Yes, actually, it is based on soulknife. Right now it's basically just a gestalt soulblade/monk class, but the mechanics are really open to change. And actually, this was but one element of a dream-inspired campaign I was working on but eventually shelved. I had fun coming up with a nightmare domain and stating out crazy clerics with the nightmare and madness domains that were absolute nightmares to face!
Airwalkrr's Shatterscape OOC (D&D 3.5)
hafrogman
Adventurer
[sblock=Law, Chaos, Dream and The Dreamer]The world is a thing of Law. Each and every thing operates according to a system. The sun rises, the seasons turn, that which rises, falls. These laws are immutable, and to attempt to change them would be to struggle against all of Law at once. And yet, Chaos still exists, outside of the world, seeking a way in.
For while all physical things may be governed by laws, the mind of man is not. Free will is the way in which Chaos may influence the world of Law. The actions of people who chose their own path are unfettered by Law. Their deeds may be limited, but their minds run free. And thus, Chaos seeps into Law.
Where Law and Chaos touch, they form a third . . . Dream. Chaos corrupts the world, and produces a middle ground, where everything may seem to be as it should, until it suddenly is not. Nothing is fixed, but enough remains recognizable to ensure that one does not gaze upon the madness that is pure Chaos. The ability to dream is what sets people of free will apart from the beasts of earth, sea and sky.
Most people are only lightly touched by Chaos, and dreams come only when they slumber. But those who are steeped in Chaos follow a different path. Some are unable to cope, and the Chaos destroys from within, breaking the laws of the mind, and driving the poor souls into irretrievable madness. Others fight the Chaos within them by releasing it into the world. The dreamblades take their Chaos and give it shape through the force of their own will.
They may use their powers for good or ill, but all still rightly fear them. The world still remembers the terrors of the Dreamer, centuries later. One small boy, locked in an endless sleep, a pure gateway for Chaos. Completely removed from reality, the imaginings of a human mind ran rampant across the land. Some areas escaped relatively unharmed, but many were instead torn asunder by nightmares unwittingly made real by the Dreamer.
The land was wracked with darkness, fear and despair until a single warrior of law was able to find his way to the boy, and do what was required to end the nightmare.
A dreamblade may be a good soul, but all Law-abiding folk rightly live in dread of the potential that may be locked away inside them. All fear another dreamer.[/sblock]
For while all physical things may be governed by laws, the mind of man is not. Free will is the way in which Chaos may influence the world of Law. The actions of people who chose their own path are unfettered by Law. Their deeds may be limited, but their minds run free. And thus, Chaos seeps into Law.
Where Law and Chaos touch, they form a third . . . Dream. Chaos corrupts the world, and produces a middle ground, where everything may seem to be as it should, until it suddenly is not. Nothing is fixed, but enough remains recognizable to ensure that one does not gaze upon the madness that is pure Chaos. The ability to dream is what sets people of free will apart from the beasts of earth, sea and sky.
Most people are only lightly touched by Chaos, and dreams come only when they slumber. But those who are steeped in Chaos follow a different path. Some are unable to cope, and the Chaos destroys from within, breaking the laws of the mind, and driving the poor souls into irretrievable madness. Others fight the Chaos within them by releasing it into the world. The dreamblades take their Chaos and give it shape through the force of their own will.
They may use their powers for good or ill, but all still rightly fear them. The world still remembers the terrors of the Dreamer, centuries later. One small boy, locked in an endless sleep, a pure gateway for Chaos. Completely removed from reality, the imaginings of a human mind ran rampant across the land. Some areas escaped relatively unharmed, but many were instead torn asunder by nightmares unwittingly made real by the Dreamer.
The land was wracked with darkness, fear and despair until a single warrior of law was able to find his way to the boy, and do what was required to end the nightmare.
