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Message: <blockquote data-quote="steeldragons" data-source="post: 5521056" data-attributes="member: 92511">Orea was originally created as a world in which to house my oooold characters from original BECMI and 1e ADnD. As it grew and expanded and became more detailed, I decided to use it in actual play with other players/characters.The first of these, back in college (2e days) included a nicely diverse group who I came to dub the "Claw Company". It started as a simple band of a Lion Clan Gorunduun (Barbarian), a streetsmart human (female) thief and a half-elvin cleric of Celradorn (god of battleskill and guardianship-kinda an Athena type deity or a "kinder/gentler" Ares).The group grew to include an Enchanter specialist mage from the lands of R'Hath, a Shi'Cynallae ("Mist") elf who was a magic-user/thief who liked to make a living/pass himself off as a "bard" and, eventually, another half-elf (female) druid of the Ancient Order of Mistwood.This group was great a)for good/interested players eager to explore and learn about the campaign setting and b)for offering a smattering of a couple of the classes and societal things "unique" to the Orea setting -the barbarian clans, the druidic order, the "superior" attitudes of the R'Hathi mages came as a result of this group's player, and got me to flesh out more of the Celradornan dogma and organization of the religious order -and by extension the religious orders and hierarchies of other deities.They were a wonderful group and I do regret that, ya know, "life happens" and we graduated and went our separate ways and didn't get to play much past lower mid-levels. I think the next installment of my "Tales of Orea" story hour ( <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/story-hour/294419-steel-dragons-tales-orea.html" target="_blank">http://www.enworld.org/forum/story-hour/294419-steel-dragons-tales-orea.html</a> ) very well may be about the Claw Company...someday.Then Orea lay dormant for many many moons. The detailing and reworking has continued (on and off) for the years since until I had another group (much more limited in both number and gaming experience) who kindly agreed to delve into the world of Orea.That group is the basis for the current roster of characters in the existing Story Hour. They are, in many ways, more akin to a Basic or 1e cast, but their adventures sparked much more exploration and detail being added, and I loved them for it.SO, the point of this posting...my Story Hour is a narrative telling. I am not interested in the "crunch/rules/stats" side of things in the SH.So I thought, for those interested, I might lift the character "basics" here. Orea was composed to be a "system neutral" world. Any fantasy system or edition you and your players like to use should be readily playable in Orea. To that end, I will supply you with, as I said, the character "basics" and anyone who seeks to play in/with the Orean campaign setting, might extrapolate to create (or "build" if that's your preference) characters to inhabit Orea.I will be using terms that are as generic as possible, but as I said, the group seemed to be primarily used with 1e & 2e rules when we actually played.A few "houseruled" notes for how I run an Orean game:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Magic-users (for our purposes, the terms "MUs", "Mages" or "Wizards" refer to primary arcane spellcasters, of which Bards are not included) receive additional spells/day bonuses for high Intelligence, as clerics received high Wisdom, but to a lesser extent. Thus (INT/spell), 15/1 additional cantrip, 16/+1 first level spell, 17/+1 2nd lvl spell, 18/+1 1st and +1 2nd level spells, cumulatively. So, a mage with an INT of 18 would receive +1 0, +2 1st and +2 2nd lvl spells. The additional spells were not applicable until the mage could normally cast that level of spell. So a 2nd level MU with an INT of 17 - daily allotment of 3 cantrips/2 1st level spells, wouldn't receive her additional 2nd level spell until she reached 3rd level (by BECMI, 1 or 2e rules)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">MUs also receive the use of 0lvl/"cantrip" spells, as seen above. Clerics and Druids do NOT receive 0lvl spells. This was to offset their capacity for armor and weapons and the already added bonus to their spellcasting ability, as well as the "special powers" certain orders of certain deities receive as they progress.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Mages need not "memorize" 0lvl spells at the start of day. They are the "tricks" that students of magic learn in their long apprenticeship/training, easily recalled and thoroughly practiced. Additionally, mages may "spontaneously" cast spells 2 spell levels lower than their highest spell. So when a mage is able to cast 3rd level spells, 1st level spells need not be "chosen" at the start of an adventure. When they can cast 4th level spells (i.e. @ 7th level for 1 or 2e AD&D), 1st AND 2nd level spells need not be memorized. The presumption being that their long time studying these spells, as with their cantrips, have become well ingrained/second nature.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Clerics and Druids need not "memorize" spells at the start of day for 1st and 2nd level spells. 