Alternate Earth, help & ideas [Archive] - Wizards Community

Alternate Earth, help & ideas [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
soulnova
07-12-07, 02:52 AM As you can see Im trying to do something special for my players in a couple of months. I was reading through the forums some time ago and I noticed a Thread about players being THE PCs. I loved the idea and started to think in a way I could implement it with my group.

The main idea goes like this:
About 30,000 to 20,000 years ago, there was a rip in the layers of the universe... and the Earth from another dimension was dragged into ANOTHER reality itself, along with other races (elves, dawrves, halflings, etc). After a while monsters started to appear due a mysterious fog wich came from the deeps of the Earth itself. This fog would eventually "magically mutate" normal animals into Magical Beast and globinoid races. The process was slow, but once transformed they could breed "normally".

This fog is actually a remaining of consumed magic or raw energy, and elves were the first to realize that relationship because they were the main Magic users.

Now I go for the tricky part. I already asked my players to prepare their gear... my boyfriend has a collection of swords, gotcha rifle and knifes. I told them to bring everything they could carry normally cus thats gonna be the equip they will have to start.

In the first session Im going to give each one of them a necklace with a rune. Then I would say some kind of weird speech/spell and start describing they are drawn to a portal/rift.

They gonna appear around central Spain (of course, they wont know that, I even have a topographic map already). This incident happen because that reality has become unstable. The amount of Magic Fog as gone nuts around some places and monsters are breeding like rabbits. Although the world is in the same time as we do, humans an other races dont have as much development as us. They have enough trying to keep monsters at bay. So they are gonna be like the usual Midleage Fantasy style.

The players must find the reason of this suddenly amount of fog and try to stop it before this reality absorbs Our reality completly. The ancient elven and dwarven texts tell about one thousand of years of misery and chaos when the first "Fusion" happened.

This is the deal. About 5,000 years ago, elves managed to stop the exit of this fog with the help of ancient runes through the lands more affected by it. Lots of brave souls were lost (humans, elves, etc). They placed this Runestone around all Europe (wich they actually exist) as a seal... but in the process, they dissapear to never hear of them again. The main runes, are the necklaces the players carry. The former adventurers were drawn into this world when the sealing was almost complete. They will need to go to each of this runestone an perform the ritual. This runestone serve also to replenish the earth own magic quickly.

The second plot. The mist has been always there in low cuantities... the question is, Why did the emanations rates are so high now? OMG, MAGICAL GLOBAL WARMING! xD nah... well... not exactly.

The villian of this story is going to be an awaken construct who believes living beings are...well... wrong; tempted by weakness and the like. So it starts his own "fabric" for the new dwellvers (aka, constructs, "robots", inevitables, etc). The magic needed is HUGE and he's using the Raw Magic of Earth itself. Thats why the mist is growing nuts.

Well, thats what I have come so far. In a side note, when someone wont be able to play due homework, work or family, Im going to make them "jump" in time until they come again. This would be due the inestability of that universe... so they just pop into reality. Only they will be affected by this strange fenomenom (for beign "outsiders"); if they take off the necklace and dont come the next session...well... something funny will happen to them in the Limbo. xD They time wont pass for them while they do this, so I hope to take some "WTF" looks from them. LOL This wont happen if we end the session for that day, in which case everything would start "normally".....

They will feel the necklace emanate magic near the end of the session if they are still fighting or in a dangerous place, so they can go to a safer place ... This will be the Pop Warning, and I hope will add an "OMG" feeling from them. A missing player, will pop up where the most of the players are because the runes call to each other. Thanks to that I'll try not leaving someone behind.

The travel alone to runestone to runestone will take'em about 3 months of walking -total- (2 months if they manage to get horses and not counting the time they are going to spend in town, fighting, etc).

LANGUAGE

If anything, I'll have them stay for a week in a town when they arrive to this world and that way they would learn "common". xD

THE FIGHT

Long time ago, when the idea to have a PHB in my hands was a impossible dream, we played ... rol. Just played. We rol a dice, and the one bigger number won. If there was a tie, the character with more level won that hit. It was our first try to Do Rpgs.

