The Caverns of Nabiansi - Choose Your Own Adventure Random Dungeoncrawling [D&D 3.5]

[Yuki Akuma]

You are a young adventurer. You have been chosen by the great mage Nabiansi to enter into the fabled Caverns of Nabiansi, an extraplanar dungeon of infinite complexity. Go forth, and conquer monsters, collect loot, and become more powerful! The more loot you obtain, the more of Nabiansi's fabulous magical treasures you will be able to buy - and the greater glory you will bring to your homeland!

The Game
The game consists of a number of randomly-generated dungeons, where the players will cooperatively guide our young hero. While our hero is powerful, being a gestalt character, the Caverns of Nabiansi are treacherous, filled with deadly traps and monsters.

Before each dungeon, the players will have a chance to buy items - any item from any WotC-published 3.5 manual is acceptable. Spells, feats and skills can also be chosen from any such tome. Please give a page reference for anything that doesn't appear in the SRD.

Each action taken by our hero will be chosen by the players. The most popular course of action is the one that will be performed, with ties being decided by which choice was posted first. Choosing options on level up will be similar. Items bought before the dungeons, however, works on a "first come, first serve" basis - if we run out of money before getting to your choice, sorry, better luck next time.

While in the dungeon, our hero must rely on his equipment to survive. Most important is food - he requires one trail ration per day (or an equivalent amount of food), or he will starve. He can rest however many times he wants, but each time he rests it counts as a new 'day'. Resting may cause him to be beset by Randomly Generated Monsters if he doesn't take precautions such as barring doors or casting defensive spells before bed.

First, however, there are a few decisions to make!

1. What classes shall our hero be?
2. What race shall our hero be?
3. How shall our hero arrange his ability scores? (List them from first to last priority - for example: Str, Con, Dex, Wis, Int, Cha)
4. What feats, skills, spells and/or other special features shall he choose?
5. What shall he spend his starting money of 500 gold pieces on? Be sure to buy weapons, armour, spell components, and etc. (Unlike other shopping sprees, these items are 'first come, first served' - the most popular items will be bought. Even if it doesn't make much sense.)
6. Finally, what is our hero's name, sex and age?

I'll give it 24 hours for people to vote. Assuming anyone wants to play.

[banjo1985]

Fighter/Cleric

A lone dungeon crawl is going to require a brave character that can soak damage and heal themselves into the bargain. All those bonus feats won't be wasted either.

[Xanmyral]

Duskblade/Beguiler
Human
Focus on INT, STR, CON, DEX, WIS, CHA in this order.
Items: I'll leave the items to someone more familiar in that area than I.
Name: Iyron Thell
Age: 18~30
Gender: Male

[Player Handbook II ~ Pg. 6-11, 19-24]

Because why not synergize two armored casters for twice the spells, same magic using stat, with the ability to fight like a warrior, cast like a sorcerer in armor, and do roguish stuff. Sure, no healing but careful regulation can fix this.

Edit - Other stuff.
Edit - Last Bits up. Don't really care about age, and don't know enough about items to buy efficiently enough for a solo dungeon.

[Mordokai]

Beguiler/Bard
Half elf
Focus on CHA, INT, CON, STR, DEX, WIS, in that order
Items: masterwork instrument, longsword or rapier, armor, spell components
Name: Laina
Age: 23
Gender: Female

Because I love me some charisma synergy classes that works well with intelligence and can talk her way out of pretty much anything. And what she can't talk her way out of, she can just charm and make her help. Also, because I love me spontaneous casters.

The idea is not for her to do much fighting, but talk others into doing it for her.

[Ramsus]

Classes: Beguiler/Bard
Race: Changeling (pg. 12 Eberron Campaign Setting)
Focus on CHA, INT, CON, DEX, WIS, STR in that order
Items: Sling (it's free!), chain shirt, longspear, spell components(?), backpack, belt pouch, flint and steel, flask, thieves tools (masterwork if we can afford it), tent, bedroll, crowbar, 10 foot pole, fishhook, sewing needle, rations, sling bullets, longsword, heavy mace, rope, grappling hook, shovel, torches, chalk, caltrops, mirror (small steel), whetstone, candle, map case, canvas, inkpen, ink, signet ring, sealing wax, parchment, climbing kit, manacles (I really doubt we'd have money left over for these but you never know!)

