Karl Green
First Post
'LEAGUE OF THE EXTRAORDINARIES'
So I am slowly forming a game in my head and I wanted to get some help with some ideas and feedback… I want to run something of a mix of the comic series (and some parts of the movie) ‘League of Extraordinary Gentlemen’ tale set in Eberron. An evil mastermind is threatening the City of Sharn with madness and destruction, and a secret order within the city government forms a team of extraordinary individuals (the League of the Extraordinaries') to stop him.
As I want to make it very Pulpy, I am going to use the expanded Action Point uses found in the Unearthed Arcana (pg. 122-124). I am thinking about something for Psionics also, like the ‘Spell Recall’ or 'Metamagic Feat' for prepared spellcasting. Also I plan on grant Action Points during the game, not just as they advance in a Level. Do something crazy? Get a AP. Say something cool at just the right time? Get a AP. GM does something bad to you? Get an AP. etc.
The game will start in Sharn, but then our heroes might hop a Lightning Rail to Vedykar and then take an Air-galleon to Greenheart, and sailing ship into the Lhazaar Principalities, and finally races back to Sharn on horses chasing the villain to his secret lair to spot his evil plan! Each of these would be a chapter or issue of the tale, starting with ‘Birth of the New League”, and moving on to such tales as “Murder on the Starilaskur Express”, "Imperial Dreams", “Removing the Veil”, “Vampire Love Tales”, “Battle At the Top of the World” etc. Or maybe instead of Martian invasion, the heroes must stop an incursion of the Daelkyr, with huge machines appearing around Eberron, that they have somehow brought through the veil that separates us from Xoriat (or that could be the second story arc)
Next, I am debating the whole Heroes/Anti-Heroes thing. In the comics, most of the ‘heroes’ are not that nice…in fact they are murderous and rapists and terrorists. I am not sure I really want to go that route though… I tend to enjoy more heroic games myself. Still thinking on this one. I tend to run just ‘hero’ games, so maybe I should take a break and try and anti-hero game (where the characters are blackmail or bribed or something into working for the League. They might even become loyal to and like each other, but would always ‘resent’ the government).
NOW my idea for what makes the heroes extraordinary? Either I could just make the characters 6-8th level and call it good, but I was also thinking about the idea of a select few people in the world who have something like ‘Heroic Paths’ from Midnight, or the ‘Bloodlines Traits’ from Unearthed Arcana.
The heroes might be a master inventor-artificer type, the huge warforged brute (an experiment at the end of the Last War?), a combat specialist, the perfect thief, etc. If I go the ‘granted powers’ route, class/race and these abilities/powers will be closely tied together (such that if I use Bloodline Traits, only Shifters would be allowed to take Lycanthropy, only Changelings would be allowed to take the Doppelganger etc). If I use Bloodlines Traits, granting the hero ‘something’ each level, up to tenth level. For Intermediate Traits you would get the power every level (just like Major Traits gives, instead of every other level for ten levels) and Minor ones could also work for this, they would just grant their powers every level instead of every four levels (as Minor) AND you would chose two Minor traits, one that would grant you its abilities on your odd character levels (1st, 3rd, etc) and one on your even character levels (2nd, 4th, etc). Major powers are not really allowed as these traits only go to 10th level.
I kind of want more then just 'Bloodlines' though and am debating updating some from Midnight like 'Ironblood' or 'Quickening' etc. If I do this I will change the name trait to 'Paths' and so you might have "Path of the Ironblood' or 'Path of the Dragon' etc.
As all of the players are going to have these abilities no ‘level-adjustment’ stuff (I don’t really like that anyway).
The other route I could go instead would be to say they are all Gestalt character, but maybe impose a ‘no-multiclassing at all rule’ (and therefore no prestige classes either). I like some of the ideas of Gestalt characters but multiclasses and prestige classes, that kind of stuff can really mess me up. Fractional Bonuses help a bit, but not enough I don’t think. Not sure yet.
Finally I am allowing many of the Variant Character Classes talking about in Unearthed Acrana (pg. 47-58, and the Specialist Wizards on pg 59-64). I have the Complete Warrior, Divine and Arcane so most of the classes and feats from there are also open (although I don't think I want Samurai, Shugenja, or Wu Jen just as they are a little to oriental). Any thoughts on some character classes that I should limit? Should push??
Thoughts? What would be better do you think; start the characters at a little higher level or give them special ‘abilities’ that almost no one else on the world posses (either Bloodlines or Gestalt classes)? Heroes or Anti-Heroes? Story arch?
