How do I make a character sheet?
Go to
http://www.thetangledweb.net/profiler/ and sign up for an account. They don't send you spam or anything, but they do send your password, so use a real email account when signing up. Then use that site to create a character sheet. Do NOT use the 3E Profiler Standard template. Use the d20 3.5 dnd Template. It has a lot of nice features, including Action Points. Here is a sample character sheet that you might want to look at:
http://www.thetangledweb.net/profiler/view.php?id=593
Take note of the organization used in Feats/Special Abilities, Currency, and other areas. This might help you organize your sheet better. Once your character sheet is made, you may want to include a link to your character in your signature for easy reference. It helps me and you to get to your sheet and information quickly. See Lowthor's signature for an example of this.
Finally, please remember to make your character sheet public, so I can see it.
Where can I find information about the rules for D&D?
The best site I've found for D&D rules is at
http://www.d20srd.org and it has all the information you need for a standard D&D campaign. However, it does not have Eberron specific information.
I know normal D&D, I don't know what to do with all this Eberron stuff.
You don't need to know much about Eberron. You can stick with standard races and classes, and you will do just fine. However, if you want to do something that is Eberron specific, or if you just want to learn about the setting, contact me privately and I'll give you the necessary information. You can also check out the Wikipedia entry for Eberron for a nice overview of the world.
How will dice rolls be handled?
All rolls will be done through Invisiblecastle.com. You must include your characters name when making a roll, or it does not count. And I must know what name your character will have before you make any rolls, or they do not count. As I said, I am a stickler for rules, and I don't like cheaters. This makes sure that no one is even tempted to cheat.
How do I generate Stats?
I prefer Point buy. Everyone gets 29 points to buy stats with. Use Invisible Castle again when doing your point buy. I recommend you play around with their form for using pointbuy without using your chars name first, to make sure it looks how you want it before entering your chars name in.
How much money to I start with?
You have 3 options to choose from:
1. You can take the Starting Package associated with your class.
2. You can take the average starting gold for your class and buy carte blanche.
3. You can roll the starting gold for your class, but you must take the results, even if you get lower than average. There are no rerolls.
If you don't know the starting gold or package for your class, just ask here, and I'll be happy to help you out.
Do you have any special 'house' rules?
Not really, but here are a few special things that you may want to keep in mind:
Smoke 'em if you got em: Use your Action Points. I sometimes throw stronger than normal monsters at you specifically because I know you have these wonderful things, and I expect you to use them. But be careful not to waste them. If you get a goblin horde, and use all your Action points before you come up against the Big Bad Evil Guy (BBEG) you are probably going to die. You start with 5 Action Points, and you lose them when you advance to the next level. This isn't Cingular. You don't get Roll-Over minutes.
Knowledge Is Power: I've found that many DMs don't really mess with knowledge skills. I do. I like to suggest every character at least have 1 rank in at least 1 knowledge, unless you have a negative intelligence score. You will find that I give extra bonuses for especially good rolls on knowledge checks. For example, while fighting a goblin horde, if you roll a 20 on your knowledge check of religion, you will realize that goblins revere Maglubyt, and that their diety shuns signs of weakness. You begin taunting your opponents, saying how weak they are, and they become slightly intimidated by you, each taking a -1 to their attack rolls. Thats just an example. Now, this isn't a real important change, and you can totally ignore it if you want. But if you feel that knowledge checks should have a bigger role, you now have the means to do so. You must be trained in the area of knowledge to try and get a bonus like this.
Be a Self-Starter: I tend to be a very reactive DM. I don't force your characters to do things. I only tell you what happens as a result of your actions. This sometimes leaves players feeling unsure of what they should do next. I don't expect that to be a big problem with people from Ayenee, but if you do feel that way, think about the things you've learned in the past. Think about your goals, and if you still can't come up with a plan of action, then ask me, and I'll see what I can do about giving you a nudge. Otherwise, I won't give you direction, because I expect you to figure out what you are meant to do on your own. This probably won't be a big issue as we start out, because I've got a bit of prodding to do to get you going. But once things are in motion, you'll notice I will become less active in showing you what to do.
