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Redshaw
2011-10-09, 12:35 AM
Hello, Giants!

Next month I'll be starting a game for well-trusted players in Dragon Age universe, revolving around the Fereldan Rebellion.

We're using a heavily homebrewed 3.5 system, using spells and abilities taken from the DA:O game and I'll be taking each of my players on a one-on-one adventure before the main campaign starts, both to play-test the system and, in the spirit of the first game, create an "origin" experience that will get them involved with the Rebel Army.

Unlike many D&D adventures where adventurers go about the land, righting wrongs and defeating bandit lords, my PC's will be members of an army. Rather than gold, PC's will be earning "Acquisition Points" which they earn from quest completion and take to the army's quartermaster to get outfitted. They will gain ranks and promotions, becoming more and more involved in the strategic and tactical atmosphere of military campaigns. They will come to interact with, combat and know many of the big names involved with the Rebellion and video game, including Moira the Rebel Queen, Ser Loghain MacTier, Prince Merric, Arl Rendorn Guerrin and others.

I have an over-arching storyline, of course, with my PC's acting as a sort of unit within the army forces. The in-game campaign will, in fact, span over several years. I have yet to decide whether the climax will occur at the Battle of the River Dane, or with the actual beheading of the Usurper king himself.

Besides the events that occur in The Stolen Throne, the novel around which an amount of this campaign will be based, what I need are ideas for adventures the PC's can accomplish that forward the Rebel Army's goal as a whole: the liberation of Fereldan.

For an example of what I'm looking for, I have a low-level adventure in which the PC's go looking in the Bracilian forest in a desperate search of food to help feed the army with, when they get caught in a blizzard, getting them lost in the forest. Worse, they are being stalked by demon-possessed werewolves that attack at night. The PC's will eventually defeat the menace, gather food-supplies and find their way back with the assistance of some wary Dalish elves.

Another plot-device in development is an adventure wherein, the PC's complete the module Base of Operations (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20001001a), winning an HQ for the Rebel Army's higher-ups.

At the moment, besides coming up with my own adventures, I'm taking existing modules and converting the NPC's and background toward the Rebel Army's interests, but that feels somehow "cheap" to me.

In conclusion, any ideas and suggestions on what I can do to make the PC's feel more immersed in and gung-ho about being in the Rebel Army are loved and appreciated. Thank you!

Calanon
2011-10-09, 01:55 AM
Are you adjusting the Magic system to give it a more DA feeling? or limiting certain spells? how are you going to do the specialization system?

Personally I feel that by allowing Mages to use the current system of magic to be crazy (with spell slots) so perhaps spell points; which ever you feel limits them the most (Or only allowing them to cast up to a certain level of spells requiring the rest to only be accomplished through blood magic which takes constitution damage to the caster).

Templars should be something like Abjurant Champions with disjunction or AMF and the process of making a mage tranquil (Which is in and of itself is an EVIL act) should just be a mindrape spell...

If your gonna pretty much castrate mages of there power I would be willing to play as one, I'd look at it as a challenge :smallamused:

Redshaw
2011-10-09, 06:24 AM
We're limiting the classes, effectively, to Fighter, Rogue and Sorcerer. Casters get to choose which stat they cast off of, so they can keep the flavor of whatever they like (Apostates: charisma, Circle Mages: intelligence/wisdom). They get a new specialization every 7 levels.

Mages do get a pretty big castration, as we're taking spells directly from the video game and existing tabletop game. Rather than spell points, mages get mana points based on their constitution (rogues and fighters will have willpower based on this, as well). Mind you, we're not doing a straight transfer of numbers; there will be edits to allow for balance.

Each spell/ability will have a "cooldown" of rounds before they can cast it again, depending specifically on the spell.

This system also makes Blood Mages damn HORRIFYING, since they cast off of HP, rather than Mana and have MUCH MORE of it.

