Dnd 3.5 - The Hunt for the Holy Grail.

[samduke]

Okay I have been asked for a while or so to run something like this.. so here goes this is more of a one shot than an adventure
names and things used are done tongue in cheek, do not take it to serious.

Big 16
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.)?
3.5

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.)?
a completely homebrewed lark

3. How many Players are you looking for? Will you be taking alternates, and if so, how many?
Four (if Paradox26 wants in then 3 others)

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

5. What is the characters' starting status (i.e. experience level)?
Level 18

6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with?
450,000 gp

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?
Any official 3.5 1st party material is allowed.

8. What races, subraces, species, etc. are allowed for your game? Will you allow homebrewed races or species? 'Prestige' races or species?
see #16

9. By what method should Players generate their attributes/ability scores and Hit Points?
you may roll 4d6b3 , 7 times and pick the best. IF you feel your rolls are not great you may use 32 point buy.
Hit points are maximum.

10. Does your game use alignment? What are your restrictions, if so?
Any alignment is allowed, however see #16

11. Do you allow multi-classing, or have any particular rules in regards to it?
No multiclassing penalties.

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?
I will do mine, you do yours.

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 flaws, no traits, no homebrew, no leadership or leadership related things.
ELephant in the Room rules are in effect.
No pregame item creation. You can combine items at +50% of lesser cost as normal.
I don't want anything cheesy. So no using efreeti to get free stat bonuses for example. The game will be low to mid optimization.

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)?
Keep it skirt length.

15. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above?
It is a lot of combat. very little RP or puzzles

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?
Any official 3.5 1st party material is allowed.
** your character is required to be undead! that is the TYPE: UNDEAD...
** your character is required to be undead! , you should probably be Evil but hey no chaotic stupid please.
** your character is required to be undead! , as such you may request an Undead Race, but I would prefer normal races for this.
** your character is required to be undead! , as such you may use an Undead Template, this template must fall within the following guidelines
you are allowed ( 1 and only ONE Template )
it must have a Level Adjustment: +#, >>LA:negative #, LA:-, or no LA listed are not acceptable, do not ask.<<
There will be no Level adjustment buy off so if you happen to choose some LA:10 Vampire template that is 10 levels less for classes

Your character is Undead prepare appropriately for things like Turn, Command, Rebuke Undead.

Background for your characters.
Your kind have gotten tired of the religious zelots hunting and destroying your kind. A few of you have gotten together to seek out the head of the local church and to turn them into one of you at all costs. Your kind have sent in many a scout to determine what you may face and all you do know is the church leader is a mighty holy man who also has a few men that seem to follow him. The last to report back has grave news apperently the church has some new weapon ment to exterminate all undead. They only overheard the following.

Consult the Book of Armaments!

[Lioslaith]

Let's give this a shot.

[watupwithdat]

I'm really curious how an undead druid would turn out, or rather if it would.

Not sure what race/template would be a good fit yet.

Is dragon mags counted as 1st party official material? Because Wild Reaper is probably the most suitable druid variant for this.

[truemane]

Metamagic Mod: this is probably unnecessary, but just in case, please remember to stray far away from any discussion of real-world religion.

[Rilem]

Wild Reaper is probably the most suitable druid variant for this.

Blighter could also work, though you'd probably need DM fiat to make Deforestation work if the party's not going to be in a forest all the time. (UPDATE: Talontar Blightlord looks even better.)

---

Couple questions: So let's say we just use a standard race like Dwarf, no templates: We're a Dwarf with undead type — no Con score, healed by negative energy and so on?

Also, what about the Monster classes from Libris Mortis or the Savage Progressions, maybe for somebody who's recently deceased. Would a Fighter16/Ghoul2 or Sorcerer16/Ghost2 work?

[samduke]

Dragon / dungeon mags are not on the table

As for caveats, players should probly avoid the need to have such granted. As for the type:undead classification you just need to show/explain As needed how you get there

@mod no real world religion or politics are at all implied.

[Dusk Raven]

Hmm... I have an undead concept or two. But before going for any of them, I must consult the dice!

[roll]4d6k3[/roll]
[roll]4d6k3[/roll]
[roll]4d6k3[/roll]
[roll]4d6k3[/roll]
[roll]4d6k3[/roll]
[roll]4d6k3[/roll]
[roll]4d6k3[/roll]

EDIT: ...Did I misremember the proper code? Whatever, I'll properly roll them when I'm more awake.

[Rilem]

Similarly, some rolls:

(4d6b3)[9]
(4d6b3)[14]
(4d6b3)[12]
(4d6b3)[14]
(4d6b3)[13]
(4d6b3)[14]
(4d6b3)[14]

[Psycho Ban]

Seems cool. Lets see what the dice think.
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]
edit: ...I'll just roll.
1:12
2:14
3:11
4:16
5:13
6:14
7:12

[Ancient]

Expressing interest...

Here we go.

Spoiler: Dice Rolls

Show

(4d6b3)[5]
(4d6b3)[12]
(4d6b3)[14]
(4d6b3)[11]
(4d6b3)[12]
(4d6b3)[9]
(4d6b3)[10]

Wow, 32pb it is.