If we have a bunch of money left over or dropping a few things would help we should replace the sling and bullets with a hand crossbow and bolts preferably or shortbow and arrows if we have less money but still enough for that.

Name: Laina Thell
Age: 23
Gender: Female
Feats: Undead Empathy (Eberron Campaign Setting pg. 61. Well that helps with our Undead issues!), Eschew Materials (I've never actually played with a GM who required this feat but if this game would, it's best to have it considering Dungeons rarely have shops.) (If we don't need the previous....) Weapon Finesse (only because people seem to want it, over time we'll still become really bad at hitting things with sticks.) (If we don't need EM and people decide not to get WF....) Combat Casting.
Skills: (Not sure what our stats look like so I'll just do this in order of priority) Concentration, Perform (Sing?), Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Disable Device, Search, Move Silently, Spot, Sense Motive, Speak Language (keep learning more languages till there's none left to learn), Use Magic Device (if we somehow end up with more than this...I'll pick it up from here).

The reasoning I have Move Silently and not Hide is because Invisibility type spells hide us but don't make us quiet. The reason I didn't get Open Lock is because we'll learn Knock.

I approve of Mordokai's plan, I just had some minor adjustments. Like...being a much better race for the idea.

[Xanmyral]

Well, if we're going the bard route wouldn't it be better to take some hands free perform skill, it would cut down on both cost and might make fighting easier since we wouldn't need to drop exchange the instrument for a weapon mid-fight.

Other then that, I'm fine with most of what's posted here. Self buffing as a bard, alright casting as a beguiler, able to fill in for a rogue in skills, and some minor healing from the bard. I will admit, better then my idea. I'm not sure we can actually talk our way out of some things, and in account that the dungeons are entirely random we might end up screwed if we come across those immune to enchantment and bard spells, like constructs or undead. At the least, I suggest making Wis the dump, instead of strength since then when we get into combat, we won't suck horribly at it. Or get finesse fighting (What ever that feat is called.) so we can use our dexterity instead of our strength.

[Ramsus]

Ok the hands free perform skill is a good idea. But personally I think WIS is better to have than STR. We need it for Spot and Sense Motive. If we run into things we can't fight with our setup....we run away. Also undead we can kill with our healing spells. So mostly our problem is mindless things and constructs. If we run into any constructs right now we're probably dead anyway.

[Xanmyral]

Mhm, point taken. I'm fine with strength being dump if we get that feat that exchanges dexterity for strength, but be aware that carrying stuff will be a very annoying hassle in the beginning. Sense motive I understand, don't want to be lied to after all, same with the two other skills. I would suggest getting a melee bludgeoning weapon of some form also, unless you think we can get away with just the sling and rapier. I'm a little worried because of the enchantment and illusion focus, but it might work.

I'm guessing since our hitting power will be low, we should try to be stealthy and hit hard. We won't hit harder then a fighter, as our attacks will pretty much be a rogue without sneak attacks. We will definitely have to be much more cautious in combat because of this weakness in power, but if we use disguise efficiently we may be able to avoid some combat. Not all though.

EDIT - Just had a thought, if bard is dead set, we may want to change beguiler to some more combat focused route. Perhaps Dread Necromancer, or Warmage? But, we will need high Int for the skill distribution anyway, so I'm fine with keeping it these two classes.

[bladescape]

I like the idea of Bard/Beguiler so it seems that is what we will be.
Race: Changeling, for awesomeness.
Name:Liana Thell(Ramsus had two letters the wrong way around, believe it. ;-) )
Age:20
Gender:Female
Items:Since long lists have already been submitted, I won't even bother.
Skills:Not sure of the total list by we have to have : Perform, Diplomacy, Bluff, Sense Motive.... Spot, Listen and Search are a maybe. But Stealth, and Thievery are good too.
Feats:Two-Weapon Fighting! Nah, just kidding. It'd be awesome, but I don't think for this build.(Hence why we should've done a ranger//something else.) And my usual trick is Wiz or Sorc if not Ranger, so I'll let the more experienced at this class think about these.

[Ramsus]

@Bladescape: Hey, I just copied what Mordokai wrote down. I'm fine with the name being either way, just liked the names enough not to make a name fighting match over things.

