Thousands of years ago, a city of elves rose in the forests of Cormanthor and became a shining beacon of light and song. It was a bastion of peace and tranquility in a world filled with danger and destruction. All peoples were welcomed beneath the boughs of the forest, and Myth Drannor, crown jewel of the elven nation of Cormanthyr was known and loved across all Faerun by any who treasured knowledge and sought harmony. Then, as silver is tarnished by age and neglect, so, too, was the City of Love laid low by dark, corrupting forces of hatred and envy. An Army of Darkness, summoned by the elves’ ancient foes, ravaged the nation and brought the city into ruin. Now, the forest of Cormanthor is a haunted, dangerous place, filled with evil and darkness. The city is in ruins, held by the enemies who long ago destroyed the kingdom. Its former glory is but a distant memory. Soon, even that shall become but a footnote in history before lost altogether.
I need a band of brave souls, small in number, though large of heart, no more than a half dozen, to join an epic quest and save Myth Drannor from her fate, that the City of Song may once again ring throughout the Realms!
The Fluff
This is seriously important. I cannot stress this enough. Background. Is. Important. This is an epic fantasy, about a group of relative unknowns who will end up retaking/restoring Myth Drannor to its former glory. Characters should have flaws and foibles and room to grow, but they should also be connected to Myth Drannor and the nation of lost Cormanthyr in their history. Maybe they’re descended from citizens. Maybe they’ve always been fascinated by the tragedy of the fall of the City of Song. Maybe they just have always felt drawn to the woods northeast of Cormyr. Whatever the reason, it should be a deeply personal and a powerful connection for the character. They might not even realize it’s there. But, you do, and it will be used.
You’ll be starting on the blustery night of Marpenoth 15 at the Halfway Inn, a traveler’s tavern and inn located in the western side of the mountains facing the Forgotten Forest along the trade road to Evereska. . Why are you there? Where do you hope to go? These questions should be included in your background/hook. I’m not asking for the great American novel, but I am asking for more than a few sentences and a character description. A paragraph or so is fine, give more if you feel like it. I tend to respond better to characters that feel alive and have really fleshed out origins and personalities. In general, though, restoring the famed City of Song, is something your character will fall into. It can be a wish/desire, but it’s not their main purpose. I’m trying to create a more romantic fantasy/epic quest vibe, like a novel where relatively normal peeps by chance and fate end up accomplishing something PROFOUND.
For those of you who know about this stuff and/or care, the game will be set in the Old Gray Box of Forgotten Realms. That’s pre-Time of Troubles. Why? Because, I really don’t like most of the fallout from the Time of Troubles (Midnight sucks; Cyric is the worst thing to ever happen in gaming history. EVER; and while I appreciate what they were trying to do with Kelemvor… no. They are all poor substitutes for Bhaal, Myrkul, and Mystra), and that stuff doesn’t really affect our area anyways, so why not arbitrarily say that the stuff I don’t like doesn’t exist?
The game will also be fairly sandbox. I have a plot, it’s a good one. And, I know where you’re going down my wonderful little railroad. However, the plot is on the PC’s timetable, and can wait until they’re ready to move on. If a PC wants to build a border fort, we’ll make that happen. If someone else wants to get married and establish a family line. Sure, I’ll set up Faerunian e-Harmony, and you can live happily ever after. The point is, PCs should have wants and dreams and hopes and goals. I encourage you all to work towards those plans coming to fruition. I will do my best as well.
If you’ve followed any of my other games (insert shameless plug here). They tend to be fairly dark, grim, bloody, and terrifying affairs. This will not be one of those games. Evil is evil and will do bad things, you will probably see someone get tortured by drow, eaten by orcs, etc. What you won’t see is the blood, or hear the screams, or anything like that. Most of that will happen off camera or with a short sentence and that’s it. I plan on keeping this as PG-PG13 as I can (Lord of the Rings is about as graphic as I plan to get). As such, your characters should fit into this tone as well. This is a game about hope and restoration, not brutal savagery.
