Homelands: OOC Thread

Magus

The Fiendlord
This is ripped from SJ, but these apply with the noted changes.

---

Can I get the players for my D&D game to post here for OOC purposes?

If you know what race and class you want to play, go ahead and post here to let us know what you've decided.

Vital Information:

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.

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 38 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?
A few:

Sanity!

I am using a variant-variant Sanity system in this game. This is Ayenee, and it isn't always a dark, maddening place. In fact, the denizens of the dark walk common place in some areas. However, there is a deeper dark, a roveing madness that even Fiends know little of and shrink away from. What is it? Well, it's best not to know, but it might be encountered. It takes the form of personal horrors and greater things, unimaginable terrors from beyond the planes and shocks to the psyche and mental trauma.

The Variant.

You have a Sanity Score. This is your Wisdom x 5. Your maximum Sanity is 99 - your rank in the Knowledge (forbidden lore) skill. You don't have any points in that skill and you can't buy any, and it doesn't use any attribute.

Thuswise a character with a Wis of 15 has a Sanity of 75.

I will ask you to roll for Sanity if a particular situation is horrific in some way. You will roll a d100 and match it to your Current Sanity Score. If the roll is higher than your score, you fail, if it is lower, you succeed. Usually, a success will mean you lose none or fewer than normal points of sanity - a failure means you take the entire shock. Expect to Roleplay that out.

if you lose half of your Wisdom score in Sanity points in a single roll, you will go Temporarily Insane. I will decide randomly how long it lasts and the exact effects.

If you lose One-Fifth of your Current Sanity Points in an hour, you will go Indefinately Insane, which usually lasts for 1d6 game months and has longer-lasting effects, some of whih may never go away.

If your Sanity score hits 0, your mind begins to die. You will lose 1 sanity point a round until you hit -10 Sanity, in which case you go Permanently, blithering, huddled in a fetal position and slamming your head into a wall LOONY.

You have a Sanity Resistance on some things, and only some things. This represents the amount of sanity point loss you can ignore on a roll. It equals your Wisdom modifier. I'll let you know if you can use it in any instance.

Some things in Ayenee are just more commonplace than in our own world, and will not force a Sanity roll. For example, seeing a Vampire will not always incur a roll, but seeing your mother rise from cooking dinner and lunge at you, eyes bulging and fangs potruding, will.

Note: This is a horror game...sort of. You will know as things progress how it will turn, and your own actions will dictate the outcome and the directions it takes. So, essentially, your mind is in your own hands.

I'm not using Action Points in this game.

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.

Sanity Loss: If you encounter something that makes you roll a Sanity Check, have your character act accordingly. Even if they succeed and lose no points, the situation should have been horrible enough to promote at least a reaction of disgust or shock. If they fail a roll or go insane, again, act accordingly. Don't be afraid to have your characters fall to the floor shrieking - play it out! I do reward for good RPing.

How do I play over a message board?
Check out the Forgotten Forge IC thread! We do a decent job over there and it serves a good example of Message Board d20. 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 each other already, or do we have to form up as a party?

Maybe, maybe not. This story will start in the seaside village of Ivydale and all of the player characters call it home. Whether they are natives or travelled there and decided to stay, this is their home and everyone more or less knows them, and they know pretty much everybody else. It isn't a big town.

Are we still playing in Ayenee? Whats different about it?
Yes! This is Ayenee! However, it is not free-form Ayenee. This is using the d20 rule system and thus assume that everything in Ayenee, for terms of this game, also uses this Rule system. I am God here, essentially, but I won't cross certain lines. I may use locations or characters invented by other Ayenee Role Players to ad familiarity of setting, but I won't mess with them much without permission.

This is essentially a homebrew campaign, but it is Ayenee. Thuswise, anything is possible. This means in game terms that almost any Feat listed in any d20 book (we'll go with any Fantasy related book at any rate) is applicable for use. Just remember that I need a source I can view and prior notice before you go out on any big limbs.

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.
 
I think I will be creating a Shoal Halfling Druid, using the Aspect of Nature druid variant.

