Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Valyn81 Jun 22, 2015 20:19:02	So I am trying to make a campaign and have some rules/guidelines I need to present to the group but want to make sure it is not too harsh. Please let me know what you think. Pardon the grammar and spelling issues I know you will find
#2 Valyn81 Jun 22, 2015 21:00:44	Valemena (Val) slowly came to consciousness. The last thing she remembered was the walls of the temple crumbling around her, light so intense it was threating to burn the flesh from her bones and eyes for her head. She ran as fast as she could to escape, her companions close on her heels. But they could not run fasts enough, everything was consumed by the mind searing white light. The room was pitch-black and she could feel dust covered every inch of her. The white light was gone, and the pain in her head was slowly fading now. Slowly she checked her limb to see if she was all there. When she was confident she was whole, she called out to each of her companions by name. Slowly, they started to make groaning noises as their pounding heads took in the darkness. It would be several minutes before everyone was moving again. And several more before wizard was able to concentrate and call up a simple light spell allowing Val to move around bandaging and healing her companions when needed. All injuries had been minor, thankfully. They were in one of the outer hallways of the temple, now caved in on both sides. No more than 60 feet of tunnel remained. There was no way to tell how long they had been laying there; but, it could not have been long as the dust was still settling. The fighter, never one to let injuries get in the way, was the first to start looking for a way out. Eventually everyone was helping to find a way out. The bard was singing quietly as they tried to dig a way out, and was the one to notice cold air drifting in crumbling spot in the ceiling about 10 feet up. It took the better part of the next 3 hours to make a path up, moving stones, dirt, and snow to make a hole big enough for Val to squeeze through. As she emerged from the hole she glanced around. It was midday and they were on the edge of a steep ravine… The temple had not been near any kind of ravine! So what had happened? Where were they? She called back down to her companions, relaying the situation, she dropped a rope down and the fighter emerged in short order, followed by the Mage, Bard, and Scout. They all worked their way to the top of the ravine and glanced around. The ravine had almost sheer face walls on both sides, wandering to the left about 4 miles before ending in a box canyon and to the right for another 2 miles before ending in a Huge Stone and Iron wall. Huge Fire Pits burned in several areas atop the wall, giant mirrors slightly behind them reflecting the light down and across the Valley Floor. It was also then that they noticed that you could see for hundreds of miles in all direction the land rising so gradually that it seemed go on forever, only fading in to obscurity by sheer distance. They scanned the distance taking in the new world. This day was turning out to be far more than they had planned on. So, starts their Adventure of a life time. This world is unlike the one they knew before and there is no telling how long they will be here. Their goal, for now, is to find a way home; and while they are here they may as well enjoy themselves. Basic and Assumed Rules: This is World is based off the spell jammer books. But I will inevitably change thing to suit my needs. Since this world is a WIP, I will be making things up as we go. I will be making this a campaign that levels slow. Enjoy your characters abilities and unique gifts and truly see how powerful your character is. This is not a game of all Hack and Slash or power leveling. I want players to make your skills just as much a part of your character. Knowledge, Bluff, Intimidate, Swim, etc. This will not be a hold your hand campaign, Death is real and you will be asked to fight with brain and brawn. Expect them in return. Use your advantage over my mental skills to gain the advantage. XP will be granted for roleplaying your character well. So, RP is advised if you want to make magic items and not spend lots of time or money on special ingredients. Time will pass and you will age accordingly, so keep that in mind. You can steal from other players. But if they kill your character, do not cry. Also please keep it playful so we don’t upset anyone. (The first time greed becomes a part of play, all players will be required to keep track of their loot, and I will have my own running list as well. I trust you to keep each other honest, but, I must note the following details: Anyone found cheating or not tracking used spells per day, not tracking magic items charges, not applying meta-magic feats correctly, and not deducting gold at the time they say it is used; will be given a warnings. The exact number of warnings is not set. Please use the guidelines below as examples: First time warnings; No penalties Minor Repeat offences; A temporary de-buff on your character; Item will lose 1d4 charges, if it is times per day you will lose 1 time per day for the next adventure. Moderate repeat offences; An extended de-buff placed on your character; Item will lose 2d4 charges, if it is times per day you will lose 3 times per day for the next adventure. Major Repeat offences; A permanent de-buff will be applied; Item will be destroyed.   