New party - so many options

[MerricB]

My new Ulek campaign gets going tomorrow. Six brand new 1st level PCs. And those players have so many options.

My players have told me that they've decided what they're playing. Let's see if they keep to it. Some have ideas for the beginning of their characters; some have goals for later development.

Human or Half-Elf Bard (Complete Adventurer). Sarah told me that she wanted to play a Fochluchan Lyrist. So, she's been trying to work out what path to take to that class. Start as Bard, Rogue or Druid? Eventually, she's decided to begin as a Bard. I think. And probably human. Or a half-elf. Hmm.

Dwarf Soulblade (Races of Stone, Expanded Psionics Handbook). I thought Adam would be playing a ranger. It's what he said he'd do when the group discussed this. I was slightly surprised when he decided on the soulblade. (Not utterly, as he loves psionics). What's the Races of Stone influence? It's the Focused Shield feat he wants. (+1 AC when psychic focused).

Halfling Druid (Races of the Wild) Dave wanted to play a Radiant Servant of Pelor. Then he learnt that (a) I'd played one recently, and (b) there's one in another game I'm running. Suddenly the character concept was too popular. He decided this yesterday, so we had to come up with another concept. This morning, I sent him a few notes on the Arcane Hierophant and the Halfling Druid substitution levels from RotW. I got an e-mail back a couple of hours later: he's bought RotW and is playing a Halfling Druid. Not a clue on the Hierophant yet (it's a Druid/Wizard multiclass). I'll learn that tomorrow.

Human Scout (Complete Adventurer) Gofa likes rogues. He *really* liked the scout. He's remained constant in his affection. (He played a Sorcerer/Mindbender and a Samurai/Ronin in the last game).

Azurin Totemist (Magic of Incarnum) Daniel thinks the Totemist is neat. So do I. I've no idea what soulmelds he's choosing, but I'm pretty sure Kruthik Claws will be one of them. I now have to work out how this class fits into the druidical society of Ulek. Hmm.

Azurin (NG) Incarnate (Magic of Incarnum) Greg was playing a Wizard/Archer last game - and the only player to be there for the three years of the campaign with the same PC. He wanted something new, so I suggested the Incarnate. He's trying to grapple with the low Base Attack, which is most noticiable for the Good Incarnates. It'll be very, very interesting to see how this PC goes. I've suggested a Incarnate/Wizard/Soulcaster to Greg, but we're waiting to see what happens next.

So, the session starts tomorrow. Goblins, a Blue, Necrocarnum Zombies, NE Incarnates and a swarm of spiders await!

Cheers!

 

[Herobizkit]

Wow!

From what I've gleaned, this is going to be quite the magic/psionic heavy party! Judging at first glance, your front-line fighters will be the Bard, the Soulblade, and the Druid!

Lacking a considerable amount of clout, my only suggestion would be to send weak, but numerous enemies, leaving the BIG challenges for either a "boss" fight, a tension-building encounter, or a treasure hoard guardian. Otherwise, they might find themselves overwhelmed. Heck, if you give orcs their greataxes, over half the party might be dead in one encounter!

Still, the party looks like it'll be a blast. Good luck... and prepare for the long, long discussions about magic and psionic items.

 

[MerricB]

Actually, it's a lot more of a melee party than it might first appear. The Incarnate, Totemist, Soulknife and Druid can all be melee-based, especially by about 3rd+ level.

The best ACs will likely go to the Soulknife and the Incarnate - possibly about 20 or so at 1st level.

My "encounter list" goes like this:

* Blue + 8 goblins (EL 3) (XPH)
* Lost commoner (EL 1/2) (MoI)
* Lost War2 (EL 2) (MoI)
* 2 Necrocarnum Goblin Zombies (EL1, MoI)
* 2 NE Azurin Incarnate 2 + 2 Necrocarnum Human Zombies (EL 4, MoI)
* 4 goblins (EL 1)
* 6 goblins (EL 1 1/2)
* pit trap (EL 1)
* collapsing roof trap (EL 1)
* poison needle trap (EL 1)
* 3 guard dogs (EL 1)
* spider swarm (EL 2)

The NE Azurin Incarnate 2:
Init +1; AC 18; hp 14; Spd 20 ft; Melee +5 (1d8+7)

Cheers!

 

[haakon1]

Wow. I don't think our Greyhawk campaigns could be more different in terms of rules. Ever since 2nd Edition went nuts, we mainly use just the Core Books (specific rules extra rules can be added with DM approval).

In my campaigns (3 DMing, though 2 are in snooze mood; plus 1 playing), I think one guy is using a Prestige Class, about 30% are multi-class, and everybody is a human, elf, half-elf, half-orc, or dwarf -- no gnomes, halflings, or "weird stuff".

The "weird" character concepts tend to be cultural backgrounds, with no game effects other than how the players choose to spend their skill points. For example, a paladin from a Viking (Frost Barbarian sailor) background, a wizard from a noble family who's first career was a lawyer, a ne'er-do-well cleric who keeps getting in trouble because his personality is not a good fit to his god's commands, a half-orc who wants to be a paladin but doesn't have the "calling" to get that class and has to settle for fighter/cleric, and a bard from the "Ranger" culture of fallen Arnor in Middle Earth.

I'm guessing perhaps your group plays a LOT more than me, and have gotten bored with all the combinations of regular classes and races and backstories you can come up with?

 

[mhacdebhandia]

I'm guessing perhaps your group plays a LOT more than me, and have gotten bored with all the combinations of regular classes and races and backstories you can come up with?

Either that or, like me, they think "traditional" pseudo-Tolkienesque ideas are dull. It's not uncommon, especially if you prefer Lovecraft or Lieber or Howard to Tolkien - there's some wacky stuff in Lieber.

 

[Jdvn1]

Is the Azurin a race from MoI?

Looks cool! I always enjoy helping/watching newer players come up with their characters.

 

[MerricB]

Azurin are incarnum-touched humans. (And yes, they're from Magic of Incarnum). They give up their extra skill points for a extra point of essentia. As such, they need no retrofitting to put into my ongoing Greyhawk campaign.

Although I've DMed somewhat upwards of 80 sessions this year, that's not true of all of my players. The Incarnate's player has probably only played 20 sessions (once every two weeks), and had been playing the same character for the past three years in the previous campaign - a multiclass wizard/archer. (Ranger 2/Wizard 5/Eldritch Knight 7/Spellsword 1 by the end of the campaign - looks messy, but is quite a simple concept).

The campaign returns to the County of Ulek, which I ran a previous game in for a couple of years. Now it's about 5-8 years on, and I can take up the previous plot threads and approach them in new ways.

There's a definite Celtic feel to all of this (druids, you know), and Moorcock's second Corum series inspired me to have Fomorians as the chief enemy. My earlier game used them as a brooding threat - I intend to bring them more to the fore this time. Where I differ from standard "giants" fare is that their deformity is caused by invading spirits from another plane.

The joy of Magic of Incarnum is it gives me a system to use for these spirits unusual magic (Necrocarnum). Incarnum itself works well with the Gygaxian system of "alignment matters", and the totemist makes more sense than the druid in many ways, as it gains power from magical beasts (often ignored).

Cheers!