Post by Falconer on Jun 11, 2010 23:42:47 GMT -6
Formulating my campaign in earnest, now. Would love to get feedback!
RULEBOOKS
~~~~~~~~~
1. Players Handbook
2. Dungeons & Dragons (3 little brown booklets)
3. Greyhawk
4. Blackmoor
5. Eldritch Wizardry
6. Gods, Demi-gods, and Heroes/Deities & Demigods (Cthulhu)
7. Ready Ref Sheets, Volume I/City-State of the Invincible Overlord, Revised Edition
8. Midkemia Press Cities
9. The Strategic Review/The Dragon (monsters mainly)
10. Empire of the Petal Throne/The Lost Caverns of Tsojconth (monsters mainly)
11. Arms Law (critical hits)
MODULES
~~~~~~~
Overall Campaign: VERBOSH
Lower-level Centerpiece Dungeon: TEGEL MANOR or THE LOST CITY or CASTLE OF THE MAD ARCHMAGE or...? (Help me out, here!)
Mid-level Centerpiece Dungeon: CASTLE AMBER (unless Tegel Manor is in play)
Higher-level Centerpiece Dungeon: DARK TOWER
THOUGHTS
~~~~~~~~
It's OD&D, but with the AD&D Players Handbook in the hands of the players (its convenience outweighs all other considerations). The PHB trumps OD&D where there is a conflict (so, 9-point alignment system, for example), although all classes with Thief skills are banned, and no Weapons-vs-AC or Speed Factors. Otherwise, "on my side of the screen" I wanted to use all OD&D in order to do a campaign with a Judges Guild flavor.
2 parties not 1--game meets 2 nights per week
All players roll up a "stable" of 12 characters (3d6, or maybe 4d6, but definitely in order) at beginning of campaign but only play one at a time.
Initial characters must be human and of one of the core classes, "to make it easier on me" but really just to set the right tone.
CLASSES
~~~~~~~
Fighter
- Paladin
- Ranger
Magic-User
- Illusionist
- Pyromancer (Liaisons Dangereuses #74)
Cleric
- Druid
Merchant
- Alchemist (The Dragon #2)
- Dwarf Craftsman (Liaisons Dangereuses #76)
RACES
~~~~~
Human
Elf
Vulcan
Dwarf
Hobbit
Mon Calamari
Orc
VULCANS
~~~~~~
-1 Charisma, -1 Wisdom, +1 Strength, +1 Intelligence
Famous Spock Nerve Pinch
Fighter class only but automatically have Psionics.
Considered "aliens" (i.e. foreigners... i.e. "my friend is obviously Chinese," ha ha). They speak of their homeland Vulcan but natives are not aware that it is actually another planet.
MON CALAMARI
~~~~~~~~~~~~
-1 Dexterity, +1 Wisdom
No reference to them being aliens unlike Vulcans.
They are excellent swimmers and can survive underwater for long periods.
Only non-human race to have religion (Druids are preferred class though Fighters are obviously also allowed) mostly because it's funny to imagine them worshiping their fishy gods.
HOBBITS
~~~~~~~
+3 to hit with bow or sling.
Fighter only.
First dibs on all magic items.
ORCS
~~~~
If someone really wants to play a Half-Orc, it can be suggested they just play an Orc. Why cop out and go halfsies on it? Mechanically the same as a Half-Orc, but Fighter only. In character basically like the Tellarites from Journey to Babel, but in appearance closer to the guards from Jabba's palace.
MERCHANT
~~~~~~~~
I think the Merchant is a great archetype—for some reason I think of Sallah from the two good Indiana Jones movies, but the archetype is common in literature. He is the ultimate sidekick, fat (optional for females), jovial, cowardly, has uncannily good senses (smell, hearing), lots of contacts and people who owe him favors, always seems to know the latest rumors and the most obscure lore, unscrupulous and dishonest to most people but doggedly faithful to his companions.
I think at its core the Merchant will be a Thief albeit without most of the percentile skills—no move silently, hide in shadows, or climb walls. Also, no find/remove traps or open locks percentile checks as such: they would have as much of a chance as other characters if they play cleverly (well, maybe a slightly better chance). Back stab, languages, scroll use is fine. Then add legend lore from Bards. And the ability to appraise (with a chance of error). That should be a pretty good class, and provide some good justification for campaigning. Now all I need are level titles!
Available races? Human only. (Dwarves can be Dwarf Craftsmen.)
RELIGION
~~~~~~~~
Clerics = good-aligned Christian friars (though emphasizing the patron of their order, like St. Cuthbert)
Druids = neutral-aligned Pagan priests dedicated to more-or-less benign deities
Anti-Clerics = evil-aligned worshipers of demons or evil (including Lovecraftian) gods
So basically we have Christianity (although it need not be called that explicitly) overlaid atop the Hyborean Mythos from Supplement IV. Of course, the Hyborean Mythos, as noted, encompasses also the Norse Mythos and Cthulhu Mythos, as well several of the Babylonian gods and, of course, the Egyptian Set.
