[d20 Modern/Past] Of Swashbucklers, Sorcerers, and Sailors

[arscott]

Hello All. I'm Recruiting for "Of Swashbucklers, Sorcerers, and Sailors", a d20 Modern/Past Campaign.

The game takes place in the Age of Adventure Setting presented in d20 Past. The setting is basically Earth, circa 1667, with the addition of spellcasters, sea monsters, and so forth. I want to run a seafaring campaign, with your characters setting sail, looking for intrigue, adventure, and the riches that inevitably follow.

The campaign will use the Rules from the d20 Modern Core Book, d20 Past, and Urban Arcana. If you don't have the books but still want to play, don't worry about it. the Core Book and Urban are in the Modern SRD on the WotC website, and I can e-mail you the snippets of d20 Past that you'll need.

Also, If you want something from another source, don't hesitate to ask. I'll probably allow it as long as it isn't ridiculously broken, or something that really doesn't work in the context of the campaign.

As far as starting level and stuff like that, I'm open to whatever the players want.

Let me know if you're interested in playing.

--Alan

__________________________
Stuff Allowed from d20 Modern, d20 Past, and Urban Arcana:
A lot of this is just reprinting the restrictions from d20 past for the benifit of those that don't have the book, but the bits regarding Urban Arcana are new.

Races: Human only

Advanced Classes:
From the d20 Modern Core Book
-Soldier
-Martial Artist
-Infiltrator
-Daredevil
-Bodyguard
-Field Scientist
-Investigator
-Personality
-Negotiator
From d20 Past
-Explorer
-Shaman
-Sorcerer
From Urban Arcana
-Archaic Weaponsmaster
-Glamourist
-Shadow Hunter
-Swashbuckler
-Thrasher
-Wildlord

Prestige Classes:
From d20 Past
-Musketeer
From Urban Arcana
-Archmage
-Artificer
-Ecclesiarch

Occupations allowed:
From the d20 Modern Core Book
-Acedemic
-Adventurer
-Athlete
-Blue Collar
-Creative
-Criminal
-Doctor*
-Entrepreneur
-Investigative
-Military*
-Religious
-Rural
-Student
-White Collar
From d20 Past
-Aristocrat
-Cloistered
-Cosmopolitan
-Impoverished
-On the Run
-Primitive
-Servant
-Slave

*See d20 past for minor changes to these occupation

Skills:
Dissallowed:
-Computer Use
-Craft (electronic, pharmaceutical)
-Investigate
-Knowledge (Behavioral Sciences, Business, Technology)
-Pilot
-Use Magic Divice
-Autohypnosis
-Psicraft
Modified, see d20 Past
-Craft
-Demolitions
-Drive
-Knowledge
-Treat Injury

Feats:
Dissallowed Feats from d20 Modern Core Book:
-Aircraft Operation
-Burst Fire
-Double Tap
-Drive-By Attack
-Force Stop
-Gearhead
-Strafe
-Surgery
-Vehicle Dodge
Feats With rules changes in d20 past:
-Archaic Weapons Proficiency
-Exotic Firearms Proficiency
-Quick Reload
-Surface Vehicle Operation
Feats allowed from d20 Past:
-Minions
-Obscure Knowledge
-Sidekick
Feats Allowed from Urban Arcana:
-Divine Heritage
-Empower Spell
-Empower Turning
-Enlarge Spell
-Eschew Materials
-Extend Spell
-Extra Turning
-Fleet of Foot
-Greater Spell Focus
-Greater Spell Penetration
-Heighten Spell
-Improved Grapple
-Improved Overrun
-Improved Natural Healing
-Improved Turning
-Magical Heritage
-Nonlethal Spell
-Power Crit
-Precise Strike
-Reach Spell
-Sacred Spell
-Shadow Heritage
-Silent Spell
-Spell Focus
-Spell Penetration
-Spellslinger
-Still Spell

Spells:
Some of the Spells on the List that the sorcerer uses are too technology oriented, and therefore inappropriate for the campaign. To compensate, sorcerers get access to some modified psionic powers(using the rules in Urban Arcana):

0-level: Burst, Finger of Fire
1st-level: Charm Person, Control Object
2nd-level: Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Claws of the Bear
3rd-level: Detect thoughts, False sensory input, Suggestion
4th-level: Lesser domination
5th-level: Domination

I also plan on using the Incantation Rules from Urban Arcana.

 

[Munin]

Ok, I'm game.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and play a swashbuckler
If anyone's interested, I'd think it would be cool to have another character who is a twin brother or sister, cause you know, twin swashbucklers are just cool.

 

[iLoVeKobolds]

Sounds like fun. Count me in.
Not sure what I want to play yet, but I have some ideas swimming around in my noggin.

 

[arscott]

Ok, I'm game.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and play a swashbuckler
If anyone's interested, I'd think it would be cool to have another character who is a twin brother or sister, cause you know, twin swashbucklers are just cool.

Aw, but how am I going pull off the evil twin cliché if your twin is another PC? I'll have to resort to an evil triplet.

Great to have both you folks aboard, though. A few questions and miscellaneous comments:

What level would you prefer to play at? I'm more experienced with low-level games, but I can run whatever you'd like.

Do both of you have d20 past? You'll be fine if you don't, but let me know so I can send you a short equipment list/campaign primer.

If you have any other questions, comments or requests, let me know either on this thread, or by e-mailing me at alanrileyscott (at) hotmail (dot) com.

