Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Endarire Jan 11, 2009 19:36:24	Points to Critique 1: What other changes do you believe would be prudent or necessary for this game to run smoothly? 2: Where can I find adventure inspiration for this group? (Suggestions, pweath!) House Rules & Setting Notes Starting Out -Any source material from WotC or my homebrew cache is allowed, pending my ruling. Typically, we'll use the most recent errata. -No infinite or nearly infinite loops: They just kill the game. -We use a 30 point buy. starting at ECL1. You have 200 gold to spend wisely. -Magic-psionic transparency is active. Knowledge (psionics) is still a separate skill. (Spellcraft and Psicraft are interchangeable, caster level = manifester level, etc.) -As this is a low-magic, low-psionic world, I encourage someone in the party to take item creation feats. Magic Item Creation -All magic items have a crafting time of 1 day per 1000 gold of the crafting price. For example, a Headband of INT +2 has a market price of 4000 gold, a craft price of 2000 gold, and requires 2 days to craft. -Item creation feats are thus: Craft Contingent Spell (requires caster level 11), Craft Magic Item (requires caster level 1), and the Artisan feats. You still need the appropriate spells, caster level, gold, and XP to craft magic items. -Artisan Feats: Exceptional (-25% craft time for all items), Extraordinary (-25% gold cost for all items), Legendary (-25% XP cost for all items), and Magic (-25% craft time, gold cost, and XP drain for Craft Contingent Spell or Craft Magic Item. Artisan feats stack multiplicatively, meaning Exceptional Artisan and Magic.Artisan (Craft Magic Item) reduces magic item creation cost to 56.25% of its normal craft price. -Wizards are initially only able to craft magic scrolls. Artificers gain magic item creation abilities as normal.. -Should anyone get close enough to epic level to warrant it, Craft Epic Magic Item will also be available. -There are no magic item slot affinities. (I like the thought of boots boosting my INT and Blizzard does too.) Class Changes -Wizards, Sorcerers, and Psions get 4 base skill points per level and may choose 2 skills to always be class skills. -Artificers can choose to craft magic scrolls as arcane, divine, or neither. This overwrites official errata. -All Conjuration (Healing) spells from the cleric base list are added to the Wizard list as arcane Necromancy (Healing) spells of equal level. Some healy-like spells from other schools, such as delay death (Spell Compendium 63) are also available. -Likewise, all inflict spells are added to the Sor/Wiz list as arcane Necromancy spells. Specialist Necromancers can automatically convert spells into cure or inflict spells like a typical cleric can. (This is for the group's sanity. I don't want everyone needing to spend weeks to rest between fights, especially with everyone as d4s, nor do I want PC-created undead to be an undue liability.) -Sorcerers will be significantly modified to make them closer in power to Wizards. Faster-than-normal Sorcerer progression options such as Loredrake or Greater Draconic Rite of Passage will be toned down or eliminated. -Multiclassing is allowed, but starting a radically different class- like taking Barbarian at level 2- will require a significant amount of in-game training time. For story reasons, divine casters are highly discouraged. There is no multiclass experience penalty. -Certain classes aren't initially available because they're nonsensical. For now the list is: Mage of the Arcane Order (Complete Arcane 48). Feat Changes -Leadership is allowed, but we'll discuss details about your cohort before you take the feat. In short, the cohort's stats must be sensical. Why all Wizards? Wizards are my favorite class since they're physically weak but tactically strong. Built correctly, they are one of the most powerful classes. One of their primary weaknesses of a small number of spell slots at low levels is partially covered because there are so many Wizards in the party. Low HP and Fortitude saves make adventuring exciting and dangerous. Logically, in my opinion, Wizards should rule the world. After all, they have the desire if not the power. (Maybe it's the other way around.) Careful what you Ban! Each school should be usable by someone in the group. If you specialize, take these notes to heart: Buffs, site protections, and dispel magic are typically abjurations. While not every Wizard secures a base, every Wizard insufficiently protected has perished or worse. Heavily fortified opponents pose more trouble to you and their protections may be your downfall. Be careful about dropping Abjuration. Summons, teleporation, crowd control, some direct damage, and even some buffs are conjurations. A Conjurer would be expected to summon creatures and manipulate terrain to favor his allies, such as via summon monster, grease, solid fog, and benign transposition. Conjuration is debatably the most powerful school, tied with Tranmutation. Be very careful about dropping Conjuration. Knowledge is power in the form of preparation. Being able to remotely spy on enemies, identify items, assay resistance, and alter fortune are the favorite uses of divinations. Contrary to the core rules, you may drop Divination. Be careful about dropping it, however. Enchantment gets a bad rap as a small school with lots of redundanc as the vast majority of its spells are Mind-Affecting Will saves that offer Spell Resistance. This is true, but where there are low Will saves, there are mind