Servants of the Twilight King (full for now)

[The Other Librarian]

Thanks!

I already posted the beginnings of my character. I need additional info concerning spell points and urban ranger skills.

SG

Sounds good so far. Here's the info on ranger and spell points;

Ranger variant - As per normal ranger except
1. Animal companion must be Medium or smaller.
2. Gets the Urban Tracking feat insted of Track - uses Gather Information to find people.
3. Hide in plain sight works in any area, natural or not.
4.No Woodland Stride, no Camoflage.
5. May select any organization as Favored Enemy.

I'll leave off the spells and higher level changes for now.

Spell point work as normal casting; ie you prepare spells or not as you normally would, just dont memorize any spell twice. 1st level Sorc gets 3 Spell points. 1st Level wiz gets 2. Urik gets 1 bonus for his Cha.

LEvel 1 spells cost 1 pt, lvl 2 cost 3. Not that spells that have damage effects based on caster level always do the minimum amount. Boosting that costs 1 point per level, up to your max allowed.

Ie: a magic missile always acts as a 1st level cast, and cost 1 point. If you are lvl 3 and want the extra missile, it'll cost 2 points.

 

[The Other Librarian]

Blue Genie - can you post the info for Creature Loresight spell?
Thanks

 

[Steve Gorak]

Sounds good so far. Here's the info on ranger and spell points;

Ranger variant - As per normal ranger except
1. Animal companion must be Medium or smaller.
2. Gets the Urban Tracking feat insted of Track - uses Gather Information to find people.
3. Hide in plain sight works in any area, natural or not.
4.No Woodland Stride, no Camoflage.
5. May select any organization as Favored Enemy.
I'll leave off the spells and higher level changes for now.
Spell point work as normal casting; ie you prepare spells or not as you normally would, just dont memorize any spell twice. 1st level Sorc gets 3 Spell points. 1st Level wiz gets 2. Urik gets 1 bonus for his Cha.
LEvel 1 spells cost 1 pt, lvl 2 cost 3. Not that spells that have damage effects based on caster level always do the minimum amount. Boosting that costs 1 point per level, up to your max allowed.
Ie: a magic missile always acts as a 1st level cast, and cost 1 point. If you are lvl 3 and want the extra missile, it'll cost 2 points.

Hey Other Librarian, thank for the info.

So, does this mean that a 1st level sorceror can cast a 2nd level spell?
If so, how many of them does he know? Also, I imagine metamagic feats also use spell points, as per a spell of their appropriate level, right?

So, the urban ranger does a gather info check for tracking, is that right? What are his starting skills? I imagine gather info is one of those.

I definitely like where this is going

Cheers,

SG

 

[The Other Librarian]

The Urban Ranger has GAther Info, Knowledge Local, and Sense motive. Drop Knowledge Nature, Knowledge Dungeoneering, and Survival. Sorry - forgot about that.

You can only cast spells you know, same as before. I just gave lvl 2 points for reference. However, I think I will let mages 'overcast' spell which deal damage based on level (eg magic missile, fireball, etc), at the risk of picking up Taint. Each extra level costs a spell point, and the chance of taint is will save vs DC 15 + Spell level + extra levels. So a 1st level character can cast the 3rd level version Magic Missile, and must save DC 18 (15+1+2), or get some taint.

Metamagic just uses the cost of the adjusted spell level.

 

[The Other Librarian]

Also Steve,

Sanity is wis x 5, and functions a lot like Call of Chthulhu Sanity.
Taint is nasty, as each point lowers your effective Con and Wis scores, and can mainfest in physical symptoms. if your Con hits 0, you die and come back as something nasty. If you acquire enough taint, you can embrace it and become a tainted sorcerer prestige class, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

 

[Kangaxx]

Casting a level 3 magic missile would be 3 points, not 2.

The overcasting of spells is a neat idea, but I can't imagine someone doing it with the DC that high on the fort save.

Will the human paragon PrC be available? I think that would be a good route for Gerald.

Will we know if we start with taint, or when we acquire it in the game?

 

[Steve Gorak]

Also Steve,

Sanity is wis x 5, and functions a lot like Call of Chthulhu Sanity.
Taint is nasty, as each point lowers your effective Con and Wis scores, and can mainfest in physical symptoms. if your Con hits 0, you die and come back as something nasty. If you acquire enough taint, you can embrace it and become a tainted sorcerer prestige class, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Thanks for the info.
How doe we become un-tainted? Is a higher power involved with taint (i.e. a god)? Does it have a cultural connotation (bad guys are tainted)?
Can a sorceror be "good" and control his level of taint?

Also, can I select human as a favored enemy? If not, which organisations could be appropriate (like a thiaf's guild, or some other obvious organisation)? Vould the city guards be appropriate?

Cheers,

SG

 

[The Other Librarian]

Casting a level 3 magic missile would be 3 points, not 2.

The overcasting of spells is a neat idea, but I can't imagine someone doing it with the DC that high on the fort save.

Will the human paragon PrC be available? I think that would be a good route for Gerald.

Will we know if we start with taint, or when we acquire it in the game?

