Homebrew campaign options help needed [Archive] - Wizards Community

Homebrew campaign options help needed [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
SmiloDan
06-23-07, 02:58 PM We're playing a Gestalt campaign set in the world of Magnamund, from the Lone Wolf series.

The choices for race are dwarf, human, halfling, and Shianti (half-elf).

The choices for class are Bard, Cleric, Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, Scout, Swashbuckler, Wizard.

We're using the BAR method of stat generation.

I just got done playing a human Bard//Cleric. The rest of the party is a human Fighter//Scout, human Fighter//Rogue, and a human Swashbuckler//Rogue. The human Swashbuckler//Rogue is going to be retired to be a human Fighter//Rogue.

I'm considering a halfling Cleric//Ranger who does mounted archery from a riding dog. I'd really like to play a Fighter//Scout Legolas build, but I play a Scout in our other game. (We alternate DMs every other month.) I wouldn't mind trying Ranger//Fighter archer, but then we have no cleric and we really need one. It's a low magic campaign, so we can't buy anything. Also, we have no money to buy anything cause we never found any treasure from levels 1-5.

Does this campaign seem like it has enough options going for it? I don't like wizards because I hate the idea of losing my spellbook, paying to know spells, and running out of spells and having no other class features to fall back on besides using my Int to say we should rest. The DM plays up the cultures so much that you don't want to be a minority race or religion or sex or else you can't do anything because you're shunned by the NPCs.

The DM is pretty adamant about not changing anything in his campaign. He even has a long list of banned and allowed feats, spells, PrCs, etc., which is actually kind of confusing because you're never sure what's allowed, or you come up with a cool idea and find it is banned. It almost seems like he took all the interesting options out for some reason.

I always thought a Gestalt campaign would be really fun because you could try out all sorts of weird combinations, but that hasn't been the case.

Can anyone think of a cool Gestalt build that isn't a variation of Fighter//Rogue or Fighter//Scout?
Comus
06-23-07, 03:20 PM It's a low magic campaign, so we can't buy anything. Also, we have no money to buy anything cause we never found any treasure from levels 1-5.
Low-magic campaigns tend to be hallmarks of the Bad DM. And no treasure? I don't like the sound of this.
The DM plays up the cultures so much that you don't want to be a minority race or religion or sex or else you can't do anything because you're shunned by the NPCs.
Oh no. Not one of these. I hate it when DMs do this kind of thing. Sure, monstrous PCs should encounter a little racism... but women? The PHB has four corners. Use each of them in turn.
He even has a long list of banned and allowed feats, spells, PrCs, etc., which is actually kind of confusing because you're never sure what's allowed, or you come up with a cool idea and find it is banned. It almost seems like he took all the interesting options out for some reason.
And a long banned list. Great.

You know what I'd play? I'd play Finda//NewDM.

But, if you're determined to press through on this, Cleric is always a good Gestalt half. Ranger works fine for the other half, bringing skills and full BAB.
SmiloDan
06-23-07, 03:41 PM The thing is, the group alternates DMs every other month, and the other DM is really good. But the low-magic DM likes to write stories and use the PCs as HIS characters, so he often limits our options.

Even the sexism thing wouldn't be a problem, except we have 1 female player, and he doesn't allow cross-gendered roleplaying, so he's basically forcing her to be discriminated against. I know she finds it frustrating, because it basically prevents her from interacting with 80% of the NPCs.

At level 2, we got hired to protect a silver mine for "a share" of the profits. Well, raiders kept stealing the profits, and then while we were getting a share of the profit, other partners were getting hundreds or thousands of shares, so it wasn't really fair anyways. And we were stuck in a mining village from levels 2-5, and we had to solve a bunch of mysteries even though none of us had any ranks in Gather Information, etc. etc. I had ranks in Diplomacy, but he roleplayed it, so if me the player screwed up, my character suffered. So I finally got a chance to dump that character, and now I gotta take a 1 level penalty for it.