Myth Drannor was the capital of the last (and some would say, best) elven kingdom on the continent of Faerun. Cormanthyr was a nation of peace and prosperity, supposedly free of the prejudices and struggles that plagued earlier realms. All peoples, even half-orcs, were accepted beneath its boughs, so long as they upheld the nation’s laws. And, Myth Drannor was the realm’s crown jewel. Some called it the City of Song, and it was a center of peace, learning, art, magic, and prosperity the likes of which had never been seen before, and never has been seen since. It was surrounded by a magical field called a mythal which provided magic and protection for all within. It fell nearly a thousand years ago to an army of fiends. Its forests have since been overrun by drow, dragons, fiends, dark fey, orcs, and other monsters.
At the very edges of the forest, are the Dalelands, a collection of predominantly human hamlets and villages that have fallen on hard times. Some have fallen under the control of drow; others are dominated by evil agents of dark gods. Some are pretty decent places to live if you like peace and quiet in pastoral not!England. None of these places have any famous residents (Elminster is off doing things in places that are else, and has been for quite some time).
Legally distinct, but still resembling Rivendell. It means “Fortress Home” in elvish, so that should tell you of its mission and sense of duty. It’s the last, and only, city of elves on the Faerunian content. The rest are off in Evermeet (legally distinct but still resembling Valinor), an island nation of elves off in the middle of the (not!Atlantic.. In the West, because Fantasy!) ocean away from anyone who can mess with them. Evereska is a city of elven culture, art, magic, and wonder. It’s also completely restricted to elves, because they’ve been burned before. It’s a city of learning and sophistication and beauty, an artifact of a bygone and more civilized era. Yet, it pales in comparison to the memory of Myth Drannor. Non-elves are not allowed within the city’s borders, and, even half-elves and fey are looked at it with intense scrutiny.
The Halfway Inn was built so people in Evereska could trade with the outside world without worry of risking the safety and peace of Evereska. Because elves may be haughty, but they also, grudgingly, acknowledge that they need things from outside of their city from time to time.
The Crunch
Core, aquatic elf, centaur, gathlain, or naiad. Preference will be given to characters that fit with a general sense of the epic romance (think high ivory towers, glowing trees, grand quests, powerful magic, and mysterious places of wonder and beauty). Especially think about how your character would fit in a quest to re-take an elven kingdom. Sure, a redeemed monster race COULD do that, but would the pervading sense of guilt and/or prejudice that these characters would inherently endure fit a theme of epic wonder and grandeur? Under NO circumstances will anything remotely approaching a drow be allowed. Not even Drizz’t was allowed in Evereska. Also, no player-built races.
In old DnD, for some reason (many of which I’m not exactly comfortable thinking about), many of the different flavors of core races had different ability scores, with one subrace being the “standard” variety, and all others being different in some way. These ability modifiers don’t exist. Sun elves just look a little different from the other elves; same with Shield dwarves. The difference are purely cosmetic.
Other than the rules on gestalt (see below in Classes) and Virtual Gearing (see below in Wealth), there will be NO THIRD PARTY CONTENT ALLOWED. Nor, will there be “variant multiclassing” from Paizo. We’re doing gestalt, that’s enough. Do not ask. I will not say yes.
No evils. No exceptions.
I'm going to shamelessly steal an idea from a buddy of mine.
Roll 4d6, dropping the lowest die roll, 6 times and arrange the resulting scores accordingly. If you don't get a net positive bonus, or your total point but wouldn't be a 20 point buy, keep rolling new 6 sets of 4d6 (junking the old rolls) until both conditions are met. Please post all rolls in the recruitment thread.
If you prefer, you can also just default to 25 point buy. A calculator can be found here.
You get max hp per level. Have fun.
You can take 2 traits, plus more if you pay for them through feats or drawbacks. No campaign traits. Feats should be reworded to fit within Faerun. Ask me for advice if you need help rewording things.
All Core, Base, Hybrid, and Occult classes. Use the Unchained version for Summoner. If you would like to use Unchained versions of Barbarians, Monks, and Rogues, you may. Firearms do not exist yet in the game (Well, they do, but they’re super rare, and pretty much exclusive to the island nation of Lantan which is off in the Great Big not!Atlantic Ocean to the West several thousands of miles away from Myth Drannor). So, don’t count on getting guns.
