Interest check: Brave New World [3.5]

[InnaBinder]

Some said it was a white dragon, the largest in the memory of the human citydwellers, who rained down ice and snow that weakened people as it chilled them.  Others claimed there was a humanoid being of some sort in the sky, sending icy death down upon them.  Whatever it was, it struck quickly, it struck across worlds from Toril to Eberron, and its effects lingered, slowly draining the will to live from those under the persistent, pernicious snowfall.

After months attempting to dispel or dismiss the effects, the most powerful artificers of Eberron could conceive only one solution: escape for the best and brightest, that they might start over.  Working with refugees from Toril, they constructed a Gate Zeppelin, and manned it with the most promising examples of the known races that they could find, along with fifty to sixty members of each of those races for a fresh start.

Aiming their Zeppelin at a habitable world the wizards of Toril had scryed but never visited - in the hopes it would make the escape harder for whatever great force that had visited their worlds to track - they sent these people, their best hope at their civilizations' survival, on their way.  After an eventful journey, they arrived this morning. . . . 

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1. What game system are you running (D&D, Call of Cthulu, Palladium, GURPS, etc.), and if applicable what edition (Original, Classic, Revised, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, etc.)? D&D 3.5
2. What 'type' or variant of game will it be (i.e. "Shadow Chasers" or "Agents of Psi" for d20 Modern)? What is the setting for the game (eg. historic period, published or homebrewed campaign setting, alternate reality, modern world, etc.)? Homebrew; Paragon "Building Utopia" Theme
3. How many Players are you looking for? Will you be taking alternates, and if so, how many? Six, up to three alternates
4. What's the gaming medium? PbP on minmaxboards
5. What is the characters' starting status? 4th level, with a racial Paragon class completed.  I'm looking for a different race for each player.  If it matters, consider Half-Elf and Half-Orc to breed true.
6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with? 9000 GP, no more than 50% on a single item.
7. Are there any particular character classes, professions, orders, etc. that you want... or do not want? What are your rules on 'prestige' and/or homebrewed classes? No Incantatrix, please.  No early entry shenanigans into PrCs.
8. What races, subraces, species, etc. are allowed for your game? Will you allow homebrewed races or species? LA +0, no racial HD, and MUST take a racial Paragon class to completion.  No homebrew races/species beyond potential homebrewed Paragon examples.
9. By what method should Players generate their attributes/ability scores and Hit Points? 32 pb, HP max at 1st, 1/2 HD +1 thereafter.
10. Does your game use alignment? What are your restrictions, if so? No Lawful Stupid, or Chaotic Sociopath.  You'll need to be able to work with a group.
11. Do you allow multi-classing, or have any particular rules in regards to it? Allow and basically require.  See above.  No multi-classing restrictions.
12. Will you be doing all of the die rolling during the course of the game? Will die rolls be altered, or left to the honor system? If players can make die rolls, which ones do they make, how should they make the rolls, and how should they report them? Use InvisibleCastle's roller (link).  Link to the rolls.  Don't cheat; it's not that serious.
13. Are there any homebrewed or optional/variant rules that your Players should know about? If so, list and explain them, or provide relevant links to learn about these new rules. See above.  No taint, no method whatsoever of gaining more than 1 animal companion/cohort/thrall/etc.  Paragons advance psionics & maneuvers/stances with transparency.  Ask if more detail is needed. Bonuses from duplicates of the same source - like nightsticks - do not stack.
14. Is a character background required? If so, how big? Are you looking for anything in particular (i.e. the backgrounds all ending up with the characters in the same city)? Game will start with you disembarking from a ship onto a new continent; background should include why you were on that ship.
15. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above? Ideally, this is a world-building, RP-heavy campaign, with enough hack & slash to still feel like D&D.  Generally speaking, I don't include puzzles.
16. Are your Players restricted to particular rulebooks and supplements, or will you be allowing access to non-standard material? What sources can Players use for their characters? SRD, PH2, ToB, FRCS/PGtF, ECS, DMG, all the Races of [X] books (excluding Dragonborn), Unearthed Arcana (limited to 2 traits, 1 flaw and the spelltouched feats), Frostburn, Heroes of Horror, Libris Mortis, Lords of Madness, Planar Handbook, Spell Compendium, MM I - V, MIC.  Homebrew restricted to Paragon classes not in the UA/SRD, on approval.  No Incantatrix, please.  No other sources.

[phaedrusxy]

Sounds very, very cool. I'm definitely interested. I'm not sure what I'll play yet, though.

Edit: Question on this:

Paragons advance psionics & maneuvers/stances with transparency.  Ask if more detail is needed.

So a paragon 3/psion 1 would have powers known and power points of a psion 4? But a paragon 3/wiz 1 would just be a wiz 1 with more hit dice? (excluding human or elf paragon 3, since they specifically stack for wizard casting for 2 levels).

[Risada]

Interested. Thinking right now on what to play...

[InnaBinder]

Add Magic Item Compendium/DMG to the allowed sources list for equipment.  Derp.

[McPoyo]

Interested.

I also conditions Pyx's paragon advancement question, since I read it as "if the paragon advances casting, it'll also advance psionics or maneuvers as well".

Also, is it pick 1, or does it advance all of them at once?

[phaedrusxy]

I also conditions Pyx's paragon advancement question, since I read it as "if the paragon advances casting, it'll also advance psionics or maneuvers as well".

That's a more reasonable interpretation. That's probably what he meant.  Unfortunately that probably means everyone will want to play a human, elf, or gnome. 

