D&d... In 1934

[Jack_McSnatch]

The title says it all. I'm running a game on d&d mechanics in 1934. Low level casters only, so they won't be seeing any epic level spells... At least not yet. Spellcasters who can cast anything stronger than 4th level spells are super secretive hermit types.

The party consists of a barbarian/duskblade who's a bare knuckle brawler. A fighter... Who's a black, blond haired, blue eyed woman who works for the russian mob. (duskbarbarian's girlfriend, a first time player, so I'm not gonna nitpick her too much.) A vatican paladin who strolls around with a greatsword, and last a ninja FBI agent. We're also getting a fifth player, but I have no idea what he's doing.

All of them aside from the black russian are experienced players, so I want to give each of them something unique that improves their character. Duskbarbarian has already been infected with lycanthropy, but before someone else tells me to make another player a vampire I don't want to give everybody templates. Other ideas were a weapon of legacy pistol, a spellbook a character could cast from a few times a day, and a vague idea about a seemingly worthless piece of jewlery that's actually a powerful artifact.

By the numbers, lycanthropy is the best of those listed abilities, but I'd like the other things I mentioned to stand on their own and be comparable.

Each one also comes with a personal nemisis. In the werewolf's case, it's a charismatic werewolf lord named Sebastian, who's nefarious plot is to turn the entire city of new york into werewolves, and reveal their existence to the world. He is so far my most well thought out villain, but I only have (more) vague ideas for the other 4. Any suggestions?

[Flickerdart]

Is the lycanthropy free? Because otherwise the RHD and LA are a huge lodestone, and the character will get hella nerfed compared to everyone else. Vampirism would be even worse. There are a rare few templates that are worth their LA, basically just Mineral Warrior, Half-Fey, and Lolth-touched.

[Venger]

Sounds like a fun setting.

as is standard for any low-magic campaign advice thread, D&D is not a good system if you want to run a low-magic game for a variety of reasons, the most important of which being that the game implicitly assumes you're going to have level appropriate magic to overcome obstacles such as spells and monster abilities essentially right from the start, so if you're going to restrict players to playing mundane/low powered characters, make sure not to do anything stupid like throw a shadow at them when they have no spells or magic weapons. if you can meticulously pick out any monster with disruptive magical powers or immunities then you should be able to squeak by, but again, it begs the question of why you're playing D&D.

is it the chassis you're familiar with? there are a lot of other games using the d20 engine if your players wanted to be gangsters in russia in the 1930s.

[Jack_McSnatch]

No it's not free. In fact, out of game, I was gonna make someone a lycanthrope to settle an arguement about how werewolves would/would not be anymore powerful than full class pcs. (funny enough with duskbarbarian. He just happened to be the guy who rolled a 1 on the fort save.)

But I digress, he has to take the monster levels, though I'm thinking of letting him buy off the level adjustment, and go all 3 levels even though he isn't natural born. Get the most out of the template, but I also want to make him work for it.

[Segev]

Give the Vatican Paladin diplomatic status. Complete with Hollywood's version of diplomatic immunity and the kind of access a diplomatic passport would give people into high society. He's a cross between a full-fledged diplomat of Vatican City and an Interpol member (maybe he has special status with Interpol to join or enjoin them in cases).

An item that is often overpriced but could be fun is the Rod of Lordly Might (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/rods.htm#lordlyMight). Maybe give that to the Russian Mob Enforcer (the fighter).

Maybe give the ninja a wyrmling gold dragon that can use its change shape ability to become a motorcycle? Thinking in terms of the Chinese-looking dragon and an FBI agent riding a motorcycle.

[Jack_McSnatch]

is it the chassis you're familiar with? there are a lot of other games using the d20 engine if your players wanted to be gangsters in russia in the 1930s.

Yes and no. It was something thought up and voted on by the group. The special character stuff is my own touch. I also liked it BECAUSE I could make less powerful monsters and low powered spellcasters more threatening with the restriction of magic.

[Jack_McSnatch]

Give the Vatican Paladin diplomatic status. Complete with Hollywood's version of diplomatic immunity and the kind of access a diplomatic passport would give people into high society. He's a cross between a full-fledged diplomat of Vatican City and an Interpol member (maybe he has special status with Interpol to join or enjoin them in cases).

An item that is often overpriced but could be fun is the Rod of Lordly Might (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/rods.htm#lordlyMight). Maybe give that to the Russian Mob Enforcer (the fighter).

