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I have been planning and working on a DnD game set in the same basic setting I ran last time, with a number of updates and at a different time in the setting for a while now, and now that I have some time on my hands, I've begun work on it in earnest.

Currently, there is no slot available for this game to be played in, therefore this thread is intended to divine interest in playing the game in a future open slot, the precise time and date of which is currently unknown.

I'm revising some of the concepting at this time, seeing as certain elements of the game are strikingly similar, as it turns out, to Cheyne's current DnD game. However, if people that are interested would be interested in seeing how similar concepts under different GMs in modestly different settings play out, then please indicate so and I'll revert my notes back to their original form.

Certain aspects of the format of the game are still up in the air, hence the poll. If you wish to discuss your poll response in more detail, please do so, and if you have any questions at all about this game or any requests for specific game content and themes, then by all means, this is a forum after all.

The game would be set several millenia before the events of my previous game. This campaign would represent the resolution of my long time desire to run a game from 1st through epic levels, and to include as many aspects of play as possible. Since a variety of formats are up for discussion, I will wait until I have a solid idea of how characters will be built before detailing instructions for character creation, and before indicating which features, feats, and skills will be recommended.

Continuing the trend I've been following in my last few games, this campaign will be story, plot, and character centric, though will include plenty of combat as well. Also, continuing the trend set by Cheyne's current DnD game, this campaign will feature a reasonable amount of logistics and maintenance on behalf of the players. I'm referring to travel times, food consumption, carry weights, and the like.

I look forward to Poll responses and any remarks people have about this game.

If you've read this far and haven't answered the poll yet, do keep in mind that I will not be permitting "cheese" of most kinds. Characters should be believable and not excessively broken. To this end I wish to inform all potential players that I reserve final approval of all characters.

Addendum: Since for some reason I cannot set up a poll right now, I'll post the format options and ask for responses.

1: Pathfinder only, single class at a time, 4 class maximum, average progression.

2: Pathfinder only, single class at a time, no limit classes, slow progression.

3: Pathfinder only, Gestalt, no PRC, average progression, all encounters CR+1.

4: Pathfinder and Core DnD, single class at a time, 5 class maximum, average progression.

5. Pathfinder and Core DnD, single class at a time, no limit classes, average progression, all encounters CR+1

6. Pathfinder only, single class at a time, 1 base + no limit Prc, fast progression.

7: Something else, must specify.

Am I correct in assuming that you will not be allowing Bo9S or psionics in any of the options listed? If so then my choice assuming that a slot that I could actually play in opens up would be:

3: Pathfinder only, Gestalt, no PRC, average progression, all encounters CR+1.

I generally don't run psionics, and though I hadn't thought about it, I would actually prefer not to include Bo9S.

I wasn't in your last game, so I know nothing about the setting, other than its DnD.

I do know that me, and you have very different ideas about what is acceptable in a DnD campaign. While I would like to play, I enjoy a level of power from my builds, if that level of power cant be met I will most likely not have much fun.

That said Im not sure what your willingly to compromise in order to make a good character. I would vote heavily in favor of using PRCs, as Im tired of DnD games without them. They just have to much flavor, and coolness to always be excluded. So my vote for build type would probably be 4.

What I really like is allowing a single prestige class in a gestalt build. I already know most of the people that will play will want to be gestalted... its the thing to do. However, doing this means they exclude the PRC's for power reasons. However, I really want to play in a game with PRCs. I miss them, and want them back.

I think thats all I've got for now.

I like gestalt, primarily for variety and entertainment rather than power. I like using 3.5 stuff with pf, and since pf was designed for backwards compatibility, I see no problems there. This is especially true ofr feats, as PF doesn't have enough by itself, and for some classes there are many cool things in 3.5 (like the tactical feats for fighters).

I don't like prestige classes for the most part, though if they were limited to ONE CLASS ONLY i would be fine with that, as it adds some options and novelty. And if you were using PF classes I definitely see no problem with a single prc on a progression, as taking a class to 20 is generally as good or better.

Moderate progression speed, and encounters should be at higher CR... I've personally found that my players are capable of CR +2 or even 3, but +1 is fine too.