[Infernally Clay]

Well there is an undead template called Death Knight, which sounds suitably epic to me. +5 level adjustment but it sure packs a punch. I think I'll make them a Crusader, rolls permitting. It's a more interesting twist on the Paladin.

(4d6b3)[7]
(4d6b3)[13]
(4d6b3)[13]
(4d6b3)[9]
(4d6b3)[11]
(4d6b3)[9]
(4d6b3)[17]

Well that's only a 28 point but so I guess I'll go for the 32 point buy instead.

[watupwithdat]

Unless I'm mistaken the only template which gives undead and doesn't include more than 1 LA seems to be Necropolitan. Could be an interesting origin for the party in its entirety.

(4d6b3)[17]
(4d6b3)[10]
(4d6b3)[10]
(4d6b3)[15]
(4d6b3)[11]
(4d6b3)[10]
(4d6b3)[11]

[samduke]

Seems cool. Lets see what the dice think.
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]
edit: ...I'll just roll.
1:12
2:14
3:11
4:16
5:13
6:14
7:12

no idea what occurred with your rolls but something definitely seems odd...

Hmm... I have an undead concept or two. But before going for any of them, I must consult the dice!

[roll]4d6k3[/roll]
[roll]4d6k3[/roll]
[roll]4d6k3[/roll]
[roll]4d6k3[/roll]
[roll]4d6k3[/roll]
[roll]4d6k3[/roll]
[roll]4d6k3[/roll]

EDIT: ...Did I misremember the proper code? Whatever, I'll properly roll them when I'm more awake.

proper code is [roll] then 4d6b3 then [/roll]

Unless I'm mistaken the only template which gives undead and doesn't include more than 1 LA seems to be Necropolitan. Could be an interesting origin for the party in its entirety.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]

to the best of my knowledge Necropolitan is probably the only LA+1 template that causes Type: Undead
but there are plenty of templates that cause Type: Undead to occur.

[Dusk Raven]

Unless I'm mistaken the only template which gives undead and doesn't include more than 1 LA seems to be Necropolitan. Could be an interesting origin for the party in its entirety.

That's the only one I know of that's that "cheap" myself. I've heard it considered to be a good option for PCs who want to be undead while still having, you know, class features. As I recall, it beasically just changes your type to undead, negates your con and gives you d12 hit dice, and that's it.

As for myself, my first idea is simple - a necromancer who's pretty much just an edgy goth chick... though not to the extreme she was at when she was younger. She's highly embarrassed by her younger self... but she was at least right about necromancy being cool.

Not sure what class to make her - Dread Necromancer is my first pick, possibly Death Master if that's allowed, but one of the things I've decided for her is that she has good INT, and if I only roll one good stat, I know what it's going to be. So, let's see what the dice decree!

(4d6b3)[15]
(4d6b3)[12]
(4d6b3)[13]
(4d6b3)[14]
(4d6b3)[10]
(4d6b3)[16]
(4d6b3)[12]

EDIT: Eh... I'll take it. On the bright side, we technically are picking the best five of seven.

[samduke]

Well there is an undead template called Death Knight, which sounds suitably epic to me. +5 level adjustment but it sure packs a punch. I think I'll make them a Crusader, rolls permitting. It's a more interesting twist on the Paladin.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]

Well that's only a 28 point but so I guess I'll go for the 32 point buy instead.

I accept Deathknight as LA+5 , you will need to convert that damage reduction 15/+1 to I believe it is
DR 10/magic
notation the Undead Followers: portion you would not benefit from as it is a leadership effect - which I have banned.

the Summon Mount (Su): will follow the same rules as the paladins special mount rule - except you are evil ( No nightmares as mounts sorry)

[samduke]

That's the only one I know of that's that "cheap" myself. I've heard it considered to be a good option for PCs who want to be undead while still having, you know, class features. As I recall, it beasically just changes your type to undead, negates your con and gives you d12 hit dice, and that's it.

As for myself, my first idea is simple - a necromancer who's pretty much just an edgy goth chick... though not to the extreme she was at when she was younger. She's highly embarrassed by her younger self... but she was at least right about necromancy being cool.

Not sure what class to make her - Dread Necromancer is my first pick, possibly Death Master if that's allowed, but one of the things I've decided for her is that she has good INT, and if I only roll one good stat, I know what it's going to be. So, let's see what the dice decree!

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]

EDIT: Eh... I'll take it. On the bright side, we technically are picking the best five of seven.

Death Master is in dragon compendium as far as I know that is a 1st party source

[Psycho Ban]

I'm thinking I'd play a ghost of a crusader of Orcus, so if allowed I'm going to go with Ghost Template 3/Crusader7/Tainted Warrior 8, provided the listed are allowed. Related question, are we using taint, and if so, what system?

[watupwithdat]

to the best of my knowledge Necropolitan is probably the only LA+1 template that causes Type: Undead
but there are plenty of templates that cause Type: Undead to occur.

The template is funky in the way that it's a LA 0 template that has an XP cost (one level +1000 xp).

