say yes. Pretend like you're afraid I'll say no, and play it safe.

edit: You could imagine me as a new player who wants to try your class -- what should I "worry" about in the first few levels? What's the "point" of the class? I imagine you made them to address gaps in the game or to play with new mechanical ideas.


--Dither
« Last Edit: August 07, 2014, 07:08:03 PM by dither »
"Stuck between a rogue and a bard place."

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Offline sirpercival

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Re: [3.5] Everything Trying To Kill You
« Reply #17 on: August 07, 2014, 07:20:06 PM »
Haha sorry for the overload... I do that a lot, especially when someone asks for character ideas on the IRC. :yap

Ok, I think I've hit upon a good compromise. Will you please take a look at the Great Wheel Ranger? Summary:
  • A martial adept ranger. You split your readied maneuvers between yourself and your animal companion, and swap back and forth as you each initiate them.
  • There are a lot of homebrew disciplines available to choose from, but luckily I've set it up so that 3/4 of them can be from the published set. So the char would have White Raven, Stone Dragon or Tiger Claw, Desert Wind, and then one homebrew ranged discipline from a list. Choosing at random, let's go with Heaven's Arc.
  • Instead of favored enemies, the GW ranger gets Favored Planes, which grant various non-numerical (for the most part) abilities. Most of the Major abilities haven't been written yet, but it's probably irrelevant since I wouldn't get them until 14th level and we're starting at 1st.

So, some class mechanics and one discipline. I don't think that's a ton, hopefully! Let me know what you think. I haven't thought much about what the character would be like, but that's ok. I also won't do something ridiculous like a Fleshraker AC (not that I could at level 1 anyway).
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Offline dither

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Re: [3.5] Everything Trying To Kill You
« Reply #18 on: August 07, 2014, 07:30:08 PM »
A martial adept ranger.

I like it already. Ranger spells are kind of lame anyway.

I understand White Raven, Stone Dragon/Tiger Claw, and Desert Wind so the new discipline shouldn't faze me.

I have to ask though: good BAB, good fort/ref, 6 skills, animal companion, 3 maneuvers, and 1 stance at 1st level?

This is definitely not a "low powered" class. (It's definitely not tier 4-5, that's for certain.)

Standard ranger has to wait until 4th for the companion AND the spells (plus the companion progresses at like, half the rate of a Druid's companion, doesn't it?). Is this strictly an upgrade, or did you remove something to balance it?

I'm a designer too (most of my stuff's lost in the pages of my blog) so you can "talk shop" with me.

Why'd you make XYZ changes and what were you trying to accomplish?


--Dither
"Stuck between a rogue and a bard place."

Home of my game design blog and webcomic:
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Offline sirpercival

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Re: [3.5] Everything Trying To Kill You
« Reply #19 on: August 07, 2014, 07:38:01 PM »
I'm happy to explain my reasoning, though I don't know if this is the right place - I don't want to scare away other players by an in-depth discussion. We could either do this in the thread for that class, or in realtime on the mmx IRC channel (#mmxgeneral on irc.rizon.net).
I am the assassin of productivity

(member in good standing of the troll-feeders guild)

It's begun — my things have overgrown the previous sig.