[OOC] Pool of Radiance

The year is 1348 DR.

Young adventurers journey to the ancient trading outpost on the north shore of the Moonsea, situated in the river mouth of the Stojanow, in search for riches, fame and glory. The ruined city, destroyed by a horde of savage humanoids led into battle by a flight of dragons half a century ago, is about to be rebuilt once more. Before this can happen, however, Phlan must be retaken; many of the horde had settled in the ruins since then.


I'm starting a new D&D3.5 PbP campaign based on the AD&D adventure campaign 'Ruins of Adventure' (which tells the story of the CRPG 'Pool of Radiance', the first in the 'gold box series' from 1988). I will use the adventure book as a guideline for the story mostly.

The game will be mission-driven, but you will have several missions to choose from and while the story will unfold itself in and around Phlan, the players will have quite a bit of freedom in what they are going to do there. While the campaign itself naturally is quite battle-centered, and there will be frequent and challenging battles (with a battle map like this; the map is created by a javascript, so js must be activated to view it), I generally try to aim for a decent mix with roleplaying opportunities and other encounters. However, the players usually have the choice how they want to approach an encounter. Please note, that not every encounter will be a suitable combat challenge, but there will always be a way out, if you can find it. I'm never aiming for a TPK, but I will not fudge the dice either.


I'm looking for a total of five players, who will take on the roles of young adventurers out to prove themselves, or whatever other reason brings them to New Phlan. I will not choose players on a first come first serve basis, but rather decide arbitrarily or randomly to give everyone a fair chance, despite different time zones, etc.

There are a few requirements, which I hope you all will be able to fulfill.

Requirements
[SBLOCK]First, I would like to see at the very least one post every other day, but more than that is certainly better. This does not mean, that I will kick you out after two days, but rather, that I want to see an overall steady posting rate and that everyone involved shows some commitment. I'm sure you all understand how important that is to keep things running. It would also be nice, if you would inform us about any lenghty (a week or more) periods of absence (holidays and so on), so we won't be waiting for you in that time and can move things along.

Second, I want you to use decent punctuation, grammar, and so on. I will certainly not give you an XP penalty for typos, but I want the posts to be readable. Likewise, the language does not need to be perfect (I'm not a native english speaker myself), but understandable.

Third, I would prefer players who do not blindly follow the trail, but also use their own inspiration and imagination sometimes. That means among other things, that you should not only wait for me to post something for you to reply to, but also reply to the other players or even start something on your own. I will try, if you provide me with some plot hooks, to incorporate them (I can't promise that, since some stuff simply won't work, but I will try). I'm certainly aware, that occasionally there simply is nothing to say, and that's cool. It's just a general principle.

Fourth, it is certainly helpful, but not absolutely required, that you are familiar with the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. Of course, you should not be familiar with the Ruins of Adventure campaign or the story from the Pool of Radiance computer game (not the more recent one, there are two, this one is from 1988), which it is based on.

Fifth, if you could provide me with a picture/portrait of your character (but please no manga/anime!), that would be great. I will use that for the battle maps then.[/SBLOCK]

There are a also few options concerning character creation, which I would like to hear your input about before deciding which route to take. These options will not be individual to each player, but rather be determined upon as general rules for this campaign. Please include your preferance to the following options in your reply (a simple yes or no will be sufficient for each option, but feel free to explain your opinion, if you want to). If you feel strongly about a particular option (i.e. you wouldn't want to play the other way), please include this as well. Thank you!

Options
[SBLOCK]Both of the following options are being used!

Option 1)

Character sheets could be secret. Every player will get a password protected access to his or her character sheet, which noone else (except me, of course) should be able to look into. I will keep them up to date, then. Your character submission will be sent to me via e-mail (I will provide you with an e-mail address, if it becomes necessary) and not be posted on this site (or anywhere else for that matter).

The advantage of this option would be, that there would be more emphasis on the in character descriptions of your character, since that's all there is. It would require, that you use these descriptions to play up certain characteristics of your character to give everyone a good idea of what your character represents.

