PDA

View Full Version : Diary of a DM: Group's First Evil PC Campaign



BeholderSlayer
2010-11-03, 08:30 PM
My group expects, based on the DM's observations, that we will likely be finishing our current campaign soon. It's an Everquest d20 campaign, and I think the DM feels things are getting a little out of hand (we are level 16 or 17, and stomping encounters of DOUBLE the standard CR). Anyway, I digress.

I noticed these diary threads get a lot of approval here, so I'm going to keep a journal of my campaign. Feel free to make comments and suggestions, I can take constructive criticism fairly well.

I plan to update the thread weekly, as we have sessions every Thursday evening. I apologize in advance if I don't keep it up to date all the time, but I will do my best. Also, I want to apologize in advance if I don't get it started for a few weeks. I think it's a possibility that our current campaign will be over after next week, but I don't fully know what is in store yet.

This will be my group's first time playing as evil characters. I hope it turns into some interesting stories.

First, the characters:
Venerable Blue Dragonspawn Dragonwrought Kobold Sorcerer
Evolved Undead Gravetouched Ghoul Cleric
Dark Creature Marrulurk Rogue/Swordsage
Lolth-Touched Drow Warblade/Gish
Feral Half-Minotaur Barbarian


Next, the houserules (fairly extensive, many stolen shamelessly):
General

- Full HP per HD
- Fractional saves/BAB
- All characters receive 6 more skill points per level than listed
- Everyone gets maximum HP per HD.
- There is no such thing as multiclass penalties.
- Fractional BAB is in effect.
- Fractional saves are in effect, but you can get the first level bonus more than once.
- Iterative attacks from Base Attack Bonus have a penalty of -5, non stacking. Yes, this does mean a 20th level Warblade swings at +20/+15/+15/+15. This penalty can be further reduced with feats.
- Full attacks are a Standard action. You still need Pounce in order to benefit from charge based effects on a full attack.

Feats

- The Weapon Focus line automatically scales with HD. At 4 you are considered to have Weapon Specialization for all purposes, at 8 Greater Weapon Focus, and at 12 Greater Weapon Specialization. Note that it does not matter what class those levels are in. And yes, that does include monsters. All of these extra feats apply to the same weapon type as the original, which must be acquired normally.
- The Toughness feat grants 3 + HD HP, and cannot be taken more than once.
- Improved Toughness grants 3 + HD HP, requires Toughness and a base Fortitude save of +2, and can still only be taken once.
- Improved Two Weapon Fighting and Greater Two Weapon Fighting no longer exist.
- Two Weapon Fighting grants you a number of offhand attacks equal to the number of main hand attacks you are entitled to, and does not impose additional to hit penalties for a one handed weapon in the off hand. It also no longer has any prerequisites. Happy birthday.
- Two Weapon Defense provides an Insight bonus to AC equal to the number of mainhand attacks you can make derived from BAB.
- A third feat exists in the Two Weapon Fighting line called Two Weapon Parry. It requires both of the previous feats and a BAB of 11. With it you can 'hold' a pair of attacks from Two Weapon Fighting, and use those attacks as an Immediate action against an attack made on you. This pair of attacks can either be your primary pair or one of your secondary pairs. If either of your attack rolls are higher than the attack roll of the attack, the attack is parried and does not harm you. If both attack rolls are higher, the attack is parried and if the attack rolls are also sufficient to hit the enemy's AC + 4, you hit them normally with your attacks. If neither are higher, the parry fails and the attack is resolved normally. You must choose to use your stored Parry before learning the result of the attack roll. Parries not used by the start of your next turn are lost.
- Improved Trip no longer requires Combat Expertise.
- Improved Critical and Keen stack. Happy birthday.
- Improved Sunder, and anything else relating to breaking magic items no longer exists. You can still tunnel through dungeons with your adamantine greatsword if you want, but the gods will smite you if you think about breaking that shiny magic sword. Just kidding, but seriously. Not all of these effects are feat related, but the ones that aren't also do not exist. If they were needed somewhere as a prerequisite... well now you don't need them. Enjoy using your feats to actually help yourself.
- Any of the feats that give +2 to 2 different skills no longer exist. If they were needed somewhere as a prerequisite, now you don't.
- All three of the feats that give +2 to a save still do, except that if your base save bonus of that type is at least +6 you also no longer auto fail saves of that type on a natural 1. You must still actually roll high enough to save normally. If your base save bonus of that type is at least +12 you gain the following additional effect: Fortitude/Will: Mettle. Reflex: Evasion. If you already have these abilities for any reason you instead get a 1/day reroll on a failed save of that type. You must choose to use it after you know you failed the save, but before knowing what the result of doing so is. If the reroll is worse than the original roll, well too bad.
- Monks are proficient with their own bodies (finally! They still fail though). They are also automatically proficient with gauntlets, which are considered a Monk weapon and do the listed damage or their unarmed strike damage, whichever is the greater.
- Craft feats no longer grant a discount on the gold cost of an item, and no longer have an XP cost. They still cost the usual amount of time, but are granted automatically to anyone with a sufficient caster level.
- If you have at least 1 BAB, you can Power Attack with any weapon you are proficient in and are treated as if you have the Power Attack feat without actually taking it. Yes, this does include ranged weapons. Call it a Headshot. Also see feat section.
- If you have at least 1 BAB, you can Point Blank Shot with any ranged weapon you are proficient in and are treated as if you have the Point Blank Shot feat without actually taking it. Also see feat section.
- If you have at least 4 BAB, you can Precise Shot with any ranged weapon you are proficient in and are treated as if you have the Point Blank Shot feat without actually taking it. Also see feat section.
- Certain metamagic feats have an additional use. By adding to casting time, you may Enlarge, Widen, or Heighten a spell. The feats still also function as written, and each use stacks with the other. For each action step a spell is lengthened, you may add 10 feet radius to AoE, 25 feet to range, and 1 DC. You may not lengthen the casting time of a spell that is longer than 1 full round action.

