I am itching for a chance to whip it out, and for that I need some people willing to play.
For those of you who do not know what Tomb of Horrors is, it is a dungeon originally created in 1978 by Gary Gygax that has seen multiple reiterations over the years. What links all iterations of Tomb of Horrors is incredibly steep difficulty and lots of PC deaths. It is not a dungeon to be entered lightly or using characters one is highly attached to.
Now, if you guys want to play, I have three Tomb of Horrors adventures we can choose from. Regardless of which one we use, we will play with Pathfinder rules and I will adjust things as necessary. I have:
The 1978 original
Greyhawk Return to the Tomb of Horrors
3.5 Tomb of Horrors
The character creation rules will depend on which adventure you guys want, as they are designed for adventurers of different levels. Regardless of which we go with, stats are 20 point buy and traits are not being used. I plan to allow all classes and alternate classes from GRB, APG, UC, and UM except the Gunslinger, Anti-Paladin, Cavalier, and Summoner. Archetypes are allowed, but nothing involving guns or mounts, please. I do not wish to have guns or mounted characters. No evil characters, please.
The following house rules will be in effect:
Barbarians, monks, and druids do not have alignment restrictions.
Paladins may be of any Good alignment. If a paladin chooses not the be Lawful Good, they will be given an alternate code of conduct and switch out a few spells. The GM will write this code of conduct and decide which spells to add and remove. The same applies to anti-paladins and Evil alignments.
If a player wishes to use third party content, the GM will review it to see if it is balanced and fits the campaign. The GM is the final arbiter as to whether or not such materiel is acceptable.
sounds slightly tempting.
would official 3.5 content also need review?
Hmmm....this sounds vaguely inter...errr...TERRIFYING!!
(Runs screaming from the room...)
As you have guessed, I have been through all the versions of the Tomb of Horrors. Is that going to be a problem?
sounds slightly tempting.
would official 3.5 content also need review?
Yes, it would need review. I'd rather have 3.5 spells and feats asked for than 3.5 classes, as those require a bit of work.
Hmmm....this sounds vaguely inter...errr...TERRIFYING!!
(Runs screaming from the room...)
As you have guessed, I have been through all the versions of the Tomb of Horrors. Is that going to be a problem?
Is Thom going to create an ancestor?
As you have guessed, I have been through all the versions of the Tomb of Horrors. Is that going to be a problem?
Not as long as you don't clue everyone else in (Including me. I have a few Tomb of Horrors adventures, but I have yet to use them.).
Yes, it would need review. I'd rather have 3.5 spells and feats asked for than 3.5 classes, as those require a bit of work.
Some classes require more work than others.
I'll be looking at feats, spells, and templates.
Do note that I have 35 3.X books and have read next to all of them, So I have a lot of material to filter through for ideas
Some classes require more work than others.
I'll be looking at feats, spells, racial classes, and templates.
Do note that I have 35 3.X books and have read next to all of them, So I have a lot of material to filter through for ideas
35 3.X books? That's all? (Meant in jest, not a condescending manner.)
I have far more than 35. I'm actually afraid to count them all. Hell, I have more than 35 AD&D books, and I never even played AD&D.
Gods damn, am I obsessed with D&D.
When you say racial class, do you mean Unearthed Arcana style racial paragon classes, or Savage Species style monster classes? I'm not a big fan of the racial paragon classes, but the monster classes are far, far worse.
When you say racial class, do you mean Unearthed Arcana style racial paragon classes, or Savage Species style monster classes? I'm not a big fan of the racial paragon classes, but the monster classes are far, far worse.
Look at it again, I removed the racial class part.
The Paragon classes are great, but need a little work to get up to pathfinder power level.
The Bloodlines are nice provided you tweak the rules about them a bit, as my group did when we used them.
