4e Fan Creations and House RulesWorking on variant powers? Statting up a PC race or your version of a monster? Creating or converting an adventure? Put it here!
I've attached my rough draft of the fighter builds (askar, guard, mamluk, nadim, sahib).
Also revised the first page of post with latest project details.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Strangemonkey
I wonder if we should go the Exalted route and develop both traditional campaigns and then HUGE mystery campaigns that themselves could span several of the more traditional campaigns.
I was thinking along the same lines with "helping choose the next Grand Caliph" mega-plot. Great minds... I see the campaign concepts as suited to a particular tier or two, while the mega-plots span all three tiers or even multiple campaigns.
You've definitey intrigued me with the idea of linking mega-plots to epic destinies. I think it works really well, for example...
Play out the Reformation of the Caliphate --> Grand Caliph or Grandfather of Assassins
Find, Bind, and Canonize the Lore of Fate --> Loregiver's Handmaiden
Reform the Genie Oaths --> Keeper of the Seal
Oh, since I've nixed "Matrud" as a ranger build, I can add another build. I thought about "mercenary barbarian", but that's better suited for the barbarian class. I decided to make Corsair and Desert Rider ranger builds so far.
And here's my first rogue write-up for the "Barber"...
Barber
“Why that most precious of golden razors is reserved for the illustrious Sultan…”
Legends tell of the mad barber who collects the ears of his victims, but most folks dismiss such tales as fantasy. That is unfortunate for them. Plying your razor and wit inconspicuously in the bazaar and noble houses, you are a barber – an apothecary, informant, surgeon, and a menacing spy hellbent on revenge. Whether you seek blood for a wrong done to you, or are willing to do what ever it takes to uncover a conspiracy, you carry a list of targets who deserve death. While you may choose to bring them to justice alive, or even attempt to make them repent of their wicked ways, you always do so in a twisted fashion. You derive a sick enjoyment from watching your clients squirm as you engage them with an offbeat and rambling story…and all the more so when it is the wicked man who unwittingly submits to a shave. Will you become the bloody-minded barber of legend or in the final hour will the razor of your revenge be put to other uses?
I was just looking over the cleric builds and had a couple comments.
Hakima's Divine Truth ability allows her to detect alignment, which I believe was removed in this edition.
The Mystic's Lore ability could potentially give a 1st level Mystic a close burst 7 attack, which seems rather powerful. What if it granted bursts and blasts their original size or wisdom modifier, whichever was greater?
Hakima's Divine Truth ability allows her to detect alignment, which I believe was removed in this edition.
I agree and I'll change it. Btw, I used the paladin paragon path Astral Weapon as a model - it provides a power which recharges if used succesfully vs. evil or chaotic evil foes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jubelo
The Mystic's Lore ability could potentially give a 1st level Mystic a close burst 7 attack, which seems rather powerful. What if it granted bursts and blasts their original size or wisdom modifier, whichever was greater?
Right, beacon of hope & divine glow could have their ranged about doubled. Do you really think that's too powerful given the larger scale of 4e combat? I didn't go with "wisdom or original size" because it wouldn't benefit ranged powers or close burst 5 powers unless the cleric maxed out wisdom. Then again the other cleric build's "lore" features give less than a 100% increase to healing HP, save difficulty, etc.
If you click this link
You will go to a Mediafire page where you can download the first release of MC 13A -- The Al-Qadim 4e Monstrous Compendium!
Please let me know what you think. I can't fix what I'm too dumb to realize is broken or missing...
When I opened the AQ beastiary, I got 210 very small blank pages (they opened as a default at something like 4500% normal size to look 'normal' to me).
I could open and see Jester's monsters. One thing that struck me was the large amount of white space being used and the use of three pages per monster. I don't know if this was deliberate or a result of the program you use?
I know next to nothing about web publishing, converting or creating pdf's and other similar topics, so if something is a normal step in the creation process, ignore me
Asmor has a monster creator that makes .mon files and can export to HTML. I use that, and it make my critters look good. Keterys has a word template he was kind enough to share as well. Would either of those be helpful?
When I opened the AQ beastiary, I got 210 very small blank pages (they opened as a default at something like 4500% normal size to look 'normal' to me).
I could open and see Jester's monsters. One thing that struck me was the large amount of white space being used and the use of three pages per monster. I don't know if this was deliberate or a result of the program you use?
I know next to nothing about web publishing, converting or creating pdf's and other similar topics, so if something is a normal step in the creation process, ignore me
Asmor has a monster creator that makes .mon files and can export to HTML. I use that, and it make my critters look good. Keterys has a word template he was kind enough to share as well. Would either of those be helpful?
Jon
Uploaded the wrong dang file...should be fixed and a new link posted in about 10 minutes.
