Vorelloex Vaecaesin's page

Hi! I want to do a campaign that's focused on exploration, complex problems, with a lot of options presented for players to try to overcome those obstacles... and apply that sort of style of problem solving to combats and things other than ancient relic puzzle things. I don't want to overdo it, because that could make combat more about finding the right 'button' to press among a hundred and take the struggle out of it, but I feel like it could add a lot of depth to gameplay.

Like, I'd want to present several objects and features which the players could think to manipulate to help aid them in their tasks, which aren't always straightforward... does that make sense?

I'm wondering if there are any tools out there or materials that exemplify this style of gameplay I want to emulate, or if any of you have any GM'ing experience with this sort of thing? Any pitfalls or things to look out for?

I want to present complex problems to my players to which the right answer is seldom "just hit it, really freaking hard." And I want to do it as well as I can, which your wisdom could help me do.

Thanks in advance people :)

-Placeholder-

The campaign is taking place inside of a mostly-desert region.

I have most of it fleshed out, Here is a google doc thing for reference. I don't know what feats to get. I'd like to be able to boost my utility, and if I can't do that through more feats, then I'll probably spend them towards survivability.

It's a RP heavy campaign, so having an 'UBER BUILD' isn't necessary, but i'd like to expand his utility, because I'm not focusing on his combat abilities, almost, AT ALL.

As is, the main 'trick' the build is about is desert stealth. He has a 20 mod in stealth as a DRUID, after all the calculations of feats and class features and traits.

The biggest part is the blend spell. Being a half-elf gives access, and it makes it so I can just 'poof', and basically have invisibility for potentially over an hour.

For the feats, if there is nothing that can add another 'layer' of utility to this guy, I'm probably going to take Attuned to the Wild (desert) and Guardian of the Wild (Desert).

When we go into urban areas his desert switch will be turned off, but the blend spell shenanigans aren't really based on that, even though they help it a bit.

Also, this is my first druid. As a caster, any tips based on experience?

Thanks you barbarians.

Discuss ALL the things, here.

If you have questions about the world, post them here.

Introduction to Setting and Quest Background

The Setting: Welcome to my world.

Czarn is a land made of several immortal conflicts, stained relationships, intense adversity, and immense beauty. It was crafted out of the dreams, sacrifices, and bodies of several dead 'Yaevre' gods, originally made for the purpose of worship of their progenitor and propelling the advancement of beauty and life. However, it all went wrong.

The story of its origins can be found in the Campaign Info Tab.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Story Background: The Age of Long Night

Now, it is the 6th Age of this warring world. Since its creation, the interplay of racial wars and religious vendettas have only swollen. In this 6th Age, 'The Age of Apostasy', much of the lands have been cursed by the yaevre Ba'Elzub, and many civil wars and inner conflicts of nations have taken place, some political, some religious. Within these civil wars, many temples have been razed to the ground, their esoteric documents lost.

This has truly been the darkest age Czarn has yet seen. In a sort of cruel irony, the spiritual truth of this has become manifest physically. For some reason, the Yaevre of the Winds have become silent, or lost, and the rotation of the earth, after a long travail of long days and longer nights, has completely stopped moving. Both Sun and Czarn stand still, and almost all of the world is now covered in shadow; the only light above now being the faint malevolent glow of the Skycurse and the dancing Gorb moons.

However, a silver lining to this dark age; the once thought dead race, the angelic Khime Sebak have been seen throughout the whole of the lands for the first time in a long century. To darken this silver lining, however, they came as the bearers of dreadful news: They have witnessed the vexing of the sun by the Gray Elves, and claim that they even now are mobilizing their merciless forces to be unleashed upon the whole face of Czarn, to overshadow Man in their feats, and complete the Adwar Mael Khama in their favor.

Now, this news has spread all over the world, through mainly the gossip of the mercantile state of the Conglomeration, whose ships have touched almost every society they trade with the news from the West.

Your ship, the Defiant Heron, has recently been given orders from the Union to do a reconnaissance job- 'The Chressidan Job' -as the sailing community has called it, to travel round to the cape of the Southeast, to go to the human nation of Chressida and see if it is still alive. It used to be the greatest trading partner of the Conglomeration, and for the past seven years has been all but silent, no word or news comes from there. Your seasoned captain, Jez Ovgrins, has taken the job in stride, and in her fearlessness has lead the crew to where they lay now, the trading port of Nil Karsusha.

Then it all happened...

Character Submission

We are playing 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons.

This is a homebrew world with heavy amounts of lore. All of the available documents can be found and read HERE. It provides all the information for character options and the lore available to players.

