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[4e|FR] Shadowdale OOC
Arivia
I Like A ChallengeEarth-1Registered User regular
I Like A ChallengeEarth-1Registered User regular
Hi!
This is a 4e Dungeons and Dragons game for new players. Totally new players, hopefully. Don’t bother applying if you’re in another active game.
All you need to play is a copy of the Player’s Handbook, the core rulebook for the game. Most bookstores carry them these days if you don’t have one.
What’s the setting like?
We’ll be looking to craft a band of six natives from Shadowdale to venture with. You’ll be level 1, using 22 point point buy, and have 100 gold to spend on starting equipment. If you don’t know what those words mean, don’t worry, those are the standard numbers in your Player’s Handbook.
Six natives breaks down like this, for your reference:
-one defender (a fighter or paladin)
-one leader (a warlord or cleric)
-one controller (a wizard)
-one striker (a ranger, rogue, or warlock)
-two other characters (of any of the above types, although two wizards is extremely unlikely)
So, how do I submit a character?
Read the big setting spoiler, then:
Go here. Download the demo. That’s the Character Builder, an application for building your character.
Install the Character Builder, then go here. Download that little file. When you open up the Character Builder and start a new character, one of the tabs at the top will say “Manage.” Click on that, then “Campaign Settings.” Hit “Open Campaign Setting,” and then open the file you just downloaded. Now go make your character.
The only change from the way it works in the Player’s Handbook is that you will get a step called “Backgrounds.” You will have the choice between either the Dalelands background or a few others. Read the right-hand panel for the benefit the backgrounds give you. If it just lists two skills, then you can either choose to take one of those skills as a skill you can train (for a +5 bonus at the cost of a +5 bonus to another skill), or just take a flat +2 bonus with.
When you’re done with all the options, save your character. You will then have a file for that character on your hard disk. Go to 4e.orokos.com and sign up, then click on Sheets. There will be an option to upload a character; find the file you just made and upload that.
Once you’ve done that, you will have a copy of the character on that website. A submission is a link to that copy, and some sort of concept or background writeup. Where did your character come from? What do they look like? Why are they a (wizard/cleric/other class)? What stands out about them? Remember, D&D is what’s called a “roleplaying game,” so you’re describing the role you’d like to play. Pictures often help people get an idea of their character.
Players have been chosen:
Striker:
Luc The Huntsman, human ranger (Daius)
Sindri, human warlock (Zandracon)
Leader:
Drit Elfhunter, dwarf warlord (Dac Vin)
Corunír Celebedhel, elf warlord (undefined)
Defender:
Saeral Illianroth, elf fighter (Buttons)
Controller:
Rhaine Leonnara, human wizard (Counter_Break)
This is a 4e Dungeons and Dragons game for new players. Totally new players, hopefully. Don’t bother applying if you’re in another active game.
All you need to play is a copy of the Player’s Handbook, the core rulebook for the game. Most bookstores carry them these days if you don’t have one.
What’s the setting like?
The Dalelands refer to the mainly human holds and non-forested regions cut into the elven woods north of Cormyr and south of the River Tesh. The Dales recount their history in years since the Dalereckoning, when the elves of Cormanthor (their name for the forest) allowed the humans to settle the open and unclaimed reaches. Currently, it is 1357 DR (Dalereckoning), also known as the Year of the Prince in the records of the great seers Augathra the Mad and Alaundo. Each of the individual dales refers to a community nestled in the forest, then, usually consisting of many farms or fields and one central settlement or marketplace. The Dales are independent and small, often no more than towns in population, but hold a common Dales Council. The Dales include: Archendale, Battledale, Daggerdale, Deepingdale, Featherdale, Harrowdale, High Dale, Mistledale, Scardale (which recently held illusions of ruling the other dales under one Lashan, and now exists under occupation), Shadowdale, and Tasseldale.
Shadowdale is a small farming community nestled in the Dalelands between Voonlar and the Shadow Gap, the main body of the town located where the road passes over the Ashaba River. The dale is hemmed in by the thick to light woods that surround it and the road, often hiding old ruins told to be full of treasure (and danger.)