We will also be using gestalt rules. You can find them here. It’s like multiclassing’s bad-ass grandma. You take 2 classes and level them simultaneously, combining the best stats from both. So, a first level gestalt fighter wizard has the the fighter hit points, skills, abilities, and attacks, as well as a wizard’s spell progression, arcane bond, and skills. She’d take the better skill point allotment, and would merge the skill lists of both. Similarly, she’d take the fighters +2 to Fort and the wizard’s +2 to Wil saves
Finally, we’re going to be leveling at an ad-hoc basis. Whenever you achieve a milestone in the campaign or significantly advanced through the plot, you’ll gain a level. This way you don’t have to fret about clearing the dungeon just to get to 2nd level.
For those who want to play a divine caster, I have a handy-dandy doc up on the top that provides options. Forgotten Realms had, like, a billion gods, and I’m not detailing them all, so it’s a VERY paired down list of the most common deities of the area and by race, since each race had its own pantheon. There was a lot of bleed over, though, so don’t feel that if you’re a halfling you HAVE to worship the halfling gods. If you know the specifics of the gods from the good old days, awesome (or you can just google them). If not, you can ask me and I’ll type things up for you.
I like languages, they make things entertaining and add depth and scope to the the world. So, Common doesn’t exist. Languages are based on region (see the handy-dandy doc HERE for a list of languages and where they’re spoken). The major language of the region is Chondathan, and if you’re from the area, you get it for free. You can always use the linguist skill to gain more languages. Speaking of skills, we’ll be using background skills. Crafting is allowed. Any pre-game crafts are assumed to be auto-successes. Have fun.
I REALLY hate looting and loot-mongering. Some people like keeping track of that stuff. I don’t. As a GM, I find it almost impossible to give players gear that they need and want. So they end up selling the loot at a reduced cost. And, a lot of time the really cool loot in a room is dependent on whether or not people roll perception. Also, looting the badguy (who uses their gear) actually results in subpar gear for the party. As a player, I can NEVER seem to save enough gp to get the gear I really want, so I just make do with humdrum static boosting gear.
We are going to circumvent all of that. We’ll be using Automatic Bonus Progress. All of those plus gears to saves and abilities and AC don’t exist. You get those bonuses naturally as you level. In exchange you get half of the total amount of wealth you’d get starting at 3rd level (when you get your first bonus). It actually works to your favor in the long run, because you’re not spending gp on static bonuses anymore. You are allowed to switch Ability boosts for your level with the one immediately ABOVE your level, but you MUST take the other ability boost when you level. For example, at 4th level, Johnny Appleseed gets a +2 to a Physical score. Unfortunately, he’s a wizard, and what he really needs is a +2 to a Mental score (like intelligence). Normally, he’d have saved up for a circlet of undumbification giving him a +2 to his int by now, but that isn’t going to happen because of automatic bonus progression. He notices that level 5 gives him a +2 to one mental ability stat. Alright. So, he will take the +2 to his mental stat, at 4th level and then take +2 to a physical stat at 5th.
Second, we’re going to use a homebrew rule that I picked up from a friend of mine. It’s called Virtual Gearing. At every level you can re-tool all your gear using the adjusted wealth for your level. So.. when Meaty McMeatshield turns 7th level, he dumps all of his old gear and buys all new gear using 11,750 gp (11, 750 because it’s half what he’d normally get at 7th level because of Automatic Bonus Progression) as his pool of gold. If he wants to keep his old gear, that’s fine, but he still pays for it out of his NEW lump of cash. The assumption is that he found all of this extra cool stuff during his adventures. You can totally craft to stretch your purchasing power in this way, too.
At first level, you start with the maximum amount of wealth for your class.
We’re going to do battles on Roll20.net. You move yourself, I’ll handle updating damage points and so on.
I’ll make the rolls for saves, perceptions, and initiatives to keep things moving along. You handle attacks, damage, and any player-initiated actions. Give me flavor text (i lurves the flavor text), please. Also, give me a link to any spell you’re going to cast, along with your DCs.