3rd or higher level spells require more of the deities "attention" and thus do require daily, set, choices. Time in meditation/prayer must still be spent for the "well" of energies to use, but they needn't pick specific spells/day until they can cast 3rd or higher level spells.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Druids of the Ancient Order of Mistwood begin play with a sacred spear which accrues a magical charge-due to their increasing affinity for the Orean energies at a rate of +1 per 3 levels. +1 @ 3rd lvl, +2 @ 6th, +3 (the max) @ 9th.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Druids of the Ancient Order begin play with a "druid's cloak". This acts as a "cloak of blending", effectively allowing the druid "invisibility" when used within/against a natural setting (natural stone, trees, underbrush, sandy/dusty ground if they lay down, etc...) The druid must remain stationary for this effect to take place, any move cancels the effect. So it is basically just used for hiding in their preferred natural surroundings.The cloak also affords a +1 protection from element-based attacks (air,earth,fire,water & wood).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Paladins of Celradorn are members of an order called the Redstar Knights. This order is broken into 3 castes: the Goldshields (lvl's 1-4), the Lightlancers (lvl's 5-9) and Crimson Stars (lvl's 10 and higher). Each caste receives special powers 1 lvl from their highest (3rd and 8th, respectively, with Crimson Stars receiving their special power at 13th level.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">ALL paladins of Celradorn receive the following abilities: Detect Evil at will, Protection from Evil 10' radius 1/day/level to a maximum of 3 (at which point, the Goldshield paladin receives their special power also). Laying on Hands becomes a 1/day ability at 3rd level.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Mutli-classed characters receive XP proportional to the use of their different classes (yes, this is a total DM fiat/fairness sort of thing, but generally, I went with a 70/30 split as that seemed close to what most players would do, whether they were fighter/mage, thief/fighter (preferring thievery, for example), cleric/mage, whatever.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">In my games, races have class but not level restrictions. If a certain race could be a class, they could advance as far as they like within that class. This always made sense to me a)because certain cultures simply do not ascribe or endorse or utilize certain skills and b)it always seemed "racist" to me, to say you can be a mage, but you can only learn "so much"? Particularly since most races are significantly more long-lived than humans...Why couldn't/wouldn't they spend the additional decades (or centuries!) continuing to hone their craft? and c)It simply helped to facilitate the flavor of various races that/how I liked for Orea.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">All mages start play with the Read Magic and Detect Magic spells.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Spell lists are drawn from the Hypertext d20 SRD <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/" target="_blank">The Hypertext d20 SRD (v3.5 d20 System Reference Document) :: d20srd.org</a></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I think that's all that applies to this particular group, so let's see...</li> </ul>The current cast of the "Tales of Orea" SH (in order of appearance) are:(Note: If anyone catches an inconsistency in my telling of the story, please feel free to point it out...I can't possibly keep track/remember everything! lol.)Alaria Staver: Human (from R'Hath)/Female. Mage/1st level.Armor: None. Wpn Prof.: staff, Wpn. carried: Staff. Spells: 5 0lvl, 2 1lvl.Spellbook: 0lvl: Daze, Detect Magic, Flame, Light, Mage Hand, Mending, Open/Close, Read Magic. 1lvl: Burning Hands, Enlarge, Shield, Sleep, VentriloquismBraddok Kar Barforth: Human (from Duchy of Denil, Kingdom of Grinlia)/Male. Fighter/1st lvl. Armor: Chain and Shield. Wpn. Prof.: long sword, short bow, spear and morningstar. Wpn. carried: Longsword, Short bow.Haelan Spurthistle: Halfling (from the Free Hollows)/Male. Cleric (of Faerantha)/1st lvl. Armor: Chain and Shield. Wpn Prof.: mace and sling. Wpn carried: mace. Spells: 3 1lvl. Typically used: Bless, Cure Light Wounds, Light, Sanctuary.Erevan: Elf (Miralostae)/Male. Fighter-Mage/1-1. Armor: Leather. Wpn. Prof: Longbow, Longsword, Short bow, Dagger. Wpn carried: Longbow, Longsword, Dagger. Spells: 3 0lvl, 1 1lvl. Spellbook: 0lvl: Detect Magic, Ghost Sound, Read Magic, Resistance.  1lvl: Floating Disc, Magic Missile.Duor Darksmythe: Dwarf/Male. Thief/1. Armor: Leather. Wpn prof.: short sword, dagger, hand crossbow. Wpn carried: dagger, hand crossbow."Goldshield" Coerraine: Human (from Wastrah, Kingdom of Mostrial)/Male. Paladin (of Celradorn)/1st lvl. Armor: Partial Plate & shield. Wpn Prof.: Spear, longsword, broad sword, dagger, lance. Wpn. carried: Spear, broad sword, dagger. Paladin abilities: Dt. Evil at will, Protection from Evil 10' radius 1/day. Fen a.k.a. Faeryl: Half-elf/Male. Druid/1st level. Armor: Leather (& Druid's Cloak as applicable). Wpn. Prof.: Druid's "Leaf-tip" Spear, sling, sickle. Wpn. carried: Druid's Spear, sling, sickle. Spells: 2 1lvl. Typically used: Animal Friendship, Entangle, Obscurement.  That a long enough post, for ya? It is for me! More on Orea, always, to come.</blockquote>

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