I've even offered to DM some sessions, but the rest of the group wants to finish off that campaign first for some reason.

I've even offered to skip the sessions of the Gestalt DM and just play in the regular DM's game, but that was shut down as me being churlish.

Heck, one guy got married and missed a couple sessions with the wedding and honeymoon, and his character got kidnapped and had all his gear taken. So the character suffered for something that should have been a good thing for the player (getting married). Then the DM took almost a whole session for that PC to be found so we could rescue him. So basically, the player missed a couple games and was really looking forward to playing again, and just got to sit there and watch us play for a session. It must have been really frustrating. Also, my PC got knocked down to negatives in the first 5 minutes of the session, stablized, and was dragged around as luggage for 3 more fights. I was the only healer, and no potions had ever been given out or made available to us. I almost quit then. I don't play D&D to watch others play; I play to play myself. The other PCs even went to a secure location to heal up, and it got invaded--TWICE!

OK, now I'm just venting, but it's been a very frustrating campaign.
Comus
06-23-07, 06:51 PM I really think you should find a new game. Tell them you're not having fun, tell them why, and then let them know you'd rather spend time reading books than having a bad time. Hell, take the female gamer and run a solo campaign with her. I bet she'd rather do that, too.

You are not obligated to have a bad time just because your friends do.
SmiloDan
06-23-07, 07:38 PM The thing is, I really like the other DM's game. I offered to only play every-other month, but they didn't really go for that.

The female gamer kind of likes being miserable, so whatever.

At least it's not my only gaming group. But I mostly DM for the other one, and I really like playing too. :P
Comus
06-23-07, 08:01 PM You know what you should do? If you can't have much in-game fun, have metagame fun. Be silly in-game. Do stupid things. You know all those crazy things that you thought about doing that you knew would never work, or were stupid? Do them! You've got a throwaway character, treat it like one and go out with a bang! Instead of following plot hooks and letting the DM tell his story, work against it.

Normally I do not suggest playing against the DM, note, but in this case I think it's valid. You don't want to be there, but you're stuck. So have fun with the game if you can't have fun in it.
SmiloDan
06-23-07, 08:16 PM He wouldn't allow that because it would be "out of character."

Like he knows what my character would do?!?!?!?!

I thought about making a jester character....maybe I should look into that again.

Bard//Scout maybe? Bard//Rogue?

But I don't want to be a dickwad. But the DM should also listen to player input, right?

A campaign is supposed to be a shared creation, not the sole property of the tyrant of the tabletop.
Qwicksilver
06-23-07, 08:32 PM The female gamer kind of likes being miserable, so whatever.

I'd first like to note that that's a bit messed up, no one should just accept being miserable.

That was a side thing, the real thing is that you've got one great dm and one not-so-great dm, and they don't want to part for some reason. First ask yourself why? Second, ask your fellow players if they feel the same way, and it seems like they probably do from how you describe your campaign. If you're all in agreement, try and figure out the right course of action that you would all like to take. Maybe you should ask the DMs to play the good DM's campaign only. Maybe you'd all like to leave. Maybe you should talk to the DM that you're having problems with. If you can't come to a consensus, you're stuck alone, but it doesn't hurt to try and get the backing of your fellow players.

Refer your DM to the numerous passages in the DMG that talk about protection against railroading, and proper reasons for changing the rules. Sorry, I don't know the exact pages off hand. Discuss with him how you as players deserve equal input into the direction of the game, and the game is not a dictatorship. If your DM refuses to listen to reason, do what all oppressed people do under dictatorship; revolt. And, as someone above said, the PHB has 4 corners, be sure to use each one of them.
Dragonsblood
06-24-07, 05:01 AM The thing is, I really like the other DM's game. I offered to only play every-other month, but they didn't really go for that.

The female gamer kind of likes being miserable, so whatever.

