I wrote a set of character creation guidelines for AoW that I would appreciate critiques of. Any useful advice on tone, substance and if I am too much of a control freak would be welcome. :) - Thanks
Age of Worms Character Creation Guidelines
Statistics: use the point buy method, at the “High-powered Campaign” 32 point level. No stat can be lower than eight.
Available Races: standard Races from the PHB only.
Available starting classes: any 20 level classes from a WotC 3.5 book.
Class Recommendations: I strongly recommend that the players generate their character together, trying to create a balanced party. Feedback from other groups tends to support this; the more balanced the party is, the greater likelihood of success. By balanced, I mean: Fighter, Rogue, Cleric, Wizard, Bard and an additional fighter type like an archer build-Ranger or a Paladin.
It is most important to have a front-line fighter, a rogue with good range of skills, a cleric who can heal, buff and turn undead, an arcane caster with a wide variety of spells to choose from (like a wizard) and an interpersonal skills specialist (like a bard).
Remember, the more specialized your character is, the less flexible they will be. Feedback indicates that flexibility and team work matter more than how powerful any one character is.
That said, these are recommendations, not mandates. Choose what works best for you.
Alignment: no evil alignments. Nuff said.
Background: I do have some mandates for backgrounds.
* All characters must be stuck in Diamond Lake for some reason. This could be financial, family obligations, love interests, etc. The key here is to pick a situation that can be resolved within the first three scenarios or so.
* All Humans & half-orcs must be from Diamond Lake. Elves, dwarves, halflings and gnomes must be attached to the racial enclaves in Diamond Lake, but need not be from Diamond Lake.
* All the characters must know each other, and be part of the same ‘crew’. This is not to say that all the characters are best friends or bosom buddies, just that they all know each other and would be willing to trust each other in a fight.
* All the characters should have a contact or other friend or relative that would be willing to avenge them if they died. This is so the player can have a character waiting “in the wings” should your PC die, insuring some measure of campaign continuity.
Background & Character Class: here are a few notes to help with integrating various classes into the background.
Barbarians could originate from the enclaves of Marshmen in the Mistmarch. However, these peoples should be treated more like Bayou swamp folk than raving hordes, and probably produce as many rangers as barbarians. That said, these are the only folk locally that produce barbarians.
Bards: Bardic lore come from a variety of sources, and all races and culture produce Bards. There is plenty of work to be had in Diamond Lake for bards, and many masters of the craft travel through town, even if they do not stay for long.
Clerics are common in Diamond Lake, with Hieroneous and St Cuthbert of the Cudgel being the most numerous. Wee Jas has a substantial following, sue to the presence of the Temple of the Green Lady, across the lake. Other priesthoods of the Greyhawk pantheon might well dispatch young acolytes to serve the needs of community, as a way of testing their mettle in trying circumstance.
Druids of the Old Faith are a not uncommon sight in Diamond Lake, due to the proximity of the Grey Circle and their regular pilgrimages to the Bronzewood Lodge.
Fighters, are of course as common in Diamond Lake as they are in all of the war-torn Flaness, from the bully boys of The Feral Dog to the professional soldiers of the Greyhawk garrison.
Monks would come exclusively from the Twilight Monastery of Xan Yae.
Paladins would be protégés of Mélinde of Heironeous, of the chapel of the same in the Militia Garrison
Rangers might come from a variety of sources; the Marsh Folk, the Greyhawk Garrison, the elves of the Enclave, the Old Faith, etc.
Rogues should feel right at home in Diamond Lake, even if they are not associated with a Guild. However, home grown rogues tend to be bully boys and con artists rather then burglars or second-story men.
Sorcerers are branded with the taint of magic from somewhere in their bloodline, and such individuals are looked upon with suspicion and sometime branded as witches and burnt by the superstitious populace.
Wizards are rare in an illiterate bastion of ignorance like Diamond Lake. There may be a few in town, but for the most part they are older failed apprentices who eek out a living by peddling potions. Any true Wizards would undoubtedly be apprentices of Allustan.
Favored Souls are chosen by the gods, and so might appear anywhere on Greyhawk, even in Diamond Lake.
Factotums are generalists that would be useful to any business or government entity in Diamond Lake.
Healers would no doubt be products of training from any other Clerical or Druidic religions, or even the Twilight Monastery.
Hexblade, Warlocks, Duskblade, Warmages, and Spellthieves all require very specialized and rare training, which is not available in Diamond Lake.
Dragon Shamans and Spirit Shamans might be a product of the marsh Folk.
Marshals might be a product of the Greyhawk militia garrison, but it is very unlikely, seeing as this is militia duty, not open warfare.
Samurai, Ninja, Shujenja, Sohei, Wu Jen, and Shaman are from Oriental Adventures, and so are inappropriate for Diamond Lake (or anywhere in Greyhawk, really).
Nobles and Knights are not appropriate for Diamond Lake.
Psions, Psychic Warriors, Soulknives and Wilders, while rare, do exist on Greyhawk and would most likely be products of training from the Twilight Monastery.
Scouts might be a product of either the Grey Circle or the Greyhawk militia garrison.
