It’s free year 11 and under the dark sun of Athas, they've finally caught up with you. Nowhere left to run, nowhere left to hide. They've bound you and dragged you off into the desert. For now, you only have two goals: survival and escape.
Inspired by a post here a couple weeks ago, I’d like to try to run a PBP campaign in the Dark Sun setting. I’m looking for 4-5 characters, beginning at 3rd level. House rules and character creation information can be found here. Equipment rules I will be using are here. If you are interested, post a character. Include the crunch, the wild talent roll and a reason why the character was arrested and convicted to the slave pits (but not summarily executed) by Balican Templars. Further backstory is appreciated, but not required.
A few things to note:
- Be at least somewhat familiar with the Dark Sun setting. As per the setting, arcane spell casters are going to have a hard time, especially at the start.
- This will be a very low loot game with an emphasis on survival. Don’t expect anything even close to WBL.
- I’m hoping for a balanced mix of roleplaying and rollplaying. I tend to stick to RAW whenever I can.
- It will be brutal. It will be unfair at times. Character death will be a real possibility. I’m of the opinion that success is all the sweeter when the challenge is high. I’m going to use old school second edition Dark Sun wandering monster tables when out in the wilderness, which care not one whit for APL. Sometimes retreat is going to be the smart option.
- I would like players to be able to post once a day so we can keep things moving.
- For all but the simplest encounters, I will be providing turn by turn battle maps.
- Assuming things go well for the first adventure, I hope to incorporate the ‘Tyrian Conspiracy’ and ‘Day of Light’ adventures. Alternatively, if the players prefer, I could run more of a sandbox game (pun intended).
Human Evoker (Admixture) 3
CN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +7; Senses Perception +0
DEFENSE
AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+2 Dex)
hp 21 (1d9+6+6)
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +3
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee
Ranged
7/day—Versatile Evocation 7/day
Spells Prepared (CL 3rd; concentration +8)
2nd—Scorching Ray, 2 Frostfall (dc 18)
1st—2 Burning Hands (dc 17), Mage Armor and Shield
0 (at will)—Detect Magic, Message, Mage Hand and Ray of Frost
Opposition Schools Illusion and Enchantment
STATISTICS
Str 10,Dex 14,Con 16,Int 18 (16+2),Wis 10,Cha 10
Base Atk +1; CMB +0; CMD 12
Traits Arcane Temper and Bruising Intellect
Feats Improved Initiative, Spell Focus (Evocation) and Greater Spell Focus (evocation)
Skills Knowledge (arcana, planes, religion, history) 10+, Spellcraft 10+, Use Magic Device 5+, craft (glassblowing) 8+ and Intimidate 10+
Languages Common, Ignan, Terran, Auran and Aquan
SQ arcane bond (Storm Lens)
Unfortunately for Rennoc he was thrown into the slaves pit of Balic when he made his way to the city, it seemed apparent that the Templars had a slave quota to fill...
s spells are "simpler" then most.
Instead of complex arcane script each spell uses an essential "rune" or runes in the case of higher level spells (as a rule of thumb a spell uses a number of runes equal to its level). These runes are flexible things that easily allow one to draw upon the myriad energies of the Cerulean to alter it's fundamental properties. Of course this comes with a catch, runes cannot be used to cast say enchantment or illusion spells which the Cerulean simply cannot produce. These runes are best employed with evocation, conjuration and some transmutation spells...
gm does he pass muster and do you judge No Pain, No Spells an acceptable way of smuggling in spells?
It looks mostly ok Viluki. While a bit gruesome, your spellbook is fine. I had forgotten the Cerulean Adept angle, but that will totally work.
If you'd like to roll a d100, you can get a wild talent.
Something seems a bit off with your HP and skill math. HP should be at 23 (9+7+7) as I'm having you round up level 2+. Use magic device is not a wizard class skill, so at most it could be 3+cha. You also have 3 favored class points to distribute.
