Unity - ToB Game (Recruiting)

gabrion · Sep 28, 2006

Unity

The man before you wears an old cloak, tired armor, and a look of grave concern. His eyes hold wisdom beyond what most men will ever know. Those eyes pierce you to the soul as he looks at you and begins to speak.

The kingdom of Kalisar is in grave danger. Ancient evil stirs its hand once more, preparing to rise up against these broken lands. The guardians who once protected us – the nine temples of the sublime way – have forgotten their oaths. Only by reuniting them can Kalisar be saved.

For this I have gathered you here. You will travel to the nine ancient temples and do whatever you must to reunite them. If you succeed you will be the saviors of a land. If you fail, all will be lost.

* * *

The Game

To begin, this is a continuation of this thread. Posters from the other thread will have first dibs, but others are welcome to post here as well.

As you can tell from above, this is going to be an unapologetically clichéd game involving ancient evil, mysterious old guys to progress the plot, and systematic conquest of nine temples of the sublime way. It’s going to be set in a largely undefined homebrew world where geography will be about as complex as “the jungle is north of you,” or “the island is on the other side of the water.”

You should also know that the game will be combat oriented. While there will be opportunity for diplomacy and the like, dungeon delving wont be the order of the day. Please make characters accordingly.

Religion in the world will be very simple. There used to be a lot of gods, but then they all got in a fight and killed eachother. Now there are just three. Vitus the LG god of the heavens, Mira the TN watcher, and Xerik the NE god of the abyss. If your character uses divine power, you’ll need to worship one of these gods. Domains are flexible. If you are not a cleric, you can either worship one of these gods or one of the dead gods (feel free to totally make one up). Just keep in mind that dead gods can’t give their worshipers any powers, since they’re…well…dead.

The mythology of the world follows from that presented in the Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords (which, btw is a required book for this game). However, the setting is about 1,000 years after Reshar’s temple was destroyed by the Tiger Lord and the Shadow Master. The nine schools have reverted to studying in isolated temples and it will be the job of the PCs to bring them back together. The temple of nine swords was rebuilt though, and a small number of martial adepts still study there. This is where you all studied, and it is where the campaign will begin.

Character Creation

Sources: Any 3.5 WotC, but material from the ToB is preferred. Setting specific stuff is ok, but it will have to be converted to a generic setting.
Abilities: 18, 16, 16, 14, 10, 8 distributed how you see fit.
Races: Any race, but no more than +2 LA
Classes: Any
Level: 6th (18,000 XP)
Hit Points: Max at first level, max-1 at each level after that (I want ya’ll to “win”)
Wealth: 19,000 gp. (One level above the curve…I want ya’ll to be well-equipped)

Bonus!

Each character can choose one special bonus at character creation. A few examples include:

A free +1 LA template
Adjustments to a PrC you wish to enter (for instance, making the Jade Phoenix Mage or Ruby Knight Vindicator PrCs full casters and adjusting their entry requirements)
Increasing your starting wealth by 10,000 gp

These are just some possible ideas for what the bonus can be…the players are encouraged to come up with others. Think of this as your chance to break the rules once at character creation.

What I need

A full character sheet. I’m not picky about what it looks like, but I do have a preference for really long vertigo inducing sheets.
A description of your character. Add a picture for an extra 500 XP.
A backstory. I don’t need this to be five pages, but make it more than two sentences. You all have been training or working at the Temple of Nine Swords (how long depends on your age), so that part should be easy. The temple now is a kind of academy and you are some of the most promising students they have right now. The details are up to you.

As always, the DM reserves veto power on anything submitted, even if it follows the guidelines above.

ByteRynn · Sep 28, 2006

This will expand as I get more, but here is my base info:

Halidon the Blade

Where Halidon the Blade and Halidon the man end and begin is sometimes unclear. Twenty years ago an infant was left on the doorsteps of the Temple of Nine Swords with nothing to his name but the rags he was wrapped in and the magnificent sword by his side. Inscribed on the blade was a single word, "Halidon." The instructors and monks of the temple took the boy in, and started calling him after the sword.

At this point I will come up with some interesting and character building anecdotes about Halidon's training.

Stats:

None yet, but I am thinking Monk 2/Swordsage 4. I plan on taking the feat from Eberron, Whirling Steel Strike and using a longsword as my blade.

For my big advantage I have a few ideas:
1. Swordsage gets fighter BAB
2. I get to make my very own Weapon of Legacy using Weapon of Legacy rules from the book.

If I get other ideas, and as I finish stats, I will edit this page. I welcome any input.

Azaar · Sep 28, 2006

Crazy question: would the Necropolitan template from Libris Mortis be considered the equivalent of a LA +1 template for purposes of your bonus? It deals with a level loss as part of the transformation -- I ask because I'm wondering if perhaps an undead character would be kosher in this regard.

Otherwise... well, Masquerade did claim dibs on the Jade Phoenix Mage, although I'm really leaning towards trying my own hand at it with Swordsage 2/Warmage 4 and use the bonus to make the JPM a full-caster progression. I'll wait to see what he says, as well as whether it would be kosher to have two arcanist/initiators in the group.

Paper_Bard · Sep 28, 2006

I love the idea behind this... but unfortunately... I do not actually have the Tome of Battle book. Would it be okay to make a standard character, perhaps using the Complete books and the races of stone?

Dracomeander · Sep 28, 2006

I would also like to be considered for this game.

I have been kicking around a couple of ideas since I saw the other thread.

The two concepts I'm looking at are a human Shadow Sun Ninja or an elf Warblade working toward Eternal Blade.

I'm further along with the Shadow Sun character, but if that's what ByteRynn is working towards I have no problem working up the elf.

Masquerade · Sep 28, 2006

Many thanks for the favorable array. With our class combinations, MAD could have been a problem.