The files that say README are required for submissions, and the rest are only there for perusal, exploration and enrichment. Most of the information there is more common knowledge about the plane, but it shouldn't be assumed that your character would know every detail contained.

Take a look at the maps so you have an idea of everything.

Beware, there are class restrictions. It's not negotiable, but it's not gridlocked either.

All of the information regarding Character Creation should be in the documents, save these details:
- Races presented inside of the Google Docs are the options available. They are the Gray Elves, the White Elves, the Ennim, the Khime Sebak, the Golems, the Homunculi, the Hudorians, the Orcs, the Humans, the Dwarves, the Goblins, and the Centaur.
- Starting level is 3
- Stats are 4d6 drop lowest
- HP is full at first, then either rolled HD or half+1 as is written in the PHB
- Standard Equipment from first level (rolled)+50 GP
- Menial equipment is free as long as it makes sense (you can use stuff from PF concerning small things in addition to 5e's books) Tell me all that you take as 'free menial equipment' so I know
- I will give out different items to the party after Character Creation is over, you'll receive them via PM.
- Dwarven=Common
- Evil alignments are okay as long as they are contextualized; think Iago or Gollum, not Morgoth. As it stands the common enemy of all within this scenario is Zophnia.
- Every character must be able to work inside of a group regardless of alignment; however, interpersonal conflict inside of the party can add to roleplay.

I'm looking for depth of background and personality, and an understanding of the world. Fantastic things being in your background are not out of question, but provide a good explanation of why. If you want to show me things you've done roleplaying or writing feel free, I love giving feedback and it will help me gauge your ability.

Provide these on your Profile Pages:
- Crunch
- Appearance: Face, Frame, and Garb
- Background: At least 1 NPC contact who is ALIVE who has influenced your life, and how you came to work on the Defiant Heron merchant ship.
- Personality
- Equipment

The best way to make this work is through conversation. If you have any questions about the setting AFTER you've read the stuff, shoot a PM my way and I will be extremely happy to help you.

I will choose the two best submissions on January 14th.
This deadline might be pushed back depending on circumstance.
I plan on beginning shortly after.
I will continue to update the Campaign Info Tab with tidbits until then.

Campaign Purpose, Gameplay Expectation, DM Standards, and More!

This is not just my first 5e campaign as a DM, but also my first PbP campaign as a DM.

I mean to use this campaign for a few things:
- To fuel my writings inside of this world
- To hone my skills as an immersive DM
- To try out 5e
- To playtest the massive 5e homebrew content inside this setting
- To play with my friend who lives on the other side of the world
- To put my hat into the PbP DM'ing ring
- To provide a memorable experience to my players

I promise you that even though the exposition is top-heavy now, once we get into the campaign everything will be streamlined and immersive. It's just the work of getting everyone on the same page that takes a little time and effort.

I will be taking 2 players from the forums, as 2 other slots have been taken by my friends whom this campaign was originally crafted for. I will only take 2, because I want to provide the best experience for all those involved.

Player Expectations:
- Post once a day; if life gets in the way, please let me know. Healthy Communication is everything, in all parts of life.
- Participate in roleplaying; Yes.
- Pay attention to the setting. I don't expect you to know everything inside of it, just a general understanding, and I will provide all of the points to connect those dots.
- Use your race and class profile fields to show your basic crunch stats
- In battle, post a header for your turns like this: {b}{bigger}Round X: Init: XX{/b}{/bigger}
- When you have advantage or disadvantage, post an extra {dice} underneath the roll in question and have it say {dice=Advantage/Disadvantage} for clarity

What I promise to strive for as DM:
- I will post at the very least once a day. If life gets in the way for me to do so, I will let you all know. If we are communally experiencing life at a fast pace, we can put a pause on the game as is appropriate.
- Provide a good story that will seep into your very soul
- Not get lost inside of my own verbose
- Do good combats
- Make time for you
- Post Initiative at the start of each round
- To Finish What I Start

About me as a DM:

I am a dedicated student to the art of immersive roleplaying. While not a master, I strive to become one as a means to become a better storyteller. I also strive to have excellent combats, cinematically and tactically.

I do not use grids or maps.

I am also of the persuasion that the DM is not against the party, that their job is to put their players in the spotlights of their story, and CHALLENGE THEM.

I'm not talking about throwing AC 34 Spell Immune Medusas at the party, but rather to challenge the players to expand as players holistically, and to have hindrances, losses, and wrenches happen to their characters that they will have to overcome. I will also reward good roleplaying and tactical thinking. I am the benevolent force of antagonism.