You ought to have one more 0-level spell prepared and 6 more 1st level known. If you want, you can start with some gear. Even if it is confiscated, it will still be somewhere in the adventure to possibly reclaim.
I was hoping to get a specific crime (or pretense for arrest) from everyone because
Dumb questions...
I take it any class or race on the list is unacceptable? It's been a long time sense I really looked into the background of Darksun, but I remember there being something comparable to the shadow plane, the dark, or the grey, or the black, something like that. Was kicking around the idea of a fetchling, though connecting it to the Darksun equivalent instead.
Slightly less dumb question...
Is it acceptable to roll the wild talent before creating the character? Reason being I assume the wild talent has been with the character most, if not all of their life, and might sway a decision or two one way or another during character creation.
Hopefully not dumb at all...
Would it be acceptable to use this magus archetype, repurposing it to be a nomadic desert nomad who uses a bladed head wrap (thinking essentially the shemaug they use in the middle east) instead of a gypsy style shawl/scarf.
sorry just a tad scatter brained but you said "Balican" Templars and isn't Tyr the city that has the dragon killed?
wild talent roll
will revise stat block later.
Fraust:
The only dumb question is the one that is asked more than twice =).
In terms of planes, The Black is kind of like the Plane of Shadow and the Grey is kind of a cross between the ethereal and the negative energy plane. While I don't have a problem with the concept of a Black Touched character, Fetchlings are a little too high in the Race Points. I'll allow it, but we'll have to remove the Fetchling SLAs to balance it out. I think I'm going to add Oread/Ifrit/Undine/Sylph to the list though. Other than that, only classes/races listed in the document. Almost any archetype is fine.
Definitely go ahead and roll the talent first if you like.
Yes, although unless you acquired a scarf with a metal blade, it would be made of inferior materials. I'd even say that being such an unusual weapon would grant a circumstance bonus to conceal it.
Viluki:
No worries. Balic is a city state to the southeast of Tyr near the silt sea. I'm honestly not sure if the proper descriptor is Balican, Balikite or something else.
Kalak, the sorcerer king of Tyr was killed in Free Year 0. Most people do not know that the sorcerer kings are slowly turning into dragons. 'The Dragon' refers to a gigantic specimen that roams the table lands, destroying all in its path. This is pretty public knowledge.
So asking to play a gunslinger wouldn't count as dumb? ;)
Dropping the SLAs sounds perfectly fair to me.
Distract (nice, I can work with that ;) )
I was thinking ceramic blades on the tassels of one side of the shemaug, or possibly talons from some sort of small or medium lizard creature.
Should have the character up today/tonight.
EDIT: Looking through the equipment guide, there's no shuriken or an equivalent?
Closest would be darts (or just bone shuriken made of inferior materials)
I am tempted to make a character that is on the stealthy side, but I must know, how do you treat stealth? Is it simply for sneaking past a person, or if I make an attack with it will i be revealed after i attack? There was the whole stealth rules revision and I don't know how most have responded to it, my closer friends running it like we always have and ignoring the changes, but that doesn't apply here.
Sounds like fun. It's been over a decade since I got to visit Athas.
Let me see if I can come up with a concept.
JDragon
Quarotas: I'm not sure exactly what you mean. You can certainly use stealth to sneak up on someone and attack them unaware. The PRD says that your stealth ends after making an attack roll (unless sniping). Does that answer your question?
Ok, Thank you, how I have seen some interpret past rules and stealth in general was that attack from stealth didn't work and couldn't be done, which is why I was checking. I do believe that this was changed to what it is now, but I may just be insane, I should have a character up tomorrow if all goes well.
ah I get what you mean GM, a question of note for in game purposes what do you want the blue lens to count as for the purposes of arcane item bond (or do you want to come up with your own idea borrowing from the 2nd edition Cerulean Adept?).
Viluki: For the purposes of magical enchantments, I'd say a cerulean lens could be considered as either an eye slot wondrous item or a slotless stone/gem wondrous item (luckstone, gem of seeing, etc).