But we AIMED. I have been DMing them for about 3 years and they cant stand not to aim parts of the body. But D&D doesnt have an aim system as we like to. Ex:

PC (with a greatsword): I go for the head. *rolls*
DM: You hit a critic! There is blood everywhere! he howls in pain and...
PC: Wait... is he STILL standing? I hit him in the head with *points attack* A GREATSWORD. How can he not be dead!?
DM: Well, you scored 12 hp damage, he still has 20 more to go.
PC: So, his head has more hit points than ME in my first level? His head is level 2?

Most of my players (5/7) really agree with this. They want to aim. So I made a table with percentages of probability for that area. Example:

Aiming head:

Attack roll + strength bonus + other mod (the normal stuff)
If it hits, then rol 1d100 and check the table for the head = 35%
If he gets lower or same as 35% he hits the head and draw those points from there...
If he gets more than 35% he hits a random area.
A part of the body with 0 hp becomes useless or to damage to move.

If all the head hp hits 0, subjest dies.
If the heart gets hit, the subject is automatically at 0 hp and droping. (normal dying rules here) ( LOL heart attack!! LOL )

THE MAGIC

The magic is an great issue for me now. I dont want to use the core spells... or slots.... I was thinking "If they are using the magic from earth itself... then its like the Lands/Mana in 'Magic: The Gathering'"

With this in mind, I came up with this:
The Wizard and the Sorcerer class are going to disapear to give place to the Mage class... and the spells will actually be the Magic Cards.

It would cast spell up to (int+cha/2)-10 of mana cost.
Every round they would add a Land for their "mana pool".
They can cast spells as long as they have Magic remaining.
When they use a spell/card, this wont be able until the next day, unless a) the type of spell is the type of land they are on (mountain, water, plains, etc) in which case would be allowed in use in half a day; b) they use a spell with "take a card from the graveyard" or something similar.

Colors will refer some kind of creatures... (you know, "destroy any non-black creature").

water/blue: water/flying creatures, chaotic, elementals, etc.
fire/red: Goblinoids, orcs, lawful, elementals, etc.
swamp/black: zombies, demons, evil, etc.
forest/green: Magical beast, feys, reptiles, insects, earth elementals.
plain/white: Good, celestials, air elementals, etc.
-Artifacts-: Constructs, equipment, etc.

I will personally check the cards from who want to play as mages. I will most likely leave them only enchaments, instants and sorcery cards. The creature cards will be "summons" and I will only allow as many as follow:

Level #Cards
1 6
2 8
3 9
4 12
5 13
6 16
7 18
8 21
9 23
10 26
11 28
12 31
13 33
14 36
15 38
16 41
17 43
18 46
19 48
20 50

The number of cards is the average of spells a day between the sorcerer and the wizard.

So... what else can I add up? Any ideas for subquests? Comments on the magic or aiming system?? I still have lots of time until I start this campaign.

THANKS!

BTW- Sorry for any grammar errors... English is not my main language.
DonThelonious
07-12-07, 03:54 AM Hi there!!! I think you were referencing one of my posts:
4th Wall Destruction, Player=PC (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=833309)
This sounds like a brilliant idea, except don't warn the players ahead of time!!! Just spring it on them. And as for the whole MTG magic system... well... looks like a cool idea and if your able to work out the kinks and make it balanced then let me know. I have at least one player who would just go nuts to be able to do this. Well, have fun with it, and looks like your group is in for a really good campaign.
soulnova
07-12-07, 10:30 AM Yes! I was refereing to that post! It helped me lot to come up with this!

This sounds like a brilliant idea, except don't warn the players ahead of time!!!