Edited in my skill list and some reasoning for it being the way it is. Sadly there are never enough skill points for Listen and Spot beats Listen hands down 80% of the time.

Working on Feats now but I'll keep in mind people apparently want our caster to hit stuff ever. As for why Beguiler/Bard and not some other combination. The central focus is clearly the Beguiler aspect (because Beguilers are awesome). The Bard is there because it allows healing and some spell variety as well as more of what we're good at without making us split up our stats in unfortunate ways. There are a couple other classes which could accomplish this but....well they're weirder than the Bard.

[Xanmyral]

I'm still in favor for male, but don't really care to argue. As for the name, I'm just happy that the last name I suggested is in use. If we do stick with bard, I suggest getting the Bardic Knack ACF, Player Handbook II Pg 35. Lore is all good and fine, but since we are a one person party being good at a multitude of skills can only be good. At later levels, it will effectively be free skill points for skills we don't focus on. While our knowledge checks will suffer, if we need to climb, swim, heal, or what ever else is more of a survival skill our Bardic Knack can help.

I really just can't see us harming something without weapons or the odd spell with this character. Attack spells will be far and few between, so skill with range or melee is needed. Since we are dexterity based more then melee, I suggest ranged attacks like the bullet, or crossbow. There are some nice feats to help with crossbow damage, to where dexterity gets tagged on for damage instead of being unmodified. The reason I want us to be able to hit something is for the fact that I know we will need to every once in a while.

The stat distribution is worrying, as we need good Int, Cha, Dex, and we can't let Con drop to low. Granted, my previous build wasn't that much better, since we needed Int, Str, Dex, and Con so all that really swapped was Cha with Str.

Edit - Checked out some variants for bard, there is a variant that makes bard spells count under Int if we want to go for that. The alignment restriction is annoyingly tight though, but we get bonus divination spells. The songs last two rounds less though, so they last for three instead of five if we go the Bardic Sage route. The DC is still Cha though, dang.

Edit - Forgot to say where the variant is, it's in the SRD under Variant class, Bard, Forgotten arcana. [http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/cl...iantBardicSage]

Edit - Typo[s]

[Ramsus]

I edited in feats, adjusted Sense Motive to be before Speak Language since we have Comprehend Languages on our spell list (though it's always good to not miss the first line of overheard dialog so it's still somewhat of a priority to learn languages), added melee weapons for bludgeoning and slashing, and included a note about getting different ranged weapons if we can afford them.

Later on (and I mean anywhere past level 5 really) we become really really bad at hitting things...via any method that isn't spells and even touch attack spells become trying later on.

The Bardic Knack idea is brilliant and we should take it.

I like our Chr focused build and I think our stats are where they should be though I'd be ok with flipping the positions of CON and DEX if other people want that. (Though personally I find it more important to make Fort saves than Dex saves.)

[Xanmyral]

Con is always good, so I wouldn't suggest making it low on the list. I have some discrepancies with the items though.

Sling (it's free!) [Always Good], chain shirt[Good], longspear[Fine with me], spell components(?)[Unneeded if Eschew Materials], backpack[Good], belt pouch[Good], flint and steel[Solid], flask[Good], thieves tools (masterwork if we can afford it)[Good], tent[Not needed. All of the dungeons are inside, a tent is worthless I think], bedroll[Good], crowbar[Good], 10 foot pole[Good], fishhook[I'm afraid I don't see the point of this...], sewing needle[Or this], rations[Good], sling bullets[Good], longsword[Good], heavy mace[Good], rope[Good], grappling hook[Good], shovel[Might be needed, it's debatable], torches[Necessary unless we can see in the dark, but light is a cheap cantrip], chalk[I can see uses for it], caltrops[Drop and run, useful], mirror (small steel)[Didn't know a mirror could be used as a shield. Weird.], whetstone[Good], candle[Alright? I guess. Light is a cheap cantrip though...], map case[Many other uses], canvas[Laying traps, hiding things, many uses], inkpen[To write with.], ink[To write with], signet ring[I'm confused as to why we need this], sealing wax[This too. Are we going to be sending messages or something?], parchment[Useful], climbing kit[Useful], manacles (I really doubt we'd have money left over for these but you never know!)[Prisoners? I guess it might be useful.]