At least it's not my only gaming group. But I mostly DM for the other one, and I really like playing too. :P

Did you make this thread for advice or for sympathy/attention? I don't understand these replies and I see them in posts all the time. Don't post here if you're going to reject good advice because it's not what you want to hear.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
SmiloDan 06-23-07, 02:58 PM	We're playing a Gestalt campaign set in the world of Magnamund, from the Lone Wolf series. The choices for race are dwarf, human, halfling, and Shianti (half-elf). The choices for class are Bard, Cleric, Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, Scout, Swashbuckler, Wizard. We're using the BAR method of stat generation. I just got done playing a human Bard//Cleric. The rest of the party is a human Fighter//Scout, human Fighter//Rogue, and a human Swashbuckler//Rogue. The human Swashbuckler//Rogue is going to be retired to be a human Fighter//Rogue. I'm considering a halfling Cleric//Ranger who does mounted archery from a riding dog. I'd really like to play a Fighter//Scout Legolas build, but I play a Scout in our other game. (We alternate DMs every other month.) I wouldn't mind trying Ranger//Fighter archer, but then we have no cleric and we really need one. It's a low magic campaign, so we can't buy anything. Also, we have no money to buy anything cause we never found any treasure from levels 1-5. Does this campaign seem like it has enough options going for it? I don't like wizards because I hate the idea of losing my spellbook, paying to know spells, and running out of spells and having no other class features to fall back on besides using my Int to say we should rest. The DM plays up the cultures so much that you don't want to be a minority race or religion or sex or else you can't do anything because you're shunned by the NPCs. The DM is pretty adamant about not changing anything in his campaign. He even has a long list of banned and allowed feats, spells, PrCs, etc., which is actually kind of confusing because you're never sure what's allowed, or you come up with a cool idea and find it is banned. It almost seems like he took all the interesting options out for some reason. I always thought a Gestalt campaign would be really fun because you could try out all sorts of weird combinations, but that hasn't been the case. Can anyone think of a cool Gestalt build that isn't a variation of Fighter//Rogue or Fighter//Scout?
Comus 06-23-07, 03:20 PM	It's a low magic campaign, so we can't buy anything. Also, we have no money to buy anything cause we never found any treasure from levels 1-5. Low-magic campaigns tend to be hallmarks of the Bad DM. And no treasure? I don't like the sound of this. The DM plays up the cultures so much that you don't want to be a minority race or religion or sex or else you can't do anything because you're shunned by the NPCs. Oh no. Not one of these. I hate it when DMs do this kind of thing. Sure, monstrous PCs should encounter a little racism... but women? The PHB has four corners. Use each of them in turn. He even has a long list of banned and allowed feats, spells, PrCs, etc., which is actually kind of confusing because you're never sure what's allowed, or you come up with a cool idea and find it is banned. It almost seems like he took all the interesting options out for some reason. And a long banned list. Great. You know what I'd play? I'd play Finda//NewDM. But, if you're determined to press through on this, Cleric is always a good Gestalt half. Ranger works fine for the other half, bringing skills and full BAB.
SmiloDan 06-23-07, 03:41 PM	The thing is, the group alternates DMs every other month, and the other DM is really good. But the low-magic DM likes to write stories and use the PCs as HIS characters, so he often limits our options. Even the sexism thing wouldn't be a problem, except we have 1 female player, and he doesn't allow cross-gendered roleplaying, so he's basically forcing her to be discriminated against. I know she finds it frustrating, because it basically prevents her from interacting with 80% of the NPCs. At level 2, we got hired to protect a silver mine for "a share" of the profits. Well, raiders kept stealing the profits, and then while we were getting a share of the profit, other partners were getting hundreds or thousands of shares, so it wasn't really fair anyways. And we were stuck in a mining village from levels 2-5, and we had to solve a bunch of mysteries even though none of us had any ranks in Gather Information, etc. etc. I had ranks in Diplomacy, but he roleplayed it, so if me the player screwed up, my character suffered. So I finally got a chance to dump that character, and now I gotta take a 1 level penalty for it. I've even offered to DM some sessions, but the rest of the group wants to finish