Well... I have only told them 3 things:

They need to bring everything they can use as weapons, Med Kits, etc. (One said if she could bring a spray and some matches... LOL).
Most of them have played Magic. We havent played in a long time but they still got all their cards. So I asked them to look for nice sorcery cards and effects.
Also, they wrote down the stats they think each other have. I made a spread sheet and got the avarage for each atribute for everyone. (I have a player with hihg int -15- but pretty low wis -8-... he lacks common sense... LOL)

Thanks a lot for you comment!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
soulnova 07-12-07, 02:52 AM	As you can see Im trying to do something special for my players in a couple of months. I was reading through the forums some time ago and I noticed a Thread about players being THE PCs. I loved the idea and started to think in a way I could implement it with my group. The main idea goes like this: About 30,000 to 20,000 years ago, there was a rip in the layers of the universe... and the Earth from another dimension was dragged into ANOTHER reality itself, along with other races (elves, dawrves, halflings, etc). After a while monsters started to appear due a mysterious fog wich came from the deeps of the Earth itself. This fog would eventually "magically mutate" normal animals into Magical Beast and globinoid races. The process was slow, but once transformed they could breed "normally". This fog is actually a remaining of consumed magic or raw energy, and elves were the first to realize that relationship because they were the main Magic users. Now I go for the tricky part. I already asked my players to prepare their gear... my boyfriend has a collection of swords, gotcha rifle and knifes. I told them to bring everything they could carry normally cus thats gonna be the equip they will have to start. In the first session Im going to give each one of them a necklace with a rune. Then I would say some kind of weird speech/spell and start describing they are drawn to a portal/rift. They gonna appear around central Spain (of course, they wont know that, I even have a topographic map already). This incident happen because that reality has become unstable. The amount of Magic Fog as gone nuts around some places and monsters are breeding like rabbits. Although the world is in the same time as we do, humans an other races dont have as much development as us. They have enough trying to keep monsters at bay. So they are gonna be like the usual Midleage Fantasy style. The players must find the reason of this suddenly amount of fog and try to stop it before this reality absorbs Our reality completly. The ancient elven and dwarven texts tell about one thousand of years of misery and chaos when the first "Fusion" happened. This is the deal. About 5,000 years ago, elves managed to stop the exit of this fog with the help of ancient runes through the lands more affected by it. Lots of brave souls were lost (humans, elves, etc). They placed this Runestone around all Europe (wich they actually exist) as a seal... but in the process, they dissapear to never hear of them again. The main runes, are the necklaces the players carry. The former adventurers were drawn into this world when the sealing was almost complete. They will need to go to each of this runestone an perform the ritual. This runestone serve also to replenish the earth own magic quickly. The second plot. The mist has been always there in low cuantities... the question is, Why did the emanations rates are so high now? OMG, MAGICAL GLOBAL WARMING! xD nah... well... not exactly. The villian of this story is going to be an awaken construct who believes living beings are...well... wrong; tempted by weakness and the like. So it starts his own "fabric" for the new dwellvers (aka, constructs, "robots", inevitables, etc). The magic needed is HUGE and he's using the Raw Magic of Earth itself. Thats why the mist is growing nuts. Well, thats what I have come so far. In a side note, when someone wont be able to play due homework, work or family, Im going to make them "jump" in time until they come again. This would be due the inestability of that universe... so they just pop into reality. Only they will be affected by this strange fenomenom (for beign "outsiders"); if they take off the necklace and dont come the next session...well... something funny will happen to them in the Limbo. xD They time wont pass for them while they do this, so I hope to take some "WTF" looks from them. LOL This wont happen if we end the session for that day, in which case everything would start "normally"..... They will feel the necklace emanate magic near the end of the session if they are still fighting or in a dangerous place, so they can go to a safer place ... This will be the Pop Warning, and I hope will add an "OMG" feeling from them. A missing player, will pop up where the most of the players are because the runes call to each other. Thanks to that I'll try not leaving someone behind. The travel alone to