3.5 Campaign - Agents of the Emporium

[PeacefulOak]

The journey to this valley had been a long and tiring one, particularly due to the tribe of gnolls that had doggedly refused to negotiate passage and had challenged every step through the mountain range. Now, finally, you stand at the edge of a broad arcade with smooth stone floor beneath your feet and crumbling walls and pillars lining the edges of this clearly defined space. Your footsteps sound loudly against the stone, reminding you of the last stone chamber you stood within.

~~~

The Emporium. To most, the name means nothing more than an immense building filled with rotting tomes and relics of times past – a place where time is wasted on learning the ‘truths’ of a failed age, an age that ended in ruin. Many consider it to be a dangerous place… and they are correct, but for all the wrong reasons. Far from the dusty library filled with foolish scholars seeking secrets of a doomed past, the true Emporium is likely the most powerful organization of traders, influencers, adventurers, and every type of skulldugger you might imagine.

On this day, you stand alongside other explorers, influencers, adventurers… perhaps skullduggers… in a chamber deep beneath what others believe to be the true Emporium. The floor is smooth, a polished obsidian marble that echoes with each footstep upon it. The wall behind you is gleaming white marble, a stark contrast to the dark shadows that obscure all other walls in the room. This is a of room which you had only ever heard whispered rumors, a room where the most important decisions happen, where the pebble drops whose ripple will change the course of kingdoms. A voice, in this immense room filled with shadows, slithers out to your ears. ”Good, you’re all here. Each of you have come to the attention of the Emporium as accomplished in your field, let us take that out of the way. The task, as it were, is thus: to go to a remote mountain valley and explore a ruin that has been newly discovered. The depths are as yet unplumbed, so you will have to open or excavate it yourselves. Go there, discover what lies within, solicit it to our cause… and you will be rewarded by the Emporium.”

~~~

System: D&D 3.5
Player Count: 4-5
Style of Play: Play-by-post, Campaign (role-play, dungeon delves, major social influences, etc)
Allowed Content:

• Printed 3.5 Material
• Homebrew by request
• Aiming at a Tier 2.5 type level of power/affect

Character Creation:

• Backstory: Have one, please. You’re working for the Emporium, so make sure your backstory ties into that please.
• Experience: Level 5 (we’ll be using milestone leveling)
• Wealth: Wealth by Level
• Ability Scores: 25 point buy
• Hitpoints/Health: Max at first, high side of average after
• Alignment: Have one, play by it, but play with the group. Remember to have a reason to invest in or engage in the plot.

Other Notes:
The game will begin with a dungeon delve, and then will present both Zigs and Zags that will expand your agency in the world. Speaking of the World, we’re using Generic Moderately-Low-Magic world for this. Feel free to create whatever you need in your backstories, I’ll make it fit.

Player	Character Name	Race	Class(es)	Picture?	Background?	Complete?
Auranghzeb	Sir Parnaso	Gold Dwarf	Dragonfire Adept/Cleric	Yes	ish	Sure
Cygnia	Coraz Tylin	Human	Cleric (Cloistered)	Yes	Deep	Yep!
BelGareth	Grik R'vasala	Duskling, Fey	Druid (shapeshifter\Incarnum)	Yes	in progress	Yep
kinem	Kard Rockwell	Dwarf	Stonemage	Yes	ish	I think?
Alabenson	Thetsu	Vanara	Feyblessed	No	in progress?	Yep
Goaty14	Aurae Draemeith	Killoren	Ritualist	Yes	You betcha!	Yep
Quentinas	Ivar Gemwork	Aleithian dwarf	Psychic warrior	No	Yes	Looks like it!
dragonsamurai77	Nobuyuri Sekigawa	Hengeyokai (fox)	Wu Jen	No	Nifty	Looks like it
Fliggl	Gloimondil Tungbarson	Dwarf	Warden	Yes	in progress?	Yep
Woodwalker	Keen	Tiefling	Archivist	Yes	Yep	Not yet
Master_Rahl22	Kyra Mora	Human	Duskblade	No	Aye	Si!
Cavir	Vrazik	Human	Warmage	Yes	Indeed	Quite so!
Dimers	Grey Breuer	Elan	psion (telepath)	No	In progress	In progress
Ancient	Riard Rimone Siallazar	Human	G.Swashbuckler/G. SwordSage	Yes	ish	Partial?
Book Wombat	Mae Arkhalis	Tibbit	Psion (Clairsentience)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mr Adventurer	Hechtor Vim	Human	Stalwart Warlock	Yes	Good	To
Mr Adventurer	Karolus Vex	Human	Swordsage	Yes	Go	Yay!

