Introduction:
Good morning P&PI-folk. Here, I am trying an experimental thing. I'm trying to run D&D in a more realistic manner, or at least try to. Of course, I haven't done this before, so I decided to start with a single-player campaign, or a few of them if interest is high.
So, here's the deal: We'll be running in E6 world. This means that 90% of people will be level 1, and a level 6 character is a legendary hero. This also means that a lot of things that exist in normal D&D don't exist here - amongst them most powerful magic items. Even the mightiest of craftsmen can only craft +2 weapons or armour, with an occassional really legendary artificer crafting a +3 item as his masterpiece. Like, once in a thousand years. And he probably was under divine visions while he did it.
To calibrate your expectations, read the following article: D&D: Calibrating your Expectations. In short, Aragorn was level 5, or then just a level 4 guy who got lucky a few times. And he was probably one of the best warriors in middle-earth. Hell, Sauron probably wasn't even level 10, either, and everyone feared him. Gandalf was probably like, level 4 adept.
This, of course, means that things that are of no worry to the superheroes we usually play, will be a threat to your character. Combat will be a deadly risk, and just falling down from a moderate height might kill you. If you venture alone to a blizzard, chances are you'll freeze to death. If you try to pick a fight with ten men, you might get beaten. If you try to drink down the whole bar, you'll pass out and get mugged. You are a mortal character. That is kind of the point of this experiment.
I do not know how this will go, this is an experiment, but I believe that this could be fun. That's why I'm trying, after all. I chose single-player campaign, as those are going to move faster and allow for more flexibility. Note that this game will be RP-heavy. Try to make your character human. He might not need much backstory to begin with, since he hasn't had much experience yet, but as he advances, make sure that his story will be worth telling.
Character Creation Rules: Starting Level: 1 Starting Wealth: As per your class. Stat Generation: Elite Array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8). You can increase a stat by +1 by getting -2 on another stat. No going beyond 18, though. Or below 3. Hit Points: Maximum at 1st level, average afterwards, rounded down in the end. (I.E: Rogue level 1 has 6 hp, level 2 has 9, but level 3 has 13. This is because average of a d6 is 3.5, and not 3.) Allowed Races: Nothing with LA, obviously, and preferably something fairly normal. With this I mean nothing like dragonborn mongrelfolk. Elf, human, half-orc, dwarf that kind of thing. Backstory: Just tell me what kind of character you'll want to play, and I'll give you some specifics like, where you might live, and if you have ever seen an elf before, and tell you something about your society. You can work a short backstory to that, then. Note: Understand that by being a character class with elite array, you are already immensely more powerful than most people in this world. This might seem awfully weak, but it really isn't.
I'll take on three players, maximum. Dalkon has expressed interest, so that's up to two more. Please post in this thread if you are interested, but realize that I don't promise anything regarding this system. I'll try my best, but you might still die to an orc throwing javelin in your first combat. That kind of things happen. It's good to realize it ahead of time.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The Sage is occupied with the unspoken
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing,
creating without regard to result,
claiming nothing,
the Sage has nothing to lose.
I will start work on my character sometime tomorrow most likely. Right now I am trying to get to level 25 on my Dancer job on "Final Fantasy XI" so it could be a little while before I am able to tear myself away from that game.
EDIT: Rolling for starting gold (assuming I have to roll)
Dice Roller5 D4s rolled
3
3
2
2
4
EDIT2: INTRODUCING Tai Hayashi, just need my background guides and to know if your allowing the flaws & traits system?
Being a monk, you have almost certainly lived within a monastery for your whole life. Either you were left there by your parents who couldn't care for you, or were dead, or then you sought refuge on your own. Either way, the monastery welcomed you and you have lived in it ever since. Living in a monastery is a simple, disciplined, life. You wake up early, help other monks in the area to do their jobs, practice martial arts and attend religious masses, because that's what monks do. It's not an easy life, physically speaking, and that explains a lot of your physical prowess. (At this time, it might be worth noting that most "monks" in the monastery are not "monks" by class.)