The following changes to your normal game play are noted below: You get to pick a character of 6th level or lower. And all the starting wealth of a character that level. Psionic magic will be used and available to all players. Variant rules apply to the different way it works for magic. To be covered at the time of game starting. No magic/psionic Weapons or Armor will be allowed above +2, or you may have one enchantment on your weapon of no more than +2 but in doing so you will be limited to a +1 weapon (This would be a +3 weapon equivalent, yes I trying to bribe you to use +1 weapons) No magic item by exceed 50% of your total starting wealth. All players must agree on a ‘Party Alignment’. This alignment will ensure that all current and new player adhere to its constraints. For example: A ‘Chaotic Good’ party will not be allowed any evil players. Any evil acts in a good party will be severally frowned upon. Evil acts will result in the party having other adventuring parties hired to kill them or cities will arrest/fine you. If you accept the evil alignment, then I will run the campaign accordingly. Players can die, and everything that goes with it. All players get one Divine saving grace every 5 levels. Divine Saving grace will place you character at -9 HP, stabilized, and protected by Resilient Sphere as cast by a 25th level wizard (DC 36 to dispel). I will allow crafting of magic items if you have the correct feats, you can use soul gems and other special components to offset the XP costs. Making an item for other players is allowed and if they are willing can supply their own XP for their items, they must remain with the crafter the entire time he is working on the item. One Free Gift will be given to players at campaign start. Gift Details: Gifted Feat:    Ignore all prerequisites of the feat of your choosing (Subject to review) Intelligent Item:    Vabrin’s Forge quest will take place as part of the storyline, as soon as possible. Exceptional Familiar/Animal Companion:     Added template or power for them, maybe something like the belt of monk but applies a bonus for Druid/Ranger level for animal companions. +2 Stat boot:     Can Be used on one stat or split as desired Immune to one Spell/Effect:    Subject to review; only one spell/effect (Ex: Fireball, Bodak Gaze attack, Rust monster touch, etc), not a type of effect (Ex: Fire damage, Death Effects, gaze attacks, etc) Self-Resurrect:    As the spell True Resurrection [Once per adventure], replaces your Divine Saving Grace. If you die a second time you have to be resurrected normally. Consume Soul:    Subject to review; upon killing an enemy, you can consume its soul. This grants you one of its abilities or effect for 1 round per Level/HD of the creature. You can only have one soul effect in place at any time.
#3 Qzoo Jun 22, 2015 22:31:18	Keep it concise.  Players can get overwhelmed, and you need to make it easy for them to understand the most important points, not every fine detail.   Use categories like, "campaign notes," "character creation," and, "gm'ing style."    Remove any unnecessary information.  "Time will pass and you will age accordingly."  Um, yeah.   Discuss as a group details like group alignment, and stealing from the party.  I find players either really enjoy it, or really hate it, and a mixed bunch of players will not bode well.  It's your job to keep the game fun for everyone, and that means not allowing players to make things less fun for others.  Know your group, and don't just expect everyone to be okay with PvP behavior.  Failure to do this will only cause trouble for your game later.   That whole section about punishments for cheating...delete it.  Simply say, "no cheating."  Telling them more just lets them know in advance how far they can go.  I don't even think it needs to be said at all, unless you're dealing with kids.
#4 Fake-Healer Jun 22, 2015 22:52:48	"Divine Saving grace will place you character at -9 HP, stabilized, and protected by Resilient Sphere as cast by a 25th level wizard (DC 36 to dispel)."   There is no -9 hp in 5E....if you are hit by anything that would drop you to below 0, you ignore extra damage below 0 and just stop at 0hp.   Other than that what Qzoo said is all good stuff. I also detest giving out awards for Roleplay. Some people just aren't good at it but are still good players, punishing someone who plays well but isn't much of an actor while in turn award the people with a natural actor in them but may not be as good of a player is bad form IMO, but that is up to you.
#5 BoldItalic Jun 22, 2015 23:59:43	This doesn't appear to be a 5e game. What edition are you playing? You need to tell the players !   The intro story seems to spotlight just one character. That's fine for the player playing that character but less so for the other players. It might be better to start with the situation "you are in strange land next to a hole in the ground." and ask the players to explain how they got there. Let them create their backstories - they will be more connected to their characters that way.
(Reply to #5) Valyn81	BoldItalic wrote:
#7 BoldItalic Jun 24, 2015 0:40:32	Valyn81 wrote:
#8 Imaculata Jun 24, 2015 2:19:58	If you are worried about cheating, then just occasionally double check what your players are writing on their sheets. Don't be afraid to ask for their sheet during play. I do that all the time. You don't need to make a rule out of it. It should be assumed that cheating is not allowed. If you need to spell that out to your players, then get rid of those players, or constantly check what they do.
#9 iserith Jun 24, 2015 5:56:33	Valyn81 wrote:
#10 Weezel Jun 24, 2015 7:42:49	One quick note on the "Divine saving grace".  You can just give the party items that allow raising the dead at appropriate times, it cuts out an extra house rule and achieves the same goal of preventing the character death.  Getting their hands on a powerful healing or ressurection item early on is also a good signal to the players that things are going to be tough!