Let Sleeping Bassilgard Lay [3.5 DnD 8/4-8 players]

[Eric-dono]

Let Sleeping Bassilgard Lay
Prologue

It has been a long trip, but you’ve finally accomplished your goal of joining the prestigious guild called ‘Golden Dowsing Rod’, world-wide famous for housing the most famous of treasure hunters. Just last night you have been initiated into the small number of members, and now you are about to be granted a prized meeting with the headmaster of the guild known only as Gold Fingers. As night falls you are seated around a great bonfire, along with the other initiates. A greatly aged man clothed in great wizard’s robe and beard of snow white hairs stretching past his waist, wielding a staff of twisted hawthorn with a hawk perched on top. Taking a seat where all can see him, with great effort he makes himself comfortable before starting with what can only be described as a long passed down fairy tale told to every child at one point or another.

“Long ago, in a near forgotten time, the world that we live in now was vastly different. There were no grand kingdoms that we all know and for some loathe, a vast amount of the villages and towns we have now were nothing more then tribes of hunter-gatherers hunting for their next meal. The Great Black desert, a desert of none but black sand, was once something far greater. All of those ages ago, there once was a grand utopia called ‘Civilization’ by us now, due to the loss of history, was said to spread from one end of the eastern continent to the other. Its name has vanished in the sands of time and war, but its riches and technology will always be remembered. It is said that this long lost Civilization held a vast array of technology and magic capable of granting near demigod-like powers. They controlled grand machines that could block out the sun, and arrange whole continents however they pleased. They’re magic was said to be the key to controlling these machines, through keystones that varied with different machines.

One such machine so great in power it was said to be capable of destroying the world, or reshaping it into something far greater then a utopia, was bequeathed the name Bassilgard. It was this grand relic that it is said was the cause of the destruction of the Civilization. Supposedly there was a budding colony of humans that resided in a small part of a desert surrounded by a mountainous ridge. They like most humans grew jealous of the grand Civilization, and wished for their riches both material, as well as knowledge. Gathering a vast array of forces they waged a war unseen by the scholars and seers of the Civilization, that raged on for forgotten or untold years. Upon one day, a desert-born man gained the power of Bassilgard through lost means and proceeded to burn the Civilization into what is now the Great Black Desert. He would certainly of continued with the rest of the world, making it into his view of beauty if not for the deeds of a group of heroes that stopped him.

The man, along with the heroes fell along with Bassilgard to untold reaches of the world, supposedly to be lost for all time. Rumors over the years have be arising about strange orbs holding magical power surfacing occasionally, only to be lost shortly afterwords. It is my belief that these orbs are the keystones, and in turn perhaps the map in finding what may remain of Bassilgard or other such relics. As I’ve told all other recruits and newly joined members, the goal of our guild is finding what may remain of the great Civilization, whether scroll, artifact, or knowledge of certain magiks.

Over the years we've inched towards our ultimate goal, but recently a new organization has taken up the search and has openly attacked our members. We are unaware of their name, or their goal. All we do know is that they mean to gain the power of the Civilization through any means necessary. Our intelligence has collected enough information to believe that a possible orb if not more lays in the land to the east. I’m sending all of you to find, and try to retrieve it. Try to find it before the Organization, I have a feeling that they have other plans for them besides recovering lost history. You are to meet up with Elladan Fëfalas, a elf barkeeper of the inn Dragon Guardian located in the town Elel. Be careful young ones, because the Guardian of the town has disappeared, and the Organization supposedly has started employing the undead to help in their search, along with the people of the town becoming uneasy with fear….”

Raising from his seat, the old man leaves while some of his men go about handing out maps, and supplies along with the instructions to leave by the morn. This is the beginning of the campaign, and you now know your mission…  

[Eric-dono]

Top 16 Questions

1. What game system are you running (D&D, Call of Cthulu, Palladium, GURPS, etc.), and if applicable what edition (Original, Classic, Revised, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, etc.)?
DnD 3.5e

2. What 'type' or variant of game will it be (i.e. "Shadow Chasers" or "Agents of Psi" for d20 Modern)? What is the setting for the game (eg. historic period, published or homebrewed campaign setting, alternate reality, modern world, etc.)?
The campaign will be starting relatively low-level, but I have it planned out to at least mid-level. It might get farther, but I have yet to have a group get that far. (Farthest reached lvl 6, several missions short of finishing the main storyline I had planned.)

