New Frontiers: Validar
For those of you who have been on the forum for a long time now, you’ll recall us talking about starting two Message Based Games. The first was Crucible for Champions. The thread deals with the second one. It’s a continuation of Validar’s adventures as shown thus far in The Frontier posts in the Q Files section.
The purpose of this thread is to find out just how many people are interested in such a thing and to explain some of the rules that go along with it, as they are somewhat complex. In fact, getting all the start up rules put together for people to digest is the hardest part on my end. I can’t assume that everyone has the books that they need to make a character. Since the start up rules are so complex, if there is little or no interest in such a game, then there is no reason for me to do all that work.
The game will use a modified version of 2nd Edition AD&D using the Skills & Powers options. You’ll be using point pools to make your characters. No random rolling of dice would be involved. I’ll answer some of the more obvious questions below. Go right a head and post anything I might have skipped over that you have a question about.
Why not 3rd Edition?
Well, the Frontier lands came into existence in 1989 in the game of the same name on Q Link. Later it grew into the Sword of Doom game and still later after that the Borderlands game. It further expanded offline with the Borderlands 2 game and the live gaming featuring Muskateer’s Jylsera and Kharyna characters.
So, more or less, the setting has seen heavy use for the last 14 years or so. All the major existing characters and priesthoods are already written up using Skills & Powers. It would simply be much more work for me to change over to a completely different set of rules. Now, we are incorporating some of the new wrinkles introduced in 3rd Edition as part of the modifications, so this is very much a hybrid system.
What is Skills & Powers?
Skills & Powers was introduced in a series of Options Books for 2nd Edition. It introduced the concept of Sub-Stats and using a point system to purchase your characters racial and class abilities. The purchasing lists also include non-standard abilities so that your Dwarven Fighter doesn’t have to be identical in abilities to every other Dwarven Fighter. It gives the player more flexibility in making the character they want instead of having to go with the static class and racial write ups.
Sub-Stats simply divide each primary stat into two Sub-Stats. For instance, the Strength stat is divided into Stamina and Muscle. What those two stats deal with should be pretty obvious. Now, your Sub-Stats average out to the value of the Primary stat. So if someone has 16 STR, then the Sub-Stats start out at 16.
However, you can adjust your Sub-Stats up or down. There can be a maximum value of 4 pt difference between the two Sub-Stats, but they still have to average out to the Primary State. So with some on with 16 STR, the Sub-Stats can both be 16 as well, or one could be 15, the other 17, or one 14 and the other 18.
Using Skills & Powers is completely optional in this. You can simply play the default Dwarven Fighter and all his Sub-Stats would simply equal the Primary Stat.
New Frontiers: Validar - Set Up Rules
New Frontiers: Validar - Set Up Rules
Last edited by GM Mad on Thu Jul 10, 2003 6:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
Try it and find out!
Page Two
What’s the situation?
This is a bit of an unusual situation. In Frontier #101 Validar left the group to return to his home Barony. The in game reason was that he was summoned back, but no exact reason was given why. The real life reason was that Muskateer was moving back to Albuquerque and going back to college. So, he wanted time to move cross-country, find a place to live, get in tune with going back to school and getting a part time job.
That whole process took much longer the anticipated. Plus he had computer problems as well, so it was many months later before he was back on line. At that time he simply decided to not bring Validar back to the game. But now having been re-reading the old posts, the desire to bring Validar back has been re-ignited. So here we are.
My initial thought to bring new players into the game was to have a group of adventurers recruited to assist Validar in his troubles. Since Validar is a 7th level Fighter at this point, it seemed unwise to simply have everyone start off at first level. My idea was to use the Borderland Rules for character creation. In that game, also a point system game, the players had 20,000 xp’s to purchase their classes and levels. That pretty much put most single classed characters at 5th level, two-classed at 4/4, and tri classed at 3/4/3 levels.
But there are those who prefer start at first level with there character and build them up from there. So, I’m going to try and cover both options should players request it.
No dice rolling? What are point pools?
Nope, no dice rolling. You assign your character the stats that you want. Hit points are calculated by a formula, so no randomization is involved. (For Hit Points you would start out with 60% of your rolled potential before applying any CON bonus.)
Point Pools are point totals you are assigned to build different facets of your character. For instance, I mentioned above that you had 20,000 XP’s to buy your characters class(es). That was one pool.
With another pool you would buy your characters stats. In this pool you have 85 pts to spend. Stats 3-14 cost their own value in points, so 14 STR costs 14 pts. A 15 in any stat costs 16 pts. A 16 costs 18pts. A 17 20pts and an 18 22pts. For those eligible for Exceptional STR, 22pts would give you the STR 18/01-50. Each level of Exceptional STR costs 2 more pts per level. So, to give your character 18/100 STR costs 30 Pts!
There are several other pools. One to purchase your racial traits and another for class traits if using Skills & Powers. The point values of these pools vary from race to race and class to class.
Another pool would be the points you have to purchase Weapon Proficiencies and Now-Weapon Proficiencies. The last pool is for purchasing your starting equipment and magic items for those who are starting out above first level.
This is a bit of an unusual situation. In Frontier #101 Validar left the group to return to his home Barony. The in game reason was that he was summoned back, but no exact reason was given why. The real life reason was that Muskateer was moving back to Albuquerque and going back to college. So, he wanted time to move cross-country, find a place to live, get in tune with going back to school and getting a part time job.
That whole process took much longer the anticipated. Plus he had computer problems as well, so it was many months later before he was back on line. At that time he simply decided to not bring Validar back to the game. But now having been re-reading the old posts, the desire to bring Validar back has been re-ignited. So here we are.
My initial thought to bring new players into the game was to have a group of adventurers recruited to assist Validar in his troubles. Since Validar is a 7th level Fighter at this point, it seemed unwise to simply have everyone start off at first level. My idea was to use the Borderland Rules for character creation. In that game, also a point system game, the players had 20,000 xp’s to purchase their classes and levels. That pretty much put most single classed characters at 5th level, two-classed at 4/4, and tri classed at 3/4/3 levels.
But there are those who prefer start at first level with there character and build them up from there. So, I’m going to try and cover both options should players request it.
No dice rolling? What are point pools?
Nope, no dice rolling. You assign your character the stats that you want. Hit points are calculated by a formula, so no randomization is involved. (For Hit Points you would start out with 60% of your rolled potential before applying any CON bonus.)
Point Pools are point totals you are assigned to build different facets of your character. For instance, I mentioned above that you had 20,000 XP’s to buy your characters class(es). That was one pool.
With another pool you would buy your characters stats. In this pool you have 85 pts to spend. Stats 3-14 cost their own value in points, so 14 STR costs 14 pts. A 15 in any stat costs 16 pts. A 16 costs 18pts. A 17 20pts and an 18 22pts. For those eligible for Exceptional STR, 22pts would give you the STR 18/01-50. Each level of Exceptional STR costs 2 more pts per level. So, to give your character 18/100 STR costs 30 Pts!
There are several other pools. One to purchase your racial traits and another for class traits if using Skills & Powers. The point values of these pools vary from race to race and class to class.
Another pool would be the points you have to purchase Weapon Proficiencies and Now-Weapon Proficiencies. The last pool is for purchasing your starting equipment and magic items for those who are starting out above first level.
Try it and find out!
Page Three
What kind of optional rules are there?