To some degree, Shadowdale is most famous for its fortitude. Under the leadership of Doust Sulwood (and now one Mourngrym Amcathra, see below), the town has repelled invasions by Zhents from tyrannical Zhentil Keep, the army of Scardale, and even a undead dragon!
Other notable elements of Shadowdale include a thriving inn (The Old Skull), a crafty smith (Bronn Selgard), and a good wagonmaker (Hammerhand Bucko.) Some of the local luminaries are the bard, Storm Silverhand, and Elminster the Sage. News of all of these is spread far and wide by the many adventuring bands who pass through the town, and those who began their careers in Shadowdale, including: Mane’s Band (now lost and gone) and the Knights of Myth Drannor (gone to found their own stronghold deep inside Myth Drannor.)
So far, Mourngrym Amcathra (most often called Lord Mourngrym) has been a good ruler. The native of Waterdeep treats the citizens well, and has had many of the men and women sign an oath of loyalty to serve as a militia in the case of further incursions.
Some of the more notable environs of Shadowdale include the Old Skull (a height containing little more than the tomb of Joadath, once Lord of Shadowdale, often used for shepherding), the Twisted Tower of Ashaba (rumoured to be controlled by weird, subterranean elves, choked full of secrets young and old, far and near), and the Fox Ridge (where many of the dale’s hunters hunt foxes, whose burrows have been used as hiding places for secrets and mysteries since time immemorial.)
To the south and east of Shadowdale, deeper into the forest, lies the lost elven city of Myth Drannor, now ruins choked with plants and trees. Many adventuring bands have delved into the city in search of fame and fortune, never returning. Recently, strange beasts cloaked in flames and smoke have been spotted in the fringes - this may be linked to the recent departure of many of the forest’s elves for their ancestral homeland in a process they call The Retreat.
Most men and women in the Dales take only one name, like Orn or Jhaele. If need be, they can be referred to by town (Jhaele of Shadowdale), or by profession or religion (Orn the Sage, Mantam of Tymora.) Elves and other nonhuman races will usually have house, family, or clan names however.
Speaking of religion, most people of the Dales follow, pray, or swear at multiple deities as appropriate. Some, however, spend more time venerating a certain god or goddess. Most common amongst these are Chauntea (the Earthmother, responsible for crops), Lathander (Lord of the Morning, god of the sun), Mielikki (Lady of the Forest, goddess of hunting and forests), Oghma (the Binder, god of knowledge and invention), Silvanus (the Oak-Father, god of nature), Tempus (the Lord of Battles, god of war), Torm (the True, god of duty), Tymora (Lady of Luck, goddess of magic), and Tyr (the Even-Handed, god of justice.) For rules purposes, all of the above deities are Good, except Silvanus and Tempus, who are Unaligned. Nonhuman clerics worship the following deities, all of whom are Good: Corellon Larethian (elves), Moradin (dwarves), Yondalla (halflings.)
Wizards pray mostly to another deity, however. Mystra, goddess of magic, entrusts them with power over the Weave, the ever-present strand of magic which touches and affects everything. The Art (as working with the Weave is called) is dangerous and a hard study, but rewarding to those who treat it well. Mystra’s small body of true clerics, then, watch out for the Weave itself, caring for it for the good of all.
While the Dalelands is mostly human, some elves (or eladrin) remain on the periphery, members of very small villages or thorps that did not leave with the rest of the Retreat. Halflings and dwarves are also not uncommon, often settling down in the verdant region to build a family after arriving with a caravan or other expedition. Finally, years ago, a strange glowing star crashed into the earth near Shadowdale. Children who have grown up around it since then have an odd penchant for fire and terrifying, demonic features (tieflings), while those who visit the site have gained some proficiency with the same (warlocks.) Dragonborn are unknown in the area.
A map can be found here. Shadowdale is at E,18.
Wait, isn’t this the Forgotten Realms? Doesn’t that have some absurd amount of books?
Yes, but don’t worry. The above is all you’ll need to know. Anything else, I’ll explain as necessary.
