Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Erudite 01-05-08, 08:50 PM	Background: My DND gaming has suffered the last few years, largely due to the gradual dissolution of my gaming group due to work, health, or other issues. Online gaming was not realistic, either. Recently, I managed to gather a group together including my wife, my oldest son, and his buddy. My son has played with me before, but not in the last two years; it has been only the two of us, and playing one-on-one was not satisfying for either of us. My wife was always luke-warm to gaming but was willing to play to make me happy. My son's friend is a DND fan, but has not group; his friends in school think it is really geeky, and won't join in the fun. I managed to schedule a DND game with all three, ready to run one of the adventure paths, clutching my rulebooks, dice, and all else. Then my wife, bless her, gave me some advice. "Don't worry about the rules, just make sure we play. Given that none of them are experienced gamers, I saw her point. I can overwhelm them right now; get them into the story (which is really my wife's favorite part, not the rules), and then the rest will follow. I threw my involved AP aside, grabbed a copy of Polyhedron 151, and looked up Andy Collin's "Shadow of the Spider Moon" (http://www.andycollins.net/Projects/Spelljammer/why_spelljammer.htm), a spelljammer adaption for d20. Using some additional fan contributions from his message board, and the sample adventure on his website, I sat everyone down with nothing but a glass of soda. I did have a pen, a pad of paper, and a few notes, having somewhat memorized the outlined adventure, and even brought a few dice along for morale support, suspecting that they would not see much use. And so we began. Two hours later I had three players who were very involved in what could be the start of a great campaign. They did not know what characters they were playing, what the stats were, race, class, nothing. I asked them to identify aspects of their characters as we went along, jotting down notes as they responded. Since we started late, we wrapped things up around 9pm, and I debriefed them a bit, trying to nail down game aspects of their characters. If they did not know yet, I told them not to worry, we'd get to it when the moment was right in the game. Everyone got up from that session saying they had a great time! It ends up that we have the following characters (including my DMPC. I'll not try to justify that, except to say that I've run games for eight years with almost no player time, and damn it, I have to play a character.) 'Celastea' played by my wife. An 'ethereal' elf noblewoman of House Dargent, who is knowledgeable, centered, and desirous of following in the space captaining tradition of her (now deceased) uncle. I assigned her as Elf Monk 1. 'Set'th(?)' played by my son. A human spacehand who is not half as stupid as he allows himself to be portrayed. He loves staring at the sun, Pyre, and plans to travel the system. He has an undecided darker side, too. He is the brother to Ral. I assigned him as a Human Cleric (sun, travel). 'Nameless' played by my son's friend. An elf who hates 'Humes', his derogatory name for the "smelly and brutish" humans. He relates to trees better than people, and has a pronounced distaste for labor and exertion. He can't stop arguing with Set'th, possibly the best entertainment he has had in his life, although this may be because he normally talks to trees. He is a cousin of Celastea Dargent. I assigned him as an Elf Earth Shugenja (Complete Divine). 'Ral' played by me. A laconic half-drow who disguises himself as a human with the help of his half-brother, Set'th. He can't help plying those around him with sardonic and pithy remarks designed to test those around him. Pretends he is captain of his spelljammer, when the real captain is not around. He's actually third mate. I assigned him as a Half-Drow Factotum (Dungeonscape). The first session was last night, so I want to write down the events of that game here on this thread; I'll get to that tomorrow, since the kids need feeding right now. I have to sort out how I want to flesh out the setting; I'm thinking of importing sections of Eberron, since I really don't think that I will get a chance to run a game in that setting anytime soon. I would also like to incorporate elements of Final Fantasy XII and Rogue Galaxy (although not recreate those, just borrow/steal/accent). You can toss in some inspiration by Weis and Hickman's Starshield Trilogy and Treasure Planet as well. I welcome comments and suggestions. Thanks.