[JbeJ275]

Ooh interesting, specialists and influencers at the same time me-likely. Thinking of a dwarf specialised in subterranean adventure, warfare and reclamation. Often seen as one of the few young-uns doing it right by the elder more traditionalist dwarves, though this is more due to exaggerate tales of decadence and his own minor fame than any actual defect in young traditionalist dwarves.

[BelGareth]

oooh boy, here I go again.

[Syless]

Question: Is playing a dragon (via the draconomicon) allowed, and if so, does anyone want a pet newborn white wyrmling?

[Giegue]

Would you be ok with me running my homebrew Monarch of the Damned PrC? If so Dread Necromancer 3/Cloistered Cleric 1/Monarch of the Damned 1 is exactly where I’d want to be, and would be my ideal character. Finally, since 25 point buy makes it virtually impossible to get the stats this build would need without this feat, would you be cool with the Dynamic Priest feat from the Dragonlance books? I ask because it’s in a weird limbo between being 1st party and 3rd party, due to WOTC backing and sticking their labeling on the Dragonlance stuff despite not being the ones to make it, so I thought it wise to check with you on whether or not I can use it before assuming it’s close enough to 1st party to fly.

[Cygnia]

Expressing interest.

[Master_Rahl22]

Ooo, definitely interested. I'm thinking some sort of Int focus, like maybe Factotum or Duskblade.

[kinem]

Homebrew friendly?

How about my Stonemage?

[Ancient]

Would you be open to Grod's Revised 3.5 Classes? Asking for a friend.

[PeacefulOak]

Ooh interesting, specialists and influencers at the same time me-likely. Thinking of a dwarf specialised in subterranean adventure, warfare and reclamation. Often seen as one of the few young-uns doing it right by the elder more traditionalist dwarves, though this is more due to exaggerate tales of decadence and his own minor fame than any actual defect in young traditionalist dwarves.

Welcome! I'm interested in seeing where this character goes!

oooh boy, here I go again.

Here I go again!

Question: Is playing a dragon (via the draconomicon) allowed, and if so, does anyone want a pet newborn white wyrmling?

I'm leaning towards no on this one, sorry.

Would you be ok with me running my homebrew Monarch of the Damned PrC? If so Dread Necromancer 3/Cloistered Cleric 1/Monarch of the Damned 1 is exactly where I’d want to be, and would be my ideal character. Finally, since 25 point buy makes it virtually impossible to get the stats this build would need without this feat, would you be cool with the Dynamic Priest feat from the Dragonlance books? I ask because it’s in a weird limbo between being 1st party and 3rd party, due to WOTC backing and sticking their labeling on the Dragonlance stuff despite not being the ones to make it, so I thought it wise to check with you on whether or not I can use it before assuming it’s close enough to 1st party to fly.

re: Monarch of the Damned - this seems like a very powerful prestige class. Full cleric and Dread Necromancer casting alone is quite powerful, and this is action-packed with other bonuses. I'm not going to say no to it unless there is a general hue and cry about it, but I'm a bit worried about the army of undead marching across the land.

re: Dynamic Priest, I'm going to say No. It is a MAD prestige class, you must approach it MADly. ;)

Expressing interest.

Interest Noted, and welcome!

Ooo, definitely interested. I'm thinking some sort of Int focus, like maybe Factotum or Duskblade.

Welcome! Excited to see what you come up with.

Homebrew friendly?

How about my Stonemage?

Not at this moment going to look up each spell to make sure they're at their normal levels, so I'll ask and trust you: Are any of the spells granted at levels earlier than they would be in their original full-casting classes? If no, then the class looks OK-ish to me, but we might need to discuss the HP of the sphere.

Would you be open to Grod's Revised 3.5 Classes? Asking for a friend.

I am familiar with Grod's work, and tend to find it fairly balanced. Given that it is all aimed at T3, it should be fine. I don't think I'll force everyone onto that bandwagon, but I'm down if you (your friend) wants to use it. ;)

[Thunder999]

Seems interesting. What would you consider a good example of tier 2.5, or do you just mean you want a mix of tier 2 and 3 classes?
Oh and that stonemage looks pretty cool.

[Syless]

I'm leaning towards no on this one, sorry.

No worries! I'll see if any other concepts jump out at me, I'm still interested.

[Cygnia]

If I have something character specific that I don't necessarily want made public, may I PM them to you?

And a question was asked earlier about if flaws & traits are in play?