The life in monastery has, in a way, prepared you to live outside as well if you so choose. You've done jobs around, so you aren't useless, but you aren't as good as a craftsman's son, either. (I'll just give you a rank to profession in 3 different professions to reflect this.) You have also learned to fight. Still, your life has been very cloistered and you don't know much about what is going outside. Your knowledge of elves is that they are tall folk often regarded as elitistic ☺☺☺☺☺☺☺s, and that one sought refuge within the monastery last year, but you didn't get to meet that one. Orcs are apparently green-skinned humans and harmless savages. Dwarves are honorable, or at least they have been thought so in the monastery ever since they helped to defend a nearby village against bugbear raids. They also camped near the monastery, so you have had a pleasure to meet a few of them. They sure swear and drink a lot. Halflings are smaller men.
Your knowledge of the arcane is fairly limited. You've heard that there is a "weave" from which all magic stims from, and arcane magic is exploitation of this weave. Divine magic comes from the deities to the priests as a gift. Regarding the divine, living in a monastery you have had to attend masses, etc, and while you might not be overtly religious, you probably acknowledge multiple gods and might even pray to them when in need. Most denizens in the monastery seemed to worship St. Cuthbert, but other deities did get their share. A lot of people prayed to Kord, god of strength, before competitions. A lot of other deities have shrines or prayer rooms allocated for their followers, included, but not limited to, Heironeous, Pelor, and even a small shrine devoted to Moradin ever since the dwarves' deeds. It has been unused, though.
Apart from the duties and practice, there happens a lot inside the monastery walls. Annual festivals are held during holy days, and the partying can get quite wild, with the monastery having its' own wineyard and whatnot. Still, it quickly returns to normal afterwards.
----------
Flaws and traits are fine, but don't add them unless you feel they add something more to the character than a free feat.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The Sage is occupied with the unspoken
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing,
creating without regard to result,
claiming nothing,
the Sage has nothing to lose.
Indeed it is. The rules to E6 are somewhere in the original post. The rules won't come into play until you're 6, anyhow, though.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The Sage is occupied with the unspoken
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing,
creating without regard to result,
claiming nothing,
the Sage has nothing to lose.
You don't have to roll them, as long as you stay within the limits. It does not really matter any for the in-game perspective.
Further, it is probable that as a muscular man, your character weighs more than the average. Just put numbers on it that feel accurate, really.
----------
I'll get to you with some background information soon-ish, Deus. It might be worth thinking if your character is half-elf or half-wood-elf, though. It is also going to be worth noting that normal elves here don't really live in woods, but I'll get on to that later. This has no effect on your in-game statistics, but is going to make a lot of difference regarding other things.
EDIT: I am just going to assume wood elf for your mother. The ones you were living with are certainly wood elves, though. (This does matter here, Gray elves are noble seafaring folk, tending to LN. Wood Elves are more chaotically-inclined, as are wild elves. Wood elves are more organized, and wild elves are mostly barbarians.)
----------
It seemed to you as a child that humans in general were fairly rational, relying more on thinking process, rather than feelings or instincts. It felt that they were often distant from you, and that there often wasn't enough people around. Often your brothers and sisters took time alone to plan something ahead. You also never really connected to your father the way you expected you would. The relationship felt somewhat lacking.
Either way, what you never found in your original home, you found within the tribe of elves. What you missed and more. Where humans took the time alone, elves spend it with each other. They do not seem to have the need to plan far ahead at all, or if they do, they can accomplish that while socializing with their friends and family. All that remains missing for you is the relationship to your parents, which even the elves are unable to give you. Still, they can give you the feeling that you belong, and that's what matters.