RULEBOOKS
~~~~~~~~~
1. Players Handbook
2. Dungeons & Dragons (3 little brown booklets)
3. Greyhawk
4. Blackmoor
5. Eldritch Wizardry
6. Gods, Demi-gods, and Heroes/Deities & Demigods (Cthulhu)
7. Ready Ref Sheets, Volume I/City-State of the Invincible Overlord, Revised Edition
8. Midkemia Press Cities
9. The Strategic Review/The Dragon (monsters mainly)
10. Empire of the Petal Throne/The Lost Caverns of Tsojconth (monsters mainly)
11. Arms Law (critical hits)
MODULES
~~~~~~~
Overall Campaign: VERBOSH
Lower-level Centerpiece Dungeon: TEGEL MANOR or THE LOST CITY or CASTLE OF THE MAD ARCHMAGE or...? (Help me out, here!)
Mid-level Centerpiece Dungeon: CASTLE AMBER (unless Tegel Manor is in play)
Higher-level Centerpiece Dungeon: DARK TOWER
THOUGHTS
~~~~~~~~
It's OD&D, but with the AD&D Players Handbook in the hands of the players (its convenience outweighs all other considerations). The PHB trumps OD&D where there is a conflict (so, 9-point alignment system, for example), although all classes with Thief skills are banned, and no Weapons-vs-AC or Speed Factors. Otherwise, "on my side of the screen" I wanted to use all OD&D in order to do a campaign with a Judges Guild flavor.
2 parties not 1--game meets 2 nights per week
All players roll up a "stable" of 12 characters (3d6, or maybe 4d6, but definitely in order) at beginning of campaign but only play one at a time.
Initial characters must be human and of one of the core classes, "to make it easier on me" but really just to set the right tone.
CLASSES
~~~~~~~
Fighter
- Paladin
- Ranger
Magic-User
- Illusionist
- Pyromancer (Liaisons Dangereuses #74)
Cleric
- Druid
Merchant
- Alchemist (The Dragon #2)
- Dwarf Craftsman (Liaisons Dangereuses #76)
RACES
~~~~~
Human
Elf
Vulcan
Dwarf
Hobbit
Mon Calamari
Orc
VULCANS
~~~~~~
-1 Charisma, -1 Wisdom, +1 Strength, +1 Intelligence
Famous Spock Nerve Pinch
Fighter class only but automatically have Psionics.
Considered "aliens" (i.e. foreigners... i.e. "my friend is obviously Chinese," ha ha). They speak of their homeland Vulcan but natives are not aware that it is actually another planet.
MON CALAMARI
~~~~~~~~~~~~
-1 Dexterity, +1 Wisdom
No reference to them being aliens unlike Vulcans.
They are excellent swimmers and can survive underwater for long periods.
Only non-human race to have religion (Druids are preferred class though Fighters are obviously also allowed) mostly because it's funny to imagine them worshiping their fishy gods.
HOBBITS
~~~~~~~
+3 to hit with bow or sling.
Fighter only.
First dibs on all magic items.
ORCS
~~~~
If someone really wants to play a Half-Orc, it can be suggested they just play an Orc. Why cop out and go halfsies on it? Mechanically the same as a Half-Orc, but Fighter only. In character basically like the Tellarites from Journey to Babel, but in appearance closer to the guards from Jabba's palace.
MERCHANT
~~~~~~~~
I think the Merchant is a great archetype—for some reason I think of Sallah from the two good Indiana Jones movies, but the archetype is common in literature. He is the ultimate sidekick, fat (optional for females), jovial, cowardly, has uncannily good senses (smell, hearing), lots of contacts and people who owe him favors, always seems to know the latest rumors and the most obscure lore, unscrupulous and dishonest to most people but doggedly faithful to his companions.
I think at its core the Merchant will be a Thief albeit without most of the percentile skills—no move silently, hide in shadows, or climb walls. Also, no find/remove traps or open locks percentile checks as such: they would have as much of a chance as other characters if they play cleverly (well, maybe a slightly better chance). Back stab, languages, scroll use is fine. Then add legend lore from Bards. And the ability to appraise (with a chance of error). That should be a pretty good class, and provide some good justification for campaigning. Now all I need are level titles!
Available races? Human only. (Dwarves can be Dwarf Craftsmen.)
RELIGION
~~~~~~~~
Clerics = good-aligned Christian friars (though emphasizing the patron of their order, like St. Cuthbert)
Druids = neutral-aligned Pagan priests dedicated to more-or-less benign deities
Anti-Clerics = evil-aligned worshipers of demons or evil (including Lovecraftian) gods
So basically we have Christianity (although it need not be called that explicitly) overlaid atop the Hyborean Mythos from Supplement IV. Of course, the Hyborean Mythos, as noted, encompasses also the Norse Mythos and Cthulhu Mythos, as well several of the Babylonian gods and, of course, the Egyptian Set.