Shoal Halflings are from Stormwrack.
You can find the Druid Variant in the Classes Varient on the d20srd.org website.
 
Part 2: The Plot!

First off, let's get some ideas for character creation rolling. As I mentioned, almost any sort of character is welcome as long as it evens out to Level 1. I will allow some Level 2 equivilent races (Such as Tiefling, Assimar and Drow), but they begin with 0 character levels. As the game moves on and you players do certain things in game, side-quests or what not, and role play well, I may unlock the use of certain other beings for character building. So, if at that point you wish to roll up a new character (if your current one dies), or as a backup, those would be available.

Otherwise, please keep it basic. As it stands, I'm -recommending- the use of the normal races. In Ivydale, the people are not prejudice, but they do have a small-town mentality. The most common races found would be Human, Elven and Dwarven, the last being a bit rare than the first two and human being the most prevalent. Halflings and Gnomes are not so common, but not unheard of. Half-Elves are there as well, but rather rare and Half-Orcs are -very- rare, and treated with suspicion until they are known better. Since all of the characters have lived here for at least a year, Half-Orcs are probably accepted along with everyone else.

Classes:

Any of the Base Classes are applicable. If you have access to any non-Core D&D books, here are a few of the non-Core classes available.

Complete Adventurer:
Scout

Complete Warrior:
Swashbuckler

If there is another class you wish to use, please show it to me first and I'll see if it's possible.

Prestige Classes become open as they apply. For example, you cannot become a Purple Dragon Knight unless you know of the Purple Dragon Knights and are working into their organization.

Personal Abilities and Special Moves:

I may reward or give out Personal Abilities and Special Moves throughout the game. This may take the form of a bonus feat or something completely new, like an personal attack or a supernatural power. If they appear, they will be something familiar to your class and race.

----

The Setting:

The Village of Ivydale -

Ivydale is a quiet seaside town on the Eastern Coast of Ayenee. It rests inside the land boundaries of the Whispering Lands, which is essentially a collection of towns, villages and city-states. Most of the Whispering Lands are forests and plains snuggled firmly to the coast, which is rocky and chilly but good for fishing. The climate is temperate, with warm, windy summers and chold, snowy winters. The sea is gentle here, and big storms are rare.

Ivydale is nestled between the sea (Eastern Ocean) and a great forest (known to the locals as Endlesswood) beyond which they know little about. They are not ignorant, but they are rather sheltered. The forest itself is very big, running almost 60 miles west of the shore and ending at the base of a range of large hills and cliffs called the Giant's Knuckles. North the forest continues for about 80 miles, and it runs for another 120 miles south, though it shrinks away from the shore and lessens itself to about 20 miles wide a week or so march in that direction.

To the north are several nestled Seaside towns, each keeping mostly to themselves, including - Portsbay, Ravenswoon, Espery and further north, the city of Athananse.

Ivydale is pretty small, with a population of about 1500-2000, the variation being in the fishermen. It survives on trading with sea merchants, mostly in the Fish trade, but also with Woodcraft and Shellfish, especially Mussles.

The Mayor is a woman by the name of Jessica Lorder (human Aris 1/Exp 2), a pretty human woman, aged 46. She is a notable talker and a very friendly woman. Aside from being Mayor, she also runs Lorder's Ship Supplies as a day job, with her husband, the owner, Reymond Lorder (human Exp 2/Ftr 2), 50. Reymond is a member of the militia and an experienced shipmaster, sailor and navigator.

The local pub is called Roody's Place, a hangout for on-leave sailors, merchants and the locals. It has decent quality food and drink, and even a few foreign drinks Roody has managed to buy off some travelling merchants. Roody is a spirited and funny halfling with reddish-blonde curly hair (male halfling Rog 3). You can usually find a room there, for Roody also runs an Inn upstairs.

Joloria Starshadow (female Elf Rgr 1/Wiz 4) runs the general store and magic shop, a combination. You cna find most normal adventuring and travelling equipment there, and a few decent magical items, including potions of Cure Light Wounds, Cure Poison and Resist Elements, and a few scrolls of Mage Armor, Speak with Animals and Sleep. It is rumored that Joloria has a few magical items hidden in the back that she is willing to sell for a handsome price.