3. How many Players are you looking for? Will you be taking alternates, and if so, how many?
I'm taking a minimum of 4, maximum of 8 players.

4. What's the gaming medium (post-by-post, chat, e-mail etc.)?
Obviously post-by-post here on Gaia, I’m terrible in IM, and I haven’t learned how to use some of the other programs out there like Maptools.

5. What is the characters' starting status (i.e. experience level)?
Starting at level 1, depending on how many people want we can play gestalt/semi-gestalt. Players interested in playing races with an adjustment +1/Savage Species Racial levels may be available on case-by-case basis; ask me. Concerning races with a +1 adjustment (that I approve), you can forget the adjustment at first level like it has a lvl adjust +0. If we play gestalt, you’ll still get the ‘ignore +1 lvl adjust’ rule, along with being able to play lvl adjust +2 race (apply +1 rule, and use half your gestalt for the other ‘half’ of the +2), or a 1/1 character of two classes.
[ex: You can play 1/1 Teifling rogue/ninja, 1/1 human fighter, or start a pixie progression and be a lvl 1 warlock/’2’ pixie] Unusual, yes I know. Makes it more fun then an entire party of humans in my opinion…

6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with?
Maximum starting gold for class, along with an additional 300gp for ‘miscellaneous gear’. (The extra gold can go into Crafting, or whatnot-have you. It’s supposed to be the gear that the guild gives you.)

7. Are there any particular character classes, professions, orders, etc. that you want... or do not want? What are your rules on 'prestige' and/or homebrewed classes?
Almost anything (including homebrew) is allowed. Just be reasonable with it (no Tainted Scholars, please). There will be a limited amount allowed if its Dragon/Dungeon/3rd party material. If you have a question please post a link (when it comes to homebrew/other three categories), or site where your getting the class. I have no qualms with prestige classes, but you have to let me know your going into the class at least the level before you start so that I can see if it fits into your ‘story’.

8. What races, subraces, species, etc. are allowed for your game? Will you allow homebrewed races or species? 'Prestige' races or species?
Run it past me, but you can pretty much do what you want. That's what those possible gestalt levels are for. Racial levels & so on are allowed on a case-by-case basis. See #5 for certain race rules.

9. By what method should Players generate their attributes/ability scores and Hit Points?
HP: Max at first level; roll after that.
Stats: 40-point-buy, or roll 5d6x7 drop the lowest 2 (re-roll ones). If you roll you can’t point-buy and vise-versa. If you rolled stats that result with a max modifier of +3, or none of the stats are above 10 (including racial) I’ll allow you to re-roll the entire set. {I personally hate Gaia’s dice. That’s why I’m giving you the chance at 40 point buy.}

10. Does your game use alignment? What are your restrictions, if so?
Fewer alignment restrictions than you're used to. Necromancy is not inherently evil, so all spells that shouldn't be evil (such as Animate Dead) lose the [Evil] descriptor. Most prestige classes will not have alignment restrictions (assassin, for instance). The alignments lie approximately as follows:

Good<------------------------------>Evil
Puts others > self<---->Puts self > others

Law<------------------------------->Chaos
rigor & discipline<---->freedom and spontaneity

11. Do you allow multi-classing, or have any particular rules in regards to it?
No multiclass penalties. This is an excuse to role-play without penalty, not to optimize.

12. Will you be doing all of the die rolling during the course of the game? Will die rolls be altered, or left to the honor system? If players can make die rolls, which ones do they make, how should they make the rolls, and how should they report them?
Make rolls you would make; I will make any other ones that are needed. If you have need to be absent for some amount of time, I would appreciate it if you rolled certain rolls just in case I’m in need of them (otherwise I’ll take it upon myself to roll for you.) [ex: Attack of Opportunity, certain skill check during battle, Bull Rush, Grapple, etc.]

