Dreams of a Dead Age: Dragoncat's New Homebrew DARK SUN Campaign

Game Master Dragoncat

BTW, every ranger in AD&D 2E must also select a species enemy, much like their later incarnations.

Incidentally, that exploiting powergamer just showed up in another 2e game that I'm in and tried to claim that "multiclassed characters get all nonweapon proficiencies for their classes added together" was official rules as written. I had to pull out Sage Advice and the example of deconstructing a pre-generated PC from the DARK SUN adventure "Arcane Shadows" to show why this is wrong.

The reason it rubs me the wrong way so much is, if a player is going to lie about something being "rules as written" and exploit a system like this, what else are they going to exploit and lie about?

Oof. Sorry to hear that.

Should be done with background and other assorted gear by sometime later today.

I, too, am very excited for people to be ready and for the story to commence. :)

SO! Here's what I understand people have so far:

--A Human Ranger (Justifier) (Rysky's character; name unknown)
--A Half-Giant Gladiatrix (Professional Gladiatrix: Zelimah)
--A Thri-Kreen Psionicist (Tik'tik)
--A Human Psionicist (Beastmaster: Laurelin)
--An Elf Ranger/Thief (TheNine's character; name unknown)
--An Elf Cleric of Water (CariMac's character; name unknown)

No filthy arcane magic to be found anywhere. :)

Now, I understand that Zelimah has arrived at Athena's Oasis as part of a patrician's retinue, hoping to be shown off and boasted of in a networking opportunity. The elven water priestess is coming to see for herself if Lady Athena is a good enough 'guardian' of sorts for the hamlet's oasis. The elven ranger/thief has a vendetta against House Tomblador...

...but I'm not sure about why Tik'tik, Laurelin and the Justifier are at the oasis. What has brought them here, I wonder?

M'hael Azuresky

Laurelin's just here to see the festivities, as surely there will be some kind of celebration if a rich noblewoman has just moved into a new house in the area. (Also maybe she can find some off-season work.)

Also, the nonweapon proficiencies page should now be fully updated, with descriptions for every skill. I've added a wide range of proficiencies from various sourcebooks, though I didn't add the special proficiencies from Mind Lords of the Last Sea and Windriders of the Jagged Cliffs as those probably won't come up—if they do, I'll add them! Similarly, no proficiencies from other game worlds like Al-Qadim, Spelljammer, or Planescape.

There should still be plenty of choices. :)

I have a very rough idea of Tik'Tik's reasons for being whereever but I have not gotten it all typed out yet. I will work on plishing this off this weekend.

Got the majority of gear, and finalized proficiencies. Will have the background typed up a little later today

If anyone needs a template for AD&D characters, I have a template created for Paizo profiles that I'll be happy to share.

I am not sure what to choose as my species enemy... thoughi am leaning human since they stole one of my favorite wives *nods*

Human's certainly a decent choice. They're pretty common, especially if we wind up inside the city-state of Balic and having urban adventures. The down side is that you take a reaction penalty with humans in such a case, because they can see your unveiled contempt and hatred.

If we wind up out in the desert, other possibilities include thri-kreen (elves hate them because kreen love the taste of elf flesh), scrab, or gith.

I'm hoping to have a mix of desert and urban adventures in this campaign, if it helps to make a decision.

@M'hael: Looks like your thief skills are not quite finished. Here's how it works.

BASE SCORES:
As a multiclassed thief, you start with certain base abilities:
Pick Pockets 15%
Open Locks 10%
Find/Remove Traps 5%
Move Silently 10%
Hide in Shadows 5%
Detect Noise 15%
Climb Walls 60%
Read Languages 0%

You gain modifiers from being an elf:
Pick Pockets +5%
Open Locks -5%
Find/Remove Traps —
Move Silently +5%
Hide in Shadows +10%
Detect Noise +5%
Climb Walls —
Read Languages —

And from your Dexterity score of 19:
Pick Pockets +15%
Open Locks +20%
Find/Remove Traps +10%
Move Silently +15%
Hide in Shadows +15%

Then, on top of that, you get 90 points to spend to improve them on a 1-for-1 basis. You can't spend more than half of that on one skill. Each time you gain a level, you earn another 30 points to spend (again, no more than half can be spent on one skill).

So apparently elves are delicious

I've always thought so. . . wait a minute

I have my backstory in the profile now. Working on my equipment.

wealth: 3d4 ⇒ (4, 2, 4) = 10x30=300

I have part of my equipment figured out, what would be the base "starting kit" for a character excluding weapons?