Calanon
2011-10-09, 06:41 AM
We're limiting the classes, effectively, to Fighter, Rogue and Sorcerer. Casters get to choose which stat they cast off of, so they can keep the flavor of whatever they like (Apostates: charisma, Circle Mages: intelligence/wisdom).

Bold: That worries me so much. I want to cast my spells off of my Constitution :|

Italic: Hmm... So why no Wizard? or is Circle Mage just a re-flavored
wizard that learns spells as a Sorcerer? Can a Blood Mage cast of there Constitution instead of Int,Wis, or Cha?


Mages do get a pretty big castration, as we're taking spells directly from the video game and existing tabletop game. Rather than spell points, mages get mana points based on their constitution (rogues and fighters will have willpower based on this, as well). Mind you, we're not doing a straight transfer of numbers; there will be edits to allow for balance.

Bold: Thats what I'm looking for :smallamused: I will admit that I do play mages (Clerics, Druids, Wizards and even got Archivist banned from my table) and feel that this limitation will be a good thing for people who rely on a spell to get them through a fight (Sometimes its more fun to just tumble through a fight)

Underlined: I'm confident me and many others will be interested in seeing a detailed chart of the growth. Does it function like the Spell Point system (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/spellPoints.htm)? or is there some other variation your using? how will Epic spellcasting translate?




Each spell/ability will have a "cooldown" of rounds before they can cast it again, depending specifically on the spell.

oOo sounds fair and reasonable :smallsmile: Storm of the Century than wait a few rounds before doing it again :smalltongue:


This system also makes Blood Mages damn HORRIFYING, since they cast off of HP, rather than Mana and have MUCH MORE of it.

Is Blood Mage a prestige class? If so and your spellcasting system works like everyone has "Lost Tradition" and picks there own score to cast off than I can probably already image my build for your game :smalltongue:

Why no Clerics of Andraste if you don't mind me asking? do Archdemon's have Divine Ranks?

Sorry for asking so many questions but this is REALLY interesting :smallredface: I've always been curious to see how DA would translate to D&D

Redshaw
2011-10-09, 07:13 AM
Your enthusiasm greatly pleases me!

We decided to just use Sorcerer as the back drop, since all casters in the Dragon Age universe seem to do it spontaneously. Rather than prestige classes, we'll let players take specializations, which grant them stat bonuses and access to ability trees they would otherwise be unable to take.

Rather than clerics, we'd just have the player build a Sorcerer with emphasis in healing and buffing spells, using Wisdom as the casting stat. At least, that's the idea at present. This system isn't going to be designed for widespread use as-is; it's going to be made specifically for this campaign. Though others will be more than welcome to pick it up where we left off and run with it, once we've reached a point that we're satisfied.

Mind you, this system is still under heavy, HEAVY construction, so what I've told you are the current ideas we want to run with. Myself and my friend who is doing the heavy lifting with the conversions would like to complete the breakdown before posting it for critique.

However, here is a spell description of your standard fire ball spell, using our current system.


Fire Ball
Primal
Level: Primal 3, Fire 3
Components: V,S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Cooldown: 2 rounds
Cost: 7 mana
Range: Long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Area: 20-ft.-radius spread
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Special; see text
Spell Resistance: Yes

And with a single gesture and a loud indecipherable exclamation, a ball of flame leapt forth from the mage's hands, landing in the middle of the platoon of soldiers and knocking them all around while setting them on fire.

A fireball spell is an explosion of flame that detonates with a loud roar and deals 1d6 points of fire damage per mage level, and then burning for a quarter of that damage (round down) over the next three rounds to every creature within the area. Unattended objects also take this damage. In addition, the creatures subject to the spell must make a Fortitude save or be knocked away ten feet from where the blast originated, and falling prone.
You point your finger and determine the range (distance and height) at which the fireball is to burst. A glowing, bowling ball-sized sphere streaks from the pointed digit or hand and, unless it impacts upon a material body or solid barrier prior to attaining the prescribed range, explodes into the fireball at that point. (An early impact results an early detonation.) If you attempt to send the bead through a narrow passage, such as through an arrow slit, you must "hit" the opening with a ranged touch attack, or else the bead strikes the barrier and detonates prematurely.

