Waterdeep [Sandbox] OOC

[crimson77]

Welcome to the OOC thread.

Below is the recruiting information.

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Sandbox d20 Core Campaign

0 out of 4 Players Accepted
Please read all of the following carefully

Background
The campaign will be in a city with a similar flavor to Waterdeep; however, this is a generic campaign and will not use the Faerûn world or Forgotten Realms campaign materials. Some material flavor might be found within this game such as political structure but it will also be different than the "traditional" Realms feel.

I will be calling the city Waterdeep. Players will be starting out together as a party. They together must collectively come up with how they met. Players will be starting out with only the clothing on their backs. They might be originally from Waterdeep but they have been away for sometime or they are coming to the city after being raised elsewhere.

Big 16

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1. What game system are you running (D&D, Call of Cthulu, Palladium, GURPS, etc.), and if applicable what edition (Original, Classic, Revised, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, etc.)? D20 SRD - Only using D20SRD.org

2. What 'type' or variant of game will it be (i.e. "Shadow Chasers" or "Agents of Psi" for d20 Modern)? What is the setting for the game (eg. historic period, published or homebrewed campaign setting, alternate reality, modern world, etc.)? Core only. Sandbox game.

3. How many Players are you looking for? Will you be taking alternates, and if so, how many? 4 players.

4. What's the gaming medium (OOTS, chat, e-mail etc.)? This forum

5. What is the characters' starting status (i.e. experience level)? 1st level

6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with? The players start with the clothing on their back.

7. Are there any particular character classes, professions, orders, etc. that you want... or do not want? What are your rules on 'prestige' and/or homebrewed classes? core only

8. What races, subraces, species, etc. are allowed for your game? Will you allow homebrewed races or species? 'Prestige' races or species? No monster races

9. By what method should Players generate their attributes/ability scores and Hit Points? Elite Array

10. Does your game use alignment? What are your restrictions, if so?
no alignments. Character's actions are focused on their personality type and any morals from their back story that influence their personality.
11. Do you allow multi-classing, or have any particular rules in regards to it?Core only

12. 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? forum dice rolls only.

13. Are there any homebrewed or optional/variant rules that your Players should know about? If so, list and explain them, or provide relevant links to learn about these new rules. No alignment. Group initiative. (see below)

14. Is a character background required? If so, how big? Are you looking for anything in particular (i.e. the backgrounds all ending up with the characters in the same city)? The back story has more to do with the characters personality and morals than a traditional backstory.

15. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above? A little of all of the above.

16. Are your Players restricted to particular rulebooks and supplements, or will you be allowing access to non-standard material? What sources can Players use for their characters? Just use the core rules for D20

Important Game Information

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Player Requirements

• Players must be 18+ (25+ preferred). No offense to younger players, but I do not play with minors.
• Players must be comfortable using d20 rules
• If you are into power gaming, this is not the campaign for you.
• My campaigns are about 50% role playing and 50% combat.
• Players should realize that not every encounter should end with combat.
• Preference will be given to players that have participated in my previous campaigns.
• Players should be able to post at least once a day Monday through Friday (or 3x/week). If you are going to be unable to post for a few days please let us know in OOC and indicate who should player your character when you are gone.
• If you want to be considered for this campaign, please post just a character idea/description/backstory. *Please do not create a character sheet prior to being accepted into the game. I hate to feel that I wasted someones time.

Character Creation

• Stats use elite array 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8.
• For Hit Points (HP), players can either choose: 1.) Max 1st level and roll for each additional levels. 2.) Max 1st level and average for additional levels. *However, players cannot do a combination of both.
• All classes, races, skills, spells, feats, and items from non-SRD will not be allowed
• Monster races are not allowed.
• I do not use alignment; I see it as a flawed system. All characters must be pro-social in nature. No anti-social or psychopathic characters allowed. However, characters can be selfish or self-serving.
• No special abilities/hindrances will be granted in back story.
• Party can be comprised of any make up of classes (e.g., you can have 4 clerics if you wish).
• The party will be starting out knowing each other as started above.
• I do not like how the magic system works in pbp games. Therefore, I have made a few changes as outlined below. One major change is that wizards and sorcerers have been combined into one class.
• Every post made in character must have your characters basic stats (eg, HP, AC, etc an have a link to your character sheet.