Option 2)

Gestalt characters! Under this option, the player characters (and only the player characters, and maybe very few important NPCs) would be using the Gestalt rules found in Unearthed Arcana. Under this option, there would be no multiclassing at all, which also means no prestige classes, naturally; you simply pick two base classes and that's it for the lifetime of your character. (*) Furthermore, each character could have only one full spellcasting class (defined as a class that reaches 9th level spells at some point over 20 levels).

(*) This part has changed to the following:
- LA replaces the full Gestalt progression for one level, but you can buy it off later (per UA rules (UA pg. 18)).
- Racial HD are figured in just like classes (they fill the lowest levels of one side of the Gestalt).
- One PrC can be chosen, but it will likewise replace the full Gestalt progression. In some cases (let me know in advance, if you plan for a PrC, so I can look it up) I will have to add a minimum ECL requirement to enter the class, or even add additional prerequisites. Most PrC should not be a problem, since they have some prerequisites based directly on the character level, anyways (BAB, skill ranks, spell levels, etc), but others do this by using certain class abilities from multiple classes, which under the Gestalt rules would be easier to obtain than it should be.
- No other form of multiclassing is permitted. You can switch between your Gestalt progression (the two initial classes) and the PrC freely, however.[/SBLOCK]

Alright... now you surely want to know a few more details.

Character Creation
[SBLOCK]Disclaimer: I don't mind powerful characters, but I do not want to see pure power gaming abominations with no 'character' at all. You don't have to base all the decisions for your character creation on the background you have in mind, but it should be possible to connect the character's stats with the character's background.

Note: For now, I do not want character sheets or any extensive details (in case we are going to use Option 1)), but only some very basic information, including Race, Class(es) and a short Background Synopsis for your character. A general classification (i.e. warrior-type, melee-oriented; or arcane spellcaster) is totally acceptable for now. More details, like a full character sheet and directions where you are heading towards (i.e. which prestige class, if any, unless we are going to use Option 2), of course), later when it's clear who is going to play and what options we are going to use.

Allowed Sources: All three 3.5 Core Books (or SRD), PHB2, the Complete series, the Races series, the Player's Guide to Faerûn and all referenced material therein is generally acceptable (I do reserve the right to veto some particular material, like Ur-Priests or Frenzied Berserkers, but in most cases material from these sources is ok). Each of those in the most current version according to the errata or FAQ/RotG. I will also allow other WotC sources (i.e. Unearthed Arcana), as long as I have them, on a case by case basis. I will generally not allow any 3rd party sources or psionics.

Starting ECL: 2nd level. Expect to see this raise quite a bit during the campaign. I'll be quite free-giving with XP.

Alignment: Any nonevil. This restriction is also active during the game. While you are not prevented from performing actions, classified as evil, you should not overdo it.

Races/Classes: All races up to +1 LA (no or not too many racial HD) and base classes from the above-listed books, except the oriental ones (although I might make an exception there for a completely oriental-flavored character from the east of Faerûn, but I generally prefer non-oriental characters). Typical races, i.e. from the PHB/FRCS are generally preferred and should make up the majority of the party.

Ability Scores: 28 PB with six randomly determined abilities being raised by +1 after the PB points are distributed. A single ability can be raised multiple times this way; when this raises an ability beyond 18, the first, third, and/or fifth increase, that raises an ability beyond 18, can (and must) be relocated to any other ability score as you like, but the second, fourth, and/or sixth raise is lost. Also see the house rule on raising ability scores during level up.

Hit Points: Maximum for the first two levels; standard HD roll thereafter with a minimum of HD/2 for each roll. This also applies to animal companions and special mounts.

Starting Money: 600 gp, no regional equipment.

Various: No templates, no spellfire, no spiked chains.[/SBLOCK]

House Rules
[SBLOCK]I will use a number of house rules, most of them are small fixes or additions to a few rules I simply don't like. This is not a complete list and there might be some new house rules coming up during the game (in particular to prevent rules abuse), however, I will always ask for your consense before adding a new house rule and won't ever do so right within a situation where it would be a disadvantage to you (other than preventing abuse). I'm sure this won't happen a lot, and surely a lot less if you don't even try to abuse any rules.

