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Morph Bark
2012-12-17, 06:31 AM
Recently we had been trying to get a new group together for DnD, but this didn't go too well, so my two most regular players asked if we could just start up a campaign with just the three of us, just like old times.

Since I'd be DMing just for two players, who are well-versed in optimization and familiar with many pieces of homebrew, I decided: "let's go all out."

And when I say all out, I mean all out (well, with two clauses: RAI, not RAW, and homebrew limited to my races and classes in the Homebrew Tier Compendium (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=245701)). Lots of homebrew available, no Tiers barred. Gestalt, and with 2 free LA on both sides. We start at level 14.

So now I've ended up with the following:

Player A is an Unseelie Fey Draconic Half-Minotaur Flameheart Jotun (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=253022) Saint Destined Hero (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=248161)/Sentai (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=242337). Unseelie Fey gave him dragon-like wings and Winter's Caress' debuff aura.

Player B is an Unseelie Fey Half-Fey Half-Nymph Gabrii Angel (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=252925) Jewel Summoner/Teleporter (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168948). The Jewel Summoner is an old homebrew class I tweaked that basically allows the character to capture monsters and command them (up to class level -2 CR for one monster at a time, or class level -4 CR for two monsters at a time), and can have a number of monsters captured equal to their Charisma modifier. Player is also considering taking Leadership. Player has picked the following monsters:
- Cadaver Collector
- Elsewhale
- Hydra (11-headed)
- Justice Archon
- Lillend
- Purple Worm
- Storm Elemental, Greater (x2)
- Tyrannosaurus
- Valkyrie
- Waste Crawler (Anhydrut)
- Yuki-Onna
- 1 empty slot

Thanks to Unseelie Fey his character lost her eyes in favor of blindsight 30 ft (but he plans on getting an eye graft to mitigate that so she can see where she's teleporting to).


Both players have the Stronghold feat and plan on building a ship reminiscent of the Delphinus (http://skiesofarcadia.wikia.com/wiki/Delphinus) from Skies of Arcadia. Labour to build it is essentially free due to Leadership and a Lyre of Building and walls are free since Player B picked Wall of Stone for one of his spells. They're taking nearly everything they might need into account and use followers for a lot of crafting (such as alchemical items).


I certainly have some work to do! :smalltongue: So, have any of you ever gone all out like this?

inexorabletruth
2012-12-17, 02:31 PM
No. God no.

Good luck DM'ing that.

Sneaky Weasel
2012-12-17, 02:57 PM
Well, I'm DMing a level 30 high-op Tristalt campaign where the players are incarnations of universal forces(such as Chaos, Luck, etc.) and can easily take down most gods without batting an eye. So yeah, I think that counts as going all out. :smallwink:

Driderman
2012-12-17, 03:09 PM
Well, back when D&D 3.5 was new and shiny, we ran slapstick "Munchkin" campaigns from time to time, with all sorts of crazy characters such as Half-dragon Treants, Vampire Trolls, Fiendish Driders and other nutty combinations made for maximum hilarity and/or exploitation. It was generally over the top and not taken very seriously, but quite fun. As a rule, bonus XP was awarded for screwing over the other characters and "winning" the session :D

Wyntonian
2012-12-17, 08:54 PM
...The Jewel Summoner is a Pokemon Trainer, isn't it?

Also, holy poop, have fun with that. Sounds like good, noisy, crazy fun.

Kelb_Panthera
2012-12-17, 09:22 PM
You gonna call 'em out on holding back like that?

That's not a joke. Out of 4 classes between them, I only see one casting class and it's a list-caster drawing from a less than stellar list. Don't get me wrong, they're interesting characters, but they're not balls-to-the-wall power-houses like I'd expect when presented with the phrase "all-out."

In answer to your question, No. I've never DM'ed anything like that. Probably won't either. I don't care for gestalt and I'm honestly not sure I can suspend my disbelief high enough for such a large template stack to have clearance.

Good luck with that though.

RoyVG
2012-12-18, 05:36 AM
Don't get me wrong, they're interesting characters, but they're not balls-to-the-wall power-houses like I'd expect when presented with the phrase "all-out."

Being Player A in this equation, we were never meant to be 'omnipotent powerhouses' in the first place. At least, I'm not aiming specifically for that, I just wanted something fun to play. I never really enjoy playing spellcasters as much as a martial adept or any other melee-oriented class. I can't speak for the other player, though he is usually a bit more of an optimizer than I am.

This campaign is actually some kind of 'back-up' if a different campaign that we want to start is not starting anytime soon. Either one of the two other players (besides B and me) never seems to have time in the weekends for the past 4 or 5 weeks. Player B and I weren't really happy that it didn't start this weekend, so we just came up with some ideas. And our DM didn't say no to this. We are going to try to get in touch with them this weekend, but after that, we feel that we (at least my fellow players) have done enough to try and get the campaign started.