High chance of death/dismemberment? Action packed? Sign me up! I don't really have any clue on what the difference between the three versions is, so whatever floats your boat. As long as the challenges are actually possible to overcome and not "oh your character managed to say the forbidden secret magic word, he is now polymorped into a tomato" if you know what I mean ... :)
I feel compelled to give you fair warning: Tomb of Horrors is the ultimate killer dungeon, and I've heard of it taking waves upon waves of characters to defeat.
Look at it again, I removed the racial class part.
The Paragon classes are great, but need a little work to get up to pathfinder power level.
The Bloodlines are nice provided you tweak the rules about them a bit, as my group did when we used them.
It's more flavor than anything else with the paragon classes. I won't disallow them, but I don't plan on converting them myself, either.
The bloodlines are all right, but I just don't feel like tweaking them. If you can do it and your works looks balanced, I'll allow them.
As long as you don't pull out the monster classes, we are fine. Making monsters available as player characters. Excellent idea. I like it. Using classes to do the balancing? Horrible idea.
I'm very interested, with no real preference on which of the three you run. The latest would seem to me be the easiest to convert, but that's all on your end.
Being that this is such a meat grinder, I'm curious how death will work. If we die is that it and we are done, or are we allowed to come back if we can get resurected some how, or are we to make up a new character?
Being that you're banning the summoner, I have to ask if you would rather us not go crazy with summon monster spells in general, or is it something else about the class you don't want to deal with? (not questioning youre decission, just checking on potential character builds being problematic)
I have a Paladin concept that I had in a ToH that never go beyond I think like first encounter. Apparently ToH kills D/GMs just as easily as it does PCs LOL
Anyways, the concept in mind would be akin to the WoW Paladn, very capable of solo surviving encounters(not ToH mind, just in general)
If possible, i'd like to be an Aasamir but otherwise I'll just go straight human.
There might be a few 3.5 magical items or feats i'd be interested in, but nothing too insane, I don't think.
Being that you're banning the summoner, I have to ask if you would rather us not go crazy with summon monster spells in general, or is it something else about the class you don't want to deal with? (not questioning youre decission, just checking on potential character builds being problematic)
I think that it is due to some brokeness in using summoner and certain combos.
Eidolons make my head hurt, so I don't like to work with the summoner class. Summoning spells are fine.
I'm open to suggestions on death. I'm considering either a 9 lives sort of thing (a limited number, not necessarily 9, of instant true resurrections upon death) or giving people back up characters. I think the limited number of lives would be best, but if you guys don't like it, we can try something else.
I have a Paladin concept that I had in a ToH that never go beyond I think like first encounter. Apparently ToH kills D/GMs just as easily as it does PCs LOL
Anyways, the concept in mind would be akin to the WoW Paladn, very capable of solo surviving encounters(not ToH mind, just in general)
If possible, i'd like to be an Aasamir but otherwise I'll just go straight human.
There might be a few 3.5 magical items or feats i'd be interested in, but nothing too insane, I don't think.
Aasimar are fine.
It's a lot more work on our part, but being a huge fan of Darksun (my first actual campaing setting) I'm going to propose character trees. Basically, write up three characters and when one dies you bring in another. This could go a couple different ways...
I like the idea of a set number of lives, as I strongly dislike the "death is only an inconvience" mentality that comes up in a lot of games. At the same time, I have a lot more character ideas than there are available games, so just coming back as the same character over and over isn't 100% appealing.
What if we went with a set number of lives, but you can have either true resurrection or reincarnate? If you go with true resurrection, you come back as the same character, but if you go with reincarnate you go come back as a different character of the same level (which you may design at the beginning of the game). Does that work?
How many lives should be handed out?
Sounds good to me. As to how many lives...well, how hard do you plan on being? ;)
I would say 6, just as a number thrown out. You said 9 earlier, likewise just a random number, or does 9 sound about right to you?
Lucky number 7?
Any room for a female elf rougue?
Yes.
Not as long as you don't clue everyone else in (Including me. I have a few Tomb of Horrors adventures, but I have yet to use them.).
OK mums the word, he he.