Shadowdale is a small farming community nestled in the Dalelands between Voonlar and the Shadow Gap, the main body of the town located where the road passes over the Ashaba River. The dale is hemmed in by the thick to light woods that surround it and the road, often hiding old ruins told to be full of treasure (and danger.)
To some degree, Shadowdale is most famous for its fortitude. Under the leadership of Doust Sulwood (and now one Mourngrym Amcathra, see below), the town has repelled invasions by Zhents from tyrannical Zhentil Keep, the army of Scardale, and even a undead dragon!
Other notable elements of Shadowdale include a thriving inn (The Old Skull), a crafty smith (Bronn Selgard), and a good wagonmaker (Hammerhand Bucko.) Some of the local luminaries are the bard, Storm Silverhand, and Elminster the Sage. News of all of these is spread far and wide by the many adventuring bands who pass through the town, and those who began their careers in Shadowdale, including: Mane’s Band (now lost and gone) and the Knights of Myth Drannor (gone to found their own stronghold deep inside Myth Drannor.)
So far, Mourngrym Amcathra (most often called Lord Mourngrym) has been a good ruler. The native of Waterdeep treats the citizens well, and has had many of the men and women sign an oath of loyalty to serve as a militia in the case of further incursions.
Some of the more notable environs of Shadowdale include the Old Skull (a height containing little more than the tomb of Joadath, once Lord of Shadowdale, often used for shepherding), the Twisted Tower of Ashaba (rumoured to be controlled by weird, subterranean elves, choked full of secrets young and old, far and near), and the Fox Ridge (where many of the dale’s hunters hunt foxes, whose burrows have been used as hiding places for secrets and mysteries since time immemorial.)
To the south and east of Shadowdale, deeper into the forest, lies the lost elven city of Myth Drannor, now ruins choked with plants and trees. Many adventuring bands have delved into the city in search of fame and fortune, never returning. Recently, strange beasts cloaked in flames and smoke have been spotted in the fringes - this may be linked to the recent departure of many of the forest’s elves for their ancestral homeland in a process they call The Retreat.
Most men and women in the Dales take only one name, like Orn or Jhaele. If need be, they can be referred to by town (Jhaele of Shadowdale), or by profession or religion (Orn the Sage, Mantam of Tymora.) Elves and other nonhuman races will usually have house, family, or clan names however.
Speaking of religion, most people of the Dales follow, pray, or swear at multiple deities as appropriate. Some, however, spend more time venerating a certain god or goddess. Most common amongst these are Chauntea (the Earthmother, responsible for crops), Lathander (Lord of the Morning, god of the sun), Mielikki (Lady of the Forest, goddess of hunting and forests), Oghma (the Binder, god of knowledge and invention), Silvanus (the Oak-Father, god of nature), Tempus (the Lord of Battles, god of war), Torm (the True, god of duty), Tymora (Lady of Luck, goddess of magic), and Tyr (the Even-Handed, god of justice.) For rules purposes, all of the above deities are Good, except Silvanus and Tempus, who are Unaligned. Nonhuman clerics worship the following deities, all of whom are Good: Corellon Larethian (elves), Moradin (dwarves), Yondalla (halflings.)
Wizards pray mostly to another deity, however. Mystra, goddess of magic, entrusts them with power over the Weave, the ever-present strand of magic which touches and affects everything. The Art (as working with the Weave is called) is dangerous and a hard study, but rewarding to those who treat it well. Mystra’s small body of true clerics, then, watch out for the Weave itself, caring for it for the good of all.
While the Dalelands is mostly human, some elves (or eladrin) remain on the periphery, members of very small villages or thorps that did not leave with the rest of the Retreat. Halflings and dwarves are also not uncommon, often settling down in the verdant region to build a family after arriving with a caravan or other expedition. Finally, years ago, a strange glowing star crashed into the earth near Shadowdale. Children who have grown up around it since then have an odd penchant for fire and terrifying, demonic features (tieflings), while those who visit the site have gained some proficiency with the same (warlocks.) Dragonborn are unknown in the area.
A map can be found here. Shadowdale is at E,18.
Wait, isn’t this the Forgotten Realms? Doesn’t that have some absurd amount of books?
