Anyone else? A few applicants need a few more days to finish, so it will probably be a week, tops, before we start.
Oyzar, 1, 2, and 3 are yes. As for Animal Lord, it is 5, because 3*1.5, rounded up, is 5.
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I'm not going to post for while, at least until I get back from RVT's since she helped me with my computer, but I will be back.
Okay, so I have a confession to make. I have been letting the negativity from the messageboards get to me as of late. That's the reason that I have not posted in so long, for which I am sorry. I have felt, quite honestly, like the talk about me has been right, that I have been a failure as a DM/GM. This continued until, after about 3 or 4 days ago, when Red velvet Tiger, Monkeygod, and one of the players (Arawn Vasska's player, whose screen name I don't quite remember,) who had quit from my campaign finally managed to convince me that the best way to dispel the negativity is to power-through and show people that things are different. I don't really know why I let the negativity bother me as much as I do, it just does. I can handle criticism to an extent, if it is only said once and sufficient time is allowed for me to fix the problem. Constant criticism, even when I am making efforts to change, just really bothers me. It could be the inborn tendency that I have towards depression and anxiety or it could be a deeper personality flaw. Which it is, I am not sure of. Thanks to the three individuals I mentioned above, and to those who conveyed their well-wishes through them, I will not be quitting the messageboards permanently, as I was honestly considering. If you all are reading this, thank you for helping me get past this issue. I will be returning to run my campaigns shortly, but I just wanted to explain what was going on and answer the biggest questions that I'm sure people were wondering. As of now, recruitment is officially closed and those who have posted will be allowed to finish their characters while I catch up to my duties as the GM.
Rednal, well that might prove to be your downfall, because another blast from the past has been preparing to make a return, someone who you may remember well from years ago, a certain... masked goddess with a red tiger companion. :P I was told not to say anything, so act surprised! You didn't hear a word from me! Monkeygod, trust me, I know! That's why I have to this day have only had two characters accepted into a game, because I change character concepts almost daily. I loved my 3-eyed, albino Tengu Menhir Savant Druid, for the like 10-20 posts I got to make with him before the game fizzled out. Gyrfalcon, I actually like the concept! Send me a PM about ideas for that drink, as I am interested in knowing what plans you have for a Gnomish fizzy drink, given how Gnomish inventions tend to be. :P
Deadline for people joining the thread is 2 days. Deadline to have character CONCEPTS finished is one week. Fury of the Tempest, Shadow-Traced was one of the templates on the ban list, primarily because there are ways that the rules could be bent to have permanent access to your shadow clones. That would make it a super-leadership ability and leadership by itself is a no-no. Philo Pharynx, that Warlock conversion should be to you tomorrow. Tenro, there are lots of ways to get multiple arms! Al Harrington, the way that it works is detailed in the original post. It it basically level=level, with CR taking up CR*1.5 levels from the gestalt (And must be fit in one side of the gestalt,). Rednal, that phrase was intended for my Kingmaker campaign, since I was originally posting 2+ times day. But yeah, 2+ posts per day is what I would prefer to do.
Okay folks, I finally got done with my work for Jan term. Now, to help summarize things, let me copy-paste what I placed in my Kingmaker campaign.
I am going to answer questions from you all in a few moments, but I just wanted to post this so that you could get a decent explanation.
Rednal, are you still game then? If so, I will get around to your questions. :) Cartmanbeck, that is unfortunate, as I really liked your character. I hold no ill will towards you, I just felt like I needed to say that to clear the air, so to speak. That said, do you mind if I use a character that I was forming based on part of your background that you PMed me about? Tenro, if I recall, all of your questions have been posted as PMs, correct? And regarding balance, I balanced the playtest parties out in some cases, made some monstrously powerful, and made others as weak but flavorful as possible. In all cases except for one, the parties survived, albeit with varying amounts of wear, tear, and death. It stood like this: Monstrously optimized parties that I would likely ban on sight- Low to no deaths, no near TPKs. Balanced party with either all 'average optimization' or mixed weak and broken characters- A moderate level of deaths, a few near TPKs at BBEGs and similar 'meatgrinder' sections. Completely unoptimized party- Moderate to high deaths, with an outlying group having no deaths and another TPK'ing multiple times, moderate amount of TPKs. So, the level of difficulty is similar to what one would find around some of the higher-echelon modules and adventures in D&D and Pathfinder's history, but that is to be expected in any game where players are gestalt, much more so considering this is tristalt. The game is not quite rocket tag, but combat is much faster, and deadlier, than a normal campaign. This makes it perfect for PBP, because combat can sometimes drag on for days or weeks at a time at higher levels in normal, high-level PBP campaigns, especially since death from massive damage is being disabled.