I also am against railroading, but am all for contextualizing. If something doesn't work in context, it can't be taken very seriously. I want to make your choices matter as players.

I expect to play the campaign to play out at least until the mystery concerning the long night is resolved, however that may play out. At the very least 2 levels of advancement.

The link again to the Docs

Sorry about the length of this post, I SWEAR I will never post anything near anything this long ever again.

So I've been studying source material for different forms of magic for a homebrew project, and the Vancian magic of Pathfinder is well suited for its game and all, but I'm wondering a few things about how it all works. Don't say 'because it's magic'.

I didn't know the exact perfect place to post this, but because it's for a homebrew project, I figured that this made the most sense.
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Some things about sympathy:

-The general idea (in my understanding) is that everything has a relationship with everything else, either weak or strong or whatever.

-If one manipulates or controls the relationships between things, then they can control those things.

-Sympathy is this idea, coupled with some others, applied 'practically' through arcane means of volition, mana, whatever the setting requires.

-An example I've heard: If you can get a rooster to crow, you can make the sun come up/have control over it.

This is LARGELY generalizing and oversimplifying the subject, (protip: Google it rather than take my word for it) but my first question is this:

Under the assumption that most 'Evocation' school magic is sympathetic in nature, how would one summon a Fireball or cast Produce Flame using the laws of sympathy, and how much time/effort/implements would be practically expended, rather than the ~6 seconds used to take a 'standard action'?

This is concerning deep arcane wizardry, spontaneous casters need not apply.

I'll probably have more questions, but this is the main one for now.

Thanks for your sympathy in this matter./giggle

So I have a campaign design where PC's are gestalted by having two people fused together in a horrid eldritch curse.

There will be Gestalts, and non-gestalts, because not everyone will be affected by the curse. This being said, because it is a curse, the Gestalts will be a bit bewitched, and one of these forms will be a different starting level than the non-gestalt PC's.

I want to figure out how to balance it enough so that there are benefits and drawbacks from choosing either option, and I thought the biggest would be the level difference. Also, defining the 'CR' of a Gestalt PC would be very helpful in determining good encounter allowances for the game.

I will probably also mete out several free bonuses to both options, moreso the non-gestalts, and the gestalts will again have other incurred effects of the curse than just the level difference.

But I want both options to offer different things and be fun.

At the end of the day, the baseline question looks like:
Gestalt PC lvl X = 'Normal' PC lvl (?)

I'm looking for more of a best-fit answer here than a definitive one, so rough ideas are extremely viable.

Thanks team.

Hello all, I am playing this character in a game, and am wondering about how to best go about the concept I have in mind for him.

If you click on his picture, you can see all his stats, and in the statbar, there is a link to his full character sheet in the google docs.

He is a human Ancient Loremaster Oracle, and I am eventually planning on picking up the Eldritch Heritage feats, to grant him a familiar, and extra arcane spells.

I want to build him primarily as a debuffer, and do it well. I would also like him to be able to participate in combat and at least do 'tank damage' if possible. I know that there are a good amount of personal buff spells I could use should the need arise. (I have always tantalized over a sor build focusing on casting Enervate as many times possible in a day, and I can sort of do that here mid levels...)

I know that there are several 'more optimized' options for a debuffer build, but I want to focus on optimizing him within the scope already presented. I also understand that save-or-suck spells have the ingrained possibility of wasting action economy, so we don't have to discuss opinions concerning them here, unless we are comparing different SoS spells.

Right now he is a 3 trick pony tactically:
-Debuff: Bane into Cause Fear
-Heals: CLW in a pinch
-Combat: +1 to hit morningstar, allday.

Main Questions:
-Spells Known: Best divine debuff spells in early/mid levels?
-Is spamming Instrument of Agony potentially effective?
-Ancient Loremaster/EH Arcane Bloodline spells: What are the most worth ones, especially concerning the spell level lag?
-Is there a better EH bloodline for a debuff build that I'm overlooking? I was planning on getting the Improved familiar feat...
-Best Improved Familiar for debuff builds? (He is currently CG...)

So I was reading the other thread where they were talking about alternative initiative ideas, mainly dealing with group initiatives.
There were good ideas presented in the thread, and I was thinking about posting there.

But this idea is a bit different.

The problem I've always had with initiative is that it is so different from an actual combat simulation. It comes with the turn based format, which is cool, but at least in my mind sometimes doesn't feel right and messes up my immersion.

My idea was that there could be a form of group initiative, and then each side plans their turn, and then it all springs together at the same time, sort of like how combat phases play out in M:tG.

