RttToEE [3.5 D&D] (Inactive)

Game Master Stiehle

Greetings! I am currently recruiting two or three players for a D&D game using the 3.5 edition rules, set in the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil adventure module. Starting character level is 8, so you will be creating new characters at that level, with some starting magical gear as well. Note that this adventure has already started, and is roughly 1/3 of the way through (maybe even a bit less). The new recruits will be joining four other players, some of who began the adventure some several years ago. Before I go into further detail about character creation and rest of the party, I’d like to introduce how this game came to be on the Paizo board in the first place.

As a long-time player and GM for another play-by-post board called d20 World of Greyhawk, that has been around for 20 years or so, I have decided to move my ongoing adventures to the Paizo board for two big reasons.

First, our pbp board started with EZBoard, then it became Yuku in 2008 - which resulted in many problems, not the least of which was the loss of countless numbers of posts where entire chunks of pbp stories were lost forever. We got through it though, and only recently when Yuku became Tapatalk did many folks on our happy board begin to get really upset. There have been only a few instances of data loss, but mostly it's the style of the board that folks don't like. Switching between profiles is a real pain, and though the board has a couple of high points that, as a GM I find quite helpful, the majority of the changes are a real pain to deal with.

Second, over the years our group of dedicated players have seen new ones come, and others go. Unfortunately, the latter category is larger than the first, and attrition has taken its toll. There are now probably upwards of only ten or twelve active players left on the board. And when these long-term adventures see a great deal of turnover like this, it tends to disturb the momentum and flow of the game and slows things down even more than usually seen in a play-by-post game. Which is why most of my games have been lingering for years with very slow activity.

So, in moving to the Paizo board, I am hoping to recruit more players to join, and based on my experiences thus far on Paizo (I’ve been playing PFS, SFS and a couple other games here over the past several months) I am hoping that an infusion of new, experienced pbp gamers will help revitalize my adventures and get them moving again.

All that said, any players interested in joining this adventure will be creating 8th level characters from scratch. Character creation uses a very simple point buy system using base 8 scores and adding 25 points (not weighted) to a maximum score of 18, and minimum 8 score. Racial modifiers are not added to this, though such modifiers will allow a ‘new’ character to start with a score of higher than 18 or lower than 8 using the 25 points you are given. For instance, when you create your elf character, you can subtract 2 points from CON to give yourself a pool of 27 points, and then use 12 of those to make your DEX 20, but you cannot use more than 10 points to get your INT score to 18. And of course you will get to add another 2 points during creation, due to ability score increases at 4th and 8th level – which can also raise your scores beyond 18 (or even 20 in the above example). Here is a list of allowed sourcebooks, and a few ‘house rules’ regarding character races and classes. Once your character is created, you can spend up to 27k gp on magic items as you’d like, and/or allow me to bestow randomly determined magic items upon you that might deviate from that amount by no more than 2 or 3k either up or down.

A character history would also be nice, especially if related to the campaign world of Greyhawk, and if I get more players looking to join the adventure than I need, I will probably use such as a tie-breaker rather than using a lottery or first-come first-served. If you have the time and inclination to do so, you can also read the most recent adventure thread that has spanned the last four years (and probably a month or more in game time) right here. I definitely will give extra consideration to players who tie their background story into the adventure history thus far. No need to read the whole thing unless you have a lot of time on your hands, but skimming the most pages of the thread might be useful. Again, the board underwent massive changes of late that has really screwed with the font color and coding, so the thread is ugly, but readable. If you're really a glutton for punishment, you can take a look at the History of the adventure on the d20 WoG board here. Part of it is a summary of what happened, and there are links to the actual game threads as well sprinkled throughout. None of the original players are left, but then this epic game started more than 16 years ago or more, if memory serves me correctly.

Lastly, I have three confirmed players from the d20 WoG board that are migrating along with this adventure to Paizo - they are Svaerd (Human Barbarian 8), Norian (Human Sorcerer 8) and Phaligast (Gnome Wizard 8). I have also accepted a player from the Paizo board who is creating an 8th level druid character and I am still hoping to hear from my cleric player at the d20 board. When creating characters for this adventure, I’d ask new players to try and chose other roles beyond those that are currently covered. Obviously a rogue would be a good addition, or pretty much anything else!

