topic transfer from General Forum section

Robyo wrote:
Gritty Fantasy concept is a homebrew. Would be using stuff from Dark Sun, but also stuff from ancient periods like Classical Greece. Some Africana stuff too... Basically, the vibe is Stone Age/Early Bronze Age.

The defilement of arcane magic has (nearly) stopped the planet from shifting in it's wobble, so one side of the world bakes while the other half freezes.

One concept that I want to use from 4e was power sources for classes. There are many, but the main ones are: primal, arcane, divine, martial, and psionic (there's also shadow, fey, planar, etc.)

Since it's based in early times, I was thinking of allowing only Primal, with (some) Psionic, and (some) Martial classes... I will allow a few Arcane too. Dark Sun has rules for defilement. Also breakage rules for non-metal weapons and armor.

No Divine classes.

Basically, the Primordials shaped the world and are still in power. The gods (who arise from the Immortals), haven't yet overthrown their titan masters. The Primordials give little power or attention to their worshippers. They hardly notice.

Humans are NOT at the top of civilization. The demi-humans (and most everyone) is scraping by, in this post-apocalyptic world. The Snake Empires (Naga, Yuan-ti) and the Dragon Lands and are among the oldest civilizations.

Robyo wrote:Remember Paladins and Clerics are not allowed. No Divine-powered classes. Only a few Psionic, Marital, and Arcane too.
It's primal fantasy so any of the Primal classes is fine: Druid, Shaman, Barbarian, etc...

Monk is okay, if he comes from a city-state. For a tribal warrior type of monk, maybe the brawler class? PF's Nature Warden Prestige class?

Also would prefer a non-spell casting Ranger, but druid-only spells would be fine, I suppose.

Non-spell Bard (Skald) would be cool too.

So yeah, there's lots of classes in 3e (WOTC and 3PP) that we can steal from. To Balance it out, we might have to shore-up the feat progression and add a few more abilities.

I'll be posting more explicit details concerning the world, races, and classes soon. Maybe this weekend.

Robyo wrote:
It's a stone age/early bronze age homebrew version of Dark Sun.

Robyo wrote:J

Matt, I'm thinking starting at low level, like 1st. Maybe I could do 3rd... You guys are respected heroes of the tribe, but certainly not the most powerful characters on the mountain.

Okay, so I'm thinking of beginning the adventure with more of an "ice-age" feel. Think: mountains, snow, rock, glaciers, coniferous forest... In the lower lands it's plains. You ride south and reach the woods and the jungles. It's past all that, that Athas begins. Heck, you guys might not even have to enter the desert. But the subsystems of non-metal equipment and defilement will aid in the vibe of the campaign.

Anyways, your characters belong to a tribe. A group of survivors of the "defilement" apocalypse. Defiling has been going on for a long time (since the advent of Arcane magic), but it's only been a generation or so, since the world lost it's wobble. The tribe is mostly human, but other would races have joined with them.

Robyo wrote:

*Concerning my campaign:
Matt- If any arcane class ability acts as a spell (uses any components), then it would count as arcane defilement.
Josh- There IS writing in the world. Though much of the world is barbaric, there are city-states where some higher learning prospers. Monks, or any martial classes with "refined" techniques, would probably be from one of the city-states.

Robyo wrote:For the primal campaign, I think we'll go with Radiance. It's something everyone seems to agree upon (I hope) and is malleable enough to do want I want for the setting I have in mind.

A lot of stuff from Radiance Players Guide will need to be cut. No metal warforged. No aasimar. I've already touched on classes and gear... I can list more specifics later.

I also want to add things in... Monsters, powers, races, classes, gear, anything we wish. Using the point-based/tier power system, we can mod stuff fairly easily, and (I hope) stay balanced. The system is fairly malleable, so we can take things we like from various D&D editions.

Like, I've been drawing from the old school Immortals rules (boxed set). Primordials are a 4th edition concept. Much of the cosmology of 4th edition I enjoy, but have also kept some stuff closer to old school. There is both an Elemental Chaos (the center of which lies The Abyss), but at the edges, it smooths out into the individual elemental planes. There is the Astral Sea as well, where the outer planes can be reached. I prefer the astral sea representation more than previous versions. But we'll use the Etherial plane too (4e dropped it), but it's not terribly important. There's also the parallel planes of Shadowfell, Feywild, and The Dreaming.