MM - right, I should have said 2 points extra.

Overcasting - it's a will save. Well, the choice is there if you want it. You may want to get out of a sticky spot at some point and decide to take the risk.

Only spellcasters will start with possible taint. I'll roll and let you know before we start.

The Human Paragon is fine with me. As an alternative, I'll allow any racial paragon class levels from a race with ECl +0. This would emulate the fact that while the other races have died out, some traces of their heratige may have survived. You can only take levels from 1 races paragon class though (with the exception of those with divided ancestry ability).

 

[The Other Librarian]

Thanks for the info.
How doe we become un-tainted? Is a higher power involved with taint (i.e. a god)? Does it have a cultural connotation (bad guys are tainted)?
Can a sorceror be "good" and control his level of taint?

Also, can I select human as a favored enemy? If not, which organisations could be appropriate (like a thiaf's guild, or some other obvious organisation)? Vould the city guards be appropriate?

SG

You can remove or reduce taint by the use of certain spells, ie atonement or remove curse. There may be additional in game ways to reduce it. Taint, unfortunately, is part and parcel of the risk of using magic. As the world is dying, the source of magic has become corrupt, so that anyone using it is playing the odds. Eventually they will succumb to its corrupting influence. The cultural connotation here is that all mages are seen as evil or corrupt. Spellcasters by necessity are careful about using magic in public. Aside from its illegality, anyone practicing openly is likely to draw the pitchforks and torches crowd to their front door.

Humans is probably a bit broad for favored enemy. An organization is fine, and the city watch would be acceptable.

 

[The Other Librarian]

Here's a littlebackground info, much of which you will have sussed out already, but it's kind of a "what the man on the street might know" primer.

A Few Things by way of Introduction to Illmyre.
1. The World is Dying.
Slowly but certainly. No-one is really sure why, and opinions differ on this. Perhaps it is the fault of the Imperial family, who turned their backs on the gods, instead choosing other, more sinister masters. Then again, maybe it’s just a natural death; we just happen to have the poor luck of being born at the end of times. Did the other races die out because the world waned, or vice-versa? Regardless, things have been going this way for a long time. Few, if any, who are alive now remember anything different.

2. Magic is Corrupting.
As the world has begun to move on, so has the source of magic become corrupt. While it is still possible to wield the powers of magic, it carries the risk that the caster will herself become tainted. Those who dabble long enough begin to exhibit signs of this taint. At first they may simply tire easily, or appear distracted. Eventually more physical signs manifest: twisted limbs, rotting flesh, tumors. Those who continue beyond this point will certainly die, but many believe that, in such a condition, it is impossible to rest easily.
Not surprisingly, few want anything to do with an acknowledged mage. Fear and shunning are the best welcome most mages can hope for, death at the hands of an angry mob is probably more realistic. Magic is outlawed in the City of Illmyre, and practice is punishable by death. But then again, those who choose to study magic have worse things to worry about than the law. Some people seem to be innately ‘gifted’ with magical ability, and must do their best to hide the secret. It is also rumored that death is not always the fate of convicted mages; that in fact the Empire has other uses for them.

3. The Gods are Dead.
Or might as well be for all the concern they show now. Time was, a person could count on the Gods to look out for things, at least in a cosmic sense. Some lucky few could even compel the gods to intercede on their behalf. At some point though, those miracles stopped happening, and with that belief began to drift away. People had to turn to more prosaic methods for healing and protection. Some churches tried to carry on, adapting their role in the community and becoming sanitariums and similar institutions. Herbalism and primitive alchemy has also tried to fill the void left by the absence of the divine.

4. There are Big, Nasty Things out there.
You’d think all the above would be enough. But no. As a byproduct of all the above, many nasty things find their way into the city. Many live in the ruins and catacombs beneath. Things summoned by wizards, things that got through in places where reality is breaking down. If there is a noise in the basement, best to leave it alone. If the angles in your house don’t seem to add up right, it may not be your contractors fault. Ignore it. Those who don’t tend to end up soiling themselves quietly in the corner of some institution.

5. The Royalty is Not Quite Human.
The same ruling family has help power for centuries. Where they came from before they came to power is knowledge lost to the mists of time. They were blessed with powers beyond those of normal humans: great charisma and wisdom, mastery of great magics, incredible longevity. Naturally they rose to power and formed a great dynasty.
For better or worse, they bred with humans. Many of the other aristocratic families have Imperial blood in their veins, and of course, more than a few bastards sprang up. Now the Imperial Family, though still possessed of great wealth and political power, is waning. Perhaps the bloodline has become too dilute, or perhaps their power was tied to the Gods. Now they tend toward fickleness and dissolution.

6. The City of Illmyre is the Center of the Universe.
Despite all this malaise, Illmyre is still the greatest city in the world. Sat on the mouth of the river Myre, its docks are the largest center of trade in the Empire. It is the Seat of the King. It is the place all aspire to be, and all roads lead to Illmyre. Generally the only people who leave for any significant length are merchant traders, and those who enlist in the army. But they all come back to Illmyre, or die trying. Just about anything you want can be found here, along with a few things you don’t. More on the city itself later…