The tribe lives within the eastern end of the woods, which according to your knowledge contains a huge area to the west. It is possible to walk within the borders of the forest for a week and not reach the other end. Going to the center of the forest is not adviced, as the area is both sacred and cursed - Haunted by forest spirits, it is the purest embodiment of the forest. Only rarely does anyone venture there, and almost always it is to seek guidance or to complete a rite of passage. Often both.
The life in the tribe is fairly simple. You sleep on wooden platforms in the trees, which act as a defense in case anyone would want to attack you, although nothing of sort has happened for any of your time. These platforms can be pretty far apart from each other, but most reside within half an hour's travel from each other, and from the tribe's gathering place: Roots of life. That is where the tribe often gathers to trade, to spend the evenings or to celebrate weddings or other events. The place itself is fairly interesting: It is under the roots of a huge tree, the area is large enough to hold fifty elves in it, although your tribe only consists of about thirty. The area is tall, and in the middle of it there is often a fire tended by the archdruid of the tribe. His platform is on this tree. Dead are buried near the tree's roots, to let them join the living in celebrations in death, and to nurture the tribe's symbol of strength, the tree itself.
All celebrations revolve around a special happening, and do not occur annually or during specified periods. Long times can pass without a large one, or there could be many in consequent days. Often these celebrations contain large amounts of wine made from the berries of the forest and a lot of food. Apart from celebrations are the spiritual gatherings, where the tribe gets together to appreciate the gifts of nature upon them or to commit a form of prescience, induced by a special brew the druids brew, and which shows them the visions the great wilds want to show them. These visions can largely influence the tribe's decisions. They can be very cryptic, however, and interpreting them can be near impossible.
The lifestyle is mostly foraging and hunting. Wildlife is hunted for food as it's necessary, but it's never done casually and always all parts of the prey is used for advantage, and the tribe makes sure to never hunt too much of one species during a given year. Likewise, when berries or nuts are gathered, some of them are always left behind, to grow into new plants for the coming years. This way the tribe sustains its' living.
Ever after you left your father and joined the tribe, your contacts with other races have been nonexistant. The tribe does not really interact much with the outside world, only occassionally is there a messenger from another tribe, and sometimes a human child gets lost in the woods and is guided back to home without him ever actually seeing the elves. Fey, other natural inhabitants of the forest, sometimes reveal themselves to the elves, but almost always when the elf is alone. Sometimes you can be sure you caught a glimpse of one in the corner of your eye.
The Sage is occupied with the unspoken
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing,
creating without regard to result,
claiming nothing,
the Sage has nothing to lose.
Idries has spent most of his life living away from his real family, with a master who has been teaching him how to refine his mind and focus the power within. He has told Idries that she was brought there because her original family had no idea how to treat her, since gift of psionics, as he calls it, is rare amongst elves.
Not that there is any reason to complain, her master, Georg, is a nice man by all respects. Still, it gets somewhat lonely out, considering that it's about a half-a-day's distance on foot to the closest settlement. Georg is keeping a lighthouse on a peninsula near dangerous rocks, signaling ships to stay away from dangers.
A very patient man, and fairly devoted to his work, sometimes Georg doesn't seem to eat or drink at all. He doesn't seem to have many friends, and most people regard him as weird. Further, he doesn't seem to age at all, whereas a lot of humans in the nearby village have died of age during the period you've spent here. That's probably the main cause of doubts with the townsfolk. The few times you've asked him, he replied that he isn't a human, but never elaborated on it.
Most of Idries' outside contact comes from visiting the nearby town, Stonewillow, where she usually goes to buy foodstuffs bi-weekly, except from rare occassions. While the townsfolk seem wary of her, the same way they are wary of her master, they still act friendly enough. Doesn't seem like anyone else is interested keeping a lighthouse so far away from anyone else.
