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[5E OOC] Before the Darkness - "Who Watches the Poopmen"
Rainfall
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Okay, loose proposition: 5E, 3rd level(since levels 1&2 are tutorial levels with no real meaning,) +500GP in addition to starting wealth.
Any class or race option from a published book is acceptable, Unearthed Arcana stuff is probably cool but pass it by me first.
Thursday night play, 630MST(830 EST) - i can swing that a little earlier if people don't want to be up late.
While it won't be an aquatic campaign there will be some aquatic stuff probably? And your characters of course should be willing to behave and work with others to obtain MAXIMUM TREASURE.
Before there were gods, there was darkness.
Before there was darkness, there were Monsters!
This is a campaign that I am starting because @Melding made a post about wanting to play D&D and I enjoy running D&D. This is not a recruitment thread, just a handy masterpost that I can add setting details to and we can work on characters for.
The World:
The world is a fairly pleasant place, for the most part. Over the last two centuries, the great Orc & Giant wars have ended, and an easy peace has fallen across the lands. Nobody wishes to repeat the mistakes of the past, although some of the longer-lived races still hold grudges. Despite the peace between nations, rogue elements still stir up trouble, mad wizards summoning beasts in ancient ruins, dragons terrorizing small towns on the fringe of civilization, or cults worshipping devils, demons, and worse. While it may not be easy work, there's always coin for those willing to risk life and limb to go where sane people will not, and protect the weak and innocent from death and worse.
Cardinal
Cardinal is a recent city, one that benefits from all races coming together to create something unique and great. A multicultural and multinational trade hub at the center of the world, Cardinal's greatest strengths are the Magi Academy, where all with coin or talent may study the arcane arts with proper instruction and without fear of persecution, and the Grand Council, where representatives of every race and nation meet to keep the peace between realms. All who live in Cardinal benefit from the Magebound servants, including raised necromantic servitors donated to the Academy, bound Elementals, Golems, and other such creations without will of their own, set to serve all with tireless labor. The very powerful residents of Cardinal may even have bound demons or devils as bodyguards and servants, although such actions are risky at best.
The Deepwoods
South of Cardinal lies the Deepwoods, a massive old-growth forest riddled with overgrown roads, a few trade routes, and small communities of hunter/gatherers, druids, and the like. In the heart of the Deepwood is The Grove, where legend has it the Wood Elves emerged at the dawn of time. Now the Grove is the seat of power for the Wood Elves, and their Queen lives here, never to leave unless the very roots of the world shake.
The Highpeaks
North of Cardinal lies the Highpeaks, the mountain range that separates the lands of mortals from the blasted freezing plains of giant-kind. Mining encampments dig deep here, mortals risking their lives for a few years to extract valuable metals and live like kings for the latter half of their lives. Dwarven tunnels riddle portions of the mountains, where the Dwarven Clan-leaders meet every hundred years in the otherwise-abandoned halls of their Buried City to settle grudges and begin new ones. Season 2 starts here!
The Warplains
To the West of Cardinal lies the Warplains, where millions of Orcs and goblins once marched against the armies of Humanity. Now, dozens of city-states exist here, and the Orc Lords maintain a peace with the Human Monarchs. The Travelled Seas lie past the Warplains, so named for the massive vessels that carried Humans to these lands so long ago.
The Fey Coast
Guess what, it's the east! Shining spires of glass dot the Fey Coast, each one an ancient portal to the Feywild and a lightning rod for the magical storms that ravage the Wyld Sea. Here, the Ancients of the High Elves travel, ensuring that the land does not fall to madness. Anything can happen on the Fey Coast, as many a civilization has risen on the tides of powerful magic only to fall once again. This is where our campaign will be set!
Cardinal is a recent city, one that benefits from all races coming together to create something unique and great. A multicultural and multinational trade hub at the center of the world, Cardinal's greatest strengths are the Magi Academy, where all with coin or talent may study the arcane arts with proper instruction and without fear of persecution, and the Grand Council, where representatives of every race and nation meet to keep the peace between realms. All who live in Cardinal benefit from the Magebound servants, including raised necromantic servitors donated to the Academy, bound Elementals, Golems, and other such creations without will of their own, set to serve all with tireless labor. The very powerful residents of Cardinal may even have bound demons or devils as bodyguards and servants, although such actions are risky at best.
The Deepwoods
South of Cardinal lies the Deepwoods, a massive old-growth forest riddled with overgrown roads, a few trade routes, and small communities of hunter/gatherers, druids, and the like. In the heart of the Deepwood is The Grove, where legend has it the Wood Elves emerged at the dawn of time. Now the Grove is the seat of power for the Wood Elves, and their Queen lives here, never to leave unless the very roots of the world shake.