Swashbucklers would find Diamond Lake very boring, but might arise as a expression of rebellion.
Beguilers might well exist to take advantage of all the marks in the mining town.
Please note that none of the Tome of Battle, Tome of Magic, or Book of Incarnum classes are appropriate for mixing with normal D&D classes.
Nothing here seems particularly out of line.
That said I'm not really sure I agree with your advice that the 5th player should be a bard and that the 6th character should be a support fighter type.
Your rogue player should aim to be something of a combat rogue. Keep those trap finding skills maxed out but some multi-classing might not be the worst plan in the world for this character. I think Age of Worms might be an excellent place to put an Arcane trickster through its paces. Because rogues are maybe the weakest class in this AP I'd also generally hint that multiple players taking rogue type might not be ideal - though the scout and ninja can both be made into pretty nice 'combat rogues' with a little multi-classing.
Beyond some concern for having to many rogues I think the 5th and 6th character slot can be a real boon in any of the traditional slots. Certainly bards are pretty good - but a 2nd cleric is pretty damn sweet as well. In fact I can unequivocally say that I'd rather have a 2nd cleric then a bard. A second arcane caster is going to feel the pinch a bit early on but from mid to high levels things get a lot easier. In fact two arcane casters working in tandem is just scary. Two blaster type sorcerers is not very original or subtle - but they are really, really impressive. When fireballs start hitting the battlefield like rain its a sight to see (even if we all only see it in or imaginations). Essentially I think a second (or even third – no such thing as to many clerics) divine caster or arcane caster would make perfectly acceptable 5th and 6th character slots.
This is really good, I like your summary, and wish I'd done something like that myself.
I'll pretty much second Jeremy's comments though - a Rogue is very much optional for this campaign, as is a Bard, especially full-time ones. In my opinion, a good Search skill is optional not essential, and Disable Device can always be done untrained by the guy with the most hit points ;-) Social skills can be maxed out by other classes, e.g. a Cleric with Diplomacy is probably enough (works for my group, whose Cleric has two levels of rogue). Sense Motive is useful, as is Gather Info, but not game breakers is no-one's got them. I think that from mid levels especially, the rogue isn't going to be a strong class, nor is the Bard (unless they multi-class, e.g. into Barbarian is always fun, or some other warrior-type).
The critical thing is, as you say, party balance, but in my opinion this is achieved simply by the group making sure they have a strong (preferably single-classed) Wizard, Cleric and Fighter (or similar options, although Sorcerer might be limited without ongoing access to lots of scrolls, and other warrior-types may not be as powerful ongoing). On top of those three, I'd say doubling up on spell power is always good (I love the idea of two clerics, especially if your players don't just treat them as the party medic), and doubling on melee is good too. Given 6 PC's, there's heaps of room for players to try some interesting options they might not otherwise, but I'd try and discourage everyone from playing niche classes and/or multiclassing - as I say, any party really needs each of the three core classes in order to do well (or at least not struggle). Even if they end up with four clerics, four arcane casters, or four warrior-types, I don't see a problem, as long as they have a single-class PC of the other two types (in fact, those kinds of groups sound really fun).
Having the players create their characters together is excellent, maybe just also add that the campaign is potentially a long one, so they should think not just about a good party for low levels, but also make sure their characters will be fun and work well together over the long haul - classes like Rogue and Bard will, I think, become less fun as the game progresses (unless multi-classed), as they won't always have anything useful to contribute in combats.
Have fun, and let us know what they end up with.
The only thing I would say is that I don't think that a Warlock actually needs any training whatsoever (no more than a sorceror, anyway). Other than that, I think it looks great.
~Qualidar~
I would add that the Emporium (in Diamond Lake) has a "freak show" of sorts, in the basement. This is a good place to introduce any strange or unusual character concepts (kobold sorcerer, lizardman barbarian, quagoth ranger, etc.) So if a player really wants something strange, it gives you a way to logically introduce it. A warlock could be passing as some kind of circus magician, or a thug from Greyhawk, that had to get out of town and "lay low" for a while. Of course, when the game takes him back to Greyhawk, he'll have "old friends" that still want him dead. Having a PC be an apprentice to Alustan helps very, very much, as far as providing plot hooks, motivation, source of info, etc. If you have no wizards, then Capt. Trask could fill this role for any fighter types, or the High Priest of Heironeous for any clerics, etc. Bronzewood Lodge is the ideal origin of any elves, druids, rangers, and/or bards
Sounds about right. Just a few possibilities:
The Twilight Monastery could be an outpost of the Daggerspell Guardians (and closely aligned with the Bronzewood Lodge). This would allow additional connections between stealthy types and spellcasters. It also allows easy integration of Daggerspell Mages and Shapers.
Rogues can come from an entertainer's background, also (acrobat, contortionist, escape artist, non-magical musician, etc.). The Emporium and other establishments have a variety of talent on hand (not just the fleshy kind).
Beguilers can serve as a replacement rogue, although their focus on enchantment and illusion can limit them against undead. Arcane Strike would be a good feat choice. Also, taking a level of rogue and the daggerspell mage PrC (for the Arcane Infusion ability) may be an option, especially if using the Twilight Monastery as an outpost of the Daggerspell Guardians.