Either way, all this solitude has given Idries the chance to hone her skills with his blade, with his master's instructions. Georg has been a very good teacher, although he says that this isn't exactly his specialty. Heck, the man can't form a blade of his own, although he does seem quite capable of other actions. Either way, he keeps an extensive library, from where he found instructions to teach Idries how to channel his energy to form a blade and fight with it. There are other fields of study in the area of psionics, but Georg maintains that Idries wouldn't have enough patience for most of them, and that this is the most fitting way for her.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The Sage is occupied with the unspoken
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing,
creating without regard to result,
claiming nothing,
the Sage has nothing to lose.
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Good morning P&PI-folk. Here, I am trying an experimental thing. I'm trying to run D&D in a more realistic manner, or at least try to. Of course, I haven't done this before, so I decided to start with a single-player campaign, or a few of them if interest is high.
So, here's the deal: We'll be running in E6 world. This means that 90% of people will be level 1, and a level 6 character is a legendary hero. This also means that a lot of things that exist in normal D&D don't exist here - amongst them most powerful magic items. Even the mightiest of craftsmen can only craft +2 weapons or armour, with an occassional really legendary artificer crafting a +3 item as his masterpiece. Like, once in a thousand years. And he probably was under divine visions while he did it.
To calibrate your expectations, read the following article: D&D: Calibrating your Expectations. In short, Aragorn was level 5, or then just a level 4 guy who got lucky a few times. And he was probably one of the best warriors in middle-earth. Hell, Sauron probably wasn't even level 10, either, and everyone feared him. Gandalf was probably like, level 4 adept.
This, of course, means that things that are of no worry to the superheroes we usually play, will be a threat to your character. Combat will be a deadly risk, and just falling down from a moderate height might kill you. If you venture alone to a blizzard, chances are you'll freeze to death. If you try to pick a fight with ten men, you might get beaten. If you try to drink down the whole bar, you'll pass out and get mugged. You are a mortal character. That is kind of the point of this experiment.
I do not know how this will go, this is an experiment, but I believe that this could be fun. That's why I'm trying, after all. I chose single-player campaign, as those are going to move faster and allow for more flexibility. Note that this game will be RP-heavy. Try to make your character human. He might not need much backstory to begin with, since he hasn't had much experience yet, but as he advances, make sure that his story will be worth telling.
Character Creation Rules:
Starting Level: 1
Starting Wealth: As per your class.
Stat Generation: Elite Array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8). You can increase a stat by +1 by getting -2 on another stat. No going beyond 18, though. Or below 3.
Hit Points: Maximum at 1st level, average afterwards, rounded down in the end. (I.E: Rogue level 1 has 6 hp, level 2 has 9, but level 3 has 13. This is because average of a d6 is 3.5, and not 3.)
Allowed Races: Nothing with LA, obviously, and preferably something fairly normal. With this I mean nothing like dragonborn mongrelfolk. Elf, human, half-orc, dwarf that kind of thing.
Backstory: Just tell me what kind of character you'll want to play, and I'll give you some specifics like, where you might live, and if you have ever seen an elf before, and tell you something about your society. You can work a short backstory to that, then.
Note: Understand that by being a character class with elite array, you are already immensely more powerful than most people in this world. This might seem awfully weak, but it really isn't.
I'll take on three players, maximum. Dalkon has expressed interest, so that's up to two more. Please post in this thread if you are interested, but realize that I don't promise anything regarding this system. I'll try my best, but you might still die to an orc throwing javelin in your first combat. That kind of things happen. It's good to realize it ahead of time.
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing,
creating without regard to result,
claiming nothing,
the Sage has nothing to lose.
EDIT: Rolling for starting gold (assuming I have to roll)
EDIT2: INTRODUCING Tai Hayashi, just need my background guides and to know if your allowing the flaws & traits system?
