Cavern's Gate (D&D 3.5, Started, closed to new members)(OOC)

[SpokenSoftly]

[ Character Sheets ]

• 1] Quentis Nessoran Laelliss
  
• 2] Aarde Thhartokk
  
• 3] Iggy (Reserved until profile completed)
  
• 4] Cyril Zambidis (Probationary until class details provided)
  

[ Premise/Foreword ]

A city is built atop a dungeon. It keeps a constant form whenever adventurers enter it, but otherwise shifts when unoccupied by a party of at least three allied humanoids. You don't need to worry about dieing, since you'll be resurrected at the dungeon entrance, albeit naked.

[ Setting Information/Background ]

The world the campaign begins in follows all normal physical laws of the planet Earth save for Conservation of Mass and Energy, which may be screwed with as you like (magical powers still required). People tend to be disinterested about what goes on outside of their immediate vicinity, and cities leave one another alone. Politics does not exist in this world, since no-one really cares.

[ Game Introduction/Plot ]

You are a group of three or more adventurers who have signed up for the use of the Caverns, a constantly-changing dungeon area underneath your hometown, tomorrow afternoon. There's a pool right now on how much each of you can loot.

[ Character Creation ]



Available Sources: Anything, so long as non-Player's Handbook objects are sourced. I may need an online reference if it comes from certain skillbooks.
Banned Resources: Book of Erotic Fantasy, and how. Also, negating the above, Faerun is right out.

ECL: 1-3, dungeon adjusts to ECL
Gold: standard
Races: No special racial notes, aside from flaw/race restrictions as noted in House Rule 1
Ability Scores*: Roll three dice six times, arrange in any order. Reroll any negative bonuses of -3 or lower, reroll everything if you have more than three stats that are 16 or higher before racial modifiers. Roll in this thread, if possible, if not roll in-guild and link to this thread.
Hit Points: Standard HD-per-level, but reroll one time if you get a natural 1. Second result must be applied, even if it is a second natural 1.
Alignments: Alignment while on the surface is always True Neutral, this does not affect alignment-based abilities and Paladins are not affected. Actions that are evil may still necessitate an alignment check the next time the player goes below the surface. Multiclassing as classes that have exclusive alignment restrictions is still impossible if you ever want to go belowground again (BAR/PAL is still impossible, PAL/anything else is likewise impossible).
Pantheon: As presented in v.3.5 core rulebooks, plus Faerun pantheon (the only thing of Faerun that will ever enter this roleplay.)
Backgrounds: Since there's not really much to say here, these aren't required. You all come from the same city, etc.

[ House/Optional Rules ]

1] If I say you get a "DBS: " marker, don't do it again or your character will be killed and res'd at the previous waypoint. If I say you get an "ABS: " marker, don't do it again or you'll be res'd at the L0 gate, naked, and maybe locked out of the dungeon.
2] Grappling is auto-ABS.
3] Referencing xkcd, DMotR, or Chainmail Bikini (or any strip that is linked to from one of those three) is automatic ABS, barring from the current dungeon, and possible alignment shift.
4] I reserve the right to drop the ceiling on your character if you start pissing the other PCs off, IC or OOC.
5] Munchkins, Minmaxers, and others that create an imbalance in the party mechanics will be warned once and given a single chance to remove the item, un-learn the feat, or otherwise restore the balance. If they refuse, or if it doesn't work, they will be killed off permanently and their player required to create a new PC. Twins are allowed. Multiples past that, not so much. Having to create more than three replacements gets you kicked out if you die from minmaxing again.
6]  

[Laelless]

With your permission, I'd love to join. Do we roll our stats here?  

[Kashkin]

Hmmm.... Sounds interesting to me. I'll gladly join. Are we starting at level 1?  

[serketcity]

If we're all neutral on the surface, does that affect our choice of classes?

For instance, could I play a Barbarian (any nonlawful), multiclass into Paladin (LG), and still take more levels of barbarian if I wanted?

EDIT: Are flaws okay in the game?  

[SpokenSoftly]

Laelless: Yes, in this thread preferably, or someplace in the guild that you post a link to in this thread. Once the campaign starts I'll be creating a setup similar to Rain Yupa's Dungeon Crawl Extravaganza campaign. I reserve the right to do dice IRL at my own discretion.

Kashkin: I'd prefer level 1, since that's what I've drawn up the first dungeon levels for, but level 2 is okay as well, since I can adjust the CR of the monsters to fit the party and adjusting the CR of traps doesn't really become a problem until the Rogue gets a Trap Sense bonus at level 3.

Thhartokk: While a Barbarian/Paladin multiclass would be perfectly okay on the surface, where everyone's alignment is forcefully shifted to true Neutral without class ability penalties, once you actually went into the dungeons your alignment would shift back to normal (either LG or the nonlawful) and you'd be screwed.