I’ll do a summary post at breaks in initiative when actions revert back to players.
For example: say there are 4 players and the initiative order splits the action with 2 PCs acting, then monsters, then 2 PCs. I’ll call for the 1st 2 PCs’ actions first, then resolve with the monsters, and then call for the last 2 PCs’ actions to finish the round.
I would like a post every day. I live in Hawaii, so I may not get to things right away, but I find that if the players post every day, then that keeps the timezone lag down to a minimum.
Finished characters are due by Saturday, September 2nd by 6am.
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Well hello there. Dot.
Thinking a gold elf wizard/cleric, maybe a runaway noble: "You want me to marry who?! But I've got research to do!"
Dotting for sure.
Quick question, would you allow us to FR Prestige classes from 3.5? They would need to be fixed up of course.
I had the idea of playing a wood elf Druid mixed with maybe Cleric. With the hopes of becoming a plant being, one with nature via Forest Master.
Dotting for sure.
Quick question, would you allow us to FR Prestige classes from 3.5? They would need to be fixed up of course.
I had the idea of playing a wood elf Druid mixed with maybe Cleric. With the hopes of becoming a plant being, one with nature via Forest Master.
Y'know I was gonna say no, because "grrr non-pathfinder! arg!" but.. they make tons of sense to use. So, yes, FR Prestige classes (from 3.5, providing they are updated to pathfinder) are allowed, so long as they're cleared by me first.
Forest Master is OK, but it'd only count for ONE of the divine classes, not both.
Dotting for interest.
Haven't played Forgotten realms in a while, but it was once my main playground, at least until the very dire Time of trouble came along. Like you I understood what they were trying to do, just didn't like how it came out.
Well, that is almost workable. Really though it's a tease rather than something I'd want to use.
I'll go with the 25pt buy and see what I can make? A Slayer/Wizard like an interesting combination.
How about an Orc cleric of Zagresh that's a real fana... No wait, I play one of those already in your game :-)
Dot.
Not sure what I want to play yet but I'll certainly submit for this!
Dotting, this sounds awesome.
Thank you very much Dragon.
Not bad.
Question, are we using background skills?
Quick question, with ABP, certain classes are kind of hosed over. Specifically monks and any two-weapon fighting build. Monks because they don't use armor, so their armor bonuses are kind of useless.
Given the gestalt, the two-weapon fighting issue is going to be exacerbated (unless your two classes both use the same weapon).
I was thinking of going for a character I've played several times and enjoyed, a half-elf zen archer monk/sorcerer.
Any options in the ABP for migrating some of the ac bonus to a secondary weapon bonus? Or something, to account for the lack of armor in the build? Also, how would you adjudicate the half-elf favored class thing, where they get two favored classes? Can they pick both their gestalt classes and get two FCB's per level?
Well, let's see who the Dice Gods are feeling today.
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You know what?! I'll take 'em! Now I have the stats, I must now contemplate the the best character for this campaign to go with those stats.
Interesting.
19 point buy
6 rolls, 1 set above 20 points, and it's got a 5 stat.
I'll see what I can do, but I'll probably go with the point buy.
Man, I thought I had bad luck rolling stats. :)
12pt buy
13pt buy without the 5, would a 5 be -6 so 7pt buy? New set.
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36pt Grey Elf Wizard/Sorcerer Blaster/Utility. I thinks. In search of the Baelnorn and there untold power, For those that remember the AD&D box set the Gauntlet of Power and 10th level spells :)
Funny, I had a thought about a 1/2 orc storm druid....(stole your thunder choot...lol)...dot
No.
= 15
= 13
= 16
= 11
= 8
= 13
Equal to 22 point buy and doable with the right setup. Some sort of halfling storyteller by concept, but I've got to work out the classes & other mechanics.
Hmmm....thoughts of an Elven Paladin/Sorcerer begin to form....
...7
...16
...14
...10
...14
...14
21 point buy...going with the 25 to try and make this combo work...
Myth Drannor!!! Amazing!!! Brings me back to way back when...
I'll be going with the 25 point buy...