Are character options from the unofficial 3.X Dark Sun conversion PDFs acceptable? Can my character be the illegitimate offspring of a Sorceror-King/Queen? Would you consider Obsidian Twilight instead of Dark Sun as a setting? Got my hopes up on the last one! It's basically a Dark Sun/Ravenloft setting that combine the two wonderfully. I believe there is to be an update called Obsidian Apocalypse.
Also, hello Viluki, fancy meeting you here! That's what like 4 threads now? ;)
Silver Prince:
No to question one. While I'll admit I'm converting some of the stuff in the athas.org docs for this game (Which is what I'm assuming to what you refer), I'd rather keep this as much PF as possible. Frankly, the character options in there are mostly under-powered compared to PF.
Yes to question two. Nibenay or Abalech-Re are the most likely parental candidates. With Nibenay you wouldn't even be 'illegitimate'. Most of the others are possible as well.
No to question three. Darksun/Ravenloft... You mean Kalidnay ;-)? I haven't read those books. I'll probably check them out, but for this game, it will be set in Dark Sun. Sorry to dash your hopes.
Here are the basics on my character.
The Wild Talent roll is in the Stats spoiler.
Chumani's life was good, simple and hard at times but it was good. He had steady work as an apprentice stonemason for a wealthy merchant house. He had even found the love of his life and had just been blessed with a young son. Soon they would leave this accursed city and return to the lands of their people, once he had earned enough to free Nadie's parents from the debt to the merchants.
Then it all fell apart, He returned home from a long day of work to find his wife and new born son dead, with Adoett, another half-giant he had called friend standing over their bodies with a smile of joy on his lips as their blood covered his hands. Chumani lost all control and summoned a great maul to him and struck out at the man that had once been his friend. When the Templars arrived the body was unrecognizable and before Chumani could turn his anger on the next closest target his weapon vanished, and with it Chumani's will to fight further that day.
Luckily or perhaps unluckily the loss of his weapon and will to fight probably saved Chumani's life that day. Since he had never struck or even threatened the Templars, and those killed were just half-giants he was merely sent to the pits instead of being executed.
= Psionic Repair
Chumani
Half-Giant Psychic Warrior 3
LN Medium humanoid (giant)
Init +4; Senses low-light vision; Perception +9
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 11, touch 11, flat-footed 10 (+1 Dex)
hp 22 (3d8+6)
Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +4; +2 trait bonus vs. emotion spells and effects
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee (L) Maul +7 (3d6+6/×3)
Special Attacks powerful build
Spell-Like Abilities
1/day—Stomp (DC 10)
At-Will-Psionic Repair (DC 10)
Psychic Warrior Spells Known (CL 3rd; concentration +6):
1st (2/day)—Biofeedback, Inertial Armor*, Call Weaponry*, Offensive Precognition, Thicken Skin
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 18, Dex 12, Con 15, Int 9, Wis 16, Cha 9
Base Atk +2; CMB +5; CMD 17
Feats Combat Manifestation, Power Attack, Psionic Talent, Reckless Offense, Weapon Focus (Maul)
Traits Grief-Filled, Reactionary
Skills Autohypnosis +7, Craft (Stone Masonry) +1, Perception +9, Spellcraft +0, Survival +10
Languages Common
SQ expanded path (Mind Knight), fire acclimated, path power, psionic aptitude, psionically focused, survivor, warrior's path (Mind Knight Path), Hero Point's: 1
Other Gear Braxat Breast Plate, Large Metal Dagger, Stone Mason's Tools
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Combat Manifestation +4 to Concentration checks to manifest power while on the defensive.
Expanded Path (Mind Knight) (Ex) Gain the trance and maneuver from your path.
Fire Acclimated +2 racial bonus on saving throws against all fire spells and effects
Grief-Filled +2 trait bonus to save vs emotion spells and effects.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Path Power (Ex) Gain a bonus to a skill related to your path.
Power Attack -1/+2 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Powerful Build Can function as one size larger where advantageous.
