Serious inquiries only please - 100th level adventure hook and module in development

[Romnipotent]

A god has just died, its a race to see who can collect all the domains first, represented by new artifacts around the planes. Gotta catch em all. God-e-Mons

 

[Yair]

Anyway, I made a Dwarven Defender since Yair has posted his character, I am posting this one. He doesn't have gear, but his stats are reflected as if he had certain items to boost stats. He doesn't have a weapon yet, so his weapon enhancement is not part of his attack bonus. I could have cheesed him out and taken two paladin levels and two monk levels and a few Legendary Dreadnuaght levels, but I am keeping things simple, one base class and one prestiege class, like I had said.

He is very tough, over 3,000 HP, 90 dr/-, fast healing 30 and he will be large size due to a permenant enlarge spell so his reach with a large chain would be 15' with improved whirlwind and improved combat reflexes, he should kick some butt. Of course, I guess it all depends on how we are doing gear, I would waste time with his gear right now cause I think we need to settle that issue before I spend time on a shopping spree.

...
Str: 90 + 40 (Base 16 (10), +17 level enhancements, +30 enhancement, +5 inherit, +2 Ioun stone, Great STR XX)

Now, that's scary. It certainly overshadows my poor bard in raw power. Looks very cool, I'll go over him in more detail later.
The only mechanical note I have at first glance is that I believe the Ioun stone provides an enhancement bonus and therefore doesn't stack with the +30 enhancement bonus. That, and doesn't he have too few epic feats? Are those all his 60 epic level plus his x class-gained level epic feats?

I suggest we set up the following guidelines for PC gear and generation:
PC GENERATION GUIDELINES
- Magic items worth up to 277,000,000 gp [I don't see a need to limit to to 250 mill, what's the point?]. No artifacts.
- Sources allowed are PH, DMG, Monster Manual, Epic Level Handbook, Deities and Demigods but no divine ranks [all avaialable free online, in the SRD]. DMGII, MMII, MMIII, Faiths and Pantheons, Legends of Avandu, and Immortal's Handbook may also be used but assume the reader is unfamiliar with the source.
- Any magic item in the ELH is allowed. Otherwise, follow the guidelines below.
-- No single item should exceed 50 million gp in price.
-- Ability increases capped at +50 enhancement [roughly doubles ability at most]. No non-enhancement/inherent bonuses to Abilities.
-- Skill increases capped at +100 competence [roughly doubles skill at most]. No non-competence bonuses to Skills.
-- No limit on weapon enhancement bonus, but a +50 weapon is boring. Be more creative. [We get +60 to attack from BAB alone, I see no problem with +50 mechanically.]
-- Epic SR costs Epic costs (x10), capped at 112 [12+level].
- Use the Elite Array or 30 point buy to purchase initial Abilities. Character may be of any age.
- Try to keep in mind changes to Intelligence, as they affect Skill points. [It's a bitch.]
- One base class and up to one prestige or epic prestige class.
- No "dipping" into classes to get cool abiltiies (a few Paladin or Monk levels, etc.)
- No Leadership feats.
You can deviate from the guidelines, but try to not do so by too much.

Thoughts?

 

[Yair]

I see so far we have a Wizard and a Fighter/Dwarven Defender. (My bard was a nice excercise but I think he does not fit.)
I suggest we come up with 6 pregenerated PCs to playtest and design around, so we're missing the Cleric and Rouge "iconics" plus two "extras". I'll start working on the Rouge.

Edit:
I'm going with a Rouge 50/Shadowdancer 20/Perfect Wight 30. Two PrCs instead of one, yes, but it creates a very shadow-based character between the shadowdancer's shadow jump and companion and the perfect wight's shadow form. Both classes are also sneaky ones, it just works well.

 

[DM-Rocco]

Turnail, you definitely have a talent for flavor. However, I think such unusual explanations should be used sparingly, for else they would lose their impact. For most items/abilities, I think it is better to leave the flavor explanations in the background. Kolshadai's armor, for example, is probably a holy relic of his church enmeshed with legends and mythic flavor - but describing these will be countereffective. It's better, especially for a one-off adventure, to reserve bombastic flavor to a few select items per character at most.

Regarding the Plot: I personally liked Turnail's revised storyline, but I do have two comments I want to make.
1) Characters: The adventure as written presupposes using level 20 adventurers as the initial cast, if I understand correctly. This will be very problematic for most campaigns, as they're not level 20 (mostly far below, a few higher, and so on). I just don't think it's a useful start, people are going to have to make the level 20 characters anyways.
Even if this obstacle is lifted, the next chapter sees these same characters manified to level 100. In other words, what we get is a totally unknown party of level 100 characters. At such a high level, each character's abilities can be so wildly different that I suspect it will be next to impossible to design an adventure that will threaten but not overwhelm the party unless we know exactly who we are dealing with. I think it will be next to impossible to design a "generic" level 100 adventure that will work for any reasonable level 100 party.
I suggest going back to the "pregenerated" strategy. We should design a party of 4 to 6 characters, and fit the adventure to it. Otherwise, I fear the adventure won't be balanced to the party.