The group's initiative would be based on the highest roll on each side, then there would be three or so phases in each round:
planning phase
Damage phase
Reaction phase

The reaction phase would be for those who either roll a decided number below the high roll of the other side, or for those who ready actions, or prefer to use their turn in reaction.

In the planning phase people would use their actions, coordinate and make their attacks.
In the damage phase the successful attacks would roll damage, in order of individual initiative rolls to resolve damage. Then, if someone is dealt enough damage before they make their attach in the initiative order, they lose their attack and become unconscious, but it's more balanced.

Then reaction phase happens with group initiative, and the damage for any attacks made thenresolve damage as they make their attacks.

With this system, it feels more like a group task rather than a bunch of mini spotlights, and it's not a lot more to keep track of, but rather just another way of doing it. For structure, you could add in different role-playing phases into the model as you see fit, either once a round, or in between each combat phase in the round, etc. I've heard that that idea advertised as a way to implement more role-playing into combat encounters, at least.

It's a tough idea, it may never see play, but now at least my simulationist side has been fulfilled for the moment.

I think movement actions would 'resolve' in the damage phase as well, and that they would trigger attacks of opportunity in the reaction phase.

I don't think this would detract from narrativism or immersion in combat, but rather add to it as it promotes a more realistic advancement of time in combat, and provides more Windows for collaboration between PC's, even including the tactical scope into their roleplaying.

The only downside I see other than it being different than usual is that it might make each round slightly longer. But even then because it allows for those rounds to have the potential for more combat roleplay and interesting tactical interactions, I assert that it's negligible.

Outside opinions, thoughts or ideas?

Hello all, I am about to play in my first PBP game, as this character.

I mean to level him from Barbarian immediately into 4 levels of Sorcerer, then go Dragon Disciple. The campaign is core only, and it's going to be a lot of fun.

I am not going to change the build, and am not open to different character build options; save perhaps a different feat, or maybe ideas about different armor choices for early level survivability.

The stats were rolled, and I had to choose to dump different stats, which is a welcome challenge and a fresh change from the usual point buy games I play in. I'm very happy with how it all turned out.

My only concern is that I have never truly played out a character whose mental scores are in an array like this one. He has a really good CHA, a low INT, and a horrid WIS, and in the campaign, I will have to role play out my weaknesses, which I'm fine with and happy to do.

This issue makes me think of the paladin syndrome. They're so MAD that they have to dump -some-thing, and usually that's INT. That's kind of what I ended up doing here with his mental stats. In this vein of recollection, I do remember there is a good paladin optimization guide which talks about how to roleplay a paladin character's mentality without being a detriment to the group, and actually playing the character smart, even though he is dumb.

TL:DR-I'm not a paladin, but I want to play my dumb character smart. How is this achieved? Especially taking into consideration my high CHA score. Specifically, how would he talk?
EDIT: I mean to role-play him dumb, but in a smart, savvy way, for absolute clarification.

Also, a side-paranoia: I'm somewhat concerned about his early level survivability. He will be a Sor 1 next level, and I'm probably going to have him learn Enlarge Person and Burning Hands as his starting spells. There is a cleric in the party, but that doesn't neccessarily mean that he can't ever die...

>>>If you want to read the backstory, that might provide extra insight on the themes currently present in his psychological profile.

Thanks for the input and wisdom!

Hey, I made this for my homebrew PF setting and I wanted to share it with you all for use in your campaigns.

Essentially, it's prayer fleshed out as a mechanical skill.

The Link: Invocation

It's written as a part of the setting thing, so there's setting specific lingo:

Yaevre- a god/equivalent
Deved- a god's angelic servant/equivalent
Adwar Mael Khama/A.M.K- Setting specific curse of theomachy/irrelevant to everyone not in this setting

Feel free to switch out terminology for whatever suits your world, or gut the flavor altogether.

This is meant to be used in a campaign where religion and their gods play a more direct and influential role in the game rather than just lore. I also wanted it to feel like the option for prayer in roguelike games. It offers more potential tactical options to anyone, and can encourage a lot of roleplaying.

So, as it is written at this point, this skill is not as cut and dry as others would be with clearly plotted out DC's and what successful roles look like. The PC could make the roll higher than what the stated DC is, but depending on the circumstance, their god might deny the request. This might make the need for a mechanical apparatus for this seem superfluous, but the end of the day all of the DC's of any skill check are still at the whims of the GM, and when players see that they have an option right in front of their face, they are usually more apt to think about using it rather than not.