Running with the Big Dawgs: DON'T FUCK WITH DRAGONS. If you see a dragon, think long and hard about engaging it in combat. Most normal campaigns have dragons as medium- or high-powered creatures, but they can be defeated. In my campaigns, Dragons are not high-powered. They are stupidly-high-powered. Dragons are one step away from being demi-gods. They can still be beaten, but it is -not- easy. And they will fuck you up in the process. So, as a friend, I'm advising you, DO NOT FUCK WITH DRAGONS.
That guy is all hands: I expect you to be very cognizant about what is in your hands and what you do with them. I'm less worried about whether you put something in your left pocket, right pocket, backpack, or shoe, but your hands and what is in them is important. Left or Right isn't really important, but always keep track of when they are empty, and when they are full, and if they are full, keep track of what is being held, and what you do with it when it leaves your hands. The reason being is this... Say you fight a kobold with your greatsword. Then you throw a grappling hook up a wall, and climb up it where you fight another kobold with your greatsword. You can't climb a rope while holding a greatsword, so how did you climb the wall while still holding it? Obviously, you couldn't have. But you didn't say you sheathed it, so you must have dropped it down at the bottom of the wall before you started climbing. Now, you are at the top of the wall without a greatsword, and the kobold is going to kill you. How embarassing. So please, keep track of whats in your hands and what happens when something leaves your hands.
How do I play over a message board?
Watch how me and Lowthor post. He's done this with me once before and you can pick up a lot from him. Please post the name of your character at the top of every post. Include HP and AC when in combat. This helps me keep track of you. Seperate your IC comments and actions from the OOC information such as rolls. You'll see some examples of this when I make an IC thread, and it will all fall into place.
Does everyone know eachother already, or do we have to form up as a party?
Some of you will know eachother. Some of you won't. I will start with a single person and bring in other people to form the party fairly quickly.
Are we still playing in Ayenee? Whats different about it?
No. This is not Ayenee. This is not Freeform. This is D&D: Eberron style. I am the Dungeon Master (DM). I control everything. I can even control your character, without your permission. However, unless its something vital to the plot... such as a wizard has taken over your body via mind-control, I will not control your character. Unless stated otherwise, you are in control of your character. You decide what he does, how he reacts, what he thinks about events, and everything else about him. I control everything else in the world. I control the NPCs, the animals, the weather, the Dieties, the bad-ass Dragons, the fleas living in your hair, The Sun, The Moon and everything that is not your character. The following are things that we may share control on. If you have a familiar, an animal companion, a pet, or beast of burden which you have gained control over, or an NPC that you have hired, you maintain some control over their actions, but I can take that control away at any time, or insert some new aspect into their personality. For example, if you command your familiar to attack something in combat, you can make the rolls and describe how it attacks, whether with a bite, or a claw, or whatever... and I won't interfere. And then, next round, you command your familliar to attack something else, but I intervene and say 'Your familiar does not seem to respond to your command.' or something like that.
I want to make a change to my character sheet. Is that ok?
Once you make your first post to the IC, your character sheet is locked in, and you cannot change it. Up until that point, you can make changes. The exception to this rule is your inventory. I expect you to maintain your inventory at all times. If you pick up a stick, it needs to be listed on your inventory. Otherwise, a week later, when you go to retrieve that stick from your backpack, it will have mysteriously vanished. Likely, some rogue stole it while you weren't paying attention.
How often do I have to post? (Updated 12/5/07)
I expect you to post a minimum of three times per week. Once on Mon/Tue, once on Wed/Thu, and once on Fri/Sat/Sun. Post every day if possible, but thats the minimum. Even if your character isn't doing anything, post something so the rest of us know you are keeping up with the story. Post about how he's thinking about his mommy's home-cooked stew for all I care. The exception to this rule is during Initiative/Combat scenes. You can skip days if you are waiting for the person before you in initiative to post. However, after they have posted, you are officially on the clock. You can post before the people in front of you if you desire, but then you risk their move doing something that affects your move and you need to fix it before I get to it and lock it in. If for some reason you won't be able to post for a temporary period of time (Vacation, grounded, moving, etc) let me know before you go missing. I'll impose a -50 XP penalty per level, for each deadline missed without notification.
How do I link the character sheet I made to the campaign?
Log in to TheTangledWeb.net. Click the edit button next to the character you are playing. Find the area for Campaign ID and enter in 182. Click Join Campaign. Thats it.