But I'll be using 3rd edition stuff too. The version of Naga is Oriental Adventures/Rokugan, for instance.

So, if there are any races, classes, or feats in 3.5 that anyone wants to use, we can convert!


A few houserules (off the top of my head) :

*No Alignment restrictions on class!

*Classes can have extended ability lists. The new powers need to fit the concept of your character, but you may choose from from other class powers, just not another class's "core" abilities.

*New Races available: Naga, Genasi (djinn-blooded), Eladrin (Feywild elves)

*No metal weapons. We'll use analogs for armor (dinosaur plate = scale mail, for example). There's a lot of good stuff in the 4e Darksun book. Along with weapon breakage rules.

*There will be rules for arcane defilement/preserving.

*Sensible healing rules.
~Add Con mod to both Wounds and Vitality
~each PC gets one recovery (healing surge) per encounter. One recovery is equal to a healing potion.
~5-minute rest restores multiple recoveries.
~6-hour rest restores full Vitality. Wounds take several days to heal.

*Psionics are common. Characters with high Int or Wis can choose a basic psionic ability, in place of another class/race ability.

*I'll use the Rogue sneak attack damage from 4e. +2d6 at basic tier I think.

*I'm also considering using AC instead of DR. From my experience, DR seems kind of OP, unless you have specific rules for armor penetration.


Anything else?

Robyo wrote:
Levels...
I wanted to do a low-level, tribal scenerio to begin with. We can use the social-standing rules as a system of tribal honor.

I also had the notion of trying a time-shift plot device (not an original idea). For it to work properly, you guys would need 3 versions of your character. A version at levels 1, 10, at 20. Then we could try some different stuff and see how the various tiers play out.

Level 1: Begin as young adventurers in one of the mountain tribes. Your background doesn't need to be that you're from the area at all, just that you traveled there before we begin.

Level 10: You've been adventuring awhile. What would you like your character to have accomplished?

Level 20: You've been enlisted by the Immortals to fight in the revolt against the Titans. How will you proceed?


Extended abilities: I meant that if you saw an ability under another class that fit your character concept, you could use it. It just opens up the feats and spells more. Obviously in the rulebook, the author tried to be concise and fit everything on 2 pages. Well you guys can have more than that.

But if you see yourself needing a lot from another class, then maybe do a multi-class.

Robyo wrote:A couple more thoughts concerning primal campaign...

~For the higher-level versions of characters, it would be cool if everyone picked a townie profession. Townies are like mini-prestige classes that add 2 levels to your character and gain some cool abilities.

~Remember, no deities and no divine classes. So no cleric, invoker, paladin, or inquisitor. Same for divine-flavored townies. We will be using Fate points instead of Faith points, and they will be similar to action points.

~No late-era stuff. This includes Artificer, Gunslinger, or Medicant. Pathfinder is not really in the vibe, but I don't see anything mechanically wrong, so that it can't be allowed (except for weapon proficiencies would need to be swapped).

~Race not allowed: Aasimar. Warforged are permitted, but would have to be made from wood, fibrous roots, ceramic or something nonmetal. All the other races are native to the world, except for the Slith/Githyanki, who come from the Astral Sea.

~Still using themes, except for Believer, Commando, Heretic, and Scientist.

~Coinage is generally ceramic in the city-states. In the northern barbarian lands it's barter.

Robyo wrote:

Elementalism is primal magic. Same with Shamanism.
Witch and Warlock are Arcane. So any of these classes is fine...


Grippli or Tengu are both fine. Both races exist in the world, though Tengu are more removed, being from the oriental (far realm) continent. Grippli also exist. I was actually just reading up on their powers last night (as some inspiration for a house-drafted Yuan-ti race). They are pretty cool!

Robyo wrote:If I recall correctly, a Cultural Background costs an ability...

I would allow Decadent Imperial too, but only if your character was from one of the city-states or old empires.

Grippli aren't too civilized compared to the other races. They form tribes and live in swamps and jungles.


Beginning wealth as 3rd level. The table is in the book somewhere...

Chris found it

Chris wrote:and starting wealth in gp\ceramic coins?

Table 8-2: Starting Wealth
Above 1st Level
Level Wealth Level Wealth
1 —
2 500 gp
3 1,250 gp