Khutula dur Rheklor, check THIS THREAD for more information. Basically, yes, but you will need the feat that substitutes CL for Spellcraft and such. Rednal, I get that, but there is just such as high level of vitriol from people that I just had to say what I had to say. As I said, the reason that I left my first, and most beloved, profile as The Silver Prince is because of the sheer negativity that I faced. From there, it was me hopping profiles because when someone recognized my style, I worried that I would get the same negativity. I wanted to avoid the sort of negativity like what I have been getting since after Christmas (And before, in some cases,) on here. To be perfectly honest, people's actions just prove to me that I was correct in my initial estimations on how people would generally behave if they figured out who I was. That said, I'm not going to quit my profile just because some people have an issue with me, not anymore. I'm not asking to toss out negativity IF I deserve it. Just wait and find out first before adding negativity to the thread, okay?
HP, as per usual, is maximum per HD. I find rolling for HP is NOT a fun process and I like eliminating variables from my campaigns that are unnecessary anyway. Fighters get Stamina for free. Remember my caveat about keeping track of everything on your sheet regarding this. While pre-game crafting is banned, it is allowed in-game. Trust me when I say that there is no reason to not take it if you want to use it at some point. While I will not spoil things for you regarding campaign information, early on you get an item that makes crafting SO much better. I wouldn't want you to expect to be able to do it before that, given how the beginning of the campaign takes place on a semi-constructed timeline, but after the first 'scenario' and acquisition of said item-creation-helping-equipment, I see no issues with it. Gavmania, the shield comment was mainly because the archetype emulates Captain America and that was the entire flavor of it. A 42 AC is not too high. My Earth Elemental caster-type character in one of my playtests had a consistent AC of 46 and was not broken. AC does not protect you from spells. Fury of the Tempest, Bigrig107 and Lessa are right regarding how polymorph subschool effects work. There is no need for Improved Critical, given your template's ability. Oyzar, what year the campaign is set in depends entirely on what world you are from (To give you an example, there is a fairly large calender difference between Eberron and Toril's world,) and, as such, I would need specifics on your world before I could give you an accurate view of what year it is. I am ruling that constructs do not need to understand the language you are using to obey, because your bloodline is called IMPOSSIBLE after all (And it would be a dumb restriction to have, given that it would essentially void your ability with 99% of the applicable effects!). Orc-Bloodline Sorcerors may pick up Amplified Rage, as can any other character who has a Rage ability that is not a Barbarian (Who obviously can anyway,). Monkeygod, Sneak Attack and Studied Strike both stack. Also, I playtested with the feat tax in place, which prevents some issues that could arise by NOT having it be applicable. Given the number of feats everyone has, removing the standard feat tax could allow for everyone to take all the 'power feats'. Besides, 20+ feats SHOULD be enough for any character. Bigrig107, just select the four skills from your outsider class from the ones that the Osyluth has points in. As for SR questions, X+CR becomes X+(Level*.67, rounded up,), since CR is 1.5 times itself in levels, meaning that the level equivalent is 2/3. Make sense? ALL languages have a place in Planescape. Common is, quite obviously, the most common, followed by the various outsider and elemental languages. The Desert Giant seems cool as well, although Sarenrae is a no-go, given the D&D multiverse being the setting (The only thing that I scavenged from Golarion is the First World and, given that I don't want genre-mixing, may substitute in the Feywild instead as the Plane of Faerie,). Pelor is the primary sun god in D&D. Rynjin, getting Unluck Aura is simple: play a Pugwampi! If nothing else, you would make a fine plaything for Rysky! Hope you get the reference, of course. I am quite liberal in allowing PCs to refluff abilities, so long as they make sense. Rednal, so far you are the first to extensively use Sigil-speak, apart from myself! Very nice... it brings a level of nostalgia to the recruitment.
Holiday colds: the gift that keeps on giving, unfortunately. My head is still congested a bit, but I was informed by a few people that the natives were getting a bit restless, figuratively speaking, so I figured that I would at least post this and make a substantial post in about an hour or so after I finish cooking and eating breakfast despite not feeling completely well today. As for the concept of silly characters, nothing is too silly for Planescape. There are, after all, things like senile old Mimir skulls that dispense Alice in Wonderland-style pearls of wisdom while cackling madly, chaste succubus nuns, planar beatniks, and other such things in Planescape.