Maybe give the ninja a wyrmling gold dragon that can use its change shape ability to become a motorcycle? Thinking in terms of the Chinese-looking dragon and an FBI agent riding a motorcycle.

I've given him diplomatic immunity and a car woth some common monster hunting gear. I like the rod of lordly might and motorcycle dragon ideas though, that would be awesome

[DrMotives]

Do you know about the Winchester Mystery House? Sarah Winchester dies just 12 years before your campaign setting, and built the biggest baddest haunted house ever. She was convinced that the ghost of every person killed by her husband's Winchchester rifles was haunting her, and made an insane maze of a house to confound them. It's a wonderful real world place to put in a big dungeon crawl.

[Fizban]

The title says it all. I'm running a game on d&d mechanics in 1934. Low level casters only, so they won't be seeing any epic level spells... At least not yet. Spellcasters who can cast anything stronger than 4th level spells are super secretive hermit types.
The way d20 modern does this is basically by making your standard spellcasters into prestige classes. You need some appropriate knowledge skills to get in at 5th level, at which point you've effectively multiclassed into basic wizard and will cap out at 5th level spells with PrC 10. It's a downright excellent way of mechanically reducing the impact of magic without trying to gut the system.

I want to give each of them something unique that improves their character. Duskbarbarian has already been infected with lycanthropy,
As others have said, lycanthropy is a dubious "boon" at best, especially when you're fully enforcing the penalties and they're already a spellcaster with less than full levels What I would recommend is making a new lycanthrope template/race that isn't terrible, or even just making it a version of Shapeshift Druid 1.

Other ideas were a weapon of legacy pistol, a spellbook a character could cast from a few times a day, and a vague idea about a seemingly worthless piece of jewlery that's actually a powerful artifact.
Weapons of legacy are pretty terrible if they're allowed to get magic items the normal way (even a Duskblade could take a crafting feat and supply a number of basics), but if the only magic items are DM placed and it's actually better than the rest of what they find then it could be worth it.

[MisterKaws]

Is the lycanthropy free? Because otherwise the RHD and LA are a huge lodestone, and the character will get hella nerfed compared to everyone else. Vampirism would be even worse. There are a rare few templates that are worth their LA, basically just Mineral Warrior, Half-Fey, and Lolth-touched.

Well, since templates tend to have a really low CR adjustment, when compared to their LA, there's a rather... unique way of buying it off: Windrider. This silly 3.0 class allows you to designate anything with a CR 3 or 4 lower than your ECL which is able and willing to carry you as a special mount, and gives it a paladin mount's progression at double speed. The silliest thing about it is the fact that you can choose a templated friend, and even yourself.

The latter was going to be my strategy for Iron Chef LXXX, since it looks like nobody ever mentioned anything about it, but since I'm not likely to use it again because it's too ridiculous, I'm just going to explain it:

A shapechanging Dvati counts as both willing and able to ride itself, and as long as you stack templates in such a way that you end with LA +4, CR +0, you can use Windrider to give you 8-something bonus HD, putting you into epics.

[Flickerdart]

Well, since templates tend to have a really low CR adjustment, when compared to their LA, there's a rather... unique way of buying it off: Windrider. This silly 3.0 class allows you to designate anything with a CR 3 or 4 lower than your ECL which is able and willing to carry you as a special mount, and gives it a paladin mount's progression at double speed. The silliest thing about it is the fact that you can choose a templated friend, and even yourself.

The latter was going to be my strategy for Iron Chef LXXX, since it looks like nobody ever mentioned anything about it, but since I'm not likely to use it again because it's too ridiculous, I'm just going to explain it:

A shapechanging Dvati counts as both willing and able to ride itself, and as long as you stack templates in such a way that you end with LA +4, CR +0, you can use Windrider to give you 8-something bonus HD, putting you into epics.

I've stumbled onto the "designate a shapechanger as your mount" idea before (imagine a paladin riding a were-cheetah) but making yourself the mount is a masterstroke.

[Vogie]

Do you know about the Winchester Mystery House? Sarah Winchester dies just 12 years before your campaign setting, and built the biggest baddest haunted house ever. She was convinced that the ghost of every person killed by her husband's Winchchester rifles was haunting her, and made an insane maze of a house to confound them. It's a wonderful real world place to put in a big dungeon crawl.

