Thanks for the suggestions everyone, they are appreciated.
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Everytime they return to home base, add a few new faces to the commune. This is in the same vein as the alternate start. The Company isn't going to send in more people than necessary. BUT, after some initial success by the PCs, they would need NPCs to man Home Base, perform research, or keep the Thingamabobs running at full capacity so Terrible Things don't happen again. I guess the original request spawned from a desire to make the campaign feel more like Adventuring with a dash of Survival Horror. You are encouraged to explore, to recover lost treasures, but nothing here is friendly, and until you produce some results, you are on your own.
The civilization of this particular world has been overrun completely in the last 100 years. The particulars aren't fleshed out, but even if there are any of the standard humanoid races left on the planet, they are decidedly unfriendly. No organized group of creatures exists beyond that which might rule a city. I originally had the PCs stumbling upon a forgotten planar gate very early in their careers, and eking out their survival in the heart of a devastated metropolis. "Home Base" is relatively safe, but not well supplied. Through the course of the campaign they would eventually recover some Macguffin that would fix their end of the gate and allow them to go home. An alternate start I've considered is having the PCs arrive as new recruits of The Company. The Company is in the business of reclaiming fallen/forgotten worlds, and reaches those worlds by Gates or Interplanetary Teleport. The world is the same, but the campaign is based around the reclamation of the metropolis. Terrible Things have happened at "Home Base", but The Company has most of its resources dedicated elsewhere, and it's up to the PCs to succeed or be written off. As they progress, "Home Base" grows in sophistication, from recovered items, and in population, as The Company sends more, but scant, help.
How often do you expect deaths to happen? Are the PCs always in danger? What level of magic is this world? - With my group, every 4-5 sessions. With a reasonably careful group, death only happens when the dice hate you, or you stumble into Really Bad Things and don't run. - Home Base is the only place of real safety.- There are no magic item vendors. Everything must be found or created, though there are no restrictions on what may appear in a secret cache or treasure trove. Also, since currency has reduced value in such a campaign, randomly generated treasure will (collectively) more heavily favor magical items.
Given a campaign where either the PCs are the only humanoids, or the local population of humanoids is vanishingly small, how would you tackle the issue of death and replacement PCs? I'm wrestling with the issues of 1) making death more than a five minute inconvenience and 2)replacing dead PCs that are no longer interesting to the player. Some ideas I've kicked around: 1) Introduce a magic/technology-based mechanic early in the campaign that resurrects characters at Home Base, sans equipment. 2) Aperiodic Planar Gates that deposit new PCs at Home Base. 3) New PCs come from the local population, which can result in extinction/Campaign Over if there are way too many deaths. I'd appreciate any thoughts or feedback.
Well... that's an embarrassingly obvious fact. One would think that, after 4,000 posts on the subject across various threads, my brain would fact-check before declaring "Ooh! A shiny!"
Trinam, I realize you already have a progression picked out for AM, but instead of 19 Barbarian/1 Oracle, have you considered 17 Barbarian/3 Horizon Walker? Take Desert for Favored Terrain, Terrain Mastery and Terrain Dominance. Pros:
Cons:
Don't quote me on this, but I think Permanency'd Greater Magic Fang is cheaper than even the spikes. Worst case scenario, where you're paying for scrolls, it's still cheaper. +5 Claw
Add 1,125 if you want the Permanency cast at 20th level. I believe that price is per claw. So call it 26,000 for two +5 claws (which could be dispelled). +5 Armor Spikes
Of course, you now have a weapon that can be sundered. *shrug* And, yes, the Amulet of Mighty Fists is much more expensive than either of the above options.
What's your weapon of choice? I was considering the bardiche from the APG: in this particular campaign the chance to critically hit is more important than the critical multiplier. Lesser Beast Totem claws would be used for adjacent enemies.
Hi all, I'd welcome a critique of the following barbarian starting at level 8, with abilities planned through level 12. Ability scores were rolled, and no traits are currently used in the campaign. Core, APG, UM, and UC are all allowed. Human (Heart of the Fields, FC: bonus to Superstition) STR: 22(18 +2 racial +2 levels)
1 Fast Movement, Rage, Power Attack, Improved Sunder
Skills: Acrobatics, Perception, Profession(?), Survival, UMD Thanks in advance for your advice! |