_--)99d9

if you end up going with a prestige class option and single class, I recommend limiting the number of classes to 3 rather than four.

oh, by "all encounters CR +1" I meant against the existing table of encounter challenge levels. So, where the table says an average encounter is =CR, I would increase the enounter to be CR+1, and so on

But yeah, seems like gestalt w/ up to 1 PRC or so would work.

I would like to know a bit about the setting as well. What are you expecting from characters, and what is the basic world like.

It is to bad you do not want to allow bo9s.

pathfinder, pathfinder + 3.5, what? the prc's, if allowed, would need to come from 3.5 to be worth a damn imo. and the expanded feats are nice.

Like I said, I'm primarily interested in options, as I reeeeally like the designs that can be made with the various feat options. Power is not my primary interest, and I won't be making a duck-druid-berserker.

Also, if gestalting, what method of gestalt are you using? The averaged values, or the best-of rules? My preference is clear, but others may have different opinions.

Finally, remember that when using prestiges with PF you need to use the PF conversion guide (switch hit dice where they need to be, and remember to change the saving throw bonuses, etc.) before shoving them into your progression chart.

ok, here's what I've decided upon for character creation:

Gestalt as per precisely similar rules to cheyne's current game, with the following caveats, addendums, and so on:

No psionics

No Bo9s

No classes from dnd 3.5 that have PF equivalents

Feat progression is from pathfinder

All 3.5e feats are subject to veto

2 PrC limit, with up to 1 PrC per gestalted base class. (For example, if I am a Fighter/Sorcerer and I want to take the prestige classes Duelist and Dragon Disciple, one of them must substitute for levels of Fighter, and the other must substitute for levels of Sorceror. Both cannot be substituted for one class.)

Must take all levels of a PrC.

All spells must come from Pathfinder Core book

Feature substitutions require prior approval

The following features of the game are unique to this campaign, and are subject to modification at any time between now and the start of the game:

Extra Feats: Each character may select one category of feats from a forthcoming list. Every 4th level you may select one of the feats from your chosen category that you qualify for as a bonus feat, above and beyond your standard allowance. Examples of categories this list will contain are Item Creation Feats and Tactical Feats. This list will not contain the Combat feat category, though most Tactical feats are effectively cross listed. Certain categories of feats may be artificially created to serve this purpose, or new categories may be recognized and populated manually from the complete books. Metamagic and Combat feats will not be categories.

Many Humanoid and Monstrous Humanoid monsters will be available as player characters by special arrangement. For level adjust races, you will count the levels against your class development in one of your two classes, and take permanent unremovable negative levels to reduce your effective level to 1, each of which will be relieved upon gaining a level. The CR of a humanoid or a monstrous humanoid does not precisely reflect the degree to which your race is superior or inferior to the base races. All potential races and progressions are subject to discussion and veto. In general, consider that the monster races as listed are for optimal encounters, and are not necessarily representative of all the members of the race. Your character would be physically inferior to the optimized "encounter" monsters until you had relieved enough negative levels to compensate. In estimating what your arrangement might be, consult the pathfinder bestiary, examine the humanoid or monstrous humanoid listings, and then mentally apply a number of negative levels to the monster template to equal it's hit dice -1. So, though Storm Giant is CR 13, it has 19 hit dice, and so would take at least 18 negative levels, and might actually become a 20 level class unto itself, so as to spread out certain other features. Also, if you take a race that requires negative levels to play, you will not receive the extra feats from the previous rule until you have finished your "monster classes." I have not made a final decision on exactly which races to include as player possible, and if the negative level mechanic is the way I want to go. Consider all base PF races as guaranteed, and most races below CR 1 as highly probable, and everything else TBD. If you have a specific race you want to propose, or wish to comment on or object to this mechanic, please say so earlier rather than later.