Actually, there's a growing belief that believe that she was actually an amateur architect in an era where women weren't allowed to be architects, so after her husband passed away, she used his fortune to experiment on her own house for lack of better things to do. There's a great 99% Invisible Podcast episode, named "Mystery House", that talks all about it.

I like the idea of using it as a haunted house, though. It's fascinating.

[Jack_McSnatch]

Okay, so we have played a LOT since I posted this thread. Six or seven sessions, in fact, and it looks like it's the only one we'll be playing for a while. I'm looking for more recommendations so here goes on an update.

Duskbarb was bitten by a werewolf and captured by the pack. His new companions sought to track him down and cure him, but were too late. He had been (unwillingly) inducted into Sebastian's pack. Duskbarb fought the great white werewolf, and drove him off. He's gone deep into hiding with his most loyal supporters.

The Paladin discovered his mentor, a man named Gabriel O'Malley, has gone rogue.

Investigating a powerful mass of dark energy in an immense and confusing manshion, the team found themselves trapped, seperated, and in dire straits. (seriously, they spent two sessions divided, taking wrong turns, and getting attacked by ghosts, I had a lot of fun running it.) Until the Russian gunwoman found a strange rifle with the ability to hurt the spirits, and possibly do more.

After regrouping, they found the source of the dark magic. A mysterious woman in black, with rubies dotted everywhere like specks of blood, accompanied by an absurdly tall person in a tattered, black cloak, and Father O'Malley the vatican traitor. The woman poured dark energy into a specially crafted corpse, and stuffed a ghost in after it, raising a powerful new form of undead. They defeated the creature, but in doing so allowed the three to escape. After convening with their various employers, they've recieved the unanimous order of "track down Bloody Mary, and stop whatever she's doing."

Now there's some stuff I've been keeping to myself. Duskbarb only beat Sebastian because the big dog was holding back. He has a very strict code regarding family, whom he now considers Duskbarb. He refuses to kill family. He'll be back for later adventures, some of which he'll be an ally for the duration of. I want him to be a sympathetic sort of anti-villain.

A long, long time ago magic was sealed by the templar order, to reduce its impact on the developing world. It was never, and will never be gone, but the flow has been dammed. Powerful magic takes time, and drastic resouces to cast. Their work done at the end of the Crusades, the Templar order was publically disbanded, but maintained in secret as the vatican paladins. Any mention of these holy crusaders is dismissed by the vatican.

Bloody Mary is in fact the epitomous duchess, who's been alive for centuries and an avid practitioner of necromancy, but she isn't alone. A cadre of villains from across the centuries have banded together for the sinister goal of breaking the magic dam, and letting magic flood the world. I haven't thought all of them up, but Jack the Ripper, Vlad the Impaler, and Rasputin are going to be part of it.

Finally, Father O'Malley is working on his own sinister plot. He wants to unleash magic, and let the world see just how dangerous it is. When the time is right, he'll ride back into the light with the newly reformed Templars at his back, wipe magic off the face of the earth, and be lauded as heroes for it.

Oh, and they were joined by another character who's player describes him as "a **** Tracy character with magic." I'll probably give him the Rod of Lordly Might.

Tl:dr, I'm looking for suggestions on... Well any of this plot, but namely on these few things. I want Sebastian to feel less like a throwaway villain for Duskbarb to kill, and more like the villain he DOESN'T want to kill. As it is now, his character is swearing to everyone that he's going to kill Sebastian.

I need more historical figures. As you migght guess, I'm being a bit flexible with it, but that's the theme. I'm trying to make each of them characterize a different school of magic, so that no two act quite the same in combat. Mary is a dread necromancer who spends time buffing and healing her undead minions, but has a handful of attack spells. Jack on the other hand is a Hellfire Warlock who rips you apart with flaming claws after hunting you like an animal. And rather than a conjurer (who would really play exactly like Mary), I was considering using a demonbinder.

I was also playing with the idea of making Vlad in some other way besides the classic vampire.

Aaand I think that about sums it up. The game is... Weird so far, and the Paladin has really been stretching the "good is not nice" thing. I'm considering a story arc to knock his character down a peg, and make him question whether or not it's right to crusade in the name of a god who's first commandment is "thou shalt not kill." Cause at it stands now, he seems more likely to side with O'Malley and ride out right next to him.