Items
- WBL has been increased by 50%. This also means enemies will have 50% more treasure (and use that treasure against you). Beware!
- Candles of Invocation no longer can cast Gate.
- Keen and Improved Critical stack. A winner is you.
- Burst type effects (elemental burst, holy burst, etc) have the burst aspect of their damage doubled. The basic on hit damage remains unchanged.
- Magic armor, magic shields, enhancement bonus to natural armor items, and deflection bonus to AC items have the cost of said properties cut in half. Thus armor and shields are 500 * bonus squared and natural armor and deflection items are 1,000 bonus squared. Magic weapons keep the same cost.
- The maximum enhancement bonus possible on such items is now +8, not +5. Magic armor and shields can still only have up to +9 worth of special properties in total. Magic weapons keep the same limitations.
- There is no such thing as Dust of Sneezing and Choking. The Thought Bottles swallowed it all, before they were also erased from existence.
- Monks are still weak. But if you really want to play one anyways, gauntlets are considered an unarmed strike and can be enchanted the same as any other weapon.
- Amulet of Natural Attacks no longer exists. Instead it's Bracers of Natural Attacks, to dodge the off slot mark up and make the price 4k * bonus squared. You're a Druid, you can deal with paying double.
- The following items do not exist: All of those minor SR items in the DMG, the Brilliant Energy weapon property (it's just bad), and all those named items in the DMG (It's a trap!).
- Vorpal now triggers on a critical hit, not just on a natural 20. Yes, I am aware that lets a fool with IC: Slashing and a Keen Vorpal slashing weapon behead people 45% of the time or so. It's a +5 enchantment, it needs less fail and more awesome. To dual wield with it you need two such weapons, at a minimum cost of 196,000 gold. Also Vorpal was errataed so Death Ward blocks it, and if some fool is running around without Death Ward at these levels they deserve what's coming to them. This also makes Heavy Fort block it. See previous comment.
- The Bane weapon enchantment also bypasses all damage reduction by creatures of that type, even if you could not normally bypass that type of damage reduction with that type of attack and even if that type of damage reduction normally cannot be bypassed at all! Now non Artificers might actually use it!
- Any weapon labeled as 'finesseable' will allow you to use your Dexterity for attack and damage instead of your Strength if you so choose.
- Nightsticks don't stack.

