Planescape old friend, playing Planescape again, simpler D&D?

[Quickleaf]

I had the pleasure to reconnect with one of my best friends growing up after not seeing each other for over 10 years. This was the cherry on the cake after meeting several ENWorlders in real life over the past couple years, as well as making some great gaming friends here. My friend and I played a terrific Planescape game in our high school years, and I was surprised at how vividly he remembered scenes that I'd forgotten the details of. Wow! Brought back great memories! Even though we live in different areas, he and his girlfriend said they'd love to play some D&D with me when the stars align, picking up with our old Planescape game.

His character was Kiryana Silverspring (female aasimar / fighter 13 when we last played, specialized with swords / good-aligned / Sensate with extra faction powers / had divine blessing & cursed with shadow taken from her). Very much a "warlord" type character (in the narrative sense, not the class sense), and if you're familiar with the Artesia graphic novels, has a lot in common with Artesia. As a player, my friend is deeply into martial arts (eastern and western), the SCA, military strategy, outfoxing monsters, and adores the Planescape setting.

It probably would just be a one-shot, or maybe once a year when I visit California or they visit Hawaii, but who knows...

My question: It's been a looong time since he played D&D, and while his girlfriend had relatives who played she never got into it herself... so I'm wondering how I might run a high-level game without overwhelming them with complex character sheets and lots of fiddly rules?

I *think* I could manage this with 5e D&D, but I'm open to other ideas too.

My instinct is to design the heck out of their character sheets...has anyone done this for their players? I'd love to see some simplified / well-designed / easy-to-reference sheets!

My first attempt at recreating the PC Kiryana has features divided according to where they come from (see below). But I'm thinking it might be better to coalesce stuff a lot more. If I could get everything onto 2 pages that would be terrific.

While a Champion fighter would be easier, Battle Master fits my friend's interest in real world sword-fighting to a T. I also opted to use the Blade Master feat (from UA) with a slight tweak in order to simplify it (swapping in "+1 damage" instead of the "+1 AC as a reaction" which is a bit redundant for a Battle Master with Parry).

 

[cbwjm]

That character sheet looks cool.

Not sure how much easier it would be to consolidate information since you've already condensed it quite a bit, the problems of high level PCs, but another option could be equipment cards. Have magical items on their own individual card, works best for active items I think such as consumables or items with charges. Could also work with manoeuvres.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I'm wondering how I might run a high-level game without overwhelming them with complex character sheets and lots of fiddly rules?

I *think* I could manage this with 5e D&D, but I'm open to other ideas too.

5e certainly has a few comparatively simple options. The Champion shouldn't be too shocking for someone who fondly remembers a 2e fighter, for instance. A BM could seem downright complicated - but given the specific players proclivities, positively awesome - by comparison.

[My instinct is to design the heck out of their character sheets...has anyone done this for their players?

I did that a lot with the old off-line CB, you could significantly pair down & customize a sheet, I was able to get low level characters on one page. Again, in 5e, the class is key, as some are vastly more complex and detailed than others - even the basic-pdf pregens range from barely filling out one page to needing several (especially if you just want to print out the spells rather than have everyone looking them up in the PH all game long).

Of course the other question is what to give the new player sitting in on the old game with high level characters? Champion? Barbarian? Rogue? Simplified monster-style-block NPC?

 

[Quickleaf]

That character sheet looks cool.

Not sure how much easier it would be to consolidate information since you've already condensed it quite a bit, the problems of high level PCs, but another option could be equipment cards. Have magical items on their own individual card, works best for active items I think such as consumables or items with charges. Could also work with manoeuvres.

Thanks! To me, as someone who has kept up with the game, the sheet makes sense. But dang if that's not a lot of text to wade through – Especially for a more casual gamer!

Normally I avoid cards with tabletop roleplaying – because I've found it focuses attention on game mechanisms rather than roleplaying and creative thinking – but you're right that off-loading magic items & gear to cards might be better. I think I have some of those old Paizo treasure cards somewhere, so that might help.

5e certainly has a few comparatively simple options. The Champion shouldn't be too shocking for someone who fondly remembers a 2e fighter, for instance. A BM could seem downright complicated - but given the specific players proclivities, positively awesome - by comparison.

I did that a lot with the old off-line CB, you could significantly pair down & customize a sheet, I was able to get low level characters on one page. Again, in 5e, the class is key, as some are vastly more complex and detailed than others - even the basic-pdf pregens range from barely filling out one page to needing several (especially if you just want to print out the spells rather than have everyone looking them up in the PH all game long).

Yeah, back when we played AD&D he was always coming up with his own crazy maneuvers or wanting to implement a move he learned in a fencing class. The Battle Master was made for my friend.

On one page? That's impressive! It makes sense for low-level characters though.

Of course the other question is what to give the new player sitting in on the old game with high level characters? Champion? Barbarian? Rogue? Simplified monster-style-block NPC?

I'll be chatting with them in a week or so, and I know she used to write fantasy novels, so I may get a better feel of what sort of characters she connects with.

I am leaning toward something like a simplified monster-style NPC.

Where we left off in the campaign, the next plot threads would probably revolve around two things, from our very first gamings sessions together & our very last gaming session together...

Graughlothor, the Supreme Dragon (alleged first of dragonkind, greatest of iron dragons) may be dying/corrupted/returning. Kiryana once summoned him to wipe out a demon horde while she "time traveled" to the past. Basically, it was like the whole Assassin's Creed premise of ancestral memories before those games came out.

Kiryana is missing her shadow, which she sacrificed in a deal with an erinyes & hamatula (barbed devil) in order to free a lantern archon they'd deceived. The lantern archon was a guide in her military force. We never precisely answered what lacking a shadow means in the game, but described it as a gnawing sort of emptiness and dread. So Kiryana being on a quest to regain her shadow makes sense.

Potential characters his girlfriend might play could be...

• Kiryana shadow! She might like being able to instigate stuff, make complications for his PC, and getting able to create mischief without needing to know too many rules. Then again, it's less of a distinct character.
• The erinyes! Maybe the erinyes turned renegade against her infernal master and is willing to help Kiryana because it helps herself too.
• The lantern archon! Perhaps in a more evolved angelic form as a friendly guide/protector spirit. These are AD&D Planescape archons, not the 4e chaotic evil elemental archons.
• A member of Kiryana's army with a secret agenda involving Graughlothor the Supreme Dragon.

 

[Quickleaf]

OK, I totally revamped the sheet with an eye toward communicating information clearly with less page-searching and minimized redundancy. For example, "Fighting Style (Dueling)" is something that's part of the PC but really can be invisible on the player's side.

I took liberties with some of the rules to reflect the character's essence, Planescape (e.g. I modified the aasimar race in Volo's Guide), and what our play style was like.

I'm contemplating doing away with the feats section, since both Resilience and Medium Armor Mastery probably can be invisible on the player's side, and free that up for note-taking or more basic character info (e.g. plane of origins, deity, age, height/weight, etc).