Anyone up for some D&D with a twist?

Cafe Society
81

It’s like this:

As a spellcaster, one of your attributes is your primary, and determines the highest level spell you can cast and how hard they are for enemies to resist. Your score - 10 is the highest level spell you can cast, so for 9th level spells (the highest) you need a primary score of 19 (you can increase scores as you gain levels). Clerics use Wisdom as primary. Constitution gets you more hitpoints, Charisma lets you turn undead more effectively, Strength lets you hit harder with melee weapons and wear heavy armor without being overburdened. Dexterity and Intelligence are less important (attributes you don’t need as much are known as “dump stats”).

On the other hand, maybe you want to make a weird character who doesn’t play to type so much. I like that sort of thing - in another game, I’m playing a monk with low Wis and high Cha (the reverse of normal) so that he can do some funky sorcerer multiclassing. But that gets more complicated, so you may want to stick to basics for now.

82

Official DM-y stuff: MHaye just brought to my attention the fact that jsgoddess’s second point scheme is preferable for pencil & paper D&D, so until further notice we’re using it. ^^ Thanks for the FYI, and I encourage everyone to speak up if I miss anything… I don’t have my sourcebooks at hand at the moment, so I’m operating from memory.

83

Great, as the rankest of beginners, what the heck do I need to do to make this Rogue guy tick?

Thanks in advance.

84

I’m just learning, but it looks like you might want to consider making your rogue a halfling.

And that’s all I know so far. :slight_smile:

Here’s an article about halflings as rogues:

http://dndonline.gameamp.com/guide/viewGuide/1142.php

85

I did not know there was research involved. Cool. Can you tell me where all those numbers are coming from? Is that from what you were saying about start with eight because everything is higher than eight.

86

I’m afraid if I start trying to explain we’ll end up in a blind leading the blind situation. So, I’ll say go look for the Player’s Handbook version 3.5, or the Player’s Kit (which will include the handbook), or Dungeons and Dragons for Dummies. It’ll give you a basis to start think about the classes and races.

I’d point you toward online resources, but I’m still figuring out where they are.
ETA: I’ve found the handbook and dummies guide at the library and at big book stores.

87

Thanks for all of that. Looks like a Labor Day trip to me.

88

That really sounds like the best solution… the experienced players can help out as much as possible, but in the end the best solution will be to learn the system from the ground up. The basics don’t take long to figure out, and a lot of questions that will come up from reading can probably be answered within a few hours of playing.

89

Other D&D newcomers, how are you doing? I’m keeping my head above water, barely. At times, I need a snorkel.

90

I’m going to be a gnome, I think. Restricts me to shortbows, but seems good for an underground-hunting situation. I’ve never gnomed before, so I suppose there’s no better opportunity to get to gnome the material.
There’s no race like gnome.

91

Some gratuitous advice (since I’m in whatthehellamIdoingpostingat5:30? mode.)

Before you start working up your character, decide what sort of rogue you want to play. You can play an intrepid scout type, who spies on the enemy and/or bypasses dangers for the party, a charismatic type who can talk his way out of problems, or some other type.

When allocating the points, bear in mind that you are going to get +2 Dex and -2 Str, so emphasise the latter a bit or you’ll wind up unable to lift a lettuce leaf, let alone adventuring gear and loot.

Constitution is always good to have no matter what class you play. It may not be your prime ability but the extra hp a high Con gives you make you more durable. I’d recommend 12 minimum, 14+ if you envisage frontline combat (especially if a Barbarian).

Don’t just pile enough points into Dex to get 18. 18s are very expensive - 16 points for one (out of 28).

If you go for an intrepid scout, you’ll need Dex for sneaking, Int to work out where traps are and how to get past them, Con for robustness, a bit of Str to fight your way out of trouble, some Wis to help you spot traps.

A conman type will emphasise Charisma a lot and not worry about Strength.

jsgoddess the most important decision you need to make is what deity you worship. You’ll need to speak to your DM about his pantheon. Once you’ve decided that, prioritise relevant abilities. Clerics have a tendency have low Dex. but you don’t have to do that particularly if you worship a god of trickery or similar.