Hello everyone! I will post later today, at some point. Had a nasty holiday illness that I have been getting over. Sorry about not posting before now to let everyone know. I have pictures of my medication, for those who need proof.
True enough, Monkeygod. I believe that will work. Gavmania, you are ONLY using the shield as a weapon though, right? As in using an einhander-style approach to combat (Weapon in one hand, nothing in the other,)?
Khutula del Rheklor, it looks solid to me, both fluff-wise and crunch-wise, although I did not delve a lot into the crunch, just giving it a look-over to see if there was anything blatantly out of place, so to speak. Fury of the Tempest, that is fine. Gavmania, as the shield IS your weapon, I think it would work. Most people use a shield for defense, not offense, so you are okay. This was just to keep people from having awesome weapon+shield+good class AC.
Due to several people inquiring about Combat Stamina and a few impassioned pleas for it, I will allow it. HOWEVER, as I am not as familiar with that system as I would like, I want those who will use it to DIRECTLY COPY descriptions from the SRD and put it in their character sheet regarding those abilities. I believe that is a fair accomodation.
Fury of the Tempest, see below. Rednal, not too sure on the estimate, given that Christmas/other winter holidays has a way of putting a wrench into people's estimated plans on the messageboards, but I was looking at only leaving the INTEREST portion open until the 26th or 27th. From then, everyone who has posted has another week or so to work out their characters.
Okay guys, today is probably the last day that that I will be putting up substantial posts until December 26th or 27th, due to the holidays coming up very soon. Rednal, not too sure on the estimate, given that Christmas/other winter holidays has a way of putting a wrench into people's estimated plans on the messageboards, but I was looking at only leaving the INTEREST portion open until the 26th or 27th. From then, everyone who has posted has another week or so to work out their characters. Also, yes, this is indeed a blast from the past, in more ways than one! EoS's basic plot and hyper-powerful enemies, plus Planescape? Pure nostalgia. Also, what setting does Eir come from? Or was she made in Sigil, which is not a stretch of the imagination at all? You can message me her background, if you would like. Gyrfalcon, considering that it fits the level requirement if one were to turn Alchemist into a 9-level caster class, then yes. My only ruling with this is that some potions with substantial effects cannot have this applied to them. Thus, if the party encounters an elixir that someone has identified as permanently boosting someone's stats, it cannot be 'double-dipped'. Oyzar, trust me, templates do not mess with balance overmuch, especially since I can flat out refuse or GM alter a template. Most are not problematic in the long-run. And when PCs will eventually face things like, for example, a Corrupter Pseudonatural Paragon Sylvanshee Ninja19/Dimensional Warrior19/Fighter19 with 7 mythic ranks (Roughly equating to a CR around 40, with 7 mythic ranks,), I don't think that it's too much of an issue. The multiverse can handle it. Also, no fractional BAB/saves. Fractional stats are mainly used when multiclassing is one's sole way of experiencing other classes. Tristalt solves that problem and allows stats to be handled pretty well. Ashe, did you get my message? I confirmed that you could and that the idea would best be served if you were from Spelljammer's Wildspace setting. And The Force Within was pretty amazing to me. It definitely sets up a new series! Josh.Ingle, as this campaign is sort of a trip down nostalgia lane, I would prefer if the setting was D&D specific, including the characters. Do you need help figuring out the setting? Archaeologists are DEFINITELY a thing on Eberron, where explorers go into the mysterious continent of Xendrik, as well as Ravenloft, where explorers from the Core (Basically the 'primary' continent, which is sort of like Europe,) delve into the tombs of Pharoahs in Har'akir and Sebua.
I will answer some questions, then it is time for some much-deserved rest! HighonHolyWater, undead can rage and I homebrew that they substitute CON for CHA. Gyrfalcon, yes to ultimate rogue and skill unlocks, sneak attack DOES affect the target of a bomb, Zealot is allowed, ability score swaps are fine in race builder but swapping things like low-light vision and darkvision are not, undead and necromancers are not necessarily evil. White Unggoy, you may use the race then and give it the RP boost. The Goat Clan Racial Heritage is 0 RP, considering that it is class-specific and balanced by an equal loss. Rynjin, no need in rolling for character generation! Philo Pharynx, check your inbox in a few hours. Mellok, this is just a recruitment, so feel free to post a character! Did that answer everyone's questions?
On my way back from shopping in Auburn. I will post when I get home.
I figured that it would! Would you like the template?
