Particle_Man
Explorer
This may put my kobold idea in its context. Eric Noah said this is where the homebrew setting idea with lots of house rules could go.
Whereas: Fighters and Barbarians seem to be powerhouses compared to, well, everybody, and mages seem weak. Here is an example of tweaking the rules set a bit for a new campaign world. I use Complete Warrior, Complete Divine, Unearthed Arcana and XPH, as well as the three core books.
History: There is one god that creates the universe, worlds, life (Obad-hai type) and is deciding whether or not to create intelligent life. He summons his future self for consultation, but ends up with 8 variant future selves, and they won't go away! A Moradin-type (but geared towards building large structures rather than smithing smaller items) (thinks sentient life should be builders), A Pelor-type (thinks sentient life should be caretakers of the weak, including non-sentient life forms that can feel pleasure/pain (note: undergoes a change -- see below), A Tritherion-type (liked his life-forms -- note: undergoes a change see below), A LN Boccob type (thinks sentient life should study the universe - pursuit of knowledge is good in itself), A CN arts type (thinks that the stories that sentient life tells and lives is important) (Note the Science vs. Art dynamic between LN and CN), A Hextor-type (wants a heirarchy to be ruled, ultimately, by him), A Nerull-type (thinks sentient life was a horrible idea), and a Erythnul-type (thinks sentient lifeforms should slaughter each other for his entertainment). All 8 are potential future
versions of Obad-hai, and no potential future "unchanged" Obad-hai appeared.
Ok, they are all infinitely powerful, but agree to each make a representative race and not oppose each other directly. But they manage to mess each other up indirectly. For instance, the LE god wanted dragons and got...kobolds! Originally, each race was composed entirely of beings the same alignment as the relevant creator-god, but there is a bit of alignment drift among individuals.
For humans, it got worse than just a little drift. They actually were corrupted (likely by agents of the LE god) from NG to averaging out at N, and rejected their God. Thus their God abandoned them, and the race lost their then-favored class of cleric. There are no more clerics, which is unfortunate as only they were given the power to turn undead. There were never clerics of gods other than Pelor, and never will be. There are (and were) only Favored Souls of each God, and they are relatively rare (but PC's can take them). Note: humans are sometimes called God-forsaken by those in the know (need knowledge: religion or bardic knowledge to know most of this).
The good gods banded together and created an afterlife-world for souls of good sentient creatures. The souls eventually become Celestials of various types. Note that Moradin tends to think defensively (gets his followers to build forts, defensive structures, etc.) while Trithereon tends to think offensively (gets followers to actively fight evil). Pelor wants beings to help those weaker than themselves, and would like the humans to return to the old ways (this would require the majority of humans to become NG, which is extremely unlikely).
Oh, and Nerull discovered a plane of negative energy (the opposite of the positive energy Pelor used to create life). Nerull's followers believe that they will live on in a better universe created by Nerull. Actually, Nerull would prefer that eventually all sentient life
be destroyed, and sees his followers as an unwitting means of achieving this. His followers, and NE sentient creatures, have their souls consumed by Nerull, and their bodies sometimes are animated by the neg. energy as undead. (Only corporeal undead exist in this world). Thus NE creatures alone cannot be resurrected/raised/reincarnated, and creatures of other alignments do not become undead (all undead is NE). Exception, the bodies of non-NE creatures can be used to create Skeletons and Zombies. The souls of such beings have nothing to do with this, and have gone on to wherever they go.
Followers of Hextor and Erythnul are tortured for a while after death (testing) and then might become devils/demons, respectively.
Followers of Boccob type keep studying, but might become inevitables or magic objects.
Followers of the CN type usually reincarnate as members of the Cn god's race, after 1-100 years as part of the "music of the universe".
Followers of Obad-hai reincarnate as members of that god's race, after being part of the Prime plane (the land, the trees, etc.) for as long as they were alive.
(Note: one no longer has to be of the God's created race to be a follower of that race).
Modifications: There are only 9 sentient races (aside from the inevitables, celestials, devils, demons and corporeal undead). Aside from these, and the gods themselves, nothing else with an int above 2 exists in the universe. Oh, and nothing can interbred (no half-elves, half-orcs, planetouched, half-celestials, half-fiends, etc.). The only planes that exist, aside from the Prime, are Hell (Created by LE god), Abyss (Created by
CE god), Neg. Mat. energy (discovered by NE god), Celestia (created by good gods), Astral (Inhabited by LN god), Shadow/Ethereal/Dream (all the same plane) discovered by CN god), pos. mat. energy (N god's chosen domain now). No elemental planes exist. The four "original planes" are the Astral (a background plane, coming into existence with Obad-hai-type, the original god), Pos. mat. energy (likely existed as a reflection of
obad-hai's thought), Neg. mat. energy (unknown, but could also be a reflection of the thoughts of gods), and Shadow (empty and infinitely small until the Prime was created). The Prime is considered neutral ground, and the gods will not directly intervene (but will intervene through sentient agents).