If you have questions about creating your characters or anything else with regards to the game, please post them here. I'd like to keep the Gameplay thread clear until we start the game. Thanks!

Hi. I was interested when you recruited for Mummy's Mask, and I'm interested in this one also, since from what I read your games seem to have a nice pace and style.

So, 3.5... is there a way to consult the rules? I sold all my books long ago.

Hi Jereru, good to see you again! There is a 3.5 SRD that could help, though you'll only find the basic classes, feats, etc. Which isn't a bad thing! There are so many splatbooks, sooo many...

That said, the D&D Tools site has pretty much ALL of the classes, feats and everything else you could find in the various 3.5e splatbooks. Let me know if I can be of further help! I am eager to get this adventure going again. :)

Thank you! I'll see what I can come up with.

ToEE was one of my favorite games, back in the day, and this sounds like a lot of fun. To make sure I've got it clear, you'd like anything OTHER than a barbarian, a sorcerer, a wizard, a druid, and probably a cleric, correct? Are there any race restrictions (beyond keeping to the standard races)?

Hi Stedvan! This one is certainly a classic (written by Monte Cook!) and it's been a lot of fun so far - if challenging! The summary post I'm working on (and will have completed within a week, I think) will have more details of what's happened and what your likeliest options are to choose from (or you can go an entirely different way, if the party so desires).

Your above synopsis is correct, though I still haven't heard from the cleric (though the fellow is a LONG time player, so I'm hopeful he's just busy with RL of late).

Pretty much the standard races is what you'll want to choose from (no monster races, please), though the subraces are fine - so long as they are from the approved sourcebooks I've linked to in the main recruitment post above.

anything OTHER than a barbarian, a sorcerer, a wizard, a druid, and probably a cleric

Mmmh... thatleaves us with quite some restricted options - arcanes are checked, divines are checked, melee are half-checked...

I was having a look at the cleric, so if the one in the game doesn't seem to answer in a reasonable time (or answers negatively) please let us know.

What sort of priest is your friend, West? Perhaps a cleric of a different faith might be acceptable?

For myself, expect a rouge of some sort, since that space isn't filled. Any suggestions for my skill point allocations?

The current priest is a cleric of Pelor.

On reflection though Jereru, and as plenty of healing is always a good thing anyway, let's go ahead and open this up to clerics of another deity as Stedvan suggested? Perhaps you could go with a warrior-based cleric, as the current cleric Sol has some ability to fight, but not much. But whatever you'd like would be fine.

For a rogue, I'd suggest one that can find/disarm traps and good in melee combat as a nimble fighter type. However, anything you'd enjoy playing would work just as well.

For any other potential players, there are also other options of course, a ranger or scout would be viable, paladin or knight, a bard, or any one of a number of others found in those 3.5 splatbooks (or on the D&D Tools site I linked above).

I'll throw my hat into the ring here.

As your group doesn't have a ranged focused character, I think I'll make an archer.

Would it be ok if I took Improved Manyshot from the Expanded Psionics Handbook?

Alright, I might also try building a Knight or Fighter and making it a defensive melee. Would go well with the barbarian and help protecting the arcanes.

HPs: 4d10 + 3d8 ⇒ (4, 2, 6, 10) + (4, 1, 2) = 29 38 total HP after raising lower than half to half HP.

Here is my submission:

Hi Vrog, I don't have access to that particular splatbook, but the quick Google search I did makes it appear that Improved Manyshot is an Epic feat, so I'd probably say no to that one. Especially when Greater Manyshot is out there for anyone to use.

Not sure if you decided to go against the idea anyway, since I only see Manyshot on your character sheet, so we're all good. By the way, an Occult Slayer is a very relevant character class for this game. :)

Also, I did get an e-mail from my cleric player and it sounds as though he's been busy in RL, but still interested in continuing the adventure.

A knight or otherwise strong defensive character would work very well. The barbarian and another strong defensive fighter type (whose player is no longer around) did indeed make a potent combination.

Hi GM West,

Would you be open to a Paladin of Freedom who worships Trithereon? If so, count me in as your Strong Defensive Fighter fill-in.