Psionic Aptitude When this creature takes a level in a favored class, it can choose to gain an additional power point instead of a hit point or a skill point.
Psionic Talent Gain an additional 2 power points.
Psionically Focused You are psionically focused.
Reckless Offense You can shift your focus from defense to offense.
Survivor +4 racial bonus on Survival Checks.
My focus will be to primarily use Call Weaponry when needed for combat, I expect at some point I will pick up some kind of weapon to keep on me for quick use when needed.
Let me know what you think and if anything else is needed.
Once we are set up and ready to go I will set up an Alias to post with.
JD
Gideon Marsh
Human Rogue (sniper)
CG Medium Humanoid (human)
Init +4; Sense perception +7
Defense
AC 14 Touch 14 Flatfooted 10 (+4 Dex)
hp 27 (11+8+8)
fort +3 ref +7 will +3
Offense
Speed 30ft
Melee Dagger +6 (1d4+1)
Ranged Composite Shortbow(+1 Str) +6 (1d6+1)
Special attacks Sneak Attack +2d6
Statistics
Str 13,Dex 18,Con 14,Int 14,Wis 12,Cha 10
BAB +2; CMB+3; CMD 17
Traits: Poverty Stricken and History of Heresy
Feats: Weapon Finesse, Point-Blank Shot, Far Shot, Skill Focus: Stealth
Skills: Acrobatics +10, bluff +6,craft (bows) +6, diplomacy +6, escape artist +10, Knowledge(local) +8, Knowledge(dungeoneering) +6, Linguistics +8, Perception +7, Sleight of Hand +10, Stealth +13, Survival +8
Equipment: Metal Dagger, Erldu Chain shirt,Composite shortbow (+1 str), Masterwork Backpack, Artisan's tools (craft:Bows)
SQ: Rogue talents (combat trick: far shot)
- Fortify, Lesser
Gideon Marsh was a poor child, forced to wander from city to city, hunting for his own food. His life was tough, he felt so alone, and this was made even worse at a young age, when his older sister died, leaving him without someone to share the pain with, as his parents were often gone, searching for work.
He did his best to meet people, but every time they were revealed to be nothing but low lives who couldn't make an honest living. He tried to stop them, tried to turn them in, but no one responded, or the crooks skipped town before anything was done. After this occurred a multitude of time Gideon took their punishment into his own hands, for the Templars and gods had failed to listen to his pleas. He would make false friends, and follow them to their next target. Hiding in the shadows he would take a shot with his shortbow to injure the one who once thought him a friend, this often wounded the target to unconsciousness. He would then bind the wound and leave the target tied up at the scene with a note explaining the situation.
However, once during an operation things did not go as usual. The target survived the initial shot, and screamed for help. Being unprepared for this, Gideon panicked. A Templar quickly arrived on the scene and noticed Gideon, and his bow, and it didn't take long to connect the dots. As the target survived Gideon was only sentenced to the pits, instead of death should he have been caught successfully murdering someone.
For question 1, I was planning on tweaking a few things, but that's fine.
For question 2, how about Hamanu? ;)
For question 3, Kalidnay is pretty cool, but nothing compared to OT/OA! I love the Khymer, which are basically sentient pools of body snatching blood! Regular Dark sun is cool too.
New question: in character creation, can we use one of the psionic classes/races from Dreamscarred Press?
JD: Great concept, Chumani will fit right in.
By my calculations, you ought to have: 24 hp, CMB +7, CMD 18 and 10 PP, not including 3 floating points of favored class.
Assuming you point a point in each, your craft and spellcraft ought to be at +3.
Quarotas: Also a great concept. Adding to his sentence could be the fact that he was caught writing as literacy among the lower classes is also a crime.
I count you as having 1 skill point unspent, unless my math is wrong. Also, before the game begins, you should figure out what languages Gideon knows and in which he is literate.
