Just setting this up. I'm skipping recruitment for the moment because it doesn't look like we'll need it. For those who asked, the requested invites are fine; just understand I don't recommend myself as a DM, if for no other reason than my lack of experience.
Tavien is a grey and grey morality world. As such, I hope during the game to not simply test you in terms of tactics, but with questions which provide no right answers. Not lose/lose situations, mind you, but questions of loss/loss. As such, I encourage you to think outside the box, but inside the situation. Given my educational background, expect heavy use of psychology on my part. That means I will attempt to be realistic in terms of responses.
Welcome to Tavien.
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Simplicity is the grassy field which hides the pit, though in this case it causes 1d10 psychic damage, will save for half.
Groovy, well I was going to use my new iplay4e sheet, but with all the extras, my DDI Character builder is freaking out, lol, so good 'ol mythweavers it is!!
I present Laine, still in her form made for another game. I'll have to adapt the backstory and references to another character in the end and such, as well as stats. But that's the character I'd like to play for this one. A little more mature-themed for this game than originally intended, but still.
Still need to read up on inherent bonuses.
Given the rogue weapon talent and the versatility of the dagger, I don't need the weapon proficiency feat. Can I retrain that or is that fixed?
edit: I'd especially like to keep her custom background and the magic clothes.
Ok, first things first: Ioun is the goddess of knowledge.
PHB's second of Ioun's command is the pivotal one in Tavien: "Accumulate, preserve, and distribute knowledge in all forms. Pursue education, build libraries, and seek out lost and ancient lore."
So almost thirty years before this campaign begins, Vecna was slain, and his collection of secrets fell primarily into one goddess's hands: Ioun's. Remember that Ioun calls for her followers to "distribute knowledge in all forms." Vecna had a lot of dirty secrets collected in his lair. What happens when your secrets (failed assassination attempts, theft from "allies", etc.) fall into the hands of a goddess who wants all information in the public domain? Her followers become the most dangerous bunch around for those who rely on secrets.
This campaign takes place in the aftermath of that setup. Ioun's followers are commanded to spread information in all forms, and the present environment is based on secrets. As such, your character has a conflict of interest serving a goddess who wants your employer's secrets (research, historic info, etc.) made known to all. If your character releases that information, even if he/she isn't discovered, the rival cartel's gain a competitive edge. If you release your rival's information, your group loses the competitive edge they would have from insider knowledge. Welcome to loss/loss situations.
@Ridai
The extra feats aren't retrainable. I put them in to prevent players from being penalized for wanting imaginative characters (a kukri wielding warlock, for example), so they're mostly flavor feats.
Edit: I will be out for the next few hours. Have some work to do, but I will respond to as much as I can of whatever comes up in the meanwhile afterwards. I'll also set up an IC thread once we have character ideas a bit more fleshed out.
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Simplicity is the grassy field which hides the pit, though in this case it causes 1d10 psychic damage, will save for half.
Are we all assumed to be servants of Ioun? My character is very much into changing personalities, but not really all that much to deceive, but to embrace different parts of herself.
I don't like to force characters, and as such, I can't think of what I'd want to be right this second. Gimme an evening, a day, what have you. Starting level six, or seven?
Don't worry, Dane. I'll need some time to make adjustments to Laine as well. That and flesh out her home city and figure out where to place it. The game this character originally was made for was a steampunk-y one, so I'd also like to know how much tech in that regard is there. Manufactures with smoke and such rising in loads from it make a big appearance in her backstory and such.
And of course, I'd like to discuss character connections/interactions.
I hope you don't all mind, but I received a message from Ridai advertising this game (sorry for not responding, by the way - I was at schoooooool). Needless to say, by posting here I'm interested! While black and white, good versus evil campaigns are fun and all, it's always refreshing to take a departure from that and play something different. The setup and presumed theme for this one seem like they'll require a little bit more careful thought and weighing of options than the typical game, and I'm all for that!
Though I'd like to look over things a bit more before I submit my own character, I think I'd probably put forward either a leader (melee cleric/warlord) or defender (pally/fighter) if no one else has snatched up those slots. I tend to find those roles more fun to play, if only because I usually trap myself with boring damage stacking builds whenever I play the other archetypes!
Hey there, Celtic! It'll be nice to play with you guys again!
I guess a few things I'd like to ask about now that I've gotten back are about those house rules, if they're not too stupid!
First, what are those inherent bonuses that are mentioned a few times? I don't think I've seen those before, though this might be my long absence from 4e speaking!
Secondly, should we go ahead and roll in here? I was thinking I might start playing around with some builds!
Other than that, everything looked pretty solid! It should be fun to play around with the sort of laissez-faire handling on plothooks. I might end up doing a little bit of recycling from old characters myself since that's the case!
Hey Paperscrap. I "took over" the controller role, if you will, for Ember in the Harken game. Really enjoyed your input in that game and glad to see you here!
As for my dude, I'm going to wait until those who are more passionate about the roles they'll fill post their characters. I'll pick something :)
(4d4b3)[6] + 6 = 12 Str
(4d4b3)[9] + 6 = 15 Con
(4d4b3)[8] + 6 = 14 Dex
(4d4b3)[7] + 6 = 13 Int
(4d4b3)[12] + 6 = 18 Wis
(4d4b3)[6] + 6 = 12 Cha
Last edited by Great Dane : 10-09-2012 at 07:38 PM.
Take your time creating characters. I honestly wasn't expecting to create the IC thread for another day or two at the earliest. As for level, 6 seems like a good choice, unless there is a strong call for 7 instead.