ByteRynn said:
None yet, but I am thinking Monk 2/Swordsage 4.

Why? Is there anything a Monk2/Swordsage4 can do that a Swordsage6 cannot?

Azaar said:
Otherwise... well, Masquerade did claim dibs on the Jade Phoenix Mage, although I'm really leaning towards trying my own hand at it with Swordsage 2/Warmage 4 and use the bonus to make the JPM a full-caster progression. I'll wait to see what he says, as well as whether it would be kosher to have two arcanist/initiators in the group.

Swordsage2/Warmage4 would play vastly different from Beguiler4/Warblade2. I have no objection. I'm not positive if I will even go for Jade Phoenix Mage.

Okay, current outline (and, yes, I did put the 18 in Charisma ^_^):

Race: Changeling
Class: Beguiler4/Warblade2

Ability Scores: STR 17 (4th level bonus) - DEX 14 - CON 10 - INT 16 - WIS 8 - CHA 18
HP: 43 (4d6+2d12+0)
BAB (assumed non-fractional): +4
Saves (assumed non-fractional): Fort +4 - REF +5 (+3 when flat-footed) - Will +3
Spells per day 0/1st/2nd: 6/7/4 (caster level 4th)
Maneuvers Known/Readied/Stances: 4/3/1 (initiator level 4th)

Changeling traits: +2 racial bonus on saves vs sleep and charm, +2 racial bonus on bluff/intimidate/sense motive, Natural Linguist (speak language always class skill), Minor Change Shape
Beguiler features: Armored mage, Trapfinding, Cloaked casting (+1 DC), Surprise casting, Advanced learning, and 63 skill points
Warblade features: Battle clarity (Reflex saves), Weapon aptitude, Uncanny dodge, and 14 skill points
Languages: Common plus 3 others (maybe more from speak language ranks)

Feats (3 total): Evasive Reflexes (ToB), Vexing Flanker (PHBII), Racial Emulation (RoE)

I will have no problem writing up the background, appearance, etc. Just want to get the mechanics ironed out first.

edit - Oh, and for that bonus... I think I'm going to go for the free +1 LA template option. Specifically, the Dark template from Tome of Magic (extraplanar subtype, +10 speed, darkvision 60 ft., hide in plain sight, resistance to cold 10, superior low-light vision, hide+8, move silently+6).

gabrion · Sep 28, 2006

@ByteRynn-Looks interesting so far. I also wonder how essential the monk is, but that's completely up to you. As for the special bonus, I actually thought about adjusting BAB of classes, but I'm still not sure I like that idea. We'll see.

@Azaar-I really dislike undead characters and I don't feel the theme works all that well in this game, but if you must be a necropolitan then yes, that would be considered a +1 LA and you could get it for free. Also, as has been pointed out, two different prefixes for JPM could make the class play very differently. I know you're thinking of warmage right now, but have you given any thought to the Battle Sorcerer? They get fewer spells known and spells per day, but are a good deal more martial than the warmage. Just a thought.

@Paper_Bard-Well I'm going to give preferance to people have the book and are using it, so while you can feel free to submit a character, it seems like enough other people have put forth ideas (in this thread or the last), that it will be difficult for you to get a spot.

@Masquerade-Looks good so far. I'll be interested to see more. As for the dark template, I'm familiar with that and it fine (in case you were wondering). As a matter of fact, I had it in mind when I was making the OP. I thought I should allow increased starting gold as an option, but I didn't know how much gold would be the equivilant of a +1 template. Then I remembered the Collar of Umbral Metamorphosis from ToM gives a template for about 10,000 gp so I just used that figure.

hafrogman · Sep 28, 2006

I found this picture recently, so it's been shaping my character concept.

Currently looking like this
[Sblock=Character]

Code:

[B]Name:[/B]       Icarus
[B]Class:[/B]      Warblade 5/Bloodstorm Blade 1
[B]Race:[/B]       Winged Human
[B]Size:[/B]       Medium (6'1", 178 lb)
[B]Gender:[/B]     Male
[B]Alignment:[/B]  Chaotic Good       

[B]Str:[/B] 14 +2   [B]Level:[/B]     6     [B]XP:[/B] 18,000 / 21,000
[B]Dex:[/B] 18 +4   [B]BAB:[/B]      +6     [B]HP:[/B] 61 (6d12-6)
[B]Con:[/B]  9 -1   [B]Grapple:[/B]  +8
[B]Int:[/B] 16 +3   [B]Speed:[/B]    30'  Fly 50' (Perfect)
[B]Wis:[/B] 10 +0   [B]Init:[/B]     +4
[B]Cha:[/B] 16 +3

[/sblock]

I was going to use the winged template for the character until I realized it was plus two. It normally grants a fly speed of land speed +20 with a maneuverability based on dexterity, and then gives +4 dex and +2 wisdom. I thought if I knocked off the bonuses and just left the fly speed that it could be my bonus.

Azaar · Sep 28, 2006

I'll need to look at the Battle Sorcerer again and check it out. My main reason for the Warmage was because of the nice little blurb about no arcane spell failure in light armor (and if I wanted to try for 8th level Warmage boost to medium armor and the ability to ignore arcane spell failure on that, which was an option to finish out the 20 levels if I went for JPM). Warlock is much the same way, except the added versatility of having spell-like abilities above and beyond the eldritch blast.

Someone mentioned the prospect of taking that melee invocation: I dislike it because it's only for one attack (because SLAs are standard actions, which conflict with full-round attack actions), and the opponent gets an AoO on you as well.

The necropolitan question was simply that: personally, I'm not too wild about doing it myself, although then it would have made an excellent dump stat for that 8 to go into Con. What I need to do is look at all the LA +1 templates and see what's available, as potential options.