13. Are there any homebrewed or optional/variant rules that your Players should know about? If so, list and explain them, or provide relevant links to learn about these new rules.
*Natural 20s and Natural 1s don’t have to be auto-succeed/fail. For my games I prefer you to roll the number triple in order for it to be considered epic-succeed/fail. [ex: Climbing up 50ft cliff= Climb roll nat 1, re-roll and gets another 1, re-re-roll and gets a 20, not a auto-fail just a 1+Climb skill]
*I will help you familiarize yourselves with Gestalt if you need.
*You know how love has been known to provide the occasional +2 bonus? That's a fact. Get along with me, and I’ll guarantee that things can happen in your favor. wink
*I will reward good roleplaying with tangible mechanical effects. If you need to take Alertness or put low numbers in important stats for roleplaying reasons (and then you actually do roleplay it), you will have my undying love (remember, +2 bonus! Along with a minimum of 10-50exp per accurate roleplay!)
*On that note, the tree of feats that give +2 to two different skills all also make those skills class skills from the time you take the feat onwards. (Please don't abuse it, I’m trying this house rule out since a friend tried it, and I liked it!)
*See #10 for my definition of the alignment system.
*You are not limited by the rules. If you want to do something, say what you're going to try to do, and I am in charge of finding/making a rule to adjudicate it. Never let the rules limit your creativity.
*You must have a spell component pouch to cast spells with material components, but the pouch is assumed to contain whatever you need for whatever spell you're casting unless the material component costs more than 1gp. Basically, as long as you have a pouch, you have Eschew Materials.
*Bardic music is better and more reasonable. If you use Fascinate, you get to (attempt to) Fascinate everyone you want to within 30 feet (because seriously? You only get to fascinate one guy, no matter how many people you're playing for? What is that?). Also, there is a feat called Requiem that allows Bard stuff to affect Undead; I'll find it if anyone thinks they may want to use it.
*Cure Minor Wounds heals 1d4 hit points, instead of 1 hit point.
*Spellcasters that prepare spells may spontaneously cast Cantrips and Orisons. Normal daily limits still apply. Spontaneous casters instead know an additional number of 0th-level spells equal to their relevant ability score modifier
*I’m allowing certain LA +1 races/templates count as LA +0, if your interested in playing a race or template that’s LA +1 you can pm me and I’ll think about it. More then likely I’ll allow it, just as long as its not something like the Half-minotaur, Mineral Warrior, or Lloth-touched templates.
*For your religion, I’m excepting nearly any pantheon/resource for a deity and all that’s connected to it. You don’t have to be a vampire to worship a vampire goddess of eternal beauty, nor do you have to be restricted to just the basic pantheon in order to meet the requirements of a prestige class.
*For prestige classes outside of 3.5 WotC material (3.0, 3rd party, etc) I’ll try to find ways to convert it into my world. That goes the same with certain classes that require you to worship a certain deity (ex: Radiant Servant of Pelor), as long as you are the same/along the same alignment that a normal worshipper would be (along with appropriate domains) you qualify {and you can change the name to match your deity if you want.
Ex: Radiant Servant of Tamyra (dragon equivalent of Pelor)}

14. Is a character background required? If so, how big? Are you looking for anything in particular (i.e. the backgrounds all ending up with the characters in the same city)?
Background is very important. It doesn't have to be long, but it needs to be good. I'm looking for people who can write, and people who have a good sense of their characters' personalities. I find that writing a background helps dramatically with this, both for you and for me. Also, writing it (well) into your background may convince me to give you certain things for free (weapon proficiency, etc), so there's another incentive.

In your background, try to answer (answers do not need to be explicit) or at least think about some of these questions:
*What are your goals in life?
*Who are a few people who made you who/what you are?
*What's your motivation? (for whatever you do)
*What are your personal strengths and weaknesses?

Obviously these are just a few suggestions. Tell me as much as you can. Note that I am biased towards tales that impress me in some way (voice, style, story, flavor; any or all of these may be big points. Again, you don't have to write a lot, unless you think you need to.

Your background doesn't need to end up anywhere in particular, but it should leave off around either the ‘initiation’ or just before the campaign starts. Once I can get the intro post for the game started, you’ll be able to get going from there.

15. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above?
There will be combat, there will be a few puzzles (this depends more on the dispositions of the players than anything else; if you go looking for ancient, forbidden lore (and who doesn't like ancient, forbidden lore?), you may find more puzzle-type encounters. This campaign will be heavy on the role-playing, even while in combat, in case you couldn't already tell. Roughly I play with the ration 45/35/20 (role-play/combat/puzzles), this may change with different groups but I try to keep it mostly role-play.

16. Are your Players restricted to particular rulebooks and supplements, or will you be allowing access to non-standard material? What sources can Players use for their characters?
Use stuff. You may have up to two flaws, only if they are real impediment, and you can and will roleplay it.

(ex: A wizard taking …
Arcane Fatigue [Flaw]
Conjuring magical energies is especially draining for you.
Prerequiste: Ability to cast arcane spells.
Prerequiste[b]Effect[b/]: Whenever you successfully cast an arcane spell you must immediately make a Fortitude save (DC 10+spell level). If you fail you become fatigued. If you are fatigued as a result of this flaw, it has no further effect until that condition is removed.)