I have a gnome sorcerer I can reuse for this campaign. It does not matter which adventure you run...they are ALL painful, he he.
Go ahead and roll up 9th level characters. We use the 3.5 version.
Although you can have 7 characters, you do not have to. You can have anywhere between 1 and 7, as when you die you get a choice between coming back as the same person and reincarnation as someone else.
I am itching for a chance to whip it out, and for that I need some people willing to play.
For those of you who do not know what Tomb of Horrors is, it is a dungeon originally created in 1978 by Gary Gygax that has seen multiple reiterations over the years. What links all iterations of Tomb of Horrors is incredibly steep difficulty and lots of PC deaths. It is not a dungeon to be entered lightly or using characters one is highly attached to.
Now, if you guys want to play, I have three Tomb of Horrors adventures we can choose from. Regardless of which one we use, we will play with Pathfinder rules and I will adjust things as necessary. I have:
The 1978 original
Greyhawk Return to the Tomb of Horrors
3.5 Tomb of Horrors
Hey, I'd love to play if there's still room. Character 1 would be a dwarf ranger, and I'll see how long she lasts before thinking about characters 2 through 7!
Let me know whether to start statting up :)
I want a party of 5, and we have 1 person with a statted character, so go ahead.
First come first serve then? If so, ouch...won't be fully done tell morning, but this is the character I'm going to level up for the game.
I want a party of 5, and we have 1 person with a statted character, so go ahead.
Sweet, I'll break out hero labs this afternoon then :)
Eric Swanson here...this is my gnome sorcerer. I just need to level him up.
BTW if we get more people that want to participate than slots available, i will yield my spot to someone else, he he.
Oh the memories
S1 Tomb of Horrors - killer dungeon extraordinaire
S2 Whiteplume Mtn - Best dungeon ever until Ravenloft - search for three weapons including Black Razor
S3 Barrier Peaks - What happens when a flying saucer lands in fantasy world?
Anyway - Do we make high level characters?
Original S1 was not satisfied with killing low level characters
I still have G1-G3 (giants), D1-D3 (drow) and Q1 (Lolth) - almost an adventure path before there were adventure paths
Please count me in - I insist on playing a Wizard or Sorceror - the most crunchy character possible (back in my day they had d4s)
I would be interested but I have run the 3.5 version of tomb of horrors not sure if that will be a problem or not.
Am thinking on gnome Bard with magician archtype as that is my favorite class, arch and race :)
Ridley has a bard too; I was thinking halfling burglar (I have a feeling there will be traps) or a halfling paladin. I like the little guy theme.
I would be curious how long a war dog lives.
Submitted your for approval, Desh Arrowstorm lvl 9 Human Fighter.
No background done yet, and I know the formatting is terrible. I'll fix it when I have a little more time!
Oh already is a bard what about a vampire not sure if your against those or not have him ready already just haven't been able to use him anywhere as no one likes vamys in their campaigns :(
I can post you his Bio and stuff if your ok with vampires.
I think a vampire character would raise a lot of concerns with your fellow Players.
I think a vampire character would raise a lot of concerns with your fellow Players.
It could make for interesting RPing though that's how I look at it I'll just post his bio and let you lot look over it to see if he could fit.
One night when Azeth was only 12 years old, he snuck out of the keep and over the castle walls and headed towards town in hopes to quench his curiosity. As he got closer to the town a night patrolman spotted him and attempted to approach him. Azeth darted for the darkness for fear the patrolman was one of the men his father spoke about.
As he wandered the alleys of the town (and wondered why they weren't very dark at all) he ran into a tall man who blocked his way. He then realized there were 2 other men behind him. The man walked towards him and unsheathed a knife, as he demanded all of his gold and possessions. Azeth not knowing what to do, for he had nothing on him, announced his father's name and demanded they leave immediately. With the mention of his name the man's eyes widened quickly as he stopped walking. Azeth hoped the men would flee but instead the man charged him with his blade out in front of him. Azeth tried to duck but he wasn't fast enough, as he did the blade plunged right into his upper arm and stuck there as the man continued running past him and to the men behind him. Azeth turned around to face the men and was expecting his body to fill with pain' but it didn't. Azeth stood up as though not affected at all but still did not know what to do or think. The men drew their swords and advanced towards him quickly.