* Spell Focus grants +2 to the DC, Greater Spell Focus is not available.
* Some spells with a duration of 1 min./level have 10 min./level instead. Bull's Strength, Cat's Grace, etc, Invisibility, Fly and Polymorph. Furthermore Polymorph is a personal range spell and the material component is replaced with a focus component; the focus is some part of the creature you want to polymorph into. Alter Self, and all spells based on it, grants the natural perceptions of the chosen form, which includes low-light vision, darkvision, scent and in some cases also other natural forms of perception, like a bat's blindsense, but never blindsight or tremorsense. Righteous Might grants full size changes as if the caster was a monster advancing in size along with the reduced damage reduction as per the errata.
* Detect Magic and Arcane Sight count as interacting with an illusion; when detecting one, an immediate, secret Will save will determine, whether the caster is able to read the correct school, on a failed save an appropriate but false reading will be obtained, the specifics of which are determined by the creator of the illusion at the time it is created.
* Half-Orcs (and Orcs) have a +4 racial bonus on Intimidate and are proficient with all simple weapons and one martial weapon of choice.
* Half-Elves gain +1 bonus skill point per level just like humans.
* Sorcerers gain Eschew Materials as a bonus feat at 1st level and have 4 skill points per level with Diplomacy, Intimidate, Knowledge (the planes) and Use Magic Device as additional class skills.
* Wizards pay only 10 gp per page (instead of 100 gp) to scribe spells into their spellbooks.
* Rogues and other characters with the trapfinding ability can spot traps during movement, just like elves can detect secret doors. There is no penalty to the Search check for careful movement (half move), but a -5 for full movement and a -20 penalty for running.
* Rangers calculate their effective druid level to determine their animal companion's bonus abilities by reducing their ranger level by three, instead of dividing it by two.
* Rangers get their favored enemy bonus on Knowledge checks to identify mosters, which are their favored enemies, and their special powers or vulnerabilities. In addition, they can treat these Knowledge checks as trained, even if they do not have ranks in the relevant skill.
* Every 4th level, when the character can increase an ability score, he or she gains 4 points instead, which are spent on the base abilities (without racial or magical increases figured in) just like Point Buy during character creation. The cost to raise an ability to 19+ this way is 4 points for each increase. Points not spent are wasted.
* Item creation with Brew Potion and Scribe Scroll is faster than usual. A number of identical potions with a combined value of at most 1,000 gp can be brewed in one day, and a single scroll with up to six spells on it can be created as a single item with the creation time based on the combined value of the scroll.
* If there is no target given for Dodge, the first opponent, that the character is aware of, who is attacking him or her, will be chosen as the target automatically.
* Cleave does not work on an attack of opportunity.
* Maximize Spell-Like Ability has a prerequisite of caster level 8th or higher and the maximum spell level equivalent is figured accordingly (i.e. 1/2 caster level - 3).
* A prone creature can spend a move action to be able to perform a prone 5-ft. step, which works just like a regular 5-ft. step, including the limit of one such step per round, with the only exception, that the creature stays prone.
* Range penalties only apply after exceeding the range increment.
* Players will not be informed about the exact damage taken during combat. Instead a more general status (see the list below) will be given and the descriptions in the combat resolution post will hint at the severity of an attack. It's not immediately obvious, whether a creature is dead, therefore it might still be shown as dying.
unscathed: full HP
scratched: 91%-99% HP
lightly wounded: 76%-90% HP
moderately wounded: 51%-75% HP
severely wounded: 26%-50% HP
critically wounded: 1%-25% HP
disabled: 0 HP
dying: -1 bis -9 HP
dead: -10 HP
* A creature that is severely wounded counts as fatigued, a creature that is critically wounded or disabled counts as exhausted, with the appropriate penalties. These conditions stack as normal, but they cannot be removed by normal means or rest, only healing the wounds, which raises the wound condition to a higher level, can do so and then the associated fatigue level is immediately gone as well.
* The XP loss for losing a level is figured differently; it is a fixed amount based on your current level, specifically (ECL-1) times 1,000 XP, i.e. the amount you had to earn to advance from the last level to the current level.[/SBLOCK]

Posting Guidelines
[SBLOCK]There will be five threads for this game, which you will frequently use. I will include a 'thread navigation' (collection of links) in the first post of every thread.

