Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 dementedwombat May 11, 2009 22:36:22	Hi, I'm DM for a group of new players. I've looked over the rules some but I don't have too much experience. I've got five players and we've worked up some characters together. They should be simple enough to play and do the job reasonably well. I have to say my favorite is the Eledrin rogue. He wants to be a sort of "dashing scoundrel" who fights in the Florentine style (sword in one hand, dagger in the other). Next post will describe the campaign they will be going through. party Dragonborn Warlord Build: Inspiring Warlord Commanding Presence: Inspiring Presence FINAL ABILITY SCORES Str 18, Con 14, Dex 8, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 16. Starting Ability Scores Str 16, Con 14, Dex 8, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 14. AC: 17 Fort: 15 Reflex: 12 Will: 14 HP: 26 Surges: 9 Surge Value: 8 TRAINED SKILLS Heal, History, Diplomacy, Intimidate. FEATS 1: Inspired Recovery POWERS 1, At-Will: Furious Smash 1, At-Will: Viper's Strike 1, Encounter: Hammer and Anvil 1, Daily: Bastion of Defense ITEMS Adventurer's Kit, Chainmail, Broadsword, Light Shield
#2 dementedwombat May 11, 2009 22:37:35	The world: This setting is an adaptation of Spelljammer (D&D in spaaace). I changed some things about the history and also altered the ship design somewhat. The twist comes that I didn't tell my players we're playing Spelljammer. They think they're playing vanilla D&D. At the conclusion of their first adventure they will come upon a crater that contains the crashed hull of a spelljammer. The plot will revolve around the PCs finding parts to fix the ship. Hopefully heroic tier will end with the players triumphantly lifting off in their new ride, only to discover their ship is the assault fighter for the most hated group of pirates in the universe. But enough of that, all the players know is that there have been strange lights seen in the sky lately and the public are becoming restless. They are an elite squad appointed with keeping order on behalf of the king. Their first assignment is to investigate a town that has broken contact with the kingdom. The players discover that the town is being tormented by Kobold raids and the people are afraid to go outside. The players will track a raiding party back to their lair and do what comes natural. A catch comes when they discover a room full of Kobold women and children. If they bother to talk to them, they discover the women are mistreated and just want to leave. This opens up an additional skill challenge to convince the townspeople to let the noncombatants live with them (if successful count it as a minor quest). It's at the end of this adventure the party discover the crashed Spelljammer. Its Aether drive has sprung a leak and raw Aether (a silvery fluid halfway between whatever that crazy magic item extract is called and classic spelljammer phlogiston) is leaking out. This has a powerful mutating effect and leads to a fancy boss battle with a mutated dire rat. In order to fix the spelljammer (once they figure out what it is), the party must restore the broken parts. These parts are: 1. hull, 2. Gravity generator, 3. Weapons, 4. Air bubble, and 5. Engines. Each of these parts will be a full on quest that takes them to an exotic location such as a swamp guarded by insane evil druids (to get darkwood and patch the hull) all the way to traveling to the pole of the planet and facing what amounts to an "Aether golem" (to secure fuel for the Aether drive). Well, what do you think?
#3 drakewurrum May 11, 2009 22:43:11	I like it just because it breaks the standard meme of a fantasy setting, without having to rework the names and functions of every class. A rather creative way to run a campaign and stick the adventurers into a completely unheard-of (insofar as the characters themselves are concerned, what with knowing nothing of space travel) situation. It may make it somewhat difficult to include a character's personal backstory into the campaign, but you don't always need to do that, and you appear to keep the characters mostly in territory they would already know: swords and magic and crossbows. Pitting them into too much space combat would require more suspension of disbelief than players would often be comfortable with. I wonder if the players will decide they have no idea how to fire lasers, or manage to figure it out through trial-and-error (without setting off the self-destruct - oops).
#4 exposed_wires May 12, 2009 2:58:06	I think you have the makings of awesome.
