Tequila Sunrise
Adventurer
Earth is ancient beyond reckoning. Countless empires have risen and fallen since the birth of civilization, and the history books measure time in aeons—billions of years. The bloated red sun staggers across the sky every day, but some time soon it will collapse in the throes of its death and only eternal night will remain.
To Sign Up:
1. Commit to keeping up with the game five days a week.
2. Read the Crunch, the History and, if you want ideas, the Fluff.
3. Go to Giant in the Playground, and create an account if you don’t already have one.
4. Write up your character and post it here, inside of tags. Don’t write up all your powers unless you really want to, just list them.
Dying Earth Crunch
[sblock]1. What game system are you running?
D&D 4 Edition
2. What 'type' or variant of game will it be?
Homebrew. The campaign’s name of course comes from Jack Vance’s work, but it’s my world.
3. How many Players are you looking for?
I’m looking for four players who are at least fairly comfortable with 4th edition. I don’t expect you to have paragon tier experience, but if you’re totally new to the game you’ll likely be better off starting with a 1st level game. Players will be chosen based on a few factors: combat role (I want one of each), coherency of your writing (I’m not a grammar Nazi but I don’t like reading Matrix code either) and most importantly, my whim. I’ll be keeping a list of alternates, so feel free to post a character you’d like to play even after the four slots fill up.
4. What's the gaming medium (OOTS, chat, e-mail etc.)?
Play-by-post via Giant in the Playground.
Attendance Policy:
[sblock]I expect everyone to post on every weekday in out-of-combat situations. If your character doesn’t have anything interesting to say or do, post in the OOC thread just to let us know you’re around. In combat, you should post in initiative order. If you don’t post within a day of your PC’s initiative order coming up during combat, I will take control of your PC until you post again. If you don’t post for a week at any point in the game without giving me a heads-up, I will have your character disappear and then replaced with a PC from my list of alternates. I’ll likely suspend the game during major holiday seasons, but I’d still appreciate notice of how long you will be AFK so that I can let everyone know when play starts again.[/sblock]
5. What is the characters' starting status?
Level 11, with fast-paced level gains. I don’t use XP though, so expect to level up after accomplishing in-game goals.
6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with?
Choose three items of 12th level or lower. Spend 5,000 gp on any non-mundane items. Choose whatever mundane items you want, within reason.
7. What are your rules on homebrewed races, classes and other stuff?
I’m generally accepting of homebrewed material if I can look it over, with an eye toward balance. Keep in mind though, that the more material you give me to look over the longer it’ll take me to approve it and the more likely that someone else’s character will get approved first.
8. By what method should Players generate their ability scores?
Standard point buy. Please make a note of where you put your two racial bonuses and your level-up bonuses.
9. Does your game use alignment?
I’m only concerned with three alignments: Good, Unaligned and Evil. You can add other alignment tags if you want, but they won’t have any significance for me. You can play any alignment you want to, but I’m not fond of characters who are Evil for the sake of being Evil. Whatever alignment you play, be a team player! Also, know that I have three homebrewed Smite Evil feats which PCs and NPCs alike are free to use.
10. Will you be doing all of the die rolling during the course of the game? Will die rolls be altered, or left to the honor system? If players can make die rolls, which ones do they make, how should they make the rolls, and how should they report them?
Players should use the forum’s die roller (use the [rollv][/rollv] tags). Please roll attack, damage and any other rolls you think you might need all at once. If a die roll isn’t appropriate, I’ll just ignore it.
11. Are there any homebrewed or optional/variant rules that your Players should know about?
Yes, but keep it to basic stuff like: Where did you grow up? Who is your most significant friend and enemy? What is your strongest personality trait? Why are you an adventurer, and how did you attain paragon-level power? (You could be a veteran of the Hundred Years War, you could be an experienced adventurer already or you could have been born under a shooting star.) Feel free to invent world geography, history, cultures and such in your character’s background, but do not write me a short story or novel! Your character should end up at a Halfling gypsy fair outside of city known as Loch Heath, within a city-state known as Andor. The city sits on a crossroad and is named after the lake it sits beside.
13. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above?
This game will mostly be hack & slash and exploration.
14. What sources can Players use for their characters?
Again, I’m pretty accepting of non-core sources but if it’s outside the PHB run it by me first. If it’s outside of core or AV, tell me exactly what it does because core is all I own. [/sblock]
Dying Earth Character Options
[sblock]Smite Evil [Heroic]
Prerequisite: Good alignment
Benefit: You gain the Smite Evil power.
Smite Evil Feat Power
You channel universal righteous fury to scour wickedness from the world.
Encounter • Good
Free Action Personal
Special: You must be Good to use this power.
Effect: Choose one target. The next time you hit that target during this encounter, it takes an additional 1 damage per tier if it is Evil.