[Jack_Simth]

I want Sebastian to feel less like a throwaway villain for Duskbarb to kill, and more like the villain he DOESN'T want to kill. As it is now, his character is swearing to everyone that he's going to kill Sebastian.Well, to do that, you need to add redeeming qualities. If Sebastian is acting the cartoon villian, he'll be treated the cartoon villian. To make him likeable, you may need to rework his motivations, and possibly his mechanics.

A couple of questions....
Why is he wanting to convert the city and reveal wolves to the world? If it's a question of personal power / challenge / rule, there's little-to-no redeeming features here. If on the other other hand he's looking at spreading around the lycanthropic resistance to injury (DR) and disease (extra Hit dice with a good Fort save) to try and reduce suffering in the world because of something in his past, then that's a different story.

What does he do in his 'off time' away from the cause? Possibly tie this into the first. If, say, he's focused on the disease resistance because he had a childhood friend die of disease, and spends a lot of time volunteering at a hospital (at which he doesn't bite anyone, as they're injured and sick enough already that it might kill them, and they're not opposing him), it'll go a long way.

Are you using D&D lycanthropy (only natural lycanthropes can transmit the curse, infected ones can't) or movie lycanthropy (infinitely recursive infection)? Are you using the D&D mechanics that it eventually changes the infected's alignment, or are the infected's minds 'safe' from direct corruption? Makes a difference in the feasibility of converting everyone, and the effects of doing so.



I need more historical figures. As you migght guess, I'm being a bit flexible with it, but that's the theme. I'm trying to make each of them characterize a different school of magic, so that no two act quite the same in combat. Mary is a dread necromancer who spends time buffing and healing her undead minions, but has a handful of attack spells. Jack on the other hand is a Hellfire Warlock who rips you apart with flaming claws after hunting you like an animal. And rather than a conjurer (who would really play exactly like Mary), I was considering using a demonbinder. I'll just leave this here (http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/hidden-secrets-gangsters-1920s-1930s/).

[Jack_McSnatch]

What he said.

More along the lines of movie lycanthropy, with the occaisional noninfectious werewolf, such as the Duskbarb. It doesn't turn you evil, if you go all evil, it was just there before.

Sebastian has a couple reasons for his weirdness. One, he does believe most people would be better off as werewolves with the DR and extra hit points and such, and two because werewolves get crapped on. Hunted and killed by crusaders and monster hunters, or the alternative is get dropped in the middle of nowhere with no wealth, no materials, and no way to make a better life for yourself, a la indian reservation.

I like the idea of him volunteering at hospitals, I think I'll use that. I'm also playing with the idea of making him a devout Christian. Carries a bible everywhere, quoting from it in appropriate moments, like when he's heckling Paladins.

[animewatcha]

All of them aside from the black russian are experienced players, so I want to give each of them something unique that improves their character. Duskbarbarian has already been infected with lycanthropy, but before someone else tells me to make another player a vampire I don't want to give everybody templates. Other ideas were a weapon of legacy pistol, a spellbook a character could cast from a few times a day, and a vague idea about a seemingly worthless piece of jewlery that's actually a powerful artifact.


The show of Supernatural actually has a little something for each of these. Within the the pistol was The Colt which ( during the time it was a big deal years ago ) if you were shot one of it's original 13 bullets and were NOT one of 5 specific beings in creation ( again mythos at that time ). Then you were dead-dead. Ghost, angel, demon, god ( little g not big G ). Didn't matter.

For the spellbook a character could cast from a few times a day. We have the Book of the Damned. Was encoded with only one witch ( after story arcs of decoding the book ) being able to decipher.

Seemingly worthless piece of jewelry, Dean's amulet that he use to wear forever during first seasons. According to Castiel, was capable of finding God ( the one big G ).

[DrMotives]

Looking at what world events happened in that year, the three popping out most at me are : Hitler becomes Fuhrer of Germany, the King of Yugoslavia is assassinated while visiting Marseilles France, and the first "3 Stooges" episode was released. Not sure where I'm going to with that 3rd one, it just struck me somehow.

Historical / literary figures with reasonable supernatural tie-ins: Dr Frankenstein's' monster left to live in the (arctic? Antarctic? Can't recall which) at the end of the book. An intelligent, but emotionally unstable flesh golem can do a lot of things in a campaign.

