[Campaign] Item's Quest

[MetalKelt]

Below is the campaign pack I'm working on for a mini-campaign I will be running in a few months. The gaming group I play with has been together for about 8 years now. We typically play campaigns that run 40-60 gaming sessions in length. Also, the group's players will attempt to make sure their characters are strong, but they do not munchkinize. Because of this, I'm not so concerned about certain abusable results of this campaign concept.

Put simply, the goal of this campaign is to do something different. My goal is to do some thing fairly quick (for my group at least) which is going to generate alot of humorous roleplaying opportunities and so on. Well, without further ado, here you go:

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Item’s Quest

The great warmage Tannis has fallen under a powerful curse and lies in a coma-like state. Alone and with his fate unknown to civilization he will surely languish where he lies until he is overcome by old age. The only ones who know of his condition are his companions, his intelligent items. They are the only ones able to act to remove this great curse and restore their master. The path is clear; they must venture out into the world on their own to discover the cause and remedy of the curse.

In this campaign the party will consist of the intelligent items belonging to the warmage Talos. As such character generation will be rather different than normal. This campaign is expected to last approximately 8 to 10 gaming sessions and leveling will be rapid. You can expect to gain one or two levels during each gaming session. The campaign concludes when the party breaks the curse of Talos or when they party is destroyed during their quest.

Character creation will follows this series of steps which will be outlined below:
Roll ability scores
Choose item type
Choose special abilities
Choose class

Though intelligent items typically only have Int, Wis, and Cha scores, the items in this campaign will possess all six that characters normally have. Ability scores are determined as follows:
1, Roll 4d6 dropping the lowest and arrange as desired
2, Add 4 points as desired with the only restriction being that no ability score may go above 18 at this point in creation.

You may choose from the following item types:
Weapon
Chain Shirt
Ring of Protection +3
Rod of Wonder
Amulet of Health +4
Gauntlets of Giant Strength +4
Bracers of Armor +4
Cloak of Charisma +4
Cloak of Resistance +4
Gloves of Dexterity +4
Headband of Intellect +4
Periapt of Wisdom +4
Carpet of Flying, 5’ x 5’


Weapon:
You may pick any melee weapon, bow, or crossbow. You may also choose any amount of magical enchantment totaling +3. For example you could be a +3 longsword or a +1 Flaming Burst Dwarven Waraxe. If you choose a double weapon, only one part receives this magical bonus, the other part is masterwork and non-magical. You have a movement speed of 30 and may attack as the weapon you have chosen. If you choose a bow or crossbow you have the added benefit of magically generating ammunition upon firing. When you move you may hover between ground level and 5’ above the ground. You also receive a +2 size bonus to armor class and attack rolls. You have DR 5/-.

Chain Shirt:
You may pick any amount of magical additions to the Chain Shirt totaling up to 16,000 gold. You have a movement speed of 30. When you move you may hover between ground level and 5’ above the ground. You also receive a +1 size bonus to armor class and attack rolls. You have DR 5/-. You may make a slam attack which deal 1d4 damage. You may wield a weapon or a robe/cloak.

Ring of Protection +3:
You receive a +3 deflection bonus to armor class. You have a movement speed of 20. When you move you may hover between ground level and 5’ above the ground. You also receive a +8 size bonus to armor class and attack rolls. You have DR 8/-. You may make a slam attack dealing 1d2 damage.

Rod of Wonder:
You may activate you Rod of Wonder power as a standard action. You have a movement speed of 20. When you move you may hover between ground level and 5’ above the ground. You also receive a +4 size bonus to armor class and attack rolls. You have DR 5/-. You may make a slam attack dealing 1d3 damage.


Amulet of Health +4:
You receive a +4 bonus to Constitution. You have a movement speed of 20. When you move you may hover between ground level and 5’ above the ground. You also receive a +4 size bonus to armor class and attack rolls. You have DR 6/-. You may make a slam attack dealing 1d2 damage.

Gauntlets of Giant Strength +4:
You receive a +4 bonus to Strength and may wield a melee weapon. You have a movement speed of 30. When you move you may hover between ground level and 5’ above the ground. You also receive a +4 size bonus to armor class and attack rolls. You have DR 5/-. You may make an unarmed attack dealing 1d3 subdual damage.

Bracers of Armor +4:
You receive a +4 armor bonus to armor class and may wield a melee weapon. You have a movement speed of 30. When you move you may hover between ground level and 5’ above the ground. You also receive a +4 size bonus to armor class and attack rolls. You have DR 5/-. You may make an unarmed attack dealing 1d3 subdual damage.

Cloak of Charisma +4:
You receive a +4 Charisma bonus and may wear light armor and wield light melee weapons. You have a movement speed of 30. When you move you may hover between ground level and 5’ above the ground. You also receive a +2 size bonus to armor class and attack rolls. You have DR 5/-. You may make an unarmed attack dealing 1d3 subdual damage. You receive Improved Trip as a bonus feat.

Cloak of Resistance +4:
You receive a +4 resistance bonus to all saving throws and may wear light armor and wield light melee weapons. You have a movement speed of 30. When you move you may hover between ground level and 5’ above the ground. You also receive a +2 size bonus to armor class and attack rolls. You have DR 5/-. You may make an unarmed attack dealing 1d3 subdual damage. You receive Improved Trip as a bonus feat.