Special: You must take the Smite Evil feat to use this power.
Righteous Wrath [Paragon]
Prerequisite: Good alignment
Benefit: Add “Additionally, you gain a +2 bonus to your next attack roll against that target if it is Evil.” to the Effect entry of Smite Evil.
No Rest for the Wicked [Epic]
Prerequisite: Good alignment
Benefit: Add “Additionally, that target takes a -2 penalty to defenses until the end of your next turn if it is Evil.” to the Effect entry of Smite Evil.[/sblock]
Dying Earth History
The past century has seen three major disasters: the Hundred Years War, the Red Plague and the Releasing of the Soul of Chaos into the world.
[sblock]The Hundred Years War: Actually lasting only ninety-nine years, this war created a mire of violence which spread to nearly every nation and city-state in the world. By the end of the war twenty years ago, the Archadian Empire was toppled, plunging the world into a new Dark Age.
The Red Plague: A bare year after the Hundred Years War ceased, a plague swept the world. In three years, it killed one third of the world’s remaining population in an epidemic of red boils that burst into rivers of blood that couldn’t be staunched.
The Soul of Chaos: Finally a band of heroes discovered a secret that could stop the Red Plague. Nobody knows for sure whether the Soul of Chaos was the solution, a side-effect, or an incidental occurrence, but with the Plague’s defeat came a new threat. The earth shook and the sun, which had been orange, suddenly darkened to red. A voice howled through every land in the world, ranting that the Soul of Chaos had been released. And then all manner of monsters began appearing, seemingly from thin air, or from the earth itself.
The Prophesy Fulfilled: For perhaps the first time in history, every sooth-sayer, astronomer, scholar and witch doctor agreed that the events of the past century signal the End of Days. When exactly the End will come, or whether it is preventable or escapable, nobody knows for sure. The new age has had a strange effect on people: some spend their time savoring the last days of light, while others search desperately for a solution or a savior, while others travel the ancient world seeking adventure.[/sblock]
Dying Earth Fluff
Setting fluff is not absolute, just a few ideas on how your character might fit into the Dying Earth. Feel free to invent your own fluff. (I’ll only reject fluff if it’s waaay out in left field.)
[sblock]
To Sign Up:
1. Commit to keeping up with the game five days a week.
2. Read the Crunch, the History and, if you want ideas, the Fluff.
3. Go to Giant in the Playground, and create an account if you don’t already have one.
4. Write up your character and post it here, inside of tags. Don’t write up all your powers unless you really want to, just list them.
Dying Earth Crunch
[sblock]1. What game system are you running?
D&D 4 Edition
2. What 'type' or variant of game will it be?
Homebrew. The campaign’s name of course comes from Jack Vance’s work, but it’s my world.
3. How many Players are you looking for?
I’m looking for four players who are at least fairly comfortable with 4th edition. I don’t expect you to have paragon tier experience, but if you’re totally new to the game you’ll likely be better off starting with a 1st level game. Players will be chosen based on a few factors: combat role (I want one of each), coherency of your writing (I’m not a grammar Nazi but I don’t like reading Matrix code either) and most importantly, my whim. I’ll be keeping a list of alternates, so feel free to post a character you’d like to play even after the four slots fill up.
4. What's the gaming medium (OOTS, chat, e-mail etc.)?
Play-by-post via Giant in the Playground.
Attendance Policy:
[sblock]I expect everyone to post on every weekday in out-of-combat situations. If your character doesn’t have anything interesting to say or do, post in the OOC thread just to let us know you’re around. In combat, you should post in initiative order. If you don’t post within a day of your PC’s initiative order coming up during combat, I will take control of your PC until you post again. If you don’t post for a week at any point in the game without giving me a heads-up, I will have your character disappear and then replaced with a PC from my list of alternates. I’ll likely suspend the game during major holiday seasons, but I’d still appreciate notice of how long you will be AFK so that I can let everyone know when play starts again.[/sblock]
5. What is the characters' starting status?
Level 11, with fast-paced level gains. I don’t use XP though, so expect to level up after accomplishing in-game goals.
6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with?
Choose three items of 12th level or lower. Spend 5,000 gp on any non-mundane items. Choose whatever mundane items you want, within reason.
7. What are your rules on homebrewed races, classes and other stuff?
I’m generally accepting of homebrewed material if I can look it over, with an eye toward balance. Keep in mind though, that the more material you give me to look over the longer it’ll take me to approve it and the more likely that someone else’s character will get approved first.
8. By what method should Players generate their ability scores?
Standard point buy. Please make a note of where you put your two racial bonuses and your level-up bonuses.