slaves, or at least more helpful NPCs. Not every major civic figure will be strong of Will. (Dominate person and charm monster last for one day per level!) Be careful about dropping Enchantment. Initially at least, your damage is from your spells or physical weapons. You need not kill a foe to overcome its challenge, but there are times when being able to hurt things via magic missile, fireball, or scorching ray is helpful. Evocation offers the famous wall of force and the ever-helpful contingency and sonorous hum. Be careful about dropping Evocation. Illusions typically offer Will saves and Spell Resistance, but their power is proportionate to your imagination. Silent image can let you create illusionary creatures, walls, pits, spikes, and other dangers as well as make objects look less or more valuable. (A Shadowcraft Mage (Races of Stone 120) turns illusions into painful reality.) Mirror image is one of the best buffs for any Wizard, and blur and displacement help ensure your survival. Be careful about dropping Illusion. Normally, Necromancy is an obvious school to drop. In Allister, Necromancy is the school of life and death, meaning healers and would-be undead army commanders benefit greatly from cure, inflict, and reviving spells in this school. Specialist Necromancers can convert spells into cure or inflict spells as a typical cleric would. Necromancy also offers the most potent debuffs. Be careful about dropping Necromancy. Buffs and some painful, long-term status effects are the primary purview of transmutation spells. Time stop, polymorph, disintegrate, and flesh to stone are favorite transmutations. As a school, Transmutation is arguably the most powerful, tied with Conjuration. Be very careful about dropping Transmutation. Campaign Overview The campaign starts with a group of 4-6 ECL1s, preferably all wizards, sent through a portal from a magicopolis on their home plane to what they soon discover is a low-magic world. Hopefully they'll soon realize their chance to take over and mold society into a formidable fighting force, or take refuge in an obscure location. They'll probably come into contact with the organization controlling magic in this world. Casters and magic items exist, but they're typically low power and kept out of the general populace's view. Slowly or perhaps quickly, the group will draw attention to themselves. Perhaps planar invaders will come to this low-magic plane and try taking over. Perhaps the group will try protecting it. Perhaps the group will want to return home. In doing so, they may arrive to find the place as a warzone or a raided, deserted city. (I haven't decided on how time flows in their home plane.)
#2 NiteCyper Jan 11, 2009 20:02:34	Chapter 6: Arcane Adventures: One Hundred Adventure Ideas, P.138, Complete Mage. subsectionCparagraph3.5sub-paragraph1337gammasquadronalphattackforceGOGOGO!What?Woohoo!You'reallclearkid,nowlet'sblowthisthingandgohome!PEWPEWsplozn
#3 mdsummer Jan 11, 2009 21:15:30	The campaign starts with a group of 4-6 ECL1s, preferably all wizards, sent through a portal from a magicopolis on their home plane to what they soon discover is a low-magic world. Hopefully they'll soon realize their chance to take over and mold society into a formidable fighting force, or take refuge in an obscure location. My thoughts: - You may need to have some backstory as to why this world was not previously taken over by greater planar forces. - Maybe recommending players to pick up tertiary roles would be useful. Trapfinding spellcaster, gish and wizard with heal.
#4 Endarire Jan 11, 2009 22:54:32	An artificer or summoner makes an effective trap finder & disabler. I see your point about a gish, however. I have ideas on how this new plane would be sheltered from most hostile takeovers.
#5 Grumman Jan 11, 2009 23:22:43	An artificer or summoner makes an effective trap finder & disabler. I see your point about a gish, however. It would also serve to further distinguish between the different wizards. Say a Wizard/Spellthief/Unseen Seer as the "rogue", a gish as the "fighter", a Wizard/Bard/Ultimate Magus as the "cleric", and so on.
#6 NiteCyper Jan 12, 2009 1:05:50	Generally, I think of the skill-monkey-replacing-Wizard as the Nanotechnician (Nanobots), then I remember how broken the Nanotechnician is. One of the Rogue handbooks talked about taking Rogue at first level, then advancing in spell-casting fully for all the other levels to function as the party's trapfinder. Too bad the author didn't know about Planar Touchstone (Catalogues of Enlightenment [Kobold Domain]). For the roguesque Wizard (A.K.A. Ninja-Wizard), I recommend the 'Invisible Spell' (more broken than the following) and 'Deceptive Spell' (S-SA (spell-slot adjustment) +1) feats. Though, the Shadowcraft Mage COULD take levels in Earth Dreamer to float through... earth, it wouldn't be optimal. Dip Mindbender and get the Mindsight feat. There's some other roguish Shadowcraft Mage builds in the thread by NineInchNall. e.g. that beguiler one.
#7 winternacht Jan 12, 2009 1:48:06	The first levels will be hard survival training. Low spellcapacity and no meatshield in front of you. Want chances do they have to research spells in this low-magic enviroment?
#8 Grumman Jan 12, 2009 1:58:13	The first levels will be hard survival training. Low spellcapacity and no meatshield in front of you. Enlarge Person is a level 1 spell. So is Fist of Stone. A gish with a two-handed weapon and an entire party of mages backing him up should be able to mince anything that picks a fight.
