Author Topic: Rules and World  (Read 2064 times)

Offline phaedrusxy

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Rules and World
« on: February 05, 2013, 10:16:52 AM »
copying over from here but mostly the same as here

Specifics for TheFrozen Night campaign (other than the stuff listed in the other posts in this thread):
  • Starting level 10th
  • 36 Point Buy
  • Max hit points at first level, average after that (3.5 on a d6, for example). Or you can roll after first, if you'd prefer that.
  • Wealth by level is basically thrown out the window. You get to start with 8 level-appropriate magic items. You can only use 8 magic items at a time, anyway. See below for details.
  • No flaws. 1 Trait
  • Partial BAB and saves (Unearthed Arcana)
  • No item crafting feats. Everyone can craft one item of their level at every character level. No XP cost for item crafting. If you get an item crafting feat as a bonus from a class, pick another feat that is appropriate for that class instead.
  • Guidance of the Avatar is banned, because it makes most skill checks meaningless. The Dark Chaos feat shuffle, and buying magical location feats and retraining them are both right out also. Other similarly broken things will be banned too. I'm sure I'm forgetting some.
  • Technically set in the Forgotten Realms, but most materials available. (All official D&D, and homebrew on a case by case basis, this version of "The Realms" will also no doubt deviate substantially from "canon", so don't be alarmed...)

If you're interested in playing some kind of "monster race", make sure you check out the Races of War rules for that. I'll be using some variations of that on a case by case basis, and NOT using the standard LA system at all when it is avoidable. Seriously... if you like playing monsters (and who doesn't?) look into the Tomes. The Tome of Fiends has rules for playing a True Fiend, for example. This is a "base class" that is solely for advancement as a demon/devil/etc.

For magic items and wealth, we're going to go with the 8 item limit that they talk about in the Book of Gears. You basically can only have 8 "constant effect" magic items at a time. Single use items like potions don't count against this, and neither do "use activated" items (like magic weapons that only do damage, for example). Wands don't count as "attuned" items, but staves (staffs) do*. We'll use the rules on page 225 of the Magic Item Compendium to estimate what levels are appropriate for magic items with the modifications found here. We're dumping the "body slot" system entirely. You can totally wear 8 magic rings if you want to, but that will be all the magic items you can benefit from at once. You can own more than that, but swapping them out will usually take 15 minutes of "attunement".

*Clarification on Continuous vs Use-activated and Attunement:
(click to show/hide)

Ammunition is not magical. I might allow individual magical ammunition that works basically like a potion in arrow form.

We're going to hand waive magic item creation stuff. Don't bother taking feats. If you want to say you crafted your stuff, you can. It will take time is all, and it won't give you any economic advantage over someone who buys theirs. It won't cost any XP, either. XP also won't be given out for killing things. You'll be rewarded for completing storyline objectives, regardless of how you do it.

Only "lesser" magic items will be for sale with gold, and they will be the basic items like weapons with only an enhancement bonus, and maybe something like the flaming property. (Basically anything that costs less than 15,000 gp.) However, enhancement bonuses will scale with levels, as outlined in the Book of Gears. We can RP this as you upgrading the items somehow, or it can just represent your growing skill at using the item, however you would prefer. So you don't have to replace your magic sword every 3 levels. Changing bonuses around to other types will not be allowed, either.

It might be possible to trade for more powerful magic items (worth more than 15,000 gp and/or listed on the Medium or Major tables in the DMG), but you'll have to offer something of relatively equal value. This might not always be an object. Of course you can always kill people and take their stuff, too. ;) I'll try to make sure and keep everyone outfitted appropriately, and try and fit acquisition of items into the game in ways that are fun and appropriate. It would be helpful if you all made "wish lists" of things you'd like to get.

Combining magic items is totally fine, as long as they are appropriate for your level in the end. There is no charge at all for combining items. You just add the price of the items together to get the final item value.

"Minor" magic items will be fairly common, but medium and major ones (costing more than 15,000 gp) will not. It is entirely possible for someone to use a magic item that is above their level if they somehow obtain one. However, medium and major items (that cost more than 15,000 gp) are highly coveted by powerful creatures and individuals. So if you get your hands on something wildly more powerful than you should probably have, expect and be prepared for them to try and take your stuff, if they know about it. See the Wish Economy rules for more details on this.

Bonus type consolidation:
1) bonuses from classes will stay as-is, as will bonuses from feats and other character building resources.
2) for items and spells, there will only be the following bonus types:
-enhancement
-circumstance (roll competence into this)
-insight
-racial (will replace any existing racial bonus)
-dodge
-resistance
-inherent (only on bonuses to ability scores from Wish/Miracle)
-deflection
3) No custom magic items with the type of bonus changed to something else
4) If a spell or item gives some other bonus type not listed, or is "untyped", change it to be one of the above.

And on that note, here is something on style: There are certainly more powerful things than your character in the game, and the world is quite lawless. I won't go out of my way to kill you, but if you blunder into the cave of an ancient dragon and piss it off, I won't pull any punches because you're in over your heads. I will try to provide "in game" warnings if you're headed for something that is almost certain death for you, but please try to play intelligently. Not everything that you might encounter in the game is something I specifically placed there for you to kill.


Here is a new fiendish sphere (as in the Tome of Fiends): the Time Sphere
(click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: March 08, 2013, 11:13:19 AM by phaedrusxy »
I don't pee messages into the snow often , but when I do , it's in Cyrillic with Fake Viagra.  Stay frosty my friends.