D&D 4E 4E sword and sorcery..

[Garthanos]

Whoa. Is there a body of fiction tied to the Death Dealer that I didn't know about?

Fiction inspired by the Art... fairly cool short stint of comics and novels.

 

[Chainsaw]

Whoa. Is there a body of fiction tied to the Death Dealer that I didn't know about?

James Silke is the author of four that came out from 1988-1990 and one follow-up that came out in 2005. You will probably have to buy them off EBAY - and they won't be cheap. The first four are fun, but not necessarily literary masterpieces. Haven't read the fifth.

Prisoner of the Horned Helmet (1988)
Lords of Destruction (1989)
Tooth and Claw (1989)
Plague of Knives (1990)
Rise of the Death Dealer (2005)

 

[Chainsaw]

Favorite S&S genre inspirations.

Elric
http://www.enworld.org/forum/d-d-4th-edition-rules/264148-designing-elric-melnibone.html#post4909717

Red Sonja

Death Dealer
http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/242823-death-dealer-adventure.html#post4505363

Kane

Spot-on, man. In terms of the feel of I'm looking for, I'd probably say..

1. Wagner's Kane books. Perfect fit for me. Mostly humans, but other 'races' show up occasionally (especially as enemies - frog men, werewolves, vampires, ghouls, ghosts, shadow monsters). In one short story, Kane befriends one of the last of the giants and in another we learn he's friends with some sort of feathery, furry female demon sorceress. Magic's not common, but not a fairy tale either, and often results in disaster (but not always). Best part of these books is that they're just short story compilations - so you don't have to commit to much to test them out.

2. Silke's Death Dealer books. Haven't read them since I was a kid, but, IIRC, similar to Wagner's books in "grit," but with fewer 'monsters' and not as well written. Wagner was neck-deep in 70s pulp.. Silke really just attemped to imitate that feel because the cover paintings kinda demanded it. I'm taking a week of VK in a couple weeks - I think I'll bring these along and re-read them.

3. Moorcock's Elric books. Probably a bit too much magic and inter-dimensional elements for my campaign, but I love the books themselves. Love the Cthuloid monsters.

4. Red Sonja. Not familiar with anything but the movie.

 

[Garthanos]

Red Sonja (actually only due to start filming in 2010)

The character could even be an Avenger (armor of
faith) archetype or a fighter with Divine Boons.

Gotta love them chain mail bikinis... <insert real
life quote about sun burns being nasty />

 

[Chainsaw]

Cool, I'll have to check it out.

 

[Nytmare]

...or a fighter with Divine Boons.

Yeah, I'll admit it, I read that wrong like 3 times in a row.

 

[Chainsaw]

Any thoughts on a "magic-user" class that has the option to take either wizard (black magic) or cleric (white magic) powers? Just brainstorming. The player chooses a primary type (either cleric or wizard features) at creation, but has the option to take powers from either class after that, with the limitation that it has to have equal/more powers of the primary type at any given time. Also, any power that might require the un-chosen feature would be offlimits? Thoughts? Stupid? Worth exploring?

 

[Garthanos]

Hybrid character creation rules (plus using humans) combined with multi-classing feats pretty much give me the versatility when I want strong touches of two classes.

==Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ==
level 1
Human, Invoker|Wizard
Covenant Manifestation: Manifestation of Wrath
Hybrid Invoker: Hybrid Invoker Fortitude
Background: Magic Scholar (Magic Scholar Benefit)

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 8, Con 13, Dex 11, Int 18, Wis 16, Cha 10.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 8, Con 13, Dex 11, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 10.


AC: 14 Fort: 13 Reflex: 15 Will: 15
HP: 23 Surges: 7 Surge Value: 5

TRAINED SKILLS
Insight +8, Endurance +6, Arcana +10, Intimidate +5, Heal +8

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics, Bluff, Diplomacy, Dungeoneering +3, History +5, Nature +3, Perception +3, Religion +4, Stealth, Streetwise, Thievery, Athletics -1

FEATS
Human: Arcane Reserves
Level 1: Divine Healer

POWERS
Bonus At-Will Power: Visions of Blood
Hybrid Invoker at-will 1: Hand of Radiance
Hybrid Wizard at-will 1: Thunderwave
Hybrid encounter 1: Ray of Enfeeblement
Hybrid daily 1: Binding Invocation of Chains

= Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab =

 

[Chainsaw]

Hybrid character creation rules (plus using humans) combined with multi-classing feats pretty much give me the versatility when I want strong touches of two classes.

Argh! I hate it when someone shows that I'm not on the cutting edge!

Just kidding. Do you have a link?

 

[Garthanos]

Hybrid character creation rules (plus using humans) combined with multi-classing feats pretty much give me the versatility when I want strong touches of two classes.

Actually though in the theme of subtle scary magic I was tempted to pick

Bonus At-Will Power: Illusory Ambush
Hybrid Invoker at-will 1: Visions of Blood
Hybrid Wizard at-will 1: Nightmare Eruption
Hybrid encounter 1: Ray of Enfeeblement
Hybrid daily 1: Horrid Whispers


All dark all the time but all three at-wills targetting will??? ummm bad strategically.