off that campaign first for some reason. I've even offered to skip the sessions of the Gestalt DM and just play in the regular DM's game, but that was shut down as me being churlish. Heck, one guy got married and missed a couple sessions with the wedding and honeymoon, and his character got kidnapped and had all his gear taken. So the character suffered for something that should have been a good thing for the player (getting married). Then the DM took almost a whole session for that PC to be found so we could rescue him. So basically, the player missed a couple games and was really looking forward to playing again, and just got to sit there and watch us play for a session. It must have been really frustrating. Also, my PC got knocked down to negatives in the first 5 minutes of the session, stablized, and was dragged around as luggage for 3 more fights. I was the only healer, and no potions had ever been given out or made available to us. I almost quit then. I don't play D&D to watch others play; I play to play myself. The other PCs even went to a secure location to heal up, and it got invaded--TWICE! OK, now I'm just venting, but it's been a very frustrating campaign.
Comus 06-23-07, 06:51 PM	I really think you should find a new game. Tell them you're not having fun, tell them why, and then let them know you'd rather spend time reading books than having a bad time. Hell, take the female gamer and run a solo campaign with her. I bet she'd rather do that, too. You are not obligated to have a bad time just because your friends do.
SmiloDan 06-23-07, 07:38 PM	The thing is, I really like the other DM's game. I offered to only play every-other month, but they didn't really go for that. The female gamer kind of likes being miserable, so whatever. At least it's not my only gaming group. But I mostly DM for the other one, and I really like playing too. :P
Comus 06-23-07, 08:01 PM	You know what you should do? If you can't have much in-game fun, have metagame fun. Be silly in-game. Do stupid things. You know all those crazy things that you thought about doing that you knew would never work, or were stupid? Do them! You've got a throwaway character, treat it like one and go out with a bang! Instead of following plot hooks and letting the DM tell his story, work against it. Normally I do not suggest playing against the DM, note, but in this case I think it's valid. You don't want to be there, but you're stuck. So have fun with the game if you can't have fun in it.
SmiloDan 06-23-07, 08:16 PM	He wouldn't allow that because it would be "out of character." Like he knows what my character would do?!?!?!?! I thought about making a jester character....maybe I should look into that again. Bard//Scout maybe? Bard//Rogue? But I don't want to be a dickwad. But the DM should also listen to player input, right? A campaign is supposed to be a shared creation, not the sole property of the tyrant of the tabletop.
Qwicksilver 06-23-07, 08:32 PM	The female gamer kind of likes being miserable, so whatever. I'd first like to note that that's a bit messed up, no one should just accept being miserable. That was a side thing, the real thing is that you've got one great dm and one not-so-great dm, and they don't want to part for some reason. First ask yourself why? Second, ask your fellow players if they feel the same way, and it seems like they probably do from how you describe your campaign. If you're all in agreement, try and figure out the right course of action that you would all like to take. Maybe you should ask the DMs to play the good DM's campaign only. Maybe you'd all like to leave. Maybe you should talk to the DM that you're having problems with. If you can't come to a consensus, you're stuck alone, but it doesn't hurt to try and get the backing of your fellow players. Refer your DM to the numerous passages in the DMG that talk about protection against railroading, and proper reasons for changing the rules. Sorry, I don't know the exact pages off hand. Discuss with him how you as players deserve equal input into the direction of the game, and the game is not a dictatorship. If your DM refuses to listen to reason, do what all oppressed people do under dictatorship; revolt. And, as someone above said, the PHB has 4 corners, be sure to use each one of them.
Dragonsblood 06-24-07, 05:01 AM	The thing is, I really like the other DM's game. I offered to only play every-other month, but they didn't really go for that. The female gamer kind of likes being miserable, so whatever. At least it's not my only gaming group. But I mostly DM for the other one, and I really like playing too. :P Did you make this thread for advice or for sympathy/attention? I don't understand these replies and I see them in posts all the time. Don't post here if you're going to reject good advice because it's not what you want to hear.