Ranged Weapons:
- Heavy crossbows (including their repeating forms) have their base damage die increased by one step. As this is a modification to the base item, it stacks with any other effects of that type.
- Crossbows can be made to utilize the user's Strength bonus by mechanisms that provide more resistance, and recoil when fired that requires a stronger user in order to utilize properly. This otherwise works just like composite bows, including the +75 (light) or +100 (heavy) gold per + of strength bonus on the 'pull'.
- Crossbows, but not bows can ignore a number of points of armor or natural armor bonus equal to the strength bonus of the crossbow or the strength bonus of the wielder, whichever is the lower. Crossbows do not bypass AC that is not armor or natural armor, and if the target has less armor or natural armor than you have penetrating power the remainder has no effect. Yes, this does effectively give you Str and Dex to hit with a crossbow against armored foes.
- Composite bows and crossbows can have their pull increased, but not decreased by a skilled bowyer. This requires materials of a total cost of the price difference between the current and the new item + 50 gold, 1 hour of time, and a successful Craft (bowyer) check made at the end of this process. The DC on this skill check is 10 + the new composite bonus of the bow + 2 if the bow or crossbow is an exotic weapon. Failing this check requires the bowyer to restart the hour long process from the beginning but their materials remain intact. Failing by 5 or more ruins the materials but does not harm the bow or crossbow. Yes, the DC is intentionally low. That's because...
- A new wondrous item exists in the form of the Sniper's Bowstring. Despite its name, it also works fine with any crossbow, including magical bows and crossbows. Any bow or crossbow fitted with a Sniper's Bowstring automatically counts as composite adjusted to their current Strength score. Its market value is 1,000 gold and can be crafted by anyone with a CL of 3, Craft Wondrous Item, and Bull's Strength.

Classes
- Barbarians gain DR x/- equal to their Con modifier or their Barbarian class level, whichever is lower. This is in addition to the DR x/- gained at level 7, 10, 13, 16, and 19 and any DR x/- the Barbarian has from items.
- Barbarians of level 11 or higher also have Mettle, but only while raging.
- Monks get full BAB. Not that that will stop them from failing.
- Paladin Smite Evil can be used x times per encounter instead of per day and applies to any attacks made for one round, including AoOs. In addition if you Smite a target that is neither Good nor Evil the Smite still has half normal effect. Note the change to Smite also applies to any other Smite abilities with the target lines changed accordingly.
- Paladins have good Will saves, and every six levels they can take a bonus feat from the following list: Great Fortitude, Lightning Reflexes, Iron Will. Before you laugh, keep in mind what those feats do now.
- Rangers need not choose between ranged and melee. They get both the ranged line and the TWF line. If you're using some alternate Ranger progression it replaces one of these (your choice).
- As ITWF and GTWF no longer exist, Rangers get Two Weapon Defense and Two Weapon Parry at levels 6 and 11 instead. They still get Two Weapon Fighting at level 2.
- Paladins and Rangers have full caster level. Their actual access to spells remains unchanged.
- Paladin casting is now Charisma based. Happy birthday.
- Ranger's Animal Companion progresses at the same rate as the Druid's.
- Warlocks can Eldritch Blast as an attack action as long as it is your turn. Happy birthday.
- There was a Hexblade fix around written by the creators. I can't find it, but it's in.
- Tome of Battle classes, when using a maneuver that specifies they attack once and deliver the effect of the maneuver can full attack with the maneuver, but it will only be used on the first attack of the sequence or the first pair of attacks for those TWF maneuvers. If a maneuver does already allow you to full attack and gain the benefit on each swing you still do. Yes, this does mean Warblades can use a maneuver, then full attack and use a second maneuver while recovering both.
- Swordsages get Adaptive Style as a bonus feat. It only applies to maneuvers learned from being a Swordsage. It otherwise functions exactly the same.
- Sorcerers no longer take full round actions to cast spells with metamagic. They also may use Quicken Spell.
- Sorcerers gain one spell known for every sorcerer level. PrC's count. You're welcome.

