Plaidmonthly's D&D Next Campaign [OOC]

[plaidmonthly]

This is the "Out of Character" (OOC) Thread for Plaidmonthly's D&D Next Campaign. This thread is for discussing things like game mechanics, rules, characters, etc.

Important Links:

In Game Thread

Campaign Manager

External Links:

D&D Next Playtest Rules

Players:

plaidmonthly (Patrick)
Lord haha (Rob)
Swingline (Tina)
Herd (Bryan)
TheHammer (Dan)

[plaidmonthly]

It sounds like we're all in agreement on using the D&D Next rules. Here's the link for the current playtest material:
D&D Next Sign Up - Wizards of the Coast

I've also uploaded a blank character sheet to the files section of this Campaign Manager:
D&D Next Character Sheet (pdf)

[plaidmonthly]

Here are three ideas I have for the overall campaign theme... let me know what you think of these, or if there's something else you'd be interested in.

1. High Fantasy - a straight ahead fantasy game with elves, dwarves, magic and all the usual D&D fixin's. Possibly set in the Forgotten Realms, or maybe even Greyhawk if we want to go really old school. I'm thinking it could be a "sandbox" style of campaign, where the story is driven by the players' choices.

2. Rogues and Scoundrels - in this campaign, the player characters are a little on the shady side... not necessarily evil, but definitely in it for themselves. The classes would still be mixed: fighters, wizards, clerics, in addition to thieves and rogues. At the very start of the campaign, the characters would be in prison. They manage to escape, but would be on the run from that point on.

3. Barbarians of the North - this campaign would be set in the northern reaches of the world, full of barbarians, vikings, frost giants and winter witches. The overall feel of the campaign would be a bit more savage, possibly influenced by Conan or the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories.

[Swingline]

I like the Rogues and Scoundrels idea - but all of them sound fun.

[Herd]

I think this will be the wrong venue for high fantasy. I'm good with either of the other two.

[TheHammer]

2, 1, 3... but, Bryan is probably right about 1.

[plaidmonthly]

Sounds like "Rogues and Scoundrels" is the favourite so far... I think that could be a fun theme for the campaign!

In my original concept, the PCs start in prison, and the actual escape or release from prison would be handled as a "cinematic" at the beginning of the first session. However, Tina brought up the idea of actually playing a prison break scenario as part of the game. What do you guys think of that? Does that sound intriguing?

[Lord haha]

I am good with 2 as well. What sort of starting level will we be? first? I am thinking a mage but I have still to read the new rules.

[plaidmonthly]

I think we should start at level 1... mainly because the playtest docs only go up to level 5 at the moment!

I think you'll like the Wizard class... it's kind of a mix of the old-school Magic-user with a bit of the 3e/ 4e Wizard thrown in. You get a bunch of daily spells that you have to memorize each day, plus you also get a few "minor" spells that you can cast at-will. However, you have very low hit points, much like the classic 1st edition spellcaster, so don't stand at the front!

[plaidmonthly]

A new playtest packet was just released on Monday, October 8th. Download it if you haven't already: D&D Next Sign Up - Wizards of the Coast


Races:
In the current version of the playtest rules, there are 4 base races, and each of the "demi-human" races has 2 sub-races.

• Dwarf
  
  • Hill Dwarf
  • Mountain Dwarf
  
  
• Elf
  
  • High Elf
  • Wood Elf
  
  
• Halfling
  
  • Lightfoot
  • Stout
  
  
• Human

Classes:
There are 4 standard character classes, plus 2 additional spellcasting classes (Sorcerer, Warlock) that are still in an "experimental" state. If you want to play a Sorcerer or Warlock, go for it, but keep in mind that these classes may change when the next playtest packet is released.

• Cleric
• Fighter
• Rogue
• Wizard
• Sorcerer (experimental)
• Warlock (experimental)

Although the class selection is limited, you can do a fair amount of customization using Backgrounds (skill packages) and Specialties (feat packages).