Alignment: No PC's can choose to begin the game as evil. If they later willingly choose to become evil, they also become NPC's.
On to races and classes:
Classes:
Prestige Classes, Adepts, Druids, Paladins, Sorcerors, Wizards: Don't exist.
Clerics: There used to be clerics but none exist now.
Barbarians, Nobles: NPC only. Only Orcs can be barbarians.
Commoners, Experts, Warriors: Unchanged. PC's can play these if they really want to.
Bards, Rogues: unchanged.
Rangers: use non-spellcasting ranger from Complete Warrior.
Monks: can be multi-classed without losing ability to advance as monk later on.
Fighters: Only Kobolds can be fighters. No character can take feats on the fighter bonus feat list unless they are kobolds, or unless they get those feats as class abilities from another class. If they are kobolds, they can take these feats as either fighter bonus feats or as the feats they get normally at 1st, 3rd, etc. (even if they are not fighters).
Favored Souls: Almost as per Complete Divine rules. But their alignment must match their god’s exactly, and they will sometimes be given instructions by their god (during dreams or meditation) which they must try to follow. Failure to try means losing their abilities. But, a favored soul might switch gods (and alignment), and if the other god accepts, then they gain their abilities back from the new god.
Swashbucklers: Exist as per Complete Warrior rules.
Psions, Soul Knifes: Exist as per Expanded Psionics Handbook rules.
No other class from Complete Divine, Complete Warrior, or Expanded Psionics Handbook exist.
Races:
Humans (NG God): Favored Class used to be Cleric, but now is Warrior. Their initial instruction from their god was to heal the weak, but only a few humans follow this now. An equal number are evil as good. Get Knowledge (Religion) as a class skill.
Kobolds (LE God): Only kobolds can take feats from the fighter bonus feat list (see description of fighter). Fighter is the favored class of kobolds, and only kobolds can be fighters. Their initial instruction from their God was to rule everyone else. Some kobolds follow this still. Others have become more civilized, and can be found in major cities.
Goblins (NE God): Unchanged. Their initial instruction from their god was to steal, kill, etc., and steal bodies (to create undead). Some do this, others are more civilized. But some only pretend to be civilized, of course. Many goblins are smugglers, but sometimes they smuggle bodies out to less civilized areas, where unholy rites by favored souls can create undead!
Orcs (CE God): Only Orcs can be Barbarians. And while there are civilized orcs, there are no civilized barbarians. The latter are almost always CE in alignment. Their instruction from their God is to slaughter. Whether that is other races or other orc tribes, is all one to their God.
Wild Elves (a la MM) (N God): Favored Class Soul Knife. Only Wild Elves can be Soul Knives. They try to live as part of the natural world. They tend to avoid metal weapons and armor, and other trappings of civilization, but they are not required to. They can sometimes be found in cities. Survival is a class skill for all Wild Elves. They don't automatically have proficiency with longswords or rapiers.
Elan (LN God): Background is different. They are a separate race that breeds true, with their own language. Others do not become Elan. They look like humans, but bald and with larger skulls (add 2" to height).
Xeph (CG God): Favored Classes Swashbuckler AND Ranger. They are instructed by their gods to fight the forces fo evil. The God's original plan for sentient beings is unknown, and was changed in the face of the evil gods that now exist.
Maenads (CN God): They do NOT supress their emotions at all. (They are more like old Maenads). Favored class: Bard. They try to live the story of life, and tell it. They can embellish their tales for narrative purposes, and believe that such embellishment changes sometimes reality.
Dwarves (LG God): Favored Class Monk. They try to help good citizens by building structures to protect them, and monks often incorporate this philosophy of building into their training. Get Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) is a class skill for Dwarves. They lose the racial bonus to Appraise and Craft checks.
Skill note: Use Psionic Device and Use Magic Device are the same skill. Knowledge (Arcana) and Knowledge (Psionics) are the same skill. Spellcraft and Psicraft are the same skill. If any one has one of these skills as a class skill, she has the paired skill as a class skill, as they are both just different names for the same skill.