[kinem]

Not at this moment going to look up each spell to make sure they're at their normal levels, so I'll ask and trust you: Are any of the spells granted at levels earlier than they would be in their original full-casting classes? If no, then the class looks OK-ish to me, but we might need to discuss the HP of the sphere.

No, but if a spell appears on more than one list at different levels, the stonemage gets it at the lower spell level.

[Giegue]

Cool. Glad to know you’ll allow Monarch. Anyway, with all printed 3.5e content on the table, if flaws are allowed I HIGHLY recommend putting a hard cap on the number of flaws we can take, otherwise things can get out of hand fast. I’d personally limit everybody to only one flaw, though if you think that’s too draconian 2 is as far as we all should be allowed to go. Any more than that and it’s just too insane, and 2 flaws is already borderline insane anyway. In my eyes a hard cap of 1 flaw seems ideal to me; it still lets us play with flaws, but keeps them from getting out of hand.

[Master_Rahl22]

Is there a deadline for submissions?

[Goaty14]

Posting Interest
Grod's Ritualist looks particularly appetizing right now

[Dimers]

I think an elan psion could be good in a long-term, player-directed campaign. Someone interested in accumulating wealth and power toward a personal goal, and not worried about running out of time along the way.

How are you handling magic item creation without XP?

[Alabenson]

Out of curiosity, would you be open to my homebrew Feyblessed class?

[woodwalker]

Also interested, and also not super clear on what you mean by tier 2.5. I found some clarity in googling, but if you have a more specific idea of what you're looking for I'd appreciate it!

EDIT: That said, if he fits your tier requirements I feel like an Archivist fits this campaign like a glove, and I think I'll roll one up. I'll say that I'm nooot a min-maxer, but if the Archivist is too high a tier and you feel the need to nerf it a bit I'm fine with it. The flavor is just too good.

[Quentinas]

MMh i'm interested if it is not full ,probably i will have a CN character probably an aleithian dwarf psychic warrior until level 4 and then take the defender of sardior prestige class , and after i have finished that i was thinking to take sanctified mind prestige class so i have planned for some levels after that i don't know what i will do . Would that been acceptable? I could do even without the revised class but if i could use that i would be less MAD (probably maybe for some feats no)

[BelGareth]

Would this Dragonfire Adept Fix be ok?

It's kind of a merge between dragonfire adept and dragon shaman.

EDIT: nevermind, going to make some druid/Totemist/barb monstrosity

[fyleisch]

I'm really interested in the premise.

I'm thinking about a character who's a librarian for the Emporium, kind of a creepy individual who doesn't get much sun. I was picturing the library as something so old and so full of dark and unknown magic that it might have developed its own spiritual identity (of the kind that might fuel a cleric or warlock) and that it might slowly warp/abberate people who work for it too closely. I'm still fleshing out a concept. I might wait until there are a few coherent character pitches before submitting something concrete.

It seems like a neat setting with lots of potential. I think I'm meant to see the Emporium as a kind of disguised adventurer's guild, but I like the image of it also being a much more intense version of what it pretends to be as well, a deep & extensive library that uses its assets to accomplish things.

[Chronotyryn]

Posting interest. Thinking changeling Rogue1/Beguiler (or wizard/sorcerer, see below why) 4/Unseen seer 10/Recaster 4 (this adds up to 19).
Will add Shadow adept 1 if beguiler, something else if wizard.
Question is what is your stance on volley rule from rules compendium, because it influences this build.
Idea is to make sneaky roguish character with knack for arcana.
Volley rule in compendium is broken as written now, and would make this character awful in combat.

[Auranghzeb]

Interested:

Sir Parnaso is one of the last members of an ancient family of Gold Dwarves whose ancestors probably meddled with Brass Dragons. He is of noble origin and a natural leader. But his travels have led him to work closely with the Emporium because his household is deep in debt, mostly because of Parnaso's older brother. Parnaso does not like the shady activities of the Emporium, but his family honor and household dignity matter too much for him and are enough reason to collaborate with the Emporium.

Crunch is mostly done.

Spoiler: Parnaso

Show

Sir Parnaso
m LN Gold Dwarf Dragonfire Adept/Cleric, Level 4/1, Init 0, HP 48/48, DR 1/-, Speed 20
AC 22, Touch 10, Flat-footed 22, Fort 8, Ref 1, Will 6, Base Attack Bonus 3
Breath Weapon DC 16 (3D6 Fire, )
Fullplate, Hvy Shield (+8 Armor, +2 Shield, +2 Natural)
Abilities Str 10, Dex 10, Con 18, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 15
Condition None

REQUESTING that nasty Dragonfire Adept that was linked above. Hadn't ever seen it.