9. Does your game use alignment?
I’m only concerned with three alignments: Good, Unaligned and Evil. You can add other alignment tags if you want, but they won’t have any significance for me. You can play any alignment you want to, but I’m not fond of characters who are Evil for the sake of being Evil. Whatever alignment you play, be a team player! Also, know that I have three homebrewed Smite Evil feats which PCs and NPCs alike are free to use.
10. Will you be doing all of the die rolling during the course of the game? Will die rolls be altered, or left to the honor system? If players can make die rolls, which ones do they make, how should they make the rolls, and how should they report them?
Players should use the forum’s die roller (use the [rollv][/rollv] tags). Please roll attack, damage and any other rolls you think you might need all at once. If a die roll isn’t appropriate, I’ll just ignore it.
11. Are there any homebrewed or optional/variant rules that your Players should know about?
- Benign Saving Throws: You can’t be screwed over by a bonus save.
- No Masterwork Armor or Basic Item Bonuses: Masterwork armor doesn’t exist, and magical items don’t grant enhancement bonuses. Instead, PCs get bonuses based on level. At level 11 you get a +3 enhancement bonus to weapon & implement attack & damage rolls and all defenses. You also get the following untyped bonuses: +2 to attack rolls, +1 or +2 AC, (depending on whether you wear light or heavy armor) and +2 NADs.
- Weakened Orb of Imposition: The save penalty applies only to the target’s next save.
- Floating Ability Bonuses (Optional): Assign your racial bonuses to whichever two abilities you wish. Humans get a second +2 bonus and can double-up one other racial traits.
- Power Preparation: You lose the option to retrain powers, but you gain the potential to add powers to your repertoire.
- More Skill Options (Optional): All skills are class skills for all classes, except for Perception and Stealth.
Yes, but keep it to basic stuff like: Where did you grow up? Who is your most significant friend and enemy? What is your strongest personality trait? Why are you an adventurer, and how did you attain paragon-level power? (You could be a veteran of the Hundred Years War, you could be an experienced adventurer already or you could have been born under a shooting star.) Feel free to invent world geography, history, cultures and such in your character’s background, but do not write me a short story or novel! Your character should end up at a Halfling gypsy fair outside of city known as Loch Heath, within a city-state known as Andor. The city sits on a crossroad and is named after the lake it sits beside.
13. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above?
This game will mostly be hack & slash and exploration.
14. What sources can Players use for their characters?
Again, I’m pretty accepting of non-core sources but if it’s outside the PHB run it by me first. If it’s outside of core or AV, tell me exactly what it does because core is all I own. [/sblock]
Dying Earth Character Options
[sblock]Smite Evil [Heroic]
Prerequisite: Good alignment
Benefit: You gain the Smite Evil power.
Smite Evil Feat Power
You channel universal righteous fury to scour wickedness from the world.
Encounter • Good
Free Action Personal
Special: You must be Good to use this power.
Effect: Choose one target. The next time you hit that target during this encounter, it takes an additional 1 damage per tier if it is Evil.
Special: You must take the Smite Evil feat to use this power.
Righteous Wrath [Paragon]
Prerequisite: Good alignment
Benefit: Add “Additionally, you gain a +2 bonus to your next attack roll against that target if it is Evil.” to the Effect entry of Smite Evil.
No Rest for the Wicked [Epic]
Prerequisite: Good alignment
Benefit: Add “Additionally, that target takes a -2 penalty to defenses until the end of your next turn if it is Evil.” to the Effect entry of Smite Evil.[/sblock]
Dying Earth History
The past century has seen three major disasters: the Hundred Years War, the Red Plague and the Releasing of the Soul of Chaos into the world.
[sblock]The Hundred Years War: Actually lasting only ninety-nine years, this war created a mire of violence which spread to nearly every nation and city-state in the world. By the end of the war twenty years ago, the Archadian Empire was toppled, plunging the world into a new Dark Age.
The Red Plague: A bare year after the Hundred Years War ceased, a plague swept the world. In three years, it killed one third of the world’s remaining population in an epidemic of red boils that burst into rivers of blood that couldn’t be staunched.
The Soul of Chaos: Finally a band of heroes discovered a secret that could stop the Red Plague. Nobody knows for sure whether the Soul of Chaos was the solution, a side-effect, or an incidental occurrence, but with the Plague’s defeat came a new threat. The earth shook and the sun, which had been orange, suddenly darkened to red. A voice howled through every land in the world, ranting that the Soul of Chaos had been released. And then all manner of monsters began appearing, seemingly from thin air, or from the earth itself.