If we focus on range, we can drop weapon finesse. Combat casting might be useful, but I think getting skill focus: concentration might be better since it effects all situations with concentration instead of just combat, and only gives a point less. Any suggestions on how to be better on hitting things? 3/4 BAB is good, but not great. Specially with a low strength. If we have alright dexterity, we might be able to get away with dancing around opponents, sniping them from a range.

Edit - Helped Visibility

[Ramsus]

Oh no sir. The tent is amazingly useful. It's the 10gp(?) worth of warning as you hear the sound of something ripping through it to get at you, the fleshly treat inside as opposed to waking up asking "why do I hurt like something ripped my arm off?" only to discover...something is currently ripping your arm off. Also...dungeons have bugs and cold too! Sheesh.

The fishhook and sewing needle are for fishing. If we encounter an underground water source...who are we to pass up free food just because we were too cheap for a couple silver worth of equipment?

As for the signet ring, I can see situations where we write letters to people since we're a silver tongued sort and we may acquire minions or a helpful kobold cleric who would prefer not to leave his home of the Xth floor for good but might not mind coming down to the Yth floor to save us.

Uh...I just figured the mirror would be palm sized and good for looking around corners and stuff.

Manacles...yes, interrogation may be needed. Also sometimes you're just out of Dominate spells for the day and need something to hold someone down with. Or heck, improvised lock or such.


I don't think we should really try to be good at hitting things, neither class is designed for it. Assuredly we'll use ranged weapons when possible but solo sometimes things will enter melee with us and we have no tank to come and get in their way. We have summon spells for those things we can't talk out of hitting us with pointy things or deal with with our other spells. At low levels our difference in points from a fighter isn't a huge amount and at higher levels we just can't catch up no matter how hard we try. Better to just be good at what we're designed to be good at and let beings we con/charm/summon/running away like a coward deal with other situations.

[Xanmyral]

Well, I retract my statements then. You made good points about the tend and fishing. The mirror will be useful, but I thought we were trying to get away with some sort of shield made like a mirror or something, which sounded odd. I'm still iffy on the signet ring and such, but if you can think of good uses for it I won't argue. Any other ways to try and squeeze what else we can from these classes? I'm afraid my books are tapped out, so if anyone has any other ideas I'm game.

Edit -

So I guess the character will look like this?

Class - Bard/Beguiler [Player Handbook II, Pg. 6-11]
Race - Changeling (By the way, what do they do? Heard of them, never seen them before though) [Pg. 12 Eberron Campaign Setting]
ACF - Bardic Knack [Player Handbook II, Pg. 35]
Focus on CHA, INT, CON, DEX, WIS, STR in that order
Items: Sling (it's free!), chain shirt, longspear, spell components(?), backpack, belt pouch, flint and steel, flask, thieves tools (masterwork if we can afford it), tent, bedroll, crowbar, 10 foot pole, fishhook, sewing needle, rations, sling bullets, longsword, heavy mace, rope, grappling hook, shovel, torches, chalk, caltrops, mirror (small steel), whetstone, candle, map case, canvas, inkpen, ink, signet ring, sealing wax, parchment, climbing kit, manacles (I really doubt we'd have money left over for these but you never know!)

If we have a bunch of money left over or dropping a few things would help we should replace the sling and bullets with a hand crossbow and bolts preferably or shortbow and arrows if we have less money but still enough for that.

Name: Liana Thell
Age: 23
Gender: Female
Feats: Undead Empathy (Eberron Campaign Setting pg. 61. Well that helps with our Undead issues!), Eschew Materials (I've never actually played with a GM who required this feat but if this game would, it's best to have it considering Dungeons rarely have shops.) (If we don't need the previous....) Weapon Finesse (only because people seem to want it, over time we'll still become really bad at hitting things with sticks.) (If we don't need EM and people decide not to get WF....) Combat Casting. (Later on I suggest we take Mater Manipulator [Player Handbook II, pg. 80]
Skills: (Not sure what our stats look like so I'll just do this in order of priority) Concentration, Perform (Sing?), Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Disable Device, Search, Move Silently, Spot, Sense Motive, Speak Language (keep learning more languages till there's none left to learn), Use Magic Device (if we somehow end up with more than this...I'll pick it up from here).