Quite a few, so here goes:
All Priests and Paladins serve a particular God or Goddess. Each deity provides their followers with different set of powers and abilities. If you’ve been reading along in the Frontier & Sword of Doom re-posts then you’ve already seen this in action. Followers of Azrella are strong in healing, but weak in combat. Followers of Mystra are more versatile in their magic. Followers of Tymora can influence their luck or the luck of others and so on. In addition the stature of your deity also determines the maximum level of spells you can cast.
Borrowing from 3rd Edition, all priests can burn a spell in memory and convert it into a Cure Wounds spell of equal or lesser level. Good priests can only change to a Cure Wounds, while an evil one would Cause Wounds. Neutral priests can choose. This only applies to the Cure Light Wounds, Cure Moderate Wounds, Cure Serious Wounds, and Cure Critical Wounds spells.
Spellcasters gain extra spells from high Stats; those who use clerical spells form high WISDOM and mages from high INT. (In the case of clerics, this replaces the standard table.) A 15 INT or WIS, depending on which type of spells you use, gets you an extra 1st level spell. At 16 it’s a 2nd level spell, a 3rd level spell at 17, and at 18 a 4th level spell. Naturally you have to be actually able to cast spells of that level to gain the bonus.
Speaking of spellcasters, there INT or WIS rating again depending on the class, also determines that highest level of spells you can cast. For priests and those who use priest spells, it is your WIS rating minus 11. Thus you need 18 WIS to cast 7th level priest spells. For a mage and those who use such spells, it is the INT score minus 10. So yes, you do need 19 INT to cast 9th level spells. By the time someone should actually reach that level they will have had their INT increased in some manner already, so it should be a problem. A stat rating of 20 is required to cast True Dweomers by either priests or mages, not that I expect any PC to reach that level of spellcraft with one notable exception.
There is no limit to the number of spells a mage can learn. They are still limited by the number and which spells they have currently in memory.
Any character of any race can be any class. Thus Dwarves can be mages, but it is unlikely for someone to actually do that since Dwarves are so un-magical, but there is always the exception. Likewise all the mage specialist types are available to elves.
There are no level limits for any race or class.
Humans can advance in as many as two classes, demi-humans as many as three classes. There is no dual classing.
You can choose which class to apply learned Xp’s towards. It is not simply divided up equally between your classes. So, if someone started out as a fighter and decided to become a priest later, he doesn’t have to spend any more XP’s to his fighter part and they can all be applied to his priest levels. All of your class abilities are available at all times. There is no period where you can’t use one class’s ability until you reach an equal level in a second or third class. However, you are required to advance to at least 2nd level in all classes before not spending any more XP’s on one of your classes.
In all cases you must meet the stat requirements for your classes. Given the way stats are assigned, single class characters are more specialists in their class while tri-classed characters are more generalists. (It’s hard to get high stats for all 3 classes! I know, I’ve tried!)
There are a few instances with alignment enters into the picture. There can be no Paladin/Druids for instance. Likewise you can only have 1 class from the four main class groups: Warriors, Wizards, Priests, and Rogues. But this does allow some interesting class combinations; such as Rangers/Priests or a Spellsinger/Bard.
Given the starting set up, characters should generally be GOOD in alignment, and definitely non-evil.
That’s what I recall off the top of my head. Muskateer and I discussed the In House Rules a few months back. Perhaps he’ll recall something I forgot. So, anyone have any questions? Want to see a sample character? Let me know!
Quite a few, so here goes:
All Priests and Paladins serve a particular God or Goddess. Each deity provides their followers with different set of powers and abilities. If you’ve been reading along in the Frontier & Sword of Doom re-posts then you’ve already seen this in action. Followers of Azrella are strong in healing, but weak in combat. Followers of Mystra are more versatile in their magic. Followers of Tymora can influence their luck or the luck of others and so on. In addition the stature of your deity also determines the maximum level of spells you can cast.
Borrowing from 3rd Edition, all priests can burn a spell in memory and convert it into a Cure Wounds spell of equal or lesser level. Good priests can only change to a Cure Wounds, while an evil one would Cause Wounds. Neutral priests can choose. This only applies to the Cure Light Wounds, Cure Moderate Wounds, Cure Serious Wounds, and Cure Critical Wounds spells.
Spellcasters gain extra spells from high Stats; those who use clerical spells form high WISDOM and mages from high INT. (In the case of clerics, this replaces the standard table.) A 15 INT or WIS, depending on which type of spells you use, gets you an extra 1st level spell. At 16 it’s a 2nd level spell, a 3rd level spell at 17, and at 18 a 4th level spell. Naturally you have to be actually able to cast spells of that level to gain the bonus.
Speaking of spellcasters, there INT or WIS rating again depending on the class, also determines that highest level of spells you can cast. For priests and those who use priest spells, it is your WIS rating minus 11. Thus you need 18 WIS to cast 7th level priest spells. For a mage and those who use such spells, it is the INT score minus 10. So yes, you do need 19 INT to cast 9th level spells. By the time someone should actually reach that level they will have had their INT increased in some manner already, so it should be a problem. A stat rating of 20 is required to cast True Dweomers by either priests or mages, not that I expect any PC to reach that level of spellcraft with one notable exception.
There is no limit to the number of spells a mage can learn. They are still limited by the number and which spells they have currently in memory.
Any character of any race can be any class. Thus Dwarves can be mages, but it is unlikely for someone to actually do that since Dwarves are so un-magical, but there is always the exception. Likewise all the mage specialist types are available to elves.
There are no level limits for any race or class.
Humans can advance in as many as two classes, demi-humans as many as three classes. There is no dual classing.
You can choose which class to apply learned Xp’s towards. It is not simply divided up equally between your classes. So, if someone started out as a fighter and decided to become a priest later, he doesn’t have to spend any more XP’s to his fighter part and they can all be applied to his priest levels. All of your class abilities are available at all times. There is no period where you can’t use one class’s ability until you reach an equal level in a second or third class. However, you are required to advance to at least 2nd level in all classes before not spending any more XP’s on one of your classes.
In all cases you must meet the stat requirements for your classes. Given the way stats are assigned, single class characters are more specialists in their class while tri-classed characters are more generalists. (It’s hard to get high stats for all 3 classes! I know, I’ve tried!)
There are a few instances with alignment enters into the picture. There can be no Paladin/Druids for instance. Likewise you can only have 1 class from the four main class groups: Warriors, Wizards, Priests, and Rogues. But this does allow some interesting class combinations; such as Rangers/Priests or a Spellsinger/Bard.
Given the starting set up, characters should generally be GOOD in alignment, and definitely non-evil.
That’s what I recall off the top of my head. Muskateer and I discussed the In House Rules a few months back. Perhaps he’ll recall something I forgot. So, anyone have any questions? Want to see a sample character? Let me know!
Try it and find out!
So you'll be using the infamous D&D spell-memorization rules?There is no limit to the number of spells a mage can learn. They are still limited by the number and which spells they have currently in memory.
So the player divides up the experience among multiple classes at each XP award? For example, let's say player A has a 5th Fighter/3rd Thief. After completing an adventure, he is awarded 5000 XP. He would then decide how to apportion those 5000 XP among those 2 classes, and the proportions can change at each XP award? Player A says, 'I'll put 3400 into Thief and the remaining 1600 into Fighter this time around'.You can choose which class to apply learned Xp’s towards. It is not simply divided up equally between your classes.
My biggest concern here is avoiding the "Spiderman and his Amazing Friends" syndrome. With Musky running a character that is established in the setting and higher level (7th) than everyone else (max 5th), it would seem that this would tend to make his character the centerpiece of the game and everyone else 'hangers-on'. While I realize that skillful GMing can avoid this problem, but it is definitely something to be aware of. The times that I have seen it occur have not been pretty.
