The 4 Horsemen [Archive] - Wizards Community

The 4 Horsemen [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
dementedwombat
02-23-08, 11:18 AM First off, this campaign doesn't exactly fit here because it's mainly action oriented, but it contains horror elements so this is probably the best fit for it.

I had an idea for a campaign and thought it could use some fleshing out. It all started when three friends and I were talking, and somehow the topic changed to the apocalypse. Someone joked about the 4 of us being the 4 horsemen, and the it hit me. How about a d20 campaign where the players are the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse.

I was going to use d20 modern rules because they're more familiar to me. What I was going to do was have 4 new advanced classes, one for each of the horsemen. I would also give each player a legacy weapon (a weapon that gains new abilities as the character levels up). The plot basically consists of the players being appointed as the horsemen of the apocalypse, and then doing whatever the heck they want. They could complete their mission, fighting Celestial forces and ending the world. Or they could fight fate and try to save the world instead. The tone of the campaign would be action with horror undertones.

Here's what I have so far:

War:
Weapon-Sword
Legacy Ability-To change form into different weapons (letting the player still be proficient)
Class- Full BAB and would resemble the soldier in that it gives a lot of bonuses to weapons.
Strength- Being able to kill lots of people in a given amount of time.
Weakness- Limited diversity

Death:
Weapon-Scythe.
Legacy Ability-Sucking an opponent's soul out (there's a legacy weapon that does that)
Class-Good BAB and some spellcasting abilities. Focus on damaging spells (inflict spells and death effects, not fireballs). This class could have healing abilities (control of death=stopping death?), but that might make it too powerful.
Strength-More diverse than war, but still being able to take out lots of enemies.
Weakness- Almost useless against nonliving enemies

Conquest(Not Famine):
Weapon-Bow (In descriptions it's cited as "a bow with no arrowhead")
Ability-?
Class-Low BAB, good skills. He's the team leader but takes a more passive role. Emphasis on helping his team and confusing enemies.
Strength- Ability to influence enemies and boost his team's power (think of him as a force-multiplier)
Weakness-Not that good in combat.

Pestilence:
Weapon-?
Ability-?
Class-?
Strength-?
Weakness-?

If you can't tell already this is going to be a fairly high-powered, if not super-heroic, game. People getting smashed around, flying through buildings, etc.

What I'm asking for are general ideas/suggestions of any kind on the setting. Another question is how to keep the horsemen competitive at low levels. In modern days it doesn't exactly matter how good you are with a sword, the guy with the shotgun wins.
Giradius
02-23-08, 01:41 PM Hello.

Sounds quite cool, Can I ask why you dropped famine? (conquest seems to be more a part of war).

I think you should give each class access to a divine domain that it can use x times a day (or if you want to go mega powerful,use at will).

There are loads of extra divine domains all over the place and I think there might even be one for Hunger or gluttony.

Pestilence is easily covered by looking at the vermin lord and Cancer mage prestige classes for ideas.

I don't think death should have healing, the idea of healing is the postponing of death, Deaths sole purpose is to end life, anything that prolongs life goes against what Death is at its core, perhaps ironically Death has power of the undead, not in a positive way but destructive (the undead seek to escape true death).

War should also have some sort of aura that inspires soldiers or makes combatants more effective in some way, I see War as soldier but can also see Paladin of Tyranny or even slaughter in him as well.

One idea would be to not just create 4 Horseman classes, but maybe more classes and have them as aspects based on alignment. for example,

War
Dark aspect -The Conqueror (LE- this is the paladin of tyranny type and represents even negative aspect of war, such as slaughter, carnage, pillage, tyranny)
Light aspect- The Crusader(CG- this is the positive aspect of war, dynamic change or fighting for peace, not all war is about imperialism and conquest, some wars might be rebellions against tyrants or a fight for what is right. this is a more paladin type of class)

Death
Dark aspect- The Reaper (LE- this is the scythe wielding skeleton, bathed in negative energy, his touch alone causes even the mightiest foe to drop dead, he is entropy, decay ,he is merciless, cold, and unrelenting)

Light aspect- The Omega (TN- This aspect is that of death brings change, the natural order of things birth/death/rebirth, this aspect brings peace to the troubled and release to those in pain, he liberates the undead of their cursed existence, perhaps he has reincarnation abilities)