The fireball sets fire to combustibles and damages objects in the area. It can melt metals with low melting points, such as lead, gold, copper, silver, and bronze. If the damage caused to an interposing barrier shatters or breaks through it, the fireball may continue beyond the barrier if the area permits; otherwise it stops at the barrier just as any other spell effect does.

Calanon
2011-10-09, 07:16 AM
Your enthusiasm greatly pleases me!

We decided to just use Sorcerer as the back drop, since all casters in the Dragon Age universe seem to do it spontaneously. Rather than prestige classes, we'll let players take specializations, which grant them stat bonuses and access to ability trees they would otherwise be unable to take.

Rather than clerics, we'd just have the player build a Sorcerer with emphasis in healing and buffing spells, using Wisdom as the casting stat. At least, that's the idea at present. This system isn't going to be designed for widespread use as-is; it's going to be made specifically for this campaign. Though others will be more than welcome to pick it up where we left off and run with it, once we've reached a point that we're satisfied.

Mind you, this system is still under heavy, HEAVY construction, so what I've told you are the current ideas we want to run with. Myself and my friend who is doing the heavy lifting with the conversions would like to complete the breakdown before posting it for critique.

However, here is a spell description of your standard fire ball spell, using our current system.


Fire Ball
Primal
Level: Primal 3, Fire 3
Components: V,S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Cooldown: 2 rounds
Cost: 7 mana
Range: Long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Area: 20-ft.-radius spread
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Special; see text
Spell Resistance: Yes

And with a single gesture and a loud indecipherable exclamation, a ball of flame leapt forth from the mage's hands, landing in the middle of the platoon of soldiers and knocking them all around while setting them on fire.

A fireball spell is an explosion of flame that detonates with a loud roar and deals 1d6 points of fire damage per mage level, and then burning for a quarter of that damage (round down) over the next three rounds to every creature within the area. Unattended objects also take this damage. In addition, the creatures subject to the spell must make a Fortitude save or be knocked away ten feet from where the blast originated, and falling prone.
You point your finger and determine the range (distance and height) at which the fireball is to burst. A glowing, bowling ball-sized sphere streaks from the pointed digit or hand and, unless it impacts upon a material body or solid barrier prior to attaining the prescribed range, explodes into the fireball at that point. (An early impact results an early detonation.) If you attempt to send the bead through a narrow passage, such as through an arrow slit, you must "hit" the opening with a ranged touch attack, or else the bead strikes the barrier and detonates prematurely.

The fireball sets fire to combustibles and damages objects in the area. It can melt metals with low melting points, such as lead, gold, copper, silver, and bronze. If the damage caused to an interposing barrier shatters or breaks through it, the fireball may continue beyond the barrier if the area permits; otherwise it stops at the barrier just as any other spell effect does.



I am highly fascinated in your detail and precision in doing this my only question is: When do we begin? :smallamused:

EDIT: I don't mean seriously when do we begin I mean it as "Yes, I would like to do this"

Redshaw
2011-10-09, 07:39 AM
That makes me very glad. I'm afraid the game is only available to some personal friends of mine, but when the system is complete we'll most definitely make a thread about it.

Furthermore, I'm thinking of keeping an online campaign journal of this, if that's of interest.

But that's for the far future. For now, we build.

Calanon
2011-10-09, 04:49 PM
That makes me very glad. I'm afraid the game is only available to some personal friends of mine, but when the system is complete we'll most definitely make a thread about it.

Furthermore, I'm thinking of keeping an online campaign journal of this, if that's of interest.

But that's for the far future. For now, we build.

Alright seems reasonable ^_^
I can wait as long as it will take for you and your friends to finish