Yes, but don’t worry. The above is all you’ll need to know. Anything else, I’ll explain as necessary.
We’ll be looking to craft a band of six natives from Shadowdale to venture with. You’ll be level 1, using 22 point point buy, and have 100 gold to spend on starting equipment. If you don’t know what those words mean, don’t worry, those are the standard numbers in your Player’s Handbook.
Six natives breaks down like this, for your reference:
-one defender (a fighter or paladin)
-one leader (a warlord or cleric)
-one controller (a wizard)
-one striker (a ranger, rogue, or warlock)
-two other characters (of any of the above types, although two wizards is extremely unlikely)
So, how do I submit a character?
Read the big setting spoiler, then:
Go here. Download the demo. That’s the Character Builder, an application for building your character.
Install the Character Builder, then go here. Download that little file. When you open up the Character Builder and start a new character, one of the tabs at the top will say “Manage.” Click on that, then “Campaign Settings.” Hit “Open Campaign Setting,” and then open the file you just downloaded. Now go make your character.
The only change from the way it works in the Player’s Handbook is that you will get a step called “Backgrounds.” You will have the choice between either the Dalelands background or a few others. Read the right-hand panel for the benefit the backgrounds give you. If it just lists two skills, then you can either choose to take one of those skills as a skill you can train (for a +5 bonus at the cost of a +5 bonus to another skill), or just take a flat +2 bonus with.
When you’re done with all the options, save your character. You will then have a file for that character on your hard disk. Go to 4e.orokos.com and sign up, then click on Sheets. There will be an option to upload a character; find the file you just made and upload that.
Once you’ve done that, you will have a copy of the character on that website. A submission is a link to that copy, and some sort of concept or background writeup. Where did your character come from? What do they look like? Why are they a (wizard/cleric/other class)? What stands out about them? Remember, D&D is what’s called a “roleplaying game,” so you’re describing the role you’d like to play. Pictures often help people get an idea of their character.
Players have been chosen:
Striker:
Luc The Huntsman, human ranger (Daius)
Sindri, human warlock (Zandracon)
Leader:
Drit Elfhunter, dwarf warlord (Dac Vin)
Corunír Celebedhel, elf warlord (undefined)
Defender:
Saeral Illianroth, elf fighter (Buttons)
Controller:
Rhaine Leonnara, human wizard (Counter_Break)
Arivia on
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If I don't get into the Under the Sea phalla, I'll throw my hat in the ring.
If you're not in any other games, go ahead.
No, just in the interest of keeping it very simple for everyone. The campaign file linked turns off everything except the PHB and a limited selection of appropriate backgrounds.
I'll get cracking on a character
If, after the update, your deity of choice is not listed when it offers you the option to pick one, click on the little yellow logo that kind of looks like a house, then "Create Custom Element." Enter the deity's name in the name box, and then whatever they are responsible (ie: Mystra is the goddess of magic) for in the info box. You will get a warning that says houseruled in frnew all over the place; don't worry about it.
4e's pretty good about illustrating and making stat tradeoffs a consideration while still remaining viable. As long as you're still within the 22 point buy range (the default in the Character Builder) you're fine.
Thanks.
I would be up for the Paladin role, I already have a concept for a character that I really like to play (mostly in LARPs).
For posting there's no problems, I work on a computer, so the "one post a day" is really easy for me to pull off.
PS: I'm french, so my English might get sketchy. But I will try to make it readable. If there's no problem, I would like to add some french in my way of speaking in character, It would add up to his background. (like only 1 word in a sentence, ex: Mes amis, Time is nigh, dangers surrounds us, but don't fear! Bahamuth shall guide our path toward justice and help our swords to smite those haunted souls! A l'attaque!
Edit: I just saw that the Character Builder works only on Windows, I work on a Mac, So I will only be able to make change on my character sheets at home.
Question: I'm on a Mac, and I feel like I remember trying to get the character builder to work for one of the fruitless submissions I turned in for an earlier game, and it not working at all. Am I doing something wrong?
Helping this gentlemen would help me too
That would be great.