Erudite 01-06-08, 03:56 PM	Work in Progress... Source Material: Primarily 3.5 Core and Spelljammer: Shadow of the Spider Moon from Polyhedron #151/Dungeon #97 (S:SotSM). Anything WotC stuff is open as well, including FR and Eberron. Exceptions made in the relevant spot. The most common races, classes, etc. are mentioned below, but should not be considered the only ones. Character Generation: Ability Scores: Elite Array (15,14,13,12,10,8) Races: Anything. The players seemed happy with the standard stuff, but anything is available if a new character/cohort is needed in the future. There is no LA buyoff, however. Asherati: Native to Ashen, some can be found among the spacelanes and in ports throughout the system. They are often rangers and clerics. Changelings: A mysterious race, they are found most often on Quelya, and used by both human and Hin houses as ambassadors, spies, and entertainers. A few cults revel in their ability to assume any form, so they may pick up the mantle of revered religious leader. They may be experts, rogues, clerics, and sorcerers most often. Elves: The greatest concentration, and civilization, of elves is on Parianth, but elves exist nearly everywhere, doing most anything. As a general rule, when I mention elves, I am focusing on Parianth elves of the great houses. There are wild elves in the jungles of Verdura, but the Parianth elves are embarrassed of them and try to pretend they do not exist. They are often aristocrats, swashbucklers, and shugenja. Elves tend to ignore firearms as messy, preferring the grace and skill of the bow. Elves are taller than those in the PHB; add 12" to their height, and 30 lbs. Dwarves: Most dwarves are slaves of the Illithids, but significant dwarven communities exist everywhere, especially Ashen and The Chain of Tears. Many dwarves are busy organizing resistance efforts to liberate Forge, but those native to other planets seem somewhat less concerned. They are frequently crusaders, fighters, and paladins. Dwarves tend to avoid firearms due to the oxygen consuming nature and their limited air resources on Forge. Gnomes: At home among the asteroids of The Chain, and in their eclectic spelljammers, the gnomes profit by producing nifty arcane items for trade thoughout the system, and thus are as ubiquitous as humans. A type of jungle gnome is found on Verdura (see Unearthed Arcana), and are more reclusive. They are frequently wizards and artificers. Half-Elves: The result of mostly work-related affairs among commercial and transportive workers (where both races meet), half-evels are most commonly encountered as spacehands, and make up many of the best pilots. Half-Drow suffer from stigmatization at the hands of Elves, but humans don't make as much of a fuss, particularly pirates and outlaws. Halflings: Calling them halflings is an insult, they prefer Hin. They run major trading houses centered on Quelya. Aquisitive, they exert influence and economic power throughout the system. Less fortunate Hin find their fortunes elsewhere, including Perianth and The Chain. They are often experts, aristocrats, rogues, and wizards. Halfings are taller than normal. Treat them as Drow Elves for height and weight. Humans: Dominant perhaps only on parts of Quelya, they are ubiquitous. Perhaps no race controls the spacelanes like humans, and they have comfortable relations with most races. Paradoxically, the greatest human military power is a pirate fleet operating at remote points around the system. Ashen and Verdura have human-dominant cities and barbarian tribes, too. Like Hin, humans adopt firearms as a means of keeping a hand free while maneuvering about a spelljammer. Killeren: Native to Perianth, many find employ as servants of the elves, managing the daily activities needed to keep elven cities stocked with foodstuffs and natural products. They are often rangers and druids. Mercane: No one knows where they are from, but their mysterious vessels ply the spacelanes, and the operate offices and outposts in almost every major city. Raptorians: Native to Perianth, they are employed as marines primarily by elven houses on their spelljammers, but their aerial skills find service almost everywhere. The dwarven resistance finds them of use as well among the high, thin peaks of Forge. They are often fighters, rangers, and clerics. Warforged: The product of Mercane artificing, they come in all varieties but most are fighters, although they may direct themselves to other interests if allowed to. They tend to be considered property, except by excited Gnome Aritficers, or among freebooters and outlaws, who need the manpower and will accept anyone with the right attitude. Many warforged are found on Ashen, due to the hostile conditions, and the dwarves had quite a few as well, and continue to use them against the Illithids. Classes: Archivist: They may not learn domain spells. Humans and Halflings produce the most archivists, since they