As for flaws, they're okay so long as you keep personality flaws consistent. I don't want you playing someone with the flaw "paranoid" who quaffs the first mysterious potion we get from the strange man in an alley (if you do this, I reserve the right to immediately change whatever the potion was before to a Potion of Permanent Nudity). Also keep in mind that certain flaws (such as Schizophrenic) will keep you from learning skills under House Rule 1 (Potion Brewing, with the previous example), and that certain classes/races are not allowed certain flaws as per the same rule (You can't play a K'kri with a stutter.)

EDIT I have added a few more house rules, you might want to check over them. Most of them deal with the questions above. #13 sums up all the other house rules.  

[serketcity]

Rolling abilities.
Yours is a cruel system, but honorable. I'm going for Barbarian anyway, so as long as I have my two good stats...  

[SpokenSoftly]

So... your ability scores at the moment (before modifiers and distribution) are:

9, 12, 17, 11, 13, and 7

Very nice on the third one.

thanks for the compliment. A lot of people hate Rule 13's equivalent in my tabletop campaigns, but it keeps weird s**t out of the way.  

[Laelless]

Alright. Lets see what class I play depending on meh rolls.

[10, 9, 12, 11, 17, 6]

Ouch... That six is gonna harm me.  

[SpokenSoftly]

Go for Charisma, it's not like the campaign is going to include much diplomacy.

Also, a bit of a warning:

Do not do not do not DO NOT TRY AND MAKE A MUNCHKIN CHARACTER. If I see you minmaxing or otherwise unbalancing the campaign for other players I will correct the difference in their favor, in a very obvious and permanent way. I will ask you to fix it first, don't get me wrong, but unless I see an immediate change that will bring your character in balance with the others I will do something to fix it. This could be anything up to and including dropping the ceiling on you and forcing you to go through the dungeon again to catch up with everyone else, only naked this time (if the unbalancing is due to an item), hitting you with a Level Drain trap (if it's a feat/skill) or just plain killing you off permanently (if it's one in a line of such offenses). This may seem drastic, but despite the fact that I'm a self-described screwball I like my campaigns to stay fun for everyone. Having one guy fighting five levels above everyone else isn't fun for anyone (except for the chuckles when he's vivisected for refusing to power down).

If the above seems drastic, rude, or otherwise unacceptable, I urge you to carefully read House Rule #2.

On a lighter note, the first two dungeon levels are finished, with a few small encounters and a few simple traps, average DC among everything is 14.

And also, a word of warning: Because of the way the dungeon works, there are no undead. At all. Anywhere. Clerics will have their usefulness cut in half in this campaign, apologies for that. Same with Druids, since pretty much everything is taking place underground and even then all spells intended to alter the dungeon automatically fail. They might be worth casting, all the same, though. I've covered all the earth-altering spells in the PH, and some of them have rather humorous effects if cast under the right circumstances.

Lastly, the Diplomacy skill does not exist. This is both a game-world mechanic (causality-enforced interregional apathy) and a necessity: The v.3.5 DMG says that PCs shouldn't have to change their opinions because of a Diplomacy check by an NPC, even if the NPC has to change their attitude because of a Diplomacy check the very next turn. Since I know from experience that controlling PCs doesn't usually go over well with players, I'm eliminating the Diplomacy skill altogether. Likewise with Intimidate checks made to influence an NPC to take a particular action (Intimidate to frighten a monster away is still okay).  

[Laelless]

My little squishy gnome.
I'm going to get too attached, seeing as he is gonna die pretty soon...  

[serketcity]

Here she is.
I took two flaws and was going to take a trait, if that's all right. The flaws are straight from the SRD. No homebrew.
Oh, and the chalk is just a personal thing.  

[SpokenSoftly]

Laelless: Uh... yeah. You better hope you roll well on Reflex and Fortitude, else you'll be looping from L1 back to the party a lot, since death is only an inconvenience in Cavern's Gate. Strength of 4...? I... uh... oh, what do I care. It's your character.

Thhartokk: Depends on what the trait is.

EDIT: Your characters have been added.  

[serketcity]

Quote:

Aggressive

You are quick to initiate combat, and you tend to press the attack once battle is joined. Your enthusiasm makes you a dangerous foe, but you sometimes leave yourself open to blows that a more cautious warrior would avoid.
Benefit

You gain a +2 bonus on initiative checks.
Drawback

You take a -1 penalty to Armor Class.

Is that one fine?  

[SpokenSoftly]

That works. Total of -2 to AC, then?  

[Laelless]

I worked with what I had. I mean... I know he's going to die soon. And thats okay. gnomes die. Its not an epidemic or anything.