A dreamblade may be a good soul, but all Law-abiding folk rightly live in dread of the potential that may be locked away inside them. All fear another dreamer.[/sblock]
airwalkrr
Adventurer
Although it sounds like the concept needs some ironing out, I think the dreamblade has merit. Why don't you show us what you have so far and we can work on it?
I am really digging the idea of a nightmare domain, though I don't want it to be more powerful than other domains. I don't think you necessarily have to be crazy to want to use or be influenced by nightmares. In fact, what would be truly scary would be for a perfectly sane and rational (albiet evil) person to use nightmares to scare and intimidate all kinds of people into doing his/her bidding. Sadly, there are very few representative spells. We could possibly add one or two spells to the list to make up for this. No more than that though. I don't want for us to bite off more than we can chew. And before writing up new spells, let's try to fill the domain with existing spells. After that, we can look at the spells on the list and come up with new ones to replace those that are too forced if we wish.
Hafrogman, re: The Dreamer, that idea sounds very inspired. The power of dreams to influence reality being a true threat in this world could be something fairly unique. I also like the idea of dreams forming a bridge between Law and Chaos. Perhaps dreams take place in a plane that is simultaneously coterminous with both Limbo and Mechanus. I think we may have something with this dream theme.
Ok, we have several good ideas to work on, let's develop those before we go too much further. We have the dreamblade class, a nightmare domain, and we still need some work on the lands surrounding Narovan. So far we have the Dyne River and the trade town of West Fork, which we could say is dependent upon Narovan.
Voda Vosa, sorry if I didn't reply earlier but you are welcome to join in. Right now we are working with the idea of city-states or small kingdoms in a small region of the world. If you want to start adding some details of a neighboring far east asia-inspired empire or city-state that would be fine. I do have a couple of recommendations based on what you have suggested so far. Rather than taking some real-world elements and blending them together (perhaps incoherently) use inspiration to come up with a few key elements that can be worked into the milieu. It doesn't need to look like you just mashed the Ming dynasty with Nobunaga. Also, I don't want the rules to be too divergent from the SRD; just enough spice to make the "boring" SRD lively, interesting, and of course, fresh.
Voda Vosa
First Post
Okidoky, I'll have something brainstormed late today
hafrogman
Adventurer
Formatting seems to be a browser specific problem. Some people have it, some don't.
Spoiler boxes using sblock tag.
<sblock></sblock> using [] instead of <>
<sblock=name></sblock> to name your block.
[sblock=Like this.]see?[/sblock]
The Arm of Luthes, Dreamwraiths
Upstream from West Fork, where the river narrows, lies the region known as the Moorlands. In the middle of the Lawless Hills, a colossal monument stands in memory of a long-lost era. It was known as the Arm of Luthes, from the name given to the Lawgiver by the Imperials. The legend says that the One God himself came down from the heavens to raise a mountain of metal from the earth, which he then melted and shaped in the form of an outstretched arm with an open palm. It was a symbol of peace and fraternity. For centuries, the mountain was used as a base of operations by warrior priests from the various branches of the Church. The hills were slowly settled by humans from all over the empire. However, in the space of a few days, everything changed. The fortress and the nearby villages were all razed. No one was left alive. The Arm itself is now entirely covered in rust and its fist is clenched; it is only a mockery of the wonder it once was. What caused the devastation and this hideous transformation? Scholars do not agree on the subject, but most seem to think that it was due to the actions of the Dreamer.
Since the corruption of the Arm of Luthes, numerous creatures of Chaos made it their home. Bandits and gnolls live in its vicinity. The closer you get to the monument, the more brutal they get. Harpies are said to nest at the summit. Few have gone inside and returned to tell the tale. Those who did talk of living shadows and dreamwraiths*. No main doorway exists, but many tunnels are said to lead into the ancient complex. Unfortunately, the tunnels move and thus aren’t on any map. Even to this day, the most fanatical holy orders keep watch over the region. They fight the bandits and humanoids in hope to reclaim the sacred site for the glory of the One God. The soldiers are few in numbers and their expedition is poorly funded, however, seeing as the Lawless Hills don’t have a real strategic importance.