Merry Christmas,
Alan Scott

 

[Tonguez]

I very very interested in playing, since I love the era.
I don't have D20 past but have played in 2 games set in the period one involving seafaring the other more 'Solomon Kane'.

Low levels kewl so can I suggest Lv3

Anyway is the game all human or are other races allowed? What 'cultures' would be appropriate (in the English vs French vs Chinese vs Polynesian sense)

 

[Munin]

3rd level is fine with me...I think ilovekobolds will be cool with it too.

I don't have d20 past, so I'll need some help with character creation and such. When I say I want to play a swashbuckler, I don't necessarily mean the advanced class. I tend to piece my characters together as I level.
The Swashbuckler from UA isn't nearly as cool as the one from Complete Warrior, but I think I can rig something up.

I'd like to find out a little more about our starting location and some background info. I'd like to play a Spaniard (Hello..my name is Inigo Montoya), and a general feel for the campaign mood, if I can.

Thanks!

 

[iLoVeKobolds]

3rd level is fine with me...I think ilovekobolds will be cool with it too.

Thank you, husband, for speaking for me.

That sounds good. I would actually like to play someone of Arabian descent. PC's been sold into slavery or something of the like. Let me know if that would fly.

Also, I don't have d20 past either. So if you got the hook up, I'd appreciate it.

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

I'd be interested in playing a ship's doctor sort of character. I have d20 Modern, but not the other two books. Would a non-magical healer be useful, or is magical healing pretty prevalent?

3rd level sounds good to me as well.

 

[Tonguez]

Meepo, ilovekobolds - are we already getting a theme?

 

[arscott]

Well, nobody has d20 past, so i'm going to write up a document describing the setting and listing the rules changes and available equipment. I'll e-mail it to everyone rather than posting it here because d20 past is closed content.

That said, I'll need your e-mail addresses. Are RTF documents fine for everyone?

It also looks like everybody's happy to start with 3rd level characters. I'm going to suggest 28 point-buy for ability scores, and taking the average for hp (rounding the .5 up at even levels). If you'd rather use something more generous, that's cool too, but your opponents will be beefed up to compensate.

The book omits some critical information about calculating wealth bonuses for characters above level 1. the full description is available here, but the basic gist is: get the wealth bonus on table 7-2, then add bonuses granted by occupation, feats, classes, etc. Then add your ranks in profession, plus an additional 2 points for being a PC instead of an npc.

You should also decide on a default language that everyone in the party can speak. Spanish is probably the most prevalently spoken language in the carribean, though english, french, dutch, portuguese, and taíno follow closely behind.



Tonguez, as far as races go, it's human only. But there ways to circumvent this:
The Heritage Feats from Urban Arcana represent nonhuman (or at least magical) blood. Arcane Heritage Would represent some sorcerous (and therefore draconic) ancestry, Divine Heritage would represent an ancestor with some shamanistic connection, perhaps a nature spirit or powerful shaman-king. Shadow Heritage would probably represent an ancestor from european mythology, likely an elf, a goblin, or some other fey creature.

Also, In this setting Sorcerers (the only arcane casters) derive their power through draconic blood, and much more explicitly than they do in D&D. I'll write more on this in the document that I'll send out.

As far as appropriate cultures, anyone who could concievably get to the caribbean in 1667 is fair game. That's pretty much everyone, the age of exploration pretty much having already taken place.



Munin, d20 past contains a musketeer PRC that you might enjoy (though it's not available until 9th level at the earliest, so you'd have to wait a bit). And I'm always open to 3rd-party material, If you find another swashbuckling class you're more interested in playing.

You'll be starting at a fairly small trading town somewhere in the caribbean. (exactly where will probably depend on what common language you decide.) Don't expect to stay in the caribbean forever though. The advatage of ships is that they can go from place to place.

As for the campaign feel, I'd say High Adventure and Exploration with bits of Intrigue. A bit larger than life. Pirates of the Caribbean, The Oddessy, The Voyages of Sinbad, The Princess Bride, Indiana Jones, and the Three Musketeers are all some inspirational sources.

In many ways, this is sort of d&d on the high seas. You're seeking out adventure, fortune, and glory. It's fairly high-fx (comparable to Urban Arcana), but expect the monsters and magic to be less Iconic D&D and more Folklore and mythology inspired. Instead of Colossal Red Dragons, you'll be fighting these.

I also tend to be less hack-and-slash and more story driven (and downright talky).



ILoveKobolds, A character of Arabian descent is fine, though I don't know that they were a particularly common target of european slavers. The Ottoman Empire was at it's height in the 17th century, and while it had little influence in the Americas, it controlled much of the mediterranian and competed with the european powers in the colonization of the east indies. So a Turk, Arabian, or North African could make their way to the caribbean by any number of means.



Meepo, I can provide everything you'll need from d20past, but Urban Arcana has been added to the SRD, so you can download it here.

Also, non-magical healing takes a major beating from the nerf stick to account for the historical lack of useful medical knowledge. Both the Surgery Feat and the Surgery Kit are unavailable, for a total of -8 to Treat Injury Checks to perform Surgery, though the other uses remain unhindered. To add insult to injury, Craft(Pharmaceutical) is unavailable. And to add more Injury, the Feild Medic AdC is unavailable as well.

It's still possible to play a non-magical healer, but you'd be considerably more effective if you picked up a level or two of shaman.



Also, added bonus. I posted some flavor bits about the campaign world in this thread.

Happy Hanukkah,
Alan Scott