I didn't have the feats for Greater manyshot (which was the one I was thinking of, not improved).

I like to make different archers than you would normally see in 3.5, so I typically don't make OBIs or cleric archers, for example.

Certainly Trigger, create your character and I'll take a look! At this point, I'm probably going to take two characters, rather than three - based on how many players I believe are coming over from the old board. Hopefully I'll have the decision made and the adventure rolling again in a couple of weeks, definitely by the end of May. If you all will create your characters based on discussions so far, I'll shoot for making a decision by Friday, May 25th

Working on the finishing touches of my character, a Rogue/Swashbuckler. I'd forgotten how many skill points there are to allocate for a rogue-type. ;)

I've noticed some of your players have Flaws, a mechanic that, to my knowledge, is included in Unearthed Arcana. I can't see this book in the approved books list. Am I missing it? Is the whole of UA allowed, or just the flaws?

Stedvan, yes that was one of the things I loved about Pathfinder, streamlining the skill points as they did. Rogues have a ridiculous amount of skill points!

Jereru, just the flaws, not the book. :)

So we can take flaws

So we can take flaws

Yes indeed! But please stick to the flaws on the d20 WoG board I've linked to. Here is the post with the list of what's available. You can take up to two flaws, if you'd like.

Just a quick heads-up that I'll need finished character sheets for any players interested in this game by Friday, May 25. I'm looking to restart the game on the weekend. Thanks!

1d8 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
1d8 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
1d8 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
1d8 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
1d8 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

If anyone is interested in joining this adventure, we could use a brawny fighter type to join us! Check out the very first post in this thread, which will hopefully answer any questions on creating a character. Thanks!

i can get something together tonight....what is oart breakdown...i assume still lvl 8?

Hi Grimdog, glad you found us over here! Yes, still Level 8 and welcome to the game!!

sweet....ill get something together in a but after the football game

just about done the toon...anyone have a template for a 3.5 character sheet?

Don't worry too much about a template. I usually convert to a formatted sheet that I like to use myself and that's how I also verify accuracy in the character creation. However, below is one you can use if you'd like. It's a pre-gen template for a barbarian, so just replace the scores, equipment, etc with your own. I've also got one for a Fighter if that'd be better for you.

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Character Name:
Character Race:
Character Class(es): Barbarian
Alignment:
Deity:
Gender:
Age:
Height:
Weight:
Eyes:
Hair:

Character Level:
EXP Points Gained:
EXP Needed For Next Level:

Known Languages :

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Strength : 18 (+4)
Dexterity : 15 (+2)
Constitution : 16 (+3)
Intelligence : 8 (-1)
Wisdom : 8 (-1)
Charisma : 8 (-1)

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Armor Class: 18 [BASE (10) + ARMOR (4) + SHIELD (2) + DEX (2)]

Flatfooted AC: 16
Touch AC: 12

AC Penalty: -2 [-4 with shield]
Maximum DEX bonus: +4
Armor Type & Weight: Chain Shirt (25 lb.) and Heavy Wooden Shield (10 lb.)

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Hit Points : 15

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Base Speed: 40'/round [Fast Movement]

Total Encumbrance: 71 lb. - [Light Load]

Normal Speed: 40'/round

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Save vs. Fortitude: +5 [BASE (+2) + CON (+3)]
Save vs. Reflex: +2 [BASE (+0) + DEX (+2)]
Save vs. Will: -1 [BASE (+0) + WIS (-1)]

Special Save Notes : +2 to Will Saves when in 'Rage'

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Initiative Modifier : +2 [DEX (2)]

Melee Attack Bonus : +5 [BAB (1) + STR (4)]

Ranged Attack Bonus : +3 [BAB (1) + DEX(2)]

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Weapons :

Battle Axe | +5 melee attack | 1d8+4 damage | [x3] critical | Slashing damage

Dagger | +5 melee or +3 ranged attack | 1d4+4 damage | 19-20 [x2] critical | 10' range | piercing damage

Throwing Axe (2) | +5 melee or +3 ranged attack | 1d6+4 damage | [x2] critical | 10' range | Slashing damage

Javelin | +3 ranged attack | 1d6+4 damage | [x2] critical | 30 range | Piercing damage

Weapon Weight: 13 lb.

