This is almost certainly a mistake, but heck it, if we fail, let's fail spectacularly in glory and fire!!
I have wanted to play in some sort of high level, high powered game for a long time now, but all recent attempts have failed for one reason or another. Thus, I shall attempt to run my own. It won't be *exactly* what I wanted, which was an actual high level true campaign, but perhaps this will suffice...for now!
Taking some inspiration from other recruitments I've seen on the boards lately, I also intend to add my own dash of Monkeian Awesomesauce:
For starters this will likely be at least 15th level, very possibly 20th, maybe even 21+. If epic levels, either from start or earned through gameplay, are obtained, we will likely use the PF epic level book that I am pretty sure is free.
This will also probably be gestalt, maybe even tristalt, and we might even start with some amount of mythic.
Starting level, the amount of 'stalt, and if we start with mythic and what tier can be discussed here, prior to official recruitment(assuming this even gets enough interest, lol).
Secondly, as said in the 'subject' line, this will be an arena game(more on the shenanigans later). However, this won't be some sort of ordinary arena game that is solely 1v1 pvp. This where part of my 'Monkiean Awesomesauce' comes into play:
Before each fight, some dice will be rolled to determine the following:
1) What plane the fight will take place on. This obviously includes all the normal planes, plus Golarion, Faerun, Eberron, and Oreth. Cuz why not. It might also include a custom plane/location or 3, lol.
2) What sort of fight this will be. This is pretty simple, and will likely be a d100, as the options are either PVP or PVE. *However*
2A) This is where it gets really fun. Should we get PVP, we'll then roll to see if it's 1v1, 2v2(tag teams!), or 3v3(trios matches!). If we roll PVE, we can either roll to see how many PCs get to fight off against heck all knows what, or maybe we can chat it up to figure it out.
3) There still might be PVE enemies, which could also be determined via some die rolls. Who knows, we'll see!
4) Any sort of surprises I might decide to throw in as well.
The above dicey randomness is one part of the aforementioned shenanigans, but there's a bit more:
If people are up for it, there might be some more 'standard' adventures that take place will other players are battlin it out amongst themselves.. Perhaps run by me, though if somebody else has an idea, that would be heckin awesome too!
However, given the fact that this is crazy pants levels of power, except the 'adventures' to be nutso too.
Hopefully this gets some interest. Hopefully it doesn't crash and burn. Hopefully I'm not the only crazy one, lol.
Oh, I'll probably join up. Lots of time making a character when the fight will be determined by if the person who loses initiative figured out how to beat the winner's cheesy tactics. :)
Is there a chance this will evolve into a storyline or are you set in it being arena-only?
Is there a chance this will evolve into a storyline or are you set in it being arena-only?
There is absolutely such a chance! I'm going to work on some sort of story reason for the contestants to be involved in the first place. There's also the possibility, as I said in my OP, of more standard adventures.
I *despise* pointless pvp/arena games with little to no RP or purpose, so I'll be striving to make sure this game has at least some of that.
It will be fun to make a character.
Now, since I usually do fun characters (at least compared to top tier optimizers), it will be fun to see them last 5 seconds xD
I'm willing to guess losing characters won't perma-die, right?
It will be fun to make a character.
Now, since I usually do fun characters (at least compared to top tier optimizers), it will be fun to see them last 5 seconds xD
I'm willing to guess losing characters won't perma-die, right?
Yeah, definitely no perma deaths in the Arena, though should there be more standard adventures or this evolves into something beyond just an arena game, death will become a normal possibility.
This sounds like a fun time, would it be via PbP or voice/VTT?
Almost definitely pbp, as there's going to be so many moving parts, it'll just be vastly easier that way.
That said, if possible, I would also like to make use of discord for ooc communications, chats, coordinations, etc. I find using a 'real time' chat for such things greatly improves a game, and it's long term health.
I'm starting to come up with a very tentative concept for this game, beyond 'arena pvp/fight pit'. It will probably take me a few days or so(week at the most) to get my thoughts in some semblance of semi order, lol.
In the meantime, some things we can discuss:
1) I am considering the starting level to be 20, and gestalt. Part of me wants to make it tristalt, but unsure. I'm not too worried about power creep, but rather people getting too bogged down with their builds. Maybe if we go tristalt, we'll make it so you have to pick a primary class to get your BAB, HD, saves, etc from, and the other two classes only grant their class features....
2) I don't think we'll start with mythic, though it's very possible mythic will be obtained in game.
3) I would like to also make a PC for this game, but Gyrfalcon brought up a good point when they slid into my DMs earlier: Would people find my having a character in a pvp game to be problematic? I generally rule in favor of the PCs in games I run, but I don't want people to think I am biased towards my character. I **believe** it should be alright, but if people are opposed to it, I will sit this out and cry in a corner, lol
Dotting in! And I don't mind if you have a PC, as long as they aren't overshadowing anyone else. Looking forward to seeing what you decide on for build rules!