Game Style / House Rules

• All humanoid creatures (including Elves) need to sleep for eight hours.
• I use a reformed initiative system. I use a party initiative system (no weapon speed). Thus PCs and encounters alternate (i.e., group initiative). Characters go in the order of their posts. Thus, you could go 1st the first round and 3rd the second round. The rational behind this is to allow players to post when they can and not wait for another player to post. This greatly speeds up combat and waiting times for players. I update after all the players have posted or after 24 hours have passed which ever is first (in less it is a weekend).
• All punches do 1d3 damage and are considered nonlethal damage in less the PC is trained in lethal fighting or wearing gantlets.
• Please bold and color your characters verbal speech (and use quotes with a consistent color): "Die vermin!" For internal speaking please color and italicize: Maybe I should open the door first.
• When you post, please post in a manner that someone can reply to. In play-by-post games there is often not time to discuss who should open the door (like in table top) please take the initiative and just open the door. No one has fun when the group stands around in a room waiting for another to take the initiative to do something. I try very hard not to punish initiative taking. Remember your character could also prompt another to do an action in your post. For instance, you could post: Raynor looks around the room and sees little of value. He sighs to himself knowing that they will have to push further into the dungeon to find the gem. He looks at the only door in the room, a sturdy iron door. "Stephen, check the door to see if the vermin that live here have trapped it to slow our progress." He patiently waits for Stephen to check the door for traps and to see if it is locked. If the door is locked he will wait patiently for Stephan to try to open it before proceeding to smash it down. If the door is not trapped or locked he will open it and proceed into the next room.
• When posting in combat, roll the dice and then edit your post for the outcome of your rolls. Remember you cannot edit in another roll after you have submitted a post. Please do not delete your post if you roll poorly. Also do not change the order of your dice by editing in your post. If you get a critical hit then double post your second roll or post it in IC.
• I personally hate the D&D alignment system because it deals in absolutes. I think that intentions and hindsight often color how we interpret good and evil. Thus, not every NPC might have evil intention but make evil actions. Therefore any detect alignment spells/abilities do not function. They are replaced with detecting imminent threat.
• Any chance I get I try to speed up times when we can get caught up in irreverent details. This primarily came out of spending two week discussing the nightly watch order before the characters went to bed. *This can be a quick way for a game to lose momentum. Therefore, I will sometimes make assumptions of what your characters are doing. Thus, at night there will be someone on watch and if I have an encounter planned for that night, I will randomly choose when and who is on watch. I try at all times to judge wat decisions your characters' would be making. This includes marching order. If you ever have a preference, then please state it and that will be the norm for your character.
• The wizard and sorcerer classes have been combined into one class such that the sorcerer class has been removed. Thus, players can choose to use the wizard class with this modification. Wizards must spend time reviewing spells each morning; however, they can cast any spell they know without preparation similar to sorcerers. In a similar manner, clerics, druids, and other spell casting characters can also cast spells in this manner.
• I use a different critical hit system to increase lethality and realistic fighting.

Miscellaneous

• I am not a fan of PMs. This is especially true for in character actions. If you have a question please just write it in OOC. If you do not want other players to use it against you then post it in a spoiler (this includes any IC actions). The only exception to this would be OOC conflict between players. If you feel that a player is harassing you IC/OOC/PM then please PM me.
• Please do not PM me with character creation questions. It is never fun to answer one question via PM and then have someone PM you the very same or similar question. Please post all character creation questions in OOC.
• If you are not going to be able to post (or view the boards) for longer than a day (in less it is a weekend) for what ever reason (e.g., extra work, vacation, schedule change) then please let us all know. If a player stops responding for a week (without prior warning) they will be dropped from the game. However, I do know that events outside our own control do occur, just let us know when you get the chance. If you are going to be gone for more than a few days then please ask another player to run your character for you while you are absent. If no player is specified I will do their actions. I must note, that I frequently have characters stand around and only act in life of death situations. Thus, if you want your character to actually do something then ask someone else to run them for you.

Death, Dying, and Critical Hits

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Death and Dying
Instead of characters dying at 0 (or -10 HP depending on the system) Hit points are now considered to be encounter specific and regained 1 hp / hour after an encounter. All HP can be regained after a proper night rest. However, if a character reaches 0 HP they fall to the ground and then must roll upon the fate table and face the consequences.