Josh: The setting and game that was played last break revolved around the player characters joining the personal army of the new King, being sent to various parts of the kingdom to deal with unrest, then in the aftermath of a coup finding themselves in an oubliette and being forced to escape, with the righteous but deposed king, into the bowels of the castle. The setting that they played in varied from greyhawk in a number of ways, including that the various material and outer planes had geographic intersections; that is, various elemental and alignment centric planes met the prime material planes and had open passages between them. So, by escaping down into the depths of the dungeons and old mines beneath the castle, they actually found their way into the Infernal Kingdom, a level of hell, which in turn had a passage into the Plane of Sea and Stars, a chaotic good plane of water. They ventured into sea and stars, helped the people there, made allies, and then were shown the way out of sea and stars back to the ocean, where they were picked up by a halfling fishing boat lost at sea. They had plenty of food and water, and were lost at sea for some time before inadvertently finding their way into the Land of the Heavenly Sword, a material plane (which followed Oriental Adventures), where they made more allies, learned some feats, and continued their odyssey finally landing on the opposite side of their continent from their kingdom, where they met their allies the Lawful Good Orcs led by the God-Queen Bethesda, who they arranged a marriage to their deposed King, and then they went about gathering their allies for the showdown to try to reclaim the kingdom, calling upon the Lizardmen of Foulsquelch, the Snowhammer Dwarves (bo9s), and arranging a suprise attack from above by venturing through Amberdawn, a neutral good plane of air, where they caught and tamed Soar Whales for use in descending upon the castle from above. They fought a gigantic battle and won. Jason was cheese. paul was an ugly duckling.

So, that's kind of a summary of the previous game. There are a number of aspects of the setting and it's history that I'd like to explore, either investigatively in a later time in the story, or in a more primordial time, which is the direction my concepting has been going.

Unless I rework the plot entirely, necessary background should go something like this:

You are citizens or itinerants in the City of Pavis, the central trade hub of the eastern continent. (players recalling the layout from the previous game will identify this as the future home of the Brightstar empire and Sarmania, which was at the time of the game occupied by Brightstar.) Pavis is cosmopolitan and features a variety of architecture and culture accommodating a wide range of the races, many of which are at least civilized enough to have trade. The majority of the world's civilizations are tribes, city states, or alliances between city states, and warring is commonplace. In recent years, a number of terrible and disturbing things have been going on. Pavis is now in famine and plague, and nears anarchy, due to unseasonable weather destroying numerous harvests, and at the time of the game starting, by calendar it should be mid summer, but the snows are already coming. (Pavis is Temperate, with a climate and latitude not unlike oregon or washington.) Seers, Arcane Academics, Oracles, and various holy men are all deeply disturbed by the signs they've been seeing over the last several years, many of which defy interpretation or carry vague messages of Armageddon or trying times.

The title of this campaign is "Firmament Falling."

I have yet to determine if I'll be using the greyhawk, pathfinder, or my own pantheon. If I write my own pantheon, the same distribution of domains and alignment will be adhered to as closely as possible, with perhaps a few exceptions. I may pen or convert some domains from 3.5 that do not appear in pathfinder.

As far as the feel of the world at the time of this campaign is concerned, life is harsh and travel is always dangerous. Even on the roads between city states there are terrible dangers. The fury and tenacity at which certain city states have gone to war has left tremendous hazards in the countryside, even after a war is over and one side vanquished, including things like undirected golems wandering the wilderness, following the orders of their long dead masters, piles of unburied corpses corrupting water supplies, and so on.

At this time in the setting, the earth is very much alive with spirits, among other things. Not only animist Fey and the like, but also deep underground civilizations concerned with each other and rarely venturing into the world above.

Your questions and comments are more than welcome, and I'll update you all as things progress. And again, with several game mechanics still under consideration and no immediate start date, there is no reason to create overly detailed 40 level builds. I do anticipate running this game as far as it will go, hopefully clear into full epic, but the specific rules for epic play are as yet TBD, and I will probably follow whatever Cheyne goes for with his current game. If you do a build, stop it at 20.

Postinfromphone so expect something more substantial once I have real Internet again. Pathfinder does not support level adjustment. In general, races can, have, and should be modified so that adjustment for level is not required.

I think i am going to play and it shall be a paladin/oracle (of battle). Should be hot.

Depending on avability I am interested in playing. I am looking at classes now.

No Bo9S = :(
More to come as this story develops.

Im with Steven on the no Bo9S's. I don't understand why its not available for use. Especially considering the amazing amount of flavor it brings to a game.

As far as the build goes it makes me very happy. I want to play my Lord of Cosmic Rock build, but I'll need to talk with you a little about the specifics. Bard/Barbarian FTW!!

Having read the background I probably wont be playing the above build after all. You seem to be wanting a more serious game. I most likely play a warrior sort. Probably a barbarian/ranger. I have a ideas for a build, which would be fun to run.