#5 CaptnMorgrim May 12, 2009 4:10:24	Arrr, shiver me timbers, in space! That 's a fine introduction into the Spelljammer genre. But mark me words, yer PCs need to 'ave a clue where the paragon tier will take 'em. If they aren't too comfortable with a magic spaceship, you could use the 'jammer as a flying vessel and have them discover its spaceworthiness by accident. Regarding your campaign start, here are some suggestions to make the Kobold scenario even more memorable: As the 2nd adventure of my 3.5 campaign, I ran a similar adventure with Kobolds being the main villains, but I played them as underhanded as possible, using their trapmastery and stealth to great effect. The town - small, but with a big library and a baron keen on technological improvements - they besieged didn't even know it was the Kobolds but thought that some supernatural string of disasters (lots of fire, sickness, lots of accidents) had befallen them. Enter the PCs who had a run-in with the more creepy supernatural in their first adventure to investigate. All in all, it was great fun with the PCs trying to solve the mystery, undercover the Kobolds' plan and counter their various attacks. There were Kobolds in the surrounding woods and the local mine, their allied Troglodytes in the Town's water reservoir, and of course, using the sewers of the Town to pass unseen. But the main reason for the Kobolds to attack the town was that they were trying to gain control of a portal to the Negative Engery Plane in a nearby ruined village. If you want you could tie the Kobold's attacks to the crashed plane... trying to find a cure for the mutations that befell them or the sickness that ravages their noncombatants.
#6 Seeker95 May 12, 2009 7:14:04	Sounds like a plan. A suggestion... do NOT use the word "spelljammer" anywhere in your campaign communication. That word carries lots of baggage (not necessarily bad baggage) that will instantly color the rest of your campaign as soon as that word is introduced. Keep the campaign "yours", unhijacked by what the players think they know.
#7 atomicdragon May 12, 2009 7:59:37	I like it. You just need to make sure the PCs have a reason to try and repair the ship, and figure out how they know what needs to be done. Perhaps a survivor of the crash doses them with an exotic poison which he has the antidote to. After the ship is repaired, he refuses to hand it over, monologues about his plans for 'this pathetic dirtball world', and battle commences.
#8 exposed_wires May 12, 2009 10:35:06	I like it. You just need to make sure the PCs have a reason to try and repair the ship, and figure out how they know what needs to be done. Perhaps a survivor of the crash doses them with an exotic poison which he has the antidote to. After the ship is repaired, he refuses to hand it over, monologues about his plans for 'this pathetic dirtball world', and battle commences. You should be careful with that plan too, because once it seems hostile, the player's goals may not be to go along with the bad guy's plan and they might just kill the guy and loot the ship and be done with it. It might be better (but I don't know your players, OP) to have them find a piece on the way to this crash site and put it back on themselves hearing a hum and a sputter. Maybe activating some kind of confusing map, but nothing else. They might just totally walk away from that, but at least if they continue with the building, it will be out of curiosity and wonder rather than fear and spite.
#9 drakewurrum May 12, 2009 11:52:36	I like it. You just need to make sure the PCs have a reason to try and repair the ship, and figure out how they know what needs to be done. Perhaps a survivor of the crash doses them with an exotic poison which he has the antidote to. After the ship is repaired, he refuses to hand it over, monologues about his plans for 'this pathetic dirtball world', and battle commences. That is truly the only trouble you may run into. Don't rely on the Wizard's natural intellectual curiosity. ;)
#10 dementedwombat May 12, 2009 17:47:13	I do plan on emphasising the Kobold's trapmastery. One idea I have is an open pit trap with a covered pit trap right behind it. Some Kobold slingers will heckle the PC's from behind the pit and then run when they get close. If the characters pursue the slingers they will fall into the covered pit trap where a dire rat or two will be waiting. I'd say I was evil but I'm allowing them a passive perception check to notice the second pit. The Kobold's presence will be related to the crashed ship. Ever curious, they are abducting some villagers and performing "experiments' on them with the Aether from the ship. The leader of the clan has even experimented on himself a little, driving him completely insane but increasing his strength and endurance several times (call him a "mini-boss"). As to not mentioning Spelljammer, my players haven't been into RPGs long enough to be familiar with the baggage it carries. Despite that, I do think I'll reframe from using it for the sake of my sanity. The phrase "Wooly Rupert" has been haunting my dreams lately :D . I like the idea of finding a piece of the ship better than introducing an evil NPC. Nothing against the idea, but I don't trust my players enough not to kill a shady character, but their rabid curiosity will ensure that they put any broken piece back into its original place. Maybe some kind of map projector that interfaces with the ship's navigation system and makes a nice big hologram of a spinning planet. Another way to prod them on the right path would be if one of them sat at the Spelljamming helm. The character in question suddenly becomes one with the critically damaged ship. Something along the lines of "make an endurance check or loose a healing surge", accompanied by a clear revelation of what's wrong with the ship. Hopefully that combined with the map projector will convince them the ship is valuable and should be fixed. On another matter entirely, does anyone have any suggestions on how to get new players into the role playing aspect of D&D? Suddenly expecting them to act like their character could raise the "Nerd Factor" that I've been managing to keep down. Does it just come naturally once everyone starts playing or is there anything I can do to help it along a little?