#9 aje8 Jan 12, 2009 16:44:41	Um should be pretty easy. No Cleric will be a slight problem but between Wands of Lesser Vigor (Cure??!! Ew....) and at the later levels Healing Belts none of them should actually have to prepare the cure spells. For traps theres always celestial monkies...... that shouldn't be a problem either. Really just a get a Gish in there and go to town! Um about your school info..... every one of the wizards dropping evocation would probably not be an issue. Seriously it's that bad. Enchantment could probably be dropped by all but 1 of the PCs... it's very limited. Anyway, the idea sounds very fun. Good Luck with it!
#10 idontmuchcareforit Jan 12, 2009 17:39:00	I foresee the following steps to be vital to a party of all wizards. You're going to need a lot of initiative, because if something goes first, before you can get a summon or a defensive buff up, you will likely die in that battle. Every needs to prepare a lot for every battle, and they need a very organized spell book, and they need to understand all the rules of the game. If this is not the case, you will start to hate each other, because your turns will take 15 minutes each, not to mention all the immediate actions everyone's going to want to take... +1 on tertiary roles
#11 NiteCyper Jan 12, 2009 17:39:51	Precocious Apprentice (Alter Self) + Sudden Extend (it exists, right?) + Fairy Dust (optional spell component from Complete Mage). Would Arcanist's Gloves from MIC help too? Retrain it later. Also, Precocious Apprentice ([fire]-type spell) + Dragon's Tear (CM, optional spell component) + Fiery Burst (reserve feat, CM) for low-level blastery. [@abovepost] Nerveskitter is a level 1 spell.
#12 Endarire Jan 12, 2009 22:23:54	Grumman: I laughed heartily at your post since I imagined the scene going like this. Wizard 1: "Alright boys, there's a goblin camp ahead with 20 to 40 of those critters, probably ready to ambush us." Wizard 2: "What're we gonna do, boss?" Wizard 1: "We're gonna buff Mike here with all we've got before we raise their alarm. During the fight, everyone gather 'round Mike and circle heal him." Wizard 3: "What about when he's topped off?" Wizard 1: "When he's full, rotate DPS on the goblin patrols. Let's not wipe this time!"
#13 winternacht Jan 13, 2009 2:56:21	They can have a full range of spells in their books, because only one of them needs a spell so all others can write it in their book too.
#14 bomarrpunk Jan 13, 2009 9:18:24	What if you had one member be a non-wizard, in the case initiative is an issue? I imagine the Warder/Aes-Sedai role from the Wheel of Time. The Warder is bound to the magic wielder, and thus loyal. Not sure if this would kill what you're going for.
#15 phoenix00 Jan 13, 2009 14:19:23	Charm Person+Hypnotism=equals fanatic for one request. Find a big stupid fighter who has delusions of grandeur, cast two above spells, then make your request follow me and aid me in your quest of making you a lord, king, greatest hero of all time, etc. Give him a magic sword, call it Excalibur, have big stupid fighter engage in battle. When he wins after you buffing him, name him arthur. It helps if the big stupid fighter is a squire or someone who has never proven himself before. All able to do at level 1, it isn't quite dominate person but it will get the job done. ------ Also precocious apprentice+reserve feat will go a long way at low levels, you can retrain the feats later.
#16 somethings90 Jan 13, 2009 15:14:58	Here is a guide to not getting hit. Shadowcraft Mage could be an interesting idea. It could be overkill though. Here is the link to the handbook. (This may be overkill.) Following are a few things to think about. 1. Considering that you want a "low magic" campaign, the cohorts should probably be a non-caster. (An exception could be if a PC trains a cohort. Still, the cohort should probably be something like an Arcane Archer or an Arcane Duelist.) 2. Unless you want the BBEG to be something crazy like a Hulking Hurler or an Uber Charger, he or she should be a caster. (The BBEG could come from the PC's home plane.) 3. Someone should seriously consider playing an Artificer. (The party needs magic items.) 4. A gish could be very useful. 5. Is resurrection available? Just think about these things. Feel free to adapt or ignore any of my ideas. Good luck with your game and remember to have fun. :D
#17 Endarire Jan 14, 2009 15:53:09	-If the party desires it and has the resources, they can research spells. -As DM, I'm considering running an Artificer. -Resurrection is available from PC casting and items. NPC resurrectors require a great deal of trouble to find and coerce. -Cohorts may be casters, but you must find someone able to cast or train them.
#18 awaken_D_M_golem Jan 14, 2009 17:09:08	Trap Avoiding instead of Trap Finding, can be done with just cc Search and Int. Arty is "cheating" you know. Wand of Summon 1 then for Trap Springing. Healing ... hire an Adept for a few levels. Wand of Cure Light Wounds, until better stuff. I don't like hiring Thief types. I'd go: 1 Polymorpher BSF 1 Summoner (Glass-Cannons) 1 Batman Battlefield 1 Divination/Travel/Weird Utility Skill type minor healing. Isn't that the standard party anyway (?). Sure it'll work. I vote Happy Wizards.