[OD&D] [OOC] Paths of Legend: To Rule in Hell

KirayaTiDrekan

Adventurer
First things first - I'm back after a very extended absence. I was homeless for about two months and am now getting back on my feet.

As such, I want to get back in the PbP GM saddle.

This game will be using Original D&D, house ruled and modified to resemble BECMI a bit (so its easier to GM).

It is the Age of Dawning, mere centuries after the people were brought to the world by the Great Dragon. In those first centuries the people warred with the creatures of madness that once ruled the world.

Though defeated and driven in to the depths of the earth, the creatures of madness inflicted many casualties. Entire clans of elves, dwarves, and gnomes vanished with them, along with the humans of the Tribe of Gith. The armies of the first peoples fell to conflict among themselves as they all attempted to claim the abandoned Lands of Madness for themselves.

Into this chaos comes the Serpent, Azilyk, creator of Hell and mother of fiends. For those whose ambition exceeds all other desires, she offers immortality and power beyond imagining...to rule at her side in the depths of Hell itself.

Paths of Legend is my homebrew setting I have been working on since 1988. This game offers a glimpse at its tempestuous birth as player characters are given the opportunity to become Lords and Ladies of the Nine Hells.

The first adventures will find the player characters joining a mercenary company to find their fortune, hired to clear a city in the Lands of Madness of the remaining horrors so that the Tribe of Trandar can establish a nation with this city as its capitol.

Kiraya's House of Gaming
Rogues Gallery
IC

Character Creation Step One: Ability Scores

Players may choose to roll 3d6 in order - Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma OR roll 4d6, drop the lowest and assign as desired.

Ability scores bonuses are as per BECMI

2-3 = -3 penalty
4-5 = -2 penalty
6-8 = -1 penalty
9-12 = no adustment
13-15 = +1 bonus
16-17 = +2 bonus
18 = +3 bonus

Strength: Bonus or penalty applies to melee attacks and damage rolls, thrown weapon damage rolls, and to rolls made to force open doors and other acts of brute strength. Clerics may exchange 3 points of Strength for 1 point of Wisdom after rolling ability scores. Strength is the Prime Requisite for Fighters.

Intelligence: Bonus or penalty applies to number of languages known (Intelligence penalty means the character has trouble reading, writing, and even speaking common or their racial language). Fighters and Clerics may exchange 2 points of Intelligence for 1 point of Strength or Wisdom, respectively. Intelligence is the Prime Requisite for Magic-Users.

Wisdom: Bonus or penalty applies to saving throws vs. spells. Fighters may exchange 3 points of Wisdom for 1 point of Strength. Magic-Users may exchange 2 points of Wisdom for 1 point of Intelligence. Wisdom is the Prime Requisite for Clerics.

Dexterity: Bonus or penalty applies to Missile attacks and thrown attacks, initiative rolls, and Armor Class. Dexterity is the Prime Requisite of for Thieves.

Constitution: Bonus or penalty applies to number of Hit Points per Hit Die.

Charisma: Bonus or penalty applies to the morale of henchman and followers as well as initial reaction rolls of NPCs (i.e. "first impression"). Charisma determines the maximum number of henchman (but not other followers) a character can lead.

Maximum # of Henchmen by Charisma Score

2-3 = 1
4-5 = 2
6-8 = 3
9-12 = 4
13-15 = 5
16-17 = 6
18 = 7

Prime Requisites affect the amount of experience points a character earns as follows.

2-3 = -20%
4-5 = -10%
6-8 = -5%
9-12 = no adjustment
13-15 = +5%
16-18 = +10%

Character Creation Step Two: Race

There are four racial options - Human, Dwarf, elf, and Halfling. A brief summary of their racial traits follows.

Humans - Unlimited advancement in all classes, unlimited choice of bonus languages.

Dwarf - May advance up to 6th level as a Fighter or Thief, dwarves with 17 Strength may advance to 7th level as a fighter, dwarves with 18 Strength may advance up to 8th level as a fighter; add Constitution bonus to saving throws vs all magical attacks (magic wands, rods, staves, spells); Infravision up to 60'; able to detect slanting passages, stonework traps, shifting walls, and new construction in underground areas on a roll of 1 or 2 on 1d6; speak Common and Dwarven (dwarves with Intelligence of 8 or lower cannot speak Common) and may choose Gnome, Kobold, and Goblin as bonus languages.

Elf - May advance up to 8th level as a Magic-User and 4th level as a Fighter (experience may be divided as player wishes - Prime Requisite bonuses are added after XP is divided) or up to 8th level as a Thief, elves with 17 Strength may advance to 5th level as a fighter, elves with 18 Strength may advance to 6th level as a fighter, elves with 18 Intelligence may advance up to 9th level as a magic-user; Infravision up to 60'; able to detect secret and hidden doors (and other difficult to see things at DM's discretion) on a roll of 1 or 2 on 1d6; speak Common and Elven (elves with Intelligence of 8 or lower cannot speak Common) and may choose Orc, Hobgoblin, and Gnoll as bonus languages.

Halfling - May advance up to 8th level as a Thief and 4th level as a Fighter (experience may be divided as player wishes - Prime Requisite bonuses are added after XP is divided); add Constitution bonus saving throws vs all agical attacks (magic wands, rods, staves, spells); +1 to hit with missile and thrown weapons; speak Common and Halfling (halflings with Intelligence of 8 or lower cannot speak Common), unlimited bonus languages; can only use small weapons.