Okay, so I finally got back from visiting my girlfriend. We were a bit late, as we stopped by a little restaurant called Cookout and got a few things to eat. Apparently the place is part of a restaurant chain. It has AMAZING charbroiled cheeseburgers and is really cheap too. For a double cheeseburger, an order of fries, and a bottled water, it was $4.99 plus tax. If you have one in your town, I suggest looking it up and giving it a try. But enough rambling about food! Time to answer your questions! Would people like a primer on the general cosmology of the old-school D&D multiverse and the various old setting worlds? I could probably get a collection of links to informative fan-based sites in a day or so. Lessah, Herald of War is no problem, so long as you go by the 'apocalypse in it's own time' sort of thing, you know? It does seem like something that an off-duty Herald of War would do though, just being a planar adventurer. After all, you get to travel all across the multiverse and meet many different foes on many different battlefields. Oyzar, it truly depends on the animal form that you plan on taking to determine whether or not it is OP. If it is a relatively weak animal, it is as-written. If it is a powerful animal, you don't gain the +4 to all ability scores. Just message me about which that you would like to use. 'Coolest deity' of the setting is something up for debate. Define coolest. Also, there are a LOT of cultures in the D&D multiverse that utilize dinosaurs/megafauna. What sort of culture are you looking for, in terms of peacefulness and such? That will help narrow the list of viable options down for you. Gavmania, how are you getting the Shield Guardian? Rynjin, yes to those three questions. Monkeygod, I forgot to mention that I disregarded those rules as I playtested. White Unggoy, break down the Goat Clan and let me know what your build comes out to. As for the other linked material, it is allowed. Cartmanbeck, PM me in a few minutes, if you will. GraveScratches, you don't want to use the 'build your own ghost' rules from Ravenloft's 3.X iteration, which was fan-transported to Pathfinder rules? TarkXT, Spheres of Power is very much an option for your character. Bigrig107, that works. Also, Serpent Shaman Druids are REALLY cool! Of course, that may be because I'm one of the few people on Earth that think that snakes are cool (Even if I am smart enough to treat the dangerous ones with caution!). Reckless, Combat Stamina is not allowed. Tenro, what are you looking to do? Or, better, what is the theme for your character? You could be an Artificer with the Iron Lich as your template, being a sort of magi-necro-tech mad scientist. You could be a Ronin Samurai whose failure to protect his charge led him to commit suicide, an act that combined with his grief, caused him to rise as an undead who seeks to protect another as he once did in life or else search for a way to gain the honorable death that he craves. There's lots of cool tropes with undead/necromancer characters in gestalt campaigns. Vagabonds., yes to those questions that you asked!
Bigrig107, Asmodeus' flavor is pretty consistent across the settings. I was mostly just saying that so it doesn't raise questions like 'is Asmodeus in X the same as the one in Y', 'if he is, why do all deities not cross realities', and several other questions that I would rather not answer.
Just to keep everyone in the proverbial loop, I will be going to my girlfriend's house today and staying until tomorrow evening. My posting will likely be much scarcer than usual, but I will try to post at least once or twice until I get back around 6:00 EST tomorrow. Post whatever questions you have and I will try to answer them. Cartmanbeck, as was stated upthread, and probably lost in the walls of text I put up, I plan on allowing a week for people to post interest, then allowing 1-2 weeks for people to finish, although I may allow more time since the holiday season has people running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Oyzar, sorry about that! I thought that trading move for swift actions was a thing anyway? Or is it just so commonplace that I have just been assuming that it is the normal procedure for things? As for the Moment of Clarity/Mad Magic questions, you may pick one of those options. Regarding Golarion, I would prefer to keep Golarion out of the picture, so as not to disturb the nostalgia and to avoid the 'does Asmodeus=Asmodeus?' question, which no matter the answer, raises more questions. Drbuzzard, ah okay. That sounds fine! Philo Pharynx, I used to love messing with PCs using the Sharn's Hex Portals! And I realize that I forgot to answer your question about the Warlock updates. The Warlock was updated some time ago. I will PM you the updated version at some point.