Dreamwraith: This insubstantial creature is often mistaken as an undead. The dreamwraiths normally inhabit the world of dreams and the ethereal plane. Some believe they are what’s left of humans who got lost in their sleep, while others think that they spontaneously manifest in heavily populated areas (where the walls between the worlds are thin). They are able to take a semi-physical shape; however, there is always something not quite right about them (either they have no face, they are blurry, etc.) Dreamwraiths are known to feed off dreams and nightmares. After years of feeding, a wraith develops a cunning mind and even a personality of its own.
Upstream from West Fork, where the river narrows, lies the region known as the Moorlands. In the middle of the Lawless Hills, a colossal monument stands in memory of a long-lost era. It was known as the Arm of Luthes, from the name given to the Lawgiver by the Imperials. The legend says that the One God himself came down from the heavens to raise a mountain of metal from the earth, which he then melted and shaped in the form of an outstretched arm with an open palm. It was a symbol of peace and fraternity. For centuries, the mountain was used as a base of operations by warrior priests from the various branches of the Church. The hills were slowly settled by humans from all over the empire. However, in the space of a few days, everything changed. The fortress and the nearby villages were all razed. No one was left alive. The Arm itself is now entirely covered in rust and its fist is clenched; it is only a mockery of the wonder it once was. What caused the devastation and this hideous transformation? Scholars do not agree on the subject, but most seem to think that it was due to the actions of the Dreamer.
Since the corruption of the Arm of Luthes, numerous creatures of Chaos made it their home. Bandits and gnolls live in its vicinity. The closer you get to the monument, the more brutal they get. Harpies are said to nest at the summit. Few have gone inside and returned to tell the tale. Those who did talk of living shadows and dreamwraiths*. No main doorway exists, but many tunnels are said to lead into the ancient complex. Unfortunately, the tunnels move and thus aren’t on any map. Even to this day, the most fanatical holy orders keep watch over the region. They fight the bandits and humanoids in hope to reclaim the sacred site for the glory of the One God. The soldiers are few in numbers and their expedition is poorly funded, however, seeing as the Lawless Hills don’t have a real strategic importance.
Dreamwraith: This insubstantial creature is often mistaken as an undead. The dreamwraiths normally inhabit the world of dreams and the ethereal plane. Some believe they are what’s left of humans who got lost in their sleep, while others think that they spontaneously manifest in heavily populated areas (where the walls between the worlds are thin). They are able to take a semi-physical shape; however, there is always something not quite right about them (either they have no face, they are blurry, etc.) Dreamwraiths are known to feed off dreams and nightmares. After years of feeding, a wraith develops a cunning mind and even a personality of its own.
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airwalkrr
Adventurer
I love the dreamwraiths and the Arm of Luthes, Tarau. You are welcome to join us if you wish.
This gives me an idea regarding design. It might be a good idea if I, the DM, design monsters. However, I only get to design monsters that you guys come up with. In other words, if you come up with an interesting challenge, I get the job of finding a way to make it a reality, but this way, you don't get stuck facing things that I might find interesting, but you might find ho-hum.
We have a bit of geography now and I was wondering; does anyone have any good mapping software and skills? I am handy enough at drawing and scanning it in, but it would be easier to add and edit later if someone wants to volunteer with a cartography program.
This gives me an idea regarding design. It might be a good idea if I, the DM, design monsters. However, I only get to design monsters that you guys come up with. In other words, if you come up with an interesting challenge, I get the job of finding a way to make it a reality, but this way, you don't get stuck facing things that I might find interesting, but you might find ho-hum.
We have a bit of geography now and I was wondering; does anyone have any good mapping software and skills? I am handy enough at drawing and scanning it in, but it would be easier to add and edit later if someone wants to volunteer with a cartography program.
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