Thanks a lot. Like I said I could do it later at home. But I have no problems with filling the character sheet myself. Already done it in the past.
Specifically, I was going to make an eladrin warlord. There's this feat that lets him use spears but the greatspear has an h (a h?) next to it.
I've never played in a PbP... but I frequent this forum every day.
Yeah, some of the weapons with the 'H' symbol came out from other supplements (Dragon, Adventurer's Vault etc.). So unless Arivia changes the campaign file for the new weapons, you're stuck with the PHB1 book's weapons...
As for this thread, it get's a :^: from me.
Nice to see someone setting up a PbP game for only the newbies in mind.
And these guys should be lucky. I read some of Arivia's threads; and they're awesome...
The weapons show up in the file. That's why I'm confused. all of the other options you're not allowed to have just don't show up. I'll work on a different concept anyways. Thanks!
And I always found the FR setting really interesting. (I only read some Drittz books.)
In regards to running the CB on a mac, I had heard that people installed Virtual Machines that they ran Windows on and installed the CB on that, but I'm not exactly sure of the details.
I believe Vagrant_Winds does this. He has a Mac Book Pro but he may have that or duel- OS.
Since I didn't get in under the sea (I'm going to hire someone to write by backgrounds and stuff) I'll see who I have sitting in my CB crying as they have never seen adventure (I play with CB a lot and have maybe 30+ characters.)
EDIT:
Of course, my apologies.
Personality Traits/Background (since the CB doesn't let you edit the background section yourself):
Mannerisms/Appearance:
I just checked myself and for some reason, the CB doesn't remove those despite them being ruled out in the campaign file. It's very weird behaviour.
If you don't mind, could you please copy the history/appearance stuff out into your post? It just makes it easier on me when looking at submissions. Thanks!
You can choose which stat to have a score of 8 before you begin to add points.
You should be able to subtract 2 from DEX then add it to STR without the CB yelling at you.
Take off points that are on DEX until it is 8 and add points on to STR until it is 10. When you look, you still have 22 points again.
Edit: Beat'd. I like to use Auto-buy for my points then move them to what I'm liking.
If you're making a character using the Character Builder, this step will be included automatically; no need to read this. However, if the Character Builder is unavailable to you/for use, then please additionally take one of the following.
A background represents your character's upbringing or life before they became an adventurer. Each offers a mechanical benefit, alliowing your character to differentiate themselves from others of the same class and race through their lived experiences.
Choose one of the following as your character's background. If a background lists that you can choose a skill as a trained skill, it is added to your class skill list for picking trained skills; see page 52 of the Player's Handbook. You do not gain it as an additional trained skill, but it must be selected with your regular picks. For example, a cleric who takes the Occupation - Farmer background, choosing to be able to train Nature, could then choose to train Nature as one of their three skills in addition to Religion.
The backgrounds available to you are:
Dalelands Native - You may reroll any Nature check, but must keep the second result, even if it is worse. You gain a +1 bonus to Initiative checks.
Geography: Forest - Pick one: gain a +2 bonus to Nature checks; gain a +2 bonus to Perception checks; you may train Nature as a class skill; or you may train Perception as a class skill.
Occupation: Artisan - Pick one: gain a +2 bonus to Athletics checks; gain a +2 bonus to Diplomacy checks; you may train Athletics as a class skill; or you may train Diplomacy as a class skill.
Occupation: Farmer - Pick one: gain a +2 bonus to Endurance checks; gain a +2 bonus to Nature checks; you may train Endurance as a class skill; or you may train Nature as a class skill.
Occupation: Merchant - Pick one: gain a +2 bonus to Bluff checks; gain a +2 bonus to Diplomacy checks; you may train Bluff as a class skill; or you may train Diplomacy as a class skill.
Occupation: Military - Pick one: gain a +2 bonus to Athletics checks; gain a +2 bonus to Endurance checks; you may train Athletics as a class skill; or you may train Endurance as a class skill.
Occupation: Scholar - Pick one: gain a +2 bonus to Arcana checks; gain a +2 bonus to Religion checks; you may train Arcana as a class skill; or you may train Religion as a class skill.