More additional stuff I forgot in red.IntroductionValentinius, to Gabriel
Welcome to the land of Jerrah! This is a game that will be played using modified 3.5 DnD rules, set in my game world. There will be a maximum of five players, on a first-come-first-served basis. Two of these slots are already taken (by ubernoob and Tshern), leaving 3 open spaces for you all to compete over.
The game will be one of exploration, but also one of world-development, which you can help take part in. It will lead you to one of the critical moments of Jerrah, and will let you make a mark on a whole world.
In terms of my style, I think Tshern and ubernoob are more qualified to say, but I generally believe in letting my PCs have a hand in development. If you have a cool idea for something, my most likely response will be 'go with it'. Little is known about Jerrah during this time, so anything you can add would be awesome.
As I don't believe in BS-joining the party together, this will start out as five solo games, but hopefully, you will all find each other before long.
RoolzWe all play by the rules - I just play by different ones.Dar'Tan, to Marius, a newborn vampire
Starting level: 1st (we're going right to the beginning of your adventuring careers)
Stats: Roll 1d8+10 six times, and assign as you choose. However, if you roll an 18, your subsequent rolls are penalised by 1. Thus, if you rolled 12, 13, 14, 18, 17, 16, in that order, your actual stats would be 12, 13, 14, 18, 16, 15. This can lead to some rather crazy results, so bear with me if I ask you to reroll a three-17 statline.
Materials available: All WotC books, no Dragon Magazine material, and all the materials from the Frank and K
Tome Compilation,
as well as this. In case of conflicts of sources, assume Frank and K to have precedent, followed by more recent WotC publications.
Extras: - During the course of your adventures, each of you will find a legacy item, to your specifications. However, unlike legacy items normally, these will not penalise you, nor will they cost you any wealth.
- Everyone gets the benefits of the 'advancement table' set down below
- If you take a level in your race's favoured class, you gain an additional skill point per level, 4 if you are 1st level. Humans already have this benefit factored into their racial traits, and thus gain no extra benefit.
- Gentlemen's agreement is in effect. Anything you use against me WILL be used against you.
- The various conclusions and fixes proposed by Frank and K are in effect (including the wish economy, weapon familiarity rules, etc). Do not worry if you are not fully familiar with them - I will be more than happy to correct you there.
- Exploding dice are in effect. A natural 20 on any d20 roll that is not an attack roll causes another d20 to be rolled, and its result added to the last d20. This can occur multiple times. Likewise, a natural 1 on any d20 roll that is not an attack roll causes another d20 to be rolled, and treats the result as -21+second d20 result. This can also occur multiple times (two nat 1s in a row mean the 'base' is -41+third d20 result, for example).
- By extension to the above, saves no longer auto-fail on 1 or auto-pass on 20s. Likewise, a natural 1 on an attack roll needs to be 'confirmed' as a critical miss, in the same way critical hits are (roll again, if that still misses, it's a critical miss, otherwise, it has no extra effect).
- Full magic-psionics transparency is in effect.
-
Retraining is permitted.Restrictions: - No stat boosting items
- No
wishing for inherent statbumps
- No stat bumps every 4th character level (the advancement table subsumes all the above)
- No multiclassing penalties (as they are made of fael)
Skill modifications: - Climb, Jump and Swim are now one skill, named Athletics
- Balance and Tumble are now one skill, named Acrobatics
- UMD and UPD are now one skill, Command Supernatural Device (CSD - no, USD would have been a bit silly
)
- Disable Device now includes the benefits of Open Lock; consequentially, Open Lock is no longer a skill.
- Spellcraft and Psycraft are now one skill, called Supernatural Lore
- Hide and Move Silently are now one skill, called Stealth
- Spot and Listen are now one skill, called Perception- Track is now a skill trick based off Survival, rather than a feat (requires 4 ranks in Survival)
Advancement TableThey grow stronger, and weaker, and on the strength inherent in all weakness, and the weakness inherent in all strengths. They are everything, and nothing; everyone, and no-one.Nicodemus, from
The Watching Shadows1: Bonus feat, 1 stat point (limit +1)
2: Defence +1, 1 stat point
3: Enhanced weapons +1, endure elements, 1 stat point (limit +2)
4: Resistance +1, 1 stat point
5: Defence +1, 1 stat point (limit +3)
6: Enhanced weapons +2, 1 stat point
7: Deflection +1, 1 stat point (limit +4)
8: Resistance +2, mind shielding, defence +3, 1 stat point
9: Enhanced weapons +3, 1 stat point (limit +5)
10: Deflection +2, 1 stat point
11: Defence +4, 1 stat point (limit +6)
12: Resistance +3, enhanced weapons +4, 1 stat point
13: Deflection +3, 1 stat point (limit +7)
14: Defence +5, freedom of movement, 1 stat point
15: Enhanced weapons +5, 1 stat point (limit +8)
16: Resistance +4, deflection +4, 1 stat point
17: Defence +6, fast healing 1, 1 stat point (limit +9)
18: Enhanced weapons +6, true seeing, 1 stat point
19: Deflection +5, 1 stat point (limit +10)
20: Resistance +5, defence +7, 1 stat point
Bonus feat: At character level 1, you gain a bonus feat that you meet all prerequisites for.