HP is maximum per HD. Regarding my posting history, I explain it here. While posts under the profile and aliases of Sanguinus Draconis and whichever one belonged to Fallen Herald were mine in name only, having made them for my friends so they could get right into the messageboards, the rest were mine and I claim responsibility for it. If you were curious about why I did profile hopping, read the link above. Trust me, it will make more sense if you get the full story. That said, my kingmaker campaign has people from several of my past campaigns, they all know who I am, and they seem really happy thus far with the campaign. Moving on to answer more questions! HighonHolyWater, I would not mind it, with the caveat that if the armor is destroyed and scattered after your death, you cannot rejuvenate, as if it were completely destroyed by the basic methods. I will ask you to bear in mind that your armor has something of a drawback rules-wise. While it DOES revive you over the course of a few days after you die, the process starts very soon after you kick it. If the process has started, you may not be revived by a Rejuvenate Undead spell, so you will have to wait out your resurrection. That's one of the unwritten drawbacks of that ability. Oyzar, I usually post more than once per day. In my Kingmaker thread, after working out a few problems on a technical end (Getting Lazarus to save my posts and making sure to hit preview before posting,), I had hit a stride of 3-4 posts per day, until I was requested to take it down to 1-2 posts by 2 players. So really, I would prefer to do 2-3 posts per day, assuming the players agree with that number of posts per day. As for your character concept, I don't see why that it would not work. As a note though, you don't have to have similar domains to your character's divine forbear, as stated under the fluff portion of the class. Also, calculate your total bonus to CL that you would gain and let me see what it is. Drbuzzard, is he a straight custom race or is it a modified version of the pre-existing one? JoshB, Leadership is NOT allowed, given that it is the single most broken feat that I have ever beheld. Pre-game crafting is not an option in this campaign, as it would put some people up with a MASSIVE advantage, equipment-wise, over the other party members. Sixteenbiticon, Nice concept! You know the rules for having an intelligent weapon, right? What the cost would be out of your GP? Anderlorn, nice! Spelljammer is a setting that I was very fond of back in the day. Rynjin, thank you for the show of good faith! Have you got a concept nailed down yet? Philo Pharynx, Sharn as in Faerun Sharn, the embodiments of chaos that look strangely like xenomorphs from the Aliens series?
Concepts so far: Tenro: Uber Necromancer Bigrig107: Osyluth Priest Lessah: Blade-fu Drider Monkeygod: Wyld Fey I will only be leaving recruitment open for people to post interest for around a week. Everyone will have until about a week after that to finish up. Does everyone think 2 weeks is fair time to build a level 14 tristalt character?
You may have a pool of gold that you specify as 'spell components' that you may draw from. You MUST make specific purchases if a spell requires a focus, due to their nature as non-consumables.
To give an example party that I had built from scratch that actually had a challenge in some parts of the campaign and even almost got TPK'd in some of the fights against each sections 'big bads'. Tank- Hessarian the Warder: LG Male Aasimar Paladin14 (Divine Defender/Sacred Shield)14/Oracle of Life (Purifier)14/Fighter7/Stalwart Defender7 Off-tank/DPS- High Jarl Uldred Icebeard the Undying: LE Male Frost Giant Bloodrager (Untouchable Rager/Steelblood)14/Antipaladin (Knight of the Sepulcher)8/Disciple of Thrym4 Blaster- Eldrid of the Wounded Woods: NE Male Fey'ri (Represented as a Half-Fiend High Elf) Evocation Wizard14/Elven Archer14/Abyssal Sorceror9 Assassin- Tipsy of the Lopsided Blade: CN Male Pixie Ninja14/Monk (Drunken Master)14/Fey Sorceror8 Healer- Radiance-of-Dawn: NG Female Half Celestial Demon-spawn Tiefling Oracle of Lore14/Cleric of Pelor14/Mesmerist4/Loremaster5 Now, as you can tell, I mixed optimized and non-optimized characters in the group to simulate the variance that would likely come from an online recruitment. I used a few more parties, just to make sure that the power level was right, including one with a Earth Genasai Eldritch Godling/Barbarian/Earth Elementalist that was capable of pretty much all roles. So, to answer balance concerns, I don't really see too many, considering that I can ban anything that I might believe can break the game.
Lessah, that sounds about right. Regarding the ability score bonuses from monsters, those are already figured into their CR and, with few exceptions, monsters are MUCH less diverse than adventurers because of it. Look at the poor giants! They gain HUGE physical bonuses... but what do they have? Rock-catching? Maybe a SLA or two? Those creating characters going for ability score grabs alone should ask yourself if blatant stat grabs are worth the class features that you are giving up in exchange for them. I have playtested this and believe me, a Frost Giant with 2 other sides can be a terror in melee, but is comparably very limited in options compared to, say, an Elf Spelless Ranger/Wizard/Magus. And, as everyone knows in these sorts of games, versatility can be the difference between life and death, particularly at high levels. Why do you think that people prefer wizards to sorcerors for power arcane builds? Yes, a sorceror can use their spells more, but their versatility suffers much in exchange. Also, the PCs have 20 RP to start with (Or an equivalent amount to buff an existing race to that level), which can buy them ability scores.