Spells

- Mordenkainen's Disjunction no longer exists. No, I won't allow you to screw yourself.
- Magic Vestment and Barkskin now gives a bonus of +1 per 2 CLs, rounded down, minimum +1 and maximum +8. Shield of Faith now gives a bonus of +2, +1 per 3 CLs rounded down, max 8. Greater Magic Weapon remains unchanged, but if you prepare any of these spells in a slot 4 levels higher than the spell is for you or cast them spontaneously out of a slot 4 levels higher you can instead cast a Mass version of that type, targeting up to one target (people for Barkskin and Shield of Faith, armor or shields for Magic Vestment, weapons for Greater Magic Weapon) per caster level within 30 feet. The exceptions are Rangers and Barkskin, who can cast a mass Barkskin out of a 4th level spell slot and Artificers, who can cast a Mass Greater Magic Weapon out of a 6th level infusion slot.
- Conjuration (Healing) spells have been changed to 1d6/caster level + Wisdom Modifier. Cure Light Wounds caps at 5d6, Cure Moderate Wounds at 10d6, Cure Serious wounds at 15d6, and Cure Critical Wounds at 20d6. Enjoy being able to use them in combat if you failed to find the vigor spells.

Spellcasting
- All evocation spells have been changed to SR: No. All of them. Merry Christmas.
- All spellcasters get Warmage Edge, but it is keyed off their particular spellcasting stat. Warmages get double.
- By altering your casting time, you can alter the effects of your spells. Decreasing time makes them weaker, lengthening time makes them stronger. See the feats section for more information. Typically weakened spells have shorter range, smaller AoE, and lower DC's. This effect does not apply to buffs.

BeholderSlayer
2010-11-03, 08:31 PM
The First Mission
The PC's have been recruited into a thieves' guild in a large metropolis. This particular city is somewhat receptive of monsterous races, but it has a large number of humans. The Church of Pelor has been setting up churches and a cathedral for quite a while, and the guild's intelligence gathering has determined that the church has brought a powerful magical item to the city. The guild master has decided he wants to have it.

The PC's start in a dark, dank room in file. There is a large, menacing-looking bugbear in front of them welcoming them to the guild. He gives them their first mission: to recover the magical item desired by the guild master. The PC's are given one week to obtain it, and instructed that they must use caution and tact so as to not attract the wrath of the church.

They are told that there are two churches and one cathedral in the city.

The next few days are to be spent in gathering information and scouting, but if the PC's decide not to do that there are plans for it. If they choose to go to any of the above mentioned buildings, combat will occur with guards and priests unless they are pretty smooth talkers. There will be monks that get away to inform the higher-ups of the PC's actions. This will make the following encounters more dangerous.

If the PC's collect information and ask the proper questions, they will find out that the church is also running a soup kitchen. More questions will show that the soup kitchen seems strangely busy and more heavily guarded than usual. If they properly scout the soup kitchen, they will find that there is a secret basement entrance behind it.

If the PC's decide to start head-up combat before going into the basement, the following encounters will have added enemies.

They will have to work their way through the basement levels and find the item. There will be clerics and crusaders in the area for defense. I have some pretty interesting traps in store for them as well (Explosive Runes in the storeroom files, oh no!).

The trick will be locating the object, which will be guarded and trapped, and put in a not-so-obvious hiding place.

BeholderSlayer
2010-11-03, 08:33 PM
Session 1: Character Building and Campaign Beginning (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9749586&postcount=10)

BeholderSlayer
2010-11-03, 08:34 PM
Reserved, just in case. Commence flames!!

blackjack217
2010-11-03, 08:41 PM
How do you deal with wish?

BeholderSlayer
2010-11-03, 08:47 PM
How do you deal with wish?

I assume you mean with wishes outside the set effects? Or do you mean infinite wish loops?

dsmiles
2010-11-04, 04:40 AM
I await your campaign journal, sir.

EDIT: Perhaps an unabashed plug for my own campaign journal (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=173976), as well. Maybe it'll help, though I'm writing from a character's perspective.