Stat point: At every character level, you gain a 1 point increase to any stat of your choice. You cannot increase any one stat by more points than one-half your character level (rounding up) this way.
Defence: At 2nd level, and every 3 levels thereafter, you gain a +1 cumulative enhancement bonus to the AC bonus of any armour you wear or shield you carry. If you wear no armour or have no shield, this has no benefit.
Enhanced weapons: At 3rd level, and every 3 levels thereafter, you gain a +1 cumulative enhancement bonus to the attack and damage rolls of any weapon you wield or any natural weapon you have.
Endure elements: At 3rd level, you can exist comfortably in temperatures between -50 and 140 degrees F without making Fort saves.
Resistance: At 4th level, and every 4 levels thereafter you gain a +1 cumulative resistance bonus to your saves.
Deflection: At 7th level, and every 3 levels thereafter, you gain a cumulative +1 deflection bonus to your AC.
Mind shielding: At 8th level, you become immune to detect thoughts, discern lies, or any method of discerning your alignment.
Freedom of movement: At 14th level, you operate as if under a freedom of movement spell at all times.
Fast healing 1: At 17th level, you gain fast healing 1.
True seeing: At 18th level, you operate as if under a true seeing spell at all times.
The FluffThe Jerrah I am about to speak to you of was different to the Jerrah that you know. This was before the Shadow War, before the Seropeanean Order, before even the rise of the Younger Gods. Forget what you know of the science of magic, the great cities of Allahbad, Steel and Tar'est, or even of things which you believe ancient. For the Jerrah of this time, more than ten thousand years ago, was truly different to anything you could imagine.At that time, Jerrah was, by your standards, primitive. No great cities stood, no great magics were wrought. The world was young, and was kept in the vicelike grip of the Elder Gods. They ruled with an iron fist, knowing that none could oppose them. Their works could be found anywhere, and, unlike the Younger Gods, they cared not for worship, for their power was greater than any of the Younger Gods ever could be.However, the stars showed that change was coming. All knew that, soon, something would happen... something enormous, beyond any of them, even the Elder Gods. A time of bloodshed, a time of war... and perhaps, a time of peace, but a peace that is no peace, for it is all a gigantic lie - what we live today, and what I gave up my body to try and destroy.It would all be centred on Tal'Shar, the Jewel of the East, somewhere in the place you all call Lithenume, the Desert of Evil. However, back then, it was no desert - it was a jungle, thicker than the densest parts of Darkwood Forest. Tal'Shar, on the eastern coast of Jerrah, was known for its gems and diamonds, which are what built it to be the greatest city of its time - still a fraction of what Tar'Est grew to be, but at that time, it was truly glorious. It was in this city that this all began... just as it would all end there. It still pains me every day to remember what happened to the place where I, too, was born and led my mortal life.Valentinius, to Gabriel
Firstly, I would like to direct you to my (sadly incomplete and somewhat derelict) wiki on the subject of Jerrah, particularly
here and
here. These are both rather lengthy reads, and the former is rather dry, so be warned. In both cases, they should give you some idea of the kind of world this is. Feel free to browse the rest of the wiki, though bear in mind that this is about 'modern' Jerrah, which this is not. Nonetheless, a lot of the information (especially the junk pile) can prove useful.
The Jerrah you are in now is still young, having been created, and populated, only recently. The Elder Gods still reign, bringing terror to the population of this young world. The Elder Gods demand respect, even if this means bringing destruction and blight to this world, because, unlike normal gods, they actually don't require worship, and keep only a single cleric per world, mostly as an enforcer.
The world is very much Iron Age in its take on everything - unlike modern Jerrah, which is much closer to the Enlightenment and even verging on the Industrial Revolution. As a result, expect a similar take on everything - lots of small city-states and villages all being autonomous, long treks, and generally, a lack of powerful mortals (well, at the moment - this will ALL change by Shadow War's beginning!). While I do not require you all to be from Tal'Shar, something in the vicinity would be nice.
In terms of who gets worshipped, the Elder Gods demand respect rather than 'worship' as such, and thus, people typically pray to them only out of fear. Those who derive divine powers get them from Ideals (physical representations of an idea, thought or philosophy). In game terms, tell me your domains, and I'll give you a suitable ideal. Due to various superstitions, don't expect everyone to be understanding regarding magic (some may even be downright violent).
In your backgrounds, I will need to know why you became adventurers, and also a little something about your families. I don't expect novellas, but something would be nice. Once again, if you wanna do your own thing with the fluff, go for it - seriously, I only appreciate such work, and will happily incorporate even minor clashes if it works well.
The most spoken language is Common (called 'Ancient' by modern Jerrahns), but other languages of note (aside from the obvious ones) are Mechrunic (the language of the warforged) and Quor (the language of the kalashtar).If you have any additional questions, feel free to chime in - either on this thread or by PM, whichever works.