Silver Prince: Hamanu is fine. I linked to two documents outlining what races, classes, and house rules in my original post. Here it is again. And here is the equipment link again.
Missed it. Sorry!
Oh well, thank you, fixes below since i missed my edit window.
Add to skills: Disable Device +8
Languages: Common(race, speak and write), Elven(speak and write), Halfling, Dwarven
Backstory: Upon capture the Templar found a paper with jumbled notes on it, the only legible things being "Thief... small shop... north side... new moon", which did Gideon no good in the hands of the templar
The skill and language fix should work, and I'd forgotten about literacy being a problem in lower class, should lead to some interesting situations if I'm not careful.
Glad to hear he fits.
Corrections
I used HeroLab to make the character and think I had Power Attack checked when I printed the sheet.
Here is what I have after unchecking it and looking things over.
CMD 17 / CMB 6
BAB: 2 Str: 4 Dex: 1
HP:
I'm only coming up with 22, based on a d8 HD. 8 at 1st, 4 each for 2nd & 3rd and 2 per for Con. Unless you were thinking I should get 5 per HD, which I would not fight.
Skills
The craft was off due to no tools listed, the Spellcraft was off because its not showing as a class skill.
PP: 13 (I did opt for the 3 for Favored Class)
Chumani
Half-Giant Psychic Warrior 3
LN Medium humanoid (giant)
Init +4; Senses low-light vision; Perception +9
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 11, touch 11, flat-footed 10 (+1 Dex)
hp 22 (3d8+6)
Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +4; +2 trait bonus vs. emotion spells and effects
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee (L) Maul +7 (3d6+6/×3)
Special Attacks powerful build
Spell-Like Abilities
1/day—Stomp (DC 10)
At-Will-Psionic Repair (DC 10)
Psychic Warrior Spells Known (CL 3rd; concentration +6; Power Points 13;):
1st: Biofeedback, Inertial Armor*, Call Weaponry*, Offensive Precognition, Thicken Skin
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 18, Dex 12, Con 15, Int 9, Wis 16, Cha 9
Base Atk +2; CMB +7; CMD 18
Feats Combat Manifestation, Power Attack, Psionic Talent, Reckless Offense, Weapon Focus (Maul)
Traits Grief-Filled, Reactionary
Skills Autohypnosis +7, Craft (Stone Masonry) +3, Perception +9, Spellcraft +3, Survival +10
Languages Common
SQ expanded path (Mind Knight), fire acclimated, path power, psionic aptitude, psionically focused, survivor, warrior's path (Mind Knight Path), Hero Point's: 1
Other Gear Braxat Breast Plate, Large Metal Dagger, Stone Mason's Tools
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Combat Manifestation +4 to Concentration checks to manifest power while on the defensive.
Expanded Path (Mind Knight) (Ex) Gain the trance and maneuver from your path.
Fire Acclimated +2 racial bonus on saving throws against all fire spells and effects
Grief-Filled +2 trait bonus to save vs emotion spells and effects.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Path Power (Ex) Gain a bonus to a skill related to your path.
Power Attack -1/+2 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Powerful Build Can function as one size larger where advantageous.
Psionic Aptitude When this creature takes a level in a favored class, it can choose to gain an additional power point instead of a hit point or a skill point.
Psionic Talent Gain an additional 2 power points.
Psionically Focused You are psionically focused.
Reckless Offense You can shift your focus from defense to offense.
Survivor +4 racial bonus on Survival Checks.
Let me know what you want to do for HP and if I missed any of the stuff you mentioned.
Thanks
JD
JD: Ok, cool. Yeah, HP is full HD at 1st level, 1/2 HD round up at levels 2+ for this game.
CMB is 2 (BAB) + 4 (STR) + 1 (Powerful build). Herolab probably doesn't understand the latter.
Opps, I forgot about the Powerful Build for the CMB/CMD.
Sorry to be dense, so am I getting 4 or 5 HP per level beyond 1st?