I reserve the right to ban stuff on a case-by-case basis, but for the most part I'll be letting you do what you like.

IMPORTANT!

Anything (items, classes, feats, races, you name it) not in the PHB, MM, or DMG must be labeled with a book and page number. I can't spend hours looking up random pieces of equipment and obscure feats for every character; tell me where it is, or you can't have it.

WARNING!

I’m not all that knowledgeable when it comes to the classes/magic/misc featured in ‘9 Swords’, ‘Tome of Magic’, & ‘Magic of Incarnium’. So I’ll be only allowing these if the players actually take the time to explain certain things about them. Sorry, but I’ve never had need to take up the books for material (seeing how the majority of classes that interest me are in Dragon-themed books) so I don’t quite have a firm grasp on the material.

 

[Eric-dono]

Let Sleeping Bassilgard Lay Forum

Setting:
A homebrewed world of my making. This will make my *stops to count fingers* 1..2..3.. 6th attempt at this campaign! I have gained much knowledge since the first attempt (somewhere around 4 years back), and believe that this one can be the best one ever. In the past the main problem was typically that people lost interest/got busy. So hopefully this time around I’ve beefed it up enough that people won’t get bored, and timed it right around a non-busy time for those in school or what-not. I like Role-play, so if you’re into hack-n-slashing through and through, this games not truly for you.

The world is old enough that it has grown much from the time the gods forged the world. But unlike our world, there are key differences that give this world some special characteristics to define it compared to all the worlds out there. First off, there are 4 seasons/months, each consisting of 45 days and 9 days a week. The forces of nature have a stronger connection with the people of the world, and let’s them know it by bestowing upon them powers governed by the individual days for each season. See the key terms section for more info.

Key Terms

Seasons: Each season consists of 9 day weeks.
-BlossomMorning=Spring
-SunnyNoon=Summer
-HarvestSunset=Fall
-SnowTwilight=Winter

Days: Each day is made of 24 hours, and has a different meaning to different cultures. Each day adds a +1 CL to spells with the ‘same’ Alignment/Descriptor as the day.
[Posti=Positive/Good, Fira=Fire, Winda=Wind, Sunny=Light/Good, Twili= Neutral/Good/Evil, Moon=Dark/Evil, Wata=Water, Earta=Earth, Nega=Negative/Evil]
The main equivalent to our world is stated below.
-Postiday=Sunday of this world
-Firaday
-Windaday
-Sunnyday
-Twiliday=Wednesday of this world
-Moonday
-Wataday
-Eartaday
-Negaday=Saturday of this world

Important Persons: People/groups you met/heard of
-Gold Fingers= Guild master of the guild known as ‘Golden Dowsing Rod’, his life goal is to learn as much as he can about the long lost ‘Civilization’
-‘Golden Dowsing Rod’= A guild who’s whole focus is gathering artifacts/info on the lost ‘Civilization’ for educational reasons.
-‘Civilization’= A near fairy tale story of a culture long wiped out by their own inventions. (Think of Atlantis in legend-like status)
-‘Organization’= An otherwise nameless group of cloaked persons pursuing technology from the ‘Civilization’ for other means then educational reasons. Known only by their black cloaks, and use of both intelligent/mindless undead for brute work.
-Awase=Duke of an abandoned tower, mysteriously died some 40 years back.
-Elladan Fëfalas=Elf bartender, and inn keeper of the "Guardian Dragon Inn"
-Guardian= A name given to a Gold Dragon by the people of Elel, for its protection for the past ten centuries against enemy nations. It has mysteriously disappeared from its ‘shrine’ in the mountains around the time the undead started appearing.