The Stronghold was more for s**ts 'n giggles anyway. I dind't even think about it in the first place, but after Player B said he wanted one, I just thought 'F it' and we combined our funds. We wanted it to be loosely based on the Delphinus from Skies of Arcadia in terms of shape and size, but after some rough 'calculations', we found that it would be >6000 Stronghold Spaces. We reduced that to 300 maximum. One of my classes gave me a lot of followers, which I can store nicely in the stronghold. They will deal with any of the mundane tasks like cooking, maintenance, cleaning, crafting, etc. Some of the higher level followers will likely be made into complete characters, but even then I'll stick to simple stuff.


...The Jewel Summoner is a Pokemon Trainer, isn't it?

Yes, it is basically a Pokemon trainer.


Also, holy poop, have fun with that. Sounds like good, noisy, crazy fun.

Thank you, and I'm sure we will have a blast.

Anxe
2012-12-18, 12:38 PM
The characters essentially sound like Angels to me. So... give them encounters on that scale. Maybe they start planing an invasion of Hell. Or they take down the Demon King who has possessed the Emperor of Farawayland.

Kelb_Panthera
2012-12-18, 03:43 PM
@ RoyVG, Morph Bark, and unnamed player B:

I meant no offense with my comment. I was just saying that your setup, while unambiguously at a high-point on the power-curve, doesn't strike me as genuinely "all-out."

Fun is the object of the game and if that's what those characters are to you guys then I can certainly respect and appreciate that.

I simply misunderstood. I got the impression that making the strongest possible characters was an objective set before the characters were created. I now get the impression that Morph was just having a "holy cow. What've I gotten myself into?" reaction.

Whatever the case, don't mind the inane ramblings of some internet loon like me. :smalltongue:

Happy gaming. :smallsmile:

RoyVG
2012-12-19, 06:20 AM
@ RoyVG, Morph Bark, and unnamed player B:

I meant no offense with my comment. I was just saying that your setup, while unambiguously at a high-point on the power-curve, doesn't strike me as genuinely "all-out."

No offense taken, you are right about the power level being "too low" to be "all-out". It's just that this is the "strongest" we as the players have ever done. We did have a campaign that lasted till level 16, but that one wasn't gestalt, hardly any optimization, etc. This campaign will have a little bit more thought behind the characters, but not enough to push my character solidly into Tier 2 anytime soon.
My companion B however.....
I agree that Morph could have used a different way to discribe the situation.


I simply misunderstood. I got the impression that making the strongest possible characters was an objective set before the characters were created. I now get the impression that Morph was just having a "holy cow. What've I gotten myself into?" reaction.

Mistakes happen. Making the strongest characters would have resulted in 2 Pun-Puns, and therefore the end of the world as we know it, because an even stronger third Pun-Pun would have to come and kill us. :smalltongue:


Happy gaming. :smallsmile:

Thank you :smallbiggrin:

Morph Bark
2012-12-19, 06:57 AM
Mistakes happen. Making the strongest characters would have resulted in 2 Pun-Puns, and therefore the end of the world as we know it, because an even stronger third Pun-Pun would have to come and kill us. :smalltongue:

Little known fact: the Big Bang was created as the result of a conflict between two Pun-Puns.


Also, "as all out as you're reasonably willing to ever go" doesn't sound as catchy. :smallwink:

Hunter Noventa
2012-12-19, 12:56 PM
Well, my last character didn't go totally all out, no full-casting after all, though you'd be hard pressed to tell when she could do this, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03p78NJEZMk)this, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BIpRaS8duM)this, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7NBZAioODs)this, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t18TVnuPiGM)this, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCha2lbWYhM)this, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opg9SiU5xaw) and finally http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrIYiKvWzWA

And she was also a catgirl.

If i had been going all out I probably would have made a Warmage/Rainbow servant//Artificer.

SiuiS
2012-12-19, 01:22 PM
No. God no.

Good luck DM'ing that.

Yeah, basically.

I've had a game similar, but that only worked because the players involved were willing to play to the same narrative. And it's still falling apart on a mechanics scale, we've had to basically start fishing stuff around. Hell, I'm considering porting it over to nWoD Mage, where that sort of thing is suppose to happen.

Standard D&D just doesn't have mechanics for covert construction across decades using sympathetic ties to alter The rotation of multiversal layers. Most players don't have the care for the story to understand why such a thing would even be done. So it's not really a thing people would have experience with.

sirpercival
2012-12-20, 09:45 AM
Lol. Poor Morph Bark.

I run like that a lot, in fact. And a lot of my campaigns (High Arcana in particular) are extremely homebrew-friendly. So if you need any specific advice, let me know.

Saph
2012-12-20, 10:11 AM
Hey, you're using my old Teleporter class! That's a blast from the past. Tell me how it goes if you ever get the chance. :smallsmile:

Sith_Happens
2012-12-22, 09:59 AM
...The Jewel Summoner is a Pokemon Trainer, isn't it?

It most definitely is, and Morph Bark most definitely needs to post it.