JD
CN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +7; Senses Perception +0
DEFENSE
AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+2 Dex)
hp 25 (1d9+7+7+2)
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +3
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee
Ranged
Power Conceal Thoughts
7/day—Versatile Evocation 7/day
Spells Prepared (CL 3rd; concentration +8)
2nd—Scorching Ray, 2 Frostfall (dc 18)
1st—2 Burning Hands (dc 17), Mage Armor and Shield
0 (at will)—Detect Magic, Message, Mage Hand, Penumbra and Ray of Frost
Opposition Schools Illusion and Enchantment
STATISTICS
Str 10,Dex 14,Con 16,Int 18 (16+2),Wis 10,Cha 10
Base Atk +1; CMB +0; CMD 12
Traits Arcane Temper and Bruising Intellect
Feats Improved Initiative, Spell Focus (Evocation) and Greater Spell Focus (evocation)
spells known 1st Burning Hands, Shield, Mage Armor, Grease, Shock Shield, Shocking Grasp, Expeditious Excavation, Hydraulic Push and Obscuring Mist
2nd Frostfall and Scorching Ray
Skills Knowledge (arcana, planes, religion, history) 10+, Spellcraft 10+, Use Magic Device 3+, craft (glassblowing) 8+ and Intimidate 10+
Languages Common, Ignan, Terran, Auran and Aquan
favored class bonus 2 hitpoints and 1 extra skill point (for glassblowing)
SQ arcane bond (Storm Lens)
Question of note what's the wbl for item purchasing and what is the price of scrolls in Athas (reflecting the setting)?
Average of d8 is 4.5, round up is 5.
That being said, I'm going to have to bow out of this game. Not nearly as much time as I thought I had. Going to try and keep up with the game thread as a spectator though. Darksun was the first setting I learned when I discovered D&D and it's always been my favorite.
Bummer to see you go. The my challenge is the process listed is 1/2 rounded up, not average rounded up.
JD
JD: 5 hp per level beyond 1st. You are right, that was a little unclear when I wrote it, I've just changed it.
Viluki: Just convert all PF gp costs into cp unless the item is made of metal. Your character can have up to 1000 cp worth of stuff at the time of your arrest. For the purposes of character creation, all costs are normal PF (level 1 scroll: 25 cp, level 2 scroll 150 cp, half those costs if you are scribing spells you already know yourself)
So it looks like we have 3 ready to go, and interest from one more (Silver Prince). Once a 4th is confirmed, I'll put up the game thread and we can begin. I suppose I could downgrade things to work for a party of three in a pinch, but would much rather have four or five.
CN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +7; Senses Perception +0
DEFENSE
AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+2 Dex)
hp 25 (1d9+7+7+2)
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +3
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee
Ranged
Power Conceal Thoughts
7/day—Versatile Evocation 7/day
Spells Prepared (CL 3rd; concentration +8)
2nd—Scorching Ray, 2 Frostfall (dc 18)
1st—2 Burning Hands (dc 17), Mage Armor and Shield
0 (at will)—Detect Magic, Message, Mage Hand, Penumbra and Ray of Frost
Opposition Schools Illusion and Enchantment
STATISTICS
Str 10,Dex 14,Con 16,Int 18 (16+2),Wis 10,Cha 10
Base Atk +1; CMB +0; CMD 12
Traits Arcane Temper and Bruising Intellect
Feats Improved Initiative, Spell Focus (Evocation) and Greater Spell Focus (evocation)
spells known 1st Burning Hands, Shield, Mage Armor, Grease, Shock Shield, Shocking Grasp, Expeditious Excavation, Hydraulic Push and Obscuring Mist
2nd Frostfall, Scorching Ray, Glitterdust, Fog Cloud, Spontaneous Immolation, Fiery Shuriken, Eldritch Conduit and Pyrotechnics
Skills Knowledge (arcana, planes, religion, history) 10+, Spellcraft 10+, Use Magic Device 3+, craft (glassblowing) 8+ and Intimidate 10+
Languages Common, Ignan, Terran, Auran and Aquan
favored class bonus 2 hitpoints and 1 extra skill point (for glassblowing)
SQ arcane bond (Storm Lens)
the last 100 cp was confiscated unfortunately upon my characters arrest...