I hope you like it, please let me know if you have any ideas about how to perhaps develop it more, or any constructive criticism in general, and again feel free to use this for your campaign.

Cheers.

I made this class today for one of the players in my campaign. It started out as a sort of Arcane version of the Inquisitor, then morphed several times.

I made it for use in the setting I've been making forever, but the class has nothing that mechanically bars it or separates it from any other setting, so you can just cut out the setting-specific flavoring (I intentionally wrote it ambiguously).

The one thing that might unnerve a reader is that it's written for a game that uses the rules for spell points. In any other game, the Recreant has spell slots and caster level progression the same as the Inquisitor.

Link:
The Recreant

I wanted to fill the empty levels with *some*thing, I know it progresses with spells, but I just wanted it to feel developed.
To that end, I added in the Rogue Talent part sort of half-heartedly. I'm super okay with gutting that out for the sake of balance or a more appropriate, tertiary ability.

Also, I don't have the capstone ability fleshed out at all. I've never had the luxury to play a high-level game, so I don't know what would be good, overpowered, or lame at a practical level in the endgame.

I originally based the spellcasting style off of the beguiler concept, but then it morphed several times to be more standardized. Is the spell list as is TOO limited? Does it have too much? The advanced study ability I feel rounds the spell list out so it has enough versatility while being limited.

The class has 2 different ways to raise the DC's of their spells. I don't mind changing one of them around, as long as both of the abilities remain somehow synergistic between casting the spells and the sneak attack/subterfuge angle.

I also don't want this class to completely overshadow the base rogue class, which at this moment in time I feel it does.

These are the several issues I am having with this project.
Thank you for your time and feedback.

Hullo people,

I love the SWD archetype. I have been thinking about how to best utilize the archetype, and the ACTUAL benefits of being extremely SAD and utilizing stupid amounts of HP on a full caster.

I've read through much of the internet looking for viewpoints and input on the topic via guides and threads, and most of it is bogged down with talk about the legality of half-orcs, Racial Heritage feats, and the like, but the rules are pretty clear about it now, so please don't begin discussions like those here. This query is directed toward non-PFS play.

Questions:

-CON Casting/Everlasting SADness: Is it really just to add a massive burst to your DC's and spells per day, or does it actually ever really make an impact in play? (other than derailing your skill utility)

- Spell Hex: Has anyone ever used this in an effective way for either a RP or Combat heavy Campaign? I imagine the DC buff to the right 1st level spell, or a utility spell of the like could really provide some interesting builds or general advantages

-Gishing with SWD: I really love the idea of dipping for 1 lvl of Urban Barbarian to get the Controlled Rage, and boosting Hex DC's, and going ham with a Scythe for a couple rounds, but is it ever really worth it when you're not playing a solo campaign? With Evil Eye/Misfortune/Slumber/Scythe combo I feel that its only real usage is to go berserk with your hexes. Furthermore...

-Eldritch Knight: If I DID go, say, Urban Barbarian 1/ SWD 6/EK 10, wouldn't I just spend all my feats on Extra Rage and Extra Hexes? And then that would considerably nerf the DC's on the hexes due to the level loss, yes?

-Prehensile Hair Hex DPR/Versatility: Worth? Does the damage from the hair apply to when you are attacking with touch range spells? I heard that somewhere, but it sounds really wierd. Would a monk dip make your hair damage dice go up? Anyone with any experiential insight on this?

-Enchanting the Mask: I feel that the most obvious thing to do with it would be to start with giving it a +CON enhancement bonus, and then branching out. Any experience/savvy ideas about that?

-Any general knowledge from playing a SWD or any Witch Gish? Hexcrafter Magus builds included.

Thoughts:

-Fell Gishery: I've been trying to make the perfect dark gish for years, and they all just have weird quirks that make it all seem not worth. How the action economy works makes it seem really superfluous/meh, UNLESS you were to Debuff in the first rounds and let your opponents wade towards you to let you STAB THEM WITH YOUR SCYTHE.
Thennn, it's kinda immensely badasse.

-Necropotence: I also love necromancy. Just love it. To this end, I think that a savvy way to use the Spell Hex feat would be to be to apply the Blood Money spell, to create a massive army of mercs for little investment... who needs STR anyways? It would also make a great way to actually use your massive HP pool.

In PF I've only ever had the privilege to play a PC that was a hexcrafter magus. We were really low level and the campaign soon dissolved, so it never truly shined mechanically, but it was a bit of fun.

Again, I've read through all the PF guides, and I'm really interested in experiential insight and savvy ideas.

Thanks, you lovely devils.