Famine
there are no good aspects of famine but you can go down 2 roads with it.
The Glutton (NE- the bloated being revels in famine, he starves whole nations and ironically their starvation feeds him, perhaps the abilities of this being are mainly physical, perhaps an ogre like creature, with DR provided by his blubbery flesh, maybe he can vomit acid attacks, or belch poison gas)

The Emaciated one (NE- This entity is little more than skin over bones, he is scrawny and embodies need or desire unfilled, the essence of starvation, he might have mainly mind effecting abilities, such as filling the target with irresistible cravings causing them to drop everything and eat, Look more towards ghouls with this one)

Pestilence
Like famine, this has no positive aspect but is probably the easiest class to do.
The lord of plagues (NE- this wretched figure is covered in sores and boils, insects buzz around him, maggots and flies crawl over his diseased body, this class is a simple matter of combining the Vermin Lord and Cancer mage.

I hope these ideas are helpful or at least food for thought. :D
dementedwombat
02-23-08, 04:52 PM Honestly, I dropped famine because I couldn't figure out how to separate it from pestilence. To me, both were basically a class that would drain enemies resources. I can go either way at this point, I might as well stick with Famine for convention's sake.

I like the idea of making multiple classes for the sides of each horseman. It means a little more work for me, but it would allow more diversity depending around how the players want to make the characters.

Giving each horseman a divine domain is also a great idea, there really are tons of those things. I'd give each horseman a broad list with spells of of several domains and let them be used spontaneously a certain number of times a day dependent on level.
The_Moof
05-16-08, 07:34 PM If you're having problems with separating Pestilence with Famine maybe I can help.

Pestilence you deal with vermin and swarms. Locusts, bats, spiders, big round rubber rats. :D And maybe undead even. So I can see a summoner of this type.

Famine you deal with plants, livestock and water. So I would go with an elemental specialist (Fire to burn crops, earth to cause earthquakes, air to cause wind storms and tornadoes, and water to cause flooding, etc.) Famine might deal with controlling plants and maybe even oozes.