From Tesla's wikipedia article: "Starting in 1934, the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company began paying Tesla $125 per month as well as paying his rent at the Hotel New Yorker, expenses the Company would pay for the rest of Tesla's life. Accounts on how this came about vary. Several sources say Westinghouse was worried about potential bad publicity surrounding the impoverished conditions their former star inventor was living under.[154][155][156] It has been described as being couched in the form of a "consulting fee" to get around Tesla's aversion to accept charity, or by one biographer (Marc Seifer), as a type of unspecified settlement."

So a mystery involving why Tesla exactly was being subsidized can be played up to something truly fantastic in your campaign world as well. Clearly he was up to something, or at least you should have him so.

[Jack_McSnatch]

Lol, I didn't know Supernatural had already used all of those. I'd heard about the pistol and that is in fact what I got that idea from.

Hitler is actually gonna play a large part in the endgame. I was thinking that he would be a heroic figure, corrupted/possessed/driven crazy by a demon. Cause, you know, alternate history magic world. I figured I'd go ahead and be a little campy about it.

Edit: Or, alternatively, that he was posing as a good guy. Is it better story telling to make the worst example of humanity better, or even worse?

[Jack_Simth]

Edit: Or, alternatively, that he was posing as a good guy. Is it better story telling to make the worst example of humanity better, or even worse?At that level of question, "better" in storytelling is a matter of taste. In the Shakespearian sense, some people prefer comedies, others tragedies. One category is not inherently better than the other (although specific examples from the categories might be), although most people will prefer one over the other. It depends on your audience, your skills, and what story you'd like to tell.

[Segev]

Baba Yaga might take an interest in anything to "Break the dam" on magic - whether she'd be a villain antagonist or a villain ally is up to you.

Hitler actually would be a good confederate of the bad guys; it is commonly believed (though I don't know how true it is IRL) that the Nazis had a mystery-cult obsession, believing that magic was or could be made real as a tool to use in their war. I think 1934 is still early enough that they didn't have their evil reputation, yet, so they could move semi-openly, too.

If you'd like to make Sebastian more sympathetic, perhaps have "The Big Bad Wolf" be a true mythic horror, and Sebastian be so...hard-line...because he's always trying to protect his pack from that malevolent entity's influence. Which is always lurking in the background.

[Vogie]

Baba Yaga might take an interest in anything to "Break the dam" on magic - whether she'd be a villain antagonist or a villain ally is up to you.

Hitler actually would be a good confederate of the bad guys; it is commonly believed (though I don't know how true it is IRL) that the Nazis had a mystery-cult obsession, believing that magic was or could be made real as a tool to use in their war. I think 1934 is still early enough that they didn't have their evil reputation, yet, so they could move semi-openly, too.

I've also heard the Nazi's were really deep into mystery-cults and hunting artifacts & art of all kinds, and that's occasionally referenced in things like Hellboy, the MCU, and even non-fantastic ip like the movie Monuments Men. Having a slow realization that certain pieces of jewelry & art are actually powerful artifacts could be an interesting spy-style hunt between the PCs and the villains.

Another idea of a villain could be Dorian Gray, in the midst of the middle of a slightly time-shifted Picture of Dorian Gray, is currently hunting down the artist who (in this universe) had made him immortal.

If you don't want to use Frankenstein and his famous monster, you can also use HP Lovecrafts' Herbert West, the Reanimator. That would explain why there are multiple reanimated bloodthirsty corpses for the PCs to face

[Segev]

You wouldn't even need to time-shift Dorian Grey. Just have his portrait still intact rather than the ending portrayed in the book. Whether he's a villain because of his own motives, or somebody has managed to get ahold of his portrait and is holding it hostage to manipulate him, an unkillable, dashing and charismatic man who doubtless has decades of connections and wealth at his disposal is a powerful antagonist.

[Venger]

Are you familiar with "the league of extraordinary gentlemen?" it sounds like a good fit for the crossover of early 20th century public domain characters being involved in your adventure.

[Arbane]

Bloody Mary is in fact the epitomous duchess, who's been alive for centuries and an avid practitioner of necromancy, but she isn't alone. A cadre of villains from across the centuries have banded together for the sinister goal of breaking the magic dam, and letting magic flood the world. I haven't thought all of them up, but Jack the Ripper, Vlad the Impaler, and Rasputin are going to be part of it.