Languages: All of the racial languages (Human/Common, Elf, Dwarf, Xeph, Elan, Maenad, Orc, Draconic/Kobold, Goblin) are on everyone's starter list as potential languages that can be learned. Abyssal, Infernal, and Celestial are generally not on those lists, unless specifically mentioned, and are difficult to learn without a good roleplay reason or access to a sage-type. No other languages exist.
Magic: Use Magic Rating system in UA for multi-classed spell/power users. Psion, Favored Soul are Column A. Soul Knife, Ranger are Column B. Swashbuckler is Column C. The bard spells Shadow Evocation and Shadow Conjuration can duplicate spells from the Sorceror/Wizard list, but such duplicated spells cannot be used to create or power magic items. Exception: one could have continual flame torches (with a reduced radius, so reduced in usefulness). Phantom Steeds, like the Crystals of some Psions, contain fragments of their creator’s soul. Neither can outlive their creator.
Magic Items: While psionic items exist (and are about as common as magic items in the regular campaign worlds), the lack of sorceror/wizard, druid, ranger, and paladin spells means that certain magic items (those that need those spells to be created) do not exist. The lack of current cleric domain spells means that certain other magic items (those that need domain (good, healing, strength, sun, glory, community) spells to exist) are very old and rare. All intelligent magic or psionic items are LN in alignment.
Society:
In civilized areas, the 6 non-evil gods are permitted to be worshipped openly. There are variants of this (some places are more restrictive - only the 3 good gods are publicly supported). Since favored souls are rare, the worship is often not as big a deal, since "priests" are often experts or commoners that do not do magic. Humans tend to be dominant in civilized society. Outside, Orcs are a terror (because of their strength and
fury), as are Kobolds (because of their organization and fighting abilities, despite their low str and con). Orcs and kobolds rarely, if ever, team up. Goblins serve their own interests, but may team up (or appear to) with other evil races if it serves those interests to do so. Note that Outsiders are usually quite rarely encountered in the Prime plane, and usually have to be summoned or gated in by favored souls or bards. Note that Celestial/Fiendish Animals and/or Celestial/Fiendish Vermin do not exist, which significantly reduces the power of low-level Summon Monster Spells.
Adventure hook: Some kobolds discover a new metal that is light yet hard, allowing them to wear heavier armor. They call it...mithral.
[Feel free to comment...I have broad shoulders].
Whereas: Fighters and Barbarians seem to be powerhouses compared to, well, everybody, and mages seem weak. Here is an example of tweaking the rules set a bit for a new campaign world. I use Complete Warrior, Complete Divine, Unearthed Arcana and XPH, as well as the three core books.
History: There is one god that creates the universe, worlds, life (Obad-hai type) and is deciding whether or not to create intelligent life. He summons his future self for consultation, but ends up with 8 variant future selves, and they won't go away! A Moradin-type (but geared towards building large structures rather than smithing smaller items) (thinks sentient life should be builders), A Pelor-type (thinks sentient life should be caretakers of the weak, including non-sentient life forms that can feel pleasure/pain (note: undergoes a change -- see below), A Tritherion-type (liked his life-forms -- note: undergoes a change see below), A LN Boccob type (thinks sentient life should study the universe - pursuit of knowledge is good in itself), A CN arts type (thinks that the stories that sentient life tells and lives is important) (Note the Science vs. Art dynamic between LN and CN), A Hextor-type (wants a heirarchy to be ruled, ultimately, by him), A Nerull-type (thinks sentient life was a horrible idea), and a Erythnul-type (thinks sentient lifeforms should slaughter each other for his entertainment). All 8 are potential future
versions of Obad-hai, and no potential future "unchanged" Obad-hai appeared.
Ok, they are all infinitely powerful, but agree to each make a representative race and not oppose each other directly. But they manage to mess each other up indirectly. For instance, the LE god wanted dragons and got...kobolds! Originally, each race was composed entirely of beings the same alignment as the relevant creator-god, but there is a bit of alignment drift among individuals.
For humans, it got worse than just a little drift. They actually were corrupted (likely by agents of the LE god) from NG to averaging out at N, and rejected their God. Thus their God abandoned them, and the race lost their then-favored class of cleric. There are no more clerics, which is unfortunate as only they were given the power to turn undead. There were never clerics of gods other than Pelor, and never will be. There are (and were) only Favored Souls of each God, and they are relatively rare (but PC's can take them). Note: humans are sometimes called God-forsaken by those in the know (need knowledge: religion or bardic knowledge to know most of this).