I hope this helps you.:)
Doomsought
05-18-08, 06:04 PM for war you might want to pull some bits off the slasher class (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=9699803&postcount=174)
you might need to scroll down a bit.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
dementedwombat 02-23-08, 11:18 AM	First off, this campaign doesn't exactly fit here because it's mainly action oriented, but it contains horror elements so this is probably the best fit for it. I had an idea for a campaign and thought it could use some fleshing out. It all started when three friends and I were talking, and somehow the topic changed to the apocalypse. Someone joked about the 4 of us being the 4 horsemen, and the it hit me. How about a d20 campaign where the players are the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse. I was going to use d20 modern rules because they're more familiar to me. What I was going to do was have 4 new advanced classes, one for each of the horsemen. I would also give each player a legacy weapon (a weapon that gains new abilities as the character levels up). The plot basically consists of the players being appointed as the horsemen of the apocalypse, and then doing whatever the heck they want. They could complete their mission, fighting Celestial forces and ending the world. Or they could fight fate and try to save the world instead. The tone of the campaign would be action with horror undertones. Here's what I have so far: War: Weapon-Sword Legacy Ability-To change form into different weapons (letting the player still be proficient) Class- Full BAB and would resemble the soldier in that it gives a lot of bonuses to weapons. Strength- Being able to kill lots of people in a given amount of time. Weakness- Limited diversity Death: Weapon-Scythe. Legacy Ability-Sucking an opponent's soul out (there's a legacy weapon that does that) Class-Good BAB and some spellcasting abilities. Focus on damaging spells (inflict spells and death effects, not fireballs). This class could have healing abilities (control of death=stopping death?), but that might make it too powerful. Strength-More diverse than war, but still being able to take out lots of enemies. Weakness- Almost useless against nonliving enemies Conquest(Not Famine): Weapon-Bow (In descriptions it's cited as "a bow with no arrowhead") Ability-? Class-Low BAB, good skills. He's the team leader but takes a more passive role. Emphasis on helping his team and confusing enemies. Strength- Ability to influence enemies and boost his team's power (think of him as a force-multiplier) Weakness-Not that good in combat. Pestilence: Weapon-? Ability-? Class-? Strength-? Weakness-? If you can't tell already this is going to be a fairly high-powered, if not super-heroic, game. People getting smashed around, flying through buildings, etc. What I'm asking for are general ideas/suggestions of any kind on the setting. Another question is how to keep the horsemen competitive at low levels. In modern days it doesn't exactly matter how good you are with a sword, the guy with the shotgun wins.
Giradius 02-23-08, 01:41 PM	Hello. Sounds quite cool, Can I ask why you dropped famine? (conquest seems to be more a part of war). I think you should give each class access to a divine domain that it can use x times a day (or if you want to go mega powerful,use at will). There are loads of extra divine domains all over the place and I think there might even be one for Hunger or gluttony. Pestilence is easily covered by looking at the vermin lord and Cancer mage prestige classes for ideas. I don't think death should have healing, the idea of healing is the postponing of death, Deaths sole purpose is to end life, anything that prolongs life goes against what Death is at its core, perhaps ironically Death has power of the undead, not in a positive way but destructive (the undead seek to escape true death). War should also have some sort of aura that inspires soldiers or makes combatants more effective in some way, I see War as soldier but can also see Paladin of Tyranny or even slaughter in him as well. One idea would be to not just create 4 Horseman classes, but maybe more classes and have them as aspects based on alignment. for example, War Dark aspect -The Conqueror (LE- this is the paladin of tyranny type and represents even negative aspect of war, such as slaughter, carnage, pillage, tyranny) Light aspect- The Crusader(CG- this is the positive aspect of war, dynamic change or fighting for peace, not all war is about imperialism and conquest, some wars might be rebellions against tyrants or a fight for what is right. this is a more paladin type of class) Death Dark aspect- The Reaper (LE- this is the scythe wielding skeleton, bathed in negative energy, his touch alone causes even the mightiest foe to drop dead, he is entropy, decay ,he is merciless, cold, and unrelenting) Light aspect- The Omega (TN- This aspect is that of death brings change, the natural order of things birth/death/rebirth, this aspect brings peace to the troubled and release to those in pain, he liberates the undead of their cursed existence, perhaps he has reincarnation abilities) Famine there are no good aspects of famine but you can go down 2 roads with it. The Glutton (NE- the bloated being revels in famine, he starves whole nations and ironically their starvation feeds him, perhaps the abilities of this being are mainly physical, perhaps an ogre like creature, with DR provided by his blubbery flesh, maybe he can vomit acid attacks, or belch poison gas) The Emaciated one (NE- This entity is little more than skin over bones, he is scrawny and embodies need or desire unfilled, the essence of starvation, he might have mainly mind effecting abilities, such as filling the target with irresistible cravings causing them to drop everything and eat, Look more towards ghouls with this one) Pestilence Like famine, this has no positive aspect but is probably the easiest class to do. The lord of plagues (NE- this wretched figure is covered in sores and boils, insects buzz around him, maggots and flies crawl over his diseased body, this class is a simple matter of combining the Vermin Lord and Cancer mage. I hope these ideas are helpful or at least food for thought. :D
dementedwombat 02-23-08, 04:52 PM	Honestly, I dropped famine because I couldn't figure out how to separate it from pestilence. To me, both were basically a class that would drain enemies resources. I can go either way at this point, I might as well stick with Famine for convention's sake. I like the idea of making multiple classes for the sides of each horseman. It means a little more work for me, but it would allow more diversity depending around how the players want to make the characters. Giving each horseman a divine domain is also a great idea, there really are tons of those things. I'd give each horseman a broad list with spells of of several domains and let them be used spontaneously a certain number of times a day dependent on level.
The_Moof 05-16-08, 07:34 PM	If you're having problems with separating Pestilence with Famine maybe I can help. Pestilence you deal with vermin and swarms. Locusts, bats, spiders, big round rubber rats. :D And maybe undead even. So I can see a summoner of this type. Famine you deal with plants, livestock and water. So I would go with an elemental specialist (Fire to burn crops, earth to cause earthquakes, air to cause wind storms and tornadoes, and water to cause flooding, etc.) Famine might deal with controlling plants and maybe even oozes. I hope this helps you.:)
Doomsought 05-18-08, 06:04 PM	for war you might want to pull some bits off the slasher class (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=9699803&postcount=174) you might need to scroll down a bit.