The Highpeaks
North of Cardinal lies the Highpeaks, the mountain range that separates the lands of mortals from the blasted freezing plains of giant-kind. Mining encampments dig deep here, mortals risking their lives for a few years to extract valuable metals and live like kings for the latter half of their lives. Dwarven tunnels riddle portions of the mountains, where the Dwarven Clan-leaders meet every hundred years in the otherwise-abandoned halls of their Buried City to settle grudges and begin new ones. Season 2 starts here!
The Warplains
To the West of Cardinal lies the Warplains, where millions of Orcs and goblins once marched against the armies of Humanity. Now, dozens of city-states exist here, and the Orc Lords maintain a peace with the Human Monarchs. The Travelled Seas lie past the Warplains, so named for the massive vessels that carried Humans to these lands so long ago.
The Fey Coast
Guess what, it's the east! Shining spires of glass dot the Fey Coast, each one an ancient portal to the Feywild and a lightning rod for the magical storms that ravage the Wyld Sea. Here, the Ancients of the High Elves travel, ensuring that the land does not fall to madness. Anything can happen on the Fey Coast, as many a civilization has risen on the tides of powerful magic only to fall once again. This is where our campaign will be set!
Race Stuff:
Humans: Pretty much everywhere, they chill on the Warplains in city-states and also everywhere else
Elves: Wood Elves come from the Deepwoods and travel across the world, High Elves can be found doing basically anything, although the Ancients declare an ancestral duty to maintain the Fey Coast. Eladrin stumble into the world from the Feywild and can be found anywhere, while Drow tend to stick to the North, mining underground or hiding from the sun in the storms that blanket the Highpeaks frequently.
Dwarves: They trend traditional, but all the Great Clans have slowly migrated away from the Highpeaks as they use up the below-ground resources. Clan identity is huge to Dwarves, but it's a lot of work to travel to the Buried City every 100 years. They had a lot of conflict with the Drow and other Underdark races before peace settled in, but their big enemy is the Giants of the north.
Orcs/Half-Orcs: Well, there were some really big wars a while back, but honestly Orcs are, or were, in the same boat as Humans. Literally. They just showed up and started fighting one day. Now they're pretty much everywhere, but they hold more territory in the Warplains than anywhere else.
Gnomes: Gnomes don't appear to have a central homeland, they have a pretty big population in Cardinal but they spread out wherever their talents put them.
Halflings: Primarily nomadic traders, these guys get around, although they tend towards less populated areas of the world.
Dragonborn: An arcane mystery, the Dragonborn are actually from another plane, much like Dragons themselves. It's speculated that they were brought as a servitor race for dragons to colonize our plane with, but they don't seem to serve dragons for the most part, and dragons are very willing to eat them, just like anyone else.
Tieflings: Everyone knows exactly where Tieflings come from, stop bringing it up, don't ask a Tiefling which parent is the interesting one, just don't, oh my god.
Aarakocra: They don't exist, because you don't get to play a PC with a fly speed.
Genasi: Half-elementals, they're treated really poorly in Cardinal because mages don't really think things through, the rest of the world is welcoming to them!
Aasimar: If you want to impress the people around you, being an Aasimar is a pretty good way to do it. They're rare, hail from the celestial mounts, and you can go your whole life without seeing one pretty easily.
Firbolgs: Firbolgs live in the Deepwoods! They don't often leave the Deepwoods, but adventurers will travel as they will. Most people don't even know they exist.
Goliaths: FIGHT FIGHT ROCK HARD FIGHT FIGHT ROCK HARD. Goliaths hail from the Highpeaks and indisputably have giant blood. Different clans of Goliaths have different Giant blood in them, leading to some pretty stark differences in appearance, although it all boils down to FIGHT FIGHT ROCK HARD. Many Goliaths that leave the mountains are adventurers, seeking greater challenges than what the lowland typically has to offer, but there's also some who just couldn't keep up with the crazy Goliath pace and wanted a change of scenery.
Kenku: They did a bad thing, once. Now... now they're scavengers, feeding on the outskirts of society, stealing words, coin, and food. Some kenku decide to give back to the community, and become important citizens or adventurers!
Lizardfolk: Obligate carnivores, loaded up with bestial traits and instincts, and weirdly prolific. Lizardfolk show up pretty much anywhere it's warm and wet enough, and can cause major problems until someone gets through to them that the locals aren't just a food supply.
Tabaxi: Cat-people. They like to nap and knock things off shelves, and blame their ways on the desires of the 'Cat Lord.' Leading religious scholars have determined that the 'Cat Lord' is not a god, or a demon, or anything else they can account for. Tabaxi say the Cat Lord has determined that leading religious scholars should give them tuna regularly.
Tritons: They live in the seas! They fight crime! Sometimes they leave the sea and go hang out with land people to see what's new!
Monster Races:
Bugbears, Goblins, Hobgoblins, and Kobolds have all forged a fairly steady peace with humans and live in their own settlements spread around. There's not a lot to say about them, really.
