The Bog - Character Creation

[nubz]

Character Creation Rules.


I'm not going to bother going through the 'what i've said' and 'by the book' and all that. No, wait, that's exactly what I'm doing. To the tune of Santana (got a black magic woman...)

Okay, first off is going to be the easy part. I would rather not have this as some power-character kill-them-all type dealie. If your character gets in the habit of yelling 'bring it on' before every fight, 'it' will be brought. Simple as that. Why? I'm the sort of gamer that goes for the Half-ork barbarian with a greatsword and a loincloth. If you want to go toe to toe with the worst my world has to offer, i can do that. BUT, I have noticed on more than one occasion my dungeon masters have taken the bait and sent some nasty buggers after me, and my allies get caught in the crossfire (usually the elf wizard trying to cast magic missile on the darkness, but thats another story).

Now, on to the main part. The three common races are Dwarf, Elf, and Man. The common classes are Thief, Soldier, Woodsman, and Wizard. I went crazy with the thieves guilds, designed not one but seven intricate armies with specialized soldier classes, and - i guess a woodsman's my way of saying a ranger without the druid skills. Sort of like swapping the magic aspect for a good old fashioned bit of Fighter/Thief. Its an NPC class to fill in the blanks. And I think we all know what a wizard is. The ones I didn't mention? Well, you can go one of the other routes, but since they are not a major part of the world, I will ask you to go a little more in-depth on the character background stuff so I understand what you think a barbarian is really like. Or whatever. Otherwise I'm going by what the books say.

Oh, right, books. This game is being run in the 3rd edition, as I have said too many times already. I have the three main books, and have read them at least twice. I also have the AD&D Thief's Handbook - damn i love that thing. Anyways, for those of you with the books, its going to be quite simple to slap something together. For those without, there are a few options. First is I walk you through it. Second, you can create your character with AD&D rules, because I am familiar enough with them to cross it over. I'll change a helluva lotta crap around if i have to in order to get it to work, but i'll keep it in line with what you set out in the first place. Third, you can create your character using the traditional Realm of Life rules. I'll quickly bugger out your THAC0 and whatnots, and then figure out everything else as is needed. I would suggest the first option over any of the others.

If your character does not fit directly into my world, as in wasn't born in the land, we'll work together to decide how their travels led them here. (likely by boat) Oh, and while i remember, if you plan on multiclassing your character tell me beforehand so I know you're planning on being a bard/monk/thief. Thats a good idea, I think I just figured something out. (wanders off in search of notebook to create a new thief)

Now then, we're going to start this off as a level 1 campaign, then take it up from there. I'm not going to bother with starting gold and crap unless you force me to, so please keep in mind what sort of items a level 1 character would have (hint: if you've got a cool story in your biography to explain that ring, you might just get it). Now, those who have played one of my games before have heard of the Heirloom. For those who haven't, i shall explain.

Your character, through whatever previous fortune, has one item that is better than what they sell at the local marketplace. I got the idea from a character I once created, the son of a woodsman, who was taught the craft of Fletching (thats arrow-making). Anyways, I put a whole bunch of points in a craft and a profession and this that and the other, then i had an excuse for giving him a Masterwork Composite Longbow of Strength. Yes, i got the idea from an episode of Xena, but that doesn't make me any less of a man (you know the episode where the guy was a prince, and he proved he was because only he had the strength to string his family's greatbow?) Yes, I'm a geek, shutup. Anyways, back to it. Whatever item you want your character to have, put some thought into it. In previous games it just meant your thief started with 'gloves of holding' or whatever, but now i'm not letting you decide what the item does. I won't even be telling you. Just have faith in your fathers shield, or your mothers hairbrush, or your uncle's third cousin's barber's bird's feather in your hat. Whatever. I'll try to come up with something cool from your characters story, and the character sheet, and all that. So, for example, if you are an elven fighter and you wield your father's longsword in battle, i'm not going to use the 'roll to create magic item' and come up with you being able to cast 'light' with it three times a day. It will be good for stabbing people. Or something. Drop all the hints you want, but I may only use them as hints, not as the final product. Not bloody likely, but there's a chance. (the exception being i created a few kickass artifacts in the world, and it may be easier to start you with one that you have to 'awaken' instead of a cheesy dungeon crawl to find it on the altar that noone thought to check)

One last thing. I said you gnow a gnome. I would prefer you didn't come up with your own for fear that you do not treat gnomes as the master magicians they are. Way i see it, they are the only race that comes straight out of the book with natural sorcery. That makes them a magical race, like magma dwarves and dryads and beholders and all that. I took it a step beyond and gave their race a legacy of master illusionists and tricksters. Some are good for other stuff, but they all celebrate their birthdays on April Fools Day. And, for the record, i'm going by the book on them too. One of the options for a specialist Illusionist is that you are barred from Divination spells and Necromancy. So, they hold no power over Life and Death, and can't learn the mysteries of the universe without some good old fashioned scientific trial and error. (to be really sticking with this i'm not even letting their clerics and whatnots have access to these spells, which again makes things a little more interesting)

Otherwise, go as crazy as you want the first go around. If its wild enough to make me do a 'whoooooaaaaaa' like i did when i saw Bill and Ted's for the first time, you're in. If its good for a giggle, i'll go easy on you. But if my eyes roll, youre in trouble.

Oh, and i've got a little thing to toss in after your character is created. Other than the gnomes. Hehehehe, that'll get you wondering. But dont worry, its a good thing. Even if it does involve an orc sitting on a treasure chest in the center of a 10 x 10 room.

[nubz]

there's tons more to come, but i'll save it until i have a forum to put it all in.

[nubz]

and for the record . . . Larrin, Cain, and Corlaan, i fully expect the sort of characters i know you can create, and you should fully expect me to allow prety much everything you ask for (and i'll take it out on you later)

presumably, larrin, youre the one i'm allowing AD&D rules for, and you can use whatever sort of non-weapon proficiencies and specialized character classes and all that sorta stuff. just message me or email me with the rules that i won't know for special skills and stuff, i'll get you to level up your own character and stuff.

cain, you're weird, so are your characters. i look forward to it. If you feel like drawing a picture of your character that'd be cool too.

and corlaan. yeah. stuff, and stuff.

[nubz]

(ps dont get carried away with your character until i finish putting everything up, when i say a lot i mean a lot)

[Cain]

((OOC: You mean like this? Cain's Crazy druid guy
Ok I admit it. You caught a guy with ADD on a very boring day that he didn't really feel like posting on... I think the descript is a bit interesting though... longet I payed attention to a single thing all day..))

[nubz]

12 15 15 13 6 16

originally, i was going to say you can roll your own or pick those numbers, which i used the 4d6 method to obtain, but those are some damn good numbers. that gives you one stat with a +3 bonus, two with a +2, two with a +1, and one with a -2. i quite like that, and since i know its possible to fudge that a bit with racial mods (should you choose something other than human) those are perfect.

hehehe no worries, I'll be posting soon..

what are your rules for having a possessed character?

[nubz]

you can do it, but i get to have fun with it.

describe the demon and how you got it, then we'll figure out where to go from there. i'm guessing it'll either be an evil paladin, some sort of cleric or sorceror, or who knows what. you can take any class you want and based on the demon's description i'll hack out some cool powers. and weaknesses.