2) God: While I really like putting the creator-god into the campaign as Turnail did (especially tying up that schyzophrenia loose end!), I dislike the idea that the other gods defeated him. It's not a religious issue (I'm an atheist), it's just that I feel it downgrades God to god, neutering the grandour of inserting God into things in the first place.
I suggest having the various gods, along with their creation of the multiverse, be an aspect of God's dementia rather than his defeat. They struggle to keep the god insane, and themselves existing. In struggling to defeat the wizard & cleric the characters hence work to maintain God's insanity, adding a little moral twist: do they defend the multiverse at the cost of the suffering and dementia of God himself?
Note this also makes any planar travel a travel in a schizophrenic god's mind. I suggest that God's glimmer of sanity will start to unite these different landscapes, leading to them bleeding together in Turnail's confluence of time and dimensions.

In regards to your first comment, it really doesn't matter what level they start at, I just chose level 20 because it is slightly easier to just ad in the benifets of being 80 more levels Epic, +40 to attack and saves and +20 to ability enhancments, + class feats, bam, you done, kinda. However, they could easily be any level, they would have to adjust the guidelines for creating a 100th level character, that is all. The whole reason for it was two fold, 1) people can play their own PCs and maybe get a nice reward in the end, and 2)it solves the endless debate of why would a 100th level character care about anything?

Anyway, hope that helps.

As for Gods, I don't like the idea of the Gods being the creation of an insane Gods mind. People in role-playing and in reading, get fierce about the history of their Gods and the stories behind them. I would not want to change the history of how things are and that would, I think.

 

[DM-Rocco]

Now, that's scary. It certainly overshadows my poor bard in raw power. Looks very cool, I'll go over him in more detail later.
The only mechanical note I have at first glance is that I believe the Ioun stone provides an enhancement bonus and therefore doesn't stack with the +30 enhancement bonus. That, and doesn't he have too few epic feats? Are those all his 60 epic level plus his x class-gained level epic feats?

I suggest we set up the following guidelines for PC gear and generation:
PC GENERATION GUIDELINES
- Magic items worth up to 277,000,000 gp [I don't see a need to limit to to 250 mill, what's the point?]. No artifacts.
- Sources allowed are PH, DMG, Monster Manual, Epic Level Handbook, Deities and Demigods but no divine ranks [all avaialable free online, in the SRD]. DMGII, MMII, MMIII, Faiths and Pantheons, Legends of Avandu, and Immortal's Handbook may also be used but assume the reader is unfamiliar with the source.
- Any magic item in the ELH is allowed. Otherwise, follow the guidelines below.
-- No single item should exceed 50 million gp in price.
-- Ability increases capped at +50 enhancement [roughly doubles ability at most]. No non-enhancement/inherent bonuses to Abilities.
-- Skill increases capped at +100 competence [roughly doubles skill at most]. No non-competence bonuses to Skills.
-- No limit on weapon enhancement bonus, but a +50 weapon is boring. Be more creative. [We get +60 to attack from BAB alone, I see no problem with +50 mechanically.]
-- Epic SR costs Epic costs (x10), capped at 112 [12+level].
- Use the Elite Array or 30 point buy to purchase initial Abilities. Character may be of any age.
- Try to keep in mind changes to Intelligence, as they affect Skill points. [It's a bitch.]
- One base class and up to one prestige or epic prestige class.
- No "dipping" into classes to get cool abiltiies (a few Paladin or Monk levels, etc.)
- No Leadership feats.
You can deviate from the guidelines, but try to not do so by too much.

Thoughts?

Ioun stones all a source of contention between DMs, they don't clearly state they are an enhancment bonus and the argument is that if it isn't listed it is un-named and stacks with everything, kinda like a dodge bonus. Really it doesn't matter at this level so I'll take them out, just to save a potential waste of time in discussion.

I would have to do the math again, but I think the configuration would be 27 bonus epic feat for PC leveling levels 20-100 and 26 Dwarven Defender epic feats for class bonus feats levels 11-88 of Dwarven Defender. So I don't think I missed a feat, but I would take more happily

Everything looks good on the guidelines, but we are only doing the PHB, the DMG and the EPHB for character creation, the rest of the books are suggested for actually making the module, otherwise, way too many options. I think that is what we agreed on.