The Prophesy Fulfilled: For perhaps the first time in history, every sooth-sayer, astronomer, scholar and witch doctor agreed that the events of the past century signal the End of Days. When exactly the End will come, or whether it is preventable or escapable, nobody knows for sure. The new age has had a strange effect on people: some spend their time savoring the last days of light, while others search desperately for a solution or a savior, while others travel the ancient world seeking adventure.[/sblock]
Dying Earth Fluff
Setting fluff is not absolute, just a few ideas on how your character might fit into the Dying Earth. Feel free to invent your own fluff. (I’ll only reject fluff if it’s waaay out in left field.)
[sblock]
- Clerics & Paladins: More often known as Children of the Light, or simply as Children, these characters strive for righteousness. The Order of Light preaches unity, humility and a divorce from worldly ties. The Order was founded long ago by a prophet of the Light who transformed into pure light after being crucified. The Order is now very wealthy and affluent, and many monarchs pay homage to the Order’s Hierophant. The Order’s heraldry is a white cross on a black field. With Old Man Sun about to die, the Children are even more insistent that the Promised Land is at hand. Some believe that it must be earned, while others believe it to be the Light at the End of Time.
- Warlocks: There are three supernatural beings who are known for their interest in the mortal world: Asmodeus the Arch Devil, Titania the Faerye Queen and Medea the Mad Mage. These three beings grant mortals the boon of their power for many reasons: Asmodeus does so in order to manipulate the mortal world and open gates to Hell, while Titania does so in order to create mortal emissaries, while Medea often does so for no apparent reason other than to drive hapless mortals insane. The boon of arcane power is usually granted with a mortal’s consent, but not always—Medea in particular seems to have little regard for mortal will.
- Martial Classes: Hidden amidst the dizzying peaks of the Wudan Mountains lies Wudan Acadamy, an ancient institution of great pride and fierce warriors. Wudan trains many types of warriors, from soldiers and scouts to bards and assassins. The initiates of Wudan practice ancestor worship; dead masters of the Arts are worshipped as faithfully as dead blood relatives. The living master of Wudan Academy is known simply as the Grand Master, and governs the city-state of Wudan as well as the Academy. Wudan’s heraldry is a golden dragon on a red field. With the imminent loss of earthly life, many of the initiates of Wudan are striving ever more to make such a legend that the universe itself will remember the Dying Earth. Others hope to find a new Earth to continue Wudan’s traditions.
- Wizards: The scholars of Medea’s Moving Castle are one of the most powerful groups in the Dying Earth. Appearing and disappearing at whim thanks to their castle, which was enchanted by its first Headmistress named Medea, these wizards have close ties and strong influence in many realms. Though many call the scholars insane heretics for paying homage to Medea, the organization’s mad founder, most scholars insist that they merely idealize a set of virtues: reason and foresight. Headmaster MacCool of the Moving Castle has a plan for the inevitable darkness to come, but he keeps them carefully guarded. All that anyone really knows is that he is accepting record numbers of new students. Medea’s heraldry is a silver star on a deep blue field.
- Halflings: These folk travel the lands in gypsy caravans, trading goods and tales along the way. Though halflings are often ostracized and even attacked in times of trouble, their carnivals are legendary.
- Draconians: Bred during an ancient war to fight for Tiamat, the dragon queen, draconians have since fought long and hard to carve out a niche for themselves in the Dying Earth. Neraka is a powerful draconian city-state of hardy warriors who pray to all manner of spirits for strength and guidance. Neraka’s heraldry is a taloned black hand raised in salute on a white field.
- Eladrin & Elves: Sibling races, the elves and eladrin share roots in the Faerye Realm. Both can be found wandering the mortal world and inhabiting Rhiannon, an area between the mortal world and Faerye proper. These two races are the least concerned with the Dying Earth, as the Faerye Realm does not share its faltering red sun.
- Tieflings: In every generation, there are children who grow up to be different. They grow horns, claws, slitted eyes, fur, hooves, tails or any other beastlike parts. Nobody knows for sure why some children grow into tieflings, but they are all too often prone to hate, greed and arrogance. Some say that mothers bear tieflings after having congress with devils, while others say that tieflings are throwbacks to the primordial era, while others blame wizardly experiments. Whatever the case, the number of tieflings has noticeably increased in recent years.
- Dwarves: The Ghanal desert is blisteringly hot during the day and bone chillingly cold at night, and only one hardy folk make their home there: the dwarves. The Ghanali, as they call themselves, have a very structured society based on many laws and traditions. The heart of the Ghanali nation is a city named Sufi Amor, ‘Sun Reach’ in dwarven, for it is said that the sultan can touch the sun while standing on the highest tower of his shining palace. The current sultan is called Mahd Sharif, and he is very concerned about the imminent death of the Immortal Sultan of the Sky, though nobody yet knows what his plans are. Mahd Sharif has recently been consolidating his power over the other Ghanali royal families and their clans, which makes those who live on the desert’s border very nervous. Ghanal’s heraldry is a blazing sun and a white moon on a blue field.
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