With a lineup like that, it reminds me of Zelazny's A Night in the Lonesome October. (Which is also about various notorious characters (some mentioned above) fighting over whether to let something in from Outside, or shut it out...)

Ever read/seen Hellboy? You might be able to swipe some ideas from that.

Aleister Crowley was still alive in 1934. Just throwing that out there.
So was H. P. Lovecraft. (The RPG Call of Cthulhu is mostly set in the 1930s, so there's lots of possible source material there - and D&D characters tend to have a lot more hit points and sturdier sanity than CoC characters.)

As has been mentioned, the Nazis (and their occult sponsors, the Thule Society) make great villains, hunting down mystic relics and the Hidden Wisdom of the Ages. And who doesn't like punching Nazis?

Speaking of Nazis, if the heroes need some scientific assistance, Albert Einstein fled them to the USA in 1933. Or possibly Richard Feynman, famed for his skills at nuclear physics, barroom brawling, and safecracking, could help them out?

[Jack_McSnatch]

I am familiar with the League. I might utilize them as questgivers or something. I also like including Baba Yaga and Dorian Grey. What would they be? Dorian strikes me as an illusionist.

The Big Bad Wolf as a malevolent entity that lurks in werewolves. I like that a lot, it'll work especially well since Duskbarb just ran off into the world without considering what happens if he loses control.

Would Dracula work as a psion?

Edit: Oh hey I actually hadn't even thought of Aleister Crowley. He could work very solidly as an npc. I did consider throwing in an Illithid and playing up some CoC themes. It might be a bit difficulty to get the atmosphere right with my players playing like they do. They like to be a bit ridiculous, taking verbal jabs at very dangerous people/things/evil cosmic entities.

Though admittedly it'd be pretty funny to see someone trash talking Cthulu

[Arbane]

I am familiar with the League. I might utilize them as questgivers or something. I also like including Baba Yaga and Dorian Grey. What would they be? Dorian strikes me as an illusionist.

Baba Yaga is a witch, obviously. (Possibly a Pathfinder one, or just a child-eating hag with a lot of levels in Wizard or something.) Dorian Grey is an upper-class twit with poor morals and a lot of social skills. (So, a bard?)



Would Dracula work as a psion?

He could - there's only about a zillion different takes on the character, and it's not like he bragged about what he could do.

[Jack_McSnatch]

I was about to make a new thread to discuss these. I decided to revive this again so I don't clutter up the boards, and because this relates to this game. So here goes.

Dread Soldier (template): A dread Soldier is a specially crafted undead corpse animated by a bound ghost, gaining some of the ghost's abilities, and allowing the ghost to interact with the physical world. It has a strong connection to the negative energy plane, and can spew the energy from its mouth.
Size and Type: Type changes to undead, size unchanged.
HD: Change all HD to d12+4, add cha to hp
Speed: +10 feet to all move speeds
Initiative: +4 initiative
Armor Class: natural armor improves by +2
Attacks A Dread Soldier has a bonesword grafted to one arm. This deals damage as a longsword of the Dread Soldier's size, and is considered a natural attack. Touch attacks can be delivered through the bonesword. If the ghost animating a Dread Soldier had a favored weapon in life, the bonesword takes that shape instead.
Full Attack: A Dread Soldier tries to attack with its bonesword as often as possible. A Dread Soldier can wield a weapon in its off hand, but takes penalties as if fighting with two weapons.
Special Attacks:
Corrupting grasp: touch attack. 1d6+1d6(cold)
Energy Drain: touch attack, Fort DC (10+1/2 HD+CHA) subject takes a negative level, 2 on crit. Dread Soldier gains +1 to skill checks, ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws for one hour.
Breath weapon: 15 ft cone 5d6 negative energy Ref DC 1/2(10+1/2HD+Cha) cooldown 1d6 rounds
Ethereal Jaunt: A Dread Soldier can become ethereal a number of rounds per day equal to 1+Cha modifier. These rounds do not have to be consecutive.
Destruction Retribution: when a Dread Soldiers is killed, it deals 1d6/2 HD to everything in a 10ft burst. This is negative energy, and heals undead
Special Qualities: DR 10/cold iron, Resistance positive energy 10, turning +8, unholy toughness
Abilities: +12 str, +4 dex, +4 cha
Feats: A Dread Soldier gains the feats Improved Energy Drain, and positive energy resistance.