Rynjin, those are quite good points, which is why I placed the 2-template maximum and completely banned the use of 'stat bonus' templates, with the caveat that I can ban anything that I feel breaks things. Stuff like the Daikaiju and Cataclysm Creature templates are, quite obviously, banned. S.A.D. characters are not an issue, because characters already have the ridiculous amount of ability score points needed for M.A.D. builds and, not only that, but there is the standard 18+racial/template+(level x .25 [Which is what results from the level-up stat increases]) soft cap for ability scores before figuring in bonuses from items and such, so it shouldn't become a huge problem. You can't for example, dump over 11 points into your ability score during AS generation and be godly at one thing without even figuring in such things. Sorry about the long explanation. EDIT: To explain what I meant about the 'soft cap' on ability scores, here is an example. Let's say you are playing an Elf and you're trying to determine the soft cap on DEX. Before racials are even done, the cap is 18. After your +2 racial is figured in, the cap is 20. If you have a template with +4, the cap is raised to 24. Because you are level 14, you gain another +3 to that cap, raising it to 27. So, before figuring in items and such, your maximum ability score in DEX after figuring in basic ability score generation, racials, template, and your level is 27. Gravescratches, nice! Glad that this has possibly inspired you to rejoin the messageboards! Lessah, sorry, I didn't quite explain it correctly. I believe that you get the gist of it, however. Regarding the Harbinger, it is allowed. If it's made by Dreamscarred Press, assume that it is in my massive PDF library, unless it is 3.X. In this case, yes, Harbinger is in the library and, yes, you may use it.
Lessah, as of now? Keep it at around DC 17-19. The average big bad this early has a FORT in the mid-20's and the biggest in the first adventure can only fail it on a 1, so try to keep it below 20. Also, bear in mind that several creatures in the planes can resist poison quite well, so it would probably be best not to invest too much into your toxins anyway. Oyzar, I will do no such thing! I made a CON-based Eldritch Godling that was earth-themed and it was quite balanced, despite having amazing defense and crushingly brutal melee and ranged options. "I am son of Toril, born from it's power. I am as stoic and unmoving as the mountains themselves, more powerful than an earthquake, and as eternal as the stone itself. You have made a grave error in coming here demon... now you suffer for your folly." You are correct on the ability scores as well. Frost Giants are pretty strong, but that's calculated into their CR and that's about all they get. See where I'm going with this? Most monsters have elite ability score bonuses and, as such, are usually calculated as CRx1.5=level equivalent, although some of the end-game CR creatures break this rule. Bigrig107, yes, it would bump to 3d6, an ironic number all things considered.
Discuss things here, you sodding Clueless! Just, you know, don't bring the Lady down on us or anything, you hear?
Lessah, so long as you don't overboost the poison DC with feats and such, I have no major issues with it. As it stands, most of the 'big bads' will only fail on a save of natural one on it anyway. Going for a Drider? Oyzar, I remembered to add the planned-on restrictions and put them on the first post after you posted. It essentially equates to a 2 template limit, unless you ask me first, and templates that are just straight stat bonuses, such as Advanced, are auto-banned. You are correct on your assumptions on ability scores for creatures, although it is -12 for their top two ability scores and -10 for the rest of them. Bigrig107, Teleportation is fine, but remember that this is the planes. Dimension Lock and similar effects are quite popular, so just don't assume that free escapes are possible all the time. There is a caveat though: if you have never been to a specific place, you can't specify where within it you arrive. For example, if you are going to the Citadel of a Thousand Pearls and only have a reliable description of the city itself, you can't, for instance, teleport into the Pasha of the Marid's bedchamber. You would either get dropped off in the city's bazaar or just outside the gates. Scrying and other methods of gleaning information do not circumvent this caveat. Otherwise, one wonders why fiendish assassins have not already assassinated the celestial's top leaders and Asmodeus is the god-king of the multiverse.
A crazed-looking Xorn blinks into existence, raving to itself, "Lady, that recruitment was bent!" Turning, it notices you and shrieks before regaining it's composure, "Oi, what are you barmies still doing here? The Dabus need to do their head-words at you, ya clueless berks! Last one through the gate's a sodding pile of balor skree!"
