I should preface this with an explanation of what I'm going for. I game with a group who aren't really sold on 4e but don't necessarily hate it. All of them play World of Warcraft. To make the system more palatable, I wanted to run a D&D campaign set in Azeroth with a few house rules that will make the players feel a little more familiar. Keep in mind that these are rough drafts and will definitely be changed moving forward.
1. Quests and Quest Types
There are four types of quests that are available to the PCs:
- Minor personal quests
- Major personal quests
- Group quests
- Instance quests
Minor and major personal quests, as their name suggests, are personal. A minor personal quest is one that is challenging but inevitable (e.g. Find a worthy blade, Obtain a shop, Earn a title). A major personal quest is not only challenging but requires large effort on the part of the adventuring group. (e.g. Discover the secret orc tribe that killed my family, Retake the lands of the Alliance from the Horde) While minor personal quests should be limited in scope, major quests should be epic and involve the whole group in order to fufill it. These usually do not involve monetary gain but give out the most xp of all quest types.
Group quests are given to the group as a whole and are often related to the task or adventure at hand. These are usually minor rewards when it comes to xp but often the largest when it comes to monetary gain.
Instance quests are related to the "instance" the characters are running. Instances are rare events that often signify turning points in the story or personal quests. Each major personal quest has its own instance. These can only be completed by the group as a whole. Instances offer significant xp and monetary/magic rewards, as well as an extra Profession check at the end of a session.
Each starting character is required to have 3 minor personal quests and 1 major personal quest. More may be added by the DM at a later time.
2. Achievements and Achievement Points
Like the computer game, D&D: Azeroth has an achievement system. Unlike the computer game, this achievement system actually has a use other than bragging rights. Achievements come in many forms. Some are mechanical in nature while others are more of a roleplaying or storyline bent. Two examples are given below:
Boom! Head Shot!: Award an achievement point the first time a character scores a critical hit.
"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.": Award an achievement point the first time a character completes a major personal quest.
Achievement points are cumulative and can be used the moment they are obtained. Achievement points give you a +1 bonus to any roll you make. This includes attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and even damage rolls. Anytime you throw the dice, you may spend achievement points to augment the roll. You may spend any number of achievement points on a single roll up to half your character level (round down). Thus at level 5, you may spend up to 2 points on any roll.
Once spent, achievement points do not refresh until the start of a new game session. (e.g. Bob the fighter uses 2 of his 10 points on a single roll. For the rest of the session, he only has 8 points left to spend.) The use of points must be declared before any dice are rolled.
3. Getting Started
Each player will receive a 3 ring binder. Inside, you will find the following:
- Character sheet
- Map of Azeroth
- Condition cards
- Blank power cards
- Guild sheet
- Achievement tracker
- Profession sheet
As members of the Alliance, you will be able to choose from Draenei, Dwarves, Gnomes, Humans, or Night Elves.
Playable Classes
Leaders:
Artificer (Night Elves restricted)
Bard
Cleric
Shaman (Draenei and Dwarves only)
Warlord
Controllers:
Druid (Night Elves only)
Invoker
Wizard (Night Elves restricted)
Defenders:
Fighter
Paladin (Draenei, Dwarves, and Humans only)
Warden
Strikers
Avenger
Barbarian (Gnomes restricted)
Ranger
Rogue
Warlock (Night Elves restricted)
Don't be overly concerned about group composition. If we have a group of strikers or all defenders, good. It's all about what you want to play.
4. Professions
A profession is a skill the character possesses that serves to benefit his adventuring. Professions fall into two categories: Crafting or Gathering. Crafting professions are used by adventurers to create their own items and goods, allowing for a greater selection. Gathering professions are used by adventurers as resources for crafting professions or for general sale on the open market.
Crafting Professions: Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Leatherworking, and Tailoring.
Gathering Professions: Herbalism, Mining, and Skinning.
Choose two professions for your character at character creation. These may be changed later through roleplay.
Alchemy: To be an alchemist, you need not take the Alchemist feat. The benefit of taking the feat is a 25% reduction in cost and time used to make alchemy items.
Blacksmithing: Blacksmiths can make any sort of weapon and heavy armor, as well as practical items.