Dot-dot. I'll have to read up on Faerun, but that sounds interesting.
This sounds wonderful. I love Myth Drannor lore!
I'll just be using the 25 Points. I hate rolling for stats. :)
This is Dorian's work in progress...
Ah, Myth Drannor. Takes me back to the days of playing the Gold Box games on DOS...
What? It was many years after before I got into the tabletop game. :D
Anyway, I see centaur is on your list of allowed races. What version of centaurs would these be stat-wise? They've been on my list of "hey it would be neat to play one of those" for a long time...
Question, are we using background skills?
Curious about this as well, they're very useful for giving backstories some mechanical weight.
Nice and balanced, I can make something with that. Dotting my dot!
Might as well roll while I'm waiting for an answer:
Meh.
Still less than 20 points
Okay, apparently I'm going with the 25-point buy.
Right now I'm thinking of a centaur druid/ranger, a consummate woodscentaur who is pained by the dark things lurking in the forest since the fall of Myth Drannor.
Stats Roll
= 15
= 10
= 15
= 15
= 14
= 8
Heh, a 25 point buy.
= 10 - Strength
= 16 - Charisma
= 14 - Wisdom
= 10 - Intelligence
= 12 - Constitution
= 18 - Dexterity
A 34 point buy, yeah, I'll take this one! These may be some of the best rolls I ever got for a character. I'll be making an Elf (maybe an Avarial Elf if Dragon approves) Ranger/Sorcerer. I'll probably look at multi-classing into Bladesinger/Arcane Archer at later levels. As 3.5 FR is approved an the Blade Dancer is iconic Elven from the Realms.
I'll get this fully fleshed out for this Friday night Dragon as I have a heavy DM posting schedule this week.
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19 point buy
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24 point buy
Meh, 25 points it is. Really want an 18 Int. :)
A little confused by some of the rerolls, I thought you could only reroll if your set as below a 20 pt buy, not a 25 pt buy, and the 25 point buy was the alternative if you did not want to roll at all?
= 10
= 13
= 15
= 9
= 10
= 16
= 11
= 15
= 10
= 6
= 8
= 16
= 14
= 13
= 11
= 17
= 9
= 7
= 10
= 13
= 13
= 10
= 10
= 17
= 12
= 9
= 13
= 14
= 13
= 8
Wow, 5 sets and still have not reached a 20 point buy. Guess I will wait for the GM's response before rolling any more.
A little confused by some of the rerolls, I thought you could only reroll if your set as below a 20 pt buy, not a 25 pt buy, and the 25 point buy was the alternative if you did not want to roll at all?
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
I may have gotten that wrong, if so I'll keep the first set!
Question, are we using background skills?
Gasp! I forgot the important background skills! Yes you are using background skill!
Ok. The Sorcerer half just wasn't fitting, so i found another....seems more flexible...lol.
Ninja'd by Dragon...ok. Drawback, equipment and background skills...
Hm, I'm thinking Half-Elven Un.Rogue (Scout)//Alchemist (Bramble Brewer, Grenadier). I also looked at Underground Chemist rogue's archetype and it looks interesting.
Dragonofashandflame, Will its Chemical Weapons stack with Alchemist's Alchemy for Craft (Alchemy) bonus? Chemical Weapons adds untyped bonus equal to half level, and Alchemy adds competence bonus equal to full level.
Quick question, with ABP, certain classes are kind of hosed over. Specifically monks and any two-weapon fighting build. Monks because they don't use armor, so their armor bonuses are kind of useless.
Given the gestalt, the two-weapon fighting issue is going to be exacerbated (unless your two classes both use the same weapon).
I was thinking of going for a character I've played several times and enjoyed, a half-elf zen archer monk/sorcerer.
Any options in the ABP for migrating some of the ac bonus to a secondary weapon bonus? Or something, to account for the lack of armor in the build? Also, how would you adjudicate the half-elf favored class thing, where they get two favored classes? Can they pick both their gestalt classes and get two FCB's per level?