Since Validar is the son of the baron (or something like that), is there an intention to have the other PCs be subjects of the Barony?
Sounds like you have a lot of options and house-mods planned / in use. Personally, I have the AD&D 2e PH and DMG, so I would have to be walked through everything else. Or it might be more realistic to just provide a detailed character description and allow you to write it up.
My $0.02,
Pharoah Gordonkhamen
-
Muskateer
- Swashbuckler
- Posts: 138
- Joined: Sun Sep 29, 2002 12:29 pm
- Location: Las Vegas, NV
- Contact:
We use the spell memorization rules while in the 'field' and allow a mage to cast any spell he has access to if in his home/lab/etc. We did use a modified version for a character Jylsera which amounted to her having spell levels to cast spells from a certain small group. I like this method, but lots more book-keeping.fanchergw wrote:So you'll be using the infamous D&D spell-memorization rules?There is no limit to the number of spells a mage can learn. They are still limited by the number and which spells they have currently in memory.
GM Mad - (Hey, he's added enough comments to my posts, now it's my turn!
Yes, spell memorization rules are in effect. It's simply easier to deal with in an online game. I just keep a list of what people know and cross them off as they get cast. It also is part of the strategy of playing a mage. Knowing what spell to have in memory at what time. I wouldn't change that.
Also, there is a variant mage sub-class that I would allow in the game. He's called the Sorceror and he is an innate spellcaster. He has a small repertoire of spells and he can cast x amount of spells per level per day. Not as versital as a mage, but gets around the memorization problems. The low number of spells he can know does significantly limit him as well.
The XPs are awarded as a group for accomplishing certain tasks, but each class has certain ways to earn XPs also. For these, there is not an option. If you are killing things with a weapon, you cannot use those XPs toward your Mage levels for instance, since that is specific for Fighter Xps. Similarly, if you are gaining XPs for using Thief abilities, those cannot be applied to a Cleric level.So the player divides up the experience among multiple classes at each XP award? For example, let's say player A has a 5th Fighter/3rd Thief. After completing an adventure, he is awarded 5000 XP. He would then decide how to apportion those 5000 XP among those 2 classes, and the proportions can change at each XP award? Player A says, 'I'll put 3400 into Thief and the remaining 1600 into Fighter this time around'.You can choose which class to apply learned Xp’s towards. It is not simply divided up equally between your classes.
GM Mad - Yes, you have it right in your example Gordon. Or you can just give them all to one class and none to the other. Or just let them collect until one of your classes reaches a spot where they can advance a level. I'm flexilbe in this regard.
As Muskateer noted, in addition to the standard awards given the players, there are class specific ones as well. Those awards are smaller and cannot be divided up any differently. Simply put if you are a fighter/mage and you put all your open earned XP's towards Mage, if you kill something using your fighter skills, your fighter class will gain some Xp's as well.
That is a valid concern to a degree. However, if you notice the levels that the players are at various times in the Frontier, they vary from 1st to 11th. Granted the more experienced players are more powerful, but I think that the player and their role-playing makes a big difference. Also everyone should be relatively working together for a common goal. I don't feel like Bernice or Blod or Finrod or Claudius or Arocken were "hangers-on" despite being lower levels than Validar or Stephanie. Even characters like Vonte and Mercy and Armon were important members of the team, and started at 1st level and worked up from there. Everyone can be as 'established' as they like in the world (there just isn't any pre-played history for them).My biggest concern here is avoiding the "Spiderman and his Amazing Friends" syndrome. With Musky running a character that is established in the setting and higher level (7th) than everyone else (max 5th), it would seem that this would tend to make his character the centerpiece of the game and everyone else 'hangers-on'. While I realize that skillful GMing can avoid this problem, but it is definitely something to be aware of. The times that I have seen it occur have not been pretty.
GM Mad - I also agree that this is a valid concern, which is why I wanted to start new chracters out at 5th level. Plus, given the situation, there was no reason that those who are doing the actual recruiting (not Validar, btw) would seek out 1st level adventurers. What they are doing is putting together a group of adventures that they think show promise to see what they can do.
The opening situation does heavily involve Validar and his family, but there is no reason other people won't have their chance to shine as well. Style wise, I'm not looking to do anything different then I did in either the Frontier or Sword of Doom. The opening scenario simply plays off one of the existing characters.
Validar may be 7th level, but there are still plenty of things he can't do. He can't cast spells of any type, nor is he that effective in ranged combat. There are plenty of other nitches of characters to fit in with this group. I myself have made several characters for this game to test the rules, so may have several 'in game' characters myself.
And as Muskateer noted, the span in levels in the Seekers was even greater than what we're dealing with here. They had characters ranging from first level to 11th! It's just a matter of giving everyone a chance to shine and show their stuff. Validar is important to the game, but so is everyone else. Everyone has their particular story to tell and I have no intention of overshadowing anyone.
I've used variations of these rules for a long time now and you can build suprisingly effective characters with them. I don't expect this to be Validar and company, but a concentrated group effort.
Validar is the son of a Baron. However, it is not necessary for the players to be subjects of the Barony. They just have to have a reason for joining the group that makes some sense. The initial players may be recruited directly or could become involved in many other ways. MAD is pretty creative there. Also, the whole campaign won't be just this one event that drew Validar back to the Barony in TF #101. Also, MAD's reference to this being the continuation of Validar's adventures is somewhat true, but is not meant to mean that everything will revolve completely around him. The simple fact of the matter is that Validar's adventures are going to continue in some form, the question is who also wants to RP in this setting and situation. If no one is interested, we'll still continue in some form.Since Validar is the son of the baron (or something like that), is there an intention to have the other PCs be subjects of the Barony?
GM Mad - No, I'm not assuming that new PC's are subjects of the Barony, although if they want to design a character who is they certainly can. The Cynalon lands are quite large, so there is no reason for everyone to be from the same barony. There are independent elf and dwarf lands nearby, so PC's could even be from different nations.
I hope everyone who has some interest is willing to give the game a try. It may not be the typical beginning to a D&D RPG in that we will have a mission in front of us already and most characters are not 'new' in any way. Looking for good role-playing and good characters and continuing a world that has lots of its own life already.Sounds like you have a lot of options and house-mods planned / in use. Personally, I have the AD&D 2e PH and DMG, so I would have to be walked through everything else. Or it might be more realistic to just provide a detailed character description and allow you to write it up.
My $0.02,
Pharoah Gordonkhamen
GM Mad - I can also E-mail people the relevant portions of the rules should they so desire them. The Skills & Powers stuff is a lot of fun and should be interesting to those who dislike the static classes. I'll work on some examples to show you guys what they system can do.
Last edited by Muskateer on Sat Jul 12, 2003 12:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
The Daring, Swash-Buckling Avenger!
Example Character: Page One
Here's a sample write up for a character using the rules mentioned above. I'll take everyone through each step. This particular character was one that I created specifically using these rules as a character to portray in the game. And now here is Lilliathelionn Allandros of Clan Grunalf. Lilia for short.
Lilia is a female elf hailing from Dorwyn, a huge elven forest that exists within Cynalon's northern borders. All in Lilia's clan are taught some warrior skill. However, Lilia was more interested, as many elves are, in magic and pursued that as a career instead. She was particularly attracted to alteration magic and became a Transmuter. She's a student of magic, mages, and magical history. (And a great source of in game info for the other players.)
Lilia stands an even 5' tall and weights only 80 lbs. She's quite thin, but very graceful. She has long sandy brown hair and sparkling green eyes. Skin is creamy in color. She favors greens, browns, and tans in her clothing.