are most likely to want to steal/beg/borrow divine material from others. Artificers: Most common among the Gnomes, Humans, Halflings, Dwarves, and Elves also produce their fair share. Without action points, much of the artificer abuse is curtailed. Barbarian: characters living in the wilds of Ashen, Verdura, Quelya, Perianth, and Forge can be barbarians, as can many pirates, orc-blooded, centaurs, or warforged. Bard: Bards don't exist as such. Experts can provide the necessary skill set to entertain the masses or select few. Clerics: Most priests are experts, a rare few are blessed with the faith and abilities of the Cloistered Cleric (Unearthed Arcana variant). Some violent faiths or races may produce martial versions that follow the standard cleric rules. Elves normally produce Shugenja (Complete Divine) instead, but there are exceptions for the Imperial house. Clerics use spontaneous casting as per the spontaneous divine caster rules in Unearthed Arcana. Druid: The PHBII variant/UA variant avenging druid is used instead, and only by particularly feral groups, or the Killoren or Asherati. They cast spells spontaneously as clerics do. They may select the Plant, Animal, or other appropriate domain in addition to their normal spells known. Fighter: Common among civilized races such as Dwarves, Gnomes, Half-Elves, Halflings, and Humans. Elves produce Swashbucklers instead. Monk: Most common among Elves and Humans, although elves tend to be Sword Sages (Bo9S) more than monks. Paladins: Common only among Dwarves and Humans. Ranger: Many races produce rangers, but they are almost unheard of among the Gnomes. Shugenja: Primarily found among the Elves. Other fey races may also become Shugenja. Shugenja among Elves are proficient with the Thinblade rather than the Shortsword. Sorcerer: Naturally arcane races tend to produce sorcerers, but among Gnomes and Dwarves wizards tend to be far more common due to the particulars of their societies. All sorcerers get Eschew Materials and a Bloodline feat for free at first level, and a metamagic feat at every five levels for free. They do not start with a familiar. Swashbuckler: The most common form of elite warrior among the elves of Parianth, other spelljamming races also devote time to learning this particular art of war. There are no swashbuckling schools per se; it is often an attitude picked up by freebooters. Swordsage: A common variant of the monk, the swordsage is closely associated with competing schools of martial lore. Warblade: Where a fighter is a versatile, well-trained combatant, and a swordsage is a studious scholar of martial forms, the warblade is a character seeking glory first and foremost for herself. They are pretty rare. Wizard: All spelljamming races produce wizards, but Gnomes tend to produce the most. Feats: Flaws are fine. There are feats specific to the setting from the article, including Ballista Master, Ballista Specialist, Cannon Master, Cannon Specialist, Craft Spelljammer Helm, Spelljammer Helm Operation, and Spelljammer Specialization, which are available. Each character also gets a free background feat from the ones listed in the article: Born Spacer, Education, From the Gutter, Mysterious Heritage, No Identity, Noble Birth. For human , half-elf, and gnome characters, the following weapons are considered martial weapons; they are exotic weapons for all other characters: Pistol, Rifle, and Spittergun. The Flamegun and Scattergun are exotic weapons for all characters. These weapons are from S:SotSM. For Elf and Drow characters, the following weapons are considered martial weapons: Elven Courtblade, Elven Lightblade, Elven Thinblade. Skills: The new Pilot skill from the article requires Spelljammer Helm Operation to acquire it as a permanent class skill for any character. Otherwise it is a cross class skill. The exception are Factotums and Exemplars, who have all skills as class features.
Erudite 01-06-08, 04:00 PM	TBD
Erudite 01-06-08, 04:00 PM	TBD
Erudite 01-06-08, 04:41 PM	I'll list PCs and NPCs here. Characters: Main Character Supporting Character Deceased Out of Play[/B] [B]Amanastia Dargent: Female Elf, collector of the arcane and obscure Captain Trellig Dargent: Male Elf spelljammer captain, uncle to Celastea Celastea Dargent: Female Elf Swordsage 1, "Nameless": Male Elf Earth Shugenja (Order of the Perfect Sculpture) 1, apprentice treekeeper Rallund Irothu: Male Half-Drow Factotum 1, shares the same mother with Set'th, passes off as a human. Third mate on the Venture Dawn, a spelljammer. Set'th: Male Human Cleric (sun, travel) 1, half-brother of Rallund. A space hand on the Venture Dawn, a spelljammer out of Quelya.
Erudite 01-07-08, 11:51 PM	[1] Intrigue in the Elven Court Scene 1: The Docks of Perianth (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=14770538&postcount=1) Scene 2: The Dungeons of House Dargent (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=14787979&postcount=4)