Yuan-Ti: An ancient race that worships inherently evil snake deities, the Yuan-Ti have a long conflict with the Wood Elves, as the Deepwoods lie between Cardinal and the Yuan-Ti's temple-cities. If you see a Yuan-Ti north of the Deepwoods, they're probably not there to kidnap you, enslave you, and sacrifice you to one of their gods. If you see one south of the Deepwoods, well... they're usually not friendly.
Elves: Wood Elves come from the Deepwoods and travel across the world, High Elves can be found doing basically anything, although the Ancients declare an ancestral duty to maintain the Fey Coast. Eladrin stumble into the world from the Feywild and can be found anywhere, while Drow tend to stick to the North, mining underground or hiding from the sun in the storms that blanket the Highpeaks frequently.
Dwarves: They trend traditional, but all the Great Clans have slowly migrated away from the Highpeaks as they use up the below-ground resources. Clan identity is huge to Dwarves, but it's a lot of work to travel to the Buried City every 100 years. They had a lot of conflict with the Drow and other Underdark races before peace settled in, but their big enemy is the Giants of the north.
Orcs/Half-Orcs: Well, there were some really big wars a while back, but honestly Orcs are, or were, in the same boat as Humans. Literally. They just showed up and started fighting one day. Now they're pretty much everywhere, but they hold more territory in the Warplains than anywhere else.
Gnomes: Gnomes don't appear to have a central homeland, they have a pretty big population in Cardinal but they spread out wherever their talents put them.
Halflings: Primarily nomadic traders, these guys get around, although they tend towards less populated areas of the world.
Dragonborn: An arcane mystery, the Dragonborn are actually from another plane, much like Dragons themselves. It's speculated that they were brought as a servitor race for dragons to colonize our plane with, but they don't seem to serve dragons for the most part, and dragons are very willing to eat them, just like anyone else.
Tieflings: Everyone knows exactly where Tieflings come from, stop bringing it up, don't ask a Tiefling which parent is the interesting one, just don't, oh my god.
Aarakocra: They don't exist, because you don't get to play a PC with a fly speed.
Genasi: Half-elementals, they're treated really poorly in Cardinal because mages don't really think things through, the rest of the world is welcoming to them!
Aasimar: If you want to impress the people around you, being an Aasimar is a pretty good way to do it. They're rare, hail from the celestial mounts, and you can go your whole life without seeing one pretty easily.
Firbolgs: Firbolgs live in the Deepwoods! They don't often leave the Deepwoods, but adventurers will travel as they will. Most people don't even know they exist.
Goliaths: FIGHT FIGHT ROCK HARD FIGHT FIGHT ROCK HARD. Goliaths hail from the Highpeaks and indisputably have giant blood. Different clans of Goliaths have different Giant blood in them, leading to some pretty stark differences in appearance, although it all boils down to FIGHT FIGHT ROCK HARD. Many Goliaths that leave the mountains are adventurers, seeking greater challenges than what the lowland typically has to offer, but there's also some who just couldn't keep up with the crazy Goliath pace and wanted a change of scenery.
Kenku: They did a bad thing, once. Now... now they're scavengers, feeding on the outskirts of society, stealing words, coin, and food. Some kenku decide to give back to the community, and become important citizens or adventurers!
Lizardfolk: Obligate carnivores, loaded up with bestial traits and instincts, and weirdly prolific. Lizardfolk show up pretty much anywhere it's warm and wet enough, and can cause major problems until someone gets through to them that the locals aren't just a food supply.
Tabaxi: Cat-people. They like to nap and knock things off shelves, and blame their ways on the desires of the 'Cat Lord.' Leading religious scholars have determined that the 'Cat Lord' is not a god, or a demon, or anything else they can account for. Tabaxi say the Cat Lord has determined that leading religious scholars should give them tuna regularly.
Tritons: They live in the seas! They fight crime! Sometimes they leave the sea and go hang out with land people to see what's new!
Monster Races:
Bugbears, Goblins, Hobgoblins, and Kobolds have all forged a fairly steady peace with humans and live in their own settlements spread around. There's not a lot to say about them, really.
Yuan-Ti: An ancient race that worships inherently evil snake deities, the Yuan-Ti have a long conflict with the Wood Elves, as the Deepwoods lie between Cardinal and the Yuan-Ti's temple-cities. If you see a Yuan-Ti north of the Deepwoods, they're probably not there to kidnap you, enslave you, and sacrifice you to one of their gods. If you see one south of the Deepwoods, well... they're usually not friendly.