runestone to runestone will take'em about 3 months of walking -total- (2 months if they manage to get horses and not counting the time they are going to spend in town, fighting, etc). LANGUAGE If anything, I'll have them stay for a week in a town when they arrive to this world and that way they would learn "common". xD THE FIGHT Long time ago, when the idea to have a PHB in my hands was a impossible dream, we played ... rol. Just played. We rol a dice, and the one bigger number won. If there was a tie, the character with more level won that hit. It was our first try to Do Rpgs. But we AIMED. I have been DMing them for about 3 years and they cant stand not to aim parts of the body. But D&D doesnt have an aim system as we like to. Ex: PC (with a greatsword): I go for the head. rolls DM: You hit a critic! There is blood everywhere! he howls in pain and... PC: Wait... is he STILL standing? I hit him in the head with points attack A GREATSWORD. How can he not be dead!? DM: Well, you scored 12 hp damage, he still has 20 more to go. PC: So, his head has more hit points than ME in my first level? His head is level 2? Most of my players (5/7) really agree with this. They want to aim. So I made a table with percentages of probability for that area. Example: Aiming head: Attack roll + strength bonus + other mod (the normal stuff) If it hits, then rol 1d100 and check the table for the head = 35% If he gets lower or same as 35% he hits the head and draw those points from there... If he gets more than 35% he hits a random area. A part of the body with 0 hp becomes useless or to damage to move. If all the head hp hits 0, subjest dies. If the heart gets hit, the subject is automatically at 0 hp and droping. (normal dying rules here) ( LOL heart attack!! LOL ) THE MAGIC The magic is an great issue for me now. I dont want to use the core spells... or slots.... I was thinking "If they are using the magic from earth itself... then its like the Lands/Mana in 'Magic: The Gathering'" With this in mind, I came up with this: The Wizard and the Sorcerer class are going to disapear to give place to the Mage class... and the spells will actually be the Magic Cards. It would cast spell up to (int+cha/2)-10 of mana cost. Every round they would add a Land for their "mana pool". They can cast spells as long as they have Magic remaining. When they use a spell/card, this wont be able until the next day, unless a) the type of spell is the type of land they are on (mountain, water, plains, etc) in which case would be allowed in use in half a day; b) they use a spell with "take a card from the graveyard" or something similar. Colors will refer some kind of creatures... (you know, "destroy any non-black creature"). water/blue: water/flying creatures, chaotic, elementals, etc. fire/red: Goblinoids, orcs, lawful, elementals, etc. swamp/black: zombies, demons, evil, etc. forest/green: Magical beast, feys, reptiles, insects, earth elementals. plain/white: Good, celestials, air elementals, etc. -Artifacts-: Constructs, equipment, etc. I will personally check the cards from who want to play as mages. I will most likely leave them only enchaments, instants and sorcery cards. The creature cards will be "summons" and I will only allow as many as follow: Level #Cards 1 6 2 8 3 9 4 12 5 13 6 16 7 18 8 21 9 23 10 26 11 28 12 31 13 33 14 36 15 38 16 41 17 43 18 46 19 48 20 50 The number of cards is the average of spells a day between the sorcerer and the wizard. So... what else can I add up? Any ideas for subquests? Comments on the magic or aiming system?? I still have lots of time until I start this campaign. THANKS! BTW- Sorry for any grammar errors... English is not my main language.
DonThelonious 07-12-07, 03:54 AM	Hi there!!! I think you were referencing one of my posts: 4th Wall Destruction, Player=PC (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=833309) This sounds like a brilliant idea, except don't warn the players ahead of time!!! Just spring it on them. And as for the whole MTG magic system... well... looks like a cool idea and if your able to work out the kinks and make it balanced then let me know. I have at least one player who would just go nuts to be able to do this. Well, have fun with it, and looks like your group is in for a really good campaign.
soulnova 07-12-07, 10:30 AM	Yes! I was refereing to that post! It helped me lot to come up with this! This sounds like a brilliant idea, except don't warn the players ahead of time!!! Well... I have only told them 3 things: They need to bring everything they can use as weapons, Med Kits, etc. (One said if she could bring a spray and some matches... LOL). Most of them have played Magic. We havent played in a long time but they still got all their cards. So I asked them to look for nice sorcery cards and effects. Also, they wrote down the stats they think each other have. I made a spread sheet and got the avarage for each atribute for everyone. (I have a player with hihg int -15- but pretty low wis -8-... he lacks common sense... LOL) Thanks a lot for you comment!