Leatherworking: Leatherworkers can make Leather and Hide armors of any type.
Tailoring: Tailors can make cloth armors of any type, as well as many types of clothing.
Gathering professions allow the character to make a Profession check at the end of every session. This roll assumes the character has ample down time. A Profession check is a d20+ the number of times you've already made a successful Profession check. Modifiers may apply based on time constraints and environment. See the results below:
Heroic Tier
DC 10: 1 Unit
DC 15: 2 Units
DC 20: 3 Units
DC 25+: 5 Units
Each unit belongs to the associated professions. For example, if you rolled your Herbalism Profession and scored 2 units, they would be Herbs. Skinners obtain skins and miners obtain ores. Units may either be used for crafting or they can instantly be sold. Once a unit has been designated for crafting, it can not be sold later. All units are assumed to be held in the guild bank unless the player says otherwise.
Herbalism: Herbs can be used for Alchemy and Tailoring. Each unit reduces the cost of creating an item by 3%. Otherwise, herbs may be sold for 10g each per character level.
Mining: Ores can be used for Blacksmithing and Tailoring. Each unit reduces the cost of creating an item by 5%. Otherwise, ores may be sold for 20g each per character level.
Skinning: Skins can be used for Leatherworking and Tailoring. Each unit reduces the cost of creating an item by 4%. Otherwise, skins may be sold for 15g each per character level.
Beginning at the Paragon tier, you may hire on workers that help you gather or craft, though they will never be as good as the PC.
5. Guild Creation
Guilds offer many benefits including: training, trade and adventuring goods, magic items and components, quests, contacts, and guild banks. Within the Alliance and Horde, guilds have a great impact on the economy. Some guilds are formed by tradesmen, others by people of similar interests or goals. The following questions should help you decide how your guild functions within Azeroth.
1. What is the purpose of the guild? Perhaps it's a group of people who want to reclaim Alliance territory or possibly even a thieves guild.
2. What is the size and scope of the guild?
3. What the requirements for joining?
4. There are usually five ranks in most guilds: Initiate, Novice, Member, Officer, and Guild Leader. Create alternative names for the ranks in your guild.
5. How does the guild make money?
6. Does the government support or oppose the guild?
1. Quests and Quest Types
There are four types of quests that are available to the PCs:
- Minor personal quests
- Major personal quests
- Group quests
- Instance quests
Minor and major personal quests, as their name suggests, are personal. A minor personal quest is one that is challenging but inevitable (e.g. Find a worthy blade, Obtain a shop, Earn a title). A major personal quest is not only challenging but requires large effort on the part of the adventuring group. (e.g. Discover the secret orc tribe that killed my family, Retake the lands of the Alliance from the Horde) While minor personal quests should be limited in scope, major quests should be epic and involve the whole group in order to fufill it. These usually do not involve monetary gain but give out the most xp of all quest types.
Group quests are given to the group as a whole and are often related to the task or adventure at hand. These are usually minor rewards when it comes to xp but often the largest when it comes to monetary gain.
Instance quests are related to the "instance" the characters are running. Instances are rare events that often signify turning points in the story or personal quests. Each major personal quest has its own instance. These can only be completed by the group as a whole. Instances offer significant xp and monetary/magic rewards, as well as an extra Profession check at the end of a session.
Each starting character is required to have 3 minor personal quests and 1 major personal quest. More may be added by the DM at a later time.
2. Achievements and Achievement Points
Like the computer game, D&D: Azeroth has an achievement system. Unlike the computer game, this achievement system actually has a use other than bragging rights. Achievements come in many forms. Some are mechanical in nature while others are more of a roleplaying or storyline bent. Two examples are given below:
Boom! Head Shot!: Award an achievement point the first time a character scores a critical hit.
"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.": Award an achievement point the first time a character completes a major personal quest.
Achievement points are cumulative and can be used the moment they are obtained. Achievement points give you a +1 bonus to any roll you make. This includes attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and even damage rolls. Anytime you throw the dice, you may spend achievement points to augment the roll. You may spend any number of achievement points on a single roll up to half your character level (round down). Thus at level 5, you may spend up to 2 points on any roll.
