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iamstillwater
2010-04-13, 05:21 AM
Hi folks,

The newbie's back to ask another question today related to playing D&D 3.5 set in Eberron. :)

I went to the local hobby store after my class 2 hours ago to go and see if they had a D&D 3.5 player handbook I could buy (I like having physical copies of books).

My friend gave me PDFs for the important resources, like the handbook I just mentioned as well as some other files like the tome of battle, character sheets and whatnot.

Out of the stock the store had, the one that really stood out to me was an Eberron book, called Sharn, the City of Towers. I decided to get it thinking that it'd help me figure out the backstory of my level 1 swordsage, but right now, I"m just overwhelmed by all the information made available to me.

I don't know if I should start reading the book I bought in earnest, or reading the basic handbook PDF file first, or looking for more supplementary Eberron information or what. Advice would be most appreciated in this regard.

Thanks again!

Ishcumbeebeeda
2010-04-13, 05:27 AM
I'd suggest starting with the PHB, just to nail down the basics of the system, before going into the Eberron specific books. The sheer amount of information to be assimilated with just Eberron can be overwhelming, let alone attempting to do so without a firm knowledge base in the basics of the system. Unless of course you already have a good grasp of the basics, then I'd say just jump right into the Eberron material. I've been playing 3.5 since I started gaming (only four years ago, but still, that's a longish time) and there are still parts of the PHB I haven't actually read.

Chrono22
2010-04-13, 05:39 AM
PHBs are hard to come by at the moment- so I have some sites/programs that I think would help you as a new player.

The Hypertext d20 SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/) - a handy tool for using the core rules of 3.5. It's a very dry read- many of the concepts of this game come from reading the descriptions/entries in the PHB and most importantly- during play.
Myth Weavers (http://www.myth-weavers.com/forumhome.php) - Myth Weavers is a useful website for hosting your character sheets online. These sheets are form-fillable, and do alot of the math for you (calculating totals for saves, ability score bonuses, encumbrance).
RedBlade (http://home.redblade.org/) - this program allows you to construct Player Characters, Non-Player Characters, and other game elements very quickly. It can be modified to include new classes and content- it's a more useful tool for a Dungeon Master, in my opinion, but a new player can get alot of mileage out of this too.

Good luck, and good gaming!

Kol Korran
2010-04-13, 06:20 AM
i'd suggest you try and getEberron Campaign Setting book o if you can. ithas everything you need to start in Eberron, and from there you might focus on other places or aspects of Eberron, such as Sharn or the five nations.

however, since Aslan Cross will be DMing for you, he can probably suggest ideas on how to incorporate your character into the setting without reading any books. he would also give you any relevent information your haracter knows. as he mentioned on the other thread- sometimes it's nice to get to know a world by playing in it, instead of just reading about it. some places/ people/ history/ secrets are far better discovered through roleplay i think.

i suggest you get a better grip with mechanics, especially things you're going to be doing often (such as your maneuvers as a swordsage, or simple battle options like bull rush, flanking and so on. many comp games don't get it right). in the meantime start reading about Eberron from whatever sources. just be aware that Aslan is not bound by any specific date in them- if he wants the lord of blades to be a Tome of battle character he can.

and remember- seperate what you know from what your character knows.

i hope this helped,
Kol.

AslanCross
2010-04-13, 06:52 AM
I've mentioned before that it's best to not read D&D books cover to cover. I usually only do that when I'm out of ideas. There are some books that are actually more of DM books than player books. Focus first on the Eberron Campaign Setting. Read the characters section, then the brief historical timeline. You don't really need to concern yourself with the minutiae of the setting until the game, really--or if you've nailed down your character concept and want to see how he fits in.

The Vorpal Tribble
2010-04-13, 06:58 AM
Eberron is psi-heavy, so I'd also say The Expanded Psionics Handbook as well.

iamstillwater
2010-04-13, 10:25 AM
Sorry about the post.

I actually got some bad potential relationship news regarding a girl I liked about halfway through the write-up, so I rushed the ending. Went to sleep, and I feel a bit more composed now.

Anyway, I think I'll follow the advice here and look at the Eberron Campaign Setting to get the flavor of the world better. The actual 3.5 rules I kind of understand from playing Neverwinter Nights 2 and can refer to the handbook as needed for clarification.

I'm really more interested in just creating believable backstories for my characters right now, as my being able to play won't be made real till next month or so, as well as getting the hang of creating character sheets unassisted.

Amiel
2010-04-13, 10:30 AM
If you haven't looked at it already, the d20SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/index.htm) site is a god-send; it combines the PHB, DMG, Epic Handbook, XPH, and Unearthed Arcana rules into the one easily accessible website. If you haven't already, read through it, it's going to greatly help you familiarise yourself with the 3.5 ruleset.

With that said, it does self-impose bans on what is WotC's IP; so, you're not going to see illithids, the giths or the slaad. Also, some important tables are missing.


Try to have a look at the other Eberron books, if you are able to find them and if they take your fancy. They really serve to flesh out the world; a world that is unique and quite fun to play in. To that end, try getting your hands on the Eberron Campaign Setting Guide; it has all sorts of information that is going to help you out when you actually play in Sharn.