Toldar Quartzcutter (male dwarf Exp 5/ftr 1) owns the blacksmith in town, which sells both Weapons and Armor and most ship supplies. Helping the burly dwarf run things is Oran, a human boy (male human Com 1) who is quickly on his way to becomming an apprentice blacksmith. Oran is 14.

The Rangers of the Wood are a loosely knit band of human and elf Rangers (and a few Druids) that guard Endlesswood and the towns that border it. They know what lurks within the deeper parts of the forest and what stalks the far-off Giant's Knuckle hills, and their efforts of sentinalship have payed off. Goblins are rarely seen and Orcs and worse things even rarer. An elf Ranger named Salandar Leafgroom (male elf Rgr 7) frequently visits Ivydale for supplies he cannot otherwise find and for the occasional drink at Roody's. Salandar is quiet and keeps to himself, but is otherwise gentle and kind.

A druid named Badgerfeet is rumored to make her home somewhere southwest of Ivydale in a place of waterfalls and rocky revines called Sparrow's Down. Most people fear the place and won't go there, but the rumors persist that Badgerfeet will occassionaly help lost travelers and other innocents near her home.

Sometimes docked in port at Ivydale is one Captain Nelfonte (male human swashbuckler 9) and his ship, the Windcoral. He is well known in Ivydale, both as a decent sailor and as a flaming liar, ladies man and one who can drink his share and more. Nelfonte often brings tails of terror on the high seas and other places, and also brings in supplies from other parts of the world, including a small catche of magical items bought by Joloria and Toldar. His first mate is a quiet girl named Vista, and nobody knows much about her, save that Nelfonte is very protective and considers her like a daughter. Her features speak of a foreign descent, but exactly where her homeland is is hard to tell. Vista (female Tiefling Rog 2/Swash 1) is very beautiful, with tanned skin and braided black hair.

---

To start, get your character idea. Alignment is limited to CN, N, LN, CG, NG, and LG. After this, form a house or otherwise state where you character stays, with who, if anybody, and what he usually does. She will probably know most of the town on at least a last name basis. Feel free to make up your own NPC town folk to interact with in your character intro.

Try your best to roleplay in a cherished hometown feel, an innocence, as you start playing your character. Your character will feel the town is home and the people are his friends, if not family. He might have routines and a job, or dreams connected with the town. He might be a natigve, or he might have came in on a ship, running from some mysterious past. Regardless of origins, Ivydale is your characters home.

Any questions?

Oh, reminder - Your maximum Sanity score is 99 - whatever ranks you have in Knowledge (Forbidden Lore). Your starting Sanity is your Wisdom modifier x 5. A Sanity roll is a d100 roll against your Current Sanity score, the goal being to get below it.

Mark your Sanity in the Additional Notes section of your character sheet.

Post any questions or concerns. Or, IM me at Magus_the_dark_prince.
 
You must supply me with the race info. I don't have the Stormwrack book. I'll work on getting it though, but right now I'll need the racial features.
 
Basically, its an aquatic version of a halfling. Can breathe in air or water. has a swim speed of 30(i think) and doesn't get the throwing bonus or skill bonuses.
 
Alright, that's fine.

One restriction, you cannot have him be native of the seas around Ivydale. There are no Shoal Halfling settlements nearby, and the closest I can give you is at least a hundred miles south.
 
Can I play a NG Human Ranger?

My initial thinking is that he'd be newly apprenticed to the rangers of the wood.

Also I might want to use a variant Ranger, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Hatred of vampires could very well be a big character point.
 
Sure! Sounds good to me, dude. Just nail me your character sheet when you're ready.

I could have you apprentice with Salandar or something equally fun.
 
Nice. Lowthor, you'll have to apply Public Permission to Will before I can see him. SJ, that looks good so far.
 
I'm not entirely sure what I'd like to play yet. I'm thinking paladin or rogue. No idea as per the race. I'll figure it out tonight probably.
 
Back
Top Bottom