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I will be running Rappan Athuk soon and I want to introduce campaign specific traits in the same vein as the traits in the AP Player's Guides. I haven't yet started down the path of designing some so I wanted to ask the community at large for input.
I want to have one that is based around dungeon delving and grants darkvision but that's as far as I've gotten so far. The guides seem to offer about six to ten traits so I'd like to have about that many too. Any ideas?
Dotting for interest.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I will be running Rappan Athuk soon and I want to introduce campaign specific traits in the same vein as the traits in the AP Player's Guides. I haven't yet started down the path of designing some so I wanted to ask the community at large for input.
I want to have one that is based around dungeon delving and grants darkvision but that's as far as I've gotten so far. The guides seem to offer about six to ten traits so I'd like to have about that many too. Any ideas?
Scared to Death:
+1 on Will saves to avoid going in the Dungeon. Automatically succeed on Will save to go down the well.j/k, interested to see what you come up with.
Skeeter
Any trait which would grant darkvision is way too powerful. Heck, unless we're talking racial feats that upgrade low light visions to darkvision, such a feat would be too powerful. After all feats are supposed to be around double the strength of a trait, so such a trait would be crazily overpowered.
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Hm, point noted. When I ran Shackled City in 3.5 I had a trait that granted darkvision and it didn't unbalance the game at all, of course that game wasn't a megadungeon. All it seemed to do was eliminate the need to track the use of light sources unless they pulled one out, which they did on occasion.
I guess I'll have to take a close look at the traits that are in AP Player's Guides and see what sorts of things they offer.
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You might look at the Shattered Star path's campaign traits - that's basically one big crawl after another, from what I've heard. Some of those might be suitable for adaptation.
That said, the dungeon's a massive temple to Orcus, so traits that focus on dungeon crawling, fighting undead, or fighting demons would be a good start. Something like...
Mechanical Expert: You're very good with your hands, and have heard that Rappan Athuk has some of the deadliest traps around. You get a +1 trait bonus to Disable Device rolls, and Disable Device is a class skill for you.
Chill of the Grave: You had a close encounter with the unliving in your youth, and your survival has strengthened your soul against their unholy hunger. You gain a +2 trait bonus to Fort saves made to remove negative levels.
Dungeon Runner: You're used to finding alternate ways around obstacles. You get a +1 bonus to either Acrobatics or Climb, and that skill is a class skill for you.
Scourge of the Abyss: Everyone hates demons - you just hate them more. You get a +2 trait bonus to Knowledge (planes) checks to identify the powers and weaknesses of demons, and Knowledge (planes) is a class skill for you.
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it's interesting that you mention the Shattered Star Player's Guide because I was looking through it for inspiration just a little while ago. I also took a look at the Rise of the Runelords AE Player's Guide and since I was thinking of plopping Rappan Athuk down between Sandpoint and Magnimar I considered just giving both guides to the players and letting them take what they want. This will also reduce the amount of work I have to do and allow me to focus on the quests that will send them into the dungeon. The guides to both settlements will also help with establishing the setting and what to expect in the closest settlements.
The problem I was having though is the abundance of undead and demons, as you mention. I like your ideas and may add them to the mix.
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I ended up making use of the player's guides for Shattered Star and Rise of the Runelords AE with only a minor modification, saying that the trait about giants in RotR could apply to undead or demons instead. This saved me a ton of effort in designing traits as well as character hooks and familiarity with the region.