Kol Korran
2010-04-13, 11:14 AM
creating a good back story? creating an interesting character personality? just have some major concept ideas, and work with your DM. if you give us some idea as to what sort of character you'd like to have, and any major ideas, we might be able to give creative suggestions as to how to fit that to Eberron. however, Aslan Cross will probably do it best, knowing you better, and his campaign ideas better.

that said, give us a shot, maybe we can come with an unexpected concept? :smallwink:

iamstillwater
2010-04-13, 12:53 PM
creating a good back story? creating an interesting character personality? just have some major concept ideas, and work with your DM. if you give us some idea as to what sort of character you'd like to have, and any major ideas, we might be able to give creative suggestions as to how to fit that to Eberron. however, Aslan Cross will probably do it best, knowing you better, and his campaign ideas better.

that said, give us a shot, maybe we can come with an unexpected concept? :smallwink:

Hi there. :)

Here's the backstory I have so far, without going into superlong detail and without any adventures under the character's belt.

The character's name is Victor Stillwater, and he's a Human sword sage who uses unarmed strikes to do damage.

He's someone who wants to go around Eberron looking for fighting disciplines to study and write about, so he can understand the history of warfare and fighting in the world. All this information, he wishes to compile and turn into an academic book that can be read by scholars and warriors so they'd have a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the varying fighting systems.

As such, he's a scribe who can kill with his fists.

Additional details that could use some fleshing out:
1. He has high wisdom, and a good amount of intelligence, so I chose to have a couple of Knowledge Skills available to the character, specifically Local and History.

I don't know how this will play out, but essentially, I'd like for my character to pick up details and information and be able to assess strategies for battle based on the theoretical information he's gleaned from his studies.

2. Part of the reason why I am happy with my sword sage is that at a certain point, he can level to become a Shadow Sun Ninja. However, I don't know how to fit that into his character story, as he's supposed to be primarily concerned with research and adventuring, and I'm assuming that to become a ninja from a swordsage, there should be some sort of adventure or adventure-based motivation involved in that as well.

3. I've been playing around in my head with an idea for Victor Stillwater to run a threat assessment in a room. Basically, I was wondering if there are provisions in the rules that would allow a sword sage to sacrifice the first round of battle in order to study the terrain and objects available in the room for use in battle and then be allowed to roleplay using those objects or terrain as weapons for the rest of the battle within a specific room.

For example, say he's fighting a hobgoblin in a keep and there's a campfire in the center of the room as well as a weapon rack with swords beside a wall. I'd like to take the first round to be able to have the DM give the placement of EVERY possible destructible object that can add damage or debuff an enemy, and allow the character to roleplay throwing, punching, or kicking said hobgoblin into various implements, such as throwing him into the weapon rack to add 1d4 slashing damage to an attack after the damage created by my attack.

That's basically it for what I've thought of. Again, feel free to add comments and suggestions to make this fit into Eberron and make him more flavorful.

JeenLeen
2010-04-13, 01:10 PM
3. I've been playing around in my head with an idea for Victor Stillwater to run a threat assessment in a room. Basically, I was wondering if there are provisions in the rules that would allow a sword sage to sacrifice the first round of battle in order to study the terrain and objects available in the room for use in battle and then be allowed to roleplay using those objects or terrain as weapons for the rest of the battle within a specific room.

For example, say he's fighting a hobgoblin in a keep and there's a campfire in the center of the room as well as a weapon rack with swords beside a wall. I'd like to take the first round to be able to have the DM give the placement of EVERY possible destructible object that can add damage or debuff an enemy, and allow the character to roleplay throwing, punching, or kicking said hobgoblin into various implements, such as throwing him into the weapon rack to add 1d4 slashing damage to an attack after the damage created by my attack.



Complete Warrior might have some feats and descriptions of things can that help you. There are particular feats that allow you to be good at throwing improvised weapons.

I'm not sure if it's legit or not, but you could try to get Weapon Proficiency (Improvised Weapons), so that you don't take the (IIRC) -4 penalty from using a chair leg as a club, for example.

I believe that that book also has notes on using certain skills in new ways, such as looking over a combat area. Heroes of Battle might also have some innovative uses of skill checks, but I don't recall specifics at the moment.

iamstillwater
2010-04-13, 01:16 PM
Sounds good. I'll ask my DM if he has a copy of the book and check it out. :)

What about the other stuff? Do I look like a Mary Sue Male Equivalent or am I different enough to stand out? :)

AslanCross
2010-04-13, 04:32 PM
He doesn't sparkle like a bishie. That kind of disqualifies him as a Gary Stu already.

Anyway, Mighty Throw already adds damage; usually tripping a guy just knocks him prone. That pretty much represents the target striking hard surfaces, debris, and furniture in the area. Added damage might come from say, throwing him into a fireplace, a pit trap, a pit trap with spikes, or off the keep's battlements.

Above average Wis denotes above average common sense, so all you need to do is ask the DM "does my character know if throwing the guy off this particular wall will kill him?"

That's typically how my players do it.

There was a time in my first campaign where a tiefling swordsage used Comet Throw on the party's cleric, sending her crashing into a marble wall. The cleric then fell 20 feet to the floor. She got knocked int the negatives instantly.