4th player or no, I'm going to start things up tomorrow evening (I'm PST). Make aliases if you like.
I'm interested. I started in a PbP with Viluki that died before the 51st post, and I wouldn't mind reuniting.
I'm also a huge Dark Sun fan, mostly the original version - I have almost all the adventures, including Black Spine!. The later 2e version is ok, and I picked up the 4e books because I love the setting. The only hardbook I wish I had from the original version was the Dragon Kings book (IIRC).
I'll check the character options and get back with a concept tonight.
Ok, so I've looked at the googledocs for character creation.
As a fan of the City State of Gulg, I'd like to play as a Female Gulgite Half-Giant Fighter 1/Inquisitor 2 (Heresy Inquisition), a former Silt Sea coastal villager captured and enslaved by Nibenay and trained for the Nibenay slave army, then rescued by Gulg and inducted into her secret police. Both the Healing and Protection deity portfolios list Heresy as a suitable Inquisition.
Does that concept appeal to you Cronax, and players?
Sense Poison. Not exactly exciting, but it will do. :)
I have a few questions:
* Can I change my favored weapon from Longbow to Gouge to reflect slave training, seen as useful by Gulg and given divine acceptance? I always wanted to play a character that used a gouge since getting the Dragon magazine it first appeared in about 20 years ago…I'm not so fond of ranged weapons...
* Do we need to buy our equipment or has it all been taken away?
* If we do purchase, how does masterwork quality interact with bone/stone/Athas creature-hide materials?
* So all the Athasian weapons do or do not have the fragile quality? Armor likewise?
Oceanshieldwolf:
The concept sounds fine. You can be from Cromlin. You will still need to come up with a reason the templar praetors of Balic arrested you.
Sense poison can be pretty useful. Tons of things on Athas are venomous. It will even detect Thri-Kreen.
I've made gouges martial weapons, so if you take a level in fighter, it doesn't really matter. On that note, you might consider the gladiator archetype. I actually did consider Gouges for Gulg in an earlier draft, but settled on Longbow as it was more of a noble hunting weapon.
That being said, I'd allow you to switch the favored weapon if you wanted to drop the fighter level or had some feat/spell/class ability that relied upon it.
You can have up to 1000 cp of gear at the time of your arrest. Most things are likely to be confiscated, but that does not mean they are destroyed forever and unrecoverable.
Masterwork will give you a +1 to hit for weapons, and an armor check penalty reduced by 1 for armor (same as normal). They are still fragile unless they are also made of steel or another exotic material (afgari = darkwood) or are magic/psionic (including temporary effects like the Magic Weapon spell). The same goes for armor unless it is hide, leather or padded. Also not that half of your ACP will be applied to saves against the heat.
Sounds good.
How about I change this slightly - say I was a Cromlin ne'erdowell that after a particularly gruesome tavern brawl left some vendettas, drifted to Balic , and found fame and limited fortune as a gladiator. Then rescued by Gulgites in a slave caravan raid, and wanted by Balican Templars ever since.
Fighter (Gladiator) 1 Inquisitor 2.
I'd be taking Weapon Focus: Gouge as my 1st level Character feat and then Dazzling Display as my 1st level Fighter feat.
Subsequently trained as an Inquisitor as my Lady Lalali-Puy of Gulg recognized my superior intimidatory range,
* So as a half giant, I can have a Large sized Gouge - can you help me work out the price for a masterwork stone Large Gouge? :) Double base price for Large, quarter of base price for stone, +300 cp for masterwork? So 20 cp x1/4 = 5 cp; x2 = 10 cp, +300 cp = 310 cp?
* Can I take the Witch Hunter Inquisitor Archetype and reskin it as a Preserver/Defiler Hunter? Perhaps call it a Nganga as the Gulg Templars are known?
