Summer is coming and I'm almost done being murdered by my finals (note to Grand Tourney followers: that's why there's been no update. I'll get one up when I have time). Thus, I think it's the perfect time to start talking about an idea that's been bandied around but has never come to fruition: an EoFF D&D game. I'm keeping this out of the roleplaying forum and treating this like the EoFF Diablo II coalition, as this thread is merely a place for people to meet up and talk about it, instead of actually playing the game in this thread.
So, I'll go over the basics of what I'm planning.
This game will be conducted at least once a week with a varying schedule on either AOL or MSN messenger, which will be decided upon by group consensus. Those unwilling to use the messenger picked will not be able to play. It's possible to use a private room of the #eoff chatroom if necessary, that can also be discussed. The day is liable to fluctuate, I will more than likely be working a job that has no set hours during the summer and won't have any set time I can game.
The game will use the standard Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 system, much of which can be found here. I'm willing to accept beginners on a case-by-case basis, I prefer those with at least some familiarity with the rules and the ability to create their own character without help. I am, of course, available to help newer players who pass initial muster (more on that later).
The story will be fairly basic at first, though more complexity may enter the equation as the game goes on. The premise is much like that found in the mid-game of Radiata Stories, your characters are members of a fledgling but moderately powerful mercenary organization within a large city and will accept various jobs for money. As you increase in level and renown, harder jobs will find their way to your desks.
Unique about this game is that everyone will create at least 3 characters (there is no upward limit to the amount of characters you may make). Each session will be a different job, and each player can select a type of character they feel is most suited to the task at hand (some jobs may run through several sessions, and the same character will be played throughout). This allows players to, if desired, make a standard balanced D&D party or to tailor a party to a given task, such as a party of rogue-type characters for a sneaking-based mission.
After each adventure, inactive characters will receive an amount of treasure and experience to account for other adventures that they were doing while the main group was adventuring. The exact percentage of this will be decided upon more when the game is starting.
We will be using two sites for this game, RPG Web Profiler for character sheets (remember to use the 3.5 format when creating a character sheet and to make it public so we can all read it) and Invisible Castle for dice rolling, which I will likely do myself. It's entirely possible I'll end up breaking out my own dice and making the rolls in-game for everyone.
My preference is 6 players, though I'm willing to go higher, especially depending on how scheduling pans out. We'll see with how many people apply. I will accept no player until they have 3 characters for me to look over.
I have access to many of the D&D books in PDF form at the very least. All characters will start at level 5 with 19,000 gp worth of equipment (you may not spend more than 9,500 gold on a single item). The following books are available for character creation:
Player's Handbook
Dungeon Master's Guide
Monster Manual I
Expanded Psionics Handbook
Player's Handbook
Tome of Battle: Book of the Nine Swords
Most of the content in the following books I will allow to be used, but double-check with me to be sure I'm allowing it, especially in the case of Complete Divine (Divine Metamagic=no). All of the base classes presented in the complete books are already pre-approved, go ahead and use them.
Complete Warrior
Complete Arcane
Complete Adventurer
Complete Divine
Heroes of Battle
Heroes of Horror
Libris Mortis
The Draconomicon
Eberron Campaign Setting
Any other desired books may be made available on request if I can be provided with some kind of copy of the pertinent information, as I do not have access to them.
Also, if for some reason you MUST use the Samurai class, I will be using a variant of the 3.0 Oriental Adventures samurai, a.k.a. the Samurai class that doesn't suck. Also, anyone wishing to make use of a combat-oriented class may use a Tome of Battle variant that grants them maneuver and stance progressions in exchange for lessened abilities.
Ability scores will be determined by 38 point-buy (giving a basic array of 18, 16, 14, 12, 10 and 8 if desired), and hit points will be maximum at first level and 1/2+1 every level thereafter (d4=3, d6=4, d8=5, d10=6, 12=7).
Available races can have no more than a combined Racial HD and level adjustment of +4. I'm willing to allow any race in the above books (Monster Manual being the easiest to draw from) and will look over any proposed race from a book not on the list. Assume a Greyhawk setting, so anything published is theoretically fair game.
I will require some kind of backstory. I don't have a huge world right now, just know that there is an "Asian" part of the world (for the Oriental Adventures-flavored classes like Ninja, Samurai and Shugenja) and the story takes place in the "European" world. The guild is based out of the Lordcity Sylvaris. More details on guild protocols will be reached later, but at the moment I'm looking at a Chaotic Neutral-type guild that will do most things for the right price. Paladin characters are tentatively accepted if there's a good enough reason for them to be in the mercenary guild, but if the guild turns out to be too chaotic or evil, I may have to disallow Paladins. Again, this will be decided when we have confirmed players.
I can give appropriate cities for backstories on requests, and I do require a decent backstory as to why you became an adventurer and joined the mercenary guild. Bear in mind, mercenary guilds aren't good places to fulfill the "a mysterious stranger murdered my family and now I seek revenge" or other such JRPG cliche standards, and characters created in that vein likely will get them and possibly you denied for this game. Your characters are not unique butterflies with special powerz and great destinies. Forge your greatness for yourself, don't try to make yourself a chosen one of some sort in your backstory.
Do note that this doesn't mean I'm against you all doing great things, but I will stringently enforce my anti-cliche policy.
Anyway, those interested, do post. Generate characters. Be fruitful and multiply and all that jazz. Game will likely be starting sometime after the 11th of June, and I will for sure be able to continue it until sometime around the 26th of September, possibly extending it into the school year depending on how things go.