Possible Suggestion: At 20th level, PCs are typically well known by many (unless they tried not to be) and have a myriad of skills. It was perhaps the desire of your character to create this arena/fight pit. That would give you an excuse to play with us. Be the ringmaster/rules enforcer with greater powers in the pit than the players. Outside, you are just a 20th level. He perhaps used the aid of other benefactors to create this venue, as well as his own expertise/connections and he has constructed a planar wonder of death and battle. This doesn't mean he has to be higher level than us or that his benefactors are necessarily higher level. For all we know, it could be a collaborative work.
As ringmaster, he could have significant influence in the battles, using the arena almost as if it were a magical item. Perhaps even manipulating them in ways to deal with people's immunities and weaknesses mid-battle. All to create a thrilling spectacle for a paying audience.
And another possible suggestion could be that the "disaster" in which the Arena turns out to be more than just a PVP fight, could deal with one of these benefactors doing some evil shenanigans and turning on the ringmaster?
As is often the case for me, this concept is continuously evolving.
Currently I'm thinking the main 'setting' for this game will be the infamous World Serpent Inn.
This will easily allow for PCs to come from any world, go to any plane, and offer *ample* RP, downtime activities, and non PVP adventures.
I actually picked up the WSI book that's on the DM Guild tonight, as it's mostly fluff with little mechanics(since it's officially a D&D 5e book).
Let me know what ya'll think about such a setting.
I suggest just "base" gestalt. Tristalt is a bit much and semi-gestalt rend to be a bit of a pain in the ass. 40 levels should be enough for most builds.
You should appoint one or two people as overseers over your PC. They have full GM authority to smite you down. While setting up a co-gm relationship is hard, it's probably for the best.
One thing to think about is if you will allow templates or monster PC's. It's something not usually allowed outside of gonzo games.
I would try to avoid Mythic as much as possible. I love it, but the mythic paths are so unbalanced it's not even funny. I mean, Spellcasters are already unbalanced, they don't really need Archimage shenanigans.
Other than that, well... The more levels you add, the more this turns into an Initiative race (and the more characters rely on a big spell to win). Makes it kinda boring, but I'll be itching for the PVE parts anyway, so I guess that's fine.
Any updates?
I'm still hashing out some details, and figuring some other stuff out. My weekend is gonna be a lil bit busy, as Sat (the 3rd) is my Grammy's 99th bday!!!
Congrats to her!
I've been really thinking about this overall concept, and while I still really love the idea of a high level, high powered game, I'm having trouble coming up with a logical way to blend both the arena aspects, and the possibility for more standard RP/adventures in a way that I really like.
That said, I've gotten some new ideas from this interest check that I would like to propose(they will probably get their own interest checks, eventually):
1) There was a game over on mythweavers for awhile that I really liked, though I never got around to building a PC for: The Tavern of Many Worlds or something like that. It was a high level(15? 18?) tristalt game, set in a huge interdimensional tavern. PCs could go out to different worlds/planes for adventures, and then come to the tavern to spend their earnings, including creating their own 'home' within the tavern.
I would like to reprise this, set in the World Serpent Inn, since it's got some official support. It won't be as high a level(probably 8-10) but it *might* still be tristalt, though if not, standard gestalt.
I also want to focus a fair(lot?) more on RPing in the Inn. I have some ideas for that, but I won't go into them here.
2) Some sort of divine/god game. There's a few ways to go about this, including the Lords of Creation style. That's where the PC play gods(with very little in the way of 'stats') that literally create the universe: The world(or more of them), sun, moon, stars, all the creatures, etc.
This tends to be a fairly RP heavy game as well, though there is a set of rules to handle conflict/pvp. Cooperation and communication are both incredibly important for this to be a healthy, long lasting game.
There's also both the Godbound(which is it's own system) and Ascension(which can be used with PF/3.5, and is mainly a series of every more powerful templates) rules for a more standard game. While both of these options allow you to play 'D&D' as demigods/gods, I really want to emphasize and focus on the inherent RP of being divine. As such, regardless of rules, the game will be set in either Golarion or Faerun(this is only if we use the Godbound/Ascension rules).
I would be more interested in #1.
My interest on Paizo's website is usually directed to PF content, but I don't mind using 3rd party or gestalt/tristalt as long as it is using the PF ruleset. I feel it's been balanced fairly well and I understand it better than many other games. So that's just my preference.
I myself have played in a similar game here on the boards that didn't end up getting off the ground, as the GM ghosted due to life complications, so it would be fun to replay something similar. I enjoy the level target as well, as it is high, but not so high you can't use a monster manual with ease and some minor tweaks.
I'm also more in favor of the World Serpent Inn
#1 is probably what I'd vote, too. Though you know what my *real* criteria would be... :D
If it's actual adventures, I'd be down for joining. Not so much for just pvp though.
An old game I played in once was a game of gods, but unlike most god games, it more of an adventure as the world was destroyed and we had to discover what great evil destroyed the world and we had to find a way to defeat it. We had all the mechanics of deities from 3.5, plus a limited amount of points that we could spend to do truly divine stuff, except that if those points ran out, we died, and there was no way to replenish them during the adventure.