The format was chosen that way to resemble the old 2e layout of the Monstrous Compendiums. I have Asmor's Monster Maker, which unfortunately does not run on a Mac so I have reboot into Windows to use it. I am using a database so I can sort on specific things (Name, Role, Level, Converted by) and so I can add creatures very quickly and have all the formatting and a lot of the calculations done on the fly. Even so, the slowest thing for me is the extracting of the flavor text from my scanned copies of ALL the Monstrous Compendiums and the editing of such into a coherent and useable format. I uploaded the empty database, so if you want to take a shot at reconfiguring it (and have a copy of Filemaker Pro) have at it! I will make a stab at laying it out to be more similar to the 4e MM layout, but I personally think that that layout is ugly.
Sorry it's taken so long for me to get back to you, Hodag.
The preliminary Monstrous Compendium looks good.
I have no experience with FilePro (and don't have it in any case) so I'd be of no use there.
If we decide on using a mostly 2nd edition layout, that's fine too. I like the 4e stat block because it's more compact and we could fit several versions of the same monster on one page. I do agree that the general 4e look isn't as good looking as it could be though.
I hope that my comments didn't come across as snarky at all; I often write when I'm tired and suspect I'm not as clear as I could be.
Jon
P.S. Been working on a mid paragon solo fire mage to be the leader of the Rekindled Brotherhood. I should have him up in a day or so on the monster thread.
I'm still tweaking the layout to give it a more 4e stat block look. The problem is making sure that there is enough room for the flavor text. Some creatures, the ghuls come to mind have so much flavor text that I had to downsize the font. However I have come up with a version I think you'll like.
One thought I had is that it may not be needed to repeat the flavor information for each variant of the same monster. Yakman is the one that comes to mind right now.
Real life taking up more time than I'd like right now, so my conversions are going slower than I'd thought.
Have you seen Quickleaf lately? He hasn't been around for a bit
Some of the repeated info (Yakman Skin Thief, Ghul-kin, and megalo-centipede leap forth) have differences in their flavor text, for the rest...yeah you're right.
No, Quickleaf does appear to be MIA. Perhaps that evil real life will release him long enough to say something.
On the up side, I hope to have the rogues done in the next week or so. Writing them up is lots of fun - I have the beggar-thief, daroga, and sa'luk to write up.
Nice work on the monster compendium, Hodag! The layout is easy to read and inviting, you've made good use of white space, and some of the powers look very interesting.
The weapons look good Jubelo! I'd say leave the tufnek out of the picture - it's not the sort of weapon you'd envision a hero using.
Sorry for my absence. I've taken a stab at the rogues but grad school has been murder... It ends up that Sneak Attack and Rogue tactics can't be readily replaced because the first is iconic and the second is built into the powers. So, that leaves me with Rogue Weapon Talent and First Strike alternate class features (as I did with the Holy Slayer). This is more challenging than I thought!
So instead I've written a story that ties into the "Lost Scrolls of the Loregiver" storyline. It's based on an Ursula LeGuin short story called "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas." I'm also working on the format that I want to present the various Campaign Models in.
The Lost Scrolls Paragon-Tier
When Prince Suhail brought the lost scrolls of Aj’Altair to Huzuz, he sparked a religious controversy that continues to this day. However, last night the scrolls were stolen by a radical sect. Not fully translated, the enchanted scrolls of Aj’Altair hold the promise of a revival of the Faith and an end to rising sectarian violence. However the true power of the scrolls is yet to be revealed…
Background: When the Loregiver traveled with Fate’s message, she passed on a wealth of wisdom to the shepherds of the remote village Aj’Altair, who recorded it on sacred scrolls (see the Teaching of Fate tale in Appendix A). For centuries the humble people of Aj’Altair passed this sacred knowledge to their children, awaiting the coming of the First Caliph. However, the wisdom of the scrolls was anathema to the yak-folk whose sorcerers summoned an earthquake which swallowed the village temple the scrolls were housed in. Though the village elders did their best to relay the teachings to the First Caliph, he was young in his understanding of the Faith and unable to grasp their esoteric oral teachings. For a time, his court kept relations with Aj’Altair, who enjoyed their elevated status, but jealous sultans ended the relationship and in time the Caliphs forgot of Aj’Altair and the scrolls.
However, during the Great Unbinding the battles between the yak-folk and the dao unleashed a second quake which opened a deep fissure in the arid hills. While searching for a missing ewe, a young shepherd girl named Etana found the fissure, and entered thinking she had discovered a water hole. Much to her surprise, she emerged amidst ruins of a temple wherein she discovered the lost scrolls. Immediately the girl recognized the wisdom held within and returned to the village elders who decided the time had come to share them with Zakhara, and appointed Etana their keeper. However, Etana was suspicious of the greed of city men and so she decided to keep the knowledge among her village until a worthy champion arrived. To this end, the elders devised a test of character, awaiting the day that a pious Caliph would come.