[Mordokai]

I approve of Mordokai's plan, I just had some minor adjustments. Like...being a much better race for the idea.

Personal preferences, you understand

I aprove of mostly anything said so far and will write on it more once I get off work and have more time

[Ramsus]

Changeling: (They're pretty much half-Doppelgangers.)
Shapechanger Subtype: Changelings are humanoids
with the shapechanger subtype.
• Medium: As Medium creatures, changelings have
no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• Changeling base land speed is 30 feet.
• +2 racial bonus on sav ing throws a gainst
sleep and charm effects: Changelings have
slippery minds.
+2 racial bonus on Bluff, Intimidate, and Sense
Motive checks: Changelings are inherently skilled in
deception and intimidation, and though they cannot
actually detect thoughts as doppelgangers can, they
can intuitively read body language and attitude with
surprising accuracy.
• Natural Linguist: Changelings add Speak Language
to their list of class skills for any class they adopt.
• Minor Change Shape (Su): Changelings have the
super natural ability to alter their appearance as
though using a disguise self spell that affects their
bodies but not their possessions. This ability is not
an illusory effect, but a minor physical alteration of
a changeling’s facial features, skin color and texture,
and size, within the limits described for the spell. A
changeling can use this ability at will, and the alteration
lasts until she changes shape again. A changeling
reverts to her natural form when killed. A true seeing
spell reveals her natural form. When using this ability
to create a disguise, a changeling receives a +10
circumstance bonus on Disguise checks. Using this
ability is a full-round action.
• Automatic Languages: Common. Bonus Languages:
Auran, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Gnome, Halfling,
and Terran.
• Favored Class: Rogue. A multiclass changeling’s rogue
class does not count when determining whether she
takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.

[Xanmyral]

Until the narrator comes back, perhaps we should talk tactics? The dungeons are all random, which sounds like it will be a pain. Good side though, all of the monsters will be CR appropriate, which can be good, or bad since CR is kinda wonky. Getting knocked unconscious, losing control, being charmed, etc. will be very, very bad. Instant game over bad, I imagine. Traps will be annoying, so perhaps a quick search in every room? Since everything is randomized, how important the room or door is isn't in question as to if it's trapped, since a door that leads to a broom closet sized room with nothing in it might be dangerously trapped. Doors will probably be frequently, and randomly trapped, stuck, and or locked, so a good way to get past them via sword or pick lock will be good. If all else fails we can just smash it down I guess. I have a feeling this will be a D&D version of Rogue, permanent death included chances are. Well, probably just for that character, we might be able to re-roll and go down again. Who knows, might find our old body and loot it for kicks.

[Ramsus]

Lol! Looting your own body....reminds me of Diablo.

Well we should have good Search and Disable Device. As we're alone...yeah we should just search everything and moving silently while doing so. Anything intelligent/undead we can try to first disguise our-self as one of it's race and wander on past (or even follow it to a safe place to rest/armory/whatever). At low levels we probably really would rather avoid combat. We might want to leave traps alone and mark their locations with chalk (see! reasoning!) so if we do have to run from something we can lead them into traps. Even if we can't lockpick we can use our masterwork thieves tools to Disable Device door hinges or such. If that doesn't work since we're not very strong we should either bluff/diplomacy things into opening/smashing doors for us or wait till later when we learn Knock.

Now that I think about it, our default form should probably be something rather nuetral but threatening like a Medium sized Water Elemental. Most intelligent creatures will probably leave us well enough alone. (I had fire earlier and realized anything reasonably intelligent would be able to notice we didn't create any light.)

[Xanmyral]

No pick locking? That would be annoying at the start, due to lack of keys, unless the narrator gives the monsters keys that we might be able to... Acquire while they're not looking. Do we have pick pocket? Oh, idea. Sure, I may be taking a page from Fallout, but hey, reverse pick pocketing something dangerous onto someone sounds hilariously effective. Not to sure what would work in this area, but I'm sure we can think of something. A water elemental sounds good, unless we wind up inside a volcano or something. Look around at the environment first, is all I can say. Water dungeon? Water elemental. Volcano/cave? Earth elemental. Undead dungeon? Undead, like zombie or something. You get the idea. I would suggest against elementals in non-natural dungeons as that would instead attract attention, unless there is a valid reason, like say a wizard in the dungeon or so such. Perhaps a hobgoblin would be good, pretend to be a lackey to stronger monsters, and boss to weaker. Do we have intimidate? Might be useful in such situations.