Lilia's write up:
Stats:
Lilia has 85 pts with which to purchase her stats. Here's how she spent those points using the Sub-Stats option. She's a Fighter/Transmuter, so she needs a minimum of 9 STR, 15 DEX, and 9 INT to meet her class requirements. Also, as an Elf, Lilia needs at least 7 CON and 8 CHR. In addition, she also has to be within her racial maximums. Normally rolled elves get a +1 to their DEX and a -1 to their CON. So, Lilia could have 19 DEX should she choose to do so (24 pts cost, btw), but can only have a maximum of 17 CON. Lilia meets all these requirements.
STR 10 - Sub-stats equal.
DEX 16 - Aim: 14 Balance 18: (Gives -4 to AC)
CON 14 - Health 12 Fitness 16: (+2 to hit points)
INT 18 - Sub-stats equal
WIS 9 - Sub-stats equal
CHR 12 - Leadership: 10 Appearance: 14 (Typical exotic looking elf maiden)
INT costs 22 pts, & DEX 18. All others are equal to their value and add up to 85 pts.
Lilia is a female elf hailing from Dorwyn, a huge elven forest that exists within Cynalon's northern borders. All in Lilia's clan are taught some warrior skill. However, Lilia was more interested, as many elves are, in magic and pursued that as a career instead. She was particularly attracted to alteration magic and became a Transmuter. She's a student of magic, mages, and magical history. (And a great source of in game info for the other players.)
Lilia stands an even 5' tall and weights only 80 lbs. She's quite thin, but very graceful. She has long sandy brown hair and sparkling green eyes. Skin is creamy in color. She favors greens, browns, and tans in her clothing.
Lilia's write up:
Stats:
Lilia has 85 pts with which to purchase her stats. Here's how she spent those points using the Sub-Stats option. She's a Fighter/Transmuter, so she needs a minimum of 9 STR, 15 DEX, and 9 INT to meet her class requirements. Also, as an Elf, Lilia needs at least 7 CON and 8 CHR. In addition, she also has to be within her racial maximums. Normally rolled elves get a +1 to their DEX and a -1 to their CON. So, Lilia could have 19 DEX should she choose to do so (24 pts cost, btw), but can only have a maximum of 17 CON. Lilia meets all these requirements.
STR 10 - Sub-stats equal.
DEX 16 - Aim: 14 Balance 18: (Gives -4 to AC)
CON 14 - Health 12 Fitness 16: (+2 to hit points)
INT 18 - Sub-stats equal
WIS 9 - Sub-stats equal
CHR 12 - Leadership: 10 Appearance: 14 (Typical exotic looking elf maiden)
INT costs 22 pts, & DEX 18. All others are equal to their value and add up to 85 pts.
Try it and find out!
Sample Character: Page Two
Elven Traits: 45 pts to spend
Standard Elven Traits:
Here's how the standard Elf looks with their racial traits using Skills & Powers.
5 Bow Bonus - +1 with a long or short bow
10 Infravision - 60' range
10 Resistance - 90% resistant to sleep & charm spells
5 Secret Doors - Possesses the elf ability to find concealed & Secret doors.
10 Stealth - When alone and not wearing metal armor, gains a surprise bonus vs. Opponents
5 Sword Bonus - +1 to attack rolls when using a short or long sword.
Lilia's Traits:
Here's how Lilia did hers. She removed Stealth and Sword Bonus for Less Sleep & Magic ID'ing. More practical for a mage to have. There are other options she could have purchased, but these two fit her best. Or she could have saved a few points here for later use in the Weapon/Non-Weapon Proficiencies areas.
5 Bow Bonus - +1 with a long or short bow
10 Infravision - 60' range
5 Less Sleep - Needs only 4 hours of sleep for a full nights rest
10 Magic Identification - 5%/level of ID'ing a magic item. Similar to a Bards Lore Ability. Lilia would have 25% chance at this. (For multiclassed characters, take their highest level and then add 1 for each additional class. 4 levels as a mage +1 for being a fighter = 5 levels.)
10 Resistance - 90% resistant to sleep & charm spells
5 Secret Doors - Possesses the elf ability to find concealed & Secret doors.
Standard Elven Traits:
Here's how the standard Elf looks with their racial traits using Skills & Powers.
5 Bow Bonus - +1 with a long or short bow
10 Infravision - 60' range
10 Resistance - 90% resistant to sleep & charm spells
5 Secret Doors - Possesses the elf ability to find concealed & Secret doors.
10 Stealth - When alone and not wearing metal armor, gains a surprise bonus vs. Opponents
5 Sword Bonus - +1 to attack rolls when using a short or long sword.
Lilia's Traits:
Here's how Lilia did hers. She removed Stealth and Sword Bonus for Less Sleep & Magic ID'ing. More practical for a mage to have. There are other options she could have purchased, but these two fit her best. Or she could have saved a few points here for later use in the Weapon/Non-Weapon Proficiencies areas.
5 Bow Bonus - +1 with a long or short bow
10 Infravision - 60' range
5 Less Sleep - Needs only 4 hours of sleep for a full nights rest
10 Magic Identification - 5%/level of ID'ing a magic item. Similar to a Bards Lore Ability. Lilia would have 25% chance at this. (For multiclassed characters, take their highest level and then add 1 for each additional class. 4 levels as a mage +1 for being a fighter = 5 levels.)
10 Resistance - 90% resistant to sleep & charm spells
5 Secret Doors - Possesses the elf ability to find concealed & Secret doors.
Last edited by GM Mad on Wed Jul 09, 2003 7:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Try it and find out!
Sample Character: Page Three
Lilia has 20,000 xps to spend to purchase her classes. She has fighter training, but is concentrating solely on her Mage class. Since she has 2 classes, they both must be at least 2nd level before Lilia can quite actively ignore one of her classes. Since 2000 Xp's are required to advance to 2nd level as a fighter, she spends 2000 of her pool to make herself a 2nd level fighter. The rest goes towards Transmuter and puts her at 18,000 Xp's. That puts her at 4th level, 2000 xp's short of 5th level.
Classes: 2nd Level Fighter (2000 xps), 4th Level Transmuter (18,000 xps)
Now we purchase Lilia's class traits. First up are her Fighter skills using Skills & Powers. The standard fighter has 15 pts to spend and they are allotted as follows:
5 Weapon Specialization (1 single weapon)
10 Followers - The fighter gains followers upon reaching 9th level and having a stronghold.
Now here's how Lilia spent her points. Since she's primarily a mage, she can't wear armor and cast spells. You can take limitations to your class that will earn you extra points to spend. Lilia takes the option to not wear any armor and that gets her 15 extra points. Weapon Specialization is fine and that stays. She has no desire to gain followers, so that goes. That gives Lilia 25 pts to spend on the other fighter traits available. Here's what she takes:
(-15) No Armor (Can't wear it as a mage anyway)
10 Defense Bonus - +2 to AC while unarmored
5 Weapon Specialization (1 single weapon)
5 Increased Movement - Base Movement is 15, not 12.
10 Magic Resistance - 2% Magic Resistance per level gained. Lilia is 10% as per the forumula given for her Detect Magic Ability above.