Before they could reach him 2 figures fell from the rooftops and landed between Azeth and the men. Before the men could halt their charge they ran right into the 2 figures whom both dodged their oncoming swords. As the men made contact with the 2 figures they dropped their swords as they let out a short scream that was drowned out by the gurgling of some type of liquid. As the 2 men were tossed aside Azeth could see that both of their throats had been ripped out and the men lay there trying to scream but only drowning in their own blood. The 2 figures then jumped onto the man who plunged the dagger into Azeth and was unable to let out a scream before he was quickly killed in a much quicker fashion than the other 2.
The 2 figures turned to Azeth and flashed his family crest and motioned for him to come to them. Confused and full of fear he didn't know what to do. Just then another figure appeared behind him. Azeth jumped in fear but soon relaxed as he recognized the face of his family's escort. He picked up Azeth and with the other 2 they rushed back to his family's castle.
Upon their return they went straight to Azeth's room and told him not to tell anybody what he had seen. Azeth nodded as one of the figures removed the dagger from his arm and quickly put a bandage over it. Azeth still wondered why the dagger had not caused any pain and why he still felt nothing. As the figure removed the bandage they all had noticed the wound was almost healed but didn't say anything, apparently Azeth was the only one who was surprised by the sight. Just then a servant brought up a glass of water and handed it to the escort. He waved the servant out of the room along with the 2 figures. As the door closed, he handed the glass to Azeth and looked deep into his eyes and told him: "It's best you get some sleep". There was a crash of shattering glass and Azeth was asleep.
The next morning Azeth was awoken by his teacher who was eager to start him on his studies early. Azeth wondered if it was all a dream. He shrugged it off and stepped out of bed after the teacher left his room and closed the door. As he started to walk he felt something in his foot, he examined it closer and found a shard of glass in it' very strange he thought. Even stranger was that it didn't seem to break the skin for there was no cut or blood on his foot' but there was blood on the glass shard. He remembered the dagger in his arm and looked for a wound' there was none. He took the piece of glass and cut his finger with it, painless as he expected it would be. Blood started to drip from the wound but within seconds there was no sign of where the blood came from. He tried it again' same result. He took the glass and made a cut the length of his arm, only to watch it heal up before his eyes.
He rushed to his father to try and make sense of all he's seen. After questioning his father about all of this his father just looked down and shook his head. He then looked up at Azeth, then to the ceiling. He raised his fists and with anger in his voice he yelled "But he's to young! Please don't let this be so!" He feel back into his chair as his mother entered the room crying and ran to Azeth and held him tight. A precession of servants, guards, and all of the other hirelings of his family that Azeth knew entered the room and dropped to one knee and lowered their head. Azeth was confused and nervous. As he looked at his father and to his mother he caught a glimpse of something' a flame.
It reflected off of his father's throne' he turned to look and saw a circle of flames on the floor behind him. To scared to move Azeth stood and watched as a figured rose from the floor within the circle of flames. His mother continued to cry as she held him with all of her might' which Azeth was feeling as his breath was being removed from his lungs as her grip tightened. His father rose from his throne and bowed before the creature that was engulfed with flames. The figured stepped through the flames and a man appeared, untouched by the fire he was just in. His father rose up and shook his hand as the man informed him: "This is how it must be, we cannot break this cycle or we'd both jeopardize our power". His father nodded and turned to Azeth and smiled. 2 guards approached and pulled his mother away from him and sat her in her throne as his father approached his throne. He turned and hugged Azeth and informed him his time to move on has come. He stood back up and returned to his throne. His teacher approached from behind his father's throne and handed Azeth a scroll and a small bag.
