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View Full Version : [3.5] Thinking about joining a PbP World's Largest Dungeon...



Zovc
2010-03-27, 04:18 PM
On a PbP roleplaying site I go in and out of frequent use, I found a game that piqued my interest. It's a World's Largest Dungeon game and the posting rate is rather high.

Here are some excerpts from the introduction threads to help you help me... :P
Character Creation

Sourcebooks: I own a lot of them, what I don't own I can normally borrow from a friend. If WoTC published it, chances are I will allow it. If another company published it (Necromancer, Alderac, Sword and Sorcery Studios, etc) then you should probably ask first. I have a bunch of those too, but my collection of those books is far less extensive.

Ability Scores: 32 point buy, some standard breakdowns for 32 points are listed below, you do not have to use these breakdowns, they are one of the few kindnesses the DM extends to the math impaired.
18,18,8,8,8,8
18,16,12,10,8,8
18,14,12,10,10,10
17,16,12,10,10,9
16,16,16,10,8,8
16,14,14,14,10,10
16,14,12,12,12,12
14,14,14,14,12,12

Gold: Assume you roll max.

Select a character portrait, pick one you like, because I will be using that to make your character token in the map and you're going to be stuck looking at it for the duration of your character's life.

Flaws: You can take as many flaws as you like, but only the first two flaws will give you a bonus feat in return. Flaws listed in the d20 srd are automatically approved. In a bout of generosity, flaws from Roleplay Nexus (http://www.roleplaynexus.com/flaws.html) are also allowed, but must be individually approved by the DM.

Traits: You may have up to two traits listed in the d20 srd. There is no compensation for taking a trait beyond what the trait inherently gives you.


Things to consider about World's Largest Dungeon

Sight: Much of the dungeon is dark, plan accordingly. If you have darkvision and low-light vision, you can only have one active at a time, and will have to toggle between them when you update. (this is due to a limitation in the mapping software the DM will use to track your progress through the dungeon and is too lazy to work around.) HOWEVER, you are all really desperate to survive and are constantly communicating what you see to each other, so what one party member can see, all are aware of.

Sound: This is a dungeon, expect sound to travel differently than in any way you (as a player, or as your character) are accustomed to. This isn't a wide open air environment, there are walls and ceilings of stone everywhere to reflect off of in unpredictable ways. (Strangely, that "constant communication" that you're in that allows you to see what each other can see doesn't travel further than from your lips to your companion's ears.)

Teleportation: This place is a prison, those who built is surrounded almost all of the prison with a null field negating all extra-dimensional travel and teleportation. By design, any magic that allows PC's or creatures to "jump" from place to place is negated. Spells like dimension door only work to line of sight or 100ft, whichever is less. Range of motion on the ethereal or shadow planes is limited. Bags of holding and portable holes lose their link temporarily in null zones.

XP: Different dungeon sections have level caps, which will be enforced. When you've hit the level cap, further experience earned will go toward "Action Point" levels. Each time you level up your "Action Point" pseudoclass, your character will get an action point that will allow them to do amazing things.

Skills: The designers recommend the following skills to be successful:
Balance, Concentration (spellcasters), Decipher Script, Diplomacy, Disable Device (easily the most important skill), Heal, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Listen, Move Silently, OpenLock (the second most important skill), Search, Speak Language (Undercommon, Goblin, Draconic, and Celestial are a good start), Spellcraft, Spot, Survival, Swim (depending on the route you take), Tumble, and Use Rope.

The following skills will help you survive in style:
Craft. (blacksmith, etc) for repairing damaged weapons and armor during your multiple year stint underground.
Handle Animal. For staring down wolves, taming stray pets, and dealing with the DM.
Sense Motive. Goblins lie, but it's important for PC's to know how much is truth and how much is imagination.
Use Magic Device. Maybe not necessary, but it helps.


Skills like Disguise, Forgery, Gather Information, Perform, Profession, ride, and Sleight of Hand have little to no use in the dungeon, and PC's are encouraged to avoid wasting points in these. (The DM takes no responsibility if a situation does come up that would benefit from one of these skills! This is merely the recommendation of the game designers!)

The game designers also claim that Bardic Lore isn't going to help much.


Spells: Spells like Web and Entangle are devastatingly powerful and game breaking in a dungeon, the game designers made sure the bad guys don't have them. PC's can't have them either.

Spellbooks: The game designers claim that Wizards get shafted in the World's Largest Dungeon. The DM thinks this may be due to a lack of imagination on the game designers part, and so makes the following concessions. Since there is no wizards guild to obtain new spells from, your spellbook is considered to be loaded with spells. Each time you level up, your understanding of the arcane improves, and two more of the spells in the book become legible to you. Thus you will still get your two spells known per level. Spells can also be learned from a divine spellcaster at a higher DC, and spells can be transferred from a scroll into the spellbook. That said, the game designers might still be right, and wizards might still get shafted. So think about it.

Encumbrance will be a factor in this game.

Food will not be a factor in this game.


Questions asked by prospective players:
Q: What classes does the group need?
A: I'd prefer that people joining the game discuss their character build with existing group members. But currently they lack an arcane class.

Q: What level are new characters starting at?
A: To join the current group, you will be starting at level 1.

So, looking at that, I apparently would be most welcome as an arcane class. The only reason I'm not jumping directly to Wizard or Sorceror is because of the note made in Things to consider about World's Largest Dungeon. Is there any chance that a Warmage or some other 'obscure' arcane class would come out stronger since I'm ('apparently') going to have to keep battlefield control-esque spells to a minimum.

I was looking at traits, I've never used them--none of them seem very powerful (or, should I say 'particularly useful?').

TheMadLinguist
2010-03-27, 04:21 PM
Being a wizard is fine as long as you decide to capture your enemy's spellbooks (most of the supposedly forbidden spells are owned by some NPC or another).

Being an artificer is absolutely fantastic for yourself and your party. You'll need some heavy fortifications to start off with, but retain essence and crafting a portable hole/enveloping pit will soon make you awesome.

Lysander
2010-03-27, 05:05 PM
What's wrong with sorcerer? You'd be an arcane caster who doesn't need to copy spells from anybody, and won't have to worry about losing their spellbook and becoming powerless.

Alternatively, not an arcane caster but how about druid? Being able to shapeshift will help navigate the various landscapes in the dungeon and you'll have a nice variety of spells to choose from.