[PeacefulOak]

No, but if a spell appears on more than one list at different levels, the stonemage gets it at the lower spell level.

Works for me then!

Cool. Glad to know you’ll allow Monarch. Anyway, with all printed 3.5e content on the table, if flaws are allowed I HIGHLY recommend putting a hard cap on the number of flaws we can take, otherwise things can get out of hand fast. I’d personally limit everybody to only one flaw, though if you think that’s too draconian 2 is as far as we all should be allowed to go. Any more than that and it’s just too insane, and 2 flaws is already borderline insane anyway. In my eyes a hard cap of 1 flaw seems ideal to me; it still lets us play with flaws, but keeps them from getting out of hand.

Relax friend. I've been GMing for a long time, I know my stuff.

Is there a deadline for submissions?

Not as yet, no.

Posting Interest
Grod's Ritualist looks particularly appetizing right now

Heya Goaty! Welcome to the neighbourhood!

I think an elan psion could be good in a long-term, player-directed campaign. Someone interested in accumulating wealth and power toward a personal goal, and not worried about running out of time along the way.

How are you handling magic item creation without XP?

Crafting can only happen during periods of downtime (which will depend on the party), and I'll run it as creating at 100% of retail. This is a relatively low-magic world, no magic-item-mart available really. Having the capacity to convert your rewards into more customized gear for your character is the benefit of crafting in this game.

Out of curiosity, would you be open to my homebrew Feyblessed class?

Sure, looks neat and not overpowered at all. Very team-support oriented.

Also interested, and also not super clear on what you mean by tier 2.5. I found some clarity in googling, but if you have a more specific idea of what you're looking for I'd appreciate it!

EDIT: That said, if he fits your tier requirements I feel like an Archivist fits this campaign like a glove, and I think I'll roll one up. I'll say that I'm nooot a min-maxer, but if the Archivist is too high a tier and you feel the need to nerf it a bit I'm fine with it. The flavor is just too good.

I've seen a couple of questions about my T2.5 comment. Your googling is in the right area. My goal is in terms of optimization to see characters who have a variety of answers to a variety of situations, are good at their particular thing, but can also benefit from other players to support them in achieving their goals.

Archivist should be fine.

MMh i'm interested if it is not full ,probably i will have a CN character probably an aleithian dwarf psychic warrior until level 4 and then take the defender of sardior prestige class , and after i have finished that i was thinking to take sanctified mind prestige class so i have planned for some levels after that i don't know what i will do . Would that been acceptable? I could do even without the revised class but if i could use that i would be less MAD (probably maybe for some feats no)

That dwarf has a bunch of 3/day psionic powers, not sure how to rate that in terms of racial balance. This doesn't look bad overall though. Which revised class?

Would this Dragonfire Adept Fix be ok?

It's kind of a merge between dragonfire adept and dragon shaman.

I saw your edit, and either is fine.

I'm really interested in the premise.

I'm thinking about a character who's a librarian for the Emporium, kind of a creepy individual who doesn't get much sun. I was picturing the library as something so old and so full of dark and unknown magic that it might have developed its own spiritual identity (of the kind that might fuel a cleric or warlock) and that it might slowly warp/abberate people who work for it too closely. I'm still fleshing out a concept. I might wait until there are a few coherent character pitches before submitting something concrete.

It seems like a neat setting with lots of potential. I think I'm meant to see the Emporium as a kind of disguised adventurer's guild, but I like the image of it also being a much more intense version of what it pretends to be as well, a deep & extensive library that uses its assets to accomplish things.

It is all of these things and more! I like your take on it, excited to see what you build.

[PeacefulOak]

Posting interest. Thinking changeling Rogue1/Beguiler (or wizard/sorcerer, see below why) 4/Unseen seer 10/Recaster 4 (this adds up to 19).
Will add Shadow adept 1 if beguiler, something else if wizard.
Question is what is your stance on volley rule from rules compendium, because it influences this build.
Idea is to make sneaky roguish character with knack for arcana.
Volley rule in compendium is broken as written now, and would make this character awful in combat.

The rule as interpreted in the post you linked seems fine to me.

Interested:

Sir Parnaso is one of the last members of an ancient family of Gold Dwarves whose ancestors probably meddled with Brass Dragons. He is of noble origin and a natural leader. But his travels have led him to work closely with the Emporium because his household is deep in debt, mostly because of Parnaso's older brother. Parnaso does not like the shady activities of the Emporium, but his family honor and household dignity matter too much for him and are enough reason to collaborate with the Emporium.