The life in monastery has, in a way, prepared you to live outside as well if you so choose. You've done jobs around, so you aren't useless, but you aren't as good as a craftsman's son, either. (I'll just give you a rank to profession in 3 different professions to reflect this.) You have also learned to fight. Still, your life has been very cloistered and you don't know much about what is going outside. Your knowledge of elves is that they are tall folk often regarded as elitistic ☺☺☺☺☺☺☺s, and that one sought refuge within the monastery last year, but you didn't get to meet that one. Orcs are apparently green-skinned humans and harmless savages. Dwarves are honorable, or at least they have been thought so in the monastery ever since they helped to defend a nearby village against bugbear raids. They also camped near the monastery, so you have had a pleasure to meet a few of them. They sure swear and drink a lot. Halflings are smaller men.
Your knowledge of the arcane is fairly limited. You've heard that there is a "weave" from which all magic stims from, and arcane magic is exploitation of this weave. Divine magic comes from the deities to the priests as a gift. Regarding the divine, living in a monastery you have had to attend masses, etc, and while you might not be overtly religious, you probably acknowledge multiple gods and might even pray to them when in need. Most denizens in the monastery seemed to worship St. Cuthbert, but other deities did get their share. A lot of people prayed to Kord, god of strength, before competitions. A lot of other deities have shrines or prayer rooms allocated for their followers, included, but not limited to, Heironeous, Pelor, and even a small shrine devoted to Moradin ever since the dwarves' deeds. It has been unused, though.
Apart from the duties and practice, there happens a lot inside the monastery walls. Annual festivals are held during holy days, and the partying can get quite wild, with the monastery having its' own wineyard and whatnot. Still, it quickly returns to normal afterwards.
----------
Flaws and traits are fine, but don't add them unless you feel they add something more to the character than a free feat.
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing,
creating without regard to result,
claiming nothing,
the Sage has nothing to lose.
Edit1:
Starting Gold = ^^ * 10 = 100
Edit2:
Here is my character sheet! Turner Elis
Take a mechanic from the pre-mirrodin era, and a mechanic after the mirrodin era, and create a card that flavorfully melds both mechanics.
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing,
creating without regard to result,
claiming nothing,
the Sage has nothing to lose.
Take a mechanic from the pre-mirrodin era, and a mechanic after the mirrodin era, and create a card that flavorfully melds both mechanics.
Lol... awkward moment. I fixed it now. I must have switched the wrong slot when i switch turner from an elf to half-elf.
Take a mechanic from the pre-mirrodin era, and a mechanic after the mirrodin era, and create a card that flavorfully melds both mechanics.
Age:
Height:
Weight:
OOC: wow got the oldest starting age a monk can have, hope that doesn't mess you up Amadi?
Further, it is probable that as a muscular man, your character weighs more than the average. Just put numbers on it that feel accurate, really.
----------
I'll get to you with some background information soon-ish, Deus. It might be worth thinking if your character is half-elf or half-wood-elf, though. It is also going to be worth noting that normal elves here don't really live in woods, but I'll get on to that later. This has no effect on your in-game statistics, but is going to make a lot of difference regarding other things.
EDIT: I am just going to assume wood elf for your mother. The ones you were living with are certainly wood elves, though. (This does matter here, Gray elves are noble seafaring folk, tending to LN. Wood Elves are more chaotically-inclined, as are wild elves. Wood elves are more organized, and wild elves are mostly barbarians.)
----------
It seemed to you as a child that humans in general were fairly rational, relying more on thinking process, rather than feelings or instincts. It felt that they were often distant from you, and that there often wasn't enough people around. Often your brothers and sisters took time alone to plan something ahead. You also never really connected to your father the way you expected you would. The relationship felt somewhat lacking.
Either way, what you never found in your original home, you found within the tribe of elves. What you missed and more. Where humans took the time alone, elves spend it with each other. They do not seem to have the need to plan far ahead at all, or if they do, they can accomplish that while socializing with their friends and family. All that remains missing for you is the relationship to your parents, which even the elves are unable to give you. Still, they can give you the feeling that you belong, and that's what matters.
The tribe lives within the eastern end of the woods, which according to your knowledge contains a huge area to the west. It is possible to walk within the borders of the forest for a week and not reach the other end. Going to the center of the forest is not adviced, as the area is both sacred and cursed - Haunted by forest spirits, it is the purest embodiment of the forest. Only rarely does anyone venture there, and almost always it is to seek guidance or to complete a rite of passage. Often both.