So there you have it. The first one the party ran into was a 6th level fighter, and they seemed to do alright. A lot of it (+10 speed, 1d6 cold touch attack, destruction retribution) comes from the creator's corpsecrafter feats, but I decided to add it on anyway. Is it too powerful? Maybe too many options?

Edit: forgot Energy Drain save. Bonus unrelated question, does Eldritch Glaive stack with Hideous blow if you extend Eldritch Glaive?

[Jack_Simth]

Is it too powerful? Maybe too many options?
You answered your own question for your table a little earlier:

The first one the party ran into was a 6th level fighter, and they seemed to do alright.
That is THE measurement, as far as your specific table is concerned: How your party does against the monster. If they struggle 'too much' to defeat it (compared to the level of struggle you want them to have with it), then it's too strong. If they beat it 'too easily' (compared to the level of ease you want them to have with it), then it's too weak.

Also, of course, it needs a CR +/- entry...

[Jack_McSnatch]

I'm not entirely sure, I think it's a +2, or a +3

[Segev]

For Dracula, I'd just go with Vampire + Swarm Shifter (bats). The template for Vampire in D&D 3.5 is pretty solid for his iconic powers. You might look at Vigilante for both his class and for Dorian Gray. It has a "high class persona" mode that can cover both of their aristocratic leanings, and gives an "action hero" mode for adventuring. It could be Dorian actually does go do the "gentleman thief" thing, and that Dracula's vampiric "game face" (whether as literal as Buffyverse vampires or not) is his action mode.

[Geddy2112]

Pathfinder has an adventure path called Reign of Winter, particularly part 5, Rasputin Must Die, and it deals with firearms and weapons tech that would be found around this time period. Rasputin and Baba Yaga are antagonists in the AP.

Also, keep in mind that if they are in America, this is when the great depression is rolling hard. The New Deal of FDR is just starting to really roll, Prohibition has just been repealed(so the mob has lost some power) and you have your dust bowl ravaging the midwest, pushing farmers west and creating Of Mice and Men/Grapes of Wrath steinbeckesque style conflicts.

So you not only have BBEG vampires and evil magic users, you have mob bosses of varying power, and anything from Pinkerton men to farm foremen being evil and corrupt to the lower levels of society. There are a lot of big schemers, but a lot of people at the bottom are just trying to scrape by, so you can have lower level bosses and evil people be among the commoners too.

[Vogie]

Also, keep in mind that if they are in America, this is when the great depression is rolling hard. The New Deal of FDR is just starting to really roll, Prohibition has just been repealed(so the mob has lost some power) and you have your dust bowl ravaging the midwest, pushing farmers west and creating Of Mice and Men/Grapes of Wrath steinbeckesque style conflicts.


In speaking about the Prohibition, I just envisioned that Prohibition was on potions, rather than alcohol. All the clerics got together and got them banned, because healing should only come from the divine.

The whole Dust Bowl event sounds like a wrathful deity as well.

[Segev]

In speaking about the Prohibition, I just envisioned that Prohibition was on potions, rather than alcohol. All the clerics got together and got them banned, because healing should only come from the divine.

The whole Dust Bowl event sounds like a wrathful deity as well.

Given that clerics are the ones who MAKE potions (not to mention that potions are horribly inefficient to make, so it's a wonder anybody does make them), they could ban it without banning it just by agreeing not to make them.

Edit: For pedantry's sake, I will point out that I am speaking of healing potions, since technically wizards can make potions of arcane spells. And yes, I know Bards could do it, but I can't imagine it being worthwhile to a Bard to pick up Brew Potion just to subvert the clerics' monopoly. Unless suddenly scarcity makes potions of cure light wounds ludicrously expensive.

[Vogie]

Given that clerics are the ones who MAKE potions (not to mention that potions are horribly inefficient to make, so it's a wonder anybody does make them), they could ban it without banning it just by agreeing not to make them.

Edit: For pedantry's sake, I will point out that I am speaking of healing potions, since technically wizards can make potions of arcane spells. And yes, I know Bards could do it, but I can't imagine it being worthwhile to a Bard to pick up Brew Potion just to subvert the clerics' monopoly. Unless suddenly scarcity makes potions of cure light wounds ludicrously expensive.

That was the idea - The same thing happened with Prohibition of Alcohol, which bolstered the mob rule. As an Amusing anecdote, that would make the Bards a crucial part of the mob outside of the normal lounge-singer trope.