Half-Elf - May advance up to 6th level as a Fighter and 6th level as a Magic-User (17 or 18 in Strength or Intelligence allows advancement to 7th and 8th level in respective classes); Half-elves with Wisdom at least 13 may also advance up to 4th level as a Cleric; may advance up to 8th level as a thief; detection and languages as per elves;

Character Creation Step Three: Class


Fighter - May use all weapons, armors, shields; may use special abilities of weapons that have them (2x damage with lance while performing a mounted charge, x2 damage while setting a spear vs. a charge, etc); may build a stronghold and rule a domain starting at 9th level. 8 HP at first level and 1d8 per additional level. Lawful fighters with Wisdom 13 or higher may become Paladins at 9th level as per Rules Cyclopedia. Chaotic fighters with Wisdom 13 or higher may become Avengers at 9th level as per Rules Cyclopedia. Neutral fighters, as well Lawful and Chaotic fighters who cannot (or choose not to) become Paladins or Avengers may become Knights at 9th level as per Rules Cyclopedia.

Cleric - May use all armor and shields; may use blunt weapons only; able to cast Cleric spells (per Rules Cyclopedia table); able to Turn Undead (per Rules Cyclopedia table); may build a stronghold and attract faithful followers starting at 9th level. 6 HP at first level and 1d6 HP per additional level. Neutral clerics who renounce their religious affiliation and swear loyalty to the druidic order may become druids as per Rules Cyclopedia with the following exceptions - druids may take the form of any normal or giant animal that has 1/3 the druid's level or lower in hit dice; druids lose the ability to turn undead.

Magic-User - May only use daggers and staffs; may not use any armor or shields; able to cast Magic-User spells (per Rules Cyclopedia table); able to craft magic items. 4 HP at first level and 1d4 HP per additional level.

Thief - May use leather armor, may not use shields, may use one-handed melee weapons and all missile weapons; uses Thief Abilities and Backstab as per Rules Cyclopedia. 4 HP at first level and 1d4 per additional level. Chaotic thieves may become Assassins at 9th leve by joining an assassins' guild and passing certain testsl. Assassins add Disguise to their list of Thief Abilities, with a starting percentage of 50% (at 9th level) and adding 2% per level there-after. Assassins may also use poison. Assassins, when performing a Backstab or taking a victim by surprise in a non-comba situation, have a chance to slay an opponent outright; the chance is 50% minus 5% per hit die or level difference between the assassin and the target if the target is higher level, plus 5% per hit die or level difference between the assassin and the target if the target is lower level.

Monk/Mystic - Only humans may be this class; ask DM for details.

Character Creation Step Four: Equipment

Costs and statistics as per Rules Cyclopedia. Roll 3d6x10 for starting gold.

Character Creation Step Five: Number Crunching

To hit tables, armor class, saving throws, encumbrance, and experience tables all as per Rules Cyclopedia. Elven fighter/magic-users and halfling fighter/thieves use the best save number and to hit numbers of their respective classes. Hit points per each class level are halved (rounded up) as is Constitution bonus to HP (do not round, note .5s on character sheet but ignore during play). Choose spells as per Rules Cyclopedia. Initial spells in Magic-User spellbook are Read Magic and one of choice (alternately, roll 1d12, skipping Read Magic).

Character Creation Step Six: Other Details

Choose alignment - Lawful, Neutral, Chaotic.

Choose a name.

Determine other personal details and background as desired/needed.

Other House Rules

Characters may attempt ability checks (roll 1d20 and score at or under ability score) to perform feats and tasks related to that score. For example, a character may attempt to recall some bit of relevant history by rolling Intelligence.

Level Titles are culturally based and will be provided during the course of play.

Psionics rules are not used.

Additional notes and changes may be added as needed.



Player characters should be of an evil or at least selfish bent, or those good characters who can be tempted toward darkness. PCs will be a team for the first several adventures but may end up being rivals late in the campaign (if we get that far).

This game will have mature themes.

Thanks for looking. :D
 
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JustinCase

the magical equivalent to the number zero
Welcome back Kiraya! Sorry to hear about your homelessness, but I'm glad you're doing better now. Still working for women.com?

The premise of this campaign is very promising, but I'm not really familiar with the OD&D / BECMI rules. If that is not a problem, I'm very interested in joining! I have a few ideas but it really depends on the other players.
 

KirayaTiDrekan

Adventurer
Thanks!

I am unemployed right now, hence the stint of homelessness.

As for OD&D/BECMI, its easy to learn and play (well, mostly ;) ).

What are your character ideas?
 

JustinCase

the magical equivalent to the number zero
I always wanted to play a manipulative little bastard. :D That's a concept that could fit any race/class, but thief or magic-user seem most appropriate. Elf, or perhaps human.
 

River Song

Explorer
I don't have much experience with the system either. But if you are willing to put up with that I would love to give a thief a go. Probably elf.

Can the enworld dice roller do 4d6 drop the lowest? If not I might use another roller.
 





tglassy

Adventurer
You know, I'm actually very intrigued by this. I, also, have not played OD&D, so I'll be needing some help with those rules as well.

Give me a bit to think up a character for this. I'm very partial to the "good guy but tempted to the dark side" bit, as it often appears in my writings, so I might go that route, but let me think about it.
 

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