{table]Roll |Fate
1 |Second Wind: Characters are considered to be at 1 HP and can act normally.
2 |Conscious but unable to stand. Can still crawl and do minor actions (e.g., drink a potion); any strenuous activity (using a weapon, standing, etc) will result in losing consciousness if a save is failed.
3 |Unconscious until the battle is over or they are given a healing potion.
4 |Unconscious and Severely wounded: the character rolls a saving throw [roll: fort save (3.5e), system shock (2e), save W&S]. If they succeed they are unconscious and bleeding; they will die in 3d6 rounds without intervention. If they fail, roll location (see table below) their limb is unusable for the remainder of the day (until magically healed), dazed (head injury: -4 to attacks/AC for the day), or paralyzed from the waist down (torso: unable to stand or walk) until magically healed. Characters will bleed out in 2d6 rounds without intervention.
5 |Unconscious with the threat of Potential death (torso/head) or limb severed [roll: fort save (3.5e), system shock (2e), save W&S] if character succeeds they are in shock / 0 hp losing [dmg done]/round (head/torso) or their limb is unusable (see crippling wound). If fail, character dies (head/torso) in 1d6 rounds or their limb is severed (must stop bleeding within 1d4 rounds or die). [Note: consult location table below to determine the location of the severe wound]
6 | Death - the character cannot be revived without the use of powerful magic (e.g., raise dead, resurrection, etc)[/table]

Critical Hits
When you make an attack roll and get a natural 20 (the d20 shows 20), you hit regardless of your target’s Armor Class, and you have scored a threat. The hit might be a critical hit (or "crit"). To find out if it’s a critical hit, you immediately make a critical roll—another attack roll with all the same modifiers as the attack roll you just made. If the critical roll also results in a hit against the target’s AC, your original hit is a critical hit. (The critical roll just needs to hit to give you a crit. It doesn’t need to come up 20 again.) If the critical roll is a miss, then your hit is just a regular hit. Characters who reach 0 HP must finish rolling on the critical table and then must roll on the fate table above.

A critical hit means that you roll 1d6 on the location table and 1d6 on the severity table. Roll your normal damage and add appropriate multipliers.

{table]Roll|Location
1 |Right Leg
2 |Left Leg
3 |Right Arm
4 |Left Arm
5 |Torso
6 |Head[/table]

{table]Roll |Severity
1 |Flesh Wound (1x dmg)
2 |Critical Wound (2x dmg)
3 |Impairing Wound (2x dmg) all actions taken with limb suffer from -4, restricted (1/2) movement (torso/legs), concentration problem -4 to all actions (head)
4 |Crippling Wound (2x dmg) limb is unusable (arms), prone (torso/legs), or blinded (head) for the rest of battle [DM discretion: character loses 1 round due to wound]
5 |Potential death (torso/head) or limb severed [roll: fort save (3.5e), system shock (2e), save W&S] if character succeeds they are in shock / 0 hp losing [dmg done]/round (head/torso) or their limb is unusable (see crippling wound). If fail, character dies (head/torso) in 1d6 rounds or their limb is severed (must stop bleeding within 1d4 rounds or die).
6 |Death (torso/head) / Limb severed (must stop bleeding within 1d4 rounds or die). [/table]

Accepted players
1. Fungusamnguss32 – Half-orc monk
2. Quakes – Elf Wizard
3.*
4.*
Alternate 1.*
Alternate 2.*

[crimson77]

Here is the idea I am working with for divine casters. The premises is that a divine figure calls upon their god for help. Now, not all requests are granted but there is a likelihood it will be done.

Divine Caster House Rule

Casters can cast spontaniously the number of spells from their list as indicated in their "spells per day." However, the god might not alway approve of the spell, the timing of the spell, or devoutness/prayer of the divine caster (left to player for fluff).

When calling upon the god to cast a spell, the divine caster will try to cast the spell. They roll 1d20 + [wis mod] + [PC LVL] and compare this against [DC] 10 + [Spell LVL]. Thus, as they grow in levels they are more likely to be listened to by the god. Now, only if they cast the spell do they use a "spell per day." In non-combat or timed periods, the caster can take a 10 (but not a 20) on this check suggesting they have the time to give extra for prayer.

Now, if a caster is out of "spells per day" or they want to cast a spell outside of their domain [or class] they can try to petition the deity for help [in a written prayer]. The caster will then roll 1d20 + [wis mod] + [PC LVL] and compare this against [DC] 20 + [2x Spell LVL]. They can only do this once per day and cannot take a 10 or 20 on the roll. If they succeed the spell works normally. If they fail, nothing happens (good situation) or the god is angered (bad situation). The caster must have any material components needed for the spell and cannot [normally] cast a spell that is higher spell level then they can cast [I might allow for special circumstances but high change of angering the god!]

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Let me know what you think.

[ninthbit]

Did we lock down who's old vs transfer?
OP shows its 3 and 3.