Important Places: Places you have been, will go too, or hear of.
-‘Golden Dowsing Rod’ HQ= Where the ceremony/story took place. The HQ is well hidden as a means to test future wanna-be members. Located somewhere in the midst of the Forest of Dindel.
-Forest of Dindel=Huge forest, heroes traveled through it to start journey. Left over remnants of a ancient forest said to be insignificant compared to what the ‘Great Black Desert’ used to be.
-Great Black Desert= Said to be the remains of what was the ‘Civilization’ after the war, and attack by Bassilgard. Said to be still infertile to plant-life, and has a negative effect on mortals.
-Town of Elel=Local town, located near the base of a mountain.
-Chappegat=Ocean to the east.
-Dragon Guardian Inn=Local inn, located in Elel. Named after a dragon that protects the town, until recently…
-Tower of Awase= Home of the Duke Awase, and resting place of miners that worked nearby. Has been empty for some time now.
-Caex Kingdom= Main kingdom of the ‘Eastern Continent’. Ruler has been getting ready for war, both against the Organization and the ‘Western Continent’.
-Kirsha Kingdom= Small island kingdom, used to get its economy through trade with both the East & West Continents. Now is just a rest stop for adventures.
-Cascade Falls= Small village located near a waterfall in the mountains. Said to be run by a Archmage that’s neutral to the impending war.
-Village of the Broken= Village for runaways, thieves, freaks, and outcasts in general.
-Broken Trail= Once a land trail that connected the two continents, now is a series of islands.
-Mountain Shrine= Shrine dedicated to all creatures of the sky, and sun. Home of the Guardian, and temple for priests to pray/train.
-Foggy Forest= Another remnant of the ancient forest, gets its name from the foggy weather that is present year-long.
-Lizard Swamp= A delta/swamp between the mouth of a river and the ocean. Home of many reptilian creatures, and several tribes of lizardfolk.

Misc. Items: Things that don't fit in the above categories
- Bassilgard=Ancient artifact with immense power, long lost during a war. Its said to have several ‘key components’ needed in order to use certain functions. Is rumored that it fell into the ocean off, as to where (or which ocean) nobody knows.

Rough draft of map (note, this is only the Eastern Continent map, not many 'World maps' exist since the Great War.)
 

[Eric-dono]

Players accepted: Class [Race] (status)
*Rock_DS: Truenamer/Cleric [Human] (Jemtaxagonhefalmegoya)
*Raganui Minamoto: Warlock/Ranger [Desert Kobold] (Korrick Dunewalker)
*Arc Vembris: Shadowcaster/Warblade [Warforged] (Ebony)
*bamaotaku: Monk/Scout [Human] (ShuRon)
*glitterboypolit: Fighter/Tenken [Half-elf] (Kyle Nailo)
*Southern_cross_nemesis: Wizard/Sorcerer [Human](Ureil Palpion)
*iPedo: Rogue/Warlock [Catfolk] Tabitha
*MT_Clown: Wizard/Beguiler [Changeling] Johnathan Dolenhide

Things players have asked questions about
-Rock_DS asked for permission on a Truenamer upgrade (homebrewed)=Accepted
-Glitterboypolit ask for permission on homebrewed classes= Looking over, questions will be posted later.=Approved 2/3 classes, working on finding alternative
-Arc Vembris asked for permission on using Shadowcaster & Warblade classes.=Thought over it, and am allowing it.
-Raganui Minamoto asked for ways to make a kobold better, along with a certain item=Gave info for kobold, & choices on how to obtain item.=Solved
-Raganui Minamoto asking about a lizard mount= agreed on suggestion.=Solved
-iPedo asked about using Catfolk (Races of the Wild) as a class= Accepted
-Southern_cross_nemesis asked about Linguist feat (Darksun), suggested Master Linguist feat (Races of Eberron)


Things still to do:
Think of rewards for good backgrounds for the following players...
Rock_DS, Glitterboypolit, & bamaotaku  

[Raganui Minamoto]

Looks interesting.  

[Rock_DS]

This is somthing that I could get into =3

Put me down. I'll throw together a few charrie concepts n.n  

[Rock_DS]

 

[Rock_DS]

I find it helps if you roll a d6 as opose to a d20 XD

 

[Rock_DS]

God that's alot of 1's XD

 

[Rock_DS]

10 rolls of 1. Damned XD

 

[Rock_DS]

Last 1's

 

[Rock_DS]

Damned 1's =/

 

[Rock_DS]

Rolls with the 2 lowest dropped
6, 5, 6
4, 6, 6
4, 4, 5
6, 6, 3
5, 3, 4
3, 6, 5
6, 5, 6

Ending stats. Nice selection =3
17
17
16
15
14
13

 

[glitterboypilot]

Mark me down for it. I have some homebrewed classes that I will send your way.  

[glitterboypilot]

I am just going to put them here so you can say yes or no Publicly.



http://dungeons.wikia.com/wiki/Halberdier_(3.5e_Class)
or
http://dungeons.wikia.com/wiki/Nomad_(3.5e_Class)
or
http://dungeons.wikia.com/wiki/Marksman_(3.5e_Class)