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Skills :

Total Skill Points Earned = 16

Skill Name - Skill Total, number of Ranks and/or Racial Modifier

Climb +7 (STR) ** 3 Ranks
Intimidate +3 (CHA) ** 3 Ranks
Jump +7 (STR) ** 3 Ranks
Listen +3 (WIS) ** 3 Ranks
Survival +3 (WIS) ** 4 Ranks

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Feats :

Feats = 2

Feat Name & Description:

Power Attack: May choose to subtract a number from all melee attack rolls and add the same number (twice the number for two-handed weapons or one-handed weapons wielded with both hands) to all melee damage rolls. This number may not exceed the base attack bonus (BAB) and must be declared at the beginning of any combat round prior to the attack roll being modified.

Cleave: If an attack deals enough damage to drop an opponent in any combat situation, may take an immediate, extra melee attack against another creature in the immediate vicinity. The extra attack is made with the same weapon and with the same bonus as the attack that dropped the previous creature. No five-foot step may be taken with this bonus attack and it is usable only once per round.

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Racial and Class Skills & Abilities:

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A barbarian is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light armor, medium armor, and shields (except tower shields).

Fast Movement (Ex): A barbarians land speed is faster than the norm for his race by +10 feet. This benefit applies only when he is wearing no armor, light armor, or medium armor and not carrying a heavy load. Apply this bonus before modifying the barbarians speed because of any load carried or armor worn.

Illiteracy: Barbarians are the only characters who do not automatically know how to read and write. A barbarian may spend 2 skill points to gain the ability to read and write all languages he is able to speak.
A barbarian who gains a level in any other class automatically gains literacy. Any other character who gains a barbarian level does not lose the literacy he or she already had.

Rage (Ex): A barbarian can fly into a rage a certain number of times per day. In a rage, a barbarian temporarily gains a +4 bonus to Strength, a +4 bonus to Constitution, and a +2 morale bonus on Will saves, but he takes a 2 penalty to Armor Class.

Extra Feat: Humans gain one bonus feat at 1st level.

Extra Skill Points: Humans gain four bonus skill points at 1st level, then one extra skill point at each level thereafter.

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Equipment & Gear:

Travelers Outfit (0 lbs)

Backpack [Holds] (2 lbs)
6 days rations (6 lbs)
Winter Blanket (3 lbs)
Bedroll (5 lbs)
Torch (1 lbs)
Waterskin (4 lbs)

Belt Pouch [Holds] (.5 lbs)
Flint & Steel (0 lbs)
Tinder Twigs (0 lbs)

Belt Pouch [Holds] (.5 lbs)
WhetStone (1 lbs)

Armor weight: 35 lbs
Weapon Weight: 13 lbs
Equipment Weight: 23 lbs
Total Weight: 71 lbs

Carrying Capacity: -- Light Load up to 100 lb. | Med Load 101-200 lb. | Heavy Load 201-300 lb.

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Money : 0 PP | 11 GP | 2 SP | 7 CP

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Character History:

that works....he's a ranger/barbarian/deepwarden....based off a character i played in a 3.5 campaign before we switched to PF....just have to finalize a few choices...like trairs and gear. i have weapon crystals and an armour crystsl from the Maguc Item Compedium...they ok? and i didnt bother tracking mundane equipment cost...ie backoack, rope etc...but dus with holy water and acid ...

Those crystals are just fine! Also, you've got that second slot in my Expedition to the Ruins of Castle Greyhawk if you're still interested in that adventure as well! :)

might be stretching myself a bit thin...still have a bunch of PFS games going on...oh...and traits...same as yuour other recruitment? 2 and a flaw?

Correct! Don't stretch yourself thin, though! I can do with only one player in that Ruins adventure and I've already got one player lined up. This one can definitely use a heavy hitter though to help out, if you want to choose only one of the two adventures. Plus I've got an e-mail out to an old friend who might be interested in a spot - though I haven't heard from him yet. So whatever you're comfortable with is fine with me! :)

hey...some stuff is going on here...have to back out of this game...sorry man...don't wanna start something and not give 100%..nothing serious, just busy and stuff....possibly moving soon....and the pains in the posterior that brings...

dotting with interest, and I still have all my 3.5 books.