The life in the tribe is fairly simple. You sleep on wooden platforms in the trees, which act as a defense in case anyone would want to attack you, although nothing of sort has happened for any of your time. These platforms can be pretty far apart from each other, but most reside within half an hour's travel from each other, and from the tribe's gathering place: Roots of life. That is where the tribe often gathers to trade, to spend the evenings or to celebrate weddings or other events. The place itself is fairly interesting: It is under the roots of a huge tree, the area is large enough to hold fifty elves in it, although your tribe only consists of about thirty. The area is tall, and in the middle of it there is often a fire tended by the archdruid of the tribe. His platform is on this tree. Dead are buried near the tree's roots, to let them join the living in celebrations in death, and to nurture the tribe's symbol of strength, the tree itself.
All celebrations revolve around a special happening, and do not occur annually or during specified periods. Long times can pass without a large one, or there could be many in consequent days. Often these celebrations contain large amounts of wine made from the berries of the forest and a lot of food. Apart from celebrations are the spiritual gatherings, where the tribe gets together to appreciate the gifts of nature upon them or to commit a form of prescience, induced by a special brew the druids brew, and which shows them the visions the great wilds want to show them. These visions can largely influence the tribe's decisions. They can be very cryptic, however, and interpreting them can be near impossible.
The lifestyle is mostly foraging and hunting. Wildlife is hunted for food as it's necessary, but it's never done casually and always all parts of the prey is used for advantage, and the tribe makes sure to never hunt too much of one species during a given year. Likewise, when berries or nuts are gathered, some of them are always left behind, to grow into new plants for the coming years. This way the tribe sustains its' living.
Ever after you left your father and joined the tribe, your contacts with other races have been nonexistant. The tribe does not really interact much with the outside world, only occassionally is there a messenger from another tribe, and sometimes a human child gets lost in the woods and is guided back to home without him ever actually seeing the elves. Fey, other natural inhabitants of the forest, sometimes reveal themselves to the elves, but almost always when the elf is alone. Sometimes you can be sure you caught a glimpse of one in the corner of your eye.
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing,
creating without regard to result,
claiming nothing,
the Sage has nothing to lose.
Not that there is any reason to complain, her master, Georg, is a nice man by all respects. Still, it gets somewhat lonely out, considering that it's about a half-a-day's distance on foot to the closest settlement. Georg is keeping a lighthouse on a peninsula near dangerous rocks, signaling ships to stay away from dangers.
A very patient man, and fairly devoted to his work, sometimes Georg doesn't seem to eat or drink at all. He doesn't seem to have many friends, and most people regard him as weird. Further, he doesn't seem to age at all, whereas a lot of humans in the nearby village have died of age during the period you've spent here. That's probably the main cause of doubts with the townsfolk. The few times you've asked him, he replied that he isn't a human, but never elaborated on it.
Most of Idries' outside contact comes from visiting the nearby town, Stonewillow, where she usually goes to buy foodstuffs bi-weekly, except from rare occassions. While the townsfolk seem wary of her, the same way they are wary of her master, they still act friendly enough. Doesn't seem like anyone else is interested keeping a lighthouse so far away from anyone else.
Either way, all this solitude has given Idries the chance to hone her skills with his blade, with his master's instructions. Georg has been a very good teacher, although he says that this isn't exactly his specialty. Heck, the man can't form a blade of his own, although he does seem quite capable of other actions. Either way, he keeps an extensive library, from where he found instructions to teach Idries how to channel his energy to form a blade and fight with it. There are other fields of study in the area of psionics, but Georg maintains that Idries wouldn't have enough patience for most of them, and that this is the most fitting way for her.
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing,
creating without regard to result,
claiming nothing,
the Sage has nothing to lose.