As he handed Azeth the scroll and bag one of the family's maids rose up and charged the figure from the fire. Everybody turned and the maid held up a holy symbol and drew a sword from her clothing. Everybody in the room who saw the symbol cringed and looked away' except Azeth, his family, and the man from the flames. As the maid approached her eyes grew wide with fear as she noticed they were not affected by the symbol. The man from the flames looked at the scared woman and announced in a deep powerful voice: "I am Kain Bloodstone! You dare attempt to cause harm to me or my friends within this castle? This pitiful act of yours has sealed your fate! You will not be spared!" and with those last words he raised his hand and both the symbol and her sword were immediately swallowed by flames and dropped from her hands.
The now-flaming sword rose from the ground and as he dropped his hand it plunged into her skull. She continued standing, still frozen with fear. The flames on the sword became more intense but the woman was not on fire. Kain stared at her for a moment, then uttered words that only Azeth could hear: "Death is to good for your kind". Just then 4 pairs of flaming arms rose from the floor and pulled her down through the flames.
As soon as she disappeared Azeth's father rose to apologize to Kain for what had happened. Kain, still angered by the stupidity of somebody so weak, shook his head and reminded him time was a factor and he must be going. Azeth's father nodded and shook his hand again and motioned for Azeth to come to him. Azeth not knowing what to do ran towards his father and grabbed his hand. As he did his father looked to Kain and informed Azeth that Kain was his new master and would teach him everything he needed to know from here on. Azeth shook his head and pleaded with him but his father turned away and handed Azeth's hand to Kain. Azeth closed his eyes and he stepped into the flames with Kain and when he opened them he was in a different room.
Kain informed him he was his new "instructor" and this was his new room. He told him to get himself comfortable with the change in surroundings before coming out. Kain left the room and closed the door behind him. Azeth sat on the bed and tried to make sense of everything that has happened, then he remembered the scroll and bag he was handed. He opened the scroll and read it:
"The time has come for you to join your new master, Kain Bloodstone. Kain is the sole reason why our family has the power and wealth it has. Thanks to his help we are able to survive and live the way we do, but the price we pay is a great one. Kain was able to rid this world of all other families who were able to rival us to ensure we had complete control, but in return, our agreement was that once you begin to discover the truth about what we are, Kain would come and retrieve you and would take over teaching you about the truth and the power you possess. In the future you may return to us, but for the time being you are under the training of Kain and instructed to listen to him. As much as it pains us to see you leave it is the only way to continue our legacy. After wiping out all other the other families of Vampires in this world, we are the only ones left and must continue at all costs. I'm sure you have more questions after reading this, Kain has promised us he will take care of you and teach you about your powers and the knowledge you'll need in the future. If you wish to return to us you may, but please know that your new brothers and sisters must not know about what has happened this day."
As Azeth finished reading the scroll he dropped it to the floor and fell backwards on the bed. He didn't know what to think or do. He soon felt overwhelmed and dizzy and shortly after passed out. He awoke and then took time to study his new room and took notice to the bookshelf. He noticed a book with his family crest on it and proceeded to open it and read it.
It told him all about his family's true past and all the powers he would soon learn to use. He soon learned that his family was immune to the sunlight that most previous Vampire families were susceptible to but in return he does not have the resistance to other elements that the other had. Also unlike other Vampires his family is able to go for long periods of time without ingesting blood and do not get the cravings the others used to. After he finished reading all about his family's past he opened the door to go look for Kain.
After discovering the truth about his family he was ready to begin his training. As he met with Kain for the first time he soon learned that Kain was now his new owner. If he ever wanted to leave Kain he would have to prove himself to have his soul returned to him. Soon after discovering the power Kain could offer him he decided to decline the offer and removed his family name from his own along with any memory he had of his past.
As the years went on his strength began to surpass all of the others that Kain had under him and soon earned a place at the top of Kain's army. One day Kain presented him with an offer, to join him as he went to recruit followers in the lands of Althea.