 

[DM-Rocco]

I see so far we have a Wizard and a Fighter/Dwarven Defender. (My bard was a nice excercise but I think he does not fit.)
I suggest we come up with 6 pregenerated PCs to playtest and design around, so we're missing the Cleric and Rouge "iconics" plus two "extras". I'll start working on the Rouge.

Edit:
I'm going with a Rouge 50/Shadowdancer 20/Perfect Wight 30. Two PrCs instead of one, yes, but it creates a very shadow-based character between the shadowdancer's shadow jump and companion and the perfect wight's shadow form. Both classes are also sneaky ones, it just works well.

I really liked your Bard, I thought it would be really cool for you to use your high diplomacy to summon/convert up an army to fight for us so we can drink beer and smoke cigars. Oh well, this one will be cool too. The guy who created the wizard hasn't been back, don't know if he is still playing in this, so far I think just us have then submitted characters. PCGreathouse was going to make a Paladin I believe. I can make and play whatever to balance the party if no one wants to play a certain class.

Let us ammend the classes you can choose too:
1 base class
1 prestiege class
1 epic prestige class

You must take at least ten levels in a base class, max out the prestiege class and take at least ten levels in a epic prestiege class. That way you can't cheese to bad.

Sound fair guys?

 

[Yair]

In regards to your first comment, it really doesn't matter what level they start at, I just chose level 20 because it is slightly easier to just ad in the benifets of being 80 more levels Epic, +40 to attack and saves and +20 to ability enhancments, + class feats, bam, you done, kinda. However, they could easily be any level, they would have to adjust the guidelines for creating a 100th level character, that is all. The whole reason for it was two fold, 1) people can play their own PCs and maybe get a nice reward in the end, and 2)it solves the endless debate of why would a 100th level character care about anything?

You know what, there is really no point to discussing this point since we're just going to make our characters and design/playtest the things with them anyways (I think?). So I suggest we just make our characters, and in the adventure provide them as pregenerated PCs along with the guidelines for PC generation if the players want to go that route.
I hence suggest also making a level-20 version of our characters in the adventure, to allow them to participate in the first part of it.

As for Gods, I don't like the idea of the Gods being the creation of an insane Gods mind. People in role-playing and in reading, get fierce about the history of their Gods and the stories behind them. I would not want to change the history of how things are and that would, I think.

Perhaps you are right. Alrignt then, back to the original proposal.

Ioun stones all a source of contention between DMs, they don't clearly state they are an enhancment bonus ...

Well, the SRD says it's an enhancement bonus. Maybe it got errat'ed?

I really liked your Bard, I thought it would be really cool for you to use your high diplomacy to summon/convert up an army to fight for us so we can drink beer and smoke cigars. Oh well, this one will be cool too.

Thanks Unfortunately, with his insande number of followers he would complicate matters far too heavily for the DM. Not to mention having to build his cohort... There is a reason we said no Leadership feats.

The guy who created the wizard hasn't been back, don't know if he is still playing in this, so far I think just us have then submitted characters. PCGreathouse was going to make a Paladin I believe. I can make and play whatever to balance the party if no one wants to play a certain class.

I hope the others come and play with us. At any rate, I think we can create the adventure and whatever characters are needed, and I think we could arrange for playtesting with little problem even if participation in the module building itself will be weaker.

Let us ammend the classes you can choose too:
1 base class
1 prestiege class
1 epic prestige class

You must take at least ten levels in a base class, max out the prestiege class and take at least ten levels in a epic prestiege class. That way you can't cheese to bad.

Alright. Frankly, I'm not going to stick too closely to the guidelines if it fits a character concept. At the worst case scenario, you'll offer rejects and I'll amend it. No big deal.

My rouge is progressing nicely, I'm down to choosing magic gear - which is pretty difficult. I expect to post it tomorrow or so.
He's a bit more munchklin, I hope you will forgive me.

Yair

 

[Turanil]

I suggest we come up with 6 pregenerated PCs to playtest and design around, so we're missing the Cleric and Rouge "iconics" plus two "extras". I'll start working on the Rouge.

I suggest for the cleric: Monk 25 - Cleric 70 - Hierophant 5 (but I don't have the book or the time to create him).

He's a bit more munchklin, I hope you will forgive me.

Could that be otherwise at level 100?

 

[Yair]

I suggest for the cleric: Monk 25 - Cleric 70 - Hierophant 5 (but I don't have the book or the time to create him).

Oh, you have the book. With time, though, I can't help you.
Creating a level 100 character sure does take a lot of time.

Could that be otherwise at level 100?

 

[Turanil]

the book

Bookmarked!

However, frankly I don't have time to do that. Also, epic level characters are actually beyond my grasp. When I see what they can do, I think "Wow!... They can do that?!" Concerning this project I want to restrict myself to the Castle in the Void (borrowing from similar stuff I did a long time ago in my munchkin days).