[IC] - The game thread, where all the in character action takes place. Please post the name of your character (only the name) in the 'Title:' line of every post. Use “colored text in quotations” or “colored italic text in quotations” (I will use italics, but you don't need to) for speaking (pick a color you like, which is not too painful to read) and italics for thoughts (thoughts should only be used sparingly), with everything else in standard text. As the story unfolds as we go, I'd prefer that present tense be used, unless speaking of past happenings, of course (sometimes, if a player hasn't posted for a while, it might make sense to recap what his or her character did during that time, in which case past tense would be appropriate). I will sometimes post spoilers for specific characters only, to provide information that only this (or these) character(s) have, I will not overuse this feature. No OOC-comments in the IC-thread, please; I will sometimes post some OOC-information there (i.e. a status report after each round of combat) in small silver text, but that is all, for anything else use the OOC-thread (there is an edit button, if you post in the wrong thread accidentally). When the game moves into combat rounds, you will not post in the IC-thread at all (see [COMBAT]); I will post a combat resolution post for every combat round. Once combat is over, everyone continues to post in the IC-thread as usual.

I'm rather unclear on how the stat increase thing works. You get level+3/8 points, but raising a stat over 18 costs 4 points. You can never have more than 3 points pre-epic (23/8=2.875, I think), so, in essence, you can never raise a stat above 18 without magical or racial bonuses. Am I missing something here?

Clear that up, and I'd be interested. It's a shame we can't horribly abuse the Gestalt system, but it'll be fun anyway. I'd play with or without Gestalt rules, probably as a spellcaster of some sort. If gestalt, I'd go with a Wizard/Swashbuckler (if I can get away with that) Gish build; a member of the nobility by day and a student of the arcane by night. If not, I think I'll make a melee character of some sort. I'm thinking of a progressively-minded dwarf exiled for his beliefs.

One other thing: isn't Greater Spell Focus a prerequisite for some PrCs, like Archmage? Would those become unavailabe, or would that feat requirement be removed or swapped for something else?

Lord Raul de Winter

The third son of a minor noble in Cormyr, Raul de Winter chose to enter the church to advance himself. He is a sworn warrior in service to Tempus, seeking to establish a more prominent worship of war and combat in general, and of course looking to test himself in the time honored method of the Sword.

I like the first method, but would be fine with either.

I'm interested, I could go with either or both options 1 & 2, but don't feel strongly about them.

I'd like to play a dwarven melee type (fighter or fighter/barbarian [or possibly scout])

I was thinking that his father was a trader lost in the attack, and he has come to new Phlan to search for whatever might be left. . . some heirloom or remains or something of the sort.




edit: Another concept I was toying with. A gnomish barbarian/bard (if the gestalt rules were used). An exiled gnome family living with a nomadic barbarian tribe, their young child constantly surrounded by those bigger and stronger than he, has to grow up to be the toughest of them all. Add in a tendancy for braggadocio, brawling and berserking and you have the kind of character that the tribal elders decide needs to go on a spirit quest. . . preferably somewhere far, far away.

This looks like a well thought out game, with an experienced DM and options enough for character creation, so I definitely want to join.

As for your options, I don't like option 1, because In my experience that leads to players having secrets just because they can. The most important drawback (I'm evil, but I won't tell them until I stab them in the back) is allready taken care of, so it's no deal breaker for me.

I do like option 2, although I've heard some pretty bad things about it here on the forums (things that other people will no doubt say in this thread sooner or later) but I would love playing a barbarian/rogue type or something.

I will probably play a rogueish type of guy. Maybe a human swashbuckler or a halfling with an attitude, but I'll choose later.

As for requirements:

I will be able to post once every other day. I'll just promiss myself not to join more games after this and that should be okay.