Regarding treasure, I'm honestly still trying to figure that out. Using inherent bonuses makes this messy, because cheaper items are just as effective as the more expensive ones. As such, the treasure value on the surface will need to be lower, as items will last much longer. For the moment, let's leave rare items under "Nay," though I'm willing to look at them case by case.
I expect weapons will be rarely show up in treasure, so pick your starting weapons/armor carefully. Most magic items you receive as treasures will be utility accessories and the like.
Welcome, Paperscrap. Inherent bonuses is a house rule from DMGII which basically says, "Managing to keep everyone's bonuses (to hit, saves, etc.) on track is a pain in terms of treasure creation/bookkeeping, so everyone just gets those for free at the appropriate levels." +1 to hit and damage 2, 7, 12, 17, 22, 27, and +1 all defenses at 4, 9, 14, 19, 24, 29.
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Simplicity is the grassy field which hides the pit, though in this case it causes 1d10 psychic damage, will save for half.
Cool, Sierim. As for me, given the heavy emphasis on divine characters, I'm thinking of being a [race redacted] Avenger of the Raven Queen.
Looking at this class, it's not quite as important to have pre-racial 18s in the primary attribute because you get to re-roll attacks so much. Knowing that, I'm going to reroll my stats in the hope that I can get two 10+s as opposed to one 12 if that's okay.
Last edited by Great Dane : 10-09-2012 at 07:57 PM.
Hey Dane! I was following the thread for a little while after I left, and I think you made a more than fine replacement from what I saw, haha. With all of you on board, I'm sure this game will be fun!
As far as those inherent bonuses go, those are pretty nifty - I'll have to remember to take those into account when it comes to getting things set up. Speaking of which, just let me know if I'm stepping on any toes with those class selections! I'm not really married to either role if need be, they're just usually the ones I try to pick if possible.
I'm going to go ahead and roll my stat block here too!
Technology is in flux on account of the knowledge crisis. Think shortly after the black plague, with the deaths/flight of the vast majority of your most knowledgeable citizens. Technology/society was looking like early Renaissance, and now it's slipping back toward late middle ages. The putting-out system rather than factory system is what you'd find in cities.
If you want a background with lots of smoke, an iron mining town in Rockfall would be your best bet. Not factories, but lots of smelting.
@Great Dane
Rerolling is fine. Your current array is only a 37 point, and anything below 40 may be rerolled.
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Simplicity is the grassy field which hides the pit, though in this case it causes 1d10 psychic damage, will save for half.
Assuming a level 6 start, are we doing the level 5/6/7 magic items + XXX amount of gold?
If so, does the houserule (d6 per plus on a crit) overrule the benefit of a vicious weapon (d12 per plus on a crit)?
Stat block, for now
Spoiler
====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Arano, level 6
Drow, Avenger
Avenger's Censure Option: Censure of Pursuit
Inherent Bonuses
Theme: Sohei
FINAL ABILITY SCORES
STR 15, CON 16, DEX 20, INT 15, WIS 20, CHA 15
STARTING ABILITY SCORES
STR 15, CON 16, DEX 17, INT 15, WIS 17, CHA 15
Just want you guys to know that I'll probably take Devout Defender, which inexplicably provides a +1 AC shield bonus to everyone regardless of distance/line of effect/whether you're on another plane of existence, so long as I'm using a shield, so keep that in mind as shield bonuses don't stack.
Just want you guys to know that I'll probably take Devout Defender, which inexplicably provides a +1 AC shield bonus to everyone regardless of distance/line of effect/whether you're on another plane of existence, so long as I'm using a shield, so keep that in mind as shield bonuses don't stack.
Well, my Ranger/Cleric is going to have Battle Cleric Lore as well, and is going to be a melee striker.
EDIT: Also, you won't have to worry about healing him, really. Part of his backstory is that he will have been on his own for quite a while, so he will be a little bit......odd
I mentioned playing a changeling artful dodger rogue back in the dice thread (and linked the sheet above), the alternative would be a tiefling paladin or another defender. Controllers don't do anything for me.
My preference really is that rogue, but if another one of you is deadset on being a striker, then I'll go for defender.
I'm more worried about serious overlap with Dane's character, who also seems the stealthy acrobatic type.
Can we take one of the Essentials expertise feats in place of Weapon Expertise (for example, Light Blade Expertise)? Are we using the Essentials defense booster feats or the PHB versions?
Can I hold a weapon in my off-hand and attack with it (for example, a dagger and throw it) instead of my main hand without Two-Weapon Fighting? Is there a penalty involved? Going Rapier/Dagger would be pretty much ideal for me.
I was actually thinking of the Essential Feats when I made that houserule, so yes, you may use Light Blade Expertise and the like. Essential Defensive boosts are also fine. In general, I sunset feats that are fully eclipsed by new feats.
Regarding TWF, if there isn't a penalty for wielding two weapons by default (and I thought that was dropped after 3.5 on account of powers), I haven't houseruled one in.
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Simplicity is the grassy field which hides the pit, though in this case it causes 1d10 psychic damage, will save for half.
I don't think there is a TWF penalty, but I thought it couldn't hurt to ask. I can imagine some people would hang onto the way 3.5 handled things and thus require the TWF feat.
Any word about starting items and gold? Is it the standard 7/6/5 + Item Lv 5 worth of gold?
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Tavien (4e) OOC: Knowledge is Power
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Gimme an evening, a day, what have you. Starting level six, or seven?