Once spent, achievement points do not refresh until the start of a new game session. (e.g. Bob the fighter uses 2 of his 10 points on a single roll. For the rest of the session, he only has 8 points left to spend.) The use of points must be declared before any dice are rolled.
3. Getting Started
Each player will receive a 3 ring binder. Inside, you will find the following:
- Character sheet
- Map of Azeroth
- Condition cards
- Blank power cards
- Guild sheet
- Achievement tracker
- Profession sheet
As members of the Alliance, you will be able to choose from Draenei, Dwarves, Gnomes, Humans, or Night Elves.
Playable Classes
Leaders:
Artificer (Night Elves restricted)
Bard
Cleric
Shaman (Draenei and Dwarves only)
Warlord
Controllers:
Druid (Night Elves only)
Invoker
Wizard (Night Elves restricted)
Defenders:
Fighter
Paladin (Draenei, Dwarves, and Humans only)
Warden
Strikers
Avenger
Barbarian (Gnomes restricted)
Ranger
Rogue
Warlock (Night Elves restricted)
Don't be overly concerned about group composition. If we have a group of strikers or all defenders, good. It's all about what you want to play.
4. Professions
A profession is a skill the character possesses that serves to benefit his adventuring. Professions fall into two categories: Crafting or Gathering. Crafting professions are used by adventurers to create their own items and goods, allowing for a greater selection. Gathering professions are used by adventurers as resources for crafting professions or for general sale on the open market.
Crafting Professions: Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Leatherworking, and Tailoring.
Gathering Professions: Herbalism, Mining, and Skinning.
Choose two professions for your character at character creation. These may be changed later through roleplay.
Alchemy: To be an alchemist, you need not take the Alchemist feat. The benefit of taking the feat is a 25% reduction in cost and time used to make alchemy items.
Blacksmithing: Blacksmiths can make any sort of weapon and heavy armor, as well as practical items.
Leatherworking: Leatherworkers can make Leather and Hide armors of any type.
Tailoring: Tailors can make cloth armors of any type, as well as many types of clothing.
Gathering professions allow the character to make a Profession check at the end of every session. This roll assumes the character has ample down time. A Profession check is a d20+ the number of times you've already made a successful Profession check. Modifiers may apply based on time constraints and environment. See the results below:
Heroic Tier
DC 10: 1 Unit
DC 15: 2 Units
DC 20: 3 Units
DC 25+: 5 Units
Each unit belongs to the associated professions. For example, if you rolled your Herbalism Profession and scored 2 units, they would be Herbs. Skinners obtain skins and miners obtain ores. Units may either be used for crafting or they can instantly be sold. Once a unit has been designated for crafting, it can not be sold later. All units are assumed to be held in the guild bank unless the player says otherwise.
Herbalism: Herbs can be used for Alchemy and Tailoring. Each unit reduces the cost of creating an item by 3%. Otherwise, herbs may be sold for 10g each per character level.
Mining: Ores can be used for Blacksmithing and Tailoring. Each unit reduces the cost of creating an item by 5%. Otherwise, ores may be sold for 20g each per character level.
Skinning: Skins can be used for Leatherworking and Tailoring. Each unit reduces the cost of creating an item by 4%. Otherwise, skins may be sold for 15g each per character level.
Beginning at the Paragon tier, you may hire on workers that help you gather or craft, though they will never be as good as the PC.
5. Guild Creation
Guilds offer many benefits including: training, trade and adventuring goods, magic items and components, quests, contacts, and guild banks. Within the Alliance and Horde, guilds have a great impact on the economy. Some guilds are formed by tradesmen, others by people of similar interests or goals. The following questions should help you decide how your guild functions within Azeroth.
1. What is the purpose of the guild? Perhaps it's a group of people who want to reclaim Alliance territory or possibly even a thieves guild.
2. What is the size and scope of the guild?
3. What the requirements for joining?
4. There are usually five ranks in most guilds: Initiate, Novice, Member, Officer, and Guild Leader. Create alternative names for the ranks in your guild.
5. How does the guild make money?
6. Does the government support or oppose the guild?
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