[fungusamnguss32]

I like this. Personally though, Im glad Ort is a "punch-em-in-tha-face" kind of guy lol

[crimson77]

Did we lock down who's old vs transfer?
OP shows its 3 and 3.

Completely up to you. You can be transferred from another cell in this jail or from outside, or be one who remained in the cell.

[fungusamnguss32]

I put all basic char info in my sig. I can change it later on as needed but this way I dont have to type it all in everytime I post. Today/tonight Im on my PC in a truck stop on wifi so pretty easy to take care of now. Let me know if this works for you crimson

edit- also, would you be willing to put together a list of all the chars with name, class, race? just to have a reference point

[crimson77]

I put all basic char info in my sig. I can change it later on as needed but this way I dont have to type it all in everytime I post. Today/tonight Im on my PC in a truck stop on wifi so pretty easy to take care of now. Let me know if this works for you crimson

Works for me. As long as there is a stat block per page I am usually good. Just hard to find things like AC get annoying if I have to dig through pages of posts to find. You can also post a link with your name for the sheet

Ort

Quote this post to see how to do it.

[fungusamnguss32]

cool. ty. I will also probably need some help when i comes to doing die rolls too. ive read a little on it but never done it before. sig edited to be more functional

[crimson77]

cool. ty. I will also probably need some help when i comes to doing die rolls too. ive read a little on it but never done it before. sig edited to be more functional

Feel free to try here in OOC to get the hang of it.

[fungusamnguss32]

Well I understand the syntax of it. Thats pretty simple. What Im really more curious about is your preferences on how you want us to include them. Like should we include the dice rolls in the content of our posts or at the bottom or what?

[roll]1d6+3[/roll]
[roll]1d20+5[/roll]

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* post roll count doesn't match database

[Quakes]

Testing for stat block

[crimson77]

Well I understand the syntax of it. Thats pretty simple. What Im really more curious about is your preferences on how you want us to include them. Like should we include the dice rolls in the content of our posts or at the bottom or what?

(1d6+3)[6]
(1d20+5)[10]

Either/or
As long as it is clear what is happening. Often it is best to roll and then discuss the content in your post by editing. You can't add a roll or remove a roll after you initially post.

You get the error you did.

[crimson77]

Testing for stat block

Don't fee you have to have a stat block in your sig.

[crimson77]

"Well, I'm glad I'm not in here for long. What did you gents to do earn a stay in the lockup?

Small style thing. Can you guys bold your talking with color. I sometimes have trouble telling the difference if it is just colored. Thanks.

[Oceanogler]

Made a list of characters and players so it's nice and easy to remember who's who:

Characters:

Jadzik, Human Male Psychic Warrior (ninthbit)
Timmaeus, Half-Elf Male Druid (Oceanogler)
Ort, Half-Orc Male Monk (fungusamnguss32)
Trent, Elf Male Wizard (Quakes)
Jeffrey Godson, Human Male Cleric (Quakes)

(Edward, Human Male Rogue (AsDeR)) ← No sheet for him, don't know if he's in or not.

Plus statblock test:
Statblock + Sheet

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Timmaeus

Str: 8 (-1), Dex: 12 (+1), Con: 10 (+0), Int: 13 (+1), Wis: 15 (+2), Cha: 14 (+2)
AC: 11, HP: 8/8, Fort: +2, Ref: +1, Will: +4
Listen: +3, Spot: +3

[crimson77]

Made a list of characters and players so it's nice and easy to remember who's who:

Characters:

Jadzik, Human Male Psychic Warrior (ninthbit)
Timmaeus, Half-Elf Male Druid (Oceanogler)
Ort, Half-Orc Male Monk (fungusamnguss32)
Trent, Elf Male Wizard (Quakes)
Jeffrey Godson, Human Male Cleric (Quakes)

(Edward, Human Male Rogue (AsDeR)) ← No sheet for him, don't know if he's in or not.

Plus statblock test:
Statblock + Sheet

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Timmaeus

Str: 8 (-1), Dex: 12 (+1), Con: 10 (+0), Int: 13 (+1), Wis: 15 (+2), Cha: 14 (+2)
AC: 11, HP: 8/8, Fort: +2, Ref: +1, Will: +4
Listen: +3, Spot: +3

Thanks for doing this. I have heard no word from Asder. We will see if he shows up.

[ninthbit]

I'm sure asder will show. Him and I are in a different game together. His personal life likely just got a little busy.

Btw, does the signature fulfil your requirements? I listed everything I think a dm would want quick access to.