Nearly a century would pass before Prince Suhail learned of the scrolls when converting hill tribes from the north. He searched for the scrolls for years until, desperate, he allowed himself to be captured by yak-folk and learned from them of Aj’Altair. Escaping, he traveled to the village and met the ancient Etana who he convinced to administer the test of character (see Prince Suhail’s Test in Appendix A for one popular version of what occurred). Passing the test, Prince Suhail was entrusted with the scrolls, Etana’s granddaughter Anjum accompanying him as an emissary of Aj’Altair. When he returned to Huzuz, Prince Suhail put the best translators to work deciphering the magical script with Anjum’s assistance. As it became clear the scrolls challenged dominant beliefs about fate, clerics began to question their veracity and two powerful sects emerged around the most vocal imams. Violence between these two sects has been on the rise, and Prince Suhail has been unwilling to reveal the scrolls until they are fully deciphered, fearing they would be misinterpreted.
To assuage the feuding imams, Prince Suhail planned to host a private viewing of the scrolls. However, after the feast when the Prince opened the sacred shrine housing them – the scrolls were missing! As palace guards searched for the thief, Anjum revealed that in the wrong hands the scrolls could be put to terrible use. Furious, the imams swore to find the scroll for themselves. Enter the PCs.
"The Teaching of Fate"
The Loregiver once stayed in a sheperd’s village where all the people loved one another as brothers and sisters and conflict was unheard of. Yet everyday one person was led by the elders to a secret place; when the person returned they always were distraught and comforted by their families. Curious, the Loregiver asked the elders of the custom to which they replied: “O, wise woman, we are honored that you stay among us humble people, but please do not ask us about the secret place, for it is the one thing we cannot share.” Yet the Loregiver was determined to know and so one day she disguised herself and followed a young girl who was taken away from the village to the foothills, down a passage into the earth where there was a prison cell with a lone shivering boy inside. Yet the boy was so emaciated, so filthy, so mistreated that he appeared a wild creature. The boy snarled at the elders who threatened to beat him sending the boy into a fit of whimpering.
Immediately the young girl began to cry, but the elders were stern with her. “This is his fate. Shed tears if you must, but this boy’s sacrifice keeps our village from disaster.”
The young girl pleaded for them to release the boy, who only snarled and whimpered , but the elders were adamant and when the girl grabbed the keys and tried to open the cell, she was carried from the underground prison screaming.
Horrified, the Loregiver waited till all were gone but the boy, then she went to his prison cell and folded her robes, sitting upon the floor and she told a story to him. Though tears were in his eyes, the boy’s face was blank. Each night the Loregiver secretly went to the boy and taught him the ways of Fate and the Law; gradually his eyes shone with the spark of understanding. During the day the Loregiver shared her wisdom with the girl – neither realized it, but they both were receiving half of a whole teaching. One day, at a festival, the shepherd girl asked the Loregiver in the presence of the elders: “What can change a person’s fate?”
The elders scoffed, scolding the girl: “Impetuous girl! What is given by Fate is not for us to change, but to accept. Your question is an insult to this wise woman!”
To which the Loregiver answered: “If you would know, ask the boy in the secret place.”
Shocked to see their secret revealed, and each secretly ashamed, the elders went with the girl to the boy’s prison. The girl repeated her question to the boy, who stood up from the refuse surrounding him and answered: “Know, o shepherd’s daughter, that there are three kinds of Fate in this world: That which is written on the Tablets of Destiny and cannot be changed; that which is inherited from the past and can be changed by action; and that which we believe is true and can be changed by faith. These are the three natures of Fate.”
The elders gasped, for they thought the boy had become dumb and unintelligible long ago. At once the shepherd girl realized he held the other half of the teachings the Loregiver had taught her, and she proclaimed: “Then rise from your imprisonment, for I have prayed for you every day since I saw you and your Fate is not so written.” With a stone she broke the lock on the boy’s cell, and taking him by the hand, led him to behold the glorious sun which he had not seen in years. The boy asked to see the Loregiver, but she had traveled on already. So the shepherd girl and the boy taught the village elders what the Loregiver had taught them, and these things were recorded in gilded script on papyrus scrolls blessed with holy frankincense so that all should benefit from the wisdom therein and never repeat the mistake the village had.
A newly formatted (and cleaned up) version is uploaded here
I need feedback!
Hodag, thanks for all your work that went into this! I'll give feedback once I have time to look it over, but overall really nice job, especially with the yak-men.
How were you thinking about incorporating it? The "heritages" seems like more of the same to me, a way to give heroic-tier PCs a boost, and several step on the genasi's toes. However, this could be an interesting and elegant way to incorporate AL-QADIM's kits... Personally, I'm hesitant to do so as 4th edition PCs are powerful enough, and I think the kits can be emulated entirely at 1st level.
I've attached an updated master table of contents for both the Adventurer's Guide & Campaign Guide.
I see the campaign concepts as suited to a particular tier or two, while the mega-plots span all three tiers or even multiple campaigns.
It ends up that Sneak Attack and Rogue tactics can't be readily replaced because the first is iconic and the second is built into the powers. So, that leaves me with Rogue Weapon Talent and First Strike alternate class features (as I did with the Holy Slayer). This is more challenging than I thought!
Linear Mode
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