The good gods banded together and created an afterlife-world for souls of good sentient creatures. The souls eventually become Celestials of various types. Note that Moradin tends to think defensively (gets his followers to build forts, defensive structures, etc.) while Trithereon tends to think offensively (gets followers to actively fight evil). Pelor wants beings to help those weaker than themselves, and would like the humans to return to the old ways (this would require the majority of humans to become NG, which is extremely unlikely).
Oh, and Nerull discovered a plane of negative energy (the opposite of the positive energy Pelor used to create life). Nerull's followers believe that they will live on in a better universe created by Nerull. Actually, Nerull would prefer that eventually all sentient life
be destroyed, and sees his followers as an unwitting means of achieving this. His followers, and NE sentient creatures, have their souls consumed by Nerull, and their bodies sometimes are animated by the neg. energy as undead. (Only corporeal undead exist in this world). Thus NE creatures alone cannot be resurrected/raised/reincarnated, and creatures of other alignments do not become undead (all undead is NE). Exception, the bodies of non-NE creatures can be used to create Skeletons and Zombies. The souls of such beings have nothing to do with this, and have gone on to wherever they go.
Followers of Hextor and Erythnul are tortured for a while after death (testing) and then might become devils/demons, respectively.
Followers of Boccob type keep studying, but might become inevitables or magic objects.
Followers of the CN type usually reincarnate as members of the Cn god's race, after 1-100 years as part of the "music of the universe".
Followers of Obad-hai reincarnate as members of that god's race, after being part of the Prime plane (the land, the trees, etc.) for as long as they were alive.
(Note: one no longer has to be of the God's created race to be a follower of that race).
Modifications: There are only 9 sentient races (aside from the inevitables, celestials, devils, demons and corporeal undead). Aside from these, and the gods themselves, nothing else with an int above 2 exists in the universe. Oh, and nothing can interbred (no half-elves, half-orcs, planetouched, half-celestials, half-fiends, etc.). The only planes that exist, aside from the Prime, are Hell (Created by LE god), Abyss (Created by
CE god), Neg. Mat. energy (discovered by NE god), Celestia (created by good gods), Astral (Inhabited by LN god), Shadow/Ethereal/Dream (all the same plane) discovered by CN god), pos. mat. energy (N god's chosen domain now). No elemental planes exist. The four "original planes" are the Astral (a background plane, coming into existence with Obad-hai-type, the original god), Pos. mat. energy (likely existed as a reflection of
obad-hai's thought), Neg. mat. energy (unknown, but could also be a reflection of the thoughts of gods), and Shadow (empty and infinitely small until the Prime was created). The Prime is considered neutral ground, and the gods will not directly intervene (but will intervene through sentient agents).
Alignment: No PC's can choose to begin the game as evil. If they later willingly choose to become evil, they also become NPC's.
On to races and classes:
Classes:
Prestige Classes, Adepts, Druids, Paladins, Sorcerors, Wizards: Don't exist.
Clerics: There used to be clerics but none exist now.
Barbarians, Nobles: NPC only. Only Orcs can be barbarians.
Commoners, Experts, Warriors: Unchanged. PC's can play these if they really want to.
Bards, Rogues: unchanged.
Rangers: use non-spellcasting ranger from Complete Warrior.
Monks: can be multi-classed without losing ability to advance as monk later on.
Fighters: Only Kobolds can be fighters. No character can take feats on the fighter bonus feat list unless they are kobolds, or unless they get those feats as class abilities from another class. If they are kobolds, they can take these feats as either fighter bonus feats or as the feats they get normally at 1st, 3rd, etc. (even if they are not fighters).
Favored Souls: Almost as per Complete Divine rules. But their alignment must match their god’s exactly, and they will sometimes be given instructions by their god (during dreams or meditation) which they must try to follow. Failure to try means losing their abilities. But, a favored soul might switch gods (and alignment), and if the other god accepts, then they gain their abilities back from the new god.
Swashbucklers: Exist as per Complete Warrior rules.
Psions, Soul Knifes: Exist as per Expanded Psionics Handbook rules.
No other class from Complete Divine, Complete Warrior, or Expanded Psionics Handbook exist.
Races:
Humans (NG God): Favored Class used to be Cleric, but now is Warrior. Their initial instruction from their god was to heal the weak, but only a few humans follow this now. An equal number are evil as good. Get Knowledge (Religion) as a class skill.
Kobolds (LE God): Only kobolds can take feats from the fighter bonus feat list (see description of fighter). Fighter is the favored class of kobolds, and only kobolds can be fighters. Their initial instruction from their God was to rule everyone else. Some kobolds follow this still. Others have become more civilized, and can be found in major cities.