This from the 4e CS
…secretive witch doctors known as nganga, mystics who lurk at the edges of society and protect Gulg from magical, spiritual and moral threats
* Can you clarify Wild Talent for me - it gives 2 PP, but not an actual Psionic Power, right?
Thanks for the interest and help so far...
Oceanshieldwolf:
I wasn't expecting a Templar in good standing among the party, but that is fine as long as you can come up with a reason to stick with the party after your escape, that works.
A large sized masterwork gouge would cost 340 cp. A large masterwork metal gouge would cost 4300 cp. Instead of specific materials (stone, obsidian), for mechanics purposes I'm abstracting it into just superior (metal) and inferior (almost everything else) materials.
Yes, wild talent only gives you 2PP. If you want an extra power, you can take the Unlocked Talent feat.
I'm creating the discussion and gameplay threads. finish up any last character details, make an alias and lets get started.
Are you excited? I know I am.
Yes excited. I'll try to get my alias up in the next 12-24 hrs. Daytime Saturday here in Oz, but my posting is very frequent. Just harder to whip up alias on smartphone... ;)
Dotting for interest. I love Dark Sun, fantastic setting.
Are the playtest classes allowed?
Däina:
No. The first post in this thread has links to the allowed races/classes. The game is basically starting now if you want to submit a character in the next few hours or so.
Since the playtest classes are so new some are not fully aware or do not remember to specifically include or exclude them in character creation rules. Well I will respectfully bow out, mostly since I do not have the time to create a character on such short notice. Fun gaming all!
Yeah, I had forgotten that that thing was released. Most of it didn't look like it would be easy to fit into the setting anyway.
When I said 'a few hours', I may have been exaggerating. As long as it's all sorted out and you can respond to the first gameplay post before tomorrow evening (PST), I could still take one more player.
Dashta the Half Giant from Gulg almost ready - just needs traits, skills one feat and equipment. If Daina posts something earlier you like better, by all means go with that...
Changed the concept to simplify.
Daishata was a favored human nganga of Gulg, trained in the ritual art of the gouge, a specialized combat dance-style that developed in Gulg to awe and mesmerize the Gulgites.
Captured by Balican slavers, Daishata has spent the past few years as a Gladiator - her evocative gouge style was seen as a crowd-puller, and she has won a few bouts, slowly making a name for herself..
Daishata longs to return to Gulg, but has realized more and more that Lalali-Puy has not tried to rescue her, nor does her own power appear to derive from her goddess.
* Changed to Human - you already have a half-giant, and my initial concept was really just a Gulgite. :)
* Changed from Fighter/Inquisitor to Inquisitor/Fighter - Daishata's time in the Balic gladiator pits has led to her change in training, but she will endeavor to return to her nganga path (Inquisitor) as soon as she can escape Balic.
* Still yet to complete traits, skills and equipment. Except it isn't Large anymore. ;(
Ok Cronax, I finished up Daishata and posted in the gameplay thread. Essentially she has for the past few years been a gladiator, so she didn't exactly have much in the way of "belongings" - I have listed her usual assortment of weapons and armor in her profile, but for now, she has nothing to have confiscated.
I leave it up to you why Dai has been removed form her gladiator pits in Balic and relocated to this location.
Daishata:
As for why you were moved. The Balic templars were getting antsy around you lately for some reason. You overheard a few of them referring "our current situation", clearly an allusion to something specific. You were then singled out and put on a wagon with a bunch of freshly caught slaves.
Looks good over all. I was prepared to take up to five players anyway. A few things:
cunning initiative does not appear to be factored in.
You should pick 2 more languages/literacies for high intelligence.
ride should be +5 I think?
As I mentioned in the character creation doc, swim is not a class skill for anyone. I count a total of 21 skill points spent, so just removing it will fix it.
Instead of Profession: Gladiator, you probably want Perform: Dance, Acting or Comedy as those are what affect Performance Combat, and what will make you successful at it.