BeholderSlayer
2010-11-04, 08:51 AM
Updated a few things. Going to work on outlining the plan for the first session. This will be the first time ever that my players will be in situations where tactics like:
1. Talk to NPC, get map to place.
2. Kick down door of place.
3. Murder.
4. Loot.
will not work. There will be plot decoys, right and wrong decisions, and contingency plans. Scouting, planning, and gathering information will be encouraged, nay, crucial. Failure to perform adequate information gathering will result in character or party death unless they make the right choices by blind luck.

BeholderSlayer
2010-11-08, 07:09 PM
Updated with planned first assigned mission and updated PC's. Still a few unknowns denoted by ?'s. This week we plan to get together and discuss rules, campaign setting, and character builds.

BeholderSlayer
2010-11-12, 10:26 AM
Most of the first session was spent in character building. We only got to the game at the very end, but what little we got to was highly entertaining for me.

I went through my speech about their first mission, and sat back while they discussed their options for determining where the magical item (a mirror) might be. Even after explaining that acting brashly would most likely lead to character death, some of them wanted to rush headlong into one of the churches. The voice of reason in the party won out, though, when the rogue said "Guys, we have a week to do this. Let's figure out where this thing is before just running in to places."

They decided to send the rogue into one of the churches, disguised, and ask a priest straight-up about where the mirror was. The priest made his check to identify the disguise, but wasn't particularly concerned about that, though he was confused why anybody would bother to come in disguised. They asked about the mirror, but even with a high roll the priest was unwilling to share such information and assured them he had no idea what they were talking about (I wasn't just going to hand it to them, this is a church secret).

The rogue left, and the sorcerer convinced him to disguise HIM and let him have a try. So a disguised kobold comes into the church, and the priest identifies it again. He explained that he had business dealings with the church (bad bluff roll, bad story) and that he needed to know where the magic mirror was being kept. The priest laughed and said that was the silliest story he'd ever heard (it was a pretty silly story the way he described it, I wish I had it written down), and that he had no clue what the sorcerer was talking about.

They began discussing just charging into the church at night and searching it high and low. I could tell they weren't quite "getting" it, so out of character I advised them to start broad and narrow it down, rather than trying to work in a straight line. I had to say this three or four times for this to sink in.

Then they started asking around about the church. A strong Gather Information check told them that the church runs a secret rectory in town, disguised as a soup kitchen. Another strong check told them that there was a strangely large number of armed guards at the soup kitchen lately. They had found their mark.

They decided to scout out the kitchen to see what they could discover. The marrulurk disguised himself again and went into the kitchen dining area to watch. He saw two large men in armor and with swords behind the counter serving food, and two older looking men in robes cooking in the back.

Mind you, I had expected them to just scout around the outside first. This part required some ad-hoc activities on my part, and this is where it starts.

One of the armed men loaded up a platter with ten bowls of soup, and walked out of the serving area and started heading toward the door. He had a key ring on his belt. As he walked past the rogue, a quick sleight of hand check ended with the keys in the rogue's pocket. The rogue got up and followed him. He went around the back side of the building and started fumbling with what looked like a disguised door in the foundation. He reached for his keys, and realized he didn't have them anymore. He made a confused expression, and turned to go back to from where he came.

He passed by the rogue, and hilarity ensued. I let my players deliberate the tactics they will take, and the discussion was interesting. The rogue wanted to knife the guy in the back since nobody was around. The sorcerer wanted to knife him, throw on some disguises, and walk into the basement calling out "DINNER IS SERVED!" He argued this would get all the priests into the same area, and once they were eating he could cast Sleep on all of them. The other two (we were short one) just wanted to go in, and forget all that stuff. Eventually, the decision was made to just go in and lock the door behind them.

DM's Notes:
It really is amazing how players can make things more complicated. What I see as a plainly obvious logical path, they end up doing in a completely different way. Also, the image of a large group of priests face-down in bowls of soup around a table made me chuckle. I had a blast, and I think this campaign will do well to get the players interested in more than just combat.