Okay, so most of you have probably seen the interest check for this campaign and have at least a basic idea of what's going on, but for those who do not, please allow me to explain. Barmy in Sigil is something that I came up with when I looked at an old AP that a friend and I created called Echoes of the Sephira upon my return to the messageboards. I was initially interested in redoing it exactly as it was, but with a few minor retoolings. Then the idea hit me: I missed the nostalgia of playing in D&D's old multiverse, because Planescape was one of my favorite settings. So I decided to rework the AP to fit the setting better and reduced the level for... reasons. And here we stand, after weeks of retooling the setting, rebalancing the encounters for tristalt, and such! Now, the basic premise of the campaign is that you are all planar adventurers that have been previously acquainted. Your names are almost synonymous with getting results, at least to those who know you. The campaign begins in the famous World Serpent Inn, a planar tavern whose winding back hallways lead to virtually every plane of existence. The bar's owner, the snake-bearded man Mitchifer, hands the group a letter that someone left for them, an invitation to meet up and discuss a job of some sort. From there, the campaign will span from the wild and wonderful early days of wandering the planes, doing odd jobs for the various movers and shakers of the multiverse, to the later days when the stakes grow much higher. In a way, it's like the progression of the old Planescape modules, at least in spirit, if you played them in order. What should you expect from this campaign, you may ask? Well, I will tell you. Expect to reach level 20. Expect mythic levels. Expect the ability to push to level 25 and, yes, each class will have abilities that proceed past their 20th level capstone, if you are interested in taking a few classes all the way. In the last portions of the campaign, the players will have the option of becoming full-fledged gods, complete with a set of rules governing it stripped from 2 sources (Deities and Demigods is where the bulk of it comes from,). Expect artifacts to be occasional rewards. Expect to come face-to-face with some of the powers of D&D's multiverse. And, above all, expect barminess! It's a tristalt Planescape game, after all, and either one by themselves is pretty barmy! So, moving away from that exposition, let's get to the nitty-gritty of character creation, shall we? I will offer the caveat that, if options are too extreme, that I can ban them, but that's always a given, is it not? Now, if you have any questions after this, feel free to ask me. I hope I covered most of what people would be asking about in this massive first post in recruitment. CHARACTER CREATION Starting Level: 14 tristalt (As gestalt, but melding THREE classes together into one!) Alignment: You may be of any alignment, BUT evil is expected to be smart and/or child's cartoon evil. If you are the type that will burn down an orphanage of Aasimar babies, chances are you are not the type that will fit into the Planescape vibe. Classes: I have went through a plethora of classes and the only ones that I am putting the ban hammer on from my personal library and d20PFSRD's list are these: the Monster Hunter and all associated classes by Northwinter Press (On account of being too broken), the Hellenic Sorceress by Sean K Reynolds Games (As it is more of an NPC class in power level), and the Pugilist by Wordcasting Entertainment (For the same reason as the Hellenic Sorceress). I will even allow some of the old 3.X classes, although they will receive boosts from a premade list. If it is not on d20pfsrd, just ask me on whether the class is allowed or not. Otherwise, unless it is one of those listed above, it is allowed. *On Alignment and Class*: I am loosening alignment restrictions on classes. Monks can be of any alignment, although some aspects of their class will change to fit, such as their alignment types upon becoming outsiders. Paladins may be of any good alignment or LN, Antipaladins may be any evil alignment or CN, having alterations to class abilities made based on their alignment. All classes, like Barbarian, with meaningless alignment restrictions now have them removed (In the case of Barbarian, a lawful alignment actually makes sense, because they suppress their rage to the point where, when they choose to release it, it is powerful indeed!). Races: Now, races are something that will require a little better explanation. You may play a base or custom race, either of which you will be able to power up to a threshold of 20 RP. I would prefer the former, as it is easy to use a base race and adding stuff on to it. If you choose to go the route of making a custom race, however, I want a full write-up from you of the race's appearance, customs, society, home environment (And plane, if it is plane-specific), general personality, and such. For modifying base races, I expect explanations if you use extreme alterations to the base race. For example, if you wanted to give your Human wings, celestial resistances, and such, you could say that a good-aligned deity blessed you. There is no particular need to explain things like low-light vision or ability score increases, as those can be explained away by simple variance. Also, you may use a 3.X race, but will need to ask me the RP value of it. Playing a Creature:
Now, since this is Planescape, I am definitely going to allow the option of playing creatures. Now, there are a few rules to this, which I will outline below in this spoiler tab. Now, for obvious reasons, I reserve the right to ban any type of creature but, as you will see below, there is not as much of a list of things that I will ban.