I don't understand the APB ish with monks. The armor bonus counts for anything, even things that aren't armor. Flurry never actually says you need two weapons. It just says you get to hit twice in a round, so you could, hypothetically, use ONE attuned weapon, twice. This is actually stated as an option in the brawler class, which is, basically, a fighter/monk. Does that help?
Ah, Myth Drannor. Takes me back to the days of playing the Gold Box games on DOS...
What? It was many years after before I got into the tabletop game. :D
Anyway, I see centaur is on your list of allowed races. What version of centaurs would these be stat-wise? They've been on my list of "hey it would be neat to play one of those" for a long time...
There are other versions? I just know do the one on the pfsrd.
A little confused by some of the rerolls, I thought you could only reroll if your set as below a 20 pt buy, not a 25 pt buy, and the 25 point buy was the alternative if you did not want to roll at all?
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
Wow, 5 sets and still have not reached a 20 point buy. Guess I will wait for the GM's response before rolling any more.
Read it as "if you don't get a set of rolls that satisfy your concept, take 25 point buy "
Ok, Dragon, I present my submission.
He is quite the opposite of Arkhan.
Thank you for running!
Happily will take those rolls!
Wow, 5 sets and still have not reached a 20 point buy. Guess I will wait for the GM's response before rolling any more.Read it as "if you don't get a set of rolls that satisfy your concept, take 25 point buy "
My new concept is six eighteens. :)
My new concept is six eighteens. :)Wow, 5 sets and still have not reached a 20 point buy. Guess I will wait for the GM's response before rolling any more.Read it as "if you don't get a set of rolls that satisfy your concept, take 25 point buy "
LMFAO, good luck with that set of rolls!
My new concept is six eighteens. :)Wow, 5 sets and still have not reached a 20 point buy. Guess I will wait for the GM's response before rolling any more.Read it as "if you don't get a set of rolls that satisfy your concept, take 25 point buy "
LMFAO, good luck with that set of rolls!
I remember one game where I rolled four 18's in front of the GM, and the other two were like 13 and 15. He made me reduce my stats. That really hurt.
There are other versions? I just know do the one on the pfsrd.Ah, Myth Drannor. Takes me back to the days of playing the Gold Box games on DOS...
What? It was many years after before I got into the tabletop game. :D
Anyway, I see centaur is on your list of allowed races. What version of centaurs would these be stat-wise? They've been on my list of "hey it would be neat to play one of those" for a long time...
I think I've run across others before. I believe the pfsrd uses the Midgard version. I'll have to take a look at it again this evening.
I think I've run across others before. I believe the pfsrd uses the Midgard version. I'll have to take a look at it again this evening.There are other versions? I just know do the one on the pfsrd.Ah, Myth Drannor. Takes me back to the days of playing the Gold Box games on DOS...
What? It was many years after before I got into the tabletop game. :D
Anyway, I see centaur is on your list of allowed races. What version of centaurs would these be stat-wise? They've been on my list of "hey it would be neat to play one of those" for a long time...
Looks like it's the paizo version here.
Hm, I'm thinking Half-Elven Un.Rogue (Scout)//Alchemist (Bramble Brewer, Grenadier). I also looked at Underground Chemist rogue's archetype and it looks interesting.
Dragonofashandflame, Will its Chemical Weapons stack with Alchemist's Alchemy for Craft (Alchemy) bonus? Chemical Weapons adds untyped bonus equal to half level, and Alchemy adds competence bonus equal to full level.
That's a pretty hefty bonus. But, as written, they should stack, so they stack.
Dotting, I love me some gestalt.
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Let's try that again...
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I think that's 23 points? Might be workable.
Looks like it's the paizo version here.I think I've run across others before. I believe the pfsrd uses the Midgard version. I'll have to take a look at it again this evening.There are other versions? I just know do the one on the pfsrd.Ah, Myth Drannor. Takes me back to the days of playing the Gold Box games on DOS...
What? It was many years after before I got into the tabletop game. :D
Anyway, I see centaur is on your list of allowed races. What version of centaurs would these be stat-wise? They've been on my list of "hey it would be neat to play one of those" for a long time...
The pfsrd is blocked here at work, hence while I'll have to wait until this evening to look. :D