So I am slowly forming a game in my head and I wanted to get some help with some ideas and feedback… I want to run something of a mix of the comic series (and some parts of the movie) ‘League of Extraordinary Gentlemen’ tale set in Eberron. An evil mastermind is threatening the City of Sharn with madness and destruction, and a secret order within the city government forms a team of extraordinary individuals (the League of the Extraordinaries') to stop him.
As I want to make it very Pulpy, I am going to use the expanded Action Point uses found in the Unearthed Arcana (pg. 122-124). I am thinking about something for Psionics also, like the ‘Spell Recall’ or 'Metamagic Feat' for prepared spellcasting. Also I plan on grant Action Points during the game, not just as they advance in a Level. Do something crazy? Get a AP. Say something cool at just the right time? Get a AP. GM does something bad to you? Get an AP. etc.
The game will start in Sharn, but then our heroes might hop a Lightning Rail to Vedykar and then take an Air-galleon to Greenheart, and sailing ship into the Lhazaar Principalities, and finally races back to Sharn on horses chasing the villain to his secret lair to spot his evil plan! Each of these would be a chapter or issue of the tale, starting with ‘Birth of the New League”, and moving on to such tales as “Murder on the Starilaskur Express”, "Imperial Dreams", “Removing the Veil”, “Vampire Love Tales”, “Battle At the Top of the World” etc. Or maybe instead of Martian invasion, the heroes must stop an incursion of the Daelkyr, with huge machines appearing around Eberron, that they have somehow brought through the veil that separates us from Xoriat (or that could be the second story arc)
Next, I am debating the whole Heroes/Anti-Heroes thing. In the comics, most of the ‘heroes’ are not that nice…in fact they are murderous and rapists and terrorists. I am not sure I really want to go that route though… I tend to enjoy more heroic games myself. Still thinking on this one. I tend to run just ‘hero’ games, so maybe I should take a break and try and anti-hero game (where the characters are blackmail or bribed or something into working for the League. They might even become loyal to and like each other, but would always ‘resent’ the government).
NOW my idea for what makes the heroes extraordinary? Either I could just make the characters 6-8th level and call it good, but I was also thinking about the idea of a select few people in the world who have something like ‘Heroic Paths’ from Midnight, or the ‘Bloodlines Traits’ from Unearthed Arcana.
The heroes might be a master inventor-artificer type, the huge warforged brute (an experiment at the end of the Last War?), a combat specialist, the perfect thief, etc. If I go the ‘granted powers’ route, class/race and these abilities/powers will be closely tied together (such that if I use Bloodline Traits, only Shifters would be allowed to take Lycanthropy, only Changelings would be allowed to take the Doppelganger etc). If I use Bloodlines Traits, granting the hero ‘something’ each level, up to tenth level. For Intermediate Traits you would get the power every level (just like Major Traits gives, instead of every other level for ten levels) and Minor ones could also work for this, they would just grant their powers every level instead of every four levels (as Minor) AND you would chose two Minor traits, one that would grant you its abilities on your odd character levels (1st, 3rd, etc) and one on your even character levels (2nd, 4th, etc). Major powers are not really allowed as these traits only go to 10th level.
I kind of want more then just 'Bloodlines' though and am debating updating some from Midnight like 'Ironblood' or 'Quickening' etc. If I do this I will change the name trait to 'Paths' and so you might have "Path of the Ironblood' or 'Path of the Dragon' etc.
As all of the players are going to have these abilities no ‘level-adjustment’ stuff (I don’t really like that anyway).
The other route I could go instead would be to say they are all Gestalt character, but maybe impose a ‘no-multiclassing at all rule’ (and therefore no prestige classes either). I like some of the ideas of Gestalt characters but multiclasses and prestige classes, that kind of stuff can really mess me up. Fractional Bonuses help a bit, but not enough I don’t think. Not sure yet.
Finally I am allowing many of the Variant Character Classes talking about in Unearthed Acrana (pg. 47-58, and the Specialist Wizards on pg 59-64). I have the Complete Warrior, Divine and Arcane so most of the classes and feats from there are also open (although I don't think I want Samurai, Shugenja, or Wu Jen just as they are a little to oriental). Any thoughts on some character classes that I should limit? Should push??
Thoughts? What would be better do you think; start the characters at a little higher level or give them special ‘abilities’ that almost no one else on the world posses (either Bloodlines or Gestalt classes)? Heroes or Anti-Heroes? Story arch?