Looks like you have All the roles covered sans the assault role.
And I already have a few ideas.

Very cool, welcome RHMG! I'm looking forward to your character concept! And yes, assault role would be best as the party's main 'tank' is the druid's giant ape.

Are you open to use the Racial templates?
And if yes how high of a Level Adjustment?

As I'm looking at template wise;
* Half-dragon for a Elemental immunity and some Natural armour.
* Half-Minotaur for increased damage output, some natural armour, and scent so no surprises.
* Feral for Fast healing, and Natural armour

I'm actually not a fan of the racial templates, sorry about that. I've got a link to the Accepted Source Books in the first post describing character creation.

You do have solid ground for the refusal of Feral and Half-minotaur templates as they are not in the approved list and did require asking.
But you do have the Monster Manual listed as a Approved source book, which the Half-dragon Template is in and on page 146, so it can count as a Approved Race.
As there was NO mention that Races had to be Core and or from Approved Races of Books, and no hints at no templates.

At least I was not looking at making a Half-Celestial Paladin which would likely have a been a bit broken for the group fighting in a temple of elemental evil.

Honestly, I haven't really taken a hard look at the Half-dragon template. I'm still used to the old board where approval for non-core races was difficult to get (requiring all GMs to agree on.) Now that it's just me, I'll tend to be more lenient, so long as it doesn't seem 'broken' or 'uber' or anything along those lines. Go ahead and work up your character sheet so I can take a look and compare with the other characters involved in the adventure already. Do keep in mind any ECL, which will affect your character level.

My only concern is having a character that is more powerful than the others already involved - which would probably be the case with adding the Celestial template (though your character level would be significantly lower than everyone else as well!) Any reservations on my part will probably be assuaged by seeing the final product you come up with. Thanks!!

I'm working on the Concept and ironing out ideas of the character's backstory, over all idea, build, and other details.

I am looking back over my 3.5 books to see what there is as options for the ideas,
Guessing Able Learner is in the grey zone and should be confirmed.
Since RAW it's allowed (it is not a Human only Feat),
but RAI it's not allowed (it is a Human and Doppleganger Only feat).

As for the base Stat Array (level 1, pre-racial) I plan on using for the character is;
13,12,12,12,12,12, thought I might do 14,13,12,12,12,10.
The Array is only is decending order, not order of stats.

I'll be busy almost all day friday, so I'll get to start crunching the build likely on Saturday.

If you're adding the half-dragon template to a human, I'll allow you to have that feat.

Now that I think about it, the group could use a healer-type as well, since the player with the Cleric of Pelor has also recently taken his leave.

So I do have one more slot open. RHMG, if a cleric suits you better that would work too - especially a battle cleric of some kind.

I could make a battle cleric, quickly thought of a
Draconic(Human) Monk/Cleric(dragonblood sub)/Sacred Fist
But I'd need access to the Superior Unarmed Strike feat to keep the Damage output up since Cleric could be a number more levels then Monk.
Draconic has a LA of +1, will help with the combat area of stats and gives access to the Cleric racial sub levels which will help nicely against one energy type for everyone and give another defensive move with the others.

If the above works for you then I could work on both my original idea and this one and then decide between the two.

Now I did notice the druid has the Exalted Feat(s) mainly Vow of Poverty, which could help my Battle Cleric build, but I'll need to think on it as it could make for a interesting character and or backstory.

Sounds good, make 'em both and we'll see which one flies! :)

Got most of the Half-dragon Barbarian character Done and still working on it,
will work on the sacred fist tomorrow, as I'm also working on the Character renderings for both of them.

I totally forgot I've got a battle cleric with us already, RHMG! Let's stick with your barbarian, if you're cool with that?

Working on the backstory and reading a bit about the Greyhawk world to integrate the Backstory better to the Greyhawk World.

also almost done making the Half-Dragon character render.

Half-dragon ready for review.
Haven't completed all the details, but it gives a baseline.

Question could I swap Bite attack (1d6) for a tail slap attack (1d6)
Since it works better with the given render and character model?