Now on to her Transmuter Class traits. Standard traits for this would be as follows. There are 30 pts to spend here for specialist mages. Access to her 6 schools are free. The rest breaks down as follows:
5 Automatic Spells - Automatically learns a new Transmuter spell upon gaining access to a new spell level.
10 Bonus Spells - 1 extra Transmuter spell per level
5 Intense Magic - -1 for others to save vs Transmuter Spells
5 Learning Bonus - +15% to learn Transmuter Spells
5 Research Bonus – While attempting to research a new Transmuter spell, it is considered 1 level lower then its actual level
5 Save Bonus – +1 to saves vs. Transmuter spells
-5 Learning Penalty - -15% to learn spells out of Specialty
And here’s how Lilia spent her 30 pts:
Access to schools is free. Can't cast Abjuration or Necromantic spells.
10 Bonus Spells - 1 extra Transmuter spell per level
10 Detect Magic - Can Detect Magic as per the spell 1/day for every 2/Levels. 2 per day for Lilia.
5 Read Magic - Can Read Magic as per the spell 1/day for every 2 Levels. 2/day.
5 Automatic Spells - Automatically learns a new Transmuter spell upon gaining access to a new spell level.
She sacrificed some things, but gained others, so everything balances out. It all depends on what you want for that particular character.
Classes: 2nd Level Fighter (2000 xps), 4th Level Transmuter (18,000 xps)
Now we purchase Lilia's class traits. First up are her Fighter skills using Skills & Powers. The standard fighter has 15 pts to spend and they are allotted as follows:
5 Weapon Specialization (1 single weapon)
10 Followers - The fighter gains followers upon reaching 9th level and having a stronghold.
Now here's how Lilia spent her points. Since she's primarily a mage, she can't wear armor and cast spells. You can take limitations to your class that will earn you extra points to spend. Lilia takes the option to not wear any armor and that gets her 15 extra points. Weapon Specialization is fine and that stays. She has no desire to gain followers, so that goes. That gives Lilia 25 pts to spend on the other fighter traits available. Here's what she takes:
(-15) No Armor (Can't wear it as a mage anyway)
10 Defense Bonus - +2 to AC while unarmored
5 Weapon Specialization (1 single weapon)
5 Increased Movement - Base Movement is 15, not 12.
10 Magic Resistance - 2% Magic Resistance per level gained. Lilia is 10% as per the forumula given for her Detect Magic Ability above.
Now on to her Transmuter Class traits. Standard traits for this would be as follows. There are 30 pts to spend here for specialist mages. Access to her 6 schools are free. The rest breaks down as follows:
5 Automatic Spells - Automatically learns a new Transmuter spell upon gaining access to a new spell level.
10 Bonus Spells - 1 extra Transmuter spell per level
5 Intense Magic - -1 for others to save vs Transmuter Spells
5 Learning Bonus - +15% to learn Transmuter Spells
5 Research Bonus – While attempting to research a new Transmuter spell, it is considered 1 level lower then its actual level
5 Save Bonus – +1 to saves vs. Transmuter spells
-5 Learning Penalty - -15% to learn spells out of Specialty
And here’s how Lilia spent her 30 pts:
Access to schools is free. Can't cast Abjuration or Necromantic spells.
10 Bonus Spells - 1 extra Transmuter spell per level
10 Detect Magic - Can Detect Magic as per the spell 1/day for every 2/Levels. 2 per day for Lilia.
5 Read Magic - Can Read Magic as per the spell 1/day for every 2 Levels. 2/day.
5 Automatic Spells - Automatically learns a new Transmuter spell upon gaining access to a new spell level.
She sacrificed some things, but gained others, so everything balances out. It all depends on what you want for that particular character.
Last edited by GM Mad on Wed Jul 09, 2003 7:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Try it and find out!
Sample Character: Page Four
Kit: Scholar
Kits are specific character theme that is not necessarily class related. Selecting a Kit is optional and costs no points. Kits gives you certain bonuses and at the same time certain limitations. The costs of certain Weapon Profs, Non-Weapon Profs, & Traits that are linked to the Kit come at a –1 pt cost. I’ll mark those things that came cheaper with the Kit with an *. In addition to the cheaper Profs, the kit gives a Bonus +1 to INT checks and INT or WIS based proficiencies. -1 to Initiative rolls. Also, to qualify for this KIT, Lilia needs a minimum of 13 INT, which she easily exceeds.
Now it is time to figure out how many pts Lilia has to spend on her Weapon Proficieinces, Non-Weapon Prof’s, and her Traits, should she chose to purchase traits. Traits are like Talents in Champions. They are innate abilities that cannot be learned, but only born with. They can ONLY be purchased when the character is first created and not later.
The amount of points you start out with is determined by Class. Since Lilia has two classes, she starts with most points between her two classes. Wizards start with 8 Pts to Non-Weapon Profs and Warriors have 8 to purchase Weapon Profs, so Lilia has 16 pts to start out with.
This number is modified by how many levels she’s gained. She’s essentially a 6th level character (Fighter 2, Mage 4), so that means she’s gained 5 levels. You are awarded 4 pts for each level gained. That’s 20 more pts for a total of 36 pts to spend.
This is further modified due to Lilia’s high INT. That gains her another 7 pts for a grand total of 43 pts to spend.
43 total points to spend on Traits, NWP's & WP's:
Traits: 7 pts
3* Precise Memory - Photographic Memory
4* Keen Eyesite - A Natural for an elf!
Non-Weapon Profs: 26 pts
2* Ancient History - 11
3* Ancient Languages - Elder - 12 (Elder is a special ancient language in the game. The writing on the strange pillars found underneath Gateway was in the Elder Language. This is a written only language.)
7 Concentration - 8 - Ability to thwart having your spellcasting disrupted
-2 Base Languages Elves Know: Elvish, Common, Goblin, Orc. (The full list of base languages Elves know would have included Gnome, Halfling, and Gnoll. These can be swapped out for other tongues. Remove 2 languages for –1 pts and then each additional language after that is another –1. So Lilia took back 2 pts for dropping 3 native languages.)
2* Modern Languages – Alphatian – (The native tongue of a great magical empire. Also known as Kelnish.)
3* Reading/Writing - Alphatian, Common, Elvish. (This allows comprehension of the written versions of these languages. The above were just the spoken versions.)
3 Research - 11
4 Sage Knowledge - 10 - Magic, Mages, etc. (Lilia’s special area of knowledge is mages and magic.)
2 Scribe – 12 – The ability to write well. Necessary for creating spell scrolls.
2* Spell Craft -
Weapon Profs: 10 pts
6 Proficient with Shortsword, Dagger, Quarterstaff
4 Specialized in Short Bow
Kits are specific character theme that is not necessarily class related. Selecting a Kit is optional and costs no points. Kits gives you certain bonuses and at the same time certain limitations. The costs of certain Weapon Profs, Non-Weapon Profs, & Traits that are linked to the Kit come at a –1 pt cost. I’ll mark those things that came cheaper with the Kit with an *. In addition to the cheaper Profs, the kit gives a Bonus +1 to INT checks and INT or WIS based proficiencies. -1 to Initiative rolls. Also, to qualify for this KIT, Lilia needs a minimum of 13 INT, which she easily exceeds.
Now it is time to figure out how many pts Lilia has to spend on her Weapon Proficieinces, Non-Weapon Prof’s, and her Traits, should she chose to purchase traits. Traits are like Talents in Champions. They are innate abilities that cannot be learned, but only born with. They can ONLY be purchased when the character is first created and not later.
The amount of points you start out with is determined by Class. Since Lilia has two classes, she starts with most points between her two classes. Wizards start with 8 Pts to Non-Weapon Profs and Warriors have 8 to purchase Weapon Profs, so Lilia has 16 pts to start out with.