Gloves of Dexterity +4:
You receive a +4 bonus to Dexterity and may wield a melee weapon. You have a movement speed of 30. When you move you may hover between ground level and 5’ above the ground. You also receive a +4 size bonus to armor class and attack rolls. You have DR 5/-. You may make an unarmed attack dealing 1d3 subdual damage.

Headband of Intellect +4:
You receive a +4 bonus to Intelligence. You have a movement speed of 20. When you move you may hover between ground level and 5’ above the ground. You also receive a +4 size bonus to armor class and attack rolls. You have DR 7/-. You may make an unarmed attack dealing 1d2 subdual damage.

Periapt of Wisdom +4
You receive a +4 bonus to Wisdom. You have a movement speed of 20. When you move you may hover between ground level and 5’ above the ground. You also receive a +4 size bonus to armor class and attack rolls. You have DR 6/-. You may make a slam attack dealing 1d2 damage.

Carpet of Flying, 5’ x 5’
You may utilize Overland Flight and Fly at will carrying up to 200 pounds. You have a movement rate of Fly 40’ with perfect maneuverability. You also receive a +2 size bonus to armor class and attack rolls. You have DR 5/-. You may make a slam attack dealing 1d3 damage and receive Improved Trip as a bonus feat.

Upgrades:
Most items presented here may be upgraded. For example the Ring of Protection +3 could be upgraded to a Ring of Protection +5 or a +2 flaming long sword could be upgraded to a +3 flaming keen long sword. Any upgrades performed on oneself are cheaper then the normal purchase cost would indicate. Upgrades on oneself take 1/10 the normal time and cost 1/2 the normal price.

Special Abilities:
All items have sight and hearing as a typical human and also can communicate via speech in any language known. In addition, Pick two abilities from the following list:

Cast bless 3/day
Detect magic at will
Cast light 3/day
Cast cure light wounds 3/day
Detect Evil at will
+6 competence bonus to Sense Motive
+6 competence bonus to Spot
+6 competence bonus to Listen
+6 competence bonus to Search
+6 competence bonus to Spellcraft
+6 competence bonus to Sense Motive
+6 competence bonus to Bluff
+6 competence bonus to Diplomacy
+6 competence bonus to Knowledge[pick category]
Improved Initiative
Mobility
Sunder
Expertise
Combat Reflexes
Uncanny Dodge as lvl 5 Barbarian


Classes:
The following classes are allowed, with any changes noted.

Barbarian
Bard (may wield instrument as a weapon or sing)
Cleric
Druid (no animal companion, receive an extra 1st level spell per day)
Fighter
Monk
Ranger (no animal companion, receives a fighter bonus feat instead)
Rogue
Sorcerer
Wizard (gain special ability to store spellbook in extradimensional space and recall it as needed)

Also, all somatic spell components as performed by moving in a specific fashion with your item as opposed to normal gestures.

Other Information:
Tannis' alignment is Neutral Good, and as such you may choose to be of any Good alignment. Also, all items have favored class: any. Consult with the GM if you wish to play an item or class not listed here.

[Gyrfalcon]

Hm... I think the setup looks fun and interesting, but a few things:

1) What's the mechanic for healing? The arcane spell series 'Repair Construct' out of Complete Arcane?

2) Given it's a short game, the Ranger losing his animal companion and picking up a fighter feat isn't too bad... Though I think the druid losing his animal companion and getting a single 1st level spell out of it isn't a good trade from the druid's point of view. Perhaps one extra spell at each spell level?

[Randomman413]

Whats with the damage? Why are some of the items doing so little damage, and whats the point of giving items that cant hold stuff a melee class?

[Matthew]

I rather like this idea as well. I was wondering, though, what is the reason for the rapid levelling up of the characters / items? I know this concept is fairly normal in 3.x, but is it necessary for a campaign like this? Perhaps an entirely different levelling mechanic would be appropriate for items?

[MetalKelt]

In answer to points brought up so far.

1. I was going to use standard healing spells for healing purposes. A little unrealistic, i know, but this is designed as something very different from what we normally do and I really prefer not to make too many changes. Though I don't really see any problems if someone wanted to use the repair construct series instead when running this either, though it would reduce the usefullness of divine casters.

2. I see your point about the druid, more bonus spell slots are likely in order.

3. I decided that since they are all bascially animated objects, they would all have some sort of 'slam' attack, though i anticipate they wouldn't be used often. Of note, the item type is more analogous to race, not class. Any item can pick from any class. I would anticipate melee oriented characters would use the gloves/gauntlets or be a weapon, while a sorcerer would be a cloak of charisma. For picking the damage amounts, i based them off what seems realistic given shape/size/weight. A ring slamming into you would deal less damage than a steel gauntlet hitting you.

4. As for the leveling mechanic, in the campaigns we normally play, we're looking at say 60 gaming sessions and finishing at level 16 or so, which is one level every 4 gaming sessions. I don't feel that this campaign concept would work well for a long term campaign, but would be fun and entertaining as a shorter diversion. I also want my players to be able to explore some of the cooler abilities of the classes they choose. Thus, I plan on leveling them more rapidly than normal. If I were planning this as a longer campaign, the leveling would be slower.

I appreciate all the comments and feedback. Ideally, I'd like to work out any issues before I start this campaign, so if anyone has any other questions/concerns about it, please let me know.