[crimson77]

I'm sure asder will show. Him and I are in a different game together. His personal life likely just got a little busy.

Btw, does the signature fulfil your requirements? I listed everything I think a dm would want quick access to.

Looks good to me.

Thanks for the update on Asder. :)

[GodGoblin]

Divine casting looks good, will make IC post soon. Stat block in sig also!

[crimson77]

Divine casting looks good, will make IC post soon. Stat block in sig also!

Awesome. If we need to tweak the divine casting let me know. We will see how it goes for now.

[ninthbit]

So I see it like this, if anyone disagrees, speak up.

Existing residence of the Waterdeep Prison:
Timmaeus, Half-Elf Male Druid (Oceanogler)
Hippie Terrorist sound about right?

Trent, Elf Male Wizard (Quakes)
Ran a betting game, rich guy was a sore loser and guess who the guard trusted.

Jeffrey Godson, Human Male Cleric (QuakesGodgoblin )
Drunken priest who likes whores and beating the guard.


Transfers from River's Fork (trading town up river from Waterdeep):
Jadzik, Human Male Psychic Warrior (ninthbit)
From a monastery near River's Fork. Was in training to be a monk to control rage issues, but was kicked out before mastering the training. (think of him as becoming a 0-level monk that's independent training has taken him the route of a psychic warrior. Incarcerated for sleeping with the wife of a River's Fork politician and then beating him.

Ort, Half-Orc Male Monk (fungusamnguss32)
Incarcerated for murder beating a man to near death, crippling him, then voluntarily turned himself in. While sharing a cell, Jadzik taught him the 0-level monk training he knew, mostly metaphysical power of meditation. Ort took to a more traditional monk path.

Edward, Human Male Rogue (AsDeR) - Sheet pending
Human suffering from stunted growth due to his meager upbringing. Long time friend of Ort. Already incarcerated by his own choice. He likes the chow and free house keeping.



Sound right?

[crimson77]

So I see it like this, if anyone disagrees, speak up.

I am good with this if no one has any objections.

Just an FYI:
I really want you guys to feel that you have control and creative license. If you write about it (eg, NPC) it is likely to happen or an NPC will likely show (within reason). If I don't like where it is going then I will shape things a little without trying to railroad things. Good example will be your release from the cell. There are many ways out of the cell with different in game consequences. I am not going to lead you out of the cell (hence a sandbox game).

[fungusamnguss32]

Ort never killed anyone. Came close, and left the guy permanently crippled, but not dead

[Quakes]

And I'm only playing Trent. Jeffrey is Godgoblin =)

[AsDeR]

imalive!!!!

[crimson77]

imalive!!!!

Great. The sheet you posted in Recruiting does not make sense. Seems like a sheet for another game. Post your sheet there when you get a chance.

[AsDeR]

There we go, Lil' Edward

Is there a chance that I am not moved from the other city to Waterdeep?
I never planned to move out of Waterdeep.

[crimson77]

There we go, Lil' Edward

Is there a chance that I am not moved from the other city to Waterdeep?
I never planned to move out of Waterdeep.

Yeah, that is fine. I was originally thinking of a different way to start but you guys came up with a much better starting place. So, you can have your characters starting from wherever.

[crimson77]

There we go, Lil' Edward

Is there a chance that I am not moved from the other city to Waterdeep?
I never planned to move out of Waterdeep.

Character looks good.

[crimson77]

*OOC Note:
Eidetic Memory - The Autohypnosis class skill allows Jadzik to have perfect memorization and recall with a DC 15 check. Since he already has a bonus of +5, he can use this at will by taking a 10; unless some circumstantial penalty applies, in which case he would have to roll it. Distractions that require his concentration, such as combat would also prevent him from utilizing the skill, but whenever he is in new surroundings or on his guard, he would definitely be mapping his surrounding in his head. Noting who was where and any possible paths of escape.

For example, even if his head was bagged as they led him to the cell, he would have noted how many steps he was taking at each turn and noted how many different voices and where on the path they were.

This is a perfect example of how you can use the "sandbox" rules to your advantage. It is perfectly fine with me if you "remember" certain things. I might tweak them, but it sounds like you are looking for something specific. You have creative license to start to think about exactly what your character wants to find. Then post about it in IC.

If I don't like a direction it is going then I will block it with a realistic outcome. (e.g., you find where there is a man hole cover to the streets - maybe I don't want this to be there so when you try to open it, the cover is jammed into place and not able to be removed at this time).