This number is modified by how many levels she’s gained. She’s essentially a 6th level character (Fighter 2, Mage 4), so that means she’s gained 5 levels. You are awarded 4 pts for each level gained. That’s 20 more pts for a total of 36 pts to spend.
This is further modified due to Lilia’s high INT. That gains her another 7 pts for a grand total of 43 pts to spend.
43 total points to spend on Traits, NWP's & WP's:
Traits: 7 pts
3* Precise Memory - Photographic Memory
4* Keen Eyesite - A Natural for an elf!
Non-Weapon Profs: 26 pts
2* Ancient History - 11
3* Ancient Languages - Elder - 12 (Elder is a special ancient language in the game. The writing on the strange pillars found underneath Gateway was in the Elder Language. This is a written only language.)
7 Concentration - 8 - Ability to thwart having your spellcasting disrupted
-2 Base Languages Elves Know: Elvish, Common, Goblin, Orc. (The full list of base languages Elves know would have included Gnome, Halfling, and Gnoll. These can be swapped out for other tongues. Remove 2 languages for –1 pts and then each additional language after that is another –1. So Lilia took back 2 pts for dropping 3 native languages.)
2* Modern Languages – Alphatian – (The native tongue of a great magical empire. Also known as Kelnish.)
3* Reading/Writing - Alphatian, Common, Elvish. (This allows comprehension of the written versions of these languages. The above were just the spoken versions.)
3 Research - 11
4 Sage Knowledge - 10 - Magic, Mages, etc. (Lilia’s special area of knowledge is mages and magic.)
2 Scribe – 12 – The ability to write well. Necessary for creating spell scrolls.
2* Spell Craft -
Weapon Profs: 10 pts
6 Proficient with Shortsword, Dagger, Quarterstaff
4 Specialized in Short Bow
Try it and find out!
Sample Character: Page Five
Next comes buying Lilia’s starting magic items. Since she’s an experience character, she’s had the opportunity to gain magic items. She has 5000 pts in which to buy magic items. Standard gear is bought out of this pool as well with 1 pt equaling 1 gp.
I will provide a list of what magic items are available to be purchased. They all fall with in these limitations: No item can duplicate the effects of any spell above 5th level. No item can have greater than a +1 enchantment to it.
Based on this, here are the magic items Lilia bought and their cost:
500 Shortbow +1
1500 Bracers AC: 7
1000 Ring of Free Action
1000 Boots of Elvenkind
300 Shortsword +1
Rest was spent on mundane equipment. I won't bore you with that!
Next Lilia picks her starting spells. A normal 4th level mage can memorize 3 1st level and 2 2nd level spells. Triple those numbers and that’s how many spells she starts with in her spell book, 9 and 6 respectively. Spells can ONLY be selected from the Players Handbook for this.
Starting spellbook:
1st level spells: Affect Normal Fires, Armor, Burning Hands, Change Self, Comprehend Languages, Magic Missile, Mount, Shield, Sleep
2nd level spells: Alter Self, Continual Light, Knock, Mirror Image, Pyrotechnics, Web.
Starting Hit Points would be 34. (You take 60% of your full potential HP's rolled and then add your CON bonus. Lilia would have a maximum of 20 hps from her fighter levels and 16 from her mage levels. 60% of 36 is 22, +12 for 6 levels of Con Bonuses.
Base AC is 1. -3 for the Bracers, -4 for natural DEX, & -2 for Defense Bonus
THACO with shortbow would be 16, 18 for the short sword, and 19 for all other weapons.
Number of spells she can memorize is 5 1st & 4 2nd. (Normal is 3 & 2. +1 of each for Transmuter Specialization & another +1 for High INT.)
And that's about it! See, that wasn’t so hard.
I will provide a list of what magic items are available to be purchased. They all fall with in these limitations: No item can duplicate the effects of any spell above 5th level. No item can have greater than a +1 enchantment to it.
Based on this, here are the magic items Lilia bought and their cost:
500 Shortbow +1
1500 Bracers AC: 7
1000 Ring of Free Action
1000 Boots of Elvenkind
300 Shortsword +1
Rest was spent on mundane equipment. I won't bore you with that!
Next Lilia picks her starting spells. A normal 4th level mage can memorize 3 1st level and 2 2nd level spells. Triple those numbers and that’s how many spells she starts with in her spell book, 9 and 6 respectively. Spells can ONLY be selected from the Players Handbook for this.
Starting spellbook:
1st level spells: Affect Normal Fires, Armor, Burning Hands, Change Self, Comprehend Languages, Magic Missile, Mount, Shield, Sleep
2nd level spells: Alter Self, Continual Light, Knock, Mirror Image, Pyrotechnics, Web.
Starting Hit Points would be 34. (You take 60% of your full potential HP's rolled and then add your CON bonus. Lilia would have a maximum of 20 hps from her fighter levels and 16 from her mage levels. 60% of 36 is 22, +12 for 6 levels of Con Bonuses.
Base AC is 1. -3 for the Bracers, -4 for natural DEX, & -2 for Defense Bonus
THACO with shortbow would be 16, 18 for the short sword, and 19 for all other weapons.
Number of spells she can memorize is 5 1st & 4 2nd. (Normal is 3 & 2. +1 of each for Transmuter Specialization & another +1 for High INT.)
And that's about it! See, that wasn’t so hard.
Try it and find out!
Hiya,
Realize this may be a stupid question but I gotta ask considering it wasn't covered or at least I dont think it was (might have read it wrong) Do you allow sub classes of elves, dwarves as well as the other races to be played by PCs?
And if so are they allowed to use the benifits they may or may not have?
Do you allow the kits that are in the Ranger, priest, fighter etc. books such as warden or Trail blazers?
Realize this may be a stupid question but I gotta ask considering it wasn't covered or at least I dont think it was (might have read it wrong) Do you allow sub classes of elves, dwarves as well as the other races to be played by PCs?
And if so are they allowed to use the benifits they may or may not have?
Do you allow the kits that are in the Ranger, priest, fighter etc. books such as warden or Trail blazers?
Yes, sub-races are permitted. Some might be difficult to fit in due to logistics-- a Sea Elf wouldn't do well on land, and a reformed Drow would face a great deal of adversity. And yes, each sub-race has its own set of racial standards using Skills & Powers. The standard Elf I listed for Lilia was for a High Elf, the most common variety. So yes, each sub-race can use its established benefits. (In general, at any rate. Some of the Drow abilities don't work very well on the surface.)Frostbite wrote:Hiya,
Realize this may be a stupid question but I gotta ask considering it wasnt covered or at least i dont think it was(might have read it wrong) Do you allow sub classes of elves, dwarves as well as the other races to be played by PCs?
And if so Are they allowed to use the benifits they may or may not have?
Do you allow the kits that are in the Ranger,priest fighter etc books such as warden or Trail blazers?
Kits from the various 2nd Edition class handbooks are available. You'd simply go with those write ups and avoid the S&K portions of the character design. Likewise, the kits and extra classes from the Baldur's Gate 2 games are available as well. Rule of thumb here is if I have the material, you can probably use it. When it comes to 2nd Edition, I have way too much stuff!
Try it and find out!
Check your mail box, Gordon!fanchergw wrote:Mad,
Would you be willing to discuss the sub-stats and what the penalties / bonusses associated with each are? For example, it looks like AC modifiers are associated with Balance, but what does Aim affect?
If you could give a rundown of this, it would help in character creation.