#11 exposed_wires May 12, 2009 18:17:55	On another matter entirely, does anyone have any suggestions on how to get new players into the role playing aspect of D&D? Suddenly expecting them to act like their character could raise the "Nerd Factor" that I've been managing to keep down. Does it just come naturally once everyone starts playing or is there anything I can do to help it along a little? I let it come naturally. It usually starts off pretty silly with lots of characters stealing everything they can and being outright abusive to most NPCs but that starts to taper off pretty quick. Just ask them lots of stuff about their characters. That's always worked for me. The more they flesh out the character in their head, the more aware of the character they're playing, they are. You also have a lot of power in the tone you set. I've been really soft on my players. They've started to act like crime lords. The only time they're ever been concerned with safety is when it's some random NPC they think is funny. They're never worried about themselves and now have this ego that makes them play with reckless abandon. That's my fault. I'm going to take one of the characters' eyes. Maybe kill somebody. I dunno. At least I got them roleplaying.
#12 drakewurrum May 12, 2009 18:42:17	I do plan on emphasising the Kobold's trapmastery. One idea I have is an open pit trap with a covered pit trap right behind it. Some Kobold slingers will heckle the PC's from behind the pit and then run when they get close. If the characters pursue the slingers they will fall into the covered pit trap where a dire rat or two will be waiting. I'd say I was evil but I'm allowing them a passive perception check to notice the second pit. The Kobold's presence will be related to the crashed ship. Ever curious, they are abducting some villagers and performing "experiments' on them with the Aether from the ship. The leader of the clan has even experimented on himself a little, driving him completely insane but increasing his strength and endurance several times (call him a "mini-boss"). As to not mentioning Spelljammer, my players haven't been into RPGs long enough to be familiar with the baggage it carries. Despite that, I do think I'll reframe from using it for the sake of my sanity. The phrase "Wooly Rupert" has been haunting my dreams lately :D . I like the idea of finding a piece of the ship better than introducing an evil NPC. Nothing against the idea, but I don't trust my players enough not to kill a shady character, but their rabid curiosity will ensure that they put any broken piece back into its original place. Maybe some kind of map projector that interfaces with the ship's navigation system and makes a nice big hologram of a spinning planet. Another way to prod them on the right path would be if one of them sat at the Spelljamming helm. The character in question suddenly becomes one with the critically damaged ship. Something along the lines of "make an endurance check or loose a healing surge", accompanied by a clear revelation of what's wrong with the ship. Hopefully that combined with the map projector will convince them the ship is valuable and should be fixed. On another matter entirely, does anyone have any suggestions on how to get new players into the role playing aspect of D&D? Suddenly expecting them to act like their character could raise the "Nerd Factor" that I've been managing to keep down. Does it just come naturally once everyone starts playing or is there anything I can do to help it along a little? I can't really help ya too much there. I kinda just naturally started roleplaying on my own, but I was freeform roleplaying before I found D&D. Too many of my friends prefer to approach things with a less-than-serious demeanor, so I usually take a hands-off approach to directing them to roleplay, and just hope they'll pick it up from my own gaming style. I started playing a new 3.5e campaign earlier this month, not as the DM, with half the group being new players...and one of the guys ended up being a pyromaniac ranger. I don't think he intended for anything in particular. He just wanted to play a ranger, and for some reason he is enjoying burning things. He tried setting a gnome on fire when he was imprisoned in a jail cell, rather than trying to either put out the fire or escape...
#13 dementedwombat May 14, 2009 19:59:07	No suggestions? I'm getting views so I know you're out there.