Hexblades and warlocks are presented as being primarily self-taught, as mentioned above.
Thanks for all your feedback. I have incorporated many of you suegessted changes into my document, and may post a version of it on RPG genius.
Hastur said he wanted to hear about the final character choices, so here goes.
A bard who works as a bookkeeper for Balabar Smenk.
A fighter who works as a bouncer at the Feral Dog.
A Gray Elf Psion who thinks he's a really incompetant mage, and who is a nephew to Moonmeadow.
A Gray Elf Ranger who is the latest paramour of Moonmeadow.
A Gray Elf Rogue who is also aattched to the Moonmeadow estate.
A Marsh-Folk Draconic Shaman who has a Cajun accent.
A cleric of a really obscure Suel god of water and healing, who works for Balabar Smenk supplying small water elementals for his mining operation.
An interesting group, who mostly seem to have heeded my requests that they be connected with Diamond lake.
Doyle
Cool, thanks for sharing, looks like fun. A couple of "niche" characters there, but given it's a party of seven they should be just fine, there's certainly enough warrior types.
I don't know the Psionics rules well, so would simply say that I'd keep an eye on how the Psion character compares to a Wizard, given the only other arcane caster in the group is a Bard (who is going to have little to contribute compared to a wizard or sorcerer). My guess is the Psion's going to be similar to a Sorcerer - if so, his lack of flexibility in terms of what he can do could make it harder for the whole group to overcome some challenges (especially if the player doesn't work hard to diversify his selection of psionic powers, covering buffs, booms, and divination type effects at a minimum - also depends on what sort of spells the cleric regularly chooses and uses before they become cure spells). I know myself that a Wizard in Age of Worms should be far superior to a Sorcerer, especially if you don't constrict their ability to add enough spells into their spell book.
One observation about the Age of Worms (which I'd agree with 100% having run most of it by now), is that there's a distinct lack of arcane scrolls in the adventure, specifically ones to help round out a wizard's spell book and/or a sorcerer's list of spell options. The intention was that a party wizard would be able to purchase scrolls periodically, as otherwise they are pretty much stuck to the two they learn each new level, which basically makes them worse off than a sorcerer. Not an issue for your group, as there's no-one to use most arcane scrolls, but be aware that your Psion should have ongoing access to some kinds of items that allow him flexibility in the number of different kinds of powers he can use, over and above the number he can choose himself (this is where my knowledge of psionics runs out). Otherwise he's in danger of being too one-dimensional, and some situations down the line will be hard for the group even with seven PC's. I'd certainly be cautious about beefing up the adventures for a 7-PC party, at least until you play through a couple of adventures to gauge their skill level.
All the best.
I don't know the Psionics rules well, so would simply say that I'd keep an eye on how the Psion character compares to a Wizard, given the only other arcane caster in the group is a Bard (who is going to have little to contribute compared to a wizard or sorcerer). My guess is the Psion's going to be similar to a Sorcerer - if so, his lack of flexibility in terms of what he can do could make it harder for the whole group to overcome some challenges (especially if the player doesn't work hard to diversify his selection of psionic powers, covering buffs, booms, and divination type effects at a minimum - also depends on what sort of spells the cleric regularly chooses and uses before they become cure spells).
Its not clear what kind of Psion this character will be but your view that a Psion is kind of like a Sorcerer is pretty much accurate. However a Psion does not have the diversity that even a sorcerer has in terms of party buffs, divination etc. Not quite as limited as a War Mage but getting pretty close. They can be pretty fine damage dealers and often have a good number of powers that give them various buffs but such buffs often don't work on friends. Thats not a hard and fast rule but it is something of a trend.
This party is going to be a bit weak on utilitarian type magic. With a Bard and a Cleric as well its quite possible that this can be compensated for but these other two casters should be keeping that sort of thing in mind. The rest of the party should try and be a little diverse in their abilities as well. Without a good utilitarian arcane spell user around the fighters and rogues are going to have to compensate and be prepared to fight under adverse circumstance such as against enemies that might do hit and runs by poping in and out or those that could choose to fly up to 40' and bombard the party with spells. An Adamantite sword for the fighter would make a fine addition to this party as soon as one can be afforded. It adds a lot of diversity to the party with its ability to slice through rock etc. and is one way for a fighter to contribute to the problem solving role that is the real strength of the Wizard and will be in rather short supply with this party. Ranger should be good at using its skills as well (i.e. a int bonus is not a bad plan and for heavens sake don't take an int penalty). That can increase the range of options available to the party as well. The ranger ought to corodinate skill selection with the rogue and the bard.
Finally its not to late for the Rogue to aim for the Arcane Trickster prestige class. A good prestige class in general, an excellent choice for this AP and, quite possibly, the optimum choice for this party.
Hmmm...look at all those Gray Elves - my prediction is this party is going to notice that they have a serous lack of hps in this party. Eww...a Psion with a con penalty. Thats really asking for trouble, any time you have 40 hps at 10th level thats a real danger sign. There are creatures in this with enough damage output that this character can very easily go straight from full hps to dead.