I hope this gratuitous advice saves a PC somewhere along the line. Especially, don’t shortchange Constitution. I converted a 2e Elven Cleric/Wizard, and the 8 Con proved a real handicap.

92

I have found a deity and our GM has been kind enough to allow him, so my domains will be healing and magic. I didn’t know how hard I would find choosing a deity. As I told OnK, I wasn’t feeling any of the core deities, so I’ve brought in an old Egyptian dude–Thoth. I can change his name if anyone finds that too odd having an actual Egyptian god spoken of. I can call him Fred!

I’ve got a name, a deity, domains, an alignment, and the beginnings of a backstory. I think most of my dithering is over, so I should be able to finish her soon.
RT, you should be shot! Fortunately for you, I don’t do ranged weapons.

93

That’s all cool then. :slight_smile:

Cleric customisation is all in the domains and attitude. My last one was a cleric of Ilmater (in the Forgotten Realms). Ilmater is the Suffering God. His priests take suffering on themselves. I was a bit more martial. If someone was inflicting the suffering, I would alleviate the suffering by beating the stuffing out of the persecutor. (If at all possible).

Sounds like you have a solid plan for the character. Have fun. I’ll watch with interest.

94

“They don’t like being called Fairies anymore.”

95

I haven’t played D&D in a long time, but this caught my eye and I had to comment:

Why am I getting flashbacks of Paranoia? :smiley:

96

Oh darn it, I really tried to avoid giving it a Paranoia feel. :smiley:

Really, and because we won’t spend much time in the Guild early on, lemme clarify: the Guild is a hugeass institution that makes oodles of money. The feeling I wanted to give was of a huge bureaucracy suffering from administrative fatigue; stuff moves forward, and as long as it keeps moving nobody notices. It’s a somewhat different feel than than the intense scrutiny most PCs recieve in Paranoia, so I thought it worth mentioning. :slight_smile:

97

Well I am paranoid, but it just might be these mushrooms my Druidic Elders passed on before I hit the city.

[shades of Peyote from the Adventurers stories - though that is NOT my character creation model for this run]

http://www.peldor.com/chapters/index_recent.html

Now - are we supposed to post character summary & backstory, or what?

98

Yea, that would be a good idea: all players please post your character’s summary and any backstory you’ve composed, when you get time. ^^ I’m still finalizing the first dungeon, so we might as well use the intervening time to get the parties organized.

99

Given that I’m new and not terribly familiar with some things in D&D, please feel free to make corrections or flat out tell me to start over.

"Dirx hails from a remote, mountaintop dojo run by a venerable old monk that insisted on calling himself Spazbury McSlims. It turns out that such isolation will either strengthen your attunement with the strings of the cosmos, or make you batshit insane. Like his sensei, Dirx teeters toward the latter category now and then, though he’s not quite as far off the deep end. As a result, the attitude in the dojo was fairly laid back, with a “make it up as you go along” approach. It made things easier when you invented your own traditions and carefully ignored any problematic rules.

Not long after completing his initiation rituals, however, Dirx’s explorative nature lead him deep into the caverns of the mountain. Just as he discovered a cache of what looked to be priceless artifacts, he was caught in an unexpected cave-in. He awoke in a medical facility some time later, and learned there was a party of reclaimers–working for something called The Guild–adventuring in the same cavern at the time. Dirx had been mistaken for one of them, and consequently rescued. He was also served a hefty bill for said rescue and ensuing medical attention. Unable to pay it off, he was ‘voluntarily’ enlisted in the Guild until such time as his debts were paid in full."

(I’m iffy on using terms like ‘dojo’ and ‘sensei’. They sorta seem appropriate for monks from what little I’ve seen in fantasy media, but I wasn’t too sure.) Any other feedback is appreciated, if you think I’m missing anything (or everything, hah).
Dirx

PS: is it too unoriginal to name my character after my most-used handle? I can change it if you think that’d be best.

100

The name sounds fine! As for the terminology, it’s really up to you. I wanted to encourage a kind of ragtag, thrown-together feel to the party so that everyone could feel comfortable taking the concept they wanted and running with it. That having been said, you can pretty much justify any kind of monk backstory you’d like.