1. If you play a creature and/or add templates, the conversion rate for CR-to-level is CRx1.5, rounded up if necessary. To give an example, if you play a CR 8 creature, it is worth 12 levels. If you added a template that gave it another CR, it would be worth 13 levels. You are also limited to 2 templates, tops. 2. The above levels MUST fit within one side of your gestalt. I will not allow someone to begin play as a Solar, Balor, or Great Wyrm dragon by fiddling with gestalt rules. 3. Creatures with 'save-or-die' powers are generally banned, unless there is a legitimate reason given as to why such a creature would not be broken. Templates that are just straight stat bonuses, such as advanced, are likewise banned. 4. Creatures with Energy Drain and/or Ability Drain/Damage will be scrutinized. Bear this in mind. In the case of certain creatures, I can alter those abilities into something more appropriate, such as giving a vampire immunity to sunlight in place of energy drain, a more than fair trade, in my opinion. It is FAR too easy to kill with ridiculous combinations like Flurry of Blows-Energy Drain to not scrutinize the abilities before allowing or disallowing it. 5. Creatures and/or templates with regeneration will likely have it reduced to fast-healing that can be halted by the same type of damage. There is a cap on how much fast-healing that you can have. 6. DR and SR from your creature type is capped as well, with the amount varying based on what else you gain from your creature/template, what CR it is, ect. 7. You may be any alignment, regardless of your creature/template specifications. Planescape's infamous Falls-From-Grace is a Lawful Neutral Succubus Cleric and Cirily is a CN Firrinal Eladrin Bard, so set alignments are out of the door as far as race goes. Ability Scores: You gain 30 points to distribute, on a 1-1 basis, amongst your scores with a base of 10. You may dump ability scores at your leisure, but I will expect those ability scores dumped to taken into account when making roleplaying decisions based around it. Your 07 INT Dretch is going to be as dumb as a bucket of bolts and can probably barely spell his own name (Assuming he even knows it!), your 07 CHA Halfling is going to be hideous/socially inept, ect. Skill Points: You gain TWO extra skill points per level, so enjoy. Feats: You gain a feat on those levels when your class level would normally not grant you one, giving you a feat every level up (Plus whatever bonus feats and such you gain!). Traits: 2, although you may take a Drawback for a third. Wealth: 200,000 GP. Yes, it's 15K gold above the basic WBL table listing, but you're not exactly an average adventurer, are you? NOTES 1. No Variant Multiclassing, as the complexity is probably going to be up there for people unused to tristalt anyway. 2. No Background Skill bonus points, as you already have two extra skill points each level. 3. The Plane of Faerie was boring and not very fleshed-out, so the First World is the plane that the Fey originate from. It is primal, spanning realities, which is why, even though it is originally from Golarion, it is part of the D&D cosmology. 4. You may combine magic items effects, as per the usual rules on the SRD. 5. You cannot talk your way out of every encounter in this game, given how normal rules for CHA skills usually infers that you can talk your way out of anything with a high enough skill. So don't think that can happen. 5. The Factions of Planescape are still around, although they have long since fled Sigil or at least keep themselves as low-key as possible. If you want to be a part of one of the Factions, feel free to note which one in your character creation. And yes, if you want to be a crazed Bleaker, you can be one! 6. I will try to find out if the founders of the Planescape site mind me putting up their free Planescape documents as a link for you all to peruse. If they do not, I will add a summary for some of the major points of Planescape. 7. You may be from nearly any plane in the multiverse or from nearly any world on the Prime Material Plane (Such as Athas, Eberron, Toril, Oerth, Ravenloft, Mystara, Wild Space ect.,). This allows you a MASSIVE amount of leeway in constructing a background. Want to be a disgrunted imp lawyer from the Nine Hells? An gothic, emo angel who once wiled his days away in a Sigil cafe, sipping on lattes and playing music with your trusty lute? A mighty Thri-kreen warrior from under the burning sun of Athas? What about a Wild Space-faring awakened Gorilla gunslinger decked out in power armor and wielding a laser cannon? A wizard-king from the land of Mystara? A mermaid priestess of Lathander with an amazing singing voice from Toril? Yeah, you really have a LOT of options for a character! And no, they don't have to be as silly as some of the ones listed here, but trust me, there are definitely some weird individuals in Planescape's setting, Sigil in particular. 8. You may not play as a pre-existing character, such as Mordenkainen, Drizz't do'Urden, the Lord of Blades, ect. I want to see YOUR creativity. 9.Remember the unwritten rules of the game: be respectful to other players and your DM/GM, ask about a rules conflict before going rules-lawyer about it, no PvP, and just have fun! |