Thanks,
Gordon
For everyone else, basically the sub-stats split the regular stat tables in half. For instance, using the above example, Dexterity is split into Aim and Balance. Aim affects the bonus to hit with missile weapons, Picking Pockets, and Opening Locks. Balance deals with reaction adjustments, AC Adjustments, moving Silently, and climbing walls.
Try it and find out!
Another Sample...
Here's another, more simple example. This time its Stephanie from the Frontier designed using the above rules. Here's an example of a fighter completely different from Lilia!
Stats: 85 pts
22 STR 18/01 All Sub-stats the same
18 DEX 16
22 CON 18
7 INT 7
6 WIS 6
10 CHR 10
(The real Steph's stats are a bit better than this, but with the spending cap I was forced to lower her INT, WIS, and CHR to make them fit. Should you guys ever run into her, her real INT, WIS, & CHR is 9, 8, and 12.)
Steph is a solo fighter, so she spends all 20,000 xp points on that. She's a 5th level fighter.
Being human, Steph doesn't have any standard abilities due to her race. However, humans are allotted 10 pts to spend in this area. Most humans will simply take those points and add them to their NWP/WP point pool. Steph however buys one of the options to reflect her hardy nature.
10 - Hit Point Bonus - Steph cans 1 extra HP for each level gained.
As a Fighter, Steph has 15 pts to spend. Standard for Fighters, as noted above, is Weapon Specialization and Followers. Steph keeps Weapon Specialization for the Longsword, but ditches followers. (She's not the type.) Instead she takes 1d12 for her hit dice instead of 1d10. (Yet another reflection of her toughness.)
5 - Weapon Specialization: Longsword
10 - 1d12 for hit points
Steph doesn't take a Kit. (One does fit her, Peasant Hero, but she would gain very little advantage from it. Most of the NWP's that gain the -1 cost bonus she wouldn't take, so why gain the limitations from the kit for so little return?)
So on to the Traits, Non-Weapon Proficiencies, and Weapon Proficiencies area. Being a Fighter, Steph gets 6 pts for her NWP's and 8 pts for WP's, giving her a base of 14 pts. Having gained 4 levels, Steph gets another 16 pts for a total of 30 pts. Because of her low INT, she gains only 1 extra pt, so she has a grand total of 31 pts to spend.
Traits: 6 pts
6 Fast Healer - Steph will recover 1 hp of damage from a wound within 2-12 rnds after being wounded. She also heals naturally at a rate of 2 hps per day instead of 1 per day.
Weapon Profs: 12 pts
6 - Proficient with Longsword, Longbow, and Footman's Mace.
2 - Specialization with Longsword
4 - Mastery with Longsword
Steph's very good with the Longsword. Mastery is a level of expertise above standard Specialization. There are two more levels beyond Mastery, High Mastery and Grand Mastery. You have to be at least 5th level as a fighter to purchase Weapon Mastery, which Steph is.
Here's what this does to her. With a Longsword, Steph is +3 to hit, +3 to damage before any STR bonuses and Weapon bonuses. Her strength gives her a +1 to hit and +3 to damage, so she's at +4 to hit, +6 to damage with an ordinary sword. Giver a magical sword and watch out! She also has 3 attacks every two rounds and her base THACO is 12.
NWPs: 13 pts
3 Agriculture - By product of growing up on a farm.
3 Animal Handling - Ditto.
2 Endurance
2 Running
3 Read/Write Common - (Finrod taught Steph how to read. This is an out of class NWP and thus costs an extra 1 pt to Steph.)
0 Speak Common – Your native language is always free.
Magic Items:
Among the magic items Steph would take are:
900 Longsword +1, Flametongue
250 Shield +1
800 Plate +1
150 Dagger +1
1000 Ring of Fire Resistance
1000 Ring of Free Action
The rest is spent on mundane equipment and jewelry.
Here’s the final damage. AC is –2, Hit Points are 61(!)
5 times 12 is 60. 60% of 60 is 36. Plus 4 hps per level for CON, that gives another 20 hps for a total of 56 hps. Add 1 more for each level for her Human trait for another 5 and that gives her 61 starting hit points.
There you have it, a very different type of fighter from Lilia! Next time a truly obscene character!
Stats: 85 pts
22 STR 18/01 All Sub-stats the same
18 DEX 16
22 CON 18
7 INT 7
6 WIS 6
10 CHR 10
(The real Steph's stats are a bit better than this, but with the spending cap I was forced to lower her INT, WIS, and CHR to make them fit. Should you guys ever run into her, her real INT, WIS, & CHR is 9, 8, and 12.)
Steph is a solo fighter, so she spends all 20,000 xp points on that. She's a 5th level fighter.
Being human, Steph doesn't have any standard abilities due to her race. However, humans are allotted 10 pts to spend in this area. Most humans will simply take those points and add them to their NWP/WP point pool. Steph however buys one of the options to reflect her hardy nature.
10 - Hit Point Bonus - Steph cans 1 extra HP for each level gained.
As a Fighter, Steph has 15 pts to spend. Standard for Fighters, as noted above, is Weapon Specialization and Followers. Steph keeps Weapon Specialization for the Longsword, but ditches followers. (She's not the type.) Instead she takes 1d12 for her hit dice instead of 1d10. (Yet another reflection of her toughness.)
5 - Weapon Specialization: Longsword
10 - 1d12 for hit points
Steph doesn't take a Kit. (One does fit her, Peasant Hero, but she would gain very little advantage from it. Most of the NWP's that gain the -1 cost bonus she wouldn't take, so why gain the limitations from the kit for so little return?)
So on to the Traits, Non-Weapon Proficiencies, and Weapon Proficiencies area. Being a Fighter, Steph gets 6 pts for her NWP's and 8 pts for WP's, giving her a base of 14 pts. Having gained 4 levels, Steph gets another 16 pts for a total of 30 pts. Because of her low INT, she gains only 1 extra pt, so she has a grand total of 31 pts to spend.
Traits: 6 pts
6 Fast Healer - Steph will recover 1 hp of damage from a wound within 2-12 rnds after being wounded. She also heals naturally at a rate of 2 hps per day instead of 1 per day.
Weapon Profs: 12 pts
6 - Proficient with Longsword, Longbow, and Footman's Mace.
2 - Specialization with Longsword
4 - Mastery with Longsword
Steph's very good with the Longsword. Mastery is a level of expertise above standard Specialization. There are two more levels beyond Mastery, High Mastery and Grand Mastery. You have to be at least 5th level as a fighter to purchase Weapon Mastery, which Steph is.
Here's what this does to her. With a Longsword, Steph is +3 to hit, +3 to damage before any STR bonuses and Weapon bonuses. Her strength gives her a +1 to hit and +3 to damage, so she's at +4 to hit, +6 to damage with an ordinary sword. Giver a magical sword and watch out! She also has 3 attacks every two rounds and her base THACO is 12.
NWPs: 13 pts
3 Agriculture - By product of growing up on a farm.
3 Animal Handling - Ditto.
2 Endurance
2 Running
3 Read/Write Common - (Finrod taught Steph how to read. This is an out of class NWP and thus costs an extra 1 pt to Steph.)
0 Speak Common – Your native language is always free.
Magic Items:
Among the magic items Steph would take are:
900 Longsword +1, Flametongue
250 Shield +1
800 Plate +1
150 Dagger +1
1000 Ring of Fire Resistance
1000 Ring of Free Action
The rest is spent on mundane equipment and jewelry.
Here’s the final damage. AC is –2, Hit Points are 61(!)
5 times 12 is 60. 60% of 60 is 36. Plus 4 hps per level for CON, that gives another 20 hps for a total of 56 hps. Add 1 more for each level for her Human trait for another 5 and that gives her 61 starting hit points.