Crunch is mostly done.

Spoiler: Parnaso

Show

Sir Parnaso
m LN Gold Dwarf Dragonfire Adept/Cleric, Level 4/1, Init 0, HP 48/48, DR 1/-, Speed 20
AC 22, Touch 10, Flat-footed 22, Fort 8, Ref 1, Will 6, Base Attack Bonus 3
Breath Weapon DC 16 (3D6 Fire, )
Fullplate, Hvy Shield (+8 Armor, +2 Shield, +2 Natural)
Abilities Str 10, Dex 10, Con 18, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 15
Condition None

REQUESTING that nasty Dragonfire Adept that was linked above. Hadn't ever seen it.

DFA approved, and nice to meet Sir Parnaso.

[Cygnia]

Spoiler: Background

Show

THEN...
"What is it you lack?"

The gnome lady's name was Toyn Bomba. Her eyes were grey and her bobbed hair was an interesting mixture of lavender and silver. Coraz couldn't tell if both colors were dyed or if one was highlighting the other. The gnome wore a simple brown robe and around her neck was a bronze pendant bearing an unblinking eye -- the symbol of Boccob. Coraz put her at around middle age, which for a gnome would mean about 250 years.

"Pa-pardon?" Wincing, the young woman fidgeted with the hem of her cloak before awkwardly rising to her feet. Her throat felt dry. Coraz didn't trust her voice right now, but Toyn took no apparent notice, instead gesturing to the relief set into the wall of the shrine. Another cold, unblinking eye stared out at the two of them.

"That's the way it is between gods and mortals. We call out to Them because we're missing something. Maybe They're missing something too. Maybe that's why They put up with us," Toyn smiled and jabbed a fat finger towards the eye. "Even Him."

A beat.

"Oh yeah, He's called 'The Uncaring'. But that doesn't mean He still won't make demands from you!" Toyn shook her head in amusement. "They ALL do, in Their own way. But Boccob, He's not as annoying as most."

Coraz blinked, taken aback by the gnome's words. "You...you ARE a priest, yes?"

"I've not been smited yet!" Toyn laughed. "I take that as a sign I've not displeased Him. But you, child..." The gnome cocked her head, peering now at Coraz. Coraz felt herself stiffen, wishing she would withdraw as deep as she could into the folds of her cloak. But there was no hint of surprise or malice in Toyn's voice as she continued. "...you're afraid of displeasing others, aren't you?"

Coraz just nodded, staring at Toyn with wide blue eyes and feeling the wetness behind them wanting to escape. The gnome took hold of her hand and gave it a matronly squeeze.

"He is the Uncaring One. Consider all sides of that coin, child." Toyn offered her a faint smile. "What is it you lack?"

Coraz's mind whirled. Protection and security, but there were other paths -- other gods that could offer that. If They didn't judge... Freedom? It didn't matter how far she could run, there was still that inescapable--

--no. They weren't inescapable. It was her own self. But if Boccob didn't care about that...

With trembling lips, Coraz answered "The truth."

Toyn nodded. "Then there it is then."

*****

NOW...

"The Emporium needs your services, Coraz..."

The willow-thin woman rose from her desk and bowed her head. Her heartbeat thundered in her chest. Even after all this time, she still worried. Every knock on the door, every throat-clearing cough could mean danger.

And yet, now Coraz finally felt alive.

...no, like myself. Every day, a little bit closer...

Spoiler

Show

Spoiler: Statblock

Show

Coraz Tylin
F N Human Cleric (Cloistered), Level 5, Init 0, HP 30/30, Speed 30
AC 15, Touch 10, Flat-footed 15, Fort 4, Ref 1, Will 7, Base Attack Bonus 2
MW Light Crossbow (40 bolts) +3 (1d8+1, 19-20x2)
Silvered MW Dagger +0/+3 (1d4, 19-20x2)
7/day mists conceal wearer for 1 minute, vision not obscured Mithralmist Shirt (+5 Armor)
Abilities Str 10, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 14

[Alabenson]

I'm still not quite done as I need to write a background and purchase equipment, but other than that I've got Thetsu, Vanara Feyblessed just about finished. I'll see what I can do to get the rest done later tonight

[Auranghzeb]

I'm still not quite done as I need to write a background and purchase equipment, but other than that I've got Thetsu, Vanara Feyblessed just about finished. I'll see what I can do to get the rest done later tonight

I really like your class, I'll will use it one day.