Azeth accepted his offer and has been serving under Kain ever since. As much as he missed the comforts of hell, the flesh of the living was much more satisfying.
Side Note: As evil as Azeth is, he still has noble blood running through him (including his family's) so keeping a good appearance along with a charming attitude are still traits he wouldn't soon part with. And mentioning his past will either anger or annoy him, in either case he could choose to ignore it or you might find yourself in pain at your local sanctuary.
Azeth's Philosophies:
Everybody has the potential to be evil.
Persuade with a smile, but if that doesn't work then use your blade.
Azeth trades DR, cold and electricity resist for immunity to light and is not affected by holy symbols (A power Kain gave to his family)
No vampires please. I'm thinking of coming up with a system for monstrous PCs (My idea is to take all the monsters people want to play and balance them with each other so that we have a bunch of equal races), but not right now. That will be a separate RP.
It could make for interesting RPing though that's how I look at it I'll just post his bio and let you lot look over it to see if he could fit.
** spoiler omitted **...
RP wise yes it COULD make for an interesting RP possibilities, but mechanically, I see problems, How would you RP your hunger and not feed on your fellow Comrades, if and when we fight nothing but constructs for a few days.
It's the feeding requirement in your RP possibility that raises one of the biggest concerns, that and your character is evil could cause loads of friction with good characters, good RP, but infighting could become a major problem.
I ask the OP to lay down a few rules, to avoid major confilcts and player infighting in game.
That's fine just wanted to try my luck with him "sigh" been trying to use him for ages.
Nevertheless I will come up with a different character now time to chose from my wide assortment hmm...
note to Azure: Azeths family does not have the normal blood cravings of vampires. He is very different from your average vampire he is actually somewhat Infernal like.
That's fine just wanted to try my luck with him "sigh" been trying to use him for ages.
Nevertheless I will come up with a different character now time to chose from my wide assortment hmm...
note to Azure: Azeths family does not have the normal blood cravings of vampires. He is very different from your average vampire he is actually somewhat Infernal like.
You did not mention that earlier, which did remove some of the concerns.
Azeth trades DR, cold and electricity resist for immunity to light and is not affected by holy symbols (A power Kain gave to his family)
If you listed every change and mod to the whole vampire template then it
would dispel most concerns or give people a chance to raise a concern and offer a suggestion for a replacement that could work.
No vampires please. I'm thinking of coming up with a system for monstrous PCs (My idea is to take all the monsters people want to play and balance them with each other so that we have a bunch of equal races), but not right now. That will be a separate RP.
I do have a system for that, not perfectly balanced, but works.
GM I would like to know if you would OK any of these templates
Feral, Half-Dragon, Monster of Legend, Draconic, Half-Nymph, Half-Minotaur,and Sacred Watcher.
And Wareagle
ask about this template: Katane
it's a Half-vampire.
If Wareagle is in, I must be in.
Halfling Burglar is my #1.
If anyone can duplicate my disarming of magical and mundane traps, I make a halfling paladin.
Let's go after the big badass. By the way, anyone seen the cartoon where they claim the rogue is the most gimped character. Then the druid casts stoneskin on his companion and sends him to attack the rogue. The rogue then sees the stoneskin companion attacking him while on the pyschoanalyst couch confessing his feelings of inadequacy and screaming in terror (as an exercise to the student= work out a surprise attack as a rogue by an animal cwiompanion cast by a druid of the same level as you with stoneskin, it is not pretty). Nevertheless, no one should disarm a magical trap better than a rogue (that is the extent of my in game knowledge of the original ToH).
I do not remember the futuristic RPG where everyone had tons of clones waiting in storage and your factions (sound like Pathfinder took something from the 80s) had specific goals that you had to accomplish each adventure. But I will be ready with my "clones" to pop them out of stasis. We may need them in Tomb of Horrors.
So,will you have the guts to kill Bilbo Baggins in Tomb of Horrors? I am betting no.