Rainfall on
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Posts
Dragons are literally from another plane. They showed up, they've got their own gods, who are to our gods as dragons are to mortals, and frankly there's not a lot that can be done about them. It's rumored that the 'Elder' dragons are dragons old enough to open portals between worlds, but literally nobody has ever met one and survived. Metallic and Chromatic dragons fight a lot, and Metallic dragons don't really give a shit about collateral damage even though they're peaceful otherwise. If a dragon settles in your neighborhood, it's best to leave or find a safe place to hide when a dragon brawl inevitably breaks out.
Gods
There's a bunch of gods, you guys pick your favorites and we'll use those! This campaign won't be super deity-based unless somehow everyone runs clerics and paladins in which case I guess it will be!
5E is really firmly structured around point buy and you should look at anyone who recommends a different method with suspicion.
With stat caps, the highest your stat can be at chargen is 17 after racial modifiers. This gives you until Level 8 before you have a stat at 20. With rolling, you can snag an 18 and immediately start with a 20. This stifles the feel of progression and throws off the early combat math. So always point buy.
But if somebody else is interested in a concept or party role that overlaps with that, or our team just winds up super imbalanced, I've got plenty of other options I'd enjoy playing just as much.
Speaking of which, how would you handle the difference in terms of gameplay effect between Tool Proficiency: Musical Instrument and Skill Proficiency: Performance? Tusk has the former (from the Outlander background) but not the latter, and I've spent a fair amount of time squinting at that on his sheet and thinking "what does this mean?!"
Skill Proficiency: Performance means that you're practiced in putting on a performance, using your skills at music and entertainment to get paid.
I've got ideas for an angsty goth necromancer wizard, a crunchy surfer dude moon Druid, and a barbarian loosely based on Steve Urkel.
i feel like i am to blame for this
but all i can say is they better become Stephen Urkel while raging.
Don't expect a lot from my mapmaking skills, though. At best you're getting a crude whiteboard!
You are definitely to blame, yes
Also @Dubh I'm not sure if you've seen this thread yet or not?
Our first adventure will be investigating mysterious disappearances along the Fey Coast! So it's probably a good time to decide how the band got together!
Despite this, she's generally a friendly person but has to keep a close eye on her dog General Sparks.
so basically, the offer of "hey you want to fight some mooks for money?" is a good enough reason for her to join the party. Must Like Dogs, though.
The ship he on was attacked by pirates and the bosun of the pirate ship took him under his wing instead of tossing him overboard. Turns out the bosun was a fairly devout follower of the patron saint of common sense and raised him on the principle of "waste not, want not".
**Edit**
I took 2 of the cantrips from the Starter Spell UA if that's ok with you Rainfall, Hand of Radiance and Toll the Dead. I could switch em out if it's an issue though.
thursday night is good, my other group tends to meet in the morning so there likely isn't any potential conflicts
also, I'm going for a lizardfolk ranger with the hunter archetype
currently debating between thrown weapons or crossbows
Twitch (I stream most days of the week)
Twitter (mean leftist discourse)
http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/unearthed-arcana-ranger-revised
If you're asking for recommendations on weapons it comes down to a couple questions:
Crossbow if you intend on going for the crossbow expert feat eventually (otherwise you only ever get 1 attack a round with them).
Thrown weapons are cool too if Rainfall doesn't care about the item interaction limits for them (I think it's a stupid rule and just give thrown weapons the ammunition trait)
So yes, UA ranger.
gonna keep a heavy and a hand crossbow around
it just occurred to me that I can combo throwing weapons with the hand crossbow follow-up, which is the best of both worlds at close range
Twitch (I stream most days of the week)
Twitter (mean leftist discourse)
Twitch (I stream most days of the week)
Twitter (mean leftist discourse)
but next thursday is in the bag
Twitch (I stream most days of the week)
Twitter (mean leftist discourse)
Twitch (I stream most days of the week)
Twitter (mean leftist discourse)
So Tusk's starting inventory from Class and Background was:
Greatsword
Handaxes (x2)
Javelins (x4)
Quarterstaff
Boarskin Cloak
Traveler's Clothes
Hunting Trap
Pouch
Explorer's Pack (Backpack, Bedroll, Mess Kit, Tinderbox, Torches (x10), Rations (x10), Waterskin, 50 ft. Hemp Rope)
10 GP
I had him sell back the Quarterstaff for 2 silver, and swap the Hemp Rope (1 GP) for Silk Rope (10 GP, half the weight).
And then I picked up the following:
Warhammer (so his damage wouldn't be all tied up in Piercing)
Shield (To go with the Warhammer for times when +2 AC sounds nice)
Drum
Dice Set
Spare set of Common Clothes
2 Gallons of Ale
2 sealed Jugs to hold the Ale in
2 loafs of Bread
A hunk of Cheese
Whetstone
8 basic Healing Potions
A Sack to hold them in.
Total weight carried (including money) is 133.88 lbs., and max encumbrance at Str 17 is 255 lbs. Total cash left is 69 GP.