I recommend that your starter gear should include a pack, a waterskin (usually I recommend several, since each carries only half a gallon, but thri-kreen only need one gallon of water per week), a firestarting kit (in case you need to cook stuff), and any adventuring gear that you might want (rope, wooden shovel, etc.). You should have at least one week of iron rations.

Thri-kreen do wear decorative clothing sometimes, though obviously not like what we wear, so you might want a belt or maybe sink some of the money into a little jewelry, like bangles with bone beads on them or whatnot. Jewelry is a trade good so you can always get full value out later, using it to trade for something else.

Additional trade goods are also a possibility. If we're out in the desert and run into a potentially friendly tribe, giving gifts is a good way to make friends.

Thri-kreen never ride mounts, so no need for one of those.

Beyond that, psionicists don't have any specific needs. We don't use material components, and as a thri-kreen you don't use armor, so we don't need any special tools to work our skills.

I'm hoping to start this campaign by next week, if possible.

I have most of my stuff bought now but I realized I don't see any waterskins anywhere. What is teh price on them?

I have most of my stuff bought now but I realized I don't see any waterskins anywhere. What is teh price on them?

They're listed as "wineskins" with a price of 8 bits.

Just finished recording another "Bone, Stone, and Obsidian" podcast episode! History of psionics in D&D! I'll post a link when it's out!

Also wrote five new kits for druids, and guidance for using kits from the Complete Druid's Handbook!

Druids needed clarifying desperately. Should I at some point end up needing another character,. I'd likely try one of these.

I'll put those homebrew druid kits to use too, should anyone wish to roll one up later. :)

My assumption wound up being that anything listed for a DS Druid’s granted powers supplants and replaces anything in the PHB granted powers, so DS druids don’t get the stuff like dealing with woodland faerie charms.

My assumption wound up being that anything listed for a DS Druid’s granted powers supplants and replaces anything in the PHB granted powers, so DS druids don’t get the stuff like dealing with woodland faerie charms.

I was under that assumption too.

There, I think I am finished now.

Hi this is CariMac's character. Tumya the Elf Cleric of Water.

What's the best way to get the AD&D layout for my character on my profile?

Edit: I'm also going to need some serious help making sure I didn't miss anything important.

I constructed a template for AD&D characters suitable for a Paizo profile. I could send it your way, if you'd like.

Happy to help once you have your sheet up in your profile.

@Sorcerer-Cat Yes please. I'd love to use the template.

@CariMac: Done. Check your PMs.

Just a quick check-in. How's everyone's character sheets coming along?

I'm looking to start this campaign this Monday.

I'm ready to go

BUT

I'm scheduled to get the second vaccine shot tomorrow, and I don't know if I'll have horrible side effects or not. I might vanish for two days if I get nasty fever, aches, etc.

Side effects aren't great for me but I'm still here.

Glad to hear it.

Currently trying to get my sleep schedule back into something resembling a reasonable pattern, so turns out I won't be starting today.

Where can I find the priest spells? I looked at our wiki but didn't see them. Is there an Ad&D site I should take a peek at. I "think" I've got Tumya ready except for the spells.

There are so many spells that adding them all to the wiki is going to be a daunting task. For the moment, look here. You should be able to use the filters to look for only 1st level spells, only priest spells, etc.

Note that in DARK SUN, priest spells are organized into spheres differently. Instead of having Spheres like Healing, Thought, Protection, etc., there are only the Spheres of the elements (Air, Earth, etc.) and the Cosmos Sphere (everything else). The DS main rule book has a breakdown of how those Spheres are organized; I'll get a page up on the wiki with that list.

I've added a Priestly Magic page to the wiki, that includes the DARK SUN listing of which spheres various spells are in. Obviously, if you're playing a Water cleric, you have access to the Sphere of Water and (minor, 3rd level spells and lower) Sphere of Cosmos.

I'm putting up the spells that have specific changes or notes, or that are new to the setting, in order to flesh out the lists with stuff that might not appear in a typical internet search or in the PDF of the Player's Handbook.

Oh, and for those who just want to read the books, there's purple worm. It's basically a reprint of material from the 2nd edition rules CD, under a specific legal doctrine.

New week, new you! Who's ready to roll?

I'm prepared to begin. :)

Looks like I'm soloing this one...

Oh I'm still here. I've just been waiting for everyone to be ready and the game to start.

I was waiting for the start too. :)

I'm pretty much ready. Sorry, birthday yesterday.

happy berfday late!

Right... now to write up a good opening post...