There you have it, a very different type of fighter from Lilia! Next time a truly obscene character!
Try it and find out!
So Keln is based on Alphatia? Is your world then based on the old D&D Known World / Mystara setting? Is Cynalon also based on one of the lands in that setting? I've noticed that many of the gods seem to come from the old GreyHawk setting. Are Cynalon or Keln tied to that setting at all?2* Modern Languages – Alphatian – (The native tongue of a great magical empire. Also known as Kelnish.)
If it sounds like I'm asking for setting information, it's probably because I am.
I'm definitely hoping we'll see a map of some sort eventually.Gordon
The setting I do use is based on the maps and some of the Known World/Mystara world, so if you're familiar with that, then you've got a jump on the others. Although, I have moved stuff and changed stuff around.fanchergw wrote:So Keln is based on Alphatia? Is your world then based on the old D&D Known World / Mystara setting? Is Cynalon also based on one of the lands in that setting? I've noticed that many of the gods seem to come from the old GreyHawk setting. Are Cynalon or Keln tied to that setting at all?2* Modern Languages – Alphatian – (The native tongue of a great magical empire. Also known as Kelnish.)
If it sounds like I'm asking for setting information, it's probably because I am.
Gordon
Alphatia is a completely separate land from Keln. Keln was an Alphatian Mage who was pretty much completely amoral who left to carve out his own little place in the wilderness. He forged his own Kingdom (which through his own vanity called it an Imperium althought technically it wasn't) on a different continent on Arret, the name of the planet itself. Right next door was the Kingdom of Cynalon. Cynalon itself would have to be considered a 3rd world power on this world, so Keln and his flunkies had an easy enough time creating his own land. Once he was established, instead of the language being called Alphatian, he called it Kelnish. Most in Cynalon didn't know any better, so they also think it's Kelnish instead of Alphatian.
The lands that make up the now fallen Keln Imperium would correspond on the Known World map to the Emirates of Ylaruam, which is primarily forest in this world and not a desert. It also extends further south all the way to the coast taking up part of what was the Empire of Thyatis. Thyatis does exist, it's just an a different continent on the other side of the Isle of Dawn and probably won't figure in much as far as Cynalon goes. Thyatis does figure in very heavily in what Jylsera is doing, as does Alphatia itself. That could potentially be another future game featuring much higher level characters.
Cynalon itself would cover the teritories now covered by the Grand Duchy of Karameikos, the Five Shires, and the Republic of Darokin. Alfheim is now the Dorwyn Elfholds and so on. Kingsport in Cynalon can be found where Specularum is in Karamiekos. Crossroads would be Selenica. While Cynalon does occupy existing lands, the Kingdom itself is a combination of the material of those lands and original ideas.
The Gods I use are a combination of ones lifted from Greyhawk, others from the Forgotten Realms, and a few original ones. Apart from that, this game uses very little, apart from the occassional monster or module, from those settings. Mordenkainen and Elminster do exist on Arret.
The thought process goes something like this. There is only one diety of magic, but how they are percieved and worshiped varies from world to world and sometimes varies on the same world. On Arret, the Goddess of Magic is Mystra, who is also the same Goddess in the Forgotten Realms. Also on Arret, Mystra was worshiped as Isis by the ancient Nithians. Boccob was the God of Magic on Greyhawk. In this game, Boccob & Isis would be avatars of Mystra. (Along with Midnight and a few others.)
Actually, I finished up the map yesterday and sent it out to Muskateer for editing and comments. I need to put a explanation file together for it before I can post. It'll be on a regular webpage and I will post a link to it here in the forum.
I also need to go over what Gods there are and how they directly relate to those who follow them. Lots and lots to do...
Try it and find out!
Mad,
Thanks for all the information. I have electronic copies of maps of Mystara, and was able to follow your explanation easily. I look forward to seeing the map you have created. Can you tell me where the Barony ruled by Validar's father is? My character would probably be from the largest city in that area.
I tend to use the same philosophy regarding fantasy world gods: 1 god of each dominion with many avatars. Nice to know we think alike... or should I be scared? 
Gordon
Thanks for all the information. I have electronic copies of maps of Mystara, and was able to follow your explanation easily. I look forward to seeing the map you have created. Can you tell me where the Barony ruled by Validar's father is? My character would probably be from the largest city in that area.
I tend to use the same philosophy regarding fantasy world gods: 1 god of each dominion with many avatars. Nice to know we think alike... or should I be scared?
Gordon
While I don't have the text that goes with it ready yet, here is a LINK to the game world map itself.fanchergw wrote:Mad,
Thanks for all the information. I have electronic copies of maps of Mystara, and was able to follow your explanation easily. I look forward to seeing the map you have created. Can you tell me where the Barony ruled by Validar's father is? My character would probably be from the largest city in that area.
I tend to use the same philosophy regarding fantasy world gods: 1 god of each dominion with many avatars. Nice to know we think alike... or should I be scared?
Gordon
The Barony of Pyris would corespond to the city of Dolos, which is due east of Darokin City and under the southwest portion of Alfhiem. It's also indicated on the map in the above link. I mentioned it in the private mail, but Elcadan would be the biggest city in this immediate area.
I've absorbed so many different ideas about different aspects from so many different people, that it's hard to say just where my ideas on the gods come from. But it's a simple approach, which is probably why I chose it. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Try it and find out!
-
Muskateer
- Swashbuckler
- Posts: 138
- Joined: Sun Sep 29, 2002 12:29 pm
- Location: Las Vegas, NV
- Contact:
The map looks fine for the overall idea of what's where. I notice that you took off (most of) the encounter area indicators.
As mentioned, I would like to see a more detailed map of Cynalon that lists the various baronies, counties, duchies, etc., especially since this information may be vital in the upcoming crises.
All in due time I am sure...
As mentioned, I would like to see a more detailed map of Cynalon that lists the various baronies, counties, duchies, etc., especially since this information may be vital in the upcoming crises.
All in due time I am sure...
The Daring, Swash-Buckling Avenger!
The encounter area indicators that Musky is speaking of are the single letters of the alphabet that appear haphazardly about the map. I removed the ones that no one in the game would know about, and left a few others. The file that goes along with this particular map will cover what is at those particular letters. A quick hint is that W is the location of Whispering Hollow and S is the location of the ruined city where the Seekers fought the green dragon. R is the location of Karn's Keep where the Company of the Sword is currently at in the Sword of Doom posts.
Try it and find out!
Also, anyone who is interested in playing should contact me by E-mail, if you haven't already done so. I have the starting character generation information ready to go. Just need to know who to send it to!
I'll just need some general information to get the ball rolling. Such as race and class of the character you're looking to play.
I'll just need some general information to get the ball rolling. Such as race and class of the character you're looking to play.
Try it and find out!
And so it begins...!
And so it begins!
Well, this game has been over 12 years in the making (so to speak), as that is how long Validar has remained in limbo. Welcome to all of my future friends and companions! May we meet with much adventure, honor and glory!
And thanks to MAD for getting this going so quickly. I am sure everyone will enjoy themselves, but I am not sure we will be thanking him when he gets us into serious trouble soon enough!
Well, this game has been over 12 years in the making (so to speak), as that is how long Validar has remained in limbo. Welcome to all of my future friends and companions! May we meet with much adventure, honor and glory!
And thanks to MAD for getting this going so quickly. I am sure everyone will enjoy themselves, but I am not sure we will be thanking him when he gets us into serious trouble soon enough!
Conquer or Die!