Narrative
[ Spoiler ]
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Alright, so, the narrative aside, I've got a long running group (4 years now) that's getting ready to start a new campaign in the next couple of weeks. We've lost some members due to attrition (got married and moved away, graduated and went off to get new jobs, job offers on the other side of the continent, etc.) so we're looking to add 1-2 more members to our group. There are currently 4 + 1 GM, so this would make 6 + 1. We've decided that's a large enough number to give us some variety but still small enough to be manageable.
Group Info
We play on Monday nights at 6:30 until 10:30. This upcoming campaign will be D&D 3.5. We have basically every rule and setting book that Wizards publishes, and most
of the members are very comfortable with the rules. We don't require you to be a "hardcore" gamer or a rules lawyer, but enough familiarity with the system to not slow things down is a big plus. Ages of players range from 18 – 40, but we have no real bias' either way. However, we do require a certain amount of sociability. Everybody's here to have fun, so if something you're doing, including roleplaying "in
character", is stepping on everyone else's fun, we'll be talking about it. While the current campaign is D&D, in the past we have run SR4, Hero's, Star Wars d20, Eberron, d20 Modern, and Rifts. No idea at this point what the campaign after this one will be. Ah yes, and 3 of our players are queer, so if you've got a problem with gay, this is definitely not the group for you. I don't think any of us are necessarily pushy about it, but "Gay" is not an acceptable negative exclamation.
Rules Info
As mentioned, this campaign will be D&D 3.5.
We play with the optional gestalt rules in the Unearthed Arcana. We feel this provides a lot of flexibility where character concepts are concerned, and the GM's for this group are comfortable enough for the setting to adjust without things getting out of hand. We also use the Flaws and Traits from the Unearthed Arcana, and usually Craft Points as well. If you're unfamiliar with these rules (most players are) we'll be happy to teach and explain.
We play with several house rules:
1.) Advanced Feat Progression – Because Feats are so damn cool, and there are now literally hundreds of them out there, we have a slightly more aggressive Feat progression then the base book. Basically, you get 1 feat at 1st, and then an additional Feat at 2nd, 4th, and all other even levels. This provides you with 4 extra feats over the life of your character.
2.) Item Creation – Two sub- rules here:
a. The benefit on restrictions on crafted items, such as restricting by race, level, skills needed, etc. can not exceed 50% of the market price of the item. You can add extras beyond this to accompany a theme, but they do not reduce the market price further.
b. No effect based on a spell that has a duration of 1 round or shorter can be crafted into an item as "Always On". It must be use activated. However, to compensate for this, any effect based on a spell that has a casting time of Swift or Immediate can be crafted into a Use-activated item that can be activated as a Swift or Immediate action at no additional cost.
3.) No custom prestige class created can have an entry level lower then 4th.
Campaign Setting
Current campaign is a setting I call Void. It's set basically 1000 years after an invasion of Faerun by an inter-dimensional army called the Black Spiral. The leader of the Black Spiral, the Lich King, was vanquished during the invasion, but after most of the major population centers had been devastated during an event called the Fall. Contact and passage from the Prime Material to the Outer Planes is blocked,
although things can be summoned in from any Plane, they just never leave if they're home plane is Outer. This means contact with the gods has been cut off. Religious devotion now goes to the Elements, in the Inner Planes, with various flavors of worship depending on the individuals interpretation of that element. For instance, some Fire clerics revel in destruction, while others see fire as a cleansing element to the natural process. Some Water clerics follow a healers path, while others believe the fluid and ever changing nature of Water lends itself more to trickery and deceit.
The world has gradually been rebuilding, and this campaign will be focused on the newly revived city of Silverymoon, in the North. It is currently the only Pre-Fall city that is populated, to the best of everyone's knowledge. The Corenal (think Empress) has put out a call for armsmen, adventurers, woodsmen, etc. The player group will be responding to that call, in whatever way is appropriate for the character's class.
Other notes of interest in the campaign:
1. One side effect of the epic level magics used in the initial assault includes a low level necromantic field that permeates the entire world. Necromancy spells are at a +1 caster level. The most interesting effect of this field is that people who die occasionally revive as free willed undead of various types. The type seems to be linked to level of experience before death, so there are a lot of skeleton and zombie farmers wondering around ;D
2. There are slight steam-punk elements to the game, including magic engine powered technology in the hands of a few of the city states. 3. I've run several games, both in Faerun and in this setting, so there are a lot of NPC's and old storylines floating around.
4. And yes, you will see things you recognize. Like the Lich King (which, incidentally, I came up with before I ever knew about him in WC). I watch the same movies you guys do, I read the same books. Occasionally I intentionally incorporate borrowed things, sometimes un-intentionally.
If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, please either PM me here, email me directly at quantumthoughts (little-round-thingy) gmail (smaller-round-thingy) com, or give me a call at six-one-nine-two-five-one-zero-one-two-zero.