[Pencil]

O brave new world that has such people in it. Let's start at once.

I am in as well!

[InnaBinder]

Sounds very, very cool. I'm definitely interested. I'm not sure what I'll play yet, though.

Edit: Question on this:

Paragons advance psionics & maneuvers/stances with transparency.  Ask if more detail is needed.

So a paragon 3/psion 1 would have powers known and power points of a psion 4? But a paragon 3/wiz 1 would just be a wiz 1 with more hit dice? (excluding human or elf paragon 3, since they specifically stack for wizard casting for 2 levels).

I wasn't very clear, apparently.  Sorry about that.  What I meant by transparency is that, since the Paragons were written without apparent regard for psionics, any level that advances "caster level" (and isn't restricted to the TYPE of caster, like Gnome Paragon is) may instead be considered to advance manifester level, gaining powers known and power points at those specific levels.  If your powers known or power points come from a feat, rather than a class level, you gain no additional powers known or power points from gaining Paragon levels.

If you're using ToB classes, consider Crusader/Warblade/Swordsage to gain an extra maneuver known at Paragon level 1, an extra maneuver readied at Paragon level 2, and an extra stance known at Paragon level 3.  If your maneuvers known or readied, or stance(s) known, come from feats rather than class levels, you gain no additional maneuvers known or readied, or stance known, from gaining Paragon levels.  Paragon levels do not count as initiator levels for multi-classing purposes if the character has no initiator class before taking Paragon levels.

If you have a specific 4th level build in mind with a completed Paragon class and levels in both a psionic class and an arcane/divine class (or an initiator class), I think I'll need to see how that works.   

 

[Sohala]

I’m just popping in to say, neat setting.

[sirpercival]

I could be interested.  Lemme look around at paragon class options.

EDIT: Spellscale okay?

[InnaBinder]

I could be interested.  Lemme look around at paragon class options.

EDIT: Spellscale okay?

The Spellscale Paragon listed is notably stronger than any option from UA; eliminate the 1st caster level and the breath weapon option.

Looking on that particular wiki, I'm going to go ahead and pre-emptively disallow Frank & K Paragon stuff, as they aim for a higher power level than I'm after.

[sirpercival]

I could be interested.  Lemme look around at paragon class options.

EDIT: Spellscale okay?

The Spellscale Paragon listed is notably stronger than any option from UA; eliminate the 1st caster level and the breath weapon option.

Looking on that particular wiki, I'm going to go ahead and pre-emptively disallow Frank & K Paragon stuff, as they aim for a higher power level than I'm after.

I wasn't going to pick the breath weapon either.  Lol. You know what?  Never mind on the spellscale.

I'll express tentative interest with a Half-Orc Paragon Fearomancer.  Will you allow either of Imperious Command (DotU) or Dreadful Wrath (PGtF)?

[InnaBinder]

I could be interested.  Lemme look around at paragon class options.

EDIT: Spellscale okay?

The Spellscale Paragon listed is notably stronger than any option from UA; eliminate the 1st caster level and the breath weapon option.

Looking on that particular wiki, I'm going to go ahead and pre-emptively disallow Frank & K Paragon stuff, as they aim for a higher power level than I'm after.

I wasn't going to pick the breath weapon either.  Lol. You know what?  Never mind on the spellscale.

I'll express tentative interest with a Half-Orc Paragon Fearomancer.  Will you allow either of Imperious Command (DotU) or Dreadful Wrath (PGtF)?

Dreadful Wrath is fine, since I tend to roll PGtF and FRCS into one book (one merely updates the other).  Imperious Command is out.

[Pencil]

I call dibs on human warblade.

[sirpercival]

Alright, build stub.

Desert Half Orc Paragon 3/Warlock 1

Feats:
1 - Menacing Demeanor, Dreadful Wrath
3 - Intimidating Rage

Invocations: Beguiling Influence

Thoughts?

[phaedrusxy]

I'll express tentative interest with a Half-Orc Paragon Fearomancer. 

I call dibs on human warblade.

Bah. I came here to say I was thinking of playing a half-orc warblade... I see my lunch break lasted too long...

So what is the cosmology of this world going to be like? Will all the "old" deities be "migrating" here with their worshippers (maybe like American Gods, if you've read it...)? Will new deities spring into existence or be discovered? I am just thinking of how to RP a cleric. It could be really interesting as different philosophies see this as an opportunity to recreate the world the way they'd like it to be (those who dislike deities could see this as a fresh start without them, the pious could see this as an opportunity to get rid of "corrupting" elements from the old society, etc).

This could be a really, really interesting "social" game...

Edit2: Right now I'm thinking about playing a human psion, but that may change.

[xaotiq1]

I am also interested. Highly Interested. Can we take our non-paragon level prior to our Paragon Levels? I'd be looking to play a NG Halfling (Strongheart if allowed) Totemist or Incarnate1/1/2ling paragon 3.

[geniussavant]

I think that all the spots are full, but if a spot opens, I'm interested too.

[Risada]

Inna, what are the paragon classes you are allowing for Eberron races - Changeling, Kalashtar, Shifter and Warforged?

What about races with LA? They get only the paragon levels that fit within the 4 first levels?

[Pencil]

I'll express tentative interest with a Half-Orc Paragon Fearomancer. 

I call dibs on human warblade.

Bah. I came here to say I was thinking of playing a half-orc warblade... I see my lunch break lasted too long...

Okay.I will go with swordsage.