Punctuation and grammar. I am not a native english speaker (or writer) but I think I can make myself understandable. If think this post is good enough, then I'm your man, because I'm tired right now and this is not the best form I can be in.
I value taking the initiative highly, which is one of the reasons I want to join this game.
I'm familiar with the reals a bit, although it has been a while. I'll read up and the areas we are going to and any organisations we get to deal with. I have acces to the FR campaign setting. A portrait is no problem, just don't expect that I will draw it myself, I know 5 year olds who can do that better than me.

Well, this seems about enough sucking up and patting myself on the back, so I'll just go to bed now....

Alright, some quick and dirty character bios:

Erisis Machelar, Swashbuckler 2/Wizard 2:

Erisis was the son of a well-known noble couple in Waterdeep, and was raised on tales of intriuge and honor. Do you see that man there, his parents would often ask before beginning a rambling, gossipy tale, albiet one well-told. As he grew older, Erisis tired of his parents' stories of insignificant and petty events, and his tutor's focus on courtly affairs over the real world. More and more he became independent of those around him in regard to his education. When he set out into the world, he was expected to hold up the honor of the noble line of Machelar. Instead, he all but vanished. Rumors placed him as the thrall to some enchanter, a member of a band of smugglers, or any number of wilder stories. Instead, he had sought out a little-known wizard he had stumbled across in his reading. Submitting himself to an apprenticeship of commoner's work, he quickly picked up his master's secrets in the old man's hours, and re-learned the courtly talents he had once brushed off, albiet with a focus on more practical aspects; fencing and negotiating over dancing and buisness.

As his arcane prowess developed, Machelar left his master and rejoined society, but he found that the nobility was even more distasteful than he remembered. Nevertheless, he found that he was being noticed, and more than once he was approached by this or that noble to do some task. As much as he disliked dealing with many of his 'peers', it was good, well-paying work, and he developed a reputation for it. After nearly a year of odd jobs, he gave up on it and took the first job away from the city he could find: retaking a faraway city from savages. While hardly the clean and easy work he had once done, Erisis was drawn to the challenge, and set out for New Phlan.

Dwarf to come soon... or perhaps I'll just use this guy as a Swashbuckler 1/Wizard 1.

I'm interested. Will give some thought to the character. Posting at that rate won't be a problem, unless I'm out of town.

I would love to play! I like the gestalt idea best. I'll need to think about a character though.

Hmmn, all looks very intresting. The grammar/spelling aspect I believe I'm okay on, as well as the posting requirements.

As far as a Character pic goes...I'll be able to find something of the net or wotc web site I'm sure, my artistic talents leave alot to be desired.

All of the house rules look fine, though I think I need a differint clarification of the ability point system.

Out of those 2 I could do with either, but prefer the second only becuase I haven't had an opportunity to play in a ghestalt setting.

As for charcter, I'm looking at a warrior/sneak mix, though I'm not sure precisely what kind yet.

A young Sembian Noble apathetic to current merchant court intrigues. A weapons trader looking for opportunities in a war torn country, and a philantropist as an aside. More character history etc to follow of course.

Ok, I guess the point increase needs some further explanation.

The formula is a bit confusing, but it's really quite simple.

Ringmereth said:

I'm rather unclear on how the stat increase thing works. You get level+3/8 points, but raising a stat over 18 costs 4 points. You can never have more than 3 points pre-epic (23/8=2.875, I think), so, in essence, you can never raise a stat above 18 without magical or racial bonuses. Am I missing something here?

Click to expand...

You got the formula wrong... it's 3+(level/8) (rounded up).

For example... at 4th level you get 3+4/8 (rounded up) = 3+1/2 (rounded up) = 3.5 (rounded up) = 4 points. Enough to raise an 18 to 19.

In fact, the formula is designed that way, to make sure, that you always get exactly the number of points needed to raise one and the same ability every time by one, if you start out with an 18 at character creation. This way it is ensured, that you can make every increase you would normally be able to as well. However, you have the option to raise multiple lower abilities instead of just one higher ability. The result is, that generalization is rewarded over specialization, but specialization is still possible. It will also in many cases eliminate dump stats.

Bye
Thanee