Goblins (NE God): Unchanged. Their initial instruction from their god was to steal, kill, etc., and steal bodies (to create undead). Some do this, others are more civilized. But some only pretend to be civilized, of course. Many goblins are smugglers, but sometimes they smuggle bodies out to less civilized areas, where unholy rites by favored souls can create undead!
Orcs (CE God): Only Orcs can be Barbarians. And while there are civilized orcs, there are no civilized barbarians. The latter are almost always CE in alignment. Their instruction from their God is to slaughter. Whether that is other races or other orc tribes, is all one to their God.
Wild Elves (a la MM) (N God): Favored Class Soul Knife. Only Wild Elves can be Soul Knives. They try to live as part of the natural world. They tend to avoid metal weapons and armor, and other trappings of civilization, but they are not required to. They can sometimes be found in cities. Survival is a class skill for all Wild Elves. They don't automatically have proficiency with longswords or rapiers.
Elan (LN God): Background is different. They are a separate race that breeds true, with their own language. Others do not become Elan. They look like humans, but bald and with larger skulls (add 2" to height).
Xeph (CG God): Favored Classes Swashbuckler AND Ranger. They are instructed by their gods to fight the forces fo evil. The God's original plan for sentient beings is unknown, and was changed in the face of the evil gods that now exist.
Maenads (CN God): They do NOT supress their emotions at all. (They are more like old Maenads). Favored class: Bard. They try to live the story of life, and tell it. They can embellish their tales for narrative purposes, and believe that such embellishment changes sometimes reality.
Dwarves (LG God): Favored Class Monk. They try to help good citizens by building structures to protect them, and monks often incorporate this philosophy of building into their training. Get Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) is a class skill for Dwarves. They lose the racial bonus to Appraise and Craft checks.
Skill note: Use Psionic Device and Use Magic Device are the same skill. Knowledge (Arcana) and Knowledge (Psionics) are the same skill. Spellcraft and Psicraft are the same skill. If any one has one of these skills as a class skill, she has the paired skill as a class skill, as they are both just different names for the same skill.
Languages: All of the racial languages (Human/Common, Elf, Dwarf, Xeph, Elan, Maenad, Orc, Draconic/Kobold, Goblin) are on everyone's starter list as potential languages that can be learned. Abyssal, Infernal, and Celestial are generally not on those lists, unless specifically mentioned, and are difficult to learn without a good roleplay reason or access to a sage-type. No other languages exist.
Magic: Use Magic Rating system in UA for multi-classed spell/power users. Psion, Favored Soul are Column A. Soul Knife, Ranger are Column B. Swashbuckler is Column C. The bard spells Shadow Evocation and Shadow Conjuration can duplicate spells from the Sorceror/Wizard list, but such duplicated spells cannot be used to create or power magic items. Exception: one could have continual flame torches (with a reduced radius, so reduced in usefulness). Phantom Steeds, like the Crystals of some Psions, contain fragments of their creator’s soul. Neither can outlive their creator.
Magic Items: While psionic items exist (and are about as common as magic items in the regular campaign worlds), the lack of sorceror/wizard, druid, ranger, and paladin spells means that certain magic items (those that need those spells to be created) do not exist. The lack of current cleric domain spells means that certain other magic items (those that need domain (good, healing, strength, sun, glory, community) spells to exist) are very old and rare. All intelligent magic or psionic items are LN in alignment.
Society:
In civilized areas, the 6 non-evil gods are permitted to be worshipped openly. There are variants of this (some places are more restrictive - only the 3 good gods are publicly supported). Since favored souls are rare, the worship is often not as big a deal, since "priests" are often experts or commoners that do not do magic. Humans tend to be dominant in civilized society. Outside, Orcs are a terror (because of their strength and
fury), as are Kobolds (because of their organization and fighting abilities, despite their low str and con). Orcs and kobolds rarely, if ever, team up. Goblins serve their own interests, but may team up (or appear to) with other evil races if it serves those interests to do so. Note that Outsiders are usually quite rarely encountered in the Prime plane, and usually have to be summoned or gated in by favored souls or bards. Note that Celestial/Fiendish Animals and/or Celestial/Fiendish Vermin do not exist, which significantly reduces the power of low-level Summon Monster Spells.
Adventure hook: Some kobolds discover a new metal that is light yet hard, allowing them to wear heavier armor. They call it...mithral.
[Feel free to comment...I have broad shoulders].