If you acquired the template early in your career, for example at level 3 (making the cost of the template 3000 xp in total), and you get 153000 xp to make it to level 18, you'd have 150000 xp due to the template and be a fight from level 18.

[5ColouredWalker]

(4d6b3)[10]
(4d6b3)[16]
(4d6b3)[15]
(4d6b3)[16]
(4d6b3)[13]
(4d6b3)[16]
(4d6b3)[14]

I have ideas!

Edit:
Is Dragon Compendium considered acceptable? (Double checking since mags aren't.). Likewise is Savage Species and Libris Mortis acceptable? (Un-updated 3.0.)

I'm thinking of a Ghoul Warlock/Fighter (Or maybe just fighter) who eats the corpse while also stitching bits to himself, initially becoming undead to avoid his short lifespan from a race afflicted with such. Probably pretty low op.

If we pay for Desecration/services of a necromancer/etc can we treat ourselves as having been under those effects for character creation?

[Thunder999]

Probably going to be a nercopolitan necromancer of some form (but dread necromancer, evil cleric or necromancer wizard is a choice to make after rolling), level adjustment on anything else just costs way too many levels.

(4d6b3)[14]
(4d6b3)[13]
(4d6b3)[10]
(4d6b3)[17]
(4d6b3)[16]
(4d6b3)[14]
(4d6b3)[10]

Kind of odd we're rolling up 6 ability scores when noone will actually have a con score.

[Dusk Raven]

Probably going to be a nercopolitan necromancer of some form (but dread necromancer, evil cleric or necromancer wizard is a choice to make after rolling), level adjustment on anything else just costs way too many levels.

You too, eh? I'll probably pick what you don't, but I definitely won't pick Cleric. From what I can tell, they make for the better necromancers compared to Wizards, at least when it comes to minions... but I still want to be an arcane caster, with good INT, regardless of whether I have a use for it. Dread Necro would probably be best, infinite healing for the party and their allies!

[samduke]

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]

I have ideas!

Edit:
Is Dragon Compendium considered acceptable? (Double checking since mags aren't.). Likewise is Savage Species and Libris Mortis acceptable? (Un-updated 3.0.)

I'm thinking of a Ghoul Warlock/Fighter (Or maybe just fighter) who eats the corpse while also stitching bits to himself, initially becoming undead to avoid his short lifespan from a race afflicted with such. Probably pretty low op.

If we pay for Desecration/services of a necromancer/etc can we treat ourselves as having been under those effects for character creation?

I think compendium is 1st party, savage species, library mortise are ok, just don't forget low to mid optimization

Desication is not something that I am going to allow.. too janky

[Lioslaith]

Let's Roll...

Spoiler: Dices

Show

(4d6b3)[11]
(4d6b3)[11]
(4d6b3)[8]
(4d6b3)[6]
(4d6b3)[12]
(4d6b3)[13]
(4d6b3)[11]

Aaaaaand we will definitely be using the 32 pb option.

[5ColouredWalker]

I think compendium is 1st party, savage species, library mortise are ok, just don't forget low to mid optimization

Desication is not something that I am going to allow.. too janky

No desecration/reanimation by a corpsecrafting necromancer, got it. I'll keep extra arms/multitasking eb down/off as well.

How serious do you want our characters? Month Python, or straight men to any comedy they bring?

[paradox26]

As a place has been offered, I will accept gratefully, Sam, and will start a sheet. I am thinking a Sepulchral Thief from Cityscape, and probably a rogue for class with an unknown prestige class.

[samduke]

No desecration/reanimation by a corpsecrafting necromancer, got it. I'll keep extra arms/multitasking eb down/off as well.

How serious do you want our characters? Month Python, or straight men to any comedy they bring?

Bring on the monty

[Psycho Ban]

How much is a Greathorn Minotaur Hammer? I ask because there is no listed price in MMV.

[Rilem]

Going to try ghost/fighter/master of the unseen hand, an angry poltergeist throwing stuff around.

[paradox26]

Can I have a (un)dead parrot as a familiar?
Just kidding, though it would be perfect for a Pythonesque game.

[Dusk Raven]

Bring on the monty

Well, in that case... to give an example of how edgy this character is... while her given name is Meridith, in her earlier years as a necromancer, she often insisted on being called Merideath. I was going to have it so that she's now embarrassed by that name, and much of her edgy rebellious teen phase... but perhaps for this campaign, she's still like that, perhaps even worse. After all, if a 18th-level necromancer wishes to be addressed as "Lady Merideath Darkblossom, Witch of Death and Decay," most people are not going to do otherwise. The more powerful you are, the more people will let you be a goofball.

...Speaking of character peculiarities, Lady Darkblossom would like to be able to use magic of some sort to still look human. I don't know if Alter Self will accomplish that for an undead. Disguise self may work, but her flesh would still feel... "dry, withered, and powdery," as a Necropolitan. Assuming anyone tried to touch her, anyway. And I'm not sure how easily I could get those spells as Dread Necromancer, anyway. Not sure what other options I've got, though... anyone have suggestions? Whether for magic, or undead creatures capable of looking human, or at least semi-alive? Yes, Vampire is the obvious choice, but that LA...