EDIT - I still make the suggestion to exchange combat casting for skill focus: concentration. Few less points, but usable in all situations with a concentration check instead of just defensive casting.

[Ramsus]

Well I said default as in, we walk into a floor/area with no idea what we're about to encounter. Yeah, we'd want to change shape to fit the area. The reason I went with something nuetral but monastery is because we might randomly encounter Good things or Adventurers as well and we'd be sorta sad if we were walking around as a Lich right then.

Nope on the pickpocketing skill sadly. Also dynamite, lol. If things have locks they have keys. So in theory we can con them off of someone or snatch them off an unguarded table.

I'm still thinking about the skill focus thing. On the one hand you have a point. On the other hand...what do people use Concentrate for aside from defensive casting?

[Xanmyral]

Anytime we need to concentrate on something and was struck, or in distracting circumstances. Casting is the majority, I will admit that, so you may have a point, now that I'm looking in the book. Perhaps we should stick with combat casting.

Yeah, we should stick to something neutral, but I kinda doubt running into other adventurers, or good aligned monsters. It's a possibility however. The only feasible thing we could use concentration for besides casting is to use concentration in spells where the checks are it's duration.

The pickpocketing thing was more of a funny idea anyway, but then again the Bardic Knack may come in handy. Probably not, but maybe.

[cd4]

Though if we later pick up a level in Warblade the Diamond mind manouvers can helps us fight with Concentration whether it is replacing saves or damage or bonus damage we can use concentration to boost things there.

A question though, what spells are we putting in our spellbook?

[Mustiado]

Oh god. I tried this one time... I wish you all the luck in the world with it. Though I'm sure you're far more industrious than I am.

[Kensen]

With Bard/Beguiler, there's going to be an awful lot of overlap and redundancy in spell and skill selection but little synergy, apart from a shared casting stat and the ability to cast in light armor. Moreover, both classes have poor HD, and bards functions best with a group of adventurers when their music can affect more people.

My vote goes to the fighter/cleric, or maybe something entirely different like a dwarf barbarian/dragonfire adept.

[bladescape]

Ah, but Bard//Beguiler is fun!

[Ramsus]

Also...it's just fun to say Bardguiler. And this is the one concept where I don't see the word Bard and go "that's just stupid..." (including non-multiclass/gestalt characters).

[Xanmyral]

Bard's use Charisma for their casting stat, Beguiler's use Intelligence. So, no shared casting stat. I will admit, that the low health will be annoying. The redundancies in spells can be counted on as extra spells, or using the Beguiler for the trickery and illusion spells, Bard for the spells that aren't on that list like heal, attack spells, etcetera. While the low HP, and 3/4 BAB will be a sting, we can mitigate this with the proper use of slaves, minions, and companions to do the fighting for us.

EDIT - If other options are wanted, these might be ideas. Dread Necromancer/Sorcerer, Beguiler/Duskblade, Druid/Cleric (Not recommended), Monk/Wizard (Suck + Not Suck = Good?), Wizard/Cleric (Double Caster?), Paladin/Duskblade (Wide range of stats needed is bad, but possible), Knight/Duskblade (For those who dislike Paladins), Rogue/Wizard (Not bad, but can be better), Beguiler/Wizard (Casting in light armor, can specialize and block Illusion and Enchantment but still cast spells from that, same casting stat as well.)

[Ramsus]

Oh....I forgot Beguilers use Int not Chr...ack. Hmmm Beguiler/Rouge would also work out fairly well.

[Kensen]

I'd suggest using a combo of a full BAB class with good Fort save and HD + good casting class with good Will save, and a synergy between armor proficiencies and the ability to cast in armor, and a synergy between primary stat(s). Our hero(ine) is going solo, so being a jack of all trades will not suffice, s/he has got to be able to many things as well as possible.

I was wrong about the shared casting stat of the bardguiler (shame on me), but that only further reinforces my point.