Post/Author/DateTime	Post
ZDB 10-08-07, 10:13 AM	A player came with a question about if he could play this build: Paladin of Tyranny: 13 Sorceror: 5 Vampire + Vampire Lord Now i`m sort of new in the role of a DM and my questions are: Is this build possible? Is it too powerful? Its ECL would be 27??? And the player wants to know if he could become a paragon vampire? Thanks a lot to whom can help me whit this! :D
runestar 10-08-07, 10:18 AM	ECL would definitely be over 30. What lv is your game? If you are new to DMing, you generally should not be contemplating epic games at all (too complex). Start at lower lvs (preferably 1st) so you have ample opportunities to brush up on your fundamentals.
Dog_O_War 10-08-07, 11:41 AM	Maybe because you're new at DMing, you should make characters for your players sos they can't take advantage of you (at first). As a player, I hate having to play something I did not craft myself, but I go with it to help the DM sometimes. Maybe explain this to your players so they won't be too harsh on you. When you start out, don't go for the psycho-powerfull high level games; they are too out of hand, and players lose interest quickly. Most people that play these types of games (that start high level) are interested only in combat. If this is the case, just do a session or two of pvp; this sates the appetite (for a while). Maybe start a game of about fifth level; this gives the players a good taste of their classes' abilities and gives 'em a little toughness to survive any rough encounters. Try and pit them against stuff that has a CR within 1 or 2 of the groups' level. Try and stay away from templates that are not "earned". All this from me (anoymous person on the internet) sounds a little instructional, and maybe a bit arrogant, but I have been there (where you are, or are going). You don't have to believe me or even take my advice, but I do ask that you consider it.
ZDB 10-08-07, 12:35 PM	Tnx a lot for you answer Dog_o_War I`m taking it into consideration! What do you mean by templates that are not earned?
RobbyPants 10-08-07, 12:44 PM	What do you mean by templates that are not earned? Acquired is probably a better word. Templates like vampire and ghost are acquired, in that the character would start out "normal", and later acquire the template (after being turned into a vampire or a ghost). Templates like half-fiend, celestial, and half-dragon are all templates that a character would be born with. The idea is you don't become a half-fiend (at least not per the normal rules), but rather you always were a half-fiend. So the advice he's giving you is to not use these acquired templates, as many tend to add some pretty extreme powers. Many also tend to make you undead (which has its own advantages). If you were to allow them to play a half-fiend or a half-dragon, while they do get powers, most of those are quite toned down, and their outcomes are a little easier to predict. For the record, I also reccomend starting out at a lower level until you get a good grasp for running games. To be honnest, I've been DMing about 14 years, and I'm still not comfortable running games at about 15th level. At that level, gauging encounter difficulty can be tough, as most fights are either a cakewalk, or insanely deadly.
Saedar 10-08-07, 12:44 PM	Dog_o_War may be talking about things like prestige classes which effectively give you certain templates. The classis example of this is the Dragon Disciple from the DMG which grants you the half-dragon template. EDIT: damn...sorta got to it before me...
Dog_O_War 10-08-07, 01:06 PM	Actually, RobbyPants hit the nail on the head. But you also bring up another good example of a template "earned" Saedar.
BaseDeltaZero 10-08-07, 09:03 PM	I'd not be too opposed to granting an 'inherited' template later in a character's life, there are plenty of ways someone could imagine it would be given later on (Dragon Disciple is one, and it actually gives you better than the half dragon template (Blindsense, flying regardless of size, and bonus spells - not to mention the attack/saves.